Author's Notes: So, instead of writing a traditional epilogue for Callous Logic I've decided to do a series of one-shots as a bit of an interlude between Callous Logic and the yet-untitled third fic in the series. Each little story will take place a few weeks after the end of CL and will feature a different POV character. Up first is Donatello.
Some of these are partially based off of writing prompts I have received through my tumblr. I tend to post these first over there, along with other, random prompts I get that don't take place in the Click-verse.
If you feel like following along :0) Enjoy!
I wanna Dance with Somebody
Donatello
"Can I look yet?" I ask, shifting nervously in my seat.
"No, don't you dare!" she says instantly, her voice holding a shrill edge.
I crinkle my nose and try to peer underneath my bandana which she tied backwards over my eyes. "You know, I'm not the biggest fan of surprises," I say with another nose crinkle.
Even less of being left in the dark.
"You'll like this one, I promise," she replies, her voice further away. "Stop trying to peek!"
I sigh and lean back in my computer chair, resigned to my fate. The last few minutes have been nothing less than an ambush and I'm very much at her mercy. I was working in my lab, minding my own business when she pounced. I didn't expect to see her tonight and technically I still haven't. She crept up behind me and turned my mask around before I could register what was happening, stopping short any retaliation with a press of her lips over mine. As far as ambushes go, this one wasn't half bad.
"I'm not," I insist, rocking back and forth. "Just…whatever you're doing, please be careful. There are a lot of volatile…"
Crash!
"It's fine! I got it! Don't peek!" she cries when I wince and move to stand.
Her words do very little to calm my nerves as another, if not smaller crash follows.
"Sit, it's fine. I'm serious, don't look! You'll ruin the surprise," she says, grunting as she picks up whatever it is she knocked over. "I didn't break anything. I promise."
I grimace and reach back in search of the chair's arms to help guide me to the seat. "Please be careful," I say in a voice that's dangerously close to a whimper.
"I will, I will," she says, her feet shuffling along the floor as she scurries about.
I strain my ears to listen to every scrape and swish as she leaves me waiting once more. A quiet tune hangs on the air as she hums quietly. She's excited. I suppose that should make me excited too. It only makes me nervous. I wiggle in my chair and pull idly at the wraps on my left hand. The scent of wildflowers drifts past my nose and I smile when her lips brush against mine. I crane my neck up to deepen the kiss and pout when she pulls out of my reach.
"I wanted to do something special for you," she says quietly, the feel of her breath against my skin making me shiver.
"Y-yeah?" I reply with zero finesse and a voice that cracks over the single word.
She presses her lips to the side of my neck and I can feel her smile. "Yes," she says, reaching up to pull the mask from my eyes.
I blink away the sudden light, squinting until my vision comes into focus; until she comes into focus.
Oh.
"Well?" she asks with a coy smile. "Are you surprised?"
I don't know what to say, words fail me completely so I only nod. My lab is decorated with twirling crepe paper and shiny stars that hang from the ceiling. The lights are dimmed to a level that would never be acceptable while I work. It cloaks the entire space in shadows that break and scurry from the glitter and shine of the decorations. An impressive spread of food and drink sit on a white cloth across one of my lab tables and the slow beat of music plays from the computer speakers. None of it holds a candle to her.
She's standing close enough that our knees touch when I inch forward. Her hair held off her neck in a delicate up-do that has already allowed several tendrils to break free. I reach out a tentative hand to brush my fingers over the dusting of freckles across her exposed shoulders. She's wearing a dress. The dress. The one I thought she bought for him. The one that made jealousy and self-loathing burn and twist into something ugly and bitter in my stomach. I was wrong. I was entirely wrong.
"Why?" I murmur, tracing my finger along the delicate fabric.
She lowers her gaze and even in the dim light I can see the pink tint that covers her cheeks. "Well…tonight is my school's Winter Formal and, well, I couldn't bring you to the dance so I thought I'd bring the dance to you."
She wanted to go to the dance. You can't even do that for her.
I swallow, letting go of the tiny fold between my fingers. She shouldn't have gone to all this trouble. I should have. It's her dance she's missing. I should have known she wanted to go. I should have been the one trying to make up for having to miss it.
"You don't…you don't like it?" she asks and the small hitch to her breath makes my heart clench. "It's silly, I know, I just thought…"
"It's wonderful," I say, reaching out to take her hand. "And you look," I sigh, no longer having to feign any sort of sincerity. "You look so beautiful. I mean, not that you don't always look beautiful…"
She stops me with a kiss and I close my eyes to lean into the embrace. My hand slides across the sheer fabric to settle on her waist before pulling her down onto my lap. She laughs and I feel all of my anxiety and guilt drift away with the warm sound of it. She puts her hands flat against my plastron to push up gently.
"Dance with me," she says.
With her smiling at me like that I could never say no.
She takes my hand and pulls me to her make-shift dance floor. My nerves flutter to life again as I cast a wary eye at the speakers and the slow music playing behind us.
"I uh…I don't really know how to dance to this," I admit with a sheepish grin.
"There isn't much to it," she says, taking my hands and placing them on her hips once more. "It's mostly swaying."
She reaches up to rest her hands at the back of my neck and leans against me. We move slowly in time to the music and after a few awkward steps and tense shoulders I begin to relax. She sighs quietly and her eyes flutter closed. I smile and lean down to kiss the top of her head. A sudden wave of bravery passes over me and I slide a hand down to cup her backside.
"Hands north of the border mister," she says with a chuckle.
"Hmm?" I reply, playing dumb and giving her a squeeze.
I'm rewarded with a squeak and wiggle before she laughs and drops a hand to swat me across the shoulder. "I'm on to you…" she stops mid-sentence as the music changes to a new song. Her eyes grow wide and she swats me again. "Oh! Dirty dancing!" she says excitedly.
"Uh…what?" I say with a slightly nervous chuckle, not having to play dumb this time.
"The song," she says as if that's an actual answer. She sighs and crinkles her nose in disbelief when I can continue to stare at her in confusion. "It's the song that they dance to at the end of the movie."
"Oh, well, I must have missed out on that cinematic masterpiece," I reply, covering up my laugh with a sheepish smile when it's obvious my sarcasm is not appreciated.
She shakes her head and pulls away from me. "That simply won't do," she mumbles, scurrying over to the computer.
Before I can stop her she's already searching for videos. "Whoops," she says, quickly closing out of a screen that is clearly not the dirty dancing she was looking for. "I can't believe you've never seen this," she insists, finally finding the scene in question. "I must have watched this movie a hundred times when I was little."
"To be fair, I don't think I'm their target audience," I reply in my defense.
She's too busy watching the video to pay me any mind and I'm too busy watching her to care. Her eyes light up as she points and flails her hand at the screen, describing in gushing details all the backstory I'm ignorant of for each and every character that flashes past. She starts to sway her hips and stiltedly mime the movements of the dancers and I'm fairly certain it is the cutest thing I have ever seen. I'm grinning before too long and will gladly sit through the entire movie if it makes her even half as happy as this one scene seems to.
"Oh! We have to try the lift!" she says, turning on me with her hands clasped in front of her. "You could totally do it."
"Well, maybe not in here. I mean…the floor is concrete…"
"Back up," she instructs me, ignoring my caution.
"April, I…" I start to protest but she has already squared her shoulders and ducked her head like a sprinter waiting for the starting gun.
I take a few hurried steps backwards and she charges towards me. I manage to get my hands on her hips as she leaps from the ground and hoist her up over my head. She lets out a triumphant shout that is the unnatural love child of a battle cry and an excited dolphin. I try to keep her steady, shifting my feet to gain more balance. My right hand refuses to grip her properly and I can feel my wrist start to tremble.
"You…you gotta keep straight," I insist as she drops her left hip.
"I am," she says, squealing when I lose my grip and she rolls down into my arms.
"You're not," I reply, laughing at the infectious grin plastered on her face.
"I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree," she says with a cheeky grin, swinging her feet and leaning her head against my plastron.
I shift her in my arms and lower my head to kiss her lips. Her hands reach up and find the back of my neck once more, pulling me closer. She's warm and inviting and tastes of peppermint. I lose myself in the feel of her pressed against me; her scent filling my head and chasing away any bad thoughts that might think to creep from the darkness. The kiss deepens and the fabric of her dress swishes and slides as she moves to wrap her legs around me.
"Do you like my dress?" she asks in a breathy voice that makes me shudder.
"Very much," I reply quietly, a small sigh escaping my lips when she moves her mouth along my jawline.
"I'm glad," she murmurs and I feel her smile around her next kiss before she cranes her neck up to whisper in my ear. "Maybe later you can help me take it off."
Oh my.