(A/N: Since this is the MID-POINT of the story, this chapter is inspired by the same song as the first chapter, I Want To Know What Love Is, by the Foreigners. Therefore, I won't be putting up the song lyrics here. This chapter will be similar to the first chapter in terms of what happens, but with another couple ;D Read on to find out which couple! Let the reading begin!)
Starfire slowly hovered along the empty corridors. She had been bored, the Titans Tower felt much lonelier and isolated, ironically, since Raven left. With each passing day, the frequency of the Tamaranean roaming around their home increased.
It wasn't only having two members away that had been bothering her. There were only three of them left; her, Robin and Cyborg. Since Cyborg had been spending days and nights doing activities and friendly tests with Brian, who Starfire and Robin concluded was the mute materializing version that replaced Cyborg's best friend Beast Boy, Starfire had been spending much more time with the team leader.
Things between the two of them were awkward at the beginning. When one of them had to fill up for Beast Boy and Raven's household duties, cliche nervous laughter followed by typical awkward silence would occur until one of them became adamant to doing the chores. But they easily found common ground and got the hang of it and began talking casually again.
Starfire was just wondering when Robin would make a move, and wondered if it was an Earthly custom for the females to instigate a date otherwise.
"Starfire?"
"Please show me what to do…"
"Uh... Starfire?"
Robin followed Starfire as she absentmindedly kept hovering from one place to another.
"Starfire!"
The alien heroine snapped back to reality and spun around fast and flushed.
"Oh, Robin! I did not notice you here!"
"What happened?" a concerned Robin asked. "You looked like you're on a standstill, or you're sleep-floating. Is everything alright?"
Starfire forced a big, unconvincing smile and reassured to Robin, "Nothing is the matter, Robin! I thank you for your concern."
Robin, being the intuitive detective he could be, sensed there was something wrong that was disturbing Starfire. He never unlocked his stare, and she never unlocked hers.
"Look, Starfire, I know what this is about," Robin told her. "I know it's about me and us, and our…relationship…issues. To be honest, I have been taught how to court and make girls fall in love with me, but strangely, this is a new feeling for me…"
"But isn't that love? If I fall down, does that mean I have affection for someone?"
Robin chuckled and shook his head. He then beckoned for Starfire to stop floating and just stand in front of him.
"Not literally," he began. "And the courting I did when I was younger, that was just one-sided. The girls felt it, but I didn't, so it wasn't true. That's not true love."
Starfire was curious still. "What about in the case of us? Are we reciprocating the feelings? This…true love…is difficult to comprehend."
"It is if you think about it," Robin stated. "Popular belief is that it's better off happening naturally."
Starfire pressed the bottom of her chin with her pointer finger.
"What if part of the natural procedures is the thought process?" she wondered.
Robin was dumbfounded. Starfire put up a good valid point that might have revolutionized how he viewed true love.
"Ah…" he splurred. Without anything else to say, he decided to abruptly end the conversation.
"I think I have to get Cyborg and Brian up. It should be time for everyone to be awake," he said. "Which room is Brian in today?"
Starfire looked down and answered, "Terra's." She waited until the footsteps from Robin's rubber boots faded to silence just to continue staring at the empty passage.
She heaved a sigh. Robin left her question unanswered.
"Would an Earth girl act like this at this stage of love?" she quietly asked herself before making her way - sloppily on foot because she didn't have the desired emotion to fly or even hover an inch - to the kitchen where Silkie had been patiently waiting for her.
Starfire gently patted Silkie on its bulgy tummy and placed her bumgorf in the sink as she took a pot from the cabinet.
"Fear not, Silkie," she told her bumgorf. "I am merely preparing the pudding of sadness."
"What up, peeps?" Cyborg had entered the kitchen, with Brian behind him. The both of them directly headed to the fridge to extract some snacks.
"Glad to see the both of you up and well," Robin said as he, too, entered the common room. He noticed Starfire and immediately glanced away. Instead, Robin went to the fridge to talk to Cyborg and, if he could, Brian.
Both Cyborg and Brian had stacked packets of potato chips and buckets of popcorn that somehow came from the refrigerator.
"Alright, Brian, let's bring all these to my crib and let's take on each other at video games. I'll kick yo' shape-shifting butt at Mega Monkeys! For beginners, I'll let you play the first installment!"
"Cyborg?"
"Oh hey, Robin!"
Cyborg couldn't see Robin directly in front of him because the pile of junk food blocked his front view.
"Is something wrong, lil' bud?" Cyborg asked Robin.
Robin wasn't the type of person to go seeking for personal help, even from his closest peers.
"Nothing," he lied. "Just…enjoy."
"Thanks, Rob!" Cyborg exclaimed, and he and Brian left the room, leaving Robin and Starfire yet again. Robin felt much hotter and was sweating. His heart was also beating fast. Starfire was no different.
Starfire couldn't concentrate on her cooking. There simply was too much on her mind. So much curiosity. So much desire. So many thoughts.
Is this what humans think of when they 'fall in love'? she asked in her head. All the 'What if' scenarios I am continuously coming up right now, do they do it too? What if this is true? What if it is not? What if it is something less…overwhelming? Why does such a feeling arise only when I think of Robin?
Starfire stole many glances at Robin. Robin was just staring aimlessly at pots and pans, having thoughts of his own.
Why does this feel completely different from the other women? This has never happened! I have been friends with women I ended up having a kind of relationship with, without much of a problem and hesitation. I really like Starfire. Why can't I do this? It's frustrating! We could have something going on already if I am not being such a wuss about it.
Robin turned away so that Starfire couldn't see him flinch angrily.
Focus, Robin. Focus. Remain calm, and do what you normally do. Maybe if you do that sparks will eventually fly.
He took a deep breath and walked curtly to Starfire.
"Star," he purred. Starfire stiffened.
"Yes, Robin?" Starfire stared at Robin's seductively shifting eyebrows. Something felt different at least to her. Robin had not shown such gestures before. And it was even more uncharacteristic because of their conversation not more than an hour ago.
Focus, Robin continuoisly reminded himself in his head. He was to work out the situation like he would to the girls before Starfire. That was his plan of being closer to Starfire while keeping his confidence.
He slid his arm steadily until it was behind Starfire. Starfire shook a bit. It felt awkward being put in such a position.
Robin then leaned until he could whisper tenderly into Starfire's tensed up ears, "I know you want to go out with me."
That's it, Starfire thought. It was becoming too awkward for her to handle. She wasn't used to this mode of Robin, and she did not like it one bit. So, she pushed him away with her alien strength, causing Robin to - to his very surprise - fall backwards.
"What d'you do that for?!"
"What has happened to you, Robin?!" Starfire screamed, taking cautious steps away from the Boy Wonder, who had stood back up. "Why are you acting in such an unusual manner?"
"What manner? I was about to ask you out," Robin couldn't believe Starfire did not know what he was doing, even for a girl from another planet. He had never been declined by a girl before, and this was Starfire.
On the other hand, Starfire couldn't believe that Robin had not realized that she was so uncomfortable in what he was doing to her. Did he think she wanted to be used like the ladies before her? Why else were none of them still in a close relationship with him?
"I believe I require the manual about boys at this moment!" Starfire snapped. "Prior to this, you were careful and considerate, and all of a sudden you attempt to allure me! It feels like you were being a whole different person, Robin. Please understand, it made it all the more confusing for me."
Robin wanted to explain his case, but his words seemed to be clutching at his throat. This was a completely new thing for him, and he had done many different things many people don't.
Starfire noticed that Robin was at a loss for words, so she continued.
"Robin," Starfire had a more heartfelt feeling her tone this time, rather than rage. "I do not have the affections for you simply and only because of your mask, your talents and your handsome appearance. No, not even from the beginning. Back to when we all first met, and Cyborg was constructing our home while Raven and Beast Boy were having their secretive and subtle flirting, you came up to me first, telling me that you know what I went through. I believe you. I believe you because I could and I can see such emotions of pain and yearning through your mask, in your eyes."
Starfire's tears were dripping down her face from her eyes. She let them run to show Robin her genuineness.
"I love you, Robin. I may never know what the word truly means, but I will express it nonetheless. Your vulnerability is why I never stopped losing my care for you. The sincerity in your actions whenever you speak to me is the reason I never stopped trusting you. The connection we share makes me believe in you."
Starfire sniffed.
"But never like this."
She grabbed Silkie and flew past Robin, leaving him alone in the common room. Cyborg entered the room as tears ran down and through the gap of Robin's mask.
Even though Cyborg had just stumbled upon Robin and a crying Starfire, he could tell what basically happened, and as a friend he had always been, he jumped right in to help his teammates.
"Hey man, it's okay," Cyborg placed a hand firmly on one of Robin's shoulders. "Do you want to know what I think?"
Robin rubbed off the tears and asked, "What do you think I should do?"
"Find her, try again, but this time, just be yourself." His answer was straightforward and concrete.
"But whenever I do, I freak out, check out, and step out. I figured that if I treat Starfire as one of the girls I have gone out with before, it would eventually grow.
"No one cares if you freak out!" Cyborg countered his leader's argument. "It's better than being insincere. Starfire isn't like any of your other girls. I want you two to be happy, because we've been waiting for you two to get together for so long already. Be yourself! Don't tell me Starfire won't be understanding if you are shaky and all that. The Boy Wonder has to wonder about stuff too, man."
Robin took them in word by word as Cyborg explained whilst piling up more snacks.
"Think about it," Cyborg said one last time before leaving the common room.
Robin completely agreed with Cyborg.
He had to get to Star and get it right. He didn't plan how to, he just planned to, and sometimes that's what fosters romance.
Bursting with new light, he ran to Starfire's room.
In Starfire's room, the alien girl had been weeping for Silkie to see. Her thoughts were shouting in maddened wonder.
What is this Earthly feeling and why is it rich in emotions?! Relationships were not quite like this in Tamaran. Is this love? It is excruciating to the heart in a non-physical way. It does not make sense. I don't understand. What am I supposed to expect from Robin? Was the antic he was doing to me just now what they call true love? It is very uncomfortable. Xhal, please enlighten me, I am most puzzled.
Silkie suddenly squeaked, stopping Starfire from her thoughts to look up at her bumgorf. Behind the circular seat Silkie was fumbling on, the door had opened.
"Starfire," Robin called softly as he closed the door behind him. This time, Starfire recognized a more subtle tone.
"Robin," Starfire called back, not putting effort to hide her teary streams. But she did stand up so that she could read Robin's face more easily. His smirk and glazed over confidence that were on his face in the kitchen weren't there anymore. He looked slightly timid again. If she could choose, she preferred that vulnerable face to the fake seductive one. At least he didn't seem to be metaphorically looking down at her as if she were just a tool from a play set.
Robin wasted no time walking to Starfire and giving her a loving, tight embrace.
"I'm sorry for what happened," he apologized. "That wasn't true love. I should never have tried that stupid trick."
Starfire tightened the hug. But it wasn't the usual tightness that suffocated the people she was hugging, no. It was calmer, more intimate, and in a way more appreciative.
Silkie wiggled around in joy seeing its 'mom' and her crush hugging each other affectionately.
Starfire broke the hug to get a better look at Robin. She really liked this vulnerable side of him. She seldom witnessed vulnerability because it wasn't even considered a means of expression in Tamaran. But seeing such a thing on Robin, the level headed and frequently focused leader, struck as something special to her.
"Then what is true love?" she asked Robin.
A small smile formed on Robin's lips.
"This is."
For the second time, he gently pulled her closer to him. But this time not in an embrace, but in a passionate kiss.