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p-artsypants · 6 months

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Would You Still Love Me if I was a Worm?

“She’s not my girlfriend!” Was the declaration he made. Robin kind of figured that would have consequences, but not like this. Now they were stranded on an alien planet, isolated from each other. Robin thought this new slug-like alien was his end, until it spoke with a familiar inflection. “…not…friend…not…girl…”

Ao3

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This fic is based off the episode Stranded. It's also gross.

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“Give me space!”

If you were to ask Robin later, he’d say he’d been a little harsh. But they were in a life threatening situation, so not that harsh.

The fact that the alien came back and attacked the ship had been bad enough, but then when his teammates did the exact opposite of what he wanted and separated, Robin felt betrayed and frustrated.

Now as he hung upside down, dazed and nauseous from his crash, Robin had to wonder where exactly the day went to crap.

A very cynical part of his brain would say it was when Cyborg made that stupid joke.

“…unless you want to stay here goofing around with your girlfriend.”

Cyborg and Beast Boy commonly teased him about his affections toward Starfire, and he could roll with it. But he could not handle the teasing in front of Starfire.

Feelings. The one thing he just couldn’t tackle.

Granted, he didn’t have superpowers influenced by emotion like Raven. And Batman taught him how to harness his anger into strength and not let him go too far.

But a crush? Anything near romantic love?

Forget it.

His reaction to their dumb joke had been just as immature as the joke itself. He fell for it hook, line, and sinker. “She’s not my girlfriend!” He declared.

“I am not a girl?” Starfire had squeaked behind him. “I am not your friend?”

And he hadn’t clarified anything. Hadn’t had the brains to retort, to reassure, to do anything but stammer and blush.

“If I am not your ‘girlfriend’ then what am I?”

Then the space station they were trying to save started falling apart and the alien that caused all of it returned, and they had to flee.

He glanced at the environment monitor. Luckily, despite the outward appearance of the planet, it looked like it was hospitable. Breathable air and slightly cooler temperature.

He kicked the window out. “Titans! Come in Titans! Is everyone okay?”

Nothing but static.

He dropped to the ground.

The air was musty and damp as he landed. He had landed on a fallen tree, and walked out to the end to get a better view of the landscape.

“Cyborg?” His voice echoed. “Beast Boy?” There was no life for miles. “Raven?” He was alone.

“STARFIRE!”

Utterly alone.

But they had to be here, right? Hopefully. He had crashed because the alien had landed on his pod and he had lost control. The rest of them separated and flew away. Did they join back up in space without him?

He opened his communicator, looking for their positions. There was nothing yet.

He used his grapple to get back up into his ship and activate the beacon. Maybe his friends would be able to find his pod eventually, but for now, he would look for shelter.

Nothing more to do than go off and see the lay of the land.

It wasn’t long after he cleared a ridge that he saw another pod from the T-ship.

Starfire’s.

“Starfire!” He shouted, running toward the ship. It was still, and still smoking from the back. It didn’t look like Starfire had opened it. The window was cracked and a long crater dug through the rock where she had crashed. With the state of the ship, she could very well be injured…or worse.

He dug a birdarang into the crease of the window and popped the pod open.

“Starfire! Are you okay?”

There was a vicious snarl before a horrible, ugly, black and green slug-like monster emerged and attacked.

It had a bit of purple fabric in its mouth.

Robin kicked it away, his foot colliding with its head. “What did you do to Starfire!?” He snarled.

The creature let out low grunts like a pig and snorted as it recovered.

Robin attacked again, tackling it and sending them tumbling down the ravine.

Robin had the wind knocked out of him and only had a second to recover before the six legged beast was on him again, its pincher-like jaw snapping at him. He kicked it away again, sending the thing rolling down a hill and colliding with a hard rock.

Robin didn’t relent. He ran, slid down the hill and came into a flying kick to its chest.

The creature’s soft underbelly absorbed the hit, coating his foot in a thick green ooze.

He punched once, then again, both limbs getting coated as well.

He was stuck, and the creature snapped at him.

Robin contorted and kicked it in the face, getting just enough leverage to break free and get away. But not too far away, since the goop was like glue and kept him firmly stuck to the ground.

So this was it, huh? He had a feeling he’d die on the battlefield, but he was hoping it would be on Earth, where his friends and family could find his body and give him a proper burial.

The creature approached him, huffing and grunting. Its pinchers clacked thoughtfully, as it grew closer.

Robin clenched his eyes shut, preparing for the worst.

Instead, the creature let out a long huff, almost like a sigh, and started to lick the goop off his hands and feet, freeing him.

“Uh…” Robin said aloud, as he was able to get to his feet.

The creature backed away slowly, then, with a very guttural and nearly incomprehensible voice said, “…end…me…”

Robin stared in surprise. “You…you can speak? You can understand me?”

The creature nodded its head slowly, “…end me…”

“I don’t want to do that,” Robin declared, “you spared me when you had the chance to kill me.”

The worm skittered around him, crawling on all six legs. Its acid green eyes squinted at him.

“I’m looking for my friend,” Robin tried again. He gestured back up the ravine they had fallen down. “That pod you were in, that belonged to Starfire. She’s a pretty Tamaranean with red hair, wearing purple.” He swallowed thickly. “I saw that fabric on you. Please tell me you didn’t eat her.”

The alien shifted its jaw, but said nothing.

“Please, I need to find her. She’s important to me.”

The creature slowly backed away, and then turned to leave.

“Hey! Wait!” Robin called, running after. “You didn’t say if you saw her or not!”

“...leave me…alone…”

“I will, I just need to know what you know, please!”

The creature stopped mid step. “...Troq…”

Robin’s nostrils flared. “Hey! She is not a troq! You don’t know anything about her!”

The creature huffed. “...I…am Troq…”

“Oh.” Robin halted. “You mean, that’s your name? Or that’s what you are?” He was under the impression that ‘Troq’ meant ‘nothing’, but it could possibly mean this species of alien…which would also be an insult, he supposed. The alien was pretty hideous and gross. “My name is Robin, and I’m a human from Earth.”

“Rob…in…”

“Yeah! Look, maybe we can be friends? If you help me, I’ll help you.”

“...end…me…” The alien pleaded again.

Robin shook his head. “I can’t do that. Are you in pain?”

“...so much…pain…”

“I’m sorry. Did…did I cause that?” He thought back to the ruthless attacks he’d unleashed when he first saw the creature.

“...yes…”

Now he felt bad. He hadn’t known this was a sentient being.

“I’m sorry. I…I thought you hurt Starfire. If we find all my friends, we can help you. My friend Raven can heal you.”

“...can not…”

“We don’t know if we don’t try.” He got in front of the creature, making it halt its retreat. “But first, I need to know what you know about Starfire. Please.”

The creature shifted its jaw again. “...I…am…”

“You are what?” He pressed, when the creature seemed to trail off.

“...give…you…space…” The worm said then, and attempted to move past Robin.

But Robin got in its face, looking it dead in the eye. “What did you say?”

“...give…Robin…space…” It whimpered, shuffling away from him.

Then it clicked. This thing was in Starfire’s pod.

He gaped. “Star? Is that you?”

She whimpered again, backing away from him.

“Hey, hey,” he reached his hands out in a soothing way. “I’m your friend, Starfire. What happened to you? Why do you look like this?”

Starfire looked around, looking for a way out, and presumably found it as she darted away.

“Starfire!” He chased after.

She was fast, but not very coordinated with six legs as she skittered, tripped, and slid. She let out a long whine.

Robin caught up to her quickly. “What’s going on? Talk to me, Star.”

“...leave me…”

“I’m definitely not! I’ve been looking for you!”

“...ugly…”

“You’re certainly…a little different looking.” He offered.

She snorted.

“Okay, so you’re a lot different looking. But we’ve been through this before, when you went through Transformation. I’m your friend. I don’t care what you look like.”

“...not…friend…not…girl…”

Robin’s jaw dropped. “Star! You’ve transformed into a worm and you’re still caught up on that?! Seriously?!”

She whined again, and covered her head with her front legs.

He sighed, wiping a hand down his face. There was no getting out of this conversation, huh? “Look, uh…’girlfriend’ means something different on Earth. It’s like…a special relationship. Boyfriends and girlfriends go on dates and stuff. You’re my friend, but you’re not my girlfriend. Does that make sense?”

Starfire whined again, and growled, “...I am…not special…”

Robin’s shoulders sank as he felt frustrated and a little forlorn. Starfire was hurting, and somehow transformed, but it was like trying to reason with a wall.

Maybe he needed to change communication tactics.

He knelt down in front of her, and rested a hand on her head. Even through the gloves she felt slimy. “Hey…Star, you are special to me. I think…whatever this is, whatever turned you into this, is clouding your mind with doubt and self-loathing. Once we get you fixed, you’ll see. Everything is fine, okay?”

Starfire didn’t answer right away, but looked up at him. Her pinchers fluttered and she let out a snort. Then she said, “...always trust…Robin…”

He offered her a smile. “Hey, I’ll take it.” He checked his communicator again, seeing her signal faintly. “Do you have your communicator?”

She quivered and made a horrible gagging sound before barfing up her communicator.

Robin suppressed every disgusted reaction he had, and just said, “ah, I’ll hold onto that for you.” As he tucked it into his belt, he said, “let��s go see if we can find the others. Raven might be able to figure out what’s wrong with you.”

Starfire snorted, whatever emotion she felt clouded by her hideous form. Then she scurried on ahead, at a nice clip.

“Hey wait!” Robin ran after to catch up.

She turned to him. “...find friends…or wait…?”

“We’ll find them, but let’s travel together.”

“...must we…?”

“Uh, yeah?” He asked, a little offended. “They won’t recognize you. I didn’t. You don’t want to travel with me?”

“...give…Robin space…” She said again, trudging on.

Robin quickly caught up with her, but didn’t stop her.

“I’m sorry if that hurt you. I was panicking and needed to think about escaping the space station. I don’t need space anymore. I need my friend.”

“...not friend…”

“Yes, you are!” Robin shouted, honestly a little harsher than was necessary. “In fact, I’d say you’re my best friend!”

“Do not…believe you…”

“Ouch. Why would I lie about that?”

“...try to…save my feelings…too late…”

Robin had to remember that whatever form this was was extremely pessimistic.

Heck, he’d probably be pretty depressed if he was a worm.

“Well, I’m not lying. I’ll find a way to prove it to you.”

“...does not…matter…”

He rubbed a hand down his face. Maybe walking with Raven would have been sunnier.

He gave her some time in silence, as it was hard enough to find something to talk about. This form didn’t allow her to freely communicate either.

“I hope we find the others…and soon,” he muttered.

“...silence…” Starfire said, quietly. “...ground…unstable…” And she carefully started stepping with purpose over the slightly glowing surface.

Robin mimicked her movements, his brain still wrapped up in Starfire’s predicament. There was plenty he didn’t understand about alien biology, but he couldn’t imagine that Tamaraneans spontaneously transformed into worms.

Did they?

“Look, Starfire—”

Ah right, the ground was unstable.

Robin screamed as a burst of flames and gas exploded under his feet and he was sent soaring across the landscape…right towards a crevasse filled with hot pink lava.

He was only saved from certain death by a slimy purple appendage wrapping around his waist and yanking him to safety. Once on solid ground, he caught his breath and realized the appendage was Starfire’s tongue.

He decided not to comment on how gross that was, and instead said, “thanks, I thought I was done for!”

Starfire grunted, and started waddling away from him.

He only sped up to keep pace with her. “So…are you still able to fly?”

“No,” she spat.

“And no starbolts?”

“No.”

“Okay. That’s fine! I can protect you!”

“I…almost killed you…” She hissed.

He came up short, and then chuckled. “True. You don’t need me to protect you. I guess…you never really did, huh? You’re stronger than me, and you can fly. You’ve caught me more times than I can count.”

“...you are…valuable ally…”

Robin felt his heart shrivel. ‘A valuable ally’ was how he felt about Tram, Aqualad’s aquatic partner.

She kicked him out of the friendzone and into the Tram-zone. Harsh!

The barren wasteland they traveled didn’t get any less treacherous, and there was still no sign of the other Titans. Robin feared the worst. Were they trapped here forever? Would Starfire remain like this?

A plume of orange smoke erupted from the ground, obscuring Starfire from his sight.

“Star?” He called out, moving to where he had last seen her, but finding a drop. He followed the edge, keeping his eyes on the plume. When it finally cleared, he saw Starfire standing maybe 50 feet away, on the other side of a ridge. The bottom was dark and deep.

“Starfire!” He shouted to her.

She turned and stared at him, nervously shuffling her many feet. He had a horrible feeling she was going to bolt. She would run and he’d lose her, and maybe never see her again.

“I’m coming over!” He withdrew his grapple line, and shot it into the rocks behind her. Then he simply glided over to her. “We shouldn’t get separated.”

Before she could respond, the ground shook beneath their feet, before giving out.

As Robin fell, he twisted and turned, looking for a way to safety. Nothing but sheer cliffside and his spent grapple line disappearing rapidly above him.

It seemed like Starfire would be his savor again as her tongue wrapped around his waist and he was pulled against her with a slimy splat.

She scurried up the rock face like a lizard, keeping him firmly tucked to her sticky underbelly with her front legs. Then she darted into a cave, where the entrance caved in immediately after them. Then they were alone in the dark.

“...am sorry…” She pried him free and dropped him, dripping with goop, onto the cave floor.

Robin suppressed a gag and a shutter. “Uh…don’t be. You saved my life.” He attempted to shake the goop free.

“I have…stained your suit…”

“I have others. It's fine, Star.”

She grunted, not believing him.

Since all his gadgets stuck to his gloves, he simply peeled them off and dropped them on the ground, then he was able to pull his communicator out for faint light.

The cavern wasn’t very big, but thankfully contained some old, dried tree roots that would burn fine. Besides that, there didn’t seem to be any other way out.

“Looks like we’re stuck here.”

Starfire whined again.

“Well, for now,” he added, trying to be optimistic for both of them. “The ship should pick up our communicators when Cyborg gets it up and running.”

“...leave me here…”

“Not happening,” he said without hesitation. He got to work collecting firewood, made a pile, and lit it using one of his emergency flares. While he did all of this, Starfire just sat a few feet away with her back to him.

“Do…you want to come closer?”

“No.”

He sighed. This was not going well. It was going quite bad, actually. It was one thing to be stranded on an alien planet, but if Starfire had been in her normal form and able to communicate like usual, he wouldn’t have worried at all. They were unstoppable together!

But this was…different. This whole dynamic was wrong. He hated it. And he hated that he didn’t know how to fix it.

Just then, a new thought occurred to him. One that probably should have crossed his mind earlier, but his thoughts were always a little jumbled when it came to Starfire.

“Star…do you know what transformed you into this?”

Her answer made dread coil in his stomach. “...yes…”

He clenched his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. Right. Of course she did. And if he had bothered to ask instead of just assume, maybe this would have been solved a few hours ago and they could have had a pleasant search instead of this awkward…whatever it was.

“So, what happened? How can I help?”

She glanced at him with her acid green eyes. “...not friend…not girl…”

He groaned. “Starfire! We are sooo far past that!” He didn’t want to yell at her, but he was certainly ready to.

“...not understand…”

“Okay, where did I lose you? What do you not understand?”

“...no…Robin…not understand…”

Well now he felt awful. He sighed again. “You’re right. I don’t understand. I don’t understand and it makes me really frustrated. I want to help you Star. I don’t like seeing you like this. So just…” he sat on a rock by the fire, and took a long deep breath. “Just tell me what’s going on.”

Starfire whimpered.

“I’m sorry I was short with you. I will just listen, and I won’t judge.” He folded his arms over his knees and just waited.

Eventually, Starfire crept a little closer. “…Tam…rean…”

“Tamaraneans?”

“…yes…powers by…feeling. Fly joy…strength confi…dence…”

He nodded in understanding. He’d seen Peter Pan as a kid. Happy thoughts equal flight was not a foreign concept.

“...feelings…emotion…is everything.”

“And a strong enough emotion can change you?”

“...Tam…reans…love once. Mate for…life. When love…rejects…” she whimpered, bowing her head. “...heartbreak…chaos…”

“Wait,” Robin held his hands out. “Wait wait wait…let me make sure I understand this. You’re saying that Tamaraneans…love once? Like, they only fall in love one time in their whole life?”

“...yes…”

“And if the person they fall in love with rejects them, the heartbreak they feel causes chaos?”

She nodded with a grunt.

“But how did—?” It took a second but he got it. “ME?!”

She shuffled backwards, awkwardly. “…Robin said…not friend…not girl…broke heart…”

“So you literally became something that’s not a friend or a girl.” He groaned. “Starfire…you’re in love with me?”

“...sorry…” Acid tears rolled down her hideous face and sizzled on the ground.

He fought for words for a long time, because on one hand, he was thrilled. Elated even. She loved him! It wasn’t that surprising, given how close they were and the amount of teasing that came from Beast Boy and Cyborg (it had to be prompted by something) but to hear it! She loved him, before anyone else! He, who was a little short, ill tempered, and job obsessed.

On the other hand, it meant that this was all his fault. His inability to talk about his feelings, his hesitation to clarify the misunderstanding, and his wildly immature reaction to Cyborg’s joke. He could have laughed it off. He should have just ignored it, but because he made the bold and angry declaration, ‘she’s not my girlfriend!’ of course Starfire would feel rejection.

“Starfire…” his shoulders sagged. “I didn’t know.”

“...did not want to tell…happy being on Earth…happy just being…Titan…”

“You were never going to tell me?”

She shook her head. “...heartbreak…dangerous.”

He threw his head back with a groan. He felt like the absolute scum of the earth. “What do we do to fix this?”

“...cannot…”

“So…you’re stuck like this? There’s nothing I can do?”

“...if I…kill you…” she whimpered. “...but cannot…will not…”

His eyes widened. “That’s why you attacked me at the pod. But then you couldn’t go through with it.”

She laid on the ground and covered her face with her front legs. “...still love…even now…”

Tears welled up in his eyes. He hated to admit that this was killing him, but it was. He shook his head, resigned. “I’m such an idiot, Starfire. Even if I told you right now that I love you too, you wouldn’t believe it.”

She whined loudly, the sound akin to a sob.

“I’m so sorry. The truth is that I…really care about you. Like...you’re the first thing I think of in the morning, and the last thing before I fall asleep.”

Starfire lifted her head to look at him.

“Our relationship is…probably the most important one I have in my life. Yes, I love our friends and I consider them my family, but you…you’re extremely special.”

She crawled closer, her eyes still dripping acid.

“I’m so out of my depth right now,” he confessed. “I’m not good at talking about my feelings and stuff. Batman wasn’t good at it. So we never practiced.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m making this worse, aren’t I?”

She crawled ever closer, making little huffing sounds. “...please…keep going…”

He patted his thigh, inviting her closer.

She rested her head on his leg.

Even though she was gross and slimy and her hide had a weird texture, Robin rested his hand on her head and started petting her. He simply refused to be repulsed. Just like he refused to be afraid when they first met.

“I think I always knew you were special to me,” he stated. “When you kissed me when you arrived on Earth, I think it left a pretty big impression on me. After that, I found myself seeking you out. I enjoyed spending time with you. I liked showing you all that Earth had to offer. I liked listening to your stories of Tamaran. I was…sensitive to you. I knew when Blackfire came to visit that things weren’t okay. I kept an eye on you, because I didn’t want to lose you. I almost did…” he swallowed. “That fight was amazing to watch. You were so focused, so resolved to take her out, it just took one bolt. It was…awesome. Everytime I watch you fight I’m amazed. You’re the strongest girl ever, and you’re really graceful when you fly.”

She released a low moan, and he realized talking about her ability to fly was probably a sore spot at the moment.

“Star…I’m not a perfect person. I think I’m far from it. I’ve done a lot to hurt you and the others. I don’t deserve someone as wonderful as you loving me…” he gnawed on his bottom lip. “There was this moment that has always stuck with me. It was during that battle while I was Slade’s apprentice. You and I were squared off. I had that laser, and you had a bolt aimed at me. I couldn’t shoot you. I just couldn’t. I was silently begging that you would shoot first so I wouldn’t have a choice.”

His voice warbled. “But then you dropped your hand. You said, ‘I cannot live in a world where we have to fight. So if you are truly evil, do what you must.’” He shook his head, new tears coming to his eyes just remembering it. “You were willing to die. You would have rather died than hurt me. I shared that sentiment, but it wasn’t until I infected myself with those nanobots that I was able to act on it. But that’s when I—-”

“Rob…in…?”

His lips twitched as he held back a sob. This vulnerability was uncomfortable, but Starfire needed it. So he’d push on.

“That’s when I knew. I knew I wanted to be with you, somehow, forever. It may have been a crush, or maybe the beginning of love. I don’t know. I hadn’t felt like that before. Nothing to compare it to.”

He wiped just under his eyes with his free hand. “I think Cyborg figured it out first. He kept teasing me about being jealous when Aqualad or Speedy talked to you, or when you got betrothed to that gurgle-what’s his face. And he was right! I was jealous!”

“…didn’t need to be…”

“I know that now!” He couldn’t help but laugh. “I wish I had known.”

In hindsight, it was actually pretty obvious she had feelings for him. She always sought him out first. She was quick to fret over him in a fight.

How many movie nights had she ‘accidently’ fallen asleep on his shoulder? She was always the one that begged him to come out of his office to eat or spend time with them.

She made sure he was safe, healthy, and happy. Is that not what love boils down to?

And he constantly took advantage of that. Instead of the gratitude she deserved, he gave her grief. Even now, being the person that he was caused her great pain.

“I’m so sorry…” He cried. “I did this…”

“...Robin is good…at being mean…to Robin…”

“And you were always so good at stopping me from doing that. I don’t know what I’m going to do now. It might actually destroy me…” He saw it all unraveling, just like she had relayed from the future she had seen. His friendships falling apart, and he becoming a carbon copy of Batman; brooding, obsessed, and alone.

“We’ll just have to adapt,” he said stubbornly. “So, you’re a worm now. You still kick butt!”

“...Robin…”

“The others will just have to get used to it. And to the rest of Jump, you’ll be my lizard-alien girlfriend. They already think we’re together, so it’s not that big of a stretch.”

“...Robin…” she grunted. “...this body…hurts. It is…unnatural…”

He used his hands to wipe away her tears, but when he found them to burn his flesh, he used his cape instead.

“...when the others…find us…please…end me…”

“I…I don’t know if I can do that,” he breathed. “I’m sorry. I want to make all your pain go away. I want to fix all of this, but…I can’t kill you, Starfire.”

More burning tears fell.

“I know I’m being selfish. All I ever do is hurt you.”

“...untrue…”

“Well, it certainly feels like it. And right now, I want to see if there’s something else that can be done. Maybe Raven can help. I want to try everything we can first.”

“...alright…always trust…Robin…”

He clenched his eyes shut, guilt swirling through his veins. “Can I hold you until they find us?”

“...am…disgusting…”

“I don’t care, Star! I don’t care!” He wrapped his other arm around her and pulled her head to his shoulder.

She was cold. There was no warmth to this hug. She secreted a foul smelling ooze that coated his arms the longer he touched her. Her acid tears dripped on his shoulder and burned through his cape and tunic, right down to his skin.

He winced in pain.

“…repulsive…”

“Do you not want me to hold you?”

She didn’t say anything, unwilling to lie. She was in pain, emotional turmoil, completely unable to love herself. Being held by the man she loved was the smallest favor she could ask for.

“I wish I had told you months ago,” he lamented. “Romance, dating, that all scares me. I think Batman did it to me on purpose. He always said that love is a weakness, and that a girlfriend would be used against me. I was scared.”

Starfire made a little trilling noise.

“But it’s so stupid, because our bad guys tried to target you to get to me anyway. Not that they were very successful since you kick butt. But it was like I had the weakness of loving someone without the benefits of getting to enjoy…you know, romance. There are so many places I wanted to take you, just you, but I didn’t know how to ask without it sounding like a date. We could have held hands, or k-k-kissed or whatever the Tamaranean equivalent is!” He sighed. “Bruce made it seem like falling in love is the scary part. He’s totally wrong. This is the scary part. I could have spent the rest of my life learning about you and falling in love with your quirks. But losing you? Imagining what comes after? No, this is the scary part.”

“…Bruce…?” She asked.

He was surprised that’s what she chose to comment on. “That’s Batman’s name. Bruce Wayne.”

“Oh…”

“And my name is Richard Grayson, Dick for short.”

“…I know.”

“…you did? When did—how did—?”

“…first met…lived with you…before tower…saw mail…your secret…I keep.”

“Thank you. It means a lot.”

“…what is John?”

“What do you mean?”

“…Rich…ard John. What is…?”

“Oh. John is my middle name. I guess Tamaraneans don’t have those. John was my father’s name. My mom's name was Mary.”

“Pretty name…” She sighed. “...gone?”

“Yeah, they’re both gone.” Then he realized that her curiosity never left. Even in this painful slug-worm form, she still wanted to learn.

Or maybe it was just because it was him. Any opportunity she had to catch a glimmer of what hid behind his mask, she took.

So he took the mask off, dropping it to the floor. Whatever came after today, he didn’t really care. All he wanted was to give Starfire anything and everything she wanted.

He told her everything. His life story, his tragedies, his cherished joys, his darkest secrets. At first, it was uncomfortable. It was like confessing a crime, but the longer he spoke, the easier it became. The truth poured out of him like a fountain.

His fears on the field with Batman, his insecurities, his likes, dislikes, anything he could think of.

“...do not need…to share all this…”

His gentle petting of her gross hide had progressed into a massage, as he hoped it would ease some of her pain. “Sure, I don’t need to, but I want to. Because I trust you. I’ve always trusted you to catch me on the field, or perform a maneuver when I call it…if I can trust you in a situation where lives are at stake, there’s little room for error and very little time to think…why shouldn’t I trust you with everything else? You’ve had my heart for a long time, Star, and you’ve taken good care of it. Better care than I have. I know I am completely safe with you.”

He swallowed and exhaled as the last little bit of truth came out. “When I’m with you, I’m home.”

Her reaction was not what he was expecting, or wanted. She cried out in pain and writhed away from him.

“Star! Star, what’s wrong?”

She didn’t answer as she snorted and grunted and contorted on the ground.

He hovered nearby, his hands reaching for her, but not quite touching, as he didn’t know what to do. He grimaced as she cried out again.

“I’m so sorry,” he cried. “I don’t know what to do!”

Slowly, she stopped wriggling, and laid still on the ground.

“Starfire?” He breathed.

There was no movement. All the acid green coloring to her eyes and mouth faded, until she was all a dull dark green.

Robin swore as he slumped back against the rock. This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t be. Not now, when all the pieces fell into place. When he finally felt peace, when he finally figured out what he needed and what he so desperately wanted…it was gone. She was gone.

He buried his face in his hands as the tears came. Bitter tears of searing loss that were painfully familiar. Tears of losing someone you loved and not being prepared for it. A lesson he didn’t learn from.

He didn’t cherish her enough. Didn’t love her when he had the chance.

Stupid and foolish and cruel and—

There was a crackling sound.

It came from her body. Something was shifting under the skin.

“Oh, this just keeps getting worse, huh?” He lamented.

A fist punched itself free of the confines of the worm, a humanoid hand with sun kissed skin.

“…Starfire?” Robin squeaked.

Another hand ripped the slimy black skin away, and a head with red hair emerged. She had her back to him, but he knew those shoulders.

Starfire shook her arm, flinging some strands of green goo away from her. “I wonder if this is how it feels to be a freshly molted Tomethean fly.”

“Star…?” he asked again, crawling towards her.

Starfire whipped her head around to stare at him. “...Robin…” She said, just as softly.

He knelt at her side and withdrew a birdarang to cut away the rest of the worm-carcass. She was completely naked, but he tried not to dwell on it.

“I thought…” she whispered. “…I did not…” Her lips trembled as she tried to collect her thoughts.

“It's alright now, Star,” he wiped some slime off her cheek. “You’re okay.”

“Robin…” she sobbed. “I did not know it could be reversed!”

He held her face tenderly. “I’m glad it was,” he smiled at her softly.

She self-consciously pushed her goopy hair back and covered her chest with an arm. “Surely, I am still disgusting and you do not need to touch me until I have had a proper bath.”

“Actually,” he grinned. “I think you might be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Really?” She stared at him, those beautiful green eyes sparkling like emeralds.

“Yeah,” he pulled her forward so they could touch their foreheads together. “You’re out of this world.”

She giggled, and rested her hands on his shoulders. “On this planet, we are both aliens.”

“Hey, I guess you’re right.” As he wiped more goop off her face, he realized it didn’t smell foul like the slime earlier had. And it dried rather quickly, like Aloe Vera.

“All those things you said, it was all true?”

“I meant every word, Star. I love you. I want to be with you. I want a future with you.” He cringed slightly. “As long as you want that. I’d understand if you had mixed feelings or needed time after all of this.”

“Robin, if you can say you love me after seeing me in this most foul state, then I shall certainly take you up on that offer.”

He pulled her into a tight hug, a hold so tight it would have hurt any other woman, but Starfire just gleefully returned the hug. He’d savor the bruises for later.

“Come on,” he scooped her up into his arms and lifted her out of the remains of her cocoon. Then he walked them back over to the rock and sat with her in his lap, keeping her close. He unhooked his cape and draped it over her. “I know it’s not much, but at least you’re partially covered.”

“A state of undress does not bother me,” she said casually. “In fact, it is a sign of affection on Tamaran to have skin to skin contact.”

“O-Oh?” He squeaked.

“Yes. Your lip contact is just used for language assimilation, and then of course, copulation is used solely for reproduction. Of course, I am not adverse to these practices if it is something you wish to partake in. I am sure that with you, I would find pleasure in most things.”

Robin felt his face color several shades. “Well…the uh…copulation thing…let’s not worry about that for a while.” He rested his bare arm on her stomach, his hand slightly massaging her side. “How else do Tamaraneans show physical affection?”

She became shy, a cute blush dusting her cheeks. “We…touch our tongues together. Though humans have much smaller tongues than we do, I imagine it will be difficult.”

“We have a similar practice, actually,” he gently bonked his forehead against her temple. “You may have heard of it as French kissing, or making out.”

“Oh! Yes! I have heard that on the television! Also, Beast Boy once told me a joke about it that I did not understand.”

“What was the joke?”

“He asked if I had ever heard of Australian kissing. I said I hadn’t, and he said it was like French kissing, but down under.”

Robin scoffed. “That’s so crude. He should have known better than to say that to you.”

“But I still do not understand it.”

He sighed. Maybe the real joke Beast Boy told was imagining this exact scenario. “Australia is commonly called ‘Down Under’. The joke is that an Australian kiss is a tongue kiss…down below, instead of on the mouth.”

Her eyes went comically wide. “Are you suggesting that your people have tongue to gential contact?”

“...yes?”

“I cannot imagine that would be sanitary.”

He chuckled. “We do a lot of gross things.”

“Perhaps we shall try it sometime, and I will change my mind.”

He sputtered as he blushed harder. “Again, we’ll worry about that later.”

Starfire had her arms around his neck. She reached a hand up to hold his face. “Another form of affection we have is prolonged eye contact. I will admit I tried to do this often with you, but your mask…”

“I’ll try to have it off when we’re alone.” He offered.

“Your eyes are so very beautiful. I am grateful you allowed me to see them.”

“Thank you.” I could say the same about your breasts, he thought. “Your eyes are pretty too.”

Starfire just sighed happily and batted those big green eyes at him.

He gazed into them lovingly for a while, and then begrudgingly broke contact. “Hold on. Now that you’re okay, I should probably check to see if the others have gotten any signal yet.”

Starfire rested her head on his shoulder, embarrassed. “I had forgotten.”

“You forgot?”

“I was caught up in the peril of being a worm, and then the euphoria of being loved in return.”

“Well, when you say it like that, I understand completely.” He kissed her temple before he took out his communicator. Thankfully, there was a new blip on the screen, marked as Cyborg. He called to see if they could get through.

Starfire quickly put his mask on for him.

“––bin? Tha–you?”

“Cyborg? Can you hear me?”

“Kinda fuzzy. —fire with you?”

“Yes, Starfire is with me.”

“BB—me. Fixin’ —ip. We’ll meet up—done. Might be—while.”

“Have you heard from Raven?”

“Not yet.––location on ship. She’s not––far from us.”

“Okay. We’ll sit tight for now.”

Robin very clearly saw Cyborg and Beast Boy smile smugly on the other side of the screen, before Cyborg sang, “have fun with your girlfriend!”

Robin just smirked back and said, “thanks! I will!” Then he turned the communicator to Starfire’s face, and kissed her fully on the mouth before ending the call.

She squeaked as he made contact, before she melted into the kiss.

He attempted to pull away, but she held him firmly in place, deepening the kiss and carding her fingers through his hair. Oh yeah, Robin thought. I could definitely spend the rest of my life getting used to this.

#robin #starfire #robstar #teen titans #tt animated #TT #dick grayson #koriand'r #episode: Stranded

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