[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. JERIKYD JERIKYD JERIKYD! I'm so happy I get to write for my boys again, I love them so so very much. I wish I had more reasons to write for them. This one's a little different than my normal Jerikyd stuff. For once, Jericho is the one with the crush. Rip. Also, I've received a lot of new Kyd Wykkyd headcanons on tumblr, so I've incorporated some of those into here. Enjoy!]
Jericho woke up on hard ground that felt like rock. It was nothing like the grass he'd felt at his home in the mountains. He sat up and cracked his neck, looking around to see nothing. Nothing for miles and miles. Wherever he was, it was pitch black, and he couldn't even see his hand in front of his face when he waved it. He couldn't see the ground, only feel it.
He felt something, though. He felt a clawed hand swipe swiftly at his arm, cutting him deeper than Jericho thought it meant to and definitely drawing blood.
"Fuck!" He yelped in pain, albeit a bit girlishly, drawing his arm back and cradling it, feeling blood drip from his arm.
Jericho gasped in the largest breath he'd ever gasped.
"I CAN TALK!" Jericho practically screamed, standing up with his hands wrapped around his throat cautiously, smiling a smile bright enough to light up New York, though it obviously wasn't bright enough to light the darkness around him.
"...and yell, it seems." Came a voice from behind Jericho, Jericho jumping in surprise and nearly falling off of a...cliff…? Jericho was sure he hadn't felt a cliff in that area before, but before he could go tumbling to his doom, a set of glove hands grabbed him by his wrists and pulled him into a suited chest. The person was obviously taller than him, and Jericho set his mind to work trying to piece together who his comrade was based on his height. They were in the HIVE and taller than Jericho…
...Jericho sighed in frustration upon remembering that every member of the HIVE was taller than him besides Gizmo.
"...You can't see?" came the voice. Jericho blushed in the darkness when he noticed that the figure was still holding him almost intimately close to their chest as he shook his head.
"Ah...I mean, no, I can't." Jericho spoke, trying to use his words for as long as he could, though it would take a few more tries before he got fully used to it.
"Hm. Well, fortunately, I have enhanced eyesight. ...We are standing on what looks to be a cliff of some kind...it goes on for miles and it gets narrower as it leads...there's an opening that goes somewhere past the cliff...I believe it's a cave of some sort. We should start looking for a way home from there. Following this cliff lining will only lead us to an eventual end in the narrowness." the voice stated, void of emotion, and still holding Jericho close as ever.
Jericho tried so, so very hard to make out who it was by voice. After all, Robin did complain about how much the HIVE talked and insulted during battle.
"Sorry about the cut by the way. It shouldn't leave a scar, it should heal considerable soon. I only did so to make sure you were a person and not some creature that lived here." The voice apologized, and Jericho finally noticed that it let at least some emotion into its voice, and that he was genuinely sorry for cutting him.
The voice was...soothing. It wasn't loud or brash like every other Titan's, and it brought Jericho a sense of calm. The voice was obviously a boy's, but it wasn't too deep or too high pitched. Jericho couldn't detect an accent, though because of the vocabulary Jericho was sure this person was thoroughly educated. The voice made Jericho feel a bit insecure about his. His voice was girly and high pitched, and his vocal cords waved up and down. When he yelped from being startled earlier, he could practically feel the figure wincing.
"Just hold on to my hand until we reach the cave. I believe we may be able to find some sort of light source inside." The voice stated calmly again.
Suddenly Jericho was being more or less dragged by his hand, and after tripping at least three times from behind the figure, Jericho finally decided to more or less wrap himself around the figure's arm as if he were a frightened teen on a date. While he wasn't on a date, he was more than a little frightened. Even though he was so close to his mystery partner, he still managed to trip a little more before they made it to the opening of the cave.
Jericho finally decided to detach himself from the figure's arm, hoping not to cut off blood flow, as the figure moved aside some sort of plant that seemed to be blocking their way in the darkness. As the curtain of shadow moved, Jericho could finally make out...something giving off light deeper into the cave like tunnel. Before he could bolt toward it, the voice once again stopped him.
"Don't rush in, the ground is covered in sharp objects that I believe to be stalagmites." The voice said, letting out a hum of thought. Jericho guessed that he was trying to think of how to get them both across. At least he didn't abandon Jericho like it would've been easier to do. It'd be too difficult to try and maneuver them both through the sharp rocks when only one of them could see clearly.
"...Do you trust me?" the voice said suddenly, snapping Jericho from his thoughts.
"...I...um…" Jericho had to think for a moment. So far, Jericho had no idea who this person was. All he knew was that this person was a supervillain, and that they had the power to see when Jericho didn't. If they wanted, they could lead Jericho straight into a pit.
Though, this person had also decided to drag Jericho along with them through the darkness, held his hand and dealt with possible bruising as Jericho grew more and more fearful over the cliff, and had stopped to warn Jericho of the dangerous road ahead of them.
Jericho took a deep breath, going against every single lecture Robin had drilled into his brain.
"Yes. I trust you." Jericho said simply, a worried look on his face that he hoped the person couldn't make out as well as everything else.
Suddenly, Jericho felt himself being swept off his feet (literally) and being picked up bridal style by whoever this mysterious person was.
Jericho held his breath, trying so, so very hard not to make this awkward.
He wasn't doing a very good job of it.
After was felt like forever of getting past the stalagmites, the mystery person set him down again, and Jericho rushed over to where light was coming from, glad the light also gave off heat, and amazed at what was emitting it.
The inside of the cave was colored a light purple due to the lit up crystals inside. Large, jagged, sharp edged crystals lined all up and down the walls, lining the ceiling as well. They all seemed to be like glass - see through - and had strange floating orbs inside that emitted different colored lights. All the light where they were were light or deep blue or they were colored a mid hue purple. A few were colored pink, offering a bit more value to the mysterious cave. The cave appeared to be a tunnel of some sort, leading off into other caverns below it. There was just enough space for two people to fit walking down it without getting jabbed by crystals.
Jericho was amazed by how beautiful everything was that he almost forgot his previous embarrassment and fear. Even the bits of cave wall that didn't have crystals jutting out of them had smaller, oval shaped gems stuck in the wall like freckles. They were a neon green - the color of Jericho's own eyes - and had speckles of Jade in them that seemed to move around inside like magma.
Jericho reached out slowly in amazement, going to touch the beautiful gem before a black gloved hand caught his wrist and pulled it back.
"Stop it! We don't know what affects these things might have on human bod-" The mystery voice, now in full light said to Jericho.
Jericho's partner was Kyd Wykkyd.
...Jericho's secret HIVE crush that only Raven and Kole knew about was Kyd Wykkyd.
...Suddenly, Jericho felt infinitely more comfortable with the cliff of doom waiting outside for him.
"Ow- JESUS!" Kyd yelled in pain as he stepped back a full three feet and held his head in his hands - as if he had a migraine. He finally managed to look back up at Jericho with a look of extreme concern and bewilderment.
"...W-what? Why are you looking at me like that?" Jericho asked, his eyes still wide and his heart still racing a thousand miles per hour.
"Um...I...I can read the minds of people I'm touching, sometimes accidentally." Kyd answered.
"...Well...what did mine say to make you jump back so bad?" Jericho asked. Kyd gave Jericho a look that made Jericho want to crawl into a hole and never come out.
"I...I just heard a lot of confused and startled screaming. And...a squeal of excitement somewhere in there." Kyd answered, rubbing his temple again at the memory of so much painful noise flooding through his mind at once.
"Nevermind it, I think these gems are messing with my telepathy. Or...maybe it was whatever Scarecrow did to us. I seem to have regained small bits of my powers, at least. What about you?" Kyd asked, his hand still refusing to leave his pounding head. If that was what Jericho's mind felt like for just the few seconds Kyd had touched his wrist...Kyd shuddered at the thought of being prey to Jericho's 'taking over the mind' trick.
"...No. My powers are completely gone...sorry." Jericho said after a moment of trying to focus.
"Don't be, you didn't do this, that crazed psychopath did." Kyd said simply before walking down the path that led deeper into the cave.
"Well? Are you coming?" Kyd called, not even bothering to turn around.
Jericho let out another quietly startled sound once he realized Kyd was talking to him, scrambling for a moment before catching up to the taller villain.
After about fifteen minutes of walking in absolute silence in a cave that seemed to never end, Jericho quietly groaned to himself and rolled his eyes.
"You don't talk a lot, do you?" Jericho said, tilting his head toward the criminal.
"...Isn't that a bit hypocritical of you of all people to say?" Kyd said with ice in his tone, obviously not one for chatting up.
"Oh come on, I haven't had my voice in years - I want to use it before I lose it again!" Jericho chirped, not deterred in the slightest by the malice in Kyd's tone.
Kyd smiled a soft, barely seeable smile, his eyes amused at how different Jericho was from his teammates. He was naive, overly accepting, and much too trusting. It was going to get him hurt one day, Kyd knew. But Jericho's attitude was much too refreshing to ruin it so soon.
"Alright, then. What do you want to talk about, Jericho?" Kyd asked with a smile, he himself getting tired of counting steps.
"...Well, what's your favorite color crystal we've passed so far?" Jericho asked with a smile, leaning toward Kyd to invade his space just that much more.
Kyd scoffed and let out a huffy laugh for a moment.
"What? Hey - I'm trying okay? There's not a lot to talk about in a spooky, 70s color schemed cave!" Jericho whined.
"Okay, okay. Well...do you like pu- ...Jericho?" Kyd suddenly stopped when he noticed that his small, bobby haired friend wasn't next to him.
Kyd turned around and saw Jericho almost frozen in place staring at a small room like indention in the wall.
Geez, this kid had the shortest attention span.
"...Jericho, we don't have time to sit and...and…" Kyd stopped as he saw what Jericho was looking at.
There was a tall blue crystal in the middle of the room, the size of a mirror. When Kyd looked into it, he didn't see his and Jericho's reflection...he saw his demon form.
Kyd had a guess that Jericho was seeing his own worst nightmare in front of him. The poor kid was shaking in the knees and trembling in the shoulders.
"Jeri- Ow!" Kyd said as he attempted to shake Jericho by the shoulder.
So much emotion. So much anguish and rage and hatred and...love…?
Kyd didn't know how long he'd be able to stand this kid, he just carried so many emotions around with him so openly that it physically hurt Kyd whenever he tried to touch him.
"Jericho! Snap out of it!" Kyd yelled in a demanding tone, finally getting Jericho to turn and look at him. Kyd felt horrible. He took a chance and rested a hand on Jericho's shoulder, attempting to comfort him.
A tsunami of mourning and grief and violent, aching sadness rushed through Kyd, enough to make him want to double over in pain. Before Kyd could jump back, Jericho rushed past him, hugging his arms and hunching away from Kyd.
"Please let's...let's just leave. Okay?" Jericho muttered, his once bouncy, lovely voice now downtrodden and hoarse as he walked further away from Kyd, not bothering to look back to see if he would follow.
There was so, so much more to this bouncy little mountain boy than he let on - or that the Titans knew of. Kyd knew trying to find out what it was would be the death of him - hell, even touching the emotion heavy boy nearly sent him flying. Kyd didn't know why, but he felt like he had to know more. It pained him every time he got a taste of Jericho's thoughts and emotions flooding through his system - but everything about him so was alien, so different.
Maybe he'd just been so long without giving a fuck himself that it hurt to know someone else actually cared about the things that happened around them.
[I love them. So much. Tell me what you think of how I wrote empath Kyd. Read and Review please!]