Disclaimer: Characters/entire series still doesn't belong to me.
Author's Notes: Enjoy!! And thanks for the reviews so far!
Flying Home
by Kristen Elizabeth
"Sick!!!!" Beast Boy stormed out of the kitchen, holding a dirty pot between the very tips of his fingers. "What died in this thing?!"
The only one around to hear him was Cyborg. He was sprawled in front of the huge viewing screen, playing Warkannon V, and didn't respond until he had beaten a particularly tough opponent. "Star made that pudding of hers."
"Oh." He threw the pot back into the kitchen, hoping it landed somewhere near the sink. "She didn't try to shove any of it down my throat."
Cyborg's eyes never left his game. "I wouldn't eat it even if she'd asked."
"Because it's the grossest thing in the entire world?" Beast Boy guessed, plopping down next to his friend.
"Because I'm not sad." The older Titan threw down his controller as his character died a bloody death on the screen. "The last thing we need is a teammate who's not in the game. If Robin wants to go, I say we're better off without him."
Beast Boy frowned. "I guess."
"You playing?" Cyborg offered him the spare controller as he retrieved his own.
"Nah." He stood up again. "Not in the mood."
He started to go when Cyborg called out to him. "Don't tell me you'll be sad to see him go." When Beast Boy didn't answer, he shook his head. "Man…you'd think we were just the sidekicks or something. I've got news…we're not. We're the ones who have the powers. And we've been suckers following a follower all these years."
"Robin's not a follower."
"Keep telling yourself that." Cyborg started a new game. "But the minute he walks out that door to go back to being someone else's sidekick, he loses all my respect."
Beast Boy stood still for a long time, watching the back of his friend's head. It was fitting that he was made out of so much metal. He could certainly act cold enough.
Spoonful by disgusting spoonful, Starfire consumed an entire bowl of the Pudding of Sadness. Traditionally, eating the horrible mixture was supposed to make a person forget their sorrows, but it didn't seem to be working for her. Her tears had watered down the pudding and made it ten times harder to choke down. Perhaps it was time to let go of this particular Tamaranian custom.
She set aside the empty bowl and wiped at her cheeks. The tears just wouldn't stop. She couldn't make them stop. Robin was leaving the Tower, leaving the Titans…leaving her. What was there left to smile about?
"He has every right to go," Starfire told herself. "He has many commitments…and none of them are to me."
But the words didn't make her heart hurt any less. Although there had never been anything official between them, she knew Robin cared for her. But did he know how much she returned the emotion? She had no idea. She'd never told him. And that was her greatest regret.
"But he has never said anything either," she reasoned out loud. "Perhaps he does not care for me as more than a dear friend." Starfire sat up. "Perhaps I am not human enough."
This was a terrifying thought, and one that sent her scrambling to the full-length mirror on her closet door. She examined herself critically. Her hair seemed human enough. Dark red, long and lush, it hung down to the small of her back. Her eyes were a bit too green to be completely human, but he'd never looked away from them in repulsion. Her waist was petite, her bosom was real and her legs were shaped properly.
But her skin…that definitely wasn't human. Perhaps that was something Robin didn't care for. What if he liked girls with lovely white skin, or even lightly tanned, rather than her orange-tinted complexion?
A tiny "eep" escaped her lips. She clapped her hands on either side of her face. That had to be it. Panic swelled beneath her breast. She needed help. Help of the female variety. And there was only one person on the team who fit that description.
Meditation was her key to control and right then Raven needed that control. The strange little group she'd come to depend on so very much was about to fall apart. If she let herself scream and cry as some deeply buried part of her heart wanted to, it could be disastrous. She could single-handedly bring down the entire Tower, in a much more literal way than Robin would by leaving it.
Her brow furred suddenly and she felt some of her control slipping even as she continued her three-word chant. Anger. Sorrow. Worry. She had to keep them suppressed. Her nails dug into her palms as she struggled with herself.
"Azarath…metrion…zin…"
A light rapping on her door that could only be made by Starfire's hand broke her concentration. Her levitation faltered and Raven dropped to the floor, landing on her backside.
"That's going to leave a mark," she complained as she stood up. Pursing her lips, she walked to her door and cracked it open. "What?"
Starfire stood in the hallway, her hands clasped at her heart, a pained expression on her face. Raven very nearly felt sorry for her. The alien girl looked the way Raven would have liked to feel. In a word, horrible.
"Dear friend, I know that you value your privacy above all else, but if we could possibly engage in a few minutes of girlish talk." Starfire forced a smile. "It is very important."
Raven sighed and against her better judgement, opened the door enough for Starfire to enter. "Come in." She closed the door as soon as her teammate cleared the threshold. "How girlish will this be?"
"I am not certain." Starfire looked around. "It is so very dark in here. Could I perhaps turn on a…"
"I like the dark."
Starfire nodded. "Very well. It might be better. With the absence of light, you cannot see my hideous skin that so closely resembles orange soda pop."
"Um…what?"
"Please be truthful with me, as a friend who is also female. Am I ugly?"
Raven stared at Starfire for a moment, searching her eyes for any signs that she might be joking. All she saw was earnest worry. It only took a second for her to catch on. "You're not ugly, okay? Is that all you wanted to know?"
The other girl looked down at the floor. In the dark, it was hard to tell, but she was sure Starfire was about to burst into tears. "If I am not ugly, then why…" She stopped, unable to go on.
"Look, I'm not the best person to give your ego a boost." Starfire sniffed loudly and Raven sighed again. "That came out wrong," she apologized.
"It is all right."
Raven sat down on the edge of her bed. "No one here is stupid, Star. You've always had a thing for Robin and he's always had a thing right back for you."
"Is this the truth?" Starfire looked up, hopefully.
"Do I ever speak anything else?"
The light in her friend's eyes died. "He must not have enough of a thing for me if he still chooses to leave us."
"Men suck," Raven explained as succinctly as possible. "And most of them smell bad."
"Robin does not smell bad."
"Obviously you've never caught a whiff of him coming out of the gym."
Starfire lifted her shoulders. "He always smells like Robin. I will miss his scent so much…" She bit her lip. "I do not want him to go, Raven."
"So…don't let him."
"How would I keep him from doing so?" She thought for a moment. "I suppose I could tie him down."
Raven shook her head to clear away a sudden, unwanted image. "Keep the kinky stuff to yourself." When Starfire frowned, she continued. "I'm not saying you have to hold him hostage. There are other things you could do to…convince him to stay."
"I do not understand."
Inside her head, Raven could hear herself groaning. She was going to have to have "the talk" with her teammate. Could her day possibly get any worse?
"All right, sit down," she instructed the Tamaranian girl. "Here's your final lesson on Earth behavior."
Robin stared at the open and half-filled suitcase lying on his bed. In the three days since his birthday, he'd discovered something. Packing was turning out to be far more difficult than he had anticipated. Every drawer he reached into held a slew of memories. He was being assaulted by the past, the good and the bad. Old newspaper clippings, yellowed pictures of the Teen Titans and smudged articles outlining their deeds. Birthday cards with glittered words. Movie ticket stubs. Broken game cartridges. Things he should have cleared out years ago.
Tucked away in one drawer, he'd found a single picture of Starfire. It had been taken shortly after her arrival on Earth, in her first few days on the team. How old were they then? Fourteen? He couldn't remember. It seemed as though he'd known her his entire life. Certainly, she'd touched him in a way no other girl ever had. Yet he'd never made the first move, afraid to push his feelings onto her. He could never share his whole self with anyone else, and it wasn't fair to ask for her heart when his would always be so guarded. It was another decision he'd come to a long time ago, and like his resolve to leave the Titans, he would stick to it.
Still, he'd set the picture in a special place on his desk. It was not to be thrown away.
He really didn't need to take much of anything to Wayne Manor. Everything would be provided for him; it always had been. Bruce had been a father figure when he'd needed a family the most, as well as being his legal guardian up until his eighteenth birthday. And he'd fulfilled that responsibility above and beyond the call of duty. He'd taken an orphaned circus performer and turned him into a strong, smart fighter and leader. Robin owed him.
"I owe him," he repeated, as if to convince himself further.
Shaking his head, Robin picked up a stack of carefully folded clothes and set it into the suitcase. Just as he was reaching for another, there was a knock on his door. Too preoccupied to answer it, he called out, "Come in."
He could smell her sweet perfume before he even looked to see who it was. Swallowing, Robin turned around. Starfire stood with her back pressed to the inside of the door; her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths.
Her usual purple uniform had been replaced by a satiny white slip of a dress that barely skimmed the middle of her thighs. Her hair was piled up on her head and secured with two chopsticks. Soft tendrils curled around her slender neck.
His mouth so dry he could barely squeak out her name. "Star?"
"Robin." Her voice was lower than usual, but still so innocent. Although right then, she looked anything but. He'd had a dream like this before, he recalled. A very good dream. "Am I bothering you?" she asked.
"Er…not exactly." Suddenly, his uniform was way too constricting. "What's going on?"
"You are packing your belongings in preparation to leave."
"Yeah…just a few things. I'm not actually going until the end of the…" His words trailed off as he watched her hook her fingers around the delicate straps of her dress and lower them from her shoulders. The flimsy white material slid down her curves and pooled around her bare feet, leaving her completely nude in front of him. "…week." Robin's stomach dropped a few inches. "Star…"
Unashamed, she looked him straight on. "I do not want you to leave."
She was glorious, as though she'd been hand-sculpted by a great artist. Gone was the awkward teen girl he'd loved in adolescence. Here stood a woman, offering herself to him. But was it for the right reasons?
"God, Star," Robin managed to say. "Do you know…I mean…do you understand what you're…what this is?"
Part of him hoped she might not. If she didn't, he could restrain himself, unwilling as he was to take advantage of her naivety. He could gently send her on her way and take an icy shower.
But to his dismay…or delight, depending on which part of his body was consulted…she nodded. "Raven has explained everything to me. According to her, the intimate act of intercourse is an effective way of bonding two human beings together emotionally and physically. And while I do not know if such an act between a human male and a Tamaranian female could result in reproduction, I am willing to try it. With you, Robin." She reached behind her head and pulled out the chopsticks, letting her hair swing down around her breasts. "Will you make some love with me?"
To Be Continued
Author's Notes: Enjoy!! And thanks for the reviews so far!
Flying Home
by Kristen Elizabeth
"Sick!!!!" Beast Boy stormed out of the kitchen, holding a dirty pot between the very tips of his fingers. "What died in this thing?!"
The only one around to hear him was Cyborg. He was sprawled in front of the huge viewing screen, playing Warkannon V, and didn't respond until he had beaten a particularly tough opponent. "Star made that pudding of hers."
"Oh." He threw the pot back into the kitchen, hoping it landed somewhere near the sink. "She didn't try to shove any of it down my throat."
Cyborg's eyes never left his game. "I wouldn't eat it even if she'd asked."
"Because it's the grossest thing in the entire world?" Beast Boy guessed, plopping down next to his friend.
"Because I'm not sad." The older Titan threw down his controller as his character died a bloody death on the screen. "The last thing we need is a teammate who's not in the game. If Robin wants to go, I say we're better off without him."
Beast Boy frowned. "I guess."
"You playing?" Cyborg offered him the spare controller as he retrieved his own.
"Nah." He stood up again. "Not in the mood."
He started to go when Cyborg called out to him. "Don't tell me you'll be sad to see him go." When Beast Boy didn't answer, he shook his head. "Man…you'd think we were just the sidekicks or something. I've got news…we're not. We're the ones who have the powers. And we've been suckers following a follower all these years."
"Robin's not a follower."
"Keep telling yourself that." Cyborg started a new game. "But the minute he walks out that door to go back to being someone else's sidekick, he loses all my respect."
Beast Boy stood still for a long time, watching the back of his friend's head. It was fitting that he was made out of so much metal. He could certainly act cold enough.
Spoonful by disgusting spoonful, Starfire consumed an entire bowl of the Pudding of Sadness. Traditionally, eating the horrible mixture was supposed to make a person forget their sorrows, but it didn't seem to be working for her. Her tears had watered down the pudding and made it ten times harder to choke down. Perhaps it was time to let go of this particular Tamaranian custom.
She set aside the empty bowl and wiped at her cheeks. The tears just wouldn't stop. She couldn't make them stop. Robin was leaving the Tower, leaving the Titans…leaving her. What was there left to smile about?
"He has every right to go," Starfire told herself. "He has many commitments…and none of them are to me."
But the words didn't make her heart hurt any less. Although there had never been anything official between them, she knew Robin cared for her. But did he know how much she returned the emotion? She had no idea. She'd never told him. And that was her greatest regret.
"But he has never said anything either," she reasoned out loud. "Perhaps he does not care for me as more than a dear friend." Starfire sat up. "Perhaps I am not human enough."
This was a terrifying thought, and one that sent her scrambling to the full-length mirror on her closet door. She examined herself critically. Her hair seemed human enough. Dark red, long and lush, it hung down to the small of her back. Her eyes were a bit too green to be completely human, but he'd never looked away from them in repulsion. Her waist was petite, her bosom was real and her legs were shaped properly.
But her skin…that definitely wasn't human. Perhaps that was something Robin didn't care for. What if he liked girls with lovely white skin, or even lightly tanned, rather than her orange-tinted complexion?
A tiny "eep" escaped her lips. She clapped her hands on either side of her face. That had to be it. Panic swelled beneath her breast. She needed help. Help of the female variety. And there was only one person on the team who fit that description.
Meditation was her key to control and right then Raven needed that control. The strange little group she'd come to depend on so very much was about to fall apart. If she let herself scream and cry as some deeply buried part of her heart wanted to, it could be disastrous. She could single-handedly bring down the entire Tower, in a much more literal way than Robin would by leaving it.
Her brow furred suddenly and she felt some of her control slipping even as she continued her three-word chant. Anger. Sorrow. Worry. She had to keep them suppressed. Her nails dug into her palms as she struggled with herself.
"Azarath…metrion…zin…"
A light rapping on her door that could only be made by Starfire's hand broke her concentration. Her levitation faltered and Raven dropped to the floor, landing on her backside.
"That's going to leave a mark," she complained as she stood up. Pursing her lips, she walked to her door and cracked it open. "What?"
Starfire stood in the hallway, her hands clasped at her heart, a pained expression on her face. Raven very nearly felt sorry for her. The alien girl looked the way Raven would have liked to feel. In a word, horrible.
"Dear friend, I know that you value your privacy above all else, but if we could possibly engage in a few minutes of girlish talk." Starfire forced a smile. "It is very important."
Raven sighed and against her better judgement, opened the door enough for Starfire to enter. "Come in." She closed the door as soon as her teammate cleared the threshold. "How girlish will this be?"
"I am not certain." Starfire looked around. "It is so very dark in here. Could I perhaps turn on a…"
"I like the dark."
Starfire nodded. "Very well. It might be better. With the absence of light, you cannot see my hideous skin that so closely resembles orange soda pop."
"Um…what?"
"Please be truthful with me, as a friend who is also female. Am I ugly?"
Raven stared at Starfire for a moment, searching her eyes for any signs that she might be joking. All she saw was earnest worry. It only took a second for her to catch on. "You're not ugly, okay? Is that all you wanted to know?"
The other girl looked down at the floor. In the dark, it was hard to tell, but she was sure Starfire was about to burst into tears. "If I am not ugly, then why…" She stopped, unable to go on.
"Look, I'm not the best person to give your ego a boost." Starfire sniffed loudly and Raven sighed again. "That came out wrong," she apologized.
"It is all right."
Raven sat down on the edge of her bed. "No one here is stupid, Star. You've always had a thing for Robin and he's always had a thing right back for you."
"Is this the truth?" Starfire looked up, hopefully.
"Do I ever speak anything else?"
The light in her friend's eyes died. "He must not have enough of a thing for me if he still chooses to leave us."
"Men suck," Raven explained as succinctly as possible. "And most of them smell bad."
"Robin does not smell bad."
"Obviously you've never caught a whiff of him coming out of the gym."
Starfire lifted her shoulders. "He always smells like Robin. I will miss his scent so much…" She bit her lip. "I do not want him to go, Raven."
"So…don't let him."
"How would I keep him from doing so?" She thought for a moment. "I suppose I could tie him down."
Raven shook her head to clear away a sudden, unwanted image. "Keep the kinky stuff to yourself." When Starfire frowned, she continued. "I'm not saying you have to hold him hostage. There are other things you could do to…convince him to stay."
"I do not understand."
Inside her head, Raven could hear herself groaning. She was going to have to have "the talk" with her teammate. Could her day possibly get any worse?
"All right, sit down," she instructed the Tamaranian girl. "Here's your final lesson on Earth behavior."
Robin stared at the open and half-filled suitcase lying on his bed. In the three days since his birthday, he'd discovered something. Packing was turning out to be far more difficult than he had anticipated. Every drawer he reached into held a slew of memories. He was being assaulted by the past, the good and the bad. Old newspaper clippings, yellowed pictures of the Teen Titans and smudged articles outlining their deeds. Birthday cards with glittered words. Movie ticket stubs. Broken game cartridges. Things he should have cleared out years ago.
Tucked away in one drawer, he'd found a single picture of Starfire. It had been taken shortly after her arrival on Earth, in her first few days on the team. How old were they then? Fourteen? He couldn't remember. It seemed as though he'd known her his entire life. Certainly, she'd touched him in a way no other girl ever had. Yet he'd never made the first move, afraid to push his feelings onto her. He could never share his whole self with anyone else, and it wasn't fair to ask for her heart when his would always be so guarded. It was another decision he'd come to a long time ago, and like his resolve to leave the Titans, he would stick to it.
Still, he'd set the picture in a special place on his desk. It was not to be thrown away.
He really didn't need to take much of anything to Wayne Manor. Everything would be provided for him; it always had been. Bruce had been a father figure when he'd needed a family the most, as well as being his legal guardian up until his eighteenth birthday. And he'd fulfilled that responsibility above and beyond the call of duty. He'd taken an orphaned circus performer and turned him into a strong, smart fighter and leader. Robin owed him.
"I owe him," he repeated, as if to convince himself further.
Shaking his head, Robin picked up a stack of carefully folded clothes and set it into the suitcase. Just as he was reaching for another, there was a knock on his door. Too preoccupied to answer it, he called out, "Come in."
He could smell her sweet perfume before he even looked to see who it was. Swallowing, Robin turned around. Starfire stood with her back pressed to the inside of the door; her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths.
Her usual purple uniform had been replaced by a satiny white slip of a dress that barely skimmed the middle of her thighs. Her hair was piled up on her head and secured with two chopsticks. Soft tendrils curled around her slender neck.
His mouth so dry he could barely squeak out her name. "Star?"
"Robin." Her voice was lower than usual, but still so innocent. Although right then, she looked anything but. He'd had a dream like this before, he recalled. A very good dream. "Am I bothering you?" she asked.
"Er…not exactly." Suddenly, his uniform was way too constricting. "What's going on?"
"You are packing your belongings in preparation to leave."
"Yeah…just a few things. I'm not actually going until the end of the…" His words trailed off as he watched her hook her fingers around the delicate straps of her dress and lower them from her shoulders. The flimsy white material slid down her curves and pooled around her bare feet, leaving her completely nude in front of him. "…week." Robin's stomach dropped a few inches. "Star…"
Unashamed, she looked him straight on. "I do not want you to leave."
She was glorious, as though she'd been hand-sculpted by a great artist. Gone was the awkward teen girl he'd loved in adolescence. Here stood a woman, offering herself to him. But was it for the right reasons?
"God, Star," Robin managed to say. "Do you know…I mean…do you understand what you're…what this is?"
Part of him hoped she might not. If she didn't, he could restrain himself, unwilling as he was to take advantage of her naivety. He could gently send her on her way and take an icy shower.
But to his dismay…or delight, depending on which part of his body was consulted…she nodded. "Raven has explained everything to me. According to her, the intimate act of intercourse is an effective way of bonding two human beings together emotionally and physically. And while I do not know if such an act between a human male and a Tamaranian female could result in reproduction, I am willing to try it. With you, Robin." She reached behind her head and pulled out the chopsticks, letting her hair swing down around her breasts. "Will you make some love with me?"
To Be Continued
