Her room was as she'd left it, comforting and quiet. She'd done some redecorating since Trigon's defeat, but the mood of the space hadn't changed much. She had traded her dark grey walls for softer off-white ones, and her curtains were now open most of the time, allowing the sun entry, though she was careful to protect her books from its rays. Where her dresser had used to be, she had hung several plants from the ceiling; ferns and mosses mostly, but also a few creeping vines that bloomed in the sun. They were useful for a great deal of her witchcraft and their scents helped with meditation. Her bookshelves, she had simply pushed out of the way of the window. She had also replaced her carpet and, in a very recent move, purchased a low mahogany table that sat in the center of several cushions. She was, slowly but surely, building a collection of worry stones, and the table housed a bowl of them. Her favorites were at her bedside.

Now, when she walked in, eyes aching with tiredness, the sun felt again like an assault. She crossed the room and twitched the curtains closed, leaving the space considerably dimmer, but still infused with light by virtue of the candles she had perched in odd places. She fell rather than climbed onto her bed, and was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

It was a knock that woke her just after noon. Immediately worried that something had happened to Robin, she flew at that door, and was relieved to find Starfire there with a cup of steaming tea in her hands. She relaxed, lowered her eyelids, and looked questioningly at the alien, who was far harder to intimidate than Beast Boy or Cyborg.

"I have come to make sure you are the all right, and to bring you this."

She offered the mug, which Raven accepted, opening her door slightly wider to allow access to her bedroom.

"Thanks, Star."

Starfire nodded and tucked a strand of auburn hair behind her ear as she followed Raven into the room, emotions coloring with surprise and pleasure at the invitation.

"You are most welcome. I have just been to visit Robin."

Raven felt ice clutch at her stomach as she led the way to the center of the room, settling cross-legged on her favorite cushion. She tried and failed to hide her worry; it colored her voice, which cracked around the edges.

"Is he…"

Starfire was looking at her a little too gently, and with a little too much understanding.

"According to Cyborg, he will be fine as long as he gets plenty of the rest. His vital signs are good. You need not worry."

Raven dropped her gaze, watching steam curl into the air from her tea. Her relief at Robin's condition was surprisingly hollow, tainted by the guilt that was eating through her stomach. Starfire sipped her own mug of what Raven could only guess was the strange, Tamaranian hot chocolate she had sampled once. It had made her incredibly nauseous before her demon side had taken over and healed her damaged stomach lining.

"What is it that troubles you, friend? Robin will be fine."

Her voice was gentle and lilting, her accent brushing its edges with concern as she leaned forward. Raven sighed with frustration and ran her hands over her forehead.

"It was my fault, Star."

It was a mark of how much Starfire had matured that she did not gasp or otherwise react, merely set her own mug down on the table and moved closer.

"I very much doubt this is the case."

The faith and loyalty in her voice made Raven want to cry, but she'd done more than enough of that lately.

"I was drunk. Robin came to pick me up, and I was drunk. We could have taken them if I hadn't been…"

Starfire, suddenly efficient, forced the tea back into Raven's hands.

"Drink this. I understand that humans sometimes need help overcoming the…hanged overs."

Raven, slightly amused in spite of herself, took an obedient sip as Starfire stood and began to rifle through her drawers.

"Would you rather Robin not have come and gotten you and perished yourself?"

"I…well, no, but…"

"And do you not think that it was your own wit quickedness that saved him from death? Do you not think that it was your healing that has made him sure to be functional tomorrow?"

She finished her exploration and turned back towards Raven, holding clothes in her hands. Raven, too preoccupied to stop her, put down her now-empty mug.

"I just feel like I've been nothing but trouble lately."

Starfire nodded understandingly as she pulled a towel out of Raven's dresser and hunted until she found shampoo and conditioner.

"I felt much the same when Blackfire was here, and also when I first joined you friends. This feeling is not bad, but you must know that it is not the fault of anyone, only the evil people who seek to do us harm."

Raven, having previously been too busy digesting Starfire's surprisingly good advice, frowned slightly as she looked at the clothes and toiletries now spread out on her bed.

"Um…Star? What are you doing?"

Starfire, still uncharacteristically brisk, took Raven's arm in one hand and lifted her easily, ignoring the half-articulated protests that resulted.

"We must go shopping!"

Raven groaned.

"Star, I really don't think – "

"You must leave this room and this tower."

"But – "

"Besides, you are to attend a formal dinner very soon, and your wardrobe is not equipped."

She set Raven down just outside of the bathroom and shoved clothes, towel, and bottles into her arms.

"You are covered in blood and robot scraps. Cleanse yourself. You will feel better. Then we will go."

Had Raven been anything other than exhausted, she would have protested, or, more likely, not have even let her friend into her room in the first place. But as much as she hated shopping, Star was right. She needed to experience some version of world that wasn't steeped in her problems.

"Um…yeah. Thank you, Starfire."

When she emerged from the bathroom, hair still damp and skin refreshingly devoid of Robin's blood, it was to find Starfire gone and her room tidied. After a brief detour to put her towel in a laundry basket and heal a few wounds she hadn't noticed until they had hissed, livid, on her skin in the shower, she tracked Starfire's emotional signature to the kitchen. She looked up and smiled, tucking her long, reddish hair behind an ear.

"Are you ready for our shopping?"

Raven sighed and bit back a sarcastic comment.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Cyborg and Beast Boy, engrossed in video games on the couch, both snickered loudly. Raven glared at them until they returned to their idiotic activity with unnaturally sober expressions.

"Try this one on your body."

Raven sighed. For the umpteenth time, Starfire had dragged her out of the bookstore and she now occupied one of two changing rooms in a small-ish mall version of a boutique. For the life of her, she couldn't see what Starfire was so excited about. Malls were evil places, distillations of everything she had ever read about capitalism. They were also surprisingly like what Raven had seen of supervillains: she was pretty sure Mad Mod had co-opted the idea of using the smell of baked goods to lure people into his lair from the Cinnabon stores around every corner. She looked doubtfully at the latest dress. She didn't like dresses; they fit awkwardly on her body and her way of standing – hips forward, feet apart, arms crossed over her chest – just didn't work with things that were as frilly as this one.

"I don't know, Star…"

To her surprise, Starfire didn't disagree. When she opened the door to reveal the result (the dress was a kind of pale yellow and cinched just at her ribcage), the alien frowned.

"You are right. It is not…you."

Raven groaned.

"This is a waste of time. Why can't I just wear jeans and be done with it?"

It was Starfire's turn to groan.

"I know we are neither of us of this earth, but you know shockingly little about this planet's aristocrats."

Raven raised an eyebrow as she shut the door and yanked the dress off with perhaps more violence than was necessary.

"Enlighten me."

She heard Starfire sigh.

"This type of social event requires dress that is "the classy". You must be attractive only because you look untouchable. It, to my understanding, means not the same thing as pretty or sexy."

Raven was reluctantly impressed. Starfire had made a lot of mistakes with earthly culture, but because of the planet's similarities to Azarath, Raven hadn't had nearly as much trouble. She also hadn't had to learn nearly as much. Starfire consumed culture like a sponge. She was also extremely intuitive, something that people often missed. Raven, by contrast, could pick up on emotion, but thought of most social interaction as superfluous, and therefore missed a lot of the things Starfire took great pains to acknowledge.

When they finally made their way out of the store, Star was carrying a large shopping bag (she somehow managed to make everything she wore look effortless) and Raven was carrying the vestiges of her hangover.

"I don't know if I'm cut out for this. Maybe you should go."

"Nonsense. You are just as much of the cut out as I. Besides, I have the dating to do, and I do not wish to depart to Gotham before I must."

Raven sensed something akin to fluttering in her emotions.

"Dating, huh?"

Starfire shrugged, hair rippling fluidly down her back. Raven wasn't fooled by her nonchalance.

"How's Argent?"

She didn't need to probe any longer – Starfire was blushing, face almost as red as her hair.

"She is well."

Raven smiled to herself, waiting. Star wasn't the type to keep things to herself, but she was usually pretty quiet about relationships. She didn't like to talk to them around the rest of the team, particularly Beast Boy, who she knew would tease incessantly.

"She sends her regards."

Raven nodded, tired smile still hovering around her lips.

"Likewise." There was a pause. "And you two?"

Star stopped outside yet another store and pulled Raven inside.

"Toni is…magic. I have not met another human like her."

Raven looked doubtfully at some sort of pink thing.

"She's not entirely human."

Star shoved a long black gown at her.

"Only half. You do not believe this is important though, surely?"

Raven's smile was not without irony.

"Half-demon, Star. I'm hardly one to talk."

Starfire's thousand-kilowatt smile was back.

"You like her, yes?"

Raven summoned her hazy memories of the small, pixie-like girl. They had met a few times when the Brotherhood of Evil had been a real threat. Argent was an honorary titan, but by that point there had been so many of them that Raven had begun to have trouble keeping track. She had been cool, though. Raven remembered appreciating the neon-red she seemed to favor for hair color.

"She seems great."

"Oh good! You must re-meet her! Everyone must. She has been shy, but I believe she would get along with you all very well."

Raven sighed as she pushed aside something floor-length and nearly transparent.

"Maybe she has some fashion advice."

Starfire giggled.

"She says that she sometimes prefers to cut up men's clothing as it is simpler and – "

Her green eyes widened suddenly.

"I have an idea."

The store they ended up at was…expensive. That was really the only word for it; every piece of clothing there was black, which Raven appreciated, and tailored, which she did not. They were greeted, eventually, by a stodgy looking sailsperson in a black suit.

"Can I help you, ladies? Perhaps you are looking for a gift?"

Raven looked from him to Starfire, nonplussed. She, on the other hand, had thrown her bags onto a low sofa and was holding a suit at arm's length, looking critically at its cut.

"Not a gift, no. You will find something to fit her, please!"

The man looked Raven up and down, expression somewhat insulting.

"Hmmm…she's not exactly tall, is she?"

Starfire, who was easily four inches taller than Raven, stood next to him, frowning.

"Pants can be altered, yes?"

They continued to prattle about inseams while the salesman pulled a measuring tape apparently from thin air and began to measure everything from her arms to her torso. By this time, Raven was fairly sure steam was coming out of her ears. She glowered until they had finished, both apparently oblivious to her annoyance. Eventually, she found herself in yet another changing room, looking at herself in a mirror that was far too large. Starfire's voice was cheerful outside the velvet curtain that cut off her little carpeted room.

"How goes it?"

Raven looked at herself. She looked…professional. Like she could run a multimillion dollar company or work as an assassin and nobody would know the difference. The suit had been pulled from the 'petite' section of the store, and fit her surprisingly well. The jacket was slightly big in the shoulders, it was true, but it cinched at the waist and buttoned up not-quite far enough to entirely hide her chest, which looked fantastic given that she wore nothing under the jacket but a black bra. Her pants were only slightly too long, but they also fit her waist perfectly and hung almost gracefully, skimming her hips and smoothing her silhouette.

"Actually…I kind of like it."

Starfire entered through the curtain and promptly gasped.

"Friend Raven! This is perfect! You are…badass, I believe is the word, yes?"

Raven smiled, watching her reflection do the same.

"Yeah. That's the word. Thanks, Star."

She wasn't overly fond of hugs, but somehow, she didn't mind when the alien wrapped her arms around her shoulders and grinned at her in the mirror.

in my head Starfire has always been gay. #mystorymyrules

thank you for reading!

xxx