Sorry about the holdup…as I write this, I should actually be writing a history essay comparing Arthur Miller's The Crucible with the McCarthy communist witchhunts. I guess what I'm saying is: thank you (lol). I'm thinking just one chapter after this one.
I can't tell you how great your reviews of Ch. 4 made me feel. Thank you so much for reading and being supportive.
I'm sorry, but…I will not be recounting Star and Robin's conversation. readers throw rocks Hey, it's between them, ok? Besides, you already know what he said. Everything he was thinking…well, except for being in love with her. But he doesn't even understand that himself, really.
Sindra, if you're reading this… just don't tell anyone else about this account, ok?
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. And after all the procrastinating I've done, I probably don't own an A average anymore, either…
"Merry Christmas."
Robin's mildly amused voice, though barely a whisper, could be heard easily in the stillness of Starfire's room.
"What?" Star lifted her head from the crook of his neck and looked at him, disoriented.
Robin smiled; she didn't realize how much time had passed. After his conversation with Starfire, which had actually just consisted of him talking and her listening, they had settled into easy silence again. Starfire had done nothing but accept everything he told her, with that look of infinite understanding in her heartbreakingly-beautiful eyes. She'd hugged him tightly, forgiving him without words for every time his blind determination had lead him to act rashly, or to cause harm to others…or to cast her aside. Everything had been lifted, all at once – she had taken the weight off of his shoulders, at least for a while. As he'd started debating whether or not it would be taking advantage of the situation to let Starfire continue hugging him that way, he'd happened to glance at the clock, trying not to move too much from his comfortable position against Star's shoulder.
Just as he'd suspected: past midnight. Two hours past, in fact. This realization had been the cause of his seemingly random holiday greeting; he'd only wanted to be the first to wish his favorite alien girl a merry Christmas.
He pointed to the clock, and she gasped. "Robin…we have been dancing for nearly four hours."
"Now that's not true…" Robin corrected, grinning. "We've been talking, destroying your room, playing in fake snow, and dancing for nearly four hours." She giggled, and both seemed unsure for a moment whether to be amused or embarrassed. Robin pulled back from her a little, clearing his throat. "More importantly," he began, forming an obviously false stern expression and narrowing his eyes at her. "You've given me reason to believe that you are not really Teen Titan material."
She gasped. "Robin…?" she said in a shocked whisper.
He nodded solemnly. "Yes," he said, "I'm afraid so. You've been officially awake for two entire hours on Christmas morning, and instead of opening presents, you've been dancing with your boss." He shook his head. "Cy and Beast Boy would be so very disappointed in you."
Her mouth dropped open and she made a sharp indignant sound, realizing that he was playing with her. Then she broke into an adorable, sly grin, and laughed.
"I may be forgiven, Robin, for my appalling breach of Titan protocol, because…" she leaned in, as if preparing to divulge a shocking secret, and whispered near his ear. "…I have been working 'under the cover,' and I believe that I now have an 'in' with Santa Claus." She drew back, smiling serenely at him for a moment before bursting into peals of laughter.
Robin stared at her, and then began to laugh with her. Starfire was endlessly surprising. These bursts of intentional humor, and even sassiness, never ceased to amaze him coming from a girl who was pretty much the embodiment of innocence. Not only had she told a joke, but the way she'd leaned in towards him…if she had been anyone except Starfire, he'd have sworn she was flirting with him. Which would have been… nice. Well, more than nice. Mentally shaking himself out of his preposterously optimistic reverie, he resumed his serious expression and continued the game.
"Luckily for you, there's still time to redeem yourself," he told her lightly, smiling as she stifled a giggle. "Unless, of course, you'd rather go to bed – sleep." Blushing, he realized that he needn't have made the hasty amendment; Starfire certainly hadn't made the same connection he had.
Quickly, he disentangled himself from her and left the center of the room, where they'd been for over two hours. Immediately feeling the absence of her warmth, he automatically hugged his own arms around his body to make up for it. After such a long time holding her, it felt strange to be on his own again; his arms felt uncomfortably empty, and he felt the cold in the room with a new keenness. Glancing back at her, he saw with concern that she was shivering as well, and rubbing her arms to generate warmth. He stooped to retrieve her stocking from the foot of her bed, took out a tightly rolled bundle, and moved towards her window, gesturing for her to follow him. He settled on the floor, and as she sat beside him he draped a soft, mint-green and lavender quilt around her shoulders. She looked at him questioningly, and he beamed with pride.
"I decided you needed your first present right away," he explained. "I made it myself."
Her disbelieving smirk caused him to laugh out loud. Starfire knew him, all right.
"Alright, I had it made myself," he corrected with a sheepish grin. "It's nearly the same thing. It's from the team; all of us, I mean. We realized we never really got to welcome you officially and…well…" he gently turned the quilt around on her, so that she could see the center square, which had a simple message embroidered onto the green flannel in magenta thread:
We're grateful you're with us, Starfire. Welcome to the family!
It wasn't really much; but to Starfire, it was overwhelming.
"Oh, Robin…thank you…I must thank all of them…this is the most wonderful gift…"
"Hey, now." He grinned embarrassedly, pleased by her strong reaction, as the quilt had been his idea. "Don't go spending all of your energy on it; you still haven't seen the rest of your stuff." He placed the overflowing stocking in front of her, feeling his heart skip three beats as her face lit up in gorgeous amazement.
"All of this…for me? Did you bring as many gifts to everyone?"
"Well…" The truth was, he had just kept spotting things that would be perfect for Starfire, and before long, her stocking had ended up fuller than the others. He'd tried to make up for it by stuffing the bottom of each of the other stockings with tootsie rolls and miniature Snickers bars… but he had a feeling Raven wouldn't go for that as easily and Cyborg and Beast Boy would.
Watching her face, lit up by the dim glow of the moon and framed by the view of softly falling snow through the window behind her, cozy in her quilt, her eyes shining with joy and eagerness…he realized they only needed one thing to make this moment complete.
"Wait!" he ordered, just as her hand was an inch from the opening of her stocking. She gave a little 'humph!' of protest and settled back on her heels, looking a little annoyed.
"What is the matter?"
"You can't open that."
Her annoyance dissolved in an instant, replaced by comprehension and concern. "Of course not! The others are not here! How could I have been so—"
"No, it isn't that."
She cocked her head. "It is not? But…will they not be angry, when they realize we have begun the celebration early?"
He waved his hand dismissively. "Nah. Cy and Beast Boy will be up in a few hours, anyway. They usually can't resist going through their stockings before Raven even leaves her room. Plus, we've got other presents to open together; under the tree in the common room, remember?"
"Yes!" she exclaimed happily. "That is where I placed my presents."
He smiled fondly, remembering the group of awkwardly-wrapped, oddly-shaped purple packages covered in multitudes of bows that had appeared under the tree earlier that week.
"So," he continued, "there should be no problem opening your stocking with just me here. I couldn't go back to bed now, anyway," he reasoned, hoping his blush wasn't giving away the true cause of his over-excitement. "However, I wouldn't think of letting you open your first Christmas presents without…the traditional Christmas coffee cake!"
She rolled her eyes, smiling wryly. "X'hal, Robin! You and your traditions."
"Hey, without traditions, society as we know it would deteriorate!" he insisted, laughing. "But seriously, it isn't Christmas without my famous coffee cake."
"That seems terribly egotistical of you, does it not?" she teased, her grin widening.
"Well, I supposed it's not really mine. I bake it, but it's actually Alfred's recipe." He lowered his voice. "But Cy and Beast Boy don't know that…they think I'm a culinary god."
She giggled. "I would love to taste this confection of yours, especially if it is so crucially ingrained into your holiday traditions. But do you truly feel like baking at this hour?"
"What are you, nuts? I made it last night. I don't cook it on Christmas morning anymore; I learned my lesson after last year…BB and Cy hanging over my shoulder like hungry dogs while I tried to measure the ingredients… in fact, I think Beast Boy actually became a hungry dog and drooled in the cinnamon…" He smiled, remembering the scene. "Wait right here, Star, I'll bring you some. And don't even think about starting in on those presents without me."
Her adorably impatient pout just made him laugh as he left her room for the kitchen.
"Ok, are you ready for this?"
Star sighed. "Robin, you have asked me that question three times already. How could a pastry possibly require such extensive preparation?"
He had placed the dish of cake in front of her, and was holding the spoon hostage as she made desperate grabs for it. "I just think you may be underestimating Alfred's cooking. He's the one who fed me so well while I was living at the mansion."
Eying his thin, wiry frame, Starfire raised an eyebrow.
"I have a fast metabolism, alright? Just know that this coffee cake is the most delicious, most scrumptious, most mouth-watering—"
"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Giving up on the fork he refused to give to her, Starfire simply lifted the plate to her face and took a large bite. "There, now are you…"
After she had swallowed the bite, her eyes glazed over and her jaw slackened. "Oh… my," she sighed emphatically, gazing in wonder at the confection.
"Easy, Star, you don't want to…" The slice was gone with three bites. "…get a stomachache, or anything… how do you do that?"
"Do what?" she asked casually, dabbing her mouth daintily with a napkin.
"Nothing…" he answered, smiling and shaking his head. "So I take it you liked it?"
"Oh, very much! I thank you, Robin. I feel as if I am being positively… oh, what is the word… 'spoiled,' yes?"
"Yes," he agreed with a grin. "You're supposed to feel spoiled on Christmas."
"Well, as long as I am given the chance to 'spoil' you, as well," she said with a giggle.
Robin's mind produced several suggestions in response to this, which he immediately suppressed with a violent blush. What was wrong with him tonight? "Alright, Star, you can look at your presents now."
"There are no further 'traditions' we must first honor?"
He shook his head, chuckling as she seized the stocking and dumped its contents onto the floor. She then proceeded to sort through the gifts, one by one, receiving each with equal enthusiasm and pleasure. After each astonished gasp and jubilant squeal of delight, Robin marveled at the sheer energy Starfire put into her gratitude. Her reactions made him feel that she undeniably deserved the extra presents.
"Oh, Robin! It is Breakfast at Tiffany's! I thank you wholeheartedly! How did you know it was my favorite?"
Robin had noticed her watching it one day on television; he had never seen anyone so entranced by a movie before. She had never noticed him, but he'd watched from the window as she'd cried joyfully at the end, heaved a sigh, and exclaimed, 'Holly Golightly has finally learned the importance of love!' He didn't think he'd ever seen anything so adorable. "Lucky guess," he told her, hoping it was a passable explanation. Thankfully, she seemed to accept it.
Finally, she came to the ornament. She picked it up carefully, fingering the smooth white satin of the beautiful angel's gown and gazing in wonder at the delicate golden halo. "Oh… how marvelously pretty…" she gushed, turning the ornament gently in her hands and examining it appreciatively from each angle.
"It's a Titan tradition," Robin explained, laughing as she groaned at the word. "Everyone's got an ornament for the tree, to hang every year."
She was holding the angel up to her lamp, watching the silver thread in the dress glimmer in the light. "Am I to hang the tiny angel by her circular crown?"
"No, yours doesn't hang; we'll set it on the top," he told her, pointing out the hollow space under the skirt.
"But… why should mine be on top, when the ornaments of the others are hanging on the branches?"
"Um…" Oh, he was trapped now. "Because… the angel always goes on top?"
"Oh…" She didn't look entirely satisfied with his answer, but she allowed it to pass, peering absently into the emptied stocking. "Oh, look! I have missed one!" she cried happily, digging down to the bottom and retrieving a long, blue scarf.
Robin had bought one for each of his teammates, in different colors. He was surprised to see that the blue one was in Star's stocking. That meant… He snickered, imagining Raven's face when she saw a baby pink scarf in her stocking the next morning. He was about to alert Star to the mix-up, when he noticed something: the deep, royal blue of the scarf was the exact same color as her borrowed nightgown… the blue that seemed to brighten the fiery red of her hair, and deepen her bottle-green eyes to a rich emerald. He decided that Raven would have to live with owning a pink scarf; he wasn't going to pass up the chance of seeing Starfire in that color again.
She cooed happily as she felt the soft fleece, bringing it to her face and rubbing it against her cheek. "Oh, it is wonderful! What is it?"
Robin was surprised, at first, that she had to ask. It was easy to forget sometimes that Star hadn't been on Earth during winter before. "It's a scarf… Here, let's try it on you, shall we?" She nodded, holding still obediently as he placed the scarf around her neck and over her shoulders. He wound it gently around her neck a few times, reaching behind her to move her hair out of the way. And suddenly, due to poor planning and extreme lack of foresight on Robin's part, he was leaning very close to Starfire's face with his hands resting on her shoulders. And she was looking right at him, paralyzing him with those breathtaking eyes.
Robin had often found himself in situations like this before. When an extremely touchy-feely, very enthusiastic, physically exuberant alien is your best friend, you're bound to end up in awkward positions. In such cases, an argument would always take place inside of him, between 'Rational Robin' and 'Impulsive Robin.' Impulsive Robin would shout about how badly he wanted to kiss Star, while Rational Robin would clamp a hand over Impulsive Robin's mouth and scold him for even thinking such a thing. Thus, a potentially disastrous event had been repeatedly thwarted. Robin would always stop himself just as he was about to lean in for a kiss, make a barely-intelligible excuse for his behavior, and run off before he lost control of himself.
However, right at that moment, the system didn't seem to be working. Robin listened for his rational side to tell him to stop leaning toward her, but… it appeared that it was past Rational Robin's bedtime. All he heard was the wind brushing past the window, his breathing combined with hers, and the sound of his heart pounding at a frightening rate… and as he leaned closer, closing his eyes, there was nothing stopping him this time…
And now for the 3 worst words you could hear right now… 'to be continued…"
(giggles) I'm so sorry about that... I love you guys, I really do…but I just couldn't resist it. Well, I'm pretty happy with the way this is going, now. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I'm anticipating one chapter after this, so it's almost over. Thanks for making my first chapter fic so much fun for me!