Chapter 5
Scar
After the others left, Robin continued to stay in the common room. He knew he shouldn't have used the "paperwork" excuse but a part of him didn't want to go. He felt that Starfire was secretly still upset at him for what he said. But who could blame her? He would have held a grudge too but she wasn't that kind of person. Was she?
Who knew really? When it came to Starfire, it was almost always a surprise. No one would have thought that she would love the flavor of mustard so much to put it on nearly everything she ate. Based on her kind nature, no one would have guessed that she was a true warrior when it came to the battlefield. And who knew that she was a princess?! That girl was filled with surprises and even though Robin didn't know all of them, he knew that every new thing she told him would throw him off even more. Although it should have annoyed him, he wasn't and would eagerly wait until that day came. But this felt different.
When she left the Tower, Robin couldn't help but feel bad for her. She left the room, running. Maybe she was practicing not using her powers for when they would go out in public incognito. Robin continued to make excuses for Starfire when deep down, he knew why she wasn't flying.
Robin walked to his room and once he got there, he sat on his bed. The room was quiet but his mind wasn't. He continued to think about what the rest of the team was doing. Were they having fun? Were they in trouble? Did anyone get hurt? Did anyone find out about the holographic rings? Questions continued to bore in his skull while he was mindfully playing with the rings that were still on his gloved middle fingers. He never stopped sliding it off and on again until one of the rings slipped from his fingertips and landed on the floor, rolling under the bed.
The prodigy sighed and got down on his hands and knees. His hands slid all around the carpeted floor and it wasn't until he had to put his ear on the floor to see where it had gone when he had become frustrated.
"Come on, come on. Where are you?" Considering something so powerful was easy to lose agitated Robin further.
Robin's hand continued to brush against the fuzzy floor, contacting everything he wasn't looking for. Even though all of their rings were the same size, shape, and color, it was apparently impossible to find a bright silver piece of jewelry.
"I better not lose this thing." Robin said to no one in particular.
"Aha!" At long last, the ring was found and Robin snatched it before he lost it again. He held it up to his face, to make sure that he hadn't confused it with another object, and once he took a good look at it, Robin was satisfied.
He decided to keep the ring on his finger and keep it there, in order for it to not be misplaced again. If this one time caused trouble for him then who knows how much the next one would as well.
Robin couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he had never found the ring. He thought that he would look odd with only one ring on his hand when it came in a pair. Sure, it would look okay to anyone else but because he knew of its use, it was vital that he never let it disappear again. But if it did, then he would obviously have to go to Cyborg to either tell him he needed another one or that he was sorry for losing a piece of his technology.
The rings that each Titan received all had a small part of it that was from Cyborg. He had to use some of his circuits to create those things and the look on his face, knowing that someone had been careless and lost it, and on the first day too, would have been… well Robin didn't even know what his reaction would be. But he knew that it most likely wouldn't be good.
"Am I really that bored that I'm thinking about what could have happened? Maybe I should have gone with them." The reason Robin got a pair of rings was mainly because he was thinking about the future. There could be a day when he would have to go undercover and use his alter-ego so he might've as well had them now than bother Cyborg in the future. Better safe than sorry.
Speaking of being sorry, Robin knew that he should have gone with his teammates. "Now I'm bored and alone. I had the chance to go with them but no, I just had to stay here because I… why did I stay here?" Robin question himself when in reality, he didn't know the answer himself. Either he was trying to avoid Starfire at the moment or he just wasn't in the mood.
"Maybe I can do some paperwork or something. Anything that'll keep my mind busy." Robin took one final look at the two rings and walked out of his room.
Subconsciously, Robin went to the training room and walked over to the punching bag. He started to punch, kick, and at one point he took out his bo-staff and began to hit the poor thing. After some grunting and some excellent moves later, Robin had heard a noise down in the common room. It sounded like yelling. The punching bag was swinging from all of the momentum that Robin had given it and was coming back to him, but Robin grabbed the sides of it and forced it to stop. The bag obeyed his orders and remained still. Robin didn't move or make a single sound to make sure that it wasn't just his imagination.
More shouts. Someone was definitely in the Tower and by the sound of it, it was more than one person. Why didn't the alarm sound? It would have told me if there was an intruder. Do they know the access code? Did they find the others?
Question filled Robin's head but stopped when he heard someone come his way. The door that led to the training room was shut but something in Robin's sense told him that the intruder was coming towards him.
Robin silently ran over to one side of the door, so that when the person entered he would have the advantage to be able to see them but they wouldn't be able to see his attack coming. He pressed his body up against the cool wall and waited for the victim to make their move. The door opened and the first thing he saw was their shadow. Tall guy. Doesn't matter. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Before he was able to see who it was, Robin saw one foot enter the room and that was more than enough for him. He was a caged tiger and needed to be free. Robin shot out his leg and went into a crouching position while making a full 360. One grunt later and he knew that they had been caught off guard and on the floor. Once he took out his staff again and held it to the intruder's neck, he took a good look on their face and realized who it was.
"Starfire? What are you doing?" Robin had stopped paying attention to the position he was holding her at and remained confused. They just left a few minutes ago. Ten minutes at the most, right?
"The question here Robin is what are you doing? I am not the one prepared to attack their fellow teammate and friend." Robin's eyes widened behind his mask and pulled away his staff as he blushed and cleared his throat.
"Heh, sorry about that. I thought you were an intruder." Robin held out his hand down towards Starfire which she accepted. He helped her up but their hands were still locked together. It wasn't until Starfire gasped, bulged her eyes out of their sockets, and pulled her hand back to her when Robin realized what they were doing. It wasn't anything major, just holding hands, but by the look on Starfire's face showed that she was scared.
"Uh, sorry." His hand that was once filled with Starfire's went up to the back of his neck which he started to rub. Starfire's eyes had shrunk back to their normal size but she still seemed aware of something. Almost like she was waiting for the conversation between the two to end.
"No worries. I am sorry Robin but I must leave." She quickly walked around him and almost left the room, that is, until Robin grabbed her left wrist.
"Are you okay Star?" Starfire stole a quick glance down at the hand that belonged to Robin. She despised herself for acting so guilty and she knew that she had to find a way to get out of there.
"Oh, yes I am fine. Thank you for asking. I merely…need to use the restroom! I came here to see if you were training and it looks as though I was correct! Now if you will excuse me, I must leave." Starfire gently pried the gloved hand off of her wrist as she backed out of the room giving Robin a believable grin. The doors closed in front of her after she stepped outside and ran to her room.
The door opened at her command and she look down the hall first-to make sure Robin hadn't followed after her-and once she was satisfied, she entered. Her back rested against the closed door as she had a slight panic attack.
"That was too close. I mustn't act out of the ordinary." Starfire took off her holographic rings which revealed her true self. She looked down at her scarred wrist and saw that the scar that was once there was barely noticeable. Thank X'hal for permitting Tamaranians to be able to heal their bodies much faster than humans.
Her panting slowed and she looked around the room. There wasn't anything for her to do but grab her sweatshirt, but she decided to wait. It wasn't until her eyes landed on the desk, mainly on the bottom drawer.
"If I do it at this moment, then someone will surely notice. Perhaps I shall wait until later tonight." Starfire went over to her bed and glanced at the clock that told her it was four in the afternoon. Time has gone quite fast.
A few minutes passed with Starfire's boredom overcoming her more and more. At last, she decided to speed up her healing process after stealing another looking at the fading scar. Therefore, she walked out of her room and went up to the roof. Thankfully, for her, no one was there. Just her and the sun.
She went to the edge of the roof and just stood there, soaking every inch of the light that radiated off of the star. The smile that was missing from her face soon enough returned. Whenever she was regaining energy, she would always enjoy the view that Earth gave to her. That was one of the things she loved about being on that planet. Beauty was everywhere, even if it wasn't obvious. You just had to look for it and it would be there.
She stood there for some time, until her stomach started to growl. Starfire groaned and looked down at her flat belly. She patted it and walked away from the view. But before her hand reached the knob on the door, Starfire turned her arm so that it was the wrist's side up. The scar was gone. She smiled and allowed herself to stay calm.
"I have not flown in some time. They may start to suspect me." She thought of a happy memory that involved Silkie, and let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding in. Starfire opened the door and flew down the stairway that would eventually lead to the common room after a few twists and turns.
Something about this story is really starting to draw me to it. I wish I could make this chapter more exciting but since it pretty much only involved Robin's POV after they left. At least it was something right? I don't own anything but Warner Bros. and DC Comics do!
Always yours,
light is in the dark
P.S. Tell me if I left something out. I would very much like to fix it.
Weak
A scar isn't a sign of weakness.
It shows that you stayed strong for everyone else for the entire day and waited until you were alone.
A scar isn't a sign of weakness.
It shows that you can't blame anyone else besides yourself.
A scar isn't a sign of weakness.
But it does show how close you are to dying.