"Wait….Wait!" Terra leans forward with a quasi-nasty glare from across the lunch table. "Are you trying to insist I'm anorexic?"
"Mmm-Mmm," Lisa shakes her head with a mouthful of chicken salad. She gulps and point: "Only that bones were meant to have meat around them, or else they'd all be hanging out in Australia workin' as boomerangs."
"Yeesh, thanks a lot!" Terra rolls her eyes and rests back, swiveling a glass of apple juice around. "Here I am at a house full of beauty pageant entrees and the only person I can talk to has the gall to say I've got chicken legs."
"I didn't say you had chicken legs," Lisa chomps on some more salad and gestures on: "But a good hen might faint at the sight of those elbows of yours."
"Pffft… …," Terra rolls her eyes. "You're awfully nice today."
"Mmmm…You want me to be mean to you?" Lisa winks her one eye. "Then I'd encourage you to eat nothing but crackers and apple juice like you have been for the past two days! I think you're the only sane person here. Screw the rest of these lady-scarecrows trying to pass themselves off as princesses!"
"Shhh—Th-They can hear you.. …!"
"Let them! It's a free country to screw up! Hey! Yeah, you, Ginger! You gonna have that dressing---THANK YOU!" Lisa takes the bottle and spreads some ranch over her salad. "Mmmm….Besides. We both know that you're not here for beauty pageanting. Though I bet you'd do a better job at it, there are more important things in this world. Right?"
"R-Right… …."
"But, this is kinda sorta like a vacation for you, ain't it?" Lisa leans forward with half-a-smirk. "Away from the annoying boy teammates… …. ….A break from the action… … … …less villains to deal with—well, unless you count me."
"Hehehe…," Terra smiles bashfully and brushes a strand of 'brown' hair up over her earlobe. "I'm only here because of a villain. If Mad Mod should ever show up, I guess I'm here to—like—save the girls here and stuff."
"Feh. You can let a good two-thirds of them fall into that British Bastard's jaws for all I care. Who knows? It might scare them to raid a buffet. Speaking of which.. …," Lisa points. "Once we're out of this joint, remind me to invite you over to my friend Hope's loft apartment. She can bake a cheesecake like nobody's business. Assuming—of course—that Mister Robin Red-Breast lets you go out to freaky goth girls' parties beyond curfew."
"Hehehe… …I-I just might take you up on that invitation."
"Allrighty then."
"Y-You've been very kind and understanding to me since I got here, Lisa."
"Well, that's nifty to hear," Lisa glances around malignantly at the thinning crowd of eating pageant members in the sequester house's commissary. "Personally, I wanted to hang around with you cuz this place is boring as Hell. Looks like I got the intelligent side of the bargain." She munches on more salad. "Mmmm.. …. …who knew so much about Poe….?"
"Well.. …. …not nearly half as much as R-Raven knows," Terra shrugs. "I had a few books when I was out in the wilderness."
"You read when out on your own?"
"… … …I had a flashlight."
"I see. I might be a Cyclops, but I see you're a resourceful gal."
"Why thank you, and if I may ask, Lisa… …"
"You certainly can try."
Terra leans forward, blue eyes squinting. "Just what in the blue fluff are you doing in a pretty, pink place like this?"
"…mmmf….You really wanna know?"
Terra blinks.
Lisa rolls her one eye. "Your damn cowboy friend roped me into this."
"Really?"
"—Or should I say 'lassoed'… …"
"Why would Bard want to get you stuck into a beauty pageant?"
"Well.. …," Lisa leans back in her chair. "… …kinda like he implied, he's probably wanting me to overcome my social inhibition and embrace the beauty which is my superficial and internal self through public display."
"… … ….really?"
"Hell no!" Lisa frowns. "He's just pissed that I whipped his arcade ass at Superhero Smackdown! This place is a hellhole, and he knew it from the start!"
"Ah jeez…."
"But it's okay, I'm plotting my revenge."
Terra gulps and leans forward. "How so?"
Lisa leans back, kicks up her leg, and slams it down on the table—frightening a few shrieking femmes nearby. The boot is steel-tipped with a freshly spray-painted: 'How's Your Father' emblazoned upon it.
"Ever heard a cowboy sing soprano?"
"Hehehehehehe."
"Heh heh heh," Lisa smirked and slid her leg back down while biting into more salad. "Mmmm… …. …Speaking of concerto competition.. … …"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Static slowly strolls into the infirmary.
He looks through the cracked door.
"…. … …."
He quietly makes his way in. He walks to the bed where Starfire is sitting, looking out through the wide-stretching windows. The Dakota hero rolls in a wheeled chair, sits reversely in it, and calmly looks up at the Tamaranian besides him. "What's up?"
".. … ..the ceiling is of the up, Virgil."
His lips curve ever so slightly. "You've been quiet ever since we returned from the battle at H.I.V.E."
"Truly, everyone has been quiet since our return," Starfire quietly states. "You. Bard… … … ..R-Robin… …. …"
Static says nothing.
Starfire looks gently towards him. "Virgil, do you suppose that Robin has experienced something traumatic? That he was witness to something unspeakable and it is because of that he is--?"
"Robin's always one to do the silent treatment," Static says. "I'm still technically a noobie and even I know that." He gently rests a hand on her shoulder. "As for you… …I'm concerned."
Starfire slowly lowers her eyelids. "Dearest Virgil, whatever may or may not be assailing me is surely something that I shall verily make amends with myself over—"
"It's about Flaar, isn't it?" Static breathes. "Star, look, I know it must be disappointing. Crushing. I mean, we went through all that trouble—the whole damn trip just to find him. And he ends up smacking us in the face."
She cringes ever so slightly.
A beat.
Static bears a brave smile. "Well, you should know something. It was a terrible shame you had to pass out the way you did before it all went down—but—we did get through to him, Star."
She opens her eyes slightly and looks curiously at him.
He nods. "Yeah. Maybe it was for a fraction of a moment. And maybe I had to cuss him out some while you were under… .. …" He winces slightly at that. "… … …but something we had said got to him. He was shocked. Regretful. And—if I may so—ever so slightly inspired. I bet I would have talked him into waltzing home with us hadn't Chang been the usual bastard and intervened with his red-fart-ray."
"I must apologize, Virgil, but I find that declaration difficult to consume."
"'Hard to chew'?"
She sighs. "Yes… …. …."
"'Nova'm'."
Starfire's ears perk. She looks curiously at him. "H-Huh?"
Static slowly stands up and paces over to the window. "That's what he said his name was… …" A pause. He glances back over his shoulder. "Somehow, he suddenly remembered it. Or remembered to say it. Whatever… …" He shrugs and looks out the window. "… …that name mean anything special?"
Starfire's lips purse. She eyes the floor, the walls, the spaces between. "… …it means… …it means great joy."
"Really?"
"To me."
Static nods toward the window. "I was hoping you'd realize that, someway, somehow, you reached him. He may not be a lost cause yet, Star---"
Static stops as soon as he feels a strong pair of feminine arms hugging him from behind. He blinks and glances back. "St-Star?"
"… … ..," she smiles, gently burying her face in the back of his shoulders. A breath. "I am so happy, Static. Truly, I am… ..," she calmly murmurs.
Static fidgets a bit. "Gee, Star. I kinda felt that you'd be worried about him getting away and—"
"Static.. …. …do not tell anyone what I am about to tell you, although I doubt that the Titans—the old Titans—are foreign to the reality," she slowly raises her face to glance at him. ".. …. …but it has been a while since I felt this 'hope' in the team."
Static blinks. He smiles awkwardly: "I had no idea… …"
Starfire glances away. "Not many do. Beast Boy downplays it. Cyborg fights it. Raven absorbs it and Robin.. .. ….Robin seems content to ignore it." She looks up and smiles. "But the likes of you, Bard, and Noir have reminded me what it means to look at what we do through the eyes of the novice and innocent. You are right, Virgil. We did reach out to fair young Nova'm, did we not? And we saved so many children and stopped so many evil individuals—This has been a glorious week. A most glorious week indeed."
Static nods and chuckles: "You think we should do something about it?"
Starfire takes a deep breath. She is hovering one inch above the ground and hugging herself in a sudden warmth. "We should continue.. …. …"
"Continue what?"
"Hehehe.. …. …Being what we are….."
