Stranger
Raph didn't think he could take it anymore.
Four days had passed since Mona "moved in" with them, and not once had Raphael talked to her about the events of that first night. He didn't know what to think, but it didn't really matter because if he ever got the chance or confidence to talk to her about it, he would probably chicken out anyway. What could he say to a girl who, for no reason he could imagine, kissed him senseless and then acted like it was no big deal? Add in the fact that he had saved her life, found her mutated into a salamander, and brought her home. Even under normal circumstances Raph would be nervous, but their situation was in no way normal.
He wasn't a guy from her high school that she decided to have a good time with one night. He was a mutant turtle who lived in the sewers, fighting crime with his brothers, almost completely shut out from society. And she wasn't just some pretty face; she was a mutant lizard.
And they were living under the same roof.
With three other teenage boys and Raphael's rat father, all who had no idea what had happened between them.
Honestly, Raph didn't know what had happened either. He had dreams about her being so close to him, how she tasted when she kissed him, the delicate strength in the muscles of her back when he held her. But he hadn't progressed pass the initial shock yet. Which made it all the more difficult to figure his situation out.
In his dreams, the attraction between them wasn't hidden. But then Raph would wake up, and tell himself that the dreams had to stop, that it was all one-sided. What had happened between them was a game for her; she needed a distraction that first night after all the trauma and stress she had gone through. She used him as a way to ignore the pressing issues surrounding her.
It sucked that he enjoyed being her distraction so much. Not wanting her would make it so much easier on him; he would be able to wipe his memory of the incident and play stupid.
That was what Mona seemed to be doing anyway. She wasn't perfectly at ease, he could tell, but he chalked that up to the new mutation and living in the sewers. He guessed she had completely forgotten about their moment, and was expecting him to do the same.
The problem was, he just couldn't.
And knowing that she didn't care like he did made him feel sick to his stomach; it made is chest ache so badly he almost couldn't breathe.
Raphael snapped his eyes open and rubbed a clenched fist over his plastron. He was lying on the couch in the Pit, where he had been sleeping for the past couple of nights. Mona was in his room until Donnie could fix up the small room attached to his lab. The feeling he had just been thinking about came true, as his stomach churned and his heart constricted with the thought of Mona's obvious aloofness toward him.
The clock under the TV read 5:15. Raphael inwardly groaned, but knew he wasn't going to get back to sleep now. He gave one big stretch, arching his back to push his shell against the cushions and tensing his muscular legs. When his muscles felt satisfied, he got up and stretched his arms above his head and gave a large yawn. Finally relaxed, Raph quieted and cocked his head to listen for any other sounds of life. Usually Leo would be up early, but even 5:15 was a bit early for him. Raph confirmed that Leo was in fact still asleep when he didn't hear Leo's sure footsteps working through his katas.
I'm up earlier than Fearless? That's somethin' new.
Raph paced over to the kitchen, hell-bent on getting some coffee into his system. He needed to shrug off the layer of drowsiness that threatened to envelop him. As he passed the adjoining hallway, Raph gave a casual glance toward it like he always did. He saw his own door was shut tight. Now that ain't right. I'm out here, why would my door be…
Realization slapped Raph across the face, sufficiently waking his tired brain up the rest of the way. All thoughts of coffee forgotten, Raphael turned on his heel and stalked off toward Donnie's lab, putting as much distance as he could between himself and his own bedroom.
Out of all three brothers, Raphael was the least frequent visitor in Don's lab. The boy genius called on Mikey to test his experiments, and Leo stopped by from time to time to discuss how the new technologies Donnie created would assist them on their patrols and ongoing fights with the Kraang, Foot, and Purple Dragons. Raphael didn't care as much for his brother's inventions. Not that he looked down upon them or felt inferior to Donnie in any way; Raphael accepted a long time ago that Genius's brain just couldn't be matched. Honestly, most of the stuff Don came up with outright confused the red-banded turtle. And what Raph didn't understand, he didn't bother with. Leo would call it stubborn and short-sighted. Raph saw it as understanding and respecting his limits.
And right now, he planned on "understanding and respecting his limits" regarding Mona. He didn't understand her one bit; so, naturally, he decided to keep his mind busy with anything else.
It was still too early to work the punching bag; Raph didn't want to wake his Sensi, whose room connected to the dojo. So Raphael chose a quieter outlet for his emotions. Crossing the length of the lab, Raphael entered into the attached spare room that was to become Mona's. The walls of this room were more sound-proof than any other in the Lair for some reason, which turned it into the perfect place for the brothers to store and play their music.
As Raph walked in, he could already see the work his brother had just recently put on cleaning the place. Mikey's drum set, Leo's bass, and Donnie's keyboard were all pushed into a corner, looking useless and lonely. In front of them stood Raphael's electric and acoustic guitars.
To jam out on his electric, amplifiers blazing, imaginary crowd cheering; Raphael couldn't think of a better outlet for all of his pent-up emotion. But out of courtesy for his sleeping family, Raphael picked up the acoustic instead. He sat down crisscrossed, absent mindedly strumming out a few familiar chords.
Raphael hadn't been paying must attention as his fingers found their way through some old tunes he hadn't played in years. One melody stuck out to him in particular, so he went with it. As he played through the chorus, he felt the tune come back to him. Raphael finally recognized it as one of Donnie's favorites from a couple years back, and he picked up the tune with a hum.
Unable to hold his voice back any longer, Raphael's hum dissolved into words. His voice felt the most comfortable in the chorus; that's the part he decided to focus on.
"…comes shinin' through…
So caught up in you, little girl
and I never did suspect a thing,
so caught up in you, little girl
that I never want to get myself free,
and baby it's true, you're the one
who caught me, baby you taught me
how good it could be…"
So caught up in controlling his voice, Raphael's brain didn't even register the weight of the words he was singing. When he finally did, Raph stopped short with a gasp. Why did that song come to mind?!
That's one of Donnie's old things; from when we first met April. It's not even my style.
Seriously spooked, Raph picked out one of his own favorites to get rid of the uneasy feeling that now gripped his stomach. It didn't require much from his guitar at first, but he plucked along anyway.
"People are strange, when you're a stranger When you're strange
faces look ugly, when you're alone
women seem wicked, when you're unwanted
streets are uneven, when you're down
faces come out of the rain-
When you're strange
no one remembers your name.
When you're strange,
When you're strange,
When you're-
strange"
As he quieted down for the guitar solo, Raphael felt uneasy; his sixth sense was screaming at him, telling him he was being watched. But he had just started to feel better throughout the song, it was just what he needed to let go of all the confusion and hurt he had been feeling the past couple days. So he continued right back into the vocals as the solo came to a close.
"People are strange, when you're a stranger When you're strange
faces look ugly, when you're alone
women seem wicked, when you're unwanted
streets are uneven, when you're down
faces come out of the rain-
When you're strange
no one remembers your name.
When you're strange,
When you're strange,
When you're-
strange"
Raph cocked his head to the side when he heard the door ease open behind him. He knew someone had been watching him. Raph set the acoustic back on its stand and turned where he sat. He expected one of his brothers; Leo, being up so early, or Donnie, wondering what Raph was doing in the backroom of the Lab. Who he didn't expect to see was Mona, leaning rather awkwardly against the door frame.
Raphael leaped up and took a step back, unable to hide the surprise from his face. Mona smiled slightly in amusement, but didn't relax from her spot by the door. Heck, she didn't relax at all.
"You've been there… how long?"
"Long enough."
Raphael rolled his eyes and huffed angrily. "Great, now I gotta figure out what that means too."
Mona instantly looked guilty and dropped her eyes to the floor. Raph cursed himself under his breath when he realized how harsh he sounded.
"Aw shell, Mona. I don't mean to snap 'atcha, I've just been…"
"It's fine Raphael. Really. I was the one who snuck up on you, I should be apologizing."
Raph lifted an eye ridge at her. "You gonna keep callin' me by my full name forever? Only Master Splinter still calls me 'Raphael'."
Mona wrinkled her nose, which is really cute, by the way. "Nicknames don't always agree with me."
"You don't seem to mind usin' my brothers'."
Mona shifted uncomfortably. "Well, that's different…"
Raphael shook his head in amazement. Girls. I swear, I'll never ever figure 'em out. "Maybe you could come up with somethin' different?"
Mona pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Maybe. But right now, that's not what I'm here for. I wanted to ask you something; I need your help."
Already, Raph could feel the chill of goosebumps spreading across his body. "Uh, sure… what…?"
"I wanna go home. Not permanently-" Mona's shoulders quivered with nervous laughter, "just to gather up some things I need if I'm going to be down here for the long-run. Nettles, my laptop, fresh clothes, my toothbrush… But it probably isn't a good idea for me to be walking around NYC looking like this" she motioned toward her body, "…and the Kraang might still be looking for me. So I thought it would make sense for you or your brothers to tag along? Y'know, just to be safe."
Raph nodded, but couldn't keep the look of surprise and amusement off his face. At least she'll let me close enough to protect her. Mona raised her eyebrows at him expectantly. He had taken too long to reply. Always makin' a fool outta myself around this one. He set his face in a stoic expression, and tried to channel some Leonardo-esque authority into his voice.
"Uh course we can take you home. Leo and I, we can take you tonight in the Shellraiser and load up whatever you need. We still haven't gotten enough info on the Kraang to guess whether or not they're still out to get you; and we haven't been back to your building to check if the Kraang are watching it. We'll have to be careful, but I think we can pull it off quick enough without trouble."
Mona Lisa smiled genuinely at him for the first time that morning, and Raphael could feel the stupid warmth hit his chest and toes again.
"Thanks, Fusegu."
Raphael blinked in surprise. What did she just call me?
"When the shell did you learn Japanese?"
Mona reddened some. "Leo and Master Splinter told me all about how it was your guys' first language, so I just asked them to teach me some things. No biggie; and Master Splinter was happy to tell me whatever I wanted. So I asked him how to say…"
"'Protector'?"
Mona had turned bright red now. "I said I would figure out a new nickname, didn't I?"
Now it was Raphael's turn to blush. "Mona… about Wednesday night…"
Before Raphael could utter another word, Mona took a couple steps back, eyes wide and visibly nervous. "Well I think I hear Mikey starting breakfast, I should probably go help him, thanksagainfortakingmetonight bye!"
He didn't have a chance to react before she was gone from the doorway. Raphael let out a frustrated breath and fell to the floor, head in hand. He didn't understand why she was avoiding the subject. They had to talk about it sometime, or Raph was gonna lose it. Why was she ignoring it? Because she was ashamed? Because she made a mistake in kissing him? Because she was afraid? Because she thought he was a freak? Maybe she hates how you kiss.
Raph buried his face in his hands, shaking his head. For a second there she had seemed so calm talking to him, almost flirting. And then she admitted to going to his Father and talking about his native language just to create a new nickname for him; Fusegu.
Fusegu. One who defends, or protects. Her protector.
A warm, wet nose pushed itself between Raphael's fingers, sniffing his face. Without having to look, Raphael reached out and grabbed Rita, setting her on his lap.
"Rita, I swear this girl's gonna kill me."
…
Mona snuck back into Raphael's room and tiptoed to the bed. At the last step, she threw herself onto the mattress. She needed to let herself have one moment of emotional release; and there was no shortage of emotions to release right now.
She felt bad for following and watching Raph, but she really had to ask him sometime to take her back to the surface. Her brain had said yes to the opportunity, against Mona's better judgment, when she heard him get up. And in a way, she was happy that she did chase after him. Hearing Raphael sing for the first time gave her goose bumps. Honest-to-God goose bumps. She'd never heard a voice like his; clear, confident, masculine and real; it excited her to no end. Watching his too-large fingers find their way around the frets and strings was by itself extremely impressive.
Mona could hear all the pent-up emotion spilling out as he sang; it made her want to crawl into his lap and nestle into his plastron.
No Mona. Stop it already with these thoughts!
Ever since the first night, Mona had avoided Raphael as much as humanly (or, in their case, mutantly) possible. She had this brilliant idea that if she wasn't around him, and didn't think about that night, that she would forget it entirely. She didn't want to forget it, but she knew she had to. There was no way she was pulling Raphael into the mess that was her life; especially with a father like hers. He had probably assumed that she used him as an outlet for her grief and confusion, and although that was in no way true, she would let him think that if it meant he forgot about what had happened.
Besides, denial was Mona's specialty. It kept all the pain away; if she could convince herself that something didn't matter or didn't happen, she was saved from the painful emotions that followed those situations. It had worked for all of her 17 years; why wouldn't it work now?
That was the exact question Mona kept running through her mind as she pulled her legs up to her chest, now laying in a small ball on her side. The problem was, no matter how hard Mona tried, she just couldn't wipe the thoughts of Raph's kisses and nervous tension that shook his whole body from her mind.
Then he had to go and make it all worse this morning by bringing it up. It was obvious now that he was as confused and hurt as she felt, which changed everything. Mona had no problem letting herself suffer, but she couldn't bear to see anyone she cared about, which now includes Raphael, in pain. Especially when she was the root of all his hurt. I never wanted things to become so complicated.
But that's exactly what had happened. Now she couldn't even face him. He deserves an explanation. He deserves so much more, but the least I can do is explain why it'll never work.
And she couldn't even bring herself to do that. Mainly because every time she was around him her reasons went to crap and all that she could think about were his captivating green eyes and strong arms holding her close.
"Uggghhh!" Mona couldn't just lie there anymore. She had to escape, even if for a little, from her own mixed-up mind. The battle between infatuation and logic going on inside of her was too much to bear.
Mona rolled out of bed, off to find the only one she knew could handle her situation.
…
Mikey hit the jump perfectly. Two 360 degree turns and one back tuck later, his board found the ground again. He hit the snow with a small grunt, angling the board so he took a wide turn and found his balance again. Punching the air, he let out a yell of pure delight, and his brothers responded with a similar shout. My brothers? Mikey whipped his head around; sure enough, there they were, racing down the snow-covered hill alongside him. Even April was there, on skis, her fiery hair billowing around her face in stark contrast with the white powder surrounding them.
When they reached the bottom of the hill, their Sensi was waiting with fresh mugs of hot chocolate and a warm smile. He listened intently as each teenagers recounted their own ride down the hill, nodding at all the right times. Throughout the stories, Splinter regarded Mike with a special smirk, like he knew something Mikey didn't. The next time their eyes met, Mike scrunched his eye ridges together and gave Splinter a look that said, "What aren't you telling me?"
Splinter beamed freely now, and motioned Mikey over. As soon as they were out of earshot of the others, he whispered.
"Michelangelo, there is someone here I think you may know…"
His Sensi stepped aside, arm outstretched in an introduction. From behind him came a girl dressed in black spandex snow pants, grey knitted boots, a light blue hoodie tucked over a darker blue Underarmor turtleneck, and lavender mittens. A knitted hat the same color as her boots covered her head, but it couldn't cover all of her strawberry blonde hair, which came to rest at the top of her chest some inches below her collarbone. If Mike hadn't been so caught up in her dark chocolate brown eyes he would have laughed at the adorable tassels on the ends and top of the hat.
Her cheeks were rosy from the cold, and her eyes sparkled as snow started to fall around them. Flakes caught in her eyelashes and she laughed, reaching a gloved hand up to try and swipe them out of her eyes. She looked right at him, blinding him with her perfect white smile and her beauty.
"Mike?"
Mikey's voice wouldn't work. Gabrielle?!
Her tone softened considerably as she approached him. She was so close now that their breath mingled together in the cold.
"Mike? Mikey… Michelangelo?" His personal space became hers as she leaned in even closer, the tip of her nose millimeters from his chin. Chocolate brown eyes melted and looked directly up into his own.
And Mike hit the ground.
Did I faint?
The feminine voice was calling to him again…
"Mikey? Mikey! Wake up!"
Michelangelo shot his blue eyes open and met a pair of yellow ones.
He almost yelped, but couldn't because of the small hand that covered his mouth. The owner of the yellow eyes must have seen the shock in his own, because they immediately comforted him.
"Oh Mikey, don't freak out. It's just me."
Mike struggled to regain consciousness.
"Errrah… Mona?" His eyes adjusted to the darkness enough for him to make out a now smiling Mona Lisa. Mike involuntarily twitched his hand up to his cheek where her long hair was tickling it.
Mona giggled softly and sat back on his bed, allowing Mikey to sit up.
"Hey sleeping beauty. So who's Gabby?"
Thank gosh Mike had been rubbing the sleep from his eyes, or they might have bugged out of his sockets.
"Uh… who?"
"I dunno, that's what I'm asking you. You were mumbling something about 'Gabby'." Is that someone you know?"
Mikey hid his humiliation in his hands, muffling his speech as he answered her. "I have no idea. I don't know anyone named 'Gabby'." It wasn't a total lie; he knew her as Gabrielle, not Gabby.
Mona raised an eyebrow at him. "Huh. Well, anyway, that's not what I woke you up for. Care to get your shell handed to you in Mario Kart?"
Mike narrowed his eyes at her, now fully awake.
"Sweetie, you're asking for it. No one bests me at Mario Kart."
Mona was already out the door. "I call Rosalina!"
Mikey threw back the sheets, grinning ear to ear as he ran after her. "Fine, but she can't beat Yoshi!"