comments greatly appreciated, and new chapters coming soon :)
--
I
Peace, at last. It isn't often there is a quiet moment in titans tower, with Beast Boy and Cy's constant arguments. Not to mention the endless chatter of Starfire, she always got on my nerves. I never did like her all that much.
I sat on the couch in the main room. Alone. There wasn't much to do these days. After Slade was finally taken down, the criminal rates in the city plummeted. Of course there was the occasional robbery here and there, but nothing that the police couldn't handle. To put it in simple terms, I was bored and in pain.
Well, not pain, pain. Just emptiness is all. An intense sense of longing. For someone next to me, for someone to hold me. Protect me, but, being the boy wonder, it was always expected to be the other way around. I was the one protecting, because I was the leader. There was no possible way anyone could be the one keeping me safe and keeping me warm. I guess that was the way it was supposed to be. I figure that it is the way, and no one can ever change it. Not even me.
I let out a very, very large sigh, just as the door to the common room slid open.
Perfect timing.
"Yo, bird boy!" Cy's voice thundered through the tower, I guess my peace was over. For now.
"Hey, Cy. How was the movie?" I inquired. No reason to act gloomy, I decided. It would only raise questions.
"Just the greatest, scariest, funniest, most awesome, gory movie EVER!" Cy whirled his hands in the air to maximize the effect. He then turned to Beast Boy and engaged in an energized conversation about the best parts, best actors, and best girls of the movie.
Raven took this opportunity and retreated to her room, someone like her can only take so much of those two. I was beginning to wonder if anyone could take much of them at all.
Another sigh as I got up and stalked off to my room.
Half way down the hall leading to my room I was stopped by an anxious looking Starfire. I raised an eyebrow.
"Robin! I was wondering if you would wish to go out to dinner with me tonight. We were walking back and I saw this wonderful looking restaurant that is partaking in the 'grand opening.'"
I blinked. Was Starfire asking me on a date? I thought I made it clear to her that we were over. It had never worked out. The only reason I went out with her in the first place was in a futile attempt to cure this loneliness. When I realized it didn't work, I immediately broke up, not even leaving her with a first kiss. I guess I shouldn't make this hard on her, but she's making things so complicated.
"Sorry, Star, I have some work to catch up on. Maybe some other time?" Hah, work. I hadn't had any work in months.
"May I assist in this work?" Star asked, using her best puppy face.
It never did work on me. "Its more of something I need to work on alone, ya know?" She nodded, and I walked on past her. When I reached my door, I called back to her, "Thanks for the offer though, much appreciated."
I stepped into my room, door closing behind me. One glance at the clock, five o'clock. Late enough. Sleeping was the only thing I could think of doing right now. Without further thought, I jumped into bed.
--
I was woken up by Cyborg.
"Cy, cant you let me sleep a little longer. Its not like we have any plans today." I was groggy, I could barely see. So sleepy, need more.
"Dude, its three in the afternoon! You have to get up sometime." The phone rang. "Hold that thought, I'll be right back."
My heart rushed. Three in the afternoon? How could I sleep that long? I quickly did the mental calculation, twenty-two hours, and still sleepy. Its not like I had anything to do but sleep. So why not get some more. My mind was giving up. Because I didn't think I had anything to live for, sleeping was my body's way of passing the time left until I die so many years from now. This had better not be thew way I spend my life. I --
My thought was interrupted. I fell back to sleep. Not for very long though. Good ol' Cy, shook me awake. "I leave you alone for two minutes and you go back to a deeper sleep than BB! Thats not even possible. Anyway, lets get you up." He helped me out of bed. "Do you always sleep in that?"
I looked down at my outfit. I must have forgotten to take that off. "I guess I was just tired last night. I forgot to take it off..." I drifted off towards the end.
"Dude, you don't look so good. We shouldn't have let you sleep that long!" He smiled and added, "Who knew sleep could be so bad for you. Lets get you something to eat, shall we?"
"Sure." I mumbled as we trudged to the kitchen.
"Oh, by the way, Titans East called. I invited them over until their tower is rebuilt. Some nasty tsunami type thing. Everything is so unpredictable over there, ya know?"
"When are they arriving?" I asked.
"They'll probably be here in," He glanced down at built-in watch, "one hour, twenty-five minutes and six seconds. Approximately."
That got me awake. "That soon!? Why didn't you tell me?" I have to take a shower get the entire tower cleaned up, make up the guest bathrooms... god, what am I thinking? They're teenagers too. They can handle some mess. Relief flooded through me. It would be nice to make up their rooms for them though. "Get their rooms ready. I'm going to take a shower."
"Not before we get some food in you!"
"Deal."
--
Everything was finally ready. Now all we needed was for them to actually get here. Its not like they were late or anything, I'm just paranoid like this. I was waiting in the front room, tapping my foot, when Cyborg walked by. Obviously impatience is one of my many lovely features.
"Dude, chill alright? They get here when they get here." he paused. "why... why you so eager, man?"
I shrugged, its not like I had anything better to do. Actually now that I thought about it, why was I so eager?
I turned to Cyborg. "Its just we haven't had much action around here lately, ya know? I'm hoping they'll help bring this place to life."
"It might just be you making your life boring, did you ever think of it that way?" I blinked. What was he saying? "We go to movies, places, heck we even went on that trip to Hawaii, but you never come with us. Have some fun once in a while, even if it isn't fighting crime, its still fun." He's right. Of course he's right. I have to stop feeling sorry for myself. "I know you know Star has a giant crush on you. Why don't you ask her to go somewhere sometime?"
Star? About Star, I love her, as a sister though. She doesn't fill the space inside me. Nor does just having fun with friends. Thats why I don't participate. Whenever I do something with them it leaves me feeling emptier.
"Thanks, Cy. Your right. I'll be sure to kick back from now on."
"Anytime, man. We should have a party sometime. Ya know, to help you get started on your life of fun." He smiled and walked off with a look of accomplishment on his, mostly metal, face.
I sighed. So much sighing these days. I'm so -
My thought was interrupted by a loud knock. I raced to get the door. Good timing they had, I was about to go into one of my long trains of thought. Thinking never got me anywhere these days. Save for further into my depression.
--
"Hey Robin!" Bumble Bee had a huge smile on her face. "Thanks so much for letting us stay here"
"Anytime." I mumbled as she walked straight past me and into the common room. Obviously she didn't care much about manners. Aqualad, Más and Menos came in after her, with a nice hello.
Then came speedy. Had he gotten taller? His was... It looked perfect. He walked with the utmost grace, I was mesmerized by the way his muscles moved. Oh god, that smile. It seemed to dig right through my skin. I couldn't shake the feeling. He was just, beautiful. He. Was. A. Guy.
When he passed, I got a nod and a smile. A lovely nod and smile. God, I needed to be hit in the head.
Was he glowing?
"Hey, you alright?" That voice, did it come from him? It was angelic. Wait, what was I doing?
"Um, yeah why?"
"You were just standing there. Staring at me."
Shit.