The days slid into weeks as the girls settled in. Jaden and Violet had gotten jobs with a florist down the street and Kat was enrolling in college online while keeping the house up while the rest of us worked.
One summer evening, while Kat was still home alone, Stevie Nick's "Secret Love" floated out of the open windows as the youngest sister made her way around the apartment, smiling for the first time since Mistress Lavinia had passed. Her sisters where together again! When Mary had left, the chosen Leader, in pursuit of a normal life that didn't involve fighting evil and hiding among the shadows, it just hadn't been the same. Jaden had immediately leapt for the leader position but was refused, Mistress Lavinia saying that even though Mary was not with them at that moment, they would be reunited. Who would've known it would have been the sudden death of their master? Their surrogate mother?
Mary had been came back into their lives with all her strong-willed, fiery existence. The youngest sister had always looked up to the strong woman. Mary was tall, toned yet ver obviously woman. She was the only one that could take on Violet's mental attacks and Jaden's strength with her scimitars. Mary even dodged Kat's lighting quick attacks with her Hamas. Mary was beautiful, strong and perfect. In Kat's eyes anyway. Kat knew why her older sister always wore long sleeve and clothing that covered every inch of her body. Scales. bright red and orange scales sporadically covered the redhead's body beneath the clothing along with scars from Father. Kat thought of Jaden's scales, not as wide-spread as Mary's, but covering her chest in green and blue. Most people who caught glimpse of Jaden's physical mutation had just assumed they were tattoos.
Kat found the scales of her older sisters somehow beautiful. she even found Violet's reptilian-like eyes beautiful. Of course, the second youngest girl had made full cover contacts for them, forever hiding their brilliance.
Kat didn't have scales except for her small hands, which were slightly more lizard-like. The fingers were thinner with blue-white scales and sharp nails that were strong as iron nails. She hid them in gloves, lacy but covered gloves that reached her elbow.
The youngest girl shook herself. out of her daydreaming long enough to look out the front window. A young couple was making their way down the street. Kat sighed as she watched them walk closely together, his strong arm around her shoulder as a smile graced his handsome face. She said something before giggling, making her even more beautiful as he leaned in for a kiss.
The tiny blonde pouted. She wanted a romance. Wanted one like what she read about in her novels that she'd snuck from Mistress Lavinia's room. she wanted a strong, brave and charming hero that would love her no matter her mutation or strangeness.
She was still crooning over the couple when she heard the footfall. Her body instantly went into fight mode, reaching for the small throwing knives beneath her hemp shirt, strapped to her side. Kat sent them flying with incredible speed, the figure on the balcony barely dodging them. She cursed quietly, tuck-and-rollling over to the other side of the room where her Hamas were. How could she have been so stupid as to have left the balcony doors open. She was getting over-confident. Taking an attack pose, she looked squarely at the figure, her jaw dropping as it, /he/, stepped into the light, his hands up in surrender.
"Easy, dudette...heh, I come in peace." the creature, which resembled a turtle, gave her an uneasy smile. Kat froze, never letting her guard down as she studied him. He had the build of a human man but his skin was green . He had only three fingers per hand, and only two toes per foot. he had humanoid facial features but lacked any ears of hair.
Was he Kappa? No, he couldn't be. He lacked the dip in the skull that held water. He sounded like the surfer boys she'd seen on TV. His smile stayed as he slowly reached down for his nunchuks. She tried her best to look fierce as she ready herself for attack but he did something that completely shocked her. He tossed his weapons over the heard the clatter as they hit the concrete below.
"Are you stupid?" She blurted. " You never let go of your weapon!" she cried, repeating what the Mistress had drilled into their brains.
"You're weapon is an extension of your arms, your body. Never drop them, never let them go."
The giant turtle let out a nervous laugh, his light blue eyes looking at her, pleading.
" I wanted ti show you that I mean no harm, I just...uh, I wanted to talk to you. I know this is totally creepy but I've come up here every night to watch you. You're just..." he stumbled, looking for words. With a huge sigh, he shrugged and said "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Even more beautiful than a mint condition, never opened Captain America comic."
Kat's face turned as red as Mary's hair. That was the first time any guy had told her she was beautiful, mutant or not. Her heart did a little flip-flop as she watched the turtle. He sat down on the balcony, just outside the apartment.
" I just wanted to talk to you," he said, the goofy smile back.
After standing there for a while, Kat moved to the other side of the couch, slipping down onto the floor, still battle ready.
"Alright, well, what's your name?" She asked, her tinkling voice finally breaking the silence. A huge grin broke out across his face.
"It's Michelangelo. But call me Mikey, I mean, if you want. Yours?"
She gave a small smile, making Michelangelo's heart pound.
"Katerina. But you can call me Kat. if you want."
Over the next two hours, the two talked non-stop, Mikey never moving from hiss spot as he listened. He found out the girls she lived with were her older sisters and that they had moved in with the oldest after the death of their mother. She found out that he had three other brothers who all lived with their father. As he described them, Kat laughed at his silly antics and impressions of his older brothers.
Over the span of the next few weeks,the two met every night on the balcony to talk. He'd bring her things like pizza or some little delicate girly trinket he'd said he'd found. She treasured it all. She eventually took off her gloves and showed him her hands. He just smiled and said they were gorgeous.
The sweet, innocent blushes and thudding heartbeats slowly turned into a fragile love, one that grew stronger as time went by.
Kat tried her best to erase all trace of him being in the apartment, knowing that her sisters were extremely inept to all their senses. Unfortunately, Violet saw all.
One night, after Kat had fallen asleep, Jaden and Violet made their way to my study. I could see them on the monitors I had installed last week. The monitors that had alerted the three of us that Kat had a friend. I heaved a sigh as they came in and slowly closed the door.
"Has he shown any signs of hurting her? Anything?" Jaden asked quietly, plopping down on my desk and helping herself to my Rollo's. I growled as I snatched them away and moved over ti the small screens.
"Nope. Not a single threat, bad look or anything. He throws his weapons over the balcony every night and does nothing but act silly and make her laugh. He'll bring her senseless presents and puff out his chest when she coos over them," I said as I faced them, popping a Rollo in my mouth. "They have, however, made a date for tomorrow night. That old park down the street? Yeah, their having a "midnight picnic"."
Jaden and Violet exchanged looks.
"I don't want to take this from her. Yeah, he's more mutated than us but from what we' ve seen, I think we can agree that he's more human than animal. This is the happiest she's been since the Mistress passed. And it's not like any human man would accept her, any of us. This Michelangelo accepts her." I said, looking out the window.
"Then we will follow them. Just in case," Violet stated. Jaden and I nodded in unison. We discussed it a little longer before heading to bed. Tomorrow night, we'll follow our little sister on her date, just in case.