Partridge in a Pear Tree: Mr. Scrooge, have a cookie
The rest of the day had passed in relative peace, and by evening the Tower had been fully decked with Christmas cheer. Robin had remained silent through most of it, finding all of the glowing joy being plastered to the tower as rather unnecessary. When night draped itself over the city once again, the four more spirited Titans made their way to bed and even Raven spared them from her usual snide remarks before sleep.
Robin had traversed the roof, hoping to clear himself of all the 'silliness' that had gone on that day. Unfortunately he had found, much to his chagrin, that the entire city had finally gotten up their last-minute decorations and were ready for Christmas Eve.
…and the night passed slow and silent for the grumpy Boy Wonder, who found himself depressed by the lack of calls to duty. Perhaps even criminals felt the need to be charitable for this small, serene period of time.
"…Robin? Friend Robin…? Robin?" a feminine, energetic voice pierced his sleepy mind. Robin slowly, groggily, opened his eyes in an attempt to register who it was waking him so abruptly. He blinked once, twice, and a third time before it clicked that he was not being woken by an exotic helper of St. Nick but rather by Starfire… who had perched a Santa hat atop her vibrantly flame-colored head of hair. "Good Morning, Robin! It is the twenty-fourth of December… your terran Christmas Eve!" she bubbled, holding him up by the shirt of his uniform with two hands.
Robin scowled and tried to pry her fingers off of his shirt. "Starfire… let me… down!" he mumbled. Star tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes.
"You are in a mood of meanness again, are you not?" she accused, setting him heavily onto his feet. Robin sniffed.
"I don't like Christmas…" he grunted. Starfire huffed and crossed her arms.
"And this is why you slept on the roof?" she asked, wrinkling her nose. He stared at her for a second and then looked around him. It appeared he had, indeed, slept on the roof. He wondered when he'd fallen asleep during his time of griping at the city's festive décor. Robin decided he was lucky that they lived in California. Snow might have dampened his already low Christmas cheer, considering that no one was fond of hypothermia.
"Uh… no. I just, er, fell asleep on accident…" he simpered. Star giggled.
"Silly Robin… now come! We have been up since dawn making the traditional cuisine of the Christmas Eve," she declared, grabbing his hand and drawing him after her into the depths of the Tower again.
"Starfire, I'm not hungry… Star… let go. Please. Starfire!" he attempted to pull himself free of her grip. She whirled to face him with big, imploring eyes.
"Oh… Robin… why must you despise joyous Christmas?" she breathed. Robin pressed his lips into a thin line.
"It's distracting. We have things to do, Starfire. Besides, everyone needs to grow up one day," he muttered. Star stared at him for a long time.
"Sometimes it is a good thing to simply relax and put troubles from your mind, Richard." She hummed quietly. He narrowed his masked eyes.
"You know better than to call me that in public," he hissed. The Tamaranian girl rolled her eyes.
"This is not public, Robin. It is your home. And it is Christmas. You must relax and enjoy the season, Robin. It truly is not going to be as wonderful without your participation." She sighed. Shaking her head, she dropped his hand and walked off. "Robin… you say one day you must grow up, but sometimes I wonder… were you ever a child?" she called behind herself.
Robin remained standing in the hall, pensive as she left. Finally, he snorted irritably and stalked back to his room.
Starfire appeared in the kitchen to greet her friends, who were all dining heartily on Christmas cookies. Beast Boy was speaking emphatically to Raven and spewing cookie crumbs with each word. Raven was enduring the rain of food on her hood with only the occasional flinch as he opened his mouth particularly wide.
"C'mon, Rae! You have to agree with me on this one. You can't honestly think that you can decorate a cookie with black and blue sprinkles and still call it a Christmas cookie. Seriously, I can't believe you considered doing that. It's like… like… Christmas cookie blaspheme. Santa Clause will end up smiting you for it or something!" he crowed. Raven tugged her hood a little tighter up over her head as the changeling launched more cookie crumbs into the air.
Cyborg was watching the exchange in interest, staring between the two with an entertained gaze.
"Beast Boy, we finally got the actual mistletoe up… so I'd suggest taking one of your precious 'red and green' Christmas cookies over there and just have your way with it. You don't need to prove to me that blue and black don't belong… frankly, I don't care." She droned, selecting an undecorated cookie from the pile and coating it with the sprinkles of her preferred color.
Beast Boy stuck his tongue out at her and then readjusted his fake Rudolph nose… which blinked merrily as he snagged another cookie. Red and green of course. Cyborg had taken note of Starfire's arrival.
"Hey Star! I guess you couldn't get Rob to come join us?" he said, smiling sympathetically. Starfire pulled off her Santa hat and turned it over in her hands.
"No, I could not… and it is most sorrowful that he will not join us for these lovely celebratory acts." She sighed, a tad down-trodden. "It really would have been the loveliest Christmas gift of all… if he would just come celebrate…" she mused as she replace her hat on her head.
As Star headed towards the kitchen to get her own plate of cookies she heard a voice call after her. "Well… then I guess… Merry Christmas, Star…" Robin coughed and rubbed the back of his neck, shuffling his feet uncomfortably beneath the gaze of the other Titans.
Starfire turned in surprise, now holding a plate of brightly decorated cookies of her own. She lifted a tiny eyebrow, curious, but it was Cyborg that asked the question first. "Yo! What made you thaw out for Christmas? Ain't you to busy with sorting your crime files again to be cheery?" he prodded with a large, satisfied smile on his face.
Robin rolled his eyes. "I just… realized that a break to relax and just… spend time with my friends is important too… not just being the perpetual workaholic. Besides, everyone needs to be a kid once in a while, right?" he glanced over at Starfire and she smiled serenely back.
"I'd agree on that one, dude," Beast Boy nodded affirmative. Cyborg grinned and shook his head.
"Starfire's pretty good at pulling him out of his shell, isn't she…" he wiggle his eyebrows at Raven… who smirked and nodded slightly. Robin folded his arms across his chest.
"Hey… how do you know I just didn't want a Christmas cookie?" he demanded. Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg all looked over skeptically.
"…Right…" Raven said at last. Robin snorted. He shook his head, and actually managed a crooked half-grin before heading over to Starfire. He came to stand at her side in the doorway.
"Mind if I try one?" he asked, pointing at the cookies. Star's lips curved upward and she offered him the plate.
"Of course not," she giggled. She waited until he was done chewing and then she spoke again. "…Robin, we are beneath the mistletoe… again…" she blushed cutely and smiled at him.
He looked up and then nodded slightly. "Indeed we are…" he agreed, looking contemplative. She tilted her head to the side, a little perplexed by his thoughtful expression. "And I suppose this time I ought to kiss you." He continued.
Her jade eyes widened slightly. Well… this was… new…
Robin cupped her cheek in his hand and pulled her forward, brushing his lips over her own. Starfire's eyes grew wider still. "One thing you need to learn about mistletoe… is that kisses on the cheek don't count," he smirked slightly and then grabbed another cookie before meandering back over to the rest of the Titans who were donning equally wide-eyed looks.
He paused before he sat down to join them and looked back at Starfire. She had brought a delicate little hand up to her lips and was blushing furiously. "…unless, of course, it's either Beast Boy or Cyborg under there with you because they're still on probation after yesterday." He slurred. "Oh… or Raven. You really… don't have to kiss Raven at all… because… staying alive is important around here and all…" he added.
Raven levitated a cookie over to him and jammed it forcefully in his mouth. Robin went cross-eyed in an attempt to see the cookie and then screwed his face into an awkward expression. He said something muffled and fairly incoherent. Beast Boy laughed.
"Raven, he says Christmas cookies aren't supposed to be black and blue!" he grinned smugly. Raven sniffed.
"What does the Scrooge know about Christmas cookies, anyway?"
"Well, he knew about mistletoe well enough!" Cyborg hooted. Raven gave him a blank stare.
"Right… well why don't you and Beast Boy go try your hand at it, then…" she said, motioning to the mistletoe. Starfire had moved out from under it and was nibbling at a cookie intently, her eyes glued to the treat and her cheeks still bright scarlet. Beast Boy looked horrified.
"Ewww! Not happening! …heh… but I'd take you under the mistletoe ya saucy sorceress," Beast Boy smirked and waggled his eyebrows at her. Raven scowled.
"Just keep dreaming, Beast Boy," she droned. Starfire heard it all and smiled softly to herself. It was Christmas eve of her first Christmas and nothing could be better.
Author's Note: Ok... I was... unable to post last night. Sorry. I seriously wasn't allowed on the computer at all... which was depressing. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this Chapter. Everything is a day behind what I'd hoped for now, but consider this your christmas present, I guess. I'm going to try and get my BB fic. for Chicken Soup posted tomorrow, it's just got some editting left to be done, and the christmas day chapter of this story too. I guess on Teusday I'll give everyone the day after chapter and leave it at that. I had hoped to have this written in accordance to the day, though, so it's a little depressing. Oh well.
Merry Christmas! And Happy Holidays!
Love,
Princess Starfire of Tamaran
BTW: I'm glad to hear you all have an interest in chasing mirrors... I'm quite excited about it too! And for those people who have asked me to read their fics and I have not yet reviewed, I'm sorry! I've been really busy but I saved your reviews so I have the URL to the user lookup and I promise I will read them soon. They all sound wonderful!