It was midnight. Cyborg left to sleep in his room. Raven was reading a meditation book as Beast Boy watched a silent slapstick movie.

Robin had finally exhausted the possible strategic exercises he could torture himself with unto the point that his pacing in circles had hypnotized the ever attentive Starfire into a trance of almost asleep.

She had fought to keep her eyes open even as he insisted she go to sleep before him. She had denied being tired. Raven had whispered into his ear before he could argue. He stopped pacing and set on the kitchen stool beside her and talked to her quietly and soothingly until like a child she started nodding off. Catching up with the plot, Beast boy had turned off the tv and transformed into a cat that purred rhythmically into Starfire's ear. Finally she slept on the island's smooth marble surface and Robin gently lifted into his arms to carry her to bed.

And then there were two.

She continued her study of her book. He wanted to turn the tv back on but began to watch her, instead. He had started doing this a lot lately, the watching her. He thought about the long hard day they had had. Then felt guilty about his inward complaining, given how hard every day of her life was, always.

He couldn't imagine having to be aware of every emotional vacillation that zipped though his mind. He could not control his emotions but only be swept along with them. When they had first met he had respected , not her powers, but her attitude in coping with them. How did she do it? To strangers and citizens she appeared an unapproachable Goth. When she wanted to she could be completely invisible and so private that she seemed a world away but somehow always came back to earth for them, for their almost family.

She turned a page in her book.

But now it was the really little things he'd overlooked when he was a few younger that caught his eye. He remembered them now. Her scent was heavy in the air around the couch and He inhaled deeply through his nose and closed his eyes as he relaxed. It was dusty, and metallic like the corners of the tower, spicy like the candles of her rooms that made his nose twitch, like the damp shadows she hid in, and the volcanic embers of her birth world; all of which she tried to hide under the waxy smell of soap. He loved her scent. He flicked his tongue beyond the cage of his fangs to taste it a bit more. It was not so much a real flavor like any flavored tofu he he'd tried before, but a kind of promise.

She turned a page in her book.

But it wasn't just her scent he liked. Some were just small physical things. Like how her skin was as pale as the moon but much clearer and brought out the shadow of perfectly shaped lips and the violet that was her eyes. Like how those eyes could contort in darkness and shine with light while she kept the rest of her being stone still. The way she could walk while somehow gliding above the floor.

Some were fleeting almost invisible things but they told eons about who she was. How when she felt the hurt in someone else but rather than ignore the emotion she would close her eyes and let herself feel it, searching for its cause and the cure that would make them feel better. And when she acted on her impulse to help people there was no hesitation, just instant compassion. How her lips moved to shape words and by some sad miracle never made a shape with even a shadow of a smile.

She turned a page in her book.

He'd noticed things like that about her and caught himself thinking about her and every little move. It was as if he planned to memorize her. a part of him constantly accused himself of being obsessed. Dude, not cool, don't become a total stalker. But then he would calm down and be reminded by his brain that this was probably just puberty. His feelings were probably just a mix of misdirected emotions. Well, he did feel SOMETHING for her but not THAT way. …He guessed. But he knew the (maybe not real) feelings weren't mutual. She was seeing someone else and wouldn't say who. Not that it mattered he thought, it was just a (probably not even real) crush.

She closed her book.

She stood up and he followed her out, down the hall, up the stairs. At the turn where they had to part ways to their separate rooms he stopped. She looked back at him like she forgot he would have to. Well, did I expect him to follow me to my room? She wanted to ask if something was wrong. She could feel an odd feeling of torment seeping from him but it as vague. "Do you need anything?" she saw a flash of pink contrast against the green of his lips and the hair on the back of her neck stood up. Like he had TASTED HER. but that was ridiculous, or so she thought until he smiled withfangs that gleamed. "no, nothing more." And padded silently down to his end of the hall.