Chapter 3
The sun shone brightly into the common room of Titans Towers, slowly waking the leftover revelers on the floor. Streamers and balloons littered the floor, draped over sofas and chairs and hung from the ceiling. Many of the Titans were lounging around half asleep or speaking softly to each other in corners. Nightwing had told them all to stay over last night and there were enough mattresses on the floor to accommodate them all.
The door made a swishing sound as Raven walked through.
"Morning, Raven," Nightwing said from the table where he was drinking a cup of coffee and reading the morning paper. "I thought you were meditating today?"
"I am," she replied, her eyes casting around the room. "Just need a cup of tea first. And Beast Boy needs some breakfast. Is Starfire up?"
"Not yet," Nightwing replied, taking as sip of his coffee, unnerved to see a flash of concern in Raven's eyes.
"Is the grass stain actually coming to get it for himself?" Cyborg asked, looking up from the kitchen where he was preparing masses amounts of waffles for those awake Titans.
Raven nodded as she headed into the kitchen. "He'll be here soon."
"Ew, seaweed for breakfast?" Cyborg complained as he watched Aqualad preparing his meal. Aqualad just shrugged and ignored him.
The door swished open again and Batgirl walked through, casting her eyes around before they settled on Nightwing. She walked over to him and placed her hands on the table before him. "Dick," she said very, very quietly and Nightwing looked up at her in concern. "I need to talk to you. In private. It's important."
Nightwing gave her a sharp nod and folded his paper, tossing it on the table before him and got to his feet, walking with Batgirl toward the common room door.
The door opened as they reached it, Starfire walking through. Nightwing felt a smile cross his features as he looked at her.
Richard, she sent, her eyes looking sad. I need to speak with you.
It'll have to wait, Star, he replied, giving her a greeting kiss on the cheek. Babs has first dibs. I'll be back shortly. He saw Batgirl frown out of the corner of his eye and wondered what was going on.
Batgirl walked a small way into the corridor, before turning to face him, a nervous expression on her face. "Now, Dick, you have to promise not to go off half-cocked."
He frowned and placed his hands on his hips. "Is this about why you're here? Cause Batman has already-"
"No," Batgirl said with a sharp shake of her head. "Look… I'm not quite sure how to tell you this… Last night I saw-"
"Morning guys!" Beast Boy cried cheerfully as he bounded out of Raven's room. "Haven't seen you all year!"
Nightwing cast him a glance, ignoring the joke. "Morning, Beast Boy. Can you give us a minute here please? Raven's in the common room."
"Thanks!" he said as he walked away while Nightwing looked back at Batgirl.
She seemed to have lost her nerve and was looking at the floor.
"Last night you saw?" Nightwing coaxed.
Batgirl began wringing her hands together. "I don't want to cause trouble and I really hope I'm wrong."
"Spit it out, Babs, it can't be that bad."
Batgirl locked her eyes on his face. "I saw Starfire kissing Speedy."
Nightwing's eye twitched. "Like a Happy New Year kiss?"
Batgirl shook her head. "Like a 'cup her face and lean in towards her' kiss."
Nightwing sucked in a ragged gasp of breath.
"I'm sorry, Dick," she said meekly, still wringing her hands. "I just thought you ought to know."
Nightwing held up his hands, desperately trying to deny what she was saying. Starfire wouldn't do that to him, never in a million years. She just wasn't like that. "Wait, wait… are you sure? This isn't some half-assed attempted to break us up?"
Batgirl looked stricken. "Dick, please. I don't want to hurt you. I know what I saw. She went up on the roof and he followed and they kissed."
His head began to shake of its own accord. "No… she wouldn't do that… she's not like that… she would never…" But she had wanted to talk to him about something this morning and she'd been so sad since last night. She claimed she was too tired to couple and she hadn't allowed him into her mind while they slept.
Batgirl grabbed his arm. "Now look, don't overreact… go and ask her. I'm hoping it was a misunderstanding or something."
Nightwing shook his head in denial, wrenching his arm free and turned away from Batgirl, walking toward the common room once more.
The door hissed open and Nightwing raised his head to look for Starfire.
She was sitting at the table in the seat that he'd vacated when Batgirl asked to talk to him. Speedy was standing over her, one hand on the back of the chair, one on the table, so close that he was almost touching her; an intense expression on his face as he spoke in hushed tones. Starfire turned her head and caught Nightwing's gaze as he froze at the door and something flashed in her eyes. A mixture of regret, and hurt, and something else he couldn't quite name.
Nightwing acted without thinking.
He strode across the room, grabbed Speedy by the shoulder, spun him around and smashed his fist into Speedy's face. There was a satisfying crunch as Speedy's nose broke. Speedy dropped to the ground, bleeding from the nose, a dazzled expression on his face. Nightwing leapt on him with a roar, punching him again and again, ignoring Starfire screaming his name and the rabble of astounded Titans. "You fucking bastard! Keep your filthy paws off her!"
Something grabbed the back of his uniform, hauling him away and Starfire interposed herself between Nightwing and the downed and dazzled Speedy. "Nightwing! Stop!" she commanded, her hands on his chest, forcing him away.
Nightwing growled, his hands reaching for her. He caught her by the back of the neck, dragging her toward him, his other hand snaking around her waist to contain her. He yanked off her gorget with practice ease and there was a soft thump as it hit the floor. Her breath hitched in shock and she went stiff beneath his hands as he clamped his teeth down on the tender flesh between her neck and her shoulder, biting down as hard as he could.
A coppery taste flooded his mouth, as he tasted the blood that he'd drawn from his bite while Starfire shuddered in pain beneath his hands. Her hands made small pawing motions on his chest, but he wasn't sure if she was trying to pull him closer or push him away. She gave a small, pain filled grunt as he yanked her waist closer to him, pressing himself against her.
"Yo," Cyborg said loudly over the rabble of Titan voices around him. "What are you doing?"
Nightwing pulled away, licking the blood from his lips, still feeling furious. "Why, the fuck, did you kiss him?" he snarled at Starfire. "How could you betray me like that?"
Blood drained from her face and her mouth dropped open. "I would never-"
He grabbed hold of her shoulders and shook her. "You were seen! You were seen kissing on the roof last night! You are mine! I won the right to marry you, not Speedy! I went through that fucking xhandal for you! I almost died for you, and this is how you repay me? You are mine!"
She shoved him hard, sending him staggering backward. "I am not a prize!"
"I never said you were a prize. Never!"
"You are acting like I am a... a timod'r to be won, to be claimed," she sneered, her fingers touching her neck. She looked at the blood on her finger tips before holding them out to him. "Claiming is supposed to be done with love, not because you are the jealous!"
"Ewe dic," Speedy yelled, getting to his feet, his hands going to his nose. "Ewe doke ma dose!"
Starfire swung a hand behind her without removing her eyes from Nightwing. She pointed it at Speedy, her fingers stretched out like claws and conjured a star bolt. "If you move, I will damage you. The rest of you will please remain quiet."
That was enough to give Nightwing pause. Surely if she felt something for Speedy, she wouldn't threaten to hurt him.
"Speedy kissed me. I never kissed him. He took me by surprise and I shoved him off the Tower."
Nightwing narrowed his eyes.
"He claimed it was an Earth tradition to give the bride-to-be a kiss on the cheek, and since you never objected when Beast Boy and Cyborg kiss me there I did not think it would matter. By then he was too close and I could not stop him." Starfire eyes began to glow a furious green. "If we were on Tamaran, I would be within my rights to have him killed."
"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded angrily. "Why'd you try and keep it secret?"
"This is exactly why," she said, gesturing him. "You overreact! And I was going to tell you today, but you claimed that Batgirl had first 'dibs'. If you had thought to ask me about it first, I would have explained." The fury in her eyes died. "How could you think that I would betray you? After everything we have been through, why do you still not trust me? I have always trusted you, even when she kissed you, my trust for you remained."
The words sprung from his lips before he could stop them. "You saw that happen. I only have your word."
Starfire shook her head, hurt splashing across her face. She dropped her hand, releasing the star bolt and reached for her e'ara. She activated it, waiting for it to turn into the small cylindrical disc before she tossed it to him. "Why is my word not enough?" she asked sadly as an image appeared in the small beam of light at the e'ara's center.
Nightwing held the e'ara to his eyes, watching the tiny beam of light, seeing Starfire standing on the roof of the Tower. Speedy approached her, talking with her quietly for a time, before he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. Starfire smiled at him before her face went pale as his face stayed close to hers and he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her on the mouth. Starfire shoved him backward hard and Speedy toppled over the edge of the Tower. Starfire stood stunned for a moment before she leapt after him, dragging him back up to the top of the Tower by an ankle then dumped him on ground and darted away.
Nightwing's hand closed around the e'ara and he lowered his hand, looking at Starfire timidly.
Starfire was watching him sadly. "You do not trust me," she said softly, hurt threaded through her words. She shook her head again and walked toward the common room door.
"Star, don't run away."
Starfire didn't stop. "I am not running away, Dick. I am walking."
No, no, no. It was all wrong. She was never supposed to call him that. Not ever. She was supposed to call him by his true name, she was the only one that he allowed to call him that. It didn't matter to him if the Titans knew his first name; she'd called him Richard in front of everyone on Tamaran. And being called Dick still wouldn't connect him to Bruce so long as they never heard his last name, but to hear it come from her lips was heartbreaking. His hand clenched around her e'ara as his head spun while he tried to make sense of things.
"Shit, dude," Beast Boy said as the door slid closed behind Starfire. "You're in deep trouble. You'd better hurry. Don't let her get away."
Nightwing's eyes flicked to Beast Boy before he bolted out the door after her, stashing Starfire's e'ara in his utility belt.
He found her standing by their bedroom door, her hand braced on either side of the door, her head hanging. She lifted her head as she heard him approach, glancing at him before she straightened up and entered their room.
When the door didn't slide shut after her, he followed meekly. She was sitting on the bed, her hands clasped in her lap, her hair falling around her face like a curtain.
He slid the door shut behind him, locking it and crossed to the room to sit at her feet.
"It was very easy for you to lose faith in me."
He placed his forehead on her knee, his hand on her calf. "I'm so sorry."
"How many chances should I give you, Dick? How many times should I allow you to hurt me like this?"
"Please don't call me that," he whispered. "I can't bear it. Not from you."
"You have lost the right for me to call you Richard."
He felt sick. "Oh god Star, I'm sorry."
Her voice was quiet and very sad. "Words cannot make this better. It is always the same between us. When you are angry, you yell at me and you say things you do not mean. And then you apologise. I would prefer that you never say the things that you do not mean to begin with."
"So would I."
"And yet, you will do it again. You do not trust me."
"I trust you with my life."
"But not with your heart."
His head shot up. "No! Don't say that! Of course I trust you with my heart."
She gave him a very sad, very small smile. "In every instance where I have asked for that trust, you have failed me."
Her words were like a searing knife to the gut. "Star-"
She put a finger to his lips and removed his mask, placing it on the bed beside her. "I would never, ever betray you. Not with Speedy, not with anyone. It hurts me that you think I could."
Dick tried to speak again. "Star-"
"Do you think that I do not understand the meaning behind an Earth kiss and I would allow others to engage in lip contact with me?" she asked, her voice soft.
"No, I know you know what it means to us."
"Are you insecure about your love for me that you wish for me to betray you so you can leave this relationship?"
"No! Never!"
"Do you doubt my love for you?"
"God, no. I know you love me, Star. I really do. I just… I don't know…" He placed his forehead against her knee once more.
Dick felt her hand on the back of his head, stroking his hair lightly and he closed his eyes with relief. He shifted his grip on her leg, sliding on hand up to the back of her knee so his whole arm pressed against her leg, the other hand encasing her ankles.
"Perhaps your father was right and we are too young. Perhaps it would be wise to wait a few years."
His entire chest constricted and he couldn't breathe. She didn't mean that, she couldn't mean that. "No, no, no, no," he begged, raising his head again and looked at her, shaking it in denial. "Please don't say that, Star. Please don't. Not that, anything but that."
She tilted her head and looked at him, her expression woeful. "Dick-"
"Richard. Please, Star."
She pressed her lips together.
He climbed up her body, pushing her back on the bed, settling over her. "Please, Star, baby, say my name."
"This will not work."
He nuzzled her, licking the skin around the bite mark he'd made on her neck. "Baby, please."
"You do not deserve it."
He kissed his way up her jaw line, one hand tight on her ribs, the other supporting his weight by her shoulder. "What can I do to win back your love?"
"You still have that, you have not lost my love for you."
He nibbled on her ear.
"Please stop." Her hands pushed against his chest.
"I want to show you how much you mean to me," he murmured into her ear, his hand creeping up to her breast.
She growled and flipped them, straddling his stomach before pinning his wrists above his head. "If you wish to show me what I mean to you, this is not the way to do it."
He frowned, confused. "How then?"
"I already know how much I mean to you through coupling. I need to know how much I mean to you in life. I need your trust, your faith. I need you to be there for me."
"We're heroes, Star. I can't always be there for you."
She sighed in exasperation. "That is not what I mean."
"Then what do you mean?"
She huffed and rolled off him, flopping down onto the pillows, covering her face with her hands. "I do not know."
Dick rolled onto his stomach and crawled up the bed to lie beside her. He placed a hand on her stomach and she lifted her hands to her forehead to look at him, a tear leaking from her eye. "I've really screwed things up haven't I?"
She gave him a sad nod, wiping away the tear before looking up at the roof.
"But you still love me?" he asked hopefully.
Another sad nod.
"And you still want to marry me?"
She was silent for a moment. "Yes, I still wish to marry you."
"In five weeks?"
She sighed, tilting her head to look at him.
"I don't want to wait, Star. I want to marry you. I want to be able to roll over in the morning and call you wife. I want to wear a wedding ring on my finger and have you wear one on yours. I'll do whatever it takes. Please baby, don't take that away. Please marry me in five weeks."
Starfire closed her eyes and Dick held his breath.
"Very well," she murmured quietly. "I will marry you in five weeks, Dick."
He released the breath he'd been holding as he buried his head into the crock of her neck, his hand coming up to cup her face. "Thank you."
She placed a hand over his on her face, caressing it lightly.
"You're not going to call me Richard again until you feel I've earned it are you?" he mumbled into her neck.
"No."
He raised his head to look at her. "Can I earn it back?"
"Yes, you can." She sighed and chewed her lip before she spoke slowly and thoughtfully. "There are times that you will be angry with me. There will always be these times; it is part of who you are and I accept that. All I ask is that you hear my side before you release your anger."
"I'll try, Star. Really, I will try."
She nodded.
He rolled onto his back, staring at the roof, placing one hand behind his head, the other on his chest, listening with a heavy heart as Starfire sniffled beside him. He wasn't quite sure how long they lay there for, thoughts of turmoil and regret flowing through his mind.
"What do you wish to do about Speedy?" Starfire asked eventually, her tears contained.
Dick sighed and closed his eyes, rubbing a hand over his face. "I don't know, Star. I really don't. What would you like me to do with him?"
"Soral training."
Dick gave a light chuckle.
"I am serious. He should undergo the same thing that you went through for the xhandal. Not for as long, but he should understand what you went though to prove yourself to my people. It will also give Beast Boy and Cyborg a chance to discipline him as well, if they have not already done so."
"Hmm… I think you have a good idea there. What was he saying to you when I came back into the common room?"
Starfire sighed. "He did not wish me to tell you what happened last night. He knew I had not when you greeted him cheerfully this morning. He claimed that it was a mistake and you would not understand."
"He had that right. But you were going to tell me, weren't you?"
"It was very hard keeping it from you for as long as I did." Starfire sighed and sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "We should return to the common room. I am certain the others believe we have killed one another by now."
"Star?" he asked, looking at her.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry about your neck," he said meekly.
She glanced over her shoulder at him. "Why did you do that?" she asked, curiosity etching her voice.
He shrugged. "I don't know. I saw how he was looking at you yesterday and I hated it. I found out that he kissed you and when I went to ask you about it, he was leaning over you and I just snapped. You're mine. I wanted to make sure you knew you were mine, now and forever. I remembered what you said about claiming on your planet, and how some couples choose to scar, and I just did it."
"I am not a prize."
He looked at her intently. "I have never, ever said that you were, nor even thought that for a moment. But I did win the right to marry you in the eyes of your people."
She nodded, wincing as her fingers brushed over the bite on her neck.
Dick flinched. "I'm sorry. You should get Raven to heal it."
She hummed slightly and stood, walking into the bathroom. He sighed in defeat and covered his face with his hands. Although the idea of permanently scaring her sent a strange sick feeling to his stomach, it was something that her people recognised and did quite frequently, and he found himself hoping that she would wish to keep the mark.
"No," Starfire said and he lifted his hands from his face. She was standing at the door to their bathroom, dabbing the mark lightly with a cloth to remove the blood. "It is a good mark. A passionate mark. It will be a scar I will proudly bear."
He sat up, looking at her hopefully. "Really?"
She nodded. "Yes. Although the giving of it was flawed, that does not mean that there was not love behind it as well."
Dick rubbed the back of his neck, before scooting to the side of the bed. He placed his feet on the ground and his elbows on his knees and hung his head, resting his head on his hands.
He heard her moving around the room while he stared dejectedly at his feet. Her legs appeared on either side of his as she settled on the bed behind his back, wrapping her arms around his stomach and pressing up against him.
"I don't know why I do this to you, Star. I really don't. I never mean to hurt you and I end up doing it. I can't do this anymore. I don't want to hurt you. But I don't know how to prevent it."
She sighed. "How many of the arguments have we had?"
He shrugged. "Not many I guess."
"And we have been together for nearly a year." One hand left his stomach to stoke his hair. "Each time we have fought, you have believed yourself to be justified. When you yelled at me regarding the a'tiyk valm you believed I had deliberately caused it. When I visited Fyria on Tamaran, you believed I was deliberately disobeying your orders. Perhaps next time you feel the urge to yell at me you should take a moment and think first."
"See, that's the problem. Every time I get the urge to yell at you, I react before I can stop and think about it."
She made a small noise. "As heroes we must react before we have a chance to think. In moments of battle we must rely on instinct."
"Yes, exactly."
"May I suggest something?"
He nodded, enjoying the feeling of her fingers running through his hair. "Please do."
"Next time you hear yourself saying the mean words to me, perhaps that could be a signal to step back and take a moment? Often those words are followed by a hurtful statement."
"You mean swearing?"
"Yes. I have noticed when you are under pressure you often do the swearing. Perhaps you could use it as a signal to take a moment to collect your thoughts."
He lifted his head from his hands, leaning into her embrace. "I can try, Star. That's all I can promise you."
She pressed her lips against his neck. "That is all I ask for."
He turned his head toward hers, hoping to entice a kiss from her. "You know I love you, more than anything."
"I know," she murmured in reply. "Now, we should return to our friends."
He sighed and got to his feet. He reached for his mask, placed it back on his face and turned to her.
She'd shifted on the bed until she was kneeling by the edge and Nightwing saw that she'd placed an adhesive plaster over the bite on her neck, her gorget still being in the common room on the floor. He took a step toward her and she looked up at him, before wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her cheek against his chest. He breathed a huge sigh of relief and gathered her into his arms, cuddling her close.
"Where's the nearest soral?" he asked after a while.
"In the training room."
He nodded, pulling away and holding out his hand for her. "Let's go and get it, then head to the common room."
The trip to the training room was quick and Nightwing found it surprising that there were no Titans lingering by their bedroom door as they exited, but he was pretty sure that Cyborg would be keeping them confined to the common room for the moment.
Starfire collected a soral from the rack and walked by his side as they journeyed back to the common room.
"This is going to be interesting," he muttered, pausing before the door for a moment.
"I will be by your side," she said softly, passing him the soral.
He gave a sharp nod and entered the common room.
Head swiveled in their direction instantly.
Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven were the first to their feet, with Batgirl right behind them, looking fearful. The other Titans hovered uncertainly in the background. Nightwing cast his eyes around. Bumblebee, Aqualad and the twins had positioned themselves around a bloody Speedy, who sat on a chair still holding his nose and had an icepack over one eye. One of his legs was jiggling restlessly. Nightwing wasn't sure if they were being protective of him, or whether they were trying to keep him from escaping.
"Nightwing," Cyborg said carefully.
Nightwing felt Starfire take his hand. "It is all right, Cyborg."
"What are you doing with a soral?" Raven asked, her face concealed by her cowl.
"You'll see. Have you done anything to him yet?" he asked, looking at Cyborg.
Cyborg shook his head. "It's not really our place. We sorta wanted to wait to see if things were all right between you and Star. They are sorted?"
Nightwing glanced at Starfire. "We'll work though it," he said softly as he squeezed her hand.
"Nightwing," Bumblebee said carefully, taking a step forward. "Speedy is a member of my team and although he was stupid and-"
"Deserves to be punished for his actions," Aqualad included while the twins nodded.
"And none of us believe that he could have stooped so low to do such a thing to you and Starfire, especially after you just announced you were getting married, we don't want to lose him as a member."
Nightwing stood impassively, looking at them blandly and shifted his grip on his soral slightly.
"Do you have anything to say Speedy?" Starfire asked.
He looked up at them. "Uhh… sorry?"
Nightwing frowned.
Bumblebee cuffed him. "Why don't you tell us all why you did it?"
Speedy eyed her ruefully. "Bee-"
"I think that's a good idea," Cyborg said, folding his arms across his chest. "See, you mess with Star, and you mess with all of us."
Nightwing shook his head. "I really don't want to know. Speedy, you will stay away from Starfire. If I see you come within ten feet of her, I won't be responsible for what I will do to you. Now stand up."
Speedy reluctantly got to his feet.
Nightwing released Starfire's hand and lifted the soral, balancing it between his palms. "This is a Tamaranian soral. It is their weapon of choice. I had five weeks to learn how to use it before I had to go up against Tamaranians that had been using it for years. I spent every day of that five weeks in training; stamina runs with Beast Boy, weights with Cyborg and soral practice with Starfire. I trained all day. You have to do what I did for one week, starting tomorrow at daybreak."
He tossed the soral to Speedy.
Speedy caught it deftly before he overbalanced as the weight of the weapon took effect and dropped the soral to the ground. "Fuck! That's heavy."
"Welcome to my world." He glanced around. "If you all want to see a demonstration on how it's used, Starfire and I will be happy to show you later." He looked at Beast Boy and Cyborg. "Think you guys can put Speedy though his paces?"
Cyborg had an evil gleam in his eye. "It'd be my pleasure."
Raven took several steps toward Starfire. "Are you alright?" she asked softly. Her eyes flicked to Nightwing's.
Nightwing ran a hand through his hair. "I overreacted again," he said meekly, staring at the floor. "I kinda lost the plot when I saw him standing over her. I really meant just to ask her about it when I found out what happened last night."
"And the bite?" Raven asked, eyeing Starfire's neck. "Do you want me to heal that?"
Starfire shook her head. "It is fine, Raven." She placed a hand on the small of Nightwing's back. "It was a good claiming."
"I could use some healing though," Speedy called.
Raven's face hardened and she did not even bother looking at him. Her powers suddenly flicked out of her, encasing the boy in energy, slamming his back against the wall. "I will not be healing you. You're lucky that I didn't react last night when I found out what you'd done."
"You knew?" Nightwing asked, incredulously.
"Yes," she replied, dropping Speedy to the ground. "Starfire told me last night; she wanted to tell you straight away. I suggested that we leave it until today so we didn't ruin the party. I was going to help her tell you."
Nightwing flicked his eyes to Starfire. "You didn't tell me that."
Starfire shrugged. "It did not seem important anymore. You found out." She looked at him, her eyes unreadable. "How did you find out?" Nightwing fought not to look at Batgirl, but somehow Starfire knew and she wilted. "I see."
He knew she was thinking that he trusted Batgirl's word more that he trusted hers, but that just wasn't true. "Star-"
She held up a hand. "It is all right, Nightwing. It is over now. I am going to have some breakfast, would you like some?"
He gave her a sad nod and watched her walk to the kitchen and Cyborg amble over to join her, giving her an affectionate noogie, before slinging an arm around her waist and squeezing her. She smiled sadly at him, leaning into his embrace for a moment then busied herself with making breakfast.
"She called you Nightwing," Raven noted.
Nightwing's shoulders slumped. "I've lost my Richard privileges. I think I've also lost my mind speak privileges too. I screwed up badly, Rae."
Raven made a small noise of agreement, placing a hand on his shoulder for a moment.
"I told you not to overreact," Batgirl said, coming up to him.
Nightwing frowned at her. "Why didn't you ask her about it before coming to me?"
She cast him a scathing look. "And how exactly would I have done that? Is there a polite way to ask someone that kind of stuff?" She paused for a moment. "Um, why did you bite her?"
"Tamaranian tradition," he muttered. "Shit, that reminds me. I'll have to sit down with Star and work out the Tamaranian traditions that the Titans need to know about when we go to Tamaran."
Raven nodded. "Claiming would be the a good one. There are a few others that would be prudent to know. Like the no offworlders thing."
Nightwing sighed and looked over at the Titans that were gathering around the soral in interest.
"There's no way I can possibly lift that," Speedy was saying.
"Pantha also believes you are too scrawny to wield such a weapon."
"At least it will be a good punishment for you," Bumblebee said, her hands on her hips. "Maybe you'll think first before messing with Starfire again."
"I didn't think first that time, that's the whole problem," Speedy muttered as he tried to lift the weapon. "This is stupid."
Nightwing narrowed his eyes, fighting the urge to go over and smack Speedy again.
"Dude, you deserve it," Beast Boy said, walking away from the group and over to Raven. "Rae, are we doing that meditation today?"
Raven sighed. "To be honest, there's too much emotion floating around right now, it would be pointless."
Beast Boy nodded before he turned to Nightwing looking sheepish. "Um…"
Nightwing raised an eyebrow.
"Look, don't get mad or anything. I've sorta been elected to ask on behalf of the Titans. They were gonna have Starfire ask you, but… well… I don't think she'd be interested today."
Nightwing grunted. "Where is this going, Beast Boy?" he asked blandly.
"Well, when Herald picked everyone up yesterday, he asked them all to bring swimmers. We thought maybe that we could… um… if it's okay with you that is… go to the beach today?"
Raven snorted. "No wonder you didn't want to meditate today."
Beast Boy cast her a hurt look. "Rae, if you wanted me to meditate with you, I would've done it, no matter what everyone else was doing."
Nightwing frowned. "It's the middle of winter, where were you planning on going? It'll be freezing."
Beast Boy rubbed the back of his neck. "Herald kinda suggested Hawaii."
Nightwing noticed that the room had suddenly gone quiet and he glanced around. All the Titans were looking at him expectantly. He sighed, suddenly feeling like a parent to a bunch of kids. Did they seriously need his permission for something like this? "Yeah, sure, whatever. Knock yourselves out."
"Woohoo!" Beast Boy bellowed, punching the air. "Hear that guys? We're going to Hawaii!"
Nightwing sighed again as the Titans began to cheer and headed out the common room.
"Seriously?" Batgirl asked as she followed him. "You're gonna let them go to Hawaii?"
Nightwing shrugged, stopping in the hallway to look at her. "They can do whatever they like. I'm not their keeper."
"You're their leader though. You're responsible for what happens to them."
"Babs, I'm really not in the mood for making them train or anything. Everyone needs a day off every now and then. Go, have some fun, get to know the team."
"You're not coming?"
Nightwing shook his head and continued down the corridor. "Nah."
He headed down to his office, standing in the doorway for a moment while he looked into the darkened room before entering and sliding the door shut behind him. He powered up his computer and glanced at the mound of paperwork sitting on the desk. With a shake of his head, he slouched in the corner of the room, drawing his knees to his chest and resting his head on them.
"What are you doing?" Starfire asked and he lifted his head to see her standing at the door, a tray of food in her hands.
He gave her a wiry smile. "Hiding."
"Hmm." Starfire walked across the room to him and placed the tray before him. "You need to eat."
He rested his head back against the wall and stared at the ceiling. "I'm really not hungry."
"You do not wish to go with the others to the beach," she said, more of a statement that a question.
"No. You should go though."
Starfire sighed and sat down beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He tilted his head so that he could see her without lifting it from the wall.
"I'm sorry, Star. This isn't the best start to a New Year is it?"
Starfire nudged his legs apart, before sitting in between them and curling up against his chest. "It will be all right, Dick."
Nightwing shook his head, his arms encircling her waist. "Star, if you can't bring yourself to call me Richard, that's okay. Just don't call me Dick, please. It sounds strange."
She gave a sad giggle, her fingers making small circles on his chest. "It feels strange to say." She was silent for a moment. "I love you."
He angled his head to see her face. "Say it again."
She smiled sadly, looking up at him. "I love you."
"I love you too," he murmured, bending his head to kiss her.
