I don't own the Teen Titans. That's DC Comics, WB, and The Cartoon Network.
Bet, Not Gamble
Jinx smirked sweetly at the boys clustered around her, her eyes alight, her smile delight. She knew that they were hooked, but they didn't. All she had to do was reel them in.
Amateurs. Every blessed one.
Jinx smirked sweetly, and ran a finger across Aqualad's jaw. "Five will get you ten. A sawbuck will get you twenty."
"Welllll..." answered Aqualad.
Robin shook his head. "If it's such a great deal for us, then why are you betting?"
She nodded her head over toward Beast Boy, who was malingering near the remains of the birthday cake, chatting with Starfire and Pantha. "It's 'put your money where your mouth is' time. I'm tired of you guys dissing little beanpole over there. I think you're all wrong. I think so enough to bet on it."
"Welllll..." answered Speedy.
She put her hands on her hips, a motion of easy determination that they had all seen from her before, when she was on 'the other side'. "Put up or shut up, boys. And the clock's ticking down fast. Look." They all - Robin, Cyborg, Speedy, Kid Flash, and Aqualad - surreptitiously turned their heads to see. Beast Boy had picked up a paper plate of chocolate cake, and was reaching for a second. "Throw your money down now, or forever hold your peace on that little non-starter of a relationship."
She saw Cy tense his mouth and wiggle his jaw. She waved the bill under his nose, seeing he was just one push away. "I'm giving two to one. Any bet."
"Aw, hell," he answered quietly, "I love the grass stain and all, but even if he gets up the nerve to ask, she'll shoot him down in flames so hot it'll leave scorch marks on the carpet. You take a bet for fifty?"
She held out her hand, and they shook on it. Soon enough, she held wagers from Speedy and Aqualad, too, and was faced with having to ante up by an uncomfortable three hundred and fifty bucks if they won. She did a little mental calculus, then nudged Robin with her shoulder. "You in, Boy Wonder? I can afford to lose another fifty." He shook his head, and she shrugged back.
For a few moments they all stood in an obvious clump watching Beast Boy's back, while he hemmed and hawed with his two hands full of cake, until she tapped their shoulders and sent them off to other points of the room. "A watched pot never boils. Now be good heroes and skedaddle before even BB notices."
Once her partners in chance were gone, Kid Flash sidled up against her and snaked his arm around her waist. "I thought you didn't gamble," he said. A bit of concern crossed his brow, but she heard it easily enough in his voice without having to turn her head to see.
"That's sweet, Wally, but I'm not gambling."
"Uhhh--," was the confused start of his response, but she saved him.
"I bet, sweetness; I didn't gamble. That's not the same thing. And all the best gamblers win on sure things, anyhow." She could tell he wasn't buying it. "You know how I can 'taste' bad luck? Well, Beast Boy's 'flavor' is so incredibly opposite of 'bad', that I figure it can only be the best good luck he'll ever have."
"And that's not gambling?"
"Nope. It's chance, and that's just higher mathematics. I can do that in my sleep. Besides -- Oh!" She whacked him in the gut with her elbow. "Check it out!"
Beast Boy had just set his shoulders straight and strong, and had taken several determined strides towards Raven, seated alone across the room from the kitchen's 'Party Central' zone. She noticed him easily. Her head followed her eyes and looked up, then her hand uncharacteristically closed the book she was reading. Jinx nodded to herself, a smile plastered on her face.
Beast Boy cleared his throat. "Uh, Rae?"