Robin, as always, woke first. Four a.m., every morning, for his hour of personal training or study, depending on the day of the week. Then at five, a long hot shower to ease away any soreness or tension followed shortly by his quick grooming routine and dressing. By 5:45, he made his way to the base of the tower to pick up the five newspapers that were delivered every morning, among them being the Gotham Gazette (which he usually read first), the Daily Star (Clark Kent being one of his favorite writers), and their local Jump City Jive. At six, he'd be in his normal seat at the breakfast table with a bagel just to jump-start his metabolism and one of the papers, usually the Jive or the Gazette. Usually when the others joined him, he was at least halfway through the pile.

But when he entered the common room promptly at six, he was met with a cracked bay window and souring exploded soy milk in the microwave.

It didn't take the protegee of Gotham's greatest detective to figure out what may have happened. And given the events of yesterday and Starfire's giddiness after her shopping trip with Beast Boy…

Robin sighed, walking over to the microwave to start cleaning it and the dishes. For the rest of the month.

Oddly, this morning Starfire was the next to rise. Perhaps it was the elated feeling she had gone to sleep with the night before, or the fact that her dreams had been so happy that she had floated up to the ceiling and bopped her nose, but she awoke feeling refreshed and joyful. Having showered last night, she amiably flew out to the common room to scavenge for breakfast - hopefully they had some pomegranates leftover, she loved eating the white innards almost as much as the juicy seeds.

She had expected to see Robin at the breakfast table, scanning through the many newspapers. Instead she found the papers in a pile by the sliding doors and Robin quietly rinsing a pan that he had used the day before to make his muffins. She quirked her head to the side before landing gracefully beside him and taking one of the muffin platters from yesterday.

"Robin? Was there something wrong with the papers of current events?" she asked curiously. He shook his head.

"No, nothing's wrong with them, Star. I just decided to do the dishes before I started reading today," he said, hoping she wouldn't ask further.

"But it is Thursday, yes?" she confirmed, confused, "Cyborg has the duty of cleaning our dishes on Thursdays."

"Yeah, well… he and I made a wager and I lost. So I'm taking care of everyone's dish duty for the next month," Robin replied, praying to whoever that she wouldn't notice the blush on his cheeks.

"But Robin, you told me gambling is wrong!"

Ouch, he thought.

"It is, and I'm paying the price for it. See?" he said, and Starfire nodded before going to pick up his newspapers and putting them on the table where they belonged. Then she sat in her normal spot, right next to the seat in the corner of the booth, and waited. There was a decent bit of silence after that while Robin finished most of the dishes in the sink before he kind of got sick of Starfire not talking and said, "Did you want breakfast?"

"Yes."

He turned his head towards her to see her face. "Anything I can get you?"

"You are in the process of cleaning dishes. I shall wait."

"Are you sure, Star? I could get you another muffin, or-"

"I am waiting for you to finish so you can read the papers and sit close to me and answer my questions about the events in the paper, like we do every morning. Then when Raven or Cyborg comes in, you jump away from me and you go get us something to eat," she said, staring at him patiently with a small smile, "I enjoy our morning routine. Except…"

At this point, Robin had forgotten that he was doing dishes and turned to face her completely. He hadn't realized she had paid that close attention to his morning routine, nor did he realize that she liked what they did together before breakfast. He swallowed thickly.

"Except what?"

"I do not like that you sit so far away when the others are with us. I appreciate you bringing me food, but I do not like that you make sure to no longer sit with me," she replied, still smiling patiently, but he could hear the dejection in her voice. He normally wasn't good with emotion, especially not his own, but he knew Starfire was hurting. And she didn't deserve that. He took off the protective rubber gloves that he had put over his own and walked over to join Starfire in the booth. This time, though, he sat even closer to her than he normally did and picked up the Jump City Jive.

If she noticed his blush, she didn't say anything about it. In fact, she didn't say anything at all. He could tell he caught her by surprise. Instead, she only leaned her head down onto his shoulder and read the articles with him, pointing at pictures or sentences that had her confused and asking her usual vocabulary questions. He could feel the change in her cheek as she smiled, though, and that made him smile too.

Cyborg came into the common room expecting the usual scene. As soon as the doors opened, Robin would leap to his feet and pretend like he and Starfire hadn't been flirting for the past who-knows-how-long and catapult himself into the kitchen to grab something they could munch on before Cyborg started the real cooking. Then, when Robin had grabbed the fruit or bagel or whatever Starfire fancied that morning, he would sit nearly two feet farther away from her than he had been. And Cyborg would see Starfire droop but still smile because he knew she was grateful just to still be with Robin in any way.

This morning, however, caught him by surprise. Starfire was leaning her head on Robin's shoulder. Robin did not jump when the doors opened. Robin did not even raise his eyes from the Daily Star as he called, "Hey, Cyborg, could you grab us a pomegranate?" Metal hit metal as Cyborg's jaw dropped to his chest.

He recovered quickly, saying, "Yeah, sure, man," as he headed into the kitchen. He noticed the sink was mostly empty of dishes but it looked as though Robin had already started them. Then he noticed a mildly sour odor coming from the microwave - soy milk left out - and put two and two together.

Beast Boy and Raven must have hooked up, so Robin started the dishes, but then Starfire said something, so now Robin is being nicer to Star. ...I'll pester him about the dishes later.

Raven entered next, back in her normal uniform. She saw Robin and Starfire snuggling and Cyborg making waffles while wrinkling his nose.

It wasn't often that she was in as good a mood as this. With a quick flick of her eyes, the bay window fixed itself silently, as did all of the other things her powers had broken over the last eight days. Then, in order to do her friend a favor, she walked over to the couch and took a seat in her meditating position. Gently, not so obviously that he would become aware of her presence, Raven entered Robin's mind and pulled out a memory she was sure would help.

O~o~O

Robin frantically searched the skies. It had been three days since they last saw Starfire. Starfire wouldn't have left, he kept telling himself. She wouldn't have left Earth, her home, her friends. She wouldn't have left him. Not over a battle with Plasmus. She couldn't have left.

But… she'd been acting strangely. She had been avoiding them. She'd come to the battle dressed so impractically. And then, when Plasmus's goop had engulfed her, and she had been laid bare… she had looked so strange.

And hurt.

He understood that, as an alien, there were things about her body that he may never comprehend. But that never stopped him from caring for her. She was his best friend. And it hurt that she didn't trust him enough to care about her no matter what she looked like.

"Cyborg," Robin barked, "How long until we can launch?"

"Oh, about five minutes after you QUIT ASKING ME THAT!"

Robin didn't have time for short tempers. He dashed through the tower and into the sub-basement where the T-ship was stationed. He arrived just as Cyborg was opening his arm to contact him and yelled, "Titans, let's go!"

Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg scrambled into the ship. None of them had been able to relax since she had left, least of all Robin, and his testiness was starting to show.

"Are we sure this thing is ready to fly?" Raven asked innocently.

"No! The T-Sub was built for deep sea, not deep space," Cyborg snapped back.

"I don't care what it was built for," Robin growled authoritatively. "It's going into space. We've gotta find Starfire."

O~o~O

Raven slipped easily out of Robin's mind and was gratified when she saw him drape an arm around the back of Starfire's seat. She was mildly disappointed that he didn't actually touch her, but she noticed Cyborg shoot her a look that told her to wait, so she satisfied herself with what she had accomplished and levitated her book towards her.

As usual, Beast Boy was the last to arrive, yawning and stretching. He was already showered and dressed in his uniform, which was usually only a 50/50 chance for him, as the doors opened. For once, though, he made not a peep about Cyborg using regular milk for the waffles. He didn't make a joke about how comfortable Robin looked snuggled next to Starfire. Instead, he made a beeline for the kitchen and pulled out a kettle and a teacup.

He busied himself with making the tea, trying not to focus on the fact that Cyborg was staring at him unashamedly or the fact that he was only half-certain last night actually happened. He dipped the elderberry blend in the boiling water and brought the steaming mug over to where Raven sat on the couch. Reaching over the back of her seat, he waved the tea in front of her nose, and she put down her book to look up at him.

"Um. I made tea for you?" he semi-asked and was rewarded with a smile. In one hand, she took the cup tenderly, and the other hand became encased in black energy. Beast Boy felt his body become enveloped in her black aura and he was lifted over the couch and placed gracefully next to her. She scooted in closer to him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Not a dream, Garfield," she said softly, looking out over the water and sipping her tea as if nothing had happened. A huge smile broke out onto his face and gleefully he turned into a kitten that curled up beside her and laid its head on her thigh. She rolled her eyes - she much preferred him as a human - but she suspected that this was his way of not making a huge fuss, and again she had to be grateful to him for respecting her boundaries. Her left hand idly stroked the kitten's head and neck, and she could hear him purr clearly as he nuzzled closer to her.

Is this the final chapter? Or would you like more? Let me know in the comments. I may or may not have already written a little bonus ending. ;) - Ari