Fusion reactions produce a zoo of energetic products such as gamma rays, neutrons, positrons, neutrinos etc... Due to the bulk of the overlying stellar mantle, the energy they contain is degraded by a multitude of collisions and anihilations. By the time the energy diffuses to the surface by radiation and convection, thousands of years may have elapsed. The plasma in the stellar atmosphere of stars is much colder than in the interior, but still many thousands to hundreds of thousands of degrees Kelvin.
In the particular case of laser stars, the plasma in the stellar atmosphere undergoes a final extremely rapid cooling phase during violent ejection in strong stellar winds. This final stage produces the highly non-equilibrium conditions necessary for strong population inversion and laser action.