The door slides open. He knocks on the frame, one hand behind his back. "Hey, Star. Mind if I come in?"
She looks up from her position on the bed and beams. "Oh, doubly not, Robin! Please do enter!"
He complies, looking around (sniffing) as he walks up and sits beside her. "I think this is the first time I've been inside your room. Smells nice like you—I mean! Um, your room, it's very nice, that is, like you!"
A glowing hue of red blooms across her cheeks and her eyes shine much brighter than before. "Your compliments are well received," she giggles and wraps her arms around his shoulders, her cheek in contact with his, "your bodily fragrance is also aromatically pleasing, dearest Robin."
He blushes. "Heheh, thanks, Star, but I think what you're smelling is actually this," he says and holds out the arm behind his back to reveal a bouquet.
She gasps in delight, hands over her bottom lip, "They are wondrously beautiful!"
He smiles shyly and rubs the back of his head as she hugs his offering. "G-glad you like it. I picked them myself, so I was kinda, heh, worried since I pretty much have no idea about flowers. I mean, I know they'll wilt quickly if you don't put them in water and, um, I wasn't really sure how to arrange them and—"
"Robin," she smiles, a finger on the boy's lips, "do not worry. I love them."
He exhales in relief, grin midlly awkward. "Heheh, thanks, Star."
"It is I who should be giving the thanks," she says, leaning in. He mimics the motion, and shortly their foreheads are touching. Both have goofy smiles.
She laughs softly.
He grins. "What's so amusing?"
"Heehee. I am simply finding enjoyment in making you do the flustering, for once. It is most adorable."
"Adorable? Star," he whines, "don't call a guy that. It makes them feel, I don't know, silly."
"Oh fear not, dearest Robin. For it endears me for you to be likened to an infantile Flarnop." She wraps her arms around him again. "And it so does make me wish to hug yooooouuuu."
"Well," he grins, an arm holding her from behind, "I guess I can live with it then." He blinks. "Hey, what's all this stuff lying around?"
"Oh, yes, I must show you!" she exclaims, directing their embrace toward the small field of scattered items, including but not limited to photographs and even what he recognized as a piece of dried thornak, "Behold! I was in the glorious progress of assembling these trinkets for encapsulated temporal partition!"
"Umm," he utters before understanding perks, "Oh! I get it, you're making a time capsule?"
She nods vigorously. "Do you remember? We have borne witness to such a ritual performed by all the little bumgorf at the school. I have longed to emulate ever since. With our recent triumphant return…" she trails off.
"I know," he says, pulling her closer, "I think it's a great idea."
Her smile is infectious.
The two of them lean into each other and share wordless companionship.
"Do you remember?" she begins, making him turn to her, "The day you have shown me the fireworks and the vanishing candy of cotton?"
"Yeah," he nods, "I don't forget."
"Earth is so very different, filled with so many wondrously peculiar things. I was…enraptured by the warm aura of this plant and its people. I was eager to experience the different, to embrace what may came. With you and our friends, I am blessedly happy."
They gaze at each other. "But now there is now a fear in me. Fear for the unknown. My home…our home changed when we were not here to see. Suddenly, I do not like different. I dread that time inevitable, I shall…forget. A-and I d-do vehemently wish to avoid such an outcome. So I have begun the gathering of pieces of our time memorial, to perhaps serve as a… reminder… … for all that I dearly cherish." She bites her bottom lip. "I am being petty."
'No," he states, "No you're not. I understand. It's the same for me, for all of us. Change can be scary, because we seldom see it coming. And sometimes we don't like those changes."
He takes her hand in his. "But change can be good, too. Remember Tokyo?"
Her eyes shine a little. "Yes, of course."
He smiles. "Well, that was change. Big change, for me."
"It was a momentous change for me as well."
"See? There're some really good differences happening around us. We just need to remind ourselves. All of us. The Titans. Whether it's to accept or fight, we'll do so together."
She cups his cheek with a palm, emerald eyes shimmering. "Truly… … Thank you dearly, Robin."
He stares into her eyes, contemplative, then: "Richard."
She blinks.
"Before Robin, there was Richard Grayson, a boy who was struck by a devastating change, leaving him with a scar that never could mend. That is, until he met someone strong and kind, and very very pretty. And he couldn't be happier for the change."
Her lips tremble. She tests his name, a little shaky, at first. But soon the utterance becomes solid. Full of life.
And the next moment, the distance between their faces disappears.
When he could see her eyes again: "…I think… … that was change, too."
She leans into him, humming in content. "It was… …" she grins, "nice."
He laughs a bit. "Just nice, huh? Ouch. And I thought the word 'nice' didn't have an equivalent in Tamaranean?"
"But you forget, dearest Richard," she says, eyes full of mirth, "I cannot be considered simply as a Tamaranean. I have…changed."
"Heh, touché."
"And fret not," she giggles, "I am certain you are capable of improvement—eep…!" After thirty seconds. "… … … Mmmmm… …"
"So," he breathes, one hand rubbing the small of her back and the other stroking her cheek, "how was that?"
"… … … unforgettable," she whispers, eyes half-lidded, breath heavy and husky.
"Heh," he grins, "that's good to kn—"
As well as the next one and the next… …
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He pulls back and sits down, background shrouded in darkness and tangential dim lights.
"So… hey there, Robin. Or Nightwing. If it's the former, then hopefully it's at least far enough down the timeline that this recording doesn't become a waste of time. How's the city? Did they finish constructing that new subway station? Or better yet, ran into so many complications such that progress has ceased indefinitely because the entire basis of it is a ten miles long security risk. You better be taller. Figured out a way to deter Silkie from eating all the boots in the tower? Did Beast Boy ever manage to get his moped? Is Raven still her lovably sourpuss self? Has Cyborg married the T-Car yet? Does…Terra come back to us?"
He leans back slightly, interlocking his fingers.
"Having returned…home, I've—no—the whole team, has realized something so impacting in its simplicity. The new shops. The new streets. New people."
He looks straight ahead.
"Things change. If there's any profound universal constant that prevails in this cosmos with which we reside in, it's that things change. I know—we know this. And I can only wonder what sort of changes will take place as time drags us along for a ride. But I know this. I won't forget. I refuse to forget. The things I've seen. The voices I've heard. The battles I've fought. The heroes I've met. The emotions I've felt. The all-encompassing glory that is being alive. She showed us that. And I won't forget it. Not the Titans. Never the Titans. And never her. She… she's a fiery beacon of all that I could ever hope for. Without a shadow of a doubt, the most precious life that could have arrived via crashing hostile alien space cruiser. Heh, now that was something unforgettable. For, you know, ahah, obvious reasons."
He sits forward, elbows on his knees.
"You Know Who would say we're being deleteriously foolish. Dating within the team always leads to trouble. Distractions. Emotionally compromised. Weakness through proximity. The sad thing is, there's some truth in those words."
He looks away.
"Vulnerability. It comes with the package of being strictly human. The human body can be amazingly durable, but more often than not, it is the weakness of frailty that's brought to the forefront. For vigilantism, for what we do, that weakness entails the need for distance. Between those we protect, between friends, between teammates, and sometimes even between family. With enough distance one can perhaps overcome one's blind-spot. React to danger. Avoid the killing blows. But…if there's anything I've learned from being part of a team, it's that there's no such thing as 'keeping distance'. Eventually distances will stretch, further and further. And before you know it, Rekma. You're alone, watching others far out in the horizon. And that spiritual distance hurts everyone involved. She taught us that. Told us the consequences. And gave us hope at the same time."
He looks down.
"I'm still a bit uneasy about it. Being exposed. Being willingly vulnerable. It's more or less a complete contradiction to my training, to the virtue of our purpose. We and the self-imposed tragedy with which we wield as a weapon to strike apart the thunderclouds and bring forth some semblance of light for those whom desperately need it. Just so someone wouldn't be caught between despair and a hopeless place. But above all that… I just want her to smile. Because she deserves to be surrounded by such positive energy more than anyone else on this biosphere. Because in the end…if she doesn't smile, none of this matters."
He smiles.
"I'm such a selfish brat. Even now all I'm thinking about is how to hoard her all to myself. Keeping the precious light of her life-fire exclusive to me. Gawd, I just know I'm going to mess up. Say the wrong thing, or do something invariably stupid. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, or even next month. But I just know. Eventually. I'm going to be boy-blundering across the damn Pacific Ocean."
He laughs a bit, but then quickly turns solemn.
"If that's the reason you're watching this right now, then consider this a reminder. I won't forget. If there's any vow I'm willing to stake my mortality on, it's that. But if your memories are fuzzy and you're digging for guidance: first, kick your own ass, since I can't do it due to the whole temporal separation complication, and be creative about it. Then, remember. Remember that the world is livelier the longer and happier she exists. Remember that many a times the only reason you could keep fighting is because you believed in her and she believed in you. That her smile is one of the few reasons you could have ever smiled back. Remember. She's our Star."
He smiles again. "Alright, that was corny, but…that's how it is. Righteously and truly."
He stands. "I… … want to get her some flowers. Someone told me to awhile ago, but I brushed that advice aside like the idiot I was. And I think I've put it behind my mind for long enough. Well, here's to hoping I don't screw up. Heh, I wonder how this day will turn out? You know, of course. Too bad you can't tell me. Then again, I probably wouldn't want to know even if that was possible. I'm the one making memories with her. Ones, hopefully… … she'll never forget."
He reaches forward. The screen goes dark.
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…and the next and the next and the next… … …
AN: aka, go headbutt a cheese grater and die in a firepit, DC reboot.