Fandom Beast Boy and Raven (Closed)

[Beckspace]

“That’s…profound.” Rachel was expecting something along the lines of “cool beats” or “this is nice” or maybe even “what is this garbage?” She did not expect an analysis of the music and title from Garfield. Then again, despite the teasing about Beast Boy not having a brain, she knew he was smarter than he looked. She grinned at him before turning back to the CDs in front of them.

“I have that CD already. It’s one of my favorites,” she said. “I like how it feels like breathing.” She had found another CD by the same artist that she hadn’t seen before. Holding on to that one, Rachel took her headphones from Garfield and tested it out. She closed her eyes as the new music played into her ears, nodding quietly to the beat. “I think I’ll buy this one,” she said as she continued to listen.

 

[QuickWords]

Sometimes Garfield hated when people used words he didn’t know, but based on Rachel’s face it looked like he surprised her and was right. On most occasions Garfield never actually tried to think about certain things or genuinely wasn’t able to, but Rachel deserved his full attention and brain power in his eyes.

Garfield felt the headphones leave his ears and everything became significantly louder. Wiggling his uncovered ears to stretch them, he watched Rachel take the CD out and try out a new one. Something about watching her look so peaceful was relaxing in itself even though a small, childish portion of him wanted to poke and disturb her.

Regardless of those intrusive thoughts, Garfield waited patiently for his friend, trying his best not to disturb things as he looked through the other CDs on the racks. Some of the cover arts were pretty dope but others confused him or made his head hurt. “That dude makes good music. I should add him to my playlist.” He commented while walking next to Rachel. “Rae, you ever sing? Like sing with the songs and stuff you listen to?” Garfield thought it would be something cute to hear from Rachel that he hadn’t before.

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel’s eyes opened at the questions “No. I never sing.”

“Ha! That’s a lie if ever I heard one,” The woman behind the front desk called out. Rachel frowned and looked over at her. The woman had taken out her earphones and was staring at them curiously.

“I don’t sing,” Rachel reiterated.

The woman shrugged. “I don’t know if what you do can be considered singing, but you make noises when you listen to that Lofi music.” The woman turned to Garfield. “She’s tone death. All you’ll get outta her is that raspy mumble she does when she speaks. She may not realize she does it but she’s not as quiet as she thinks.”

The woman held out her hand to shake Garfield’s. “And I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in here. The name’s Jenna. Apologies for not saying hello earlier, you never interrupt a good song, even for customers.”

Rachel stiffened at Jenna’s interruption. She actually liked Jenna most days due to the fact that she left Rachel alone. Once she got talking, though, there was no escaping.

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield was surprised to hear that Rachel was one to listen to music and sing. The woman at the front desk was much more friendly than she seemed at first. Garfield gently nudged Rachel’s side as the woman began regaling him with explanations on how Rachel tried to sing along with the music she listened to.

Garfield shook Jenna’s hand and shook his head no simultaneously. “Uhh no ma’am I haven’t been here before. My name’s Garfield.” It was a weird rule to have in place but to be fair, Garfield wouldn’t answer anyone if he had music playing either.

“So Rae…” Garfield had a sly smile on his face, a look of victory. “You don’t sing huh?” It wasn’t often he got to feel this “I was right and you were wrong” feeling, even if it weren’t an exact situation, he wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to do so either.

 

[Beckspace]

“I…don’t sing!” Rachel fumed, embarrassed at the whole ordeal. Jenna laughed as she took Rachel by the shoulders in a side embrace.

“That’s my Rachel for ya! She’ll try so hard to hide, but there’s bits of her that just can’t stay silent and hidden for too long.”

“Maybe I don’t need this CD after all,” Rachel said, trying to tug herself away.

“No no don’t be silly! I knew the second that new Jinsang album came out you’d be coming back here to get it. Look, I’ll even give you a returning customer discount. Come on, let’s check you out.” Jenna basically dragged Rachel over to the check out counter. Rachel gave up and just went with it, she really did want the CD after all. Normally Rachel couldn’t stand people like Jenna, but she reminded her of someone, so she put up with the antics.

As Rachel was paying for her CD, Jenna called out, “What about you, Garfield? See anything you fancy? Besides my Rachel, that is. Ha!” Rachel looked murderous at her but stayed silent.

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield was so dumbfounded that Rachel wasn’t upset or angry at Jenna’s actions considering they were embarrassing her. To him it seemed like this lady was acting like a mom to Rachel, which Garfield found even funnier.

While Jenna kept talking he wished he could record this moment but it would have to stay in his memories if he valued the safety of his phone. Garfield blushed a little when Jenna mentioned the fact he had taking a liking to Rachel. He tugged at his hoodie strings and shook his head. “Besides her, no ma’am I think I’m good.” Garfield continued.

As Rachel paid Garfield tried to make less eye contact with Jenna since it seemed she was in the mood for reading peoples emotions out loud. The last thing he wanted was to be embarrassed like Rachel had been. While leaving, Garfield waved at Jenna “See ya next time.” He said, holding the door open for Rachel.

Garfield looked at Rachel and laughed hard. “That lady is like you’re mom, Rae.” He said trying to imagine a more normal life between the two former heroes. “You must come here a lot if she’s knows you like that.” He assumed.

 

[Beckspace]

“She is NOT my mother,” Rachel said flatly, though her cold exterior cracked under the heat of her embarrassment and his laughter. “But she’s harmless enough when she’s not butting into everyone’s business. I go whenever I have a day off.”

She frowned at him still getting a kick out of all this and elbowed him. “Ok, enough. Wasn’t that funny. Can we move on now, please?” Her face was blushing again and she hated getting so flustered. It was, however, nice to know that Jenna obviously approved and likes Garfield. Not that there really was any question of that.

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield held his sides and nodded, wiping fake tears from his eyes. “Alright alright I’m done I swear.” He said as he looked around the stores, hoping to find something for games.

“So where’s that game place you were talking about? Hopefully they got new games or stuff I haven’t seen.” Garfield sounded excited about getting to what he thought to be the meat and potatoes of their little journey.

 

[Beckspace]

Happy to get the subject off of her, Rachel pointed at the store towards the end of the strip mall. A flashing green sign read “Game Zone” on the window of the biggest store on the strip. The window was covered in posters of new release and popular games. A sign on the door said “Buy one game, get the second one 50% off!”

“I’ve never been inside,” Rachel confessed. “Don’t know if it’ll have what you usually like.” She had a feeling, based off of Garfield’s burst of excitement, that he would be happy with whatever was inside, but she didn’t know video games.

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield didn’t really care about why games were there as long as they was something new he could try. “That’s cool just hurry up Rach.” He insisted as he took her hand and pulled her quicker towards the game store.

Normally this would’ve embarrassed Garfield, but since it was an act that he didn’t think about, there was nothing to be worried of in his mind. Once at the entrance he let go and walked in looking at the amazing assortment that was available. “Ooo Rae what about this?” He held up a case of Mario Kart 8 deluxe, smiling with hope.

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel stumbled behind Garfield as he basically dragged her into the shop. He was like a kid in a candy store, so excited to see all the games inside. Rachel didn’t understand the point of video games, but the excitement was infectious enough for her follow dutifully along without complaint.

He held up a car racing video game, some sort of deluxe game thing? She remembered he and Cyborg used to play this other car racing game all the time. It seemed like a pretty simple game. How much could there be to it? There’s a go button, a stop button. Turning buttons. She could do that easy enough.

“That looks simple. What makes it deluxe? Isn’t it just another racing game?”

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield looked at the case and for the first time in a while his mind seemed to think rapidly. He normally wasn’t able to tell you stuff like nine times twelve or anything like that, but when it came to three things Garfield could be considered an expert. Video games, animals, and comic books.

Garfield looked as if the answer popped into his mind and relayed the thought to Rachel. “I think cuz I’m the old Mario Karts you can only hold one item but in this one you can hold two, AND there’s double mystery blocks. There’s also maps and dudes you can be that isn’t in the regular one.” He nodded his head, feeling his explanation was sufficient before asking Rachel another question. “Do you wanna pick a different one?”

 

[Beckspace]

It was fun watching Garfield use his brain to come up with an answer. She didn’t really care about the answer. It was clear that this was the game he wanted to get, and she wasn’t going to deny him that.

Rachel scrutinized the room, as if thinking about another game. She hadn’t realized how many game consoles there were out there. It seemed silly that some games were only for certain consoles. Why couldn’t they just make a console for them all. She didn’t have that problem with books or music really.

“You’ve convinced me,” Rachel replied finally, looking back at him. “We should go with this game.”

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield waited anxiously for a final verdict from Rachel, feeling her opinion and choice to be just as important as his. Once decided on, Garfield gladly walked over to the short line, thanks to their quick decision, and stood behind the sole person in said line. “I’m telling you Rae, this game is so awesome. You get to customize all sorta stuff like your wheels and cars and gliding thingys.”

Garfield would’ve continued but the grumpy employee was ready for him to move forward in line. “Hurry up sir, I don’t have all day…” said the older man who’s name tag read “Bill”. Garfield stepped up and put the game down, reaching into his pocket to get his wallet. “Sorry dude, I was just excited. No need to be such a downer.” Bill looked at Garfield with cold, bloodshot eyes. “Listen son, my names not dude it’s Bill. That’ll be 64.19.” It seemed that he had a bad morning.

Garfield swiped his card and pocketed it with his wallet. “Listen man, I don’t know who spoiled your tofu but I’m just tryna buy some games to play-“ Bill handed him his bag and receipt. “I could care less dude. Go play your games so I can do my job, something you most likely don’t have.” Bill commented, eyeing the skateboard.

Garfield narrowed his eyes at the older man before taking his things and heading out the door without another word. “C’mon Rae….” Some people never made much sense to him, especially those who seemingly want to be mean for no reason.

 

[Beckspace]

As someone who works in customer service, Rachel knew first hand how rude people can be. She was used to people throwing their weight around to get what they want or to make themselves feel superior. It didn't make it right, but it did make the scene that played out before Rachel typical. So why did it make her so angry now? She crossed her arms and leaned her weight on one side, tapping her fingers against her arm in impatience. Garfield obviously looked annoyed at it as well, his good mood completely gone in an instant.

Her eyes turned white as black magic sneakily tied Bill's shoelaces together then crept up and tugged his pants down. She followed Garfield out as Bill yelped at his pants falling down and, failing to picks his pants, tripped over her shoelaces and landed face first on the floor. Customers pointed and laughed at Bill as he struggled with his pants and shoes.

"Here he was judging you and the guy can't even tie his shoes right," Rachel said in her usual deadpanned tone, but she was trying very hard not to smile. It was a childish prank, yes, but she knew it would make Gar feel better. It certainly made her feel better.

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield turned towards Rachel and then looked over at their grumpy cashier. It seemed the man was going to have an actual reason to be upset now that his pants fell around his ankles. Even though his mood was soured the comic relief from Bill’s mishaps made him burst out with laughter.

“Rae, there’s no way you’re not laughing at that!” Garfield stated as his shoulder’s lightened up, feeling much better now that the rude dude got what was coming to him. He pulled the game out of the bag and held it up to the sky before holding it in front of Rachel. “Look Rae, we can play as soon as we get to my place!” It was clear his excitement was back and he was ready to invite Rachel to his video game world.

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel grinned at Garfield, glad he bounced right back into his happy mood. Maybe it was his excitement extruding itself onto her, but she was actually interested in seeing what was so “deluxe” about this racing game. She wasn’t going to tell Gar that though, he may have a heart attack.

“Maybe one game, but don’t we have to get ‘your tiger’ ready soon? Contrary to what Bill believes, you do have a job to do.” She reminded him.

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield put the game back in the case and groaned in the most dramatic way he could. “But Rachel…..work suuuuuuuucks.” He wasn’t going to disagree with Rachel because he did now need to work in order to maintain his gaming addiction and food addiction. Oh yeah and he has to pay for his house and stuff but they weren’t as important.

Garfield put his elbow on Rachel’s shoulder and held his board and bag in the opposite hand. “You’re right though…” That’s when he realized something that he needed to explain to Rachel. “You know it’s pet hard to sneak out of a apartment as a tiger.” He admitted. “I had to paint myself somewhere waaaaay different when I was a elephant.” Garfield remembered having a personal little area at the filming area but he would still need the help of Rachel who wasn’t allowed there.

Garfield realized how stupid and complicated this all sounded but it somehow worked. “Actually now I’m confused…” He confessed while they made their way back towards his place. After a few quiet minutes, Garfield pointed to a building “Rae I bet you’re gonna love my place. I even got it nice and cleeeeean for you.” Garfield explained.

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel hadn’t yet put it together that once painted as a tiger, Garfield would have to stay as a tiger. There was no way s they could sneak a tiger out of the apartment. Before she could question how this would work further, they had arrived at said apartment. Like most apartments in the city, it didn’t look like much on the outside. Knowing Garfield for as long as she had, she could imagine how it would look like on the inside, a mess.

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” she said, crossing her arms. “But I’m sure it can’t be worse than your old bedroom if you put in an effort this time. Do you have roommates?”

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield shook his head as he walked up the stairs to the highest level. “Nuh uh. If I had roommates that means I gotta walk around with a hoodie all the time.” He pulled out his keys with his free hand and unlocked his door, showing a high ceiling, studio apartment. The living room, kitchen, and dining room all attached.

There was a long sofa and a coffee table to match. His TV was on top of a stand with different consoles in each slot and game cases stacked up next to the stand. Garfield had a bean bag chair close to the TV for when he wanted to veg out. On the far wall of the living room was a balcony with a chair on it, overlooking the Titan Tower. Garfield even had a tire swing installed in the back corner for when he did want to become an animal. It was surprisingly tidy thanks to his late night antics minus the waffle plate in the sink and syrup on the kitchen table. “Welcome to casa de Garfield.” He looked a little proud of his humble abode.

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel was amazed at the place Garfield was able to get for himself by himself. It obviously wasn’t always this clean, probably not ever, but the attempt was made and he actually did a good job of cleaning it up. For her.

It was all very Beast Boy. The tire swing. The bean bag chairs. She walked further inside to inspect the video game consoles and games. There were so many! And he had it all to himself. She had thought he would have been one to get roommates, albeit it would be hard to find accepting people of a has-been superhero roommate. She just couldn’t imagine Garfield alone in this nice big apartment. He was the one who liked people.

“Ok, I’ll admit it. It’s pretty cool, Gar,” She confessed. Her eye caught the view of Titan Tower, a similar view as the window in her apartment with a slight angle difference. She wondered if he looked at it every morning too. Maybe it was why he chose this place. She couldn’t help but stare and think about what they could be doing right now, if things were different.

Rachel shook herself out of it and turned to the TV. So, how do you play Mario Kart?”

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield was glad his home had been Rachel approved which meant all the work he had done last night wasn’t for nothing. He walked over to the TV and bent over, putting the new game into his Nintendo switch. “Ok so there’s like two ways to play. You can use the buttons to go, drift, stop, AND turn. Ooooor you can use the buttons to go, drift, as stop while you turn it like a real wheel.” He explained, handing Rachel a proper controller.

Garfield walked over to the bean bag chairs and pulled the two side by side in from of the TV before sinking into one. “C’mon and chill out Rach.” He insisted as the console started up the game. “All you gotta do is pick your person and pick your car, but you gotta look at the stats and stuff to make sure you don’t make a slow car.” Garfield at least thought it would be fair to explain things as he picked green Yoshi of course.

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel slowly lowered herself onto the bean bag chair and tried to figure out the controller. Two ways to use the controller? She copied how Garfield held his and scrolled through the characters.

Shy guy called to her, so she clicked on the character and chose the blue colored one. As for the kart, she had no clue what to look for. There was one called Standard Kart, so she went with that.

“Ok. I think I’m ready,” She said, trying to get comfortable in the bean bag. “How do you start?”

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield’s cart was quite funny as it looked like the head of a caterpillar toy with small wheels. He reached over and tapped Rachel’s controller, turning on the guide so she couldn’t fall off the maps. That way she could at least learn how to play properly. “Ok so you press a to go then you press b to stop and go reverse. Press the right back button to drift and the left back button to use the items you got.”

Garfield made sure to put it on 100cc and the computers on normal. Even if he wanted to be competitive, his priority was to make sure Rachel was having fun. “Alright, eeeveryone knows this trick and all you gotta do is when the guy counts down, when he hits two you hold down the go button.” He failed to mention if she did it too early she would burnout but only because he too had forgotten.

 

[Beckspace]

“Sounds easy enough,” Rachel said. She watched as the screen changed to a race track. Her shy guy sat in his kart towards the front of the pack of racers. It seemed pretty silly, all these cartoon characters in ridiculous vehicles about to run a race.

A little turtle on a cloud floated in front of the racers holding a traffic light. Rachel remembered what Garfield said and quick held down the A button as numbers counted down to go.

“3…2…1…Go!”

Immediately, Rachel’s kart spun in place, smoke popping out of the engine.

“What happened?!” She cried as other racers drove ahead. Finally she was able to move, but she had some ground to make up now.