Teen Titans belong to DC Comics. Do ya'll see a DC swoosh on my forehead? Didn't think so...

A New Garment

by Lelila

Time: A few months after the team has formed.

Robin had no idea how he'd gotten himself into this mess.

Scratch that.

He knew exactly how he'd gotten himself into this mess.

Starfire.

She'd wanted to go to "the mall of shopping" as she called it. She'd pestered Raven on and off all morning. When Raven finally locked herself up in her room and refused to answer the door, Starfire had come to him. She had looked so sad, and despite the fact that he had a lot of work to do, his protests were brief and the next thing he knew, they were zooming towards the mall on his R-cycle, Starfire's arms coiled tightly around his waist.

"A trip to the mall won't be so bad," he'd thought to himself as they zipped along. "We'll get some pretzels (with lots of mustard, she'll like that), go to the sporting goods store and check out some training equipment, maybe go to the arcade. Yeah, this could be fun."

They stopped first for the pretzels. He'd been right about the mustard; Starfire bathed hers in the yellow condiment and ate it as if she were starving. He wound up giving her half of his as she finished hers so fast, but he was okay with it as watching the pure joy on her face was better than any food-court treat.

He then suggested that they head over to the sporting goods store, and while the glow in her eyes had dimmed a bit, her smile remained as bright and she'd followed closely as he started through the mall's corridors.

They'd only gotten about halfway to their destination when Starfire paused in front of one of the shop windows. She looked a bit perplexed.

"Robin," she'd said, "These garments look Tameranian in origin. I was under the impression that Earthlings generally covered more of their bodies."

"Generally. But these are swimming suits."

She'd blinked at him with that wonderful curious expression. "'Swimming suits?'"

He'd laughed in spite of himself, but she didn't seem offended. "Yeah, clothes you wear when you go swimming." He frowned. "Do you know how to swim?"

She'd grinned, and Robin had felt himself go momentarily weak in the knees. "Yes, of course!" she replied. "However, Tameranians wear no clothing at all when we swim."

Robin had felt his eyes cross. Luckily, his mask hid it. "Um, well, we don't. That's why the swimsuits are so...brief. To be as close to wearing nothing while still wearing something."

"I see." She'd paused. "We have a pool for swimming at Titans Tower, yet I have never availed myself of it. Perhaps I should purchase one of these garments so that I may do so?"

"Um..." Robin coughed to keep his voice from breaking. "Yeah, that's a good idea."

"Glorious!" She grabbed his hand. "Come, you must help me choose!"

So now here he was, sitting on an uncomfortable bench outside the dressing room inside a women's clothing store, waiting for Starfire to emerge for the fourth time. Everything she'd modeled so far had been stunning. Robin had seen more than his fair share of well-toned women in skin-tight clothing in his young life, but Starfire seemed to have them all beat, even if she wasn't quite done developing yet. She was round in all the right places and firm in all the others. He'd had to close his eyes behind his mask in order to get his mouth to form words to answer her when she'd asked how she looked.

The curtain drew back and she stepped out wearing an emerald green string bikini that somehow managed to be both quite small and modest at the same time. She examined herself in front of the three-way mirror and asked his opinion.

"It looks...um...it's really..." Robin coughed several times and shut his eyes again. "It's really great, Star."

"Robin, are you ill? You have been expectorating quite often this afternoon."

"Huh, what? Oh no, I'm fine..." he trailed off as he made the mistake of opening his eyes to see her standing over him, three small pieces of cloth being the only things between him and his head exploding.

"You are certain? You do not seem quite yourself."

"I'm fine," he reiterated, squeezing his eyes shut again.

"Well...very well," she conceded. "Do you have an opinion as to which of the suits for swimming I should purchase?"

"You look great in all of them, Star," he was surprised to hear himself say out loud. "But maybe...the last one you tried? It um...goes well with your eyes." Seriously, did he just say that out loud?

"You think so?" He peeked open one eye to see her re-examining herself in the mirror. "It does match my coloring well. Very well, the green one it shall be!" She went back into the changing room and Robin exhaled in relief.

As Starfire reappeared in her uniform, Robin thought he'd never been so happy to see a fully-dressed girl (not that he looked at a lot of undressed girls, but, teenage hormones and all...).

"Robin, are you certain you are not ill?" Starfire asked again as they left the store. "Your coloring is quite odd."

"Odd?"

"Yes...you were quite red while we were in the store, and now you seem quite pale, paler than usual."

"I um...I just need some fresh air. Come on, the rotunda in the center of the mall opens its skylights on days like this; that'll be good enough."

As they neared the large open space, Robin pulled in a few deep breaths, but lost it again as Starfire stepped into the sunlight. The sun lit up her hair and made her skin seem to glow a little. How did he get so lucky to have such a goddess on his team?

"Robin? Are you feeling better?"

"Huh, what?" he snapped out of his reverie. "Yeah, yeah." He made a dramatic showing of taking some more deep breaths. "Exactly what I needed, thanks."

"I welcome you," Starfire smiled. "Do you own a suit for swimming, Robin?" she asked after a moment.

"Somewhere, I'm sure."

"Then perhaps you could join me in the Titans pool of swimming so that I may try out my suit later today."

Robin felt his throat close and forced himself to take some more deep breaths. "S..sssurrree..." he finally stammered out.

Another contest entry. I dashed it off in a couple of hours; it's kind of stream-of-consciousness in some ways; I wrote it pretty much as it came to me. I'm not a hundred percent happy with the first half; it's supposed to be in past tense, but I'm not quite sure how that came out. But for a quick little one-shot, I think it's okay.

Yes, I am still working on Curse of the Bat. Next chapter is about half done. It'll be worth the wait, I promise! Maybe a few good reviews for this will rev the muse up for that...