Impetus of Growth
Starfire giggled and sighed as she leaned against Robin and gazed at the night sky littered with scintillating stars. She felt a great sense of comfort and warmth with Robin, the sweetest, most thoughtful person she had come to know. Is this what having a "boyfriend" is supposed to feel like? Since she had no prior experience with having male relations, she felt it more satisfying than she had expected to have Robin's eyes trained on her, and only her. Robin placed a kiss on Starfire's cheek and subsequently pinned her down onto the grass, tickling her mercilessly. Without a doubt, he cared for her, and she for him.
After a bout of playful antics, Starfire sat up seriously.
"I am still quite unsure as to what the purpose of having a 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend' is, Robin. At my previous home, I have heard of such things as arranged marriages and such, but no affiliation prior to that." She frowned and stared curiously at Robin.
"Um, I guess it's so that we can get to know each other better before…getting married I guess? Here we marry for love, so being boyfriend and girlfriend just gives you time to be sure. I guess you could say that you get to decide whether or not you want to marry the person?" Robin mused, not sure how to tackle the subject.
"So a relationship is always initiated with the intention of marriage?" Starfire smiled, jumping at Robin's words despite his uncertainty.
"Not really… I mean, some people start relationships just to have fun or just to get experience with other people," he countered.
"Oh..." Starfire nodded her head, crestfallen. "Which is the reason you wished to have a relationship with me, Robin?" she lit up, sitting straighter than before.
Robin panicked, his thoughts swimming sporadically with all the possible responses. Did he know himself what his intentions were with Starfire? All he knew was that he liked her, and she apparently liked him, and they worked well together. He couldn't say that though, or it would seem like a copout.
"I…uh…you…-"
"It's ok Robin," Starfire whispered, seeing his blank expression. She smiled outwardly, but felt as if part of her hopes and affection for Robin had been crumpled violently. "After all, our relationship has just begun. Forgive me for asking such an intrusive question."
"No, Starfire, I want to answer you, I really do, but I can't right now. I'm still trying to figure myself out, so I'm not ready to give you a good answer right now. When I have one, though, I'll let you know." Robin smiled that charming smile, helped Starfire up, and led them back to the Tower, hand in hand.
"Hey guys, what took you so long? I ordered pizza!" Cyborg scurried around the kitchen and living room and hastily presented the coveted cheese pizza.
"We were just talking. Pizza sounds great, by the way." Robin chucked and let go of Starfire's hand.
"I am feeling tired, Cyborg, so I think I will go to sleep early," Starfire yawned and retreated to her quarters.
Once inside her room, she glanced at a picture Beast Boy sent her from his travels of a river among the colorful, lush landscape. Although she had received it over a week ago, she enjoyed casually picking out details previously unnoticed, such as the absence of all visible wildlife except for a single orange fox cub with its head facing opposite the camera in the direction of the river. What was the fox trying to do? she often mused. Is it lost? Will it ever make its way beyond the river?
In a faraway desert…
Beast boy's forehead glistened with sweat as he sparred with a traveling mercenary. He wielded a light straight blade in one hand, switching hands or gripping with both occasionally to remain unpredictable. His opponent chuckled heartily as he swung a single longsword with both hands, varying his stance and strength in his attacks. Beast boy danced gracefully around the mercenary, vying for an optimal position. Because the experience of sparring with each other was no novelty to either of them, they had to sort out a plethora of possibilities and strategies to keep the other guessing.
"You should become one of our king's dancers instead, Gafi, if you intend on winning a fight while prancing about like that." "Gafi" was a mispronunciation of Beast Boy's name (Garfield) that one of the locals had inadvertently called him and taken a liking to. Before long it caught on like wildfire and everyone in the small town was calling Beast Boy "Gafi."
Suddenly, the mercenary lunged forward in Beast Boy's direction, but grunted in dismay when the young boy deftly parried the blade upward towards the sky, ducked under the blade, and delivered a harsh kick to his legs, knocking the mercenary down. He quickly recovered from his compromised position, but Beast Boy had already kicked his opponent's blade to the other side of the enclosed dirt area and pointed his own blade at the mercenary's neck.
"You have learned much from you time with us, I see. You have much better use of your body and the sword. You have much to learn still, but I know you can use these skills in addition to your existing ones," the mercenary declared with a glimmer in his eye.
"Thanks, Ra," Beast Boy exhaled, untying his headband and placing the strip of cloth into his bag. He had unique abilities indeed, and the only one he had shown his shapeshifting to throughout his six months of traveling was Ra. Even with such abilities, Beast Boy knew he had to master more than just shapeshifting to become a leader and a formidable defender of justice. He had to build his character, self-discipline, fortitude, and arsenal of skills to use against the enemy. Hours upon hours of meditation, grueling physical training, trekking across miles and miles of uncharted regions, and absorbing as much information as he could from his experiences and everyone he met had transformed him into an entirely evolved person. A new fire burned inside him. No longer was Garfield content with subpar results or being classified as benign by countless enemies due to his childish behavior.
"I see the sun," he whispered hungrily as he closed his eyes. "I'm almost there."
A/N: Thanks for reading, guys! Please please please leave any suggestions or point out any glaring mistakes you may find. This is my first fic, so I'm not completely sure what I'm doing :) I hope to have another chapter within a week or two.