Title: Covert Courting

Chapter Title: Sleeping Bag

Word Count: 3,386

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.

Summary: Secrets, secrets are no fun...unless you're Robin who both wants and doesn't want a relationship with Starfire. There's bound to be bumps and spills along the way, but will the secret stay contained?

TTTTTTTTT

It started with a comment from Cyborg which led to Starfire's confusion, and Robin's immense redness at the innocent way Starfire asked him to explain it.

But then an attack happened, and he'd never been so grateful for a fleet of aggravated alien ships before. He'd asked Starfire over the T-ship communication system if she knew why they were being attacked and who was attacking them.

She didn't know who, but assumed that news of her trip back to Tamaran for her birthday celebration had spread through the galaxy to some extent. She might have renounced her throne, but she was still a good prize for one of Tamaran's many enemies.

Prize. She'd used that word again. He hated how the universe saw her acquisition on the same level as the stuffed chicken Beast Boy had once won Raven from the fair.

They'd separated the ship into their individual pods and started working on picking off ships from the fleet. The damage sustained with their victory led to Cyborg calling for a crash landing at a nearby uninhabited planet. They'd set coordinates and each of the five pods started to maneuver their way to the agreed upon spot as they were too fragile to rejoin in their current state. Robin lagged behind, keeping an eye on the team. Once the gravity of the planet started to impact Starfire's pod she spiraled out into a crash site far from the agreed upon spot.

He remembered calling her name, radioing Cyborg approximate updated coordinates of crash landing, and then he followed her. If she was the target of intergalactic interest, he wouldn't let her be alone.

He landed where she'd crashed, her pod in surprisingly good condition considering the impact sustained. She was unconscious inside the pod, but she had a pulse. He tried to wake her, gently saying her name, soft stroking hands on her face and arm, even a light shake, but she was still out cold. He'd lifted her limp body and settled them both into his pod with intent to fly to the others. They could repair her pod once the ship was mostly together again. The only catch was that his pod failed to start up again. It was then Starfire woke up to find herself very much situated in Robin's lap as he struggled to plan the next move.

"Robin?" She asked cautiously tilting her head to better see his face.

"Oh good, you're okay." Robin responded earnestly.

"Why am I in your lap?" Starfire queried. She had many questions, but that one seemed the most paramount at the moment.

Robin who hadn't thought about it when he'd settled her into his pod suddenly became very aware of how close they were, and how one of her hands rested on his thigh. He reddened and willed himself to stop the reaction he knew was starting to build.

Instead of immediately answering her he opened the hatch to the pod and stood up pulling her along with him.

"Can you stand?" He asked hoping the answer would be yes so he could have a moment to regroup and collect himself.

"I believe so." Starfire responded.

"I was hoping we could use my pod to fly to the others." Robin mumbled not meeting her eyes. "It's dead."

Starfire shrugged with a soft noise, indeterminate in nature.

"What's the likelihood that the space fleet had friends?" Robin asked cautiously.

"I do not know, but likely there are others in search of me, yes" Starfire honestly answered.

"Then we probably need to move a distance away from the ship. It's bound to attract unwanted attention if we stay here." Robin gestured to the bright orange pods.

"I understand," Starfire replied.

As they began their trek away from the pods picking a direction of Robin's choosing, as he had gotten a better look at what might be considered livable terrain, he called for Cyborg over the communicator. Luckily there was no interference on this planet and he was able to get through.

"I've got Star and she's fine, we're moving away from the ship for now because whoever was after her the first time might come back. Call for us when you're ready, and be on alert for unwanted visitors." Robin directed.

"Got it. You might want to settle in for the night – it's not going to be an easy repair to get the ship up and running again." Cyborg responded with a bit of disappointment. At least this time he had his hands.

Starfire and Robin walked in silence for a while studying the planet around them for any sign of life.

"Robin?" Starfire softly cut into his thoughts.

"Yeah, Star?" He replied in kind.

"About earlier...About the comment Cyborg made, what did he mean by the we should just 'bang it out already'?" Starfire asked.

Robin suddenly remembered why he'd been grateful for the attack, but he was back to heart-racing, flush faced awkwardness all over again.

"It's slang." He sputtered.

"I am aware of that fact. However I do not understand what the sound guns make in a cartoon western has to do with us…" She puzzled curiously.

He sighed. As spineless as he wanted to be and pawn the task of explaining this to her onto someone else like Bumble Bee or Raven, he knew the unknown of this would only serve as a wedge between Starfire and him until then.

"Cyborg was implying that we have sexual tension." Robin uttered quietly.

"The slang seems to imply an action though." Starfire pointed out.

"He was implying we should...have sex to alleviate the sexual tension," Robin stuttered willing himself to die on the spot.

"And do you think we should?"

No teasing in her voice, no malice behind it, simply curiosity.

"No!" He sputtered maybe a little too quickly. The red hue to his face darkening.

She simply shrugged indifferently in response.

"Cyborg has been enjoying the teasing quite a lot lately." Starfire pointed out. A safe subject, still related but enough to get Robin back to comfortable.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to do something about that when we get off this planet." Robin muttered.

They reached a desert clearing that butted up to a yellow mountainous region. Night was starting to fall on the planet and it was evident due to the terrain that days were hot and nights were likely to be very cold. Robin scanned the mountainside for caves and spotted a few higher up on the side.

"Think we can aim for one of those?" He asked Starfire cautiously. She seemed largely unaffected by what they'd talked about so he was hoping it would have no impact on her emotions or flight.

"I don't see why we would not. It would give us a good vantage point of the surrounding area." Starfire replied lifting them both off the ground. She held onto his shoulders and he held onto her upper arm, bending his arms slightly to do so. Holding to her shoulders had too much potential for accidental touching he'd long ago decided.

He was relieved that she had no lingering feelings towards their previously broached topic. It would make the night much easier if they could simply exist as friends and not dwell on Cyborg's impertinent meddling.

When they landed in the cave he turned on a flashlight and she lit a starbolt.

"Be on the lookout, we may not be the only ones in here," Robin whispered, but after a thorough search of the cave it proved to be just as lifeless as the remainder of the planet. There were no trees to build a fire out of, so he unpacked the meager supplies from the pack he'd grabbed out of his pod before they started their hike.

He laid them out before Starfire and she assessed their survival gear as well. A small amount of food, one sleeping bag, a swiss army knife, 3 emergency candles, a roll of duct tape, matches, a small amount of tinder material, a tarp, a first aid kit, the flashlight he'd previously been using, and a bottle of water purification tablets.

If they were stuck another night they'd have to trek back to the pods and retrieve the bag from her pod. He'd been too distracted with making sure she could walk when they'd started out that he'd forgotten to grab it.

"Some of this is useless…" Robin sighed. Matches and tinder did no good when there was no wood to burn, water tablets were unusable on a planet devoid of precipitation.

"It is good it is just one night then," She mused.

"I'm going to call Cyborg to check in," Robin sighed stepping into the brisk evening air on the ledge outside of the cave.

"Cyborg, this is Robin checking in, report."

"Hey man, we just settled in for the night. Got the T-ship partially functional, we'll locate you and Star tomorrow and finish the rest up."

"Good. So we're still on target with timing." Robin replied in relief.

"Yeah, though I wish I could keep working on it through the night, but it seems like it's going to be too cold for that."

"So we've realized."

"Well, stay warm and stay alive" Cyborg joked.

Robin retreated to the cave to find Starfire had set out the sleeping bag and lit the three candles.

"Nothing to do now, but wait," Robin mumbled flopping down to sit on the sleeping bag next to her.

"How long do you think nights are on this planet?" Starfire mused.

"I don't know, I kind of didn't think about that." Robin replied. "Would you like some dinner?" He pulled open one of the nutrition bars they had with them and offered her another.

"I can survive for a lot longer on no food, so I will leave them to you," Starfire smiled gently at him.

"I insist. Cyborg said we'll be leaving tomorrow." Robin reassured.

"I would be very upset if something happened to you simply because I ate something frivolously" Starfire insisted.

"Fine, but you're taking the sleeping bag without a complaint then." Robin retorted.

"If you'll remember I am able to survive the cold vacuum of space, so I am most certainly not taking the bag of sleeping." Starfire wrinkled her nose in indignation.

Robin sighed taking the last bite of his nutrition bar dinner. There was only one way he was going to be able to convince her to take some level of care of herself without solely ignoring his needs for warmth, and as much as he didn't like it because it would cross a line, he needed to make sure she survived too.

"Okay, then we'll just have to share it."

He climbed into the sleeping bag to show there was additional space and she hesitantly crawled in after him.

"Robin?" She spoke curiously once they were settled.

There had not been much room so they were pressed together quite compactly. Starfire faced him with her body aligned next to his and he felt every curve of her body and the rise and fall of her chest with every minor breath she took. She noted his racing heart and the fact that he began to sweat.

"You are warm, yes?"

Of course he was, too warm in fact, but he had offered this.

He coughed to clear his throat and give himself a moment for composure.

"Yeah, it's fine Star, I know it's not the most comfortable, but I promise I won't try anything." He blushed.

"I find myself to be quite comfortable in fact." Starfire replied self-assuredly. "And what is there to try? We have been in tighter situations before, have we not?"

"Oh uh...more slang. I won't touch you inappropriately."

"Oh Grebnacks." She laughed in amusement.

The high pitched ringing of her laugh so close to Robin's face made him smile. She was happy and comfortable with him.

"Though I do not think I would have a problem with any thing you may try." She coquettishly teased.

There went his heart again, pounding loud enough for the whole damn cave to hear. Was she offering? He was so anxious and awkward but in that moment he wouldn't wish to be anywhere else.

"Um...Star…"

Why was his mouth talking? His brain had no idea what he started.

"Were you flirting with me?"

"Oh yes, Argent has been teaching me how to flirt via communicator calls. The fact that you recognized it meant I must be doing well though I am sad you did not continue it."

Of course – it's just a new skill she's been learning; it had nothing to do with him.

"You caught me by surprise. I'm also not really good at that kind of thing."

"Very well," Starfire turned her face to beam at him and show there were no hard feelings.

"Um, so if Argent's teaching you to flirt, is there someone you were hoping to flirt with?" Robin asked curiously.

His mouth was still running away without his brain to back it up.

"I thought it might be a different way for us to communicate, though I understand now we haven't previously done this because of your inexperience with flirting."

Ouch. While it wasn't untrue, it still stung a bit.

"You realize that is something typically done by people in a relationship?"

"Is friendship not a form of relationship?"

"It is, but this is different. This is for people dating or looking to date."

"And if I were looking to do the dating?"

She'd said it. Her words hung in the bitter air of the cave and made him even more consciously aware of the radiating warmth of her at his side.

"I can't; it wouldn't look professional to the team."

"Most of our friends already think we are doing the dating." She pointed out matter-of-factually.

"You could be used against me by our foes."

"Perhaps you do not see what I see, but a number of our foes are already aware that our bond is more than merely friendship."

He couldn't deny it. He'd slipped up and pretty much screamed it while Slade watched him battle the Titans when he was Slade's apprentice. He saw the footage later from building security cameras and cringed at how obvious it was and that was years ago. He thought he got better at concealing it, but remarks from Control Freak and the Hive Five reminded him that he never covered it as well as he thought.

"I would be more worried about you every time we battle and it would affect the team dynamic. I would place an unfair priority on you, and I can't do that, Star. I've worked too hard for this team to just throw it out."

"I do not see why the team dynamic has to change."

"We just can't Star, I'm not saying I don't want to, but we can't"

And there was the barb twisting into both of them as they lay in the other's body heat closer than they'd ever been and yet mentally running in opposite directions.

He felt her body retreat as slightly as it could in the confines of the sleeping bag.

"Perhaps I should go out for a bit. I require some of the fresh air." She dejectedly sighed.

He moved his arms to wrap around her, pressing their bodies together even tighter than before.

"Don't go. I hate this as much as you do, but it's what we took on when we became heroes." He mumbled.

She looked at his masked face and caught the faintest hue of blue to his eyes behind the mask as he intently stared at her.

"Would you have been able to date if you had stayed on Tamaran?" He asked partially curious, but partially driving home a point.

"No; not openly. I have known of a few who have maintained a secret relationship while awaiting betrothal." The sadness in her voice was evident. "But I have renounced my throne and I am free to make a life for myself on Earth."

Silence hung in the air around them. The conversation had left a tension in the atmosphere that effected them both. Robin hadn't released his grip on her so she was still bound in his embrace, the dejection evident in her listless form.

"We need sleep," Robin plainly stated releasing her and rolling over so his back was facing her. The lack of warmth surprised him and he suddenly felt a chill.

Starfire remained still and closed her heavy eyes.

TTTTTTTTTT

Starfire awoke first, still long before the sun, and foggily remembered that Robin was in the sleeping bag with her on an unfamiliar planet. Robin had turned back over in his sleep and they were currently a tangle of limbs which she knew he would be most unhappy about when he woke up. Starfire started trying to carefully dislodge herself from his grasp, but as she moved slightly he woke up with a start.

"Wha-" Robin choked out before remembering where he was.

It was then he realized Starfire and his relative positions and he shuffled back with a start releasing arms and legs as he went.

She merely sighed, then mirthfully decided to call attention to something she was sure Robin would rather not discuss.

"Robin, is there a rock in the sleeping bag?" She asked as innocently as she could muster.

"Uh no…"

"But there was this hard item that wound up between the two of us,"

A moment crawled by in what felt like a year's time before Robin responded.

"Ah...Uh...It's a normal human male reaction during sleep."

"Oh, so human male anatomy is not dissimilar to Tamaranian male anatomy, it was an erection." She concluded having already known the answer, but playing dumb to torment him was a small consolation to her pained heart.

The word erection coming out of Starfire's mouth just sounded wrong.

"Could we, maybe, not discuss erections while sharing a sleeping bag." Robin coughed out anxiously.

"I am sorry friend Robin, I was merely curious"

Friend Robin. These were digs. She was frustrated with him and letting him know it.

"Let's just go back to sleep."

"As you wish."

He turned his back to her again and attempted to resume sleeping which much to his dismay had slipped by. It was still too cold to exit the sleeping bag, so he was stuck wide awake, mere inches from the girl he'd spent the last several years slowly falling in love with, and he'd chosen today of all days to firmly reject her.

"Robin?"

"Yeah Starfire."

"You are in a similar position to one the one that I held in Tamaran, correct?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"A position of power where it does not afford you the ability to openly date."

"I mean, yeah I guess."

Uh-oh, what was she leading up to?

"Well, if you were to handle the current situation like I would have on Tamaran, we could secretly date and both get what we wanted."

His mind raced with thoughts. How could this go wrong? What would the pros be, I mean kissing Star, but other pros? What if it didn't work out? What happens if it did? Could he live with himself if he felt like he was treating her like a dirty little secret? What would happen if the others found out? What if they never did?

TTTTTTTTTT

Yeah, yeah...I do a lot of dumb things like have three unfinished stories (one TT, two XS) and decide to add another to the pile. Not sure how consistently I'll work on this one, but I was re-caulking my bathroom tub today and this wound up in my mind. I don't have a storyboard or an arc planned so this one will be my wildcard. Either I'll plan it as we go, or it'll just continue to fall into my mind as I do random house renovations.

Review if you'd like.

-FWFT