Oi… My life is crud, man… Anyway, there seems to be a lot of confusion about what Life of the Party did. Apparently, most of you lack problem-solving skills. Ever try putting puzzles together in kindergarten? Life of the Party slapped Robin and Starfire with the lack of the ability to lie. They have to say what's on their mind at the very moment. All clear now?

Unbeknownst to Them

Robin decides to confront Life of the Party after a talk with a strange checkout girl at the store.

Rated PG.

Disclaimer: I only own Life of the Party and Tanya, who will FINALLY be making an appearance today! YAAAY!

Unbeknownst to Them

Robin stared at his steel-toed boots as he paced back and forth in his room. After having that long, awkward talk with Beast Boy, all the desire to work out had vanished. He couldn't even think of the gym without feeling repulsed.

Robin pondered what to do now. He couldn't possibly eat or sleep, eating would only make him feel sick and he would surely have nightmares if he curled up in bed. Working out he simply had no desire to do, none of the other Titans were willing to talk with him, the city was rather quiet and free of crime, Slade was long gone…

There was nothing to do.

Robin sighed. "Well, I guess we can never have too much food," he said to himself, narrowing his eyes wearily. "I guess I'll just… go shopping." He pulled a face and turned to stride out of the room. Shopping WAS NOT in his best interest, but it was all he had left to do.

The moment he stepped outside he regretted his choice (more than he did already, that is). Rain poured down in menacing sheets, thick with rock hard hail. In the distance, a car alarm went off. Robin stared down at his feet, looking utterly irritated in an I-wish-I-was-anywhere-but-here-right-now way, and kicked about an inch of ice out of his path. This was NOT going to be a fun walk.

He grabbed the hem of his cape and jerked it up and over his head. Without hesitation, he took a long stride forward, and slipped and fell right on his butt. The ice was thick, and sharp little beads of it want scattering in every direction. Robin swore, jumping up and covering his head with his arms to protect it from the harsh, freezing balls of fury. He thought once about ducking back inside, but decided against it. Instead, he hiked back up his cape and ventured cautiously but surely further outside.

He reached the store a short while afterwards, soaking wet, bruised, and weary. He could not remember why he had come, and only knew that every inch of him ached and he just wanted to sit down. He shook his head in a similar manner to that of a dog, flinging water and bits of ice in every direction. He pulled of his glove and up-ended it, sending several chunks of ice and about a centimeter of water onto the floor. He did the same to his boots and other glove before he was satisfied. He was definitely buying a blanket and some cold medications when he got in there, along with chicken soup. His head already felt slightly stuffy.

He sneezed.

Definitely stuffy.

He grumbled, rubbing his eyes, and headed inside. He didn't quite feel comfortable at the store. It was much too big, clean, and… white. It was blinding, and the florescent lights burned his eyes. He kept his head bowed, but even then the reflection of the lights glared up at him from the slippery clean floor. People stared at him as they strode by, pushing overfilled carts of food and jostling children. The overwhelming stench of cleaning products, deodorants, medications, food, and other such "necessities" made his head spin, and he coughed at least ten times walking down a single isle. Not only that, but the sounds of wet shoes squeaking on the clean floors and the checkout counters bleeping and children wailing brought back many memories of when he'd saved this store before. He'd protected it from robbers on many occasions, along with a deranged suicidal dude and…

He'd reached the isle he'd wanted. Without thinking, he whipped out twelve packets of random brand chicken soup. Then he wheeled around, fished out a few different dinner rolls, stared at them, put them back, and continued down the isle. Now he definitely had no clue as to what he was doing.

By the time he came out of his mental coma, he had filled the basket up to it maximum capacity, and the bars dug a ring into his arm. He frowned, looking around, and realized he was in an isle between ice cream and cookies. The thought of candy made him sick, but he grabbed a box of Oreos for Beast Boy anyway. He hurried out of the isle, snooped around until he found the blanket he wanted, and then swiftly headed for a checkout counter.

This was his least favorite part of the horrid shopping experience. He had to move slowly, and was stuck in a place that he could not escape from. The lady or man standing behind the counter would stare at him, and jabber away as if he cared, and hold him back for at least five minutes. They would laugh if he even attempted scathing sarcasm, and always commented conversationally on Starfire's eyes if she was there (which she usually was, provided she was the only one who could get him in the store in the first place).

He didn't bother to look up when he heard the woman speak.

"Robin from the Teen Titans?"

He kept his head bowed, eyes narrowed, and didn't even look at her as he fingered his belt. He couldn't hold back a response, however. "Yes," he whispered, his voice barely audible.

"Excuse me, sir?"

Robin noted this voice was young, about his age. He looked up, suddenly interested. A girl of seventeen had stared back at him, her arms folded on the table as she watched him and smacked on several sticks of differently colored gum. Her short, golden-brown, sandy hair was pulled up sloppily into two lopsided ponytails, one on the back of her head and one on the side, which revealed two round, un-pierced ears. She narrowed her brown eyes that hid behind a pair of turquoise glasses inquisitively, raising a finger and making the two charms hanging from her neck jangle.

"Yes," she said, "you're Robin, aren't you?"

Robin nodded. "Yes. Pleased to meet you," he said emotionlessly, running his routine chat mill.

She smiled, standing up straight and running another item through the red laser. It beeped loudly. She tapped a button on the register dutifully and turned to face him again. "I'm new here," she explained. "Second day on the job." Her voice was loud yet gentle, clear. It held a playful, kind, motherly, educated, and slightly rowdy tone to it, one that he couldn't quite explain. This girl was far from normal, he decided. She regarded him with a knowing, shy, and questioning look, all at the same time. She ran another item through check before dumping it in a bag, pulling out a new one, and pressing another button. She was far from thin, practically cylinder-shaped, actually. Her cheeks were round, giving her the impression of both a sweet, caring mother and an innocent, naive baby. But her glasses rudely contradicted both, and gave her yet another impression, that of a calm, collected, reasonable teacher, one that you could always turn to for advice. And again, her eyes contradicted that too. Her eyes were sad, full of depressing memories and an aura that she knew things she shouldn't, but at the same times her eyes were optimistic and caring, embracing everyone and everything with love and care. And then her eyes were calm, cool, and thoughtful. Almost glassy.

It drew Robin to her somehow, intrigued him.

"You're staring," she informed him, sliding two more items through the check. She looked at him, smiling. A weathered mood ring glinted on the middle finger of her left hand, reflecting greenish blue, as she smoothed out her apron. Robin stared at her unblinkingly, unfazed by her discovery.

She stared right back. "Something's bothering you, isn't there?" she asked, dropping her checkout girl act. She placed both elbows on the table, glancing down to see that nobody else was in line, before kicking a switch and turning off her "checkout line three" sign. "Tell be about it," she said kindly.

Robin shook his head. "Yes, there's something bothering me, but no, it's nothing you could help with." Every nerve in his body screamed to listen to this odd girl, to tell her everything, but he fought against it. He didn't even know her name.

She grinned, tapping her name tag.

Foster, Tanya E.

Tanya E. Foster.

"Tanya," stated Robin flatly.

"That's me," she replied, smiling. She didn't smile normally. She never showed her teeth. She merely pulled up the corners of her lips, a sweet gesture that (Robin assumed) only someone like her could pull off.

'I'm looking at her too much,' he noted to himself. 'No need to become this involved in her appearance.' She wasn't even pretty. Why should be even be scrutinizing her in such a way?

'Because she may not be pretty, but she's not ugly or plain either,' a voice in the back of his head hissed.

"I feel like a fool talking to you," said Tanya. Her voice yielded no hesitation, only pure sincerity. "I never do good in social situations. I was just hoping I'd manage to make you open up a little, I was sure it'd help. But I guess I'm just a checkout girl, huh?" She sighed. "That's all I am to anyone. It doesn't matter I'm not a waitress at McDonalds. This is just as low." She ran up the rest of his items, stuffed them into bags, and monotonously told him his total.

He gave it to her slowly. She was utterly indifferent, shoving the money into the register, slamming the drawer, and popping a stick of blue gum into her mouth. He was amazed she could fit that much gum in her mouth and still have enough room to speak clearly.

He found the strength to speak as she kicked the "checkout line three" light.

"Hey… uh…"

"How may I help you, sir?" she asked in an emotionless, droning voice. She turned to face him, and her eyes were but blocks of ice. No emotion was held in her plump face as she chewed on her gum with narrowed eyes.

Robin blinked, taken aback. "Sorry," he said, unable to think of anything better to say.

She smirked, and the ice in her eyes melted away. "Well," she said, "that's better, then. Are you ready to talk to me?"

"Yeah, I am."

Robin swallowed, shocked at himself. 'I'm going to tell this all to some random checkout girl I met at the store!? What's wrong with me!?'

She drummed her short fingernails on the desk, resting her cheek in her other hand. She had already kicked off the light.

"Alright, uhm…"

"If you don't know where to begin, that's fine," she said soothingly.

"Right. Well, two days ago… at least I think it was two days… we got an alarm saying a villain was robbing a bank."

"I remember that."

"Yeah, anyway, when we got there, we had trouble defeating him. Starfire and I were the only ones left standing, and we chased after him. He did something weird, and… kissed us." Together, Tanya and Robin pulled a disgusted face. "And, after that… it's just like I can't stop talking. I have to tell the truth, always. No matter what. If someone asks me something, I HAVE to answer."

"Really, now?"

"Yeah. Really."

She stared a moment, then tilted her head to the ceiling, looking thoughtful. After a moment, she nodded and looked back at Robin. "I see. It seems he got the better of you, even in defeat. You know what I think?"

"No. Do tell."

"You should go talk to him. I'm sure that if he did this to you, he can figure out how to un-do it as well."

Robin blinked. He mulled this over a moment, then laughed. "I can't believe I didn't think of that."

Tanya smiled, and sat on the counter. She crossed her legs and rested her arms on her knees. "Did I help you?"

"Yes," said Robin. "Yes you did. Thank you."

She smiled at him, smacked on her gum, and jumped back off the counter. She opened the cash register with a "cha-ching" and held out her hand him. He stared at her hand, confused. He looked back into her eyes, not understanding her gesture. Her eyes were bright, playful, mischievous. "That'll cost you a buck fifty," she said in a deep, male voice.

Robin shook his head, rolling his eyes.

She slammed the register shut.

"Thanks, though," he said. "You helped me out a lot."

"No problem," she said, and handed him the bags.

He hefted them up his arm, waved, and strode out of the store. The hail had thinned slightly, but still fell down thick. He glanced back once to see her wave at him, and he waved back. In doing so, he lost all previous concentration he'd had on the ice, and slipped.

This time, he was positive he'd bruised his tailbone.

Robin stumbled into the tower, dumped everything on the counter, and sighed. He was frozen to the bone, not to mention tired. 'I should go change,' he thought to himself. Yes. He couldn't remain in these soaking wet clothes a moment longer. He turned to go change, and found himself staring right into the large green eyes of Starfire.

"Robin!" she said cheerfully.

Robin jumped, startled, and placed a hand on the counter for balance. His wet gloves slid across the surface, sending him sprawling to the ground. WHUMP.

"Ouch," he grumbled, sitting up and rubbing his aching back. He mumbled a swear word under his breath and staggered to his feet. Starfire stared at him, regarding him with concern. He grinned embarrassedly, blushing slightly, and brushed himself off. "H-Hi, Star."

"I startled you," said Starfire. "And… you are wet."

"Thanks for noticing," he replied. He smiled, noting absently that he was creating a puddle of melted ice on the floor. "I was just going to change…"

"Please stay," she whispered meekly.

Instantly alerted by her tone he turned to face her again. He frowned, concerned. "Something wrong?"

She nodded. "Beast Boy will not leave me alone," she said softly. She looked around, nervously biting her lip. Robin resisted the urge to hold her close and tell her everything would be alright. Not now, at this point in time. Perhaps later he would. She looked back at Robin with truly anxious eyes. "Do you think he knows?"

Robin reached out and patted her shoulder, fighting against the intense desire to tuck a strand of her red hair behind her ear. "No, I don't. Beast Boy's just… not… smart enough to figure it out." He smiled. "Don't worry."

"But I am worrying," she said, her voice raising ever so slightly. "What if…"

"Shh," he said. "Look, I'm going to talk to Life of the Party and make him reverse whatever he did to us. Then will you stop worrying?"

She said nothing, but her head moved up and down ever so slightly.

Robin continued. "Because, when you worry, I'm being torn apart." He blinked at himself. Smooth.

She nodded, taking a deep breath and calming herself. "You talk to Life of the Party," she said. "I shall stay here and hope."

"I will."

They fell silent a moment, looking around. As swift as light, Robin pecked her on the cheek and vanished.

Author's Notes: Sorry it took so long! But I think this chapter's good anyway, so you tell me if it was worth it! And no, Tanya IS NOT a self-insertion. She's an original character, who just happens to have some of the same traits as me and my friends.