Awkward conversation it is

"H-hi" you start. Leaning against the wall next to her.

She nods silently taking another sip from her red cup.

"She's uh...really talented" you nod back to the performance. The circle already closing ranks, not even registering your absence.

The goth girl snorted as you said that.

"That's certainly one word for it."

A touchy subjects maybe? You can push this further.

"...You don't aprove?"

"I didn't say that" she takes another long drink from her cup.

You both stand there in silence for a few moments.

"She actually asked me to be up there" Raven continues breaking the silence as another chorus of whoops emerge from the circle.

"Oh" you respond dumbly. It seems your conversation has now spiraled from intentionally to legitimately awkward.

"But uh, you didn't want to do it?" obviously she didn't, otherwise she would be up there in front of everyone. But stating that should make this conversation even worse.

Raven takes another drink "I did...and I didn't."

"Oh...can I ask why that is?"

She lets out a heavy sigh. "I wanted to...because I taught it to her."

You are actually legitimately surprised by that.

"So you can do...that?" Your question is punctuated by yet another cheer of approval from the circle and the sudden emergence of another lace scarf flying overhead.

Raven grumbled at the implication "It's not...it's not supposed to be like that."

"So...what's it supposed to be like? And...what is it anyway?"

Raven drains her cup before continuing "It's called the Azar Hie, and it's meant for...romantic relationships."

"Ah...so why is she doing that?" you hazard.

"Because she doesn't understand the difference!" Raven snapped her cup collapsing in her grasp under a wave of dark energy.

Now that is interesting. It seems there's some legitimate friction between them.

"She doesn't understand what romance is?"

"No...Yes...It's-" Raven let's out another growl of frustration before counting back from ten.

You swallow as you take a gamble. "Do you maybe...want to talk about it...away from everyone else?" through the crowd you catch glimpses of Starfire's now mostly nude form.

Raven remains stock still for a moment. She looks you over once, letting out another sigh.

She turns away and starts walking out of the common area. You follow after her and she doesn't say stop.

This isn't your first choice for infiltration. If anything you'd prefer to explore the tower unencumbered. Still this seems to be a touchy subject for her and any insight you can gain into her mind that isn't covered by the dossier is advantageous. What is more, you're gaining the information directly from a primary source. If you play this right you could gain more information from a single conversation than you could with weeks of surveillance and analysis.

Eventually she leads you to what can only be their gym. Her hands are clenched tight and you note the faint aura of her soul-self already extending out of them.

"So uhm...The Azar Hie? You mentioned it was, romantic. And that Starfire wasn't doing it right?"

Raven nods tightly. "So if it's for a romantic partner...shouldn't she only be performing it for an audience of one?"

"No" she let's her curt response hang in the air for a moment before continuing. "Azarath romance isn't...it's not like how things are on earth."

"In what way?"

"Many...but the most important one is that when someone enters into a relationship, it's for life."

Not the most useful bit of information but still interesting "So does that mean you're stuck with someone until one of you dies?"

She shook her head "No. It's just...different. If you were dating someone and then you met someone else who you liked more, what would you do?"

Crap. She's asking personal things. What's the right answer? Shit shit shit. Why didn't father tell you about this?! "Um...I guess I'd...talk to both of them? I mean it'd be bad to lie to a person I was committed to and pretend I didn't like someone else right?"

A shudder runs up your spine as you hear the strangest sound emerge from Raven. Is she...giggling? "I'm sorry. That's just a very Azarathian response. If you tried that on earth you'd likely get slapped and the relationship would end. Then you'd simply pursue the next person and on and on it goes. On Azarath, you'd talk with your beloved and discuss whether to make them azarheth or azarbrow."

She notes your look of confusion before explaining "An azarheth is someone who only the initiator is in a relationship with. An azarbrow is someone who shares their relationship both with the initiator and others they are also in a relationship with."

"Ah ok...but what if you DO want to y'know, break up with someone. There isn't a way to do that?"

"No" she shook her head. "The relationship is permanent. But it can shift from heth, to brow to lebrow and back and forth over time."

"Lebrow?"

"Azarlebrow. It's...not a disfavored relationship...but one in which those involved have changed since they started. It's important to understand that such relationships are no less important than the ones you make later. And even if you do dislike or even hate each other because of your changes, you are still bound by your shared experience."

"Huh. You know this is really interesting but I'm still not sure what the Azar Hai is supposed to be for?"

You can practically see the good humor she'd built up explaining all of this deflate out of her as she's brought back to that point.

"It's...something that someone does when they want to add someone else to their relationship. Specifically as an azarheth."

"Oh. So why is Starfire-"

"BEcaUsE shE dOeSN't GeT iT!" another flash of red from her eyes as the black aura seemed to envelop the nearby equipment behind her causing brief explosions and power surges.

"Wow this is...really upsetting for you isn't it?"

"YA tHInK!"

This might be enough information for now. Raven is angry at Starfire because the alien girl is misusing an important cultural tradition. You feel like there's some kind of weekly lesson that could be drawn from this experience but you quickly shake it off. Now would be an excellent time for you to excuse yourself and leave Raven to her tantrum. From there you could search for the towers mainframe, and if you are caught, you can simply excuse yourself for being lost.

On the other hand, you're fairly certain you recognize the problem. Your father was certain to educate you on the history of the myriad alien races that have visited earth. You could probably point out and resolve the problem with Raven if you put your mind to it. Maybe get her to trust you more. But what's really more important here? Trust, or disunity and information?