Life's Canvas
Chapter 15: Kori's Other Side
Kori and Richard returned Wayne Manor, Richard practically vaulting off the bike so as turn around and scoop Kori up off of it and hold her bridal style before she could make much protest. Kori laughed as he set her back on the ground and he led her inside just in time to hear the phone begin to ring. "I got it, Alfred!" Richard barked, darting into the kitchen and snatching up one of the various phones.
"Hello?" came the inquiring voice from the other end. It was a man's voice, loud and booming even through the receiver, but it had kindly warmth about it.
Richard grinned as Kori walked in after him, hands clasped in front of her. She caught his attention and briefly pantomimed she was going to go work on a painting upstairs. He nodded and returned to the conversation at hand as Kori scurried from the kitchen. If the painting she was working on now ended up in the gallery it would be her third piece. She'd already put up Spring Robin and an intricately painted pot she'd made.
"Victor, ma man, what's up?" Dick chuckled. On the other end Victor joined in the friendly laughter.
"Nothing much, nothing much. But I was thinking, rather than wait to see you at the party on Wednesday, why don't you come meet me and Karen at the night club that just opened down town… it's called Starfire. I heard it's great out there," Victor proposed. Richard lifted a brow.
"You're coming to the party?" he asked. Victor snorted.
"Yeah. Karen's previous boss was one of Mr. Wilson's old buddies. That's how she met the guy, at one of the meetings she went to… Well, either way, Slade Wilson remembered her and invited her to come. Naturally, I'm her date," Victor laughed again.
"Um, yeah. She's your wife, man. But either way, night club sounds cool. I'll be bringing someone with me, though," Richard smirked. On the other end of the line, Victor met his wife's curious stare with a lifted eye-brow.
"Bringing someone with you? A little lady, perhaps?" he asked. Richard rolled his eyes.
"Yeah. Her name's Kori Anders," Richard replied evenly. Victor seemed to be thinking.
"Tell her to wear something good, she can enter the Miss Starfire competition they're having. It's just; you know… one those little things that have a cash prize. It's only 200 bucks tonight, but Karen thought it'd be fun. All the guys will be voting on which of the girls has the best club wear. Your Kori might have fun," Victor suggested. Richard coughed. He didn't see Kori as the type of girl to have clothes for clubbing, but whatever.
"My Kori? Never really had it put that way… but if it works for you. Anyways, I'll ask her if she wants to enter. It doesn't seem like her kind of thing, but who knows. So, I'll see you and Karen tonight… say, we meet out front at 9:30?" he inquired. Victor agreed and they hung up. Well, it was the truth. He really didn't know what Kori's "thing" was; she kept surprising him every time.
Richard put the cordless phone back on its charger and went out into the foyer, taking the right staircase up and turning down the corridor to Kori's room. He knocked lightly and she quickly let him in, prancing back to where her things were laid out. The picture was painted in subtle blues and grays and indigos. Black outlines etched the sketchy image of a woman's face, peering over something not seen in the painting, her hands up and cupped over whatever it was. The small streaks of rusted tangerine and sunset reds indicated that the unseen item was probably a light source; a candle perhaps.
It was beautiful. The two were quiet for a while, the only sound was the clicking of Kori's paint brushes as they swept against the edges of each little glass paint jar. Richard finally spoke. "Hey, my friend Victor and his wife are going to a night club down town. It's called Starfire. He invited me and I thought you might like to come with me. I can call him back if you don't feel like it. Kori grinned.
"Why wouldn't I want to?" she mused, laughter in her eyes.
"I dunno, didn't seem like your kind of thing…" he shrugged.
"Oh, contrary to popular belief, I love clubs. So many people to meet… and dancing, it makes me feel like I could just fly," she winked. "I'd love to come with you,"
"Alright, you got something to wear?" he asked, expecting another quick trip to the mall was in order. Much to his surprise, she nodded.
"Of course," she said.
"They're having a kind of competition thing there. Victor thought you could enter with his wife, Karen. It's for the Miss Starfire title and 200 dollars. The guys are going to be voting on who, uh… looks… best…" he trailed off, quite aware that the contest winner was likely to be which ever woman was most scantily clad.
"Sure, I'll enter. Just for fun, you know?" She shrugged. Richard nodded. Ookk…
At nine o'clock, Richard was waiting in the foyer for Kori again. He wasn't wearing anything special; actually his clothes were quite relaxed. Even if it ended up being less than dress code, it wasn't like they were going to deny entrance to Richard Grayson. He heard Kori's door open and looked up to see her trotting down the steps. His eyes became very, very wide. She laughed softly as she caught his stare.
"Didn't expect it, did you?" she grinned. Richard shook his head. My, my… he certainly hadn't expected it at all…
Author's Note: Sorry! I tried updating but yesterday AND the day before but the servers were overloaded. Maybe I can get you another chapter tonight to make up for it, ok? And perhaps two chapters tomorrow too. Again, sorry. PLEASe forgive me for the inconvienienc. I tried to post this chapter over 30 times… :( But I have A LOT of Titans News for ya, so that'll be good… I guess. Hoped you like the chapter even thought it was a bit short! Check back tonight to see if I possibly have up chaapter 16 for you too, ok? Again sorry the daily updates got messed up... I just couldn't log in for my life.
Love, Princess Starfire of Tamaran
Titans News: Ok. First of all. The Rob/Star kiss is still only rumor but it is thought to air in 5th season. Unfortunately there are other rumors saying 5th season will be the Titans' last go-round. 5 Titans, 5 seasons. This of course means that in all likely-hood the story arch will be Starfire focused… so people are saying… and if there's a Starfire arc, there's imminent Robin/Star fluffiness on the way. So cheers to that. SocialButterfli, you said you heard about the "exploring of the Raven/Robin bond" in the THE END trilogy? Well, I found the whole article and it says simply that they're going to look at it from a new angle… like Robin possibly going into Raven's mind. That would probably mean eliciting help from Rae's mom in the process, so it would also show more of the Mother/Daughter thing too. Now, the way they do would obviously end up making Robin a hero, so don't be surprised if Raven goes all demonic all-power evil until Robin knocks her to her senses or something.
There are theories that Slade's child (which one… we shall never know) will appear as the Ravager in with season. That could prove to be either really interesting or really stupid if they plan on "replacing" Slade. Which they probably have to do considering Slade isn't really… Slade anymore… I know it's nothing definite, and it's highly unlikely but I thought you might find it interesting that there was a prospective list for the episode titles for season 5. (There will be 13 episodes) The fun part was, the finale of the season was the episodes entitled "The Wedding" part 1 and 2. My only qualm about this being true is the portrayal of the titans as teens in the show. But, hey, a girl can dream… right?
Now I leave you with a quote I found from the producer of the Titans. In an interview, she was asked: Will Robin and Starfire ever get together? Her response was quite interesting… and I quote "I wish! I've been wanting that since day one. We're not done, so you never know, but I'd love to see that." In other words, it'll probably happen eventually… I mean, the PRODUCER said that. So, yeah. Oh, and on the same page I got that quote from other people on staff were all acknowledging it IS rob/star. So… there ya go! Lots of news to go around!
Chapter 15's Teen Titans "Fun" Fact:
In the "New Teen Titans" comic series, Tim Drake… the current Robin… pulled off the top of Star's uniform.o.O everyone suspected it had been intentional, but Tim stoutly defended himself claiming it to simply be a "uniform malfunction"