Chapter 10: Kicked Puppy Syndrome
Robin strode down the corridor, mind ablaze, Raven floating in an effort to keep up. He knew he shouldn't have let Cyborg look at those files. It could only have caused trouble. But with his mind preoccupied with the distinct possibility that he was going to die in a few minutes, he had absent-mindedly complied with his friend's request without thinking. Now he was going to have to fix the mess he'd made. Reaching Starfire's room, he hesitantly announced his prescence.
"…Starfire? Can I talk to you?"
A muffled squeak was his only response.
"Starfire?"
This garnered nothing.
"Starfire, if you don't talk to me I'm opening this door." Raven looked disapproving- that was the line she had taken earlier, with no success. Robin took no notice, however, as she was behind him.
That elicited a response, at last. "Please, no! Do not come in!"
"Why not, Star?"
After a few moments of silence, Robin moved his hand towards the control panel, and prepared to enter the emergency override, but was stopped by the alien's eventual response.
"…I am afraid."
Well, that was a start, at least. "What of?"
"Beast Boy."
Robin frowned. "But, you resolved your issues with the Beast. You should be-"
"You misunderstand me, Robin. It is not the Beast I fear, but the Boy." Starfire's voice was hollow, devoid of the laughter Robin had grown accustomed to. It was almost more than he could bear to hear her like that. Agitated, he retreated around the corner, Raven following, until they were out of earshot.
"Why is she afraid of Beast Boy?"
"I think she was there when he got angry."
Robin thought about this. "But that shouldn't have made her react this badly. There has to be more."
"Well, you're doing better than I did when I tried to talk to her. What should we do?"
"You stay with Beast Boy, and if he wakes up, try to get more specifics out of him as to what happened. I'll work on Starfire."
Raven nodded and drifted down the corridor.
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Starfire sat huddled in the corner of her room, under a blanket. Maybe if she was quiet enough, then she would be forgotten. Unfortunately, the silence only amplified her thoughts.
You shouldn't have given Cyborg that idea.
I know.
You wouldn't like it if people started looking into your past, would you?
No. Starfire shuddered as she remembered the Citadel and the Psions. She certainly wanted no reminders of what she had been through, or of what she had had to do to survive…
So why did you suggest it?
I thought I could help! I was tired and Cyborg was so unhappy! I made a mistake!
Starfire was spared any further mental anguish when a knock announced Robin's return. Slowly, reluctantly, she walked over to the door and prepared to face admonishment.
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"Bwahhh?" Beast Boy stirred to find Raven looking down on him. "Hey."
"Hey yourself." Beast Boy noticed her composed tone, which was contradicted by her worried odour.
"What's up?"
"Starfire's freaked out."
"What? Why?" Beast Boy sat up fast enough to give himself whiplash.
"You scared her."
"Oh." Beast Boy couldn't help but feel a little guilty at that. He hated it when Starfire was unhappy. It was like kicking a puppy.
"Now she's sitting in her room, convinced you're gonna smash down her door and eat her." Raven wasn't accusing, just stating the facts. In spite of this, her words increased Beast Boy's feelings of guilt tenfold.
"Well, I'm not gonna."
"I know that, you know that, but Starfire doesn't know that."
"Tomba." Beast Boy spat out.
"Will you stop doing that?"
"Doing what?"
"Saying things I don't understand."
"Starfire does."
"So it's some other language?"
"Yep."
"Which-"
"Swahili?"
"Swahili?" Raven's eyebrows threatened to disappear into her hairline, quite a feat given her haircut.
"Yep?"
"How do you know Swahili?"
Beast Boy sighed. "Well, since everyone else on the team knows, I guess it'd be a bit unfair to keep you in the dark." Beast Boy said ruefully. "Settle in, this story's a long one."
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Robin felt unimaginable relief when Starfire opened her door, but felt his heart wrench when he saw her state. She looked like she was ready to fall apart. Her lower lip was trembling, her left arm clasped her right forearm- something she only did when she was nervous, or sad, and she was hunched over, almost as if she was trying to hide behind herself.
"Starfire…" He could barely stand it when she winced as he spoke, and when she shied away when he reached for her arm he felt as though he would die. "What's wrong?"
Starfire's reaction was sudden. She flung herself forwards, her arms draping around Robin's neck and she sobbed into his chest. Robin was unsure what to do in this situation, so he settled for the traditional 'pat pat, there there' routine.
"I have done our friend a great wrong." Starfire eventually choked out.
"What? It was Cyborg who-"
"But it was I who gave Cyborg the idea! I should have respected the privacy of Beast Boy, and now that he knows of Cyborg's 'snooping' he will be angry with me too!" Starfire's hysteria was muffled in the nape of Robin's neck, and she crushed Robin into her, trying to wring some comfort from the boy. Robin put up with this without complaint- she needed the proximity or she would close up again. Besides, it wasn't all bad.
"Starfire, I-" Robin stopped to plan out what he was going to say. It was vital that he said everything right. He had already screwed up enough today. "What do you say we go to the kitchen and get something to drink? We can help each other think about what to do?"
Starfire stopped crying, and frowned. "You require help?"
Robin smiled ruefully. "Beast Boy's probably going to be just as angry at me. After all, I gave Cy permission."
Starfire nodded. "Very well. Let us prepare some refreshment while we wait for Beast Boy to be angry with us."
Robin smiled a little at this. "Alright then. Let's go."