Slade was keenly aware of the young woman's eyes boring into his form. Closing his eye and slowing his breath, he let his body mimic the motions of sleep. He listened to Raven's multiple attempts to shift and make herself comfortable on the too small sofa until eventually she stilled. Slade waited, tuning his hearing into her breathing, waiting for it to even out. When she let out a quiet snore, Slade nearly choked on his laugh.
Opening his eye, Slade looked over to where the Titan was sleeping. Her head was on her arm which extended straight over the square armrest of the sofa. Purple strands fell over her eyes which, if they were open, would be staring directly at him. Smirking, Slade slipped from his spot on the bed, careful with each movement to be as silent as possible. He approached the monitor on the wall not far from where Raven slept, waiting for her to wake. When nothing happened, Slade frowned. He half-expected to scare her with his sudden presence, but even so, he at least anticipated the empath would subconsciously wake herself with his proximity. Annoyed, he turned away from her, eyeing the bracket on the screen.
He read through the teams and matchups, spotting the gaudy name the Master of Games had given them on one line and following it backwards to see the two teams that would be battling it out to get to him and Raven. He frowned when he read the two pairs. Beast Boy and Mento vs Scarecrow and Bane. It was obvious to Slade who would be victorious, and it wasn't going to be Raven's little green friend. At least, Slade would be able to watch how Bane and Scarecrow worked together without having to fight this first round. His eyes travelled over the rest of the bracket, wondering who else he should be worrying about.
They weren't the only team to receive a bye in the first round, there were six other teams that would get a pass. Unsurprisingly, those pairs were some of the most concerning to Slade. The Master of Games had clearly organized the bracket to avoid more powerful pairings fighting an unnecessary match with an underwhelming adversary.
The Birds of Gotham: Batman and Robin. Slade rolled his eyes. Maybe his and Raven's name wasn't so terrible.
Funny Fiends: Joker and Harley Quinn. Slade smirked. Seeing as the Joker and Batman were both on the same side of the bracket, it was unlikely Slade would go against the clown, but the Joker and Harley were easy enough to take down. And it wouldn't even require much of a fight. The other team would just have to drive a wedge between the notoriously toxic couple, and the two would fall apart.
Slade continued to scan the other top teams. Cheetah and Bolt. Cyborg and Bumblebee. Madame Rouge and Monsieur Mallah. Green Arrow and Hawkman.
Interesting, Slade thought to himself. The pairings were formidable, and he knew most had had great success in the past, but as he scanned the remaining names, there were other teams fighting in the first round that set him on edge. He was particularly concerned about the greater number of magic users on his side of the bracket. Zatanna and Constantine. Felix Faust and Shadow Thief. The last one, in particular, left a bad feeling in his stomach. He was an excellent soldier, a powerful fighter, but when it came to magic, there was only so much he could do. His eye drifted to Raven, still asleep on the couch. It was Raven that had proved as much to him. The memory of the library was one he never seemed to shake.
Raven's shoulders were rising and falling softly, completely at peace. His eye travelled along her body. Thoughts cascaded through Slade's mind, some he had thought plenty of times before concerning the annoying young Titan and others that were new. Gritting his teeth, he pushed them out, allowing only the one that mattered: he needed her help to win.
Slade stared at her, admired her even, for a long moment, before he let out a long breath and bent down to kneel beside her face. With a smirk growing behind his mask, he leaned in close and softly hummed in her ear.
"Raaaven."
Raven heard the low purr of a predator in her ear, and her eyes flung open, a scream on her lips as she saw the black and orange mask of Slade only inches away. Her hand darted out of its own accord, the palm of it making contact with a loud and painful smack. Slade didn't even flinch.
"Wow," Slade stated blandly. "That was pathetic. I mean, even the weapons didn't arm for that."
Raven was biting her tongue, mostly because she was trying to take her mind off the pain in her hand from slapping the hard metal, but her magic flared at the insult and her eyes glowed. Unlike her slap, her display of magic did trigger the weapons in the room. She saw them arm themselves in preparation, and with a great effort, Raven calmed herself enough to reign in her magic.
"Get away from me," Raven hissed, pushing her body as far into the couch as she physically could. Initially, she had thought dragging the couch into the corner was a good idea, but now with Slade blocking her in, she was seriously regretting that choice.
"Am I scaring you, Raven?" Slade taunted, tilting his head at her.
"You know I'm not afraid of you," she immediately fired back.
Behind his mask, Slade grinned before he laughed. "Good," he said as he stood up. As his body rose, one of his hands snatched the hand Raven had slapped him with, and he pulled her up with him. In Raven's shock, she didn't even register what he was doing until she was already on her feet and he was pulling her close to him. Slade lowered his mouth to her ear, keeping a tight hold on Raven's hand. "Because you and I are a team now, Raven," Slade whispered. The husky tenor of his voice sent an unfamiliar shiver down her spine. They were standing close enough that Raven could feel the heat radiating from his body and the tickle of air from his breath on her face.
Slade was either purposely trying to throw her off, or he was just insanely comfortable with being in people's personal space. Raven almost hoped it was the latter because otherwise she would have to admit he was definitely succeeding if it was the former. Still, Raven hated the idea he could get under her skin, so with a quick and practiced motion, Raven freed her hand from Slade's grip and whipped her eyes to meet his.
"Don't do that," Raven growled.
Slade chuckled again, shrugging and moving to the glowing screen on the wall. "Foreplay is important, Raven."
Raven's face flushed as she glared at his back. "I'm not dignifying that with a response."
"She says in response."
Annoyance and anger flooded her mind. I could do it, she thought, staring at the back of his head. One good blast. No more Slade. Her fingers twitched at her side, and her nostrils were flaring as she took in heavy breaths.
"If you're done contemplating murder, Raven," Slade stated, "we have a lot to talk about."
"Don't act like you know what I was thinking," Raven muttered, annoyed further that he knew exactly what she was thinking. "And you and I have nothing to discuss."
"Yes, we do," Slade said sternly, spinning on her and pinning her with a glare. "I told you. We're a team now, and you and I, Titan," Slade's eye was glittering dangerously as he spat out the word, his presence darkening the whole room as he looked at Raven, "we're going to win."
A/N: Sorry this took so long and that it's a bit shorter. I was away for two weeks, but I wanted to get something out this weekend. Thanks for reading, commenting, kudos, etc!