Don's analytical mind was usually one that caught on quick, but for some reason this woman- this human- was throwing him. He'd never had someone walk him home before and though it was a rather pleasant, if not mundane thing to do, he couldn't help but feel a strange sort of excitment at having a pretty young woman walk with him.
Sure he couldn't allow her to go into the sewers and walk him completely home, that was a given. But that didn't matter to him. For once he had company outside of his immediate family. Someone who knew his secret and didn't care aside from April, and Casey.
To say that he was intrigued would be an understatment.
He was many things (exhaustion aside) nervous, a mite confused... And then there was the deeper feelings shadowing his thoughts. Protectiveness. God he'd never felt such protectiveness towards anyone but his father and brothers. Then there was the more confusing possessivness he felt as they walked. If any Purple Dragons were to jump out at them and try to take Aarien from his side- he'd slaughter them without a second thought.
Glancing down at her from under his hat, he noted that she appeared to be as nervous as he was the closer they got to their destination. Mostly because she was walking through a neighborhood full of thieves, murderers and rapists. All of whom were probably watching them from the shadows. But she didn't need to know that.
Lifting his arm, he wrapped it around her slender shoulders and pulled her up against his side and said in a low tone, "Don't worry. I won't leave you alone until you're safely home."
"But I'm walking you home-" She pointed out. As if he could have forgotten. He gave her a smile in the dark, a mere slash of pearly white teeth and breathed in her ear, causing her to shiver a little bit and flush as he said.
"Do you really think I'd go home and leave you walking the streets in this neighborhood? Even if you managed to get home safely tonight there would be no guarantee that you would remain safe. No, I think I'll pretend to go home then follow you anyways so that I can drop by at random and check on you."
Aarien tipped her head back a little bit to look at him, her expression questioning as she asked, "Would that be wise?"
Don considered her question for all of a second before replying, "No. No, it wouldn't be wise-" But for some reason the thought of seeing her whenever he wanted without the interferance of his brothers made him insanely happy. "But I'm going to do it anyways. If you don't mind, that is." He said, his golden brown eyes locking with her own. His gaze probing. Almost desperate.
He needed this. The slight contact. The conversation and bad jokes. The realization should have shocked him to his very core. Should have forced him to shove her aside and disappear into the night. But for some strange reason he felt oddly rooted in place. Waiting patiently for her to make her choice.
"I'm not sure how much you'll get to see me-" She finally said after a heartbeat or two and he let out the breath that he hadn't known he'd been holding. "But I don't mind if you stop by and visit from time to time."
He smiled again, this time his lips curved up, gently. "Thank you, Aarien."
"Uh-huh, no problem. But just so you know- I'm a black belt in karate. So the second you piss me off expect to walk with a limp for a while."
Don got a startled look on his face for a second, his mind going back to a little while ago when he had made her cry. If she had a black belt in karate, why hadn't she used it on him then? She had obviously been upset and scared. Perfect conditions for using karate.
He opened his mouth to ask her why she hadn't used it when she said, "It's not something that I like to advertise, Donatello. Advertising you're strengths is a damn good way to let others know how to counter them and hurt you...badly."
He closed his mouth with an audible click of his teeth and processed what she had just said and he had to admit, she was right. "How many people know that you know karate?" He asked curiously as he heard a tin can from the alley across the street being crushed under the heavy weight of a foot.
Don tensed and looked over his shoulder and made a low growling sound and maneuvered Aarien into an darkened alleyway and pinned herr against a brick wall and waited as he pulled out his shell cell and dialed Leo's number then handed it to Aarien as he pressed himself as close to her as he could without crushing her and buried his face against her neck and said in a rough tone.
"Listen to me very carefully, in just a second or so a group of people are going to come around the corner of the building. I want you to stay back, call the number I just dialed and ask for someone called Leo. Tell him where we are, what's going on and for the love of god... Don't. Let. Anyone. See. Your. Face."
Don felt her nod just as the sound of crazed laughter reached their ears from a few feet away and he stepped back and let Aarien go just enough to thrust her small body behind his own as someone said, "Yo bro, you looked like you were having fun with your honey. So we thought we'd have fun with her too. Who knows mabe once we've had our fill of her and have your money- we may leave you alone."
Liars! Don thought as he lifted a hand up to take his hat off so that it wouldn't get damaged as he vaguely heard Aarien whispering behind him into the shell cell.
"H-Hello, is this Leo?"
