Admittedly, this is probably the combined-prompt fic that most loosely follows this year's prompt. I'm originally from Central Florida and pretty much grew up going to theme parks, so I really had fun with this one, which was originally based off of last year's day 2 prompt of "Carnival/Amusement Park". I based the theme park the Titans visit here off of the Disney and Universal parks, especially Islands of Adventure's Jurassic Park area (as if that won't be obvious to anyone familiar with it, lol). Ironically, despite the presence of a raptor-themed roller coaster in this fic, I haven't been on IoA's Velocicoaster (it opened shortly after I moved out of state, and I haven't gotten a chance to visit the park since then) and I had in fact forgotten the coaster existed when I first got the idea.

Romance and Roller Coasters

It was a pleasant surprise for Robin whenever he could get Starfire excited over something new.

Of course, "surprise" hadn't always been quite the right word. He still remembered a few years back when just about everything on Earth was new to her. Starfire was as curious as she was optimistic, and quite nearly as impulsive when it came to casual outings, so she had a habit of diving headlong into everything from team sports to sandwiches.

But as time passed, more of the unknown had become known and things that were once strange and magical became normal. And while Starfire never lost her zeal for life, it was sometimes easy to forget the sheer enthusiasm with which she approached new experiences.

When she first set foot in the Adventure Studios theme park, that enthusiasm came roaring back.

"It's like we are in another world!" she marveled aloud, lifting a foot off of the ground and turning every which way to take in all the sights at once.

Robin grinned as he cast an only slightly more subdued gaze around. "Yeah, that's the idea."

Adventure Studios was one of those big amusement parks that had whole sections themed after different movies and the like. The other Titans had been needling Robin to schedule a day trip ever since he had, as Beast Boy put it, "rediscovered his fun side" in Tokyo. Now, all five of them were gawping up at the stylized buildings, decor and rides that drew the gaze every which way.

"Ooh, ooh!" Beast Boy practically shrieked, shaking Cyborg's arm in his excitement. "It's the Kraken Whirlpool ride from Terrors of the Deep! Let's go, last one there's kraken chow!"

Robin frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe we should wait to see what everyone – and he's already gone." Cyborg had run off as well, leaving him standing in the middle of the shop-lined central street that Adventure Studios had named "Hollywood Road" with Raven and Starfire.

Raven shrugged. "They're big kids, they'll be fine. Even if the word 'kid' applies more than it should."

Robin rubbed the back of his head, still frowning a little. "Yeah, I guess they can do their own thing and just call us when they want to meet back up."

Starfire, meanwhile, had busied herself looking over a map of the park. "Oh!" she cried, pointing out one of the map regions in particular. "This area is styled after that dinosaur movie we watched last year."

Robin craned his head to look. "Yeah, that's a pretty popular franchise so I'm not surprised. Do you want to check it out?"

At Starfire's enthusiastic nod, he turned to Raven. "You coming?"

Raven shrugged again. "Maybe later. I actually wanted to check out the Wizard Barry land before it gets too crowded." She spared a moment to scowl at the small flood of people that was already starting to pour into the park, despite the fact that they'd arrived shortly after it opened for the day.

Robin nodded and took Starfire by the hand. "Okay then, call us if you want to meet up later!"

While he felt a little guilty admitting it, Robin was kind of glad that the team had split up. He enjoyed spending time with all of his friends, of course, and he still hoped that once they all had their fill of running off to the first thing that grabbed their attention, they'd at least get to meet up for lunch or something. But for the moment, he got to focus on letting Starfire's sheer enthusiasm for everything infect him.

"Oh!" she cried out again, lifting a few feet off the ground to inspect a looming Allosaurus animatronic. "Fascinating. It's so lifeli–"

The animatronic suddenly moved to face her and leaned forward with a gaping, tooth-filled maw and a screeching roar playing out over its speakers. Starfire squeaked and flew back down to duck behind Robin.

Robin himself had admittedly taken a startled step back at the dinosaur's sudden threat, but then he craned his head to fix her with a playfully teasing smirk. "What are you hiding behind me for? You're the one with the starbolts."

Starfire huffed and settled her feet on the ground. "Perhaps, but I doubt the owners of the park would appreciate me damaging their lifelike robots."

Robin chuckled. "Fair enough."

The two of them continued on down the path, marveling at the thick jungle-like landscape pressing in around them and the Mesozoic facsimiles dotted throughout the foliage. They took their time, pointing out familiar dinosaurs, trying to remember which of the forms they'd seen Beast Boy take in training and battle, and reminiscing on their favorite parts of the movie it was all built to resemble. It was like an impromptu date, and Robin was enjoying every moment of it.

Starfire squeaked again – in delight this time – when the path turned to reveal a looming building that resembled the movie's infamous dinosaur lab. She lifted off the ground curiously to approach its doors, but before she could make her way in, something else caught her eye.

"I do not recall that from the movie," she said, cocking her head thoughtfully at the big sign for a coaster that proudly identified it as "Raptor Pack Attack!"

Robin smiled. "It's still an amusement park, so even the themed areas have roller coasters and other rides. They just have to be more abstract about the theme – like, if I remember it right this one's all about speed, so it feels like you're being chased by the raptors."

Starfire's eyes widened in understanding. "Oh, so it is a ride! Is it like the roller coaster at the pier?"

Robin's smile widened into an anticipatory grin. "Sort of, but that's kind of a small and simple one compared to what the big parks can do. Want to try it out?"

Starfire nodded enthusiastically, a grin overtaking her own face as she caught on to his knowing excitement. She thoroughly enjoyed all of the rides at the pierside park back in Jump, and he could tell she was eager for a chance to experience something like that on a grander scale.

It had been ages since Robin had gotten to ride a big steel coaster, so he matched her energy as the two of them ran up to join the queue. Luckily it was still early enough in the day that the wait time hadn't gotten excessive, so it wasn't very long before they could see the start of the ride looming up before them. Starfire leaned over the railing to watch the ride attendants and mechanisms at work, as enraptured by the process of loading and unloading riders as she had been by everything else.

Robin let out a contented little sigh and leaned onto the railing as well. "You know, I've kind of missed this."

Starfire blinked and gave him a questioning look. "Missed what? The roller coasters?"

Robin flinched a little, heat crawling up his cheeks – he hadn't meant to say that out loud. "No. I mean, yeah, a little, but uh… I was talking more about seeing you get excited over new stuff."

Starfire blinked again and tilted her head. "You think I have lost some of my enthusiasm over time?"

Robin shook his head. "Oh, not at all! It's just… Well, there's kind of something magical about experiencing something for the first time, and you are the best example of that I've ever seen. It's great that you're more familiar and comfortable with Earth now, but I also like how you get when you're trying new things, you know? It's like… it gives me a fresh appreciation for those things, if that makes any sense."

Starfire hummed in thought for a moment, letting her gaze drift back to the roller coaster entrance. Finally, she smiled again, and Robin could swear it not only reached her eyes but made them sparkle.

"Well, I still maintain that Earth is full of amazing things to discover," she said. "And I do not believe I will run out of such discoveries anytime soon. Perhaps we can experience some of them together?"

Shooting a meaningful glance at where the line had shuffled forward while she spoke, drawing enticingly close to the coaster, she held out a hand to him. "Such as, for example, a roller coaster that I believe you referred to as being 'all about speed?'"

Robin smiled back and wordlessly took her hand in his, and as they approached the front of the line, the adrenaline of anticipation for the thrill ride wasn't the only reason for the tingling rush just beneath his skin.