I can't believe I am posting against my OTP. I am a die-hard RobStar fan, but this story was just begging me to be written. I had so much respect for both Starfire and Red Star after seeing the episode "Snowblind." From that came a little voice in my head that said they would make a cute couple. I squashed that thought for years before my inner fangirl said I owed it to the wonderful, underrated Red Star to give him more appreciation. And really, this is the world of FanFiction. Anything goes. And this doesn't mean I don't love RobStar. But hey...whatever. Other couples need respect and attention too.
It's fine with me if you don't like the couple. You can scream at me all you want, but please edit my work in the meantime. Really this isn't my greatest work and I want to know how well I've done grammar-wise. I also have a bad habit of switching tenses halfway through a story. If you see a mistake-TELL ME! I hope to be a better writer. I would like some help down that road if you are willing to give it!
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. It makes me sad.
Warmth of Unknown Origins
Starfire glanced over at Red Star from her comfy chair in the room they occupied, enjoying a hot drink and basking in the warmth of a fireplace. Red Star had told her what the drink was, but Starfire did not remember the name. All she knew was that it's warm, delicious, and made her entire body relax which was helpful after a long but enjoyable day of vigorous work.
After finding out he saved her from the blizzard and meant no harm, the young alien immediately felt a strong connection with the former soldier. She understood the struggle he faced with his power. She helped him through the inner battle, helped him find the strength to embrace it, and then, suddenly, things fell into place. Red Star returned and began to help reassemble the broken village—his home—ruined by the radiation monster he inadvertently created. He even assisted Starfire and the other Titans with defeating The Brotherhood of Evil when the time came. Since then, the two of them have kept each other updated with both official Titans business and more personal information. Starfire often asked after the formal report finished how Red Star was doing, how the reconstruction was coming along, and how his now non-secluded life progressed. In the last report, after answering question after question, Red Star had laughed and said, "If you're so curious, you should come see for yourself."
One, two, three—-Starfire was down there faster than she could spit the story out to her friends.
Robin called her later on her communicator and made her tell the story slower and in more detail so they could stop assuming she was in trouble.
Starfire was most certainly not in trouble—in fact, she was having a "glorious time." Her words exactly. Red Star's surprise at finding Starfire at his door not an hour after the call with bags in hand quickly passed when he remembered who he was dealing with. The eagerness of the girl astounded the soldier. His smile of greeting made Starfire smile back in delight. She had hugged him tightly. For a while she hugged with just the right amount of strength—which turned out to be more than she normally used when hugging her teammates back home—until her happiness got the better of her and Red Star had to ask her not to crush his spine because he needed it. Starfire apologized, but the soldier laughed, surprising the alien princess.
"I am not so delicate. Not as much as many of our fellow Titans. You may hug me with your incredible strength. I promise to tell you when it becomes too much. You will not break me."
For some reason, that made Starfire feel warm. Not warm like how she felt while donning a blush of embarrassment after that display of strength, but warm like safe. Or pleased. Possibly comfort. Any which way, Starfire embraced the emotion much like she had embraced her friend and moved on.
"Are you feeling well, my friend?"
Red Star's voice brought Starfire out of her memory. Her slight jolt made her sit upright in her chair, taking her out of her comfortable slouching position.
"Hmm?" Starfire asked, wondering what could possibly be the matter with herself that her friend would think her ill.
"Your face is red. Are you too warm?" he asked in his heavily accented voice. Starfire took a half-second to appreciate the sound before responding.
"I am well. I thank you for your concern, friend Red Star." She flashed him a smile just to make extra sure he believes her to be telling the truth. Really, she did feel fine. She just...well, she did feel warm, but not bad warm.
Red Star nodded and returned the smile. "Just checking. I can become too warm on occasion."
"Truly?" Starfire asked. Her curiosity was touched. "How does one become too warm in such a chilling place?"
"I am used to the cold," Red Star explained. "My body has adapted to it. It is possible for me to feel overheated when I enter a warmer environment."
"Fascinating," Starfire said. The slight awe in her voice was obvious. "Do you not then wish to visit the warm beaches or a desert?"
Red Star chuckled. "Ah, a beach sounds most pleasant on some occasions, but I wouldn't be comfortable there for more than a few days. A desert, however, I would avoid altogether. I prefer to stay in my village."
Starfire could understand the bond he felt towards his village. Although it was a place of extreme cold, the warmth of the connections between villagers made one forget the cold. Starfire had experienced it herself. She spent the last few days there, assisting with the building and remaking of the area. Because they made amends, Red Star and the villagers got along swimmingly—like family. It reminded Starfire of family, like the makeshift family she has made of her fellow teammates. The Teen Titans are one big "dysfunctional" family was Cyborg's description of the team. Starfire did not understand the word originally, but the happy tone of Cyborg's voice when he said it convinced Starfire it was a good thing. Maybe that was what Red Star and the villagers were—a dysfunctional family. A happy, dysfunctional family.
Red Star had introduced Starfire to General Raskov and many others. Soon she felt as if she was an honorary member of their group rather than mainly thinking Red Star an Honorary Titan. It felt nice. More than nice. Throughout the days she assisted, Starfire felt accepted in a rare way. She was accepted not exactly as a hero nor as a normal person. She was treated like any other person but often asked to put her powers to good use. Simply put—she was accepted as she was and treated as such. The only strange and slightly awkward moment was when a little girl caught sight of Starfire's lack of appropriate clothing and began to cry. It took a while to convince the girl that Starfire was not going to freeze to death. The alien had apologized profusely to the parents of the girl, to Red Star, and anyone else she felt she might have offended. Red Star kindly assured her they knew she meant to harm and offered her an extra coat. "For sanity's sake," he had said.
"Are you sure you are feeling well, Starfire?" Red Star asked, again breaking Starfire away from her thoughts.
Their conversation from earlier had trailed off into pleasant silence. Starfire felt the urge to sleep and, little by little, allowed it to overtake her as she thought about pleasant things until Red Star again spoke.
"I assure you I am feeling most healthy," Starfire urged shyly.
"You sure you are not overheated? I am willing to put out the fire if—"
"No!" At the exclamation, Red Star stopped his movements towards the fireplace. He looked at her, and Starfire hastily explained. "Please do not. I enjoy the place for fire. It is quite pleasant. It creates what you call a 'loving atmosphere.' And I do love it, so very much."
Red Star's blank stare aimed at Starfire doused some of the warmth she felt both from being in his welcoming presence and the heat coming from the fire. Then the soldier's cheeks took on a pinker tone than usual, even more so than after they came in from their chilling trip from the village to his makeshift home that day. The trip had felt longer than usual because the winds had picked up and nipped at any exposed skin. When they had entered the safety of indoors, Starfire had noticed Red Star's nose and cheeks were a healthy shade of pink. It had made her giggle and comment to him about how he looked like a rose. He laughed and then said how her cheeks looked "rosy" as well. The cold from the trip had disappeared from Starfire's body in that moment—the moment his smile was aimed at her.
But right then before the fireplace it was not a smile on his face. It was a blank stare with pink cheeks. Red Star cleared his throat and settled back in his seat.
"Alright then," he said with forced casualness. "If you want—I mean...I am glad you are comfortable here."
Starfire smiled, hoping to push away the sudden appearance of awkwardness. "Rest assured. I am very comfortable. I thank you for your hospitality, friend Red Star. I enjoy your dwelling place immensely. It possess the 'homely' feel."
Red Star smiled much to Starfire's relief. The awkwardness in the air dissipated. "I, ah...I am glad you like it, Starfire. You are welcome here anytime."
Starfire beamed. His words meant the world to her in that moment. She meant what she said—she loved it here. Of the two houses Red Star owned, this one was her favorite. He remade parts of his former isolation building meant for his containment into a more comfortable setting. He claimed he still had valuable research to do here and figured it wouldn't hurt to make it a little more comfortable. Starfire knew without his saying that by doing so he was forgiving himself. He no longer felt he deserved to live in discomfort and isolation. He was recovering wonderfully and Starfire watched the progress with pride and affection in her heart for the soldier.
The alien princess enjoyed splitting her time between the two houses. This one was pleasantly isolated. Starfire could understand the need for some alone time for her friend. For one, he had been alone for so long, he had grown used to it and needed time to adapt to people. Not to mention the other home almost always had people stopping by to say hi or to talk about the plans for the village or whatever else they spoke of when they began to speak in their language—a language Starfire was still unfamiliar with. She had considered asking Red Star if he would be willing to share the language with her in the way only Tamaranians can, but she soon shied away from the idea.
Kisses—as Starfire has learned to call them—meant something different on Earth than they did on Tamaran. They are defining actions between men and women and whatever state their relationship is in. Starfire found that although they can be wonderful, they can also ruin relations between people. She had seen plenty of movies where a kiss was not always the action to take. But this kiss would simply be a bridge for a language barrier. If she could convince Red Star of this, would he allow her to learn the language through him?
The problem was—as Starfire sat in her cozy seat, watching the fire, feeling very aware of Red Star's presence—she wasn't sure if she wanted it to be a simple Tamaranian tradition.
Throughout her entire life, the Tamaranian princess had been told she would have a mate chosen for her. But ever since coming to Earth, she found the wonderful opportunity of choosing for herself was open to her. She began allowing herself to admire the opposite sex with the implicit idea that something could actually come from it. At first she thought Robin might be an option, but it turned out it could not be so. Starfire did not like to think of it. She has since recovered from that and found herself more open with her admiration of others since her attention was away from a single person that she solely eyed for so long. Men around the city, men back on her home planet, even fellow Titans—Starfire admired their physical and characteristic traits with the full intent to find out if one of them could be her future mate.
Red Star was no exception.
Truth be told, he was becoming what Robin was to her a year ago. She had spoken to Red Star more often now than she had when she first met him. Her enjoyment of finding out new things about him each time they talked kept her interested and left her waiting for the next time he gave a formal report so they could have another chat.
Red Star was brave. Red Star was loyal. He was kind, caring, and strong. Red Star was attractive. Red Star was humble. Starfire listed his good qualities off in her head. They served as a sedative. Her eyes droop until they finally close. Behind her eyelids, the picture of Red Star—jacket off, muscles showing under his shirt, smile aimed her way—appeared and did not leave. With a sigh and a smile, Starfire drifted off to sleep, but not before the cup was taken from her hands. She then felt herself being picked up and carried by strong, reassuring arms. She snuggled against the chest of the person carrying her, inhaled the familiar scent, and then slipped off to sleep.