Disclaimer: Don't own Teen Titans, which is owned by DC Comics and Cartoon Network (blah blah blah…do we have to say this everytime we write a new fic!). I also don't own Oreo McFlurries and Mr. Potato chips.
Author's Note: Hello everybody! librastar reporting back for duty with my latest idea/fic, SMS Me! Warning, slight fluffy RobStar. Enjoy, and here's the full summary!
Summary: What were mobile telephones invented for? Communication? Maybe! For romance purposes? Maybe! How? Via SMS! It's Valentine's Day tomorrow, and Robin desperately wants Starfire to go out with him after she comes home from visiting Tamaran! But how can he ask her if she's in outer space where there's no mobile communication or worse, if he's too shy to ask her? Why, with the Short Messaging Service of course! RobStar, set before Stranded.
SMS MeIt was a normal, sunny morning at Titans Tower as the five teenage superheroes sat at the breakfast table, enjoying their breakfast and the peaceful quiet in the Tower before their alarm rang. Beast Boy went outside for a while to fetch the morning mail.
"Anything good there?" called Cyborg. "Nothing!" they heard him say. "Just the usual fan mail and wait a minute…check this out!"
"Star, mail for you!" said Beast Boy, running into the room, holding a letter for her. It's not the average sort of letter, it's an inter-galactic letter. (A/N Okay, I made that up, it's a sort of letter that is delivered from other planets by rockets or shuttles or something for outer space. Like planet-to-planet thing.). It was still white in colour, but the stamps had weird shapes and there was a big red stamp across it with the words 'INTER-GALACTIC POST'. "It's an Intergalactic letter!"
Starfire took it cautiously, and upon seeing the big red stamp, tore it open in a hurried frenzy. "Whoa, slow down Star," commented Cyborg, as the envelope flew on top of his head. She quickly extracted the letter from the envelope and scanned through it. As she read through it, her brow furrowed. Robin looked worried. "Trouble at home Star?" he asked, knowing the only inter-galactic post she would have would be from her home planet, Tamaran.
She looked up, smiling. "There is nothing wrong on Tamaran," she said happily. "But my brother has sent me this letter telling me that he will have his coronation ceremony next week so that he can ascend to the throne as the Grand Ruler of Tamaran," she said joyfully. "But," she continued. "He requires my presence there next week as I am one of the royal family of Tamaran," she said.
Robin looked startled. "So that means you have to go home?" he asked. She nodded. "Yes friend Robin, but not for long. Perhaps a week or so, then I shall return back to Earth. Is it alright?" she asked, looking pleadingly at Robin. He looked at the other Titans. He sighed. "Of course Star, family first I guess and this sounds important." Beast Boy grinned. "Only thing is Robin will miss y…" Robin had clamped his mouth shut firmly before he had a chance to finish his sentence. "When are you leaving?" asked Raven from her corner, where she was reading her book.
"Today, if it is alright with everyone," she said , looking meaningfully at the masked leader. "The coronation is tomorrow." He nodded again. "Go on to your room to pack then, and take your communicator with you, and your cell phone," he instructed. "So that in case there's trouble, we can still contact you."
Earlier that week, Bruce Wayne a.k.a Batman had presented each Titan with a cell phone for "good services" to the community. They had been pleased and impressed with their good luck, for as Robin secretly told Cyborg, he must have been in an extremely good mood to be in such a generous fit.
Later that afternoon, all the Titans bade Starfire goodbye, as she flew on her long journey back to her home planet.
After Starfire went home, Robin began to suffer pangs of 'missing' her. He went around with a gloomy face moping when he was not training. He felt lonely without her cheerful smile greeting him every morning, and he missed her weird attempts to cook exotic alien food for the Titans' consumption. But most of all he just missed her, the way she was always there to comfort him when things went wrong or when he screwed up. To tell him that it was okay, to hear her speak his name and tell him that it was alright. He acted a bit like Starfire when he went away on a journey during the episode 'The Quest', remembering all the good times and 'romantic' moments they had shared.
Flashback (Date With Destiny)"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, the king and queen of this year's prom is…Robin and Starfire!" announced the MC.
Robin smiled at her, holding out his hand, smiling. "I guess one more dance won't kill me."
And they had shared a wonderful first dance together, beneath the moonlight, aboard that ship. It had been wonderfully romantic, and Robin could still remember how sweet she had smelled as they waltzed together, how beautiful her face had looked in the moonlight…
End flashback
Behind him, he heard whispering.
"Cy, it's just not like Robin to act like this. Do you think he's ill?"
"BB, he's just suffering from 'Missing Starfire Syndrome',"
"Oohh…"
Flashback (Sisters)"I am only glad that the truth was found out before I was replaced," said Starfire, hugging her knees, as the breeze whipped their hair.
"What are you talking about?" he asked. She looked surprised.
"But everyone was having such fun and then Cyborg said that…" Robin cut her off before she could finish. "Look, your sister was…interesting, but she could never replace you," he said, smiling at her. "Nothing, could ever replace you." Starfire returned the smile, and the two had spent a glorious morning together up on that sunny rooftop.
End flashback
Robin only groaned, as he tortured himself with more good memories and good times. The time when he had been riding the Ferris Wheel with her, all those times he had spent teaching her Earthly customs and delighting in the way her face lit up everytime she slurped mustard…What was the matter with him? He didn't usually act this way! Why, his father would be ashamed of him if he ever found out! He tried to distract himself with training and Game station, even eating 5 cheeseburgers and a whole packet of Mr. Potato to cheer himself up but it only made him feel worse.
1 week later, on the eve of Valentine's Day…
"Roy, I can't take this anymore," he groaned, as the two boys came out of the arcade. They had been spending the whole Friday morning at the Jump City Arcade, a weekly 'best friend' activity ritual that they both did every week. "Every waking minute is a living torture without her, I feel like some part of me is lost when she's not here, I feel…incomplete and insecure," he confessed.
His best friend chewed on his chewing gum thoughtfully. "She's coming home tomorrow," he ventured finally, as he spit the remnants of his gum into the trashcan. "What have you got to worry about?"
"True…but tomorrow's Valentine's Day…and I didn't manage to ask her out…" he groaned again. The agile archer snorted. "Then why didn't you ask her before she went home?" he asked accusingly. Robin shrugged. "There never was a chance, or a perfect moment or the alarm went off whenever I wanted to or…"
"More likely Richard Grayson just didn't have the bottle to ask her out," Roy finished the sentence for him sarcastically, but he had hit home. Robin coloured. "I…I…"
he stammered. Finally, he gave in. "Okay, you won. I chickened out." Roy snorted again. "It wasn't that hard to guess. So…how you're gonna ask her out? It is very late…"
"Too damn late to do any good," he growled. The boys walked into McDonalds and ordered two Oreo McFlurries. (A/N Does anyone like them? I love them!). They walked to a corner table and started eating silently, Robin staring into outer space and Speedy staring into the depths of his ice cream. Finally, he cleared his throat and said, "Well…there is a way…I'm not sure if it will work though…"
"What?" asked Robin quickly, standing up, his hand stretched out as if he was going to grab Speedy's collar. "Quickly Roy what?" The bowman looked at him. "You said she brought her cell phone there right…" he said quietly. "Yes," he replied. "So what?" He looked at Robin thoughtfully again. "I'm not sure if an SMS can be sent to other planets though…" Robin looked incredulously at him. "You mean…SMS her?" he said, laughing. "You know what, that's just plain crazy, not to mention stupid! I doubt aliens have a communication network let alone telephones!" He laughed at Roy again.
Roy looked angry. "Hey, I'm just trying to help! It's your last hope buddy…what have you got to lose?" Robin considered it. "Maybe we're not out of the range of the network…" "Besides," Speedy added slyly. "You're too scared to tell her face to face so why not do it…electronically…After all, we're living in the modern age Dick," he finished, grinning broadly. Robin snapped. "Fine, I'll try it but only because I'm desperate enough this time to actually carry out one of your hare-brained schemes."
He whipped out his sleek, gray camera phone and pressed the button for the 'Messages' function. He looked up at Roy. "I don't know what to put!" Roy groaned deeply, and put his hand to his forehead. "I swear, Richard, you are driving me nuts," he complained. "Just ask her out, keep it simple! Just say, Starfire, would you like to go out with me tomorrow? That'll do."
"Okay." He typed out the message slowly.
Starfire, this is Robin here. Would you like to go out with me tomorrow night since it's Valentine's Day? We could go see a movie or have dinner. Please reply quickly.
He pressed 'Send' and waited.
Meanwhile, Starfire's brother's coronation had finished earlier then expected and she had been able to leave Tamaran a day earlier. As she flew across Gotham City, she was surprised to hear her phone beeping. "A message?" she asked, surprised. She landed on the pavement, and took out her phone from her backpack. True enough, her phone was beeping, and her phone screen read '1 message received.' She pressed the 'Show message' button as Robin had taught her and read it quickly.
Starfire, this is Robin here. Would you like to go out with me tomorrow night since it's Valentine's Day? We could go see a movie or have dinner. Please reply quickly.
She let out a squeak of delight. Robin had finally asked her out! Fireworks dazzled and exploded inside her head. Of course she would say yes! Now, she just had to reply quickly. Dizzy with joy, she pressed the 'Reply' button and typed:
Yes, of course friend Robin! I accept your invitation for a Valentine's Day date. Perhaps we could watch a movie then have dinner.
Then, she sent it to him. Almost instantly, in the McDonald's café in Jump City, Robin's phone began to vibrate, and a polyphonic ring tone in the tune of Yellowcard's 'Ocean Avenue' could be heard. "A reply! They really do have communications network on alien planets," said Robin in wonder. "Yeah…" said Speedy, stunned. "I never actually thought it would work…" The two boys peered at Starfire's message.
Roy grinned in satisfaction at Robin. "Happy Dick?" he asked. "Very," he replied absentmindedly, still in wonderment of the existence of mobile communication on Tamaran. He looked at the message again happily.
"Now, tell her you love her," said Speedy. "WHAT!" exclaimed Robin. "Since we're into this messaging thing, you might as well finish the job," the archer replied. He grabbed Robin's phone and quickly typed.
P.S I love you
"Give that back you son of a …" growled Robin, trying to yank the phone out of Roy's hands. But too late, Speedy had already clicked the 'Send' button and the damage had already been done. Robin looked in horror at the phone, then at Roy's grinning face. "Cheer up Dick," he said cheerfully. "At least I did it for you. Now all we have to do is wait for a reply." Robin leaped at Speedy, grabbed him by the collar and began shaking him. "Why the HELL did you do that! Isn't that going a bit too far! We haven't even had our first date yet!" he screamed, oblivious to the fact that the whole fast-food restaurant was looking at them. "You…."
"Beep beep!" Starfire's phone beeped merrily again, announcing the reception of another message. "Huh?" said Starfire. She picked up the phone, and read Robin's message.
P.S I love you
Starfire gave another shriek of delight. This was too good to be true! Robin had actually said the phrase! Oh, friend Raven was right, he had said it now that she had been patient enough! She quickly typed a reply and clicked the 'Send' button just like Robin had taught her.
Back at McDonalds, Robin was just about to slam the rest of his McFlurry into Speedy's face when they phone beeped. He stopped, his face pale. Speedy took this opportunity to loosen Robin's grip on his collar and get free. "Open the message then," he said calmly. "You do it," said Robin, his face as white as chalk.
The archer shrugged, and read it. When he handed it to Robin, his face had a smug expression on it. Robin read it quickly.
I love you too Robin! )
Robin felt his entire face flush. He turned to his best friend, embarrassed. The archer laughed. "Well,that's what best friends and mobile telephones are for!"
Author's Note: The end! Phew! I didn't want to make it like toooo fluffy, I hope you enjoyed it. I thought it was a change from the usual mushy fluffy kiss ending you normally read in one-shots. Please review….remember, reading and reviewing go hand in hand…I'm hoping to get at least 5 reviews this time…that's all this time, see you some other time!