We Are Not the Boy/Girlfriend? {Robin}

[Kori Ander]

Kori didn't exactly have much stuff to bring into her new room, which reminded her all too strongly of when she moved into Titans Tower. There had not been a whole lot in the way of possessions then either,  considering that Kori had been in route to a jail at the time. She'd gathered a few things along the way, but nothing that Kori really missed. No, it wasn't the things that Kori missed; it was the people. She ached for her friends, for Silkie, even for the people of their city. To her, the home was very much secondary to all that.

So for now, she'd opted to exit and enter her dorm room, figuring that perhaps she could grow used to the traveling. It was as she came out that she saw someone nearby... someone who looked uncannily familiar. He looked perhaps a little older than the last time Kori had seen him, but there was simply no mistaking him in Kori's eyes. She'd been able to tell who he was when they had been separated by ten years; this, by comparison was nothing.

So Kori's eyes lit up, slightly literally, and she jumped, seeming to spend perhaps a few seconds too long off the floor. Without any further warning than that, she launched herself toward the poor boy, arms outstretched in what was sure to be a glomp to end all glomps. "ROBIN! IT IS SO GOOD TO BE SEEING YOU HERE! I thought I was all alone! But you are here!" Kori was soon wrapping her arms around the poor target of said affections, squeezing him in a manner that people usually reserved for popping toothpaste from a particularly stubborn tube. She tilted her head, eyes again shining, and was seriously considering kissing, though she usually had to be careful of that around Robin...

[Deleted]

Robin had just been exploring the area and the school buildings (if 'exploring' means 'climbing all over', because since he'd learnt about his aerialist skills he couldn't help but utilise them) and he was headed back to his dorm room when suddenly he could see nothing but hair. It was a good job he was a lot stronger than he looked or the girl would have completely bowled him over, not to mention squeezed the life out of him. As it was, he was struggling somewhat to breathe.

"Uh... hi?" he finally managed bemusedly, wondering how best to politely extricate himself - not that he minded the hug, she was a very pretty girl (such beautiful hair...) and he was a tactile person, but he didn't actually know her, as much as she seemed to know him.

"Sorry, I... um... do I ... know you?" he felt absolutely terrible having to ask her, but there was just nothing about her that was ringing any bells at all. It was to be expected, when he remembered nothing, but he still felt bad.

[Kori Ander]

At this point, Kori had to pull back slightly. She didn't let Robin go; after finding him, she wasn't about lose him, but she did loosen slightly, at least enough that breathing shouldn't be quite as much of an ordeal. The pretty ex-alien beamed up at the confused boy for several seconds, looking for all the world as though she hadn't heard his words. This was mostly because they were taking a bit of time to process in the poor girl's mind.

"You are Robin! I am Starfire! We fought many of the bad guys together! Like Slade! We fought Slade very much, though you did work with him... you worked with him a few times, but we mostly fought the Slade and kicked the butt! Do you not remember this?" she tilted her head slightly, frowning. He was most certainly Robin... she could definitely recognize him anywhere. However he looked... well, there was still that slightly older look. Like when he had been Nightwing in the future... except.. well, not that far.

Kori outright frowned, and it somehow still looked vaguely like a smile, though her eyes dimmed considerably, going from slightly inhuman to very much human. "You have not lost your memories...?"

Which would suck. She might have to resort to the kissing... though she supposed that wouldn't be too bad, especially with how handsome Robin was looking right now.

[Deleted]

They fought... bad guys together? Did she mean like in some kind of video game or in real life? He supposed that would explain his epic gymnastic skills, and why he'd found all that gadgetry when he first arrived here. He was some kind of superhero? Seriously? He tried to not get too excited just in case he turned out to be wrong, but if he wasn't, well, that would be pretty awesome.

"I have," he nodded reluctantly, she was just so enthusiastic about it all it was hard to have to let her down, but he couldn't pretend to remember something when he definitely didn't, and the way she was wrapped around him suggested there were some things he probably should be remembering (which was awkward, super awkward).

"Lost them, I mean, my memories, the whole situation's pretty lacking in aster..." he explained awkwardly "I'm sorry, ..Starfire? I don't really know who you are.."

[Kori Ander]

Kori's expression fell. Sank, even. Her entire body visibly dimmed. She grew heavier, nearly dragging upon Robin. Her wide green eyes seemed to look decidedly wet, as though with the merest blink tears would begin to fall upon them both. Thankfully, Kori was a warrior, even if she didn't act it most of the time. She couldn't hide her displeasure completely though, even as she unwrapped herself from the boy she was still very much certain was Robin.

"Oh," was all she could manage at first, and it was a very weak oh. she worked her fingers together, pressing the two index fingers together and then twirling them a bit, as though she could somehow work the next few words out of him. Now that she talked to him, she had to admit that he... well, he both sounded exactly like the Robin she knew and... didn't. Her Robin never mentioned "asters," but the voice... the appearance... it all matched so perfectly.

"Well," she said, taking a deep breath and forcing the smile again, "here I am called Kori, which is like my real name which was not used very often back home. We, uh, we fought together," she'd already said that, "and we were the friends. Close friends."

Boyfriend and girlfriend, actually, and, if anything, Kori liked that Robin had apparently grown. He even looked cuter too, though she wasn't sure that was the best thing to say. She shifted her feet nervously, trying to figure out what she should be saying. Last time had been easier: she'd just had to kiss him and demand that they leave. And there had been the aliens to fight.

Where were aliens when you needed them?

[Deleted]

Robin couldn't help but feel absolutely terrible, even though the situation wasn't really his fault, he wished he could give her something, but there was nothing about her that was ringing any bells. He liked her hair, he liked her hair a lot, but maybe he just had a thing for redheads, that didn't really help him in this situation, even her name wasn't really all that familiar to him. All he knew was that he'd upset her and he wasn't sure there was anything he could do to fix it.

"Well... it's... nice to meet you, again, Kori?" he offered with a lopsided smile "I'm sorry I don't remember you, but maybe we could get to know each other here, if we were friends before I'm sure we'll be friends again?"

It wasn't exactly the best thing he could offer, but what else could he do? If he could force himself to remember everything, he would have done it already, but he didn't think that was possible. The staff had seemed far too accepting of his memory loss, so it was probably a fairly common occurance. Maybe that meant they'd find a way to deal with it, but if they already had one, he guessed they would have said something about it.
She seemed friendly (perhaps a little too friendly), and it would be nice to have a friend, maybe that would be enough?

[Kori Ander]

Oh this just... sucked. Sucked the big glorthog. Kori really, really wanted to just break down and start crying then and there. It obviously wasn't Robin's fault; he hadn't, after all, damaged his memories of his own accord (at least, Kori sincerely hoped not) but still, she just couldn't shake that feeling. especially as he talked about... about being friends again.

It sounded like a dirty word.

"It is nice to be meeting you again, Robin," she said, hoping that her smile hid most of her sadness (it didn't; Kori sucked at hiding her emotions. Sucked hard). "I am certain that we will be friends again! We did many of the things together back before I did the Shifting. We went to amusement parks and hung out and ate the pizza and I would watch you play the video games and cheer you on and sometimes I cooked the food for you though most of the time you did not enjoy the food because my food is rather the strange for you."

Kori took a breath, which she was half surprised to find that she needed, for some reason. Apparently cramming that many words into one sentence took a lot out of you. Who knew?

"Perhaps we could do the hanging out soon?" like now? Kori wondered if she was allowed to suggest something like a date... but that would probably be rushing things... but she definitely wanted to rush things...

[Deleted]

Though she was trying to smile through her obvious disappointment, Robin could tell there was something more than what she was saying. Was it simply that he couldn't remember her? He could easily see why that would be disappointing to someone, to have to get to know a friend all over again, not knowing if they were even the same person without their memories (he didn't even know if he was the same person she was friends with), but was there more to it than that? Had their friendship been more than what she was saying? The way she greeted him sort of suggested it, but then perhaps she was just a tactile sort of person.

"Well that all sounds great... except the strange food, maybe we could skip that part and just get pizza instead?" he offered with a grin, pushing aside his worries and speculation in order to focus on what she was saying, and on the fact that it would be good to have a friendly face around.

"Hanging out sounds great, whenever you're free."

[Kori Ander]

"Oh yes!" exclaimed Kori, her eyes nearly literally lighting up. They certainly seemed greener than they had a second ago; almost as bright as they had been. She brought her hands together before her, clapping a few times. There was a little jump for joy (seriously), and then she bounded forward for a quick hug. Quick, mostly because Kori realized that she was doing the hugging thing about ten seconds into the hug, meaning she let go of Robin as though he'd suddenly burst into flames.

"We shall go to the place of the food and eat the pizza which we both enjoy quite a lot and we shall bond together and be friends again!" she exclaimed, somehow managing to exclude any and all punctuation in what should likely be about four sentences, give or take. She punctuated her outburst with a squeal that was nearly high pitched, but then paused, as clearly something had come to her:

"How shall I know when to tell you that I am free for the pizza?" she asked, though it was hard to say whether this was addressed to Robin or someone else. "Do you want me to go into..." she paused, looked toward his room, blushed, and clearly thought better of finishing that sentence.

[Deleted]

Robin couldn't help but smile slightly at her enthusiasm, it was sort of nice to see somebody that pleased about the prospect of hanging out with you. He had no idea if he was well-liked or not, couldn't remember his friends to know if he'd had a lot of them, but her excitement was definitely encouraging.

"Well, just send me a-" he stopped, remembering that he didn't have a phone here (and honestly, how did he remember mobile phones but not his own name? Memory was weird), and frowned thoughtfully.

"Maybe you could just send me some kind of smoke signal," he laughed, though he wasn't sure why he found the idea as funny as he did, he was sure it wasn't that hilarious.

"How about leaving me a note? On the door or something, or just knock and see if I'm in I guess?" he nodded towards his door, even though she already knew which one it was. "That's probably the best way?"

[Kori Ander]

For a moment there, Kori thought that Robin was about to mention the Titans communicator. She actually still had hers; it was sitting on a desk in her room. They did Shift with whatever they had on them at the time, and Kori had never been without her communicator except for the most dire of emergencies. It even seemed to still be working, though she couldn't reach anyone it. Kori still talked into it at night sometimes, just in case someone actually heard her. but surely if Robin couldn't remember... but wait...

"Your communicator!" she suddenly exclaimed, running right over his other suggestions. She clapped her hands and grinned. "You should have the communicator from when you did the Shifting! It should be on your person, with all the other stuff you had in your belt of many---" her eyes fell to his waist for a moment. She stared far longer than was socially appropriate before frowning. "Where is your belt of many things? Did you lose it?" She gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. 'Were you in the naked when you did the Shifting? Perhaps," she lowered her voice, "it caught you in the shower during the ritual of cleansing?"

No, she definitely wasn't blushing at the thought of Robin in the shower. That would just be silly. Besides, nudity was normal on Tamaran.

[Deleted]

Robin couldn't help but just sort of stare at her for a moment, it was a very odd leap to make, just because he didn't have a 'belt of many things' meant he must have been in the shower? He did, as it happened, have a utility belt stashed away under his mattress, and he had to occasionally stop himself from digging it out every time he left the room, so maybe there was something to her assumption - did he normally take it everywhere with him? Was it just something he never left the house without? ...Oddly enough that phrasing rang a bell, and it was a long moment before he realised he hadn't actually responded to her.

"Oh, uh, I had a belt with me... at least I think that's... but anyway, I had a communicator, it didn't really seem to work but I guess that's just because there was nobody here to, uh, hear it." he motioned her to follow him and lead the way into his room.

Digging under the bed, he pulled out the communicator and earpiece he'd had on him when the Shift had happened.

"This one?"

[Kori Ander]

"Ah, yes! Your belt of many things! It is quite precious to you! You even wore it when you were doing the relaxing and things. But it should have your communicator as well as your staff and your birdie-rangs and your various other things and--and that is not your communicator," Kori had begun talking and walking as Robin had directed, nearly talking over him, which she was wont to do. As he pulled out the communicator, however, her heart fell. She took it, staring down at it and frowning. It certainly wasn't the standard T-communicator that all the Titans carried and used to keep in touch throughout the world. But... but...

Kori turned it over in her hands. Her fingers pried at it. She'd had some experience with technology, both as an alien princess and as a friend of two technologically oriented people. She knew enough to tap the communicator. Besides, this one seemed to have a strangely familiar design. Hadn't Robin said that he'd learned how to make communicators from someone? He'd patched his old one.

"The design, it is similar," she said. She frowned, raising a hand up to tuck back some loose hair that had fallen to partially obscure her face. "When we first met, you gave us the communicators that you and our friend Cyborg had made. You said that you had made them from an old design," Kori tapped Robin's communicator, then held it up. She'd managed to turn it on. "This is very similar. You are most definitely my Robin, or... someone much like him."

Okay, it might have been a leap of logic, but she sort of wanted it to be her Robin. If she could convince him...

[Deleted]

Robin knew that was his communicator, despite knowing nothing about the belt, why he had it or where it came from, he somehow knew what everything in it was and what it did - that was the only communicator he had, and much as she tried to convince herself the similarities were there, he already knew the truth.

He might have forgotten who taught him how to be such a good detective, but his deduction skills were still pretty top notch, especially since it didn't take the world's greatest detective to figure out that he definitely wasn't the Robin she knew, despite the overwhelming similarities. Maybe she could tell him some details that would turn out to be true, but he would have no way of knowing just how similar or different their lives were until he started to actually remember his. Perhaps he was an earlier version of her Robin, or a slightly alternate version of her Robin, or perhaps he was wrong and he was her Robin, but he'd just been using a different communicator for some reason. There was no surefire way of telling, but now the possibilities were there.

"Sure," he agreed gently, not wanting to hurt her, taking back the communicator. He pulled out the black belt he'd had tucked under his shirt when he arrived and slid the communicator back into its assigned pouch.

[Kori Ander]

Kori was not a mindreader.

Yes, surprisingly, mindreading was not among a Tamaranean's many natural gifts. So while Kori might be especially good at picking up on other people's emotions and feelings, she could not read someone's thoughts. So while she might have noticed the slight flickering across Robin's face (doubtful that someone trained by Bruce Wayne would betray that much emotion), Kori certainly didn't draw the connections. It probably didn't help that she didn't want to. This was her Robin, or some variation close enough to count. That was all she needed.

"Right," she reiterated, her voice the firmest it had been since arriving here. She handed over the communicator and watched as Robin tucked it away. That was most definitely his belt of many things, and he was most definitely being secretive about it. Yes, this was definitely her Robin. Definitely. "So," she said, folding her arms behind her back, "we must meet again. I know!" she perked up again, smiling bright enough to make her eyes shimmer slightly. "I will use my communicator and contact you! That should help with the restoring of your memories... that is," she frowned, going from "I found my boyfriend" happy to "and he kicked my puppy" sad in a matter of moments, "if you are wanting your memories back...?"