"Hurry up, Rob, the movie's starting!" Beast Boy called from the couch, where he was balancing a gigantic bowl of popcorn on his lap.
Robin glanced up from the table he occupied, its surface covered by manila envelopes and newspaper clippings and legal pads and all other sorts of drudgery that one would expect from the workaholic Boy Wonder.
"What're you watching?" he asked absentmindedly, flipping a pen over his fingers as he spoke.
"We are watching a magnificent film about a baby elephant with disproportionately large ears," Starfire chirped, floating over to the couch holding a DVD case.
Beast Boy hopped up, just barely managing not to dump the popcorn all over the ground, and snatched the DVD from her hand.
"Dude!" he whined, crinkling his nose. "Dumbo? Cy and I cut short our all day video game marathon to watch this?"
Starfire beamed. "And are you not glad that you did so?"
Beast Boy slumped down on the couch, pouting about how he never gets to pick out the movies they watch.
Suddenly Raven materialized through the floor on the opposite end of the couch from Beast Boy, scaring the changeling out of his wits.
"Stop doing that!" he cried, clutching his heart. "You know I hate that floor morphy thing."
Raven rolled her eyes. We've lived in the same house for four years," she said. "I'd think you would have gotten used to it by now."
Beast Boy's reply was drowned out as the hydraulic doors whooshed open loudly and Cyborg stepped in.
"Pizza's here, ya'll!" he cried, effortlessly balancing ten pizza boxes on one hand.
Robin sighed. He was midway through some very boring paper work concerning taxes and whatnot and he hated to put off until later.
"You guys go ahead," he told his teammates, "I have to finish this up."
Starfire gasped. "But Robin, you must witness the beginning of the Dumbo! How else will you be able to explain it to me if I have questions?" She gave him her saddest, most pleading puppy face, making him swallow heavily.
"Well I guess I can finish this stuff later," he said quickly, clearing his throat. He picked up his T-Com from the table and tried to tuck it to his utility belt. The communication device just clattered to the floor. Frowning he picked it up, immediately realizing why his effort had failed.
"Has anyone seen my utility belt?" he asked, eyes quickly scanning the room.
Raven glared at Beast Boy.
"What?" the changeling cried defensively. "It wasn't me this time, really!"
"Well hurry up and find it," Cyborg told his leader, "Pizza's getting cold."
Robin scratched his head. "I don't know where I would have left it."
"Laundry room?" Raven offered.
"Nope."
"The gym?" Cyborg offered.
"I don't think so."
"Star's bedroom?" Beast Boy offered.
"Beast Boy!" Robin said in annoyance.
"Perhaps you left it on the roof this afternoon when we partook in swimming, Robin." Starfire offered.
Robin exhaled loudly. "That would make sense. It's got to be there. Thanks, Starfire."
"You are most welcome!" she beamed.
Robin hustled out of the room towards the elevator, the quickest way to the roof. He couldn't believe that he had forgotten his belt. He never did that.
Shaking his head he boarded the elevator, waiting patiently as it rose up to the top floor. Upon getting out he walked over to the staircase that led to the roof. His boots thudded against the concrete steps, which echoed off the walls of the narrow passage. When he reached the top Robin threw open the door and stepped outside, swinging it shut behind him as he peered about. As the door slammed he heard the telltale, metallic sound of the lock clicking.
Shoot, he thought in aggravation, spinning around. He tried the handle, but it would not budge.
Alright, so he was stuck on the roof until someone else came up and opened the door from the inside. He glanced around. It was getting dark.
Hold on, he had a lock picking kit on his utility belt. If it was up here, he would easily be able to get back inside. He scoured the roof, carefully looking in and around the pool and around the door, but the belt was nowhere to be found.
By this time he was starting to panic a tiny bit.
If it wasn't up here, where could it be? What if he left it somewhere outside the Tower? Just think about what would happen if a villain got his hands on it! Chaos! Pandemonium! The city would be destroyed!
Robin took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
Alright, he was overreacting. But seriously, where could it be?
And perhaps even more pressing, how was he going to off the roof?
He thought longingly about his grappling hook and T-Com, neither of which was available to him in his moment of need. It was getting dark, and he cursed his decision not to have lights installed on the roof.
"At least it's warm tonight," Robin thought to himself, sitting down against the edge facing the doorway. "Besides, when they realize I haven't come down they'll go looking for me."
Now all he had to do was wait, and that would be simple. He'd just practice saying the alphabet backwards or make a list of possible Slade headquarters locations. Let's see, there's always those abandoned warehouses in the factory district, and then there's the mountains near the outskirts, and there's –– Crap, was that a raindrop?
Robin held his hand. Sure enough, several large water droplets landed on his skin. It was only a matter of seconds before it was drizzling steadily, and he jumped up quickly. He crossed the roof and pounded on the door.
He had much better things to be doing than getting soaked to the bone alone on the roof! Why wasn't anyone trying to find him? He had been gone for almost twenty minutes.
Giving up, he sat down against the door, hoping that it would offer him a little protection from the rain.
Minutes passed slowly, and the rain only fell harder until Robin was thoroughly drenched and quite pissed off. His once perfect hair was now limp and falling over his eyes, and spandex pants were not comfortable when wet.
He didn't know how long it was until the rain stopped (his watch unit was, of course, in his utility belt), but the once starry sky had clouded over until the only light hitting the roof came from the dimly lit city.
Robin angrily unlatched his saturated cape and hung it over the roof wall, ruing the day he opted not to make his uniform waterproof.
He started pacing. "Chill out, Robin," he commanded himself, "Don't let this get to you. Any minute now they'll open the door." God, he hated feeling helpless!
But although he forced himself to be calm, the minutes continued to march by without a sign of his loyal team. Minutes turned into hours and the lights in the city were being turned off as civilians retired for the evening.
Around what he figured to be eleven o'clock, he tossed his cape on the damp concrete floor and flopped down on it. Maybe he'd try to get some sleep. Then when he got inside he could go back to that paperwork he still had to sort and file.
And so he laced his fingers together and rested his head on his hands and attempted to fall asleep. After quite a while of tossing and turning on the not so comfortable at all concrete, he was able to nod off.
The next thing he knew someone was calling his name softly and nudging his arm. Slowly reality drifted into his groggy head and he opened his eyes. He tried to jump up but got his feet caught on his cape and just managed not to fall.
He heard a high, feminine giggle. Even if it was too dark to make out who his mysterious savior was, he would recognize that laugh anywhere.
"Starfire!" he called, happy as he ever had been to hear her. He impulsively reached out to where he suspected she was standing and hugged her.
Starfire giggled again. "Robin, what are you doing on the roof?" she asked.
"I was looking for my utility belt and forgot that the door locked from the inside," he admitted. "What time is it?"
"Nearly midnight," Starfire replied, "After the Dumbo ended, Cyborg traced the location of your utility belt to your bedroom. We assumed that you had decided to retire for the evening and forgo the movie."
Robin shook his head in aggravation. His bedroom? He left his utility belt in his bedroom and hadn't thought to look there first?
"When I went to bid you a good night you did not answer and I decided to find you," Starfire explained.
"Thanks," Robin replied sheepishly. "Sorry about that."
"There is nothing to be sorry about," Starfire replied kindly. "Come, why do we not go inside and return to the common room? I would be most happy to tell you about the Dumbo while you consume the left over pizza."
Robin felt his stomach growl and couldn't wait to get inside.
"Sounds great," he agreed happily.
So the two Titans walked inside towards the common room.
Yes, Robin was still all wet, and yes, under any other circumstances he would have been quite cranky indeed, but somehow being with Starfire now even made being stuck on a wet roof seem rather insignificant.
Author's Notes: Well, what did you think of my first story? Please leave me a review!