Thanks for the reviews and support. Sorry again for the delay… I've been reworking it over and over. There were a few ideas and speculations in the chapter that I liked, but I couldn't seem to get the context right. They were awkwardly strung together, and kind of still are... Anyway, I'll try to just get it up and leave it be next time!

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More than Shoes

Chapter Three: An Early Return

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Raven glanced at the alarm clock by her side. 5:43 AM, it read. Her first instinct was to drift back off to sleep, and so she closed her eyes. She then realized she was wide-awake, but she lay there, resting, anyway. Opening her eyes again, she noticed the clock read 5:45. It was pointless to stay in bed, so she got up, slightly disoriented in the immaculately tidy room.

She found the neatness a little unsettling. Sure, she was rather disgusted by Beast Boy's pigsty of a room, but at least it looked like someone lived there. Even a hotel room seemed more like a real home than this room ever would. Titan's Tower, it seemed, was not his home.

No, a real room should have things in it. Personal touches. Everyone knew Raven had hoards of interesting books, mirrors, statues, and other things in her room (the rule that nobody was allowed in her room was short-lived – her room seemed to be the most visited out of all the Titans'). And the décor, even if a little on the gloomy side, was unique; when someone entered her room, they knew that she cared about her room. They knew that Raven lived there.

Looking around, she saw only ivory walls and wood paneling. There were plenty of shelving units and closet space, but she saw nothing that would reveal anything about him outside from the title of "Robin". Bo-staffs, training equipment, uniforms, masks. No interesting items, no CDs, no posters, no photographs. All work, no play.

She grabbed a fresh uniform from the closet and headed to the shower, eager to get out of the room. Of course, it soon struck her that she would far prefer to be in Robin's room than the bathroom… in the shower… in Robin's body…

She laughed to herself, knowing full well that almost any other girl in Jump City would kill to be in her position right now. He wasn't Teen Queen Magazine's Heartthrob of the Year for nothing. But she couldn't help but wonder, how could they decide such a thing when they'd never even seen his eyes?

'Oh. Right. The eyes,' she remembered, realizing that taking a shower meant taking everything off, including the mask. And taking the mask off was, in Raven's opinion, possibly more intrusive than taking off his pants.

She hurried out of Robin's room. She'd just get it over with as quickly as possible, and focus on everything other than the task at hand. She just would ignore the fact that he was a boy, and that he was a good-looking one, at that.

So when she reached the bathroom, she had no difficulty when it came to undoing the tunic. Nor any difficulty when she took off his shirt. And even the pants, she was okay with taking off.

When it came to the boxers, she made an effort to think about the colour of paint on the walls and the number of ceiling tiles. But it was okay – after all, she'd already had to overcome this situation when she'd needed to use the toilet. Something she'd conquered quite well, she'd thought.

But when her bare hands reached up to her face, she noticed her hands trembling slightly. It wasn't as if she was going to see anything – she'd made a point of turning away from the mirror. But the gesture itself she felt uncomfortable with. She wondered what Robin thought of it all.

She carefully pried off the mask, closing her eyes and, bracing herself, stepped into the shower.

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Slowly arising from his slumber, Robin noticed the glow of yellow sunlight washing through and warming the greyish and purple tones of Raven's room. He had scarcely been in Raven's room in daylight, and it was unbelievably different; it was amazing how a bit of light could vanquish all signs of creepiness or gloominess.

He looked at an intricately carved clock on her wall, reading approximately 9:30 – quite a bit later than he normally woke up. He subconsciously rubbed his eyes, then shoved the covers aside and got out of bed. Glancing down at his slender pale hands, then noticing his… assets, he winced, remembering yesterday's events. "Only ten more days to go…" he muttered under his breath.

He grabbed a towel, about to head to the bathroom, but then he remembered Raven usually showered in the evening, and tossed it aside. The others probably wouldn't notice if Raven was showering at a different time of day; they generally weren't as observant or suspicious as he was – most people weren't, and it was probably healthier that way. But just in case, he would get in the habit of showering in the evening.

Still, for now he would change into a clean uniform. …Not that he wanted to get changed, or anything.

He found the discreet zipper to her leotard and tugged on it, and after managing to get the costume off, brought it over to the laundry hamper. A large mirror just so happened to be positioned next to the hamper. It wasn't his fault that she'd positioned it like that…

He knew he shouldn't be staring, but it was difficult not to. And, well, it wasn't as if Raven was completely undressed… she still had on her undergarments. And besides, they were less revealing than some – most – of Star's swimsuits.

As he glanced at the reflection in the mirror, he was mesmerised by the perfection in her curves, and the way the black undergarments with powdery pink bows and lace contrasted starkly against her pale ivory skin.

After a second he collected himself, tearing his gaze away and walking over to her dresser. He opened one of the drawers, finding pyjamas. He hadn't known Raven wore pyjamas – but then again, one can hardly be expected to wear a uniform every night. He took a look at some of them – no cutesy animals or anything, but still a surprising amount of colour. One side of the drawer had some plain, some lacy camisoles; the other side had pyjama pants and boxer shorts, generally with some sort of pattern. The colours weren't too vibrant, but it was colour nonetheless. His favourite was a pair of light pink boxer shorts – it was so atypical, yet somehow seemed to suit her. He'd be sure to wear them tonight.

In the next few drawers, he found various civilian clothes. He hadn't even thought about whether or not Raven even owned civvies. Yet she seemed to have a lot… probably due to the fact Starfire made a point of dragging her to the mall on a weekly basis. He quickly looked through, finding quite a variety. There were many gothic styled clothes that one might expect, but also some surprisingly normal garments. She had some sweaters, halter tops, jeans – things he would never expect to find her wearing. She had the occasional band tee (even the names of the bands sounded frightening), and more shocking, a few skirts. He was constantly finding out more and more about this mysterious girl.

After looking through the drawers with tops and bottoms, he found the undergarments. Black dominated the drawer, but there were many other colours – white, pink and red among them. Lace and bows were abundant. He quickly grabbed the first set, and shut the drawer.

And then…

And then what? He struggled for what seemed like an eternity to unlatch the back of the bra, and to no avail. He sighed, figuring desperate times called for desperate measures.

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Raven closed her eyes, leaning back against the back of the seat, sipping her warm herbal tea. She knew that she maybe shouldn't be drinking it when the other Titans came home, since Robin scarcely drank tea by his own will, but she figured that Robin was always up before the others anyways; if she drank it early enough, she wouldn't be caught.

She felt a presence in the room. Rather than with her powers, like she normally would, she felt it with Robin's hyper-alert senses. As softly as he was treading, she could hear his footsteps, and she could smell the very slight scent of summer rain (well, that's what the label called it, anyway). She could even feel it in her body, on her skin; his body was trained to sense those approaching.

"Robin," she said, calmly, without turning around, mimicking him quite accurately. She sensed him stepping forward.

Slowly, she turned her head to face him, then opened her eyes to confirm that it was him.

She choked on her tea. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I… need help," he said with as much confidence and poise as he could, but still blushing like crazy. "I struggled with it for a while… couldn't figure it out."

"And you needed to ask for help here, in the middle of our kitchen-slash-dining room-slash-living room-slash-everything room, in only underwear," she said, in disbelief.

"It's not like anyone is here to see," he shrugged.

"What if there had been?" she asked. "What if someone else had come by?"

"Well so what? You look good. You shouldn't be so self-conscious," he said, direct with his words.

She wasn't sure what to say. "…Just because I don't want the entire world to see me parade around in my underwear does not mean I'm self-conscious," she said, finally. Outwardly indignant, inwardly flustered.

There was a prolonged silence, and the awkwardness of the situation finally struck him. "So, um… hey. Come back to your room and help me?" he asked, walking back to her room without waiting for a reply.

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"This is ridiculous," she muttered, as Robin sat on the edge of the bed. "You honestly couldn't figure it out."

He reddened slightly. "Yeah… But hey, it's not like I'm supposed to be good at this sort of thing, right?"

"I bet Speedy's mastered it," she smirked.

"Why would Speedy be wearing… Oh. Nevermind. Gotcha."

She laughed lightly, then took his hands and guided them, showing him how to latch and unlatch the undergarment.

"See? It's not so hard."

He blushed slightly. "Thanks," he mumbled. "So… want to do some training after breakfast?"

"Sure," she shrugged impassively. "Guess we should."

"First, though… pancakes? Second time's the charm…"

Raven looked as if a miniature rain cloud had just formed over her head. "You know I can't…"

"No, I swear… last time they were… well they weren't… that…" he trailed off. "This time they'll be great! I promise."

"I… I guess," she shrugged.

Robin put on a new leotard and cloak, and the two headed for the kitchen.

Putting the ingredients together, Raven found, wasn't so bad in itself. She could memorize the recipe in the morning before going into the kitchen. The problem lay more in the actual cooking of the food.

"Whoa, Raven! Watch the stove!"

"I'm watching it!" she retorted, though saw the black smoke start to rise. She desperately grabbed the spatula and frantically scraped at the mess in the pan. Robin grimaced as a mess of burnt black crust and gooey batter was scraped onto the plate.

"You've gotta be more patient," he instructed. "Turn the heat down, and let them cook through first."

She sighed and nodded, pouring more batter into the pan, starting over.

After the last batch had been cooked, Robin could see significant improvement. On her own, she'd managed to produce pancakes that weren't runny in the centre, and were only slightly darker than desired.

He grinned at her as he took a bite out of her latest creations. "They're pretty good!" he exclaimed, giving her a thumbs up.

She smiled slightly. "Robin… you can't do that when you're me," she reminded him. The grin looked strange on her pale face, and the thumbs up certainly looked out of place.

"We've got a few days before they get back," he shrugged. "Might as well act cheery while I still can…"

"I can be happy," she argued.

"Yes… but… cheery?" he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I can…" She faltered. "Fine. Maybe not."

He smiled slightly. "Let's go train."

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The sun shone brightly outside, as they stood on the rooftop. Their capes were off and they faced each other, ready to spar.

Raven reached for her belt and withdrew a bo-staff. She extended it, ready to fight.

"Whenever you're ready," Robin nodded.

She charged straight at him, bo-staff in hand, ready to attack. He dodged her attack, but expecting that, she planted the staff into the ground and used it as leverage to swing her body around and kick him in the side.

He got up and made to strike her, but she was too fast. She blocked and neatly punched him in the face before he could dodge or defend. She then swung at him with the bo-staff, hitting him square in the stomach.

His body was slower and much more vulnerable. But then, he remembered that he had other powers. As she came at him with her fist, he sunk neatly into the roof, then appeared again behind her, striking her with his arm and sending her flying. He didn't feel so bad about hitting her now that she looked like himself.

She yelled in surprise, picking herself up off the ground. As soon as she stood, Robin hit her with energy blasts into the wall. He was relentless.

She cried out as her back made impact with the wall. He flew towards her and pinned her against the brick, crushing her wrists with his hands.

Raven gritted her teeth, before kicking him in the stomach with both her feet. He was knocked back, and she took the opportunity to hit him with the bo-staff, right over the head.

He was knocked to the ground, and she leapt on top of him, preparing to land another blow to his face. Her wrist was caught, though, restrained by dark energy.

Robin smirked at her surprise, then in one graceful movement, slid out from under her and with a back flip, kicked her with his legs and landed on his feet.

She rolled over and he stood over her, then as she struggled to move, he got to his knees and pinned her wrists down, this time kneeling on her thighs to keep her from kicking him off.

"Yo, they're on the roof!" they heard a familiar voice shout. They froze, panicked expressions on their faces.

"Hey guys, we- Oooh, boy. Looks like we're interrupting something," Cyborg said, his eye widening.

Robin felt his face go red as he realized how it must look. "No! Just… sparring…" he said frantically.

"Rae, you're red as a tomato!" Beast Boy laughed as he came bounding out behind Cyborg, followed by Starfire.

"I am not… Why are you back so early?" he asked, quick to change the subject.

"I dunno… apparently yesterday was the last day of the convention."

"Yeah… but the return tickets for the plane ride were for today too. And the hotel had only had us scheduled to stay for the one night," Cyborg shrugged.

"Why is it that our mysterious benefactor would tell us it ended three days from now, I wonder," Starfire said, her eyebrows knitting together slightly.

He wanted us to be caught offguard, Raven realized, and knew Robin knew it too. There were so many things they still hadn't practiced and so many things they still didn't know about one another.

"You can get off now, Raven," she said. "The sparring match is over…" He blushed, realizing he was still on top of her, and leapt to his feet.

He opened his mouth to apologize, but thought better of it. Raven would rather pretend it never happened. He composed himself and grabbed his cloak. "I need to meditate."

Beast Boy snickered, but Robin heard. He put on his best Angry-Raven face, and apparently did a convincing job, as Beast Boy was now cowering in a corner. "Idiot," he remarked, striding off.

Beast Boy sighed, watching as Robin strode off to his room. "Well looks like you two had fun without us…" he winked.

Raven struggled to keep her anger from showing. "We were training," she said, her voice calm. "Nothing more. There is nothing between us."

Maybe her voice had been a bit too cold, she realized with worry, as the others looked at her a little strangely.

"…Okay, whatever, man," Beast Boy shrugged. "But dude! Come on! Check out some of the sweet stuff we picked up! We got limited edition comics and original artwork and collectible action figures and pictures of all these people we met that were dressed up…!"

She rolled her eyes. "Like I would-" she stopped herself. "-Miss out on a chance to see all that… amazing stuff. It sounds… awesome." She almost laughed out loud at how awkward she sounded. Luckily the mask had covered her eye roll, and somewhat hid her face, as she couldn't bring herself to look excited.

"Yeah, c'mon!" Cyborg and Beast Boy raced ahead. They were a little dense, but Starfire seemed to have picked up on the awkward reluctance.

"Robin?" she asked slowly.

"Er… yeah?"

"You seem… tense," she said.

"No!" she shook her head. "No, I'm fine!"

She smiled, and took hold of her hand. "You do not convince me, Robin." She leaned in close to her ear. "Maybe I can assist you."

"That's quite alright!" Raven stiffened, edging slightly away. Starfire, however, didn't release her hand.

Raven swallowed hard. Today would be a long day.

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END OF CHAPTER

You can thank Spicycute199 for motivating me to FINALLY finish this chapter! I know this one might be a bit shorter than others have been, but I wanted to let you all know I'm still alive.