Imprint
Whoa. It's been way too long since I've done some Straven. Very sorry to anyone who was expecting a speedier update. Forgive me for any OOC. And this is a unique one. I've never tried an idea like this before. This new separate story from the collection is dedicated to the birthday girl SylverEyes. Add another female who likes this ship to the list, folks. You have been such a magnificently bright ray of sunshine every time we get to have one of our conversations and I cherish those so much. And a warm thank you to everyone who has added me recently. I feel the love. Truly.
TT belongs to the original creators. My Starfire plushie is lonely without a Raven.
.x.
"Oh! Oh! Friend Raven, what is this delightful little hairy Earthling called?"
Earthling...? Who used that kind of language...?
I'm just trying to enjoy my time at the park with my kids on my day off.
I had been until these two strangely dressed girls caught my eye, only a yard or two away from the swings where little Jane and Henry were. I don't enjoy weird people or weird things. The stories of monsters, vampires, ghosts, aliens were foolish. Even as a child when my foresight was strong with the ability of seeing spirits, it frightened me. This gift frights me.
One who looked like she had picked a shade too dark with a do-it-yourself spray tan bottle was now sitting in the grass, cross-legged in a miniskirt no less (how decent...) and the other who looked like she hadn't stepped out of her house (was that gray a genuine skin color?). A happy loud shriek escaped the orange girl as the insect made a slow trek up her lower arm to her elbow. The standing girl who didn't appear interested at all at her enthusiasm raised an purple dyed eyebrow (It had to be. Kids and their weird trends. And who wore a heavy cloak in the middle of summer?) down at her.
"That would be a caterpillar, Starfire."
An expression of open-mouthed realization dawned on the orange girl (...had she been held up in her house for most of her life as well? Starfire... is that legally a name?) and she wagged an index finger, grinning at the creature who had decided to pause on her upper bicep. "It has many legs! Much like the blue organisms of Worthglorg—!"
Worthglorg...? Is that some kind of fictional monster from a foreign TV show...?
Raven sighed, turning away from the other girl. "You honestly wanted to do this for our date...?"
...! DATE...?
"I thought we would come here before going to the Mall of Shopping. The park of swings has fascinated me." Starfire eagerly eyed the empty set where my kids had played on before heading for the sandbox, questioning, "How does one— 'swing'?"
"I don't do playgrounds."
She lowered the caterpillar safely onto the ground beside her before beaming— almost knowingly up at her friend. "If you truly did not desire spending the time with me, you would have left already."
"You said a date, not playing at the park. That's something children do." Raven frowned, staring back critically into her entertained green eyes. "And since when did you start thinking so confidentially about the pattern of my actions?"
"Since you caught my eye, Friend Raven. Several years watching and living with someone reveals a lot about that person whether it is physical or their habits." Starfire began tilting her head this way and that inattentively as she recalled from her memories, "You stir your tea counterclockwise; during the winter your hands smell like sweet lotion; there is a small dimple on the inside of your left thigh." Much to the other girl's surprise (and mine…why was I still gawking…?) she boldly slid an long, slender orange hand up her leg, grinning as the area she touched developed goose bumps.
"Am I mistaken?"
"Why do you still do that?" Raven brushed aside her hand, her frown building on into something new. A untried, miserable emotion. "Why do you still call me that?"
"You will always be my friend. Because you were my friend first." The orange girl laughed softly. "Shall I call you Lover Raven instead?"
"Forget it. You are becoming annoying."
If the gray skinned girl was going to move away, she never got the chance to as the other drew herself up onto her knees and clasped her arms around her waist.
"You may hide your real self from me as you have before. You may conceal your feelings of love that make you feel weak and human but I can coax these emotions you choose to keep secret. You know this." Starfire pressed her face to her stomach kindly, whispering, "I was your first, was I not?"
"I…"
"The first you loved shamelessly. It is not shameful to surrender yourself, if it is sexual or not. The shame you feel now is the only thing that is childish."
Raven's fingers curled themselves into her palms helplessly.
"Momma!" I felt my body seize up as if I had been temporarily caught in a trance. My little girl waved to me from the sandbox, pointing to an approaching ice cream truck.
As I rose from the bench, I glanced back. They were gone as if never there in the first place.
The greasy man with a curly and blond ponytail driving asked if I was new in town. I responded yes. He also asked as he handed Henry a chocolate dipped cone if I had heard about the town's heroess: " the Teen Titans". I had not. They were currently out of town— his eyes sparked with the sickening interest of one who had the details on some juicy rumor— hunting down the unnamed creature that had murdered their two female members.
The hot coffee thermos clutched between my hands began to shake.
.x.
fin.
