Hey! This is the 3rd of 3 updates to Chasing Cars that I am providing tonight! The Night of Updates is over.
But it was a good night, eh? Lol.
So anyways, I'm definitely going to be better about putting out the chapters as fast as I can, and I'm sorry these took so long to update, but it seems that I need to write, like, 4 drafts of a one-shot before I'm satisfied enough to post it. Forgive me, lol.
So, here's one more for ya, and I hope you like it. It's not my best, but I like it. So make sure you review with ideas for what to improve upon. Muchas gracias.
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. There? You happy? I said it, just leave me alone!
They call you Lady Luck, But there is room for doubt,
At times you have a very unlady-like way of running out
You're on this date with me,
The pickings have been lush,
And yet before this evening is over you might give me the brush!
You might forget your manners,
You might refuse to stay,
And so the best that I can do,
Is pray...
Luck be a lady tonight,
Luck be a lady tonight,
Luck if you've ever been a lady to begin with,
Luck be a lady tonight.
Luck let a gentleman see,
How nice a dame you can be,
I know the way you've treated other guys you've been with,
Luck be a lady with me...
-Luck Be A Lady, from Guys and Dolls
Kid Flash
"3 jacks," says Speedy triumphantly as he slams down three cards face-down on the growing pile.
I consider calling him on it, but then I realize that he hasn't lied for the last 4 rounds (I should know; I got the entire pile every time) and refrain. It's my turn now; I look at my deck.
…Dammit! No queens. I wish Jinx were here right now, maybe she could hex someone for me. But, alas, I was an idiot and told her that I was going for a "guy's night out" and as a result, she is probably sitting in a dark café with Raven, being all goth and moody and misunderstood-by-the-world and the like.
"Anyone gonna call me?" Speedy asks pompously before I get a chance to pretend to search for my 4 of spades, which I will attempt to pass of as a queen, looking around at all of us smirking, as he lays back and realigns his remaining 3 cards.
Dammit. He might win.
Cyborg, Beast Boy, Aqualad, Joey (a.k.a. Jericho) and Más and Menos (who tried to tell us their names once, but we couldn't understand them) and I, Wally West, hang our heads in shame and look away. "C'mon, someone! Call it, I dare 'ya!"
Más mumbles something disgruntled-sounding in Spanish but the rest of us stay silent. Speedy lets out a long whistle and says in an annoyingly cocky-sounding voice, "Alright then, if none of you want to…your turn, Pretty Boy," he says to me, smirking.
"Don't call me that," I tell him huffily as I discreetly put down my 4. "There. One queen."
"Popcorn!" shouts Speedy, clearly amused, as soon as my card is down.
Groans emit from every Titan at the table except for Jericho, who opts to smack his head against the table.
"I knew it!" grumbles Beast Boy. "He can't lie for beans!"
"¡Señor Harper, si usted no era un amigo, nosotros le golpearíamos!" grunt Más and Menos in unison.
"What'd they say?" Beast Boy asks in confusion, and Cyborg whips out his arm and a small screen pops to life, illuminating his face. "It means, 'Harper, if you weren't a Titan we'd kick yo' butt.' That's the attitude, little Spanish dudes," Cyborg says, reading from his instant translator before turning to high-five the little guys.
Speedy laughs, and our attention is turned back to the game. C'mon…someone go…if I can JUST make it through the next turn without someone calling me on it, then I might be able to beat Speedy and win.
"And B.S. by the way, Kid Flash," says Aqualad calmly as he takes a long gulp of water.
Silent Joe, as we now call Jericho, smirks a little at me as I curse and pick up the pile, which, to be exact, is 14 cards.
"Dammit! Jinx, I REALLY wish you were here," I mumble to myself, and Roy laughs a little.
"That girl has got you whipped, Pretty Boy, huh?" the other guys except for Cyborg laugh and I can feel my cheeks getting red.
"Stop calling me that, only Jinx gets to because the first time I objected she hexed me," I respond as snarkily as I can. There's a pause and they all look at me skeptically. "And I am not whipped."
Everyone bursts out laughing, including Silent Joe, who apparently finds it so funny that he is doubled-over, clutching his stomach as he quietly cracks up.
"What's so funny? I'm not whipped!"
"Dude, you're a running contradiction!" Cyborg howls. "'Only Jinx gets to because the first time I objected, she hexed me.' And you're telling us you're not?" He laughs again.
Aqualad puts down all 4 kings. None of us bother to B.S. him because the guy's a telepath and none of us want to hear his laughing voice in our heads later.
"Yes, I am saying that," I respond to the whole table in general.
"Nah, I bet if she called right now you'd zoom over to her in a flash," quips Speedy. He smiles to himself and says, "Pardon the pun."
"Would not," I stick out my tongue at him, but being the loser he is, he pretends to catch it and sticks it in his pocket. Jericho has yet to stop laughing about Cyorg's contradiction comment, and Más and Menos look around excitedly, following the conversation with their eyes instead of their ears.
It's Beast Boy's turn. He looks at his cards, smiles a stupidly cocky grin, and says all cool, "Three Aces. C'mon, who wants to call it? I know you want to call it. No one?" He's all serious about it, probably thinking that if it worked for Speedy, it'll work for him.
"B.S.," comes every other voice around the table (except for Joe, who uses sign language instead).
"Awww, man," Beast Boy says defeatedly as he scoops the pile into his hand.
And just as Cyborg is about to lay down a card, a ring emits from somewhere around the table.
"It's mine," say Cyborg and Speedy simultaneously, but Joey and Más and Menos all hold up their Titans communicators as well.
"No, it's mine," Aqualad pulls out his communicator and flips it open.
"Hello?"
"Actually, guys, it's mine," I tell them and I dig my communicator out from under my belt. I flip it open, and Jinx appears on the screen.
"Jinx!" I nearly yell. I wonder if she can hex people long-distance…?
"Hey, Flash, just wanted to let you know that we're coming home a little earlier than we thought," she tells me. I see Raven skulking behind Jinx in the background, looking annoyed. The guys crowd around me and listen. "It was open mic at our favorite café and some idiots read their poetry about puppies and babies." She emphasizes the last two words through gritted teeth. Jinx hates happy poems.
"I take it that Raven wasn't so excited about that?" I have a talent for stating the obvious.
"Yeah, so now she's going back to the Tower and wants to talk to dead people, or something like that. So I'm going to come home. Is that ok? Will I be ruining game night?" she puts on her sweetest, most syrupy voice and phrases the question in a way that lets me know that I'm not allowed to refuse.
"No, that's fine," I tell her, and the guys snigger behind me. I get up and walk to the other corner of the room. "Do you need me to pick you up?"
"Nah, I'll be fine. Thanks, though. I'll see ya in 10, Pretty Boy." And then the link is cancelled and her picture fades off the screen. I turn around and sit back down, only to face the guys, all of whom are trying their very best to keep a straight face.
"What?" I snap at them. "Your turn, Joey." He puts down what we all assume to be a pair of 2's.
"B.S.," I tell him, but he smirks even broader now and I groan as I pick up the pile, again. I wonder how annoying he would be if he could actually talk? "What?" I ask again. It's too quiet for my liking.
"SOO whipped!" bursts out Beast Boy and everyone starts laughing again, even harder than before.
I bite back what I was going to say and substitute instead with, "Well, at least I have a girlfriend to be 'whipped' by!"
The laughing dies down and I B.S. Roy as he puts down a 3 that's actually a 9 of diamonds. He collects the cards and it's my turn to laugh.
"I have a girlfriend," says Beast Boy feebly.
"Quién?" ask Más and Menos in unison.
"I've got Raven," Beast Boy mumbles uncomfortably as I lay down the 4 I had to recollect a few minutes ago.
"No, you want Raven," Cyborg corrects and Beast Boy's green skin is automatically tinged with red.
"And I've got Jade," Speedy says, not looking anyone in the eye.
Joey signs something, his eyebrows raised, and I figure I know what he's trying to communicate so I translate.
"Jade Nguyen? You mean Cheshire? The villain who didn't tell you her identity and then turned your sorry butt in to the HIVE?" I say skeptically.
No one B.S.'s me. I've hit my stride, which kind of sucks in a way, because in cards it always gets better before it gets worse.
Speedy mumbles something about being Jade being a highly deceptive actress and the rest of them laugh. Aqualad puts down three 5's, which Más and Menos B.S., and they collect the deck.
And then the door opens and Jinx walks in, pulls off her jacket and greets us all. I get up and kiss her, hoping no one else is watching, 'cause I guess I really am whipped. But, no such luck, I can hear the guys snigger behind me. Then I sit back down and Jinx walks over.
"Hey, guys," she says, smiling at each of us in turn. They all respond with a friendly 'hello,' or at least everyone except for Cyborg, who mumbles a quiet 'hi' and starts intensely studying his cards. "What're you playing?"
"B.S.," chirps Beast Boy.
"Who's winning?" she asks, right on cue, as Silent Joe immediately slams down his single remaining card (hey, when did he only get one card left?) in triumph, a giant grin on his face. He holds up 9 of his fingers, and we all groan.
Cyborg, however, won't go down without a fight, so he yells, "B.S.!"
But Jericho just silently laughs and points to the deck. Cyborg flips the top card over and finds that it is, indeed, a 9, and we all turn in our cards.
"So much for that," Jinx smiles as Jericho collects the small pile of nickels and pennies that was the grand prize. "Do any of you mind if I play the next round?"
Everyone shakes their heads, and Aqualad replies, "Sure. But let's change the game. Do any of you know Texas Hold 'Em?"
And then we all nod, and Jinx grins. Oh, shit.
"What's the prize?" Speedy asks.
"Um…" Aqualad clearly has no idea what to bet. He may be a telepath and the best swimmer in the world, but he's not very creative.
Jinx pipes up. "I know," she says, her smile growing bigger and bigger. We all lean in to hear what she has to say. "Losers switch off taking the winner's Titans patrol shifts for a week."
Jericho looks nervous, and Más and Menos start babbling to each other in Spanish. Speedy, being the overconfident prat he is, just smiles and says, "I'm in."
He's an idiot. Titans patrol shifts are long enough as it is, and detailed after-action reports are required (unless Robin is feeling nice and charitable after a good snog with Starfire).
Más and Menos then turn and say, "Y nosotros también." Cyborg, Jericho, Beast Boy, Aqualad and I all look to each other and shrug.
"Sure," comes the unanimous response.
Jinx laughs, as if she knows something we don't, and then drags a chair to the table and sits down between me and Aqualad and he starts dealing the cards.
"I love poker," she says mischeviously, and I although I definitely saw it happen, I'm not going to make a call on Jinx, whose eyes glow faintly pink as each player is dealt their cards.
2 hours and 13 straight rounds of poker later, Jinx cheerfully sees every grumbling Titan out the door. None of them look her in the eye and only mumble a half-hearted good-bye. Even Más and Menos avert their eyes as she watches them leave.
As Beast Boy and Cyborg file out, Beast Boy pathetically stops to ask, "When's your next shift?"
She grins and responds, "Wednesday from 12-6 am." Beast Boy groans and mutters something about convincing Robin to stop assigning the graveyard shifts to the new Titans.
When the door is finally shut, she helps me clean up the empty soda cans and rearrange the chairs. She keeps grinning, so I figure that she's in a good enough mood to ask.
"So. Thirteen straight games of poker. How did you win them all? Are you sure there was no…cheating involved?" I ask her, raising an eyebrow for dramatic affect, meanwhile preparing myself to dodge any hexes.
Jinx laughs to herself and then responds, "How dare you assume that I'm a cheater?" I lift an arm to shield my face, but nothing hits me. "I'm just very good at poker."
She picks up the garbage bag and pulls it into the kitchen, me at her tail.
"Aww, c'mon, Jinx," I coax, "You know you can tell me if you cheated. I won't care."
"Yes, you will," she replies as she dumps the bag in the trash. "And why do you think I cheated? Does it even matter how I won?"
"Yeah, because we're going to be taking your extra patrol shifts for the next month and a half!" I insist, even though it gets me nowhere.
"A good player never reveals what goes on behind the poker face," she says mock-solemnly.
I whimper a little. If she cheated…well, I'll do her shifts for her anyway (Geez, I really am whipped), but at least it would give me a good point to play off of in future arguments.
"Will I ever find out how you won so many games?" I whine, and Jinx chuckles.
"If you play your cards right," she says, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek before announcing that she is going to bed, leaving me standing stupidly in the hall.
Crap.
An unsolved mystery.
I can already feel the OCD kicking in, and I know that I won't get a good nights' sleep for any of the next month and a half.
I don't know, I just wanted a small ficlet about Jinx using her powers to her advantage, just to get out of the routine of seeing her portrayed as misunderstood and too powerful for her own good. Did you like it? I thought it was kind of funny, but I guess that can only be decided by you guys. So tell me if you liked it, if you hated it, if you have any small ounce of advice that I could use and channel into my writing that will make it better.
I love constructive crits!
Until next time, dear readers.
X's and O's,
The SuperDuperHulaHooper
