[Chapter 3: Biting Back That Drugged Feeling]
By: Diana-JaeCyborg let out a long whistle as he watched the plastic disk soar high and far over his head to the point where he could no longer run after it in time to get a hold of it. His big, sturdy frame also cringed when he saw Beast Boy come to a slide after his complicated maneuver in order to catch the disk from where he stood much farther behind Cyborg. With a grin, he looked at the flushing teen off to the opposite end of where he stood, noticing with amusement that her face was nearly the same color as her hair.
"What an arm!" His booming compliment elicited a nervous giggle from Starfire, who did not quite know how to approach that.
"I suppose I should thank you for the compliment?" Starfire asked and then quickly furthered, "It was a compliment, was it not?"
Cyborg chuckled and moved his head up and down slightly in a nod. "Yeah, Star. That was a compliment."
"Then I thank you," Starfire chirped, a merry twinkle in her eye.
"You can thank me by switching to my team in the next round," he replied and glanced at Beast Boy to see if he caught the implication of his joke, and he snickered when he saw the smaller boy look about ready to chuck the disk at his head.
Raven, who heard this, flinched. "I do not want to be his partner," she said, directing a finger at the changeling.
"Quit being spoil-sports, you guys," Beast Boy muttered from where he sat indian-style on the grass. "I'm not that bad, and you know it. And Raven just doesn't like me." He had said the last part with emphasis and had looked meaningfully at Raven, who rolled her eyes and looked off in another direction. "Can we take a break, guys?" he added. "I'm kind of beat, and I think I could use some lemonade right about now."
Raven, in her black shorts and violet T-shirt, walked through the grassy field to a nearby bench where a blue icebox was sitting. She opened it and grabbed a few to distribute to her friends, who were now in need of something to quench their thirsts.
They had come to the park just a few blocks from their apartment an hour after Robin had left for his second date with Kitten earlier that afternoon. He said he'd take her to a movie followed by lunch, and then he would just meet them at the park. If parties were not rocking the Titans' apartment on Sundays, they were usually out doing something together, which was followed by a movie of one of the teenagers' choice, and according to the rotation, this Sunday turned out to be Beast Boy's turn to pick. His selection, as of the moment, still remained a secret. He never did like to spoil a good movie night.
"Thank you, Raven." Starfire had barely even touched cap of the bottle to pop it open when she felt her body being hoisted into the air. When she realized that it was not her doing, she let out a small yelp, which triggered her assailant to throw her over their shoulder and casually stroll down to her laughing friends. After getting over the initial shock of being taken by surprise, she twisted her head slightly up to see whom her attacker had been and felt embarrassed at not having realized soon enough who it was. Only one person would have the audacity to pull such a stunt, with the exception of the strange and crazy that is.
Those shocks of spiky jet-black locks belonged to only one person, and she was tempted to hit him on the head with her bottle of lemonade. Had it not been for the fact that the bottle was made out of glass, she would have gone through with the idea.
He had come walking down the concrete walkway that edged along the green fields and spotted Raven and Cyborg off to one side of the park. As he came closer, he saw Beast Boy greedily chugging the rich golden liquid from a bottle and Starfire, who was the closest in range, had her back towards him. Putting a finger to his lips to signal Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy to keep silent about his presence, he had sneakily rushed on over to where Starfire stood oblivious to his company and grabbed her about the waist and up into the air.
"Richard John Grayson, put me down right now." Her attempt at a demanding tone had turned into a squeak when he abruptly flipped her from where she was thrown over her shoulder and back onto the ground.
"Ah, pulling the RJ command on me again," he remarked slyly. His jest was justly rewarded with a sour face from the young woman and then the tongue.
"Jerk," she mumbled as she uncapped the bottle and put her lips upon the rim to sip.
Robin laughed at that. "And who, may I inquire, has been your mentor in such crude vocabulary?"
Starfire blushed and ignorantly pointed a finger at the person Robin had least expected her to learn it from. The pale shoulders of the purple-haired teenager casually went up in a shrug and took a swig of her lemonade. "She was going to learn it eventually," Raven pointed out matter-of-factly. "It might as well have been one of us."
"Sure, but out of the three of you, I would have expected Star to say she learned it from Cyborg or Beast Boy," he replied jokingly.
The ends of Raven's lips turned up slightly as she heard the two boys' shouts of protest. It was not that she had anything against the changeling and the man-machine; she didn't. In fact, she had grown to come to love their company although it had taken her longer to understand and like Beast Boy. They had all always been friends, but the matter of liking them was a whole different story, and in the beginning, she just could not stand the young humorist. But now that she, more or less, liked all her teammates, she merely reacted the way she did out of habit. She reacted the way she did just for show. Raven was indeed very close to her four friends; she just had a very subtle, if not different, way of showing it. That was the way the life she was meant to lead dictated her personality to be, and the Titans, in turn, had come to be used to it.
"I take serious offense to that, man," Beast Boy pouted. "You're implying that me and Cy are bad influence. I'm seriously gonna have a talk with my lawyer about you, Robin."
"Can I hear an Amen? You're going to need that lawyer." Raven offered sarcastically.
"So who's ready for another round of Ultimate Frisbee?" Cyborg cut in with glee as he discarded his empty bottle.
"Me!" Beast Boy dropped his bottle on the ground and rushed towards Cyborg's side, ready to grab it from him so that he could cast the initial throw.
"Count me in," Robin said, which was followed by Starfire's enthusiastic, "Me too, please."
Raven walked back towards the bench. "If you guys don't mind, I think I'll sit this round out."
**
The sun was already beginning to set, and the Titans were about ready to call it a day, but Cyborg had decided to give the disc one last pitch before they all headed back to the apartment. It went a definitely good distance, and Robin, who stood farther behind Starfire, ran ahead with the intent of catching the flying object, but so did Starfire who was now running from the opposite direction, with her eyes on the disc. The two teenagers were paying more attention to the toy than to each other because the next minute their bodies collided with one another, and they went sprawling to the ground. It took another moment or two before they realized the awkward position that they were in. After the collision, Robin had been sent crashing to the ground first. Fortunately for Starfire, Robin acted as a kind of cushion to break her fall when she toppled directly on him, much to the misfortune of the said "cushion".
Both teenagers' cheeks were flushed a light shade of rose, and it was Starfire who spoke up first, her words a mumbling whisper. All that he could make out of her gibberish was his name before she stood up and dusted off her denim cut-off shorts and then politely apologizing. Robin took the hand that was offered to him, and pulled himself up.
"Ow, I think I just broke a rib," Robin offered jokingly as he looked at Starfire whose blushing had yet to wane.
"Are you hurt? Do we need to get you professional medical attention? A broken rib, if I am not mistaken, is very painful," she started in a flurry, obviously not having caught the witty sarcasm in his voice.
Robin chuckled and shook his head. "I was just joking around, Star. I don't have a broken rib."
Starfire stared at him blankly, his words of reassurance not having fully registered into her panic-infested brain just yet, but when it did, she snorted and playfully smacked him on the shoulder, which only elicited deeper laughter from the young man.
"I think we better head back," Cyborg announced. "It's getting' dark, and we still gotta make dinner and watch Beast Boy's flick pick."
"How about we just order pizza?" Beast Boy suggested and then hastily added, "Vegetarian pizza."
"Oh, hell no. You want your veggie pizza, then you can buy your own box. If we're ordering pizza, I want my pepperoni and everything else on it," Cyborg retaliated.
The two continued to bicker good-humoredly as Raven picked up the icebox and walked behind them. From where they still stood behind their friends, Starfire pointed out, "We are even now?"
"Even?" Robin asked bewildered.
"You nearly gave me a heart attack earlier today, and I gave you a broken rib," she bubbled, now her turn to cast a joke. She giggled and skipped off. Robin smiled and walked after her, his thoughts immediately digressing from that of just returning home.
Though it was really only seconds before Starfire abruptly pushed herself off of him with that silly, albeit nervous, grin on her soft features, it felt much longer than that when Robin had stared into bottle-green orbs, her silky hair a halo of dark-red around her face. The proximity of their faces to each other had been far more than generous because the boy wonder had felt her breath warm moisten his lips, and the tip of her nose had grazed gently against the tip of his. Robin nearly had to physically hit himself when the next thing that bubbled into his mind was how soft Starfire's breasts felt against his hard chest.
The comical look that proclaimed that he was about to gag did not go by unnoticed by Starfire, who had felt a sudden change in her friend's mood. She slowed down to match her pace with his and gently asked, "Robin, is anything wrong? You do not look well."
He managed a wry smile. "I'm just tired, Star, but thanks."
Starfire stretched her arms and put them lazily behind her head as she continued to walk down the path with Robin, their three other friends walking a little farther ahead. "Me too. I believe this activity you call Ultimate Frisbee has proved rather tiring." She smiled and added, "I am sure that Beast Boy's movie choice and some popcorn will be relaxing."
Robin said nothing and instead nodded to show that he agreed with Starfire's assumption. There were too many things racing through his mind at that moment, and it was not helping that Starfire kept pursuing speech. But not too long after, he could no longer fully understand what she was saying, and it would have been fine if he had completely zoned out, but for some strange reason, a few of her words would somehow penetrate his zoning barrier, and that didn't work too well with his concentration.
It was twilight, and the vague silhouette of the moon against the darkening sky was beginning to grow brighter. Robin was still in deep thought, if not some form of reflection, about what had happened earlier that day while Starfire was still going on brightly about the events of the day when he hadn't been around. His intention was not to be rude, but he had eventually accomplished what he needed to in order to reach his zone. There he was contemplating about what had just happened that day. He tried to start from the point where his and Kitten's date started, but he would think about that for no more than a second when his thoughts would flutter away and suddenly think about Starfire. Starfire, and how she was so light and how nice she felt as he picked her up in his arms. Starfire, and how she had fallen quite nicely on him. Starfire, and how she was his best friend. Starfire, and how he could possibly be thinking of her that way. And what about Kitten? Wasn't he dating her? Why, all of a sudden, did all these thoughts about Starfire, of all people, manifest? He didn't understand. His emotions and confusion had chosen the most awful time to take him on a turbulent roller-coaster ride.
The click of a front door took him out of his reverie, and he found himself back at the apartment. Cyborg had already unlocked the door, and Beast Boy and Raven were filing in. He glanced at Starfire as she, too, walked in the doorway. She looked over her shoulder, and asked, "Cyborg would like to know if pizza sounds good for dinner."
He nodded and watched her go off. Again, he felt like pummeling himself when his eyes traveled to Starfire's long, slender legs of their own accord. He never used to pay any attention to them; after all, Starfire's battle garment did consist of a tight-fitting, purple mini-skirt, and he would have had to notice those same legs then, but he never did. The question that plagued him then was: why now? Why these glances, these thoughts, these feelings when he already had a girlfriend? And bigger yet, why did he feel guilty for looking at Starfire the way he did when he should be feeling the guilt of checking out someone else when he was already going out with Kitten but did not feel that fault then?
Raven, who was still standing by the doorway waiting for him to enter, allowed a small grin to curl on her lips as she watched Robin with amusement. "Stop staring, boy wonder. You're drooling."
Robin shook his head, a blush creeping on his sharp features. Was he really being that obvious? He mentally reminded himself to go and see Raven later and get an opinion from the withdrawn member of the team about this sudden interest in Starfire. He didn't know how helpful she would be what with repressing all of her emotions, but it wouldn't hurt to try. For a fact, he knew that if he were being serious about a subject, no matter how trivial, Raven would not ridicule or embarrass him.
**
Beast Boy's eyes widened in terror and thrill at the chilling conclusion of the film before the credits began to roll. Their movie night had started later than they had intended because their pizza had arrived another half an hour later than the designated time, so they did not get to have their dinner at about eight as planned but at nearly nine, leaving their movie postponed until that time.
Beast Boy's film choice had been Wicked Scary: Director's Cut, which lasted about a good two hours and a half so that by the time the film was over, it was already eleven-thirty. It wouldn't have been a problem had it not been a Sunday night and they didn't have to get up for school and work the following morning, but unfortunately, it was. Beast Boy laughed as he leaned over to take out the DVD from the player and put it back in its case.
"Don't you guys just love the cheap thrills?" he asked.
"It was better than the original," Cyborg agreed. "I was getting goose-bumps on my goose-bumps, and I don't know about you guys, but that's sayin' a lot." He stood up from where he was lying on the carpeted floor and stretched. "Well, I'm ready to call it a night. I don't really feel like being yelled at by my manager if I end up sleeping on the job, and lately the auto shop's been rolling in busy days."
"Me too," Beast Boy yawned as he got up and headed for his room. "Night."
"Night," Robin and Raven chorused. Robin would have gotten up also to head for his own bedroom, but the weight that rested on his lap was preventing him from doing so. When Starfire had said that she was tired, she must have really meant it. She had surrendered herself to slumber's arms about three-quarters ways into the movie, and she had unconsciously curled herself up in Robin's lap. He gingerly brushed off wisps of maroon-colored hair away from where they had fallen across her face from the messy ponytail that she had put it in when the pizza arrived.
"I'm gonna go to bed," Raven said softly and then gestured at the sleeping girl, "I take it you'll take her to her bedroom."
When he nodded, she stood up and headed for her own room but was called back by the Titans leader just before she was completely out of ear shot.
"What?"
"Do you mind if I ask you something?"
Raven raised a brow in suspicion and cautiously walked back to the armchair that she had occupied during the movie and sat on it, intently studying Robin. "It depends."
"Well, earlier today," he paused and blushed as the question he was going to pose flashed in neon colors in his mind, almost mocking him, "when you told me to stop staring…"
A very fleeting grin flashed through Raven's features that Robin would not have caught if he was not so well attuned to such tiny things, and realizing that she found him amusing, he frowned. "Raven, what went through your mind when you saw me staring at Star?"
His inquiry doubly took Raven by surprise. She had not expected that at all, and looking back at him, she noticed that his anxiety was wiped away and in its stead was seriousness. Raven didn't know if she could trust herself to speak because her usually articulate self might only be able to manage sputters for she was still a little shocked and unsure if Robin had really asked her what he did.
When his friend didn't reply, Robin shifted a little in his seat and looked down at Starfire, the rounded part of her smooth shoulder bare from the tank top that she wore. "I just thought I'd get a girl's opinion, and since my situation kinda involves Star, I thought I'd ask you. Besides, you kind of already caught me, which I hope stays between you and me. And I could never ask Cy and Beast Boy this. They'd never let me live it down."
"I still don't understand what you're trying to ask me," Raven told him, confused, the shock of his question now fading.
"I just wanna know why all of a sudden, I'm…," Robin gritted his teeth from embarrassment and tried to dish out the next part of his sentence as quickly as he could, "…checking Star out. I mean, especially because she's my best friend. She's the last person I'd ever look at like that, and it bothers me even more because I already have a relationship with Kitten."
Raven's brows creased as she tried to search for an answer, and when she finally told him what she thought, he was left in the living room wondering why he hadn't thought about that sooner and why one word could cause him so much stress. But then again, most other young men his age were raging with that, and they weren't stressing out.
"Hormones?" he repeated.
Why was it that he was flipping out? Was there something else besides that? Though Raven's answer had eased his inner turmoil on the matter, it was not quite enough to soothe it completely, and looking down at his friend again, a dainty smile gracing her full pink lips, he knew there had to be much more to it than just that, but for now, he wasn't quite able to put his finger on it. Shaking his head to clear his mind of his current thoughts, Robin gently picked up the girl in his arms and carried her to her bedroom.
**
Robin stood at Starfire's doorway for a moment and watched her peaceful sleeping figure. Her headboard and a quarter of the top half of her bed was covered in a mountain of giant pillows, some taking the shape of random stuffed animals. Robin's lips twitched up slightly in amusement as he recalled the first few months she had spent with them and her preference to sleep with her feet on her pillow and her head hanging off of the bed. She had not come to enjoy pillows until after she and Beast Boy had been cooped up in the apartment one weekend with nothing to do, and the changeling came attacking her with his.
She always did amaze him, if she didn't manage to pique his curiosity. It was the same way the first time that they had met. Cyborg had been the first to find the Tamaranian princess when she landed on Earth, drained of energy, and had slumped against him among the throng of people during rush hour after work. When she awoke, she had been terrified and began murmuring things in a language that Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg could not understand.
Raven and Beast Boy had gotten home just minutes after Cyborg, and the two had stayed by his side to watch the unconscious young woman. The girl was still pale and looked almost sickly so when she began whispering something again in her native tongue and tried to leave, Raven and Cyborg held her back. When Robin had gotten home himself from a late shift at the video store where he and Beast Boy worked, he was surprised to find a stranger huddled against the living room window, looking out at the lights of the dark city.
Robin smiled wryly as he remembered that during their first encounter, he had not trusted her at all, and he winced when he also remembered how he had yelled at her when he got frustrated at not being able to understand anything that she said. Starfire had cringed then and looked away, almost on the verge of tears. But as her emerald-green eyes timidly looked up to meet his rather frustrated azure pair, she did something that he did not expect her to do at all.
She put her hands gently on his shoulders, went up on her tiptoes, and tenderly pushed her mouth against his and kissed him.
Robin's brain nearly stopped functioning then, and he didn't know whether it was from shock or from embarrassment. The kiss had only been for a moment, but it had felt as though she had left her lips on his for much longer because the warmth of her lips did not leave his for a while after. When she pulled away, she blushed and dared not meet his eyes so she focused her gaze on the ground. And if her kiss had nearly given Robin a brain freeze, the next thing that she did just about gave him a coronary.
"I am sorry for being so bold," she said softly in English though it was clear that she was hesitant about what she said. "I realized that you could not understand my language so I thought… well, that is why I kissed you."
It was only later that he found out that Princess Koriand'r, who they had come to call Starfire, could have learned his language by simply touching him and absorbing what she needed to from him but that she had chosen to kiss him instead because according to her, it was much more fun that way. He could not remember what he felt when she told him this, but after she had given him her back-story, it was then that the young man showered her with attention and answers to her innocent questions, their bond of friendship growing every day.
He plodded to his room and wondered if it really was just his hormones. He was, after all, a healthy, red-blooded teenager. Hormones were a given. Robin growled to himself. His mind was now a jumble, and he was praying that by the next morning, he'd be too worried about not having studied for his English exam and too preoccupied with his new girlfriend to even think about the things he was thinking about now.
Lazily dropping his weight onto his bed, he pulled up his covers, and the last thing his mind's eye saw was Starfire.
**
Author's Notes: I apologize if this chapter was confusing and dully written, especially in regards to Robin's strange and mixed feelings about Starfire. =\ Had I been allowed more time to write this piece, perhaps the story would have flowed a lot more smoothly, including the absurdity of Robin's emotions. I didn't have much time to write this part out because I had a lot of other things going on, but here it is anyway, and I hope you all enjoyed it. If you didn't catch it, the general idea here was to introduce Robin's problem. He's Kitten's official boyfriend, and he doesn't feel bad that he's checking Starfire out behind her back, but what does bother him is that he feels awful for checking Starfire out at all. (Please note that I'm using the term "checking out" in a general and very loose sense.) So the boy is basically confused, and if you're just as confused, all will be explained as the story progresses. Starfire will not be exempt from this torture of mixed feelings either because she'll be getting it just as bad in the chapters to come. ^^;
I didn't include much of the Titans in the first two installments, so I tried to even it out by giving them more dialogue and description here. On that same note, I know I haven't really put in much about Kitten except that she went here with Robin or went there with Robin and that they're dating. I did that on purpose because when I do bring out her character, I wanted to do it when she meets the Titans, which I should be doing in either the next chapter or the one after that.
Also, concerning the part where Starfire kissed Robin to learn his language, I believe that that was fairly legitimate as far as the comic book is concerned. I had to do some research for that one, but if my research proved to be wrong, please do point it out. Everything else about Robin's reminiscing on that particular event such as who had found her and watched her, I don't think that happened in the comic book, although I think Robin's frustration was also legitimate. ^^ So some parts in it are true to the comic book while others are not so if you feel like there are loop-holes because I didn't stick wholly to the comic book, don't worry because that's the way it should be. It wouldn't do me any good to go wholly by the comic book because this would no longer be a fanfic. So I "loosely" based parts of it from the kiss scene that I've read about. I hope you understand. =]
Ocdsugar: Umm… thank you for the cheer? ^^;
SoullessGamerT: I'm glad you enjoyed it, though I'm not particularly sure why you would be laughing because I don't do too well in the humor department. ^^; I don't even think that I intended to make any parts funny, but if it made you laugh, that's always a plus. =] Thanks for reviewing.
Braveheart: Thank you for reviewing my fic again. ^^ I'm glad you liked the second chapter, and believe it or not, but it's actually hard for me to get Starfire's dialogue right. I always have to re-read the piece at least twice to make sure she sounds, as you say, natural. But if it helps the story, then it's worth it, right?
sHimBmE tiMbLeRs: I'm pleased to know that you like my fic and that you thought it wasn't boring. It totally made my day. =] I hope that you liked this installment of the story.
Tamaran Girl: I believe that I can handle your request for a dance between Robin and Starfire during the wedding. ^^ Thanks for the review! And please don't die… I'll try and update this fic every weekend or something. ^^;
Nobody's Princess: Thanks for reviewing. =] I totally appreciate it. I'm happy that you thought the scenes were cute – hopefully, you didn't find it too cheesy in this chapter. ^^; As for Robin and Starfire getting together soon, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the fic's not going to end anytime soon so they won't be getting together anytime soon. =\ I promise that they will though. ^^ And about being able to show a website on a story (if you're talking about the URL), it won't show if you make it into a hyperlink. So what I usually do is take the URL and separate it. If you look at some of my most recent Yuu Yuu Hakusho fics, I direct readers to a website so there's a URL at the bottom of every piece except it looks like this: www . geocities . com / kb _ reflections The words are still whole, but the periods, the underscores, and the slashes are all separated so that it doesn't form a hyperlink. Your readers will just have to piece them together. It shouldn't take very long though. ^^ I hope that helped.
TheUltimateNewbie: Thanks so much for reviewing and the flattering comments, but really, please don't think too much of me as a writer. ^^; I was quite happy to know that this was an AU that you enjoyed. Made my day, and thanks for directing me to the Robin and Starfire Shrine. =] I'll be sure to join.
AcagedbirD: Depending on your definition of "soon", I'm not quite sure if I can grant your request to get Robin and Starfire together. If you can wait another good seven or eight chapters, that's when they'll most likely be together. I hate to dampen spirits, but I don't want to tell you falsely that I'll get them together in the next few chapters if they're not going to be. =\ I don't believe in lying to readers. But I'm glad you liked the fic; hopefully, my answer hasn't changed your mind about it. And I took no offense to your dislike for Kitten. ^^; Everyone is entitles to their own opinions.
Brie: ^^ I'm glad you loved my story! And better yet, glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks he's Richard Grayson. Thanks for the review.
ACrazyTeenager2005: Yay! Another Teen Titans fan and a Robin x Starfire shipper. =] You are a shipper, right? ^^; Thanks for reviewing. Glad you like the fic, and I hope that you enjoyed this installment.
Seventy 5ive: Thank you for reviewing and saving my fic into your favorites. I'm really flattered especially because this was your first AU fic… I'm kind of embarrassed too. ^^ I didn't think people would go for this fic.
Cherry6124: ^^; Wow… my long sentences are that noticeable? I'm sorry if it comes to eventually bother you, but I always have a lot to say, and I have a really bad habit of sticking it in one sentence. And nope, Kitten isn't evil in this fic or demented. She has to be normal for all intents and purposes of this fic. But if you want her bit**y side to come out later, I believe I can get that aspect of her to come out. It won't be a problem because it won't have a major effect on the plot. Everything will turn out the same in any case. Also I'm sorry that you have to go through the burden of having to read about Robin going out with Kitten. It's hard for me too. ^^; But that will change. I promise. Hopefully, that lightened your mood a little. =] Anyhoo, thank you for reviewing both chapters; glad you liked it.
lizzy0888: Always a pleasure to make a reader happy. ^^ I'm glad you found my fic awesome and that you found the plot original. Thanks for reviewing.
blob: Don't worry. It's not the end of the story. =] You can expect another seven or eight more chapters ahead. Thanks for taking your time to review.
Starbolt1218: ^^; Another reviewer who exaggerates my writing ability. I'm getting nervous. Please don't get me wrong. I'm flattered and I appreciate the wonderful comments; I'm just nervous because I, myself, doubt my writing abilities. Just ignore me. =] As for having really long chapters, I just talk a lot, so I guess it carries into my writing or something. o.O I really have no other explanation for long chapters. And Robin and Kitten will break up in due time. I don't feel like spoiling anything, so I'll just leave it that. I'm not much of a Kitten fan either, but yes, I do agree that if she weren't so annoying and spoiled, she would have been a cute character. And I think I've managed to make her more human here. @_@ Anyhoo, thanks for the review, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
insaneoveranime: Thank you for reviewing. I'm so happy that you liked the story. I liked the second chapter better than the first also. There was more meat to it, y'know? Anyhoo, I'll try to keep updating on a regular basis. =] For now, I hope you liked this installment.
eventidespirit: Thank you for reviewing again. =] I liked this chapter better than the first also and for many different reasons including length. There was more Robin x Starfire interaction in chapter 2 than in this one, so I hope you aren't too disappointed. =\ Thank you for the belated greeting, and you're welcome (about reviewing your fic). Please do update soon.
AnT: Ah, here we have the one that thinks that Robin is Tim Drake. No… don't think I'm mocking you. I'm not. I'm actually quite thrilled that there's someone who thinks otherwise. ^^ You definitely made my day, but I'm quite sorry to say that I haven't seen Static Shock. Major bummer cuz maybe I could understand your theory better. I don't really know much about Tim Drake and Richard Grayson except the basics, so I'm always glad to know if there other people out there that can point me in the right direction. And I didn't know that Robin (Richard) gets beat up and blown up by Joker in the comics. o.O I think I have learned something new. That's awful. Good thing I'm not writing action scenes, hence, no Joker. =\
THE AWFUL WRITER: Thank you for reviewing. I'm glad you like. =] I'll try and give Terra a cameo sometime later in the fic; she'd make a nice addition among other side characters. I'll just have to come up with a side-story, kay?
Reviews, comments, flames, and other constructive/destructive criticism are welcome. =]
Disclaimer: I stake no claim to any of the characters from Teen Titans. They belong to Warner Brothers and whoever has legal rights to them. The only thing I have dibs on is the fic. With that said, please don't sue. You are cool. =]