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Previously…
“So how about we talk about ourselves in our first language?” Black Canary asked.
Robin stiffened. Nobody noticed, apart from Black Canary, who smiled at him reassuringly.
“M’gann, you first.” She said. The Martian blushed and began speaking.
“Ym polm ste M’gann.” She began. “Ndo po acxio sanfes Hy-Sarm” (My name is M’gann and I live on Mars.)
Artemis and Conner smiled at her. Robin smirked. Wally poked Robin in the side, and grinned.
“Well, at least you, me and Conner are going to be able to understand each other!” He whispered. Robin grinned, and Black Canary gave him a knowing smile.
“Conner, your turn.” She said.
“Erm, I’m Conner-”
“Yeah, maybe we should leave out the English, because it’s kinda silly.” Robin muttered. Black Canary huffed, but agreed with him.
“Okay, so no English. If your first language is something else, then continue. Artemis, you speak Vietnamese? Talk about yourself in it. Team bonding.” Black Canary said. Artemis scowled, and then began speaking.
“Vì vậy, có. Tôi Artemis, và tôi là một nửa của Việt Nam. Tôi nói nó trôi chảy cũng như tiếng Anh, bởi vì tôi lớn lên nói cả.” She said. Wally gaped at her uncomprehendingly. (So, yeah I'm Artemis, and I'm half Vietnamese. I speak it fluently as well as English, because i grew up speaking both.)
“That’s great!” Black Canary said. Robin nodded and replied in the same language, much to her confusion.
The looks on the rest of the team’s faces were priceless.
“Wait, you never said you spoke Vietnamese!” Wally muttered.
“Yeah…Didn’t understand all of it. I got what you were saying though. It’s similar to other languages” This earned a sarcastic laugh from Black Canary.
Everyone stared at him once more. He started counting again. “Fourteen.” He said.
“Dude, you’re thirteen and you know fourteen languages?” Wally asked, seriously impressed.
“Well, it’s only thirteen spoken ones, plus English, and Sign language too.” He replied. “Jeez, stop staring already!”
“Where and when did you learn all these?” M’gann asked him. He winced, and then spoke again. He hated being asked about this. It went too deep into his backstory.
“Well I was taught Romanian, Spanish, French, En- and Chinese by my parents…” He winced again, but no-one noticed except Black Canary, who gave him an apologetic glance. “I taught myself Sign Language, and Tamaran. Batman taught me Russian, German, Japanese, Portuguese and Vietnamese. And I’m learning Latin.”
The team just stared.
He didn’t say who taught him Romani… Artemis thought. The beginnings of an idea formed in her head. She didn’t tell anyone else, though. It was Robin’s thing, and he’d tell the others if he wanted too.
“Kaldur, how about you? Can you talk to us in Atlantean?” Black Canary asked, interrupting the awkward silence which had fallen over the team. He nodded, stood up, and then made a series of popping noises, clicks, and whistles. (I’m Kaldur’Ahm, partner of King Orin. I am from Atlantis. He sat back down in his seat again.
“Dude, was that Atlantean?” Wally asked. Artemis rolled her eyes.
“No duh, it was sign language!” She said sarcastically. He just grinned back.
“Yes, it was. When in the sea, our vocal cords are affected so it’s hard to make ‘normal’ sounds, so we talk like that.” Kaldur explained.
“Cool!” Wally said excitedly.
“So, Robin, I believe it’s your turn now…” Black Canary said slowly.
“Woah, I thought you said no English?!?” Wally said angrily. “So why are you asking Robin?” Black Canary looked at Robin, who smirked. He then glared at Wally. So English isn’t his first language… Artemis thought.
“Acest lucru ar putea fi un pic de un șoc pentru tine, dar-” Robin said, (This could be a bit of a shock to you but-), but Wally interrupted the acrobat’s speech.
“Alright, we know you’re a know-it-all. Stop showing off! BC said talk in you first language, and not English. Definitely not Rom-thingy or whatever it is. So you’re not meant to talk at all!” Wally yelled. Robin looked hurt and a bit shocked. So Romani or Romanian is his first language, Artemis thought.
Robin sighed, and looked at Black Canary for help. She nodded encouragingly, before glaring at Wally.
“I would advise you to let Robin speak. You might learn something.” She said. Artemis stuck her tongue out at Wally, who just glared back.
“Așa cum spuneam, înainte de a fi brutal întrerupt, acest lucru ar putea veni ca un soc pentru tine, dar prima mea limbă este limba română. M-am născut în România și a crescut călătoresc într-un circ.” (As I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted, this might come as a shock to you, but my first language is Romani. I was born in Romania and grew up travelling in a circus.)
Everyone stared at him again. “Erm, this staring thing is getting a little creepy…” He said.
“Wha- but you- he- the- you-language?” Wally managed to splutter. Robin laughed.
“English isn’t my first language, it’s Romani.” He explained. M’gann looked confused.
“But if you come from Gotham, and were born there-” She started, before Robin explained again.
“Who said I was born in Gotham? Heck, who says I was even born in this country?” He asked rhetorically.Wally looked even more confused.
“So if you’re not from Gotham, then where?” He asked. Robin’s usually happy face twisted into a grimace.
“Sorry, secret ID and stuff.” He replied. Batman coughed, making everyone but Robin jump. They’d forgotten he was there.
“Combat Training time. I was thinking we could do demonstrations.” He said to Robin in a gruff voice. Bouncing on his heels, the young acrobat agreed and followed his mentor out of the room.