(A/N)- Late in posting (I was having a horrible day) but here be Day 3!

Disclaimer: Still don't own Teen Titans, drat.

RobStar Week 2024, Day 3 - Training

"Where did you say you trained again?" panted Robin, splayed face up and flat on his back on the mats of the floor, his middle still aching from Starfire's last unexpected tap.

"Okaara," she explained, sheepishly holding her hand out for him to grasp. "Are you injured?" she asked anxiously. "I was trying to pull the blow."

Robin grasped her offered hand firmly, using it as an anchor to drag himself up to a sitting position. His diaphragm twinged a bit at the motion but the ache soon subsided. "I'm fine," he assured her, waving her off. He got to his feet stiffly. "I've had worse hits, trust me."

Starfire's hand still hovered next to him in concern, lips pinched, eyes wide with worry. Robin huffed as he straightened, getting his breath back. For a moment there was nothing but his breathing and the clink-clank of Cyborg on the weights on the other side of the gym.

"So... Okaara," Robin said, to divert the conversation. "Tell me about it."

Starfire tapped the end of his staff a bit shyly on the floor, fidgeting. "There is not much to tell. The Warlords of Okaara are fierce and skilled," she told him. "They are also great philosophers and scholars. Their planet is a neighbor to Tamaran and..." She trailed off for a moment, lost in memories. "...they have long been our allies in the war against the Gordanians and The Citadel."

Robin's hackles bristled slightly at the mention of them, remembering how Starfire talked about being taken to them as some kind of "prize". A war trophy, he realized now, with context.

He didn't want to think about that.

"And... you learned how to fight there?" he prompted.

Starfire perked up a bit. "Oh! Combat training was already a part of our education on Tamaran," she explained, brightening. "I was instructed in personal self defense and I had teachers for many traditional and standard Tamarian weapons. But I received more extensive lessons on Okaara for a time."

She smiled ruefully.

"It was deemed safer there. There were fewer bombardments."

Robin grimaced internally. Crap, he'd gone and made her sad again. Starfire had been preoccupied all day, distracted, talking about Tamaran and the Gordanians more than usual. Robin had assured her that the Lantern Corps was taking great pains to try to make contact with the Vega system, with her people, but the planet was still blockaded and it would take time and possible negotiations to get through. She'd been worried and agitated about it the whole day.

His detective mind had calculated it out from the bits and snatches she'd let slip, that it was some kind of anniversary, possibly of the war's beginning? He still wasn't clear.

In any case, he'd suggested joining Cyborg in the gym to try and take her mind off things but it seemed like he was just reminding her all over again of her worries and fears.

"Show me that move again," he suggested, coming up to stand next to her.

Starfire demonstrated it, lifting the end of his bo staff and repeating the sequence that had led to Robin being sprawled on the floor.

"It is like so," she explained. "Lift up, duck the end, and thrust."

The staff audibly whooshed through the air as she moved it.

Robin studied the move with interest. "Huh," he said. "That's actually pretty similar to something in jiu-jitsu."

He reached to take his staff back from her, hands finding their correct positions quickly.

He jabbed the staff in a practiced, careful moveset, something he'd drilled a thousand times before, and Starfire watched with rapt attention.

"Backstep, pivot, turn and—"

He ended the move, stabbing the air.

Starfire clapped lightly, impressed. Robin felt a little thrill go through him at that.

"Your motions are so sharp and disciplined!" Starfire was complimenting. "Please, is it the form itself that has such polished movement or it is merely your skill?"

"Bit of both, I think," Robin confessed, rubbing a hand through the back of his hair with a slight blush.

"Okaaran combat forms typically emphasize the power and brutality of an attack," Starfire explained in a rush, pantomiming a powerful uppercut. "They are designed to take full advantage of Tamaranian strength. We do not typically need to pull our punches, so we do not quite have as much grace about it as you do."

Robin grinned. "Hey, we all play to our own strengths," he quipped.

"Can you show me more?" Starfire asked eagerly. "How many Earth combat forms do you know?"

"Lost count at twenty," Robin joked. "My mentor knows more, but we only really had time to focus on a few major ones for me. Here." He stepped back, getting some clear room before he showed her.

She watched with rapt admiration as he showed her different forms—Northern Shaolin and Kenpo and Aikido one right after another. He explained how Batman had helped him incorporate his circus acrobat skills into his own personal style.

All the while her eyes glimmered with interest and his heart gave an occasional odd out-of-place thump seeing her.