#avaaaaaa i hope you like this!!!

[bluerene]

don’t think twice [bbrae]

hellooooo friends!! Happy belated Valentine’s Day! 

I had wanted to share a few one-shots for my tumblr valentines earlier this week, but after getting swamped with a paper and a surprise fever, I realized I would not be posting anything in time for the day of hearts :( That said, I still have some gifts to upload so I’ll be staggering these out over the next few days in celebration of my favorite ships and my favorite people on this website and in this fandom.

So, without further ado, my first Valentine goes to @fireflyxrebel , without whom my starx fics + writing presence here would not have existed. Thanks for always being down to chat, Ava, and being the sweetest + most supportive mom friend ever. You’re an astoundingly beautiful, creative, TALENTED human. Love you lots!

Please note - if you’re using tumblr mobile to read this, the formatting will be 100% fucked. I’m not sure why, but there are a lot of random instances of italicization + gross spacing. Sorry <3

Also, not to used cursed terminology, but it’s a tiny bit lemon scented. Or is it lime scented? That’s right, folks, we are BACK on the citrus scale. 

don’t think twice 

How did I live in a kingdom of thieves? 

And people who say things they don’t really mean?

You’re only everything I ever dreamed of.

You must be kidding me, did you really think I could say no?

- Don’t Think Twice, Hikaru Utada

It wasn’t until they had crossed the threshold, their limbs entangled as they landed on the bed, her veil askew and his dress shirt half-unbuttoned, that they realized what they had done.

“Wife,” Gar whispered, nuzzling her neck sweetly. He curled his body around hers, breathing a sigh of relief as they sank into the soft duvet of their bed. 

“It doesn’t feel real, does it?” She mused, studying the silver band on her finger with wide eyes, “after everything that’s happened, I didn’t know if things would ever work.”

He chuckled and pressed a gentle kiss to her temple.

“You had doubts?”

“You didn’t?” 

“Well, I wasn’t sure if you’d make it all the way down the aisle and still say yes.”

She elbowed him sharply, rolling her eyes. 

“Careful, it’s not too late to get an annulment.”

“You’d just do it all over again in two months like we planned,” he said cheekily. 

Raven smiled, raising her hands to cup his face. 

“Yeah,” she agreed, “you’re probably right about that.”

Her cheeks were pink when she leaned in, brushing her lips against his teasingly. He whimpered when she pulled away, catching her palm and pressing his mouth against it, watching her with dark eyes. 

“Help me get ready for bed?” 

The desire that had pooled in his stomach gave way to pure adoration. He nodded and clambered off the bed, bounding over to her side and scooping her up into his arms. 

She suppressed a giggle and wrapped her arms around his neck, allowing him to carry her to the bathroom. 

Gar flicked on the light and whistled, admiring the polished marble and crystalline glow that filled the room.

“Not bad for a shotgun wedding, huh?”

“We owe Kori big time, you know. She was ready to cry when I told her we wanted to elope early.”

“I’m surprised she didn’t follow us here.”

Raven snorted, patting his chest to let her down, “Believe me, she tried. I had to remind her several times that we would still be having a formal ceremony in December. This was her compromise - she insisted on booking the most expensive honeymoon suite in Vegas in exchange for her silence. I have no idea how she’s going to explain that gap in their finances to Dick.”

“Best sister ever,” Gar commented affectionately, nipping his wife’s ear, “okay, where do we start?”

She touched the top of her head and frowned, wrapping her fingers around the band of the veil that was half-attached to her hair. 

“There are some pins here that you could take out. And then start on the buttons on the back of my dress? I can take the choker off myself.”

“Sure.” 

Her hands went to the clasp of the white ribbon around her neck while his combed through her hair, unpinning the purple waves that were contained beneath the sheer fabric. He glanced around the bathroom, his gaze landing on the massive claw-foot tub that sat a few feet away from them. 

“Hey, Rae, how does a bath sound?” He murmured, sliding the veil off of her head and placing it beside the sink.

“Bubbles and all?” 

“I’m on it, can you finish your dress by yourself?”

She nodded, smiling at his reflection in the mirror.

“Just undo the first few buttons and I can do the rest.”

He took his time with them, not missing the opportunity to press his fingers against her bared skin. Her eyes fluttered shut while he did so, her mouth falling open when his breath warmed her flesh. 

“Don’t get distracted,” she warned.

“Me? I would never,” he teased, pressing a kiss to the back of her neck before seating himself on the edge of the tub. He turned on the faucet and placed his fingers beneath the flowing water absentmindedly, his attention fixed on her. 

Gar spent more than his fair share of time wondering how he’d been so lucky. How, after years of fighting and facing the worst of the world, he had wound up tasting heaven and claiming a piece of it for himself. Moreover, allowing himself to be taken time and time again by its allure, ferocity, and wit. 

Even in the weeks leading up to their wedding, a tiny part of him was certain it wouldn’t happen. It couldn’t happen. Arella would withdraw her blessing. Steve and Rita would blow them off in favor of a mission that required their immediate assistance. Something would get in the way. And as the first ceremony neared, Gar began to panic. 

On the sixteenth of October, two full months before their scheduled trip to Azarath and the subsequent white wedding they had planned to host in Jump, Gar asked Raven to marry him again.

She had only raised an eyebrow, shutting the novel in her lap and setting it aside on her bed. 

“I feel like we already had this conversation.”

“I mean, now. Like, now, now.”

She pursed her lips. 

“What about the actual wedding?”

Gar shook his head, bouncing with excitement. 

“Don’t you see? None of that stuff matters, Rae, not when we have each other, not when we want to get married and we’re ready to do it.”

Raven crossed her arms, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Okay, what’s wrong with you? I thought you were excited about doing a bigger thing. The whole Doom Patrol promised to be there, everyone in the Network is showing up, Vic’s been planning the ‘bachelor party of the century’ for ages. My mom’s even convinced the Head Priestess to let us bring the others to Azarath for our binding. We can’t just cancel on these people, Gar.”

“Is there something so wrong with me wanting to be with you for the rest of my life as soon as possible?”

She scowled.

“What is this, do you think we’re going to call it quits five minutes before or something? I planned on being with you for the rest of my life the moment I said yes to you. Isn’t that enough?”

“If words were enough, I wouldn’t have proposed at all.” He snapped, running a hand through his hair. 

“Okay,” Raven said sharply, rising from her seat, “I don’t want this to go any further. We aren’t fighting about this. So you can either tell me why you suddenly want to elope or you can walk away from this conversation, and we can pretend it didn’t happen.”

Gar squeezed his eyes shut and sighed tiredly, rubbing the side of his face.

“Sorry. That was too far, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I know.”

“You know I love you more than anything in the world.”

“I know that too.”

“I just, ah, I guess I’ve been waiting for something to go wrong,” he confessed, fidgeting nervously, “Vic and Sarah had to postpone their wedding twice because things came up. Kori almost died three weeks before her bachelorette party and Dick broke six bones saving someone else on their honeymoon. I’m so fucking tired of being afraid, Rae. I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want anything to get in the way. I just want you to be my wife.”

Her glare softened immediately and she stepped forward, circling her arms around his waist and pressing her cheek to his chest.

“I’ve been picking up waves of concern from you for weeks,” she confessed, “I just didn’t know if you wanted to talk about it. I’m sorry, Gar.”

He dropped a kiss on her head, rubbing her back soothingly.

“I got defensive. I shut you out. That’s my fault, not yours. But I still want to get married, right now.”

“Gar -”

“We don’t have to cancel our other plans, Rae, nothing needs to change! We can sneak off to Vegas tonight and get hitched and nobody would even need to know -”

She rolled her eyes, snuggling into his form.

“Bold of you to assume Kori wouldn’t find out.”

“- about us at the end of the day, right? I just want to be married to you. I want to call you my wife. No matter what goes wrong tomorrow or next week or the night before our marriage.”

“Okay.”

“So I don’t see why we can’t - wait, what?” Gar blinked and gripped her arms, pulling her away from him to study her face, “You mean it? We can go?”

She smiled and touched his cheek. 

“I love you, Gar. I would never say no to marrying you, no matter when you had asked. I just didn’t want you to make a choice you couldn’t defend.”

“So...we’re getting married? Tonight?” 

Raven nodded, gazing into his bright eyes. 

“Let me talk to Kori and see if she can cover for us. Go ahead and pack some stuff together.”

He morphed into a wolf and let out a loud howl, bounding around her excitedly before knocking her to the ground and licking her face enthusiastically.

“Down - boy,” she managed between laughs, scratching behind his ears. She rubbed her cheek against his affectionately and rose from the ground, adjusting her cloak and heading into the hallway. 

It would be a few days before they managed to slip away, having obtained permission and “the essentials that you must take with you if you wish for me to keep your secret!” that were so lovingly bestowed upon them by their dear sister. But in the end, it was absolutely worth it.

“GAR.” 

A loud shriek from Raven broke him out of his reverie, drawing his attention to the scalding water that was burning his hand. Gar yelped and pulled his hand away immediately, wincing at the stinging sensation on his reddened skin.

“Idiot,” Raven scolded, taking his hand in hers tenderly. She clasped her cool fingers around it and closed her eyes, breathing deeply.

“Azarath Metrion Zinthos.”

A gentle trickling washed over the injury, soothing it until the pain had faded to a faint tingling. 

“Thanks, babe. My bad.”

“Go and change out of your suit, I’ll finish making up our bath,” she ordered, shaking her head.

He obeyed immediately, loosening his tie and placing it with the growing pile of her discarded accessories. His suit jacket, dress shirt, and undershirt landed in a crumpled heap on the floor, his dress pants and socks following soon after. A fluffy robe hung invitingly beside the bathroom door and he couldn’t resist slipping into it.

“Done,” he chirped, approaching his new wife, who was also swathed in a fluffy robe identical to his. 

She smiled up at him, drawing her fingers out of the tub and shaking them dry. 

“It’s almost ready, though I’m tempted to just curl up in bed wearing these.”

“The goal is to get naked, not bundle up.”

“Maybe your goal is to get naked,” she shot back, “but mine is to be cozy.”

He grinned.

“We can get cozy and naked. Let me warm you up -”

“Oh look, the bath is full,” Raven said airily, smirking when his ears drooped, “I’ll add the bubbles, you can light the candles.”

“Do you plan on teasing me all night or...?”

She flashed him a rare grin, her dark eyes glinting mischievously.

“Would I really be your wife if I didn’t?”

Gar pouted and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face in her hair. 

“I love you.”

“I know.”

“I love you.”

“I know,” she breathed, placing her hands on his and lacing their fingers together.

“We did it. We’re married, Rae.”

His nose sought out her skin, his tongue tracing the shell of her ear slowly. Her dreamy sighs were music to his ears.

The jewel in the center of her forehead flared black for a moment, the lights around them flickering in tandem with each brush of his mouth against her body.  A growl rumbled from deep within his chest, the echoes of his inner beast stirring to recognize their mate. She smelled sweet and clean, like a burst of fresh air on the ocean breeze. 

“Gar,” she murmured, stepping away from the tub, “wait.”

She pushed him off of her gently, biting her lip as she studied him in the soft lighting. His eyes were a warm, dark, emerald shade of green, filled with desire and happiness and longing. His shoulders had broadened in the last few years, complementing his added height and sharpened jaw. But beneath the figure of a man, she could feel the same boy who had called her weird while never truly minding her weirdness. His heartbeat always quickened at her touch. His gaze always brightened. His ears always twitched.

“I love you too,” she whispered, slowly loosening the belt around his waist and pushing the robe off his shoulders. She turned her head, and he followed her gaze, promptly stripping out of his boxers and climbing into the tub. Slowly, with a quiet hesitancy he hadn’t witnessed in a long time, she raised her hand, sending black flashes of energy to each candle that had been placed in the bathroom. Her eyes glowed, and the dimmer on the light switch lowered, leaving them in darkness lit only by gentle flares. 

He watched unashamedly as the robe slipped from her form, revealing a band of dark blue lace that hugged her breasts and hips tightly. A strip of white lace sat high on her thigh, looking strikingly bright against the smooth grey of her skin. 

“Something borrowed and something blue,”  Raven said shyly, “I figured we could keep things a little traditional.”

“Yeah,” Gar replied, mouth going dry at the sight of his near-naked wife in the candlelight, “Something old and something new?”

She neared the edge of the tub, bracing herself with his shoulder and climbing in. 

“The necklace was my mother’s. I’ll wear it again in December. As for the new...”, she stroked his hair gently, “I plan to keep my new husband on my body for the rest of the night. That counts, right?”

“Works for me,” he mumbled, running his hands up her legs. 

“Careful with the garter, that’s borrowed. Feel free to tear into the underwear as you please.”

She stood before him, sighing with delight when he gripped her hips and pressed a kiss against the curve of her waist. He hooked his fingers beneath the garter and slid it down her leg slowly, tossing it in the direction of his discarded clothes before focusing on the dark lace that curved around her ass.

“Hell yes,” he hissed, nipping at the seams with his teeth. 

Bathwater splashed over the edge as his enthusiasm overcame him. She giggled and thrashed in his hold, her laughter turned to breathless moans and pants and cries, some of which were so animalistic they rivaled his own. Waves rode out into a quiet stillness until there was only her body and his, two pieces wrapped together to form a whole. He stroked her skin gently, lavishing the parts that had been darkened by his relentless mouth. They toweled off and drained the tub, wrapped in their fluffy robes once more, and snuggled into their bed, rejoining their bodies over and over again.

When morning came, it was to bring forward the two lovers into the life they truly deserved. 

I want you for a lifetime, so if you’re gonna think twice, baby, 

I don’t wanna know, baby, I don’t wanna know.

Everything is just right, but if you’re gonna think twice, baby, 

I don’t wanna know, baby, I don’t wanna know. 

If you wanna take it to an even higher level, 

all you gotta do is say the word you know I’ll follow,

If you wanna take it to an even higher level,

I don’t, I don’t bite.