"Dude, we got beaten sooo bad. And by a girl! Geez, I swear Robin's training is starting to wear off." the green shape shifter exclaimed, blaming everyone but himself for their apparent defeat. He waved his skinny arms around wildly while Luliana looked at him in annoyance.
"What is wrong with being a girl? A girl defeated you, and you blame others? Are all earthlings so biased?" she said, crossing her arms. Starfire shook her head in disapproval at Beastboy until he colored and deep olive green.
"Sorry." he muttered, looking at his shoes with interest. Raven sighed as she attempted to read her book. The chatter and babble of her teammates was starting to irritate her, so she stood up and began gliding toward her room. Robin immediately stood up to follow her, ignoring Starfire's reproachful looks. The Tamaranian had been telling him she wished to do the "cuddling" but he hadn't been in the mood to be crushed.
"Raven, hey Raven!" he said, attempting to catch up to her. It seemed to him that she was floating away faster than she had been a second ago. The dark hallway was starting to turn a corner when he finally caught up with the dark empath. Her hood was up, and she seemed intent on avoiding his face.
"What is your wish, oh wise and great leader?" she asked, voice dripping with sarcasm. He ignored the scorn apparent in her tone and crossed his arms across his well muscled chest.
"I wish you would tell me what is going on." he replied in an even tone, mask hiding the frustration that must have shone in his eyes. Raven looked at the book in her hands and took a deep breath before replying.
"As I have told you before, nothing is going on." she said crisply, stroking the leather cover of the ancient tome. Her gentle fingers felt the dips and flaking gold lettering, helping to keep her calm.
"Really? How come a close friend you never even mentioned suddenly appears out of the blue, calling you Kiara, and brings a crazy lady who says that she's a queen? Can you explain that?"
Black sparks appeared at the tips of her fingers. "No." she said softly, trying to control her emotions. Turning away from her leader, she began to open her book as she glided away. A gloved hand caught her arm and pulled her back to face him.
"Raven, I want to know what is going on. Now." he demanded, gripping her wrist tightly. Violet eyes glared at him angrily as Raven attempted to wrench her arm free. Robin just held on, wondering why she didn't just use her powers to teleport away.
"Let go of me." she seethed, trying to push him away. Robin held on tighter, and his grip became painful.
"Raven, tell me the truth. That's all I want to know."
She stopped struggling, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Her lavender hair covered her pale face as she bowed her head. Robin let go of her wrist
"I can't." she whispered as her hand fell to her side. Robin wanted to comfort her, hold her, do something to make the sorceress stop looking so defeated and small. He stood still for a moment, watching Raven attempt to pull herself together. She had never shed a single tear in front of him, except on her birthday, and she wasn't about to now. The Boy Wonder could only watch as the girl fled to the safety of her room.
"K-Raven? Your Highness?" a voice called from down the hallway. Robin turned and saw Luliana walking toward him, noticing the shock on her face as she saw him.
"Err, I didn't mean to say that. I was just…um…um…" Luliana stuttered, seeing the confused expression on his face. She had, of course, realized that the Titans didn't know that Raven was royalty. Raven didn't want them to know either, and Luliana cursed silently as she groped for an excuse.
"Well, bye!" she ended lamely, running toward the living room once more.
"Luliana, wait!" Robin said suddenly. He caught up with the girl and stopped her just before she opened the door to the living room. She didn't look pleased and her hazel eyes darted around while she looked for an escape route.
"I'm not going to ask you why you just called Raven 'Your Highness'." he said calmly. Luliana did not look reassured. "I just want to ask you a quick question."
"What?" she asked suspiciously.
"What's Raven's favorite flower?" he asked, feeling his face flush. The girl gaped at him in plain astonishment.
"I just upset her and want to make it up to her." he added defensively, seeing that a sly gleam had entered Luliana's eyes. She nodded solemnly, not a bit convinced.
"If that's the only reason…lilies. White lilies are her favorite, but amaryllises are okay too. They smell nice." she paused and thought for a second. "Don't give them to her in person. She'll totally reject you." Luliana smiled mischievously. "But she might not. It depends on the boy, and I have a feeling…"
Robin cut her off. "Yeah, okay, thanks bye." he said hurriedly, only making the grin on Luliana's face grow wider. "I have a girlfriend you know. Starfire?" he added quickly.
"Yeah, I know Starfire. Girlfriend huh?"
Luliana's grin was starting to make Robin feel uncomfortable and he knew that nothing he was saying was helping. Muttering a quick goodbye, he swept past her to sit next to Starfire, letting her envelope him in one of her bone-crushing hugs, if only to make a point to the blonde girl staring at him in amusement.
Pravus smiled to herself as she lounged in her reclining chair. Her cruel red eyes gleamed with amusement as she saw the scene unfold in her magic mirror.
So the young sorceress has a crush on that pathetic mortal boy? This could turn out to be interesting. The queen licked her lips at the prospect of a new pawn to play with. And this boy, Robin, he liked her too, no matter how much he denied it. How interesting.
"Maybe it's time I destroyed what you hold dear." she whispered to herself, clearing the image in the mirror to admire her own reflection. "Then I will crush you like the worthless bug you are.
