Prompt: Anaphylactic Response

I've had this idea before but where Rob gets poisoned with something meant for Starfire but I never really got around to making it

Earth was wonderful and Starfire would be the first to say so but she still missed her home. Little things that didn't really affect the day weighed on her chest heavily at night even if it was just a joke that didn't go down well because her friends didn't have the context to find it funny. On their last trip to Tamaran, she took as much as he could to make her comfort food on Earth. Although she'd found substitutes that worked almost as well as the ingredients she was familiar with, there was nothing where she couldn't tell the difference. She always found home when the kitchen was filled with the food she grew up with and she grinned every time she sat down to eat. 

The team noticed how happy she was and said that if she ever wanted to share some of the foods she loved with them, they'd be happy to give it a go. She didn't take them up on the offer right away partially because if they didn't like it, she'd be heartbroken to see it go to waste but after some time to mull it over she decided it was worth a try. They shared Earth's food with her and always assured her if she didn't like it there was nothing to worry about. It would be nice that if and when they did return to Tamaran they would feel less intimidated to partake in the staple foods. 

They picked a date and she spent the entire day preparing everything. She was in her element and she silently rejoiced every time someone passed through the kitchen and told her it was smelling great. Every pot and pan was being used and she was thankful that they all agreed to help her clean up after they were done eating as a thank you. She decided a buffet style would be best so nobody felt inclined to finish their plate and she could keep most of the leftovers. When everything was set, she called in the team and gave them a brief description on what everything was. She tried to compare them to food they would be familiar with but there was no perfect substitute. 

As they tucked in, Robin noticed he felt weird. Whilst the food was wonderful and he'd made sure to make that known, he couldn't help but focus on the odd feeling. His mouth felt tingly almost itchy. His tongue felt heavy in his mouth no matter how much water he drank. He debated saying so but he took a while to think about how to do it without upsetting Starfire. She spent the entire day on this, using finite ingredients, and he'd hate to make her think it was all for nothing. 

Starfire kept an eye on everyone throughout the meal. She couldn't help the smile that had now become permanent on her face when she saw everyone eat with no sign of stopping. She'd made a little section of strictly vegan food, although admittedly she wasn't sure what ruled as vegan in this regard, and Beast Boy had practically inhaled all of it. Cyborg took out at least three bowls by himself and even Raven was going back for seconds. The only person she was slightly worried about was Robin as he was still making his way through his first plate. She didn't think too deeply about it since he was more of a grazer than a meal type of person. She bet that if she kept this in the fridge he'd pick at it throughout the week.

"Hey Star, can I ask you something? I don't wanna sound rude or anything," Robin began. She smiled at him. Honestly, she was already over the moon that he'd been so willing to try everything she put in front of him despite it being incredibly different to the food on earth. He'd been a good sport so far and she couldn't see him offending her just by being inquisitive. 

"Of course, what is it?"

"Is this supposed to make your mouth itchy?" She paused. Itchy. That wouldn't be how she described this dish. It had some spice to it but he knew what spicy meant so he would use that word. 

"Itchy?" she repeated unsurely. He nodded a little red in the face. She wouldn't call it a blush since he was mostly red around his mouth. It almost looked irritated and swollen which she hadn't seen before. He wasn't supposed to react that way, at least she didn't think so. He was probably the first human to try this so she couldn't guarantee anything. 

"Yeah. Well, sorta tickly?"

"I don't think so. I wouldn't describe it that way."

"Do you mean spicy?" Beast Boy asked. He shook his head. 

"No, I definitely mean itchy. It's great by the way," he added quickly. "Just itchy? And I think it's making my tongue swell up."

"That's not intended," she told him, slowly rising from her chair to get a closer look at him. Starfire gently held his chin and tilted his face up. It wasn't just one area that was swollen. It was small areas of his lips, chin and cheeks. She squinted her gaze at the hives. That certainly wasn't intended.

"It's probably better if you don't eat any more of it," Beast Boy suggested.

"Yeah, I think so. I might go lay down too."

"What're you not saying?" Cyborg questioned eyeing him suspiciously. "You never willingly relax. You're in a constant state of tense, your muscles would atrophy if you tried."

"I'm fine," he insisted. "Just don't feel 100% right now."

"I haven't poisoned you, have I?" Starfire asked, half joking but half serious at the same time. Fear was eating away at her even if she could see this wasn't life or death. It was just a few hives and a little swelling. He wasn't rolling around on the floor clawing at his throat or screaming in pain.

"Of course not. I bet it's just a side effect on humans or something. I'll be back to normal in an hour," he assured her quickly. "It really was nice though. I promise." He went to kiss her but stopped himself. "Better not actually." She hummed and compromised by giving him a kiss on his hive-free forehead. 

"Rest well."

"I will. You guys enjoy dinner." Or else, went unsaid. "Call me when it's time to clean up, it's the least I can do."

The rest of dinner went by uneventfully but Starfire couldn't enjoy it. She hadn't even thought about what Tamaran's local food could do to people who had never been exposed to it before. Nothing she had could be found on Earth, what if that was for good reason? What if humans weren't made for it? What if she accidentally poisoned Robin and he was pretending it was nothing? She couldn't finish her meal and as they began preparing to clean up, she nominated herself to check on their leader. There was no chance she was going to let him help if he wasn't feeling well but she'd feel better if she saw there was nothing sinister happening. 

There was something sinister happening.

When she found Robin in his room, he sat on the edge of the bed with his feet flat on the floor and leaned slightly forward. The hives had spread from the lower part of his face to down his neck and sporadically dotted on other exposed skin. She could hear his wheezing from the doorway and he looked like he was about to vomit or pass out or both. 

She was frozen for a moment. Stuck staring at a mess of her own making. She never gave a second thought to if they should eat her food only that they'd been kind enough to want to try. The thing to break her out of her staring spell was Robin turning to her and matching her gaze. He'd taken his mask off at some point and now she could see every piece of emotion behind them. He was pleading her to do something because right now, he didn't know what to do.

"Help!" she shouted down the hallway. Even with the seconds it took for her teammates to get there via Raven's portal, it still felt too long as she ran into the room and uncertainly ghosted her hands over her boyfriend. "Something's wrong. He's breathing doesn't sound right and he looks sick."

"He needs a hospital," Cyborg said after taking one look at him.

"Hospital? Why can't we deal with this?"

"Because we don't know what we're dealing with! We're not doctors!" Cyborg pointed out. She chewed her lip, the idea of going to hospital making this all that much worse. She looked around and snatched Robin's mask from the bedstand, hoping the leftover glue would be enough to make it stick to his face. He gave her a small smile as a thanks. She didn't feel like she deserved it though. Starfire held out her arm for him as he stood on unsteady feet whilst Raven opened a portal to the hospital. The nurses had thankfully seen it enough times to not think the world was ending.

Doctors were quick to take Robin away on a hospital bed after getting an overview of what was going on. They shouted out orders to one another and left like a whirlwind whilst the team was brought to a more discreet waiting area. Starfire tried her best to explain what the food he'd eaten was and the nurses assured her it wasn't her fault when she felt on the brink of tears.

"From the sounds of it, he's had an anaphylactic response to whatever he's eaten. There's no way you could've anticipated he'd have a reaction to it," one nurse told her. She held onto Starfire's hand as she spoke in a calm even voice. There were likely a thousand other things she had to do but it meant a lot that she'd taken the time to help Starfire's frayed nerves. "He'll be given Epinephrine and then antihistamines for his symptoms. We may have to set up an IV line but don't worry, it's standard procedure. We'll keep him in overnight in case he has biphasic anaphylaxis. That's when after the first reaction, usually hours later, there's a flare-up of the symptoms."

"But he'll be okay?" Starfire asked desperately.

"He'll be just fine. He'll need to carry an Epi-pen just in case he comes into contact with the allergen again. You can pursue allergy testing to see what specifically caused it and there are therapies out there that could allow him to eat it again but that's a little far in the future yet. The main thing right now is getting him stable." She nodded along, doing her best to take in the information although she was sure that she'd need to be told it again to understand it fully. "Any questions, I'll be at the nurse's station through there. We'll come get you when he's ready for visitors." Starfire nodded and chose a chair closest to the door so she could be the first out when the time came. 

"You should listen to the nurse Star, you couldn't have known he was allergic to something he's never eaten before," Beast Boy said after watching her anxiously bite at her nails for a few minutes. "Loads of people only find out they have an allergy after they have the food."

"I never even thought about how it could react with human biology. I was just so happy you all wanted to try it," she replied, her voice thick with remorse. "Now he can't."

"He can't have the one thing he tried. Like the nurse said, you can do allergy testing to see what caused it," Cyborg reminded her. "You know Rob will do it. He'll be researching how to do it in the med bay as soon as his tongue isn't the size of a grapefruit."

"I know he will," she muttered, a smile betraying her. He'd probably stab himself with Epi-pens to get him through a meal if it meant she'd be happy. He waited until he'd had more than half of his plate to say something. She wouldn't let that happen though. As much as he wanted to see her happy, she wanted to see him healthy. 

Eventually, someone came in and said they could visit. Despite all of them being allowed to join, they let Starfire go in alone first. She nervously entered the room but the nerves eased when she saw Robin relax at the very sight of her as though she hadn't been the one to put him in the hospital. He reached out a hand and she was quick to accept it, running her thumb along his knuckles comfortingly. 

"How do you feel?" she asked. 

"Better. Doctors told me it was anaphylaxis," he answered. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" 

"I know you just wanted to share your food from home. I kinda ruined the whole experience. In my defence, I'm only allergic to kiwi." She was about to apologise again when the words sunk in. Allergic to kiwi.

"Robin. I told you it was similar to kiwi."

"Yeah, but it's not kiwi."

"But you could assume that it may cause the same reaction as kiwi." He thought about it for a moment. 

"I could probably assume that."

"Robin!"

"You can't yell at me, I'm in hospital."

"I can very much yell at you!"

"I love you!"

"I love you too that's why I'm yelling!"