Story © yours truly. Characters © DC comics.
Most times, the darkness outside the Titan's Tower is deeper than the city that surrounds it. From the island it's perched on, Jump City is visible across the bay, but the light doesn't intrude at night. It fades as it crosses the bay, losing its potency.
Flitting between clouds, the moon had risen, and so had Terra.
She'd nearly collapsed, falling like a rock onto the couch that coiled around the deck that composed the crossbar of the T. Despite her exhaustion, she hadn't immediately fallen asleep. Just before her mind shut down, she heard Robin say something she hadn't wanted to hear. Even still, her sleep was more peaceful than it had been in months.
And now she was not the only one who was awake.
Raven stood alone on the planked roof of Titan's Tower. The moon dodged around a dark cowl of clouds; when the light jabbed through, the metal beneath her feet shown with a pale silver not unlike her skin
She was uncloaked. She shivered in the breeze, but that was the point. The chill forced her mind to acknowledge its awareness. She wrapped her arms around her chest for minimal warmth before sitting down on the cool metal.
Inside her room, Starfire tugged her comforter up higher. She rolled onto her side and shut her eyes tight as she had been taught.
It wasn't working: she was too excited about the new girl to sleep. There were so many things she wanted to ask her! She wanted to smell her air, to touch her skin. To spend a day with her. To shop with her, to eat and drink with her. She was something wonderful and new, and Starfire wanted to be a new part of her life
She just wasn't sure when or how that would happen.
Regardless, her human friends preferred her to sleep when they did. They had suggested drinking a glass of warm milk.
More often than not, it had the opposite effect, it seemed to enhance her senses, made her chatty, but she supposed there was no harm in trying again; it might just be that it was another earthly custom to get acclimated to.
Terra had slept lightly, flirting with wakefulness, stirring frequently, almost at the hour since she had drifted off earlier in the evening. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, brushing her hair out of her face.
While she had slept, she'd dislodged her headphones. Music leaked out of them. It sounded louder in the darkness. She reached down and turned it off. Didn't want to waste more batteries.
She rubbed her eyes again, grinding the sleep out with her knuckles. She shook her head and adjusted her robe.
Starfire had gotten up, pulling on a minuscule outfit. Just that curious item Raven called "panties."
She'd gotten milk before, so she knew from experience not to expect an encounter with anyone. Besides, it was a quick flight to the kitchen, if she happened to bump into someone, she could easily hover above whoever it was; the other Titan would never know Starfire had been there.
Being as quiet as she could, she exited her room, opening and shutting the door as Raven had shown her: altering the speed at which the automated door slid into and out of its alcove. She palmed it open, waiting patiently as it opened, slipping out when there was enough room to allow her passage. She commanded it to shut, moving quickly.
She took off, gliding into the air. She reached the right height at about a foot below the ceiling.
In a few seconds, she was in the kitchen, bent down, peering into the refrigerator.
The light hurt her eyes for only a moment.
She had to move a few open containers of some unknown substances out of the way to reach the milk as it had migrated to the back over a days use.
She kicked the door shut absently as she turned towards the cupboard. She grabbed a glass, set it on the counter and poured a dollop of milk into it.
Terra stood up and undid the belt of her robe. It had loosened while she slept, and she needed to retighten it. But she didn't see any harm in enjoying herself. Everyone was asleep. She plucked the fabric away from her body. Chilled air doused her skin. She stretched, enjoying the feel of her muscles pulled to their limits. She sighed and turned around.
And saw Starfire, topless, arms crossed over her chest, tapping one foot and watching the microwave. She turned looked away, hoping Starfire wouldn't notice her.
At about that moment, Starfire grew impatient and turned to look out the viewing window and saw Terra standing there, her robe open.
Starfire's jaw dropped. She was beautiful. Thinner than Raven. Her breasts were smaller, but more perky. Her skin was pale but in a different way. With the moons glow on her, it seemed as if she was sheathed in light.
Terra heard a gasp and her head jerked to the side. She saw Starfire gawking at her.
She blushed, and fumbled with her robe, trying to close it before Starfire could see more of her. It took longer than she though. Her fingers weren't cooperating. Several times she had to stop and retie the belt. When that happened, the rest of the robe fell open revealing her again.
After a very embarrassing minute, she had the robe covering herself again.
"Starfire! What are you doing up?"
She stammered back, "Oh, Terra, I was preparing a glass of heated liquid for use as a sleep aid."
Terra stared at her, "I see."
Starfire smiled so widely it seemed her head would be cleaved in two, "Are you having difficulty sleeping as well? Would you like me to make ready another glass?"
"Um, no. No thanks. But it was nice of you to offer."
"You are quite welcome new friend."
They were silent for a few moments before Terra spoke again, "Aren't you cold without a top on?"
Starfire answered with a blank stare before glancing down at her unclothed torso and legs, "Of course not. The air is quite pleasant, a very nice change from the warmness of my room."
"Do you go around like this all the time?"
She seemed to deflate and spoke, dejected, "No. The others have explained this particular taboo to me, but I still do not understand it. On Tamaran we have no problems with our bodies."
The microwave beeped. Starfire held up a single index finger to let Terra know that she would only be a moment.
She dashed to the microwave, opened the door, quaffed the milk, and had the glass rinsed and put into a drying rack before Terra could respond.
She spoke rapidly, almost too fast for her to understand, "Come! We shall retire to my room. I'm certain you have more questions for me and we can speak more freely there. This will be fun! Follow me!"
Starfire zoomed away, into a dark hallway.
"Starfire, wait!" Terra dashed after her, pinning the top of her robe together with one hand lest it come undone again while she ran.
The hallway was lit by a pale green light: two halos emanating from fists. She was standing near the first door, watching, vigilant for Terra.
She palmed the door and it slid open with a hiss. She scurried through the dark doorway. A moment later, a light snapped on.
Terra stood, dumbfounded for a moment, before Starfire latched onto her wrist with one strong hand and yanked her inside.
Starfire was right. It was very warm. Whether it was due to poor circulation or her body temperature being higher than normal, Terra couldn't guess. It was larger than she had thought it would be, but with few furnishings. A bed with lavender sheets and a purple bed skirt was nestled in one corner. Next to that was a plain dresser. A single lamp sat on that, the source of the light.
A few bookshelves ran along the wall. Terra couldn't read the titles from where she was. Opposite the bed was a closet, its door sensibly shut.
Starfire was sitting on the bed.
"Nice place," Terra said
"Yes, it is very accommodating," she patted the mattress, "Please, sit next to me."
Terra blinked a few times, "Ok."
She took a deep breath, moseyed over, and plopped herself down beside her. She tugged the robe over her legs.
"It is wonderful to have you here. I had resigned myself to spending the night alone in the dark."
"It's ok. Really."
"No, thank you."
Terra couldn't help but notice that Starfire was acting strangely.
"So, what shall we talk about?"
"I don't know. What do you want to talk about?"
"Anything!" Starfire squealed.
"How did you find yourself with the Titans?"
Starfire inhaled, "It is a long story. I am certain you do not wish to hear it in entirety."
"No, go ahead. It can't be more uninteresting than me winding up here."
"After my sister and I were separated, I wandered around the galaxy for quite some time. I found myself here. The Titans were willing to take me in when no one else would. I am especially thankful to Robin for being so kind to me."
Terra looked away, hunching forward, eyes gazing at the floor, "So you and Robin are close?"
"We are good friends."
"I've never had anyone I can get close to."
Starfire grabbed her in another hug. Terra could feel her breasts pressing against her arm, "You have us now."
"Yeah, I know," she wheezed, "Thanks for reminding me."
She released her, grinning broadly, "You are most welcome."
They were silent for a minute. Terra realized she was sweating and wiped her brow with the back of one hand.
Starfire noticed, "You are hot? Perhaps you should disrobe."
Terra blushed, "Uh," she chuckled mirthlessly, "No. I don't think that's going to happen."
"I have said something wrong?"
"Not exactly. It wasn't the words, it was the meaning behind them."
"Oh. I see. More human taboos?"
"Yup."
"On Tamaran we have no problem with the physical form."
"Yeah, but we do."
Starfire seemed perplexed, "Why?"
Terra's jaw worked for a few seconds, "I don't know."
"I have already seen you nude, if you are hot and wish to disrobe, please do so. There is no reason to be ashamed here."
"I'd rather not."
"Very well. So, have you taken an affinity to any other member of the team?"
Terra turned to look at her, one eye brow cocked, "What?"
"As Robin is to me, who is to you?"
"Well, I kinda like Beast Boy."
Starfire chuckled, "The therianthrope is a very welcome companion.
Now it was Terra's turn to raise an eye brow, "Uh, yeah," she cleared her throat, "So how long have you liked Robin?"
"We have been friends since the first day we met each other."
Terra sighed, "No, that's not what I meant."
"I have misunderstood something then?"
Terra growled quietly, "No, don't worry about it."
Starfire was abashed, "I am sorry."
She sighed, "Don't be."
"Please, I must make it up to you."
"It's ok."
Despite her protests, Starfire didn't seem to care. She slipped behind Terra, hands lighting on her shoulders, massaging her through the cloth.
Terra was tense. She didn't know Starfire very well, and this was making her slightly uncomfortable. But then, it did feel good. She hadn't had a massage in a long time. She supposed she deserved this. Still, it was hard to relax. The muscles in her shoulders were rock hard. She could feel Starfire digging her thumbs into the large tendons that ran from her neck.
It hurt but in a good way.
Starfire kept it up for a few minutes, rubbing Terra's back with her thumbs in slow circuits. She jabbed her knuckles into the large muscles of her back.
It had the result it was supposed to.
Terra moaned and rubbed her arms. Maybe it was the warmth, or maybe it was the massage, but she was feeling more relaxed than she had in a long time. The best part of it is that she didn't even realize that she had been all that high strung. She was worried about the Titans unearthing her secret, but that was more of a general anxiety. This felt like a release of all the layers of loneliness, fear, and isolation that had built up over the years she'd spent beneath open skies.
Starfire was pleased with herself. This wasn't the first massage she'd given, though it was the first that had had this sort of reception. After a few more minutes, she stopped. Pulling her hands away and waiting for a response.
Terra turned to her, "Wow. That was great."
Starfire was thrilled, "I am glad that you were satisfied."
Terra fell back onto the bed, bouncing once when her back collided with the mattress. Starfire leaned over her beaming, "Would you like me to massage your front?"
Terra chuckled, "No; it's not necessary."
Sad, "Very well."
Terra rolled over onto her side, one arm extended underneath her head, "How did you learn how to do that?"
Starfire seemed only too happy to answer, "Robin was kind enough to instruct me in the craft. I have since administered massages to everyone. Raven does not care for them. I tried to give her one in payment for her tutoring in meditation but she did not seem receptive to the idea. I have started more but they never last more than a few minutes before Raven decides she has had enough."
"I'm shocked," Terra deadpanned.
"You should not be. Raven has never been a responsive person, but it is understandable given her upbringing."
"Oh," Terra couldn't think of what else to say.
The silence made Starfire restless.
"Would you like another massage? I am certain your feet could use one."
Terra flashed Starfire a lopsided smirk, "Sure."
She swung her feet up over the side of the bed, plopping them down in front of Starfire.
She wiggled her fingers for a moment before grasping her feet and pulling them into her lap.
She started with the balls of her feet, using her thumbs, pressing them into the larger curve below the big toe. It tickled almost. Starfire's touch was surprisingly tender given what Terra knew her capable of. She rolled her thumb over it, cradling the foot in her other hand. She used all of her fingers on the arch.
Terra giggled. Her foot twitched in Starfire's hands. The other girl managed to rein in her legs. She was kicking a bit, trying to get her feet out of her grip.
Starfire patted her foot with one hand, waiting for her to calm down before continuing.
Next was her instep. She used the palm of her hand there. Pressing deeply into it. She could feel Terra struggling not to convulse. Her breathing would come in spasms. Starfire ran a finger nail over the skin just see her reaction. Terra sighed.
Starfire moved onward. She had both thumbs on her foot now; her fingers were a sling keeping it in place. She was working on the top of the arch. Her thumbs moved in alternating circuits up and down the midfoot. Something caught her ears. She looked down but only saw Terra completely enveloped in the massage. A ghostly grin was bending her lips upward with a mellow grace.
She enfolded Terra's toes in her fingers and kneaded them, slow, tender. Terra exhaled and fell back onto the bed. She tilted her head up to take a look at what Starfire was doing now. Her face was bent into attention: her mouth was tilted in concentration, her eyes focused solely on her feet.
Terra moved a bit, wiggling her butt to the side, and draping her leg off the bed.
By now, Starfire's ministrations had moved upward, massaging her ankles. She spent some time on the bone that jutted out from the inside of her ankles. She rolled Terra's feet as her fingers played over the joint.
"Oooh," Terra's voice was soft, and Starfire was so engrossed in her task that she came close to missing it.
She stopped for a moment, waiting for Terra to open her eyes. It took longer, than she thought, but Terra eventually cracked one eye to glance at her, to question without speaking the reasons for the sudden halt in activity. Her other eye opened and she craned her neck, bringing her chin to her chest for a better view of Starfire.
A large grin blossomed across her face, all teeth. Before Terra could say anything, Starfire leaned in and kissed her. Just a small peck on one cheek. Though barely substantive, it felt warmer. The breeze from Starfire's quick withdraw cooled her cheek. Terra reached a hand up and brushed the skin with one finger.
She was frozen. She blinked thrice and her eyes wandered around the room, since she was unable to conjure an adequate response. She couldn't focus; her sight darted everywhere, stopping on Starfire's emerald eyes, her cheeks (tinged with pink in a placid blush), her naked breasts, sloping so beautifully from her chest, her slim torso, downward, where the edge of her panties clung to her waist.
To the dark stain that was beginning there. It wasn't much; just a few drops that had collected enough to temporarily stain the fabric.
Starfire's smile faded when Terra didn't budge.
"I am sorry if that offended you. Robin does it to me and it only seems to enhance the intimacy of the situation."
Terra ran a hand up and down her right thigh, "It's ok, it just surprised me is all."
She didn't tell her how glad she was the Starfire hadn't done anything bigger. She'd been fighting the pleasure: a vain attempt to control her talent during the massage and had come hazardously close to losing it.
"Shall I continue?" Starfire asked, putting one hand on Terra's.
"Sure."
She stroked Terra's hand for a second before resuming.
It was the calf now. She was using more force, almost as if trying to mold the muscle. She could feel the tension here. As if Terra shoved her troubles into her long skinny legs. She used her finger tips more. Pressing them into the sides while her thumbs rubbed on the shins. She could feel the bone through Terra's fair skin.
Up to the knee, running a finger around the patella and its intersection at the shin and femur.
She advanced further upward, running into the hem of her robe. It was split slightly, parted by how her legs were spread. It was dark inside, Starfire saw.
Neither one moved.
Their eyes locked for a moment, Starfire frozen where she had stopped.
Terra propped herself up on one elbow, her other arm grasped her robed and pulled it back, exposing more of her skin.
Starfire started
By now, Starfire couldn't help but notice the silky blond hair coating her legs. It was thin and soft, sparse, but the hairs were long. Not like Raven whose legs were perpetually smooth. Terra's thighs were thinner too. She could feel taut muscles, coiled dramatically.
She reached into the robe and rubbed her fingernails over her skin, from the crease where Terra's butt met the thigh to the protruding tendon on the posterior of her knee joint. Terra shuddered: an exquisite tremor that swelled from her slender shoulders down across her tummy, and finally, her legs.
Starfire could see what she'd been told were called 'goose bumps' sprouting over her body.
She did it again, but in a different location. This time from the inner thigh down towards the side of her knee.
Terra giggled and squirmed, unsettling the flaps over her robe, divulging her sex.
She gasped, and her cheeks went red.
The Tower trembled, causing Starfire's lamp to rock on the dresser.
She lowered her head and covered her face with her hands.
Raven was perched near the western edge. Her toes stuck off the side. She was looking at the moon, when the tower quaked. The motion wasn't much but she lost her balance and toppled over the edge. Good thing she could levitate. She flew back up on top of it, pondering the reason for such an odd disturbance this time of night.
Terra!
She must be having a bad dream.
If this minor earthquake had enough magnitude that it could be felt this far from the source, who knew what might be damaged?
She triggered a hidden hatch. It sprang up, opening into an unlit staircase that descended back into the tower.
Raven did not take them, instead opting for a quicker journey by racing along above them. The plunge was quick. She arrived at a closed door, stopping just long enough to open it before racing onward, into the bowels of the tower.
The darkness was suffocating, but she knew the way by heart. Where the corners were, and which way to turn, how far to be before she reached another door; where that particular door led to. Her journey to the sleeping wing of the tower was brief. It was almost as dark there. Moonlight from the deck window was encroaching there, but it wasn't much.
She slowed to a gentle landing, her stocking feet lessening the sound of footfall. She padded down the hall. The first room was at her left. Robin's.
Raven placed a hand on the door, concentrating on the contents of the room. His mind was still as it only could be in sleep. She nodded and continued down the hall. Cyborg's room was next. She repeated the ritual. A hand on the door to grant her mind entrance. The human component of him was slumbering deeply.
Beast Boy. She could sense dreams, nothing more than brief shards of picture, chaotic and incomplete.
Starfire was last; she wouldn't check on Terra if she didn't have too, her allegiance was to her friends and teammates. Terra was neither. If a situation arose that demanded that sort of attention, she would attend to it, but she wouldn't go out of her way for someone she didn't trust.
She laid her palm on the door and was assaulted by the scene within: Terra was robed, but naked beneath, her legs spread, Starfire's hands flitting across her body in an accelerated version of the prior events. It was clear what had happened: Terra had forced herself on Starfire and had forgotten where she was.
Raven smashed the lock with the butt of her hand and the door slid open.
Both of the other girls looked up, jumping at the sound of the door.
Terra's blush deepened as she scrambled to cover he exposed parts, but only ended up in an undignified, semi-nude state. Starfire grinned.
"Raven! It is good to see you! Are you suffering from insomnia again? I can provide you with a massage as well to relax you."
Raven stood silent for a moment before speaking. Her voice was just above a whisper and just below a growl, "No. That won't be necessary."
Starfire seemed let down, "Are you certain? You seem tense."
"Among other things," her voice dripped with menace.
Raven turned and walked away.
"Wait!" Starfire sprang from the bed to the door in one easy leap.
Terra was alone.
"Well shit," she said to no one in particular.
To be continued.