This was inspired by the lovely EmaniaHilel and her great story, "It Only Takes A Moment", or more specifically, chapter five, "Tea". If you haven't read that it shouldn't matter since I only make a vague reference to it in here. However, I still asked her permission, and she fortunately said yes! Seriously, though, go read her stuff, it's awesome. She's mostly a Rob/Rae, Speedy/Rae writer, but if you're not into that kind of thing, there's a few friendship fics floating around. Go look her up, I promise that you won't regret it, she's really good.

Disclaimer: Not even the idea is mine. Neither is Teen Titans. Don't I have any originality in me?!

--

The suggestion of ice cream had become commonplace in their tower.

Everyone liked some type of ice cream, so it was always a safe bet. And a teenager could go only so long without having a spoonful or two of their favorite flavor of the dessert. So it wasn't altogether unsurprising that it was suggested by someone one warm, late spring afternoon when there wasn't much going on.

Ice cream was also a safe activity to hide behind. You went for ice cream with people that you didn't necessarily think were your best friends, and one never felt the need to spill their life stories over a bowl of moose tracks (ignoring the fact that girls often seemed to eat whole pints of ice cream to stumble away from their misery while moaning about how their lives were ruined forever to their best friend. Robin didn't even know if that stereotype was true.).

It had been hesitantly suggested by Cyborg one day, not long after the Titans had been formed, and it was an afternoon not unlike this one, where no maniac was attempting to demolish the city or rob the citizens of their valuables. Video games had been played already, books had been read, and enough new words had been learned for the day.

It became a way for the five of them to bond without feeling uncomfortable or pushed beyond their limits. There was an added bonus that if someone was talking too much, or speaking about a subject that the others would rather not touch upon, it was ridiculously easy to shove a spoonful of ice cream in their mouth to shut them up.

Despite the minor roadblocks of brain, throat, and (Beastboy swore that this had happened to him once), stomach freeze that came from eating their bowls of dessert too easily, it began to happen more and more regularly, until it was shocking to go a week without hearing someone say that they should dig out the pints and have some cookies 'n' cream.

Eventually they had all talked about their lives, feelings and thoughts during these times. Sure, some talked more than others (you could hardly get Starfire to stop talking, once she really got going), and certainly not everything was learned and shared in such a casual manner (Cyborg had not figured out, against his will, that Raven owned a matching set of yellow undergarments until about midnight on a much later date). And if someone wasn't feeling like talking, they were never pressured to talk beyond their limits.

It almost became habit for the teens, and without realizing it, they had all come to enjoy it greatly, looking forward to when someone would get the bright idea to have another bowl sometime soon. Even Raven could endure all the company and talking for a while, because she found the voices and laughter soothing, sometimes even going so far as to join in for any amount of time.

None of those things were really hard to conceive, when he stopped to think about them. No matter who they were, they all liked the company of others (in extremely different amounts), and 

the ice cream was a gateway to something that none of them seemed to be inclined to start on their own. The dairy product was like a bridge, and not one of them could get to the other side without it.

Ice cream was just plain tasty anyways. All the flavors were out there, just waiting to be explored. Robin had never been too adventurous when it came to trying some of the wilder ones, but if prodded enough he was always willing to go for it. Of course, since Raven was the one who did most of the grocery shopping, the more unstable looking flavors were normally passed over, and the ones that you saw in generally every restaurant were brought home to enjoy.

So, as he sat at the counter with his team mates, Robin wondered just why he was so surprised by the weekly event. Nothing seemed to have changed. Raven was waiting patiently for her bowl, hands clasped together and resting on the countertop. Cyborg and Starfire were chatting about the uses for cardboard, the half metal man insisting again and again that you were not supposed to wear it. It was Beast Boy's turn to retrieve the materials needed for the proper making of the snack that all of them enjoyed so much.

The leader watched the changeling gathering everything required. He lugged the ice cream buckets out of the freezer and placed them on the smooth counter before him. Then he grabbed five bowls from a cabinet nearby.

From the refrigerator came the toppings one might decide to put on one's ice cream: chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, sprinkles, whipped cream, cherries, Oreos and a jar of peanut butter. Other things were pulled out that were not quite as expected: mustard, tomato juice and pickles.

Robin shuddered at the thought of what Star would put on her bowl of the dessert, but shook himself mentally and got back to the matter at hand. What was so confusing about ice cream?

The boy wonder continued to watch Beast Boy, as though some kind of answer could come from his actions.

Beast Boy then retrieved five spoons and an ice cream scooper with a huge grin on his face, anticipating the delicious snack that was soon to come. His tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth as he worked, diligently putting scoops into the bowls.

Once this was done, he licked the spoon for a moment, savoring the taste before dropping it unceremoniously into the sink. Without a second glance at the poor, mistreated ice cream scooper, he began adding the correct toppings to each of the bowls, brow furrowed in concentration, as though this was the moment that would make or break his ice cream-scooping profession.

When this was done, he left both the ice cream and the toppings on the counter, hurriedly placing a spoon in each bowl before turning around and smiling at his friends like he had just done the best thing for them in the world.

Which, essentially, he had. All appreciated the master who created the ice cream, whoever's turn it was to serve. Whether vocalized or not, it was there, and Beast Boy knew it. Robin could tell because the changeling stood up a little straighter and puffed his chest out just slightly. It made him look extremely stupid, and the bird had to cough to cover up a chuckle, but no one seemed to notice.

Raven, however, took note of Beast Boy's attitude and rolled her eyes, unusually restrained. Had it been any other time, a snide remark would have come the green teen's way, sharp enough to cut the air, and definitely pointy enough to deflate him.

But this wasn't any other time. This was ice cream time. And a truce had settled over the two. No teasing until everyone was done with their own bowls, and the five of them had decided to go do something else with their time.

And so, the bowls were placed in front of their respective consumers.

Robin had been first in line to get his, and he stared at it. It was in a bowl that he recognized, the one that said "Finished Already?" in big, red letters at the bottom. Inside, the contents were two scoops of French Vanilla ice cream, which Raven had recently bought at the store (the old one having run out instead of freezing over like their other food did). A light drizzling of caramel sauce was on top, but that was it. There were no other toppings.

Robin fingered his spoon, staring at the ice cream.

Cyborg noticed that he wasn't shoveling spoonfuls down his throat like the rest of them, and paused in his own gorging. He glanced at Robin, alarmed. "What's wrong, man, eat your ice cream."

Everyone else paused once they heard, and leaned out as far as they needed to, to see their leader's face. Beast Boy looked like he was about to cry. His eyes clearly wondered what he had done wrong.

And that was when it hit him. At that moment, Robin realized why he had found the notion of them eating ice cream had shocked and surprised him so much on this particular day. It was because he had gotten to thinking about it…

The first time that Cyborg had suggested some ice cream for them, they had all gone out to the store and bought their own tubs. Upon arriving back at the tower, each had prepared their own bowls with their own toppings.

This had gone on for a while, until one time, when it was suggested again, this time by Robin himself, Starfire had volunteered to make everyone's bowls, not just her own. The bird remembered everyone trying to talk the alien girl out of it, not wanting a repeat of another one of her pudding incidents.

However, Starfire had insisted on it, smiling at them and saying that it wouldn't right of her as a friend not to make their bowls for them.

Robin also remembered the distinct fear that had settled in his gut while watched Star create their desserts, one by one. He wasn't sure what exactly she was making, but he had a feeling that it wouldn't be good. A look at the other Titans, and their expressions were the same.

But when they had eventually been presented with their bowls of ice cream, there was nothing crawling, or with eyes, or doused in mustard for any of them except for Starfire herself. In fact, she had prepared them exactly as they liked them.

No one had said anything, for fear of hurting her feelings with their doubt, but it had shocked Robin to no end. He just hadn't made the connection that was suddenly ringing bells in his head now.

The bowl was a gift from Cyborg that he thought his leader would enjoy, which he did, immensely, and it was his favorite bowl as of now. Raven had gone out and bought the French Vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce that he enjoyed so much in the bowl. Starfire never questioned the quantity of the toppings on the dessert, and Beast Boy hadn't ever dumped more than two scoops of the ice cream itself into his bowl.

Somehow, sometime, they had all learned that he liked this bowl the best, with two scoops of French Vanilla ice cream and a light drizzling of caramel sauce as opposed to anything else.

But the strange thing was, he didn't ever recall telling them how he liked his ice cream. And none of them had ever asked.

Robin also certainly considered himself the most observant of the group, matched only by Raven, but it shocked him to find out that, if he thought about it, he could name how each of his friends took their ice cream as well and there was not one instance where he had asked them what they wanted.

Along the way, all of them had memorized it, probably without even noticing.

That realization stunned him. He was very deliberate in his actions most of the time. If he wanted to memorize something he did so. It was something that he thought about doing, and made an effort to achieve.

Why such a small revelation should shake his very foundations Robin did not know. But he resolved to never let something like this surprise him so much again. For, although he liked giving other people surprises, especially unwary villains whom he was trying to catch, receiving them was a different matter altogether.

Robin looked back up at his friends, the whites of his mask wide. They were unsure as to whether he was afraid, shocked or upset, but no doubt he would inform them if the expression was one of negative connotation.

"Robin…?" asked Starfire cautiously, frowning at his face and examining more closely. She couldn't imagine what could have brought on something like this. Her team mate seemed to have frozen.

At the sound of her voice, Robin shook himself awake, slightly embarrassed that he had allowed his friends to catch him like this. He smiled at them to relieve the uncomfortable atmosphere and shrugged.

The four others dismissed the occasion uneasily, and went back to talking and eating their now melting ice cream. With all the toppings that Robin knew to put on, and in the bowls that he knew they would eat from.

In a split second decision, the masked boy spoke up, "I think I'm going to have some chocolate sauce on my ice cream today."

Again, his friends stopped eating and looked at him, although this time they're faces had varying degrees of amusement upon them.

"No you won't." Robin's head spun to meet Raven's gaze. Her lips were slightly turned up, and the empath's eyes sparkled with something that he couldn't quite place, but he sure hoped wasn't laughter.

"I won't?" he asked, clearly a bit befuddled at Raven's knowledge of his decisions. She didn't know that he wouldn't. The bird looked around the counter at the other's faces. They were all smiling and shaking their heads.

Beast Boy stuck a spoonful of his double fudge chocolate in his mouth and spoke around the spoon. "The master commands you to eat the ice cream now!" but the enormity of the words were somewhat lessened with the muffled sounds that came along.

Star and Cy laughed together, both going back to their own bowls as well. Raven could barely contain her own snicker, ducking her head to hide it from any prying eyes.

Robin, however, just sat there. He slowly lowered his eyes to his bowl of ice cream, untouched and definitely on its way to becoming a milkshake. He raised an eyebrow, contemplating, and grinned. "You're right." He said, only loud enough for himself to hear. "I won't."

And he took a giant spoonful of ice cream into his mouth, despite the possibility of a serious brain freeze. They were right. He wouldn't.

--

Author's Notes:

So, there you have it. I tried to mirror my writing in this after Em's (can I call you that?) style, but I'm not sure how well I pulled that off, since it can be considerably different than mine (notice the 'can be'. My writing is very fickle.).

When I was writing this, I was afraid that it would be a half a page long random drabble with no plot. Well, it still doesn't have any plot, but it's past the half page marker, so I can consider it an independent oneshot. Yay!

Read and review please, especially you Emania, I really want to know what you think. -is slightly nervous-

Lay it on me!