There he was, storming out of our home… again…
I could only watch hopelessly every time he disappeared behind those heavy doors. There's nothing I could do at that time. Only two persons in this lair would dare standing up to him when his temper went out of control, most of the time one of them was the reason of it. He had to get out before he did something that would make him regret later. He would go somewhere, anywhere, even going topside and beating up any criminal unfortunate enough to be caught by him…
The ex-Nightwatcher of New York city.
At those moments, I knew, and I believed he was aware of it as well, that everything turned into a crimson blur in his eyes. Well, almost everything. I was always there, made sure that I was within his vision. I was the only reason he hadn't jump on our eldest yet. I was the reason he could leave the lair before his rage took over him. But then, I became useless after that, when I couldn't find him in the mist of his anger. Yes, I could always ask the resident genius to track him, but then what? If I couldn't reach his heart at that moment, what use would it be to reach his body first? So I waited, patiently…
And when I waited, I remembered our times together.
I knew what I had to face when I took his hand into mine. I knew he could never get rid of his temper, even with me around. Maybe, subconsciously, I was attracted to him. That explained the endless pranks I pulled on him, more than anyone else in this house. It's my way to call for his attention, my way to help him venting his anger. He always chased after me, mouth breathing fire. But, little did the others know, all the punches and kicks he sent my way were all fake. Sure, at first they were far from it, but now they're nothing but a pat on the back…
"Yer still here?"
I turned around from where I was two hours ago, on the couch. There he was at the doorway. It must be raining outside, for I could see water droplets evaporating from his skin, literally.
I was by his side in a blink of an eye. He let me take his hands into mine, and I held them right at my chest.
"I'm sorry." I mumble under my breath.
"What for?"
"I couldn't do anything… When you walked through that door, I…"
"Yer doing it now."
I already knew that, but would it be better if I could help him before he left? Slowly, I closed our distance, pressing our bodies together. He was all but slumped against me, and I quickly guided us both to my room… our room… He let me tuck him on the bed, his golden orbs following my body as I swept a towel over to dry him off. In front of others, this would never happen. But we were behind closed door, where we could do things that only known to us…
"How do you feel now?" I asked as I rested my head on his shoulder, my hand tracing the scutes on his plastron.
"Better than before." He replied.
And that's that. He would blared off, then left. I would wait, then took care of him when he's back. He wrapped me in his arms, cradling my body, letting his soul being cradled by mine. Maybe I'd pull another prank tomorrow, just for the sake of it. Then he would truly become normal, so he could make up with our leader later.
"Thanks… for waiting for me."
"Always… Good night, Raph."
"Good night, Mikey."
This was our lives, this was our routine, and this was how we would go, until the end…
