Fandom Beast Boy and Raven (Closed)

[QuickWords]

Garfield tapped the empty cone to his chin, trying to think of who exactly Picasso was. “Really!?” He inhaled the cone and went back to finish the final bone as well.

“This is why you’re the best Rach-“ Garfield stopped mid sentence and laid his head on the table they were sitting at, groaning. “Duuuude….I think I got brain freeze…” He folded his arms over his head and laid there for several moment groaning.

After a minute or two, Garfield said something from his downed position. “Does that mean you get to come over to my place?” His muffled voice sounded hopeful even if he was in slight pain. His job was a little too intricate for him personally but when explained to him by Cyborg it seemed a lot easier. “Just paint yourself Beastie, they’ll never know the difference.” Tin man told Garfield.

 

[Beckspace]

“The brain freeze won’t happen if you slow down. You might also taste your food too,” Rachel said, rolling her eyes at the pain he put himself in.

She was hesitant to say yes to going to his place. She knew Garfield didn’t view it that way, but going into someone’s home, their space, was a very intimate thing to her. Like an invasion of privacy. It was why she never liked people entering her apartment, that and there were actual dangerous items in her apartment she didn’t want anyone to get a hold of. Despite her viewings on the matter, she knew in order to keep Garfield from doing something reckless, and to do what she had suggested she would do to help him, she would have to go to his place.

“If that’s where you usually do it, then yeah. Guess so,” She replied nonchalantly, taking another bite of her ice cream.

Slowly the mob of people dwindled as it became later into the evening and the sun dipped out of site to make room for the moon.

“Speaking of places, I should be getting home,” Rachel said as she finished the last bite of her cone.

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield frowned and sat up, feeling his brain turning into a slushee. “I did taste it. And it was goooooooood.” He chuckled before laying his head back on the table.

When Rachel began talking he picked his head up with a wide grin. “So you mean you’re actually gonna come over?” His face did a one eighty when he realized that meant he would have a lot of cleaning to do. “Uhhh yeah that’s pretty cool…” Garfield chuckled as his brain freeze slowly melted away.

Garfield hopped up to a standstill and grabbed his board. “Let me walk you home Rae.” He insisted. This was something he saw as nice and romantic, or at least it always was in the movies he watched. “I could be like, your ninja bodyguard.” the green teen suggested.

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel crossed her arms. “I think you and I both know I don’t need a body guard.” She stood, thought about it, then shrugged.

“But sure, who wouldn’t want a ninja turtle walking them home?” She smirked a bit at the thought, imagining Garfield turning into a giant humanoid turtle with nunchucks.

She led the way back from whence they came. Her apartment was actually across the street from the book store she worked at. With her career being her whole focus in life, she had chosen her place based on location. The moon lit the way back, and Rachel was glad that the rain had let up and given them a good evening for the ice cream and walk back. It was such a nice night, she didn’t even think to torture herself by looking at titan tower as they walked, even though it became much more prevalent a fixture in this part of the city.

“Thanks,” Rachel said quietly as her apartment was coming into view. “For walking me back.”

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield walked alongside Rachel and began disputing her comment on him being a ninja turtle. “Hold up Rae, I might be green, and a ninja, and I like pizza….” He started to think. “And say dude a lot…” Was he a ninja turtle? “Nevermind, dud- I mean Dang it!”

Garfield pouted for the first few yards as they walked, being proven to be basically a ninja turtle, until he eventually just enjoyed walking with Rachel next to him. He stared at the sky and surroundings as they walked, looking at animals that were active in the night. A raccoon, a few dragonflies, and even a deer. Had he ever been a raccoon? A dragonfly? Sometimes he wondered if he used his powers correctly or not.

Garfield felt a little nervous for some reason as they arrived to her place. He watched lots of movies but he didn’t know if he would have his head still intact with his body if he tried to do what typically came next. “N-no problem Rachel.” Garfield had to think about what he did before just giving Rachel another deep hug. “Thank you…for being there for me when no one else was….” He said with a soft voice.

 

[Beckspace]

It was the second hug that night, but Rachel preferred it to the other way of saying goodbye that popped randomly into her head. There will be a lot of meditation tonight, she is obviously losing control on her emotions.

She responded in the most-Raven way possible. “You’re hugging me again.” She allowed a few more moments before lightly pushing him away.

“Yeah, uhm, ditto. Thanks,” she said awkwardly, because really for the most part this evening he was the one there for her. He got her out of a night alone in her room.

Rachel reached into her pocket and pulled out a pen. “I don’t have my phone with me. So here.” She grabbed Garfield’s hand and wrote her number on it. “For when you need that paint job.”

She then pulled out her house keys and moved quickly to her door. “See you, Gar,” she said as she left. The sudden urge to quick getaway came over her, before that other way to say goodbye happened.

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield didn’t think Rachel understood how much her alone made him feel ever since things were going downhill for the Titans. He made sure if anything were to happen again, Rachel would know how he truly felt about her. Garfield felt the gentle hand on his chest and got the message pretty clearly. He backed up slightly and rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah sorry…”

Garfield’s hand was taken by Rachel and he was perplexed as to what was happening. He started laughing from the ink tickling his skin before realizing it was Rachel’s number and held that hand by the wrist, hoping to keep the ink from messing up.

When Rachel called out her quick goodbye, Garfield barely got the chance to even reply “Bye Rach-“ before the door was closed. He took it simply as her being tired and he headed off on his skateboard, making sure the hand with her number on it didn’t get smeared.

When Garfield returned home he immediately input Rachel’s number into his phone and plopped on his couch. He had the sudden urge to clean his room. “There’s no way she’s gonna wanna come back if it looks like this…” For the first time in a long while, Garfield started cleaning his apartment.

The next morning he found himself crashed on the bed face first, fully clothed. Garfield rubbed his eyes remembering how tiring it was to actually fight using his powers. He definitely needed a shower, which he took before texting Rachel. “Yo! What time you wrk today?”

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel slammed the door shut behind her, locked it, and shut her eyes. Laying her head against the door for a moment of relief, she whispered to herself, “Meditation. Now.”

She had ended up meditating late into the night until around 3AM, when she finally allowed herself to go to sleep. There were just way too many thoughts and feelings to sort through, and she couldn’t go to sleep with them in check, less she wanted them to run rampant in her dreams. They had come anyway, flashes of the good moments mixed in with the nightmares.

A sharp buzzing noise finally woke her up. Rachel bolted upright in her bed and looked around frantically. The sound had come from her phone resting on the nightstand. She frowned, thinking it was probably some spam call or something of the like. As it turned out, it wasn’t a call at all, but a text from an unknown number. No one ever texted her, so it wasn’t hard to figure out who it was from.

She wondered how she should reply. She was actually off of work that day, but she had been planning on going in anyway because she didn’t have anything better to do. For some reason, typing that down in a text sounded pathetic. The clock said it was 11AM, and she was surprised she almost slept the whole morning away. She logged Garfield’s number into her phone as she thought of what to say.

“Working until 1PM today,” she decided to text. “Don’t suppose you actually read those tiger books, did you?” Rachel smiled to herself, unable to imagine Garfield reading, even something as easy as a children’s book.

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield was halfway into a frozen waffle when he got the text from Rachel. Not only did he audibly groan he had to express it through text. “Uuuuggggh. Ur right tho..” He wished he never had the idea to actually read. Then again that would’ve meant he wouldn’t have met Rachel again so a little reading wouldn’t hurt.

“I could come and get u at 2 or 3?” Garfield offered as he got the the books off of his bed, tossing the syrup smothered plate in the sink to wash later. As soon as he opened the book he sighed, seeing the abundance of words in the table of contents. “Here goes nothing…” Garfield said as he began actually reading about tigers.

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel shook her head. She knew he wouldn’t have even thought about reading.

“I’ll be ready at 2, ninja turtle,” she replied automatically and hit send. Then she stared at her reply, wondering what on earth she was thinking putting that down. Did she just flirt?

“More meditation,” she scolded herself. She made herself a cup of tea and sat herself in front of her window looking out towards titan tower. Her daily routine of staring at the tower was both torturous and grounded. The price of overconfidence will never be forgotten.

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield was glad he had gotten the book with pictures in it considering he almost dozed off several times. He checked his message and chuckled to himself, replying with a simple pouting face and getting back to his “reading”.

The problem with Garfield was always his attention span. It was a good thing at times when it came to forgetting something, but in the case of focusing it became a big problem. With all the things he had around the house he barely managed to finish the first book between a thirty minute nap, a few levels on his favorite game, and of course more food.

Once it hit 1:48, Garfield finished his book with a considerable amount of knowledge gained about his new “role” as a tiger that he would attend later that night. He freshened up a little before heading out for some reason he didn’t know, as if it were a sort of instinct. Garfield grabbed his board and began mentally mapping out where Rachel lived at, texting her “Otw” as he cruised down the sidewalk.

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel had allow herself to read as well for the few hours before 2pm. She, unlike Garfield, could probably spend the whole day reading if she allowed herself to. The current book of choice was of course a fairytale fantasy about a girl who accidentally discovers a cursed deck of cards, which send her on an epic adventure in the hopes of saving her long-lost sister from a fate worse than death. It was cheesy and predictable, but that was probably what Rachel liked most about it.

All too soon, Rachel was shocked out of her reading trance by a buzz in her jean pocket. It was Garfield saying he was on his way, and she looked up at the clock, in awe at how quickly time can pass sometimes. She didn't answer the text, but forced herself into action, getting out of her comfortable reading chair and preparing to leave the apartment.

In about five minutes she was ready and made her way outside. It was a nice sunny day today, not a cloud in sight. Rachel wished there were more clouds though, being much more used to the dark and gloomy. Her eyes squinted to adjust to the light, which was when she noticed the newspaper on her front door step. Rachel never read the newspaper, nor did she subscribe to have one sent to her place, but the headline made her pause and stop to pick it up.

Heroes Back in Jump City?! ​

Rachel quick unfolded the paper red what the article had to say.

Shock and despair hit the Jump City movie theater last night when infamous villain OVERLOAD wreaked havoc on a showing of 'Eternals.' After years of being in the slammer along with many other infamous villains of the same caliber, the public is desperate to know how he escaped and if more are to come (continue on page 6 for police response). But perhaps the most shocking of all is how no casualties were had at the movie theater. Sources say that help came from within the theater in the form of super-powered beings. That's right folks! Where there is a super villain, there is always a hero to fight back. There are mixed comments on who exactly save the good citizens in the theater, but many are saying there was at least one, if not more, animal involved. Perhaps Krypto paid us a visit from Metropolis? Or maybe a new heroic animal unknown yet to the public? One thing is for sure, folks, after a three year hiatus, Jump City is now home to something, or someone extraordinary once more (continue on page 8 for eyewitness accounts and theories).​

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield had a very peaceful ride over to Rachel’s, this time wasting gray sweatpants and a black hoodie with the words “Thrasher” in flames on the shirt. His shoes were just plain, all black vans which he got a few weeks prior when he first went shopping.

The crisp winter wind blew as Garfield boarded through town, different sections with the genius plan of not doing any tricks in case he bit the dust. That wouldn’t be a cool way to got to Rachel. All bruised and scraped up.

As he approached her apartment, Garfield recognized a familiar looking figure and rolled slowly up to Rachel. “Hey Rae, what’s shaking?” He asked as he kicked his board up to his hand, a simple trick that took him longer than he wanted to admit to master.

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel had not seen Garfield's trick as she was too focused on the newspaper. "I'm guessing you didn't catch today's newspaper?" She held up the front page to show Garfield. "I don't think they figured out who we are, so we might be ok," she said, flipping to page 8 where there would apparently be witnesses and guesses as to who they were.

The witness accounts were all over the place. People were saying they the hero throwing fire, flying, using super strength. Some said they saw animals, but none said the same animal, save for a few who got the elephant part correct. Some said that there wasn't a hero at al, that whoever it as that had the superpower was actually helping Overload. Rachel was relieved that there wasn't just one story that might point fingers to them. It hindered the theories as well. No one guessed Beast Boy or Raven.

Finally, she lowered the newspaper and looked at Garfield. While he was in a hoodie, she had chosen a long dark blue jacket, with a big hood of course, and a simple black t-shirt underneath. She had learned through working at the bookstore that wearing the same style of clothing every day males one appear weird or unclean. She didn't condone Gar for wearing a hoodie two days in a row though, especially because his hoodie looked as if it could shield him from curious eyes if necessary.

"Looks like we live to fight another day," she said, folding up the newspaper again. "No one reads the paper anymore anyway." She nodded at the skateboard. "You always carry that thing around with you?"

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield smiled a little “I barely got through that book.” He admitted as he leaned forward to see what Rachel was holding up. His eyes skimmed over most of the passage and from what he gathered, Garfield pumped his fist.

“That’s good right? A bunch of people think we did good so that means we can help when we gotta help still.” Garfield was excited to see that things were going well enough for there to be no worry anymore about people trying to find them out.

Garfield held the board to his chest. “It’s my baby! I ride this puppy everywhere when I don’t feel like walking or flying.” He explained before looking at Rachel’s outfit. “Looking good today mama. You sure you wanna get paint and stuff on that?” He asked.

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel just shrugged. She wasn’t so sure it was a good thing the public was calling them heroes so quickly. If they could easily dub them heroes, they can easily flip it around to villain. She didn’t want to stop Garfield’s good mood, though, so she kept her thoughts to herself.

He spoke so proudly of his skateboard, as if it were alive. She was reminded of Cyborg when he first finished his car. At least Garfield wasn’t polishing it’s wheels after every stop,

“I’m painting you, not me.” Rachel crossed her arms, a bit self conscious now that he complimented her look. “I’m not going to miss. Are you doing your big tiger scene today?”

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield always enjoyed the neutral/unamused look on Rachel’s face for some reason, but not as much as her smile. For some reason it made him feel like she was happy but she didn’t want to show it. “I was just looking out for your awesome hoodie.” Garfield took the defensive with a smile as he reached up and gently tugged her hood, not trying to pull it off but just flirting with Rachel.

Garfield put his board on the ground and rolled it back and forth with one foot. “Well…the dude called me the other day and said to come in later, buuuuuut…” He spread his hands at the sun and did a spin so that his back faced Rachel. “We gots all day to do some other stuff.” Garfield quickly faced her again. “I mean if you wanna.” He added, remembering Rachel might have her own plans.

 

[Beckspace]

Normally, she would have dodged out of the way if someone reached out to touch her hood, but Rachel didn’t this time. She snuck a smile as he spread himself out to take in the sun, so carefree and easygoing.

Rachel shrugged. Of course she didn’t have anything to do. She thought about something they could possibly do together. “There’s a CD store not too far from here. Want to check it out?”

One noise Rachel didn’t mind was music. She liked to listen to it sometimes when she was meditating or when she just wanted to drown out the noise of the world for a while. In her small black backpack she actually had her vintage ear-cup headphones with her, and she was due for some new tunes.

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield turned his head like a curious dog trying to figure out why she brought up a CD store of all places. “They still have those places? And don’t you have a phone for music and stuff?” He asked as he stopped rolling the skateboard at their feet.

Of course he wouldn’t give up an opportunity for time spent with Rachel but it was genuine curiosity that broke into his mind. “Well whatcha waiting for then? Let’s go to the ancient CD store!” He started skating in a random direction as if the place they were heading was known to him.

Garfield got about three pushes on his board before turning around and coming back to Rachel. He laughed the slight embarrassment away and looked her with a smile. “Uhh where exactly are we going?” Garfield sometimes got too ahead of himself for someone who often wasn’t sure what to do.

 

[Beckspace]

“People still use CDs. I prefer physical copies of music,” Rachel said defensively. She raised an eyebrow as he skated off in the opposite direction. She turned around and simply headed in the right direction.

“It’s the next street over. I go there all the time,” she replied. Rachel glanced at him skating beside her. It was nice to be walking with someone for a change.

“Do you have music on your phone?” She asked.

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield rolled along rather slowly in order to properly match Rachel’s pace. He didn’t mind but it probably looked weird from a bystanders point of view to be fair. “Uh yeah I have a some jams for when I’m playing video games or when I wanna chill and skate around.” Garfield explained.

Garfield gasped. “I never heard you listen to music before. What kind you like?” He never had experienced listening to music with Rachel but he thought he could figure out what type of music she liked. “Maybe the slow stuff with no words or the ones where it’s just violins and more violins.” He guessed.

 

[Beckspace]

“Actually, I like heavy metal,” Rachel said in her most deadpanned neutral tone, but her face gave her away, smirking at her joke.

“I started listening to music after…after. Guess I wasn’t used to the quiet 24/7 anymore. I like Lo-fi music. It helps my meditation, or blocks out unwanted noise,” She explained evenly, revealing more than what she’s used to.

“There’s a video game store next to the music store, if you want to check it out.” They made the turn onto the street with the strip of stores.

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield’s mouth visibly gaped open when Rachel said that. With all the emotional things she talked about with her powers and stuff. Honestly he couldn’t keep up with it but heavy metal definitely had to make things bad right. Garfield pushed Rachel slightly when he recognized the joke, which really made his veer off to the side a little more than actually move her.

“Oh I heard people who study and stuff listen to Lofi music. It’s really chill….I like it” Garfield approved of Rachel’s music selection as they neared the music store. “Rae, you gotta play some games with me sometimes. Oo! Maybe we can pick a game out together!” He suggested, eager to get to know more things Rachel liked even if it meant trying something new.

 

[Beckspace]

“I don’t-“ Rachel stopped herself before she could say that she doesn’t play video games nor did she really have any interest in starting now. He had just validated something she liked, perhaps it was time to grow up and do the same.

“I don’t have a lot of video game experience, but I’ll give it a shot. Could be fun,” she fixed her response just as they reached the music shop.

It was a small slightly run-down shop with a faded wooden sign on the front door titling it “Tuned In.” Inside had rows of white low shelves filled with CDs categorized by genre. In the way back of the store there were records, mostly used as decoration on the back wall. There was a middle-aged woman who looked like she belonged in the 90s sitting behind the front desk with headphones in her ears. She glanced up when Rachel and Garfield walked in, but then tuned into her music again. Rachel didn’t acknowledge the woman either, heading straight to the shelves on the left that was labeled “Chill.”

She started flipping through the different CDs until she came across one she actually owned and liked. “Here,” she said, taking out her headphones and attached portable CD player. She opened the case, stuck the CD in, and handed it to Garfield. “This is Life by Jinsang.”

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield was ecstatic about Rachel’s agreement to at least try out some video games. He couldn’t actually think of what she would like but if he had to guess maybe some indy games but nothing scary. Maybe she would just pick something like Mario Kart since it was pretty simple.

Garfield rolled up to the door and picked up his skateboard, walking in behind Rachel to ensure he wasn’t doing anything. As they walked pass the lady at the desk, he waved at her and pointed to his hair. “I like your hair!” Garfield mouthed while hurrying behind Rachel so he wouldn't get lost.

He looked at the vast amount of CDs that walked the shelves at the store. It gave him a small sense of a better library since he didn’t have to read. “Ooo old school.” Garfield said as he took her headphones and extended them slightly to fit his head and listened. At first it was a little weird with just a bunch of background noise it seemed but when the instruments kicked in, Garfield bobbed his head rhythmically.

After the first song came and went, he looked at Rachel. “Ooo I get why it’s called Life I think. Cuz of all the sounds and stuff in the back right?” Garfield asked, hoping to be right about at least one thing.