Prologue: Part Four
His prey was distracted with the two girls and his other brothers later that week. He intended to take full advantage of that fact. Silent as the ninja he was, he folded his hands together...extended his pointers. And aimed.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Leonardo's scream cracked his voice as it hit it's highest point, and he leapt about a foot at the kancho attack delt by Raphael.
"That...is SO mean..." Mo managed to utter before she lost the battle to her laughter and joined Raph in the mirth.
Di, however, just cringed and inched her way to the kitchen. Shortly, the red-head peeked around the corner from the kitchen, holding an ice pack, "Eh...Leo?"
The bruised turtle caught it when she tossed it to him with a scowl. "Raph, that's the last time.. YOU KEEP AWAY FROM MY BUTT! That's my personal butt! It's not public property!"
At that, Donnie lost it to a snort and giggle.
Leo just grumbled to himself and limped to his room, attempting to ignore the hilarity ensuing behind him.
"..jeesus...can't... breathe.... Ahhahaha!!! ...s'good! ...Damn!" Raph gasped as Mo tried to smother her giggling, curled into the couch by him.
"That was bad Raph...very mean..."
A snigger escaped Mo's efforts, "But funny as hell!"
"Amen to that.. he has it coming. Maybe it'll help the stick he has rammed up there!" Raph held a hand up for Mo to high five with a wicked grin.
Despite herself, Di couldn't help smirking as she shook her head and turned to walk over to Leo's room. She tapped his door once she got there. "...are you alright...? ...besides the..ah...bruising..."
Slowly the door opened, and there stood a blushing Leo. "...hey..."
She smiled sympathetically. "Hi."
"..heh... I guess it's not just my ass that's bruised." He smirked.
She shrugged slightly with a small grin. "Ahh...no need to be TOO embarrassed....they are your brothers, after all.."
Her grin was echoed at that. "Yea... I know.. they just get under my skin is all .....thanks.Y'know.. for asking."
"It is no problem...and that's the job of any sibling...to get under each others' skins.."
The grin morphed into a smirk. "...don't worry. I have an arsenal packed for them. ...they never know it's me either. "
"Oh?" She hazarded a glance over her shoulder at the others in the living room. "Careful, they may be listening." An impish grin spread over her face and into her eyes.
The sound of his chuckle filled the air, "That's ok.. they'd never expect it.. and I can out ninja any of them anyhow. ...Raph still out there?"
There was a soft snigger, "I do not think he's moved just yet.."
At that, he sighed. "....well I don't think I'm going back out there... He'll keep it up. He can be worse than Mike."
She made a face at the unwelcome thought. "...disturbing."
An involuntary smirk made an appearance on the turtle's face at that. "Not the kancho.. just being a jerk." His eyes widened at Raph's yell from the living room, and he burst out laughing.
Mikey bolted down the hallway, "Haha!! Got'im!"
She blinked and stepped back to avoid getting barreled into, "Never a dull moment, apparently..."
Meanwhile, Raph winced and stuck his face down into the couch cushions in the living room. It seemed Mike had bad aim. Nothing funny about a bruised tail.
Unless you're Leo, of course. Then it's hilarious. Gotta love karma.
"...'s Leo done with that ice-pack yet?"
"Got me..." Mo cringed in sympathy and pulled herself up from patting Raph's shoulder lightly. "You guys gotta have more than one, don'tya?"
His voice was strained when he spoke again. "...mighta." Raph winced again.
When Mo returned with one she found in the freezer, the pained turtle lifted his head and shot her a terrible grin. "..you wanna kiss it better?"
That brought a snigger from the freakish woman's throat, "...ummmm...you can attend your own ass at the moment. No offence."
"...Damn. Figured I could get someone t'pamper my ass. But they just left my ass out in th'cold. ...Kicked my ass to the curb."
She laughed again, "Sorry, Raph...only ass I tend to at the moment is my own...guess we just need to get to know each other better before I get more intimate with yours."
He chuckled and sat painfully on the pack. Ordinarily Mikey wouldn't have survived a kancho attack, but tonight it seemed Raph was in a good mood.
Mo settled by him again and sniggered, "Almost makes me glad I grew up alone...think my ass woulda gone into hiding long ago."
"...aww, Mo. Don't deny the world your ass."
"Sweet sentiment, but...I wouldn't want to put my ass out for abuse...what's it ever done to the world?" She grinned.
He returned the expression. It seems he'd been doing a lot of grinning lately, and this one was very much on the wicked side. "Man.. I'm all outta ass jokes."
As she leant back she laughed, "Here I thought there was an infinite supply...bummer." There was a pause, then another wicked grin of her own.
He snerted, then laughed again. Come to think of it, it's been a long time since he's laughed this much. Was this what happiness felt like? His cheeks were starting to ache from so much smiling.
She laughed and shook her head, propping a hand behind it as she watched him.
"Heh heh. Man..." With another grin and a sigh he leant back himself. "S'wrong with me..."
"Mm? What ya mean?"
He shook his head, "..I dunno. I never laugh this much.. never smiled this much b'fore.. S'weird."
"You're havin' a good time..." She grinned again.
Raph nodded slightly, "...yeah. Heh. I guess I am... don't happen often... it's kinda cool, y'know?"
That broadened her grin a little more, "Yeah, very, actually.."
"..What, you don't get t'have fun neither?"
She shrugged a little, "Not as much as I'd like, really...more than I used to."
After he pulled the pack out from underneath himself, he leant against the couch and stretched out, "..Yea... You had it rough too, huh?"
There was another shrug. She didn't really want to think about her past. Her childhood was full of such pain; her life with such turmoil, but it had felt good to laugh, to joke with Raph and see him smile, hear him laugh. "Yeah...sucked...better now, though."
For a moment, he contemplated that. "Yea.. I hear that. ...my life used to be a real hole. Sometimes it still is... but things are better."
At that, she shifted to look at him again, "How so..?"
This time, his massive shoulders shrugged, "...eatin outta dumpsters...s'always cold.. dark. We were alone sometimes.. for a while. Splinter had to find food and supplies. Then when we got older we realized ..y'know ..what we are. And what was up there.."
Her brows furrowed a little, but she nodded and rested a soft hand on his calloused one.
"Then that mess with Saki and the foot... S'hard t'believe it's over now. S'like a nightmare that you still feel.. cause it was so nasty, even though your awake. Make sense?" He cast her a wary glance.
She nodded to that, understanding more than he really knew. "Yeah...it's not something that'll ever leave...something that burns itself so profoundly into your psyche it's a part of you..."
"Yea.. S'not gone.... Just.. mebbe buried ..or..something." Suddenly, a scowl came over his features. He's burdening her with his crap. Hell, she couldn't want that. It had to be making her uncomfortable, and him look like a jerk.
"Know how it is." She furrowed her brows, "I think it happens to everyone, really...different people just deal with it differently, I guess..."
"..mebbe whatever part of my brain deals with shit got broke or something... S'been a year since life got back to normal and ..y'know.. T'nights been the first time in a while that I'ze actually having fun.."
"Anything different about tonight than the other nights?"
His cheeks warmed slightly as he scratched at the back of his neck. "...nope." Maybe she wouldn't recognize that for the lie it was.
She shrugged then, "Well...I guess just take a good thing and run with it, then." A lopsided grin spread over her face.
He looked up at her, caugt the grin, and suddenly he found himself wearing one just like it. "Yeah.. heh...yea. I guess I gotta...."
"Eeeeeeexcellent...someone following my advice...now for those Underwear Gnomes..."
In the background, old-time romantic music suddenly started up. It was soft enough that Raph didn't seem to notice, "Hey! hehe... Step 1.. underpants.."
At first, neither did she. When it did hit her, she blinked a little, but ignored it for the time being in favor of playing along with Raph, "Step 2..." She held her hands out to denote 'blank'.
At the back of the room, Donnie and Mike crouched well out of sight. Don whispered to Mike, "..you think it'll work?"
Just as softly, Mike replied, "...Kay Starr's melodic voice has been getting people in the sack for ages.. At the very least I got a camera for if they kiss."
Raph, unaware of his brothers, continued, "Step three.. Profit! It's so simple!! Heh heh heh heh!!"
Mo cackled and stretched. "So...any idea what's with this um...'music'?"
He still had a stupid grin pasted over his face, "...what music..."
She blinked, "That old...elevator music..." Her seemingly delicate shoulders shrugged, "No big deal.."
There was a long pause, before, ".....Goddamnit.. MIKE!!"
A girlish scream sounded from the back of the room, before Raph was over the couch in seconds and beating Mike up to the smooth, olden time music.
Don climbed over the table to get out of the way. "Wow!! this is better than Christmas!"
"Raph...!" That's all she could get out before a snigger cut her off. "Geeze, Don...this happen all the time??"
Mike squealed as Raph dunked his head in the fish tank.
That evoked another snigger from Mo, "Poor fish.."
"Say yer sorry, ya lil prick, or I'll make you a second asshole!" Raph pulled a sai from his belt.
She smirked, "...it ain't THAT bad..."
He motioned to her to be quiet before he pulled Mike's head from the tank, "You gonna say your sorry or do I gotta do that again with Donnie's Piranhas!?"
His dripping brother grew pale, "....OhmygodI'msorryI'llneverdoitagainIpromiseRaphyourmyfavoritebrother!!"
Raph let him go, and kicked him in the butt as he ran off. Don was in hot pursuit, knowing Raph's probably on a roll.
Mo arched her brows and leant back, crossing her arms over her chest, "Sewer insanity...gotta love it"
Raph brushed his arms off, his skin gleamed a little in the dim light of the lair with aquarium water. "Yeah well... he had it coming to'im. First my tail..then that.."
She gave him an incredibly confused look, "Umm...kay?"
"....what??" He didn't get that she doesn't get it. Just classic.
Her brows knit, "Uh...how does the music have anything to do with your tail?"
He stared at her for a moment, before he glowered. "Nuttin'.. he's- ugh." God, was he the one who was going to need her a lesson on turtle biology, was he? Where was Donnie when you need him?
Oh, right. Running for his life.
She paused at this, still extremely confused, but nodded a little, "Err...okay..."
With a sigh, he pinched the area between his eyes for a few moments, "Ugh.. ok. Wull.. s'like... sensitive.. right?? Y'know.."
She paused now, her brows knit. "Okay...." Then her mind put his reaction together with his nerves and words. Blood rushed to her cheeks as her eyes widened, "Oh...!"
Raph watched her blush rise, and felt his cheeks heat up as well. He grumbled to himself, "Heh... so.. How 'bout dem Yankees.....heh heh heh.....uughh."
Mo nodded a little with her eyes downcast, and rubbing the back of her neck, "...I say dunk 'im in the piranhas for the hell of it." She glanced up to him and offered a smirk.
"...I'll save it for when he's least expecting it."
She nodded a little as her coloring slowly began to return to normal, "Good...eesh..."
Another awkward moment befell them before he broke the silence, "So..uhh... so now that you gotta lesson in turtle anatomy.. you'll be wanting to be shown th'way out, huh?"
Her impossibly dark eyes blinked, "No...why...?" She gave him a confused look.
"...not making you ill?"
Mo shook her head, "Nah...worse things have happened.."
"...can't think of much worse than too much information... but I'll take yer word for it."
"Probably best you do, honestly..." She smirked and curled her legs up beneath herself.
Raphael plunked down next to her again, wincing at the pain his abused tail sent up to his brain. It's gonna be sore for a while. Ugh, Mikey and his bad aim. "...at least he didn't pick too bad music..heh. Sounds like it's from some old gangster flick.. s'cool."
"'S true...dunno much from that era, but it's not that bad..."
"....I think I musta had a past life back then er something.. I always felt like I shoulda been in one of them black and white gangster flicks.. or them gumshoe movies too."
"Really...? They do sorta fit your nature.."
The grin from before returned to his features, "Hey..wait here a sec... I gotta show you..."
She blinked, tilted her head, "Okay.."
Trying not to move too stiffly, he rose from the couch, and briefly disappeared into his room. When he emerged, it was as if he had just stepped out of a time portal from the '30s, in his fedora and trench.
When Mo saw him, she blinked again, then grinned widely, "Now THAT kicks ass!"
His face broke into a wide grin of his own at this. They may have been his oldest coat and hat, but they fit him perfectly. "Eh.. Just call me 'Raphy da Thumbs' cause it's what I take if you git on m'bad side see?"
She chuckled, "I'll be sure not to get on your bad side...I like all my digits right where they are..."
He took up the perfect mosey walk, carefully copied from all his favorite silver screen movies and baddest old time gangsters. His accent even switched to match, "Naw... a pretty dame like you'se oughta keep every one'a'em fingers right on yer pretty hands, see? Some day some guys gonna come along and sweep you'se of yur feet.." His fingers flicked an imaginary cigar, "On dat day I'm gunna be just..walkin against da wind.." He took a drag, and gave her the perfect one-eyed squint.
A slow grin spread as she watched him, "Damn..." She shook her head, "Doubt any guy's gonna sweep me off my feet in that sense...but hell, mebbe you were born in the wrong era..."
He cocked his head so the brim of his hat was angled over his eyes. It hid his bad eye even more so, although it was already hidden by his mask, that insecurity was still always there. "Yeah well.... Wrong era.. wrong body.. An' some guy will." He offered her a grin, tainted, but still there.
She found her own smile slightly faded. "I dunno about that, Raph...dunno how much of anyone would want somethin' like me...but thanks for your words..."
A scowl replaced the grin there just moments before, "....Don't talk 'bout yerself like that... That's crap..."
Mo shook her head with a sigh, "Nah...it's not...we're in a similar boat there...I can't go into crowds without hiding, either...and 'fore Diana, and then you guys, there wasn't much of anything decent in my life, so..."
As he watched her, he was silent for a while. "Yea..well. Still crap.. Yer a good person.. s'hard to come by. Any guy who'd pass up someone like you has his head planted squarely up his ass." Now he grinned mischievously. "I know.. cause I'll be the one ta' put it there."
The young woman shrugged a little, her freakish eyes fixed upon the floor before the couch, before she rose her gaze to him, and offered a small grin, "Thanks.."
"Heh... see.. you got me in yer corner.. so yer ok. No one's gonna bother you no more. They'd be too scared to.. heh heh heh"
A little chuckle found its way from her throat, "Coulda used you about a year ago, now...you can be a real good guy, Raph.."
He blushed slightly, and rubbed at the back of his neck, almost nervously. "Eh..heh. Not that good. I just know what's worth fightin' for." His eyes lifted then, and their gazes caught. There was a stunned quality to the wide, dark eyes when he met them, as well as a soft, touched look to them. For a moment, he was stuck there, transfixed by the intensity of the moment before he returned to himself. "..what?"
She shrugged softly before she looked away, brows knit, "I...I dunno..."
Now he frowned, "..y'alright?"
With a nod, she ran her hands over her dark, smooth hair, "Just...was one of the kindest things anyone's ever said to me...dunno really...how t' react..."
"..yur m'friend.. Th'way I was raised, you always watch yer friends asses.. y'take care of each other.. S'how it works."
That brought a little smile to her lips, "'S a good way to be raised, I think.."
Great...now he'd opened his big mouth and said something important. What if she didn't think that way? "...Yea well...Splinter was a good father.." He found himself wishing he'd been a better son.
"He did a good job...raised good sons...I'm glad to be friends.."
At those words, a wave of relief simply washed over him, and he could relax again, "....yeah...me too.. So..uhm. S'gettin pretty late. You need someone t'walk you home? Or you gonna crash on the couch?"
Diana cleared her throat from her spot by the entrance to the hallway where she'd been watching the two of them talk with an odd little smile upon her lips. Was that potential she saw real or was she imagining it? Her voice was soft when she spoke, "I think we can make it home alright on our own, Raph."
Mo jumped a little at the sound of her friend's slightly graveled voice, then gave her a surprised look, before returning her gaze to the turtle at her side, "Thanks, though..." She offered a small, sheepish grin.
Raph jolted as well, and restrained himself from saying something he'd no doubt regret later. Still, he felt painfully vulnerable and stupid. The fedora and trench's extra protection was something to be thankful for in his head, though, as he scratched at the back of his neck. "Yea well.. heh. Yer a big girl. I'm sure you can handle it.."
At that, Mo uncurled herself and stood, "Mebbe next time, though..."
Raph simply nodded dumbly, and let her go, not thinking to walk her to the door.
"Goodnight Raph...see you later." Diana gave him a small smile and let the two of them out herself.
"Night..." Once the door closed, he slid down the couch, pulled his fedora low over his face, and muttered to himself, ".....damn."