A/N: I hate my titles, I think I've said that before. Expect another one tomorrow.

Thanks: I'll be responding to each individually through ffn's 'review response' feature...eventually. (I'm too tired right now...)

Disclaimer: I forgot to do this last time, and now that I've thought of it, I say that if I weren't so tired I just might smack anyone who thinks I own Robin, Raven or anything Teen Titan related and even thinks about suing me upside the head.

Home: Chapter 2
Ordinary Girl
by Em

"Home is where one starts from."
- T. S. Eliot

As promised, the tickets were waiting for them at 'Will Call'. Robin retrieved them and turned to Raven who waited patiently at his side. Noting that her attention was drawn to their kinetic surroundings, he took a moment to study her with about as much interest as she was studying the excited people and performers walking about before the show.

She had dressed in a mix of casual and dressy in that amazing way only girls could ever really accomplish by pairing a short (but not too short) denim skirt in a dark, distressed blue that sported ripped patches and frayed edges along the bottom seam. Her top looked like a mini-cropped sweater vest with short sleeves in a bright red over a dress shirt (small red print with a white background) that had cropped sleeves and a pointy collar tucked.

He had been surprised to see her in the bright color when she met him in the common room that afternoon, but what had drawn his attention the most had been her shoes. He didn't think he'd ever seen Raven in anything but combat boots or barefoot and here she was, something definitely not either. They looked to his untrained eye like ballet slippers. Red ballet slippers, complete with red satiny ribbon lacing up her calf to end in a bow along the back of her leg.

Her feet had never looked so dainty. Or sexy.

She didn't look much like his teammate and friend at all.

Sure, he had seen her in casual wear before, but that was more along the lines of t-shirts and jeans, maybe a few yoga pants. He didn't even know she owned clothes like these.

"Is something wrong?" Raven's voice broke into his reverie and he realized she had not only approached him but that she was looking right at him.

"Hm?" he asked. "Wrong?" he tried to make sense of her question.

"With my outfit?" she asked, her voice as deadpan as ever. "If it's inappropriate I could change."

Once again, he was struck by the difference between Raven and most girls he had met. Most girls would catch him looking at their clothes and either take it as flirting or appreciation and if they asked about it, their tone always had that hint that said she was teasing him back, wanting to get him to admit that she looked as good as she knew she looked. With Raven, it was different. Her question was said in the same tone she used when they discussed strategies on how to approach an enemy.

"No," he said, smiling at her, "Don't do that," he told her. "You look very nice."

Surprising him yet again, she didn't take his compliment as a compliment, but merely as an affirmation that she had chosen the right ensemble. If she had chosen the right ensemble, he could practically read her wondering, why was he staring at her? He waited for the thoughts he knew would be running in her head to settle into the logical conclusion that he was merely staring at her in appreciation.

Rather than just about any other reaction a normal girl would have had, Raven frowned, "Then why were you looking at me as if you were wondering who I was?" she asked in that blunt way she had.

Robin was so surprised by the logical leap her mind had come to that he couldn't help but laugh. "Because I think I am," he answered honestly.

Raven's frown only deepened, but she had caught the playfulness of his tone and figured he was pulling her leg, trying to be difficult. "Well, you did tell me that we were coming here not as Titans, but as regular people and I didn't want to stand out or..." she trailed off and looked after the heavily made up man dressed as a satyr bouncing on very high stilts as he bounced by, occasionally teasing the visitors.

"Or?" he prodded.

She looked back at him, blinking the awe out of her eyes, "Embarrass you," she finished matter-of-factly.

Robin smiled, "The only way you could ever embarrass me is if you told any of the people here that know me how I fell on my ass doing a simple somersault last week."

She offered him a raised eyebrow and a mischievous twitch of the left corner of her lips, "Well...now that you mention it..." she started.

"Come on," Robin said laughingly, his hand lightly touching the small of her back as he herded her in the direction of their entrance, "We better find our seats before I give you any other ideas."

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A/N: I have a picture of Raven's outfit. Eventually, when I get the energy, I'll put it up on emsscraps. Go check it out...if you wanna.