Same Time Next Year?

by Krahae

Christmas in Jump City is never dull, as Raven and Jinx would attest. Neither of them wished for what Santa brought this year, but the two may get more from the holidays than they planned. Malls, monsters and photo booths are just the start. slash.

2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, or any rights to characters referenced from the DC Universe.

Warning: This is a story involving a female-centric relationship. As such, if you are not comfortable with such, I will not twist your arm to read it. Be it on your own head to do so.

Intro notes: I never planned to extend this story. But... even I have to admit I made it hard not to want more. I didn't mean to write it as a tease, but there it was. Oh, and this thing is... saccharine. I was very happy when I wrote it. You are warned. Enough rambling, on with it.
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Same Time Next Year?

Chapter Two: "Call me, Call me"

I H.I.V.E. Parolee Halfway House I

Knock, knock goes the door.

"Mmrrph. Uh-unnn..." Jinx replies.

Knock, knock, it insists again.

One shocking pink eye, slit like a cat's cracks open and glares an unholy death at the wooden offender. "What? Whassit?"

A pause, before the door sagely replies. "Mumble, blah-murble, mumble bler meh?""

Sitting up with a start, causing her blanket to be quite literally floored from the violence of her writhing, Jinx wobbled in place and took a steadying breath. "Open the damn door already!" Having hence expended said steadying breath, the girl's thin frame promptly fell back prone on the bed. The exception to this being the left "horn" of her hair, which is still standing rather attentively.

The door to the Thief's bedroom opened, and a pair of eyes blink into the darkness, nervously. Gizmo never was one to have the best luck, and appropriately, his ran out again when the other ex-H.I.V.E. Alumni drew straws to see who would get "Alarm clock" duty. Shifting nervously from foot to foot, the youth who barely stood taller than the knob on the door itself, peered around the barely cracked door and into the lair of barely contained doom. "It's um. Three in the afternoon. You wanted-"

"You let me sleep that long?! Ohgod. So going to be late!"

Sometime later the other habitants of the apartment would find him unconscious on the floor behind her bedroom door, figuring the shouting coming from the shower meant it relatively safe to venture from the living room. Gizmo would never feel safe again. The passing glare from the older panicked girl assured him of this.

For he alone of his roommates now knew that she slept in Hello Kitty pajamas.

Maybe he could blame the concussion for some short-term memory loss. Yeah. He was sure having been nearly slammed through the wall behind said doorknob from the pink tsunami that just swept past him would be enough to cause one. He'd nap on it and figure out some way to stave off certain death at the hands of one coral-haired dervish of despair after he woke up.

If he woke up. Eh, either way, problem solved.

Jinx was busily demonstrating that in three steps, the three between the bathroom door and the shower, one could simultaneously: Shed one's clothes, grab the caddy of essentially girly cleansing supplies, shut, lock and threaten a door, and adjust the water of said shower before coming to a teetering halt on the ball of a foot in the ceramic basin. Thinking about it later whilst scrubbing orchid scented shampoo into her hair, she would also surmise that in some alternate reality, that would probably cause enough potential disaster to make one spontaneously combust, but lets be real here.

If anyone was going to spontaneously combust right now, it's not going to be over her rather dramatic shower antics. It would probably be due to the sheer nervous energy she had over realizing in less than three hours she was due at Titan Tower for a date with Raven.

A Teen Titan.

In Titan Tower.

Where the other Titans lived.

The bar of soap was squeezed hard enough suddenly to leap up out of her hands, ricochet off the roof and bean her on the head rather painfully. Glaring dolefully at the offending thing, she sighed, letting the water cascade over her skin, the heat drawing a sharp blush to her paleness. "Need to calm down. Just... think of it like a job. Yeah... no. Nope." Stretching out her arms, the feline leaned under the spray, letting the rivulets of water straiten her hair in front of her eyes. Her world was a cascade of pink, laced with ice-clear water and steam.

"What am I thinking?" She mumbled to the drain, watching the water spin and disappear, taking the soap, the sweat and stress of her days of expectation with it. Showers calmed her, but today it wasn't enough, apparently. Always thoughtful in them, the privacy of it maybe lending her the space needed to relax mental barriers and just be for a while.

A stark white confessional; the belly of a porcelain goddess. Speak to me child, speak to yourself.

Torrents of water pelted, dove against her skin, an unyielding ocean. Blinking as it ran down her face, Jinx took a breath and straitened, tucking damp hair behind her ears as she tasked herself with becoming clean and pretty. She could think while she used the water, rather than just sitting under it.

She could do that after. What was a hot water heater for, except to run dry in a shower? It's like an egg-timer for the soul. Ding. You're hard boiled. Time to get out of the stew.

'Body wash is such a guilty pleasure,' she mused. Pomegranate scented, to add a contrast the sweetness of her shampoo. "Contrast... hm. Wonder if what they say about opposites attracting really has some substance," the thief pondered, inspecting herself as she applied the sponge. Thin, somewhat tall for her age and gender, she stood maybe four inches to half a foot taller than Raven, but never really thought about it as such. She assumed most of her height was platforms and hair, but that just emphasized her stature. In truth, she was less thin as wiry, a point that sometimes irked her.

Oh, sure. She was strong, for a girl. Graceful, enough so she had no problems with any task that required excellent dexterity and coordination. Jinx smirked slightly, remembering how during her training she'd coordinated her movements to music. She'd wanted to take ballet in the orphanage, but never had the chance... so naturally she took some aspect of that desire and melded it with her routine. The result was a rather graceful, if flamboyant, style of martial maneuvers that combined her innate talent with hexes and ill luck with her natural coordination.

Still, the combination left her less... curvy. Less feminine, so much as toned. Inspecting herself as the soothing soaps were rinsed clean, Jinx suppressed a frown. She knew people found her attractive. She knew they gawked at her in that silly elf costume, and that yes, there was much to gawk at. Still, she wasn't nearly as prominently female as say... well Starfire. Or Raven, for that matter.

The combination of memory, the photo booth still fresh in her mind, the still-steaming water, and dwelling on Raven deepened her blush, already a risen dust of pink along her cheeks, neck and chest, to a near crimson. Oh, there was no denying she found the girl attractive. How could one not? "Well, I suppose if one had no concept of beauty in a female, sure. Right under the radar. Too bad, mine's pretty well tuned," she murmured, smiling slightly. Jinx knew she was a bit more of a free thinker than was really common in her world, which oddly enough, was fairly regimented.

Villains, heroes even, for all their eccentricities in the roles of their choosing, had a rather mundane cast to their everyday lives. Being the lowest factor in the grand scheme of the human, and sometimes inhuman machine, her peer group tended to be rather normal. Very few people were openly different in their views of attraction, in focusing their attention. She imagined it was harder for heroes; being in the public light, one needed the approval of the people, the common and majority man, to really be a hero. 'Look at Batman', she thought. 'How long was it that people considered him just a fruit-loop in a frilly cape? His look made him hard to accept: what would being openly bisexual, or openly gay do to someone like him, on top of that?'

She realized that was precisely what this situation could be, for Raven. "I wonder, if the town that already feels her to be somewhat hard to approach, hard to understand, would be less accepting of her if..." Shaking her head hard, Jinx cleared those thoughts as she leaned under the spray. The water was cooling.

Ding. Stew's done.

Flipping the water off, she shook the dampness off her skin with a flicking of limbs, before wrapping her hair in a towel to dry until she felt ready to tackle it. Swiping the palm of her hand along a mirror, she regarded a solemn girl, with a heart shaped face. Pale, with a persistent blush, coral eyes that matched her lips, her eyebrows a deep fuchsia that nearly went violet arching over them. Catlike irises constricted to slits as she stared.

Blink. And then, a smile. A smile that grew, and grew and grew wild and wide. Jinx giggled.

"What was..."

I Titan Tower I

"What was I thinking?" Raven pondered, for at least the fourth time that night, watching the resident fliers among he combined Titans East and West zipping about the main hall, vying for ownership of the ball they chased. Air Polo was a popular spectator sport among the Titans, one usually only indulged in on holidays, and therefor very sought after when the opportunity allowed. Currently, she was benched, not the most motivated of the lot to dash about in midair, chasing after a silly ball.

It wasn't the Air Polo game that had her introspective though. Looking at the clock again, seeing the time nearing six PM, her stomach decided to do a flip which sent her swallowing nervously. 'Soon Jinx should be here, unless she was standing me up. Would she do that? She did leave the Mall in a hurry... Oh, hells, what should I do?' Startled, Raven jumped as the trashcan near her crumpled up on itself, gripped as a huge hand would, until a moment later it clattered to the floor. Raven scanned about and saw that everyone's attention was on the Polo match, and set the thing back to it's normal shape.

Bumblebee took a hard hit from Starfire, and had to sit out to regain her wind. Supergirl motioned Raven in, and she sighed, adjusting her costume to show her 'jersey'. It was a "Red vs Blue" game, and some stroke of luck had her in red. Pity, it would have been so much easier to be blue, she mused.

Plus, she didn't precisely... enjoy wearing red.

The game played on, new fliers coming in occasionally as people were knocked flat, winded or simply needing a break. Time passed as well, and a few of the spectating Titans were in charge of minding the Tower, welcoming guests, helping with the refreshments, whatever was needed.

While Raven was contemplating simply exploding something to get out of playing Air Polo, Jinx was trying to figure out how precisely to approach this Tower issue.

The getting in part seemed to be stumping her the most, at the moment.

She watched as some late arriving Titans, she assumed they were Titans anyway; costumes, silly outfits, flying in via some jet thing that looked like some sci-fi monstrosity. Either they were Titans, or some alien delegation. Jinx pondered this a moment, and decided that it was safer to assume they were from earth. She didn't want to think of the repercussion of aliens mixing with a spiked punch bowl.

And oh, was that thing going to be spiked.

She had to soften the blow somehow.

May as well do it to a Tower full of tipsy Teens.

Emphasis on the tipsy.

"Alright, so I don't have a jet. Can I just walk up and ring... do they even have a doorbell?" Jinx scanned the beach for a moment, before realizing there really couldn't be anyone or anything that would possibly upset her more than the Tower itself, which obviously was happy to stay where it was, and so scampered up to the door directly.

Grinning slightly, she inspected what appeared to indeed be a doorbell. 'Maybe this won't be as hard as I thought,' she mused as her hand neared the button. It was at this moment that Cyborg decided to get some air, and see about making sure the lights on the grounds were sufficiently festive. Sufficiently festive translating to "Bright enough to signal from space."

You know, just in case there were any aliens that wanted to check out the awesome Titan's Shindigery.

With a start, Jinx stood bolt upright in fear as the door suddenly whooshed open, revealing a blinking, somewhat confused Cyborg. "Um!"

Looking behind her and around the doorway scanning for any other HAEYP members, Cyborg reached out and yanked the hapless feline into the door, his expression severe. "Girl, what are you crazy? What are you doing here?"

Trapped between an old H.I.V.E. crush and a wall, she sputtered a moment before collecting herself, folding her hands behind her to lean indolently against the wall. "Was invited."

"Say what? Invited?" Rubbing at his head, the metal Teen regarded the girl before him with anxiety. Was it a setup? A lead in to an attack? H.I.V.E. Academy was broken up, by their hands, would they attack the Titans out of revenge? Looking the Thief over carefully, he did note her package, an ornate gift bag with tissue fluffing out of the top and a second bag that seemed to contain snacks. "I mean, it looks like you're on the level but, I got to ask, who?"

"That would be me, actually," a quiet voice sounded behind him, making the Titan turn, his expression going from somewhat unbelieving to outright shock.

"R-Raven? You invited her?" When the cloaked empath slid past him to stand beside the pink haired bedlamite, he just shook his head a moment, sighing. "I thought you hated her."

Confused, she looked from Jinx to Cyborg, shaking her head. "I only really hate one person, or thing, well whatever... but anyway. No." Smiling very slightly when she noticed Jinx peering at her, Raven hoped that she made it in time to stave off any serious issues.

It could have been worse, after all. Beast Boy could have answered the door.

"I asked her to come after the Mall incident the other day. She helped with Freak, and I wanted to show my appreciation. Besides, we were told we could invite a friend," letting her explanation trail off there, she slipped a bit closer to Jinx and hoped that the stalling by the door could be cut short, it was chilly and her costume wasn't the warmest thing on earth.

Plus she could absolutely smell the anxiety coming off Jinx. Something went on, either recently or in the H.I.V.E. between these two, and it was making the slight girl practically vibrate with nervous energy. Jinx shook off her brooding, at least shook it from the forefront of her mind as Raven was contemplating it herself. "Ah, yeah, we kinda talked a while after the whole elf thing, at the Mall."

Cyborg blinked. "Elf thing?"

The girls exchanged a glance and giggled. "You didn't expect me to wear it back...?" Raven asked, her smile calming the agitated Thief beside her immensely. Looking back to her teammate, she nodded, taking Jinx's hand to pull the girl with her as she explained, using the conversation to get the three of them out of the foyer, and into the Tower itself. Also, the contact would hopefully calm the jittery feline down somewhat. "When I was out the other day, I was volunteering at Robin's suggestion, in the Mall helping with the Santa program. Jinx was there too, so we both were on scene when Freak was messing with things." Running her thumb across the girl's palm, Raven indulged in a secret grin,'Plus, she has nice hands...'

Nodding, the girl beside her looked back at "Stone", having to remind herself still that the man she'd become fond of and felt a strong connection to was really just a cover, and that the reality was the Titan that walked untrusting behind her. 'Odd that I think about trust. I mean I'm a criminal. Well, maybe I am, but I never made it personal.' Sighing slightly, the Thief figured if anyone was going to clear the air, between the two of them, it would likely be her. And if she still insisted on making her feelings public tonight, it very much needed to be done. "Hey, Raven?" Pausing in their travel, the feline shared a look with the empath and hoped it wasn't lost on her. When Raven nodded slightly, a thoughtful look on her face, she went on, "Yeah, I'll catch up, just need to talk to Victor a minute, if you don't mind." Squeezing the empath's hand once more, she let Raven walk ahead a few steps.

"Think you can find your way to main hall?" the empath asked, trying to gauge Cyborg's possible reactions. She hoped he'd be as amicable as he always seemed, but there were always exceptions. 'Hopefully her feline wouldn't be one of them,' she added as she turned to make her way to the Tower interior.

'My feline?' Raven smirked a bit. 'Concern for the enemy, around a friend and trusted teammate. That little minx has really gotten under my skin, hasn't she?'

Shaking her head, Jinx waved expansively at the hallway, "Oh, I think I can find my way. Go on ahead, we'll catch up in a minute." When the violet haired girl turned a corner, she sighed and slumped against the wall, tilting her head to regard Cyborg where he'd stopped during their little parting. "Been a while, huh?"

Scratching at the back of his neck, the Teen nodded, looking nervous. "Well, yeah. I guess. If you mean since we talked, rather than the whole... yeah," feeling that bringing up their recent fight, the one that took down the H.I.V.E. and sent the perky witch to Juvenile Hall would be in bad form, he just let it go with that.

Sighing again, Jinx looked the half-metal hero over, trying to remember the man she'd nearly poured her heart out to. The memory was cloudy, a series of impressions. Kindness, humor. Compassion, acceptance. With a quiet settling of ideas, the feline realized that all the things she'd found so appealing in Cyborg, had recently also enamored her to his teammate. "Stone", the ideal of him was truly dead: he died when the H.I.V.E. fell with a crash to the ground. This was Cyborg, someone she barely knew, someone who knew her very well though.

Someone she had to win over, for Raven's sake, if Jinx intended on being a good thing, today. 'And I have no intention of crashing her Christmas party,' she added with a hint of venom. 'I'm better than that.' Refocusing on the man before her, she smiled slightly, "Hey. You know, it was kinda nice, hanging out with you back in the Academy." Putting on her best parole hearing face, the feline lounged with her bags by her feet, giving Cy all the time he needed to answer.

Nodding somewhat hesitantly, Victor really had to admit their downtime in the H.I.V.E. really was a pleasant time. Sure, they were rough, hardened people, 'Kids, actually. Can't forget that,' he amended. They were all the same as his team though. In some other place, they could have all been in each other's shoes. "Yeah, it was nice. Heh, you know I kinda miss chatting with Gizmo, on good terms anyway."

"God, you boys and your toys," she quipped, rolling her eyes with a giggle. When Cyborg laughed, a little voice in her head told her the battle was already won. "So, I know you like to read and tinker, from way back when. What's there to do here for fun?"

Grinning and back in his comfort zone, Cyborg gestured down the hall toward the sounds of the party. "Well, we have a Gamestation, and a ton of games. A lot of the time we spend on training, but we also have a pool, not that the bay's all that bad."

Snorting, Jinx shook her head hard. "Maybe for you! We softer types kinda like not melting from the industrial sludge."

"Hey, it's like a chemical polish. Can't help it you aren't shiny."

"I'm plenty shiny, I'll have you know," laughing quietly, Jinx spared the Titan a sideways glance. "You know, maybe if things go well... I may challenge you to a game on that console later."

Raising a brow, Victor grinned a bit, another point for Jinx. "Sure thing, but I'm warning you: I'm a beast on that thing," Flexing to make his point, he earned a laugh from the slight witch.

"Sure, we shall see, mister," Looking back to the sounds of festivity, her expression dropped slightly. "So... how is the party going?"

Noting her failing expression, Cyborg guesses despite her front, the former H.I.V.E. girl really was nervous. "Pretty awesome, lot of people from the East side out here tonight. Lots of new faces, and just about everyone has a guest, it seems." He almost caught himself, but that last comment clinched it, and he paled under Jinx's sudden gaze.

Cheshire smile in full force, she leaned forward, "Aaaand anyone you're here with?"

'Oh man, I really left that one wide open... ' Clearing his throat, the Titan looked positively mortified. "Well, there's this friend I have, but we've barely talked tonight... she's hanging out with some of the other guests."

"Why not spend more time with her?" Jinx queried, watching her step carefully. This line of conversation could easily backfire, and though by the end of the night she may be a bit more obvious in her inclinations, currently she didn't need her cover blown. For all practical purposes, until Raven voiced a desire for them to seem like more, she was content being here as a guest.

True, she came prepared to make it easy to make that step. Publicly. But hey, no sense in pushing it.

Looking hesitant, the metal Teen, sighed. "Well, you... eh. It's nothing. I just don't think she's that interested."

"She came here at your invitation?"

"Well, yeah."

"And she doesn't know any other Titans?"

"... don't think so."

"She have any other plans for the night?"

"... mentioned a work shindig, but she passed on it to come..."

"You did tell her it was a Christmas party, right?"

"Of course, man we've been planning this for a month. It's awesome-"

"So, she's obviously only here because you invited her, ergo, because she wants to be here with you, otherwise she could have gone to that other thing, and to top it off, she knows it's a party," smirking, she sighed at how silly boys could be. Cyborg was standing there, his eyes wide as it all settled into a pattern in his mind. "Yep, she came, and for the moment, may still be thinking of it like a date."

"D-date?!" Blinking furiously, the Titan stumbled back, the idea obviously not occurring to him before.

Raising a brow in amusement, Jinx pressed on, "Yes, Victor. When a boy asks a girl to some pleasant activity, it's commonly referred to as a date."

"Oh man, and I've barely talked to her since... hey," with a blink, the metal Teen stared at her a moment, his mind working visibly with the flashing expressions on his face.

'Oh Hecate, pushed it too far with that one...' Jinx swore to herself, as Cyborg's human eye bugged slightly.

Pointing with his jaw working slightly, the hero looked at her like she'd just told him Santa was a myth, "Wait. Waitwaitwait. So, Raven asked you to come here?"

"Uh. Yeah," she gulped, looking around nervously.

Cyborg wasn't through, though "And you had something to do, other than come?"

"I suppose Juvie would count. Though I am on leave... and Mammoth was... " Sighing she cut herself off.

"And... you knew this was a party?"

Jinx raised her bag of "snacks" and pulled out a bottle of Bacardi rum. "Even brought my own party favors."

Blinking, Cyborg looked between her and the bottle a few times before shaking his head hard. "Get back to that in a minute." Furrowing a brow, he regarded her steadily. "So... um. You and... Raven?"

Sighing, she pulled the small strip of photos, now laminated and affixed inside her wallet, out for the hero to see. "Yeah, me and Raven."

Cyborg's face went from confused to blatant surprise by the time he'd scanned the four photos. He could have almost written her claim off as her usual pranking, but for that last picture, and the way Raven's face looked, and her hands trailing along Jinx's cheeks... "Oh, man. Robin's going to have a litter of hedgehogs."

Jinx blinked for a second before falling and laughing, holding her sides as she rolled around cackling, "Oh, oh god! Warn me... before you say something like that!" Chuckling, Cyborg grinned and settled down on the floor beside the girl as she caught her breath, handing her wallet back to her as she got herself back under control.

"You serious about this?"

"Like a heart attack," she chirped back, flopping her platforms down as she leaned against the wall opposite the hero. "God, I hope no one invited him. Er, it. Whatever."

"Who?"

Jinx snickered, "Well, not that I'm vying for some position as the only villain here, but Cardiac being at a party would be just weird."

Cyborg thought about this a moment then grinned, "What about Valentines?"

Rolling her eyes, the feline snorted, "Saw that one coming last week. Oi." They shared a laugh as the tension drained off, and what once may have been two bitter youths, glaring at one another across a hall had become two people who may one day claim to be real friends. "Oh, um. Not to run you off, but I should get back to Raven, and that girl's probably kinda lonely..."

"Oh, damn! Sarah... right," standing suddenly, Cyborg dashed down the hall, before skidding to a halt and yelling back to her, "And Jinx? Thanks, I owe you one!"

"No problem," she called back, a sly smile on her face as she slipped the bottle of rum back in her bag. "Phase one, success. Now on to phase two... Jinx's patented 'Kung Fu Combo Cocktail', also know as, Punch with a Kick." Snickering to herself, the Thief noted the direction Cyborg had gone, as well as the sounds of the party. Scanning the ceiling of the hall, she paced a bit looking for the accesses and vents she remembered. Seeing one vent shaft by a room, she tried the door, finding it open.

Wandering with one's head tilted up, has some downsides.

One of those is walking in on Robin while he was using the washroom. "Ohsweetgoddesswhatthehell-"

Raven, having passed the corner and scanning the hallway with her mind, knew that this situation was destined to cause a massive disturbance. Such a thing would probably amuse Jinx greatly, but as they both had to deal with the repercussions, Raven in her daily life, that wasn't an option. "Hang on, we need to do some better planning," she whispered to the Thief, wrapping her arms around her tightly as she literally pulled the pink-haired girl unceremoniously into a shadow with a yelp.

Robin spun around, the two voices behind him startling him but... certain things demanded a moment more attention than spinning around to scan for phantom voices allowed. Which apparently was what he was hearing. "Hello?" Peering about the empty bathroom, the Detective blinked, shrugging. Going back to washing his hands, the grease from the garage still clinging to them where he's just rinsed the soap off. What a lousy time for his bike to blow a gasket!

The darkness of another room, far from the noisy festivities the other Titans were enjoying and one rather dirty Robin, suddenly surged and expelled one very serene and calming half-demon, and one rather outrageously disturbed and frantic sorceress.

"Ohmygod," Jinx sputtered, flailing at Raven slightly as her teeth chattered. "What the hell was that?"

The Titan smirked a bit, using her kinesis to adjust the lights only slightly higher. "Teleportation via the Shadowrealms. I needed to prepare a bit, and there is no way in hell I'm letting you get caught alone by Robin."

Tilting her head as she rubbed warmth back into her arms, Jinx pouted at the violet eyes still filled with mild amusement so close to her. "That was just payback for the photo booth," she accused, her teeth calming in their chattering. "Admit it. And... need time to prepare?"

Jinx looked around the room they'd come to, and her eyes widened in the semi-darkness. "Oh my. Well, I don't know what to say, Raven. I mean, I know we haven't even been on a date and all, but to jump into this now, isn't tha-"

"That's not what I mean, you brat," Raven sighed, shaking her head at the giggling feline. "What I mean is, I've not warned anyone that you'd be coming."

The quirky thief looked away a moment, her face clouding with thoughts Raven could barely detect, with the speed they passed the other girl's mind. Regardless, she realized her error when Jinx's eyes met hers a moment later. "Yeah, kinda gathered that as I was talking to Cy. Well, I guess... I should ask if it's still ok for me to still be here," she murmured, eyes sliding to the side and staring at the floor to Raven's left as she finished.

'No!" Raven shook her head hard and took a breath, her mantra snapping through her mind. "I mean, yes, I want you to be here. Don't think like that..." Sighing, she sat on her bed, and motioned for Jinx to sit beside her. It seemed she wasn't the only thoughtful one, as without comment the Thief joined her, looking everywhere but at Raven for long moments as the Titan prepared what she wanted to say.

"The others got back so late last night, it wasn't really an option to tell them. Then this morning, other Titans, East coast division, showed up and then... well it's all gotten huge. I never had a chance to talk to the others," she explained, feeling the excuse a bit lame honestly. She could have pulled them to the side, but she was afraid. Afraid of how her friends would take it. Afraid of the looks they'd give her.

Annoyingly, she was finding this whole crush thing a bit distressing.

Admitting that this whole thing WAS a crush thing, was distressing. She had to think back to the night before, to the way her mind simply buzzed at Jinx's stolen kiss, to really come to grips with her own anxiety. It had nothing to do with Jinx's suspect background, not to mention gender, and everything to do with wanting to pin the girl to a wall and drink in the warmth of her breath again... Raven shook her head hard to clear the lust from her eyes as Jinx spoke again.

"But... you do want me here?" Jinx asked quietly, looking up at Raven with those luminous coral eyes in the near darkness of her sanctum. Nodding, the Titan smiled slightly, trying to swallow her own anxiety, seeing in those cat's eyes worry to eclipse her own. It passed as quickly as it was noted, as the lithe girl bounced where she was, giggling manically. Humming, she kicked her platforms back and forth in a child-like fashion, grinning ear to ear.

Raven paled a bit, the girl's massive mood switches throwing her off her usually keen empath's instincts. "Uhm... Jinx, you're scaring me. What are you planning?"

Jinx tilted her head slightly, eying the pretty Titan from the corner of her vision. Licking her teeth, she leaned up and into Raven's face suddenly. "Would you call this a date, Raven?"

Violet eyes widened and her usually pale skin flushed instantly at the question. "Well, that is, um..."

Her breath smelled sweet, like... pomegranates, Raven noted, her own breath rasping slightly at Jinx's nearness. The feline showed no intention of moving away, and Raven's stubborn nature and instinct for control wouldn't let her back away either. The end result was one pink haired girl, leaning dangerously close to one half-demon. "Jinx... I-"

"Do you like me Raven?" her voice was barbed silk. It rolled over Raven with a shudder and left her bleeding after.

The empath could practically taste the emotional buzz off her company, that electric desire, static uncertainty, the low thrum of comfort. None of this, she noted quietly to herself, was unfamiliar. She could feel Jinx's need to hear an answer, a need almost as strong as Raven's own impulse to drown it. "I..." She swallowed hard, repeating her mantra again, and again in her mind. Three times it took before her voice would obey her. "I really liked being with you the other night. It was-" Raven was cut off by an exasperated sigh, Jinx's expression shifting from playful and intent to something akin to exasperated. Something about this shift stabbed at Raven, and she cursed her own nature.

'Why is it, when I want something, when there's something that makes me happy, my first instinct is for distance? Why must I constantly separate myself from living?' Rhetoric annoyed Raven, she knew those answers like she knew her own blood; her blood was the answer. But still, all the time she'd spent, learning and preparing her mind and soul for the fight she was destined for with her father did nothing to soothe the lonely girl, sitting and watching her words extinguish the inner light in Jinx's eyes.

Jinx was about to say something, judging by her expression and the sensation of a building storm from the girl, when Raven did something unexpected. The Titan reached up and set her finger to Jinx's lips, an uncharacteristic look of pleading in her eyes. "Just... hold on a moment. Please?

"I'm not very good at this," Raven sighed, trying to piece together words. Words she'd never expected to speak, never expected to have someone to speak them to. "I like you, Jinx. I like being around, talking, even fighting with... and against you. I like you." Slumping slightly, her confessional exhausting some reserve of will, Raven went still, her eyes dropping from Jinx's and resting on her lips. Glossed, with a dust of sparkles, the empath noted, a small grin curling along her lip.

"Raven, that's the most I think I've ever heard you speak at once. Are you alright?" Blinking, somewhat stunned by Jinx's flippancy for a moment, the Titan growled and shoved the giggling Thief away, settling her usually neutral expression into a cast of annoyance.

She glared at Jinx half-heartedly, as the Thief righted herself beside the Titan. "I can't believe you'd ask me something like that, then joke about it, when I open up and actually answer," Raven muttered, though she understood the girl beside her, sometimes the antics did really get to her.

"If I wasn't here, there'd be no one to do that, Raven," Jinx said quietly, her expression serious now. Propping her chin on a hand, she regarded the slight girl beside her on the bed. "It's who I am to be silly, break up the serious moment." Smiling suddenly, she slipped back up to Raven, her arm crossing her and resting against the bed, on the other side of the Titan.

She either sat there, rigid and far too close to the sweet-smelling minx, or leaned back on the bed, under her. Raven's eyes narrowed, and she held her ground, as Jinx's smile widened. "I know what I asked wasn't fair. And it wasn't fair to joke about it after," her tone was calm, which was odd, Jinx thought in regard to her own words. Still, she found something centering about the Titan, something that calmed her, deeply. Rather than caught up in her own storm, Raven put her in the eye of her hurricane, it seemed. "I like you, Raven. A lot. I think I have for some time, really."

"I don't see how, I mean," Raven snorted, shaking her head slowly as Jinx grinned so close nearby. Unphased, the Titan continued, "we've been at odds up until just recently. How could you have been?"

"Where's the weak point in my stance, when I'm on a magical offensive?" Jinx asked intently.

Automatically, Raven responded, "You're too focused on damage and result to observe your immediate area, you miss things... close by..." Blinking, she realized what she was saying and her voice trailed off.

"Exactly. I miss the obvious things. But I didn't miss you," the Thief practically purred. "Enemies get to know each other arguably better than allies. We always counter one another, my dear," she lilted. Jinx's hand brushed along the top of Raven's thigh as she reclaimed it, the clandestine contact eliciting a shudder from the Titan.

Raven had to admit, she had a point. Not one of her enemies, those people that she fought, lived to halt and stop, had garnered the kind of grudging respect and attention that Jinx had. "We've always been there, together in a way haven't we?"

"I've had lots of time to learn you, from a distance," Jinx said, quiet again. Smiling slightly, she looked back to the Titan beside her. "It clicked the other night. I like your wit, your dry sarcasm and cynicism. I used to get a thrill, seeing you appear and make a line for me, each time," She admitted, her color rising. Smiling at a memory, the Thief tilted her head, a mannerism Raven was fast becoming fond of. "The banter we shot back and forth during our fights really..." searching for a word, she grinned as Raven chimed in.

"Really made the afternoons, and sometimes the days after?"

"Exactly. I could have just talked to you for hours."

Raven smirked. "Maybe if you weren't breaking the law and we could meet somewhere less inconvenient than say – warehouses, you'd get to."

Laughing, Jinx smiled and started up at the ceiling. "That's what I mean. You're the only person who makes me smile, that easy. Makes me smile and mean it."

Practically purring, the Thief leaned back looking wickedly satisfied with herself. Standing she pulled Raven to her feet, reaching down to find her hands as they rested on the bed. "C'mon. You said we needed to plan, and I've been plannin'!" she explained, the other Titan shuffling behind her unsteadily.

If Jinx slowed down, she'd start thinking. Start worrying. Start hesitating. She didn't want to hesitate, not at all. Not anymore. She'd started with a brave question, now the night was all spread out before her. She wanted, oh how she did... and being a nervous feline would gain her nothing. The meek would inherit the Earth, perhaps: but lets see them keep it!

"But, hold on we don't have a pla-Mmmrrrrrnn," Raven's voice cut off suddenly as Jinx spun about, pushing the shorter Titan against the wall, still unsteady from the sudden shift from sitting to being pulled hastily into a short lived dash for the door. Soft, insistent lips, ones she'd stared at since meeting Jinx at the door crashed down, drinking in the last of Raven's protest. The Titan's mind froze, solidifying into a warm core of vibrating energy that seemed to resonate through every bone, every hair, every part of her. Thought left, as feeling swept it away, a burning wind that nothing she had trained, prepared for could contain. As suddenly a the kiss started, it ended, but in Raven's mind time had lost meaning. Coming to a decision, Raven found she very, very much liked kissing the pink haired Thief.

Leaning back suddenly Jinx smiled with hazy eyes at the girl, her violet eyes still closed, lips parted slightly as her breath came in leaping jumps. The Thief leaned in, whispering to the stunned Titan as she fought to keep herself under control after the kiss, for the second time in as many days. "You may not have plans, but I do..."

Swallowing, Raven took a breath and looked up at the hungry pink eyes hovering just out of reach before her. She borrowed enough breath from her panting to find her voice, "And what would those plans be?" she asked, realizing she was beginning to adore Jinx's tendency for surprise.

"I'm gonna do the best I can," she said in a low, amused voice, spinning away with a grin. "So you've not told them: who cares? Are you happy?"

Raven thought briefly and nodded, straitening her cloak as she stood back on her feet, pushing off the traitorous wall. "Yeah, I am. I suppose I have you to blame for that... " Looking at the door, she bit at a pale lip, her expression failing slightly. "But this is Titan Tower, things are complicated..."

"And you're a Titan," Jinx added, nodding sagely.

"Right, and I'm a Titan," Raven added, her voice dropping a bit.

The Thief simply took her hands, and pulled her to the door. "So are they. Now, despite my friends being a bit on the other side, we always had this thing. When one of us was happy, it's a good thing. When a friend is happy, it's a great thing, you see. Now, you don't think they'll be upset with you just for finding some happiness do you?"

"It's not as simple as you say, for me!" Raven tried to counter, but the crazed feline only pulled her on, out and into the hallway. "How can you just walk out there, with your record and the history between you and them and not even seem concerned?"

"Hope."

Raven blinked slowly, watching the chaotic girl before her practically skip down the path to the elevator that would lead them to the rest of the Tower; lead them to the Titans. "That's so not a plan," she muttered, feeling a nervous laugh bubble up inside her.

Jinx peered over her shoulder and grinned, "Maybe not, but it's all I need. Wait and see, I bet it'll be fine."

"You're insane."

The elevator dinged, and she turned, pulling the empath into a tight embrace before kicking the button for the next floor down with her platform shoe's heel. "And you're far too pretty for your own good... how long does this thing take from floor to floor?"

Raven let herself be folded into the taller Thief's arms, her own pent up, beat down and abused desires blasting free and into the forefront of her mind. Slipping a hand free, she hit the "Stop" button with a deliberately slow movement that Jinx wouldn't miss. "Long enough."

I Titan Tower, Main Hall I

Robin stood, tapping his foot.

The elevator wasn't moving. He'd hit the button minutes ago, and the thing was just... sitting there. Between the top floor and this one. Which of course, made no sense. The only person that wasn't accounted for was Raven, who should be in the upper dorm floors. Raven would never stop the elevator, much less take the thing normally.

Robin stood, tapping his foot. He stopped when the vibrations of the machine kicking back into working order shuddered through the small hallway leading to the elevators, and the indicator began moving again. "God, finally. I really needed to get-"

Raven practically fell out of the elevator onto the Boy Wonder, laughing quietly as she dodged something pink seeming to try and get at her sides with grabby fingers. Robin made a surprised noise and dodged into a wall, his mind too concerned with absorbing and processing the image before him to allow his reflexes much time to make a graceful escape from the cloaked empath. A high pitched giggle that he almost recognized pealed through the hall as he pushed off the wall, looking around and behind him, trying to find the mobile catastrophe that seemed to have been lurking behind those closed doors.

Blinking and confused, he didn't see the cloaked girl or the oddly familiar pink blur in the hall he was in. Looking back between the elevator and the hall behind him, Robin found no trace of either, and wondered for a moment if he imagined it all. Shaking the residual fog from slamming his head into a wall off, the young detective paused and considered what he knew he'd seen.

Raven, dashing out of an elevator while laughing. That image on it's own burned into Robin's mind, and was the cause of his somewhat sore head as he replayed the last few minutes. As odd as that in itself was, what perplexed Robin more was the feeling he should know the other person. Obviously there wasn't anything wrong, as Raven wouldn't be laughing if so... or was her display of mirth to be considered abnormal and suspect as well? Sighing, he filed the contemplations away, to be considered after his errand, along with the "Washroom Phantoms." Maybe he just needed sleep. It was all probably due to the party, he probably just heard some echoes in the vents, and Raven was likely just caught up in the moment.

A slow smile crept over his lips. The Titans had come together for a day of celebration and companionship. The holidays gave them the small break, and excuse needed, to relax and spend time with one another, but only once a year was it Christmas. He changed his uniform, donning one that was free of garage soil, while contemplating his night. Digging quietly in his closet, being more deliberate than needed despite his privacy, he retrieved a package with a distinct florist's mark upon it. He also had a smaller, unmarked box in his hands, one that was intended to help with delivering the first. "Time to say something I've meant to for a while now," the young Detective declared quietly.

Raven's elevator antics and the vaguely familiar pink blur were forgotten, for the moment as Robin made his way back to the main room.

I Titan Tower, Meanwhile I

"Oh man, you almost sent Bird-boy through that wall, Rae," Jinx giggled, as the two dashed down the hall away from the elevators and the surprised leader of the Titans. Raven blushed, embarrassed she'd be so distracted by the Thief beside her that she totally overlooked something of that nature.

It's not as if Robin was usually hard to see.

She glared a moment at Jinx, but relented quickly. "You were trying to tickle me, that's dangerous."

The Thief stopped in mid stride and looked at the empath with a combination of disbelief and amusement. Tilting her head in the way that made Raven's stomach tighten, she grinned, "Why is it dangerous? I mean, other than you getting mad and like, throwing someone."

"If I get too emotional or lose focus and control, well, my powers get a bit out of hand." She didn't mention the other problems, ones that could be much more... disturbing than her mystic force lashing out at random. Breaking loose from her introspection, she noticed Jinx grinning at her sheepishly. Her curiosity piqued, Raven questioned the Thief, "What, what is it?"

Jinx looked away a moment but shrugged, speaking quietly as they walked. "I know what you mean. There's a subconscious issue I have... like. Hm." Tapping her chin with a finger, she nodded. "Say, you have a mirror, and break it. But you don't believe in bad luck, what happens?"

"Nothing, I don't believe in bad luck," Raven replied dryly.

Smirking slightly, Jinx shook her head. "I don't have that option. I am bad luck, in a rather cute package I must add."

"... not arguing..."

Grinning widely, Jinx's voice regardless was somewhat somber. "Well, things people consider bad luck can overload me. Then, my hexes just... get out of hand. It's like an explosion."

Raven pondered this for long moments. "So if a black cat crosses your path, and you're too distracted by it to notice you walked under a ladder, kicking over a salt shaker as you stumble into a mirror, breaking it..."

"Jesus, it'd be the fucking apocalypse. Don't kid about that," Jinx suppressed a shudder, thinking of the sheer damage that chain of events would unleash. "Gah!"

Shaking her head with a distant look, Raven paused outside of a rather large door. "We're here."

"Here?" Jinx looked around a moment before she noticed the Titan's somewhat subdued manner. "Oh, right. That here." Biting her lip, the bad luck charm considered what potentially lay on the other side of the door, resting her hands on Raven's shoulders. "Sure you're ok with this?"

"Yeah. Will you be?"

"Just watch me charm 'em. You'll be beating them off of me with jealousy."

Raven snorted, and turned to the door. "We'll see."

The Titan opened the doors, to the waiting room and the sudden sounds of celebration and holiday cheer. The pair stood close, eyes darting about the room, waiting and expecting some alarm or yell of notice to come up.

Nothing. Not even a spared second glance. The only person nearby that bothered to focus on them for any length of time, was a blonde girl with a simple outfit, a pair of goggles resting on her head idly with what looked like a snack tray in hand, accompanied by a rather sour expression. Jinx tensed as the girl she didn't recognize came up, offering her a small tray of snacks. "Here! Try some, I'm stuck trying to offload this stuff on a dare, and no one else here seems to be biting."

Hesitantly and with a nervous laugh, the cat's eyed Thief helped herself, looking over at Raven incredulously. The snacks were rather good, and by the time they three finished chatting idly about the Air Polo matches Raven had missed and the current states of fashion in costumes and casual wear, it was obvious no one was going to make any noise about Jinx.

No one was noticing her here, or complaining about it. Raven had just started to relax when one of her teammates walked up. Sporting an orange lampshade hat, Beast Boy sauntered up and grinned at the empath, totally missing the girl next to her. "Heya Rae! Almost surprised to see you join us," he quipped, elbowing her in the side lightly, much to Raven's annoyance.

"Well you know me... never one to miss a party."

The green Teen laughed, then got a rather intent look on his face, "Terra mentioned you brought a friend. I mean, you brought someone to meet us? Anyone we know? Is it a daaaaaate?" Drawling out the last word, he wiggled his eyebrows with a grin. "And where are they anyway?"

Raven blanched, and looked out of the corner of her eye at Jinx, who was standing just far enough away to be out of Beast Boy's range of notice. Clearing her throat slightly, the empath nodded, and with a blush answered the curious shifter prodding her in the arm for an answer, "Uh, well. Yes, and yes. Yes... again, and um," pointing to the now radiantly smiling feline, who was in a perfect "Tada!" pose nearby, Raven went still as the boy before her blinked for a few moments.

Beast Boy was not stupid. Easily distracted maybe, but bright. The conditions of his change and his powers made it impossible for him to attend normal schools, but that didn't keep him from private studies.

Despite all that, sometimes he was a bit dense.

"Ok, so yes to bringing someone here," counting off points, his eyes on Jinx but unfocused, the changeling frowned as the gears in his mind refused to lock into place. "Yes to knowing... Whoa!" Snapping his head around, eyes big as saucers he flailed about a moment. "Whoa! Date! You!?"

"...Yep."

"Oh, well that's great!" Looking back where Raven was still pointing, the green Titan did a double take. It was also of note, that Robin had pulled out an old 45 rpm vinyl record player, just for some nostalgia and the use of some rather dated but really nice Christmas music. It was also at this point, that Kid Flash made a comment about the rather revealing state of Powergirl's uniform, a bit too close to his journalist Fiancé. The annoyed woman swatted him with her purse, and the red costumed speedster stumbled against the table upon with the old 45 was playing.

Beast Boys jaw literally hitting the floor coincided with the sound of a record skipping out of track. "Whoa! Date! You!?"

Raven smirked. Apparently Beast Boy's mind skipped as well.

Jinx's reaction to this wasn't as subtle. Faced with the entire room of Titans possibly catching the tone the green brat had and her plan going to hell from it, she decided to diffuse the situation as best possible. Snatching at his hand and Raven's, the two were tossed down a hall behind the feline with her close after, slamming the Hall door with a thud. Panting, her back up against the doors as she listened to the music restart and conversation follow soon after, the Thief turned back to the now glaring changeling and confused Raven.

"Dude, what is the big idea, throwing me out of the roo-mmmph!" Jinx's hand stopped his complaining, as she loomed over the green youth, her usual Cheshire grin turned sinister from her glare. Squeaking behind the hand, his lampshade finally losing it's perch on his head, he went still.

Jinx relaxed a bit, the quiet letting her know the night wasn't lost. Raven was looking at her with confusion, still unsure what had made her guest react so violently. "Jinx, what's up? Why are we back out here?"

Sighing and releasing the Beast Boy, she leaned back against the doors, ears still keyed for someone coming to see where the three had disappeared to. "As much as I like to make an entrance, somehow I think doing it at Beast Boy's yell over your choice of date tonight isn't the ideal way to do so, Rae."

Raven paled, realizing that was very nearly exactly what happened. Her eye twitching slightly, she rounded on the changeling where he stood, still processing the fact Raven had asked Jinx on a date, and all the implications leading up to it.

Beast Boy for his part, kept stalling on the Raven and Date parts. But he was sure, once he got to the Raven and Jinx part, he'd have it all sorted out. Yeah...

Finally relaxing after it was clear no one was going to pursue the missing joker, Jinx smiled weakly at Raven's teammate, "Sorry, but really that wasn't how we wanted to let everyone know."

"Well, yeah. I mean, Raven asking you? How weird is that? Half of the Titans would think she had some kinda flu or went crazy or something-"

"I'm standing right here, Gar," Raven drawled, reminding the rambling boy that the person he was muttering about was just behind him. His words ended with a short laugh, nervous in the sudden silence.

"Eh, sorry. Got carried away."

Jinx, however, was bristling at his words and not ready to be still quite yet, "And what's wrong with me? Why would it be so weird that she ask me out?"

Waving his arms and looking between the two girls, both now glaring at him, the shifter backpedaled till he ran into a wall. "Wait, no! I didn't mean it like... argh! Just let me explain.

"First off, everyone's going to be real interested in who Raven asked out. I mean, it's Raven, she's the most antisocial person on earth!"

"... still standing right here, Gar," the empath muttered, her cloaked eyes glinting slightly.

"Zap me in a sec, I'm trying to explain," he hazarded, hoping to buy some time on his fast running out lease on life between the two sorceresses. "Then, there's the whole "asking out a girl" thing. Which, seriously, I don't care about-"

"We were terribly concerned you'd not approve, after all," Jinx interjected dryly.

"-and I don't think the the rest will either," Beast Boy finished, glaring at the H.I.V.E. witch. "What's going to cause you problems, is that it's Jinx, and not some random, non-criminal type," he finished, shrugging at the pink haired feline, still bristling by the door. "No offense."

Muttering, Jinx slumped and looked to Raven, trying to find some silver lining to this cloud that was chasing her around. She was trying so hard not to mess up and cause a fuss and ruin the girl's holiday, and each time it seemed her very presence was working against her. Beast Boy noticed her distress and quieted, calming his own thoughts as he took in the two girls.

Raven looked pensive, worried as she looked at Jinx. No, not worried, concerned, he decided.

Jinx looked on the verge of a panic attack, rightly so he figured, imagining himself in her shoes. "You must be really serious about this, huh?" he asked quietly, leaning on the wall nearest to the Thief.

Looking up with her cat's eyes still clouded with worry, Jinx nodded slowly. "I am, I just don't know how to... well get beyond my history so it's not "Jinx the H.I.V.E. witch" but "Jinx the really nice girl" that you all see."

"Sometimes, there's really nothing you can do but be that nice girl," the youth added, looking at his hands quietly. "It's hard to break down preconceptions. Trust me. As one green boy to one pink girl."

Laughing quietly, Jinx reached out toward Raven and the shorter girl drifted to her side, still somewhat subdued as she watched her long time friend, sometimes antagonist and roommate talk to her date. Thinking about it now, she kicked herself for not telling the others sooner, as that would have diffused so much of this mess Jinx was working to avoid.

The flattering thing, was that she was trying so hard, despite it all. She must really like me, Raven thought, her blush rising slightly. Her introspection faded as she refocused on the conversation, realizing it was flowing around her as she had done so.

"... else knows?" Beast Boy asked, looking thoughtful as he retrieved his lampshade.

"Cyborg, but I think he's been occupied with his own date, so likely just him, you and Terra? Was that her name? The blonde with the goggles and snack tray – oh how I miss you, snack tray..." Jinx trailed off, dramatically swooning into Raven, who luckily was paying attention enough to catch the playful feline.

Smirking somewhat, the empath looked down into the inverted face below her, coral eyes blinking back up at her, "Bemoaning snacks now? Should I feel jealous or vengeful?"

"Oh, Rae you're tasty and all, but I like to think of you as dessert," the Thief lilted, which promptly got her dropped as she giggled at Raven's rolling eyes.

"Ok, that was totally too much information," Beast Boy muttered, suddenly very interested in his makeshift hat.

Raven muttered her mantra and glared half-heartedly at the still giggling Thief. "Oh don't listen to her... Anyway. We really should go back in before someone gets worried and comes looking for us."

Nodding, the two helped Jinx back to her feet as she collected her parcels. Raven, finally paying attention to the bags, recognized her own gift still enclosed in that rather pretty purple bag, but also the snacks Jinx had brought. "If you're hungry, you could always nibble on the things you brought, you know," she noted, but stopped short at the slight hitch in Jinx's step and mental feel at the comment.

Something wasn't... right. Raven's eyes narrowed.

"Eh, I didn't want to spoil the effect, y'know? Look bad having started in on my own contribution before I got here," laughing nervously, the Thief motioned for the doors and sighed. "Why don't you two head on in, I'm going to wash up real fast. All this panicking has me flustered, and I'm sure my hair could use a quick bit of attention."

"How do you get it up like that?" Beast Boy asked, as he moved past the still contemplative Raven.

Jinx grinned impishly, "Trade secret, can't tell!"

"I'll find out your secret some day," Raven added quietly, noting with a slight smirk the way her statement affected the feline. 'Oh she's definitely hiding something, now to figure out what it was,' her train of thought was short lived however, as the doors opened to the blasting of the music that was playing beyond.

"Oh man, they cranked up the DDR machine without me!" Beast Boy was halfway across the room before the doors had stopped moving, as Raven shook her head slowly, looking to the now attentive feline beside her.

"Coming?" She asked simply, watching Jinx's eyes follow the people in the room. She looked wistful, in her observation. Raven smiled, sliding beside the preoccupied Thief and tucking an arm around her waist. "You miss it, don't you?"

Snapping out of her reverie, coral eyes met violet curiously. "Huh, miss what?"

"Having people around. The H.I.V.E. breaking down must have been hard... I'm sorry we took that away from you," Raven said quietly, as Jinx relaxed, shrugging slightly.

"It's ok, really." Sighing she glanced at her date and continued, "I mean, it was a dead end. Where would we have gotten? Sure, it was comfortable. It was home. But it wasn't ever going to last." Looking out at the combined East and West coast Titans as they reveled, she smirked slightly. "But you know, we really did party harder than you guys."

"Oh, the night's still young," Raven chuckled, and again caught an errant strand of thought from the girl.

"So it is, so it is," she said quietly. "Hey, you head in – and find that snack tray! I'm famished... and I'll be there quick as a flash."

Rolling her eyes, the empath dismissed her suspicions and started into the room. "Alright, I'll see what I can find for you, but do me a favor?"

"Hm, what's that?"

"Somehow, you saying "quick as a flash" just bothers me," the dark haired girl noted, shrugging. "Just saying."

Jinx tilted her head and shrugged, heading back to the washroom she's scoped out earlier. "Um. K," she shook her head, wondering if she'd ever figure the enigmatic empath out. Her attention soon snapped to a tight focus, as she went back to the task at hand. Slipping along the now empty hallway, the Thief kept an ear to any company she may have, finding the party itself to be rather loud. Not trusting just her ears or eyes, she kept a hand against the wall, ready to pick up on any loud sound of vibrations that would alert her to opening or closing doors of heavy footfalls nearby.

The trip was uneventful, and as she slipped silently into the washroom, this time she found it empty. Smiling, she tucked the package for Raven around her wrist as she gauged the distance from the stall to the vent above her. Popping the fastening screws loose with a tiny flare of ill luck, she bounded lightly against the stall, propelling herself against the wall and then up to the vent, her hands pushing the vent up and in as she found purchase on the lip. Balancing with her toes on the stall, she grinned and slid into the vent, settling the cover in place as she slipped down the tiny corridor the shaft offered.

Meanwhile, Raven was fielding some of Beast Boy's concerns about Jinx. Growling, the empath stomped her foot and snarled at the changeling, "for the last time, no, you may not videotape anything!"

"Awe c'mon Rae, no one will believe me if I tell them you guys are together without proof!"

Her eye twitching, the half-demon pointed in a random direction, which Beast Boy suddenly found to be the one he needed to be in. "Well, if you change your min-" Yelping as he ran, a swarm of black-enveloped cutlery chasing him for a few yards, the green youth made a line for the other side of the room.

"Azar, I can't believe him some times," sighing, Raven sat and watched as the Titans set up some equipment and organized the Karaoke machine, her spirits falling slightly at the sight of the thing. "Oh great, just what I needed. A Tower full of tone deaf Teens yelling over the sound system."

Behind her a voice cut into her dour observation with a chuckle, "Well, not all of us are tone deaf, though I have to admit, Star's take on some songs can be unique."

Smiling slightly, the dark Titan relaxed as Robin made his way around, sitting beside her on the sidelines. "What do you think of the party so far?" he asked, his gaze split between the girl beside him and the room at large, watching the combined teams mingle and socialize. His searching eyes finally found Starfire, chatting with the equally linguistically challenged Red Star as he attempted to read the directions for setting up the microphone to amplifier connection.

Raven shrugged, hiding a slight smile, "It's ok so far, I just wish my date wasn't sneaking about trying to spike the punch."

"Whoa, date? Punch? Can we start from square one, I'm already lost," Robin blinked, finally taking in Raven's rather slight smile, and the air of contentment she was radiating.

Raising a brow, the Titan looked at him from under her cloak, "Cyborg, Beast Boy and Terra somehow managed not to tell you yet?"

Shaking his head and wincing as the speakers squawked with feedback, Robin looked back out a the floor. "No, I just got here really. I was delivering some data so I'd not be tied up with it for the rest of the week, and the cycle blew a gasket. I replaced it around noon, but just got in to clean up and catch the party."

Raven followed his gaze, seeing the point of his attention clearly, as the Tamaranian redhead laughed happily at the tangle of cords she was unsnarling with Silkie's help. Shaking her head slightly, the sorceress interrupted the young man's observation, "You know, it's high time you told her."

Fidgeting slightly, he nodded, patting the florist's box he held. "I know. I plan to tonight, just... figuring out when is the hard part."

"Trust me, sometimes it's less important how you get told, and more so that you do," she said, a smile spreading across her face as she spoke. Robin didn't miss this and cocked an eyebrow at her, unused to so much expression coming from the empath. Or relationship advice, for that matter.

"So, who are you here with? Er, and where are they – you said something about the punch?"

Catching a hint of pink in her peripheral vision, Raven pointed to the stage equipment, another connection going awry and the feedback sounding again. Smirking, she looked back at her team leader and nodded, "Yeah, someone I met at the Christmas event at the Mall actually. You may have read in the report that she helped with Control Freak."

Robin looked down a moment, lost in thought as he tried to recall the report he'd read earlier that day, along with what seemed like a metric ton of other paperwork that he didn't want to worry about this coming week. Eyes widening as the particular one came to mind, he met Raven's cool smile as she nodded. "Jinx? You're here with Jinx?"

Nodding, she regarded the young detective, her smile widening. "And to think, none of this would have happened without your good natured interference."

Somewhat at a loss, the other part of what she said finally clicked, "Wait, she's spiking the punch?"

"Don't worry, it's already been well and thoroughly done, by Speedy and Aqualad earlier this afternoon," Motioning to the room, she pointed out the proof, as a few of the East coast crew were wobbling in place, trying to form a mostly human pyramid, only upside down.

"I just figured... oh man."

"Don't worry about it, I doubt anyone here is going to get into mischief they can't handle," the empath said, knowing Robin's tendency to mother his team and worry would easily override his possible enjoyment of the night if she didn't stop it there. "Besides, many of the people here can't really get drunk, so there's already damage control."

Making a noncommittal noise, Robin looked back at her, his expression unreadable. "So, this thing with Jinx-"

"It's called a date."

"Er, right," he sighed, realizing that any cautions he could try to impart in the empath were likely already considered, acknowledged and either deemed irrelevant or inconsequential. "Just be careful."

Smiling her tiny smile again, the empath nodded and stood, heading toward the hallway door as he sat, looking back over her shoulder as she passed, "Don't forget to talk to Star. She'd like to hear what you have to say tonight." Turning, she waved a hand and made her way to the door. "And don't worry about me, I have Jinx well in hand."

Still sitting there, somewhat lost, the Boy Wonder shook off his confusion and searched the room for his own date, leaving Raven to handle hers.

He was soon to learn that Starfire was a very, very happy drunk.

Jinx's plan was going as well as could be expected, with a room full of Titans and a stomach full of butterflies. She'd made it to the vent nearest the refreshments, and discovered to her joy the thing was a ground level in the main room. She'd spiked the punch with little more than a flick of a wrist and a twist of the hips and back in the vent she dove. The feedback from the speakers being set up afforded her some excellent cover, going off just as she was popping her head over the table. It seemed her luck was holding, so far.

The hard part, she figured was getting into the kitchen, and making sure any more punch that came out got the same treatment. 'Note to self, next time bring Shimmer with me, to make this easier,' she grumbled, squirming her way into the kitchen. As she expected, people were swarming all over the place as she peered down through the vent. The Thief had almost decided to scrap this portion of her plan entirely as the one person she was worried would show up during her plot waltzed into the room.

Glaring about her, Raven said Something, and the room cleared within a few moment – Titans and guests alike scurrying off as she pulled a teapot out of a cabinet. In an almost offhand manner, the empath looked right at Jinx and motioned her down, popping the vent loose as she did so with a wave of her kinetic power.

Sulking, Jinx slipped out of the vent and leaned against the sink, watching as her date made tea. "So you knew huh?"

Grinning as she glanced over to meet coral hued eyes, the empath nodded, "Dear, you're about as subtle as a chainsaw. Just so you know, for the future when you're scheming."

"I'll keep that in mind while I try to keep things in my mind, thanks," she muttered, tucking the bottle of rum back into her "snack" bag. To her surprise, Raven strode up and took the bag and bottle, waltzing over to the refrigerator with her teacup in hand. Following, curious, Jinx watched as she poured almost all the remaining rum into the punch bowl there, saving a bit in the bottle as she sat at the table.

"Have some tea with me?" the empath asked, sparing the stunned Thief a grin.

"Who are you, what did you do with my Raven, and can I keep you both?"

Raven considered this a moment and smiled slightly, her eyes motioning for the taller girl to sit. "Your date, she's around, just relaxing a bit, and if you think you can handle one of us, I think you're in for a surprise."

"So I'm learning," the Thief admitted, scooting her chair closer to the empath. "So, how did mingling go?" she asked, as Raven surprised her again, pouring the remaining rum into their glasses and finishing them off with tea she'd prepared.

"I don't really mingle. I'm a bit of a chronic wallflower. More of a people watcher, really," Raven admitted, as she sniffed at her concoction suspiciously. "Never really understood the urge to drink this stuff. But I'm willing if you are..."

Grinning, Jinx took up her cup and held it up in a toast, "I'm with you, Rae."

Considering those words, she clinked her mug to Jinx's and the two sipped at their own beverages, while outside in the Hall, the punch was working it's magic on the Titans. Wincing a bit at the sharp flavor, but enjoying the warmth as it trailed to her stomach, Raven looked over to see Jinx watching her intently. "Hm?"

"You just... Surprise me. Constantly. I kinda like it."

The Titan paused, and looked deep into her cup a moment. "Surprise you? That's interesting. I'd be the first to admit to being rather boring, personally."

Jinx shook her head, her gaze still locked on the Titan. "Hardly. I mean, I barely know anything about you, but I'm enthralled with knowing. You're life just seems so interesting, with your abilities. The way you are... quiet but there's a lot going on in your head. You can tell."

Laughing quietly Raven stuck her finger into Jinx's cup, tasting it after, "No, didn't think I dosed you more than me... you sure you can hold your drink? You're rambling already."

"I'm being serious!" the feline grumbled, but relented and grinned soon after. "I just really like you, I want to get to know you, all about you," fidgeting a bit, the feline blushed heavily and took a breath, before continuing. "And well, I really, really liked what you did in the elevator..."

"How's that saying go, "Beware the quiet ones", wasn't it?" smirking a bit, she sipped more of her tea, letting the warmth curl up from her stomach as she did. 'For all the flavor lacks, it's rather pleasing in that warmth,' she noted with a content purr.

"So I'm learning," Jinx giggled, her own cup already half empty. "You know, I may just have some punch after this..." When Raven laughed, the Thief, tilted her head, the motion tempting the empath the reach over and pull the lithe girl up on the table.

"You're going to get tipsy, and I'll be the one talking you into improper things, at that rate," the Titan smirked, as Jinx blushed and sputtered.

Draining the rest of her tea, Jinx wrinkled her nose and coughed slightly, "Oh, I'll be perfectly able to be improper, just you wait," she muttered, watching Raven settle her own cup before her, smiling over the brim.

"Promises, promises," the Titan murmured behind the lip of her teacup.

Refilling her own cup with punch, the feline came around the table and stood behind the Titan, setting both their cups to the side when Raven quirked an eyebrow at the Thief. Jinx slipped her hands back up the empath's arms and up to her cheeks, tilting back Raven's chin, the Thief leaned down, her lips meeting those of her date. They lingered there, Jinx holding Raven in place as she let her deepen the kiss on her whim, content to simply be close and drink in the way the Titan made her feel. Raven was surprised by Jinx's forwardness, but the liquid warmth in her calmed and seemed to resonate with the way the feline seemed to fit near her. The kiss was intriguing, the feel of Jinx's light breath on her chin making her shiver as she parted the lips pressed so soft to her own, wanting to taste as well as feel the girl perched above and behind her.

Their kiss lingered, deepening until Jinx drew back, smiling as Raven leaned against her, head cradled in her hands. "Promises, promised," she crooned, her fingers tracing along Raven's collar, bringing a shiver from the pale empath.

"You're so bad. And here this is our first date."

"Hey, you were the one dragging me off to your bedroom first thing," Jinx chirped, leaning down for one last quick kiss before reclaiming her seat.

The two were still too wrapped up in their own world to notice the small mob staring slack-jawed in the doorway. One face there wasn't staring, so much as smirking as she fingered a purple slip in her hand. "Ok boys, pay up."

Jinx and Raven both turned to see Batgirl, Cassandra Cain being handed money from all the people cluttered in the doorway. When she caught sight of the pair, she gave them an enthusiastic thumbs up and started counting her booty as she waltzed off. Turning to the Thief, who suddenly started laughing so hard she was afraid the chair wouldn't survive it, Raven wondered what it was she missed.

"Don't get it, do you?" Jinx asked, still giggling to some inside joke. Waving over a rather disgruntled Speedy, the Thief poured the marksman a drink. "How much did you lose?" the witch asked, earning her a sigh from the youth.

"Almost a grand. I had my money on Beast Boy," he admitted, nearly ending up wearing Jinx's punch when she almost lost control with another bout of laughter.

Raven muttered, rolling her eyes. "Ok, still not getting it. What was that about?"

"I guess you guys and the H.I.V.E. aren't all that different after all," Jinx grinned, as she and Speedy quietly toasted with their now refilled cups. "Seems there was a betting pool on you here too."

"Actually it was on you," Speedy admitted, earning him a sharp look from the bad luck charm.

"Er. What?"

Raven giggled suddenly and leaned across the table, smiling, "So, what was the bet, now I'm curious."

Speedy looked between the two like a deer caught in headlights, but figured with his funds shot, may as well put all on the table. "Eh, we had a pool on which of the H.I.V.E. would end up with a Titan. Double or nothing if it was a same-sex thing." Taking another drink, the marksman gave Jinx a dark look.

Shaking her head, the feline, groaned and wondered if she could get away with kicking him in the shin, without an arrow parting her hair, "So, what was your bet?"

"You and Robin, actual-"

Jinx spat her punch across the table, which Speedy seemed to be expecting as he was already halfway across the room. "Well, it was nice talking with you guys, but I should be-"

"Going! Yes! That is a good idea!" the feline snarled, as her date nearly imploded the kitchen, rolling across the floor laughing. "Oh it wasn't that funny!"

Raven dried her eyes and grinned, still sprawled out on the floor and panting from the laughing fit. Looking up to see Jinx glowering and sulking, she stifled another fit of laughter and held her hands out, wiggling her fingers.

Raising a brow, Jinx looked over at the empath for a moment. "Want help up now, huh?"

Raven nodded, smiling.

"After laughing at me?"

Raven nodded, smile growing.

"You know I'm just going to grope you after I pull you up right?"

Raven nodded, her fingers wiggling again.

"Fine fine, twist my arm or something..."

I Titan Tower, Main Hall I

News had spread fast, where it had mostly drifted, after the betting pool had been called out. The initial buzz of attention wasn't the main focus of the night, much to both Raven and Jinx's relief, as the collected Titans quite happy to celebrate their news along with the holidays.

Karaoke was a dissonant disaster, much as Raven had expected, but when Jinx pulled out a CD and handed it to Cyborg, her cheeks crimson as she took to the impromptu stage, her attention was suddenly fixed on the event. A number of other heroes, familiar with the bad luck charm were also attentive, wondering what she had in mind for them.

The music started, and with the first line nearly half the eyes turned to where Jinx was looking, her face a study in mischief. The song was obviously hand picked for the afternoon, and as Jinx crooned out the lines, many in the audience had to admit, she wasn't half bad.

Raven was flattered, as the lines of the song were very appropriate she had to admit. Jinx returned to the chorus, and smiled at her, causing the empath to blush deeper.

"Dark blue, Dark blue... Have you ever been alone in a crowded room... well I'm here with you..." Jinx lilted, trying to keep her smile under control as Raven watched her intently. The song ended, with much clapping as everyone who attempted the stage received, regardless of skill. Dashing back to her seat, the feline giggled at Raven and leaned up against her, stealing a quick kiss, the stage giving her a rush she'd not felt outside of work for the H.I.V.E..

Raven pulled her cloak's hood up, earning her another laugh from the Thief as she slid up next to the empath, the pair watching as Mas and Minos tried their hand at a Ricky Martin song. The results were hilarious, but they gave the diminutive pair a round of applause, for the effort.

Finally reclaiming her calm enough to speak, the empath smiled over at her date and leaned close, making sure she could be heard only by the feline, "That was very nice of you, and I really liked that song."

Turning and blushing a bit, Jinx clapped as Red Star, Starfire and Robin took the stage, shuffling some lyrics around. "I thought of you the other day when I heard it, it seemed like something someone should sing for you," she admitted, then grinned. "Well, seeing as Beast Boy wasn't offering, I figure I had to-" She cut off as Raven dug her fingers into the feline's sides, tickling her mercilessly.

Barely containing her laughter below the level of a shriek, Jinx writhed and finally dissuaded the cloaked girl by threatening to retaliate. She remained there, close and with her hands on the other girl's arms, watching the way the lights danced about in Raven's eyes. Summoning up her courage, the Thief slipped her hands up and pulled the cloak's hood back, letting the light have free reign across Raven's features as she drank in her smile and blush.

The Titan nearly pulled the hood back up, but let Jinx slip it back, her own desire to see the girl's smile winning out in the end finally. "You're such a sap, you know that?"

Jinx smirked, nodding. "Can I be maple then?"

Raven rolled her eyes and leaned against the taller girl, who wrapped an arm around the Titan with a content sigh.

The night was drawing on, and soon it was time for present exchanging. Jinx happily handed Raven the gift she'd picked out in the Mall, as people milled about, handing each other secret Santa gifts, and occasionally the personal one, if they felt comfortable. To her surprise, Jinx had two to open, one from Raven and one from an unmarked sender. This one made her nervous, as it also rattled, but she decided that saving the best for last would be her rule for tonight.

Watching Raven open her gift bag was worth all the trouble she'd gone through that night. The rest of the collected Titans went still and quiet as she gasped, holding the ornate statue up in the light.

It simply sank into the jet figurine, a rather large fragment of obsidian carved into the likeness of a Raven preparing to take flight. The detail was amazing, as Raven noted, running a finger along the carved contours and features of wing pinions spread to catch the air. "It's lovely," she said quietly, cradling the hand sized bird to her chest. Leaning close she kissed the feline on the cheek, with a whispered "I love it," for Jinx's ears alone.

As the others opened gifts, Jinx picked up the rattling, anonymous present and opened the box, wary for what may be inside. The only thing to meet her gaze was a card, and a rather shiny new compact yellow... something. It looked like a space clam, she observed.

Raven leaned over, peering over her shoulder with an amused look, "Space clam? You really are weird."

"Shoo, my present," the Thief muttered, resolving to learn precisely what she was doing that let Raven hear what she thought. Suddenly her Cheshire grin snapped into place as she closed her eyes and conjured a particularly... interesting image to mind.

Behind her, a number of other Titans would swear there had to have been a small earthquake, as that was the only explanation they could imagine for how seven chairs could get upset and drop their occupants simultaneously. Raven excused herself a moment, shooting a glare at Jinx who was stifling a giggle at the empath's expense. 'Not that I mind you seeing in here, just remember – I'm a bad girl.'

A voice wrapped around her mind like satin, making Jinx shiver as the Titan turned the corner to her room and the hall beyond, 'Don't I know it. You're paying for that one, later.'

Picking up the card, the Thief read the simple, neat script with a growing sense of bemusement.

This isn't a ploy, or an attempt to
turn you to our side, but you never
know when you may need a friend.
Or one may need you.

Besides, it'll help you keep in touch
with a certain reclusive bird.

- Best wishes, and Merry Christmas,

The Titans.

Jinx had to assume it was from Robin's hand, as it was so neat and tidy a script. Taking the "space clam" out of it's nest, she flipped open the cover to discover a rather miniature version of the Titan's Communicator was it's real nature. Grinning slightly, she fiddled with the toy till Raven returned, new cloak in place since she'd spilled punch after Jinx's rather interesting thought. Taking her seat beside the feline, Raven helped her figure out how to make the microcomm work, and how to place calls with it.

After they'd pored over the thing a few minutes, Jinx slipped it into her pocket and picked up the package from Raven, wiggling her brows at the girl as she shook it gently. "Safe to open in public?"

"Even if it wasn't, you'd open it anyway," the empath drawled with a smile.

Jinx grinned rakishly, "Ooh, I'm wearing you down. This pleases my naughtiness."

"Somehow, that phrase just scares the hell out of me, I thought I'd let you know."

Giggling, the Thief slipped the paper off the box, and opened it to reveal the contents. Her eyes went wide as she blinked up at Raven, who was smiling slightly. Reaching in, she pulled out a black cashmere jacket – no, it was a hoody! with a small patch just below the right collar, a stylized cat. Jinx pulled the wonderful feeling garment out and looked it over, squeaking with happiness as she noticed the hood had little 'ears' as well. "OhmygodIloveit," she blurted, hugging the adored item to her chest and grinning like a little kid.

"I kinda had to get it, after I saw it," Raven admitted, relieved her gift was so well accepted. She barely had time to widen her eyes as her date tackled her backwards out of the chair and wrapped her in a hug, much to the amusement of the other Titans present. "Can't... breathe... Starfire must be... giving lessons," she managed, grinning as Jinx nuzzled against her shoulder contently.

Other gifts were opened, and then another stunner was laid out before the Titans. Robin, standing up and pulling Starfire to her feet, did what Raven would from that day at the Mall forward call "Pulling A Jinx", slipping a sprig of mistletoe over Starfire's head an using the tradition to kiss her soundly. The touching display was broken up as Star's joy literally lifted her free of the Boy Wonder, much to the amusement of both of them. To go with the kiss and quiet declaration of his feelings, the masked detective also gave her a lovely bouquet, which Terra immediately helped the Tamaranian put into a vase.

After presents, the night quieted, people either sitting and drowsing or splintering off into small groups to entertain one another. A few of the more direhard nightowls were haunting the DDR pads, while some were engaged in picking some movies to watch, planning to party well into morning. Raven, feeling this a good time to do so, took Jinx's hand and warned her of the impending shift.

Coming out of shadow on the roof of the Tower, the two sat along the edge and watched the city lights reflect off the Bay. The San Francisco area never got truly cold, but the air was chill, and Jinx shivered slightly. Raven, noticing pulled her close, wrapping her cloak about the two of them, realizing Jinx had her new coat on. "Are you really cold?" She asked, favoring the taller girl with a look.

Nodding quietly, Jinx curled up a bit closer to the empath. "It's just warmer here. Ergo, colder out there. If I'm out there, I'll be cold. It's all relative and makes perfect sense, you see."

Laughing quietly, Raven only nodded back. They sat like this for long minutes, quietly enjoying time with just each other. "Did you think we'd end up like this, ever?" the Titan asked suddenly.

Jinx turned her face to the shorter girl and shook her head slowly. "No, but I hoped one day... I'd find someone who made me feel like this," slipping her arm around the Titan, she held the other girl close, sighing as she caught Raven's faint scent of lavender.

The empath looked out a the Bay and imagined what the stars would look like, in a year. Imagined the year with someone to hold, to keep as her own. Precious and fragile and willful and wicked. "I'm really looking forward, to the future," Raven admitted, and it wasn't a lie. "For the first time in... well forever. I'm really looking forward to it.

"Thank you."

The Thief purred up at the Titan and leaned down for a kiss. Grinning slightly, she shifted and nuzzled against the girl's collar, tempted."So you forgive me for stealing a kiss in the Mall then?"

Raven make a noise, somewhere between a laugh and a happy sigh. "Never. But you have a nice long time to make it up to me."

Jinx thought about this and hugged the Titan tightly. "Merry Christmas, Rae."

Eyes sparkling, mirroring the Bay below, Raven replied with smile. "Merry Christmas, Jinx."

-End
-

---

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A/N: Yes, it got very saccharine. And yes, you may expect a New Year's chapter. That will be the conclusion to this arc.