December Blues

Runny nose, sore throat a headache rivalling two boulders being smashed together. Yep, it was definitely flu season again. Robin lifted his head a few inches off of his pillow but came crashing back down as he felt like a pickup truck was balancing itself on his sinuses. He groaned loudly and chose to roll off of his bed as a less painful alternative, rising to his feet he trudged to his wardrobe, pulling out his uniform before heading into the shower.

The next few hours felt like hell for the boy wonder. Training, an activity which he usually enjoyed, turned into an assault on his ear drums, with each shout or cheer feeling like a blade piercing into his skull. He tried his best to act normal and not to show weakness but he struggled to withhold a cringe when Cyborg let out a loud rendition of his signature catchphrase every time he hit his target. Even the exuberant and cheerful voice of Starfire was hard on his hearing, he felt bad that he was actively avoiding engaging in conversation with his alien best friend. Her voice was usually a joy on his hearing but today her excitement sounded shrill and piercing.

He knew he wouldn't be able to hide his illness forever and eventually one of the others would notice his condition but he had to try. He was the leader, he wasn't allowed to get sick, the others wouldn't ask questions anyway. This would be the case, however Robin had let a certain alien slip from his mind. If he could just get back to his room he would be able hide in there for the rest of the day.

"Robin?" the cheerful voice rang cutting off his footsteps.

He should have known she would be the first to notice, maybe if he just played it cool he might be able to convince her that he was fine. "Yeah, Star?" he replied as he tried to cover up a sniffle.

"Are you the o and k, friend?" she asked, her voice showing a slight amount of concern.

He turned slowly around to her and put on a false smile "Yeah, I'm fine Star, why?"

She seemed to grow slightly nervous, and she began idly tapping her fingers together "You have not seemed very interested in speaking with me today and I was unsure if I had upset you"

Guilt flooded over him and he smiled reassuringly at her "You haven't upset me at all Star" he inhaled through his nose and realised the problem straight away "I've just been busy" he answered, his voice betraying his blocked up nose.

She titled her head slightly in confusion "Are you sure you are feeling okay, friend?"

He had been caught, might as well admit to it "Yeah, I'm just sick is all"

Her eyes widened slightly "You are unwell?" she replied with a tone of urgency in her voice.

Shit. He had dug himself into a hole here, "Really, I'm fine Starfire" unfortunately that simple sentence reared sniffles and coughs.

"You do not seem fine, Robin" she replied, her voice taking on a slightly stern edge

He couldn't hold back a slight smile at her concern, he found it very endearing how she would take on an almost mothering nature when he had problems. "I'm sure I'll be fine Star. It's just the flu, it will go away after a while"

She looked almost mortified at his nonchalance "Illnesses should not be ignored, Robin. I will assist you" she scolded

"Star-"

"I do not wish to hear more complaining Robin. Please sit on the couch" she answered with a cheery voice

He sighed and smiled "Okay" he made his way to the couch as instructed. He secretly loved the attention he was receiving from Starfire but he couldn't help feeling guilty over her using her free time to play nurse to him. The image of Starfire in a nurse's outfit crept into his mind and he mentally slapped himself. Mind out of the gutter Dick. He sat in the middle of the sofa and tapped his fingers on his leg idly as the minutes passed by. He wondered what she was doing and kept turning to look but all he could see was cupboard doors being opened and closed and Starfire darting around the kitchen.

After what seemed like a lifetime, Starfire took a seat next to him and proudly handed him a large bowl. He took it with slight confusion and peered into it to see it filled with chicken soup. He looked over at her as she stared at him with anticipation as he held the spoon up to his lips. "The soup's great, thanks for making it me Star" he said with a warm smile. The dazzling smile she returned to him made his heart do little flips. Soup was about one of the only earthen foods Starfire was able to cook. He had spent a day with her trying to teach her some culinary skills but sadly the only thing she really succeeded in making was soup. Regardless of her small knowledge she looked so proud of her accomplishment, and as he continued to eat the soup he was proud of her too.

They both sat in a comfortable silence as they watched the TV together. Starfire's attention to the show was drawn away at the small cry of pain coming from her friend, she turned to look at him and found that he was clutching to his temples. In what seemed like a moment she had switched back to the concerned carer mentality and she was instantly concerned. "What is the matter, Robin?" she asked quickly.

"Ah, it's nothing really. I've just got a headache"

A lightbulb seemed to flare to life in her head "We have some of the remedies for the 'ache of heads'!" and within a second she had zipped up above the couch and rocketed down the corridor. Barely being gone for a minute she reappeared and landed on the couch next to him handing him a small pill. "This should relieve your head pain Robin!"

He gave her a smile and took the pill from her before swallowing it. He was surprised at how quickly his headache was going down as within minutes he was feeling a lot better. However he also found himself to be yawning at a frequent rate, he could feel himself getting drowsy "Hey Star, what was the pill you gave me?"

Starfire tapped her chin with her finger "I believe it was called 'Codeine', it said on the bottle that it was good for flu"

He hadn't took Codeine in years, no wonder he was feeling drowsy. He began to feel extremely cold and started to shiver quite excessively and it didn't take long for his alien carer to notice. "It's so cold all of a sudden" he said through chattering teeth.

"I have prepared for this symptom" she replied with a smile as she unfolded a few blankets and draped them around him. "Do you feel warmer?"

He tried to give her a reassuring smile but his still chattering teeth and shivering gave him away.

In what seemed less time than to blink he found that Starfire had slid under the blankets and her body was firmly pressed against his. He felt his cheeks burn and he blinked rapidly at her. "Is this better?" she asked again, he could see that her cheeks had also reddened slightly.

He wasn't sure if it was his drowsiness or the flu but he wrapped his own arms around the girl and smiled warmly "Yeah, much better"

"That is good" she replied with a bright smile as she kept herself close to him

The proximity of them was causing his brain to stop being able to produce logical thought and he could only come up with random questions as he felt his face moving closer to hers "You seem to know a lot about taking care of people Star"

Her face lit up "As part of combat training when I was younger I was also expected to learn medical care so that I may aid ill or damaged soldiers or allies, also…"

As he listened to her talk it was like every word was wrapped with silk and honey and he could barely even understand what she was saying and instead was only listening to the way she spoke. He heard a slight eep as he realised that in his trance like daze his mouth had actually collided with hers. He was ready to back away and apologise until he felt her start to return the kiss. Because of his blocked nose, his only tool for breathing was currently occupied and so he slowly tugged himself away as he gasped for air. He felt himself melting as he stared into the emerald orbs that sparkled and glistened as they looked at him lovingly. "You can't catch the flu can you, Star?"

She coughed quietly a few times to try and get her voice to function once again "The Tamaranean immune system is much stronger than a human's, which means we cannot catch viral infections very easily"

He grinned and pressed his mouth back to hers "Good"

The End


Author's Notes:

I promised fluffy bullshit and here you go.

Not really Christmas themed but it is set in December so it still fits into the festive theme. There will be 1 or 2 more stories added to this which will hopefully be added before Christmas.

Leave a favourite and review!

Edit: Should mention that the request for a 'sick' story came from a review by MadameDegrassi354 back on my first story. Sorry it took so long!

Next Story: Another Christmas themed story