Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans or any of the characters in this fic; DC and WB do.
It's Just Talk
Beast Boy screamed, the high pitched wail filling the med bay. He scowled at Cyborg, who was grinning from ear to ear.
"Dude! You're not supposed to be enjoying this! I've been injured in the line of duty, and you're laughing!"
Cyborg tried to suppress his giggles. "It's just… in the butt. What are the odds? You could have at least gotten bitten in the leg like Star," he said, nodding over at his Tamaranian team-mate, who was being treated by Raven.
Beast Boy jutted out his jaw. "It's not like I had a choice where Johnny Rancid's robot dog would bite me, dude!"
"I know, but turning into a hippo was not your best move. You kinda gave him a big target, y'know?"
Beast Boy tried to change the subject away from his ineptitude in battle. "Anyway, why does Starfire get magic Raven healing and I get you with some nasty disinfectant stuff?"
"Because Starfire's wound is more serious," Raven said neutrally. Starfire looked over at her friend with an apologetic smile.
"I am sorry, Beast Boy. In future, I will be more careful."
Cyborg leaned closer to Beast Boy's head, which was face down on the bed.
"See? Now you've made her feel guilty."
Beast Boy sighed into his pillow. "S'okay, Star. It's not like you meant to get bitten by Rancid's dog, right?"
Starfire shook her head. "Indeed not."
Robin burst in through the doors. "How is she?"
Beast Boy scowled at him.
"Uh, they!How are they?" Robin said quickly. He had been away taking care of official business with the Mayor when Rancid had attacked. They had sent a message to him and gone to fight, but the battle had been over pretty quickly once Beast Boy had been bitten in the behind and Starfire in the leg. Beast boy mentally groaned. This would make Robin's control freak nature explode. He could hear him now.
You should be able to handle yourself without me here.
We're going to have to train even harder.
I'm stinky and stupid and I'm too serious all the time.
Beast Boy hid his smile in his pillow. Although he seriously doubted that Robin would care if he started laughing at him, since he had already made his way to Starfire.
"Are you okay?"
"I am fine, Robin. It is a very minor injury."
"Being bitten by a dog made of solid steel is not minor, Star."
Cyborg decided to interject into the conversation. "But she's fine now. And we need to get back out there and stop Rancid before he causes any more damage."
Robin nodded reluctantly. "Right. Will you be okay? Uh, both of you?"
Starfire nodded and Beast Boy did a thumbs up, still face down in his pillow. Robin nodded to Cyborg and Raven.
"Let's go."
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"Uh… okay… another question… uh… what… turns you on?"
Starfire raised a quizzical eyebrow. "What does this mean? 'Turns you on'?"
Beast Boy scratched his head as best he could in his awkward position. He had managed to lie on his side, propping up his head on two pillows. Being bored, they had begun to talk to each other about anything they could think of. Beast Boy had run out of things to ask, until he remembered watching some of 'Inside the Actor's Studio', so he thought he might as well ask those questions that come up at the end. Of course, he hadn't counted on Starfire's lack of knowledge of Earth phrases.
"Uh… it means… well… what… makes you feel… good?"
Starfire looked blankly at him for a moment before nodding. "Oh. Well…" she said, putting her finger on her chin as she looked up at the ceiling. "Umm… Silkie makes me feel good. So would it be apt to say that Silkie 'turns me on'?"
Beast Boy tried not to laugh. "Well, I guess, but... I mean…" Beast Boy sighed. "This is hard," he murmured to himself, before looking back to Starfire. "Just ask Robin when he gets back."
Starfire looked confused. "Why would I ask Robin?"
"Because he's your-" Beast Boy stopped himself before he said something that Robin would kill him for. "Uh… 'cause he explains this stuff to you all the time; he's good at it."
"Oh."
A green eyebrow rose on Beast Boy's face. "What's that mean?"
"Nothing. I merely mean that I understand."
"But you said it all weird. Like you thought I was talking about something else."
"Well…" Starfire looked away awkwardly. She shook her head. "It is not important."
"Aw, c'mon Star. I'm not gonna go around tellin' anybody, if that's what you're worried about."
"It is not that," Starfire said, shaking her head.
"Then what?"
"I merely find it difficult to talk about such things."
"What things?"
Starfire paused. "Robin things."
This time both of Beast Boy's eyebrows rose. "Really? You?"
"Is it so hard to believe?"
"Well… kinda, yeah. I mean… you're usually so… like, 'out there' with your feelings. It's just kinda weird to think you keep some stuff in."
"Just because you do not see it, it does not mean it is not there," she said quietly, looking out the window.
Beast Boy suddenly felt quite awkward. Dammit, Robin should be here looking after his girlfriend, not Beast Boy. Of course, Robin would never call Starfire his girlfriend, but it was so obvious. And Beast Boy knew that if it was obvious to him, then that meant that everyone must know.
"Everyone seems to know something about myself and Robin that even I am not aware of. It is… strange, yes?"
Beast Boy laughed nervously. "Yeah… kinda."
"So… what is it that everyone sees that I do not?"
The awkwardness was increasing. "Well… it's just that… Robin… uh… he uh… and the rest of us… uh…"
He sighed.
"Can we talk about something else? Please?"
Starfire paused for what seemed an eternity before answering. "Very well. Now I may ask you a question, yes?"
"Uh… okay."
"What 'turns you on'?"
"Let's see… uh… tofu and zombies."
"Very well… now it is your question again."
"Okay. What's your favourite curse word?"
Starfire tilted her head to the side. "I do not understand."
"Curse words are-"
"No, no," Starfire said, shaking her head, "I know what curse words are. But I was under the impression that it was frowned upon to use them."
Beast Boy scratched his head. "It is. It's just… c'mon, Star. There's gotta be one curse word that you like to say. That makes you feel better when you say it."
"What is yours?"
Beast Boy shook his head. "Nu-uh. This is your question."
"Very well… well… I have always laughed at 'poop'."
Beast Boy paused. "Poop?"
Starfire giggled. "Yes. It is a most amusing word."
Beast Boy laughed. "Starfire, that's not…" he laughed again. "…half bad!" he finished, laughing at how amusing the word 'poop' was.
"Okay, your turn. Poop…" he said, shaking his head as he wiped away a tear.
Starfire giggled. "Very well. Um… do you have 'the crush' on Raven?"
Beast Boy's eyes almost exploded from his face, and he began coughing wildly, even though he wasn't drinking anything.
"What?" he asked in-between coughs.
"I mean… do you… like Raven as more than just a friend?"
"No! Where'd you get that idea?" Beast Boy froze. "Did Raven say something?"
Starfire shook her head vehemently. "No. I merely thought that I could see something."
"Wait. So you think Raven likes me?"
Starfire shrugged. "I do not know. She is not particularly open about such things."
Beast Boy let out a deep breath. "Well, good. 'Cause I don't."
Starfire paused yet again.
"…Beast Boy?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think that… Robin likes Raven?"
"Like… 'more than friends' like her?"
Starfire nodded solemnly. Beast Boy shrugged.
"Dunno. Never really thought about it. Why? Do you think he does?"
Starfire sighed. "I do not know. It is just… Robin was so determined to find her when we fought Trigon… and… it was as if…" Starfire again paused, looking out the window.
She sighed. "…I just do not know," she said quietly. Beast Boy rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
Why couldn't Cyborg have been bitten in the butt?
"Uh… Star… have you, uh… talked to Robin… about…"
"I…cannot."
Beast Boy frowned and nodded his head understandingly. "Because you're afraid he'll say yes…"
Starfire nodded, staring at the floor. "I know it is most wrong of me to think this way. I should be happy for them, I truly should. But… there is a most unpleasant feeling in my stomach when I think of such things."
"That's called jealousy, Star."
"I know," she said quickly, almost sounding annoyed. Starfire looked up at him. "You have felt this bad feeling too?"
Beast Boy nodded. "Once."
"Who?"
At first, Beast Boy didn't reply, and Starfire put her hand over her mouth.
"Oh! I am sorry! It is none of my business."
"Nah, it's okay. I just don't wanna name names, okay?"
"Very well."
"Well… okay. There was a girl… uh… lemme start again. There was a girl I liked once, right? I mean, I liked her like you like R-… uh… like uh… I liked Terra. She was really pretty… and kind… and she thought that all my jokes were really funny, even when they were really stupid," Beast Boy said, laughing nervously. "And I liked her. A lot. And I thought that… she liked me in that way too…"
"But she did not?"
Beast Boy shook his head. "She liked some other guy. She never really saw me that way; I was just a friend." He paused, unsure of how to continue.
"And that guy didn't even seem to do anything to deserve her. She just seemed to like him, not matter what he did."
"What did you do? Did you fight for her, as in much of Earth literature?"
Beast Boy laughed. "Uh… no. I just kinda… forgot about it. The feelings just kinda went away after a while."
"How sad."
"What is?"
"For such wonderful emotions to go unexpressed is… most tragic."
Beast Boy nodded. "Can't argue with that."
Starfire paused. "Thank you, Beast Boy."
Beast Boy raised an eyebrow and smiled. "For what? I didn't do anything."
"On the contrary. You have helped me to make a decision."
Beast Boy just smiled and nodded. "Uh… glad I could help."
The doors to the med bay opened, and Cyborg leapt through, landing in front of the two beds. Robin quickly followed, Raven with him, floating over to Starfire's bed to check her wounded leg.
"BOOYA! Kicked his ass!"
Cyborg struck various muscle flexing poses as he danced around the room. He seemed to appear all over the room, sliding out from under beds and popping down from ceiling tiles, all the while singing away about kicking Rancid's behind.
"And I didn't get bitten in the butt, neither," he said, winking at Beast Boy with a grin.
Beast Boy scowled. "Shut up dude! I'm gonna be stuck here for a week 'cause of that stupid robot dog!"
Cyborg's grin grew. "Actually, Raven can heal that. She just doesn't want to put her hand near your butt."
Beast Boy's eyes widened. "WHAT? Raven!"
"No."
"Aww, c'mon!"
"No."
"I promise I won't fart!"
"Well, that just makes it all the more tempting."
Cyborg laughed hard. Beast Boy's scowl grew, although he was feeling better already. He was in his element once again, arguing with Raven, being mocked by Cyborg… he wasn't suited for helping people through emotional crises. He looked over at Starfire, who was talking to Robin with a smile on her face. She glanced over at him happily. Beast Boy smiled.
But then again…
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(A/N: Hoo boy, did this one take longer than expected. Sorry to those of you waiting on this coughcough Arainia coughcough, but here it is. I hope I wasn't being too subtle about the identity of the girl Beast Boy was talking about.
Thank you for your reviews, both positive and negative, but I would like to say a few words to Teen Titans Geek, who submitted a well thought out review (anonymous, so that's why I'm replying here):
First of all, I'd like to thank you for being honest about it, and not beating around the bush. But keep in mind that the characters in that fic are different 'people' than the ones you are referring to. The Raven of the cartoon is very different to the one in the comics, just as I'm sure Kid Flash will turn out to be (I swear, 'Lightspeed' can't get here soon enough) different from his comics counterpart.
And, if his character is going to be anything like his older JLU counterpart, then I personally think that there's a lot of fun to be had with a cartoon Kid Flash/Raven pairing. But please don't stop reviewing; I am grateful that you took the time to read and review the story, even though you hated the pairing.
Y'see folks? You just can't win. If you post a nice review, then you get nothing. Post a negative review, you get two paragraphs devoted to ya! There's no justice, I tell you…
Well, I know I promised a Christmas fic this time, but I'm putting all my Christmas joy into my other fic, 'In the Spirit', which will eventually include a Titans story. That's not to say I won't do a few Christmas one-shots here, but with 'Lightspeed' coming up this Saturday (girly fanboy squeal), the Kid Flash count may go through the roof.
You have been warned…
Anyway, review! And folks, bear in mind that I'm not supposed to post review responses here, so if you have a account, please log in and review so I can reply. Thanks.)