Starfire slid the glass door closed behind her as she exited Dick's apartment onto the balcony. She had just finished helping Dick bandage his legs, which sustained quite a bit of soft tissue damage thanks to Not-Catwoman's whip. The wounds would heal but not without quite a few days of pain. Damian had disappeared onto the porch the instant the three had gotten home, refusing to speak and accept medical attention. Grayson, knowing he had a lot of paperwork to fill out, evidence to collect and calls to make in order to make Hurt's conviction stick, had asked Starfire to check on the youngest inhabitant.
Starfire fiddled idly with the Holo-ring which rested on the middle finger of her right hand. Until they figured out how to juggle their multiple identities, she was confined to the disguising jewelry. Damian sat on one of the lawn chairs, back to the door, gaze unfocused on the distant horizon. Starfire crossed in front of him-rather than behind- and toward the free chair. She had learned quickly that Damian did not take kindly to movements made outside his field of vision.
His fingers rose briefly off the arm of his chair, a vague recognition that someone had joined him, eyes still caught on the images held only within his own mind. She eyed the empty plastic chair and decided against it. Rather, she squatted in front of Damian, resting a gentle hand on top of his. She was careful to make slow, cautious movements and to use only minimal pressure. Damian was overly prepared and defensive at the best of times. After the exhaustion and emotional distress of his day, he was likely to be a tightly wound coil, ready to spring at the slightest provocation.
It clearly took Damian a couple hard blinks to return to the 13th story balcony from whatever thoughts had suspended him. There were dark shadows under his eyes and his normally piercing gaze was rather muted. As Dick and Starfire had both suspected, Damian was in deep need of rest.
"Starfire." Damian acknowledged quietly. He removed his hand from under hers, resting it instead in his lap.
"Damian." Starfire greeted, unsurprised but slightly disappointed with his reaction. "Richard is talking with your father on the phone, informing him of what happened. I have no doubt he will wish to speak to you, ensure your safety for himself."
Damian's mouth turned down slightly, as if he had been expecting something else. "I sent him a message. He knows I am in satisfactory condition." Damian pushed himself up, correcting his posture as if to prove his point. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't quite contain the flinch which the sharp wound at his side caused. Damian's scowl deepened.
"Would you let me examine it?" Starfire asked, already preparing a counter attack for the response she knew would follow.
"I am fine. I attended to it myself."
"Yes, and I am sure you did an excellent job. However I cannot imagine that your father or Richard would be satisfied without at least checking your work. 'Double-check everything', yes?" Starfire inquired, quoting one of The Batman's more infamous sayings within the vigilante family.
Damian eyed her critically but relented with only an over dramatic sigh and a signature eye roll. He lifted his t-shirt, revealing the gauze and tape which had been used as a makeshift bandage in the field. Starfire delicately peeled back the medical tape. Dried blood crusted to the straight edges of the wound. There was minimal swelling and redness, which indicated to her that it was not infected- for now. However, she knew he had yet to disinfect the wound. She smoothed the tape back against his skin, pressing the bandage back in place.
"The edges of the wound are clean, not too jagged. It should be very easy to stitch, perhaps you will even heal without scarring. We should attend to it however, make sure to clean it up to ward off infection." Starfire assessed smoothly. Among other things, Dick had taught her quite a bit of first aid in her Titans training. Though his lessons had mainly been excuses for him to spend time with her, she had always gained something useful from them and had relished the chance to learn as much as she could about the planet that had been, at the time, brand new to her.
"I will make sure it is taken care of." Damian said, once again keeping her at arms length. More than anything, it increased her worry for him. The two of them had come leaps and bounds from where they had been when they first met; him accusing her of being "all looks and no talent" which she had quickly responded to by melting the batarang that he had aimed at her face. Even when the two had a heart to heart about Dick's safety and their concern for him, Starfire had felt that Damian had not let her completely in. And the next day, when they had had breakfast, he went back to his typical behavior, as if the conversation had never occured. It was always two steps forward, one step back.
Starfire stood up, a sigh escaping her lips. She regarded his carefully, trying to read him. As usual, she came up empty as she studied his practiced composure. He stiffened under her examination, preventing her from detecting signs of stress, pain, exhaustion; hiding what he perceived as weakness.
From her vantage point, Starfire could see a small strand of the rope that Hurt had used to bind Damian half hidden within the ebony spikes of the young boy's hair. Without thinking, Starfire leaned forward, hand outstretched to pluck the foreign object. His fingers closed around her wrist, grip digging into her flesh with what would be painful strength if she hadn't been Tameranean.
Their eyes locked, hands still frozen in place. His dark penetrating gaze met her brighter but no less firm one. Neither withdrew their hands nor their eyes; such action would equal submission.
"I would advise you let go of my hand." Starfire asserted in a measured tone.
"I would advise you refrain from touching me." Damian countered in a hiss.
Finally, Starfire lowered her eyes. She was not one to admit defeat- ever- but she was also not one to fight 13 year old boys whom she could quite easily defeat. "Damian, I wish you did not take after your father so much in the way you handle situations that scare or unnerve you, by lashing out. It makes everything so much harder." She broke his grip, pulling her hand back toward her.
"Take that back. You don't even know what you're talking about, you-"
"Don't," Starfire growled, the barest hint of green energy crackling in the corners of her eyes, "Finish that sentence." She poked at his chest with a single index finger, pressing him back into his chair with immovable force. "I understand that you are uncertain of your future, unsure of how my marrying Dick will alter your life. You are allowed to be apprehensive. But you are not allowed to treat me with disrespect. I have only ever treated you with the utmost dignity and I expect the same courtesy, befitting the Wayne name and the lessons you have learned from Richard." She removed her finger, taking a step back. She had not meant to yell as she had, but neither did she feel that it had been without warrant.
This time it was Damian who lowered his glare, a sting of shame evident in his evergreen eyes. His shoulders pressed into the the back of his chair. Though he was clearly upset, it was also clear that he would not be willing- or capable- of making the first move. It would be up to Starfire.
Starfire finally made her way to the chair, which was looking increasingly appealing. Fatigue was finally getting the best of her and she sank gratefully into the seat. "Damian, you must know that I care deeply for Richard. I do not believe in soulmates, but when I am with him… it is the only explanation that makes sense. But I also care for you, and what is in your best interest. If I am not part of that-"
"Your being with my brother, that is in his best interest." Damian stated with conviction and Starfire felt her eyes close involuntarily, waiting for the coming verbal blow. "His best interest is my best interest. Even if I am too stubborn or...cautious to admit it." In a very un-Damian like move, he bit his lip, uncertainty written all over his features.
"I appreciate you saying that." Starfire acknowledged sincerely. Truly, she knew first hand how hard it was to admit weakness. "You and I are more alike than you might think." Damian raised a skeptical eyebrow at that, but Starfire plowed on. "We were raised to believe that weakness was the worst thing that you could ever display. That weakness was a flaw meant to be covered up, trained over and compensated for. We were raised to value bravery, prowess, and strength over anything- even friendship, love, family. It is not easy to live in a world where you can have no vulnerabilities."
Damian swallowed heavily, eyes fixed on the end of his shoes. "No. It's not."
"And yet those original familial bonds, those ingrained tendencies, they are hard to break free from." Starfire studied the horizon this time, her head spinning with memories of her childhood. While her immense strength had been highly encouraged by her father, thanks to the increasingly war-driven society under his regime, her flight had been discouraged highly, as it gave the appearance of an unfocused, unserious opponent. Essentially, anger and unwavering confidence had been reinforced, while joy had been discouraged- forbidden, even.
"Denying the training of my mother and my grandfather feels like disloyalty." He admitted in a small voice. Finally, he was giving her an inch. Well, she was glad to give him as many miles as he wanted.
"You have heard the phrase, 'blood is thicker than water', I assume?"
"The idiom that states that the bonds of blood are stronger, more important than those of friendship. Yes, I am familiar." Damian affirmed. From the drop in volume and the slight tremor in his voice, it seemed that this phrase had struck a chord in him. As if it were a thought he'd had often, turning over in his mind, using it as a measuring stick to judge his own actions; using it as the perfect excuse to find fault with himself.
"I thought so. Were you aware that that was not the original meaning, that it has been misinterpreted in modern times?" Damian met her kind eyes at that, something akin to hope shining in them. Starfire nodded, smiling at him encouragingly. "It's original meaning actually implies that the bonds forged in battle- in the spilling of blood- are more potent than those of birth- of life giving water." Starfire tilted her head at him, shrugging her shoulders in a confessionary fashion. "I do not know what you think, but I have always thought that version rang more true in my life. Richard. The Titans. You. All have been more of a family to me than my true family was."
Damian rolled that thought over in his head, allowing his analytical brain to find flaws with her statement, trying to find faults in her logic. Even after several minutes, he found no obvious fallacies- a rarity in his world.
"I will leave you to ponder that a little." Starfire offered kindly, knowing that she had given a very thoughtful boy a lot of thinking to do. She stood, stretching her arms above her head in an attempt to relieve some of her tense, aching muscles. The hem of her thin sweater pulled up, rising from its place at her waist to a spot just above her belly button. Damian was just about to avert his eyes when he saw the deep, painful bruising along the smooth plain of her lower back.
"Starfire. You are hurt." Damian held the shirt just high enough to reveal the discoloration, attempting to both preserve modesty and inspect her injury.
The young woman twisted stiffly trying to see, typical flexibility and grace missing from the movement. "Just a little bruising, I assure you. I already had Richard take a look." She smirked at him, "Unlike the two of you, masochism is not one of my strong suits."
"I am not-" Damian squinted, 'tt-ing' disdainfully. "That was a joke, yes?"
"I think Richard would classify it as a tease, but yes."
He rolled his eyes at her, but this time it held none of the arrogance or vigor that it normally did. If she had to identify it, Starfire might have even called it sassy. She quirked an eyebrow, and strolled toward the door that led back into the apartment, lips curled in a confident smile. When she passed him, she snatched at the piece of rope still in his hair. Expertly, and without even looking, she flicked it over her shoulder and into his face. He barked out a single laugh, following her in.
Grayson sat on the couch, leg propped up on a pillow which rested on the glass coffee table. He looked up at the two, who had spent an inordinately long time on the balcony. They had never spent so much time alone together in his recollection. "Hey, you two. I was just about to send a search party."
"We were just having a conversation." Starfire smiled innocently at him, forging a path toward the kitchen in search of food. As she passed behind the couch, her hand stroked along Dick's shoulders seemingly of its own accord, though she did not stop her trek toward sustenance.
"Glad to hear it. Whatcha talk about?" He shot a curious glance at Damian.
"Blood and water." Damian threw back nonchalantly, similarly making his way to the fridge.
Dick met his reflection in his laptop screen, head tilting and brow furrowing in confusion. "Oh...uh...Sounds cheery
A/N: Okay, if I'm being perfectly honest, this is my favorite chapter. I really felt that this exchanged needed to happen between Star and Dami. Tell me what you think- was in in character? Does their (his) slight animosity seem resolved? Will they be able to interact peacefully from now on? Thanks once again for reading! Your journey is almost over, but not before some post angst fluff. ;)