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Chapter 3“Are you sure this is OK?” I asked for the fifth time. Raphael switched off the
light, leaving only the dim glow of candlelight, and sat down on his bed, which I was tucked
into.
“Of course I’m sure. I’ve fallen asleep on the couch lots of time.” He grinned down
at me. I smiled back, deciding Raph looked very impressive right now: his features were
carved out by shadows; cut lines in his muscular arms were deepened; the light of the
candle making his skin a dark, rich shade of green, shines of gold from the color of the
flame; his dark eyes sparkling. I wondered if he was evaluating me in the same way as we
gazed at one another.
Raph cleared his throat nervously, breaking his stare by glancing at the clock radio
glowing from a small table. “Practice is at seven, if you feel up to it.”
I nodded, “I’ll be there.” He started to rise. I was surprised by my strong desire
for him to stay. “Wait!”
The Turtle returned his gaze to me, eyebrows furrowed in an almost uneasy
expression.
“. . .Stay and talk to me,” I gave him a hopeful look and fingered the back of his
hand. Raph hesitated, his body tensed slightly from my touch. I drew back the covers a
little, sliding over to make room, and propped a pillow against the headboard. “Here, sit
down. Please?” I pulled lightly on his hand to encourage him.
Finally, Raphael sighed and plopped down next to me, resting his shell against the
pillow, sitting very straight. He swallowed hard. “So, what did you wanna talk about?”
“Well,” I thought for a moment, “Will you tell me about how you guys came to be
the way you are? Maybe it will help me remember.”
Raph cocked his head, pressing his lips together. “Hmm. . .OK. It all began in
Japan. . .”
“. . .So, does all that help any?” Raphael looked down at me, yawning.
I sighed, “What a story!” My head was resting comfortably on his thigh, and I
absently traced the lines of his rock-hard calf muscle with a finger. “I’m glad you told me,
but as for my memory, nada.” I raised my eyes to look at the clock, seeing it was almost
two in the morning!
“Oh. . . that’s too bad. . .” The Turtle yawned again, his voice thick with sleepiness.
I slowly lifted my head to look at him. Raph’s chin had fallen to almost touch his chest
plate, his eyes shut tightly, his breathing slow and deep with a trace of a snore. Sitting up,
I smiled at the sleeping form. With a slight grunt of effort, I pulled him down to a
horizontal position; the movement didn’t wake him. Bringing the covers up, I thought of
heading for the couch. Instead, I snuggled up closer to the warm figure beside me, resting
my head on his shoulder. This was where I wanted to be. Closing my eyes, I sighed
contently, and thought about the happening of tonight, until the gray comfort of sleep
over-came me.
I jerked awake with a gasp, from a dream I didn’t remember. This forgetfulness
was starting to annoy me. The first thing I noticed was the clock: 6:41 am. Almost time for
practice. I sighed, glad I was awake, safe and warm. I could feel Raph’s heart beating
beneath my hand which was resting on his chest plate. The sleeping Turtle was on his
back, snoring. His arm had somehow managed to go around my waist, cradling me,
cuddling me like a teddy bear. His head was resting against mine. Feeling so cozy and
comfortable, I didn’t ever want to move. But. . .
I propped my self up on my elbow, blowing a wisp of bangs up and out of my eyes.
Gazing down at Raph made me smile. He looked so peaceful, and was having a pleasant
dream judging from the small grin on his face. I was a shame I had to wake him. My
smile changed to a smirk; I folded my arms leaned on his chest, so we were almost beak to
beak. I peered at him intently, never letting my eyes waver. This was the most
entertaining way to wake someone up: The Stare method. I was disappointed when he
didn’t stir after several minutes. Must be a heavy sleeper. So, I tried another technique.
Reaching up with my left hand, I slowly began to caress his face. . .Tracing his strong jaw
line to the underside of his chin, then let my finger slide up to his mouth, feeling the
softness of his lips. I was concentrating so hard on Raph’s mouth, I didn’t notice his eyes
had opened part way until his arms went around me, hands on the small of my back.
I lifted my gaze to meet his and smiled, “Good morning, Raph.”
He cocked his head, still looking sleepy, yet didn’t respond with words. Instead, he raised his
head, bringing our faces closer . . .
. . .and kissed me.
I was so stunned I couldn’t move for a moment. When I did recover enough to
react, I started to pull away, but was stopped by Raph’s hand sliding up to the back of my
neck. I couldn’t believe it! Not that I didn’t like it--because in fact I was enjoying this quite
a bit--but I had just met this guy last night, and now he was trying to stick his tongue down
my throat!? Raphael’s left hand was holding me tightly to him at the small of my back,
while his right stayed at the base of my skull under my hair, keeping me from moving.
I made a noise, meaning for it to be a sound of protest, but came out sounding
more like a moan of desire. It was at that instant that I realized it was desire I was feeling!
I wanted this! I brought my hands up to his face, kissing back for the first time.
Another groan escaped me, and this time had the originally wanted result. The Turtle
jerked his head back, eyes wide.
I was confused. “Um. . .Raph?”
He sat up, which meant I had to move from my position atop him. Raphael leaned
forward, his elbows resting on his knees, head in his hands. “What happened?” his voice
was hoarse.
He didn’t know? “Well, I was going to wake you up, then. . . you just kissed me.” I
put a hand on his shoulder.
“I thought I was dreaming. . .” Raph trailed off. I sensed a hint of embarrassment
in his voice.
I shifted so I could look him in the face. “Was it a good dream?” Giving him the
innocent eyes bit, I turned up one corner of my mouth in a small smile.
He grinned weakly back. “Yeah, it was.” Raph absently ran the back of his hand
across his mouth and glanced at the clock. “Shit! We’re almost late!” He leapt out of
bed, fully awake now, and grabbed his gear, sliding his belt into place. “Come on, we gotta
go!”
I was already up, strapping on my belt and slipping my blade into its rightful place
with a quick, fluid, and familiar motion. “I’m right behind you.”
I watched the Turtles begin their katas with wide eyes. Each had their own unique
style, but all were clearly very skilled. The apparent years of training showed in every
movement, and through the inward expressions on their faces. Watching them made
something stir in me, causing my left hand to tingle faintly. I shot a glance at Splinter,
whose eyes were on his students. Well, may as well go with the feeling. I closed my eyes,
breathing slowly and deeply. Letting my body take control, I began going through the
motions of my own kata. It was so odd! My body doing things my brain didn’t remember
learning. The moving, stretching of my limbs felt glorious. I kept my eyes closed, focusing
on my movements, somehow knowing each one exactly. My motions were fluid and graceful.
So absorbed was I that I didn’t realize the Turtles and Splinter were staring until I finished
my kata and opened my eyes. Startled, I lowered my gaze to the floor self-consciously.
Was it really that bad?
“Where’d you learn that?” The fascination in Leonardo’s voice made me look up.
“Uh. . .I-I don’t know,” I shook my head.
“Most impressive, Mona Lisa.” The rat wore an equally surprised expression.
“That was a very high level kata.”
I looked at each of the them in turn. Splinter’s surprised expression had softened
to one of approval; he was pleased with me. Michaelangelo’s eyes were wide as he looked
me over, his gaze traveling up and down my body. Donatello wore an expression of mild
shock. Leonardo was paying more attention to my sword. I had seen his eyes light up the
first time he saw it. Raphael was leaning casually against the wall, a small grin on his face.
His expression made me smile, trying to look so suave.
I bowed to them, not really knowing why. After a moment, the Turtles returned to bow;
Splinter nodded his head.
“Now the fun begins,” Raph muttered with a wicked smirk.
*WHAM!*
Mike staggered away from the wall he had just been slammed into. Leo twirled the
‘chucks in a casual fight stance until Mike reestablished a firm grip on reality, and on the
bo in his hands.
“Lucky for you I’m feeling kind today,” Leo said with an evil grin.
“Gee, thanks.” Mike shook his head to clear it, then fell into his ready stance.
When weapons clashed again, Michaelangelo managed to get one of the nunchuckus’ chains
wrapped around the bo and yank it out of Leo’s hand.
I watched the two Turtles spar with increased interest. While the fighting was
intense, it was almost as if one knew what the other had in mind before executing a move.
“So, I bet you guys are pretty close, huh?” I turned to Raph, who had already been
looking at me.
“Yeah,” he shrugged, and smiled at me.
Don’s eyes went from the battle to us. He shifted his gaze back and forth between
Raph and me. “So, who’s next?” The corner of his mouth was turned up in a smirk.
What a blast! I wandered into the bedroom and sat on Raph’s empty bed with a
sigh. I really enjoyed sparing with those guys. I had barely defeated Don with a lucky
move, then Raph came in and took me out! They’re all such awesome fighters. Leo, the
winner, had just finished his awarded “first in the shower.” Raphael was to be next, then
me, Don and finally Mike. I had overheard Don and Leo discussing Michaelangelo. They
felt he’d seemed distracted today. I was sure they had noticed the way he had looked at
me. That thought caused a knot of discomfort to form in my stomach. These guys were
nice enough to let me say here, I didn’t want to cause any sort of problem.
Yawning, I lay back to wait for my turn in the shower. I wondered if they even had
shampoo, since none of them had any hair, except Splinter. I yawned again, realizing how
tired I was; my eyelids felt like stone. I hoped Raph would hurry, otherwise I might just
fall asleeeppbzz. . . zzz. . .End Chapter 3
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