(A/N)- I return to one of my favorite RobStar headcanon indulgences, the two-month long space honeymoon.
And also an unrelated bonus Starfire being a badass extra bit because [insert meta waxing about the dichotomy of Shimmer/Shine as a prompt and how I wanted to show off Starfire's softer feminine side (her "shimmer") and contrast it against her warrior nature (her "shine").]
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: There would be content out the wazoo for these two if I owned Teen Titans. No, I'm not bitter.
RobStar Week 2021, Day 2 - Shimmer/Shine
There were times he almost forgot Starfire was an alien, a being of fascinating and bizarre biology so utterly unlike his own, full of surprises.
But he was reminded again on Altherra Six, towards the tail end of their two-month long honeymoon.
Nearly sixty days of bliss, rocketing around the galaxy and visiting all the most amazing stellar hot spots and tourist attractions, places he never could have imagined. The floating waterfalls of Xardok. The Orion cluster's Moon Mall, a massive shopping supercenter in a hollowed out crystalline ice moon orbiting a swirling jasper gas giant. They had even stopped over once to intercept a comet, and fly through the dust of its wake.
Altherra Six was a volcanic world with dry scrub and a porous surface eaten out by years of weathering and the acidic seas. Consequently most of its civilization lived underground, in caverns carved out by large drills. They were on a guided tour right now through one of the bigger tunnels, which passed by several beautiful natural phenomena—underground springs, huge calcium formations, rippling iridescent rivulets of rock.
Robin checked the time on his communicator, then quietly tapped Starfire's arm.
"How much longer does this tour last?" he whispered. "I don't want to be late for our dinner reservation."
She glanced ahead, and then back at him. "What is the time you have?" she whispered back.
"Seventeen hundred," he replied. "About five."
She smiled. "Then that is plenty of time." She grabbed hold of his hand, eagerly tugging him towards the next chamber. "Come, please, this part of the tour is my favorite," she urged.
They crowded behind their tour group and filed into the next room. A huge vaulted ceiling stretched far above their heads and the walls were lined with multi-colored glowing gemstones, throwing a kaleidoscope of rainbow colors on the floor and their heads.
Robin grinned and glanced towards Starfire with a planned wry comment about stain-glass windows but gasped in awe instead, his mouth dropping open.
She was... sparkling.
The light from the gemstones seemed to catch on dozens of mottled flakes underneath her skin, throwing tiny flashes of color back. Starfire grinned and turned her arm for him, letting the light play across his face. It was like she had thousands of little glowing freckles, a galaxy of stars on her skin.
"Altherran sunrocks cast a low level UV radiation that reacts to a specific property in Tamaranian skin cells," she explained.
"Wow..." he breathed. He shook his head, amazed. "I knew you absorbed solar energy through your skin but..." He ran a finger along her arm, marveling at the flashes of color. "Guess you're still full of surprises," he chuckled.
Giggling, Starfire playfully pulled her arm back. "I am glad you are appreciative," she told him, leaning into his shoulder.
Her cheeks threw little darts of green and yellow and blue and Robin had to catch the laugh that bubbled up his throat.
Would she ever stop amazing him?
-TT-
There were times he almost forgot Starfire was an alien, an entity of strength and power beyond what was capable for mortal men, energy contained in a physical body and waiting to explode.
The hissing shadow-creatures snapped at the Titans' heels, sharp pointed teeth flashing in the dim light of Robin's flare and Cyborg's mounted shoulder lights, the only things keeping the horde at bay.
The bright blue rings of Cyborg's sonic canon tore into a group of them, shredding their putrid flesh, sending up a screech of animalistic rage and pain, but not enough, never enough, there was always more of them and the flare was running low and he was out of flashbombs and explosive disks and the bioluminescence Beast Boy was capable of was limited to the animals he knew he could turn into.
Robin couldn't see him anyway, could only hear the thumps and solid hits of his paws as he battered away snarling faces and swiping hands with razor claws.
He didn't know where the girls were.
Bright green suddenly streaked over his shoulder, cutting a wide swath through the creatures, searing their sensitive eyes and making them howl.
Relief pinged though him as he scrambled higher up the rock formation that was their holding point, a slightly raised defensive position they were clinging onto for dear life as the darkness tried to swallow them up. His wobbling flare illuminated Raven and Starfire floating above their heads, powers curling around their hands, having dealt with their opponents on the surface and returning underground to find them.
"Star!" he called, yelling above the din of battle. "They're photosensitive! They dissolve in light!"
She gave a short, grim nod, glancing aside at Raven.
"The sun's coming up outside," Raven said. "Morgaine's spells are blocking my teleportation; I can clear a path to the surface physically but it'll take time," she relayed quickly.
"How long do you need?" Robin asked, pulling back frantically from a set of slashing talons that barely missed his stomach.
Raven turned to Starfire. "How long can you give me?" she said anxiously.
With narrowed eyes already beginning to glow she replied, "Three minutes. That is plenty of time."
Her starbolts intensified, the energy curling up her arms, seeping out of her pores. Her whole body began to radiate with green. She raised higher, ascending to the rafters of the cavern like a shining angel, aglow with fierce and holy light. The creatures hissed and drew back, flinching as the edges of the illumination touched them and then shrieking with louder and louder abominable cries as their skin bubbled and burned.
She blazed, the light around her and inside her searing brighter and brighter until she hurt to look at, until the green was almost white and Robin had to shield his eyes, almost feeling the heat from her on the back of his neck.
His flare had gone out some time ago, but it didn't matter, the creatures that remained would not dare come near, tripping over each other in their rush to escape the terrible light, screeching as it burned away their flesh.
Starfire gave a fierce yell, shoving the massive starbolt inside her outwards, letting it explode against the walls and floor and ceiling, snapping with a sound like a thunderclap and blowing the rest of the shadows away.
They were physically bowled over by its force and power, and his face smacked solidly into the ground, dazing him a moment.
Robin uncovered his head, his ears ringing, loud in his ears in the sudden silence, and marveled as he lowered his arm and watched her floating there, the glow of her starbolt still lingering under her skin.
Would she ever stop amazing him?