: - Sweet Charade
There had been very little to do for over five days now, something that worried the entire team. That meant that Slade was planning something huge, drastic, and that could possibly destroy the entire city. Not that any of this was new to the Teen Titans, of course; however, there was always an unspoken fear among them that maybe, somehow Slade had created something that even their powers could not take care of, and they would fail.
Raven didn't respond to fear, as she had told Beast Boy once. In fact, she responded to virtually nothing, since her emotions were locked away safely so that she could control her powers. However, she knew that there was a bit of unease within her, that she shared this unvoiced emotion that all of her friends suffered from. She didn't enjoy admitting it, but after the affair with Control Freak and her mind going berserk, she had to tell herself, in the darkest corner of her room with her hood up and cloak gathered close around her, that yes, she did feel a sliver of anxiety about it.
No one would show it, of course. Cyborg and Beast Boy went out to the movie store that they had once trashed one afternoon, leaving Starfire, Robin, and Raven alone in the main room of the Tower. Starfire was trying to play the boys' favorite racing game with Robin, who was beating her into the ground, but couldn't seem to manage the controls.
"This button is not working!" she exclaimed, frustrated. She threw down the controller and folded her arms angrily. Robin paused the game and turned to her, picking up the controller and handing it back to her.
"C'mon, Star, it's fine. You're doing great," he said encouragingly. Starfire looked at him suspiciously.
"You are sure of this?" she asked, slowly uncrossing her arms and leaning towards him.
"Positive," he affirmed, and she tentatively touched the control again. Just as Robin was settling back into his seat again and was going to resume playing the game, she put down the controller again and stood up.
"No, I do not like this game. I do not think I will play; I will go and make us food from my planet to eat while we watch the movies," she said, sighing softly. Walking away into the kitchen, Robin shook his head and bent to turn off the game. His angle, however, allowed him to see Raven, who was reading silently on the other end of the couch.
"Hey, Raven," he said, causing her to look up. He smiled softly and waved the controller in her direction. "Wanna play? B.B. and Cy are taking a long time, and I've got nothing to do otherwise; the radio's busted, and we've got no leads on Slade."
Raven gave him a look that clearly meant she thought he'd gone mad.
When he didn't respond to this, she elaborated.
"No," she said simply, her deadpan voice carrying a note of finality. Robin seemed to notice this, because he shrugged in resignation and turned the game off, starting towards the door.
"I'll be in my room then," he said, sounding a bit wistful to Raven's ears. Then again, she wasn't exactly very good at detecting emotions, so she could have imagined it.
"I can't concentrate when I have a monkey constantly taking away my book!" Raven said as loudly as she could – which wasn't very – down the door before slamming it and stalking across the roof. The movies had been fine, but when a sudden rainstorm had made volleyball on the roof impossible, they had started playing it inside – and had had the net blocking the door out into the hall. The only other option had been the roof, which she'd taken.
Pulling her book out from the folds of her cloak, she muttered her incantation, which immediately covered the book in black and made the text white. With a firm guard over the rain, now, Raven crossed her legs and levitated into the air, turning the page and beginning where she had left off.
She didn't get far, however, before she heard the quietly rasping hinges of the roof door open and close. She felt a shudder of anger race up her spine, but quickly suppressed it when the protective covering on her book winked out and then promptly burnt the pages. Now holding a pile of ash, Raven forced herself into a calm mindset and dropped the remains of her book.
"What do you want, Robin?" she asked tonelessly. She had known it was him by his cadence – he walked swiftly but with a bit of a hesitance, his feet pausing a moment before meeting the floor – and by the ring of his metal soles on the roof.
He stopped, and she detected uneasiness in his voice. "We've finished our game; the ball broke a window, so we sorta had to call it off. You can come back in now," he said, and she dropped silently back to the ground, turning slowly to meet him. He was holding a grey blanket in his gloved hands and was rubbing it uncertainly.
"What's that for?" she dared to ask, starting towards the door, and not Robin. He followed, soon catching up and walking beside her. He offered it without meeting her eyes, which were uncharacteristically trained on him.
"For you," he said, although it was more of a mumble than anything else. She stopped, pulling her hood down and raising an eyebrow. When he saw her confusion, he continued, "It's cold out here, and if you get sick, we'll be one short."
She turned down the blanket by simply ignoring it and continuing towards the door, which she reached and pulled open. "Why are you acting like this?" she asked quietly, moving in and standing on the first step down. Robin looked at her and shifted uncomfortably.
There was a long bout of silence between them before Robin finally said, "Practicality requires – "Raven's eyes hardened, and she didn't wait for an answer. She grabbed the doorknob and pulled, slamming it shut in Robin's face, before continuing her trek down the stairs. When she realized what she'd done, however, she stopped, her eyes widening.
A lightning bulb that wasn't on cracked and fizzed above her for a minute before falling and breaking on the ground, the black that had covered it fading away.
Finally, a lead on Slade had been presented to them. Cinderblock was tearing up a street in an upper district of the city, and just as he was rushing out of the door of the main room, Robin realized that they were one Titan short.
Digging his heels into the carpet, Robin stopped in his sprint, causing Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy all to slam into his back, sending him sprawling out into the hallway. The mechanical doors closed, and Robin had to kick them to make them open so that he could get back into the biggest room.
"Where's Raven?" he asked, half angry at her for stalling them and half worried that something had happened to her – or that she had happened to her. After the way she'd behaved on the roof, he was unsure of how to treat her now, thinking that she might hate him now or something of the kind.
"I went into her room a little while ago, and she wasn't there, but that weird mirror was on her bed. I guess she's in there," Beast Boy offered, shrugging. Robin fidgeted for a minute before reaching a decision.
"You guys go on ahead. I'll get Raven and we'll catch you up, okay?" he said, not waiting for an answer before running out and turning down the hallway. He reached Raven's room and banged on the metal door, calling, "Raven! We've gotta go! Cinderblock's ripping the city up by the roots!" When he got no answer, he kicked hard on the door in an attempt to create enough noise to get through to her – but, of course, the door opened instead.
Robin ran in, looking around and realizing that Beast Boy had been right. The mirror was on her bed, and the room was empty. Going over to the bed, he stood a full foot away from where the mirror was and cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting, "Raven! Get out here now! We've got to go!" Still he was left talking to himself, and he was about to try again when black shrouded his vision. When it cleared, Raven was standing there, adjusting her hood on her head, casting her face into shadow.
"You don't have to scream," she replied in a monotone, seemingly gliding over to the door.
I decided to end it here for today because it was getting late and the fight I was writing was really lame. I'm can't remember how the Titans fared against Cinderblock in any of their fights, so I wasn't sure about damage and whatnot, so I just ended it. I probably won't have any fight scenes in this; its all romance and drama and whatnot.
--:: Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. I don't own the title of the first two chapters, either. Foundations of Stone is the opening song in The Two Towers, and Why So Silent? is from a Phantom of the Opera song.
Masquerade! Paper faces on parade
Masquerade! Hide your face
So the world will never find you...