Well hello children,
It's only been a year and change friends! I'm so proud of myself. If you can't tell, me and a consistent adulthood schedule do not go amazingly well, but I gots a new house, a husband and a new job, so I guess I have reasons. I promise no sooner to think of another story piece than whenever my insomnia comes up with something new.
Rock n Roll Buck-a-roo.
"You're not planning to bring him back here are you?"
"… Well based on that attitude, no?" April groaned in her frustration; having to decide whether to chastise the young woman taking up her bathroom or just be happy that she was going out and having fun.
"Dana, it's your first date; I love that you're being social but for the love of god do not bring a strange man back to our apartment. You should know better!"
"Listen, all I know is there aren't nearly as many rural areas to hide a body as Pennsylvania has so I feel like I am much safer here! Now, where's the straightener?"
" 3rd shelf to the right and also what do you think the fucking river is for?" April occasionally questioned how her cousin managed to graduate as well as she did.
"That makes a lot of sense now that you say it out loud. Point taken, thank you!"Dana hadn't been on many dates in general, but the environment of the city was unlike anything she'd known, and the more April poked holes into her theories of city life the more overwhelmed she seemed to get; but it wasn't the time to get overwhelmed by existential dread, she had a cute boy to hit the town with and a weird scrunchie bump to iron out.
Following a 15 minute battle with her uneven hair texture, Dana was struggling to get her eyeliner symmetrical before running to the station to meet her date; a very cute guy who regularly came to her work to catch the music and always seemed to arrive fresh off his fancy suited job. If she was lucky she'd have someone to help her afford an apartment away from April and maybe the two wouldn't be so fed up with each other, but that may be wishful thinking and a desperation for more privacy making fantasies. As Dana clawed her booties on April continued to run down that she HAD to text her when she made it to the station, and the date destination, and call her when she got back to the station so she could talk to her until she made it to their door. Something about "giving freedom with safety because you're young and I love you and blah blah blah"; she wasn't sure when her cousin had started to sound like her mother. After checking to make sure her phone was charged, her wallet fit in her tiny little purse and her outfit was cute, Dana headed for the door as Donnie and Mikey came through the window.
"Hello ladies, what's got you both looking so fine tonight?" Mikey came to give April a hug as she guffawed at the idea of getting a compliment in her Pjs.
"Well miss legs is off to a date with a very cute boy from work, but I'm in to get some work done and watch a movie, what's up?" As Donnie started explaining the reason for them coming over unexpectedly, something about borrowing something, Dana gave a quick hello-goodbye to all 3 and darted out the door, not wanting to risk being late.
Dana managed to arrive at the station a couple minutes early, giving herself time to check herself awkwardly in a security mirror before spotting him walking down the way. This man was c u t e, and she was absolutely determined to get to charming. After a brief hello and a mildly awkward hug, they waited in silence for the next train, which came fairly quickly, and headed off to dinner.
Mikey felt so privy to the "secret" of Dana's date, despite it being no real news, that he couldn't wait to meet with his brothers for patrol and have them guess his secret. It was his disappointment when neither Raph nor Leo asked anything before planning out routes and pairings for the evening. Mikey hopped along the rooftops with his hot-headed brother practically begging him from behind to ask what he knew; his other brothers off in the other direction.
"Why the hell am I gonna ask you about whatchu know? I already know you're stupid so it can't be that interestin'." Raph grunted on landing, having taken an extra hard jump in order to get ahead of Mikey and ignore him.
"Uhm okay first, rude and second, it's juicy! It's gossip! It's ladies!" Raph felt his eyes roll to the back of his head so hard he thought he might have briefly gone blind, and sighed.
"If I let you tell me will you be quiet for the rest of patrol night?"
"Well I mean that's a lot to ask of such a fascinating and engaging turtle, but I'll try."
"Fine. What's your stupid secret?"
"Dana's on a date; honestly she looked super pretty I think she really likes whoever, it's really cute." Raph could feel his blood boiling for some reason, and decided to pick up speed, hoping the cool air would chill whatever this weird reaction was. The leftovers he had for dinner must have gone bad, why would he react to Dana having her own life; she's young and excited and attractive – to other people, certainly not him. He didn't care if she went on a date, and laughed at some guy's joke in that what that makes her nose crinkle – why was he thinking like that? Rather than dwell on it any further he crouched lower to get more speed and left Mikey in the dust very confused.
Dana was feeling a little less excited about her date after saying goodnight to him at the station and going to call April for her walk home. It's not that he wasn't nice, but that's all he really was. They asked each other questions about hobbies all night and while none of his hobbies and likes were bad she just didn't really feel a spark passed how cute he was. Also he chewed his fingernails at the dinner table and she was just a little turned off by the idea that his nail trims fell onto his steak; she couldn't prove it but the idea was surely going to haunt her dreams. As she pulled her phone out from the bottom of her purse she saw a text waiting for her; it was from Raph, which was odd.
"Heard you had a date. How'd it go?"
Of course Mikey had to go and tell everyone her business, but this text was even more strange in how blunt it was. Like he wanted to start a conversation about something he likely didn't even care about. She decided she'd respond when she got home, because her shoes were starting to pinch her toes and the late night air was making her knees go pink. After uneventfully making it into her apartment with April on the line for the entire walk, Dana changed into some Pj pants and a tank top and decided to respond before trudging to the bathroom to peel the date face off of her skin.
"uh, yeah, I guess Mikey told you huh? It was nice."
Raph couldn't help but throw his phone across his bedroom, huffing with an anger he wasn't able to make sense of. Dana was just an annoying girl who fell into his life and that was that, no need to be mad about her enjoying her time out; and yet the more he tried to rationalize with himself the angrier he got at the idea that this guy would be around her all the time. Without giving himself time to think it through, he walked across the room to his phone and texted back before having a chance to think through.
"Well enjoy your new boyfriend."
At this point Dana had started her nightly endless scrolling before bed; she'd received a text from her date about how much he enjoyed the night and was hoping to schedule another date soon. She really wasn't sure how to reject him nicely and had decided to ignore it until she could find a way to not say "you've got all the excitement of a cardboard box, you beautiful boob." when another text from Raph popped up. Dana couldn't put a finger on what it was about this incredibly blunt text that made her feel like popping a blood vessel, but she was furious. What was this guy's deal? He had no reason to be asking questions and then having the audacity to be mad at her? For what? And why did she feel so mad at this stupid, hot-headed dick head. Since when did muscle bound turtle with pretty eyes tell her what to do? She made a face at the thought that his eyes came across in her train of thought, that didn't really have anything to do with anything; what a weird thought. Either way, this had pissed her right the fuck off and she found herself texting her date back to set up their next date, despite not really even wanting to. If Raph wanted a "boyfriend" to be pissy about, then she felt obliged to give it to him. Feeling confused by her satisfaction at sticking it to this pompous ass turtle with her simultaneous disappointment that she'd be continuing to see this lack-luster suit, she turned over to get some sleep for her mid-morning dance class.
