Raphael snuggles up against Elmira, playing with her hair as she traces the creases of his shell. She goes over every groove and crack, discovering every part of his shell that had been chipped away or damaged. She inspects these cracks with her fingertips, tracing them as delicately as possible. Raph feels her still beside him, still inspecting his shell. He sits up slowly, sitting up straight on his bed so that she can trace the side that was pressed against the bed. She moves her hand to that side, tracing the unfamiliar side of his shell; she moves her fingers just as gently as she did with the opposite side.

"Be careful…" he whispers, looking over his shoulder. He watches as she explores the parts of his shell that had been recently cracked. He sees a speck of red emerge from under her skin, her finger starting to bleed from cutting herself on the jagged edges of the cracks.

"What happened?" he whispers again, turning his body so that he's sitting in front of her.

"I cut my finger," she breathes out, looking down at her cut.

He sits up even straighter as he takes her hand in his, extending her wounded finger. He moves it towards his mouth, puckering his lips so that he can suck on her wound. His actions are gentle and caring, wanting the cut and the slight pain to go away, knowing that it was he who made it happen whether he intended it or not.

He looks at her as he gently takes her finger out of his mouth, "Better?"

"Mmmhmm…" she mumbles, looking at her finger and then up to his mouth, focusing on his lips.

He takes her hand again, moving his mouth close to her cut finger as he quickly kisses the wound before letting go again, "I was supposed to tape it up…my shell…"

She stares at him, waiting for him to explain. He lays back down on his bed, his back to her. She lays down as well, up against him, their heads side-by-side.

"Elmira…"

"Yes?"

"Can you trace my shell again?" he looks over at her, smiling a little.

"Yes," she replies as she sits back up, tracing once again.

He feels her fingers tracing, moving closer upwards to his shoulders. He can feel her fingers tracing the scar shaped as a Japanese character.

"I did that myself you know…" he speaks up, not looking at her.

"Why?"

He sighs slightly before answering after a few seconds, "to remind myself."

"Of what?"

"That I'll always have that chip on my shoulder, that anger…"

She looks at her, saddened by his words and the honesty within them. She waits for him to speak again, not wanting to pry.

"It's easy to forget," he sighs again, "I'd do anything not to be me…"

She speaks up softly, "I love you."

He slowly turns his head to stare at her, remaining silent. She reaches for him, gently cupping his face.

"You might regret saying that," he whispers, looking into her eyes.

"I don't."

He watches her as she reaches behind his head, slowly undoing the knot of his bandana. She pulls it away, taking it off to look at him bare-faced. He lowers his head, not wanting her to see his face unmasked, afraid she might change her feeling towards him. She cups his face a little tighter, more passionately than before. He looks at her again, feeling her fingers spread out to touch the scars over his lips.

"How did you get these?" she asks gently.

"…arguments...it happened a long time ago…"

He watches as her elbows bend, her face moving in closer to his. She keeps tracing, feeling his scars with her gentle hands and he can't help but to look into her eyes, trusting her.

"You gonna kiss me anytime soon or what?" he whispers, cracking a joke as he smiles slightly.

She smiles in return, moving in until she kisses him. He lifts his arm up, his hand cupping her face in return as he kisses her back deeply. He can feel her move closer to him so he puts his arm over her, holding her body against his plastron. She keeps kissing while he feels her hand press against his chest, a signal from her to put his leg over hers. She breaks away for air, their lips still inches apart and it makes him moan against her lips, sending small vibrations. It hungers her, making her want more and so, she kisses him deeply again.