So it's getting a bit dramatic but that's all good it's cool this is fine. Some of you shippers may love this chapter, but you won't love me for long. B)
As Mira and Baxium made breakfast the morning before Baxium was supposed to return to Homeworld, Raphael was slowly waking up to the sunlight entering his room. He spent a good bit of time staring out the window and scrolling through his phone before he decided to start his day.
He knocked on Mikey's door on his way to the kitchen. "Mikey, you here?"
He heard some rustling and a groan, and assumed it meant he wasn't ready to wake up yet. Raph shrugged it off and wandered into the kitchen to make himself some food. After their family visited, the apartment managed to fall back into a pigsty. Raph couldn't say it didn't bother him, but he couldn't be bothered to clean up all the time.
With a sandwich in hand, Raph turned on the TV to watch a bit of news before deciding on what to do with his day. From the table, his phone went off and he was curious to see who was contacting him. Just as he opened the text, the news story that flashed on screen was of the Triceraton trouble. For a moment, he ignored his text to learn more about what was going on.
"Triceraton soldiers stationed here on Earth are being called to return to Homeworld while the dispute is being sorted out. We still haven't recieved official word from either side on how they intend to settle things, or what started the whole ordeal, but we do know that the Genrochs have quite a history with the old Triceraton Republic."
"Huh." Raph continued watching with a disgruntled expression, wondering if he'd recognize anything on the screen. Another sound went off and drew his attention back to his phone. It was from Joi.
Hey, wanna grab lunch?
Raph stared at the half-eaten sandwich in his hand and thought for a moment before finishing it as he texted her back.
Sure, the usual place?
Sounds good. Meet me there in an hour.
An hour was surely enough time for him to work up more of an appetite. He glanced back up at the news and frowned before deciding to wake Mikey up. Mikey was just about to open his door when Raph started banging on the door. Mikey's surprised scream could be heard the floor above in Ashley's room.
"Nice," Raph said after Mikey opened the door while clutching his plastron.
"Dude, not cool."
"Wake up bonehead, have you heard the news?"
Mikey stretched as he gave his brother a confused look. "What news? Did you finally realize how much prettier I am?"
Raph rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "No, numbskull. The Triceratons might be going to war."
"What? With who?"
"No idea. But I'm bettin Traximus is already on his way back to Homeworld. I was gonna call him and see if he had any other news, but I thought you'd wanna know first." Raph took his phone out of his pocket and walked back into the living room with Mikey following him.
"I wanna know too," Mikey said as he turned to look at the TV. They had already moved on to another story. "It sounds serious. They haven't had to fight anyone for a few years now, right?" Mikey asked as he looked back at Raph who was already on the phone.
"Hey, Trax? I heard the news, are you gonna go back to Homeworld?"
Mikey tried to read Raph's expression as he talked to their friend.
"Tomorrow? That's short notice. ...Yeah, I guess that makes sense. So who's staying here? What do you think's gonna happen? ...Alright, just take care of yourself and let me know what's goin on."
"Oh, tell him I said hi!" Mikey blurted as he popped up next to Raph. Raph shoved him away by his face.
"Yeah, that was Mikey. I'll let everyone know what ya told me. Be careful, alright? Somethin doesn't feel right about this. ...Yeah, okay. Bye."
Mikey popped up again. "So? What's goin on? Does he know? Is he leaving tomorrow?"
Raph stood up and stretched. "He doesn't know much more that he can tell us. Apparently after the old Republic was dismantled, some of their old allies didn't like the new government and this is some kind of dramatic reaction. He's hoping it won't be a big deal."
"Do you think Baxium's gonna leave, too?"
"Huh, I hadn't thought of that." Raph looked back at his phone and contemplated texting Mira or Baxium to check on them. "I bet he'd heading out tomorrow with Traximus and the others. He's in their army right? Whatever they call it."
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure too. I bet Mira's gonna get lonely with him gone," Mikey suggested, mostly innocently.
Raph smacked him upside his head and walked to his room. "Don't say stupid shit. I'm goin out."
"With Joi?" Mikey asked with a smirk. Raph waved him off before closing his door to get dressed. Mikey plopped down on the couch to start channel surfing on his day off. Raph never talked to him much about his dates with Joi, and he could never figure out how things were going between them.
When Raph was about to leave, Mikey tried bugging him again. "So what's the date this time?"
"Why are you so nosey? I never ask about you and Ashley," Raph grumbled.
"Well why don't you ever tell me anything? We live together but I feel like even Leo and Don know more about you than I do."
"Maybe cuz they aren't as annoying as you are."
"Fine, go live your secret life and don't confide in your best brother then." Mikey turned back to the TV with a pout.
With a roll of his eyes and a sigh, Raph stopped at the door. "What do you even want to know? It's just a date."
Mikey perked up again. "It's not just a date Raph. This is your fourth date, and you haven't even had her over yet! Are you getting cold feet? Or could it be you're holding out for someone else?"
Mikey's expression implied something Raph didn't want to think about or get into. "I'm leaving."
"Okay, but you're leaving your answer open to interpretation!" Mikey called back as he shut the door. He wasn't even sure he wanted to go out anymore, but it'd beat staying inside with Mikey all day.
Raph met Joi at the restaurant and bar on the street corner. They both thought it was too early to drink so they got some appetizers to enjoy with their beers. They clinked their glasses together and shared their first sip before letting out sighs that expressed all of their emotions of that week.
"So, what's been goin on?" Joi asked as she watched her terrapin friend.
He shrugged. "Nothin new really. Did you hear the news about Triceraton Homeworld? I just found out this morning."
"No, what's going on?"
Raph explained what he knew and how some of his closer friends would be involved in solving their problems. Joi listened intently and recognized every name he said. "Wait, isn't he dating your childhood friend? Mira?" she asked when he mentioned Baxium.
Joi watched as his expression changed. "Yeah. I bet they're spendin the whole day together before he has to go tomorrow." As he took a thoughtful drink, Joi side eyed him as she followed suit.
"I bet she's gonna miss him."
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"Hm," she said before their food dropped.
"What've you been up to?" Raph asked as they dug in.
"Oh," Joi started. "Well, I heard from an ex that he's in town for a judo competition. I was thinking about watching him get his ass beat." Her smirk was contagious and Raph chuckled.
"When's the competition?"
"Tomorrow, oddly enough."
"Oh," Raph said thoughtfully.
"Did... you wanna go with me?"
Raph had to think for a moment. "Tomorrow..."
Joi watched him for a good couple of minutes as he thought about it before she let out a sigh. "It's fine, Raphael. I know your friends are going off to potentially fight in a war, so I can't really complain if you don't wanna go watch some dude get beat up."
"Joi," Raph started, feeling like he was about to definitely mess up his chances with Joi. "I'm sorry, but you gotta understand this could be really serious for them."
"No, I get it," Joi said. "I can't really fault you for that, I'd do the same thing for my friends."
Raph felt his shoulders relax as she reassured him. He took another drink while she pulled more mozzerella sticks off of the plate in front of them.
"But I gotta know, Raph, seriously," she started, looking at him with piercing green eyes. "You're always concerned about Mira. I've never even met her, so how do you really feel about her?"
Raph had to stop right as he was about to drink again. He slowly lowered his glass as he turned to look at her. "What're you talkin about?"
"You know what I'm talking about," she insisted before munching on her food.
Raph avoided eye contact as he tried to think about what she meant. Of course he cared about Mira, she was one of his oldest friends and they had been through everything together. But why did Joi sound jealous?
"Mira's one of my closest friends. I mean we've known each other since we were kids. I don't get what the big deal is," he explained.
Joi just sighed. "Something just feels different when you talk about her. Like you're a little too happy to think or talk about her."
"What're you talkin about?" The expression on his face was sincerely confused and Joi decided to just give up for the moment. She took his hand and smiled.
"Forget it, Raph." He's clearly clueless. Maybe it isn't too late. "We can go out together after you see your friends off."
Her warm hand on his with her assuring smile was contagious. He returned the smile with a nod. "Yeah, sure. Casey already said he'd cover for me at the shop."
"Good." She nodded before returning to her meal and Raph followed suit. Still, Joi couldn't shake the feeling that something was off with Raph. Something she hadn't noticed until the last time he had brought up Mira around her. She eyed him, wondering what his true feelings were and if he just hadn't realized them for himself yet.
As they parted ways, Joi gave him a kiss and lingered close to him, her hands on his arms. "Text me tomorrow, okay? Or I'll be mad."
Raph smirked as his arms wrapped around her waist. "Oh don't worry, " he started as he squeezed her. "I'll text ya as soon as I leave."
"Good." With one more peck, she parted ways with him and they each returned to their homes. With Mikey nowhere in sight, Raph was free to watch whatever he wanted as the day went by.
Curiously, he would glance at his phone. The very next day some of his closest friends would be potentially sent off to war and he would, potentially, never see them again. He could barely stand thinking about not seeing his friends, and he couldn't imagine how Mira would feel about her boyfriend being sent off that way.
He sighed and sunk into his seat.
While cuddling close to Baxium and getting closer by the minute, Mira heard her phone go off. When she opened the text from Raph it simply read, "You doin okay?"
Let me know what you think!