Next morning, Robin entered the Main Ops Room to see Starfire and Teale softly speaking to each other. Teale was grinning and Starfire was quietly giggling. The other Titans slowly filed into the room.

Suddenly Starfire announced "Friends, me and the Line of the Time –" Teale winced and interrupted her. "Please, Starfire, just call me Teale!"

She giggled again and said "Of course. Teale. We will go to the mall of shopping and return promptly!" With that, she grabbed Teale under his armpits and flew off with him.

"What the hell was that all about?" wondered Cyborg aloud. Robin said nothing, just frowned and sat behind the terminal.

After a couple of hours, the two returned, laden with shopping bags. "We shall be in the kitchen if anyone requires our company!" Starfire said to the room. Then they both went to the kitchen, Teale carrying the bags and whispering to Starfire with a big grin on his face, while Starfire clung to his arm, still laughing and giggling.

Robin's frown deepened, but again he said nothing and simply returned to his terminal. Beast Boy was practicing Space Race 4, oblivious to what had happened in the room. Raven was pretending to read a book, while her eyes were following the couple. As they left for the kitchen, her eyes met Cyborg's. She lifted an eyebrow. Cyborg shrugged his massive metal shoulders, a move that shook the couch, extracting an annoyed yell from Beast Boy.

An hour later, Starfire and Teale had still not reappeared in the Main Ops Room. Cyborg yawned, stretched, and said "Man, I'm hungry. What's for lunch?"

"There's some leftover pizza from yesterday in the fridge. Help yourself" Raven responded, without lifting her eyes from the book.

As Cyborg got up to look for the pizza, Starfire and Teale appeared, carrying trays of food in their arms. "Friends!" shouted Starfire happily. "We have spent the morning in the mall of shopping and in the kitchen to prepare for you sumptuous food!"

The aromas coming from the trays were so appealing that the Titans materialized instantly at the dining table, cutlery in hands, waiting to start the feast. There were all sorts and varieties of meat prepared in several different ways, and of course two special vegetarian dishes for Beast Boy. There was enough of everything even for Cyborg, and the next twenty minutes the only sounds heard in the room were the clinking of cutlery and wolfing down of food.

Finally, a thunderous belch from Cyborg, followed by an even louder one from Beast Boy, signaled the end of the feast.

"So, who did the cooking?" asked Raven.

"It was me" replied Teale. "It's another skill that I have – and it complements nicely with the main one!"

"I see. You can experience the effect of anything you add before you even do it, correct?"

Instead of answering, Teale just beamed at her, and then said "But I would not be able to do it if I did not have such an able and helpful assistant!" he said, waving his arm expansively to point at Starfire, who blushed and hid her smile behind her hand.

"So that's what you two were planning all morning?" asked Robin. He looked relieved. Teale said "Yes, I wanted to thank you all for your kindness in letting me stay here, so I asked Starfire to help me prepare a small surprise for all."

He flashed a quick smile at Robin, almost as if apologizing, but did not say anything else.

Later, Teale was sitting on the couch and talking to Cyborg. Their conversation slowed down a moment, and the huge metal man took the opportunity to slowly look around, as if to make sure they were not being listened to.

"I gotta hand it to you dude, I had you wrong." Teale looked at him with some surprise, but then he understood.

"You mean…" he said, and his eyes darted quickly to Starfire and then to Robin, then finally back to Cyborg. The metal head nodded.

"Don't get me wrong" Cyborg said softly. "They ain't married, and whatever she wants to do is none of my business. But they are – better to say, I hope they will be – a nice couple, would be a shame to break it up."

"I know. You know, it was obvious to me right away. Don't worry, I wouldn't dream of coming between them. But he's trying so hard to be serious and organized that he forgets sometimes that she is a happy girl that needs some attention and a little foolishness every now and then. Like a tree that you have to care for if you want it to flower in spring. I just wanted her to giggle a little bit and feel that she's appreciated. "

"Man, you're diving in too deep for me, but I do agree with you. Thanks for the fantastic lunch."

In spite of Cyborg's precautions, Raven had heard the whole exchange, though she never indicated that she did. Damn. Every time I try to remove one layer, I just sink in deeper. Complex little fellow, aren't you?