Disclaimer: I do not own the TMNT.
I was supposed ta be meditating. Focusing on controlling myself. Reflecting on my 'rash' actions.
Well, I was reflectin' all right.
I never figured out why Master Splinter needed a mirror. I mean, it's not like he stands in front of it every morning, trying to figure out if his belt matches his robe. But he's had it leaning against his wall for as long as I can remember. We used ta play around in it when we were younger; hopping on one foot and makin' weird faces in it until Sensei kicked us out of his room. Heh, we used ta think it was the greatest thing in the world. …Man, we were stupid.
I watched my gaze narrow in the mirror. It looked pretty intimidatin' to me; Leo had to be really dense not to get that message. I curled my lip up into a snarl and narrowed my eyes until they were dark slits. Oh yeah. Now if that look didn't say back off, nothing did. Relaxing my face, I glanced up at the little clock sitting on Master Splinter's nightstand. I'd only been in here for ten minutes. Great. It'd probably be another hour before Sensei let me out. Sighing, I stretched my legs before tucking them back under me and closing my eyes.
Okay…I don't know what goes on behind Master Splinter eyelids, but I can tell you that there's nothin' even remotely interestin' going on behind mine. I was able to keep my eyes closed for…crap! Only one minute? There's gotta be sumthin' wrong with that clock. It does look pretty ancient. Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick…Aha! The second hand gets stuck right before the six! Geez, I'd probably been in here for an hour already! Stupid clock's supposed ta mess with my mind or sumthin'? Agh…
Sensei's bed, Sensei's wall, Sensei's scrolls that I can't read, Sensei's clock, Sensei's floor…whoa, that's a weird speck a' dirt. Kinda a dark shade of brown with tiny black spots…okay, it's not that interestin'. I stared in the mirror again. I wiggled my toes and the turtle in the mirror wiggled his. Now, I can't really say that this surprised me, but hey, it's more captivating than that speck of dirt on the floor. I used my fingers to pull the sides of my eyes back. Heh, Asian turtle. Still holding my eyelids back, I squashed up my snout with my thumb. Heh heh…Asian hog-nosed turtle. I wonder if there really is such a thing? …Probably. I stuck my tongue out the side of my mouth. I got a long tongue…it's pink too. That's kinda weird. I mean, compared to the rest of me, it's really pink…hmm. Fascinatin'. I made the Asian hog-nosed face again, this time sticking my tongue out as far as I could. I looked…insane. Insane Raphael. Yeah, Raphael finally went insane. That's what ya get fer lockin' him in this stupid room fer who knows how long an-
"Raph?" Leo stood in the doorway. Raphael, momentarily frozen with his fingers holding his eyelids back, his thumb squashing up his nose and his tongue sticking out, suddenly felt something bubbling inside him. The bubbling rose up from his stomach to his head, engulfing his face with heat. It took all of Leo's concentration to keep the corners of his mouth from rising up. The rare sighting of this Insane Asian Red-faced Hog-nosed Turtle was almost too much. When Leo spoke again it was with a higher pitched voice. "Master Splinter says-" He had to take a moment to regain his composure. "Master Splinter says you can come out now." Raphael shoved past Leo and stomped off to his room. A room which, thankfully, had no mirror.
AN- It's good to be back! Finally! I wrote the first half of this about two years ago, and then got stuck. Suddenly, today of all days, inspiration hit me! And I finally get to post this! I MUST celebrate! In the meantime, please read and review!