Summary: Nico and Umi deal with their guest.

Umi Sonoda kept almost speaking. She would turn her head toward the bathroom she and roommate Nico Yazawa shared, open her mouth, pause, shake her head, close her mouth, and look back at Nico. Nico, in an attempt to avoid any responsibility for the current crisis, yes, darn it, Umi was going to call it a crisis, Nico was staring into the cup of coffee she'd made herself once they'd gotten her guest settled.

"Nico?" Umi began.

Nico glanced up.

"You did offer her the couch, not our bathtub to sleep in?"

And then there was the explosion of Nico raging around the living room, "of course I offered her the couch, and a blanket and maybe some of your clothes but she was so cold, Umi, practically clammy, what was Nico supposed to do. Hot shower but no, no, bath….soaking, more than an hour…"

"Do you think she fell asleep?"

Nico hesitated, listening, "We could knock…"

"Yeah…"

But neither of them moved.

"Nico will make muffins. Easy breakfast for everyone." Nico opened the refrigerator and stood, staring into it.

"I have a chapter to finish reading." Umi sat down at the table, not bothered by having forgotten to grab her textbook.

"She probably has clothes on by now, right?" Nico asked the refrigerator interior, which hummed no response.

A cough. A hesitant voice. Nico spun, startled, slamming the door so hard bottles rattled inside.

Maki stood in the doorway, wearing sweats borrowed from Umi, hair in a towel turban. "Thank you both. I feel much better."

"Nico was just about to make muffins. For breakfast."

"Muffins?" Eyebrows raised.

"Puffy cookies? Round scones?"

Umi typed something into her phone and showed the screen to Maki as she pulled out a chair.

"Oh."

Nico heard disappointment, "Are you hungry? Is there something you'd like?"

"Pizza?"

Pizza was a surprisingly normal request. Umi and Nico shared a relieved look.

"I believe it is my week to buy the pizza, Nico. We can just move pizza night ahead two nights. We have a guest, after all."

"Please don't upset your schedules…"

"We're not." Nico sat across from Maki, "Nico wants to help and if pizza will help, that's what we'll have. And if you feel comfortable enough to tell us what's going on, that's okay. And if you don't, that's okay, too."

Maki glanced from Nico to Umi and back, meeting nothing but solid, calm concern from both women. She started to cry.

###

Nico had gently, half hugged, half dragged Maki to the couch; Umi had called her girlfriend Honoka Kosaka for an emergency pizza pickup. Both Umi and Nico had agreed that the effervescent Honoka would make sure that the pizza party didn't get too gloomy. Nico had put on a live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie and Maki was wrapped in a throw, leaning forward, following the fights with an avid interest.

"Why did you pick that movie?" Umi hissed, she and Nico hovering in the kitchen archway, watching Maki.

"Cotaro and I had a Turtles marathon last time he visited." Nico shrugged, a little distracted by where the throw had fallen off Maki's shoulder. The sweats had been too hot and constricting so she'd switched to a oversized tank top Nico slept in sometimes and Umi board shorts. "They like pizza. Maki likes pizza." Nico pointed at Maki, absorbed in the movie, "Nico called it."

Umi grunted.

The door opened and Honoka stepped in, balancing three pizzas, just as the Turtles were being disciplined by Splinter. Honoka took in the dimmed lights and the subdued mood and crossed the room to nudge Umi.

"Splinter always scared me.'

"He's a good teacher."

"He's picky. And mean."

Nico snorted, grabbed the pizzas from Honoka, announced "Pizza's here" and dropped them on the couch next to Maki.

On screen, Splinter opened the pizza box.

"Sneaky too." Honoka whispered as Mikey started to waver, about to break and answer Splinter's question.

As Splinter recited pizza cheeses, Maki repeated them, stumbling on the Italian.

Nico flippd open the top box, "Just regular, probably 3 cheeses, not the NINETY NINE CHEESE PIZZA."

Maki spun, amethyst eyes deep and worried, "But pizza sauce? With tomato?"

Nico chuckled, "Yes, pizza sauce with tomato." Nico picked up a slice, took a sniff, "And a serious shake of oregano."

"Shake?" Maki asked as she took her own slice.

Nico shook an imaginary shaker, "Nico measurement."

Maki nodded and bit, swallowing with a huge smile, murmuring a happy noise. Nico relaxed, just slightly for the first time since she'd been startled by a moving tarp.

Umi and Honoka came around the couch, Umi sitting in the loveseat, Honoka snuggled next to her. She waved, "I'm Honoka. Aren't secret hideouts like the Turtles cool? And April's really brave and friendly. I got clams on one, no sauce. I thought you might like seafood."

Maki tensed. Nico knew she didn't have a weapon in her borrowed clothes, but Nico swore Maki was reaching for one. "Why did you say that?"

Honoka missed the menace gathering in Maki's aura. "Nico said you were hanging out on the pier so I thought maybe you were a townie. Everybody around here loves seafood."

"Townie?"

"Someone who is a local, not a summer visitor or tourist." Umi explained. Umi was Wikipedia with martial arts skills.

"Are you townies?"

"College students." Umi put her arm around Honoka, "On the mainland. But Nico had a room to rent so I moved out here."

"Are you a college student?" Maki asked Nico, no longer paying attention to the movie.

"Nico did the full time college gig for awhile, but now Nico is working while waiting for someone to discover her singing voice."

Maki nodded as if that were the obvious choice for Nico, making Nico glad she'd hadn't added an apologetic note. Keep the confidence up, cheers up the pretty girl.

"Kick his ass, Splinter." Honoka pumped a fist.

Maki was drawn back to the movie, frowning at Shredder. "That's a lot of armor, very stiff. Doesn't seem practical."

"Are you familiar with armor?" Umi started, waving off Nico's about to be furious look, "My family has the armor of our samurai ancestors in its possession. I have been studying how much thought went into its creation."

"Only the greatest artisans can create something both decorative and functional." Maki was frowning at Shredder, "That's just a poorly made target that shines like the moon on the sea." She picked up another piece of pizza.

"What's your armor like?" Nico forced her voice casual.

"Woven of the finest seaglass."

"That sounds super cool. And pretty." Honoka leaned into Umi, "Nico's new friend is fun."

"Hey, Maki…" Nico asked softly, the pizza box a safe buffer between them. She muted the movie, Umi covering Honoka's mouth before she could complain, "What happened to you?"

April had just dosed the Turtles with adrenaline and Maki watched as they shattered their cages.

Nico saw Maki's jaw tighten, rage bursting like speeding fireworks deep in jewel eyes. "I don't want to get married; I don't understand how people decide; how many strangers do they want me to meet? I don't want the Storm Crown." Her voice dropped to whisper, "Mama and Papa never listen to me."

"Are you of legal age?"

Leave it to Umi to ask the practical questions.

"Legal age?"

"Eighteen years old. Adult." Umi clarified. Maki did look a little young. Nico slid further away, eyes on the TV.

"Nineteen winters."

Old enough to vote. Not old enough to drink. Nico relaxed.

Which, of course, Honoka mentioned, "Guess you can't buy her a beer, Nico." She smiled at Maki, "Me and Umi can't drink yet either."

"Shut up, Honoka." Umi snapped, then she had another question for their guest. "Are your parents going to send anyone after you?"

Maki sighed, falling back against the couch, Nico forcing her attention on the movie as the tank top slid further down Maki's shoulder. There were turtles and snow and a truck speeding to disaster.

"I don't think they can find me. I kept nothing."

Nico could testify. But now was not the time to remember that initial meeting on the pier. Maki was running from people who'd been looking her over. Nico stood abruptly, everyone in the room watching her curiously, "Be right back."

"Want me to stop the movie, Nico?"

"Nope. Be right back." Nico repeated.

Close bathroom door, wait two minutes, flush toilet, run cold water, slap some on face, stare in mirror, raise hands to temple, Nico Nico Ni. Making someone smile. Nico nodded at her mirror image. Still worked. Ready to go out there and deal.

Nico returned to the couch, Umi seemed to have run out of questions, Maki had untensed enough to sit up. She was watching the end of the movie, wide eyed.

"Nico should have made popcorn."

"Popcorn?"

"Kernels of corn popped and slathered in Nico's special coconut oil and butter mix."

"It's so good, Maki. Not like the movie theater stuff at all." Honoka had sprawled out on the floor, her feet reaching back to bop Umi's thighs every couple minutes. Umi had found her textbook, deciding this was an ideal time to study. Just a regular night at home. With their new friend.

"Hey." Nico leaned over toward Maki, "Nico's glad I found you."

Nico caught an almost smile as Maki turned away.

###

Nico had called in sick. Standing in the kitchen, debating pancake breakfast or bacon and egg breakfast, Nico was tapping out a tune on the refrigerator door and humming.

A quiet cough, "Do you always communicate with that machine?"

Nico whirled. Maki with a blanket wrapped around her. Like the tarp. Maki seemed more comfortable wrapped in a robe type thing.

"Nico is humming, not communicating. Nico thinks better, humming."

Maki frowned, stepped up to the refrigerator, opened her mouth, and hummed a melody that caught all of Nico's attention. It seemed to have extra textures, a pulsing sort of purr. "Communicating."

"And what did you just tell Nico's refrigerator?"

"The breakfast hunt has begun."

Maki said it so seriously, Nico stared. Then Maki quirked up an eyebrow.

"You're totally messing with Nico."

A shrug. Maki sat at the table, continuing a low hum, twisting a curl of hair, eyes half closed, attention obviously somewhere else.

French toast, Nico decided, reaching for the pie tin she mixed the batter in. Eggs and carbs. The breakfast hunt would have its prey.

A/N: hi.