A/N: Well, it's certainly been a while! Life just catches up with you sometimes, and then when you finally write the next chapter, your room catches fire...
Oh well. Regardless of my personal problems, it's here: The long awaited chapter six! Once again, thanks for everyone who reviewed!
Mistletoe
Chapter 6
The room was enormous. It was about three times the size of the roof of Titans Tower. It was decorated with plants, tinsel, holly, mistletoe, and gigantic Christmas trees.
There was a band off to the left side, playing soft dull melodies. The majority of the people were at the right, milling about between the tables, talking and socializing, while delicately sipping their drinks. Everybody seemed to be wearing fancy clothes, and Robin let out a breath of relief that he and Raven fit in with the others.
Robin steered a still gaping Raven over towards the clusters of people. He spotted someone approaching them, and squeezed her arm subtly, bringing her back to the present.
"What?" she said, annoyed. Robin gestured towards the tall solid man strolling towards them, causing Raven to promptly shut up.
He was well dressed, wearing a crisp tuxedo and tie. He seemed more approachable than Alfred had been, yet he seemed radiate power and authority.
"Dick! How've you been?" he said, greeting Robin warmly, shaking his hand.
"I've been doing well, Bruce. How about you?" Robin responded, the small talk flowing instinctually. "You seem to have loosened up quite a bit since leaving Gotham."
"I'm well. I feel better than ever now that I'm out of the crime-fighting business," Bruce said. "Constant paranoia and obsession over super villains tales a lot of energy out of you. But you wouldn't know about that yet, would you?"
"Nope," Robin said. "I just do my best, and that's the best I can do." Raven snorted and loudly coughed something that sounded suspiciously like 'Slade'. Bruce turned towards Raven to face her.
His eyes narrowed at her lavender hair, and at the odd gem on her forehead. "He probably thinks she's a punk rocker or something," Robin thought desperately, sensing the mood tighten. Bruce Wayne had always despised the type of people who got tattoos, piercings, dyed their hair radical colors, or other rebellious behavior.
"Who do we have here, Dick?" Bruce asked Robin, as if Raven could not speak for herself.
"My date," Robin answered reluctantly, as Raven engaged in a staring contest with the multimillionaire.
"And she is...?" Bruce asked, never breaking free of Raven's piercing gaze.
"Raven," Robin said, watching warily as Raven's eyes clouded over, turning an opaque white.
"Raven who?" Bruce said, trying unsuccessfully to suppress a shudder at the sight of Raven's weird eyes. He turned to face Robin, ignoring the dark girl.
"Raven you does not like to be talked as if she is not standing right here," Raven said coolly, eyeing Bruce with blatant dislike. Robin internally groaned. The last thing he needed was Raven to get in a fight with Bruce before they were even knew each other.
"Well, Raven," Bruce said, a bit of a bite in his tone. "Do try and enjoy the party in a civilized manner, although you may not know how..."
Robin watched the exchange warily as the two glared at each other. He heard something shatter that sounded fragile, accompanied by some ladies' screaming. A brief look of panic crossed Raven's face at the sound. She shut her eyes and took several deep breaths. Robin knew that she must be trying to contain her stirring emotions. Raven had always loathed being judged before people knew her, and Bruce's presumption must have put her over the edge. He watched as Raven opened her eyes, and gave a thin smile to Bruce, who was watching her suspiciously.
"Rest assured that I will, Mr. Wayne," she said, her voice sounding strained, as if it were difficult for her to remain polite. "Have a pleasant evening."
Bruce gave her a cursory glance up and down, trying to detect insincerity, as Raven stood there defiantly. He must have been able to tell that something weird had gone on when that something had shattered. Apparently satisfied, he cleared his throat and stopped his inspection.
"You too, Miss Raven," he said, nodding, as he turned to depart. "Enjoy the ball."
He walked off to greet the next couple, and Raven let out an immense sigh of relief. She turned to Robin.
"How did you deal with him for so long?" she demanded. "I would have killed him before the first day was out!"
"I'm lucky I don't have powers run by emotion, then," Robin returned, as Raven fumed, looking at Bruce, who was currently discussing politics with the mayor. "He saw your purple hair and gem on your forehead and presumed you were a punk. He's always been prejudiced towards rebellious teenagers, though he used to be much more polite about it."
"Well, I'm not a punk," Raven said tersely. "I would never classify myself in any such stereotype."
"You did seem a bit rebellious, though, since you were being disrespectful and defiant," Robin pointed out.
"Well, he had better get used to it," Raven snorted. "Not everyone's going to let him push them around just because he's filthy rich."
Robin snickered, as Raven glanced around. "Enough talked about Mr. Snob," she announced. "Is there anything interesting to do here?"
"We could always discuss the current fashions," Robin suggested teasingly. He could almost hear Raven's eyes roll.
"I said something interesting," she said. "What are we going to do until the dancing starts?"
Robin glanced around, looking for something remotely entertaining. His eyes snagged on a table where about half a dozen card players were seated, intent on their game.
"You know how to play poker?" Robin asked, nonchalant. A gleam flickered in Raven's eye, as she took in the sight of the card players.
"Sure," she said in a tone that was all-too-innocent, and the two headed over to the table, Robin wondering what she was up to.
"How do you know how to play poker?" Robin asked curiously. "You never seem to play games at the tower."
"I play with some friends at the cafe on occasion," she said lightly. "It's one of the few games I like."
"Really? Well, I need to warn you then: They're playing for money," Robin cautioned. "The stakes are high, and they'll do anything to win. Cheating's completely expected."
"So much the better," Raven smirked. Robin shot her a curious glance as they settled down into two chairs. They each tossed a dollar into the pot, the minimum bet.
"You guys in on the next round?" a portly man with slicked back hair asked, holding the deck of cards.
"No we're just going to sit here and watch while randomly adding money to the pot," Raven said sarcastically. "Of course we're going to play." Robin could practically hear the unsaid 'dumbass' at the end of her sentence.
"Careful," the man warned. "Smart remarks will get everyone playing against you. You'll never be able to win." Raven smirked.
"We'll see," she said, a mystical smile playing about her lips.
The man sighed. "All right, but it's your funeral," he said, passing out eight hands of cards.
Raven just smirked.
¸,ø ººø,¸¸,øººø,¸¸,øººø,¸¸,øºº ø,¸¸,ø ººø,¸¸,øºº ø,¸¸,ø ºº¸,Forty minutes later, Raven had amassed an enormous pile of bills, coins, and jewelry.
"I can't believe this," Robin laughed. He leaned to his right to help Raven somewhat organize her winnings. Raven just smirked, as all the other players glared at her.
"One last round before the dancing?" she challenged. Everyone looked to one other, before simultaneously tossing in a dollar each.
"My turn to deal," Raven said, taking the deck form the man on her right. Robin watched as she expertly shuffled the cards and dealt 5 to each player.
Robin looked at his hand: two jacks, a king, a four, and an ace. Keeping the two jacks, he threw down his remaining cards. Raven handed him three more: two three's and a queen. Robin sighed, and put down his cards. He watched as Raven gave new cards to the others. One of the men was subtly sifting through the discard pile, probably looking for the cards he wanted.
"Richard, you start the betting," a lady with her hair piled high atop her head said in a prim voice.
Robin shrugged, and tossed a buck into the middle. The lady with the tall hair and the man with the greasy hair glanced at each other, before throwing a dollar in each.
"I'll see your dollar and raise you two," said a woman who remotely reminded Robin of Cruella DeVille, putting three dollars in the pot.
The cheater who Robin had seen was next. "I'll see your three, and raise you ten," he said, carelessly adding bills to the center, as the others gaped at his audacity.
The betting went wild after that. People raised out of turn, adding fives and tens to the pot at lightning speed. When the slick-haired man, who seemed to be the self-appointed leader, finally restored order, Robin would have had to add seventy-six dollars to stay in the game.
"I fold," Robin announced, tossing in his cards. The man with the greasy hair gave up as well.
"Why don't you keep your hand and bet anymore?" Raven asked as Cruella tossed her money into the pot. "You never know. You just might win."
"Yeah right," Robin snorted. "I had two pair. And I know you're going to win, judging from the last half-hour we've been playing this. God only knows how you're winning every round, though." Raven shot him an evil grin at this remark.
The woman two to the right of Raven put her necklace into the pot. It was beautiful; probably made of pure silver and emeralds.
Raven sighed, as everyone put in some sort of accessory to stay in the game. "I hate it when they do this," she said, reaching into her dress top. Robin's eyes bulged, and he let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding when she merely pulled out the clasp from her cloak and added it to the growing pile.
"Where'd you get that? And why don't you just bet one of the rings you won earlier?" Robin questioned, as the tall-haired lady added a twenty.
Raven shrugged, smiling mysteriously. Robin internally groaned, knowing he probably wouldn't find out.
Finally, the liberal betting came to an end. The pot was literally heaped, full of bills, coins, necklaces, charms, and other valuables.
"Straight," said the lady with the tall hair, displaying the ten and jack of hearts, queen and ace of clubs, and the king of diamonds.
Cruella DeVille sniffed, and tossed her cards to the table, trying to blow off her loss as if it were no big deal.
The man who Robin had seen cheating earlier displayed his cards: the two, four, seven, queen, and king of hearts.
"Flush," he said smugly, reaching towards the pot.
"Full house," the woman to his left snapped, hitting his hand away, and displaying three tens and two threes. The cheater scowled and folded his arms across his chest defiantly.
"Four of a kind," the man to Raven's right announced, tossing four nines and a seven to the table. The whole group moaned. The man turned to Raven.
"Don't worry. I'll share some of my winnings with you for a kiss..." he leered. Robin felt fury rise within him at the actions of this man to his date.
"Jason!" the woman to his right exclaimed in dismay, presumably his date. He ignored her, focused on Raven.
"How about it, babe?" he said, leaning towards her. "You know you want it."
"No need," Raven said coolly, tossing her hand down: the four, five, six, seven, and eight of clubs. "Straight flush," she said unnecessarily. "I win."
The man to her right fell back, dejected, and Robin breathed a sigh of relief. Muttering amongst themselves, the other players abandoned the table, shooting Raven looks of disdain. Robin merely grinned at her, happy that she had won, and overjoyed at the fact that she hadn't kissed the man.
Raven smiled back. She surrounded all her winnings in a black aura, and they sank through the table a moment later, disappearing into nothingness. Robin stared where they had been moments ago, and Raven laughed lightly.
"I'll get them later. Don't worry," she assured him. Robin couldn't help but smile at her reassurance, and Raven smiled back.
The band began to play louder, and many of the couples began to proceed to the middle of the room, beginning to waltz.
Robin stood up and extended his hand to Raven. "May I have this dance, my lady?" he asked, flashing her a smile to know he was messing around.
"Surely, kind sir," Raven responded in kind, getting to her feet with grace, smiling at him softly, as if she were content. Robin felt his heart warm with her smile, and he was suddenly overjoyed with the knowledge that he could something as simple as make her happy enough to smile.
He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and took Raven's hand, and led her out to the dance floor.
¸,ø ººø,¸¸,øººø,¸¸,øººø,¸¸,øºº ø,¸¸,ø ººø,¸¸,øºº ø,¸¸,ø ºº¸,I always thought that if Raven played any game, it would be some sort of card game. It just seems like her sort of thing...
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