Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. They belong to Warner Bros, DC Comics, and Cartoon Network.
Jericho grinned broadly as he looked at himself in the mirror. He wore yellow slacks, a warm purple jacket, and a purple top hat with a yellow band stitched around it. As he fixed his tie, he heard a knock come from the door.
"Dude, are you done yet?" A voice groaned from the other side of the door. Jericho whipped around and let the door slide open to reveal the green changeling known as Beast Boy. He wore a peculiar looking suit that was patched up in shades of multiple colors, a polka-dot tie that greatly contrasted with his clothing, and to top it all off, he wore a thick, fake curly mustache. Jericho had originally gone to Herald with the idea, but the trumpet player refused to be his assistant in the task at hand. He could be so stubborn sometimes. That was why he went to his second choice which was Beast Boy. The changeling had eagerly accepted Jericho's request, on the account that he got to wear whatever he desired.
Jericho gave him a quizzical look as he examined Beast Boy's attire, to which he merely stated, "Hey, don't give me that look. You said I could wear whatever I wanted." He then inspected Jericho's choice of clothing. "Besides, I'd say that out of the two of us, you look more like the magician anyways." Jericho shrugged, then motioned for him to follow as he led the way to the main room in Titans Tower. He glanced at the clock, realizing that Kole would be here any minute. Jericho had proposed the idea that the couple should hang out with the main Titans in Jump City, to which Kole had agreed. What he didn't let her in on was the fact that he had been spending the entire weekend practicing his newfound magic tricks without her knowledge. He wanted it to be a surprise.
"I believe that friend Kole has arrived!" Starfire exclaimed as she flew into the room.
"Well don't just stand there Star, bring her on up!" Beast Boy instructed with a toothy grin. Starfire nodded her head as she flew down the hallway. Jericho made sure he had everything planned accordingly as beads of sweat began to make their way down his forehead. He quickly wiped them away, trying his best to stay calm. A whirlwind of questions raced through his mind all at once as he began to pace around the room. What if Kole didn't like magic tricks to begin with? What if she thought it was stupid? What if everything didn't go accordingly? What if-
"Jericho, why are you getting all sweaty?" Beast Boy asked as he broke Jericho's train of thoughts. Jericho stopped pacing and let out a sigh. Since Beast Boy wasn't familiar with sign language, he went to the coffee table in search of a notepad and pen. When he found them, he scribbled down the words, 'What if Kole doesn't like it?'
After Beast Boy read the sentence, he broke out into a fit of laughter. Jericho wore a confused expression as the changeling slapped his knee and hunched over as he laughed, clutching the sides of his stomach. When his laughter died down, he wiped a pretend tear away from his face as he said, "Kole? Not liking anything that you do? Now that's a good one!"
Jericho crossed his arms and wore a look that said, 'I'm serious.' As if reading his thoughts, Beast Boy smirked and said, "Dude, I can't take you seriously with that top hat."
Jericho sighed again and let out a puff of air that blew his blonde curls up from his forehead. Beast Boy's smile faltered slightly as he gently patted Jericho on the back. "C'mon Jericho, Kole will go nuts over it. You went through all this trouble just for her, and she's definitely not gonna hate it, that I can promise you." His grin broadened as he let those words sink in. Jericho let a content smile play on his face as he lightly squeezed Beast Boy's shoulder, thankful that he had someone there to keep him from second-guessing himself.
"Let's go put on a show!" Beast Boy happily exclaimed as he pumped his fist into the air. Jericho nodded and the two rounded the corner so they would be hidden from view when Kole and Starfire entered.
As if on cue, Jericho heard the familiar voice of his girlfriend. "Thanks for having me over Starfire. Is Jericho already here?"
"You shall find out momentarily!" Starfire stated with a squeal of delight.
"You ready for this?" Beast Boy asked as he turned toward Jericho from the spot they were hiding in. He paused for a brief moment before nodding his head 'yes.' With that, Beast Boy switched the lights off.
Jericho heard a small yelp of surprise come from who he assumed was Kole. "That's weird. Why'd the lights go out?"
"I am not sure," Starfire quickly explained, "But let us sit on the couch and wait for the lights to unexpectedly turn back on!" With that, she dragged Kole towards the semi-circle couch where they took a seat.
Beast Boy slowly turned the lights back on, but made sure that they were dimmed for dramatic effect. He stepped out of his hiding spot and exclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen, dudes and dudettes, may I present to you- Jericho The Magnificent!" Upon hearing this, Jericho mustered up his courage and stepped out into clear view, his eyes meeting Kole's surprised ones. Jericho and Beast Boy made their way to the front of the couch, Jericho appearing somewhat nervous.
"For Jericho The Magnificent's first trick, he will need a volunteer from the audience!" Beast Boy announced to the two girls. Starfire's hand immediately shot up as she jumped up and down in her seat. Jericho almost smacked his forehead in frustration. The whole point of this magic show was for Kole to be the volunteer, not Starfire. Kole glanced at the exuberant Starfire and giggled.
Beast Boy, not sure what to do, glanced at Jericho for guidance. Jericho merely shrugged and shook his head, not wanting to be rude to Starfire.
"Uh, okay then. You there, in the purple shirt! Step forward!" Beast Boy pointed to Starfire and motioned for her to step "onstage."
Starfire looked confused as she said, "Beast Boy, it is me, your friend Starfire. Do you not remember me? Has the tofu rotten your brains, as Cyborg said it would?"
Beast Boy let out a groan in annoyance and whispered, "No Star, I'm pretending to be Jericho's assistant, so I have to act like I don't know who you are."
Starfire nodded her head in understanding. "Oh, this is marvelous!" Then she raised her voice as she stated, "Well then, I shall volunteer for the first challenge boy-with-green-skin-whom-I-have-never-met-before!" This time, Jericho did smack the palm of his hand against his forehead. Starfire graciously took Beast Boy's hand and was led to the center of the stage.
"And now, for the first trick!" Beast Boy announced as Jericho stepped forward and placed a deck of cards on the coffee table. "All you have to do is pick any card from the deck."
Starfire nodded and took the card that was placed on the top. "It is the spades of two." she glanced at the two boys as they both smacked their foreheads in frustration. "What must I do next?"
"Star, you weren't supposed to tell us what was on the card, Jericho was going to guess what it was!" Beast Boy quickly explained. "That's the whole point of a card trick!"
Jericho stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to let Starfire know that it was okay. He didn't want her to feel discouraged. Obviously she wasn't familiar with card tricks. Jericho tapped Beast Boy's shoulder and held up two fingers.
"It seems that Jericho The Magnificent is going to move onto trick number two," Beast Boy stated. "Since Star didn't do so well on the first trick, let's give her a second shot." Jericho looked slightly taken aback, but after a moment of hesitation nodded his head. "For his next trick, Jericho The Magnificent will make a quarter appear out of thin air!"
With that, Jericho leaned towards Starfire as he began to reach toward her ear. Starfire's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she stated, "Friend Jericho, I believe that I do not like you in that way!" She slapped his hand away from her ear, making Jericho's clenched fist release to reveal a quarter as it fell toward the ground. Jericho's eyes lit up as he quickly glanced between Kole and Starfire while signing at an alarming rate, trying to explain to both of them that that was not his intention.
"Hmph, I think I shall take my leave now," Starfire stated as she held her chin up and sat back down next to Kole. Jericho looked back at Kole who appeared rather amused with a smirk on her face. Jericho's cheeks turned a light shade of red at the thought of him failing his magic tricks not once, but twice. Maybe he should've just thrown in the towel; magic wasn't really his thing anyways.
"Uh, Jericho?" Beast Boy asked as he tapped both of his index fingers together lightly. "Do you still wanna go for act three, or call it quits?" Jericho pondered the changeling's words for a moment. On one hand, he could leave the embarrassing situation now and apologize to Kole for the worst magic show ever. On the other hand, he could redeem himself and possibly finish with a bang.
Jericho held up three fingers, to which Beast Boy let out an ecstatic "whoop!" "Okay! For Jericho The Magnificent's final trick, he will make a mutant larvaeā¦disappear!" Beast Boy then reached behind him and placed the pet worm, Silkie, on the coffee table. Jericho took out a dark blanket and placed it on top of Silkie, shielding him from view. Beast Boy stroked his mustache, then pretended to sprinkle imaginary magic on the blanket.
As he began to speak the "magic words," Starfire worryingly remarked "Silkie cannot breathe underneath that suffocating blanket!" She abruptly stood up from her seat and took the blanket off of Silkie, who in fact had not disappeared. She picked him up and stroked him gingerly. "Come my little Bumgorf, we shall find more suitable company elsewhere!" With that, she walked away from the Titan's living room.
"Hey! No refunds!" Beast Boy called out to Starfire. He let out a puff of air and flopped down on the couch. "Well, that went worse than expected." Jericho gloomily walked over and sat down next to Kole.
"Aw, cheer up guys," Kole stated with a small, comforting smile. "It wasn't all that bad. I for one enjoyed it."
"Yeah, sure," Beast Boy huffed as he got up from his seat. "Well, I'm gonna go take off this mustache and play some video games with Cy. You two have fun." With that, Beast Boy exited the room while mumbling to himself.
That left Kole and Jericho to each other's company. Jericho hesitantly looked at Kole, who still wore a small smile. He couldn't believe how badly that had gone.
I'm sorry that went so badly, Jericho signed to Kole. I just really wanted to impress you.
"Impress me?" Kole asked with a perplexed look. "Jericho, you did all of that for me. That's pretty impressive in itself."
But I made a fool of myself, Jericho remarked as he stared at his shoes.
"Hey," she stated as she placed one of her hands onto Jericho's. "What you did was really sweet. So what if things didn't go as planned? Look at it this way: we just made some great memories." As she let that sentence hang in the air, she leaned in and pecked Jericho on the cheek. His ears flushed a crimson color as he wore a dazed expression. Kole was right; they had made some great memories that they'd look back on and laugh about.
In the end, that's all that would ever matter; the memories that they shared while being in each other's company.
Well, Jericho signed with a sly expression. I still have one trick left up my sleeve. With that, he pulled out from his sleeve a bouquet of beautifully arranged flowers which he proudly displayed to Kole.
She let out a gasp as she gently took the bouquet with a surprised expression. With a smirk, she stated, "You really are Jericho The Magnificent."
Author's Note: I was inspired by Souffles In Space fanfiction entitled, "abracadabra." You guys should check it out :)
Well, thanks for reading. As always, please let me know what you thought of it in a review.
"And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love... you make." End by The Beatles
