Never-NeverLand – Chapter 10
Shima's teeth glinted in the flickering lights of the passing cars. "That's right. We get to ask any five things we want, don't we?" Donatello shifted uneasily. The angel who'd been running her nails along his arm had suddenly sprouted horns and fangs.
"What's that rhyme? There was a little girl/ with a little curl/ in the middle of her forehead. / When she was good,/ she was awfully good/ but when she was bad/ she was horrid."
Shima's eyes were laughing. "That couldn't be about any of us! No hair!" Donnie blinked in confusion as she scurried on hands and knees over to her sisters.
Raphael solved the mystery for him. "Dude, you said that out loud." Donnie couldn't've cared less.
'When she's bent over like that, I can see her little tail peeking out from her shell.' A warm feeling spread through his gut and a goofy smile bloomed on his face. He was interrupted as Leo hit him in the shoulder. "Ow. What, Leo?"
"Will you quit staring?!" Leo hissed.
Donatello quickly dropped his gaze, the warm feeling rushing to his face. He could hear Michelangelo and Raphael snickering.
Thankfully, it didn't seem like any of the girls had noticed. They grouped in a whispering cluster behind Master Splinter's seat. From the gestures, giggles, and murmuring, they were clearly debating their options. "You can't ask THAT!" Peels of laughter followed Cabbage's scandalized exclamation.
The guys exchanged worried glances. "This doesn't look good."
For what felt like the hundredth time that evening, Sterling cursed her stupid jaw. 'There have been so many times when I just wanted to speak my mind, and instead I just get to sit here like a lump and watch my sisters have all the fun. This sucks.' She returned her attention to the debate in front of her.
"So that's it? We each get one question of our own, and for the fifth one we actually have to agree." Shima looked around at her sisters. "The less we have to compromise with one another, the quicker we can start." Her sisters nodded. Mikey nodded.
Shima blinked.
"MIKEY!"
+"Get OUT of the circle! It's for girls ONLY!"+
"Shoo! Git! When did YOU become a girl?"
Sterling slapped him on the back of his thigh as he beat a hasty retreat to the guys' side of the van.
Raph shook his head, "You are the worst spy in history."
"Ow, that stings." Mikey rubbed the back of his leg. "Your girl's violent, huh Raph?"
Raph had Mike pinned up against the cooler. "She AIN'T my girl. And she ain't NEARLY as violent as ME."
Mikey batted his eyelids. "Eef you keel me, Meester Bond, Ay cannut tell yoo vat Ay know."
Donnie put a hand on Raph's shoulder; Raph let go. "You actually heard something in the three seconds you were gone?"
Mikey smiled, "Uh, no. But you didn't know that, did you?"
Leo sighed and pulled Mikey into a headlock.
Cabbage looked over at the boys. "Well, they're having fun, aren't they? I don't think I've ever seen anyone get noogies from three people at once."
Sterling clapped her hands near Cabbage's ear. "Huh?! Okay, Okay. I'm paying attention…" She looked down at the notebook.
Pipes tapped the pencil against her teeth. +"We've got the group one figured out., and Sterling's written hers down. We're ready to go!"+ She craned her neck to see over her sisters' shells. +"What are they doing?"+
Shima shook her head. "I heard Mike say 'Italian arm-wrestling,' but--" Raphael and Mike lay facing each other with their elbows on the floor of the van. Mikey was clearly explaining the rules to Raph. Their pinkies were linked and Donatello gave them a three count. "If they just pull, one of them's gonna get hit in the—" Mike let go suddenly and Raph's fist flew back and punched his own beak. "Face."
"You little snot-sucker! Just you wait 'til I get my hands on you!" Leo and Don each held one of Raph's arms, while Mikey scooted around beside the girls.
"Sanctuary! Sanctuary!"
Shima smirked. "Alright, but you have to live in the belltower." Leonardo and Donatello laughed, but no one else seemed to catch the reference. She winked at them, and then announced, "We've got our five questions."
"Go on back to your brothers, it's crowded over here." Cabbage nudged Mikey back to the boys' side of the van. She smiled at them, dimpling ever so slightly. "We know you'll give honest answers, but the questions are for all of you—so you'll have to reach a consensus before you reply. Honesty by democracy, Ok?"
Raphael squirmed. "They gonna give us blindfolds and a cigarette first, or are they just gonna scream 'Fire!'?"
Donatello spared his brother a withering glance. "Oh, can the melodrama! It won't be that bad! I mean, what could they ask?"
Leo muttered, "Don't ask."
Mikey leaned back, tucking his hands behind his head. He grinned confidently, "Bring it on."
Cabbage smiled; Leo was learning to associate dimples with danger. "Ok, the first one's easy. Who's the cutest?"
The van was silent for all of point five seconds before Mikey cheerfully proclaimed, "YOU are!"
Laughing quietly, Cabbage shook her head and waved her hands as if to push his words back. "No silly! Out of you four! Who's the cutest BROTHER?"
"And anyways, Romeo, weren't we supposed to VOTE?" Donnie knocked on the back of Mikey's shell, trying to get his brother's attention. Poor Mike's green skin turned blush brown and without his facemask, it was painfully obvious.
Cabbage caught his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Thank you. That was very sweet. Now go on, they're voting without you."
Pipes watched quietly. 'That's the way the wind blows, huh? It makes sense. Cabbage is the dimpled darling. It's ok. Give things time, girl. He hardly knows you, or you him for that matter.' She idly flipped the tails of his bandana through her fingers. 'He was only being honest. She IS cuter. Cabbage, why do you have to be so perfect, huh?' Pipes forced a smile, knowing that the guys couldn't tell the difference between it and the real thing just yet, and that her sisters wouldn't ask until later. 'I love Cabbage. She's my sister. I want her to be happy.' Pipes felt like she'd swallowed a rock.
Mike's smile was back in place as he leaned into the huddle.
"Okay Mike, who's the cutest?"
"Cabbage."
"Bzzzzzt! Wrong answer! Remember? Three seconds ago? Who's the cutest BROTHER, Mike?"
"Aw, hell. Uh, Raph."
"What!?"
Leo and Don sniggered, "Yeah, that's what we said too."
"I am NOT cute."
"Dude, you're fuckin' Little Bunny Foo Foo, man! How's that not cute?"
"I am NOT cute."
"Votes for Raphael being the 'cute one'?"
"Yay."
"Yay."
"Yay."
"NAY! You fuckers! NAY!"
Donnie turned to Leo, "Democracy is a beautiful thing."
Leo nodded and addressed the girls, "Raph is clearly the cutest one out of us all."
All eyes homed in on an irate turtle leaning against the cooler in the back. He flipped off his brothers and said it once more, "I am NOT fuckin' cute!" He stared off into the distance, pounding one fist into the palm of his other hand. As laughter filled the van, Sterling caught just the traces of a smile in the corners of his beak, before he squashed it with a forceful frown.