RobStar Week Prompt 1: Firsts
Hi! For so many years I've followed RobStar week as a spectator. Now I'm actually participating! I won't be able to do all the prompts but I figure this will be a fun writing exercise to pump out as many as I can (if I have ideas for them). Happy Robin/Starfire week! @robxstar
-----------------------------
"You're benching her?" Beast Boy repeated. "Seriously?"
Robin didn't even look at him.
"Stay out of this, Beast Boy."
"Dude, you can't do that!" Beast Boy said, stepping beside Starfire. "This was just our first major job together as a team! And she saved all of those people!"
"She directly disobeyed orders."
Robin whipped around, staring down the changeling.
"It's insubordination," he challenged.
Beast Boy took a step forward, squaring up to the team leader. "Man, what's your problem?! Everybody was saved!"
"No," Robin snapped. "Everybody survived because we got lucky."
Starfire folded her arms despite the dried blood smeared across her clothes.
"I do not believe saving innocent lives should be considered luck. You have tasked me with protecting innocent lives, and that is what I did."
Robin rounded on her. "You were given direct orders. It wasn't your decision to make."
Starfire faced Robin directly, drawing herself up to challenge him.
"It became my decision when I was the only one there capable of rescuing them."
"The mission was coordinated for a reason, Starfire."
"Yes, and the situation changed."
"It always changes! That's why we have a plan!"
Beast Boy scoffed. "Yeah, if your plan was to let all those people die."
Robin glowered at him. "The plan was to have everyone covering each other."
"The team wasn't there!" Beast Boy said, his voice raised in exasperation.
"Because she broke formation!"
Cyborg finally stepped in, holding his palms out between the two.
"Alright, everybody needs to chill out."
Everyone turned to Starfire, her eyes beginning to glow in frustration.
"I did nothing wrong. I do not deserve this treatment."
"You got hurt, Starfire!" Robin bellowed back.
"I am a warrior! This is not the first time I have been injured, and it will certainly not be my last."
The words escaped Robin's mouth before he could stop them. He stood still, his face just as shocked as the others.
"And there it is," Raven broke the silence.
Robin shot her a look. "What?"
"That's the real problem here," Raven said.
Robin frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means," Raven said flatly, "you've spent the last ten minutes pretending that this is all about following orders."
Cyborg immediately began nodding, crossing his arms.
"Glad someone finally said it," he said dryly.
"Your problem isn't that she disobeyed you."
Beast Boy leaned into Cyborg, whispering, "I think she's winning."
Cyborg nodded. "Man, I know she's winning."
Robin sighed. "Star, you disobeyed a direct order. That's my problem."
Starfire bristled. "I could not -"
"You thought she was dead," Raven interjected.
The room became very still.
Robin stared at her in shock. "...How do you -"
"Empath," Raven said simply.
"I felt you panic from the other side of the city."
Robin had the decency to look at least slightly embarrassed.
"I wasn't panicking," he mumbled, mostly to himself.
Starfire's gaze softened as she stepped toward the ebony-haired hero.
"You believed I had perished?"
Robin couldn't seem to face her.
"When the building came down…" he said quietly, "your communicator cut out."
"I couldn't see you. I thought…"
Starfire watched him carefully.
"I thought I had sent you to your death."
"I did not know that you believed this."
Robin finally found it in him to look at her. His eyes met hers, and he allowed himself to truly face her injured form for the first time that night.
"To be fair, Star…" Cyborg interrupted, scratching the back of his head. "Watching you catch half an apartment building wasn't exactly relaxing. It's not like any of us knew that you could do that."
Starfire tilted her head at him. "I was aware of what I could handle."
"You were literally screaming," Cyborg shot back.
"You were screaming, 'IT IS VERY HEAVY!'"
He couldn't help it. Robin chuckled.
"I do not understand why this is humorous." Starfire looked genuinely confused.
Robin ran a hand through his soot-covered hair, settling into a more relaxed stance.
"You seriously announced that the building was heavy?"
"I believed the information might be useful."
Beast Boy finally cracked, laughing at the situation unfolding. Cyborg and Raven joined in with their own smiles.
Robin shook his head, trying very hard not to laugh.
"I have been informed this is one of my more admirable qualities."
For the first time since returning to the Tower, the tension eased.
Robin sighed. "I'm still mad."
"But not because you saved those people."
"I'm mad because…" he admitted, "…this was our first real mission together." He gestured toward the city outside. "An entire neighborhood was falling apart."
His voice became quieter.
"I've spent years training to keep control when everything goes wrong." He looked at Starfire. "Then you ignored the plan."
"Because innocent people would have perished."
Starfire looked out the window before returning her gaze to Robin.
"I would make the same choice again."
That somehow made it worse.
Raven looked between the two teenagers.
"We've known each other for…" She glanced at Beast Boy.
"Like… three weeks?" Beast Boy offered.
"Thirty-two days," Cyborg corrected.
"You counted?" Beast Boy asked.
Raven continued, looking between Robin and Starfire.
"You've known each other for thirty-two days."
"Trust doesn't appear overnight."
Starfire looked at Robin.
"I shouldn't have yelled."
"You yelled quite loudly when I had caught the building."
"I could hear you over the emergency vehicles."
"I was approximately two blocks away."
"Can everyone stop piling on?"
Starfire stepped closer, her voice soft.
"I do not regret saving those civilians."
"But…" She hesitated. "…I regret making you believe I had died."
"And next time…" He held out his hand. "…next time we figure it out together."
Starfire smiled - a small, genuine smile that reached her eyes.
Beast Boy immediately wiped an imaginary tear from his eye.
Robin didn't even look at him.
"We're resolving a tactical disagreement."
"Give it a few months. They'll be finishing each other's battle plans," Cyborg joked.
Starfire tilted her head. "I do enjoy planning."
"…That could actually work."
Beast Boy threw his hands into the air. "Oh, great. We created two Robins."
Raven sighed. "They're going to be impossible."
Cyborg chuckled. "They're gonna be a good team."
Robin looked at Starfire. For the first time since the mission, he wasn't seeing the reckless alien who had ignored his orders. He was seeing someone who would throw herself into impossible danger without hesitation if it meant saving lives.
Starfire, meanwhile, wasn't seeing an overbearing commander. She was seeing someone who had been terrified of losing her.
It was far too early for that.
romaincrisis
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
gracieabrams
discoholicmusic
dailybridgerton
amandla
yousharknotpass
