Shopping – Set a month after "Go!"
The last few weeks of being on Earth had sadly been mostly uneventful, I had spent the majority of my time inside of the tower as I tried to absorb as much of Earthen culture as possible through the entertainment device known as the "Television". The other reason for my pseudo-lockdown was due to the fact that the people of Jump City would not be too pleased to see the alien girl that attempted to destroy their city, wandering around as if she was a normal citizen. I was under strict command by Robin to do the "laying low" until the general populous understood that I wasn't a threat to them.
It would be hard to put into words the excitement that I felt when Robin asked if I wish to accompany him out of the tower to a location known as "the mall", I had no idea what this was but I was thrilled to be going anywhere. We took Robin's motorcycle which was a completely new method of transport to me, it could travel at much higher speeds than the T-Car but it also felt much more precarious to be seated on. "May I ask where we are going, Robin?" I had to yell to get my voice over the sound of the engine.
"We're going to the mall, I told you before didn't I?"
"You mentioned a 'mall' but I have no concept of what a 'mall' is"
"Oh! Yeah, sorry Starfire. I forget you're an alien sometimes" he slowed the bike down slightly so that the roar of the engine softened "A mall is a big place with loads of stores in it, where you can buy things"
"Like a trade market?"
"Yeah, kinda. But a lot bigger than a market"
Stepping inside the large building I instantaneously understood the fascination that people had with these large trade markets. It was extraordinarily different than any other Terran building I had visited before, stores lined either side of the entrance way and bright colours and sounds flooded the senses. Hundreds of others were traversing between the stores carrying large bags that appeared to be filled with items they had acquired.
"Glorious" I said with an entranced sigh as I attempted to take in the majesty of the area surrounding me
"It's pretty great. Do you not have anything like this on Tamaran, Star?"
"We have trading markets….but not of this magnitude" I paused as I turned my attention back to him "what is it that you are wishing to trade, friend?"
He reached into his pocket and fumbled for a folded up piece of paper, he un-crumpled it and read it in a murmur to himself. "Cyborg wants some stuff from the hardware store, Raven didn't want anything and Beast Boy wanted me to get him another gamestation controller since he broke the last one"
I tilted my head in confusion "If our friends wanted these items, why did they not just accompany us?"
He sighed "Because they're lazy idiots" he said with a smirk, "I don't mind though, since I'm already here. Is there anything you would like to buy, Star?"
I glanced around at the different stores people seemed to be heading into "I am not sure of what there would be for me to buy" I replied
"The mall sells everything"
"It sells Glorkaroaches?" I asked with an excited smile or "spudlings or-"
"Okay, the mall sells pretty much everything" he replied with a chuckle "I'll take you to look in some of the stores and see if there's anything you'd like"
A saddening thought brought me out of my excitement "I do not have any form of earthen currency in which to trade with"
"Its fine, I brought enough with me" he replied pulling out his wallet and offering me some notes.
I frowned at his offer "I do not wish for you to spend your money on me, Robin"
"It's not my money, part of our team funds covers personal purchases. We each can spend some of that on ourselves. You've earned your money, Star" he elaborated with a smile
I smiled in return and took the notes he had offered me and followed as he led me towards the stores. Hours flew by as I was lost in the sea of stores and the amount of choice when it came to purchases. I found myself lost in the clothing stores…..I had no idea that humans had so many different styles of clothing and they all were completely unique from each other. By the time I had done I must have gathered an entire wardrobe's worth of clothes.
Robin smirked at the 4 bags I was holding precariously within my grasp "I see you found something to buy then" he paused and glanced at his communicator. "Wow it's already 1pm, we've been here for 3 hours already. I need to go and grab Cyborg and Beast Boy's stuff, the food court is just down those stairs to the left so go and get something to eat and I'll meet you there"
I smiled and nodded hovering over the edge of the railing and floating down to the food court below, the majority of occupants seated below stared in surprise at me as I lowered to the ground but seemed to lose interest after a few moments. Glancing over the different food stalls my eyes landed on a brightly coloured stand and I found myself drawn over to it.
"What can I get you Miss Starfire?" the cheerful young man behind the stall asked
"You know my name?" I asked in surprise
"Of course. The Titans are amazing and I really appreciate the work you've done"
I smiled at the man "Thank you. However, what is it exactly that you sell?" gesturing to the image of the strange fluid container on the front of the stall.
"We sell smoothies, they come in strawberry, chocolate, raspberry, vanilla and banana. I'd recommend the banana flavour"
Having no knowledge of what this 'smoothie' even is I simply went along with the man's suggestion. Little did I know the impact of this decision truly was, within minutes my energy levels had rose to unnatural levels and I could barely keep myself still as I sat at a table waiting for Robin. Spotting him stepping over to the table I darted out of my seat and smothered the boy in a hug, "Robin! How have you been friend? Did you buy anything special? Can I see what you bought?" I fired off in rapid succession.
He wheezed and I released him to find his face burning a bright red "I'm fine Star" he replied nervously, "Are you feeling okay?"
"I feel glorious and full of energy, friend"
Robin glanced down at the half consumed beverage sat in front of me and smirked in understanding "Oh, you're on a sugar high"
"A what?" I replied quickly
"I probably should have mentioned this to you before. On Earth we tend to use a lot of sugar in our food and so some people get what we call 'sugar high'. It means that you get really excited and have a lot of energy because you consumed too much sugar" he elaborated.
"Oh, well this 'sugar high' feels most glorious" I smiled brightly and wrapped my arms tightly around him "Thank you for allowing me to accompany you, Robin. It has been most fun"
His cheeks seemed to turn a bright red "Remind me to bring you back a smoothie next time I go to the mall"
The End
Author's Notes:
Sorry it took me a while to post this. Been really busy with university work so I haven't had much time to work on anything. Hopefully I'll be able to get the Tokyo themed one wrote up soon but it might take me a couple of weeks. Sorry about that!
Dick/Kory week is starting tomorrow (1st February) and I was considering writing 1 or 2 stories for it, they would be pretty short stories but at least it'd be some content for you guys. If I do I'll post them both on my Tumblr (same username) and also on here.
Hope you enjoyed!
Leave a review/favourite and follow me on Tumblr.