Robin had been on his bed, stroking a small ball of fur that was simply resting on his chest. The ball popped up, revealing a tiny face with huge brown sparkling eyes and a miniature yet very slobbery magenta tongue. The tongue abruptly shot his way, attack his cheek with exasperating licks.

He laughed a little loudly. "Daddy loves kissies." He scruffed its ears tenderly and twitched his nose onto its. "Yesh he does."

It let out an adorable yelp and pounced around, shaking its butt and wagging its happy tail straight in the air. It seemed to give him a large grin before it yelped again.

He patted its head and cooed, "Who's the cutest wittle puppy in the whole wide world?" He pulled it close the a snuggle and combed his fingers soothingly through its fur. He kissed its adorable stubby nose multiple times. "You are!" He gasped excitedly and playfully. He shouted, "You are! Oh ho, you are! Yes, Bella, you're Daddy's wittle cutie pie." Her name was Bella, because Bella meant beautiful - and what name fit better than plain beautiful? And as he'd gotten to know her, she looked nothing like a Jasmine or maybe Emma or Claire or anything. It was perfectly Bella, and that was just the way it would be.

Robin really couldn't resist lifting the puppy in the air and tumbling her; he just loved watching her wriggle excitedly and gaze down at him with those gorgeous eyes. the eyes made him recall his own, and he hadn't glanced in the mirror to see his own for quite a long time; even showers, or changing, or any situation would be a haste for his own security.

She barked adorably. It made him chuckle, because it sounded like she had cotton balls in her mouth. And the best part was that she didn't even realize how endearing it was, and it was just hilarious for some odd and unapparent reason. But he just loved it.

He cooed to her, "I love you."

She wailed back, now panting from the extreme and uncontainable euphoria.

He gasped, even more elated this time, "I love you! Yes I do!" It only took a moment for him to transition to heavy gibberish and goofy talk. "Ahh googoogoogoo! Ahhh gagagoogoo! I wuvoo, booga bear!" He laughed.

Bella enjoyed being tossed in the air a few times. She curled up into the tiny ball of fur in order to hide, commencing a game of peek-a-boo.

Robin playfully said, "Ohp, where'd she go?"

There was a little hum, and soon the fuzzy face popped out again to surprise him. She belted out a bark as if she were shouting, "Peek-a-boo!"

He responded, smiling and acting shocked - because she didn't know the difference. "Oh no, there she is!"

He placed her down on the bed and rolled over onto his belly and elbows to directly face her. He gently touched his face to hers. It felt so wonderful and comforting to him, considering he was usually slammed against walls by villains or either being spat at or being treated like a man by his friends. Sometimes he just needed a soft side, whether he could admit it or not, and he knew the puppy wouldn't be mean or put up a fight or do any such thing - no matter how small - to hurt him or make him feel pain. And actually, she made him forget his aches and she cleared his fogged mind. And on those days where he felt too manly and thought he was tough enough to do anything (even the impossible plots to take down those enemies who were just too strong), she made him remember that everyone - even Robin - needed to just relax and take time for peace instead of burning up and straining every diminutive joint and tendon with boiling blood to chase something you know you just can't win over. She was the little stroke of consolation that recharged him and rescued him from the plate of pressure before it all spilled everywhere, and he liked that.

When he pulled away, she sadly reached out and ran her paw along his gloved forearm. She whimpered, hoping to obtain sympathy and more attention.

"Don't worry," he said with a grin, "I'm not going anywhere." However, with his luck at the moment, he heard the incoherent echoes of Beast Boy down the hallway, and he was sure that nut of a boy was heading to Robin's room. He knew he had to hide the puppy away, disregarding how much he didn't want to. Beast Boy and the Titans could never, ever find out about Bella. They would assume he was soft, and weak, and too emotional, and they would never take him seriously again. He already had issues with their cooperation sometimes, and by default he would have trust conflicts between he and them - but most problems were not even problems for him; hey were manageable or non-existent. But with his reputation assaulted with the sugars and spice would ruin his credibility as a good, strong, invincible leader. This situation would make everything pass the line so far that the line would no longer be visible for miles, and he would not seem stable enough to handle anything in their eyes. And he was too stubborn and knew what was best, that he couldn't let the fact he had a puppy alter his status and recognition.

He hurried to scruff Bella's ears one more time. He apologized quietly, of course in gibberish, and kissed her before telling her she had to go to sleep - what she had usually done when he had other matters. He grabbed his retracted staff from the bedside, tossed it into his open closet, and gasped, "Fetch, girl!"

She immediately obeyed. She didn't want to leave his side, however she could tell by the raise of his face and his tone of voice that he meant business and it was important (just like every other time).

He joined her in the closet to set up her makeshift bed, consisting of a folded uniform and a cape that she indulged in rolling around through. And finally, he stored away the staff and replaced it with a thick tug of war rope, a silent choice. She granted her a good sleep and closed the closet door, obviously leaving a narrow crack so she wouldn't be utterly alone and in the dark.

"Robin!" Beast Boy's voice obnoxiously screamed. "Robin!" With each repeat, he seemed to be even louder and even closer.

Robin took a seat at his desk and tossed out random papers that appeared like work. They were pretty random, but Robin knew Beast Boy wouldn't know anything about anything and wouldn't even notice the false appearance. It was routine.

Beast Boy pounded on his door right at that moment, causing so much ruckus that the sensors were activated and the door rushed open. "Dude!" The stubby kid scurried in.

Robin turned his head and raised his brow under his mask. "Beast Boy," he dryly said, with his serious tone that he would always use, "I'm busy."

"Robin!" It was obvious Beast Boy was quite apathetic at the moment, being ignorant with his yells of, "Cyborg won't give me back the controller, Raven just hit me upside the fricken head, and Starfire is rambling on about some 'glorg' stuff."

Robin glared, keeping his eyebrow raised though slightly higher this time. "I'm not your mother." He sighed and stood from the desk. "I don't have time for this, Beast Boy." He glanced at the closet door and just imagined Bella waiting miserably, just as sorrowed as he was inside. Of course he'd told her to go to sleep, but that didn't mean he couldn't squeeze one more cuddling session in until later. And now that he was thinking about it, he was really craved the sweet kisses.

Beast Boy was at the desk staring at the papers and nonsense. "Ooh, who ya after this time?"

"Beast Boy..." Now only if the boy would go away so he could bring Bella out just for a few more moments.

"Lemme guess... Slade?" When Robin didn't respond, Beast Boy gave another guess. "Hive Five?" And when Robin continued to stay silent, Beast Boy became more engaging as he nagged, "Ooh, can I help?"

Robin sighed again, now annoyed. Sure, he accepted Beast Boy's manner because he was who he was. But when he got to the point of being annoying - and especially preventing him from spending time with dear Bella - Robin just didn't desire to tolerate it and lacked the patience.

Now Starfire stepped in with a mixing bowl, immediately inquiring, "Robin, would you desire a taste of the glorg: a common dessert of Tamaran?"

"Sure, Starfire," Robin replied considerately, "but later. I'm kind of busy."

She was quick to say to Beast Boy, "And you, you have not obtained any of the glorg." She sounded a bit upset.

Beast Boy threw his arms out. "I don't want your 'glorg' or anything you make! If I don't know what it is, I'm not eating it."

She began to ramble on and follow after Beast Boy as he hurried out. Behind them was the voice of Raven, demanding they shut up, as well as Cyborg's, screaming about the glorg and telling Raven to chill.

Robin scurried to the closet and couldn't wait to scoop Bella up. He took a seat a bit away from the desk and utterly cradled her in his arms, dug his face down into hers, and cooed while he kissed her repeatedly. "Oh, I wuvoo. Yesh, Daddy does. You're Daddy's wittle boo."

He turned his head up to see Raven, suddenly standing in the doorway and staring.

"Uh..." Robin muttered, frozen head to toe. All fear raced over him. Here was someone witnessing him with a puppy, especially cradling it like a child and smooching it. Could it be worse?

She dryly told him, "Between everyone, this is the least weird thing I've seen all day. I really couldn't care less."