Never-NeverLand – Chapter 4
"Pssst! PIPES! Com'on Pipes, I know you're awake. Shima said she'd tell a story, but she doesn't want to wake you up. I know you're awake already, so knock it off you little faker!" Cabbage poked her sister's foot. "Quit sulking, you stupid ostrich-girl! What, you think by putting your head in your shell, the world goes away?" Cabbage poked her foot again. "The rest of us are bored out of our minds, but nobody wants to wake you up, so we're just sitting here like lumps. I KNOW you're awake!"
A sleepy muffled voice emanated from Pipes' shell +"Okay, Sherlock. How did you know I was awake?"+ Pipes' head surfaced and she blinked owlishly in the flickering orange light of the highway street lamps. She had clearly just woken up.
"Oh, that's easy." Cabbage counted off on her fingers. "First, you never sleep with your head that far down, if you did fall asleep like that your head would have drifted back up a bit. Second, you're the fussy sleeper who demanded the bed by the air vent and then couldn't sleep because 'it made your bed shake.' So, I don't see how you could sleep in the van, since the whole floor vibrates. And lastly, I knew you weren't asleep, because you're never asleep after I wake you."
Leo let out a low sliding whistle. "It must be nice to have siblings who don't have combat training." Cabbage was all dimples; she winked at him.
"Oh, she'll get me back. The question is how. Since she's still tired, it'll probably take her a while…"
+"Oh, I don't think so… Has Cabbage ever told you of her brief musical encounter with the British culture?"+
Shima burst out laughing, and Sterling applauded. "She's got you now!" Shima gently nudged Cabbage with her foot. "Serves you right!"
Cabbage seemed a bit paler than before as she turned to Leo. "I'd like to trade a sibling with combat training for 'the-living-tape-recorder' model that I currently have."
+"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you want me to be quiet? I'm like that when I sleep, you know. Though on the plus side, you don't look bored…"+
"You've bloodied the waters, why not just make it a clean kill, huh?" Cabbage squirmed up against the door of the van, trying to hide in the shadow under the window.
Pipes drew breath to antagonize her sister further, but Sterling placed her hand on her sister's knee and shook her head. Shima sighed, "Yes, Sterling has a point."
"Which was?" Mikey wanted to hear this. Anything that makes Cabbage fidget like that had to be good.
"It's a very good, very embarrassing, very funny story. Pipes always tells it beautifully. Unfortunately, it's a LOUD story, and one that I'm not sure we should tell with your Sensei relaxing right in front of us."
"Ah. I see." Donatello nodded.
"I don't! She can whisper! I wanna hear this!" Pipes pulled Mike's head toward her by tugging on his bandana. She whispered in his ear. "What? Why not?" She tried again. His eyes suddenly had whites all the way around them. "Oh."
Raphael leaned over, "If he gets to hear, so do I."
Pipes shook her head, +"I only explained to him that he had to wait. I didn't tell the story."+ She pushed him back out of her space.
"Don't worry Cabbage, they won't let Pipes forget to tell it later." Shima laughed quietly. "Did you still want a story?"
Cabbage yawned. "Who, me? I'm sleepy."
+"Liar. Here, we'll play a game. We'll tell stories round the van, but each story has to start with 'My sibling was so blank when we were little…' Choose your adjective, but if no one can top your story within that adjective, then you're exempt from having stories told about you in the next round. Okay?"
"Huh?" Mike and Raph looked blank.
Donatello sighed, "It's like 'My brother Mike was so stupid when we were little, he never learned his parts of speech.' Then Leo could say, 'That's nothing. My brother Raph is so stupid he STILL doesn't know his parts of speech. Then Leo would be safe from having stories told about him in the next round."
"Oh. Okay." Mike nodded.
Raph casually flipped Donnie off, "Got it, but you're gonna get it later."
"Oh, and guys… the adjective doesn't have to be bad." Shima smiled, "For instance, my sister Sterling was so cute when she was little…" Sterling tried to feign death. "We threw a surprise birthday party for Cosette, our tutor, and we were maybe three or four years old. Sterling thought that the whole pop-out-and-shout-'Happy-Birthday'-thing was the best thing since sliced bread. So for weeks before, she 'practiced' hiding in her shell and popping up, shouting 'Happy Birthday', regardless of who was around at the time. I'm pretty sure Cosette knew what was up. Anyways, she was absolutely adorable, though of course, it began to pall in the weeks that followed the party… " Shima trailed off. "Oh I'm sorry Sterling, did you have something to say?" Sterling mimed putting a gun to her head, thought the better of it and mimed pointing the gun at her sister instead.
Mikey chuckled, "I can top that easy." His brothers tensed, each waiting for the other shoe to drop.