Herald looked around with concealed amusement at the odd gathering that he was a part of: Kid Flash, Hot Spot, Jericho, and of course him.
The quartet was certainly a truly unique one.
They were all sitting around of of the tables at Jamba Juice, sipping their drinks, and Herald along with Jericho were watching an enthralling discussion taking place between Kid Flash and Hot Spot.
"No man I am telling you, Jason Bourne could totally destroy whoever the hell it is you're talking about," Hot Spot shrugged. "He just could. Didn't you see the Bourne movies? He took out everyone!"
Kid Flash shook his head. "No freakin' way could Bourne take Bryan Mills. No way in hell. Yes, I will admit that Bourne took out a bunch of people, but Bryan Mills destroyed a bunch of people. More dudes heads were slammed into shit in that one movie than any other movie I can think of."
"What movie was this dude even in?" Hot Spot asked. "I have never even heard his name. Ever."
"Taken!" Kid Flash exclaimed. "You know, the movie where that dude's daughter is kidnapped in Europe? And he's ex CIA? And he destroys people?"
Kid Flash lowered his voice, making it gravely and rough. "I will find you... And I will kill you!"
"Never saw that one," Hot Spot admitted.
"Well, I saw all the Bourne movies and, over edited as they were, the were okay." Kid Flash said. "But there's no way he could take down Bryan Mills. I mean, come on! Liam Neeson is only like the biggest bad ass in Hollywood!"
"I dunno," Hot Spot shrugged again. "Bourne's pretty bad ass."
"All right," Kid Flash started. "You, me, popcorn, and whoever else wants to join in. We're gonna watch Taken, and then you'll see that Bryan Mills would destroy Jason Bourne. An day of the week."
"Okay, we'll watch your movie," Hot Spot smiled. "But, like I said, Bourne would win."
Kid Flash then launched full force into a whole new rant about why his movie character would beat Hot Spot's movie character. Herald, having seen neither of the debaters' lobbied films, had absolutely no frame of reference to make any informed decision about just who was right. He decided it best to see all of the movies in question before forming any concrete opinions about any of it.
Though, as bizarre and pointless as it was, discussing which fictional character would win in a fight, Herald did have to admit to himself that the people debating the matter itself did it in such a hilarious fashion, that it was hard to complain.
Herald glanced to his left, at Jericho who was also watching the debate and also looked similarly entranced. A small smile played about his lips, as his eyes darted back and forth between Hot Spot and Kid Flash as both made their respective points.
Herald allowed himself a small smile as well, as he unconsciously fiddled with the silver horn he always carried. Though his costume was stashed away in the one shopping bag of his, he would not, for a single second, have the horn out of immediate reach. And as odd as it may've looked for a teenager to be carrying a horn around with him at a mall (Herald wished very much that his relatively unknown status as a Titan would prevent him from drawing too much suspicion) he still refused to stash the horn away.
He listened to Kid Flash and Hot Spot for a few moments more; the pair seemed not to notice either his or Jericho's presence anymore. They were far too enraptured in their ever heated discussion to notice much of anything.
Herald glanced again at Jericho. "So, Jericho, you speak sign language, right?"
Jericho looked at him and smiled. He signed with his hands what Herald could only assumed meant yes.
"Cool," Herald nodded. "I'm gonna learn that. You understand us just fine. It's time someone understood you."
He meant it, too. Herald could only imagine that despite being a settled in hero with a city to protect, there would be many, many quiet opportunities. Plenty of time for someone as sharp as he to learn another language.
During the final battle with The Brotherhood of Evil, Herald and Jericho had been forty percent of the group that had stormed the Brotherhood's stronghold in France. And in that short time, they had become fast friends. Jericho, obviously, was quite quiet, as was Herald. And the pair had quickly discovered that they didn't need to communicate much at all, really. After the final battle with The Brotherhood, the pair had played numerous games of chess during the downtime they had had at the original Titan's Tower. And that's all the friendship had needed to solidify. They were the rare type of friends that didn't have to say or really do much at all the be good friends.
They just were.
But even if they didn't need to speak much to be friends, Herald did admit to himself that the the least he could do was learn to understand Jericho. Maybe then consistent communication would be possible. Jericho did seem pretty smart after all, and it would be a shame to not be able to understand what the boy had to say.
Jericho nodded and smiled. He made a complicated series of gestures, and ended to performance with a universally understood thumbs up.
Herald smiled. "When I can understand whatever that was, things'll be a lot easier."
Jericho just smiled, and made a gesture to Hot Spot and Kid Flash, who were still at each other's throats over just who was right.
"I know, they're children," Herald said. "But hey, it's entertaining as hell."
Jericho nodded once, as his eyes resumed darting back and forth between the arguing Titans.
Herald smiled. It would be different being on a team. Very different. He had lived a very solitary life for such a long time that constant interaction with people would really be a noticeable difference. He didn't regret his decision to join a team at all, though. As solitary a person as he was, he did admit that it would be unfortunate to go through life not experiencing the joys of friends. Youth was fleeting, after all. And one of the most defining facets of any youth's life were their friends.
Not to mention, from a logical point of view (the view that Herald usually had) being on a team was a considerable tactical advantage. If the war with The Brotherhood of Evil had proved anything, it had most certainly proven that Titans operating on their own could be in severe danger. The Brotherhood had ambushed and picked off so many solitary Titans that Herald counted his blessings that they had emerged victorious at all. And even if Herald was one of those solitary Titans that had managed to defeat the ambush party sent after him, he wasn't looking forward to any other situations similar to it.
Being on a team made it much harder to single any of them out. And even if some (Herald's attention turned back to Hot Spot and Kid Flash) behaved like children sometimes, Herald knew from the final battle with The Brotherhood what his teammates were capable of. As he thought about the team he was now on, Herald truly believed that the six of them could really do some damage to that crime problem in Obsidian City.
Herald simply knew he was on a potentially damn good team.
"Okay, okay!" Kid Flash said to Hot Spot. "I'll admit your argument has merit, but it's coming from a completely uninformed point of view. Since you have not seen Taken, you cannot possibly make an informed decision one way or another regarding who would kick whose ass. So for now, I call for a recess in proceedings until you have a chance to see Taken. And once that happens, if you still cannot accept that Bryan Mills would totally vaporize Jason Bourne in a straight up, legit throw down, than you'll have at least seen both points of view and then we can continue our discussion... Deal?"
Hot Spot nodded. "You have a point, Flash. I accept your proposal."
He smiled. "But Bourne would win."
Kid Flash rubbed his eyes. "For the love of God..."
Both Herald and Jericho just smiled.