INCOMING MAILBAG! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

Golem XIV – thanks, I won't let the story die, I've just been busy with everything else.

shugokage – thank you sir!

Guest – thanks, going forward I will be concentrating more on this story, so stay tuned!

Guest – I will! Glad to hear that!

Foamsatmouth – isn't it though? Yes, she's very tsundere. "Just because I don't want you talking to other girls doesn't mean that I like you, b-baka!" lol

Fawhead – well, this isn't exactly soon… Please don't kill me?

TheForceIsStrongwithThisOne – yeah, she can be. I think because it's a fairly new emotion to her.

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"Whoa whoa whoa!" Garfield cursed under his breath as he dropped, and flattened himself against the ground, narrowly avoiding a flaming sedan as it sailed overhead through the night. Instantly he popped back up. "It's a red light, jackass! Cars are supposed to stop!" He hollered, pointing at the traffic light over his head.

Cinderblock roared and hoisted another car, this time a minivan.

"Oh shit."

The minivan hurtled towards him, and, too slowly, Garfield rolled to the side to avoid it. He wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time. Just before impact, Garfield felt a familiar chill surround him, and jerk him to one side. The vehicle passed by him harmlessly, and tumbled down the street. The dark aura deposited him on the ground, and he turned to say thank you, but Raven was already heading towards the fight. Garfield frowned unhappily. She hadn't deigned to speak to him in the two days since the party, and Garfield was feeling fairly conflicted about it. On one hand, he appreciated the break. Constantly having to rein himself in around her was beyond exhausting, and he needed his rest. On the other hand, he was beginning to feel… not good… inside. An exactly unpleasant feeling.

But what the hell did I do?

You don't think she was jealous, do you? You were paying an awful lot of attention to other girls after spending all afternoon with her.

Fat chance. More likely, I was too loud or something, and her anger was compounded by the fact that she was also drunk.

Drunk enough to let her guard down, and show her true feelings, perhaps?

You're delusional.

Says the man conversing with the voice in his head.

Blow me.

"Wildling! Pay attention!"

"Huh?" Garfield was pulled out of his thoughts to see Cinderblock charging towards him as he fled from the others. "Oh, Jesus Christ!"

Thinking quickly, he turned into a T-Rex, and spun, using his massive tail to clothesline the cement monster. The force of the blow sent Cinderblock toppling backwards, crashing into the ground, and cracking the asphalt. Nightwing was upon him quickly, freezing their opponent's limbs in place with a few well-placed discs. Garfield slammed one massive clawed foot down on Cinderblock, pinning him even further into place. The villain soundly thrashed, it wasn't long after that the authorities showed up, and had the baddie safely tucked away in a specially made van. Nightwing strolled up to Garfield after debriefing the police, a look of mild concern and curiosity on his face.

"You all right today, Wildling?" The masked hero asked. "You seemed a little out of it back there."

Garfield wasn't surprised that his leader had observed his distracted state. "Yeah, it's just the voices in my head." He explained glibly. "We were discussing what kind of snack we should have when we get back."

That's not what we were talking about.

"No, we're getting strawberries!" Garfield told himself rather harshly.

Nightwing chuckled, but then leaned in to speak more quietly. "It's this thing with Raven, right? The argument you had the other day."

Reluctantly, Garfield nodded. "A little. I think I just have to apologize is all."

"So, why don't you?"

"Well, I'd like to know what I'd be apologizing for."

Leaning back out, Nightwing regarded him thoughtfully. "I don't know if this helps, but whenever Starfire is upset with me, I start out by apologizing first, and then seeing what I can do to make it up to her. It doesn't always matter what you did wrong."

"If you haven't noticed, Raven and I don't exactly get along like you and Star do." Garfield waggled his eyebrows, and grinned. "We don't get into arguments for the benefit of makeup sex."

The masked hero scowled, and crossed his arms. "That's not why we get into arguments. Look, far be it from me to get in the middle of whatever is going on between you two, but as leader I'm telling you to resolve it quickly. If we face off against a new, or more powerful villain you might not be so lucky."

Garfield sighed. "I know. I'm on it."

Nightwing nodded curtly, then went to go finish organizing the cleanup. Garfield turned and started walking towards the T-car while discreetly observing Raven. She was helping by moving some of the larger rubble and debris from the streets to a better area, and currently had her back towards him. Without her old cloak on, he could see her curvaceous figure. Of course, he'd always known that she was off the scale, crazy hot, but now, with those pants that hugged her legs, legs that went up, up, up to a tight a–

Gah! Bad Gar, bad! That's enough of that! He quickly averted his gaze.

I don't know. I think I could stand for a little more.

His hand came up to meet his brow with an audible slap as he pulled open the car door, and got in the backseat.

Why the hell did I come back here?

Because Raven's here.

No, that's why I left.

Then because we were unraveling out there.

I'm unraveling here. More so.

Maybe. But with our pack, maybe not. Being out there would've undone us, reduced us to savagery.

Like you wouldn't love that.

We are as much human as we are animal. To deny either would be very bad.

The door opened, and Starfire said something he didn't quite hear. He got the idea though, and scooted over to sit in the center so that she could get in.

So, I am the duality of man, personified and then intensified by a thousand. That'd be almost poignant if you weren't such a goddamn headache.

I have my moments. So, how are we going to get back into Raven's good graces?

No clue.

We have to figure something out.

I'm working on it.

The door on the other side opened, and someone slid in next to him. Garfield stiffened, and retreated slightly to give Raven enough space on her side. He managed to look at her, and found her regarding him with a dispassionate expression. He threw her a quick, tense smile, and then averted his gaze to the front of the car. She was definitely still super pissed at him.

Christ, I hope she doesn't kill me before get the chance to apologize.

Fingers crossed.

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Raven watched him give her a forced smile, and then look pointedly away from her. He was still upset from the party the other night, and rightfully so. She had blown up on him for no reason, and all he'd been trying to do was make sure she was comfortable. Now Raven was in the unfamiliar position of having to apologize, and she was having trouble coming to grips with it. It was a disconcerting realization that she didn't quite know how to apologize for something. Well, she knew how, she just couldn't bring up a memory of ever having to do so before, and thus found the prospect rather intimidating. Which was ridiculous because this was Garfield she was talking about. When was the last time he'd ever held a grudge, or not forgiven someone for something?

But it's been two days, and he hasn't spoken a word to me…

The nagging voice in the back of her head had a point. Garfield had never done something like this before. If this had been when they were younger, Garfield would not have left her alone for more than a couple hours at most. But they had, all of them, grown up, and she couldn't truly say that she knew him after five years' separation. The idea that Garfield could come to hate her over something stupid like a random argument curdled her already sour mood. Thoughts began crossing her mind, anxiety rising within her. Would he ask to transfer to another team? Would he denounce their friendship, or run away again? Raven closed her eyes and repeated her mantra several times silently, calming herself and gaining control again. No, he wouldn't do those things, or run again, Raven was sure of that. He had to know that she would just come after him again, and when she found him, there would be, quite literally, hell to pay.

Cyborg, and then Nightwing finally got into the car and the team pulled away from the crime scene towards the Tower. The other thing that had her distressed was the glaringly obvious fault on her part. In the clear light of day, and sobriety, there had been absolutely no reason for her to go off on him like she had. Sure, he had been talking to a lot of people that night, and there had been drinking, but Garfield had conducted himself as a model hero. It wasn't his fault that women at the party had practically flocked to him. He'd even turned down a few invitations to dance, so it wasn't like he was just going with any of them to get laid, like Raven had practically accused him of. She really had no idea what had made her snap. Probably just the fact that she hadn't meditated that day, and spent a large part of her evening surrounded by people, first with the paparazzi, and then at the party. Yeah, that was it. There was no weird underlying anger at the women of the party at all. At all.

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The main problem was how to approach Raven in a way that wouldn't get him sent to another dimension. The actual vehicle for the apology probably didn't matter too much. His ideas ranged from finding a mystical way to anchor himself to this reality, to shamelessly begging her not to hurt him. As he stared ahead, different scenarios played out in his mind. That last one was not a particularly manful way to go about it, but if worse came to worse… Garfield shook his head. Scratch that, not exactly the best face to show his mate. What if he tied himself to the ground, would that work? Nah, most likely not. Raven could cut through rope, and chain like they weren't even there.

You just thought of her as our mate.

What?

Just now, you thought of Raven as our mate.

No, I didn't. He had. Shit.

You totally did.

I didn't! Fuck it, just shut up.

You know you can't lie to me, right? Literally impossible.

Shut. Up.

Back to the matter at hand, it was most likely better to keep it simple. No elaborate plans, or convoluted schemes. Just a good old "I'm sorry" and a contrite look would work. Probably. Hopefully. He should do something for her too. Just in case.

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Her face totally neutral, Raven went from staring at the back of the seat in front of her to out of the window to her left. So, how does one apologize for being a total bitch? With some sort of gesture of kindness she supposed. Unfortunately, she was terrible at those. What do people even do to say sorry? Bake cookies? Well, beyond tea she was an absolute disaster in the kitchen, so that was out. Nothing else really came to mind. Video games? Raven had no idea about any of that, and she wasn't about to ask anybody to help. Movies? That might work, she had an idea of what his preference was, kind of. Wasn't there a new movie out? Professor Odd or some such thing? It seemed exactly like what he'd be into. And they had been talking about how he still had a lot to see at the café before the party, so it was a safe bet that he hadn't seen it yet.

As they finally pulled into their garage, Raven floated up through the roof of the car, and the ceiling, all the way up to her room, where she sat down at her desk and opened her laptop. She opened up a ticket website and looked at times during the coming weekend that would be appropriate. Deciding on tickets in the late afternoon, she printed them out of her personal printer that she bought herself. The vouchers safely on her bedside table, Raven got ready to sleep, and resolved to give them to Garfield tomorrow. Brushing her teeth, she wondered idly who he would go with. Probably Cyborg. Maybe one of those girls from the party. Raven spat into the sink. That would be fine, she didn't care.

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Garfield awoke early the following morning, and yawned his way into the kitchen before anyone else. Being comprised of literally all animal life, his sleep cycle was a chaotic one, and forcing himself to go to sleep or wake up at a specific time usually left him a bit tired. However, he decided that the best way to apologize to Raven was to present her with a hot breakfast, and fresh cup of tea. Doing so was not an easy feat, as one had to wake up before the crack of dawn, and also know how to make tea in the way that she normally made it. Garfield spent some time the night before trying to remember exactly how she took her tea, and even watching a few ViewTube videos to make sure he didn't fuck it up. He did not want to make her more pissed.

The heel of one hand rubbing the sleep from his eye, he filled the kettle with water and placed it on the stove, setting it to boil. Then he went about cutting fruit, and preparing waffle mix for her breakfast. Garfield didn't boast any sort of superior skill in the kitchen, but he did well enough after having to cook his own meals as a vegetarian. In any case, he was done with the meal before too much time had passed, and set it all up on a tray to take to her room. The waffles sat on the plate, covered in sliced strawberries, bananas, and blueberries, a little cup of syrup off to the side. Her tea steamed in her favorite mug with just a hint of honey, and he even had a glass of orange juice before her.

Taking the whole thing in his hands, he, very carefully, began walking towards her room. He made it there with no incident, and stopped before door. This was, as they say, the moment of truth. Garfield shifted the tray so that he could support it with one hand, and lifted the other to knock on her door.

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Raven opened her door only to narrowly avoid being trampled as Garfield first swung his arm, and then stumbled after it through her doorway. In a spectacular display of clumsiness and quick reflexes, she watched him as he tried to keep his feet, and also what he was carrying from falling to the floor. After what seemed like longer than necessary, he slid down to the ground in a kneeling position, and placed the tray on the floor. Strangely, it had her tea, and a plate of waffles on it. Garfield looked up at her with a triumphant grin.

"Almost lost it…" The words, and the grin fell away as Raven watched. He looked around frantically, obviously realizing where it was that he sat. "It was an accident!" He stammered, shooting up to his feet.

She didn't outwardly express it, but Raven found all this very amusing so early in the morning. This was good, exactly how Garfield should be acting. Seeing this immediately made her feel better.

"What exactly are you doing?" She asked, dryly monotonous.

"Well, you know, it's breakfast, and I'm sorry, an– I mean, it's apologizing for breakfast!" He said frantically, waving and gesticulating wildly with his arms. Raven would've laughed if she hadn't already caught on to his purpose here. He quickly facepalmed when he realized he was just spouting nonsense. "With breakfast. I'm apologizing with breakfast."

"You shouldn't have." She replied.

"No! Well, I mean, it's the least I could do. You were so upset the night of the party, and then I came over and made it wors–"

Raven shook her head. "That's not what I meant. You didn't do anything wrong that night. I was the one at fault. I was agitated because I didn't get to meditate that day, but that's not an excuse to take it out on you by hurling you across the room."

Garfield looked at her, confused. "What about what you were saying? About me and the girls there?"

Raven practically winced at the reminder. "Like I said, I was agitated as well as frustrated. Plus, I had been drinking. I didn't know what I was saying, and I didn't mean any of it."

One of his hands came up to rub at the back of his head. "So then…"

"What I mean to say, Garfield, is that I'm the one that should be sorry. I am sorry." Raven looked down, embarrassed, but glad that she was actually apologizing. "Do you think you could forgive me?"

He stood wide-eyed for several seconds before his hands started waving about again. "Oh, hey, it's no problem Rae! I mean, no harm no foul, I'm perfectly fine, and I was just worried that I had done something wrong! That's what usually happens right?"

As he continued talking excitedly, her eyes were suddenly drawn to the tickets waiting on her bedside table. Now was probably good time to give them to him. However, as she realized the opportunity before her, her mouth grew exceedingly dry. All of a sudden, she was really nervous about giving him two lousy tickets.

Don't be silly Raven, they're just tickets. Give them to him, they're part of your apology.

But she couldn't. She couldn't even open her mouth to get the words out. Raven watched as Garfield picked up the tray and placed it right on top of the tickets, but still didn't say anything. Why the hell was she panicking about this? Eventually he passed her on his way to the door, and stepped out into the hall. He turned around and smiled at her.

"Okay! Well, guess I'll see you later then. Sorry about going into your room." He said with a sheepish smile.

Raven merely shook her head to indicate that she wasn't angry, still finding it hard to speak.

"All right, well enjoy your breakfast while it's hot. Made with love and all that." He said as he began walking away, giving her a small wave.

The door closed with Raven still inside her room, and she leaned her head against it, mentally kicking herself. What the hell was wrong with her? They were just stupid movie tickets, and she practically had a mental breakdown over handing them to him. Sighing, she went over and sat on her bed, pulling the tray into her lap so that she might begin eating.

Wait. Made with love?

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Garfield slammed his head on his desk for the tenth time since he returned to his room.

Made with love? What the hell.

Smooth, that. Subtle.

Seriously, blow me.

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Well, this took entirely too long to get out. What's it been, like, six months since I've written anything in this story? That's my bad. Furthermore I forgot where I was going with this a little bit. I have an overall idea, but I'm sure I had a bunch of little ideas that have slipped my mind now. Whoops. Guess I've just been a little busy. With life, and writing other stories, and procrastinating. Seriously, I have like no discipline. Hopefully this chapter was all right. I promise that I'll be prioritizing my three main stories over everything else now.