A/N: Sorry for the long wait, everyone. I went on vacation with my fiance~ and we had a wonderful time. So while I'm sorry, I'm not that sorry. ;) I'll try to keep the updates coming, but I've got 82 things on my mind, so bear with me. Enjoy!


Starfire idly pet Silkie as she laid heavily on her bed. For once, she was actually facing the right direction with her head on the pillows instead of her feet in order to sit up a bit. Silkie cooed appreciatively at his knorffka's ministrations despite her lack of usual vigorous tickles; gentle pets were fine too.

"Why is Robin unable to see clearly, Silkie?" Starfire asked, and Silkie burbled a nonsensical response. "I wish to show him my affections without the going too far as Raven cautioned, but I have done all I that can think of."

Starfire started to count on the fingers that weren't stroking her pet, "I give him very many hugs, I compliment him when he has done something well, I do the watching of his back in battle, I purchase him trinkets when something makes me think of him, I tell him that he is my very best friend-"

She bolted upright, sending Silkie flying towards the wall. The silkworm bounced off it gleefully and crawled back up onto the bed so she could do that again. Starfire gasped, "I have told him he is my very best friend, Silkie, not that he means more to me! Do very best friends do all of those things too? What separates a best friend from a more than best friend?"

Starfire leaped out of bed, sending Silkie against the wall once more, and bolted over to her collection of movies. She had binge-watched most of the more romantic ones whenever she had felt sad or jealous of Raven and Beast Boy's dates, but perhaps she had missed something. Perhaps there were some sort of rules she needed to follow or a code to break?

Disc after disc, title after title, from Cactus Flower to 10 Things I Hate About You, flew over her shoulders as she helplessly dug through her collection. She finally reached the movies in the very back, the ones least likely to help her - 50 First Dates and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days among them - and she came up with nothing new. Starfire slumped face-first onto the floor with her feet under her bed and her arms splayed out to the side. Silkie took this as a perfect opportunity to snuggle on his knorffka's back.

"Oh, Silkie, what am I to do?" Starfire moaned into her plush carpet, "Am I to be forever the best friend and never something more? Is something wrong with me? I do enjoy being Robin's friend, I do! But… it is missing something, yes?"

Silkie gurgled in what she understood as agreement, and she sighed, making the tendrils of her hair near her face puff up at the diverted exhale. Her misery came to an abrupt pause as a familiar metallic rapping came from her door.

"Is there something you require of me, Cyborg?" She called, turning her head to the side so she could be more easily heard.

"BB and I are going to the mall and the arcade later and we wanted you to come, Star," Cyborg explained from the hall, "We think you could use some fun."

Touched my her friend's kindness, she floated over to her door as Silkie slid off her back with a happy squish. She opened the door to see both Cyborg and Beast Boy looking at her pleadingly, and she smiled. It was rare for the two boys to invite just her along on an outing, so she was happy to be offered the treat.

"I am most grateful for the offer, friends, but I do not know if I wish to go to the mall of shopping and-"

"Please, Star?" Beast Boy begged, "We've got a friend coming and he really wants to meet you, he's a huge fan. And we think you'll like him, he's a great guy."

At this, Starfire's eyes widened. Neither of them had ever taken her to meet one of their gamer friends, let alone a fan of hers. She was always curious about how they got to know people "on the line" but she never quite wrapped her head around it. The fact that they were pleading with her to go meet one of their friends meant that this was extremely important to them. And even though she was still morose about Robin, she could never deny an important request made by two of her dearest friends.

"All right, I shall go," she replied, and the huge grins on their faces was reward enough for her.

"Great! We'll leave around 1, okay?" Cyborg confirmed, and Starfire nodded before the two ran off down the hall, chatting amicably about plans for lunch and what stores they wanted to hit. Starfire sighed; perhaps their new friend would keep her mind off of Robin. She hoped he was as nice as they said.


A quick ping on Raven's communicator indicated that it was five minutes until one p.m. Beast Boy had let her know earlier that "Thunderbirds are go," so she had spent a good bit of the morning preparing for her sparring match with Robin. Not only was it valuable training that Robin was more than happy to partake in, it was Phase 2 of their plan.

Right on cue, Robin entered the common room where Raven was reading. He looked pumped up and ready for a workout, like he always was before a one-on-one session, but Raven could feel his emotions like they were her own. Beneath the excitement and the determination, there was a lingering worry and guilt for the situation with Starfire that morning. Perfect.

Raven pretended not to notice Robin walking over to the couch and eagerly kept her ears perked for the next person to walk through the common room door. Hopefully it would be-

"BB! Do you have Ross's copy of Partners in Time? I want to give it back!" Cyborg hollered down the hall as he walked into the common room with a small backpack in his hand. Right on time, Raven mused with an infinitesimal smirk. Beast Boy skidded in right behind him, waving the box of the Nintendo game in his left hand while he too balanced a backpack in his right. He was wearing his favorite molecularly-imbalanced casual outfit that would still allow him to shift, dark blue jeans with a purple polo and black sneakers, and Raven grinned at how handsome he looked.

"Right here! And I have his extra PS2 controller," Beast Boy said, motioning to his backpack. Raven noticed Robin smiling at their friends and couldn't help joining him; while she never quite understood the appeal of the racing and fighting games they frequently played, she had found herself entranced while she watched Beast Boy played through the latest Mario & Luigi title so she couldn't fully condemn the practice. She just prefered RPGs to mindless violence.

"You sure you don't want to hang onto it, Raven? I'm sure he'll let you keep using it," Cyborg asked, rummaging in his pack and not looking at whom he was talking to.

"I'm sure. I've already finished Shadow of the Colossus, I don't need it anymore," she replied flatly. Another genre she had found enjoyable was the puzzle genre, and Beast Boy had relished teaching her the ins and outs of the more creative titles. But she had her limits, and she had reached them.

"Is this Ross guy the reason I couldn't find God of War last week?" Robin asked, flinging his towel around his neck. Raven could tell he was getting a little impatient and, to humor him, she put down her book.

"Yeah, sorry, dude. We're getting it back today," Beast Boy explained.

"That's fine," Robin said genially, "So, Raven, are you ready to-"

"YO, STAR! YOU READY TO GO?!" Cyborg bellowed, and Raven could almost hear Robin's head snap at Cyborg's call. A wave of confusion and apprehension washed over Raven from Robin's direction, and she shared a secret wink with Beast Boy.

"I am nearly ready!" Starfire's matching bellow echoed down the hall. Raven noticed Robin gulp slightly.

"Star's going too?" he asked casually, and if Raven couldn't literally feel his mild rage and jealousy radiating off of him, she would have been fooled into thinking he didn't care that much.

"Yeah, Ross has been dying to meet her!" Beast Boy replied, his white fangs gleaming, "He's vice-president of his school's Starfire Fan Club, and since Raven likes to spar alone and Cy and I were going out, we figured she could tag along." Robin nodded tersely and motioned for Raven to follow him as he stalked toward the common room door. Raven lingered for just a moment, and her instinct had been spot on.

"I am prepared now, Cyborg," Starfire said as she walked into the doorway, and Robin froze halfway up the stairs to the door. Dressing casually was a treat for any of the Titans, but this time was definitely more of a treat for Robin than anyone else. Starfire had chosen an emerald green crop top with the words "No Place Like Home" scrolled across it in yellow-brick cursive, short light blue denim shorts that showed nearly every inch of her finely sculpted legs, and cork platform flip flops. Her hair was collected into two loose pigtails at the base of her skull, and her silver gloves and armband were still in their usual place. It was obvious that neither of them were expecting to see the other, so Starfire's face lit up for a moment before she remembered that she was kind of mad at Robin and frowned. But Robin's dumbstruck expression at how attractive she looked did not change as she walked past him down the stairs over to Cyborg and Beast Boy.

"Shall we proceed? I am eager to meet your friend. I hope he is as nice as you claim," she said, pointedly ignoring Robin's drooling stare. Raven felt a twinge of pride come off of Starfire that she could make Robin look so shamelessly at her, but it was dwarfed a bit by her anger and hurt. Beast Boy walked around to give Raven a kiss on the cheek before bounding out the door, and Cyborg hooked his arm into Starfire's in a gentlemanly fashion before complimenting her with a genuine, "You look great!"

"Thank you, Cyborg," she replied sweetly. Raven could feel the shy satisfaction of being complimented so earnestly radiating off of Starfire long after they left the room.

All of a sudden it was just Raven and Robin. Robin had followed Starfire with his eyes both times she had walked past him, though Raven noticed that his eyes had narrowed significantly at Cyborg's compliment. Now the two of them were just staring, Robin at the door and Raven at her leader. As amusing as his reactions were, she needed to get to Phase 3. She cleared her throat, and Robin snapped his attention back to her awkwardly.

"Training?" she reminded him, and he straightened to attention.

"Right." Robin stalked out of the common room with purpose and headed for the elevator to take them to the training room. Raven smirked at his back as she followed behind.

Phase Two: Complete.