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It’s been several days since Tango’s fight with Dogwarts and his… encounter with the Galaxy Duo. The one specifically on his mind was Starflower, with his flirty comments and annoyingly caring expression. Why did Starflower look at him like he was the sun shining after days of cloudy weather?
Tango pressed his hands against his cheeks, promptly ignoring the warmth he felt beneath his touch. He tended to run warm anyway, so it wasn’t unusual, right? His mind drifted back to Starflower’s note, which was still tucked underneath his pants in his dresser along with the invitation Zomblaze had given him.
He had spent most of his time recovering from the wounds on his back and engaging in his civilian life, but Zomblaze managed to catch him during the one time he went out as his vigilante alter ego, Phoenix. It was a simple patrol, luckily no villains in sight, when Zomblaze approached him.
They came with an invitation from the people behind The Heart Foundation itself. The non-profit charity was hosting a festival to raise funds and supplies for disadvantaged hybrid youth, a cause close to Tango's heart. The Heart Foundation had a significant impact on the city, with its outreach encompassing diverse communities and improving the lives of countless people. Tango had personally benefited from some of their amenities during his younger years.
Unlike Skizz (one of the people behind the charity), Zomblaze and Tango were both hybrids. Zomblaze, as their codename would suggest, was a zombie hybrid and Tango was a blaze hybrid. She told him that Skizz would have tried inviting him himself (though Zomblaze’s tracking skills were several times better than the former hero’s) but he wanted to make sure Tango (specifically Phoenix) would feel comfortable showing up. Skizz seemed to forget that he was a well-loved hero before he retired and that most wouldn’t doubt his genuinity but Tango appreciated the effort anyway.
Tango asked for the terms of the invitation and Zomblaze promised that there were none. They vouched for Skizz’s character and claimed that The Heart Foundation wasn’t up to anything shady. She also told him that he could be as involved or uninvolved as he would like. From the charity’s end, anyway. They couldn’t control the people who came on that level.
The invite felt like a sign. Starflower had asked for him to meet him there and then Tango was also requested to come by an unassociated party. Tango had previously planned to ignore Starflower’s note (and the way it made him feel) but it was getting harder and harder to do so.
Tango rummaged through the drawer, retrieving both Starflower’s note and the invitation. The invitation appeared standard, clearly mass-produced for wide distribution. Zomblaze had verbally provided additional details, specifically tailored to Tango rather than the average attendee. In contrast, Starflower’s note served as an invitation in its own unique way. Though brief and concise, it carried a depth that Tango wasn’t quite ready to delve into.
Firebug,
The Heart Foundation is hosting a festival to raise money for disadvantaged hybrid youths this Fri-Sun. I will be there. Come find me and we’ll make it a date ;)
Starflower
Tango would have gone on Friday but the outfit he custom ordered (he couldn’t show up in his vigilante outfit- well, he could but that wasn't the point- but he couldn’t show up in his normal civilian clothes either!) wasn’t finished in time. He had ordered it with short notice so he couldn’t give them any grief about it. They had it finished the next day and Tango was able to pick it up on the way back from his shift at the animal shelter on Saturday, but he had been too exhausted to convince himself to attend.
It was currently early Sunday afternoon and Tango was determined to attend today. It was the last day of the festival so it was his last chance to go. His vigilante outfit included a lot of black and red but, for the festival, he decided to switch it up some. Tango asked for pink instead and he may have leaned into the heart-theming a bit too much, but it was worth every cent. He even got heart-shaped glasses to wear over his mask!
His spirits were higher than they had been for the past several days. Walking through the festival and feeling the energy from all the people was exhilarating. A few several people stopped him as he wandered, asking for a photo and/or a signature, and he obliged their request.
Tango’s favorite interaction was with this little girl who wore pink beads in her hair. She had earned his attention with a tug on his tail. Instead of getting mad, he responded, “Hey there! Look at that! We’re both wearing pink.”
She giggled, trying to grab the end of his tail again. Tango humored her, letting his tail burn and jump around as she tried to get a hold of it. The little girl had some strider traits and she was wearing a warmificator (an unofficial name for a common medical device meant to help strider hybrids from constantly shivering) so Tango figured the fire would do her good.
They played around for a bit, both hybrids extremely amused throughout the interaction, before the child’s father came over, looking relieved to find her. He thanked Tango for taking care of her and Tango just gave him a sheepish smile and a “No worries.” If Tango were to be honest here, he had completely forgotten how dangerous and uncommon it would be for a small child to be someplace like this alone. Some vigilante I am.
With the child now by her father’s side, Tango’s attention was free to move elsewhere. He had spotted many others with blue hair, but none of them had been Starflower. For all Tango knew, Starflower’s hair may not even be blue currently! How did Starflower expect Tango to find him? It wasn’t like Starflower pinpointed his exact location within the festival; all he had said was the general location and time. Tango wasn’t making himself very hard to find, but Starflower has yet to present himself.
What if he gave up on me coming? Tango frowned at the thought, a soft sigh leaving his lips. Maybe he had missed his chance? Tango found himself disappointed. He had been looking forward to their “date” (as Starflower had called it) that wasn’t actually a date but he was probably too late.
Just as Tango was about to give up and go home early, he heard a familiar voice behind him. “Are you really going to leave without saying goodbye? At least let me drive you home and walk you to your door. I am a gentleman, after all.”
Starflower! Tango spun on his heel to face the villain, reacting more out of surprise than flusteredness. He blurted out a “You’re here.” as if it wasn’t obvious by him standing there.
Starflower had also dressed more casually, though he still looked stunning. He was wearing what looked to be a jean jacket dyed dusty pink, a white t-shirt, and black pants. Instead of a mask over his eyes, like he usually had, Starflower was wearing a simple one over his mouth. It was strange but not unwelcome to see a different half of his face. It would be nice to see him without the masks.
Despite Starflower’s mouth being covered, Tango could practically see him smirking. Tango could see the creases beside his eyes, and he had seen his smirk enough times to conjure up a mental image.
“Good to know your eyes work, firebug.” Starflower teased, walking closer while he lifted his jacket slightly to reveal the area around his waist, a gesture meant to assure Tango (he assumed) that he wasn't carrying any weapons. “I’ve been around but you looked to be enjoying all the people wanting to talk to the Phoenix so I figured I would let you have your fun. I like the pink, by the way. Great minds think alike.”
Tango noticed that Starflower didn’t comment on the fact that he had not shown up the past two days, but he didn’t dare to bring it up either. Tango decided to move past the small talk and indirectly bring up the note. “Why did you ask me to meet you here?
“For a date,” Starflower responded easily, offering his hand to Tango for him to hold. “It’s nice and public and surely you know me well enough to know I won’t do anything to hurt the innocent people here. Plus, there's a lot to do at festivals, a little something for everyone. It’s the perfect place for our first date.”
“It’s not a date.” Tango eyed the hand but he refused to let himself accept the offer. He crossed his arms to give his hands something to do. “I came here out of curiosity and because The Heart Foundation invited me.”
“So that’s how this is.” Starflower let his hand drop to his side, looking disappointed and even peeved but not surprised. “Fine, it doesn’t have to be a date if you’re not ready for that yet. Can we at least go on some of the rides and maybe play some games? I bought tickets and I don’t want them to go to waste. It is the last day I can use them, after all.”
Going on some of the rides did sound like fun. Tango hadn’t had the chance to go on any yet, but he had looped the place a multitude of times. He also realized he had bought some tickets when he first arrived as a way to donate to the cause. He unzipped his pocket to fish them out, needing to visually confirm he still had them before allowing himself to put them back and rezip the zipper. “Sure, but only if we go on the Ferris Wheel first! It’s been forever since I’ve been on one.”
Starflower stayed silent a few seconds longer than usual before agreeing. “Fine, but only if you promise to do the bumper cars with me afterward.”
“Deal.” Tango grinned, pleased with this arrangement. With that, they two made their way toward the Ferris Wheel to join the queue. As they made idle conversation, a question popped into Tango’s mind. “What do I call you right now?”
“Mine, darling, lover, beloved,” Starflower started to list things Tango could call him, with a quick look over his shoulder as they moved forward between the ropes. The operator had just boarded some of the people onto the Ferris Wheel, so the line was shortening and shifting.
“Might just start calling you ‘princess’ if you keep that up.” Tango knocked his shoulder against Starflower as he interrupted him, expecting Starflower to dislike the suggestion.
“If that’s your thing, I won’t object,” Starflower replied without missing a beat, unphased by the suggested pet name. “It has a nice ring to it. Very royal-sounding, very cute. Just like me! Suits me fairly well, don’t you think?”
Tango sputtered at Starflower’s words, his mind being very imaginative with the prompts of “cute”, “Starflower” and “princess”. He averted his gaze, trying to hide the blush that pinkened his face. Tango wished that he was the one who was wearing an over-the-mouth mask instead of Starflower. He cleared his throat in an attempt to move on, not ready to face… that head-on. “I meant the name you’re going by now. The name you used when you bought the ride paper thingamabobbers.”
“I didn’t use one. Did they ask you for a name when you bought yours?” Starflower asked with a raised eyebrow, understanding that Tango was trying to say “tickets”.
“No,” Tango admitted, though he was here as Phoenix. He had just assumed they knew who he was, and that was why they didn’t ask. He was going to say more when the Ferris Wheel operator called them forward. Tango retrieved two tickets from his zipper pocket to "pay" for both himself and Starflower.
Tango started to make his way to the passenger car when he noticed Starflower had stayed behind at the operator's booth. When Tango met his gaze, Starflower moved toward him with several short glances upwards. They eventually entered the cabin and sat down on opposite sides to even out the passenger car.
The door closed after they found their seats and they started to move over and up. One of Starflower’s hands gripped onto the edge of the seat and the other clung to the pole in the middle of the cabin. His body was tense as his gaze rapidly shifted between the outside through the window slots, the floor, and everyone else but where Tango was sitting.
Tango furrowed his eyebrows at his unusual behavior before an explanation clicked in his brain. “Are you afraid of heights?”
“No,” he muttered what felt like an obvious untruth to Tango. “That would be silly.”
“It’s not silly.” Tango started to stand up from where he was to comfort Starflower better. “Here, I’ll-”
“No!” Starflower’s eyes widened with pure panic as the cabin tilted. “Stay over there! You’re going to tip it and it's going to detach us and we’re going to fall and die.”
Tango immediately sat back down at Starflower’s command. They stayed silent for several moments before Tango hesitantly offered his hand. “How about you squeeze my hand instead of the pole? Would that help?”
A small noise left Starflower’s lips, suggesting that he was going to say something but didn’t let himself continue. Instead, he clamped his jaw shut and nonverbally accepted Tango’s offer by placing his hand on Tango’s. With a slight shift of the cabin as it went around, the hold on his hand tightened but Tango allowed it.
“You could have told me you,” he searched for a word with a more positive connotation than “afraid” or “scared” and settled on, “didn’t like heights. We didn’t have to go on the Ferris Wheel.”
“I’m not scared of heights. I’m scared of Ferris Wheels.” Starflower admitted, lowering his voice to a begrudged mutter for the second sentence. “There’s a difference. Besides, you wanted to go on one and I am a grown-ass adult. I can handle a little fear. It’s not that big of a deal.”
The Starflower he met in battle and the Starflower he was interacting with now were very different people. The villain Starflower was downright terrifying when he wanted to be and seemingly untouchable. This Starflower (and the Starflower he’s grown to know through their interactions) was… where could he even begin? The words he wanted to use were too gushy for where their relationship stood. Tango’s heart beat violently in his chest, and he hoped Starflower couldn’t hear it.
“I know you can, princess, but Ferris Wheels are avoidable,” Tango remarked. The nickname came naturally and was supported by Starflower’s earlier acceptance. Tango hadn’t intended to say nickname (it was more of a pet name but he didn't want to think of it like that) aloud, but he didn’t stop himself to avoid calling attention to it. He wasn’t sure if that decision was for the conversation’s sake or his own. “I would have been okay.”
“It’s fine,” Starflower paused, then added to his statement as an afterthought, “but only if we go to the bumper cars next. I’m going to win.”
“Win?” Tango questioned. “You can’t win at bumper cars.”
“You can the way I play it,” Starflower grinned in a way that Tango could discern even through the mask, a competitive gleam shining in his eyes. “My sister and I would see how many times we could hit our cars into each other when we were kids. Whoever could hit the other one the most would win. We also had a version that was sort of like Tag; whoever wasn’t ‘it’ when we had to stop won the game.”
As Starflower reminisced, his competitive expression softened into a fonder one. “It was one of our favorite things to do. My hometown had this old, rundown place- it has gone bankrupt since then- that would let us spend the afternoons there if we helped clean up at closing. Best ‘volunteer hours’ I’ve ever spent. Our parents had no idea we spent most of the time messing around.”
“You have a sister?” Starflower just said he had a sister, so obviously he did, but Tango was asking more as a prompt than a genuine question. “I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah, I do. She isn’t around, so you wouldn’t be able to meet her, and I don’t talk about her much so I wouldn't expect you to know. I should talk about her more.” His expression turned bittersweet but he seemed more relaxed and his grip on Tango’s hand loosened. “I miss her.”
“Oh!” Tango hadn’t realized that his sister was dead from Starflower’s story and now he didn’t know what to say. “I’m… sorry for your loss. She sounds lovely.”
“She’s not dead. I refuse to believe that.” Starflower denied Tango’s apology as he shook his head. “She’s out there someplace, I know she is. I just haven’t located her yet but I’ve been working away at it. The cops closed her case so I’ve had to get… creative with my methods.”
“That must be hard,” Tango replied, somewhat dumbly. There weren’t “right words” to say to something so complex and heavy but he tried to anyway.
“It is.” Starflower sighed, using his free hand to wipe away the tears that had started to form in his eyes. “She’s the reason I do what I do, you know? I would do anything for her and I have done a lot I probably wouldn’t have done otherwise. The hope of seeing her again someday makes everything worth it, though.”
Tango didn’t speak this time, unsure what to say after Starflower’s confession, for lack of a better word. They didn’t even know each other’s real name (Tango wondered what his name could be) yet Starflower was being so open with him! Why was he putting so much trust in him? Tango didn’t understand when their relationship developed from villain and vigilante to… friends? Is that what one would call this?
“Sorry, that was a lot. You didn’t need or want to know all of that.” Starflower let go of Tango’s hand and leaned back but the movement caused the cabin to tip again. He redirected his movement to cling to the pole with both hands, his voice hitching as he cursed and regained his bearings. “Fu-ucking hell! How much longer until this ride is over?”
“It usually goes ‘round a few times before getting people off and starting again.” Tango tried to keep his movements minimal as he glanced out the windows behind him. “They’re starting to do the switcharooney now.”
Starflower nodded in acceptance, not replying with words. He simply focused his attention on some random spot in the cabin and stayed like that for the rest of the ride.
When it was their turn to get off, Tango stood up but Starflower wasn’t moving. He opened his mouth to try and get Starflower’s attention but he hesitated before saying his name. Tango couldn’t call him “Starflower” in the earshot of other people because people may connect him to the villain of the same name. It wouldn’t be good for Starflower or himself to call unnecessary attention to their meeting.
Tango almost switched to calling him “princess” (they mentioned and used “princess” before so Starflower may recognize it as himself enough) but that would be a bit strange considering he was still dressed as Phoenix. If they were both in their civilian forms, Tango would be more inclined to use it.
He settled on “starlight”, hoping the “star” part of it would trigger name recognition while also not seeming too out of place in natural conversation; it wasn’t like “Starlight” was an unusual name. “Starlight, it’s time to go. The ride is over.”
Tango’s plan worked as Starflower's gaze snapped from the random spot to Tango’s eyes. Starflower took a breath and stood up as if he hadn't just been frozen by fear. With his head held high, he walked away from the Ferris Wheel and he didn't look back. “Come on, firebug! You owe me a round at the bumper cars!”
Tango didn’t waste time following after him, not wanting to congest the area beside the ride but also not to lose Starflower in the crowd. “Only if you explain the extra rules you play by. I want a fair chance at winning.”
“Sure, I can explain,” Starflower cracked his knuckles, “but you’re not going to win.”
“Mhm, sure,” Tango patted his shoulder, “keep telling yourself that.”