Chapter Title: A Few Broken Eggs (7)
Word Count: 4,072
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans or the pasta recipe – that would be Gimme Some Oven's and it is a real and delicious homemade pasta recipe.
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In the days that followed, Raven grew suspicious of the sudden calm at the tower. All tension between Starfire and Robin had eased and aside from one rooftop conversation there didn't seem to be much different between the pair. The empath still sensed early awkwardness between them, but the nervous energy flared and waned at odd hours instead of regularly clouding the tower. In an effort to better understand what changes may have occurred Raven did something she didn't often do and sought Starfire's companionship.
"Hey. Mind if we hang out?" Raven called through Starfire's door after a timid knock. Judging by the energy in the tower Robin was in the gym so it was a good chance to get Starfire alone.
"Friend Raven!" Starfire embraced her when the door slid open, "It is glorious to see you this morning!"
"Uh...Yeah…" Raven grumbled. There was a reason she was reluctant to be the one initiating hang outs with the alien princess. Starfire had an overwhelming jubilance at being included and while that would encourage a person whose powers didn't go haywire at the slightest bit of emotion, it made Raven nauseous. If Starfire approached Raven to hang out the joy was more tempered and easier to stomach. She'd tried explaining it to Starfire once, but the Tamaranian was easily swept up in emotions and often forgot through no malice of her own. Raven couldn't blame her, to be able to feel things that freely must be liberating.
"What activity were you hoping to partake in with my companionship?" Starfire trilled excitedly.
"I figure we can just have some girl talk on the roof." Raven mumbled trying to control the overpowering emotions around her. The roof would allow some space between them and the boys so Starfire could talk more openly.
They had an unwritten rule that had developed over the past several years, that when they had to talk about things, the space they sought to do so was for the other's comfort level. Since Raven would be asking questions today and wanted Starfire to feel comfortable in answering, she would tolerate the bright end of summer sunshine. If Starfire wished to seek Raven's advice on matters or if she felt the need to cheer the gothic girl up, then they spoke in Raven's room. It was a small thing, but to Raven this respect for emotions and boundaries meant a lot.
Starfire raised a small eyebrow at this, a human gesture she'd found to rather enjoy in expressing her confused curiosity without having to always sound like the clueless alien.
"Is something the matter dear friend?"
The pair floated in unison towards the stairwell, Raven letting the question linger until they were safely away from the common spaces. She respected Starfire and Robin's privacy and felt this conversation would go better away from any eavesdropping robots.
"The energy at the tower is off...It's confusing me a bit." Raven honestly spoke as they opened the door to the roof and were immediately accosted with bright sunshine. Raven pulled up her cape. She was not particularly fond of the sun as someone who was prone to sunburn.
"What do you mean?" Starfire evaded carefully.
"You and Robin...Usually it's nervous energy every time you're sharing a space, but now it's seemingly very random."
"We have admittedly not been spending a lot of time together." Starfire dodged.
"You were both in the common room yesterday with all of us for a game night and there was no tension." Raven pointedly spoke.
"He has made his position on the matter of our relationship known. I am no longer angry, but things are not as they were before." Starfire sighed.
"What did he say before Speedy and Bumble Bee left the other day?" Raven pressed curiously.
"Mostly that I had hurt his feelings." Starfire side-stepped the question, "I did not apologize for that, but I did understand and agreed to give him time."
Raven studied Starfire carefully; there was more than what was being said, but to find out Raven would have to invade Starfire's privacy and that was not something she intended to do.
"I know you've been talking to other Titan's in lieu of me to help with my emotions, but I do want you to know you can still talk to me." Raven insisted, "We are friends after all."
"I know, dear friend. There just isn't anything more to be said at the moment. Robin and I are back to a sense of normal, that is all."
Raven sensed the lie in the air, but whatever the cause of it was, she knew better than to press.
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A few weeks later, the other Titan's had decided to go to a matinee showing of a horror movie marathon as a kick-off to fall festivities. Robin decided to take this as an opportunity to plan a different sort of secret date for Starfire. He'd been working on a bit of tech so if the tower was devoid of the other Titan's they could comfortably have a date outside of one of their rooms.
"Dude, you sure you don't want to see the Wicked Scary movie marathon?" Beast Boy exasperated, "They have an alternate ending for Wicked Scary III!"
"You guys go have fun, Star and I will keep watch on the city." Robin shrugged indifferently.
"Suite yourself dude, you're going to miss one hell of a movie marathon" Cyborg teased as the trio headed down to the T-Car.
"Have fun friends!" Starfire called jubilantly after them as the elevator door closed.
Robin turned on a documentary for a short while as they made sure the trio would not be returning for a forgotten item or blown out tire.
"Robin, I know you had said this would be a cooking date, but how do you plan to avoid the tower security footage. Could our friends not find out if they looked through the tapes?" Starfire mused carefully.
Robin pointed to a small button on his belt.
"This will disable any camera in near proximity at the push of a button."
Who knew some of the technology he'd developed while taking on the Red X persona could be modified with a more stable energy source to help his dating life.
"Fascinating. What were you hoping to cook for lunch today?"
"Alfred taught me to make homemade pasta for special occasions. It's pretty simple in ingredients, but it takes a bit of work to actually get it to come out right." Robin grinned pulling out eggs, a few bags of flour, olive oil, and salt.
"Now a lot of people use a pasta maker or food processor, but Alfred taught me to make pasta by hand."
Robin put several cups flour on a large cutting board and started to make a volcano shape with a large well in the middle out of the flour. Starfire watched curiously as he cracked 4 eggs and dropped the yolks and whites into the flour volcano dome. He drizzled a tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkled salt over the eggs. He grabbed a fork from the cutlery drawer and began to whisk the eggs in the center of the flour without pulling in additional flour. Once the eggs were combined, he began whisking in some of the surrounding flour. Robin began to fold the dough together and knead until it was elastic and smooth. He balled the dough in his hands and wrapped it in plastic wrap to let it sit at room temperature for a while.
"You did not let me do any of the cooking." Starfire pointedly spoke.
"Sorry; I get kind of wrapped up in making pasta, but it's not done yet so you can help me cut the pasta into strips later." Robin laughed sheepishly.
Starfire stuck her tongue out at him indignantly.
Robin ran his glove-free finger through the flour on the counter and teasingly placed a spot of flour on Starfire's cheek. He laughed as he sprinted to the other side of the kitchen in effort to evade retaliation. Catching on to the game Starfire grabbed a fistful of flour before sprinkling it over Robin's head as she floated above him.
He grabbed her by the boots and pulled her back down to the ground before sitting her on the remaining flour pile on the counter. She laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation before releasing a small starbolt and blowing up the nearby bag of flour which rained down all over the pair as well as the kitchen.
Starfire hopped off the counter and doubled over in laughter when she saw a flour coated Robin blinking through the cloud of white powder. He wiped his mask clear and joined her laughter as he took in Starfire trying to to no avail to wipe the powder off, instead rubbing streaks of it into her skin and clothing. He grabbed her around the waist and spun her around the flour dusted kitchen before firmly kissing her.
"You taste like raw flour" She laughed as they broke apart.
"So do you." He replied with a smirk, "Not that I mind."
"You are just trying to cover me in more flour." She teased motioning to the front of his suite which had taken the brunt of the blast.
"Maybe I just like kissing you."
"Or maybe you are being a sneaky stinermite."
"A what?" Robin asked as a distraction before scooping the alien princess up once more and placing her again to sit on the counter top.
"You are being very sneaky indeed." Starfire grinned cheekily.
"Maybe I just know what I want and I'm not about to lose valuable time alone with you."
He moved in to kiss her, his hands coming to rest on her hips, as he closed the distance between them. Her arms wrapped around his neck and while the taste of flour was off putting, it wore off quickly.
The moment was broken by a small chime from Robin's communicator alerting him of the opening of the Titan's garage bay.
He gave Starfire a reluctant grin and she merely laughed at the scene before them.
"Guess we better try and start cleaning this up," He sheepishly blushed.
"I shall retrieve the broom." Starfire excused herself quickly in an effort to lessen the suspicion. Robin hit the button on his belt reactivating the cameras as the trio of Titan's walked into the common room.
"So the movie ended early?" Robin attempted a distraction.
"We got kicked out. Someone got into an argument with a patron between screenings about which Wicked Scary was the best in the series," Raven glared at the boys.
"Well Wicked Scary II clearly was better than Wicked Scary I…" Cyborg grumbled before noticing the settled flour coating everything. "And...what the heck did you do to my kitchen?!"
Starfire returned with two brooms and a dustpan at that moment to find the remaining Titans blinking in confusion at Robin and her.
Cyborg took in the sight of the pair of flour coated teens before snapping a quick photo with his cybernetic eye.
"We will clean it all up." Starfire announced feigning ignorance to the awkwardness that had settled over the room.
"Yeah, but what happened…?" Beast Boy asked curiously.
"If I didn't know any better I'd say this was supposed to be a date." Cyborg teased.
Robin visibly flushed and exasperatedly declared Starfire to not be his girlfriend which made the changeling and half-robot burst out into peals of laughter that doubled as Starfire gave an indignant humph before starting to sweep the floor.
"Relax dude, I was joking." Cyborg tormented.
Robin shot a glare at Cyborg in response before picking up a secondary broom to assist in clean up.
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Cyborg sent the photo to a small group of Titan's in a groupchat that had started half a year prior. Beast Boy and Raven had been invited to the chat, but Raven opted out as the constant texts got to be annoying and Beast Boy, in an effort to show Raven his maturity, also opted out of the chat which mostly focused on gossip.
Cy: What do ya'll think of this?
Bee: Star really needs to stop attempting to cook.
KF: They're hooking up.
Speedy: You think everyone is hooking up.
KF: Everyone should be. We won't be this hot forever.
Hot Spot: Speak for yourself.
Aqualad: Star torched the bag of flour. You can see a scorch mark on the wall behind it.
Herald: Yeah captain obvious, but why?
Bee: I'm saying: girl can't cook for shit.
Argent: Besides, Star hasn't said anything about Robin since the denial. I doubt they're hooking up.
Cy: Will check the tapes, just wanted to give ya'll a chance to make your predictions.
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Meanwhile, with the kitchen nearly clean Robin insisted Starfire clean herself up while he tended to the pasta making. The flour covered alien tried to urge that she help with the meal, but Robin shooed her away to allow her to take care of herself first, promising he would teach her to make pasta in the future, but for now this was his treat.
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Cyborg logged into the security mainframe and attempted to pull up the footage from the kitchen for the afternoon in effort to be able to relay information to the groupchat, but he found a time lapse between Robin and Starfire watching a documentary and when the remaining three Titan's arrived back to the tower.
"Well this is odd…" Cyborg mused aloud as he rewound to check the skip in the recording.
Cy: The tapes have been tampered with.
KF: They're totally bangin' in your kitchen.
Cy: They better not be.
Argent: I will follow up with Star. Still doubt it though. She hasn't asked about sex and I doubt Robin would be willing to discuss that with her.
KF: OoooOOooo lucky Hot Spot
Hot Spot: Shut up KF.
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Starfire's communicator lit up indicating a call when she emerged from the shower. Upon seeing who was calling she answered eagerly.
"Hey babe"
"Friend Argent!" Starfire gleefully replied.
"Want to tell me what's going on with you and the boy blunder?" Argent asked inquisitively in a thick New Zealand accent.
"Nothing is going on. We are simply back to normal," Starfire assured as confidently as she could muster.
"So what happened today? Cyborg said things were awkward at the tower…" Argent added.
"We got into some hand to hand combat over who could cover the other in more flour." Starfire replied honestly.
"His idea or yours?" Argent asked curiously.
"He started it, though I do not think the progression was what he had in mind."
"Careful or you're going to end up makin' out after one of those 'combat sessions'" Argent laughed heartily.
Starfire reddened at the statement. It was hard to lie to those she considered friends, and she'd struggled so much to unconvincingly lie to Raven who she knew wouldn't press. Someone as emotionally open as Argent would see through her in a moment.
Argent studied the vibrant red-head's crimson face and smirked.
"Unless that's what you had in mind, babe, not a bad plan actually."
Starfire wished she could turn the video off on her communicator as she was having trouble making eye contact with Argent. In the time it took her to compose herself, Argent spoke again.
"Unless that's what happened today?"
"No. Nothing of the sort happened today." Starfire softly spoke still studying the floor.
"But you're trying for that?" Argent pressed.
"I am...unsure. I do not want to be the one putting in all the effort." Starfire mumbled sheepishly.
"Good policy. Want some kissing tips in case it does happen?" Argent laughed.
"Yes, dear friend. That would be most helpful." Starfire replied. At least that wasn't a lie.
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After disconnecting from the call Argent relayed her information to the groupchat.
Argent: Nothing happened.
KF: Bummer.
Cy: Thanks Argent.
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Starfire was towel drying her hair when Robin knocked at the door. Robin peered around the hallway before quietly putting forth a request.
"You want to join me in my room when you're ready?"
"One moment please," Starfire replied reaching for her uniform and beginning to dress. As much as she longed for a comfy pair of sweatpants and a sports bra, it simply wouldn't do to be caught coming out of Robin's room dressed in anything except a uniform.
When she was adequately dressed, she navigated her way to Robin's room to find a nice dinner setup with the pasta he'd finished making while she cleaned up, a spicy red sauce, and even sparkling grape juice.
"I know our cooking date didn't really go as planned, but I figured we could at least enjoy a nice meal together, even if it has to be in my room." Robin sheepishly explained.
Even though dinner and a movie in Robin's room had been the routine at least a couple nights a week, Starfire still enjoyed it. It was more about the company and they were growing more comfortable when they were together. One month in and things were easier; Starfire still misunderstood some of the basics of an Earthen relationship and occasionally did things that would be considered far more intimate than Robin was ready for in certain kisses or reactions, but she was learning to read his body language to tell when she had crossed a line he wasn't yet ready for. Not that it was difficult to interpret; his entire body tended to go rigid when he was uncomfortable and she would immediately back off. If he didn't completely react to what she was doing, those were the spaces she felt she could push boundaries a bit.
Though she didn't communicate this to Robin, several of the actions they partook in were far beyond what would be considered a budding relationship on her home planet. Some of which they'd participated in before even talking of dating, like pressing foreheads together, and others that had started more recently as he'd begun to kiss various parts of her neck when they made out during movies that were becoming more background noise than main event. In a warrior culture, the neck is a weak point and for her to remove her armor and allow him to place his mouth on the sensitive skin of her neck, was an ultimate display of trust.
She mused again at how the Earth boy was far more fascinated with what lay under her shirt than her armor. The first time she'd removed her shirt in his presence post their agreement to maintain a secret relationship, she thought he was going to yell at her. The human concept of modesty was once again lost on her as she had spilled a bit of curry on her shirt one night and simply took it to the secret en suite to Robin's room to wash it. He'd stared, much like he had when they first met when she had no concept of modesty in his one bedroom apartment before the tower was built. It hadn't made her uncomfortable then, and it didn't now. She was confident in her body and felt no shame in sharing it the way she pleased. Still it interested her to know their intimacy level was deeper, but each for separate reasons.
During the middle of a movie, tonight being an action film of Robin's choosing, there was a knock at the door. While it wasn't uncommon for Starfire to watch movies in Robin's room, the other's rarely interrupted and after the events of the day Robin didn't feel like dealing with more teasing so he quickly ushered Starfire to hide behind his bed as he went to answer the door.
"Yo man," Cyborg started as the door slid open, "There's some issues with the security footage from earlier. You know anything about that?"
Robin's hand instinctively started to go towards his belt, but his mind mentally chided him before he gave away his secret.
"Strange. Were you able to figure out what caused the disruption?" Robin feigned bewilderment.
"I was hoping you could tell me something about that. Seems mighty suspicious that whatever happened between you and Starfire today was conveniently not caught on the tapes." Cyborg insinuated.
"Well I don't know what to tell you, man. Your guess is as good as mine. Keep me posted if it happens again." Robin passively lied.
"Uh-huh…" Cyborg incredulously mumbled. It was highly unlike someone as safety minded and paranoid as Robin to brush off a potential hole in their security system.
As the door slid shut, Starfire reemerged from the side of Robin's bed.
"He seems suspicious."
"He is. But we'll be more careful. Maybe we just have to make less of a mess next time."
"The mess was fun though." Starfire giggled.
"I agree, but it's not worth getting found out over." Robin cautiously added.
Upon seeing Starfire's slight dejection at this, his guilt crept back.
"But maybe you'd like to stay here tonight…" He offered as an appeasement.
Sharing a sleeping space was something they hadn't done since they started secretly dating, though it was something they had done prior to dating which made Robin less nervous to offer that compromise.
"I would very much enjoy that." Starfire beamed settling back in to continue the movie. Perhaps she should have worn her sweatpants after all.
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The next morning Starfire awoke with the sun and snuck out of Robin's room to enjoy some sun beams on the roof. When she wandered down to the common space nearing the time the other Titan's generally woke up she found Cyborg hunched over the computer mainframe in a curiously defensive position.
Cyborg called out to Robin as Robin walked in from an early morning training session at the gym.
"Uh, man, you might want to see this." Cyborg nervously stammered.
Robin took a quick glance at the webpage before rolling his eyes in annoyance.
"Cy, I don't have time for garbage journalism."
"Not even when it's about you?" Beast Boy interrupted curiously.
"Let me see that!" Robin demanded as Cyborg quickly stepped aside allowing Robin to see the article on the screen.
Below a photo of a flour dusted Robin and Starfire was a short article full of awful cooking puns.
'Things are Getting Messy at Titan's Tower
It seems Titan's member, Starfire, who was spotted on a date last month with Titan's East member Speedy is heating things up with leader Robin. More than a few eggs are being broken in this kitchen with the secretive nature of this relationship bound to scramble Speedy's trust in the alien teen. Anonymous sources revealed that the Titan's leader had previously turned the Alien down, but this photo seems to suggest that he wants to have his cake and eat it too. One thing is for sure, none of the drama is getting stale.'
Raven blanched at the terrible cooking puns; garbage journalism indeed.
"Why does that photo exist and how did it get out there?" Robin demanded.
"I have to check the network security...As for why it exists...I might have sent it to a few members the Titan's groupchat…" Cyborg sheepishly admitted.
"End the groupchat now." Robin snapped turning sharply on his heel to retreat to the evidence room to take his mind off this with paperwork.
"Sure dude, sure…" Cyborg mumbled thinking 'I'll just start a new one though.'
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As a note, please do not eat or taste raw flour. As a microbiologist, I can tell you that a tiny amount statistically shouldn't hurt you, but the bacterial load (amount of bacteria per bag of flour) is unevenly distributed in flour production. Certain bacteria are able to remain in a dormant state (shelf stable and reactivated upon addition of liquid) and because flour is always cooked to some degree and remains dehydrated until use, these concerns are minimized in normal consumption (please don't fear flour either). The main concern is STEC (Shiga Toxin producing E. coli), and these specific E. coli concerns exist in many types of food production. If you'd like more research on this, E. coli:0157 is the most common STEC in food production in the US and is a good place to start reading. Sorry, the mom in me just had to put that warning out there.
Review if you'd like!
-FWFT