Titans Under the Mistletoe
A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald
Opening Notes - I know it's been forever. I'm sorry. Happy holidays though, and I hope to have a few more of these up before the big day on the 25th.
Disclaimer - Teen Titans are property of Warner Bros and DC Comics.
Mistletoe
Beast Boy was never one to break from holiday tradition. So it was that just a few hours before guests were to start arriving for the Titan's annual Christmas party, he was hanging mistletoe in a less than conspicuous place, hoping to get as much holiday smoochery as possible. As he was affixing it, Raven floated past holding a tray of food she was carrying to the buffet table in the living room.
"Hey, Rae!" Beast Boy called out to her, "There gonna be any repeat of a few years back?"
Raven set the tray down and blinked at him, "What?"
"You know…" BB hopped down from the stool he was on and walked over to her so he could lower his voice, "You and me… nice long kiss under the mistletoe…"
She stared at him blankly.
"Come on!" he threw his hands up, "You had a whole body kiss going on! We… it was…"
Raven blinked once, then nodded, "I remember."
"Oh…" Beast Boy hopped from foot to foot for a moment, "So… any chance of a quick practice kiss now that I have the plant up?"
Raven shook her head, "Maybe if you strike out again this year I'll consider taking pity on you one more time." the ghost of a smile tugged at her lips and Beast Boy hung his head.
"Oh man… burned by an ice queen. I'm starting this night off really well."
Speedy walked past them a moment later holding another tray of food. "I never understood where the whole mistletoe tradition came from anyway."
"Me either." Beast Boy grinned at him, "But I like it!"
"If you don't know the meaning behind it though, why do you do it?" Speedy sat his tray down and looked quizzically at his friend.
The changeling scratched his head. "I dunno… why are you here already anyway?"
"To bug Robin." Speedy blinked at him, "Seriously though, it's a weed."
"No it's not! It has a noble and… uh… interesting history!"
Speedy looked at him.
"Bah!" BB threw his hands up once again, "Raven! Help a pathetically under-informed animal dude out here!"
Raven, who was mixing punch by the refreshment table didn't break stride in her stirring, and didn't look away from her task as she replied, "Actually, mistletoe has a fairly sinister reputation. The word "mistletoe" is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words, 'mistel' which means dung and 'tan' which means twig. Misteltan is the Old English version of mistletoe. It's poisonous, and ingesting it can cause severe stomach cramps and diarrhea, and in some cases can be fatal."
Raven paused for a breath and continued as Speedy and Beast Boy stared at her, "One French tradition holds that the reason mistletoe is poisonous is because it was growing on a tree that was used to make the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. Because of this, it was cursed and denied a place to live and grow on Earth, forever to be a parasite."
"How does that explain the kissing tradition though?" Speedy asked.
Raven looked over at him and blinked, "I thought we were talking about the relative merits of mistletoe."
"We were really wondering about the kissing." Speedy grinned at her.
"You two would be." Raven rolled her eyes, "Any actual 'official' origin of the tradition is vague at best, but the best theories center around the ancient beliefs people had in the plant. Mistletoe was said to be a sexual symbol, because of the consistency and color of the berry juice as well as the belief that it is an aphrodisiac. It has long been associated with fertility.
"The Druids in Britain believed that mistletoe could perform miracles, from providing fertility to humans and animals to healing diseases. In a special ceremony five days after the new moon following the winter solstice, the Druids would cut mistletoe off oak trees in a special ceremony. They would then sacrifice two white bulls while prayers were said, and give out the mistletoe sprigs to people."
Beast Boy motioned with his hand, "But… kissing?"
"What?" Raven scowled, "Helping people get it on not good enough for you? Fine. How about the resurrection of Balder, the Norse god of the summer sun? He had a dream he was going to die, so his mother, Frigga, the goddess of love and beauty went to all of the elements and all the animals and plants and asked them not to kill Balder, so he became immune from harm." she smiled a sinister smile at the two young men, "However Balder's only enemy, Loki, found a loophole in Frigga's plan; mistletoe.
"Mistletoe grows on the tree it attaches itself to, and therefore has no roots of its own and could not be effected by Frigga's request. Loki made a poisoned dart with mistletoe, and tricked the blind brother of Balder, Hoder, into shooting the arrow that killed Balder.
"For three days, all the elements tried to bring Balder back to life, but failed. Finally, the tears that Frigga cried for her dead son changed the red mistletoe berries to white, raising Balder from the dead. Frigga reversed mistletoe's bad reputation, and kissed everyone who walked underneath it out of gratitude for getting her son back."
"Uh… wow." Speedy blinked, "Okay."
"So… we kiss under the mistletoe… because Frigga kissed under the mistletoe?" Beast Boy looked confused.
Raven rolled her eyes, "It's like I said, no one theory is proven to be true."
"Huh." BB walked over and stood under the plant, looking up at it, "You know, we learn something new from you every year, Raven."
"At least you learned something." Raven droned, and turned back to her punch.
As she did, the doors to the upper levels opened and Starfire floated out into the room, "Friends! Robin has requested that I come to assist you!" she paused next to Beast Boy, "What are you looking at?" she queried, and looked up, "Oh! You have hung the mistletoe! What a wonderful little weed!"
Beast Boy tapped her on the shoulder, and when she looked back down at him, he lightly peeked her on the lips, "You can thank the goddess of love for that, Star!" and he walked away, laughing.
"Hmm." Starfire floated over to Raven, "Friend Beast Boy is acting slightly strange today."
"Look on the bright side, Starfire." Raven glanced at her with a grin, "According to mistletoe legend, you won't be a maiden by this time next year… you'll be getting married soon."
As Starfire spluttered and began to try and voice a protest, Speedy burst out laughing and slapped his knees.
Closing Notes - Why IS Speedy always at the Titans West Tower a few weeks before Christmas? The world may never know.