Most of the time, they spoke English, of course. It was the team’s lingua franca, and the language Star came to understand Earth in. Latin simply didn’t have the words for skyscraper, or pizza, or chronoton detonator - though it did have the word for mustard.
Sometimes, however, the two girls still spoke to each other in Latin. They’d become very close in spite of their rocky start, and they found that having a language all to themselves was useful for secrets, and side comments, and shouting “distract him while I come up from behind!” without letting an enemy know that you planned to distract him and then come up from behind. It was also just a very logical language, and sometimes Starfire appreciated that after a long day of struggling with the inconsistencies of English.
“[Why Latin?]” Star asked one day, apropos of nothing.
“[Pardon?]”
“[You and the boys were speaking English the night we first met, and your native language is Azerathian... yet when I kissed you, the first language I found on your tongue was Latin. Why?]”
Raven was blushing. It was a very subtle blush, one that Starfire had only recently come to notice; just a faint grey-lavender dusting on her cheeks, like the shadow of a passing cloud. Starfire supposed she had embarrassed her by bringing up the kiss.
In fact, Raven was not thinking about Tamaranean lip contact at all. She was considering whether there was any way to say what she was about to say that didn’t sound ridiculous. She came to the conclusion that there was not, and came out with it:
“[I was trying to guard my thoughts, just in case any of you were mind-readers,]” she said.
Starfire blinked. Then she giggled.
“Vere?” she asked in disbelief.
“[It’s been known to happen.]”
“[Have you successfully confused any mind readers?]”
“[Two or three, I think,]” Raven said solemnly. “[But it’s hard to know for sure.]”
“[Well, I am glad.]“
“[Because you got to] smooch [me twice?]”
The warm feeling that coursed through Starfire’s expansive aura couldn’t be explained by mere amusement. “[Because you speak more freely with me in Latin.]”
Well, shit. Raven hadn’t expected a sincere response. She probably should have, with Starfire.
“[... I’m glad you speak Latin, too.]”
***
Starfire got her first exposure to the earthly way of learning languages when Cyborg asked to learn hers. It was a short-lived affair; Cyborg was jacked up on the Maximum-7 in a way that wasn’t sustainable, and Starfire didn’t know the most basic things about what made up a language, let alone how to teach one to somebody. In the end, Cyborg learned a couple hundred random words and phrases, and Starfire learned about the basic parts of speech - adjectives, and verbs, and word order - and they never really got to a point where they could speak the language together, but they did have fun peppering Tamaranean words into everyday conversations.
***
Teaching was one thing, but Starfire didn’t try to learn another language the earthling-way until Mas y Menos joined the team.
Cyborg was determined to learn Spanish properly (his two years of half-forgotten high school Spanish were mierda, he said, and didn’t count) and Raven—lover of language and purveyor of fine words—decided to join him.
“And this is how you learn?” Starfire asked. “From books and practice and regional cuisine?”
“And people,” said Cyborg, biting into a taco.
Starfire hopped into a seat at the table “Perhaps I will try it! Conceivably, it could be fun.”
“Like our old Tamaranean lessons!” Cyborg agreed. “Except this time we have textbooks to keep us from kører ikke på skinner.”
Starfire giggled.
***
Two hours later, the three of them were still sitting around the table, with textbooks and workbooks and empty paper wrappers strewn between them, and Starfire was miserable.
“How does anyone learn anything like this?” She cried in dismay.
Raven didn’t reply. She was painstakingly working her way through a book of Spanish poetry, mouthing the words as she went and stopping every two or three words to look something up in a dictionary.
“All of these irregularities and extra verb conjugations are brutal,” said Cyborg, rubbing his good eye. “But you know, I feel like I actually remember more than I thought I did!”
“Deben hablar en español si quieren practicar,” a voice chastised.
Starfire whipped her head around to see who had spoken. The motion caused her fiery long hair to smack Raven in the face. Cyborg snickered as Raven sputtered and tried to claw the hair out of her mouth, but Starfire didn’t even notice.
Robin was in the kitchen, dressed in shorts and a sweaty tank top. He was clearly back from one of his long runs, but instead of being tired out, he only seemed more energized, the bastard. He poured himself a glass of orange juice. Then, soundlessly, he sprung up, vaulted the counter, and flipped onto the top of the fridge so fast that centripetal force kept his drink in his cup. Parkour.
“Robin!” she said in surprise. “You speak the Spanish?”
“Sí,” Robin said unnecessarily, slurping his orange juice from atop the fridge.
Star practically vibrated into the airspace over the table. “Can I learn it from you?” she asked hopefully.
Raven harrumphed. “Et tu, brute?”
“What happened to learning with us!” Cyborg protested.
“Aren’t you always asking how the Earth could have over 6,000 known spoken languages?” Robin said cheerfully. “I wouldn’t want to get in the way of your personal discovery.”
Starfire slumped back down into her seat and groaned.
Robin smiled and sipped his orange juice. And then, inexplicably, he winked. Furthermore, he appeared to have winked in Raven’s general direction (though it was hard to be sure with the mask.)
¿Porque? Raven thought to herself, using her 2 hours of Spanish. She flipped back a few pages. ¿Por qué? She corrected herself. And then she answered herself: yo no sé. And then she thought, I need to learn more Spanish, cuz this is getting on my nerves.
***
Starfire remained slumped against the table, los dos otros returned to their work, and another 20 minutes or so passed in peace.
“Hey dudes! Are you doing something fun?”
“We’re learning Spanish,” Cyborg explained.
“Soooo no, then,” Beast Boy answered his own question.
“It can be fun!” Cyborg protested. “You should try it sometime, broaden your mind and all that.”
“Man, I bet I know more languages than you!”
“That would require you to know more than one language, BB.”
“I do too know more than one! I speak English and Xhosa, plus enough Swahili, Lingala, and French to get around. That’s, like, 2 and 3 half languages.”
Cyborg’s eyebrow shot up. If BB had claimed to speak Italian or Japanese, Cy would’ve called bullshit in a heartbeat. But the languages he’d just named were obscure enough that Beast Boy (who’d learned most of his social studies from movies) probably wouldn’t have known they existed unless he actually spoke them. Plus, Cyborg knew that all four languages were popular in sub-saharan Africa (thank you 8th-grade Geo Bee) and that Mr. and Mrs. Boy had traveled around a lot, which all lent credence to Beast Boy’s claim....
On the other hand, this was Beast Boy.
“Prove it,” Cyborg challenged.
“Ndithe kuwe ndithetha isiXhosa,” Beast Boy said in a clicking, lilting language. “Ndingazenza njani ezi zandi ukuba andisithethi isiXhosa?”
Cyborg’s jaw dropped.
“Na zali kitoki makasi,” Beast Boy said, switching to a different language, and looking supremely smug.
“How do you do that with your tongue?” Starfire asked in wonderment. Never, in a life that had spanned three galaxies, had she come across a language like this!
Beast Boy shrugged in poorly feigned nonchalance. “It’s a skill,” he bragged.
Raven could already tell where Star’s head was going.
“[How often do you think he brushes his teeth?]”
Starfire shuddered and returned to her textbook.
***
Authors Notes
Disclaimer: Of the *counts on fingers* eight? possibly nine? languages that will make an appearance in this fic, I only speak like four, and I don't speak those four particularly well. If you speak Lingala, Xhosa, Spanish, Danish, Esperanto, Ancient Latin, or Romanian reasonably well and notice that I've made a mistake por favor, tell me!
Disclaimer 2: I don't own the Teen Titans lol. Have I said that yet for this fic? It's no longer a habit I have. It's no longer a habit most of us have hahaha
First Chapter | Previous | Next | Read it on FFN | Read it on AO3 | Read it and Review? 🥺
***
“You were named after the wrong bird,” said Jinx, pressing a languid kiss to the back of Raven’s long, slender neck.
“Mmm?”
“Yeah,” Jinx responded, pressing another feather-light kiss slightly lower down, and then another yet farther still, in the valley between her shoulder blades.
"You should be named Swan."
"Because I'm so pale?" Raven mumbled sleepily.
Jinx kept pressing kisses in a line, wondering how far down she'd make it. Probably not far.
"Because you used to attack me in the park."
Raven shoved her. Jinx found herself abruptly tumbling over the edge of the bed. She took the sheets with her, and wound up in a heap on the floor, with an angry and disoriented bird on top of her.
Jinx cackled. "Is this your idea of a nest?" she crowed.
"Fuck you," her lover squawked indignantly.
"And deprive you of the opportunity? Never."
Raven glared at Jinx for a few moments, blushing darkly, before she nestled down into the blankets and tucked her head, out of sight, under her wing arm.
“Alright, I’m calling it: it was way easier to find Kole and Gnaark than this guy,” Beast Boy declared.
“At least Bucharest is warmer than the arctic,” said Cyborg.
They were searching for a promising young superhero with air powers, Vântom. According to the news articles they’d found online, the teen wore a colorful sequined costume that was even gaudier than Robin’s; he should have been easy to spot. But of course, he could disappear and fly, which made him difficult to follow.
They’d managed to track him this far—to the Piața Universității, where just hours ago Vântom had taken down Cinderblock’s brick cousin—largely thanks to Raven’s flawless (and Robin’s very flawed) Romanian.
But now there were three roads leading out of the plaza, and they were out of leads.
“If only we had more people who could speak this language.” Starfire looked meaningfully at Raven. “Then we could cover more of the land, yes?”
“.... why are you looking at me like that.”
“You told me to ask you the next time”—Raven’s eyes widened—“before I kissed you.”
“No, I told you to ask the next time you kiss somebody ,” Raven corrected.
“Well, you are somebody, and you speak the Romanian.”
“So does Robin.”
Cyborg snorted. “Yeah, like a four year old.”
“Hey! I have the proficiency of an eight year old, at least.”
“Whatever spikes your hair, man.”
“Ask them!” Raven gestured at the crowded sidewalk.
“They do not know me and would be confused and upset,” Starfire reasoned.
Out of habit, Raven looked to their leader. Robin coughed. “It would help speed things up, but you know you don't have to.”
Raven was quiet for a moment. “Okay, fine, you can kiss me.”
Starfire’s face lit up. She started to lean in, but Raven recoiled. “Wait! Not in the middle of the street.”
She glanced around, then grabbed Starfire’s hand and dragged her over to the closest alley.
The boys waited at the entrance, blocking the view of the plaza. Raven swore she heard one of them whistling.
Raven stood very still as Starfire put a hand on her cheek. She stared determinedly at a chip in the brick wall and not at her beautiful teammate as she leaned in. She’d heard somewhere, probably from Beast Boy or one of his dumb movies, that it wasn’t a real kiss if your eyes stayed open. Starfire’s mouth was warm and sweet, like the rush of air when you opened an oven full of baking cookies. If she leaned too close, she would get burned.
Belatedly, Raven reminded herself to think Romanian thoughts.
Se 'ntorc acum. Ei Sunt aproape, copili vesnicului dor, atâtea văi atâtea dealuri au străbătut în mersul lor…*
Star pulled away. Raven opened her eyes in time to see Beast Boy turn back towards the street.
“[Thank you, my friend],” Starfire beamed. She gave her a quick peck on the cheek and flew off.
Raven followed behind, feeling strangely like she’d swallowed hemlock instead of saliva.
“You ok?” Beast Boy asked quietly.
Raven shrugged, and walked in the opposite direction Star had gone.
***
Once, just once, she’d daydreamed that things were different.
She’d imagined that they were alone.
Starfire leaned in slowly.
Her kisses were as enthusiastic as her hugs, almost—but not quite—too much. Raven closed her eyes, and the world fell away beneath her feet. There was only Starfire and Raven and the joy of flight, the halo of Starfire’s hair brushing her cheeks, a hand cradling her jaw...
Starfire pulled away from the kiss, but she didn’t go far. She pressed their foreheads together, utterly speechless, and beamed at Raven like she’d personally hung the stars in the night sky.
But of course, there was a mission. Even imaginary kisses from Starfire were always just a means to an end. Raven supposed that was why it’d occurred to her to imagine kissing Starfire at all.
Her feet touched down again. It smelled like exhaust smoke and mold up here, on the roof of the decrepit old theatre building. That’s all that could ever exist between them; a flimsy bit of theater of the mind. If she knew what was good for her, she’d strike the set and leave well enough alone.
“Very, very good!” Starfire, in Raven’s body, clapped her hands together. “Tell me, what was your joyous thought?”
“You don’t wanna know,” said Raven. Already the “unbridled joy” of flight had soured in her throat. She pushed a stubborn lock of auburn hair out of her face and forced herself to focus on finding an entrance.
“Oh but I do, truly!”
Several sarcastic responses came to mind, and Raven chose the most biting one: “You not talking.”
“Oh.”
Starfire was quiet after that.
***
*Translation: "I'm coming back now. They are near, children of eternal longing, so many valleys so many hills have crossed in their course." -- from “Solii” by I.U. Soricu
Author’s Notes:
Me: Alright, two non-romantic kisses is enough for these two, it’s time to move on to friendship, linguistics, and fluff
The Discord: oh ho ho, yeah Starfire, next time ask.
The Discord: They’re going to end up somewhere where Star needs to learn a language again ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Me: *uncorking a bottle of angst* well, if that’s really what you want…
First Chapter | Previous | Next | Read it on AO3 | Read it on FFN | Read it and review? 🥺
Summary: It’s Jinx, Raven, and Argent’s first Halloween together as a throuple. Surely nothing supernatural will happen.
_________________
“This is gonna be bril,” said Argent, who was unusually expressive on this particular autumn morning. She put down the large stack of bins she was holding in one over-sized plasma hand and grinned. A second stack of bins—these covered in a film of black magical energy—joined the first on the shore of the island.
“That’s all of it,” her girlfriend said. “All of the outdoor stuff, anyway.”
Raven turned her head towards the city, as Argent began to rifle through the contents.
“How long does it take to get a cup of coffee?” She asked.
“Dunno. Maybe 10 minutes?”
“I meant without flying.”
“Oh....maybe 3 hours?”
Raven gave her a flat look. Argent just shrugged and went back to investigating the boxes. “It hasn’t been that long. We’ve got a tad more time before the 2 hour rule.”
“I know. I just have a bad feeling.”
The 2 hour rule was more of a guiding principle than a rule. It was how long Jinx could be missing before Argent and Raven were allowed to worry. Things were always happening to Jinx, strange and unlikely things that tended to sidetrack her.
One time, she’d almost been framed for murder at the Wendy’s. That same week, she’d saved the cat of a rich CEO after it got stuck up the very same Wendy’s sign. The CEO had given her a million dollars worth of cryptocurrency, currency which was worth beans by the following Tuesday after it was banned in 33 countries (Jinx said this was why the Hive Five stole jewelry, and not bitcoins). Jinx swore off frosties after that week, but she maintained it was because she was lactose intolerant, and not because of the murder/cryptocurrency thing.
She was fine on missions, when she was focused and her powers had an outlet, but otherwise, Jinx walked around with a steady supply of ambient chaos radiating off her.
“So this is clearly a giant spider,” said Argent, holding an inflatable plastic spider (green, of course) “and this is meant to be it’s giant web,” she toed a black folded up net. “But what are… these things?”
“Those are the single-color display panels. Cyborg uses them to turn the tower orange.”
“Oh.” Argent looked at the other bins, which all seemed to be taken up by the square single-color display panels. “And that’s it? You just turn the tower orange, put a spider on top, and call it a night?”
“Yep.”
Argent frowned. It was her first proper Halloween—it wasn’t celebrated where she was from—and she was determined to go all out, like in the movies. She stared up at the imposing gray tower, and the gears in her head whirred into action as she began to plan.
Just then, Jinx appeared, bedraggled and covered in multicolored chalk dust and pigeon feathers for some reason.
“Don’t ask,” Jinx huffed. “I bought us a pumpkin spice latte!” She held up a single coffee cup in a coffee tray that clearly bore the ghosts of lattes lost. “Betcha they don’t have that in New Zealand.”
“They do,” said Argent. She took a sip from the cup and kissed her disappointed girlfriend on the lips. “But thanks anyway.”
Jinx grinned. Then she thoughtfully smacked her lips. “Huh… not sure what all the hype is about.”
“Oi!”
“Whaaaat, I’m just saying I think I’ll stick to chai,” Jinx said sweetly. She put down the coffee tray and rinsed her hands in the bay. Raven knelt next to her and began delicately plucking pigeon feathers off her shoulders. “So, what’s the plan?”
“Well,” said Argent, “they’ve got these light panels-”
“No way. We’re not doing the boring orange routine are we?
“And whose fault is it that the decorations are so boring?” Raven asked wryly.
“Gizmo’s,” said Jinx without missing a beat.
Raven raised one immaculate eyebrow.
“Alright, fine, Gizmo’s and mine. Giz may be a tech wiz, but I was definitely the brains of the operation.”
“We know,” said Raven.
“I’ve got some more fun ideas,” said Argent, who was only half paying attention. “We’re just gonna need some red streamers, an iron picket fence, and some really big fangs, though I’m not quite sure where we’ll find that last one.”
“I know a place,” said Jinx.
_________________________________
Jinx’s “place” at first appeared to be a rather ordinary strip mall. Once they walked through the automatic doors, however, Argent found herself in a world of gloom, gore, and all around festivity.
Argent stared in amazement. “There’s a whole Halloween store? How did I not notice?”
“Once a year it moves into the abandoned shells of other shops and possesses them,” Jinx said sagely.
Argent rolled her eyes. “Quit chiacking me... is that a giant bat?”
There were indeed giant inflatable bats for sale. And build-your-own cemetery kits, and fake blood, and of course all manner of costumes.
Suddenly Jinx gripped Argent’s arm. “I know what we should be for Halloween.”
“What?”
Jinx pointed. There on the wall were the Queens of the VHS, the Queer Awakenings of 90’s Kids Everywhere, the fictional Eco Goth Rock band to Rule All Others—
“The Hex Girls!” Argent exclaimed.
“They’re stylish, they’re witchy, and there’s three of them,” Jinx purred. “It’s perfect!”
“Sold,” said Argent.
Raven didn’t say anything. She was staring unblinkingly into the giant bat’s yellow eyes like she was in a trance.
Argent tapped her ajna chakra. Raven blinked.
“You ‘right?” She asked.
“It’s not a full out premonition,” Raven muttered. “It’s just a bad feeling. It’s annoying.”
“They have crystal balls here, if that helps,” Jinx said, oh-faux-helpfully.
“I’ll stick to tea leaves.”
______________________________________
Several hours and a charge to a Wayne Enterprises credit card later, they were back at the Tower.
“I’m not sure whether to put the streamers on the side or under the fangs yet, so let’s start with the fence.” Argent said, reaching for her sketchbook. “I need to draw it out still. But I have a plan!”
“Great,” said Raven. “Have fun.”
“You’re not gonna help?” Argent and Jinx asked at the same time.
“No, and neither are you,” Raven said slowly, looking at Jinx. “We’re both banned from decorating the tower, remember?”
“Banned? Why?”
Jinx snorted. “Okay, so, y’know nyan cat? A couple years ago…”
_____________________________________
They may have been hardened professional criminals, but there was a lot of barely stifled giggling as they pulled up on the island.
Mammoth stepped out of the “borrowed” speedboat, lifted it out of the water, and—with surprising delicacy—lowered it slowly and soundlessly onto the sheetrock (HIVE Academy Transportation Class Year One, Unit 3: Unmoored Watercraft Make Unreliable Getaway Vehicles).
Jinx hopped out and snapped her fingers. A faint ring of pink magic rippled out from her hand; every security camera in the immediate vicinity suddenly found itself buffering. They would continue to buffer for the next 46 seconds.
If anyone had been watching Titan’s Tower from shore, they would have been unlikely to notice the three figures standing at its base. This was partially because the HIVE Five had approached from the ocean-facing side, but mostly because an entire side of the tower had been converted into a giant screen, lit up with pixelated dancing skeletons and pumpkin-bedecked nyan cats in a display that could drive anyone to distraction.
Stone had probably put a lot of work into this. Jinx smiled wickedly as her hands ran lightly over a random panel of the tower, exactly like all the other panels around it, and caused a secret latch to spring open.
Gizmo made short work of a few screws and wires. In 10 seconds flat, he had a portable mini computer wired to the Tower’s display system and was uploading an alternate set of graphics. “Too easy,” he whispered. “We’re winning this year, none of those other crudmunchers stand a chance.”
Jinx snapped her fingers. The video cameras buffered.
They’d left Mammoth with the paddle. He was waving it across the surface of a tide pool, watching how the orange lights flickered and sparkled on its surface.
“Look how pretty-”
“Shhhhhh,” Jinx shushed.
Mammoth put the boat back in the water. The HIVE Five got back in the boat. They took a moment to appreciate their handiwork.
“It’s perfect,” Jinx whispered gleefully.
“I’m so glad he’s dead,” said Gizmo. “Slade would spill his hash browns if he saw this.”
They all had a good chuckle at that. Then Jinx snapped her fingers one more time, and they paddled victoriously away from a tower lit with dancing Slade masks.
______________________________________
“We won the prank war that year, no contest,” Jinx said fondly.
“It was a PR disaster,” Raven droned. “And now the panels only turn one color. Also you do know Slade’s probably not dead, right?.”
“I have so many tiktoks saved on my phone from that night,” Jinx continued. “It was up for, like, 5 hours before they took it down. I just wish I could’ve seen the look on Bitty-Bat’s face when he found out.”
“Annnnd that’s why Robin banned you from decorating.”
Jinx made a dismissive gesture. “If it’s not in writing and there are no witnesses, then it’s not a real ban.”
“You were literally sitting in my lap when he said it.”
Jinx pulled her hood over her face. “NO. WITNESSES.”
Argent nudged her two girlfriends apart. Raven’s expression, when it emerged from under her askew hood, was distinctly annoyed. Argent brushed a lock of purple hair out of her face. “What about you?”
Raven was still glaring at Jinx, but at least she answered the question. “I turned the tower into a haunted house full of shadow monsters that picked us off one by one. Twice.”
“Twice?” asked Jinx.
“The first time was an accident. The second time I was really pissed off at Beast Boy.” Raven huffed. “My point is, neither of us is exactly safe or family friendly—”
“And I am??” exclaimed Argent.
“—so Robin’s banned us from decorating.”
“So?” Jinx argued. “You don’t have to listen to him.”
“We have a psychic link. I have to pick my battles.”
“Well I don’t. C’mon Argent, I’ll help you decorate.”
No sooner had Jinx spoken those words than she kicked over the forgotten pumpkin spice latte with one of her platform boots, launching the liquid onto a pile of the dreaded panels, which sparked once ominously, then exploded.
Raven let her shield drop (she’d hastily erected one the moment she sensed electricity.) There was a faint tinkling sound as a few pieces of orange acrylic shrapnel fell to the ground.
“Told you I had a bad feeling.”
“On second thought,” Jinx said slowly, “I live here now. Maybe I’ll sit this one out.”
As they walked inside, Argent heard Jinx say, “What was that about Slade being—?” before the door slammed shut. And just like that, Argent was on her own.
Argent sighed, and pulled out her sketchbook. As she sketched, she ruminated. It didn’t sit well with her—she’d been excited to decorate the tower, yes, but she’d been excited to do it with her girlfriends. This was their first Halloween as a throuple! She wanted to do lots of fun Halloween things together.
She also (though she would never admit it) sometimes felt intimidated by the fact that her two girlfriends had known each other for so many years, while she’d known the two of them for a scant 7 months. She hadn’t been in the Tower during any supernatural shenanigans, she’d only met Mammoth and Gizmo once, and she barely knew who Slade was. Argent was secretly afraid that Jinx and Raven would become a couple without her one day. She was equally afraid (equally secretly) that without her to keep the peace, Raven and Jinx would go back to being bitter enemies. Needless to say, Argent tried not to be left out.
And that’s when a brilliant idea began to form in her mind. She turned to a new page in her sketchbook, and started scribbling.
