A/N:

Yeah Happy 4th of July to my fellow Americans! (I mean it's over now where I am but I'm not asleep yet so to me it's still the 4th)

My country is definitely by no means perfect, but it is my country and I love it, stupid politics and all. So I though I'd upload this since it's a holiday, instead of waiting til later since I'll be a bit busy tomorrow and possibly the days after.

Anyways, yeah. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: It's a free country but I still don't own Teen Titans.

Once Larry had rescued Robin from wherever he had been sent to with his healed arm, the Boy Wonder didn't really mind that it had also undone the healing of his fracture; he preferred being incapacitated in the right dimension to having use of both arms in who-knows-where any day. Unfortunately, Robin hadn't realized exactly how difficult some things would be with only one hand.

Like doing his hair, for example.

After waking up the day after Larry's visit, Robin's first morning with his cast had not gone very smoothly. Sleeping had been difficult as he had spent a good portion of the night trying to find a comfortable position that kept his weight off of his injured arm. Upon hearing his alarm go off, he'd swung his right arm over to shut it off, remembering a second too late that it had a cast on it and growling loudly in a combination of pain and anger as a result.

Scowling, the teenager rose from his bed and changed out of his pajamas slowly but without incident, though the small victory didn't do much to lift his mood. He made his way to the bathroom and managed to brush his teeth and wash his face one-handed, proceeding to pull out his container of hair gel.

He frowned at the small circular tub in his left hand, then unscrewed it with a determined expression. Scooping some of the goop into his hand, he rubbed his fingers against his palm to distribute it evenly and raised it near his hair. He hesitated, his hand wavering back and forth as he tried to decide on the best angle for his first move.

tnk tnk

"Robin? Are you there?"

"Yeah," he called over his shoulder, not looking away from the mirror. "Come on in, Starfire."

The metallic door swished open to reveal the pretty Tamaranian, looking slightly worried.

Robin paused in his calculations to raise an eyebrow at her in the mirror. "Everything ok?"

Starfire's eyes widened upon realizing her concern was showing and she hastily put on an unconvincing grin. "Yes! Everything is glorious!" she replied quickly. "I simply… wished to make sure you were the ok," she continued, the grin fading as she hugged her elbow and lowered her gaze to the tiled floor.

Robin's hand lowered. He knew Starfire was well aware of his tendency to push himself too hard and how it upset her. All the times she had come to check in on him after he'd shut himself away in his office rushed into his mind, followed by all the subsequent times he had shut her out. Guilt pricked at him.

He turned around to face her with a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, Star. Thanks."

Starfire perked up and returned the smile, giving Robin the odd sensation that his heart had flopped over backwards.

"Do you require any assistance?" she asked, peering at the hair gel slowly dripping out of his hand.

He followed her gaze and then chuckled, bringing his hand up to look at it. He supposed he could accept help, just this once…

"Sure," he replied. "Would you mind helping me with this?" He picked up the container and offered it to her with a half-smile.

The redhead beamed. "Of course! One moment!"

The breeze she left behind ruffled Robin's hair as he stood staring at where she had just been, perplexed. A few seconds later she flew back into the bathroom with a stool from the kitchen and planted it in front of the mirror over the sink.

"Sit!" she told him.

Bemused, Robin did as she said. She floated behind him (close enough for him to detect the faint smell of her fruity shampoo) and began running her hands through his hair, which was currently lying flat against his head.

"Um… Star?" asked Robin, struggling a bit to maintain his composure despite his now-racing heart.

"Hm?" Starfire replied absently, raking her fingers backwards from his right temple. Robin stifled a sigh of contentment and fought to not melt in his seat.

"What are you doing?" he questioned, immediately regretting it when Starfire took her hands away.

"Does Earth boys' hair not require detangling?" she queried innocently, secretly disappointed Robin had asked, as she had been enjoying running her fingers through his hair and admiring how soft it was without gel in it.

"Oh, uh- yeah, it does," Robin stammered, trying not to trip over his words. "But usually we use a comb."

"Oh, my apologies," she said, smiling and picking up the hair gel and dipping her fingers into it.

Robin opened his mouth to instruct her, but Starfire seemed to know what she was doing. Raising her hands over his head, she moved slightly closer to him in order to reach around to the front of his hair. Her stomach brushed against his back and he felt his neck and ears grow hot.

Starfire seemed not to notice, busy spiking up his hair. She would run her fingers through his dark locks in short, quick strokes, raising them slightly at the end to separate and define the spikes.

This went on for about three minutes, Starfire humming as a small smile played on her lips. Robin watched her in the mirror, unconsciously smiling himself. She would pinch the spikes at the top, making sure they stayed pointed and together once she let go. Her lips were pursed slightly in concentration, though her movements were fluid and confident.

Finally, Starfire removed her hands from his head and beamed. "I am finished!"

Robin, who was still looking at Starfire's reflection affectionately, immediately straightened upright from his relaxed posture upon hearing her proclamation. He examined the finished product in the mirror, turning his head side to side to admire her handiwork.

"Great job, Star!" he said, impressed. Starfire looked extremely pleased with herself.

"I thank you," she replied happily, wrapping her arms around his shoulders from behind in a hug. "On my planet, the grooming of one another's hair is a special bonding activity between friends." The side of her face bumped against his and Robin felt the spot where her cheek brushed his burn.

Suddenly there was a muted clanging from outside the bathroom and the pair could hear the sounds of Cyborg and Beast Boy squabbling.

Starfire released Robin from her embrace and he hopped off of the stool, shoulders imperceptibly slumped. "I guess we should go get breakfast before they get too out of control," he sighed, picking up the stool to return it to its proper place.

"Agreed," she said, floating alongside him as they exited into the hallway. As they made their way down the hall, Robin touched his hair gingerly with the fingers poking out from his cast.

"I can't believe you did this without me saying anything," he continued in an awed voice.

Starfire suddenly looked slightly sheepish and blushed; she had no desire to tell him it was easy since she was fond of admiring his hair in her spare moments during training.

"How'd you do it?"

Her sheepish expression morphed into a guilty one. "Oh, I… um… What was that?" she asked quickly, cupping her hand to her ear.

Robin looked at her oddly. "I didn't- "

"You need help in the kitchen? I shall be right there, Raven!" she called loudly over him, flashing him an embarrassed smile before zipping down the hallway and out of sight, leaving a confused Robin in her wake.

A door opened down the hall and Raven poked her head out of her bedroom.

"Did Starfire say something?"

A/N:

I think doing stuff with hair is one of my favorite friendship activities; like touching/messing with people's hair is an intimate thing and it's nice that you like and trust this person enough to get in your personal space and touch your hair and make you look nice and they want to do a good job and make you look nice too. It's such a sweet activity. I love it when my friends do my hair, like I freaking love having my hair braided, and I love braiding/doing my friends' hair too. It's such a nice friendship thing to do, it's a shame boys miss out on it. It's the best.

Also on a Teen Titan-related note, here's this piece of fanart that I like that I was looking at while writing this, it's called Morning Routine by ramhay on deviantart and it's really cute. I recommend checking it out just cause it's cute.

So yeah, there is that. I'm really tired so not much else to say. Next up: serious feels.

USA USA ok night
-Renee