Valentine's Day 2005
By Ms. Kinnikufan
Disclaimer: I own nothing here.
Jinx did not like Valentine's day. It was way too red and naive for her. She didn't like the gifts associated with the holiday either: chocolates and roses.
Jinx didn't like chocolate, it was too melty and too sticky and too cliche. She had a special hatred for roses. She didn't understand why they had become so popular: in her mind they had way too many petals and a sticky sweet, overpowering scent.
Jinx preferred lilies, even though they were a flower representing purity and she was a villain.
Lilies weren't a romantic flower. That was good, for Jinx did not like the concept of romance.
Romance was about lies and deceptions couples told each other and themselves to keep each other happy. It was about gushy emotions and meaningless affections.
Love and romance were different in Jinx's mind. Love was consistent, and unconditional and most of all, honest. Love was honest. Love was both very well defined and yet it could exist in many different forms.
Yes, Jinx did not like Valentine's Day. Especially since the Stone incident.
There was a knock at the door.
"Who the crud could that be?" Gizmo asked out loud.
"Jinz answered the door, ready to hurl a little bad luck if it was an intruder.
"Flowers for a Ms. Jinx" announced a pimply faced teen.
The flowers were black lilies. They came with a jar of orange blossom honey. Attached to that jar was a card that said :We could never be. Still, I think of you every day. Sometimes the sweetest love is one that can never be fulfilled. The card was unsigned.
"Oh Cyborg." Jinx hugged the vase of flowers happily.
"Crud." Gizmo muttered and went to burn his own handmade Valentine for Jinx.
Bumblebee stared at the well worn photo of Jinx . It was stupid, really, really, stupid.
Jinx was a villain. Bumblebee was now leader of Titans East. Jinx never had anything but antagonism towards Bumblebee. Nor did Jinx know that Bumblebee liked her. Hell, she probably thought the flowers were from Cyborg. Damn! Sending flowers was stupid.
Now Jinx would think Cyborg was still thinking about her and...oh crap. What a mess.
"I'm surprised you choose today to come visit Cyborg. Is not today Valentines Day? Which, to best of my understanding, something people enjoy celebrating above ground?"
Fixit, even when I was...normal. Well, I just plain sucked at romance. I kept farting during love confessions Though, it's kind of funny in hindsight. Especially considering what I am now."
"What's wrong with what you are now?"
"Women...they're a little freaked out by me. They keep asking me if I still have a..."
"A what Cyborg?'
"Never mind. Anyway the last woman to express romantic interest in me died over 3000 years ago."
"What about the last man?"
"...Drunk off his ass. Two years ago."
Flashback: Mardi Gras, 2003. The Titans are generally being very bad role models.
Beast Boy clutched a cocktail in his hand that was heavy on vodka.
"I love you man." He slurred before throwing up on Cyborg.
Back to the present:
"Anyway, the only people who now express a romantic interest in me are into (how do I put this without totally freaking you out) gross stuff. Stuff that involves errr, certain acts with people like myself. And those acts are the only thing those people are interested in. They don't like me as a being. They just like my..circuits. Yes, that's the non-filthy way to put it."
"I am not very good at saying things of comfort. But I want you to know that I think your circuits and flesh are both very beautiful in my optical. I think you are worth a great many things."
"Ummm..that's very sweet of you to say Fixit. Hey are you blushing? It's kind of cute."
In San Francisco, Blackfire sat in the Bleeding Spider, a very popular goth cafe.
Blackfire watched Sinn (real name Cynthia) recite a long and verbose poem about her pain and angst. It sounded a lot like her other poems of her pain and angst.
Sinn had lots and lots of money, and she was easy on the eyes, but she really wasn't the goth girl Blackfire longed for. The girl Blackfire would always secretly longed for was loyal to a different side.
"Oh Raven, why did you have to be one of the good ones?" Blackfire muttered to herself as the audience gave Sinn halfhearted applause.
Sinn had nothing on Raven. Raven's lovely purple-black hair and indigo eyes were real, compared to Sinn's obvious dye job.
But Raven could have had frizzy and messy mousy brown hair, a lazy eye, be twenty pounds overweight and have blotchy skin and Sinn still wouldn't have anything on Raven.
Raven was actually attracted to her for one thing. Blackfire suspected that Sinn really wasn't gay since Sinn had yet to express an interest in kissing Blackfire or even holding her hand. Sinn was one of those girls who only acted different to be noticed.
Raven actually had real pain and real angst in her life. But she didn't broadcast it in her everyday life. She wasn't a total freak for attention, any sort of attention. She had a quiet dignity about her, which was something Blackfire admired.
Raven also did not tend to speak a pidgin version of a language she didn't know just to be "cool". Sinn did. This month it was Japanese, which proved to even more annoying to her pidgin french phrase.
"Blackfire-chan, wasn't my poem amazing?" Sinn rejoined Blackfire at their table.
"Ummm, yeah sure." Maybe it was time to cut her losses and dump Sinn.
Back in Jump City:
Jack Mumbo glanced at his watch. He was wearing his finest suit (which in reality was a little ratty) and holding bouquet of daffodils. He had been debating with himself what bouquet of flowers were appropriate for a first date. Roses seem too formal, carnations too informal. He bought daffodils when he remember Bea mentioning that she liked them.
Jack Mumbo wiped his forehead. It wasn't appropriate that he was so nervous. He was 63 years old, for crying out loud!
But then again, this would be his first date since Annie died. And Bea was the former headmistress of the H.I.V.E., while he was just a guy with a hat full of tricks.
Jack glanced at his watch again. She did say 5: 30 near the fountain, right? She meant 5:30 pm, right? What if she meant 5:30 am? No, that was ridiculous, who is actually awake at 5:30 am.
"Jack?" a woman's voice interrupted Jack's worries.
"Bea...you look lovely!" And she did look lovely in her tasteful, yellow dress.
"Ummm...I got you some flowers!" Jack was dumbfounded by how lovely Bea was (and really aware of the rattiness of his suit)
"Why, thank you Jack. I didn't know daffodils were available this time of year."
And they went off, arm-in arm.
"Happy Valentine's Day Terra!" Beast Boy laid some flowers and chocolates at her feet.
"I think we'll find a way to de-fossilize you soon. We joined forces with Titans East, a super-genious named Gear from Dakota and S.T.A.R. Labs. One of us has to stumble on a cure real soon. Valentine's Day will be more fun then. Way more fun." Beast Boy sighed.
"Oh and before I forget, I knitted you a blanket." Beast Boy pilled out what looked liked a bundle of knotted yarn.
"We wouldn't want you catching cold, after all." Beast Boy wrapped the mass of messy yarn around Terra's frozen pose.
"Yeah, I'm sure we'll find a cure soon." Beast Boy wiped some tears from his eyes before they could drip down his cheeks.
Late Night:
Johnny Rancid spray painted J.R.+R.X. on the wall of a very public building.
It was stupid, Johnny knew to be attracted to someone you haven't even met.
But he sounded like someone Johnny could respect: he did steal from that stupid bird boy after all. Plus he looked very good in that spandex.
"Nice graffiti." came an unfamiliar face.
Johnny Rancid found himself face to face with Red X.
"You got a response?" Red X continued.
Johnny turned red.
A Jump City suburb:
William Randolph Wintergreen was not able to sleep. Pain and sickness from chemotherapy kept him awake. He often wished he would just die. At least he wouldn't feel anymore pain then.
He knew thoughts like those were cowardly, and not suiting for a man who had spent most of his life in the army, but they kept coming nonetheless.
He then heard a noise coming from the bathroom.
He went to investigate, carrying a steel baseball bat.
There was no one in the bathroom. Just a tin.
Wintergreen opened the tin. Instead was 3 ounces of marijuana and a note: Get Better.
The note was unsigned, but Wintergreen knew who it was.
Note: For those of you who wish to keep score: the pairing are: unrequited Jinx/ Cyborg, unrequited Bumblebee/Jinx, Cyborg/Fixit, Blackfire/Raven, Mumbo Jumbo/The headmistress of the H.I.V.E. (try to top that one folks), Beast Boy/Terra, Johnny Rancid/Red X with Some Slade/Wintergreen friendship to top it all off.