Friday Night

by Fihuli

If you like Leo and Karai running around like in a chic flick, being careless and slightly idiotic, possibly drunk –heck, quite drunk, then this story might just be for you... (One Shot) won 2nd place for Funniest Comedy in the Universal TMNT Fanfiction Competition 2016

Why does this exist? Its existence is solely because the author has too much time on their hands and thinks their sense of humor is actually funny. Is this out of character? Very. Is it stupid? Pretty much. Is it worth reading? Don't know. If you like Leo and Karai running around like in a chic flick, being careless and slightly idiotic, possibly drunk –heck, quite drunk, then you might just like it…

2012 'verse. Set somewhere in season one or two, probably, but has no relation with any of the episodes.

T rating because a total stranger decided to pop up out of nowhere with a potty-mouth. Also Karai. – One more thing: keep children away because, although my humor is childish, it's not fit for actual children.

Warning: Intoxicated teens; mild swearing; bad puns; my limited knowledge on everything American and social; (not a real warning but) English isn't my first language so expect cringy grammar mistakes and typos as well. My friend Beta read it for me but, you know, we are all human.

---

Leonardo ran across the roofs through a cold, unusually silent, still New-York-City silent, dusk. The air felt heavy and thick in his lungs and he couldn't force himself not to pant when he came to a full stop at an end of a bare rooftop.

He pressed his cold palms over his warm and tired thighs as he peered over the edge of the building, down into the unlit alley beneath him. His eyes caught nothing but the familiar shapes of dumpsters and trash in the black darkness caused by the tall buildings built too tightly next to each other. He wanted to sigh in thwarted expectation but breathed out another raspy and heavy breath already regretting he ran as fast as he did.

Inhaling another fresh lungful, he turned to descend down the closest fire-escape.

Why am I even here? He asked himself and the same moment regretted he even did. His frown deepened as he dropped himself the last few feet onto the ground in the narrow alley. He quickly moved with his shell to the wall in a crouch stance, prepared to react to any kind of movement.

Gravel and bits of shattered bottles dug into his soles but his skin was too thick from walking barefoot all his life to even bother, even less hurt him. The only thing the shards did was make a small sound against the gravel under his feet.

After a long moment of nothing but a muffled, distant sound of an ambulance truck siren occupying his ears, he straightened up and moved forward down the dark alley.

Where are you? He dragged the question out in an unintelligible grunted whisper.

Carefully he walked around the dumpster fully stacked with garbage bags. The moment his foot stepped around it, a giant rat jumped in front of him and squealed in fright.

"Ahh!" Leo jumped back as the rodent scared and threw him off balance before it scampered down through the alley.

That thing was huge, Leo thought as he regained his posture, glad his brothers weren't around to see his little freak-out. His mind wondered to a certain much bigger and taller rat at home and he couldn't help but let out a small laugh. Sorry, Splinter, still love you.

Caught in his own thoughts he didn't notice the glistering sword coming from the darkness behind him until it was pressed firmly against his exposed neck. His eyes widened and his heartbeat accelerated so much it could almost compete with the alley rat's humming one. He panicked but stayed completely still, staring ahead, waiting.

The hold on the sharp blade shifted as the one behind him moved forward. He felt a warm breath on neck and side of his jaw. He stiffened even more than he already was.

"What was so funny, Leonardo?"

Karai. There you are.

"Was it your terrified squeal? Because then I must agree, that was priceless."

She released the tight hold on Leo and turned him around by the shoulder in one swift move.

Leo's eyes fell on the tall figure that proudly stood before him.

He waited for her to make a remark on how he's not aware of his surroundings, enough, or how she could have killed him in a second if she wasn't feeling merciful.

But she didn't. She was smiling. If he didn't know her better, he'd think that the red lips curled and stretched into a smirk and brows low over her scowling dark eyes were of sinister intention rather than a friendly gesture. Well, in a way Karai's intentions were often pretty sinister but not now; not here; not with Leo. Something in Leo's churning gut made him believe that.

"Why did you call me, Karai? What's so important?"

She turned her weight from one leg to the other, dropped her gaze from Leo to seethe her tanto into the scabbard around her waist as if she had all the time in the world.

"I'm bored," she finally declared.

"Huh?" Leo wasn't sure if he heard her right. He should ask Donnie to check his ears for possible auditory hallucinations of stupid answers.

"Let's go have fun." There was a gleam in her eye that could only tell she had some, probably unpleasant, intentions.

"Are you telling me I ran all this way because you're bored?"

"Don't whine, Leo. Prove you're not a complete stick in the mud and go out with me."

Leo's patience would have worn thin then and there; he nearly went into his lecture mode that he had reserved for his brothers, but his attention was caught on Karai's last four words. He was sure she didn't mean it like that but a lump formed in his throat just from the thought. He could hardly believe how far gone he was with what he had first described to himself as a "harmless crush, nothing more."

Karai caught the slight change in Leo's expression and posture. Knowing the turtle all too well she made her move and stepped forward, stopping only a few inches from him. She rolled her tongue in her mouth, adapting her calm, controlled, almost sincere voice she loved using against him.

"Don't you want to spend some time with me? –Just the two of us? Like … a date!" she said the last word as if it just crossed her mind in the most innocent way.

She casually stepped back and watched her work unfold before her eyes.

Leonardo's face paled then flushed bright red right after, his eyes were wide as a little kid's. He looked at Karai's smiling face not knowing what to make of it. Date? Nice one, Karai. I'm not buying. Stop joking. That's what you're doing. – Right? – Why couldn't they just spar, have a few laughs and then go home? He liked the old routine a lot more than this new one. It didn't turn him into an awkward dork so much.

"Uhh…" he gulped.

He hated Karai. She knew exactly what she was doing to him.

"I … I should go home." He made a slow step back with the intention to get back onto the fire-escape, only to notice it behind Karai. Right…

The girl watched Leo's eyes linger on the fire-escape stairway behind her so she made an extra step between them just to let him know she won't get out of his way easily.

"Sensei and the guys are going to worry if I don't come home soon. I said I was just going for a run."

"Well, tell them you're tired and far from home so you're squatting at some abandoned building until morning, or sleeping in some garbage, or whatever you mutants do," Karai explained in her subconscious spitefulness, that Leo was already used to by that point, as if it were the most obvious and mundane thing to do.

"What? I can't lie to them."

"You already did."

"That's not the same!"

"How?" she deadpanned. She was growing tired of the turtle's resistance despite how adorable he was pouting and fumbling with his words.

"It … It-it just isn't!"

His outburst reminded Karai of a small toddler that lost his patience with an adult's reasoning. She couldn't help but smirk. But time was passing fast and she needed to make the most of it. She had a free night and those were precious to any rebellious teen. – The turtle was nearing a possible tantrum so this was the best time to act. She moved quickly and before Leo could blink his carapace was pressed against a brick wall, Karai's forearm on his chest and her tanto yet again at his throat.

"Are you going with me or not?" Karai scowled at him, suddenly dead serious and threatening.

Leo was used to her frequent game changes and frowned. "This is not how you handle friends, Karai."

"Oh yeah?" Karai leaned uncomfortably close to Leo's face, a teasing smirk again on her red lips. – The scowl came back the next second and suddenly she pushed away letting go of the hold. "Then I guess we're not friends," she spat the words like a viper. She turned to leave the bewildered turtle behind. "Goodbye, Leonardo." His name was all twisted and wrong on her tongue when she spoke it.

Leo wanted to be relieved he could finally leave without fighting but he knew leaving would make things worse. Karai can hold a grudge for basically anything just like the Shredder. If he left, she might not forgive. He counted himself lucky she forgave him for attacking Shredder that time on the docks. He was sure she wouldn't forgive a second time. And he didn't want that. He liked her company, despite her moody, rough edge, flamboyant yet serious and sly personality, despite the fact she was from the Foot and even despite his unmistakable crush he had. She was fun to hang with. She never expected anything from him except to fight back when she wanted to swordfight and to sometimes listen when she rambled about random events in her life. That he could manage. This? This he wasn't expecting. He-he didn't, couldn't do that. Go that far. What does she even consider as fun? Wasn't them hanging out on the rooftops fun? He couldn't just walk around the city with her. He was a mutant, a freak, and her enemy.

"Wait!"

Despite all the trouble; the already big chaos in his life there was still an accelerated beating in his heart whenever she was around that always won over.

Karai faltered her step but didn't turn around. Gotcha, she thought.

"Look, I'll go, just, I … I have to get home before everyone wakes up and realizes I was out all night. I'll just tell them I lost track of time so I came home later at night. It wouldn't be the first time for any of us"-

Karai already turned in the middle of his rambling, hiding her victory I-get-what-I-want smile as she approached the boy. She stopped in front of Leo and looked straight into his eyes; her firey eyes drilling into his deep blue ones.

"Don't worry you won't regret anything; I'll take good care of you and make sure our big boy's all well and happy when he comes home."

"Very funny, ha ha," Leo rolled his eyes, "Don't make me change my mind."

"No take backs. That's the golden rule," Karai smiled at him again, it was a nice, sincere smile. Leo could clearly see she didn't have anything bad planned, no traps set for him. It'll be just the two of us, he said to himself.

"Okay, this one time I'll go along with whatever you've got planned," he sighed out.

"Is that a promise?"

"… Fine. I promise," he spoke after a moment of thoughtful silence and cursing his weak mind.

I hope I know what I'm doing… The turtle was lost in his thoughts for a moment before Karai snapped him out. She grabbed his wide wrist with her small but strong fingers.

"C'mon!" she tugged him enough to inform him to follow before letting go and grabbing the edge of the fire-escape. She lifted herself up and before Leo could even tail her she already disappeared over the building's top.

She was waiting for him with a tapping foot when he hopped on the roof but didn't stay long as she jumped over to the next one.

They broke down into an easy run and Leo's heart accelerated into a fast rhythm of excited beats. Yet he couldn't help but worry about Karai's recklessness and ask after a while,

"Where are we even going?"

"It's a surprise!" the girl grinned despite her heaving chest, "But first we have to stop to change."

Okay, seems reasonable. She's just going to change from her ninja gear to something more, uhm, casual…

"Wait!" Leo suddenly stopped; if his heels were rubber, he's make tire tracks.

"What?" the kunoichi asked stopping a few feet ahead.

"Where are you changing?" Leo asked carefully, putting extra emphasis on the "where."

"At home," of course…

"In the Foot headquarters?" Leo's voice rose, already knowing her answer. They were close to the base anyway. He was surprised he didn't realize it sooner. Idiot!

"Yes." Karai knew what bothered the ninja but she didn't consider it a big problem herself. She liked living dangerously and carefree. Where's the fun if there aren't any risks?

"I can't go there!"

"Why not?" She didn't need to ask but she enjoyed watching the turtle huff and puff.

"I'll get killed, that's why!"

Karai stared into the distance like she was looking at an invisible audience, rolled her eyes so hard they hurt then walked up to Leonardo.

"I promised I won't let anything bad happen to you. Besides it's a Friday night; the only ones guarding the entrance are Footbots, and no matter how smart Beckman says they are they're still just stupid robots."

"Yeah, I think I rather not risk it," Leo crossed his arms, not liking her plan one bit, "I'll just stay outside and wait for you to get back."

"That's not doable."

"Why not?" This time it was Leo's turn to ask.

"You have to change too, don't you?" It was more of a statement than a question but it left Leo without an answer anyway.

"Wha? Why?"

"Stop it," Karai snapped and sighed. "You're not in position to ask questions. Let's just go."

"And what position is that?"

The authoritative one, Karai thought but passed the chance to say it out loud. This wasn't a good time to get under the kid's skin. "Leo," she gazed into his blue eyes with her flaming amber ones, "no one, but us, will know you were inside. I know that building like the back of my hand; I'll get us in and out without a problem."

Leo considered her words – Why did he even need to consider this? It was stupid. – but Karai didn't give him enough time to decide. Grabbing his hand once more she dragged him along. What am I getting myself into, Leo asked himself as he let her walk him around like a pup. He thought of just running away the same way the rat in the alley did, screaming and scampering from the dangerous predator. It's time to swallow the pride, Leo, and do what you must. – The running thought was cut short as they stopped in the small alley across from the old headquarters. When did we get down from the roofs?

"Now what?" Leo questioned as he cautiously eyed the two Footbots at the front door from the safety of the dark alley.

"Now," Karai muttered as she started untying the purple fabric around her waist. –"Hold this," she pushed the seethed tanto and silver brooch that held together her belt into Leo's arms without looking at him. She unfolded the purple cloth that spread out into a giant drape before Leo; much larger than he originally thought it was. Karai tossed it over Leonardo's head and it covered his entire body down to the middle of his calves.

"Now we go Trick-or-Treating?" Leo deadpanned, standing still, holding Karai's gear and looking through the thin fabric at the kunoichi who was looking at her cunning work. She ignored his comment and placed her hands on her hips in satisfaction.

"This should do. – Let's go."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

Okay then… Leo pressed his lips together not knowing what to make of all this.

They were already half across the empty street when he hesitated yet again. He wasn't ready to die yet. And he still wasn't sure why he was even going along with Karai in the first place.

"Karai, how safe is this?" He really didn't want to hear the answer but he needed to ask.

So-so the girl gestured with the hand that didn't hold onto Leo's upper arm, her mouth stretched so far apart her lips were almost invisible; a face of someone saying: Oh well, what can you do?

Leo's eyes widened. Goodbye world, it was nice knowing you. Splinter, you can have my swords and bandana. Mikey, you can have all my Space Heroes comics, action figures and videotapes. Donnie, I leave you all my sci-fi books and all my handwritten and rehearsed speeches. Raph, … I don't know what to give you that you'd appreciate but I love you, man. Sayonara!-

Karai tightened her grip on his bicep. "Stop being delusional," she hissed. "I said I'll get you in and out but I need you to cooperate here."

Leonardo sobered up when they ascended up the stairs. The two ninja robots beeped and moved in their unnatural way when they spotted the two, or rather one.

"What are you two looking at? Yes, I have a giant sack. They're in this fall. The bigger the better."-

The two Footbots stared at Karai as she blabbed her way in without stopping and Leo silently wobbled behind her like a duckling. Karai noticed one of the robots staring at Leo's exposed feet and calves.

"Mechanical legs are the new wheels. Get with the times." She gave them a nasty look before disappearing behind the front door and turning back to the purple drape. She didn't need to be psychic to know Leo was staring at her with his jaw dropped as low as it could go.

"What?"

"I didn't say anything," he squealed.

Karai smirked then turned ahead, again focused on the task at hand, "Do you trust me?"

"I'm not sure but I've come this far. Why not…"

"Good enough," Karai smiled. She reached under the fabric, lifting her hands up to Leonardo's face and making sure the cloth doesn't slip off in the meantime.

Leo stood still as he watched her.

She gently touched his head between her hands, which made Leo's cheeks heat up – before roughly grabbing his bandana. She rotated it to the side so the boy was blindfolded with it.

Not being able to see where I step in enemy territory. Great!

"Err…"

"Yes, it's necessary," she said before he'd start spamming her with another round of WH questions.

"I don't like this," Leo kept mumbling almost every step as she dragged him around. They kept walking through a maze of doors and stairs until finally they stopped.

"We're here."

By that time Leo wasn't sure if she meant her room or the dungeon. He awkwardly stood in place, not really knowing what to do.

"That means you can take this off, you dork," Karai pulled the thin fabric off of Leo; it ran over his skin before falling to the floor. The new wave of chill air sent a shiver through the coldblooded turtle.

He readjusted his bandana while still holding the tanto and brooch in his chubby fingers.

"Let me take that." Karai took the two objects from Leo's hands and set them down on top of a nearby drawer.

Leo's eyes darted around. Holy crap! He really was in Karai's bedroom!

There wasn't anything extremely special about it. It seemed pretty dull in comparison with his and his brothers.' Even April's had a bunch of plushies and posters over the walls. Still he was in Karai's room! How cool!

Her room had light walls and modern dark brown furniture, a window barred against intruders and a simple bed with emerald sheets. Her bed was in a corner and above it on the wall in a simplistic frame that matched the furniture was a shodo painting. Leo stared at the symbol not knowing what was written but wondering if Karai made it. It looked very familiar but it wasn't like Japanese symbols all looked completely diverse to him.

Karai caught him staring at the picture. "Can you read Japanese?" she asked almost warily.

"I wish. I dropped it early." Leo coughed," Right after Splinter explained there's more than one alphabet."

Karai snorted.

The silence between them stretched into one most teens faced when they invited over a new friend and they ended up just standing in the room not knowing what to do because until then there was only one conversation they could hold with them. Leo looked at Karai and his face felt hot and embarrassed for no good reason. What are we even doing? He turned his head around making is seem as if he's still casually checking out the place. He had to bite his tongue not to starts whistling or mentioning the weather.

"Well I should get dressed," Karai finally spoke up.

"Yes," Leo responded a bit too loudly. His eyes were wide and he forced a cough. "I'll turn around."

He started to do it when Karai laughed, "You dork, relax I don't bite." She had second thoughts about what she said and felt the need to add, "yet. – I'll change in the bathroom."

She picked up a small pile of neatly stacked clothes from top of a drawer and threw them Leo's way who easily caught them in his arms.

"Here. Put these on."

She left him alone in the room as she disappeared through a door on the other side that led to her small personal bathroom. It happened before Leo could even come back from his confused state and look at what she threw at him. He unfolded the clothes before him to reveal an extra-large gray hooded sweatshirt. The other piece fell to the floor and when he picked it up he stared at a big pair of red and white basketball shorts.

He sighed. Seriously?

Despite his voice telling him there's some boundaries that he just shouldn't cross, he found himself swallowing his pride and pulling off his gear with the intention to dress in the clothes.

Of course he put the hoodie on backwards on first try. The hood was under his chin and before pulling it back off he thought he should show Mikey that by using this technique he could just place his popcorn bowl in the hood before his face and eat straight out of it, so his hands could hold other snacks during movie night. Leo chuckled at his own hilarious mind while pulling the sweatshirt back on, this time correctly.

He had more problems with the basketball shorts. He struggled to push his big feet through the stretched out holes but eventually, after he fell a couple of times and decided sitting on the bed was safer, he managed to get the shorts on. Naturally, he first put those on backwards too. But even then, when he turned them around after another minute of struggling with his feet, there was a problem. They were either stretched across his shell which made it look more stupid than it had to be and were on the brink of ripping – or they were around the top of his thighs just under his shell which annoyed him and forced him to walk awkwardly so they didn't slide further down.

The struggle of not having a butt is real, he mumbled to himself not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Are you done?"

Leo screamed louder and jumped higher than he knew he could. After his little, or rather big, freak-out he pressed his hands to his mouth praying no one outside the room heard him. He looked at Karai who was standing across the room staring at him with an amused look plastered on her face.

"How long were you standing there?" he asked. But right after his attention turned to something else….

"Not long enough," she smirked.

Leo didn't hear her answer as he stared. He's never seen Karai out of her regular ninja gear. She stood in the room in black denim pants that nicely shaped her long legs much like her leggings. Above she wore a simple dark red crop top and nothing more. There was a lot of exposed skin and Leo's stomach did a flip before reason, and mother hen senses, washed over. – It's cold outside, chilly at best. She'll get sick!

"You're wearing just this?" he blurted out without even knowing what he sounded like.

"You have no right to judge my choice of clothing, Leo," Karai replied gruffly then her mouth stretched into a smirk. "I'm not the one running around the city naked, wearing only tight leather straps."

Leo's face flushed and his cheeks glowed bright red against his green skin. Did it suddenly get unbearably hot in the room?

"That's not,"- he stopped himself as he looked at Karai's cocky face and knew she knew what he was going to say. It's like the kunoichi owned a FastPass for under his skin.

"You know forget it it's not like I care if you catch a cold. Wear what you want."

"Oh, so that's what it's about. Don't worry I'll wear a jacket. – And I thought you just didn't want to see others staring at my stomach and butt," she stressed the last words strongly enough to made Leo stare. "But now I see you're just an overly worried grandma."

Leo would have spit his drink if he had one, and thankfully his mouth didn't hold enough saliva to do it anyway.

"You're insane, Karai! And what's all this," he flapped his arms under the gray sweatshirt, "about? You still haven't told me where we're going."

"Shh…" Karai pressed a finger to her lips. "It's a surprise, remember? – C'mere," she gestured him to come closer with the same finger as she turned and walked back into the bathroom.

Leo grunted, suddenly feeling tired and drowsy, he was nervous and the realization that he was hanging around in the Foot headquarters was still slowly dawning on him. A wave of unexpected homesickness hit him. Still he followed Karai into the bathroom.

Unlike her room this place was a mess. There were shampoo and other bottles lying all over the tub and the shelves around the sink were completely filled with different products. Leo recognized some as makeup and other's as skin creams but most were a mystery. There were towels draped over everything that wasn't stacked with products. The hairdryer hung directly from the electrical socket right at the door just like a hanged bandit at the entrance of a town in the middle ages. Spooky…

"Sit here," Karai ordered him to the small three-legged stool in front of the sink and mirror.

Leo rubbed his eye but didn't question and plopped down on the tiny stool. It was when Karai started to thoughtfully pick up random objects from her stack, alerts went off in his mind.

"You're not thinking of putting makeup on me, are you?" he eyed the girl stretching over the wide shelf to reach something from the far corner.

"What gave you that idea?"

Leo couldn't see her face as she read a label turned to the side but he calmed down at her response. He had already thought he was going to become someone's test doll.

"Thank God. I already thought"-

"Oh no – you thought right," Karai grinned down at him, her eyes as bright as of an evil cat.

"What?" Leo jumped in his seat.

"Relax," she soothed and stepped behind him. "It's not like I'm going to give you my look or anything." Placing her palms on his tense shoulders they both stared ahead at the mirror. Leo couldn't help but gulp.

After a moment of intense silence; Leo staring at her with something of bewildered confusion and pleading to leave him at peace; Karai looking down at him with an unbreakable hawk stare and wide sinister smile. Why did he promise to go along with her ideas? Why?

"Okay then," Karai unexpectedly turned Leo to the side and sat down on the bathtub rim before him. She grabbed a towel and wetted it under the bath's faucet.

She took a hold of Leo's bandana with her other hand already trying to yank it off when Leo held it still with both hands on the sides of his head.

"Do you gotta?" he almost whined like a kid.

Karai nodded and after half a minute he slowly let his hands down. She carefully pulled his bandana off and her eyes darted around his face. Her face being so close to his was making Leonardo very uncomfortable. He didn't know whether to look back at her or look away. He was waiting for her to start whatever it was that came first but she just stared at his features. Her eyes were bigger than he's seen them.

"What?"

"Huh?" Karai blinked.

Was she distracted? Leo thought. That's a first. Karai was always the sassy woman in control not the big-eyed, gaping girl. But he knew what she was staring at. -His weird turtle mug from up close.

"What's the purpose of this?"

"Making you less"-

"Of a freak?" he interrupted.

-"green. Don't say that, Leo." Karai's face grew solemn at Leo's comment almost like it triggered something.

She squeezed the wet towel above the bath before bringing it to Leo's bare face. He wrinkeled his snout as the warm, wet cloth rubbed against his cheeks. Karai carefully cleaned his face and uncomfortable sense of calmness washed over him. He closed his eyes when she wiped around them and he didn't open them for a while after. – He was bothered by his own actions. Extremely. Why did he let her do this? He should had fought her off in that alley and just gone home. She was only making fun of him and he was going along with it like a mindless pet.

The towel left his neck and the warmness with it.

"You can always say no," Karai spoke watching the wrinkled bridge of his snout.

"It's okay…"

"It obviously isn't," she glared.

"I'm fine, Karai," Leo looked to the side, frowning. "Do what you want with me! I promised anyway," he mumbled the last sentence.

Karai's eye twitched and something she usually had control over snapped.

"You're acting like a little child again! A snotty toddler! What's wrong with you?" she burst, "Do you think your perfect ninja oh-great-leader image is going to get ruined because of this? No one will ever know and no one will care. And stop feeling sorry for yourself and calling yourself a freak , you milquetoast. You obviously don't know what a freak is; the world's crawling with them but you're not one of them. Even I'm closer to one than you and I don't call myself that. Stop being hard on yourself, relax and forget all your freaking worries for a change. You think I don't have problems and aren't risking anything? I am! If father finds out you're here I'm as dead as you. But I don't care. I'm not doing this to worry about failing and all the consequences that follow, I'm doing it because it's fun and for the sheer laugh of it and also because I obviously want to spend some time with you. I haven't seen you smile not even once since the night has started. If you want to go home so bad just look me in the eyes and say so. Stop grunting, whining and frowning; pretending like I don't notice!" Karai was almost breathless when she finished her rant. She took a deep breath and leaned back away from Leonardo.

Leo was left with no words. He felt like a scolded child she accused him of being. He shifted in his seat feeling the girl's glare on him. He didn't expect this reaction. He's never heard Karai yell from utter frustration. He was embarrassed. Different kind of embarrassed than before. He didn't even have the guts to look at her.

Leo heard Karai sigh loudly and lean closer again.

"Look, I'm sorry, Leo. I wanted this to be fun but it clearly isn't. I'll get you out then you can go home."

"I don't want to go home," Leo uttered before he even realized he moved his lips. There was something thick on the tip of his tongue, stuck there and making it hard to swallow. He didn't know how to verbalize it. When it came to apologies he could be as bad as Raph.

"I'm the one who should be sorry," he eventually spoke. "I like hanging out with you, Karai. I'm just not used to all this. If I don't count April you're the only human friend I have. And you are so unlike her it's basically a whole new world for me. And I've never "gone out" like you call it and I just don't know how to normally respond to anything you find so ordinary. And it makes me nervous."

Karai listened to him carefully. She understood Leo and his family were outcasts but it never crossed her mind this also limited their knowledge in social skills and any kind of everyday activity. She suddenly felt bad for the turtle and that he felt bad for just being someone he couldn't help himself being.

"I'll break the I'm-sorry chain, even though you deserve to hear it again: I'm sorry. – But how about we start everything over? What do you want to do?" she offered to do things his way if it'll make him more comfortable.

Leo smiled at her. A sincere smile and it made Karai's toothy grin that much wider.

"Yeah, I'd like that. But let's keep you in charge of the ideas. I'm still pretty green in that field."

"Ha!" Karai laughed at his witty pun. "I hope you do realize my idea still consists of putting makeup on you?"

"Fine, then. If this is something normal people do" – Leo agreed with his friend. They've both gone off on a bad start. Karai was too unyielding, wanted for everything to go how she planned, and Leo was too anxious, too uptight; a real stick in the mud. It was time for him to relax. Even if it will be hard at first.

"It really isn't… -but it's not like any of us is normal. Don't worry you'll see why it shouldn't be skipped." She winked as she picked up the wet towel from the tub and rubbed it over Leo's hands.

"There too?"

"Unless you prefer to walk around with green fingers?"

"I like my fingers green but I'll succumb to the world's beauty standards this once. – What about my legs?"

"We'll deal with them later."

Karai was glad Leo seemed to slightly ease and let loose. Shouting does wonders, she thought jokingly with a hint of seriousness.

Dropping the towel back into the tub Leo watched Karai lean over and grab a small tube from by the sink. She checked the label quickly just to see she didn't mistake it with another and then squeezed the content onto the back of her palm. Leo intensely looked at the sticky light brown cream as Karai tapped it with her finger and brought it to his face.

"It's cold," is all Leo stated as she started applying it in different spots all over his face.

"You get used to it," Karai simply answered, putting more of her attention to the task at hand.

Leo took advantage of the moment Karai reapplied the cream to her hand, to look at the mirror on his side. "I don't think I want to get used to it." His face was completely covered in sandy brown spots and strokes.

"So," he turned back to her, "Is that powder?"

"No, I'm applying concealer first," Karai explained. Leo stared at her as she started spotting his jawline and neck. She looked completely focused but in a different way than when they spared. It was cute and Leo couldn't help but blush.

"What's that for?" he asked from plain curiosity having no idea what the purpose of it was, and to distract himself from wherever his mind could wander off to.

"It's for evening out uneven skin tones."

"I don't know how you're going to achieve that with my green skin and," he picked up the small tube she had placed back by the sink, "err… Skinblend X: Smooth Creamy Beige Summer Glow Concealer? … What kind of name?" Leo quickly put the tube back before his eyes could read the terrible name a second time.

"Don't question, this is expensive makeup and I'm using a lot of it right now. You should be grateful," Karai snapped but it was friendly and far from mean.

She started smearing the long named concealer over Leo's face after she applied it to his hands as well, and was happy to see it was starting to cover his green skin. Leo enjoyed watching her excited smile and feeling her soft hands against his cheeks. It oddly reminded him of nuzzling with his brothers on cold nights when they were little.

"Oh wow, what have I done?" Karai suddenly backed away. Leo blinked then looked at the mirror. If it were possible the mirror would have shattered from the terrifying reflection. He stared at himself completely pale and pinkish; almost human colored, and it looked so awfully bad on his differently shaped face. Yikes!

"This is not my color," was all he managed out his throat which was fighting off an attack of wild chokes and wheezes.

"Maybe it'll be better when I apply the foundation," Karai tried to sound hopeful as she stared at his pinkish pistachio ice cream skin. "Who am I kidding? You're already ready to take a role as a new creepy-pasta character."

"You keep telling yourself that. In a couple of years you'll see me on the cover of Vogue as Magnificent Mutant™ and you'll wish you had been nicer to me."

Karai couldn't help but snort while she grabbed Leo's hands and smeared the concealer there too.

"Okay, that's done. Now the"-

"Powder?"

"Yes." Karai grabbed a small, wide jar and a gigantic fluffy brush. She popped off the top, looked at the tone of the content, "It should do," and lightly rubbed the brush over it.

Leo sneezed the first time the brush touched his snout.

"Try not to get snot on my brush. Thank you."

"Has my life turned into a chic flick yet?" Leo sniffled and looked at the mirror to remind himself what Karai has done to him.

"Shut up and hold still," Karai grinned, turned his head around and attacked him with the brush once again. "Close your eyes."

Leo could do nothing but sit still as he got itched all over with the brush. After a moment he mumbled, "This is seriously unpleasant."

"Behind everything beautiful, there has been some kind of pain."

"Thank you for these encouraging words, Karai, really," he deadpanned. He looked at the mirror again wondering if this image will haunt him forever. – "You know what I look like right now? Like when you put a skin of one videogame character on a completely different videogame character, and you get a monstrosity. – Or, no, wait. I look like a very plain, white character from Tomodachi Life."-

Suddenly a familiar ringtone crossed both of the teens' ears. Their eyes grew into wide saucers as they looked through the door at the bed where Leo's gear lied.

Crap!

Leo ran to his pile of "sexy leather straps" as Karai called them, and retrieved his T-Phone.

"Who is it?" Karai asked from behind him.

"Donnie! What do I do? What do I do?" Leo looked at the other with eyes full of fear which looked terrifying with the pale makeup and didn't have the pitiful effect on Karai.

"First calm down. – Just tell him you're jogging."

"I suck at lying!"

"You already lied to them you went for a run!"

"I know! I know! –Yeah, you're right. I can do this." Leo took two quick exhales before answering the call in unnatural speed. "Hey, Donnie, What's up -down … in the lair?"

Karai face palmed.

*Thank God, Leo, I thought you weren't going to answer. Where are you? It's half past midnight already. Sensei's gone to bed and we're starting to worry.*

"You know me I just love running. Don't wait for me I'll be late. I lost track of time a bit. Ha ha!"

*Mhm … Okay, very well then. Just wanted to see you're still whole. Have fun you two. See you tomorrow.*

Don ended the call as Leo unmovingly stared into the distance. Slowly he brought the phone from his ear and turned off the screen without losing the staring contest with the distance.

"What'd he say?"

"Uhm. Ahem. He said to have fun – both of us," Leo spoke calmly but it seemed more like his soul left his body than a state of calmness.

"I see"- Karai didn't know what else to say.

Leo's phone came back to life the next moment, with another caller; Raph.

"Raph?" Leo answered carefully.

*Leo, what the hell! Come home right now! Since when's Karai your girlfriend?!* a very heated Raph screamed into Leo's ear so loudly even Karai could hear him as clear as day.

"Raph, whatever Donnie told you is"-

Karai pulled the phone from the turtle's grasp before he could finish.

"Hello, this is Leonardo's girlfriend and current supervisor."

Leo gaped at her as she crossed the room with the T-Phone by her ear. Is she trying to ruin everything?

*Karai?!*

"That's what many call me. – Leonardo can't speak right now he's too busy qualifying for the next creepy-pasta." She canceled the call but not before they both heard Raph's angry shouts from the other line.

Turning to Leo she handed him back his phone. "I suggest you put it on silent."

Leo hesitantly took the device from her with shaking fingers.

"Are you trying to get us killed? Why'd you tell him that?"

"No. – Look he'll think it's just a joke which makes it even funnier because it's actually half true."

"Sometimes I just want to punch you," Leo said jokingly as his common sense tried to talk his hysterical enamored side into believing that by "half true" Karai meant the creepypasta part and not the girlfriend part.

"Tell me something I don't know." Karai winked.

"I'll try to think of something," Leo smiled already forgetting his heart was ringing somewhere in his ears only seconds ago.

Without needing to exchange words they sat back down in the bathroom.

"How much more of this? Donnie's right, it's pretty late."

"I'm pretty much done. It's not like I can work wonders on your face. Just need to add eyeliner."

"Can't that be avoided?"

Karai grabbed one short, used penciled eyeliner from her cupped collection. "I'm not going to outline your eyes," she snorted.

Without any warning she sandwiched his face between her left hand's fingers and thumb. Leo silently watched her as she started … drawing somewhere above his eye?

"What're you doing?"

"Giving you eyebrows."

Leo pulled away, trying to look at the mirror but Karai pulled his face back to her before he could get a glance.

"Patience."

She drew the other brow and when Leo thought it was over she made a quick loopy stroke over his snout too. He finally had the honor to look at her creation. She drew two bushy eyebrows on his forehead and an ugly squiggly nose that would have looked better if Karai gave the pencil to a toddler.

"Impressive. Must say."

Leo was so concentrated on keeping in his laugh he didn't even realize she was now drawing over his fingers too. He looked down only to see her draw two smaller fingers on each of his four big ones.

"It's like it were real! You even added black nail polish!" Leo gasped sarcastically as he held up his new fingers that were surprisingly messily done considering Karai's eyeliner was always on point. "But seriously; is this really necessary?"

"No. But it's hilarious!"

"You're worse than Raph."

"That," she remembered what Leo said before, "I did not already know."

They both stared at Leo's reflection for a while.

"It still needs something." Karai declared. She might as well stare at a horizontally egg-headed Voldemort with Wario's moustache as eyebrows and it wouldn't make much of a difference.

"Yeah, but what?"

"Tie your bandana back on. Maybe it'll look better."

Leo did as she suggested and it did take away some of the, uh, freakiness.

"There's still something…" Karai tapped her chin as she looked around the bathroom for anything that would give her any ideas.

In the meantime Leo continued checking out his splotchy skin. I'm either Miss Piggy pink or… pistachio ice cream green, he thought as he looked at the smudges where the makeup didn't stick well and tried to smear it around to make it better. Which only did damage.

"Hey, what about the back of my head?" Leo jumped suddenly realizing he was covered with makeup only over his face.

"That's where the hood plays its part," Karai said as she stood up to go grab something.

"Oh yeah, right." He turned back to the mirror.

Karai returned with a pair of big sunglasses and the intention to stick them on Leonardo's head. After a little struggle – because Leo's head is unusually wide plus he has no auricles, they managed to stay in place. Leo looked at Karai funny. He couldn't even see her clearly because the sides of the frames and hinges were right in front of his eyes. The glasses were far too small.

"You know I can't wear glasses. I can't see. My eyes"-

"Why?"

"My eyes, they're too far apart."

"Oh! – We can take care of that," Karai smiled. She took the glasses from him and without a second thought broke them into two. Leo watched her pull open a drawer by the sink and after some searching retrieved a roll of duct tape. Leo pretended he didn't wonder why she had it hidden in her drawer and proceeded to watch her at work. She placed the glasses onto her lap and taped them back together this time the lenses further apart.

"Ah, yes, glasses with tape," Leo nodded as Karai pushed them back onto his snout with much more ease than the first time. "I have achieved a new level of nerd. – Call me … Dexter! … No, wait! – Donatello."

"You already have a nerdy name, Leonardo." Karai pulled over his hood and patted his head. "All done."

"Awesome!" Leo stood up from the stool and stretched in the oversized yet tight hoodie. "I'm assuming we're either going to a science fair or a rap battle but I don't know which is worse."

When he turned around something sprayed his face and the strong smell went straight into his sensitive nostrils like acid. The scent was sweet, flowery. Is that perfume? He coughed and tried to wipe his face when Karai sprayed his hands too.

"Dude!" Leo tried to stop her.

"Sorry, I didn't know you preferred Dolce & TheSewer."

"You're terrible." He rubbed his snout with his sleeve.

"Don't do that! You'll smear away your makeup."

"It's a little late for that," Leo looked at his pinkish sleeve.

"It's still fairly fine. Just don't make it a habit."

"Yes, ma'am."

Karai paced to her room and opened up a wardrobe pulling out her leather jacket.

"Are we leaving?" Leo asked from the door as she put it on.

"Is it this obvious?"

Leo wasn't really sure how to answer. "Yes …?"

"Then yes," Karai swaggered as she threw her purple drape back at his head.

"Oh yeah." Leo took the drape into his hands before carefully pulling it over himself. "I forgot I have to turn into Ghostatello again."

So the duo pulled another wacky episode to get out of the headquarters. This time Leo was more familiar with Karai's tactic and shuffled his way out the front door on his own as a purple remote-controlled fashion sack that talks to their owner in simple banter. – The Footbots didn't suspect a thing.

When on the street Leo started moving towards the alley to get on the roofs without really paying any mind to anything; it's where he'd usually go to get out of sight. –Today wasn't a usual night though…

"A-a-ah." Karai locked his arm with hers and kept them on course on the sidewalk.

The sudden change in direction set off alarms in Leonardo's confused and shaken head. His pace skipped a few steps as he tried to keep up with Karai who was pulling him along with her confident walk in her black heeled boots.

"Finally outside! This night's going to be great!" Karai grinned at the starless sky.

"I feel like I'm going to pee my pants sometime during it," Leo mumbled into her shoulder, hiding his face from a couple that passed by. He could barely see through the sunglasses in the middle of the night and he saw the couple at the very last second.

"How come?" Karai looked down at her hunched over friend who was holding onto her arm like an oversized tick.

"Because I'm kinda terrified I may pass the level of leaking …and I happen to be wearing pants for once." Leo joked as his manly pride turned in its grave, but the boy needed to let Karai know he wasn't all chill with walking among humans.

Karai bumped him with her elbow and smiled through her edgy makeup as he looked up at her.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from dangerous humans."

Leo wanted to snort or comment but he only ducked his head as another group of people walked by.

Why were there so many people around so late at night?

It's Friday night. Oh.

"My legs!" Leo suddenly exclaimed as his gaze caught his big feet while his mind wandered off for a second.

"Yes, I'll protect them too."

"No! – We forgot to wrap them up." Leo stopped his walk but his arm was still leeched to Karai's and forced her to stop with him.

The teens both stared at Leo's exposed green skin.

"Uhh … Printed leggings?" Karai awkwardly showed her grin together with the offered idea.

"I'll take it," Leo thoughtfully nodded with his head as he inspected his legs. "What about the fact that my feet are ten times the size of regular ones?!"

"Hmm… Just a sec." Karai pulled her never before seen phone from a pocket of her jacket. Leo watched her google something in the lines of "syndrome that gives you big fat feet." After a couple of seconds she turned to him and said,

"If anyone asks we'll say you have lipedema and that they should look it up, educate themselves, and stop asking stupid and harmful questions."

Leo only nodded as he continued to look at his legs under the basketball shorts. – "Do my feet really look fat?"

"No and stop admiring your legs!" Karai pulled him forward.

They walked through a number of blocks, Leo relaxing more with every minute, and stopped in an alley with people waiting in a line to enter a door in the back, where Leo tensed back up instantly. Too many people! Far too many! The queue wasn't long, it was very short actually, but it was more people –who weren't dressed into ninja gear and trying to kill him, than Leo has ever seen in the same place before. Gulp!

"Karai, is this … safe?" Leo questioned after a moment when the line drastically moved forward and a couple of people stopped behind them and trapped them in the alley.

"These people here are idiots, Leo. They wouldn't notice flying pigs." Karai reassured the shy jumpy boy who looked more like a short broad shouldered thug who was about to rob a convenience store with his impressive acrobatic skills.

"The way this night's been going, I wouldn't be surprised to see one fly over my head right now." Leo answered as he watched a guy's colorful mohawk over his sunglasses and wondered how it all stands up and if Karai ever tried doing something as extreme as it with her hair. Not that her haircut wasn't extreme already.

Karai laughed.

There it was again, the annoying flip in his stomach, slightly painful but mostly just annoying. Why why why did he feel this way? What was so great about Karai? She drove him nuts. She caused him trouble. She's a brute, far from April and even further from a regular girl. She's like that horrible roommate you're stuck with in a dorm and you learn to live with them because you're just forced to. Just that she's not Leo's roomie and there's no dorm or other factors forcing him to hang with her. He just does it.

Before Leo would come to terms with himself that he's subconsciously a masochist he rather opened a different subject.

"So what's behind the door? A fancy restaurant? I should tell you in advance I don't have any money to buy you dinner."

"You're cute, Leo. We're going to a nightclub. I thought it was kinda obvious. And don't worry I got you covered with the money. It's my treat, remember?"

Leo's shifty posture, which was in the meantime looking around, went completely still as a statue, his head slowly turned around owl like to face Karai's. His lips were pressed together into a thin line.

Karai rose an eyebrow at his unreadable painful expression. He looked like he was extremely gassy.

"When I said I might piss myself back then I was joking and had no intention to make it a challenge for you." Leo laughed and he could taste the hysteria on his tongue …or was that bile?

"Calm your nonexistent man titties and just forget about all your worries"-

"It's kinda hard to forget something when it's right in front of my face!" Leo cut Karai off with his high pitched hissing as he stared at the nearing nightclub door.

"Look this is New York. It's the last place where anyone is going to notice anything odd."

"It's not about others, it's about me! Do you want me to have a heart attack?"

"What about my wellbeing? It can't be all about you."

"Don't fu- achem," Leo stopped his outburst at the last second. What would Splinter say if he was the reason for the fic's rating going up? "Don't mess with me, Karai! You're the one who brought us here. You want to be here."

"Well you … should have more confidence in yourself."

"I am very confident! In fact, I'm over confident! And the cockiest of my brothers!"

"Was that meant to sound as a defense in your favor?" Karai rose her eyebrow at the cute small erupting volcano. Gooey sweet volcano. With melted ice cream instead of lava. Green apple flavored. Green tea maybe. … What am I thinking?

Leo fumbled with his words, "Uhm… err, uhh…" until he gave up because there was no answer that would pick him from the ground. "Pshh, whatever, forget it I'm calm," he rolled his eyes.

The line moved forward until only a group of three boys was before the unusual duo. Leo's words stabbed him in the back as he let out something between a whimper and a frightened gasp.

He regained his stance. "Brr! Brr! Ma!" he shook his hands in front of his face and forced Karai to go through a horrific flashback of her preteen self at a girly sleepover painfully watching Sharpay from High School Musical with her squealing counterparts. She wished her childhood was rather filled with actual counter parts; parts of counters, than the Japanese girls she went to school with.

She watched Leo with something close to utter disgust.

"What? We had like three copies of High School Musical that Splinter found in the trash when we were younger. We watched what we had."

"Oops, I dropped my keys. Can you bend and snap them up for me?" Karai deadpanned in irony and was disappointed and at the same time relieved to see a confused look on Leo's face. This being is not yet completely corrupted by the mainstream media of our youth.

The three guys disappeared through the door and the only thing between Leo, Karai and the club was an enormous steroid doorman who sported no eyebrows whatsoever.

"ID," he demanded in a voice that would suit an intimidating old black jazz singer.

Karai snatched hers from the front pocket of her jacket as if she were professionally handing out a business card. Leo in the meantime awkwardly stood by her side with his hands in his pockets.

It was a fake ID, of course, one where Karai's legally an adult. She's had it with her since forever. Sometimes she'd even forget she's still just a young teen that just happens to be from a family of deadly assassin ninjas – no biggie.

The fellow bouncer looked at the card before handing it back and directing his stare at Leo. "Who's the weird guy?" he asked expecting to get his identity card too.

"That's Gregor Samsa and he's with me," Karai jumped between them before the man could figure out Leo was …not very humanish…

"Actually my name is Pistachio and I'm here to become a real boy!" Leo felt the need to correct her because his joke was far more amusing than hers by his standards, and he really didn't mind if they got kicked out before even getting inside anyway.

The man at the door didn't seem to think neither of their stories were very funny.

Karai acted before they could get sent to the back of the line again.

"Look my friend here forgot his ID back at the hotel and we would appreciate if you could let us in without it."

"You don't have an ID: you can't get in."

"What if I can make you change your mind?"

The man's eyebrow ghosts rose in interest and Leo's eyes bulged out as Karai partly and unnoticeably pulled out a hundred dollar bill from inside her jacket. It was so movie cliché Leo almost barfed.

The bouncer was quiet for a second before speaking, "I think I remember you two from last Friday. I remember you had a valid ID then. I guess I can let you in now," he said as he opened the door for the two.

Leo could not understand at all. Are they on hidden camera? Did they walk onto a film set of a low-budget spy movie? What was happening?

Karai lead him through the door as she slipped the bill to the bouncer.

"Where did you get this money from?" Leo hissed as the door closed behind them.

"Daddy."

"What?!"

"Shredder. You idiot. Do I look like someone who has a sugar da- … Don't even try to answer that. – Look, Leo, this is actually not that much to bribe. It's a small club. Taking you to a busy club would not look pretty for my wallet or even you."

Leo didn't even notice they were standing in front of a cashier's.

"Wait we have to pay again?" He looked at Karai who asked the woman behind the table for two tickets.

"Yes, I have to pay for the tickets." Karai patiently explained as she handed the woman another hundred and got forty bucks back from her.

"Karai, this is a lot of money. I don't want you to spend so much on me."

"It's fine. I knew you wouldn't be okay with it so I didn't mention it. Don't worry about it. I happen to not mind if I spend some for fun once in a while. –C'mon."

She pulled Leo forward. The black hallway they were in opened up to reveal a wide space already packed with people. Leo was completely stunned by all the dancing and jumping lights which continuously scattered around everyone's faces. He didn't need to look over his sunglasses to see the rainbow mess of lights. There were so many colorful shades of skin and hair because of them that Leo's green skin wouldn't make one bit of a difference.

Before entering the chattering crowd Karai curled her fingers with Leo's into a strong hold – and he was so glad she did because he really wanted to hold her hand – in a very non-romantic way. He was just so lost in the commotion he needed someone to hold him like a little child.

She said something and he wasn't even aware until her lips stopped moving. It wasn't until then that he realized how loud the music was. His hears were drumming as the loud beat jumped from the walls.

Karai saw Leo's unusually blank face and repeated her words, this time louder and closer to his ear.

"Let's get a drink first so you'll have some time to loosen up."

Leo heard her, she knew he did, but his eyes were glued to everything else around them and not once have they fallen on her. The toothy smile left Karai's cheeks. He wasn't seeing it anyway. And she pulled him along to the other side where she spotted the bar.

Leo stumbled a couple of steps but then gained her tempo. He leaned into her side, squeezing her hand tightly and pulling the hood lower over his face with the other.

"Karai," he loudly whispered over the noise as if scared someone might be eavesdropping, "we can't drink. We're not adults yet. What if we get caught? Even worse, what if we get drunk?"

"Being a little drunk is always fun, Leo! You'll see when you try it."

"No, I won't!"

"Don't worry. We'll get you a girly cocktail to match your personality." Karai teased just so Leo would suck it up and surrender the same way all men and boys do when their masculinity is questioned.

"Don't make me turn around and leave, Karai." Leo gave her a look that said he was serious. Karai wasn't fazed by it. In fact she almost laughed at Leo's choice of words. –Very mom like.

"Would you prefer some wine, mom?"

"No, I won't drink," he barked like an angry opossum.

"Fine! Then I'll drink and you'll watch." Her pace quickened the last few steps, leaving Leo behind. She plopped down on a free bar stool before the counter. Leo sat next to her, his arms crossed and leaning on the counter, looking away and brooding in a way that felt like he was mimicking Raph.

He didn't look at Karai as she ordered.

"One Caipirinha."

And he didn't look at her as she excused herself.

"I'll be right back. I just forgot to tell the guy I want extra lime."

Yeah, whatever you say, missy.

She moved behind him and to the other side of the long bar where the man was preparing her cocktail – or whatever he was doing, Leo didn't care... And he had to turn his head away again, just so he wouldn't have to look at her either.

Karai, why must you make me suffer like this?! I can't drink! Is she crazy? What if I wake up with a missing tooth like in The Hangover? Then I'll be Donnie number two! I can't endanger my perfect whites! Never!

"Are you done sulking?"

Leo found himself staring at Karai's direction – who was suddenly in front of his vision. When did she get back? Why didn't he realize- Nevermind.

"Yes," he murmured under her golden stare.

"Breathtaking. – Let's talk."

"About what?"

"About us."

"Us?" Us!

"Yeah, us. Tell me something about yourself and I'll tell you something about myself and so on; back and forth. – Communicating."

"Uhh…"

"Example:" Karai readjusted herself in the stool and turned fully towards Leo, "What do you like to do for fun? – I for once like to take my nemeses out clubbing and force them to tell me personal things about themselves so I can use the gathered information against them one day," She ended the sentence like it were an evil witch's spell. – "That's a joke –ish."

"Har-har," Leo deadpanned-

"One Caipirinha," the bartender interrupted and placed the finished drink before Karai, "and one Sex on the Beach." Leo watched a fancy orange drink with two straws being placed before him.

"I said I won't drink," he eyed Karai as if she had murdered his family.

"Oops, too late. It's already made – and paid." The Girl watched Leo as she sucked on her straw not really caring if Leo drinks it or not. More for her…

Leo growled and pouted again.

"Don't worry it's practically juice," Karai nudged the drink closer to him.

"The name is really concerning." He crossed his arms.

"It's nothing. A juice box going bad would have more alcohol than this."

Leo gave her a doubtful look from over his tape-in-the-middle nerd glasses. He looked like a teacher who was tired and exasperated but had to listen to one of his students' dumb statements because he was paid to do so.

He sighed and took the glass into his hand. Karai grinned like a goof as he did and it didn't make him feel any better about what he was about to do. Lifting the straw to his mouth he watched her from the corner of his eyes if maybe a rarity would happen and she'd take the cocktail away.

No such miracle was bestowed upon him…

Leo took a small sip through the straw, tasted the juice and rolled his tongue as if deciding whether he liked the taste or not.

"Yeah?" Karai leaned closer.

"It's fruity – like juice."

"What did I say!"

"But slightly tangy. …I like it though." Leo drunk some more. – Just a tiny bit more, then I'll stop.

"I knew you would," Karai grinned.

"No you didn't."

"Totally did! – So where were we?" She asked before the Yes' and No's would start and go on forever.

"Uh, we were talking about hobbies?"

"Yes, that. – So?"

"I don't know. I train a lot."

"Isn't that a necessity in a way?"

"Well it's fun."

"So what else?"

"Uh, …I like to eat pizza."

"Eating is not a hobby."

"How do you know what a hobby is and isn't?" Leo sucked on his straw all smug like as he watched Karai who was all of a sudden trying to find her voice. It was like the tables have turned! He couldn't believe he was actually getting under her skin. What a breakthrough for the mutant race.

Just as Karai opened her mouth to say something a loud slurping sound erupted from Leo's straw.

He's drunk the whole thing already!

Karai's eyes bulged out. You're not supposed to drink it so fast, was her first thought. But instead of saying it out loud, she pushed her drink forward.

Oh, this will be fun…

"Wanna try mine?"

Leo shook his head no but reached for her drink at the same time.

"Mmm… limey. This one's tastier," he declared as he tried to kindly return her glass.

"Take it. I insist," Karai pushed his outstretched hand back.

Leo eyed it cautiously. "I rather not."

Karai kept her hand extended, preventing Leo from giving the drink back to her without spilling it. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva and placed the drink down before him.

Okay, Karai, I'll pretend to drink this thing so you'll be happy…

"Splinter'll have my ass when I come home," he declared as he took a small sip just so Karai couldn't say anything against him. I probably smell of alcohol and other gross fluids just from being here.

"I thought you don't have an ass. – Not that there's anything wrong with that."

"Ha ha. But seriously. He'll know exactly where I've been before I even go over the turnstiles."

"The turnstiles?"

"Yeah, in the lair."

"Oh! Well it can't be as bad as if my dad finds out. Ha! The last time I ended up with a bruise over my whole thigh."

"He hit you?!" Leo's eyes grew wide and he didn't even know why that surprised him.

"No. – I mean not like that. I had to train for almost 24 hours straight!" Karai's voice rose up.

"Splinter did that to us right after we took on Shredder for the first time!" Leo gasped as if it was the most interesting thing to have in common with a crush. "He was so scared something might happen to us next time and we had to get better."

"Yeah, that happens. Shredder can be scary like that. But he has a soft side. You should see him with his dog, Hachiko. They're adorable! One time the dog bit his hand. I thought the pooch was a goner but dad looked so proud. Almost shed a tear! He even gave him a belly rub. I cackled at that. He's insane! And do you know he loves The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air? His favorite character is Philip Banks because he's obsessed with the man's voice!" Karai cackled. "Oh, and one time"-

Leo was swallowing Karai's words about the Oh-Terrifying Shredder like sour candy and he didn't even realize he was swallowing the cocktail at twice the speed!

Slluuuurp!

Aaand … Empty.

Oops!

Karai stopped her tale and together with Leo stared wide-eyed – again, at the glass which now only had pieces of lime, mint and ice cubes left.

"…Let's take it easy from now on." She pushed the glass away from the boy and next to the other one.

"Agreed." Leo nodded. He didn't know if he should punch himself or cry. This wasn't the plan, Leo, he screamed at himself.

"Let's go dance?" Karai offered. There's nothing better after a drink. And the kid had two!

"Do we have to pay for that too?"

"No," Karai laughed and pushed herself off the stool.

"How generous of the owner." Leo followed his friend through the crowd. His guard was down for a change and he didn't seem to care.

The music kept getting louder as they reached a different room that opened up to reveal a busy dancefloor and high stage where a DJ rolled the excruciatingly loud track. The music was almost deafening but everyone was dancing to it like they were all happy insane.

Leo could not understand what was so good about bleeding through your ears. And he blamed the loud sound for the sudden buzz in his head that was making him woozy. Or was it the alcohol? No, it couldn't be. It was practically juice. Right? – I mean I just drunk it. It can't work this fast!

Karai reached for Leo and pulled him into the crowded dancefloor together with her. He was shoved around by the people tightly dancing next to each other and it really didn't help him find his ground.

The lights were even crazier in this part of the club. Everything was blinking, flying across the mass of moving people. There were lasers of all sorts of colors everywhere.

"This place is wilder than any planet Captain Ryan's been to!" Leo yelled at Karai who was starting to sway with the beat.

"Ha ha, who?" the girl yelled back at the turtle. It was hard to hear anything really.

"Captain Ryan from Space Heroes!"

"Aw, Leo, You're cute!" Karai laughed. What was he even talking about? It sounded like a wacky name of some kind of cartoon from the 90s. – Hilariously she was right.

"Are you going to say you don't like sci-fi?" Leo yelled and looked at the girl from over his glasses just to see her precise reaction.

"No!" she smiled as if it were nothing.

"Really?"

"Nope!" she shouted again and shook her shoulders while moving to the beat.

"Wow! I thought after being surrounded by the Kraang you'd show some interest. I should reconsider who I'm crushing on," Leo spoke, quieter than before but loud enough to be heard. He looked around at the people under the colorful lights. He wasn't even sure what they were talking about already. He felt so out of it. The music was loud in his pulsing head and there was a tipsy feeling he wanted to ignore.

The words Leo spoke forced Karai to look at the boy with something varying between sudden shock and a happy and tender feeling. She assumed –no, she knew Leo had a crush on her, but it was a completely different thing to hear it from him directly.

Leo never got to see her wide kindling stare. – Her face was engulfed in a rainbow of bright neon lights spilling and blending in front of him.

Was it getting hot in here? Why do I feel a slight pressure on my forehead? Am I getting sick?

Everyone was dancing around Leo as if it were the most natural thing to do. Even the ones who were wobbly and bad at it didn't seem to care, but Leo felt too awkward to dance; he didn't really know how, and thought he was going to brutally murder someone with his shoulders and shell if he tried. This wasn't like the funny show-off moves he pulled at home with his brothers. – So he satisfied himself by watching Karai.

The girl caught the beat fast and started dancing in the funny way like everyone else: jumping from side to side, swaying her hips and making overall eccentric moves with her limbs.

After about three songs in, or what Leo made out as different songs in the loud electronic remix by the club DJ, Leo didn't move beyond bobbing his head and stepping side to side. Even then he had a hard time finding the ground with his wide feet; "uhh… sorry, sorry, ah, so sorry…" Yikes! Why was he so unsteady?

Karai stepped closer to him when she saw time won't loosen him up. She rubbed her hands up and down his biceps, trying to make him relax and let loose.

Leo felt the sweaty warmth of her hands through the sleeves. Why did it make him feel all kinds of wrong? His cheeks and ears heat up. …And was it him or did a slower beat just roll onto the track? How convenient…

A mild and slick smile hid in the corners of Karai's lips. She leaned closer and pushed the sunglasses onto Leo's forehead under the hood.

Leo automatically ducked his head from any possible stares. It wasn't until he felt her breath on the side of his neck that he realized how close Karai's face was to his. He froze up.

"Lean into me," the kunoichi whispered into his ear.

Leo's eyes were wide …and he, he wanted – for some reason, to refuse. Still he didn't fight when Karai brought her hand over his nape and pulled him closer; pressing his hot forehead against her shoulder.

She was so gentle. He loved it when she was. He couldn't help but close his eyes in her soft embrace.

Karai felt Leo's unusually warm skin against her collarbone. The kid was leaning into her much more than she thought he would. The drinks were catching up to him. He was letting loose though, which was good.

They stood still in the dancing crowd for about a minute. They looked pretty strange. An Asian Corinne Burns cosplayer hugging a short bodybuilder in a shifty hoodie. Some people gave them a weird look. The glares Karai returned we're fatal for those poor souls. Leo was left unaware.

After a while she tried to lull Leo into the rhythm of the song, which was hard with the fast beat. But even so Leo stopped her pretty fast. He mumbled something she couldn't hear.

"What'd you say?"

"My head hurts."

Poor thing. "Let's head back I need to go to the bathroom anyway. And you need to get something to drink. – No alcohol of course." He clearly had enough. It was his first time drinking and it doesn't look like he can hold much.

She lead the turtle back to the bar which was full at the moment with people waiting to order. Great. Karai wasn't the most patient of people.

Leo was standing next to her awaiting directions.

She took a deep breath. He'll be fine, she told herself.

"Here," she pulled her wallet out of her jacket – which she was still wearing and Leo couldn't understand how she didn't melt in it by now!, and gave it to Leo, "take this and get yourself something nonalcoholic. You can ask for some water but it's probably not on their menu and, the bitches they can be, they probably won't give it to you. I'll be back soon. Just going to the bathroom over there. You could drink the water there but I rather see you don't." Karai pointed across the room at the mini platform leading to the bathrooms.

Leo carefully pulled her wallet into the pocket of his sweater and nodded as Karai showed him where he could find her in case of… whatever it is that could go wrong. He gave her a slight nod just to let her know he heard her over the music. Karai patted his head and made him feel even more of a baby than he already did before walking off.

Leo took a deep breath to encourage his skeptical, intimidated and slightly terrified self then turned towards the bar. A big black menu board hanged above the counter with a vast range of drinks.

"Something nonalcoholic… nonalcoholic…" Leo repeated under his breath as he took in all the names that meant nothing to him until he stumbled across, "Ah, juice!"

The crowd in front of the counter cleared up quite fast and Leo found himself next to the bartender.

"Uh… I'll have juice." Leo managed to say calmly despite the headache and how freaking nervous he was. He made himself feel better by saying that he would be all cool in crowds if this weren't his first time ever in public and if he hadn't grown up isolated in a sewer! –Not very comforting but better than nothing.

"You mean"- the unsure bartender tried to ask by pointing at a drink on the board above but was cut short by Leo's loud obnoxious ringtone. Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz!

"Yeah, that," Leo nodded quickly before retrieving his phone. I thought I left it at Karai's? – Since Don and Raph already called it was Mikey's turn this time.

"Oh brother, what now…" Leo exhaled before answering. Mikey had this superpower to cause headaches and Leo didn't want to figure out if it increased them too.

He only tapped the accept button on the screen when Mikey's voice already rose on the other end.

*Leo, you won't believe it but there's a Super Robo Mecha Force Five marathon on TV!" He chirped excitedly. – "By the way, where are you?*

"Go to sleep, Mikey!"

"There's some episodes we don't even have on VHS. Right now there's one where Princess had her tiara stolen and now she's sick and the rest of the team has to get it back before she dies! And"-

"Look Mikey I just had Sex On the Beach and now my head hurts after it and I really don't have time for this."

There was silence on the other end.

Leo realized what he said and how it probably sounded to his little brother and cancelled the call without an explanation. – Panic!

"Sir?"

Leo was brought back from his jumbled mind as the bartender pushed his drink closer.

"Oh, yeah, thanks! How much?" He pulled Karai's wallet from his pocket and opened it up.

"Twenty dollars."

Leo's head snapped up. What?! He looked at the menu board only to really see a big number two and zero written next to the drink. Why didn't I even think about the price earlier? Karai's going to kill me!

He handed a bill to the young man and took the glass with shaking hands. He didn't want to argue with him, it was his fault completely anyway.

The cup was really big and there were pieces of various chopped fruit mixed with the cherry colored drink. Fancy juice for the fancy price.

It's big. Maybe Karai won't mind sharing and won't kill me if I only cost her ten dollars. – Then he remembered all the other things she paid for him. …Nevermind.

Leo moved away to make room for others and leaned on the wall like a little wallflower he was. He took a sip as me mindlessly looked around. Most of the people around the bar were only chatting and the music was bearable in this part. There were small groups of two or more who were laughing and discussing simple matters or just blabbering if they had a drink too many. He felt extremely exposed without his fried by his side.

Leo looked in the direction Karai showed were the bathrooms. There was a lot of people standing by the doors. Most waiting to use the toilet and some just to keep company.

I wonder if Karai's any close to coming back…

He took a big gulp from his glass and wrinkled his face at the taste. Super sweet and super sour …also something else he couldn't quite place but the taste was in the other two drinks as well. It couldn't be alcohol… It was just fancy juice. Maybe they use the same syrup for all their drinks?

Karai thought she was going to go insane in the line to the bathroom and will never see the light of day again. But after almost ten minutes she was finally free! She mercilessly elbowed everyone on the way out to release her frustration. The air inside public bathrooms is already suffocating she didn't need others breathing into her face and neck to make it worse.

When she got back she found Leo sitting cross-legged on the floor and leaning against a wall, a glass in one hand and his head in the other resting on his leg with its elbow. He looked like a poor sad sad man who had just lost a bet he made with another guy who also wears a sweat suit and drinks a lot of beer while watching football with their buddies in a local bar.

"Hey, Hoodie-dude!" Karai greeted with a smile before crouching down to Leo's level. It's then that she saw how twisted up Leo's face was.

"I don't feel good…" He slowly shook his head in his hands. His head felt like a slushy that was giving itself brain-freeze.

Karai felt his forehead –which was slightly warm but if could have been the heat of the nightclub, and then looked at the glass in his hand. It didn't look like any regular juice to her. Her eyebrows knotted together as she reached into the half empty cup and picked up a small soaked piece of peach. She flicked it into her mouth and her eyes instantly grew wide at the familiar taste.

"Leo!? I told you to get juice." Jesus Christ! This kid is going to be wasted before the next hour!

"It is juice." Leo murmured.

"This is not juice."

"Yea', some Tutti-Frutti juice," Leo spoke in oddly chopped syllables and pointed at the menu board across from them, above the bar behind Karai.

The girl's eyes searched the drinks written on the wide board; searching for anything related to juice when her eyes landed on a particular drink she recognized.

She was speechless first then just went straight to furious! She snatched the glass from Leo's hand and walked up to the counter that was emptied with the arrival of her wrath.

"What kind of bar sells Jungle Juice?! This is for frat parties!" Karai shouted and smashed the glass on the counter. She glared at the guy behind the counter who became her victim. He only shook his shoulders as if he has nothing to do with it –which he probably didn't. Still it was a dick move. Warn a person next time, will ya!?

She should have never left Leo alone in the first place. The poor guy obviously doesn't know what's going on around him half the time. He's never been amongst people. And he's never drunk before. How the hell would he know a Jungle Juice is heavy drinks mixed with juice and lots of sugar to hide the taste of alcohol? He already had too much with just the two cocktails. This will be the opposite of a fun night for him. He can already forget about hiding it from his brothers and sensei in the morning.

"You will take this back," Karai shoved the cup forward at the bartender, "and you will give my friend some water or else!" She didn't want for Leo's first night out to end like a disaster. She was going to make it at least a little more pleasant even if she has to kill a man.

Karai seemed threatening enough because the guy quickly grabbed a clean glass from a shelf and filled it with cold water from the sink. Karai took it from his hand the moment he offered it and walked off without a sound.

She got whistles and catcalls from two douche-boys who witnessed the whole thing and thought it was a good time to be assholes. But they didn't smile for long as she threw a knife like glare at them which wasn't much milder than her actual knife throwing skills. Maybe less fatal.

Leo watched the two guys move away as Karai sat down by him and handed him the water. "Thanks." He murmured and took a sip –his bladder still somehow not yet full and screaming for release. But it's not like he would have noticed through the headache and lightheadedness.

"Guys are really intimidated by you," he said – his speech having a slightly unsteady flow, while he was still looking at the two guys who now picked the other side of the room to bother women and girls.

"They better be – those little wimps!" Karai exclaimed and locked arms with Leo just so he couldn't go anywhere without her anymore. "I have a six-pack and could break their wormy spine with my left pinkie while they still have baby fat and an umbilical cord attached to their moms."

"You have a six-pack! Like those musc- … the muh-… like the ones those buff guys on TV have?" Leo finally managed to say the words without tripping on them and falling face flat, already hating himself half the way through the sentence. What was wrong with him?

Karai snorted at Leo's commentary. It's only gonna go downhill from here, buddy. "Yeah, I guess. What other kind of six-packs have you seen?"

"I don't know… I've never seen one for real."

Karai was left speechless for a second. "Are you gonna tell me you don't have one?" she eyed Leo. The kid was strong. Way stronger than her. He should have at least a trace of one.

"Uhm… I don't know if you've noticed but I have more of a six-plate…"

"Oh." Oh! She almost slapped herself for being so dumb. She forgot she was actually hanging out with someone who's half turtle half …er, ninja. And then another almost-slap just because they even had this conversation. Who talks about their six-pack?

She was brought out of her thoughts by Leo's unusually loud laugh which was followed with an "ow" and "I need to pee!" –Then another laugh. …And another "ow" for the cherry on top. But the whole situation was more a Banana Split than a Sundae because of the way he was tripping.

Time to enter hell again, was all Karai could think. Leo's bladder demanded release and she had to obey the demand. Still, nightclub bathrooms were her worst nightmare. There was really only one thing worse than it. -Nightclub bathrooms with a drunk friend. – Jesus!

She put Leo's empty glass down on the floor where she sat and helped Leo up who was only getting worse by the minute. This kid had drunk way too much! So they wobbled to the waiting line together like two suburban wives going home late at night after having one too many glasses of wine at a local book club which was actually just an excuse to get away from their husbands; Derek and George. "Get a grip, Helen," Karai would say if Leo was one of the said wives but he was just poor ol' drunk Leo on his way to pee.

Karai was never one to be patient in lines. And she didn't feel like waiting in one for the third time this night. "Move along, folk! Or my friend here is going to demonstrate what it's like to flood a nightclub during working hours!"

She received disgusted looks but a tiny path was slowly made for the duo to squeeze through. Leo laughed and cackled at Karai's jokes, leaning on her, as they got through into the men's bathroom. It was nasty, it was smelly; it was gross. Karai bet the sewers Leo lived in were more sanitary. The guy smelled of tea and hugs for Christ's sake!

They didn't wait long for a stall to empty.

"Go," Karai pushed Leo towards it the moment the guy who was using it stepped out. Leo wobbled a few steps from her pushing arm but turned sideways to look at her in confusion. "Go, there," she pointed across the small room at the last stall. She had no desire to come even close to anything. It was bad enough she had to stand in the germy place full of nasty guys.

"There?" Leo pointed where she was showing with a blank expression on his features.

"Yes, go there. Go piss already!" She pointed again like she was hatefully stabbing the air with her finger.

"Are you sure?"

"Just fucking help him! Can't you see his incapable?" a guy from behind who was getting impatient said. Just like the rest, he wanted to use the restroom.

Karai suddenly had this desire to break something; snap it into two. If only those two douches from before were around. She muttered something Japanese under her breath which could only be understood as a cuss and grabbed Leo's hoodie by the shoulder; dragging him towards the last, empty stall.

Leo stood in the small dirty stall with Karai on his shell looking over his shoulder at the horror she had to use just a few minutes ago.

"Is this …sanity?" Leo asked eyeing the questionable yellow rimmed toilet seat which looked like it was barely holding together.

"No, it's not sanitary," Karai corrected Leo's pronunciation, "and there's nothing sane about it either. Sadly it's the best you can get right now."

Leo huffed and puffed and screwed his face into one of excruciating thinking. A quiet moment passed with the two just standing there.

"So?" Karai stretched over his shoulder to look at him.

"Ha?!"

"Aren't you gonna go?"

"Oh, right!" he exclaimed as if the possibility just hit him. He made a tiny step forward and- wait. "Is there like an openin' or somethin'?"

Karai had to look at what he meant to understand. He was grabbing at his pants around the crotch as if looking for a hole. Karai looked back to see if anyone was watching their display of stupidity. Luckily people were used to incompetents in public bathrooms and didn't give them any special attention.

"Just pull the shorts down"- At this moment Karai caught herself wondering where their… er, 'achem' even is. Then she for some reason imagined Leo running around, naked like he always is, with a, achem, "cucumber" hanging between his legs. She admitted to herself he'd probably win every fight with her just with the power of awkwardness.

–Uhh? Where the hell was her mind going? Wasn't it bad enough Leo's was half gone?

Leo managed to get himself under control and proceeded with his task to pee. Karai closed the stall door behind him and waited outside for him to finish. She never thought at the start of the day that this is the direction it would all go in.

Leo staggered out of the stall after a minute. His eyes caught the kunoichi and they lit up into ones of a happy child. "Karai!" he said her name as if he didn't expect to stumble on her at all.

He went for a hug but she jumped away. "Wash your hands, piggy!"

"'Kay…" Leo turned sad and did as she commanded.

Karai watched him wash his hands. He was such an adorable clumsy turtle. And hilariously obedient! Kinda like a little brother she never had. –Leo, for sure, wouldn't like to her that, this much she knew. He liked her in a way that made her feel all sorts of confused at times.

Karai couldn't help but blush as she observed Leo's round cheeks hiding under the hood.

He dried his clean hands on the front of his hoodie when she stepped closer and hugged him from behind. "Now you get a hug, you oaf," she smiled and caught Leo off guard. –"C'mon! Let's get out of here before you get even more drunk."

"You mean leave the club?"

"Yes."

"But we just got 'ere and you paid lots!"

"Enough has already happened in this short time. We can have our own party on the roofs and dance there by ourselves." She moved his hips with hers to indicate dancing.

Leo's cheeks heated up and burned the same way as cold hands under warm water after you come shivering with cold from a walk in the winter. He looked at her face from the corners of his wide eyes. The lines of her makeup were sharp and thorough even from up close yet the edges of her face were soft; oval as of a gentle girl. She was still holding him in a strong hug; his arms at his sides and under hers. His stomach tightened and his brains bubbled up and turned into foam. The bitter foam of cold beer which sparkles under the summer sun, which fathers let their children lick while mothers aren't looking. Leo felt like melting under her touch there and then.

He was shaken from his bliss with the most unwanted phone call in the face of the Earth. Karai let go, letting him get to the phone.

Mikey, again! –Answer.

*Leo, oh my gawd! Squirrels! Squirrels everywhere!"* Mikey screamed on the other side before Leo even got the phone close to his ear.

"What're you talkin' about?"

*I had a nightmare!* Mikey mumbled. Leo wondered why the kid wasn't watching the marathon anymore. Then wondered if the nightmare was caused by the previous awkward call. But in reality he didn't care at all because Mike ruined a moment.

"You an' me both, bro," he almost spat, didn't even care about what Mikey was about to say next, the kid obviously had too much sugar before bed, and so he hung up on him.

A person tapped Karai's shoulder in the short time Leo was on the phone.

"Sorry, but is your friend, like, fucking green?" A drunk guy, who wanted to use the sink they were standing before, asked. Karai looked the guy in sudden panic then turned to look at Leo. There weren't any exotic colorful lights or lasers in the bathroom and Leo's skin, even though covered with makeup and clothes, stood out like a poppy in a wheat field.

"Yes! He is very sick," Karai grabbed Leo's hoodie on the back just as he ended the call. She yanked him closer, turned him around and forcefully touched his forehead to feel for a fever while looking and smiling at the young intoxicated man before her. "Thank you for telling me, we're just leaving, good bye!" She grabbed Leo's hand, and almost ran with him following in confusion.

The guy scratched his head as they disappeared through the crowd. What?

The duo broke through a small side door which served as an exit from the club. Karai dropped her hands on her knees. She felt out of breath. That back there was close. Hopefully that man will think he just drunk too much. –Like Leo.

The kid staggered to the wall, catching his balance before he would fall face down to the ground. He grabbed at his throbbing head. He felt woozier every minute. But despite the unpleasant headache he felt beyond relaxed. To the point where he was okay with Karai helping him pee. He probably won't live that one down, ever. He uttered a chuckle which quickly turned into a laughing haul. Everything dropped that second. He didn't care what he did anymore. The only thing that would make things better would be if he could just forget everything in the morning.

Karai watched him restlessly twiddle and cackle on the brick wall. It was only a matter of time until he'd fall over. She stepped to him in the small empty alley and laid a hand on his shoulder; pulling him upwards and helping him stand still.

Leo watched her and she could see he was getting ready to say something either very serious or very stupid.

"Karai, I want to get drunk."

Oh look, it was both.

"You are drunk."

"No, like really really drunk! So much I won't rememer a thin'. Like I want to wake up with a hang- …a massive hangover and own Mike Tyson's tiger. Like I want to be married when I wake up! – …Karai, will you marry me? Just, just for the laughs?" And then he laughed like a baked cat. – "Do you think they make rings big enough for my fingers? That has to be like one big ring! –Maybe if you like put two rings togerer then it's big enough? Like a super ring."

"That makes zero sense." Karai couldn't follow his jumbled up brain. She wanted to laugh at him but felt it'll look rude, and she couldn't do it while focusing on understanding his mumbled syllables.

"No, no, listen. You put one ring and connect it with another and then it's bigger, right!" Leo tried to convince her his way of thinking was right.

"It's just thicker. The hole's not any bigger. It would still be too tight."

"I like it thick and tight."

"Leo!" she screamed. Wanted to slap him too. She did; very lightly. What happened to the filter on his mouth!? And the stuttering and blushing when he talked to her?

Another sprout of laughter erupted from Leo's chest. He made a step backward to grab at the wall for support but fell down on his ass and shell when he missed. More laugher followed.

"You're a nasty little boy," Karai scolded him where he lay. He didn't seem to hear her, or maybe he did and didn't care, as he lay on the filthy ground showing no intention in getting back up as the cackling continued.

Karai exhaled deeply. "Get up!" She grabbed his hoodie by the shoulders and hollered him up to his feet again. "Get yourself together! You're a ninja; still and silent, act like one."

"Sorry I'm off work at the moment. You'll have to check in later."

"You're checking in now." Karai forcibly pulled him along as she paced through the alley and back to the main road where they came from. They walked – or more like stumbled, almost all the way back to the Foot headquarters before she pulled him back to the side into a new alleyway they haven't been in before.

Here came the tricky part: How to get a big, drunk turtle ninja onto the fire-escape…

"Didn't your dad teach you to keep away from suspicious alleys at night?"

"I was never an obedient child," Karai smiled to herself as she eyed the old fire-escape stairway above them. She kept holding Leo by the hand, not wishing to see him wander somewhere alone.

"Stay put," she ordered. She took a few slow steps away from the boy, who eyed her like a mirage, and ran the small distance forward, jumping high up and grabbing the metal railing of the staircase. Pulling herself over onto the platform she stepped on the metal ladder. It gave in under her weight and rolled down almost to the ground together with her. The noise it cased along the way was excruciating but Karai could only pray no one wakes up from it.

She held the ladder down, preventing it from sliding back up, as she stepped off and offered Leo to climb it.

Leo had watched her the whole time. He didn't understand what she was doing until the last second when the ladder to the fire-escape was already waiting for him.

"You think I can't jump up on my own?" Leo asked highly offended. He felt like his perfect image was slowly breaking through the night.

"No."

"Okay then…" He sulked for less than a second then took Karai's offer and carefully climbed the ladder. He was taking his time and Karai was glad because she didn't feel like catching a gigantic falling shell with her bare hands tonight. As he came on top she climbed up quickly behind.

Here comes the excruciating noise, Karai thought as she left the ladder to slide back to its place.

Creeeeeek!

A window slid open across from them. "Who's there!?" a middle-aged man yelled into the dark. He spotted the two teens just across from him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm taking my drunk friend to the roof to clear his head," Karai simply answered his question not really having anything to hide.

The man watched her with narrow, judging eyes for about ten seconds. He was contemplating whether the duo appeared like a threat for his peace or not. In the end, even though not entirely sure, he decided: "… Proceed."

The two watched him silently close the window behind him and lowering the blinds into place before Karai turned to climb the stairs again.

"Do you know that man?" Leo followed her.

"Who? Joe? No, I don't know 'im."

Leo gave her the same suspicious look as the man had. "You just said his name is Joe…"

"Yeah, I know. I sometimes sit here and watch him argue with his wife through the window. They usually fight about who Maria will marry. Joe says she's going to marry Alfonso but Makayla is sure she's going to marry his cousin, Pedro. I don't think she's going to marry either one or else the show is going to get canceled. Maria's undecided ass is the main plot! –Though I imagine her running away with Alfonso's horse keeper, Miguel. He has some dreamy black curls."

Leo was slightly taken back by Karai's whole speech on soap opera relationships, didn't think she'd be the one to keep up with complicated Spanish love life.

"Who else do you stalk?" he asked as they turned up another flight of stairs. This girl obviously had a life completely different from what he believed. He didn't even think she did anything apart from ninja business …and apparently going clubbing.

"Judge all you want. It can be pretty lonely suddenly coming to live on the other side of the world. I do what I can to pass time."

"… Your life sounds sad."

"Well it definitely isn't happy," Karai exhaled. Why were they talking about this? He should have no right to speak about her life. And why would he think her life is sad when he's the one living in the sewers!

They came to the top of the fire-escape. The rooftop was only a jump away. A jump Karai didn't know whether Leo could make or not. She just wanted to say something when Leo's phone started ringing yet again.

How many people does this kid know?

"It's Raph," Leo whined after pulling out the loud device and seeing a familiar icon of a pigeon with a tiny crown over the screen for the second time this night.

"Yeah, answer it before you wake up the whole neighborhood!"

Leo did just that.

"Hello, this is Leo."

*Leo!* Raph screamed into his ear but soon took a deep breath and continued unusually freakishly calm. *Bro, I want to be my usual angry self but I'm really tired. And I want to sleep even though the only thing on my mind is you running around with that skank. But you know what? I tried to tell myself that there are some things I just have to accept. I was almost at peace with myself. But then,* and this is where the sleeping volcano erupted and let loose toxic fumes, *Mikey came running into my room yelling you're no longer a virgin and that you probably ran away to live on a wild beach like some kind of Don Juan! –Leo, where the hell are you? Come home right now! And please tell me whatever Mikey said isn't true! I will wake up Don and I will find you! And I will try not to kill you when I do!*

"That is quite a threat," said Karai as she listened to the loud conversation. She didn't bring up the nickname Raph gave her. The guy hated her and she really couldn't judge. She was their enemy after all.

Leo nodded at Karai's statement but didn't say anything as Raph continued shouting over the line. Then his face turned into an imitation of Grinch's cunning smile as an idea dawned on him.

"Baby brother," he addressed Raph in a very intimidating way and it shut him right up, "you don't know where this sexy turtle's been to."

Karai's eyes widened at Leo's suddenly mischievous smirk and sharp focused eyes.

"Have you ever had Sex on the Beach, Raph? It's amazing! It's sweet and sticky but sharp and arousing. And after it I got drunk and even spent some more time with Karai in a nightclub bathroom. It was pretty dirty so I won't go into detail. Right now we took off and we were just talking about love life in Spain. But don't worry brother, I'm not going anywhere." He didn't wait for Raph's turn to talk because he knew he left him speechless. "Adiós."

Raph wasn't the only one speechless. Karai watched Leo tuck away his phone and she couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. Ahh, this precious boy! Where'd he learn that? It must be from her! Ahh, her precious son, growing up so fast! It feels like only yesterday he was still sober!

"So are we going on the roof or are we just going to stand here?" Leo's swagger radiated in waves as he looked back at his crush before she could even get herself together.

"Yes! –I mean, of course, c'mon, I'll help you up." Karai mirrored his smile. This nerd can actually be a cool nerd, she thought.

Leo was grinning like a dork by that time. He'd be skipping and skittering around, like he were a little girl in a field of flowers, if he still wasn't feeling nauseous. He had to satisfy himself with his stomach doing summersaults under Karai's overwhelming gaze, instead. No matter how uncomfortable the feeling was, it was great!

Karai offered him a boost so it'll be easier for Leo to grab the brink of the rooftop from where they were standing. After a short time of huffs and puffs and a bit of struggle Leo managed to scramble on top of the roof. He felt pitifully victorious when he came on top. But his victory was short lived when he fell forward over the small brink right after, his hands not obeying properly, and landed face flat on the concrete floor. "Ow!" The sunglasses slipped from his forehead on his way down and he crushed them between his face and the hard ground.

Karai was right behind him and pulled him up from his painful position. "Elegance and grace," was all she said then walked forward letting him to himself.

Leo rubbed his aching snout –counting his teeth with his tongue and thanking God for not losing any and making his Hangover fear come true, as he made a step forward and heard a crunch under his foot. It wasn't a sickening crunch but it also wasn't one to ignore; It was the kind where Mikey would go, "Aw snap!" and then try to hide all evidences of it. Leo lifted up his foot and found just what he thought he would. The left lens and temple of Karai's glasses lay squashed and broken on the floor.

He suddenly felt overwhelmed with guilt. He broke her sunglasses! –She broke them in half first but he ruined them for good! Bad! Bad! Bad!

He grabbed the second half that was somehow stuck between his head and hood, and brought it before him. It looked so sad and lonely being all broken and useless.

"Uhh… Karai." For some reason Leo feared she'll get angry with him. And he really wasn't in the right condition to respond to anger without crying. "I broke your glasses in half. I only have one glass … uhh…? -es. Hmm…?"

Karai turned around, looked at the broken headwear in Leo's big but gentle hands, still blotchy from powder and eyeliner, and shrugged her shoulders. The glasses were already broken before and there really was no other use for them anymore now when they were already alone, away from other people.

Leo didn't accept her answer. Then he thought she wasn't saying anything because she went into those "girl brooding moods" where they pretend everything is fine even though it isn't! He became too familiar with those since he had met April.

Truthfully Karai really didn't care.

"This is karma! Because I was mean to Raph!" Leo suddenly burst out.

"If this is your karma then why are my sunglasses the victim here?" She would have let the broken glasses pass like nothing ever happened but Leo was acting like a little whiny drama queen and she loved pushing his buttons in moments like these.

"It's to make me feel guilty."

"My condolences." She said before crossing the flat concrete roof of the old apartment building. She sat down, leaning on the wall of a roof entrance when Leo joined her in a wobbly manner.

They stared at the few stars shining through the city's polluted air, before them. It was nothing like the black starry sky back home in Japan but Karai learned to appreciate it nevertheless. Especially the strong little stars that managed to break through the wall of the dirty orangey haze. She was suddenly lost in thought and didn't even feel Leo scoot closer to her.

"Karai?"

"Yes?"

"Why do I feel so great and terrible at the same time? I feel like throwing up but it's like the greatest thing, you know?"

"You're just drunk."

"Why'd I just say that to Raph?"

Ugh, Karai grumbled inwardly but didn't let it show. She frowned and turned away from the sky. Leo really wasn't letting that one go, was he? "It was funny!"

"I don't think you really know how my brother's mind works. He's probably fighting back a heart attack right now. I'm terrible."

"Then why don't you call him back and tell him you were only joking?"

Leonardo was slightly hesitative before answering. "I don't feel that bad."

Karai smirked.

"Who am I kidding? Yes, I do!"

And then she frowned. She impatiently tried to patiently watch Leo fumble with his turtle shell shaped phone. She tried to occupy her mind with something so she wondered if there are things like human shaped phones, too. She remembered that her home-world, Japan, exists and left the thought answered with that.

Instead of going to contacts, Leo opened up his text messages with Raphael. And instead of pressing call he pressed the box for a new text message. Karai didn't bother with it and watched him waiting for his brother to miraculously pick up with his phone.

"He's not answering! What do I do?" Leo cried after a while.

You're not even calling but that's none of my business. "Not care?" Karai suggested.

"How can you say that?"

"With my mouth and the knowledge of basic English vocabulary."

Leo sunk back down where he sat. He crossed his arms and pouted. They said nothing for a while as they stared at the city night sky before them.

Karai was kinda out of options. The night turned in a whacky way she didn't plan for. Her only objective that night was to get Leo to a club. She really didn't think further than that. Partly because she didn't even expect to come that far in the first place. And now here she was with a drunk turtle leaning against her. What could they do? They can't do anything fun, that's for sure. The poor guy's too drunk to manage more than walk and sit without dying in the process.

"I feel sick," Leo muttered as his head bobbed to the side against Karai's shoulder.

"Mhmm…"

"An' kina hunry…" he murmured, the words stretching into a long yawn.

"Yeah?" Karai looked down. Leo's head rested against her, eyes closed and mouth partly open, his hood fell off his head some time ago, and she could clearly see his oval face and puffy cheeks. Karai caught herself studying the turtles spotted skin. Her makeup has mostly already been rubbed off, and holy cow, how glad she was for that. That was a terrible mistake!

She continued staring at his face, noting all the tiny cuts and scars on his unhuman skin, that she had noticed earlier for the first time when she was applying makeup over it. She thought back at how different he looked without his mask on. He looked so… uh, naked? Exposed and vulnerable. And kinda freakish. It was almost uncomfortable to watch. No wonder he thought she was making a face at his looks – because, she really was! She hated herself for it. Even though the Shredder kept repeating the word until it echoed in her ears, Leo was no freak. He wasn't crawling around like a fairytale beast or creeping by like a strange dirty bearded man behind a grocery store. He was simply Leo. An awkward kid that mastered sword fighting at his young age of 15 and had been forced into a life of hatred and fear because of some bad blood that he shouldn't even a part of. And in all this chaos thrown at him he still takes precedence in humanity and not the monstrous instinct that controls Karai and others at times.

And when Leo called himself exactly what her father calls them every day and she tries to tell herself otherwise each and every time, that's when something snapped in her. She wasn't surprised she yelled at him then. Was regretful the next moment but at the same time wanted to yell more just to get it through his thick skull.

Leo's phone suddenly came to life and pulled Karai out of her head. She realized the turtle was already half asleep when he didn't even stir at the sound of the loud ringtone. She picked the phone from the ground between them with the intention to cancel the call. But suddenly she had the urge to answer Donatello, who showed up on the caller ID. Or should she say Don-Boi?

"Hello, Don-Boi."

*Hey, Karai.* She didn't expected him to react so casually – but he was the one to know Leo was with her in the first place and, instead of yelling like Raph, he wished them a fun night. So maybe he doesn't mind. He sounded exhausted and tired, though. So maybe he just doesn't care at all at the moment. *Raphael says Leo's had enough fun. It's time to pull the leash. We're coming to pick him up now.*

"Aww, but the night's still young."

*It's four in the morning. Some people will start going to work soon.*

Karai yawned despite herself. She admitted, it was quite late and even she started to succumb to the curse of sleeplessness. She should try and catch some Zs before morning training. If that was still possible… "We'll stay where we are. Bring something to eat and drink, Leo's hungry!"

*Whatever you say.* Donnie disconnected without a goodbye and for someone who was used to that kind of treatment Karai was strangely taken back by it. Rude turtle.

She laid the phone back on the ground between them. Carefully she shook Leo's shoulder to stir him awake. Sleeping drunk was never okay. He wasn't so very drunk, but better safe than sorry.

Leo was back in the real world with one intense inhale. His eyes snapped open fast and unfocused but he blinked a couple of times and offered a shy smile to the kunoichi who was now kneeling by his side, fully turned towards him.

"How are you feeling?" she asked gently as if talking to a sick rescued animal.

Leo wrinkled his forehead together as if thinking very hard about what to answer. "Still feel hungry."

"Food is, hopefully, on the way."

"Really?" The joy in his voice could only ever be mirrored by a happy toddler.

"Yes. Your brothers are coming to take you home."

If it was possible Karai just saw a fire die in those blue eyes and all the color wash from his face.

"Wha'? No!" Leo threw his hands into the air, like the drama queen he is, and dropped himself back until he lay on the cold concrete floor in a miserable heap. "There still so much we haven't done! I'm still waiting for your proposal, Karai!"

"My proposal? Ohoho! You're the gentleman, you propose to me."

"But I'm… Where do I get a ring?"

"Well, all good leaders are good at improvising. Am I not right?"

"Yeah! – Wait!" Leo sat up and straightened his back as he pulled the right part of Karai's broken sunglasses from his hoodie. Karai watched him break away the temple then pluck out the lens with his thumb. Now all that was left was a frame. Leo held it up in front of Karai for her to see. He wore a proud smile as he then, without any trouble, pushed it onto his big side finger. "This one fits!"

"But it won't fit me." Karai smirked amusingly, wondering how scrambled the kids head already was.

"Oh. … Ooooh!" Leo recognized the hole in his plan. "I guess now it would only be fair if you proposed?"

A smile broke away on Karai's lips that she couldn't control. She rolled her eyes but decided to play along. Hopefully he won't remember anything in the morning, anyway.

She stood up and ordered him to do the same "Okay, get up!" She pulled him up to her side with one hand and took the "ring" from his finger with the other. She ushered him to take a few steps across the rooftop with her until they stopped somewhere in the middle.

"Aren't the starts beautiful tonight?" she said.

Leo looked at the dirty sky, not really seeing more than maybe five stars. "Uh"-

"Do you know what else is beautiful?"

Leo turned back and found his own unfocused blue eyes staring at Karai's sharp golden ones.

"You," she said before dropping down on one knee. "Leo," she started, again staring deep into his eyes but only so she could think of what to say next. "The moment I saw you choking on my blinding powder like a sick dying cat, I knew you were the one. And even after all this time; of you beating me with your long sharp swords in nothing more than your bondage leather straps, I have never thought otherwise."

Leo's face was already completely red by that moment. And Karai loved it!

"Leo," She made a pause for dramatic effect. "Will you …marry me?" Together with the question she brought forward the ring.

Leo was flushed and flattered and believably surprised. He brought his hands to his mouth as if bereft of speech. Fluttering his eyes like a Disney character he looked around. "Ermahgerd!" Somehow he managed to get his eyes to water and Karai was impressed with his acting in his drunk state. "Yes!" he then squealed out with his best impression of a school girl. "Yes, of course!"

He extended his left arm and Karai slipped the ring on his finger as smoothly as the glass slipper on Cinderella. A perfect fit! Beautiful!

And when Karai came to stand back up, with her hands in his, she didn't expect to feel lips on her own and a warm and wet snout against her nose. She was frozen. But even so it lasted only a second. It was only a peck and Leo pulled away, only then realizing what he had done. Karai watched his eyes widen in regret and shame over his own actions so she tried to ignore it, no matter how fuzzy she suddenly felt, and continued playing along. She masked her bewilderment with a new smirk.

"Come," she extended her arms. "Let us ride into the sunset!" She tried to sound charming but her voice cracked at the end, and she didn't know whether because she couldn't be serious or because she was excitedly flustered.

"Oh joy!" Leo beamed, silently happy Karai decided to not comment on his slip-up. Without any regard for his weight he jumped into her arms like a newlywed turtle. Karai barely caught him and was on the brink of falling over. Ugh, he is heavy!

"What do people normally do after this?" he asked after a second of thought. He was holding her around the neck and wore the silliest and cutest smile. Karai would have returned one if she hadn't had a hard time holding him bridal-style. So heavy!

"Uh…?" She thought about Leo's question while also thinking how she should heal a hernia if she happens to get it from holding his weight. "I'm not really sure. Put it in their snapchat story?"

"Lol, no." Leo's smile widened but he gave her a questionable look while tilting his head back.

"Yes." Karai grinned and brought her face closer. "Then they go to their bedchamber for some sweating-hot action."

"Oh, really?" Leo gave her a sly look, pulling himself even closer, and wiggled his eye ridges.

"No!" Karai drew a line then and there. "Get that image out of your head, now!" She dropped his legs but kept a hold on his shell so he wouldn't fall.

"Aw dang it! I was so close."

"You are a fool if you think that!" Karai pointed an accusing finger at her friend and sounded like a badly dubbed anime character.

"Nooo!" Leo dropped to his knees in mock defeat and rose his fists into the air. Sadly the cool act was brought to an end as he fell over from lack of balance. Stupid drunk-ness!

"I'm bringing dishonor to my clan!" He sobbed after a minute on the cold ground.

"You're not. No one will find out about this."

"That's not how honor works," he looked up at Karai from where he lay.

"You don't want to discuss honor with me, kid!" Karai warned. No city punk is going to lecture her on honor.

Leo didn't object and lowered his head back on the ground. "Agony!" he shouted.

"Stop whining! – Let's get you out of those clothes before your brothers come. Then you won't have to worry about anything."

"Will I stop being drunk when I'm naked?"

"No."

"Then I don't care."

"You big drama queen! C'mere!" Karai crouched by Leo. She grabbed and tried to pull down his basketball shorts but they wouldn't go over his fat legs! Leo as well wasn't very cooperative to make it any easier for her. He was lying on his back before her like a drunk sacrificial offering to Dionysus.

"God dammit!" She cussed and ripped the shorts apart after a bunch of unsuccessful tugs. The fabric broke under her tight fingers and ripped apart into two.

"So rough." Leo chuckled and forced Karai to really see the awkward position they were in; him lying down, spread on the floor like a ragdoll and her crouching between his parted legs tearing his pants apart.

If you remember this in the morning, I swear to God, Leo! Karai snatched the ripped shorts off of him in one forced move –extra forced just because he was making her feel gross.

Leo chuckled but it suddenly turned into a choke. His eyes widened as he forcibly clammed his mouth shut. He barely rolled to the side as he emptied his stomach on the ground.

Karai pulled him up by the collar of the hoodie just in time. "Gross, Leo!" She managed to save him from bathing in his own vomit that was mostly unsettlingly clear liquid.

"Hhrrrn…" Leo crouched and hugged his stomach after he was done.

Karai, who crouched next to him, patted his shoulder in reassurance. "Don't worry. This was pretty much unavoidable. – After some point, of course."

Leo gave her a frowning side-look and didn't say anything as he continued clutching at his stomach.

"Let's get the hoodie off, too, huh?"

His grimace deepened.

"Don't look at me like that. Half of this is your fault!"

A whining whimper escaped Leo's mouth and he let his head fall until his forehead lay pressed against his bare knees.

"Don't cry." Karai shushed. "Your brothers should come any minute now. Remember your honor."

Leo's head came back up. "I hate you."

"I know." Karai smirked, knowing he didn't truly mean it. She grabbed the hem of the gray sweater and, with Leo's help who kindly lifted his hands, she pulled it over his head and off. She tied it around her waist then threw the ripped shorts over the edge of the rooftop, ignoring the startled yelp that came from the street below. She held Leo's hand and led him back to the roof entrance where they sat before. She didn't want the turtle anywhere near his gross puddle of vomit; wouldn't want him accidentally falling into it.

They sat there for a while, no one saying anything.

"Well I had fun," Leo suddenly spoke and threw Karai off.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I mean it wasn't all fun but it was fun. Definitely something I'll remember forever."

Karai smiled at him.

Before she could say anything in return, she heard a number of soft footsteps of the roof a few feet away. They both turned in the direction. Karai was already ready to fight whoever it was. Leo would have been, too, but you know… this wasn't his brightest moment.

"There they are," Donatello spoke and tucked away his T-Phone that he used to track their location.

"We got pizza!" Mikey shouted with a pizza box above his head and ran to the sitting duo who were both again slacked back on the wall when they saw who it was.

"Hey," said Leo but his greeting was drowned as Mikey hurriedly started listing all the toppings on the pizza while also explaining what happened in the Super Robo Mecha Force Five episodes. …And was there a mention of squirrels? Karai was lost.

Mikey opened up the cardboard box and brought it closer to his big bother's face.

Leo wrinkled up his nose at the strong smell. "I think I'm gonna be sick again," he mumbled and turned around.

Mikey looked sad at his brother's response, who says no to pizza, so Karai decided to take Leo's place.

"Can I have a slice?"

"Hey, Karai," he said sheepishly as if just noticing her. "Yeah, sure."

"Thank you, Michelangelo." Karai grabbed a slice from the box and offered a smile.

Mikey returned one but quickly scattered away and let his big brothers closer.

"Hey, lovebirds. How was your night?" Donnie asked and offered Karai a hand to pull her to a stance, while Raph pulled Leo up and started checking him all over like an ape looking for fleas on his fellow family member.

Karai took Don's hand and rose up. "Quite uneventful yet a lot has happened."

"Seems like it." Donnie smirked and watched Leo who could barely stand on his own but still swatted at Raph's grabby hands. "Stop it, Raphie!"

"Yeah…" Karai chewed on her pizza slice, recalling everything that had happened that they will hopefully never know about. "He'll need some help getting home."

"We got you covered," Donatello smiled through his sleepy, baggy eyes. He felt extremely calm considering he didn't have any coffee before they left the lair. But Raph was driving them all nuts so they had left as soon as possible.

"Where are his swords?" Raphael decided it was his time to stomp between them. Leo was again sitting and leaning against the wall while Mikey petted his head. There, there…

– "And gear?" Raph realized his brother, aside from the mask, was completely naked. What went down here? A suspicious, hateful look was directed at the young kunoichi.

That's right! Karai thought. She completely forgot about Leo's gear back at her place. But even so she wouldn't have left his side until his brothers arrived. "I'll bring them right now. Stay here. I'll be back in five minutes, max."

"And where are you going?" Raph demanded.

"To my room."

The short, bulky turtle gave her a wide eyed look that indicated he was dangerously close to snapping into two or withering into a small angry green raisin.

"I advise you don't ask further."

Raph took her advice to heart despite his strong wish not to. He spent the next minute grunting and muttering to himself like a grumpy old man having a tantrum.

Donnie ignored him and crouched down to his oldest brother to get a better look at his condition.

"Donnie!" Leo exclaimed excitedly when he noticed his purple-banded brother next to him. Being drunk made his emotions very fickle and he found himself in his silly, funny mood again. Don returned his smile and Leo noticed his brother's tooth gap. "Do you know I almost became you number two? – Hey that rhymes! You number two! You number two!"-

"Can I shut him up?" Mikey asked when Leo wouldn't stop.

"Please do." Donnie was dangerously close to a painful headache. Here come the side effects from his lack of caffeine.

Mikey gave Leo a light smack upside the head, "Ow!" which gained him a same-fashioned smack from Raph

"Hey!" The freckled turtle rubbed his assaulted scalp and scowled up at Raph.

"Don't hit him, you dork! Don't you see he's completely drunk?" Raph hissed back and Mikey walked off.

"I'm right here," Leo frowned.

"That's right, you are!" Donnie spoke sweetly and high pitched as if talking to a pet. "And how many fingers am I holding?"

Leo didn't even bother to look. "Four."

"Dudes, there's really weird puke here!" Mikey suddenly shouted from the other side of the roof. Everyone ignored him.

"We don't even have four fingers, moron," said Raph.

"Well how am I supposed- … So what?!" Leo whined, nearing his breaking point. He just got engaged and now his brothers won't even give him and Karai space. Where even is Karai? He looked around.

"Hey, I'm back!" Karai had just returned to their side with her hands full of Leonardo's gear and seethed katanas. She was slightly out of breath from the sprint home and back but kept her posture straight. What'd she miss?

Donnie offered her a polite smile but Raph barked right over it. "Took you long enough!"

Don had to rub his eyes to keep calm. Why must he be so loud? Wasn't it bad enough Raph threw him out of bed in the middle of one of those rare nights when he actually slept in his room and not on the lab desk…

He picked Leo's forgotten phone from the ground, tucked it away and stood up. "Mikey, take Leo's gear. And don't forget the pizza box. I'll take Leo. – Raph," Donnie took a deep breath. "Shut up, please, and help me."

It was not the reaction Raph expected but he didn't say anything over it when he saw his tall brother's exasperated face.

Mikey obediently ran from where he stood looking at Leo's vomit up to Karai who carefully stacked Leo's gear on top of the pizza box the little one carried. Mikey was smiling sheepishly as she did but didn't say anything and then quickly scampered away back to his brothers when she was done.

Donnie and Raph lifted Leo up on the count of three, each of them supporting him from one side. They pulled his arms behind their necks and squished him into a green sandwich.

Karai wanted to give Leo some kind of good-bye hug but found herself only standing still and watching the brothers starting to cross the roof.

"Good night, Karai!" Leo called to her. "Let's do this again next Friday!"

Karai found herself laughing. "We'll see about that, Leo! Heal your wounds first. Then we'll talk."

The other three brothers surprisingly stayed quiet, offering a feeling of privacy to the two.

Leo turned his head around to look at her one last time. His eyes were still glossy and unfocused but still focused enough to land on her. He gave her a grateful smile that twisted Karai's stomach in strange angles. "Thanks for the fun night."

"Good night, Leo," Karai grinned. "And thank you too," she said when her friend's face already turned away from her.

She watched the turtles from behind for a while to see if the three ninjas could get their drunk leader across the roofs, but mostly because she didn't want to leave yet.

"Leo are you still, you know?" She heard Raph speak up as they managed to jump onto the next rooftop. Leo was tightly held between Donnie and Raph and was practically dangling from them.

"What?"

"Are you still …a virgin?" The cursed word finally surfaced.

"Are you still an asshat?" Leo answered.

Mikey laughed out loud like a hyena.

"What's that, Leo?" The youngest asked after a moment when they were already a few roofs away. Karai couldn't see what he was referring to.

"It's my ring."

"Of awesome?"

"Of engagement."

"What?!" Raph screamed, panic bubbling again.

Karai grined. She tuned them out and left the rooftop then. Didn't really want to know how Leo was going to explain to his brothers that he got engaged with a frame of sunglasses.

She was in a need of a good few hours of sleep before she could function properly and see anyone.

FIN

---

If you made it to the end, I must congratulate you. Bravo! Clap, Clap! You've just read something written in my late sleep deprived summer nights that was originally supposed to be less than 1000 words but turned into 22.551…