Sigh...it's finally good to be back. One of my stories got deleted so I can't upload...Added to that, my computer broke down and until now our telephone post is still being fixed...Guess where I am now? Hehe, in an freakin' internet cafe...

Unfortunately, this would be the last chapter I'll be writing - for now. I am going on a hiatus, and don't get me wrong, but I've written this chapter since January...

Yes, I am on a hiatus. I don't know when I'll be back, but for sure I haven't even read the stories ob this site...so please understand. The final exams will be in the next two weeks, so that's self-explanatory enough...I really am going to miss you guys...

Anyway, moving on to the chapter, this was for alena's challenge...And this was based on the Filipino game FLAMES. It's like first you write down your name, then your crush's name, cross out all the letters you have in common with, and count the total. Your letters' total will represent what you are to that your crush and vice versa. Total all in all and you get the corresponding relationship you two are supposed to have.

This is dedicated to all my favorite authors, readers, writers, etc. : alena-chan, cherry jade, mind shadow, the writer you fools, sekai no yakusoku, cherished 18, val-creative, sadista, baby blue ice cream, tecna, chica de los ojos cafe, ravenrogue19, sweetncraziesugarmuffin, furubafun24, watergoddess08, darkofthenight, totallyrae, and others who I admire, reviewed, and have supported me...

This is dedicated to my beta Mind Shadow, and of course, to one of my bestfriends, Homo/Jackass/Future Ruler of the World/Musay...


F. L. A. M. E. S.

"Will you be here for all eternity?"


One game of Stank-Ball...and the main room of the Titans' tower looked as if a hurricane tore through it.

Of course, that's if you defined 'hurricane' as a rather large mechanical teen, a green cheetah, and an alien with green star bolts shooting out of her hands, being chased by tendrils of black energy, which happened to be 'accidentally' released by a certain half-demon who 'accidentally' became target practice.

Well, there was no use in getting the resident glower child to clean up the mess she technically caused after she locked herself inside her room for meditation, but not before running out the 'Three Stooges,' as she came to call them, out of the tower.

He knew better than to cut another wire off of a ticking bomb.

Better enough to be the martyr – who said being leader had its perks all the time?

The masked boy sighed with a thought as he continued to pick up what seemed to be the remnants of a pizza box, greasy game controllers, bottles of half-emptied mustard, and a finished novel of some author he didn't know.

After putting away the last of the stuff he'd taken care of, he then stretched, loosening all of his tension.

Robin seated himself on top of the breakfast nook, legs dangling by the sides of the counter. He surveyed his surroundings and decided that he did a job well done on cleaning up after his team.

What to do, what to do...

Snacks?

He'll wait until his stomach starts to grumble.

Video games?

There was no way he'd be getting grease on his newly-washed gauntlets, let alone clean whoever's saliva it was off of the game controllers.

Music?

And risk suffering an early death in the hands of a short-tempered bird?

Right now, television sounds good. He apparently recalled reading about the Women's Wrestling Championship somewhere in the paper that morning.

The caped crusader smirked at the thought of chicks in spandex, stuck in some promising positions he'd die for.

Jumping off his sitting position, he plopped down on the couch and let his gloved hands roam for a certain cursed device.

Great...the only time he gets to be a normal teenage boy was the time the remote turns up missing.

Well, he could always get up and turn on the tube.

Or he could just find the remote – switching channels did take a lot of time.

Getting up, he decided not to bother looking under the couch or anywhere near the area of the main room. -- He just cleaned it for Pete's sake!

He remembered what he had to hold while playing French maid – and that did not include the crafted mechanism that separates him and half-naked women in death matches worth two sweet hours or more.

The spiky-haired teen rummaged through the kitchen drawers, eager to get his hands on the cause of his supposed misery.

It wasn't until he reached the third drawer near the recently installed dishwasher that thoughts of female wrestlers blotted themselves into oblivion.

The neat and cursive strokes of magenta ink were undoubtedly Starfire's.

Curious as he was, he took the sheet tinted with the alien's handwriting, and found himself seated on the couch shortly afterwards.

…and it took Robin a few good scratches on the head to absorb what the paper held.

F. L. A. M. E. S.

Friend Robin – 6 – Sweetheart

Starfire – 5 – Enemy

11 - Enemies

F. L. A. M. E. S.

FriendRobin – 8 – Love

FriendRaven – 8 – Love

16 – Marriage

Yes, he has heard of the so-called childish game that would determine whether or not two people are destined to be. The pathetic excuse of being Friends, Lovers, Acquaintances (Acceptance), Married, Enemies, or Sweethearts would eventually serve as the catalyst of relationships, as fate would allow it.

Surely Starfire would have known better than to put all her hopes into a stupid piece of paper with hers and her beloved's names on it, crossing out the letters that were similar, counting the number that corresponds to the intended amount of what that person means to the counterpart, and then totaling them to finally know what they were meant to be.

But nooooo...she had to break her heart into more pieces by finding out her 'rival' would have had better luck with the boy of her dreams… which she did.

If it really was infatuation that he was feeling for the redhead, would she be an enemy to him, while he a sweetheart to her? What about being destined to be friends?

He already knew for a fact that he and Raven were indeed alike, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they were both lovers to one another.

And by the term 'lover' itself, he couldn't help but blush at what was the definition: either two people involved in a love affair, or –deep breath– sexual partners.

Not only that, they were to be married?

On Robin's part, wouldn't it be logical to shrug this off as a mere superstition or crappy take on romance? After all, if Star hadn't included the word 'friend,' then maybe, just maybe, the results would be what she had hoped for: a better future with 'her boy.'

And he didn't even know if he would be relieved that there was a reason for Star to stop trying to win his attention, or be happy enough that he was going to be Raven's lover and to-be husband.

Indeed, he did find it foolish to rely on Star's newfound pastime, but if he were to make a few revisions, would the results be different from what they were before?

Grabbing a pen from the nearby computer, he set down the paper and got to work.

And he was proud to say that he was satisfied with what he did:

F. L. A. M. E. S.

Robin – 2 – LOVE

Starfire – 3 – ACCEPT

5 – ENEMIES

F. L. A. M. E. S.

Robin – 2 – LOVE

Raven – 2 – LOVE

4 – MARRIAGE

But not quite.

Come to think of it, a relationship within the team wasn't really the reason he stopped daydreaming of a certain orange-skinned girl, but it was really because of his duties as leader.

And having a dark enchantress for a second-in-command made it all worthwhile...

Stopping himself before he could think of any more 'inappropriate' thoughts regarding a cloaked teammate, he wondered… wondered if there was more to this 'Flames' game that meets the eye.

He was beginning to reconsider, taking note of being the love of Star's life while he just accepted her as a friend and nothing more; or the actuality of the mutual feelings given by the paper, that both birds were supposed 'lovers.'

But part of him expected this, but he couldn't just register what he was feeling that very second. He knew for a fact that added 'accuracy' didn't really change his 'fate' of being enemies with the bubbly alien, and married to the violet-haired vixen.

"Arggh!" Robin buried his head in between his hands, and massaged his temple.

He just couldn't take it anymore. It wasn't like him to just leave a mystery like this ignored, let alone turn down a challenge.

The infatuation with the alien princess was difficult to get over with, and he didn't need the same feelings bothering him about the sorceress, accompanied with adolescent emotions of lust rampaging through his mind.

"I don't even know if I should believe you! You're just a stupid piece of paper, how can I expect you to hold my future?" Robin paused, trying to catch his breath, "It's not like writing a bunch of names then crossing out letters and doing some kind of Pre-school math would help me find my true love..."

"Not like I need a love life right now..." The caped crusader muttered, pushing the page at least a feet away from his hands from the coffee table.

"I don't know if that would even last forever, you know what? I mean, you're just a tree – an inanimate object, and I, leader of the Titans, just cannot take advice from you."

"Will you be here for all eternity?" He was now leaning towards the paper, as if to expect a reply from it. And as intended he inclined his back to rest on the couch, "No. Because you're just a stupid piece of paper, and it's a known fact that biodegradable garbage like you would eventually rot and become nothing..."

He resumed resting his elbows on his knees, all the while continuing his monologue, "You know, Robbie Boy, talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity, worse is that you're actually trying to have a not-so-decent conversation with a piece of paper...and I'm referring to myself in the second person..."

Brushing off anymore unnecessary complications aside, he turned the sheet over, and started another round of childish amusement.

Frankly, he did not even know why kids, teens, and even hopeless romantics bothered with recreations like this. It wasn't fun if you knew the apple of your eye wasn't meant to be with nor, delightful if you'd be willing to waste the ink of a pen or the lead of a pencil, or even kill a tree by sacrificing a sheet of paper for unfulfilled desires of romance and the like.

And before he knew it, he was staring at that piece of paper again. Not confused like the first time, nor unsure akin to the next.

F. L. A. M. E. S.

Richard Grayson – 8 – LOVE

Kor'andr – 6 – SWEETHEART

14 - LOVERS

At least he and Star were on good terms...now that leaves...

"Raven..." He murmured unconsciously.

"Finally, the first rational thing to come out of your mouth today."

He'd know that monotonous drone anywhere – and as an initial reaction he stood up and faced the owner of the voice, making a fool of himself in the process.

"Raven? Ah, I was just ah..." He stuttered, desperately trying to hide the dreaded sheet that would be his doom if ever the dark girl would find out what was written on it.

"You were just busy continuing Star's pointless FLAMES?" Came the reply.

Robin panicked, groping for the paper behind his back, only to grasp thin air.

It was then he found it clutched between pale fingers.

"Hmmm, I really don't think I could be the soccer mom type," Raven smirked, pulling off her hood.

And it took a while for him to figure out the double meaning behind her words.

And before he knew it, she was propped down beside him, finishing his work.

F. L. A. M. E. S.

Richard Grayson – 8 – LOVE

RavenRoth – 6 – SWEETHEART

14 – LOVERS

"At least you don't have to compare the two..." She looked up at him, amethyst eyes unreadable.

But before he could reply, her magic tore up the sheet of paper, black tendrils sending the fragments into an unknown portal.

"Will you be here for all eternity?" She mused in fake misery, mocking him, "No, because I made your death a little early. I'd apologize, but I don't know which tree you came from, so tough luck."

Robin just had to grin at her unpredictability in uncomfortable situations like this. Now that the Flames game determined the potential of both females to be his one and only, he just had to be a little sullen if ever Star found out about it.

"But she wouldn't...she doesn't even know your real name so there's no way she'd ever think of using that for FLAMES..." Raven trailed off, expecting him to finish her sentence…

But he didn't.

"Don't ever take advice from a stupid piece of paper," he said, while pulling her closer to him and wrapping an arm around the gothic vamp's waist.


There ya go. Think of it as a "goodbye" gift, but I'll be back...someday...Keep the raerob flame going on guys, I promise you updates on my stories the when I return...

Thanks for everything, and I hope you enjoyed this.

god bless,

kiki