Sorry this took so long to get out, there was some MAJOR editing that had to be done. (I didn't like the last few pages of this chapter so they had to be fixed.) But here is the next chapter, in all of its miniscule glory. I hope you enjoy!
Who Wants to Date Starfire?
Chapter Two: The Whole World Knows… except Starfire
May 6th, 2004
An eerie silence floated in the room as Beast Boy picked up his head from his companion's shoulder and looked at her. He smiled playfully as he nudged her.
"So?"
The dark girl opened one eye and glared as she turned on her side to face him. "So, what?" She asked irritably, pulling the covers up over her shoulders.
Beast Boy rolled his eyes. "So what's going on with Robin and Star?" He asked impatiently.
Raven glared at him angrily. "You wake me up at two in the morning to ask me this? Are you a complete fool?"
Beast Boy was completely unfazed by her reaction. For the past two weeks Raven hadn't been sleeping well, and usually woke him up so she didn't feel lonely; he knew for a fact that she hadn't been sleeping. "You weren't sleeping, and you know it."
Her lavender eyes narrowed at him; then she sighed and laid her head back on the pillow. "Whatever… Robin is worried that Starfire is going to win the game, and she's going to become this Phillipe guy's new girlfriend."
"She can refuse, can't she?" Beast Boy asked, propping his head up on one hand, and using the other to smooth Raven's hair affectionately.
"Yeah… but Robin has the uncanny ability to stress himself out over stupid things. Besides, he's too blind to see that Starfire is already in love with him. Nor is he one to express his feelings easily." She said, shaking her head softly in disbelief.
"You aren't one to express your feelings easily either… and look what happened to us?" Beast Boy moved closer to her, draping his arm around her slender waist.
Raven blushed slightly, then leaned up and kissed him sweetly. "Are you trying to tell me that there is hope then?"
Beast Boy nodded. "There's always hope."
Raven smiled, then snuggled close to him. "Beast Boy?"
"Yeah?" He asked.
"Thank you… I know I haven't really been the best nighttime company lately…" Raven said sadly.
The shape-shifter smoothed her hair softly. "Raven, something's wrong and you're not telling me…" He pleaded with her. "You've haven't been sleeping the last two weeks and… I'm worried about you."
Raven shifted uncomfortably in his arms before she pulled away to look at him. "You want the truth?"
"Of course. I hate to see you like this…"
Raven took a deep breath as she closed her eyes to calm herself. "I started having strange visions… everything has been too calm these last few months and it's making me feel… awkward. Something is going to happen, I know it. And it's not going to be very pretty," She whispered in a low and shaky voice.
Beast Boy gathered her into his arms and stroked her back calmly. "Everything is going to be alright, Raven… I know it feels like the calm before the storm, but we're not alone. Were a team, and we look out for each other…"
Raven smiled as she wrapped her arms around him. "I know, Beast Boy…"
"I love you."
Raven smiled as she buried her face into his neck, feeling more at ease. "I know."
Robin woke with a start as he felt another presence in the room. Sitting up from the couch he saw a shapely figure silhouetted by the gray before dawn. He smiled, realizing that she had not noticed him.
"Kijin?"
The shape-shifter gave a jump, then turned and smiled at him. "Hey. Did I wake you up?" She asked, walking to him.
"Not really. What are you doing here so early?" Robin knew that although the Titans had offered Kijin full membership and a place to stay, she politely refused and continued to live in her studio apartment downtown. It was a very rare thing to see her at the tower over night.
"Starfire asked me to spend the night." She sat down next to him and leaned back into the plush couch. "She's really excited about tomorrow."
"Oh… right… tomorrow is Monday." Robin glared at the floor and Kijin laughed, as if making light of the situation. It really irked Robin how she did that sometimes, made important situations seem as if they weren't all that important.
"Robin, I wouldn't be so worried if I were you." She stated calmly.
"How do you know how I feel?" The masked boy snapped angrily, crossing his arms over his chest and brooding.
Kijin just continued to smile, completely unfazed by this response. "Because you're very defensive when I bring up the subject of Starfire."
Robin growled, then blushed and let his arms fall. "I'm worried…" He stated carefully, looking over at her. She nodded placidly, eyes watching him meticulously.
"That you'll lose Star?" She questioned.
Robin blushed again and nodded, rubbing his neck in embarrassment. "Yeah…"
Kijin laughed lightly. "I wouldn't be concerned with it. Star thinks highly of you, and very little can change that."
Robin looked surprised. "What?"
She tapped his forehead with her forefinger and laughed. "You can't be that hollow in there, can you? Starfire is head-over-heels in love with you, it doesn't take a genius to figure that out," She stated frankly.
"But… Raven never said…" Robin blushed as the thought sunk into his mind. Raven had never mentioned Starfire being in love with him it couldn't be possible… could it? "You're lying to me." He stated in disbelief.
Kijin laughed lightly again, shaking her blue locks around her slender face. "Do you want me to lie to you?"
"No." Robin stated firmly.
The shape-shifter smiled slyly in response. "Then you're in luck."
"Kij?"
Kijin looked up and her cheeks automatically turned a magnificent shade of red as she saw Cyborg enter the living room.
"Um, hey Cyborg…"
"Speaking of head-over-heels in love…" Robin said under his breath, but loud enough for Kijin to hear him. He sunk back into the couch and watched as Kijin's face turned an even darker shade of red, she averted her eyes for a moment as she sought her composure.
"Kij, what're you doing here so early?" Cyborg asked, approaching her and looking suspiciously at Robin.
"Starfire asked me to spend the night… You know… for today and tomorrow…" She looked up at him, the red in her face having faded to a light pink.
"You look flushed, are you feeling okay? Star didn't make you eat her pudding of happiness did she?" He placed a hand on her forehead and Kijin shook her head in response, pulling away quickly.
"Nope… I guess it's just the way I am in the morning. I just got up a few minutes ago." She said, quickly explaining her flushed cheeks in fear of more questions.
"I… uh… noticed, by your attire."
Both Cyborg and Robin now realized that Kijin had yet to change into real clothes, instead of sporting a pair of boxers and a tank top that looked a few sizes too small.
"Oh… um… I…" Kijin's whole body turned from green to red and she quickly rushed to the door. "Sorry!"
Cyborg smiled after her, but refused to chase. "I wouldn't mind seeing that a lot more often…" He said huskily.
Robin fought to hold in laughter. "So…" he started conversationally. "Do you like Kijin? I mean, you've already given her a nick-name and all."
Cyborg felt heat rise to his cheeks and he turned to stare firmly at his masked companion. "Whoa, hold it there buddy. I might just be too lazy to pronounce her whole name."
"Do you know her whole name?"
"Kazeno Kijin. If you wanna pronounce it correctly." Cyborg sat down on the couch and shrugged. "What's the big deal? You know her whole name." (whimsical creature of the wind (In Japanese it is customary to put the surname before the person's first name, thus Kazeno comes before Kijin.))
"That's true… I do know her whole name as well… but she says a lot of people that know her, don't know her full name. Just Kijin." Robin sunk next to him on the couch.
"Oh… so what's that gotta do with me?" Cyborg asked.
There was a period of brief silence, as if Robin didn't have an answer. If only that were the truth.
"Do you love her?"
Cyborg shot up and pointed at him. "Blasphemy!" he cried.
The masked boy wonder smirked. "Nice use of such a large word, Cy."
Cyborg glared in anger. He had no right to bring that up! It wasn't any of his business to go meddling into others emotions. "I wouldn't be talking, boy wonder, you have yet to figure out and tell Star about your feelings."
Robin growled suddenly, and looked away from him. "Does everyone know about that?" He asked between clenched teeth.
"Anyone who isn't Starfire."
Robin brooded silently as Kijin reentered the living room, this time dressed in a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. She was hastily throwing her sea-blue hair into a ponytail. "Sorry about that. Sometimes I forget what I'm wearing," She said completely unaware of the conversation that had taken place only moments before hand.
It was Cyborg's turn to blush as thoughts of what she might (or might not) forget wearing came to him. He cleared his throat and looked out the window at dawn's red light. "Um… it's fine."
"Starfire wants me to spend the whole week here. If that's okay with you guys." She sat back down on the couch and folded her legs underneath her. Cyborg's gaze shot back to Kijin in an instant, feeling a wide grin peel across his lips.
Robin looked over at him, he looked like he could shout with glee at this new news. Robin then smiled evilly, deciding to play with Cyborg's mind for a few seconds, just a little tease couldn't do too much harm… could it?
"Oh, I don't know Kijin…" Robin spoke in a worried tone, to the shape-shifter. "I mean wouldn't it be a little awkward for you. Doesn't Starfire have to stay at that guy's mansion or whatever-?"
THUMP
Cyborg smacked him upside the head and glared angrily at the masked boy. "You shut up. Kijin, you can stay here as long as you want."
She blushed and smiled up at him. "Thanks Cyborg…"
Robin muttered a few choice obscenities and rubbed the sore spot on his head. He thought for a moment longer, then decided to interrogate Kijin some more.
"So, Kijin. Um… does Starfire have to stay with that guy?" He asked carefully.
Kijin shook her head. "Nope. She said she wants to stay with me, so I can help her do okay. What I'm trying to figure out though… is how Star actually got accepted to the show."
"What do you mean?" Robin asked, looking somewhat surprised and confused.
"Well… in order to get on a show like that you have to send in an audition tape and a notarized waiver. I asked Star and she said she never sent any of those in… I even called the office a few times yesterday and they said they had everything from her except the contract that we're supposed to get today. It doesn't make sense…" Kijin look troubled for a moment, then she sighed deeply and leaned back into the couch. "But… whatever…"
"Do you think some one is behind it?" Robin asked practically, hoping that he was wrong and it was all a fluke.
Kijin shrugged a little, biting on her lower lip as she thought. "I'm not sure really… It just… doesn't seem right, ya know?"
Robin looked over at Cyborg who shifted uncomfortably. He shook his hear and raised his shoulders in confusion. This was bad, if Starfire or Kijin didn't send in the tape… then who did?
"Did you ask them if they had any other pieces of information on file?" Robin questioned. The female shape-shifter nodded in response.
"Yeah, and they told me it was confidential… I don't know…" She raised a hand to her mouth and began to bite nervously on her nails. "It really makes me nervous… but Starfire is so excited about learning more about earth culture, I couldn't say no to her."
Robin swallowed hard. Starfire was going to be in danger if she went through with this. Something in his gut was telling him that… something was telling him that this whole show was bad news. "She can't go on it… there is something not right about this…"
Kijin made a sound of disbelief, staring at him incredulously. "Fine. You tell her that she can't do this show."
Cyborg laughed, then quickly quieted himself as Robin shot a death glare in his direction.
"So what do you think we should do?"
Kijin shook her head, her middle finger hanging from her teeth as she continued to devour her nails. "I don't know. I'm just the fashion consultant and on-set body guard. I don't know what to do if some evil dude set us up."
"What do you think we should do?" Cyborg asked Robin.
"I don't know… I mean… I can't say no to Starfire, especially since everyone practically told her to go on the show…" Robin sighed and shook his head. "She really wants to do it?"
Kijin nodded. "Yep."
Robin shook his head, as if giving into defeat. "Then there is no stopping her."
Kijin nodded again. "Yep."
;;
And the plot thickens…