Beast Girl ran along the sidewalks of Jump City in her Beagle form, looking for any signs of wrongdoing, but to no avail. Eventually, she just gave up and entered a newly built ice cream parlor at the edge of town. The place had a very intentional mid-century vibe, vinyl records mounted on the walls, jukebox, hot pink seating and tiles and all the waitresses wore retro outfits. Gabby took a seat at the corner of the restaurant and a waitress came up to her and asked what she wanted.
Beast Girl looked conflicted. "I'm not really sure if it's ethical to eat dairy" she said timidly.
The waitress rolled her eyes and said "If you don't want to eat dairy then why are you even here?"
"Touché, get me two decently sized sundaes".
The waitress gave her a judgement look and Gabby clarified:"Only one is for me".
Beast Girl took out her communicator and contacted Starfire. She answered and ecstatically exclaimed "Hello, friend Gabby! About what do you wish to speak?"
"Actually, Star, I think we should talk in person. I'll send you my coordinates".
Starfire looked puzzled but didn't question Beast Girl's instructions. "Very well, friend, I will be meeting you as soon as is possible".
Starfire arrived at the ice cream parlor a few minutes later and entered it. She found the back-corner and noticed Beast Girl halfway through her sundae. Starfire exclaimed:"Oh my! If I had known there would be food intended for my consumption I would have brought the mustard!"
Beast Girl replied "Gross, Star, there are some things mustard just doesn't go on, like most of what you put it on. Ice cream definitely falls under that category".
"Very well" replied Starfire as she sat down and took a bite out of her sundae, "So, what did you wish to discuss with me in person?".
"You know Crow, right?"
Starfire looked confused, "Of course I am familiar with friend Crow".
"No, I meant you know what he's like?"
"I still do not understand"
Beast Girl sighed and said "Alright, guess I have to rip the band-aid off right away, then. I think I-", Gabby's voice lowered to a whisper, "love him".
"Do you mean you have romantic feelings for Crow? I do not understand, you are nearly always in conflict with him. What is it you like about him that makes you feel this way?"
Beast Girl gave a slightly sensual chuckle "What's not to like? He's tall, mysterious, and chiseled like a Greek god. Why do you think I changed my outfit to show so much skin? It was to draw his attention to me".
Starfire replied:"I do not believe friend Crow would be so shallow as to initiate a romantic relationship based solely on your physical characteristics. In fact, he is the only one of the males that I have never noticed express any obvious physical attraction to either of us".
Beast Girl's eyes widened "Soooooooo...you don't think he, ya know, doesn't swing that way, right?"
"If you are asking if Crow does not feel attraction towards females, it is possible, though I have never seen him show any interest in males either".
"Well maybe I'm just not trying hard enough, I should try a bit more over flirting, huh?"
"I do not believe these social games are necessary. Why do you not simply ask Crow if he feels attraction to you?"
Beast Girl stroked her chin. "Ya know Star", she said, "That's actually not a bad idea". Starfire smiled at the remark as Beast Girl took the last bite of her sundae. She hurried out of the parlor, leaving thirty dollars and a sticky note reading "keep the change". Starfire had only eaten a few bites of her sundae so, when the waitress came up to collect the money, Star asked "Excuse me, ma'am, do you have any mustard for this?". The waitress just looked at her like she was speaking Quechua.
Crow was attempting to meditate again, but an annoying little voice gnawed at the back of his head. This time, however, it wasn't Gabby, this was internal. He sighed and knew he'd have to deal with it manually. He opened the top drawer of his dresser and pulled out a spiky, handheld mirror. He looked into it and within a few seconds was sucked in.
He found himself inside the mirror(or his mind, technically) and came face to face with himself. Part of himself, anyway. The only immediately obvious difference between himself and this doppelgänger was the latter's purple cloak in contrast to his blue one. This was an entity that Crow had become all too familiar with in the past few months. It was Love-his Love.
Love grinned at Crow and said "Are you here to deny what both of us know again?"
After a few moments of deliberation, Crow sighed and said "No, I suppose you win".
Love looked surprised, but happy. "So, does that mean you're going to-"
"No", interrupted Crow, "I'm not".
"Why not?" Asked Love disappointedly.
"You know exactly why. My powers are unstable, even ignoring Father's influence. I can barely laugh at the very rare funny joke she tells without busting a light fixture. Just about any display of affection could break something important, or worse-harm her".
Love looked at Crow for a few seconds before giving a defeated nod:"I understand".
"Thank you. Now please refrain from-"
The sound of banging on metal echoed through Crow's mindscape. He had a feeling he knew who it was, and the yell of "Crow, get out here, we need to talk!" confirmed his intuition. He bid Love adieu and exited his mirror. He walked over to his door and slid it fully open.
"What?" He asked, pretending to be annoyed.
Beast Girl took a deep breath and in a whisper uttered three simple words.