There were times when all that stood between life and death was luck. Times when the wheels of fate were the only reason you didn't find yourself with a one-way ticket to the afterlife. Times when everything in the world wanted you dead, when the universe conspired to beat you down until you couldn't get up again, but you managed to turn out not vaporized. Somehow.
This was not one of those times.
The common room was, for once, blissfully silent. Minutes before, the team had been hanging out, as teens are wont to do, talking amoung themselves and enjoying the rarity of a quiet day when the conversation had petered out and a comfortable silence settled over them. Amicably enjoying each others' company, the Titans drifted into their own thoughts.
Of course, such quiet was not made to last.
"Dudes, dudes, dudes!" Beastboy suddenly exclaimed from where he lay on the kitchen's island counter, arms held up in front of him as though he were literally wrestling with some concept. The others lazily looked over to him, not quite caring enough to move from the couch. "I just had the weirdest thought."
Now, Beastboy was not what one would call a deep thinker. True, he was clever enough, even with his lack of proper schooling, but he lacked enough of an attention span to often think deeply upon a subject. Instead, he simply shot through many, many different subjects rapidly. In doing this, he often touched upon strange and obscure ideas that, while usually pointless, tended to amuse his friends.
"Have you realized that you could probably turn into Fluttershy if you tried?" There was a brief return to silence as everyone turned to Raven, who impassively stared right back at them. "He probably could."
"Ok, while that is an awesome idea that I will totally try in the very-near future," The green Titan sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the counter, facing the others. "I just realized- wait. How long do you think you're gonna live, Rob?" To his credit, Robin managed to not look too confused by the sudden topic.
"Uh, assuming I don't get offed by some madman or evil scheme?" He gave it a moment's thought. "Probably somewhere around eighty or ninety, if I don't fall in any pits." BB nodded to himself.
"Right. And you're probably gonna live about the same, right Cy?"
"I guess?" Cyborg shrugged, looking puzzled. "I mean, I doubt I'm ever going to decide to go full-on robot or download my mind into a computer or something, so I'll be out once my biological parts fail. Depending on how medical tech advances, I'll probably hit one-twenty or so. Not like I'm not already on life-support, after all."
"Oh yeah, I guess you are. Weird." Beastboy blinked at him, before turning to Raven. "What about you?"
"Why do you want to know?" She countered. "This seems like a pretty morbid line of thought for you."
"Just curious, is all." He held up his hands in a placating gesture. "I mean, you might live longer considering, well, you know."
"Right." The grey girl drawled, not looking convinced. "Well, considering, Trigon is at least several centuries old, possibly a millennia or more. Then again, I've never taken after him much. I suppose I'll find out my life span once I start aging."
"And I am unsure of how to answer the question." Starfire offered before Beastboy could ask. "I have never heard of a Tamaranian dying of old age, but that may be because those who grow rutha, weak, swiftly fall in battle. The eldest that I know of is my K'norfka, Galfore, and he is little more than forty of your Earth years." She smiled sheepishly.
"Why, how long do you think you're going to live?" Robin raised one hand, half-pointing at BB.
"Alright dudes, this kinda sucks," Beastboy leaned back on one hand. "'Cuz I'm pretty sure I'm gonna outlive all of you. Well, except maybe Raven." Cyborg frowned.
"And how do ya figure that?"
"Medusas, dude." The shape shifter stated simply, as though it should be obvious. "Turritopsis nutricula, specifically. It's a jellyfish that reverts to a polyp when it starts to get too old, so it can just grow up all over again." Starfire raised an eyebrow-stub.
"But, Beastboy," She objected. "I have seen you turn into fully-grown animals and also into very young animals, such as when you do 'the face'. Would this not suggest that your transformations do not affect the age of your human form?"
"Well, yeah," He admitted. "But none of my other forms change life stages while I'm in them."
"Still," Robin spoke up. "If your forms are all distinct in terms of age, then it shouldn't matter; You'd just be the same age as you were before when you morphed back."
"Well, it does work." BB insisted.
"You sure about that?" Raven challenged.
"Hey, I'm Beastboy. I know this stuff."
"I'm pretty sure I've heard that before." Cyborg smirked. "And I also remember what happened directly afterward."
"Alright, fine!" BB fumed, crossing his arms. "I'll prove it!" And, with that statement, the green teen was replaced with a quivering pile of green jelly. The other Titans quickly leapt up from the couch in alarm, gathering 'round. Before their eyes, the mass of jelly shrunk to a smaller mass of jelly. Raven was the first to voice what they were all thinking.
"So, if this actually works, wouldn't that mean….." At that moment, the jellyfish morphed back into a very smug, very green toddler. The ensuing shocked silence was once again broken by Raven.
"I call dibs on not doing any diapers."
So, I've had this idea bouncing around in my brain ever since I heard about those jellyfish. I thought it might amuse.