Author's Note: See if you can spot the Halo reference, as well as a reference to Teen Titans episode "Sisters"! I apologize in advance to anyone that thought this was going to go well.
Songs: "Heartstopper" - Emiliana Torrini
Chapter 4
It was the morning of November 6th, and Starfire had hardly slept the night before. No matter how many times she rolled over, telling herself that she really needed to sleep now or she would look tired for Dick tomorrow, the excitement overwhelmed the exhaustion. Even now, sitting on the edge of the roof, her feet were kicking off the side with enthusiasm. It was only 10am, and she had at least two hours to wait, but the ball of tense anticipation was already firmly lodged in her chest as she thought about all the possible activities her and Dick could do.
They could go to the indoor ice skating rink Dick had explained to her, skating until they got too cold and needed to retire to one of the shops of coffee for a warm drink. They could go to one of the movies she had seen a particularly enticing television promotion for, although that would not allow them much opportunity to talk. They could go to that restaurant of sushi the Titans had been invited to once after saving the owner, where they had a particularly delightful sweet mustard sauce that she had put on everything. Or they could do something Dick suggested, considering she had not discussed any of her ideas with him. She had not talked to him at all, actually, aside from the brief messages she had received, but he had said he was coming. At noon. Which was in a little under two hours.
She giggled to herself, bouncing slightly from her perch on the edge of the roof. She was already prepared for his arrival-even bothering to put on some of the pleasant smelling liquid Raven had given her on her neck-and now she merely needed to murder the time. Hopefully some of her friends would be awake by now, because she did not wish to be sitting here waiting for him when he arrived. That would likely reveal her desperation.
Lifting off, she hovered over to the stairwell door with copious amounts of unbridled joy, floating down to the main floor.
"Hey, Star!" Beast Boy greeted from the kitchen, wearing his chef hat as he waved at her with a spatula.
"Greetings, Beast Boy!" she exclaimed, and he jumped. "Is it not the most glorious morning your eyes have ever observed?"
"Uh…" he mumbled, his eyes widening as his eyebrows furrowed in apparent concern for her sanity.
"Tamaranean Valentine's Day," Raven explained from her stool at the counter in front of him. "I told you about this, remember?"
"Oh yea," Beast Boy replied, smiling with understanding. "Cortana or whatever."
"Corgaza," Starfire corrected as she slid onto the stool beside Raven.
"Sure, that," Beast Boy muttered, waving his hand dismissively as he turned back to the pancakes.
Raven rolled her eyes, but Starfire merely giggled.
"So, what are you guys gonna do anyway?" Raven asked, looking at her over the brim of the cup of tea she was sipping.
"I do not know yet," she answered, holding her head in her hands as she propped her elbows up on the counter. "We have not had an opportunity to discuss it."
"Well, do you have any ideas?" Raven pressed, and Starfire turned toward her, beaming.
"Oh, I have a plethora of ideas! I was thinking we could perhaps-"
"On second thought," Raven interjected, raising a hand to stop Starfire's rambling, "I think I'd rather be surprised."
Starfire's face fell momentarily before she smiled, understanding that Raven did not intend to be rude.
"Hey, Star?" Beast Boy asked, turning his back on the stove to look at her. "Do you want chocolate chips in your pancakes? I'm putting some in Raven's."
"You are?" Raven asked, looking at him with curious surprise.
"Well yea," Beast Boy muttered, shrugging. "Last week you said you liked the chocolate chip pancakes at that place we went to for breakfast."
Raven merely stared at him, her eyebrows rising.
"What?" Beast Boy snapped. "I listen."
"No, thank you, Beast Boy," Starfire answered, and he nodded before turning around.
Raven glanced over at her, wordlessly gesturing towards Beast Boy's back as she gave Starfire a pointed look.
She stifled a giggle as she shrugged back, and Raven rolled her eyes before returning to her tea.
"When's he supposed to be getting here?" Raven asked.
"Yea, when? Because I could really use his help with-"
Cyborg cut off as Raven gave him a poisonous glare.
"But we can do that some other day," Cyborg added hastily, appeasing Raven with a broad, fearful smile before turning back to the TV.
Starfire gave Raven a half-hearted look of disapproval, but she was also grateful her friend was trying to keep the day free.
"He said he would be arriving around noon," she answered.
"Well that only gives you"-Raven looked at the clock in the kitchen-"an hour and a half to get ready!" she exclaimed with mock panic.
Starfire sneered at her, and Raven smirked over her tea.
"TA-DA!" Beast Boy announced, grinning broadly as he grandly set a plate of pancakes in front of each of them.
Raven looked down at her brown-speckled ones with trepidation. "These don't have tofu in them do they?"
"No," Beast Boy sputtered, as if the insinuation was ridiculous.
"Soy milk?" Raven pressed, plucking at the pancakes with her fork.
Beast Boy remained silent, his eyes shifting nervously, and Raven glared at him.
"You won't even be able to taste the difference!" he blurted. "Just try it," he requested, looking at them pleadingly.
The two girls exchanged a wary glance before cutting off a portion of pancake and spearing it with their forks. Still watching one another, they slowly lifted the bite to their mouths, silently daring the other to go first. In a wordless instant, they seemed to both agree to go, and shoved the forks into their mouths, tentatively chewing at the pancakes.
"Well?" Beast Boy asked breathlessly, moving to stand in-between them, his gaze shifting furtively.
Starfire chewed thoughtfully, her eyebrows furrowing as the pancakes broke apart in her mouth. She swallowed, smacking her tongue against the top of her mouth as she considered the lingering taste.
"Ya know," Raven started, turning to look at her and Beast Boy, "I really can't taste the difference."
"Nor can I," Starfire confirmed, smiling up at him.
"Awesome!" Beast Boy exclaimed, jumping as he punched into the air.
"Oooo, pancakes!" Cyborg said, excitedly jumping off the couch and rushing into the kitchen, grabbing some from the stack Beast Boy had prepared.
The trio exchanged nervous glances.
"We won't tell him, though," Raven whispered, cupping a hand beside her mouth, and Starfire and Beast Boy chuckled.
"What?" Cyborg asked, noticing their smirks.
"Nothing," Beast Boy answered, shrugging. "You want some syrup?"
Cyborg gave them all a suspicious scan, but took the syrup from Beast Boy and sat down, the pancakes seeming to supplant his need to pry.
"So, what are you guys gonna do today?" Cyborg murmured through a mouthful of pancakes.
"I do not know," she explained again as Raven rolled her eyes at the repetition. "I suppose we shall figure it out when he arrives."
"Cool," Cyborg muttered, taking another bite of pancakes. "Hey, ya know, 'World of Fungus' starts in a bit if you wanna-"
"Glorious!" she cried, grabbing her plate, floating off the stool, and landing cross-legged on the couch. "How do I make it appear?"
The other three Titans laughed at her, and she looked at them curiously.
"What? What have I done?" she asked, assuming she had made another cultural error.
"Nothing," Cyborg answered, getting up and walking around the couch to grab the remote off the table. He hit a few buttons and the opening segment of the show appeared on the screen, causing Starfire to applaud with delight.
"Thank you, Cyborg!" she chirped up at him, to which he gave her a small salute before returning to his pancakes.
Raven joined her after awhile, cringing and making sounds of disgust occasionally when something particularly gruesome appeared, and Starfire chuckled at her discomfort.
For some wondrous reason, there was another episode after that, and then another, and, before she knew it, the clock read noon.
Giggling without restraint or clear cause, she shot into her room, intending to sit in front of the window until she saw the black Batgyro approaching. She pulled the chair from her desk across the room, perching on the edge of it and nearly pressing her face to the glass. Her eyes scanned back-and-forth as she searched for the black speck against the sky.
12:30 came and went, and still she sat there, her eyes paining with focus. Sometime later, Raven came in, bringing her a cup of mustard tea.
"Why don't you call him?" Raven asked, sitting on the edge of the bed behind her.
"He is not on his computer," she explained, having checked several times already, "and he instructed me not to call him on the communicator unless it were an emergency."
"Well, I'm sure he's coming," Raven reassured. "I wouldn't wor-"
"Of course, he is coming!" Starfire snapped, rounding angrily on her friend. "Why would he not be coming!?"
"Calm down, Star," Raven soothed, gazing at her concernedly as she placed her tea in her lap. "I didn't mean anything by it. I was just saying-"
"He will be here," Starfire injected coldly, a lump rising in her throat, and she was not certain who she was trying to convince.
"I know," Raven answered simply, and Starfire felt instantly guilty as her friend smiled tenderly at her.
"I-I apologize," she said faintly, hanging her head as she self-consciously tapped against the cup in her hand. "I am merely-"
"It's okay," Raven interrupted, rising off the bed to place a hand on Starfire's shoulder. "I get it," she added, and they exchanged small smiles before Raven left.
Starfire sipped at her tea, returning to her constant vigil staring at the horizon. The sun sank lower and lower in the sky, and, by the time it reached 3pm, she was pacing anxiously back-and-forth in front of the window.
Her mind raced with a thousand things that could have gone horribly wrong. Perhaps the plane had crashed and he was stranded somewhere along the route. Perhaps he had been injured doing whatever it was that he was doing that she was not privy to. He could be hurt, he could require her assistance, he could be-
She spun around, unable to bear even finishing that thought, and dove for the communicator on her desk. With panicked, shaking fingers she dialed Dick's code and waited, holding her breath as a stinging sensation began to rise in her eyes.
"Starfire?"
A breath exploded from her lips as she saw his face appear, his unmasked face whole and unharmed, albeit a little confused.
"Dick!" she cried, beaming with relief. "You are…" she trailed off as she noticed something in the background.
A crystal chandelier was hanging behind him, the prismatic light flickering through his hair.
"Are you…at home?" she asked, tension rising in her chest once again.
"Yea, where else would I be?" he snapped, and she could almost feel the fissure form across her heart. "Are you okay?" he asked, his tone rather fervent now. "Did something happen?"
She had no idea what to say. She did not even know how to feel. Her mind was reeling, her breathing was shaking, and her heart was pounding in her ears. She shook her head mutely, unable to formulate any more of a response than that.
"Starfire, what's wrong? You don't look-"
"Hey, Dick!" a female voice said, coming through the speakers on the communicator, and he glanced backward in response. "It's your turn!"
Her blood froze in her veins, her heart skipping a beat as she gasped. "Dick, who- who is that?" she asked, trying to keep her voice even.
"It's just Batgirl," he explained, rolling his eyes as he turned back to the screen. "We're playing cards."
Her eyes began to sting again, although for a completely different reason.
He had forgotten. He had completely forgotten. This had been so important to her, the first Corgaza that she actually had someone for, and he had completely forgotten. And, to make the situation even more heartbreakingly horrible, he was spending it with another girl!
"Star?" Dick whispered, his concerned voice sounding very far away. "Seriously, are you okay?"
"Is that the girlfriend?" another male voice said, and she got a brief glimpse of the ceiling before another face replaced Dick's.
"Hey, cutie!" the boy said, winking at her with eyes that were a slightly lighter blue than Dick's, but they otherwise would have appeared to be twins at a cursory glance.
"Give me that!" she heard Dick's signature growl, and there was a flash of hands and marble floor before she was looking at him again. "Sorry," he muttered, shaking his head as someone snickered in the background.
"Who was that?" she asked, the anger rising in her chest coming through slightly in her tone.
"Uh..." he murmured, scratching the back of his head uncomfortably, "my…my brother."
"You have a brother!?" she shrieked, this oversight only fueling the already raging fire licking up her chest and into her throat.
"Not a biological one," Dick explained hurriedly, as if that made it acceptable. "Bruce just took Jason in too a few years back."
Her mouth hung open as she sputtered furiously, unable to decide what to yell at him for first.
"Look, I'm sorry. I know I should have told you," he continued, misinterpreting the source of her obvious fury. "It's just, it happened a long time ago, and I-I just didn't know how to bring it up and-"
"Please, Dick," she interjected, her voice firm even though angry tears were biting at the corners of her eyes. "I believe the expression is 'save it'."
"Kory-" he implored, lowering his voice as he shifted the communicator closer to his face.
"Enjoy your cards," she snapped, interrupting him again before clicking the communicator shut.
She stared at the black-and-white cover, her hands shaking as tears welled up in her eyes. In one, swift explosion of rage, she screamed and threw the communicator, sending it crashing into the opposite wall. There was a loud crack as it impacted, and the communicator fell to the floor in two pieces, broken at the hinge.
Just as quickly as her fury had risen, it ebbed, and she sank to the floor, leaning against the bed as she collapsed into wracking sobs.
"What the-" a small voice said, but Starfire did not look up.
Raven was beside her in a second, her warm hand settling on her shoulder as she knelt to the floor.
"What happened?" she asked earnestly.
"He-He," Starfire stammered, gasping in-between sobs. "He forgot," she blurted into Raven's pitying violet eyes, and a fresh wave of sobs overwhelmed her.
"Oh, Star," Raven sighed, pulling her into her blue robes. "It's okay," she whispered, and Starfire clung to the edges of her cape as she wept. "It's okay…"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Dick
"Why did you have to do that!?" Dick shouted, twisting around to glare at Jason.
"What?" Jason replied, smirking as he tilted back on his chair beside Babs. "I wanted to see if she was just as cute as I remember."
In an instant, Jason was splayed on the floor, toppling backward from his already precarious position on the chair as Dick caught the birdarang that returned to his hand.
"Geesh, what, do you always have one of those?" Jason whined, looking up at him and his simple jeans and t-shirt.
Truthfully, yes, he did always have several gadgets on him, even in plainclothes, and Jason should learn to as well, but now wasn't the time to discuss it.
"Do not ever tell her that was you," Dick hissed through gritted teeth, pointing the birdarang down at him.
"Why?" Jason asked coyly, rising up on his elbows. "Afraid she'll come over to the dark side?" he added, waggling his eyebrows.
"No," Dick deadpanned, narrowing his eyes, "I'm afraid she'll castrate you."
Jason's eyes widened slightly, and Dick knew he had made his point.
Jason had been Red X very briefly, only in the time between stealing the suit and Bruce adopting him, but Dick did not want to ever explain that to Starfire. It had been hard enough for him to trust Jason once he knew, even though the suit was now safely locked up in the Batcave, and he could imagine Starfire would be even more difficult to convince. Besides, he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable. It would be pretty awkward knowing that your boyfriend's brother had hit on you, especially when he'd been a criminal at the time.
"Why did she call?" Babs asked as Dick came back to sit at the table.
"She didn't say," he answered, his eyebrows furrowing as he stared down at his cards. They were forced to bet on Go-Fish because Jason didn't know how to play poker, but he was managing to lose pretty spectacularly at this too. "She seemed pretty upset though…"
"Girls," Jason sighed, shaking his head as if he had any experience.
"Starfire's not like that," Dick snapped, glaring at him over his cards. "She wouldn't just…act that way."
"I dunno," Babs said, setting her cards back down on the table, "maybe you don't know her as well as you think."
"What's that supposed to mean?" he countered, slapping his cards onto the table as well.
"Nothing," she muttered, shrugging slightly. "It's just that sometimes people don't turn out to be who you think they are," she added.
"I've known her for four years," he spat back. "I think I know who she is better than you, Babs."
She dropped her gaze, awkwardly shifting her cards across the table. "I guess," she murmured, and he knew that was the closest to an apology he was going to get.
He pulled his cards back up, scanning the various pictures, but his vision kept blurring as he was distracted by his thoughts. With a groan, he leaned back in his chair, dangling his head over the top.
He must have done something. She couldn't possibly be this mad over him not telling her about Jason; it had to be more than that. He had been kind of a deadbeat about calling her, but he couldn't help but feel it was bigger than that too. She had asked about Babs; was she jealous? No, that wasn't right either. She had looked so sad…
"Master Richard!"
Dick lifted his head up abruptly, a slight dizziness overtaking him for a moment as he focused on Alfred, who had just returned from some early Christmas shopping. That's where Bruce had told him Alfred had gone anyway, and he was indeed carrying bags.
"What are you doing here?" Alfred asked, his forehead wrinkling even more than usual.
"Uh, hi, I'm Dick," he answered with a joking wave. "I live here."
"Yes, I am aware, Master Richard," Alfred replied tiresomely. "I meant what are you doing here right now? I was under the impression you had plans for the day."
"Plans? What are you-"
The words stopped in his throat, his eyes widening, and his heart skipped a beat before pounding three times as fast to make up for the lapse.
"SHIT!" he shouted, the chair clattering to the floor behind him as he leapt up, fumbling with the communicator on his belt. "Shit! Pick up, pick up, pick up!" he rambled furiously, his foot tapping rapidly against the tile as he waited, but all he got was static.
"Oh, Master Richard," Alfred sighed pityingly. "Do not tell me you forgot!?"
"I need the plane," Dick called over his shoulder as he ran toward the hallway.
"That and a miracle!" Alfred shouted after him, and he grumbled as he skidded around the corner, racing across the tile.
He was a dead man. He was an absolute dead man. She had reminded him a thousand times, and he had assured her over and over that he would be there, and then he had to go and be the biggest ass on the planet!
Growling at himself, he burst into his room, haphazardly ripping things from hangers and shelves and pushing them into his overnight bag.
"What's going on?" he heard Babs ask, but he didn't pause in his packing, instead heading into the attached bathroom and throwing his supplies on top of his clothes.
"I forgot Valentine's Day!" he explained angrily, although it was not directed at her.
"But it's November. How could you have-"
"Tamaranean Valentine's Day," he added, and she jumped out of the way as he raced past her. "It's called something else, I don't remember, but I forgot it!" he shouted at himself again, throwing his bag on the bed.
"Is it really that important?" she asked as he zipped the bag and threw the strap over his shoulder.
"It was important to her," he snapped, giving her a small glance before heading toward the door.
He left Babs there, having more important things to worry about than if she snooped through his stuff, but he soon heard her footsteps in the hallway behind him, so he didn't have to worry regardless.
"The plane is ready, sir," Alfred said, opening the hidden passage for him as he approached.
"Thanks, Alfred!" he called, not even slowing as he passed through the door and raced down the stairs toward the hangar, trying not to think about what awaited him, and especially trying not to think about the possibility that it would be nothing.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
She lay on her bed, staring up at the darkening ceiling. It was now nearly 5pm, and the burning sadness had long since been replaced by a dull, hopeless ache in her chest.
Raven had come in a few minutes ago, gently offering her some of the Indian takeout they had gone out to retrieve, but she had refused. It was wonderful that her friends cared about her so much, but it was only serving to make her feel worse tonight.
Once Raven had left her room, she had heard the indignant exclamations of the boys drifting in from the living room as Raven no doubt explained to them what had happened. Somehow, it made the whole thing more painful to know they pitied her too.
With a sigh, she rolled over, looking out the window at the lowering sun. It would be setting in a few hours, and then she could finally sleep, leaving this whole day behind her as nothing but a distant nightmare.
A loud shout drifted down the hall, and she twisted slightly toward the door. She could hear the far away sounds of some sort of argument going on in the living room, a cacophony of voices blending together, and she rolled back to the window, wondering what Beast Boy and Cyborg were bickering about now. The arguing quickly subsided, however, and she heard footsteps heading down the hallway toward her.
"I still do not wish to partake in dinner, Raven," she said weakly, keeping her back to the door as she heard it slide open.
"Kory?"
Her eyes widened as her body stiffened, but she still did not turn around.
"Kory?" he sighed again, and she felt the bed depress behind her, a strange crinkling sound accompanying it. "Will you look at me, please?"
She rolled onto her back, lifting her body up by her elbows as she glared at him.
"I got these for you," he said, lifting the orange roses out toward her.
She did not even look at them, her eyes continuing to bore into the whites of his mask.
Dick sighed, lowering the floral arrangement back to the bed. "I'm sorry," he said softly, shaking his head. "I-I just-"
"You forgot," she finished for him, turning her back to him as she lay back down.
"Oh, come on, Kory," he whined, tugging at her shoulder, but she wriggled out from under his hand, remaining firmly facing the other direction.
She felt the pressure lift off the bed as he sighed, and she did not move even though she knew what he was doing. A few footsteps later, he was in front of her, perching on the edge of the bed, but she continued staring past him.
"Can we talk about this, please?" he said softly, and she dropped her gaze to the bed in front of her.
She knew they had to discuss it. They could not simply sit here, her pretending he was not there. That would not solve anything, and she did want to fix it, as angry as she was.
With a sigh, she lifted her face to his, staring challengingly into his now-unmasked face.
"Okay, better," he muttered before his forehead wrinkled. "Are you- Were you crying?" he asked faintly, lifting a hand toward her cheek.
"Of course I was crying!" she snapped, batting his hand away as she sat up, all of the emotions suddenly rising back to the surface. "You forgot about me! You forgot about everything!"
"I didn't forget about you," he argued, shifting closer to her on the bed. "I just…forgot about today…"
She snorted, pulling her legs up in front of her as she wrapped her arms around her knees.
"I'm sorry! I told you I was sorry," he insisted, leaning closer to her.
"It was important, Dick," she said weakly into her knees, looking down at her legs, unable to meet his eyes.
"I know," he admitted sadly. "It was stupid; I know that."
It was silent for some time, her staring into her knees, breathing slowly as she fought to keep the tears silent.
"Kory?" he prodded, sliding even closer, one of his shoulders grazing her knee. "Talk to me. Just…tell me what's wrong."
She let out a long, shuddering breath.
"I am…angry with you," she said simply, still not looking at him.
"I know that," he whispered, tentatively placing a hand on her knee.
"And I am… I am sad," she added, her voice becoming more strained.
"I know, I know," he interjected, unwrapping one of her arms from her legs to take her hand in his, "but it's more than that. There's something else; I can tell. What is it? What's really bothering you?"
She was silent for a long time, searching for the words and trying to prepare herself to say them.
"It is- It is foolish," she muttered, shaking her head as she tried to pull her hand away, but he held fast.
"Not to me," he said firmly, and she looked up into his eyes, blue and determined.
"I- It is-" she stammered, not certain how to phrase this without sounding childish. "Corgaza is meant to be spent with someone special," she began weakly, swallowing the lump in her throat before continuing. "A special female, in your case," she continued, glancing up at him nervously, an anxious knot twisting in her chest, "and you…you were not spending it with me."
"Well, I wasn't spending it with anyone," he offered.
"That is…" she hesitated, looking up at him in nervous flashes, "not entirely true…"
"What do you mean?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing. "I was just at the Manor. There was nobody there but Jason and-"
She winced as he stopped, watching his mouth form a small circle of understanding.
"But you can't- I mean, you don't really-" he sputtered, looking at her with flustered confusion.
"That is not the point," she sighed, assuming his question. "If it were Valentine's Day and I abandoned you to spend it with Beast Boy, would you not take offense?"
He closed his mouth, swallowing hard as he lowered his eyes to the bed. "Yea, I…I guess I would," he muttered, plucking at the blankets.
"It is just…" she started, pulling her hand away from his as she let her legs fall to the side, tucking her feet beneath her, "you spend so much time there with...them. More time than you spend anywhere else. And I just- I cannot help but feel…" Her voice faded away as she dropped her gaze, twisting her hair around her fingers.
"What?" he prodded after a moment.
"I-I feel"-she sighed heavily, lifting her eyes to his-"…replaced."
"What!?" he hissed, grabbing both her hands in his and resting them on her lap. "Kory, how could you even think that? I mean, I know I'm gone a lot, but you know- You must know-"
She looked up at him, hesitant and questioning, and he sighed heavily.
"Kory," he began, cupping her cheek with one hand, "I'm sorry if I made you think that, but you know you could never be replaced." He paused, tilting her head up by her chin as he smiled. "No one could ever take your place."
In spite of herself, she smiled into his blue eyes. "You do know," she said softly, placing her hand over his against her chin, "there will come a day when that does not work."
"But not today?" he whispered, lowering their intertwined hands to rest on her thighs.
"Not today," she confirmed, and he smiled as he leaned in to kiss her. "Ah," she interjected, pulling away from him slightly, and he blinked with confusion. "I am still angry with you," she said, narrowing her eyes into his, which stared back at her from centimeters away.
"I know," he whispered, tucking her hair behind her ears and making her shiver in response, "and I'll do better."
She continued to glare at him skeptically.
"I promise," he added, and she warily allowed him to pull her in.
His lips brushed against hers, soft and hesitant, and she let her eyes droop closed as she returned the kiss.
"So," he said against her lips as they parted, "what do you wanna do?"
"I do not know," she answered, pulling further away. "It is rather late now…" she added faintly, glancing out the window at the sparkling bay.
"It's not that late," Dick argued, no doubt for his own, guilty reasons. "We could go out for dinner, considering you said you hadn't eaten."
Now that the problem was, momentarily at least, alleviated, her stomach betrayed her with a low rumble.
"I'll take that as a yes," he chuckled, and she blushed furiously as she wrapped her arms around her torso, trying to stifle the sound.
"Come on," he beckoned, rising off the bed and replacing his mask. "We can go to that sushi place you like."
She smiled at that, wondering-as she had on several occasions-if Dick could read her mind. She stood up and made to follow him, but stopped as he approached the door.
"What?" he asked, looking at her curiously as she scanned him.
"Do you always remain in your uniform at the Manor?" she asked, looking at the full ensemble.
He tilted his head at her before looking down at himself, and then nodded in understanding. "Oh! No, I changed in the plane on the way here."
Her eyes widened as she considered that. "You are not concerned with people…seeing?" she asked, her voice dropping shyly at the last word.
"Kory," he chuckled, "the only thing seeing me up there are birds, and they can gawk all they want."
Her eyes narrowed for a moment, but she quickly let her anger slip away as she realized she was getting jealous of birds.
"How are we to get into the restaurant?" she asked as they entered the hallway. "They are always so busy, and it is approaching the time of dinner."
"I already got a reservation," he answered with a small shrug, and she looked over at him in surprise. "I thought I should be prepared, just in case you didn't break up with me."
She stopped dead, her eyes widening as she placed a hand against her chest. "You-You thought I would…do the breaking up with you?"
"Well…yea," he muttered, walking back to meet her where she had frozen. "I mean, I forgot about our date."
"You thought I would do the breaking up with you for that?" she whispered, slightly hurt by the assumption.
"I considered it, yea," he said, obviously still confused. "Why, what does it ma-"
The rest of the word vibrated against her lips as she swept over to him, placing a hand on the back of his neck and pulling him into a kiss. She could feel the shock wear off as he slowly returned it, his lips moving against hers in slow, confused motions.
Abruptly, she pulled away, staring intently where she knew his eyes were.
"Robin, it would take much more than that for me to do the breaking up with you," she said sternly, hoping he would understand just how serious she was.
"It-It would?" he stammered breathily.
"Yes," she answered, smiling as she stroked a thumb across his cheek. "But do not think that means you can forget more dates," she added curtly, pulling away to walk past him toward the living room door.
"Duly noted," he muttered, and she laughed as he caught up with her, wrapping an arm around her waist as they headed through the door.