I hate you because...

1. Only you can make paperwork cool.


Being a superhero was pretty cool—getting the newest gadgets, kicking ass, taking names, and a new adventure everyday… Robin wouldn't trade it for the world.

(Well… for the safety of the world he would, since that was his primary objective as a superhero, but it's just an expression, you know).

And getting to be the leader of the Teen Titans? It sure beat being Batman's number two. With the Teen Titans, not only did Robin get to call the shots and show he was worthy of being a respectable leader in and of himself, but to be honest, he felt like he also had a much healthier emotional environment in which to flourish.

Don't misunderstand, Robin loved the Old Batsy and appreciated that he had taken Robin under his wing and taught him the ropes and all that. But no one, not even Alfred who was known to take Batman's side even when he probably shouldn't, would call Bats warm and fuzzy. Or even warm. Or not cold and robotic in all matters relating to emotions.

Most days, Batman even made Raven look like a bunch of cuddly puppies in comparison.

Plus, the Tower was always way better lit, had a better view of the ocean, more snacks and no fancy stuffy dinner parties that Robin was forced to go to in the name of 'protecting his secret identity'.

(Also, the company in general… perhaps specifically related to purple loving aliens was definitely a step up from any dining companion Robin had ever been forced to take to a cocktail party).

So, yeah, all in all, being a Teen Titan was great, and being the Teen Titans' leader was a dream come true.

But sometimes, being the leader of the Teen Titans sucked.

He knows Cyborg and Beast Boy thinks he relishes every single role and responsibility which comes with being the leader of a team of teenager superheroes (which, yeah, didn't take convincing the mayor they were all responsible and not hormone addled crazy people for weeks or anything, and Robin still felt like they were under constant probation with the media, even though they were about four hundred successes and counting) because he's so controlling and making sure everything in order provides him with the equal high that tofu does for Beast Boy, or the T-Car does for Cyborg.

And you know what? Robin let's them think that. Robin let's them think that he enjoys the pressure of calling every shot, of going to every press junket, of always considering the town, the team, and the team's image first and foremost, making sure all there Is and Ts are crossed is his ever most delight. Because the end result? Sure, yeah, it's delightful.

… besides, there is no way Robin trusts Beast Boy coming anywhere near anything that requires Is or Ts to be dotted or crossed.

But all that doesn't mean Robin enjoys paperwork more than any other sixteen year old.

Especially when you live in California, and it's the first day of 70 degree weather all year.

Because, yeah, most people will tell you being a superhero is about the flashy gadgets, the daring moves, and the colorful outfits. But that stuff is easy. The hard stuff? Filling out paperwork alone in your room. That's hard. Give Robin any villain over paperwork—even Mumbo Jumbo.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The thing was, the Titans had recently been facing an onslaught of villains. Mostly piddly crimes (like Control Freak, who despite his constant and loud complaints, was in fact, less of a nuisance than the Puppet King more often than not. And he was a puppet. Who they fought once. Like six years ago. Robin was pretty sure the Puppet King was permanently out of commission, but he had also been in the super business long enough to know that it was once you thought they were gone for good, they always popped back up. That, and Beast Boy made him watch Scream last week) that had kept the Titans constantly busy cleaning up after small messes.

Which meant that not only did Robin have tons of extra paperwork to do, but he was very behind because all week he had been cleaning up after messes and not been able to donate his usual time (two hours Monday through Thursday; one hour Friday; and about three hours on Saturday) to paperwork.

He sighed again and looked at the clock, he'd give himself four hours and then that was it, he was calling it and day. Four hours was more than anyone should have to spend on paperwork. Maybe he could get in some good time training after, or see if Star wanted to grab a slice of pizza so the day wasn't a total waste once he was finally done. Sure, the daylight would be gone and it'd be impossible to enjoy the first warm summer breeze, but the summer could breeze at night just fine.

Robin flexed his fingers and made sure his gloves were secure (after the paper cut incident of '08, Robin took no chances) and poised his fingers above the keyboard. There was no point in continuing to postpone it, sometimes, a superhero just had to do what a superhero had to do.


Robin was two hours in and not looking like he was going to meet his four hour limit. The fact was, as small as some criminal's agendas may be (such as Control Freak) they tended to leave a lot of destruction in their wake or cause the Titans to cause a lot of destruction in their efforts to capture the criminals. These sorts of incidents required intensive detailed reports so insurance claims could go through and the small time villains could be charged for their proper crimes and given just and equal sentences. (Also, it made it easier for owners to win their civil cases).

Which was all well and good except it meant it took forever.

Robin knew how important those reports were—not just for the court systems to run properly and do their jobs, and not just so civilians could made sure they received their financial justice- but also because all the Titans (and several other superhero allegiances such as the Justice League) relied on all the information they could get about a criminal to outsmart and catch that criminal.

If Robin wasn't such a dignified leader, he would be banging his head against the computer right now. But Robin was nothing if not a dignified leader.

… most of the time.

It was as Robin paused to reflect on if Raven had thrown Mumbo Jumbo into a floor length mirror in that magician's shop or a large magician's vanishing cabinent that he heard a tentative knock on his door.

He frowned, he hoped this was not Beast Boy bothering him with some silly request. Beast Boy often inflicted the most unnecessary damage in crime scenes, and so when filling out reports, Robin always felt some what exceptionally annoyed with the teen. Why couldn't he transform into something small and deadly? Something wily? Why did it always have to be a T-Rex or a Gorilla?

"Yes?" he said, biting it out slightly more aggravated than usual.

The door opened and revealed a blushing Tamerian who cleared her throat, "Apologies friend, for interrupting."

When Robin saw it was Starfire at his door and not Beast Boy (or Cyborg for that matter. Cyborg always had to go straight for the sonic cannon. Where was the finesse in that?) he found his mood much improved. "Oh hey, Star," he said with a smile, throwing his feet up on his desk and leaning back in his chair as far as the chair permitted, "What's up? Come on in."

Starfire smiled at him and entered his bedroom making her way over to sit on the edge of his bed, "I noticed it had been some time since I had seen you, and I wanted to see what was on the up."

Robin chuckled, "Thanks for the concern, I've just been working on some reports in here—nothing too exciting."

"You do not mean to tell me you have been cooped up in your room for the last three hours doing nothing but work?" Starfire asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Ever since the whole Red-X/ Slade obsession thing, the team had been a lot more concerned about Robin's excessive work habits. Especially Starfire. She seemed to make it her special mission that Robin never worked for too long alone in an enclosed space.

… not that he was complaining.

"Three hours already? I guess time just flies when you're… working… on… reports," he finished lamely and laughed nervously. He felt his hand come up to the back of his neck without much thought, something he found himself often doing around Starfire these days, "Actually, I'm glad you came. I could use a break."

Starfire's whole expression brightened, "Excellent! Then would you like to accompany me to see a movie? Or perhaps walk the Silkie? Dr. Oz says it is very important to ensure both humans and their pets travel outside their homes at minimum once a day."

Robin sighed, "Star, I'd love to. Trust me, I'd really love to. But… I'm really behind on reports—don't give me that look, Star. We've been so busy cleaning up after the likes of Dr. Light this week I haven't had a chance to fill out a single report. And—"

Starfire raised a hand to signal for him to stop speaking, "You need not say more, Robin. I understand how important the reports are."

"… well, thanks Star," he sighed, "But still, I'd rather go see a movie with you. Or walk Silkie. Or do pretty much anything else. I'd even rather do Beast Boy's laundry."

Starfire giggled, "Let us not be so drastic. I always rather got the impression you enjoyed the paperwork."

Robin crossed his arms, "Does everyone think I'm some kind of robot or something? Of course I'd rather be eating pizza, or hanging out with you, or playing video games."

"Oh, I do not think anyone thinks you are a robot. Or, well, that is not exactly true—but I am sure by now Raven has mostly convinced Beast Boy you are indeed human," Starfire said with a smile, the only clue she was joking a slight upturn of her lips in the corner and a certain twinkle in her eye.

"Ha, ha, you're all a bunch of comedians, aren't you?" Robin pretended to gripe, but he was smiling all the same.

Starfire stood up from the edge of his bed, and smoothed out her skirt, "Well, I suppose then there is nothing I can do to convince you otherwise…" she said with a sad sigh, again the twinkle in her eye belying her words.

Robin felt a little shiver at her words, but decided to ignore it entirely for the moment. He had more important things to worry about. Like paperwork.

"Don't tempt me," he said, he swung his feet to the ground, "Thanks for stopping by and checking up on me, Star. Oh hey—I was wondering, if you don't have plans, we could go swing by that sushi place you like later. Raven has a date at that poetry place and Cyborg and Beast Boy had plans for… well, I try not listen what they tell me they have plans for, since it normally only ends in disaster. So it's only the two of us."

She smiled at him, "That sounds most wonderful, Robin, I will look forward to it," she took a step to the door. Robin had already gone back to typing up the reports as soon as she had said yes (with a little bit of an extra flourish to his typing, if he did say so himself) and so barely noticed that she had suddenly stopped.

He did, however, notice as she slowly turned back around to face him. She was biting her lip in a way that always meant she was uncertain about something, but she had the sweetest smile on her face, she was blushing as she made the suggestion, "Perhaps," she said, not quite looking him in the eye, but not quite looking away either, "It might go faster… if I helped you with the paperwork?" she offered.

"Oh, Star…"

"You are right," Starfire hurried to say, turning a shade redder, "It was a bad suggestion, I am sorry for intruding—obviously I would only be the nuisance. I am sure you have the system and I—" Robin cut off her babbling by grabbing her arm. It was the only way he could think of to get her to look him in the face.

When she did, he could see her cheeks were still slightly tinged pink from embarrassment. He did not think now was the time to tease her about it or to reflect on how cute she looked when she blushed.

"Star, I would both very much like and appreciate your help—of course you'd only be a help. It's not rocket science—actually, you'd probably be pretty capable at that too… what I'm saying is, paperwork is a drag. You don't have to waste your afternoon with me."

"Robin," she said, giving him a warm smile, "Spending time with you never seems like wasting time to me."

He smiled back. The truth was, spending time with Starfire never felt like wasting time to him either.

He was always glad when Cyborg and Beast Boy weren't around to hear exchanges like this. They'd tease Robin about it for ages. And he was supposed to be their leader. One did not tease leaders. Or at least one shouldn't.

But when it was just him and Starfire, exchanges like that felt like the furthest thing from embarrassment.

"Besides," she said, "Perhaps we will be able to get done twice as fast—then perhaps we can catch both the dinner and the movie."

And she just looked so proud with herself, and she was beaming down at him with her patented Starfire smile (he had heard Beast Boy whisper conspiratorially to Cyborg that this was Robin's kryptonite. Which wasn't true, Robin could totally say no to Starfire, if he wanted to. But her requests were usually so reasonable… and what was really so bad about her wanting to help him with paperwork?) that Robin couldn't help but smile back and say, "Well, if you're willing…"

She nodded vigorously, "Oh, yes, very much so," and once again, Robin tried to ignore the slight turning of his stomach (and not exactly in a bad way), "Er—" she looked embarrassed, "I am afraid I am not quite familiar with the processes of paperwork… what is it that I can do to assist?"

Robin sighed and scratched his head, that was a question, "It's a little complicated because I set up operation in my room today—"

"Yes, I noticed," Starfire said with a smile, tilting her head at him, "May I inquire as to why you decided on this course of action?"

A slight blush colored Robin's cheeks, and he didn't know why. It wasn't like he had anything to be embarrassed about really, "Oh, it was just so nice out today, I couldn't stand the thought of being cooped up in the records room downstairs. I decided if I had to do reports, I might as well do them where there is some sunshine," and some clue that it was the nicest day they'd had in months. Robin wasn't sure if this counted as torture or a better compromise. As he finished speaking he gestured over to the large windows which made up the right side of his bedroom.

Starfire turned, "You do have quite a lovely view," she said.

He laughed, "We all do—advantage to being in a Tower made entirely out of windows situated on an island looking out the Pacific Ocean in every direction."

She smiled at him, only slightly embarrassed, "Yes, but the light is coming into your room most nicely now. You must have the most wonderful view of the sunset."

It was true, he did… although he often preferred to watch it from the roof rather than his room and not just because he often found certain company to keep up there that he did not find often in his room.

"It's not too shabby," he said with a smirk, "But anyways, since I'm not down in the records room, I don't have my usual equipment with me. Normally I'd just have you help me type up reports, but there's only one computer up here…" he trailed off lamely, "Honestly, the most helpful thing you could do would be to sort all the reports I print out, make sure they're in order, staple them, and then file them in the appropriate folder," he said, gesturing to the three filing boxes he brought up earlier.

Robin, in addition to typing up all the reports and sending them to the Justice League database (as well as Titans East and any Titan who wished to access it) liked to print reports out. Their database may have been the most secure in the world—even more secure then the FBI or CIA, but you never knew when the next villain hacker would hack into their system and mess all their data up.

True… if a hacker had this sort of skill level, perhaps the last thing they would do would be to hack into the systems that barely anyone but Robin and Batman used and mess up a few files (when any superhero could contact another with a question), but that did not mean they wouldn't and that it couldn't result in many deaths (or at the very least, an important indication as to what was so important it caused a hacker of that skill to waste their time doing such mundane work) so Robin kept everything also on hard files. Which was a pain to sort and categorize, but it was worth it.

Maybe no one had hacked into the system for the ten years it had been up, but if they did, Robin sure as hell wasn't going to not be ready.

He scratched the back of his neck again and shot Starfire an apologetic look, "I know it's kind of lame…"

"Please, Robin, if it will help you it is not a concern of mine how lame this work may or may not seem," she looked at him slyly from the corner of her eye, "I also feel that anything that might help us acquire dinner earlier is not at all of the lameness."

He shot her a grateful smile, "Thanks, Star."

She shot him a smile and darted off to the printer to begin stapling and placing files in their appropriate folders.

This gave Robin a chance to really focus on writing the reports and not worrying as much about the menial tasks. He cracked his fingers, shot one last look at Starfire (just to make sure she didn't seem like she needed any help or had any questions, obviously. Why else would he look at her?) and then he set to work.

He was halfway into his third report since Starfire's entrance when he heard it: a giggle. Starfire's giggle.

Robin paused midsentence and looked behind him to see Starfire leaning over his shoulder.

He raised an eyebrow, "Yes…?"

She giggled again, nervously this time, and straightened, "Many apologies," she said, lightly blushing, "I had finished with the task of sorting and wanted to inquire as to how else I could be of assistance… but you did not seem to notice when I called your name. I merely wondered what could be so engrossing, and when I saw it was simply the reports," she shrugged as if to say she couldn't see why anyone would find boring reports so engrossing.

Not that Robin disagreed. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, "Sorry I didn't hear you Star, I guess I was just too focused on trying to finish the report."

"Is it a particularly fascinating report?" she asked eagerly.

He chuckled, "Not especially. Just the High Five's latest exploits, which as you know, are completely lame. I think they stole a thing of tube socks last time."

Starfire's facial expression took on the dawning of sudden comprehension, "Ah, I see now why you were so particularly engrossed in the report. Apologies for my interruption."

She turned away to go back to… well, Robin wasn't sure, maybe she was just going to sit down on his bed, or sort his thumbtacks or something, but Robin grabbed her arm to stop her, so she had to turn back to look at him, "What do you mean you see?"

"I merely meant I understood why the High Five report would be of utmost interest to you," she said, blinking down at him.

Robin's brows furrowed in confusion, "Why? It's not exactly like they're a huge threat."

"Well not currently…"

Understanding dawned on Robin, "Oh, you mean about Jinx."

She shot him a look, "Of course I was referring to Jinx. Was that not what interested you?"

"Honestly, that had nothing to do with me… being engrossed. It's just, well, you're around—helping obviously, I can't thank you enough—but you're shuffling papers making noises, I just kind of… filter the background stuff out. I could be just as engrossed in the dictionary. Jinx is… Jinx is an entirely different matter."

Starfire sat down on the end of his bed, and he turned his swivel chair forty five degrees in her direction, so that his feet could still be propped on his desk, but that it was also easier to converse with her. "So you do not trust the former villain?"

"I don't make judgements like that when I'm writing the reports—reports are just facts for the most part," Robin told her.

Starfire arched an eyebrow at him, "So you have no opinion whatsoever about Jinx?"

Robin hesitated, "I'm not sure where I fall. I'm not going to be asking her to live in the Tower with us, but I'm also not doing anything drastic, like hacking into her T-communicator to spy on her or track her transmissions."

"Would you allow her to help in battle?"

Robin replied slowly, "I guess that depends on the situation. She helped us against the Brotherhood of Evil, and Wally seems to trust her a lot…"

"Yes, they are living together now," Starfire said casually.

Robin almost did a double-take, "What?"

"You did not know?" she asked innocently.

"No," he replied empathically, "I mean, Wally—Kid Flash—checks in about once a week, he usually gives me a status update with Jinx, what she's doing, if she's helped preventing any crimes but he's never mentioned they're living together."

"Well, I believe they have separate bedrooms. But from what I have heard, that may soon change."

"What?"

Starfire smiled at him, "Yes, they are dating."

"They're dating?"

"You sound very surprised. Did you not know Kid Flash was the one who brought Jinx to help fight against the Brotherhood of Evil? From what I hear from Aqualad, it was most romantic."

"You talk to Aqualad?! About Kid Flash and Jinx?"

"I am rather surprised you did not know," Starfire continued, ignoring his outburst, "It has been the latest and juiciest gossip. Even Raven has her opinions."

"Raven knows and I didn't?"

"Robin," Starfire chided gently, "Sometimes for the greatest boy detective of the world, you miss many of the 'obvious' matters."

He ran a hand through his hair, "So Jinx and Kid Flash are dating?"

"I think they just celebrated their four month anniversary," Starfire supplied.

"How do you know so much about them?"

Starfire shrugged, "You did supply Jinx with a communicator, did you not intend for her to use it?"

"Wait—so you not only talk with Aqualad? You now have conversations with Jinx?" Robin thought he may be experiencing a coronary.

Starfire laughed lightly, "Heavens, no! Of course I would inform you if I conversed regularly with Jinx. I believe she has found other friends and… well, word does travel, as the phrasing goes. I also believe the Star City Gazette is most fond of following them around on their many dates. And you need not worry for the competition, Robin, Aqualad only mentioned it in passing at the last Super Pizza Fest we had."

Robin's heart began to beat a little more normally.

Starfire tilted her head to the side to regard him, "Does this change your opinion of Jinx?"

Robin took a deep breath and thought about it, "Not really, no. She's kind of at… ground level zero for trust right now. I don't immediately distrust her… because she did help us with the Brotherhood of Evil and has apparently been helping Kid Flash for several months now. But I haven't seen enough of everything first hand to completely trust her. But even if she was some sort of spy—which I haven't disregarded as that's exactly what Cy did to her—and I would imagine she'd be trying to get more into Titans Central than just hanging with Kid Flash if that was really her goal—it would only hurt us to actively distrust her. In fact, her intentions may be good, and if we treat her poorly, she could go running back off to the dark side… so I intended to be pretty neutral in this for the time being. Besides," he said sneaking Starfire a smile, "I think we've got a pretty strong team as is. No need to worry about adding other people to it."

She smiled back at him, "And you say you have not done much thinking about Jinx?"

"Well I'll be doing more now," Robin said dryly, "Kid Flash and Jinx? Who would have thought it?"

Starfire smiled fondly, "Oh, I believe they are most well suited. I am rather surprised it does not bother you more."

"That what doesn't bother me more?"

"Two superheroes dating. I always thought you were most against the idea."

Robin refused to look at Starfire to see what her expression might be saying, instead choosing to focus on a particular section of carpeting on his floor, "Hey, it's not my team, it's not really my call. Besides, Kid Flash isn't a part of a team, he's a free agent who occasionally needs help or assists. They can sort out their own messes," he sighs and then glances at her with a wicked smile, "Besides, Wally's always kind of been a sucker for the ladies."

Starfire laughed loudly, "I am most certain Jinx would not like to hear this."

Robin shrugged, "When he falls, he falls hard. Four months is a long time for him, though."

Starfire watched him with a close-lipped smile, "Yes, perhaps for every superhero there comes a time when he must change his romantic ways in order to mature…"

Robin shrugged, but also knew that he must pull evasive maneuvers now before this situation got too close to home "Beats me. Hey Star would you mind faxing all the red pages over to the police station? The number is right by the fax machine. I like to make sure they have the essential parts of information…"

She stood then and smiled at him, but it was a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, "Of course, Robin. You know I would always assist you in any way I could."


Robin couldn't help but shake his head with a smile, they just didn't make teammates like Starfire all that often. He once again flexed his fingers and tried to return to his paperwork.

The key word being tried.

It wasn't really that Starfire was doing anything, other than what Robin had asked her to do, that was, but… just having her very presence was distracting. Maybe it was because Robin had already done too many reports, maybe it was the way she oohed and aahed and made little noises of surprise as she stapled and sorted, or maybe it was the way the sunshine reflected off her hair and made her skin seem especially glow-y…

Either way, Robin was most certainly not in his element.

And he was most certainly spending too much time thinking about things he most certainly should not be thinking about (like glowing skin and the noises Starfire made when she stapled papers) as these were all decidedly not friendly teammate thoughts. Normally Robin could focus on the task at hand and block out all other thoughts with ease… but something about Starfire always seemed to get under his skin.

He sighed and tried to focus on the details of the crime report he was attempting to write up. Did Control Freak attack the sci-fi section of the video store or the stoner comedies this week?

Robin rubbed his eyes and tried to withhold a groan. Thinking about Control Freak's exploits was so not when Robin wanted to do right now, especially when he had a purple mini-skirted girl in his bedroom who wanted to go out to dinner with him.

"Is something the matter, Robin?" he heard Starfire ask.

He almost bolted out of his chair he was so surprised by her interruption. He caught his balance and recovered quickly though, shooting her a wry smile, "Nothing. I was just trying to remember if Control Freak said he was destroying all the science fiction movies because no alien could compare to your beauty and was an insult to his lady love or if he said he needed comedy to mend his broken heart from your purity and fierceness of soul," he said trying to keep a straight face.

Starfire's friendly smile turned into a wince, "I wish you would not remind me of the couch potato's words," she said with a slight shudder, "It makes me feel most guilty he feels the need to commit crimes in my honor."

"It's not in your honor—it's in your, let's see," Robin said, scrolling up in the report, and reading from it a selection of quotes from Control Freak, "Riveting beauty and endless passion he feels sure you possess," Robin said with a laugh.

Starfire's cheeks turned slightly red, but she was most definitely biting back a smile. She put on hand on her hip and brought the other to her face to tap her index finger to her lips, "Yes, and let us see if we can recall what it was next the Control Freak said? I believe it was something about defending my honor from a boy who would never fully appreciate me?" she said shooting Robin a pointed look and more surprisingly most definitely a smirk.

She had definitely been hanging out with Beast Boy and Raven too much.

She giggled slightly at the surprised (and slightly redder than usual) expression on his face, "What—I, that is absurd," Robin spluttered out feeling flustered.

She quirked an eyebrow at him, "Absurd? I believe those were the exact words of the Control Freak, were they not?" she said innocently.

"I totally appreciate you!" he said, which of course, he didn't mean to say (not that it wasn't true). He just found the words rushing out of him. But once the words were out, he didn't feel the need to retract them. Cyborg and Beast Boy were not around, and Starfire may have seen every Reese Witherspoon movie she could get her hands on, but she still didn't understand the fine nuances of boy/ girl relationships. It was freeing, actually, a lot of the time. Because Robin could say things like 'I totally appreciate you' and know that while a normal earth girl would take that as a sign it meant something deeper, Starfire simply thought it was completely normal for best friends to say this sort of thing to each other.

Besides, it was absurd for anyone to think Robin did not totally appreciate Starfire.

Luckily, she seemed more amused with the outburst than anything else, "Why, I would never doubt your appreciation, Robin." She said with one eyebrow lifted higher than the other and that small smile on her face.

And if it had been anyone other than Starfire, Robin would have been sure it was some sort of come on. But it was Starfire so…

"Are you saying you don't appreciate me?" he said instead, and he could have hit himself over the head once the words were out of his mouth.

Luckily, Starfire just laughed and looked amused with him, "My, Robin," and Robin knew she had said my comma Robin, but for a second it had kind of sounded like she said my Robin, minus the comma and plus the possessive, and his heart kind of skipped a beat, "I did not know you were so in need of encouragement," she reached a hand out to cup his face, "Of course I appreciate you, you are my best friend. And our fearless leader."

He met her eyes for a moment, and they were so full of warmth and… appreciation. It was perhaps the best thing about Starfire, how open and warm and effusive she was with everyone and all the time. There was so much warmth he had to look away. It was kind of like looking into the sun: you needed some sort of protection, or you'd get scalded just from the sheer beauty of it.

He brought his hand up to lightly touch hers resting on his face, "Thanks, Star. You're pretty fearless yourself."

She laughed and withdrew her hand, "And do not be so jealous of the Control Freak, Robin. I promise I will never return his ardor."

"Oh God," Robin groaned in response, "Can you imagine what your kids would look like?"

She chuckled again and leaned back against his desk, "I believe he has the… oh what is the term? The weaving-site?"

"Website?"

"Yes, the website dedicated to our future love. Beast Boy has shown it to me. He believes it to be most amusing," Starfire made a face to indicate she thought it was anything but, and then the sly look crept back onto her face, "Perhaps Kitten has a site of the web dedicated to your future offspring?"

Robin shuddered, "Oh God, I hope not."

She smiled at him and hopped onto his desk, sitting opposite of him, and swinging her legs, "In more pertinent news… I have completed my task. Is there anything else I may do to assist you? Other than recalling details of my conversation with Control Freak?" she looked hopefully at him.

Robin took one glance at the window, which showed the sky turning and dusty rose that indicated it was about sunset and looked back to Starfire, and thought the one thing he never thought he'd think: to hell with the paperwork.

"You know what, Star? Let's forget it."

"Forget it?" she looked crestfallen, "Can I not assist more? Will we not have time for the sushi?"

He laughed at her dejected expression, "No, I mean let's forget the paperwork. Give me two minutes to finish this report—it's really almost done, and then let's catch some sushi and then you can choose a movie?"

"Really? We have time for a movie?" she looked so hopeful, well, he couldn't say no. Besides, it wasn't like they didn't have communicators that would alert them if there was any trouble. Actually, being out in the town probably meant they'd be closer to any criminal activity and was therefore a much more effective maneuver and… he glanced at Starfire and decided to hell with the planning. To hell with the paperwork. To hell with the team.

Just for tonight.

He stood up and closed the laptop, "Ready to go?"

The smile on Starfire's face definitely made it all worth it.