Dinner Dates and Interventions:
"Mikey just listen for a moment. What you're doing with April…..it's gotta stop." Leo pleaded with his youngest brother. Raph and Donnie sat to either side of him as Leo took up the seat across from Mikey. A Miketervention is what this was thought Mikey ruefully.
"Why do I have to stop? I thought you guys would be happy for me, you're my bros man," Mikey complained looking from one brother to the next, and not finding sympathy anywhere. He slumped in his seat and fiddled with shells of his necklace.
"It's not right to harass April like you're doing Mikey. It's been months now and all you do is go over there and bother her unannounced." Leo was uncharacteristically beating around the bush. He hadn't yet said it, but the truth was he thought his brother was too immature to handle such a serious situation. He feared not so much for April, but for Mikey. He didn't want his brother to end up heart broken.
"I hate to say it Mikey, but I think Leo might be right. April's just being polite, but really why would she be interested in…one of us? Were mutants Mikey, she can just find a regular guy to be with." Donnie said. He adjusted his glasses as he took in Mikey's sad expression. This might not end well.
"Listen ding dong, April's just too nice to tell you to buzz off. We're freaks Mike, ain't nothin' gonna change that. Don't play yourself man, I'm tellin' you Mikey, for your own good." Raph interjected. Mikey's face twisted into mask of anguish, anger, and pain.
"No, it's not for my own good! April likes me, you guys don't know what you're talking about!" Mikey finally shouted, slamming his fist on the table for emphasis.
"Mikey, just calm down okay, we didn't mean…." Leonardo tried to calm his brother to no avail.
"Yes you did mean! You mean to try to keep me away from April but that's not happenin' dudes. We like each other. You guys don't know what we do, how she talks to me, how she wants me around! You're just jealous ALL OF YOU!" Mikey looked around at the shocked faces of his brothers. They had been stunned into silence. They hadn't remembered the last time Mikey raised his voice in serious anger at them. More than that was the hurt they all heard underneath. Mikey continued needing to get it all out on the table.
"Just admit it! You can't believe that your goofy baby brother can get a girl to take him serious!" Mikey took a deep breath and tried to calm himself before he continued.
"April listens to me, just doesn't blow me off like you guys do a lot of times. I can just be myself with her and she doesn't think I'm a freak. She just sees me as Mikey. We wanna be with each other and it's not wrong. I'm so sick of you guys treating me like a baby all the time. I know I goof off a lot, but that doesn't mean anything right now." Mikey sat back in his seat again with his shoulders sagging. He didn't have anything else to say. He had made up his mind that the only one that could stop him from pursuing April, was April herself.
It was a long time before any of them spoke. Naturally, it was Leo who broke the silence.
"We're sorry Mikey. We just don't want you to get hurt. We want you to be careful and think about what this is," Leo waited for a little while before he went on. He wanted Mikey to really hear what he was saying.
"April is a human. If for some reason you guys don't work out or become the couple you hope to be, she can move on. What about you Mikey? It's not like you can just go out there and play the field and find another girlfriend. It just doesn't work that way for us, you gotta know that Mikey."
Mikey didn't say anything or look up at any of them. He simply sat there, picking at nothing on the table.
"What Leo's saying is that we just don't want you heartbroken. We don't wanna see you set yourself up for failure." Donnie tried to reach his hand out to touch Mikey's, but he snatched his hand off the table.
"And everybody's so sure it's gonna fail right? Cause I'm s'posed to be the failure. Whatever." Mikey got up abruptly and headed for his bedroom.
"We don't think you're a failure Mikey, why would you say that?" Leo called after him. Mikey stopped in his tracks.
"You don't have to say it, you show it," he called over his shoulder.
"Now if you don't mind, I'm headed to April's house, where I'm wanted. Donnie you said you had something for me to give her. Where is it?" Mikey said, still not facing them. He didn't want them to see the tears that threatened at the corners of his eyes. He was determined not to cry about this, at least not in front of them. Not tonight.
"Yeah I'll get it for you," Donnie said, getting up from the table and heading towards his lab. As he passed Mikey he grabbed his hand urging him to follow.
"Come in here with me for a minute please." Mikey allowed himself to be pulled. It was always Donnie who could calm him or comfort him better than the others.
Donatello rummaged through a drawer in his desk and produced two sliding phones. He handed one to his brother, and demonstrated with the other.
"I managed to create a closed network that's virtually impossible to hack. I call them T-phones. I made one for all of us, and even one for April if she wants. For now they only text, but I'm working on a way to make them have voice service as well. You take one for yourself, and give her one. It'll be a secure way for her to reach us if she ever needs to." Donnie handed him the other phone. Mikey turned to leave, head hung low. Donnie hated to see him like this. He felt a pain for his brother, and a little guilty. He reached out for Mikey's shoulder.
"Listen, I'm sorry if we made you feel bad out there. We love you….I love you. Just be careful okay?" Donnie gave him a reassuring smile. Finally Mikey looked up at his older brother and offered a small smile of his own. Donnie drew him in for a hug that Mikey almost fell into. They held each other for a long time.
"I know you guys are looking out for me, but I need you to trust me on this. I know how serious it is. I know what I'm doing."
"Okay, I'll tell the guys to lay off for a little bit okay. Just keep tabs on that T-phone alright? We don't need you to drop off the face of the Earth." Donnie said as they let go of each other. Mikey smiled big.
"Thanks Donnie and I won't turn it off I promise!" He said as he exited the lair headed straight to his angel cakes.
April was reluctantly trying on her outfits. It had been a few months since she secured the job at channel 4, and Vern would not stop pestering her for a dinner. She refused as many times as she thought her friendship could withstand before she caved. One dinner, that's all he was gonna get and then he would have to leave her alone. She demanded it. April felt a dread in her gut. This would be the night that she'd have to shut Vern down for good. She didn't have feelings for him, but he refused to get a clue. She knew that somehow someway it would come to a head tonight. Oh well. If he couldn't just handle being her friend it'd be his loss.
She was going through her closet thoroughly. She didn't have many dressy clothes, but what she did have was kind of sexy. She wanted to be careful not to send the wrong message. Vern had said he was taking her to Abbey's which was supposed to be this really upscale restaurant. Finally she picked out the most subdued outfit that she had. Black shimmery leggings, a caftan style off shoulder tunic that came almost to her knees, and black platform ankle boots that she never wore. Her hair was in a messy bun and she wore very little makeup. She was checking herself out in the full length mirror on the inside of her closet door when she heard a familiar tapping on her window. It was enough to pull her out of her somewhat foul mood, and put a smile on her face. She rushed over to the window to let him in.
Mikey climbed through and immediately grabbed her into a tight hug. He held on just a bit longer than usual.
"Hey angel cakes," he said relieved to see her face. It made him feel much better.
"Hey Mikey," April said pulling out of the hug and grabbing his face gently in both hands. She planted a soft kiss on his nose. As she walked back over to the mirror he noticed she seemed to be getting ready to go somewhere.
"You look beautiful. Where you going?" He asked taking a seat on the edge of her bed which was cluttered with discarded clothing.
"Ugh. Unfortunately I'm headed out to dinner with Vern. He's been begging non-stop until I caved." April was focused on what she was doing and so didn't see the look on Mikey's face. It was at these times that he wished that his appearance was acceptable. He couldn't even take her out to a simple night on the town, dinner, or a movie like regular people. She deserved that. She deserved something normal. Maybe this is what his brothers were talking about. He felt his first pangs of jealousy as he thought about Vern sitting across from her, making her laugh, buying her dinner, and monopolizing her time away from him.
"Is it really cold out there? I don't know if I should wear my really heavy winter coat, or if this fancy coat will do the job," she called to him as she went into the bathroom to gather some things to throw in her purse.
"It's kinda cold, but not too bad I guess," he called back suddenly very ready to leave. He didn't wanna watch her go spend time with another guy.
When she came back into the room she saw he was standing and opening the window, apparently getting ready to leave.
"Wait, where are you going all of a sudden? Is something wrong?" She asked rushing over to him to see what was going on. He turned to face her and tried his best smile, but it didn't erase the sadness in his eyes. He shrugged and tried to make his exit, but her hand on his arm stopped him.
"Mikey talk to me. What's wrong? Is it something I did?"
"No angel I'm cool," he said gently caressing her face, careful not to mess up her makeup. April grabbed his hand and held it against her cheek before planting a series of soft kisses in his palm. His knees felt weak.
"Don't go just yet Mikey, please. I don't like seeing you like this. Please sit down." He complied and sat back down on the bed. She stood between his legs, caressing his face again. He would never get enough of just the simplest of her touches.
"Do you have to go out with him? You obviously don't wanna do it, so why are you going with him if you don't want to?" Mikey asked trying to keep the whiney notes out of his voice and not quite succeeding. April surprised him by laughing. He felt a flash of anger and shame. Why would she laugh at a time when he was trying to be serious? He really wanted to leave, and leave now.
"Oh my sweet orange ninja. Are you jealous? Of Vern of all people? Believe me you have absolutely nothing to worry about from him. It's not him I'm interested in." She said trying to get herself together. Maybe she shouldn't have laughed but she couldn't help it. Mikey was so cute in so many ways. He placed his hands on her hips and that made the laughter die completely, as it put her in another state of mind whenever he grabbed her. He looked up at her with those eyes again that were a little too glassy.
"You're not interested in him then?"
"No silly"
"Are you interested in anybody else?"
"Yes, there is one guy I'm very interested in."
More pangs of jealousy and anger this time.
"Well, who is it then?"
April hesitated as she stared into his eyes, getting lost in them. It's a confession she had been avoiding and this would be the first time she admitted it to anyone, even herself. She swallowed hard and licked her lips.
"It's you Michelangelo. I'm interested in you," it was almost a whisper as she bent down and gently placed her lips on his. She was being careful not to startle him, and she also wanted him not to feel pressured into this if he wasn't ready.
The kiss was timid at first and they both were trying to figure out how to make the size difference work. His lips were still a little cold from outside and hers were warm. She closed her eyes and turned her head, still kissing him softly but more insistently. He began to trail his hands up and down her sides and around the small of her back in a slow rhythmic fashion. He kept his eyes wide open, still in a bit of shock but going with it. Their first kiss, his first kiss. He didn't know if he should slip a little tongue or let her initiate it or what, so he decided to just let her lead the way. Keeping her hands on his face, she licked his lips. Back and forth she licked them with a little bit of urgency, then she poked her tongue just past his parted lips. Instinctively he opened his mouth to let her in. She immediately attacked grabbing his face a little tighter, never opening her eyes. He screwed his eyes shut and went for it. He took a chance and licked her lips, mimicking exactly what she had done. April moaned loudly, and then he felt her straddle him.
This was progressing rapidly. Mikey's heart was a jackhammer in his chest. He didn't know how far she intended to go, but he was determined to try to keep up. He was so scared of his inexperience showing, scared to disappoint her. His world was shook again as if the tongue kissing wasn't enough she began to rock, no, to grind on his lap. His eyes shot back open to see April lost in the moment. Her pretty face flushed a bright red and her breath starting to come in short little pants. He glanced down to watch the erotic motion of her hips and knew he had to stop or burst. The pain in his tail was almost excruciating now. He really couldn't free himself if he wanted to at this point. He wore pants, but also wore a jockstrap backwards as a makeshift tail guard, so it would have been a mood killing task to get to it.
As if reading his mind, April began to slow her grinding, and pulled away from the kiss. She was so hot right now. She didn't know what came over her, but she didn't regret it. She finally felt free, like a burden was lifted. She could admit that she was romantically involved with a turtle, a non-human man, and it was easily the healthiest relationship she'd been in thus far. Mikey made her happy, made her feel special, made her feel important and wanted. So what did she gain from denying herself happiness? He wasn't human, but she came to grips with the idea that it was that fact that turned her on the most. He was inhuman on sight, but it was hot nonetheless. His body was like a work of art. His plastron and shell so unlike a regular man, but she wanted to unlock the secrets of his unique body.
Breathing hard still April lifted herself off of him. She wanted to stay on top of him all night, but it was too early for that. Too much too soon. Mikey still had his eyes closed, licking his own lips tasting her peach flavored tinted gloss. She was standing, but still between his legs. He opened his eyes, and smiled so hard he felt like his face would split.
"Did you like that?"
"Is that some kind of trick question or something angel cakes?"
April leaned back in to whisper to him.
"It is a promise of what you will have. It's also a promise of what Vern will NEVER have. Do you believe that now?"
Mikey nodded so hard she thought his head would fall off.
"Now, I have to really go now. He sent a cab over here to get me. It's just dinner so I shouldn't be back too late." April said going back into the bathroom to get herself back together. Mikey then remembered why he came over there in the first place.
"Oh yeah, April Donnie told me to give this to you," he said getting the phones out and handing one to her.
"He somehow got some cell phones to work. They only text he said, but we all have one, so you can text when you want to 'kay angel?" He said, this time really getting ready to leave.
"Donnie is amazing."
"Yeah he is. I don't know how he does this stuff."
"Well tell him thanks for me okay? I'll text you when I get back if it's not too late."
"It's never too late."
She opened the window and he shimmied his way up the escape after a quick kiss goodbye. She went downstairs just in time to get into the cab Vern had sent for her. Mikey watched the cab disappear around a corner. He touched his fingers to his lips. His brothers had no idea what they were talking about.