A/N:
Posting at a normal time of day whaaat?
So this ended up a lot longer than I intended. I meant to do a few short vignettes and put them together in this chapter, but I was like "hey why not experiment with POV" and then I had watched Car Trouble a couple days ago and was like "hey why not Cyborg" and then the setting was a party and I love writing big events with a bunch of characters interacting (such as a party) so then I was just like "hey why not" and this happened.
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans or anything else mentioned that is also not mine as well. Spin the Bottle is public domain I'm guessing so no problems there.
For Cyborg's twentieth birthday, he decided to opt for a large party instead of the usual smaller, low-key celebration the five Titans usually had when someone's birthday rolled around. Robin had acquiesced to this request, but even if he hadn't Cyborg probably would've gone ahead with it anyways. The no-longer-teen Titan was determined to celebrate the beginning of a new decade in a manner befitting the era of life he was about to enter.
Which made it slightly odd that at one point in the night a group of party-goers could be found playing the undeniably teenage game of Spin the Bottle.
It hadn't started on purpose, of course. Cyborg had been chatting with the only non-superhero at the party, a pretty, petite blonde he'd met recently named Sarah Simms, and the subject of party games had come up. They were joking around and reminiscing about the games they used to play at parties in high school, but somehow Kid Flash had picked exactly the right moment to walk by and catch the words "spin the bottle." One look at the empty soda bottle in the birthday boy's hand and his reaction was all but inevitable.
"All right!" he exclaimed, pumping his fist and grinning. "This party is finally gonna get started!"
"Um, excuse me?" Cyborg asked, bewildered. "Do you not hear the music and see people dancing?" He gestured towards the gyrating group of Titans clustered in the middle of the Ops room, where the party was being held, but Kid Flash simply waved his hand at him.
"You can dance any time! But it's not every day that you get a chance to make out with your friends," he said with an air of wisdom that was lost on the other two.
"I don't think I'm missing out on much," Cyborg replied dryly. Then he frowned and squinted at Kid Flash. "Wait, aren't you with Jinx?" he asked, partially in an attempt to make the other boy forget about the game and partially because he really was confused.
For a moment Kid Flash no longer looked like the lighthearted jokester who had been dancing enthusiastically with anyone he could get his hands on (Robin included) only fifteen minutes ago. The sage expression on his face faded and he looked almost pained, eyebrows furrowing and his mouth devoid of any kind of smile. But this lasted no more than two seconds; Kid Flash seemed to come to himself quickly and appeared unconcerned once again, though it seemed a bit forced now.
"We're on a break," he said, a little too nonchalantly. "So about that game; I'll go round up some people, it'll be fun!"
Cyborg had no chance to offer a rebuttal as the speedster grabbed his bottle and zipped away to recruit players; thirty seconds later a small group had started to gather where Cyborg and Sarah still stood in the kitchen.
Unsurprisingly, Beast Boy had showed up almost as soon as he had heard, dragging Raven with him; she looked annoyed but did not leave. Aqualad had been similarly hauled over by Speedy. An excited Argent came as well, bringing along a giggly, blushing Kole followed by a bashful Jericho. Starfire showed up, excited as well, though for different reasons as she wasn't quite sure what the game was or how it was played; unable to dissuade her from playing, Robin had reluctantly followed, most likely to glower at anyone whose spin landed on his girlfriend.
Satisfied with the assembled group, Kid Flash plopped down in the middle of the kitchen and stared up at everyone expectantly. The rest of the group exchanged glances with each other before sitting down hesitantly, forming a circle in the middle of the floor.
"Ok, ground rules: the kiss has to be at least three seconds but no longer than eight, no groping, no powers when you spin, and remember, have fun out there, kids," he finished with a grin, met by only about four excited faces. Starfire had turned to murmur something, mostly likely her reaction to finally understanding what was about to happen, to Robin, who was sitting to her right; he replied to her quietly, and she shook her head before turning to face the rest of the circle again, a calm smile on her face. Robin looked at her, eyebrows raised in slight surprise, before leaning back on his hands resignedly.
"Since it's Cy's birthday, it's only fair that he goes first," Kid Flash said, handing the bottle to an unenthusiastic Cyborg.
"Gee, thanks," he mumbled, still annoyed his conversation with Sarah had been interrupted. His eyes flicked to across to the circle to where she sat, somehow having been separated in the process of making room for the others. She gave him a tiny smile, and he suddenly felt a little better about the game; maybe he could get something good out of this after all…
Leaning forward and placing the bottle into the middle of the circle, Cyborg gave it a spin, his heart rate inversely proportional to the speed of the bottle as it slowed, finally coming to a halt and pointing at Argent.
He tried not to look disappointed as Argent scooted across the circle and pressed her lips to his, glad that at least it hadn't been Raven or Starfire. It was a chaste kiss, and as soon as he had counted three Gotham Citys in his head he pulled away, sneaking a peak at Sarah again, who was studying the ground.
Argent spun and landed on Speedy, who gave her a more obliging kiss and used up all of their allotted time.
Starfire suddenly looked confused and whispered something to Robin again; Robin's eyebrows flew up again and he whispered back, gesturing with his hand as he explained something to her. The pair looked back at the middle of the circle just as Speedy's spin landed on Starfire.
Starfire stared apprehensively at the bottle and then at Speedy, unaware of the warning glare Robin was sending him that was eerily reminiscent of his mentor. Speedy, thinking quickly and obviously valuing his health over a silly game, scooted over to Starfire and gave her a lingering kiss on the cheek, fulfilling the three-second rule. Robin crossed his arms but said nothing, seeming to prefer this solution to an actual kiss the way one might prefer losing a finger to losing a whole hand.
"Whoa whoa whoa!" protested Kid Flash as Speedy returned to his seat. "That's doesn't count!"
"Nowhere in your rules did it mandate that the kissing must always be lip contact," Starfire pointed out, flashing Speedy a grateful look.
Kid Flash furrowed his brow and looked from Starfire to Speedy to Robin before smacking himself in the forehead. "Oh, right! You guys are dating! My bad," he apologized, ignoring Robin's confused look upon hearing that someone could forget an over two-year relationship. "Any other couples we should know about?"
Kole and Jericho looked at each and blushed, and Kid Flash nodded. "I'll take that as a yes. Ok, new rule! If one of the people involved is in a relationship or not attracted to the gender of the spinner-slash-spinee, a kiss on the cheek is acceptable. Otherwise, it has to be lips to lips."
Everyone nodded, and Starfire took her turn, landing on Kole. She smiled, turned to her left, and pressed her lips to the smaller girl's cheek. Kole spun afterwards, obviously disappointed that it didn't land on Jericho, but after one glance into Aqualad's eyes she grinned and threw her arms around his neck and kissed him eagerly, much to everyone's surprise.
Cyborg turned to look for Jericho's reaction, but the slight boy had disappeared from his seat between Argent and Speedy. Kid Flash had seemed to realize what was going on as well and got to his knees, pushing the couple apart. Sure enough, when Aqualad looked up at him in surprise, his normally black eyes were the same shade as Jericho's.
"Get out of there!" Kid Flash demanded, and the sheepish smile on Aqualad's face melted into a dazed look of confusion as Jericho dispossessed him and returned to his seat. The blonde gave him an apologetic look and moved his fist in a clockwise motion over his chest. Aqualad lad gave him a nod of acknowledgement, though he didn't appear to be completely all-there yet.
Kid Flash sat back in his spot as well, huffy. "Didn't I say no powers?"
"Technically, you said no powers while spinning," Robin pointed out, grinning as his friend rolled his eyes.
"I assumed no powers while playing was implied! Geeze, for a bunch of superheroes, you guys are really good at finding loopholes," he muttered, but fell silent as Aqualad spun the bottle.
It landed on Raven, and to everyone's unspoken surprise she not only allowed him to kiss her but didn't pull away after the minimum three seconds had passed. When they did part, she settled back in her seat, apparently unperturbed; to her right, Beast Boy crossed his arms, fang poking between his lips as he frowned.
The bottle clinked against the tile floor once more and pointed at Kid Flash, who blinked at her, momentarily surprised by this turnout. He recovered after a second and shrugging, giving her his trademark crooked smile.
"Looks like it's your lucky day," he said as he moved over to where she sat.
She raised her eyebrows at him and smirked in a way that suggested she knew something he didn't. "I'd say it's yours," she countered, kissing his cheek before he could form a rebuttal.
He frowned at her as she pulled away. "Whattaya mean mine?" he asked suspiciously, any irritation at her violation of the rules eclipsed by his curiosity.
Raven's expression had returned to its usual neutral state. "Let's just say you might have miscounted the couples."
He gave her a last puzzled look before spinning the bottle and landing on Argent. Somehow, though, when he went to kiss her his knee buckled, throwing him off-balance so that he ended up planting a somewhat-sloppy kiss on Argent's chin instead. When he regained his balance, he spotted a flash on pink hair disappearing back into the dancing crowd behind the circle of players.
His face suddenly sobered and he stared a few moments more before getting to his feet. "Uh, I gotta go… do something," he mumbled distractedly, uncharacteristically serious as he jogged into the crowd as well.
Argent looked slightly relieved and spun, getting Beast Boy. They shared an awkward three seconds mouth-to-mouth, and then Beast Boy spun, landing on Raven.
He made a poor attempt to hide his excited look, while Raven stared at the bottle for a second before quickly rearranging her face into an indifferent expression that would've fooled anyone who had not seen the wide-eyed look of surprise seconds before it.
The green imp turned to his left and grinned at her. She rolled her eyes and looked away, though there was a pink tint to her gray skin.
"You ready for this, Rae?" Beast Boy teased, and she sighed.
"Whatever," she said disinterestedly, and as she was still narrowing her eyes at the empty space between Cyborg and Kole where Kid Flash had been, she missed the glint in Beast Boy's eyes that would've prepared her better for when he suddenly pressed his lips firmly to hers.
Her eyes widened and a long crack appeared in the bottle, and then her eyes slipped closed as she relaxed. Beast Boy was kissing her in a way that seemed like he was attempting to prove he was a better kisser than Aqualad, his movements gentle and somewhat-fluid with just a hint of animalistic edge.
Cyborg smirked as he looked at the back of Beast Boy's head; he knew the younger boy had been consciously nursing a full-fledged crush on the empath for the past couple of months now, and the tension between the two was almost as bad as Robin and Starfire pre-Tokyo.
The eight seconds finally were up and Cyborg grabbed the back of his friend's uniform, pulling him away from Raven. "Alright, B; let the girl breathe," he joked, inwardly amused at the flustered expression on Raven's face before she quickly wiped it away and took the glass bottle in her hand.
Quickly repairing the crack with a tendril of black energy, she spun the bottle and didn't react as it landed on Robin. Floating over, she gave him a kiss on the cheek and returned to her seat, face once again blank; Cyborg wasn't sure if she was preoccupied or just bored.
Robin reached over and took the bottle, looking at it and seeming to weigh it in his hand, giving it a few experimental twists.
"Come on dude, just spin it already!" Beast Boy finally exclaimed.
The Teen Wonder didn't reply and put the bottle on the ground, hesitating one moment more before spinning. And lo and behold, when it finally came to a stop, it was pointing at Starfire.
"Gee, what a surprise," Speedy commented sarcastically. Robin just gave him a smug look before turning to his smiling girlfriend.
The group watched as he gave her a small smile in return, followed by an affectionate kiss, having loosened up considerably since the start of their relationship and no longer caring if their teammates saw them kiss. Starfire shifted so that her torso to faced him, returning the kiss happily.
Half their time had passed and they continued contentedly, not that anyone really expected anything different. Robin brought his hand up to cup the back of Starfire's head and the two began to kiss a bit harder; used to seeing this sort of thing by now, Beast Boy made a face and looked away.
"Ok ya'll, time's up, time to separate," Cyborg told them. He'd had a feeling that if anyone was going to go over the time limit, it would be them.
Neither Starfire nor Robin appeared to hear him as their kiss deepened. On either side of the couple, Kole and Sarah looked away awkwardly, the former seeming slightly amused and the latter definitely uncomfortable.
"Come on guys," Beast Boy said impatiently, forgetting his displeasure and glaring at them, "you're breaking the first ru- ahh! Starfire's breaking rule number two!" he shouted, covering his eyes with his forearm and twisting away.
Cyborg sighed and pushed himself onto his knees. Pulling his friends out of intimate embraces was not really how he had wanted to spend his birthday, yet here he was, wrapping an arm around Starfire's middle and trying to tug her away as gently as possible.
Unfortunately, Starfire's combined alien strength and desire to keep kissing her boyfriend resulted in Cyborg's efforts coming to naught (unless he wanted to pull really hard and risk knocking Kole in the head with his elbow and he did not want that). So he stood up, moved around to stand behind Robin, grabbed him under the arms, and pulled backwards.
It worked this time, and Starfire opened her eyes in confusion to see an equally-dazed Robin being dragged backwards.
"If you two don't mind, it's Starfire's turn to spin again," Cyborg informed them wryly, and Robin and Starfire exchanged a glance.
"I believe I have sufficiently learned how this game works and I no longer wish to participate," the redhead decided, pushing the bottle over to Sarah and standing up. "Sarah may take my turn," she said as she helped Robin up as well, and the two walked off, hands entwined.
Cyborg, who had returned to his seat, watched them go for a moment, thinking of proposing the dissolution of the group, vaguely noticing Sarah give the bottle a spin. He was just about to voice this idea when he glanced down at the bottle, which had stopped and was pointing at him.
Maybe he could play for a few more seconds…
A/N:
A little Jerikole for cartoongeek13, as promised. (: Action, action for everybody!
I felt a little weird about adding this one on here after I finished it, pretty much because it's not super super Robin/Starfire centric, but it's there at the end so yeah. The reason Starfire still wanted to play at first is because she didn't understand the kiss was always on the lips until after Speedy and Argent kissed. Kid Flash and Jinx had a fight if you didn't get my hints, maybe I'll write that sometime for some other thing I may or may not be thinking about doing hehe... But that wouldn't be for a bit probably.
Don't think there's anything else to say except til next time!