Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, all rights to the owners.
CYBORG
The emperor enters the room like a neckbeard with body odor. Everyone else's noses curl for just a moment before they fall into false politeness. He brings with him four guards who take positions around the room. Unlike his brutish soldiers, these gordanians are silent and professional.
"Hello your Greatness." Thaernun's mother says, speaking Tamaranian. She smoothly rises from her seat and bows. Her bow is odd; she folds in half at the waist and bows until her face touches her leg. It looks more like a weird yoga exercise than a bow.
"Your absolute Power! Greetings!" The king says. Instead of bowing, he goes down on one knee, pulls a small dagger out of a hidden pocket, and crosses his arm while lightly trailing the blade over his chest, leaving a small red line where it broke through his skin.
The yaemanese are so weird…
"Your Majesty." Kom'ander murmurs, opting for a much more normal bow.
The Emperor, of course, doesn't acknowledge their formalities. Instead he opens his mouth and says "your guards are dismissed, they displease me."
The tamaranian guards all noticeably press their lips into a thin line. The yaemanese guards all take a moment to tap their heads with their swords again, murmuring something quietly under their breath. None of them move. Despite the Emperor's supposed position, the guards know exactly who they really answer to.
Kom'ander makes a small motion with his hand and his guards all bow and leave. The yaemanese queen waves her hand, and the yaemanese guards do the same.
For a moment I wonder if me and Robyn count as guards. Robyn, for her part, crosses her arms and glares unabashedly at the Emperor.
"You'd do well to remind your men who is in charge." The Emperor sneers. His eyes quickly focus on Starfire. "And you would do well to remember as well."
"With all due respect." Starfire says. His voice is calm, and he stands tall with his arms crossed behind his back and head held high. "I have been exiled from Tamaran, and am currently taking refuge on Earth. I have returned upon request, but my exile has not been lifted. So yes, I am aware you are in charge. However-" Starfire steps forward, making his way right up to the Emperor, not paying attention to the way the guards level their weapons at him. "-I am not currently a Tamaranian citizen, and so you are not my Emperor. I heeded my brother's call out of old loyalty, not law."
Kom'ander grimaces, his face hidden by his bow. I bet he's thinking through how this could all go horribly wrong. The Emperor, however, cracks a big, ugly smile.
"I forgot how amusing you Titans can be." The Emperor chuckles. He roughly pushes past Starfire, and takes a seat where Starfire was just sitting. "I'm disappointed not to see my brother or his guardian… though I suppose after her failure to protect him, I shouldn't be surprised."
How does he know about that? Does his demon mom just casually tell him about Crow whenever he asks?
"I feel I should remind you that you lost a fight to that supposedly incompetant guardian." Starfire says snidely. "She all but tore off your arm, did she not?"
The Emperor's grin thins. "A guardian is a guardian, incompetant or not."
Now that's a curious line. What exactly does 'guardian' mean to him? He's clearly using a different definition.
"Now, I'm bored from a long trip." The Emperor grunts. "Entertain me."
Kom'ander raises an eyebrow while finally pulling out of his bow. "Shall I bring in some dancers or the local theater group?"
"No. I told you to entertain me." The gordanian grins. "I'm waiting. Don't disappoint me."
Princess Thaernun is the first to speak. She rises out of her seat with a smooth, elegant motion. Her chains clatter lightly as she moves. "If I may, I have a skill I believe will be sufficient."
It turns out that skill is dancing. Extremely, uh, provocative dancing. I mean, I get it. Whole shame fascination act she's got going on, so this sort of skill is completely in character, but it's hella uncomfortable to watch. I can see the discomfort manifest more powerfully on Robyn's face. She's more sensitive to the whole "degrading women" thing, so I imagine she's a lot more ticked off than I am. S'like watching a movie where they feel the need to put the female lead or love interest in sexy slave gear to pander, no matter what they're unintentionally glorifying in the process.
And now I sound like Robyn. Point is: super uncomfortable 'cuz she's dancing for the asshole emperor.
I think the Emperor knows that Thaernun is not at all embarrassed though, because despite her skill and sensual motions, he looks distinctly displeased… or maybe he's not into human-looking girls considering he's a weird lizard thing. That seems more likely.
To their credit, everyone but me, Robyn, and the Emperor keep perfectly neutral expressions, though I can see fidgeting in Kom'ander's hands that betrays his discomfort.
It only takes five minutes for the Emperor to tire of the show (and thank God for that). "I tire of this. Something else!"
"But my dear Emperor, I wished to show you-"
"Silence."
Thaernun shivers, and then raises her arms to the ceiling in a motion that is already familiar. "Glorious… would you do that again, good Emperor?"
The Emperor's sneer seems almost exasperated, like he's tired of dealing with this shit. He probably had to deal with a lot of this when taking over the yaemanese planet, so it might actually be the case that he's plain fed up with the yaemanese's propensity for weirdness and inability to be reprimanded in any significant fashion. "No."
Thaernun shivers and lets out a breathy gasp. "Wonderful… more! Lash me with your words!"
The Emperor grinds his teeth together. I get the feeling that Thaernun is drawing this out purely to spite the Emperor. He's glaring at her whole-heartedly now, and she's drinking in his annoyance like it's the best thing in the world.
She steps right into his personal space, outright offering her neck for him to slash. "Hurt me! Please!"
The Emperor roughly shoves her away and snarls. "I'm done here. Have someone show me to my room. Dinner better make up for this embarrassment."
The gordanians all file out of the room, and Kom'ander takes a moment to whisper instructions to a servant waiting just outside, who then shows the Emperor away.
That leaves just the royals, me, and Robyn in the room. I expect Thaernun to drop her act, then remember that Kom'ander is here so she can't.
"Well..." Kom'ander says slowly, trying to find a way to break the silence. "I think your dance was wonderful."
A grin steals across my lips, and I fight it down quickly. Kom'ander spoke those words without excessive formality. He's being honest. How interesting.
"Truly?" Thaernun says. Both her voice and mouth curl in amusement. I think she picked up on Kom'ander's honesty as well. I suppose this is why he's kept his formal tone so far. One little slip up and people will capitalize. She steps towards him, and Kom'ander stiffens subtly in his chair. Thaernun, smiling in a way that is both spacey to keep with character but also vaguely teasing, says: "I shall be sure to put it to good use in the future then. I must keep my future brother-in-law content, yes?"
Kom'ander swallows thickly, and Starfire raises an eyebrow at this entire scene. Robyn just looks exasperated. I can practically hear her thinking that now is not the time for weird flirting.
I'm mostly thinking that Thaernun reminds me of Changeling in how completely unabashed she is about teasing and taunting other people.
CHANGELING
"I didn't sign up for this." I grumble.
"Just eat your vegetables." Nathan chides. "If you don't like cauliflower, take something else out of the fridge. I expect you to eat properly though. It's good for you."
"I'm plenty healthy, thank you." I snap.
"Good for your mental health as well, I would know." Nathan scolds. "And you could use that."
"Are you implying something?" I growl.
"I'm implying nothing. I'm saying it quite plainly: you're moody because of Crow, so eat properly and stop complaining." He says calmly. "More pie?"
"Yes please…" I say.
He serves me another slice of apple pie. We eat in relative silence for the next few minutes, punctuated only by the click of silverware and glasses. Nathan eventually speaks again. "I don't mean to belittle your anguish, and if you have genuine words to speak about your pain we shall listen of course, but aimless complaints are quite unhelpful."
I say nothing and angrily shove a cauliflower into my mouth while glaring at him. Nathan sighs quietly and finishes his pie.
Nathan does the dishes after dinner. I don't know why he doesn't take advantage of the dish washer and insists on doing them all by hand, but whatever. I don't care if it saves seventy cents on water or whatever. This is Titan's money we're talking about, seventy cents is irrelevant.
Of course, with Nathan busy, Kima takes time to bother me, and by 'bother' I mean… hug?
"What are you doing?" I grumble, and try to squirm out of her grip. I'm not sure how comfortable I am having a bunch of tentacles coiled around me. Nathan might be used to it because he deals with the local tentacle alien on a daily basis, but I am not.
"Humans do hug to feel better." Kima says matter-of-factly. "So feel better now."
I'm about to say something snarky when Nathan shoots me a stern look from behind Kima's shoulder. I curl my lip at him for just a moment. Who's he to tell me to behave? Still, I play nice by not saying anything and letting Kima hug me. I shouldn't be antagonizing people on our payroll.
It would help if they stopped trying to parent me. I've lived mostly on my own for years by this point, I don't need their help, and I don't want to have to be involved in their annoying domestic romance. I'm not a problem child for them to fucking bond over.
Honestly, their domestic romance just irritates me in general. Oh, how sweet it is that Nathan makes Kima her favourite snack every afternoon, or how Kima will hug him whenever he gets too stressed or is obviously depressed in the morning, or how they're always open with each other and tend to speak in these quiet, gentle voices. God, gag me, they need to just make out in the bathroom or something.
It doesn't help that seeing them talk reminds me of how I usually spoke with Ruban, being as gentle as I could most of the time, and how unlike them I couldn't really be open with him because I had to prioritize his mental health first and foremost.
So yes, despite how annoying these two are, I am quite jealous at the moment. I wish everything would stop reminding me of Ruban. When did I become this obsessed with him? I was fiercely independent for so long, I took him in out of a mixture of pity and empathy, and now my whole world revolves around him to the point that I'm getting moody because I can't have him right this second.
I want my goddamn demon back.
"See? Better." Kima says, completely misconstruing my lessened scowl. She then stiffly pats me on the back. "Back pat what do after hug, yes?"
I sigh deeply. "I think so? I'm not the person to ask."
Kima blinks. "But you do hug all time, yes? With Crow. You know about hug."
Are you trying to annoy me now? "And aside from Ruban I basically never did it." That's partially a lie. I did it a lot at my old job, but that's also an entirely different context. Aside from Ruban I never hugged outside of it literally being a part of my job. "So I really don't know what the 'normal' thing to do is. Nathan would know better than me."
"Personal preference." Nathan says from the sink. "Do it if you want, don't if you don't."
"Okay." Kima says. "Then won't."
Fine by me. That was the most awkward thing I've dealt with in a while.
"Other question." Kima adds. "Notice when you hug, you push chest into face lots. I supposed to do that?"
I can hear the sound of Nathan dropping something in the sink, and despite my moodiness a flicker of amusement creeps it's way onto my lips. I didn't realize she paid attention to how I interacted with Crow before he went into the coma. It's also refreshing to have someone not dance around my more sensual actions. Ruban I can forgive because of his background, Starfire and Cyborg ignored it, and with Robyn you'd think the mere fact that I have big breasts was a crime sometimes from how she'd glare. "Not normally, I reserve that for Crow." An idea, slightly evil, occurs to me, so I add: "But it should be fine with Nathan if you want to."
Nathan turns and fixes me with a glare, Kima puts a quick stop to my idea anyways by saying: "Not your choice."
"Well-" I try to argue.
"No." Kima says, cutting me off. "No 'well'. Not your choice. My choice."
My amusement turns to a scowl again, because she's absolutely right, and Kima pokes me with a tentacle.
"No scowl at me because you grumpy." She scolds. "You was be mean."
"I'll scowl at whoever I want." I mutter. "You're not my mother. Stop acting like it."
Kima pokes me again without saying anything then goes to help Nathan dry the dishes, leaving me to sulk in the corner of the room.
More fun with Thaernun, and Changeling being a complete teenager. Also, Kima is too smart to rise to Changeling's attempt to create cheap drama with a suggestive comment.
legendaryNOT: I plan on Thaernun explaining it at some point, don't you worry.
Origami Stars: You wonder if Thaernun went with Star to make Kom uncomfortable? Is that what you're saying?
Of course Robyn is jealous! She'll never admit it though.
Trase: I have no original works as of yet. Can't get anything to work. I might have to just bite the bullet and post something at some point or I'll never do anything original. Thanks for the compliment though.
Azarath Cat: I had to go through that chapter a number of times to make sure I did it right. It was a pain.
