Foreign Language
. . . | . . .
"Raven?"
"…"
"May I ask you something?"
"…"
It was a relaxing day at Titans Tower. No blaring alarms went off to disturb the heroes, which meant either the Jump City Police Department was capable enough of handling whatever was going down that day, or the criminals were still plotting their next move. Whichever reason it was provided a welcome break to the five teens who had been swamped with fighting bad guys for the last four days.
The Titans were all currently in the common room. Cyborg and Robin had planted their behinds on the couch and were engrossed in the newest Super Ninja Monkey Racecar game that Cyborg may or may not have illegally obtained (it wasn't scheduled to hit stores until another couple weeks). Beast Boy, having lost to Cyborg three times in a row, was perched on the back of the couch between the two competitors and cheering Robin on ("Destroy that sly, bottom-grade trash can!"). Of course, Cyborg couldn't ignore that ("I'm anything but bottom-grade! Me and anything I make is top of the top, premium grade!"). Robin pointed something out ("So you don't deny you're a trash can?"). Beast Boy and Robin let out a laugh as Cyborg fumed in frustration ("Are you guys tryna distract me? Teaming against me?").
Having learnt to tune out her teammates whenever they played videogames, Raven sat on the couch a good space away from the boys, heavily invested in yet another ancient tome.
"Raven?"
Or, she would be heavily invested if someone weren't trying to talk to her. Reluctantly, Raven looked up to see Starfire standing in front of her.
"…Yes?"
Starfire smiled. Raven noticed she was holding a glass full of…something. Immediately, the sorceress paled and did her best to not make a face. It was a good thing she had years of training on controlling her emotions. Oh Azar, please tell me I won't have to drink that sludge!
Starfire brought the glass to her lips, took a delighted swig of her latest concoction, and instead asked, "What is it you are reading?"
Oh, well that's an innocent enough question. "A book on sorcery."
"But are you not already well versed in sorcery?"
Raven shrugged. "There are different kinds of sorcery. Besides, it never hurts to learn."
Sitting down next to Raven, Starfire tilted her head sideways to look at the book cover. "I do not recognize the language it is written in. But it uses the same alphabet system as English does, yes?"
Raven promptly nodded in confirmation and went back to reading.
"Which language is it?"
Without looking up, Raven replied, "Romanian,"
Starfire's eyes lit up. "Oh, I was not aware you knew Romanian! ...Where is the Romanian spoken?"
"In Romania."
"Have you visited this land before? Is that how you have acquired the language?"
"No. I learned Romanian in Azarath. Some of the monks were of Romanian origin and taught the language to me."
The Tamaranean princess still seemed a little in awe by this news. "I did not know you knew a language in addition to English. You are able to fully understand what is written in the book of sorcery?"
Raven placed said book on her lap, unable to answer Starfire's questions whilst properly focusing on the text. "Yes, I'm fluent, but this book was written a few centuries ago. There are some words I don't know since they have fallen out of use, but I can easily look them up."
There was a loud "Yeesss!" and the sound of a defeated groan from further down the couch. The girls glanced up at the screen to see 'Robin' flashing in giant letters, clearly the new winner. The masked hero looked smugly at Cyborg while Beast Boy was laughing and jumping up and down on the couch. He may not have won, but Cyborg finally lost a game after a six month winning streak. If Robin had to be the one to beat him, then so be it; he would take what victory he could get. Starfire giggled then turned back to Raven, who had already moved her attention back to her book.
Starfire leaned over to get a better view at the writing in the book. Romania sounds familiar…is that not where Transylvania is located? I think Beast Boy said it is where the Count Dracula lives. I keep encountering references to The Count. He seems to be quite popular on Earth…
Looking back up at her friend, Starfire asked, "I would be most interested in learning Romanian. Would you be willing to teach me?"
Raven looked at her somewhat skeptically. "You want to learn Romanian?"
"I would like to, yes."
"Oh,"
"Is there something wrong?"
"No, it's just that most people on Earth don't really learn Romanian. Apart from Romanians, of course."
"Well, I am not of Earth." The alien said and eagerly drank more of her strange beverage.
Raven resisted the urge to sarcastically agree with her. "Then why do you want to learn it?"
"Count Dracula,"
"Count Dracula," Raven repeated.
Starfire grinned.
"You want to learn Romanian because of Count Dracula?"
"Yes!"
Raven opened her mouth to comment on the absurdity of her reasoning, but changed her mind. "Fine,"
"You will teach me?" Starfire squealed.
The sorceress scrunched up her face, not expecting the high-pitched sound to accompany her friend's question. "Yes, I will teach you," Even if I don't understand your reasoning.
"Glorious!" Starfire clasped her hands together and looked at Raven eagerly. "May we start now?"
"Uh, I was sort of in the middle of reading here." Raven looked at her meaningfully.
Starfire's voice softened a little. "My apologies. But I will be quick!"
Raven's furrowed her eyebrows. "As in a quick lesson?"
"Yes, one lesson is all I ask."
"Okaaay," Something feels off. "What do you want to know? Don't tell me it's about Dracula."
"Oh no! I simply require you to think in Romanian."
Raven stared at the girl in front of her, confused. "Why?"
"It will be easier for me to absorb."
"Like immersion?" Raven sighed in exasperation. "Okay, I'm thinking in Romanian starting…now."
Hardly a second ticked by after she finished talking before Raven felt a hand cup her cheek and lips press firmly against hers and a tongue slither in her mouth and…Wait, WHAT?!
Raven felt her body and train of thought come to a mind-numbing, crashing halt. Her eyes bugged out and her heavy book fell to the floor with a loud thunk. Hearing the sound, the boys looked over and froze, jaws hanging open, speechless at the scene before them, their videogame forgotten.
After another couple seconds, Starfire leaned back gleefully, eyes shining with new knowledge, and said, "Mulțumesc, Raven!"
Starfire gave a big hug to the still dumbfounded, and blushing, Raven. "Cred că acest lucru va fi destul de util atunci când studiați despre numărătoarea Dracula!"
The Tamaranean excitedly flew out of the common room to start her research. Raven pulled up her hood. Oh, right. She has a very 'unique' way of learning languages. Stunned silence set over the rest of the team.
Cyborg cleared his throat. "Uh, Raven?"
"…Yes?"
The half-robot was about to open his mouth, but Beast Boy cut in, arms waving erratically in the air. "Dude! Did you just kiss Star?!"
Raven took in a deep breath and quickly regained her composure. She picked her book back up and made sure it wasn't damaged before replying. "I did not kiss Starfire. She kissed me." She looked pointedly at Robin.
The team leader crossed his arms and huffed. "What are you looking at me for?"
"Because I can feel irrational jealousy rolling off of you like a tsunami towards me."
Cyborg and Beast Boy cackled loudly. Robin did not comment on that. Damn her perceptiveness. Not that you had to be an empath to guess how Robin was feeling right now. "Okay, well, why did she kiss you?"
"You mean why did she kiss Rae and not you?" Beast Boy asked cheekily. He leaped off the couch to dodge a gloved fist and stumbled into Cyborg, who steadied him while failing to hide a snort at the shapeshifter's remark.
Ignoring the nickname, Raven plainly replied, "Because I know Romanian and she wanted to learn Romanian."
"You know Romanian?" Robin asked, surprised.
"And German and Latin and Sanskrit and Ancient Sumerian." Raven listed off in a monotone.
Cyborg shook his head, smirking. "Man, Rob, if you want another kiss with your alien girlfriend, you're gonna need to learn some new languages."
"She's not-" Robin stopped himself and continued after a breath. "It's not like learning languages is the only way to be kissed," he refuted hotly.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Beast Boy grinned, making sure to keep Cyborg between him and the Boy Wonder. "We didn't realize you were man enough to kiss the normal way."
"Like you're one to talk," Robin muttered, circling around Cyborg to see Beast Boy.
The changeling scoffed and made sure to stay on the opposite side of the circle. "More than you!"
Cyborg, tired of being caught right in the middle, grabbed both Titans by their collars and set them down in front of him. "Alright, enough! Beast Boy, have you ever even had a kiss? And Robin, BB does have a point. Besides, I got both y'all asses beat when it comes to kissin' girls."
Robin and Beast Boy both glared at Cyborg before the former was suddenly struck with a worrying thought. "Wait a minute. Hey, Raven, Romanian was the only language Starfire learned from you, right?"
But when Robin looked to where the empath last was, she was already gone.
/ / /
Raven had silently snuck out of the common room, keen on avoiding an envious Robin and a pointless argument she could feel stemming from her teammates. Walking down the hall to her bedroom, she licked her lips.
"Mm. Starfire's drink actually doesn't taste too bad."
I really felt like writing something with the two girls. We know Raven's a polyglot and I decided Starfire wanted to learn from her (the Tamaranean way, of course). Also, the Romanian translations are taken directly from Google Translate; if they're wrong, blame the big ole Google.
This was actually meant to be shorter, oh well.
I'm actually pretty pleased with how this turned out, although it's also 7AM right now, so I don't know how my judgment is.
What did you guys think of the first chapter? Next chapter might be more serious, haven't decided yet.
Until next time~
