Howdy y'all, it's Robstar Week! After missing out last year, I knew I had to try and get some sweet sweet Robstar prompts in for this year's week, and here we are! As I've mentioned previously, a few of this week's stories are actually going to be ones I started but never finished last round. More on that later, but this particular prompt is all from this year.

The "friends to lovers" prompt was an interesting one, because what sounds like it should be straightforward becomes a bit odd with the long and winding road of "sort of together but not" that Robin and Starfire went through before finally making their relationship official. I ultimately decided that, rather than take the obvious route of setting this around the end of that road, I would explore one of the earlier turning points in which they seemed to start getting that little bit closer. In the process, I ended up doing a lot of exploration on Starfire's feelings and motivations during "Date with Destiny." That episode has a somewhat frustrating place in the fandom because of how people who take only a surface look at Starfire use it as a basis to assume she's just some crazy jealous girl (despite the fact that Robin is, ya know, completely and openly hating the date with Kitten and she has literally no reason to be jealous). But if you take the time to seriously think about Starfire's character and her experiences around this point in the series, her over-the-top reaction to Kitten becomes absolutely fascinating.

Self Reflection

Starfire stood in front of her bedroom mirror, smoothing out the little wrinkles in her dress and checking her hair to ensure it was properly brushed and styled. She was quite fortunate to have some Earth formalwear for the occasion of this "Junior Prom," and if she were being honest with herself, she was more than a little pleased for the chance to wear it.

Now, what else did her research into the prom event say she needed? An entry ticket, which Robin had managed to procure for himself on the grounds of being a hero on a mission, so she would simply do the same. An accessory or two to complete her "look," for which she needed to go back and scrounge a little more in her closet. And preferably a gift for her date. A dead plant for him to wear was traditional, so that could –

Starfire shook her head, her nose wrinkling a little in displeasure. "Robin is not your date," she reminded herself aloud. She leaned over her arms on the dresser and scowled at her reflection. Why had she even thought that? The whole purpose of this venture, aside from gathering intelligence on Kitten, was to protect Robin from her depredations. Robin and Starfire were not even romantically involved.

The scowl in her reflection softened into a thoughtful frown, and she let her gaze drift to the side and tapped a finger on the dresser's wood. Earth courting rituals were so very strange, and perhaps that was her problem. From her understanding, humans began "dating" long before they were ready to even consider marriage, and could begin and end such relationships on a whim and almost exclusively without the aid of a sanctioned matchmaker.

Except on occasions like tonight, when this gremplork's supervillain associate was forcing Robin to join her on an official date-outing that felt uncomfortably similar to a political marriage. As a princess of Tamaran, Starfire was only too familiar with the occasional necessity of such a union, and she had long ago accepted that she may one day need to enter into one for the good of her people. But Robin was no prince nor king, and Killer Moth's demands were excessive and inane. She was not going to let Kitten take advantage of them.

Starfire's scowl returned, and she stared deep into the reflection of her own narrowed eyes. "So why does it feel like I am defending my own mate?" she muttered to herself.

What should have been an easy answer was more complicated than she cared to admit, and maybe that part was her own doing. She was well aware that she harbored an attraction to Robin, but she had yet to discern whether he felt the same for her. For such a dear friend, he could be most obtuse at times. Perhaps she should have tried harder to understand.

Starfire sighed and pushed away from her dresser to seek out accessories for her outfit, but her thoughts continued unabated. Until recently, she had mostly been content to consider him a close friend – her best friend, really. It was only practical, not just because she was not sure of his thoughts on the matter but because there was still a chance she would eventually be called back to Tamaran.

Perhaps this change, this new instinct niggling in the back of her mind to claim a mate and defend that claim from rivals, was nothing more than a natural result of her recent Transformation. It was the point at which Tamaraneans reached sexual maturity, after all, and she had anticipated some change in her brain chemistry to go with it. She was sure that had at least something to do with her recent agitation, but at the same time, the bashful attraction that lay behind it had been there for a while.

In all, it seemed as though everything was coming together now to force her to consider what she felt for Robin – truly consider it, not just as a nice thought in the back of her mind but as a serious question of where to go from here. But was this an appropriate time to act on her feelings?

After testing most of her admittedly small collection of jewelry against her dress and finding it ill-suited, Starfire finally settled on a pair of long white gloves instead. Robin had already left to finish his own preparations, and with the late time she would have to procure her ticket and anything else she needed quickly. She was about to head out the door when she paused by the mirror one last time, watching her own contemplative expression as she pondered the stray thought that had led to this time of self-reflection in the first place.

After several moments of consideration, she decided to bring Robin the dead flower after all. She should probably not seek his own affections outright – regardless of everything, attempting such a bold move now would only complicate the mission further – but if nothing else, the show of support might help to lessen Kitten's ludicrous claim to him. And maybe, for now, that would be enough.