Midnight Flight

The journey home was quiet; each Titan sitting in their own cockpit of the T-Ship in silence; aside from Beast Boy going on and on about Tina, Nina, Gina, Lena, Anne, Kim, Jackie, and what’s-her-face. The five heroes were already eager to forget about their “vacation” in Tokyo and focus on their own Jump city. However, not all of the events which occurred in Japan were unwanted. Beast Boy’s “manly experience” with all of the women was one thing, but one need only to observe the subtle glances Robin was giving Starfire and vise versa from each other’s cockpits to conclude what had happened before they left the country.
Neither of them had spoken of it since. The last sign of affection either of them had shown since their kiss was holding hands at their award ceremony. Robin felt nervous around her, now more than ever, and frankly, he hand no idea what to say to her. Starfire on the other hand, was overjoyed with what had happened. Although she paid no mind to Robin’s distance, part of her was concerned that what had happened had been a “spur of the moment” gesture as they called it, or an accidental moment of weakness for Robin. Her biggest fear was that he did not return her feelings. However, Starfire proved determined not to let this concern present itself on the outside. She kept a cheerful disguise in front of her friends at all times.

“Man, is it good to be home!” Cyborg exclaimed as he collapsed on the sofa.

“I hear ya.” Beast Boy agreed landing next to him. “Let’s never go on vacation again.”

“Shall we truly not be taking part in anymore travel? I was so hoping to journey to the country of Egypt.” Starfire said sadly.

“Oh, I’m sure that vacation wasn’t our last.” Raven said in one of her carless tones.

“Did you know that in the country of Egypt, there are massive triangular structures of a beautiful golden brown color and bodies of the deceased submerged in ancient buildings of burial?” Starfire asked with glee as she preformed dainty spins and twirls in the air.

“Dead bodies? Yeah. That’s a disaster waiting to happen.” Cyborg joked.

“Yeah, especially if we get involved. Count me out.” Beast Boy added. Starfire sighed defeated as she seated herself next to Beast Boy on the sofa. She didn’t notice the amused grin on Robin’s face as he approached them.

“Don’t worry about it, Star. We’ll go to Egypt someday.” He said. Starfire lifted herself gracefully off of the sofa and into the air.

“Oh, truly, Robin?”

“Sure. Someday.” He said with a shrug and a small smile. Starfire make a noise of excitement and floated around in horizontal figure-eights.

“Just as long as I get something to eat first.” Cyborg said getting up and heading to the kitchen.

“May I cook?” Starfire asked sweetly as she hovered in front of Cyborg with her hands together. Cyborg’s face drooped.

“Uh,” Raven said suddenly, causing the four to look at her. She sat on a bar stool looking slightly worried. “Why don’t we just go out for pizza?” She asked quickly. The rest of the Titans relaxed with sighs of relief.

“Oh, marvelous! I have missed the gooey cheese and the tomato paste melted onto the oven baked bread!”

“Good idea, Rae.” Cyborg said with a grateful smile.

“Yeah, thanks!” Beast Boy added in a whisper.

“You guys have fun.” Robin said suddenly. The four heads snapped in his direction.

“Whaaaa...?” Beast Boy whined.

“I’m going to stay here.”

“But Robin, you love the feasting of the cheesy tomato bread...”

“Yeah. But we’re a few weeks behind on paperwork, and the bills won’t pay themselves.”

“But‒”

“It’s okay, Cyborg. Eat a piece for me.” He said with one of those disappointed, fake ‘I’m not upset’ smiles. The whole team could recognize this smile, but they knew there would be no changing his mind, as there rarely ever was. Beast Boy and Cyborg shrugged at each other and headed out the door.

“Suit yourself.” Said Raven as she followed. Starfire, however, remained behind, wanting to convince Robin to join them, though she could not find the words.

“Well,” Robin said awkwardly as he put a hand on the back of his neck. “Have a good time.” He turned to head down the hall.

“Robin?”

“Yeah, Starfire?” He asked in a much softer voice as he turned to face her with a sad, almost hopeless expression. Though she could not see his eyes, the movements of his mask let always let the Titans know what kind of face he was making.

“I...” She looked down and shuffled her feet. “Do...” She took a deep breath. “You are sure you do not wish to join us?” She did not close her mouth, willing herself to say more, but nothing came out. He waited in silence for a moment before shaking his head.

“I’m sure. I’ve got lots of work to do here.”

“Do you require any assistance?”

“No thanks. Got it covered.”

“You are sure?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Star. I’ll call you if I need you.” He finished turning around and exiting the room without another word. Starfire sighed sadly before lazily floating away to catch up with the others.

“What’s the deal with Robin?” Beast Boy asked as he shoved his tofu-covered pizza slice into his mouth. Raven watched him with a board, disgusted look on her face.

“I don’t know, man. He’s been acting pretty strange since we got back.” Cyborg agreed.

“Starfire, are you okay?” Raven asked, taking sudden notice that she had not touched any of the four slices on her plate.

“Oh, friends, I fear it is all my fault!” She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. Six very wide, confused eyes gazed back at her.

“Uh, what is, Star?”

“Robin’s sudden swings of the mood... I fear this is because of me; because of what happened...” She finished quietly and looked down.

“Don’t think like that, Star.” Cyborg said immediately.

“Yeah, if anything, he’s probably jumping from joy about it!” Beast Boy said. Silence. “On the inside...”

“Starfire, this has nothing to do with you. I’m sure of it. What happened in Tokyo was bound to happen someday. We could all sense it.” Raven told her. The others nodded their heads smiling.

“But does that gesture not, on your planet, indicate a sign of positive, emotional affection? I have observed humans to be very satisfied and joyful after receiving the kiss. I thought that the exchanging of the kiss would indicate to Robin my feelings for him and that he would desire to repeat the gesture openly from now on.” The Titans stared at her in awkward silence. “But he does not.” She finished sadly staring at her full plate.

“Starfire, I promise, Robin doesn’t regret it. You’re reading too much into this.” Raven said paying little attention to anything but the fly buzzing around her pizza.

“But Raven, I am not reading anything...”

“Look, Star, Rob’s a confusing little man. Who knows what his issue is. But it’s probably not you.”

“Well, he doesn’t exactly go around kissing girls often. This could be him in shock, you know.” Beast Boy proposed.

“I hate when this happens, but Beast Boy might be onto something.” Raven said after zapping the fly telepathically and watching it drop dead on the table. “He’s probably not used to dealing with these kinds of feelings. It’s best to just wait it out for now. He’ll come around when he’s good and ready.” Starfire nodded in defeat as she sipped from her paper cup. “Besides, I don’t like talking about him like this behind his back... Whatever he’s feeling, he probably doesn’t want us talking about it.” Beast Boy snorted.