Infatuated
[Chapter 4: Something You Cannot Teach]
By: Diana-Jae
Starfire watched the lights atop the elevator indicating what floor it was on, and popped another cookie into her mouth. At the rate that it was going, the elevator would never reach the fourth floor from where it was currently stopped on the tenth floor. Either that or it was stuck, and the prospect of climbing to the tenth floor to take it down to the lobby from where she stood on the fourth floor was complete absurdity. Sighing, she gingerly turned her wrist over to check the time and gasped as she realized that Robin was probably wondering where she was and opted to dash down the stairs to the lobby instead of waiting another few minutes to see if the elevator would move. Unlike Cyborg, Raven, or Beast Boy, Robin and Starfire always left the apartment at a much earlier time in order to make it to their leadership meeting, and being the president and vice-president of the student body, punctuality was a virtue that they had to have.
Bounding around the corner and towards the parking lot, Starfire spotted Robin bending over his motorcycle with a cloth in hand, wiping away a smudge. If Robin was not in training or doing something else productive, he could usually be found tinkering with his bike. As she'd learned from hearsay in the beginning, motorbikes were not considered the safest of transportations, and she had immediately understood why from personal experience during her first ride on it with Robin.
She had clung on to his waist tightly that she feared that had she held on tighter, she might have mercilessly robbed Robin of his oxygen supply, but as she started riding everyday with Robin when school started, she had started to loosen up and actually come to enjoy riding on the black and red vehicle. She was still taking a risk riding on it, and so was Robin, but she soon learned that he had a knack for maneuvering the bike with incredible ease and grace, which was probably the reason why she had eventually come not to mind the reality of being so close to death while on it.
"I hope I have not kept you waiting for too long," Starfire interrupted tentatively as she tried to shove her small bag of cookies into her bag.
Robin looked over his shoulder and at the sight of the Tamaranian princess, stood up and put the towel away. He merely smiled lopsidedly and ventured, "Finally realized that the elevator wasn't moving?"
His bright-eyed companion blushed at the simplicity in which he had found her out and nodded. "I couldn't decide whether someone was taking their time or if it was stuck, but when I saw what time it was, I thought that taking the stairs might save time."
Robin laughed and motioned his head towards his bike as he handed Starfire her helmet. "Come on, we better get going. Mr. Kayden isn't really a morning person, and I don't really feel up to his rant if he finds out we're late."
Starfire hopped on to the motorbike behind Robin and placed the purple-pink helmet on her head, sliding the black visor down over her eyes. Robin was rather keen when it came to things that she did and did not prefer, even to such irrelevant things as color, and getting the feeling that black just was not Starfire's color simply from the way it looked on her, he went down to a well-known bicycle equipment shop and putting his masculine pride aside, picked one that he believed would have been to her preference. When she had asked why he had bothered to do such an unproductive and time-consuming thing, he had merely shrugged and told her that he found the lighter color a lot more appealing on her, a comment that she could not forget, to her bewilderment.
"I gather then that we will be on time?" she asked as her arms encircled his waist.
Robin smirked from behind the mask of his own helmet and revved up the bike's tiny, albeit powerful, engine and calmly replied, "When was the last time I ever got us late to school?"
**
"You wanna go with me to the dance, Raven?" Beast Boy asked, suggestively moving his eyebrows up and down in quick succession.
"Get real," she replied curtly as she continued to walk with him towards the table in the cafeteria that they had come to own as the years went on progressively. Though most other young men would have taken her response quite offensively, Beast Boy only laughed, obviously having expected that very retaliation. He knew that it wasn't that she refused to go with him because she didn't like him. It was more along the lines where she simply refused the offer because school activities were just not permissive to her standards, and it was only if she were given a life or death ultimatum, where death was guaranteed if she refused, that she would agree to go. When they sat down, she opened her carton of chocolate milk and dared to inquire with curiosity, "When is the dance?"
Beast Boy merely scratched his head, trying to remember what Starfire had told him. The class from which he just come from, he shared with Starfire, and being that he sat right beside her, the vice-president of the student body shared the basic details that had been discussed during the meeting earlier that day. "I think Star said it was gonna be this Friday night."
"The night prior to Bruce and Diana's wedding," Raven mused absently and then took a light sip from her chocolate milk. "Is she going?"
Beast Boy had yet to catch on and innocently replied, "Yup. It'll make her look bad if she doesn't go. Robin too. Plus, they have to be on the set-up and clean-up committee anyway so it'd be pointless for them not to be there. You know the routine, Raven."
The purple haired teenager nodded, mentally hoping that it wouldn't burn her friends out by the following morning since school dances usually ran until eleven and that's excluding the time that has to be taken in order to clean up the basketball stadium where the event usually took place. She carefully eyed her pizza, and taking a napkin, she began dabbing at the triangular bread to remove as much of the grease as possible. Though, as her friends put it, the grease did help to add to the flavor, Raven was never a big fan of the oily wetness that would usually cover the slice. The grease was below her taste, and if she could find a way to do without it, she would. She had barely even picked it up to put the pointed edge into her mouth when Robin's voice made her divert her attention from her lunch to her leader.
"Hey, where's Kory and Victor?" he casually asked, referring to Starfire and Cyborg's aliases to the innocent populace of the human race.
Raven shrugged and replied with the most plausible answer. "Probably at their lockers." She was about to return to nibbling on her pizza, but it was only then that it occurred to her that Robin was with a companion. Glancing back up at Robin, she confirmed what she thought she had seen. Beside the boy wonder stood a beautiful young woman, a senior just like them if she was not mistaken, with natural golden locks and bright cerulean eyes that she actually dared to think had the potential to rival Starfire's, and by her standards, that was near impossible to come by.
"Hi," the girl giggled when Raven did not say anything.
Raven grimaced, having a very good idea as to who this young newcomer was, and then looked at Robin, who stood beaming at her before proceeding to introduce the lovely blonde by his side, confirming her thoughts.
"Guys, this is Kitten," he paused to slowly motion his head towards the two Titans, "Kit, I'd like you to meet Gar and Raven." He rubbed his neck nervously, thankful that he was spared having to mention her relationship to him. It was not that he was ashamed of their newfound relationship; he simply believed that it would not agree well with his ego to have to inform everyone that he was her boyfriend when it was already obvious, for in high school, when rumors are ignited, they spread rapidly like a great fire in a wild forest. And this goes on to imply that one simply had to consider that if he were to go ahead and state what was obvious, it would certainly seem as if he were bragging, and Richard Grayson was above such action.
"I've heard a lot about the both of you from Richard," Kitten said as she took a seat next to Raven, who raised a brow at the girl that plopped herself on the seat that was normally occupied by Starfire. Of course, telling her to move was simply out of the question. It was rude, and though she could easily pull it off, Raven did not do rude. So, instead, she shrugged the thought off and went back to the pizza that she had yet been able to nibble only to be interrupted yet again by Kitten lightly nudging her with her elbow and pointing at the paper towel that was soaked with oil. "I take it you're not a big fan of grease on pizza."
Raven stared blankly at her for a moment, debating whether she should be irritated at the girl or at the world for not allowing her that one bite of her lunch to satiate her famished stomach. A glance at Robin through the corner of her eyes forced her to upturn her lips slightly and shake her head. She could be indifferent to many people and could have easily done so with Kitten, but Robin had become too good a friend and so did not dare to allow Kitten the opportunity to assume that Robin hung out with inconsiderate people. "No, grease doesn't really do it for me. I prefer my pizzas without it."
"Me either," Kitten agreed. "It causes such a massive break-out and it's kind of gross, especially when you know exactly how much of that stuff they use."
To Raven's utmost gratitude, Beast Boy stole the spotlight away from her and exclaimed, "Pizza without all its major components is not pizza at all, and that nasty stuff you call grease is a definite major component."
"Not when it's used excessively," she countered and then laughed. "Y'know, you're kind of everything I expected you to be from what Richard tells me."
"Oh, so I guess he also told you how totally awesome I am, right?" Beast Boy joked and received one of Raven's notorious you've-got-to-be-kidding look. He chuckled as he watched Robin take his place beside Kitten. Of course, like Raven, it had also crossed his mind how very strange it looked to have her sitting in Starfire's spot. It was not that he did not like Kitten. In fact, Kitten seemed a rather likeable person to him, despite Raven's lack of enthusiasm thereof, but it was recognized that Raven was not really quick to learn to like people. You had to earn her trust and friendship before she could truly hold you among her circle of friends. Looking at Robin's girlfriend again, he flinched inwardly at the thought of her being one of them and sitting among them everyday. Again, it had nothing to do with disliking her. It was, to put it bluntly, that she was not a Titan, and with her around, they would no longer be able to talk about some of the inside jokes they could easily voice out before, but he felt that it was not his place to bring his thoughts out into the open, and so left them in his head.
"Actually, Richard kind of forgot to mention that to me, but I'm sure you gotta be major wicked if you hang out with him," Kitten smiled in girlish triumph when she saw the blush that now tainted her boyfriend's cheeks. "So, like, where are your other friends again? I really wanted to meet, what was her name? Kory?"
"Yeah," Robin replied, scanning the cafeteria for his other two friends, and no sooner had he done so when he heard Starfire's voice gushing to Cyborg about the school dance that coming Friday, but her singsong voice was severed shortly thereafter when her eyes locked onto the blonde girl sitting in the seat that was clearly marked by her over her years of high school. Of course, it had yet to occur to her who the mysterious young woman might have been, and it did not help that she was only getting a view of the back of her head. Obviously disappointed, she marched up to the table and put her textbook and clear binder down beside Robin, who could not even get a word in before the Tamaranian began to speak to Kitten in her best no-nonsense voice, which really never came out to sound as intimidating and demanding as she would have preferred it to be.
"Excuse me, miss, but I believe you are sitting in my seat, and it would be greatly appreciated if…" her voice had started strong, but as she slowly began to realize who it was sitting in her seat, her voice seemed to waver and then soften. She darted her eyes at Robin and simultaneously felt embarrassed and childishly frustrated as it registered that his clear blue eyes were silently twinkling with unadulterated amusement at her naive rashness. When she shifted her gaze towards the girl, she laughed nervously at her mistake as she took a seat next to Beast Boy. Now that the blonde young woman's face was in her line of vision, Starfire easily matched her face with the name in her head. "I am very sorry," she quickly apologized as she finally got a good look at the new girl. "I did not realize you were Kitten."
"And you're Kory Anders, right?" Kitten pursued. "You know, Richard talks about you the most," she paused and laughed, "and if he didn't tell me that you were his best friend, I think I'd be jealous or something."
A modest pink hue had set into the normally peach colored complexion of the Tamaranian more so at Kitten's confession than discovering that Robin spoke so much about her. After all, she was so used to Robin talking to her and spending time with her that she was not really to be taken by surprise if half of the things he talked about were of things he did with her, but it was a strange event to have this girl that she did not know personally come straight and tell her that there was a possibility that she could envy her because of a simple friendship with Robin. But she decided to ignore that statement and opted to bubble in all her genuine excitement at finally being able to meet the young woman who had managed to captivate her leader's heart.
Questions and gossip had been rallied in a friendly manner between the two young women, who seemed to click pretty well, but it must be considered that being the vice-president of the student body, it would have made her seem ill of character to not speak to Kitten, and it was also just not in Starfire's nature to disregard her as well as it being in her interest not to disrespect her best friend by not showing Kitten some form of friendliness. Besides, Starfire had no reason to ignore the blonde beauty; they had only met personally in the past few minutes. Robin from where he sat beside his girlfriend, his fingers lazily intertwined with hers, watched with amusement and relief at how his friends took to Kitten so well, with the exception of Raven, but that was to be expected, and he did not fail to acknowledge that she did try and give off a feel good impression albeit short-lived.
At the point where Starfire tactfully inserted the dance in her attempt to "advertise" it, Kitten had eyed Robin with interest. His brows had knitted into a comical horror for but a fraction of a second before his eyes automatically shifted to pour attention on the grinning Tamaranian. Knowing exactly what the twinkle in Kitten's eye had meant without having to question her, he glowered at Starfire because he was aware of the fact that she knew that dancing was not his strong point. The girl, upon realizing the energy coming from a pair of electric blue eyes, merely batted her own bottle-green ones innocently and giggled as she stood up from her seat, opting to go and buy her lunch rather than stay where she was seated and endure Robin's I'm-so-gonna-get-you-back look.
"Kit, I'm gonna get us something to eat. You have anything in mind?" Robin pursued in an attempt to leave his girlfriend to speak to Starfire without arousing any form of suspicion though it really was not necessary.
She shook her head as she disengaged her hand from where it was interlaced with his. "Maybe just a bottle of water." And she resumed conversing with Beast Boy and Cyborg, who had found an inexplicable queer interest in her.
"I hope you do know that you're bound to get your just desserts because of this, right?" An impish expression had settled onto Robin's sharp features as he finally caught up to Starfire. Robin had posed his statement a little too good-naturedly, and such an attitude had surprised Starfire. She had expected him to be pouting, realizing that there was no way he could possibly back out of dancing anymore, which is what she had tried to get him to do in the past dances when many a girl had walked up to the student body president and asked for a dance. The idea of revenge had not occurred to her, though that should have been the first thing she should have worried about when she had decided to bring up the dance.
"She was going to find out about it eventually," Starfire countered with the equal whole-heartedness of her friend as she turned around to face him, "so it does not make a difference whether I brought it up or not."
Robin did not look at Starfire then and instead fixed his gaze off to the side, his chin tilted up a little in an effort to carry his male pride as he usually did in those rare but beautiful times that the young woman was able to rope him, and at this familiar sight, the Tamaranian could not resist the widening smile of triumph. "Was there anything you wanted?" she hastened to query when she sensed his obvious discomfort.
"Oh yeah. Star, I know I usually take you to the studio after school, but I kind of told Kitten that I'd give her a lift home." He rubbed his neck nervously. "So I was hoping that you could that you could catch a ride with someone else or something."
For a moment, it seemed as though her world had plunged into a gutter and her joy sucked out of her with a cold, swift motion. Robin had to be joking, but as she scanned his eyes, he found not the slightest trace of playful deceit in it, which she had come to easily pick up on after knowing him as well as she did even though many a people would find it difficult to catch. This had to be his aforementioned "just desserts" for her, his revenge, and she found it rather cruel that he would stoop so low as to decide not to giver her a lift at the last minute in order to get her back for getting him into a predicament that was inevitable anyway. A flash of anger and helplessness surged through her body for a fraction of a second before she pursed her lips in an attempt to keep her emotions at bay. Her eyes looked away from Robin then, but it was too late for he had already translated the look he had seen in their depths and realized what she was thinking. The boy wonder, too, had honed his skills into reading into the emotions of his friend, no matter how short they lasted or how subtle they turned out to be, that to most others, it would not be a surprise if they interpreted such a skill as mind-reading.
"Starfire," he said softly with a chuckle, "I'm more humane than that."
The young woman's face slowly turned up to face his once more, her dainty features softening from the previous hardness that had contorted. "Then why…?"
"As my best friend, I'm asking if you could do me this one really big favor," he interrupted, and she was not deaf to the awkwardness in his tone for having to ask her such a thing, to tell her that he was refusing her for his girlfriend for the day. "I was being stupid, and I admit it – I was being reckless when I told her I'd drop her off at home. It's just…" he paused and looked almost helpless, sorry, "…I forgot about having to take you to the studio. I swear to you that I won't betray you like this again."
Both parties knew what he meant by betrayal – that he chose to forsake Starfire, who he had known for two years, at the last minute in order to make his girlfriend of a few days happy. It would not have been betrayal had Starfire known about this ahead of time, had her schedule that was tied to his because of certain factors was considered.
For a moment, Robin could have sworn that he saw the faintest trace of disappointment in her expression but it quickly vanished, and she gave him a reassuring smile. "Betrayal is a harsh term, do you not agree? Mm, you owe me big, Richie," she stopped as if dwelling on the thought that Robin had to do something for her in the future, but a lop-sided grin formed on her lips and she added, "I hope you have fun with Kitten today."
Robin lightly placed his hands on her slender shoulders and his blue eyes softened in gratitude. "Thanks, Star. You don't know how much your support means to me." He quickly pecked her on the cheek by means of a friend thanking another and wandered back to his girlfriend.
The girl stood in the same spot for a few more moments, her hand absently touching the spot where his warm lips had made contact with her skin. She flushed as she remembered the first and only time she had ever kissed Robin, and that had been such a long time ago when she was childishly looking for humor in her attempt to seek knowledge of his language. His lips had felt wonderful against her own, warm and moist, the perfect shape for her own, and it made her fidget unconsciously when she swore she could have heard her inner conscience say that she loved it for more than just for the thrill of getting to kiss a boy. She had kissed many of her young male playmates within the confines of her palace home on Tamaran, but she was just a child then and those kisses had been juvenile flirting, provoked merely by the prospect of thrill and the curiosity of their reactions. At their silent faces of embarrassment or their exaggerated expressions of disgust at having been kisses, the young Princess Koriand'r only cast a tiny giggle, but when she attempted the kiss with Robin, she was already a blossoming teenager, and she had not played the kissing game for years. The idea that she may be the one to be put into embarrassment also had not crossed her mind, and it had nothing to do with the fact that he had been a stranger and that she had placed her Tamaranian lips upon human lips. It had sent an almost magnificent, pleasurable shiver up her back, a wonderful yet mysterious sensation that made her not want to withdraw from that contact. And in her innocence, she had first thought that the feeling was caused due to his being of the human race, not among the Tamaranian people and later on, she had concluded she had felt those things because they were destined to be what humans dubbed best friends. But no, it had simply been something else, but what it was she could not quite comprehend, and she never dwelled upon it long enough to investigate the feeling she had experienced further.
Shaking her head from her trance, Starfire chided herself for thinking about her best friend in such a manner, and more so because he was already devoted to another. She walked towards the snack bar trying to figure with the intention of purchasing a slice of pepperoni pizza while simultaneously coming up with a way to get to the studio after school because it had always been Robin who had given her a lift even during the season where basketball practice was a part of his daily routine because it never started until about forty-five minutes after classes had officially ceased for the day and Robin was never the type to sit around idle for an hour so he had taken it upon himself to race against the clock to get Starfire to work and then make it back for his own practice. He did not mind it; in fact, he loved it for the thrill of speeding through traffic was provoking enough.
**
Starfire stood by the lamppost that was positioned by the concrete staircase that led to the front of the school, and looked at her watch. She had never taken the bus before so she had not the slightest idea as to the time that it would arrive, and with the luck she was having that day, she was almost certain that she would be late for her photo shoot. She was beginning to pace back and forth in a panic and began to wonder if she had been foolish for refusing to ride with Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy, but decided that she had done the right thing because they worked on the other side of town. Robin may be employed at the same movie rental store that Beast Boy works at, but his shift never started until much later, and this had no relation to his having basketball practice, therefore, he could usually afford to give her a ride. Her pace increased and before she could even ponder about other things such as the dance that coming Friday, she felt her body collide with someone else's.
On impulse, Starfire shut her eyes tight and braced herself for the fall that was sure to come, but to her great astonishment, it never came. Peeking open one eye, her bottle-green eyes came into contact with deep, hazel ones. "R… Roy?" she stuttered.
"Hey there, class VP. How's it going?"
Starfire wriggled herself from his hold and stepped back so that they were decently facing each other. She fidgeted as she found herself under his scrutiny because she had always found his penetrating gaze and grin rather unnerving, which was actually an effect that was quite the opposite for the rest of the female population who found it disarming. "Everything is quite well, thank you."
"You waiting for the bus or something?"
Starfire blushed and nodded. "Robin has made other plans and was probably too busy to have informed me earlier, so I am hoping that the public transportation will arrive soon otherwise I am afraid my manager may not be too happy."
Roy chuckled. He was one of Robin's good friends, and he had taken quite an interest in the lovely Kory Anders, though not romantically because his heart already belonged to his girlfriend of two years, Donna. He found her naiveté absolutely charming, her personality to be captivating, and he recognized her beauty when he first met her and had not hesitated to tell her. It had been this boldness that made Starfire a little skeptical about him especially because she was aware of his relationship with Donna. Of course, she did not yet understand the trust of love that formed after a relationship that lasted as long as his and Donna's. Starfire was fond of him, but he was one of her friends who she preferred not to spend too much time with in fear that she would come to want to distance herself away from them, and that was something she wished not to happen.
Roy motioned with his head towards the senior parking lot. "Come on, I'll give you a lift to work."
Starfire's eyes widened at the kind offer. "Are you sure? I mean, I really do not mind taking the bus. It will be, how do you say it," she paused for a moment as she put a dainty finger to her lips and thought about it before snapping her fingers, "a good experience for me."
"I'm not meeting Donna for another hour or two, class VP, so chill out. This is a limited edition offer from Roy Harper, and believe me when I say limited edition because I normally don't do offers." He shrugged as a tight smirk curled itself on his lips. "Besides, I'm off from work today and I'm kind of bored so I gotta kill time."
"Well, if you're sure…" Starfire's tentative statement was cut short as Roy's own voice cut in, "Great! Let's go."
**
Kitten put her arms around Robin's neck in a goodbye hug at the door. They were in no way rushing their relationship and so had not even gotten to first base, and to many of their peers, they had not even left home plate. The status of their relationship was still fairly innocent as far as anyone was concerned. "Bye, Richard. Thanks for sticking around."
The ends of Robin's lips twitched upwards in a fond smile as he returned the hug. He had only meant to drop her off, but upon arrival, Kitten had persuaded him to stay for a quick snack and to just talk. He had agreed thinking it would not take any more than an hour, but upon that hour's end, he ended up staying another few hours when Kitten had popped a video into the DVD player in her home's lavishly decorated entertainment room. Of course, he could not decline her, and he really had nothing better to do so he had stayed while his girlfriend childishly poked through the things she found in his sweatshirt pocket. She tinkered with his cell phone asking who his friends were that she found on his phone list, and she had invited herself to flip through the pictures in his wallet, commenting light-heartedly about how he and Starfire must be very close for the innumerous amounts of the both of them in there blatantly argued it so. "I'll see you tomorrow, Kit," Robin called over his shoulder as he walked to his motorbike where it was parked on the curb.
Robin pulled at the sleeve of his sweatshirt to reveal his watch and sighed. The nagging guilt that his conscience had continually bombarded him with ever since he had talked to Starfire during lunch was still plaguing him, and he felt that being able to explain himself yet again would perhaps ease his discomfort. He mentally calculated the time it would take Starfire to get home. According to the time, her shift had already ended, and she'd be home in about another twenty minutes. With this in mind, he opted for the scenic route in order to pass time. If his estimation was correct, he would make it home after Starfire, and then he could immediately converse with her rather than having to wait what would become an agonizing few minutes if he arrived there before she. Pushing the visor of his helmet down over his eyes, he sped off.
Kitten stood on the doorstep of her house and waited until Robin was out of sight before rushing into her house and picking up the telephone from its cradle and dialing a number.
**
Starfire dug through her purse as the tinkling melody of her metallic pink cell-phone made contact with the receptors in her ears. Her day's photo shoot had just come to its official end, and a puzzled expression had twisted itself onto her dainty features as she realized that this was out of the ordinary for her to be receiving any phone calls. Out of the two years that she had been working as a model, she had never received a phone call in the span of time that she started work to the time she arrived home. The most plausible person that would call her at this time would be Robin, but he never called at these times unless he was not at work and knew for sure that Starfire would not be taken home by one of her friends who also worked at the modeling agency, but again, this was highly unlikely because as far as she was concerned, her friend was definitely taking her home. So when she flipped open her the communication device, she was doubly surprised to see a number that she was not familiar with, but as it was common courtesy not to just hang up and at least allow the other person to know that they had reached the wrong phone number, she answered into her receiver, "Hello."
"Hi, Kory," said the friendly feminine voice on the other end, "this is Kitten. You know, Richard's girlfriend."
At first, Starfire was not sure if she had heard right and shut her eyes tight to clear her head. She was beginning to think that her modeling career was installing fatigue into her body, and though it did, Kitten's voice that spoke up again only proved that she was still able to think clear. The young Tamaranian was just taken aback for she would have never thought that Kitten would ever call her. If for any one of her and the other Titans, Kitten should have been wasting her phone bills for her boyfriend, and more importantly, Starfire wondered how Kitten had even found out her number.
"You do remember me, don't you?" Kitten asked, slight hurt in her voice.
"I apologize," Starfire began softly after a moment of the silence of her shock, "it's just that I had not expected you to call me, and I am quite sure that I have not given you my phone number so I was just surprised."
Kitten giggled in relief. "I'm glad, but I'm sorry if my call was unexpected. I sort of stole your number from Richard's cell phone. I hope you don't mind."
Starfire shook her head and put that action into words into the receiver, simultaneously wondering why she had bothered for her number of all people. It had yet to occur to her that it was most likely to Kitten's advantage to become friends with the best friend of her boyfriend. "Was there anything you wanted to ask me?"
"I know it's a little early to being asking favors," she began in confidence, "but I really care about Richard, and I really want to do something for him. He's already done so many nice things for me, and I'd like to return the favor, and I was hoping that you could tell me if he has a preference for anything."
Starfire could not help the small smile that formed itself on her bubblegum colored lips because she could only agree with Kitten's comment about Robin. From the instant that Robin offered his friendship to her, he had been nothing but extremely kind. He was the only one that could best the friendship that had formed between herself and the other Titans, and by far, that friendship was hard-knitted and extremely difficult to disunite. Her smile faltered only after she had realized that now, Robin's attention no longer belonged only to her. It was either split evenly or devoted more to this girl, who was currently waiting for an answer from her. She had never taken Robin's friendly interest in her for granted so now, it was harder to accept that she was sharing her best friend rather that if she had taken his friendship for granted. And yet it was not in her pure heart to decline an honest plea for help from a friend or a friend of her friends, and this friend just happened to be the girlfriend of her best friend, no less. So with a weak smile, she simply could not stop the words from falling from her mouth as easily as they did. "You could take him to Arson's concert tomorrow night. I believe they are playing at The Rendezvous."
Kitten gasped. "You mean Roy Harper's band? He's actually got gigs now? They always did have talent."
"Mm-hm. He gave me two of his extra tickets so if you would like to go, I could give them to you tomorrow morning so you can invite Richard."
Kitten paused and hesitantly asked Starfire if she were sure that she wanted to give the tickets to her. After all, she could surely use the tickets herself. And indeed, that had been the Tamaranian's original plan. She had been planning to ask Robin to go with her because she had not gone to any form of show with him for a while because their schedules as of late had not permitted them that luxury. Yet now, half-heartedly, she had come to the conclusion that Kitten probably needed it more than her. After all, Kitten was Robin's girlfriend and she was only his best friend. She was quite certain that she was lower in rank, and she was surprised to find out that she became upset at the prospect of being replaced and of losing the one person she's trusted the most since her first encounter with humans to a girl that he had only gotten to know for a few days. It may have been such a very selfish thought for her to want Robin to herself, but her bond to him was already deep for how can you ever hope to break a bond that has been formed from a point in your life when you had no one else to guide you and accept you for who you were.
"I was already thinking about giving them away anyway," Starfire lied. "It would be happy to give them to you. I will meet you at your locker tomorrow morning?"
"Oh, Kory! You're such a doll," Kitten said excitedly. "My locker in the east senior wing. Number two hundred and thirty six. I'll see you tomorrow okay? Bye."
Starfire flipped her cell phone closed and shoved back into her bag and wandered down the hall of the photo studio and towards the elevator to the lobby where she would have to wait another few minutes before her friend came down to give her a lift back to her apartment. Her lips dipped into a rueful smile as she regarded her decision to give her tickets to Kitten once more. Not only had she wanted to drag Robin along and now couldn't, but she would also have to tell Roy that she would not be able to make it anymore. He had personally offered it to her after he had dropped her off and was expecting her to be there. She hoped that he would not find her rude for not showing and giving the tickets to someone else who she believed needed it far more than she. For the short time that he had kept her out in front of her studio in a small conversation, Starfire found him interestingly and surprisingly witty and outgoing and, ironically, somewhat comparable to that of Robin's personality. Of course, she'd have to let him know that she couldn't make it tomorrow morning after handing the tickets over to Kitten. She really did want to go, but she would forgo her desire for the benefit of Robin's girlfriend because of her relationship to her best friend and for Robin's own happiness.
Starfire was not the type that would ever betray Robin's friendship, but she deeply hoped that he was not dismissing their friendship as easily as she was thinking, for in her mind that thought was already formulating, especially after his first refusal of her during lunch. And she could not explain why, but she felt a mixture of both misery and helplessness, something she had not felt since she had first landed on Earth after her escape from Tamaran, only in this instance, there seemed to be a pinch of something else as a catalyst to those feelings, and it was an emotional element that she was not familiar with – something that Robin had yet to teach her…
…because it was something Robin could not teach her.
**
Author Notes: I apologize for the delay of this chapter. =\ I found it a little difficult to work around my main schedule so I could squeeze this chapter in, and when I did, I found the transition of delving into Starfire's feelings and emotions from Robin's to be somewhat of a problem. And I also want to express my apologies for this chapter being a complete drag as it was long. Did you notice how some of those paragraphs just wouldn't stop? o.O For some reason, I'm finding it harder to explain Starfire's predicament with few words. If you can't tell, I am disappointed in the way that this particular part has turned out. I'll try and make up for this literary mess in the following chapter. =\
I'm also aware that I've managed to insert a few other characters into this story, such as Roy Harper (Speedy) and Donna (Wonder Girl) though I'm not about to make them Titans. I've also played on Roy's later superhero alias as Arsenal, and turned his band's name into Arson. Thought it sounded kind of catchy. They'll make small appearances throughout the story though I really won't be focusing on them so much because I might digress from the original plotline of Robin x Starfire, and since I have a high tendency to digress, I'm not willing to take those chances. So if you were also expecting an equal share of the other Titans in this fic, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but they'll be around to add meat to the story, in a sense. (Kind of like in the third chapter.) On the note of Robin x Starfire, I know that there isn't any real and decent interaction between the two, but I assure you, I'll incorporate that aspect into the following chapters. It's definitely a central point in this fic, but it's just taking me a little longer than I've anticipated. =\
Also, I thought there might be some readers that may take interest in knowing that I've finally constructed the skeleton for this story. I created this fic on a whim, with the structure not fully cemented, but after running it through and outlining it, I can now tell you that you can expect this piece of literary fiction to end on the thirteenth chapter. I don't know whether you would consider that good or bad. ^^'
Oh, and please note that I have yet to re-read and do the necessary editing for this chapter, so if you see a lot of redundancy and grammatical errors, I apologize in advance. When I get around to editing and find an excessive amount of literary blunders, I'll re-upload the chapter in due time and let you know in one of my future author notes. ^^
Starbolt1218: Err… you're welcome? ^^ I'm only trying to acknowledge the people that took the time to read the fic and reviewed. It totally makes my day, so I'm more than willing to take the time to express my gratitude. You didn't have to be sorry for the flattery, by the way. ^^' It's just that I have such a pessimistic attitude that I don't know how to handle praise, and I get scared that I might come off as rude, which is totally not what I'm trying to get at. ^^' Anyhoo, about Kitten, if you've noticed, she isn't quite as annoying as she was in the cartoon series (at least in my opinion). So I hope she's a more tolerable person. At the moment, I have no idea how they'll break up. I just know what will cause the breakup. =] And yup, Robin and Starfire's friendship plays a big role in the story. I'm glad you find it portrayed well.
AcrazyTeenager2005: I wonder how many Robin x Starfire shippers there are. Did you know that there's a Robin x Starfire fanlisting? I wanted to join, but it's been on hiatus for like forever. o.O Ah well, I hope it comes back up soon. But anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing. =] I'm really happy to know that people actually like this fic. I hope that this made your day. Starfire got it semi-bad here. It'll progressively get worse as the fic gains more momentum. I don't really know if that's good or bad; all I'm concerned about is that I have enough conflict for a real story. =\
Nightling: Thank you so much for taking the time to read and review my fic. I hope you liked this installment. I'm not sure if the ending to this chapter is a cliffhanger though. If it is, I'll doubly try to get the fifth installment out.
Neo Starfire: Wow! Long review. ^___^ Thank you for taking the time to actually read this story and then to write such a lengthy review. I'm super hyped to know that you love my fic, and thank you for the Fire Bunny Award (it showed up fine in my email account, by the way, and you haven't offended me). x] I actually have a reader nice enough to present me a rabbit award. Totally made my day. ^^ As for your query concerning who likes Kitten, I'm not sure if I can answer for any of the other Teen Titans viewers. It's really a matter of opinion, and everyone is entitled to their own, but if you want mine, I found her to be quite distasteful. She was just too bratty and err… annoying. She wouldn't have been so terrible if they made her more down to earth. And I quite agree that Robin and Starfire are made for each other, though that's also just another one of my firm beliefs/opinions. I'm just not sure about making Kitten a bit** because I've actually decided what will cause them to break up, and it has nothing to do with Kitten's attitude. So I believe I can make her personality stay as it is right now. I hope that doesn't disappoint you. =\
Ocdsugar: Hey, I knew it sounded familiar, but I would never have guessed it came from Bugs Bunny. I haven't watched Looney Tunes in a really long time. ^^' Oh, and what do you know? Starfire was watching a run of Looney Tunes in the first chapter. Trippy? Or was that intentional? Anyhoo, thanks a lot for reviewing, and I'm really relieved to know that you didn't find it confusing as well as overjoyed that you liked the addition of the comic elements in the fic. =]
Braveheart: On of my more consistent reviewers, thank you for reviewing yet again. ^^ I'm glad you found it to be enjoyable yet again. If I were me (that sounds funny), and I had to read my fics, I don't think I'd get through half. As much as I'm fond of writing, I'm not a big fan of reading long paragraphs, which is actually one of my leading tendencies in writing. Quite ironic, I think. As for the portrayal of the character emotions, I'm now crossing my fingers that you're not wanting to take back your comment about the good job I did in that because I'm afraid that if I were you, I would take it back. @_@ Starfire's emotions are quite harder for me to express, which I find to be rather surprising. I thought that between Robin and Starfire, I'd be able to find it easier to write about Starfire than with Robin. Oh well. And here's the chapter where Kitten has made her appearance. I'm sorry if you found her introduction quite plain and boring and not as complex in comparison to the Titans. I'll try and incorporate more of her personality and likeness in small amounts throughout the chapter. Again, I thank you for taking the time to read and review. =]
TheUltimateNewbie: I'm glad to have been able to be of some service despite the fact that it was unintentional. I hadn't even realized that you had posted that on the forums or maybe I hadn't joined yet. Oh, by the way, I'm sorry for not being able to post so much. I think I've only posted about three times. =\ I'll try and hand around longer today and post more or something. On another note, about the seven or eight chapters, I'm now fairly sure that the fic will end at chapter thirteen. I was taking a guesstimate when I previously said it would be another seven or eight chapters, but after mapping out the story, I hope to finish at thirteen. And I hope that Starfire's thoughts and feelings that have been portrayed in this chapter was not a disappointment. I'm not too thrilled about it for some reason, and if I'm not too thrilled, I expect readers to be just as dejected. So if you were, by chance, dissatisfied at all, I apologize greatly. =\
Brie: Poor Robin and Starfire. I think I've managed to send them on what will surely become a traumatic emotional turmoil. @_@ And in regards to your question, Bruce and Diana's wedding is not due for another five chapters. ^^ Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Sanity-Stealing-Lawn-Gnome: Thanks for reading and reviewing. ^^ I'm glad you like this story, and I deeply hope that this chapter was not a disappointment. I'll try and get the fifth chapter updated within this week. Two weeks at the most.
Lady Karmina: ^^' Thank you for such nice comments. Please don't interpret my short expression of gratitude as rude. It's just that being on the receiving end of praises isn't exactly one of my strong points – an aftereffect of pessimism and holding my writing ability as below average. But I digress. I wanted to let you know that I haven't really read the comics. I follow the cartoon series ritualistically, but as far as the information regarding the comic books, I've only heard that from the talk of other people and things that I read off of the net. But I was delighted that you found the merging of the cartoon series and the comic books of good taste. On that same note, you can probably guess that I don't know what happens with Terra. I'll have to look it up, but if I do allow her a guest appearance in this fic, it'll be brief, a side character as I've mentioned before. ^^ As for any new works relative to Teen Titans, I'm currently working on a one-shot that was inspired by this chapter, but I'm having a bit of difficulty in writing it since one shots aren't exactly one of my strong points. :P Anyhoo, thanks for the read and review! =] I hope you thoroughly enjoyed this chapter.
eventidespirit: Yep, things are definitely heating up. ^^ And it'll heat up some more. x] Well, at least I'm hoping that I can manage to get things heated up more. It'll do the plot some good, especially at the rate that it's going. :P But anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing!
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. =]