The lights of the city gleam against the water and shine more than the stars do. Though the light of the stars can't break through the constant smog hanging above the city.
Nights like this, when it's windy, but mostly warm, I can't help but miss Azarath. I hate it. How could I long for a place that did nothing but cause me pain?
Raven sighs at her own melancholy thoughts, which is about the most movement she's made since she stopped on this roof. The last time she checked her communicator it was after 3 a.m. She's been on the roof watching, tired and bored. From the roof of the tallest building in Jump she can see most of the city. The bridge and the tower stand alit in the background and the blue and red flashing of cop cars can be seen constantly. They never stop in a city like this.
Raven is on patrol, something she's come to despise regardless of how mindlessly simple it is. Flying from roof to roof around the city, stopping petty crimes and alerting the authorities when she doesn't feel like beating up some wannabe thug. Raven sighs again, wishing she was situated back in the tower
This cuts too much into my sleep… and reading. Honestly, I don't even know why Boy Wonder makes us do rounds.
The police take care of the little things. So for the Titans, Jump City is relatively quiet at night, which is strange, one would assume that more bad things would happen at night. Granted, there are a fair amount of robberies at night, but all-out battles happen in the middle of rush hour.
What is up with these bad guys? I guess they just want to piss off poor 9 to 5 workers. And me, or just the Teen Titans in general.
Raven kicks her legs against the edge of the building. Her boots make a hollow echo that she can hear bounce though the top floor of the building below her.
There is a heavy clunk on the other edge of the roof, barely audible over Raven's own noise. Raven resists the urge to turn as the familiar aura pushes at hers, always at odds. Internally she groans.
I do not want to deal with this shit tonight.
Raven's shift ends in an hour, but apparently, her night has been too uneventful.
"What do you want?" She asks as the heavy footsteps come closer. It's more of a grumble. She's too irritated with his presence to care that she sounds like a whiny girl.
"Don't be like that, Sunshine" Responds the metallic voice of Red X. "I just wanted to say hi."
He has visited her on rounds more than once. Usually to bug her with pet names and a sarcasm that rivals her own. And break things. Once he kidnapped someone's dog. She told Robin about that one, needless to say, he wasn't thrilled. Instead of letting her skip duty like she had thought he would, Raven had been paired up with Starfire. And in Raven's opinion, that was worse. Keeping that in mind, she realizes that she should probably alert her fearless leader, but reaching for the communicator would require removing her arms from the warmth of her cloak. Robin would personally arrive to kick ass. Then lecture her on being more careful. So she decides to stay put, and see how this plays out.
"I am not supposed to talk to you, and I very much doubt you just want to say Hi," Raven finally replies, the words forceful and sharp. She silently wishes that her feigned anger is enough to make him leave, but she knows it isn't going to happen. He chuckles, but it sounds more like grinding gears than amusement. It sets her teeth on edge.
Maybe if I sprouted four eyes and tentacles he would leave. I would, but again, it takes way too much energy.
"Is that so? You do realize that you are in fact talking to me?" Even with the computerized voice she can hear the underlying amusement.
"Yes" She replies curtly.
I swear he gets off to annoying me.
"Why?" he asks.
"To see what you want, so I can carry on with my night," she replies.
"Which is sitting here doing nothing?" he asks slightly smug and intensely amused. Raven can feel his emotions swirl with happiness.
"Yep," she replies, not caring about the informality of the word.
There is a pause in the conversation and Raven silently prays to Azar that he'll give up and go away. But she knows she isn't that lucky.
"Something wrong, Doll?" Red X questions, getting on her last nerve. Though she will never show it.
He is worse than Robin and Beast Boy put together, and that is pretty bad, Raven thinks.
"Nope."
He hums lightly, and with her powers, can feel the tone of his mood shift. She tenses slightly as he takes a step closer. In that moment Raven realizes how high up she is, this is the tallest building in the city.
He could throw me off, knowing that I will be fine and come back to put up a fight. I'll kill him, and the team won't even know it. I can just dump his body in another dimension. Or dump him alive into the pits of hell.
But Red X doesn't throw her off the building; Almost to her disappointment, he sits on the edge of the roof, with his legs dangling over the edge, a good 3 feet from where Raven sits in the same position.
"You sure?" He asks.
Now I'm legitimately concerned for my safety, she thinks. She decides to play along.
"Well… there is one thing." Raven responds, letting fake concern seep into her voice.
Experimenting with vocal dynamics amuses Raven more than it probably should. Robin and Cyborg have caught the new inflection and both are torn between amused and slightly concerned. The villain notices it as well, his emotions are almost screaming at Raven.
"Yeah?" he asks, and Raven, out of the corner of her eye can see him turn in full to face her. His mask stands out bright white in the darkness, creepier than usual, tilted sideways in anticipation, less human than normal.
"So there's this guy, right? He's a total jerk, a creep, and rude. And he keeps following me around at night." Raven turns to face him, the movement and statement causes him to flinch backwards.
Raven sends a flirtatious wink his way and with a smirk she teleports back to the tower.
Surprised and slightly offended, Red X states blankly at the spot from where Raven disappeared.
That girl is something else, I should do this more often than I already do, he thinks and with a chuckle, he teleports off the roof as well.