It's been a while since I've written/typed anything. While I normally only do ATLA and Clone Wars, I've always loved Teen Titans and wish someone would write a Star/Speedy story :)
Don't own anything (except these here words). And eventually yes this will have a more mature theme. First few chapters are clean!
Enjoy!
Loneliness. While it was once a feeling she was not used to, she had experienced it much more often lately. Starfire's glossy red hair swayed back and forth as she paced the halls of Titans Tower. She used to be able to find almost anything to keep her occupied, or anyone. After their issues in Tokyo, she had thought all she had ever wanted had come true. She had done it. She had finally got the boy of her dreams. The leader of the group, her best friend, Robin. While the first months of dating were a whole new whirlwind experience for her, things had already begun to fizzle out. Although she wasn't sure what a "normal" human courtship was like, she knew something didn't feel right. What started with the open displays of affection of receiving flowers, spontaneous dates, and the jealous glares Robin gave when he even suspected any other man of looking at his girlfriend, had now died down to the Boy Wonder sitting in his room obsessing. Though they had defeated the Brotherhood of Evil, Ravens father, and to everyone's assumption Slade, Robin couldn't shake the feeling of emptiness. He no longer knew what to do with his time. A guy like him couldn't just stop working on all he had known his entire life.
His many days and nights spent away researching and training had left Star more alone than ever. All the other Titans remained in the tower. But had all found something to busy themselves with over the course of the last few months. Cyborg had taken quite an interest in Bumble Bee and while the two denied dating of any kind, could always be found working out, taking his car out for a spin, or playing video games. Which was to Beast Boys dismay. He had always been Cy's video game parter.
After Beast Boy had found Terra alive and well at a local school, he would spend days up there trying to get her to remember who she was. So many times, the school officials had him banned from the grounds. He would bring her gifts and write her poems. Beast Boy would try whatever he thought it would take to win her back. Raven had normally spent her days alone in her room. Which was nothing new to her, as she preferred it. After Starfires first few visits to Ravens room, she was able to tell that she was overstaying her welcome with her frequent "visits". While they were friends, they never talked about feelings much.
As she rounded another hall of the towers immense maze like set up, she began wondering when things would return to normal. When would Robin wish to spend more time together?
The two had begun to distance themselves from each other after a blow up from Robin the week earlier. Star had gone in to see when he would be ready to exit his room and come join her or their friends in something a little more... interesting.
Last week
The automatic doors swished open as Starfire happily walked herself into Robins research lab, the walls were lit up with the bright blue glow of monitors flashing and scanning. Robin sat in a chair in front of the giant screens, holding a gloved fist up to his chin in deep thought.
Starfire smiled and crept up behind him and tossed her dainty arms around his chair, concealing him in a hug.
"Hello Robin!" she happily chirped, nuzzling her head on the side of his chair. Robin didn't move or react. "I was curious to what time you think you would be done with your work, perhaps then we may partake in-"
"I'm pretty swamped right now Star, maybe later" Robin interjected. Starfire's smile dropped for a second, then returned as she made a second attempt.
"Oh, that is fine" she assured "Maybe tomorrow morning we can wake up and venture down to the beach"
"I doubt it, I'm waiting for some emails and evidence to come through" he denied again. Starfire's attitude was beginning to shift. She obtained the feeling that he did not want her around. She tried to brush it off.
As she stood and released her grip on her boyfriend and the chair she walked around the side of the chair, looked up at the flickering screen, then down at Robin. Who looked rather frustrated. She leaned in to give him a small peck on the cheek, as she learned was acceptable in the courtship of an average couple. Her lips barely brushed his cheek when he shook her off and jerked away slightly.
"I'm kind of busy right now Star, maybe later" Robin said as he clicked quickly on the keyboard. Starfire straightened herself and held herself in her own arms as she shamefully shuffled back out of the sliding door with the lingering thoughts of "what did I do?", "am I not a suitable partner?", "is there something wrong with me?".'
She had learned that it was much better to leave Robin undisturbed. Unfortunately he had rarely left his work lately. She heard him utter words of "new evidence on Slade". The new material did not interest her, nor the other Titans, as they had already accepted Slades disappearance or death.
As the winding halls and many elevator rides led her back down to the living room where some familiar guests were waiting.
Bee sat on the oversized couch next to Cyborg, while Aqualad and Raven chatted in the kitchen as Raven sat upon the island countertop. Suddenly, two flashes of white and red zoomed around the room in a beeline toward Starfire. Mas Y Menos clung to each of her legs as they began shouting compliments in spanish at her which always made her giggle.
"I see they've missed you" a familiar voice noted. Starfire looked up through her hair to see Speedy standing in front of her. He was considerably taller than Robin, even if you did count his spiked hair as "height". His short red, buzzed cut hair remained kept as he had never let it grow long.
"Yes, it has been a long time" Star agreed smiling. She loved visitors. Especially when they were her friends. Speedy looked around the room, his mask scanning for a missing Titan.
"Wheres Robin?" he asked "I've been tryin' to get ahold of him to train with me for a while but he's been blowing me off"
"Oh, he has been most busy" Starfire said, trying to excuse his behavior. The two stood, shifting nervously next to each other silently.
"So dudes, I think its time to lighten up this shin dig!" Beast Boy declared, throwing a gloved fist into the air.
"What's your brilliant idea?" Raven asked dryly, not really caring what the answer was.
"Uhh...I don't know..."he admitted. "Play a game?"
"Now what kind of game are you thinking of?" Bumble Bee asked, raising her eyebrow. Starfire lit up.
"Oh! May we play the hide-and-seek?"she pleaded sweetly to the group. Beast Boy grinned in agreement.
"Awesome! I'm totally in!" he said
"Isn't this game for children?" Raven questioned.
"Who cares? We deserve some fun" Cyborg said standing up "and y'all gunna be bawling when I win!"
"Doubt it, I'm the champ at hiding!" Speedy boasted. Aqualad declared himself 'not it', as did all the others until it was decided that Bee would start seeking. As it was nearing night time, they decided the game would best be played with all the lights out. The only way to avoid being deemed 'it' was to either hide and not be found or run to the declared 'safe zone' which was on the roof without being tagged. She would count in the kitchen as the rest of the Titans scattered all around the tower. No room was limited, except Robins research lab. They all made it crystal clear to avoid that entire floor of the tower.
Beast Boy ran down to the gym and shifted into a mouse in order to hide better. "Thats cheating!" Aquadlad hissed as he ran by the room, finding refuge in the laundry room in the basement. Cyborg tried to stifle his loud, clumping feet as he sped to the garage. Surely his mechanized body would blend with all the machinery. Mas Y Menos had the great advantage of speed on their side. They took off from the kitchen and found their spot in a small abandoned closet in a higher level of the tower before any of the other Titans had left the room.
Speedy took off down a hall as Star watched him walk away. She was starting to doubt her skill in this new game she had suggested. She floated down the opposite end of the hall and tried several different spots, under an end table, under a lamp shade, then finally settled behind some curtains in her own room. Obvious? Maybe.
As she hid in her all familiar room, she noticed it was much easier to see here. Her giant window helped to moon illuminate every nook and cranny. You could see everything as clear as day. Luckily, he curtains were made of such thick purple material that it helped her cause.
In the distance she could hear Bee wrapping up her counting "58, 59, and 60!" she shouted "Here I come!"
Starfire wasn't sure on the protocol of hiding. She just new to stay still and stay quiet. She tried tricks like holding her breath when she thought people were near and closing her eyes, as if that gave her extra invisibility. About 10 minutes into the game, Starfire her crashing noises in the kitchen.
"I TAGGED YOU AND YOU KNOW IT!" She hear Bumble Bee argue.
"Are you KIDDING me?!"she heard Cyborg counter "I was safe before you even knew I was in here!"
"Fine!" Bee gave in, irritated. She continued the search on, in the next few minutes Mas Y Menos made it safe, which was to be expected. frustrated, Bee began to up her search. Running quickly to each floor and trying to stay as quiet as possible all the while. Starfire thought she was searching on the other end of the Tower, when suddenly she heard her bedroom doors slide open. She clamped her hand over her mouth as Bee combed the room. Star clinched the ends of the curtains as she awaited her doom of being 'it'.
After a few moments, Bee left the room unsatisfied. Starfire let out a breath of relief. Then decided it was time to run to the safe zone before Bee came back to look.
After waiting a moment, she stepped out of the drapes and peaked her head out the door, checking the hall. She slowly took a step out. The complete darkness of the tower made it all but impossible to see, unless you were in a hall with a window.
Starfire took slow, tedious steps with her arms held up to her chest. She wasn't scared of the dark, per say, but the risk of getting found made her heart pound so loudly she was almost worried it would give away her position.
A hand slowly slide around her arm and began tugging at her. She jumped and almost squeaked in fear, until another had gently but firmly covered her mouth.
"Shh!" the voice hissed lowly "Don't go that way, Bee's searching down there, we can take the stairs"
Starfire finally recognized the voice as Speedy's and that he was trying to help her to 'safety'. She relaxed her arm and let it sink into his soft grip. His had slid down to her forearm as he led her down the hall toward the stairs. He quietly clicked the door open and closed as the two scurried down the next flights of stairs, on their way to the living room. Once they were a few flights down, they heard the door upstairs that they had just exited click open, Speedy grabbed Starfire and motioned for her to be completely silent. Bee's high heels could be heard echoing as it stepped out on the stair platform. They stopped for a minute, which went from motionless, to a frantic tapping as they began to run.
The two realized she knew where they were, but they were still two flights away from safety. Bumble Bee was beginning to catch up as the three ran down.
"Come on I need to tag someone!" Bee demanded, swooping her legs over the banister and dropping down another flight, skipping the need of all of the stairs. Once her feet hit the metal, she was running again.
"She is much too fast!" Starfire said as they ran. Speedy took action and picked Starfire up in his arms as he used one arm to fling the both of them downward. The warmth and security of his arms made Starfire remember how Robin used to do it. Time seemed to move slower as she savored the moment because it was so rare these days. Robin had barely even touched her other than a small peck.
There was one night where he had tried to go further. Light kissed had turned deep and passionate. The two were down on in the living room that night, while their friends were out. Starfire had tried to familiarize herself with how relationships work. Whatever Robin wanted, she was willing to do. For the most part. Which is why she feared she was the cause of Robins distance. Starfire didn't want to think about that night so she pushed the thoughts away and focused on what was happening now.
Once down to the bottom floor, Speedy set her back down and the two began to run hand in hand. Starfire noticed and began to blush. She was not sure if this constituted as 'the cheating' but if he didn't act like it was wrong, it must not be. Starfire and Speed but through the doors with Bumble Bee hot on their heels, they were just out of her grasp.
The couch was in view, Speedy swung Starfire forward to get her to safety faster. However after Starfire slide into the couch, Speedy was blocked by Bee who was now in his way. The two held on to each end of the counter that they were stationed on both sides on. Any movement to one side would result in the other one moving to block. Aqualad used this time of her distraction to slip over to saftey, as did Raven as she appeared through the floor. After a prolonged period of this, Bee became enraged.
"Thats IT!" She yelled, ripping out her signature B shaped golden weapons. She pointed at Speedy and shot. Speedy ducked down which caused the fridge behind him to become mildly destroyed. Bee rounded the corner to come tag a grounded Speedy, but once she left the opportunity open, he slide across the counter and gained refuge next to Starfire on the couch.
"Ugh!" Bee groaned in fustration. Cyborg high fived Speedy as they all did a head count and found only one Titan was still on the lam. He was close behind as they saw a tiny green mouse scurred toward the couch. Bee cooly stepped on the mouses tail and smirked.
"Youre it" she declared proudly. "Oh and no more shape shifting"
Beast Boy changed back, holding his butt.
"OW! You couldda just tagged me ya know!?" he whined. A new round began with BB being it. After rehiding and trying to tag, things were begging to get out of hand as several of the Titans would deny being tagged, when it was done fair and square. This resorted to a lot of telekinesis, blasts, and star bolts being fired off around the tower. Cyborg would tag Beast Boy so hard, it would shove his small frame straight into the ground. Which would be countered by Beast Boy ramming Cyborg into a wall, literally. Which would then result in a Sonic Cannon blast from Cyborgs arm. Several walls had holes blown into them, and a couple pieces of furniture were damaged.
It soon became Starfires turn to be it. She hadn't had this much fun in a long time. She counted and set off to find all of her friends. They all knew she had a lack of experience so some thought it would be nice to hide easier, which was quickly done away with. After a few minutes of her looking, Aqualad, Beast Boy, and Cyborg had all run to safety.
She had finally found Mas Y Menos, who put up quite a chase. She shot a couple star bolts and eye beams to try to slow them down. But they eventually joined the ranks of the safe Titans on the couch. Star had almost succeeded in tagging Raven until she phased through a wall, causing Starfire to fly right through it.
She blew some air up in her bangs in annoyance. It sucks when you can't find people. She shuffled down more hallways, ones that neared Robins room. Then she suddenly heard a voice.
"If you'd just turn around once in a while, you might have just found someone a lot sooner" Speedy said. Starfire turned on her heels, as her hair whipped around her shoulder in surprise.
"You...have been following me?" she smiled. Speedy remained leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.
"Following is such a...strong word" He chuckled "I'd like to think of it as accompanied you."
Starfire giggled as she stepped toward him. If she could distract him more, she could tag him. He smirked, catching on to her plan. She was never that sneaky.
"I'll tell you what, I'll pretend you tagged me if you just agree to walk with me on the way back" Speedy offered. Starfire was a bit perplexed. Why would he want to walk with her?
"Do you think I do not have the ability to tag you on my own?" She questioned a bit irritated.
"No thats not it" He assured "I just want to talk a little bit"
Starfire agreed. It had been a while since she had someone to talk to. Why pass up the opportunity?
"What would you like to talk about?" She asked, walking side by side with him. She never noticed he was a bit taller than her.
"Just how you're doing. You seemed kind of down when we first got here. Is everything alright?" he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
"Oh yes, I am fine" she assured, giving a semi-fake smile. She had to use her fake smile alot lately. The only thing that made her smile feel partly true was that she had finally had a reason today.
"Its good to see you and Robin together, I know he's been after ya for a while now" He informed. Starfire's bright green eyes shot over to him.
"Really?" she asked eagerly. Speedy nodded, she then couldn't help but notice that his mask was exactly like Robins. At first she loved the mystery that the mask concealed. Then it made her wish she could see Robins eyes. Just once. She wished he could trust her with that much of him. She wanted to know the color of his eyes, what made them tear up, if they ever did, and she wanted to see her reflection in them. Just to let her know she was the only thing on his mind, as he was hers.
"I am...happy that things have finally worked out. I have waited a long time for this." She admitted. Her words felt a tad empty, even to her.
"You don't sound that happy" He said bluntly. Starfires brow furrowed.
"And just how do you know what my happiness sounds like?" She demanded. Her and Speedy had never been that close and it angered her to hear him question her relationship. He knew nothing of her. He had no right to pass his judgement. What if this was her at her happiest state? He didn't know. He wasn't there. Starfire decided to end this walk, they were a hall away from the living room.
"I'm sorry, you know thats not how I meant-"
"Don't worry about it" she dismissed. She was done talking to him. Her good day was now ruined with thoughts buzzing through her head.
Starfire stormed into the living room with Speedy trailing behind. Cyborg had turned the lights on as Bee thanked them for the fun and noted that they should be getting back to their own Tower. As the rest of them laughed about the happenings from the vigorous rounds of hide and seek. The "fun" had left the Tower a mess, but it was well worth it.
"Shouldn't we start cleaning up before Robin-" Beast Boy tried before he was cut off by the door sliding open with Robin standing there, staring at the room.
"What the hell is going on?" He asked in a dark, angry tone. The kitchen was a wreck, several chairs and couches were tipped over, burn marks and medium sized holes were blown into the walls. Compared to the hall ways, the living room and kitchen was nothing.
"We uh, just played some hide and seek and it kinda got...out of hand?" Aqualad said sheepishly.
"I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to the idiots that live here" Robin hissed. In one of the loud blasts throughout the tower as they were playing, it had jarred some wiring loose that cause Robins computers to shut down.
"I think it'd be best if you guys head home" Raven suggested, she appeared to be the only one not too threatened by Robins rage. The Titans East agreed. They offered to come back to help clean up, but Robin assured them their presence was not welcome as of now.
"Sorry" Bee said as she collected her team and they all began to leave.
"You know what this meant to me" Robin said, grabbing Starfires forearm as hard as he could, causing her to try to flinch away. He jerked her closer as she coward. She hated seeing him like this. She knew it was not his fault he was so angry, it was hers. She was the one who suggested the game. She fought against premature tears forming in her eyes.
"I know, I am sorry. We were just trying to-"
"I don't care" he said, tossing her away causing her to stumble back. Speedy glanced back and frowned deeply at the scene. He moved to turn back, until Aqualad grabbed his shoulder and shook his head. He didn't want them in the middle of the fight. They had already done enough. The team walked out the door to exit the tower.
"Take it easy Robin, we can reboot your information and get it all back" Cyborg stated, trying to calm his friend.
"Thats not even what gets me, what I don't understand is how I can have a team that is this childish" Robin scolded "You all claim to be heros, but what if something had happened tonight? Would you have all been to busy with your little game? Aren't we suppose to be examples to the city?" he demanded.
"It's not like we would have continued playing" Raven added "We wouldn't have ignored them"
"Whatever, I'm going back to work. This had all better be fixed by tomorrow" He ordered. Then stormed out of the room. Starfire stood there in shock, a bruise formed on her arm where he had grabbed her. Beast Boy looked over at her in pity. The remaining four of them sat there in silence.
"Well, I think its time to lay down. We need the rest, we'll get started on the clean up tomorrow once were all feeling...better" Cyborg said, trying to help Starfire's situation. He knew she would be no help to cleaning. None of them wanted to stay up and run the risk of Robin coming back out and targeting them.
He was a good leader, but his temper...
Starfire hadn't moved or shifted her glance since Robin had left. She held herself and was still. Focused on why she was a failure. Why couldn't she handle the simple task of keeping her love happy? Everything she did was wrong in his eyes. He didn't count her ignorance as an excuse for her screw ups any more. She should know better.
"Do you want me to walk you to your room?" Raven offered. While she hated social contact, she was still a good friend to Starfire.
"No, that it okay" Starfire declined and began to make her way upstairs to her room. She wanted to make the walk alone incase she broke out into tears. She did not want her friends to see her in this broken condition. She was always the happy spirit of the group, that was all she was good for. If she could not remain happy, what purpose did she serve?
Rounding another hall way, she neared her room. She hoped for many things. She hoped to make Robin as happy as he used to be. She hoped her relationship could live up to what she had always wanted it to be. She hoped he never yelled at her and humiliated her in front of their friends again. Mostly, she just hoped to stop hurting.
She entered her room and once her door was closed, she dropped to the floor and buried her face in her hands. There were no tears, she just wanted to be somewhere else. Somewhere happier. Her optimistic attitude could only do so much. Silkie came over and began licking her boots. She picked the creature up and walked over to her bed and set him on it. She sat on the edge and took off her boots, exposing her long legs. She then stood up to undress herself, taking off her metal cuffs and neck ornament. Then removed her skirt and top. Once she had ridden herself of the weight of her clothes, she walked over to dispose of them in the hamper in the corner. The moon light shined thorough, causing her flawless bare skin to appear a pale blue-like color.
She reached her bed, lifted the thick pink comforter and settled herself inside its warmth. She pulled the blankets up as high as they would allow. Leaving only her eyes and up exposed. Once she sunk into her bed and let her mind wander, small tears began to fall and soak into her pillow.
Ok so it's the first chapter, so its gunna be awkward, but it'll pick up pace. Believe you, me. Thanks for reading!