It was later than he had originally thought.
After putting the Shell Cycle away, Raphael quietly made his way down to the lair. The lair was dark, save for a dim blue light that emitted from under the lab door. Light breathing could be heard from behind the closed door. Evidently, Donatello had once again fallen asleep at his computer. Raphael crept past Splinter's room. Even though he was a ninja and stealth and silence were honed into him, the fact that he was more muscular (and therefore heavier) than his brothers made it difficult for Raphael to be quiet, especially when it came to sneaking into the lair without being detected.
"Have fun?"
Raphael froze in mid-step. He closed his eyes and sighed. Of course, there was always the possibility of a certain blue-masked leader being awake to bust the poor soul who was late getting in. Raphael slowly turned around to find (as predicted) Leonardo leaning up against the door frame of the dojo. His arms were crossed professionally across his chest.
"I don't have to apologize to you," the sai-wielder whispered.
"And I don't want it. I merely asked if you had a fun night," Leonardo whispered back.
Raphael frowned. It wasn't normal for Leonardo to be this pleasant after catching someone off guard at this late hour. He carried himself differently. His shoulders didn't hang from an invisible burden, but they were squared and pulled back. He seemed...lighter.
"Have you been eatin' out of Mikey's bowl?" Raphael asked, keeping his voice low.
"No. But I did have a nice chat with Mikey," Leonardo answered.
"About what?" Raphael asked.
Leonardo shrugged.
"Stuff."
"That's helpful."
Raphael shrugged out of his bike jacket and tossed over the railing of the steps.
"What'd ya talk about?" he asked again.
"The assignment," Leonardo said.
"Ah. He accuse ya of stealin' again?"
"Something like that. However, that was a very quick topic of discussion."
Raphael gave his brother a skeptical look. He sat down on the fifth step and folded his arms on top of his knees.
"Go on," he instructed.
"Why are you so interested anyway?" Leonardo wanted to know.
"Usually a talk with Mikey has you fumin' more than one of Donny's inventions. He had to have said somethin' that has you actin' like a leaf on the wind," Raphael explained.
"Mike's got a new light catcher," Leonardo confessed.
"Big deal."
"You don't understand. This isn't like any other light catcher. It shows a person's inner feelings."
"So did Ralph's mirror."
Leonardo flinched involuntarily. His eyes drifted to Raphael's right side. Even in the dark he could see the scarred tissue that dominated the skin between the shell and plastron. He had been shot, stabbed, and heaven knows what else. Raphael's right side held more scars than the rest of his body.
"Is that why you're in such a chipper mood?" Raphael quizzed.
"No. I was actually very ticked off that Mikey experimented on me."
"Yeah. Like you have nothin' to hide," Raphael replied sarcastically. "We all know your deepest fear...Fearless."
"That's not funny. And you know better than anyone that I can't show weakness..."
"...Because you're the leader, yadda yadda. I've heard it before, bro. So, what happened?"
"Nothing much. We had a small arguement. I told him what I just told you. Then, he got on the topic of Ralph."
"Figures."
"He mentioned how we almost lost you because you kept all of your other emotions locked up. He also said that if all we expressed was anger and hatred, then pretty soon that was all we would feel. He also mentioned letting out our Inner Kid every once in a while," Leonardo concluded.
Raphael couldn't help but smile. He chuckled quietly.
"Inner Kid, huh? Makes me wonder how Happy's doin'."
"I'm sure he's...happy," Leonardo said.
"Lame joke," Raphael voiced.
"It's almost one in the morning. I'm allowed to make lame jokes and blame it on fatigue," Leonardo protested.
"Whatever ya say, bro," Raphael grunted as he got to his feet.
He grabbed his jacket and headed up the stairs. Leonardo headed up after his brother. Before Raphael could retreat into the black hole that was his room, Leonardo took his arm. The red masked terrapin turned around.
"Somethin' on your mind?" he questioned.
"I'm just curious," Leonardo began. "But...what's it like? Being that close to a human?"
Raphael blinked. He wasn't expecting that. Words escaped him. The younger of the two gazed into the darkness, searching for some coherent explanation. Finally, he just decided to answer with another question.
"Why so interested?"
"You know why."
"Actually, Fearless, I don't. I can't read your mind. And, quite frankly, I don't think I would ever want to read it," Raphael confessed. "You're more of an emotional mess than I am sometimes."
"I'm curious. You're closer to a human than me, Don and Mike could ever get," Leonardo pointed out.
"Donny's pretty close to April," Raphael put in.
"But not emotionally. She's Casey's girl. But, you and Rea are a different story."
Raphael studied Leonardo's eyes. A smirk played at the corners of his lips.
"Leo, are you...jealous?"
Leonardo stepped back, as if insulted that his sibling could ever think such a thing.
"Me? Why would I be jealous? We're all thinking it," he argued.
"Chill, bro. I'm not accusin'...yet. But, to answer your question: it's something that words fail to describe. I could go on about how a perfectly tuned motorcycle feels when you ride it, but you wouldn't understand. In terms that you would understand: it's perfection. Plain and simple. There's nothin' like it."
"Now I'm jealous," Leonardo moaned.
Raphael chuckled. He patted his brother's shoulder reassuringly.
"Don't worry, Leo. Who knows? Maybe some day you'll meet a nice girl. Human or mutant."
"But it won't be the same as your relationship with Rea."
"Leo, please remember that she was stuck in my mind for a while. Poor girl must've be traumatized. However, she became a part of me. You'll probably fall for your own reason."
"Don't joke, Raph," Leonardo scowled.
"Who's jokin'?" Raphael asked.
"Forget it. You're right. I'm jealous. Don't know why I am though."
"It's probably Mike's light catcher thing messin' with your brain," Raphael offered.
"Maybe," Leonardo agreed.
Raphael yawned.
"Well, I'm goin' to bed. See you at trainin'."
"G'night, Raph."
The brothers went into their separate rooms. Neither of them saw an orange masked shadow disappear back into his room. Michelangelo held the light catcher to his chest. Raphael was right. It could mess with people's minds. A sly smirk crept across Michelangelo's face. Oh, he was going to have fun when dawn broke.
Sorry if Leo was a bit out of character, but the ending says it all.
Let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is welcomed. Flames, however, hold no value.