Title: Richard Grayson, the Boy Wonder
Authoress: StarryTian
Summary: Robin saved Kori Anders. But when she has to choose between her best friend, Richard Grayson and the Boy Wonder, who will she pick? And little does she know that Richard IS Robin. . .
Discalimer: I do not own the Teen Titans and I don't really want to. Whoever owns them right now is doing a FATASTIC and INCREDIBLE job at it! (-applauds-)
Dedication: Purple Wolf Girl!
6:43 PM….
Robin laid eagle spread on his bed, head hanging over the edge and constantly peeking at his clock.
6:43 PM….
He groaned and banged his head repeatedly on his bed, trying to ignore the bounciness of the rhythm. Robin lifted his head again, hoping that the time had changed.
6:43 PM….
'NNNNNNRRRRUUUUCHHHHH!' he cursed at the time. Having lay in bed all day waiting for 7PM to arrive is no easy feat, and having all the energy bottled up inside you wasn't helping either. After a particularly hard bounce, his head automatically bounded upwards, giving him a clear view of the clock for the millionth time.
6:43 PM….
'Need…to…do…something….' Lying in bed all day was NOT Robin's definition of fun. But yet, he couldn't summon the drive to train the gym, or even log onto his AIM account. The first couple of hours, at least until noon-ish, were pretty enjoyable. During that time, he had carefully conducted a plan of how to get to Kori's house without being spotted (which really wasn't that hard, given that he'd already done that many, many times), and the hour after that, fantasizing images of him and Kori filled his mind, enough to meet any teenager's satisfaction. He lifted his head again.
6:44 PM….
"Alright!" Robin whispered, grinning. It was strange, seeing a famous teenage superhero become so happy just because a minute passed. Just then, the intercom crackled and clicked. His head shot up immediately, and he scrambled to the box, trying to maintain some composure.
"Richard, I'm leaving," Bruce's voice came from the box. "Please meet down here in 2 minutes."
Robin responded instantly and pressed the button. "Sure. Be there in a sec!"
-CLICK-
Reflexively, Robin grabbed the nearest bathrobe and slipped it on, tying the sash around him. He then rushed to the bathroom, finally happy that he had something to do, and doused his gelled hair in the sink once again. Shaking the excess water from his hair, he hurriedly dried it and took his mask off along with his boots.
Richard looked at his reflection for a second time that day and gave a sort of half sigh. Sure, it was tiring of having to constantly change identities all the time, but it was small price to pay. Opening the door, he instinctively walked over to the entrance, ignoring the reproachful looks of the maids and butlers passing by. Richard caught the eye of his adopted father and stopped at his feet.
"As you know, I'll be leaving for Canada for a week," he started without further ado.
Richard nodded. 'Hurry up….!'
"While I'm gone, I'll expect the most out of you, understand?"
He nodded again. 'Yeah, yeah, this means taking care of villains when I'm gone….'
"This means taking care of villains while I'm gone, not sneaking out at night, doing your summer homework…"
Richard listened listlessly, for every single time Bruce went on a business trip, he would repeat the same lecture over and over again. After a while, he had just learned to nod and pretend to listen.
"…not bothering Alfred and the other maids and butlers, and staying away from Kori. Got that?"
'Huh, that's new…'
"Yeah, have fun on your trip," Richard said tonelessly, shaking his wet bangs from his face.
Giving Richard a grim smile, Bruce walked through the open door to his limousine and called over his shoulders, "Take care."
Richard gave him a nod and said goodbye. When the limo sped out of sight, he immediately rushed to his room and changed into Robin. Then, he slid his window open, jumped over the gate to where his R-Cycle was, and sped towards Kori's house.
Flipping the last page of her book, Kori quickly finished the page, and then slowly closed her book and eyes. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, a small smile gracing her lips. Tilting her head up a bit, Kori scrunched up her shoulders and got rid of any kinks she might've have gotten while reading The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Eyes still closed, she wondered if she could ever be so brave… brave enough to have saved an entire kingdom. So magical.
It was pretty quiet now that Ryan had gone to bed. Nothing could disturb the silence now—
-Tap tap tap-
Startled, Kori whipped around in her spinning chair, causing the abandoned homework to flutter towards the ground, and the book to drop from her hands.
-Tap tap tap-
Kori cautiously peered around the room, that feeling of dread flooding back to her again. Wait… what was that?
"Kori!… Kori!" A muffled voice sounded from outside her window. More surprised than scared now, she nervously stepped over to her window and cocked her head to the side, trying to make out the blurred shadow against the setting July sun.
"Kori! Open the window!"
Immediately, Kori obeyed the command and hastily clicked the lock open, shoving the windowpane upwards with almost alien strength and removing the net-like screen. Staring back at her was Robin, elbows on either side of the windowsill and head resting on his hands, while the rest of his body was hanging down.
"Uh…. Hi?" he squeaked meekly, trying to maintain his position.
Kori stared. 'This is… awkward….'
"Um… hello… to you too…" she scrunched up her nose in confusion. 'Why is he here?'
Robin grinned stupidly at her. "Can…can I come in?" he said as if hanging from a window was a daily event for him.
"O-Oh, yes…of course," Kori stuttered, moving out of the way. She watched as Robin swung gracefully out of sight onto her rooftop, and then stylishly land feet first onto her carpet. Straightening himself up, Robin grinned again and plopped down on Kori's bed.
"…"
"…"
'What are you supposed to say when a warm teenage superhero barges into your room?'
'What're you supposed to do when you barge into your best friend's room in disguise?'
Kori looked nervously at him, then blushed. She suddenly became aware of everything… the situation they were in. It was strange. Very…very strange. Twirling her long ruby locks around her finger, she managed a half smile and shuffled her feet a bit. Never before had she been so self-conscious… except sometimes when she was around Richard, of course.
"Umm… can… I… help you?" Kori tried timidly.
Robin inwardly slapped himself for being so blunt and forward, and instead replaced his stupid grin with something more serious. "Well… I…uhh…"
He stopped abruptly and momentarily blanked out. What happened to all those conversation starters he spent an hour on this morning?
"UHHH….I-I… just thought that—y-you would like to see me again, WAIT NO, I-I mean, that I would like to see you again—wait, that's not it either… I just…"
Robin took a deep breath before continuing.
"I just wanted to see you again."
Although a bit taken aback at this, Kori couldn't help but be flattered. "O-Oh… thank you," she mumbled.
"S-So…" his masked eyes searched Kori's implicitly neat room. Upon seeing the book on the floor, his face lit up. "So," he repeated, trying to start a conversation. "You've read The Chronicles of Narnia?"
Finally catching onto the concept that Robin just wanted to talk, Kori pulled up her spinning chair and plopped down on the cushion and spun around to face him.
"Yes… and…" she groped for words. "It was… incredibly… good."
Robin nodded and sat up straighter. "Seen the movie? It was made, what, some 100 years ago?"
Leaning towards him a little, Kori murmured, "Mmmhmm…. The graphics were glorious… that is, for that time period…" She quickly covered up her 'mistake', hoping that Robin wouldn't judge her for thinking that old films were good.
"It… was good…yeah, it was good…" Robin couldn't understand it. Why was he so nervous?
Kori gave a nervous sorta giggle and reached for the soda Ryan gave her and took a sip. Putting it down, she started, "I especially enjoyed the portion where Peter—"
-Beep Beep…. Beep Beep-
Kori flushed for a fraction of a second and said, "Please hold on. Let me take this."
She hurriedly picked up her phone and pressed the 'talk' button. "Hello?…Mhmmm…yes….You are?….why?….oh, I see….okay…yes…have fun!…. goodbye, I love you!" –click-
"Who was that!" Robin demanded the second after she had hung up, insanely jealous of whoever had earned Kori's love. Not even he had done that!….yet.
Shocked, Kori answered, "My mother. She informed me that she and my father would not be home for a week. They will be in Ontario."
'That's weird… same with Bruce…'"Oh…hehe, sorry about that…" he flashed her an apologetic look.
It was as if that little incident cut the awkward tensions between them and suddenly, everything was much for…free. An hour later, they were chatting animatedly as though they had known each other for a long time.
"And then?" Kori's wide jade eyes were focused only on Robin.
"And then…" Robin decided to milk it for all it's worth, for he absolutely loved all the attention he was getting from Kori. Guess being a famous superhero does pay off. "And then I used a basic karate kick in mid air—with this sorta twist in the middle, and BAM!" He clapped his hands together for full effect. "The thug never thought twice about robbing that bank again!"
"Wow… truly amazing…." Her emerald orbs sparkled in astonishment as Robin went on, her hands cupping her chin for support
"But of course, that's nothing compared to Slade…" he murmured hatefully, his masked eyes narrowed at his name.
Kori quirked a unique eyebrow. "Slade? Who … is he?"
Robin's mask widened a bit. "Oh… did I say that out loud? Sorry, you're not supposed to know…"
'Augh, Bruce's gonna kill me!'
Kori's lower lip quivered a bit. "B-But… Robin…"
"Ehheh… yes?"
'Don't fall for it. Whatever you do, don't fall for it…'
"Robin…" she repeated softly. "Please? I wish to know who the Slade is…" She pouted and tried to look downcast, head tilted towards the ground.
'Damn it… don't look, don't look—oh crap, I looked…nonono, can't tell her…'"I'm s-sorry Kori," he struggled. Which side to pick? Rules, Kori, rules, Kori—he glanced at her again and seeing her sea green eyes shine with innocence nearly did him in. "I-I'm sorry…." Robin repeated.
Kori pouted again. As strange as it seemed, Kori wanted to know who Slade was, and plus, it was fun seeing Robin so uncomfortable.
'Don't give in, don't give in…don't look, don't look, ah crap, I looked again…'
Robin fidgeted nervously on her bed, unsure of which side to pick. Kori scooted her chair closer to him, and whispered, "Robin, please tell me… I will not tell anyone, I promise!"
He gulped and looked for a way to escape but there seemed like none. Breathing heavily, Robin swallowed again and tried to convince himself that he wasn't doing anything wrong…which he wasn't. Plus, she said that she wouldn't tell right?
"A-Alright…" he shakily said, trying to ignore everything Bruce had ever taught him. "Well, Slade's this…bad guy…"
Kori nodded and decided to abandon the chair altogether, plopping down beside Robin, making the bed bounce a little.
"And…well…he's bad… that's it…"
Kori frowned a little. "I see…"
"He's always in Gotham City, hanging around the warehouses and what not… but anyways," Robin recovered and faced her completely. "It's getting dark. I should go now…"
Smiling, Kori gave him a hug and said, "I enjoyed our time together…" She then realized what she was doing and let go quickly, not noticing the disappointment painted across Robin's face when she let go.
"Yeah… same…" he grinned and climbed out the window again. "See ya!"
She nodded and kept staring at Robin until his R-Cycle sped out of view, sighing with content. Then, she picked up the phone and called Richard.
A/N: DID YOU SEE "GO!"? IT WAS SO GOOD! Robin…STARFIRE… KISS! THEY KISSED! I still can't get over that fact…. (-sighs-)….soo…good….
And also, remember to send a letter to Cartoon Network! Not going to say anything more, 'cuase I'm as tired you are of hearing it, I'm just as tired of repeating it. BUT IT'S IMPORTANT!
Cartoon Network
1050 Techwood Drive
Atlanta, GA 30318
And you know what ELSE is important? THEY KISSED! ROBIN AND STARFIRE KISSED! Well, technically, she only kissed him because that's how Tamaranians learn new languages, but STILL! THEY DID! CAN'T BELIEVE IT….
Hope you have a great Winter Break, and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Over and out,
StarryTian