It was just something she used to dream about when she was younger, some stupid fantasy from the little television she was allowed to watch and her own imagination. The stars weren't what she wanted to see, no she knew what they looked like. She'd been to the observatory more than she wanted to remember and the constellations were ingrained in her mind with lines creating figures that didn't make sense and names that could have been children's scrawl for all their creativity.
"No! Why do they do this to us? My achey breaky heart!" Angel reclined in Charlotte's lap, pretending to sob into her stomach like her heart was ripped apart like the one on the screen. Except the one on screen was quite actually ripped apart. "And the fact that none of you have smacked me for that reference tells me..."
Jasmine smacked her butt as she walked by to sit down in one of the chairs, curling my feet underneath her as she grabbed some popcorn off the table. "She's going to live and so are you. I mean, do you see the way that monster looks at her? Going to save her so he can suck the life out of her."
"THAT'S THE HERO! What do you have against him? He loves her to the point of trying to sacrifice himself, throwing himself into the literal flames!" Angel sat up and snagged some popcorn as she glared. "Besides, she's totally going to die. You know movie industries back then hated women."
Jasmine laughed with a bitter taste in her mouth, coating her tongue and forcing her senses to remember. "He's the monster because he's the one abusing her! The Hellhound is totally under his control and he's doing this to her! He knew he was going to survive so he's just manipulating her!"
Charlotte threw popcorn at the screen and started booing, Angel laughed for a good five minutes when in the end of the movie he was dragged to hell and they all cheered. "DOWN WITH THE KING!" She dramatically started bowing and doing the jester dance from the movie. "He was sleezy!" The girls cheered and tried to contain their screaming. "And now he's dead! He was abusive to his girlfriend so we said..."
"OFF WITH HIS HEAD!" They all collapsed on the floor in a fit of giggles, kicking and shoving each other as they all tried to climb to their feet. When the guys came into view with concerned faces, it just made them laugh harder as she did heart hands towards them. "Queen of Hearts..."
Movie night was a thing but when they were out on patrol and Jasmine was left alone to watch, she switched on the romantic ones with that small town couple that goes for car rides for the heck of it and danced in barns. She liked to picture that the sad part would come on and she would feel a kiss on her head, a blanket would be wrapped around her shoulders as he sat next to her to see what was happening. She would try to tell him all about what had happened but he would just sit there and smile, having no idea what she was saying but enjoying the fact that they were there together.
"You know that movie is terribly inaccurate." Donnie grinned as he leaned over the back of the couch, stealing some of her popcorn before turning to the lab. "Not everyone gets to sit in the bed of a truck and look at the stars, most people live in some city that hasn't seen stars in at least a hundred years." His footsteps were disappearing as he went to go on one project or another, just another night in this sewer.
She wasn't aware of what her body was doing as one second she was watching them get over their differences on screen, the next she was pressed against the back of the couch as she yelled for Donnie's attention. "Why don't you prove it?' Jasmine almost pulled back like the words had been pulled from her mouth, but she realized she wanted this. When she saw is face, she beamed. "Show me what it's really like to sit in the back of a truck and look at the stars."
"We don't have a truck, we can't see the stars in New York..." Donnie dragged his hand down to his muzzle, pinching it lightly as he tried to process what she was asking. "You want to go on a road trip to the country, to see the stars?" He turned around to go back to work, this was a waste of his time. "Guess I'll have to get us a truck then."
It took her a second to realize he had just agreed, that he was going to bring her on a road trip to see the stars like in the cheesy romantic comedies she put herself through just to see what she was missing. "Wait, really?" He laughed as she squealed, curling herself tighter into the couch as she finished the movie. "I guess we're getting a truck."
"Donnie, there is literally no point to this. You could get caught, there could be an attack and we'll need you or..." Leo was glaring at her as she filled the bed with blankets and coolers full of food, throwing a couple pillows in there too.
Jasmine just stuck her tongue out like the mature teenager she was. "You have my girls now, take care of them hun. I'm expecting them to be well fed, watered and smiling when I get back. Also, don't let them kill each other." She laughed as the girls protested from their positions on Raph's workbench.
Angel was on the floor with her legs crossed, leaning on one of the legs as she batted a ball between her hands which forced her to squash the impulse to snatch it away. "Have fun on your date, no making little reptiles okay?" She screamed as the screwdriver impaled the wood right above her head. "I was joking!"
"No you weren't. And as long as we're satisfied, you will come home to happy campers." Charlotte wiggled her eyebrows as Raph walked over, lifting her into his arms off her sprawled position over all of his stuff. "Ah, this is more like it. I think I'll stay here a while..." She kissed his cheek as she dropped down, reclining on his chest.
"On second thought, we shouldn't go." Her lip was starting to hurt from how much her teeth were pulling on it, but then Donnie was taking her hands and smiling. He helped her into the passenger seat, leaving Jasmine feeling like she was floating on air. "Bye y'all, please all be here when we get back." She turned herself to the open air as they pulled out of the garage, laughing for no reason whatsoever besides the fact that she felt like it.
Donnie rolled his eyes with a smile as he focused on driving, but his hand found hers on the cup holders. He didn't even hesitate anymore, he did it because he wanted to and that made her smile wider somehow as she watched the city blur around them. This was all she needed, a smile and a guy to hold her hand as they drove away from it all. If that wasn't part of some storyline than the world was doing something wrong. If someone didn't write about how time blurred with the rest of the world but slowed at the same time, if they didn't write about how she didn't even notice when his hand disappeared for a second because the memory of his hand was still warming her palm, than everyone else was missing out on something amazing.
"This is so uncomfortable." She was reclined half on his plastron and half curled up on the blankets beneath them, pouting as she tried to understand how this was supposed to be romantic. This was what she dreamed about when she was younger, some stupid fantasy from the little television she was allowed to watch and her own imagination? It wasn't right, this couldn't be right.
He dragged her out of her thoughts as he poked her side to point out the sun set, laughing as she scrunched her nose. It was just a change of colors, she didn't understand the appeal. "It's supposed to be extremely beautiful."
She just raised her eyebrows at him like that sentence alone made her question his sanity, "If you say but nothing compares to you I will kill you." His laugh echoed into the sudden darkness, bringing her eyes up as she finally noticed the stars had come out to play for them. "That one's..."
"Orion. He was one of Artemis' hunters until she was driven mad with her brother's arrow and killed him. She was so upset that she turned him to stars." Donnie grinned as her face made weird expressions. "I know, the story is a little weird but it's interesting. And then that one's..." The stars weren't what she wanted to see. No, she knew what they looked like. She'd been to the observatory more than she wanted to remember and the constellations were ingrained in her mind with lines creating figures that didn't make sense and names that could have been children's scrawl for all their creativity. But when he said their names it was like reading the tablet under a painting, his voice breathing life into it all as he pointed to the sky, tracing lines that weren't really there until he said so.
Jasmine didn't sit in the bed of a truck in the middle of nowhere on a pile of flannel blankets to keep them warm for the star gazing. No, she could care less about what they looked like and in fact, she ended up closing her eyes to focus on his voice instead. This wasn't her childhood dream, this was so much better.