"What's happenin', guys?"
Mikey, who was closest, tilted his head towards April with a welcoming grin, his head having been lazily resting in his crossed arms as he lay flat on the ground as April seated herself next to him, having just walked into the atrium.
Mikey cheerily explained how he and the other turtle brothers were taking a break in the atrium portion of the lair before starting their third attempt at making a pizza as good as the one they'd had at Saint Antonio's the prior night. So far (according to Leonardo) their attempts had been unsuccessful because Mikey insisted it was missing something each time, despite Donnie's claims that this was "scientifically impossible" since they had the recipe, gifted from the man himself, right in front of them the whole time. Raph didn't seem to care, either way, since it meant free scraps each time.
April then filled them in on the uneventful day she'd had, though she couldn't help but let a frown seep across her face as she progressed, stray thoughts reminding her of why she really came to visit them this evening.
"Why the long face, April?"
April realized she had been hugging herself tightly, her frown having spread further than she had intended as she wiped it off her face as fast as she could, quickly pretending to perk up. "Long face? Me? I don't do 'long faces,' Mikey." She feigned nonchalance with a raised brow, hands on her hips.
"Yeah, that was definitely a frown." Donatello spoke up, his unamused countenance making it apparent that he had seen her face and had at least been curious of the frown's origin as well. "Of course, I could have been wrong, but considering I had three other witnesses and at least eight – nine - cameras set up that recorded the occurrence as well, I doubt I am."
"Really, D?" April furrowed her brows in denial, arching her shoulders as she crossed her arms, glaring at Donnie while Leo plopped an arm around her shoulder.
"Something's obviously bothering you, Apes, so c'mon, lay it on your capable and compassionate older and wiser friend." He grinned, raising his brows, wanting to know the secret.
"I'm older than you, Leo." April raised a brow, clearly not buying the cheap attempt at getting her to open up. Raphael, who sat quiet witnessing the entire conversation, crossed his arms and rolled his eyes at his brother's antics.
"C'mon, April. We're your friends. If something's botherin' you, we're here for you. Right?" He glanced at each of his younger brothers for confirmation.
"Right!"
"Uhh-ffirmative."
"Ehhh." Leo tilted his hand in a "mid" gesture, earning him a punch in the shoulder from Raph, immediately following up with a "Yeah, sure. Definitely. Absolutely."
April grinned, the brothers' antics making her snort. She sighed and stared down at the ground before glancing back up. "Well, there was this dance at my school that we've been planning for months-"
"The one you've been talking about for months?" Leo interrupted with a smirk.
April nodded, lifting a brow at his solid burn. "Aaaaanyway, everyone at school was gonna go, but you had to have a partner to really have a good time."
Donatello glanced up from his texting, interest suddenly piqued as Mikey hopped up to a sitting position and leaned in, eyes widened. "Did… Did you find a partner, April?" He asked innocently, eyes sparkling in the sewer light, hoping the answer was yes. April tried to smile, touched by Mikey's eagerness to hear what happened, but frowned, glancing at the ground.
"Mikey, I think you're missing all the past tense words here." Donnie tried to point out only to be promptly ignored.
Leo's eyes widened in realization. Months of planning, months of referring…
"Wait, that dance was tonight, wasn't it?" He asked to no one in particular, as if trying to recollect proof from even one of the dozens of times April had mentioned it.
"It was tonight, guys, and I was gonna go with the guy I'd asked, but… he found someone else he wanted to go with more than me," she lowered her gaze, frowning, "so I decided not to go at all."
The only noise that could be heard was the rushing of water through sewer pipes, along with the high-pitched screech of Mikey as the boys were all wide eyed, mouths agape as they tried to fathom why anyone would do such a thing to April.
"He… ditched you?!" Raph stammered.
"That was not an outcome I ever expected could occur." Donnie whispered, shocked.
"What a total jerk." Leo scoffed, rubbing his face in his hands. "Who does this guy think he is?!"
Mikey, by far, was taking it the hardest as he shook his head in denial, tears erupting from his eyes as he slammed into April in a wet, sobbing hug.
"I'm so sorry, April! That's such a mean thing to do!" He squeezed her tightly, bawling.
"Of all the evil, heinous deeds that could possibly have been committed by this man, this, by far, outweighs them all." Donnie stated poetically, lowering his staff, and placing it on the ground as he lowered his head, hunching over, fist curled, face darkened by the shadow cast over him. He stood up, eyes to the sky, a twinkle in them. Everyone's eyes turned to him.
"What man would do this?! To commit the unspeakable crime: to break the heart of an innocent woman, a woman who has done naught to defy him." He cried, covering his eyes with an arm, raising the other to cover his heart. He spread his legs apart, removing his arm as tears glistened in the overhead light, pointing an accusing finger at the nonexistent sky.
"Curse you, immorality. You rob living of its poetry." He fell to his knees, a single tear escaping his eye, staining his purple headband.
The others were quiet, confused, yet amazed at Donnie's sudden surge of emotion, not sure who to comfort at this point. After a tense second, April uncurled herself from Mikey's death grip, stepping out of the circle of brothers for a moment, back turned to them.
"I'm okay, guys, really." She turned after a moment, smiling, attempting to lighten the mood. They all stared at her. "It's not like dances are my thing, anyway."
"What do you mean?!" Donnie jerked his head up, glaring at her. "Dancing is everything! Dancing is… is life!"
"Donnie's right." Raph frowned, standing to his feet, fists curled. He looked up, expression softening as he stepped forward, placing his hand on April's shoulder.
"What that dude did wasn't right, April, and if he's gonna rob you of the right to feel wanted, then we're gonna rob him of a night to experience just how awesome it is to spend time with the one and only April O'Neil."
"Wha-?" Raphael spun on his heel and pointed in the direction his brothers were in.
"Fellas, we're gonna give April a dance of her own, right here in the lair!" He pumped his fist, pulling April into a side hug, temporarily preventing her from protesting.
"Mph!" She tried pulling away, only to be pressed harder against his shell.
"Mikey, you're in charge of getting that pizza ready, along with whatever snacks you think we'll eat." Raph pointed at each of the brothers in sequence with their instructions.
"Raph, I-"
"On it!" Mikey saluted enthusiastically.
"Donnie, you take care of the music and rig up some kind of sound system in the atrium."
"I'd really appreciate it if someo-"
"It would be my greatest pleasure, considering most of the work is already done thanks to my patented in-sewer surround sound system. GASP! I might even be able to tie in the new pulsators I installed into the laser system, to add an extra boost of-" He began rambling plans to no one in particular.
"Leo, you see if you can find some kind of disco ball to hang up in here and get some razzle-dazzle going with some party streamers or somethin'."
"Razzle dazzle? Oh, I totally got this." Leo smirked, clearly scheming already.
"As for me, I'm gonna ask Pops if we can borrow the portable projector and get the perfect movie to watch." He gave them all a thumbs up. "Meet back here in an hour. Leo, don't be late."
"Please, big bro, I can handle this." Leo brushed off the warning.
The boys all ran to their assigned stations, shouting and pushing each other out of the way as they scrambled to try and figure out what was needed, where it was needed, and how it needed to be done.
Raph nodded his head, placing his fists on his hips. April stood speechless, glancing up at the turtle twice her size before she raised her palm and grabbed him by a jagged portion of the shell covering his upper chest, attempting to jerk him down to eye level.
"Are you crazy?!" Her attempt only rendered him a few inches lower, still above her line of sight. "These things take months to plan, and I don't even have my dress!" She let him go, hands on her hips.
"Then we don't have a moment to lose, April." He blinked, suddenly acknowledging her closing statement. "Wait, dress? Like, formal? Like, fancy dresses and suits formal?" He tilted his head, kneeling to eye level. "You wear that stuff?"
"That's what I meant, Raph." She sighed. "I had bought a dress to wear to the dance, but since I decided not to go, I wasn't gonna get to wear it." She held her arms by the elbows, turning her head to avoid eye contact. "To be honest, I was just gonna see if I could return it."
Raph's eyes widened in realization. April never wears fancy dresses normally because she only wears them on special occasions. This is a special occasion, so…
"Nuh-uh, Raph's not gonna let you waste the perfect opportunity to wear the dress of your dreams to the best dance you're ever gonna attend this side of the sewers." He shook his head, grabbing her by the waist and plopping her on his shoulders.
"Woah! What are you doing, big guy?!"
"If we hurry, we can make it to your apartment and back in time to ask Pops about borrowing that projector."
April smiled warmly, getting into a comfortable position, holding onto his headband tails as if they were reins.
"Then let's get the heck going!"
"Hey, Donnie, could I get you to taste test something for me?" Mikey asked sweetly, presenting a piece of pizza to his older brother. "I added a secret ingredient."
Donnie, even through his tinted goggles, didn't look up from his wiring, suspicious. "Michelangelo, if this is another one of those 'I added paprika to a completely arbitrary recipe' ordeals, you know I hate paprika."
"It's not paprika." Mikey shook his head, closing his eyes. "I promise it's way better."
Donnie gave a defeated sigh, lifting his goggles and turning to sideways glance at his brother, raising a reluctant palm to accept the slice. Mikey gladly relinquished the pizza and watched intently as Donnie took a cautious bite, chewing for a moment to try and unfurl the mystery ingredient.
"Well…?" Mikey asked, eyes fixed on Donnie's expression.
"It's… exactly the same as Saint Antonio's." Donnie frowned. "…Which is exactly how the last three tasted."
"I've done it!" Mikey exclaimed, pumping his fists into the air. "I mastered the recipe!" He performed a victory dance while Donnie sat confused, still taking bites from the pizza.
"Wait, so what was the secret ingredient?"
Mikey clasped his hands together, resting them against his cheek as he puckered his lips and leaned to the side.
"Love~"
"How sanitary…" Donatello grimaced, setting the slice to the side as he turned back to his work. However, his concentration was broken yet again by Leo crashing through the ceiling via portal directly beside him.
"Leon!? Can't you watch where you're falling?!"
"I'd like to see you stick the landing half as classy as I just did, Donatello." Leo tossed the decorative streamers he had been holding to the side and rose to his feet.
Donnie scoffed while Mikey blinked, tilting his head. "Wait, weren't you supposed to be looking for a disco ball, too?"
"Uh, oh…" Leo's eyes widened in sudden realization, his gaze slowly lifting in the direction of the portal stationed directly over his head as a multifaceted mirrored ball popped through the mystic blue energy, falling the dozens of feet to the floor, slamming right on top of him and crashing into dozens of pieces.
"Omigosh!" Mikey cried, panicking, running right past his brother, attempting to recover the pieces of the ball. "What do we do now?!"
"Relax, Mikey." Leo got up and spun around, dusting himself off like nothing had happened. "A little bit of Donnie's molecular bonding goop and this thing's as good as new."
"It's a molecular bonding agent, Leo, and I told you it was still in beta." Donnie protested irritably, turning to face his brother, still soldering wires together with his shell's metallic arms.
"Beta-smeta. If it holds stuff together, it works." Leo smirked, placing his hands on his hips. "By the way, what is that delicious smell?" He perked up. "Did Mikey figure out the recipe?"
Mikey nodded enthusiastically, picking up the slice Donnie had left resting to the side, offering the remainder to Leo who accepted and finished it off.
"Mmm, delicious, Mikey!" He put his hand on the younger brother's shoulder. "Hey, since we still have a little bit of time left, and you're done with the pizza, how about you help me with the decorating?"
"Really?!"
"Of course! Here," he handed Mikey the colorful streamers, shimmering in their plastic wrapping, begging to be opened, "go put these up somewhere."
Mikey gladly accepted them and excitedly ran around the atrium, finding places to dangle the streamers from.
Donatello slowly turned to gaze at his brother, brow raised. "You just did that because you're too lazy and you knew it would've taken twice as long to do it yourself."
"Tough choices must be made sometimes, my dear Don. Now, about that molecular bonding goop…"
"You sure your mom ain't home?" Raphael whispered as he plopped April gently on the ground in front of her apartment door, careful not to create any unnecessary noise - and by extension, attention.
"Nah, she had to work late tonight." She shrugged her shoulders as she pulled the keys out of her pocket, opening the door and gesturing for him to come in. "Besides, she thinks I was going to the dance and then spending the night at a friend's house, so it's not like she's gonna call and ask where I'm at, anyway."
She put her hands in her coat pocket, walking down the hall and into her room. Raph followed, acknowledging that if her mother wasn't home then he wasn't in any danger of being seen. Of course, that didn't prevent him from peeking out and into the hallway as he closed the door behind him.
He blinked as he turned around, mentally noting that April had vanished into her room. "Hey, uh, you got anything I could snack on?" He loudly whispered, hoping she could hear him.
"Really, Raph?" She peeked her head from behind her bedroom door, brows furrowed, frowning.
"I mean-" He tapped his index fingers together, embarrassed, before shaking it off, annoyed by her judging expression. "What do you expect? I'm a dude. Dude's gotta eat."
"Twenty-four seven…" April muttered, disappearing from the doorway, then tossing him a bag of half-eaten corn chips. Raph picked them up, eagerly accepting them as she closed her door.
"Don't move, 'cause I'm putting my dress on and I don't want you walkin' in on me like last time." She spoke through the door, closet doors opening and closing in the background. Raphael froze, a shiver running through his shell-covered spine. That was not something he ever intended to do again, accident or not.
After a moment of shifting noises and chip-munching, the door squeaked open, and April walked out adorned in a shimmery golden knee-length dress accented with black swirls, a golden shawl adorning her neck. It wasn't over-the-top in any particular way, but just seeing it adorn his friend made Raphael dropped the bag of chips and squeal, squishing his fists against his cheeks.
"Omigosh!" He exclaimed, eyes glittering as he rushed to her side, plopping down on the floor, rubbing the silky fabric between his index finger and thumb.
"It's like touching gold silk." He wiped a tear from his eye as April giggled, sighing longingly as he rose to his feet, shaking his head. "Too rich for my blood."
"Actually…" April unwrapped the shawl from around her neck, taking it in her hands and tying it around his right bicep. She winked as Raph's eyes widened. "There, now it's right up your alley."
She patted him on the shoulder as he inaudibly squealed, glancing at a nearby hanging clock, eyes widening. "Woah! We gotta get a move on, Raph. We don't have much time left!"
Raphael snapped out of his stupor, acknowledging the clock. "Jumpin' flapjacks!" He grabbed her by the shoulders and plopped her on his own.
"Watch the dress!" She complained, trying to get a grip as he quickly closed and locked the door behind them and sprinted down the apartment building's staircase.
Donnie was beginning to suspect the stark silence, save for Mikey's occasional streamer hanging noise, pointed to one of two outcomes: Leonardo had either fixed the disco ball, or he had ingested some of the molecular bonding agent thinking it would taste like whipped cream and had sadly passed away.
Frankly, Donatello wouldn't be upset with the latter of the two, but his hopes were shattered when Leonardo's smirking face appeared in the doorway directly to his left. He tried desperately to ignore his brother.
"Hey, Don, I hope you don't mind but-"
"Nardo, don't you dare say that you borrowed my cranial mirroring device to fix it." It wasn't going to happen today, it seemed.
"Actually, I broke it again, and then I borrowed your cranial mirror doohickey to fix it." He presented a poorly glued-together disco ball, battered in glue, shreds of trash, broken technology, and glass shards. To say it barely looked usable would have been an understatement. That, and it seemed as if it had shrunk, too.
"Leon, that was in its alpha stage!" Donatello screeched as he lifted his goggles, jerking the ball from his brother's grasp, turning it over in his hands, trying to find all the pieces of devices he knew Leo had purposefully glued to the misshapen orb, eyebrows twitching as he glared back up at his brother. "You monster. You didn't even use the technology for its intended purpose!"
"Hey, you leave it sitting around sparkling under LED lights and I'm gonna assume it's free for the taking." Leo defended, putting his hand on his chest. "Besides, it works again."
He pulled the ball out of his brother's hands, closing his eyes, speaking to no one in particular. "Who knew glass bulbs could be so hard to replace?"
Donatello grinded his teeth, exhaling, deactivating his shell's mechanical arms. One of these days…
"Hey guys, what do you think?" Mikey interrupted his train of scheming as he motioned to the expanse of the atrium, directing his brothers' eyes to the mix of colorful streamers currently adorning the lair.
"Niiiiice, Mikey!" Leo nodded, impressed. "You did that in way more time than I expected it to take me." He winked at his brother, who raised a brow in disbelief while Donnie scoffed in the background, rolling his eyes.
"Leo, if you don't mind, I believe the disco ball would be very well suited for the wired outlet slash J-hook I have aligned perfectly in the center of the atrium directly twenty feet from the floor which has been adjusted to the exact wight of the ball… hypothetically… present adjustments having not been accounted for." He scowled, dropping his arms weightlessly by his side.
"Oddly specific, but I like the mojo." Leo patted Donnie's head, crouching before jumping up to the different levels of the atrium. Once he was level with the J-hook, he grasped the ball basketball style and went in for the slam dunk.
"COWABUNGAAAA!"
"OH FOR NEWTON'S SAKE, LEO-!"
The ball attached to the hook by a hanging wire, the momentum of Leo's dunk making it spin him in circles before he eventually let go, slamming face first into the ground. The disco ball continued to spin until the entire J-hook broke loose and brought the whole object, along with its attached components, crashing to the ground.
Donnie was too flabbergasted to move, twitching angrily, grinding his teeth, whereas Mikey ran once more to his brother's aid.
"Leo?! Leo, are you okay?!" He cried, grabbing his brother by the shoulders, shaking him vehemently. "Speak to me!"
"Mikey, I'm cool!" Leo coughed, gesturing for his brother to let go.
"That. Was. The. Most. DUMB-DUMB-!" Donnie yelled, jerking his hands in the direction of his brother, descending into a fit of irritable complaining and fit throwing.
"Yeeeeaaaah," Leo turned to face Mikey, unamused, "we might wanna leave him alone for a while." The two nodded in agreement, picking up the pieces of the disco ball as they slid away, leaving Donnie in a heated fit of rambling rage.
CRASH!
Splinter was beginning to wonder if the boys were having another one of their skateboard "demolition" derbies based off the number of crashes he had heard erupting from the direction of the atrium within the past hour, deciding, for once, to indulge his curiosity and go check it out. He paused his movie and plopped onto his feet, muttering to himself about how reckless the boys could be.
He hadn't heard that much racket within the past few minutes as he entered the atrium, but doubted anything less would provoke such commotion, especially from Purple, who currently was bonking his head against the nearest wall repetitiously, mumbling unintelligibly to himself.
"Am I… missing something important?" Splinter's eyes slightly widened in curiosity as he scanned the room, suddenly alive with streamers, Donatello having set up several speakers and wired up what appeared to be lasers.
Donatello turned slowly, acknowledging his father as his eyes widened, suddenly recalling that reality existed. His eyes darted to and fro, looking for his brothers, the disco ball, and something to hit either of them with when he found them.
"When I get my hands on them, I'll-"
"Oh, hey, Pops! Glad you could join us." Leo walked into the room, arms crossed. Mikey followed him, holding the now-fixed disco ball in his hands. Donnie lowered his blowtorch, staring at the ball, speechless. It was as if nothing had happened to it (beyond it clearly having shrank).
"Join you for what, exactly?" Splinter raised a brow, hands on his hips. "It sounds as if the fun has already been had."
"Not even close." Donnie nabbed the ball from Mikey's hand with contempt, walking into his workshop to grab a new wire and J-hook. He returned after a moment and used his shell thrusters to fly to the center of the room, installing the ball and wire, then plugged it in and returned to the ground. With the push of a button, the lights turned off and the disco ball sparkled, beams of multicolored light being cast on the wide-eyed onlookers.
"Is anyone going to tell me what is going on, or am I just going to have to use my brain?" Splinter huffed, crossing his arms.
Donnie turned the lights back on. "Do you want the condensed version, or the documentary?"
"Uh, condensed. Documentaries hurt my tiny brain."
Donnie rolled his eyes. "April-"
"Ooh, I love April!"
"-Was planning to attend a dance hosted by her school tonight with another person of whom she had requested to participate with in the event, but-"
"She was ditched by this te-total washout." Leo interrupted, pushing his brother aside. Mikey nodded, stepping in to explain the rest as his two older brothers bickered.
"She wasn't gonna get to go, Dad, so we decided to give her a dance of her own here in the lair!"
Splinter scratched his chin, acknowledging what his sons had said. April had been like a sister to the boys the moment she had met them all those years ago, and he knew they loved her deeply and would do anything to show her how much they cared. Hence, he approved of April very much, and saw her as a model for the brothers to live up to.
That, and she often brought him takeout and kept the boys out of trouble most of the time, to which his binge-watching tendencies – and butt - were eternally grateful.
"Very well, you have my blessing." He nodded, turning to leave. "Just let me know when she plans to propose to one of you so I can be present to watch." He left without so much as a hint that he was not joking, leaving the brothers temporarily frozen in horror-stricken disbelief.
"M'kay, can we all agree that that was horrifyingly disgusting, and if anyone gets married off first, it's gotta be Raph because he's the wreck when it comes to romance movies."
"I think April would look nice in a wedding dress~"
"Oh, please don't go there, Mikey." Donatello all but begged.
"Those boys better have done what I told them to, or I'm gonna kick their butts." Raphael lifted the cover to the manhole connected to the lair's entrance, easing his way onto the ladder so he didn't get April's dress caught as he closed the cover.
"We still gotta get that projector, Raph." April reminded him, hugging his neck as he descended the ladder.
"Don't worry about that. Soon as we reach the ground, I'm gonna go ask Pops."
The closer they got to the lair, the more paranoid Raphael was about getting April's dress dirty, insisting she stay on his shoulders until they got through the main sewers. April wasn't too thrilled with being treated like a damsel, popping him on the head until he agreed to let her at least walk along the concrete walkways.
The closer they drew to the layer, the louder the music playing in the atrium grew until they were right in the heart of it, covering their ears as they witnessed the atrium looking alive with colorful streamers, Donnie laughing maniacally under strobing lights, his brothers pulsing to the beat, trying to slap a sick move to the rhythm.
"DONNIE! TURN THAT THING DOWN!" Raphael yelled at the top of his lungs, catching his brothers' attention as the three of them abruptly straightened up, Donnie turning the main lights back on.
"Ahem." Donatello cleared his throat. "Looks like the test run was a success, gentlemen."
"I'll say!" Mikey nodded enthusiastically, turning to look in the direction of April only to be completely enthralled by her dress.
"O-mi-GOSH!" He squealed, pointing to it as he shook Donnie by the shoulders. April smirked, walking towards them.
"Yes, Angelo. I see. It's very… becoming." Donnie stammered, trying to get his brother to let go.
"Not bad, Apes!" Leo nodded approvingly with his hand on his chin, doing the full three-sixty around April.
"Thanks, guys." April smiled shyly, never having had them compliment her like this… Or ever, really.
Raphael nodded in accomplishment. "You guys got the food ready?"
"Ready!"
"Good. I'm gonna go get that projector from Pops."
April had to admit that it had been a crazily eventful night. After Raphael had left to get the projector, Leo and Mikey ran to the kitchen to grab the food while Donnie set up a table to host it. Soon afterwards, Raphael returned with the projector and a movie he stated Splinter had specifically chosen for them to watch: Lou Jitsu and the Widowed Tigress.
For whatever reason, Mikey, Leo, and Donnie had physically cringed when Raph stated the title but seemed to shake it off when he announced that they were ready to start the night off with a bang, commanding Donnie to "Hit it!", which the younger brother had gladly obliged to.
Leo began the night with a tango between himself and Mikey, showing off his mad breakdancing after a few minutes. April had to laugh but couldn't help feeling like she could've shown him up if she wasn't wearing a dress. This, of course, sparked a "friendly" dance competition between Mikey and Leo, which ultimately got so hyped up that they ended up breaking the disco ball a fourth time.
After this, Splinter insisted they take things down a notch before he introduced his karaoke machine, starting a heartfelt opera song before being ushered out by the boys. Mikey recommended they eat before the food got colder than it already was, to which each of them agreed, complimenting him on the pizza and discussing with Raphael and April what had went into decorating the lair.
After supper, Raphael then recommended a more "formal" approach, escorting April onto the dance floor for a slower, more box-like dance. April assumed it was because he didn't know how to dance, but he seemed to have a basic concept and managed not to step on any of her toes.
She couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of awe at the big guy's tender grasp, the awe of which was flushed down the drain when Leo insisted it was his turn. Raphael allowed him to take over, and Leo tried his best to smother her with nonsensical flirts, to which she responded by dipping him down to the floor, resulting in a startled – and quite high-pitched - shriek.
Donnie then took this as incentive to spice up the music, which is when Mikey took over, performing an over-exaggerated robot dance. April, however, found it incredibly hilarious and joined right in, earning laughter from all of them.
Donnie, of course, didn't seem to mind being the DJ for the night but was still forced to peel himself from his scratching in order to have at least one dance with April, which he promptly attempted to make as non-awkward for the both of them as possible. This, naturally, failed when Leo turned on the Chicken Dance, having Donnie sweating profusely as April kneeled over in a fit of laughter.
As the night drew to a close, the five of them all set down behind the projector and turned on the movie, wore out by the adrenaline and still full from the pizza and snacks. Raphael brought in a beanbag chair from Mikey's room and plopped against it, sighing. April, likewise, tossed herself against the lower portion, drawing her knees tiredly against her chest while the other brothers found themselves comfortable spots to sit.
After the movie ran its entirety, April glanced towards each of the brothers as they all rested, sound asleep, pressed against each other for support, snoring. A fond smile spread across her face as she quietly rose to her feet, pecking each one on the cheek and wishing them all a good night, mentally thanking them for the wonderful night she'd had as she turned the projector off and laid down, shutting her eyes.
