Disclaimer: I don't own any characters except for Ally. I don't own McDonalds either. I'd also like to thank babynames.com… for obvious reasons!
Chapter 5: Donnie Darko.
Venus tossed and turned in her sleep. It had been a long day. She spent most of her hours thinking about Leo; trying to comprehend her feelings about him. Venus couldn't get him out of her mind, as though she had to plan out everything to impress the male turtle. But why did his opinions matter all of a sudden? She didn't know what she was experiencing, and she continued to argue with herself for the rest of the evening. Eventually she would just admit that she did like him, if not love him, but then she would rethink her decision. Venus sighed. She was so confused. Should she just give in to these new feelings? Or should she reject them?
Venus slowly opened her eyes, knowing perfectly well that she wasn't getting any sleep. Just like the previous night, the female turtle tiredly headed for the kitchen to get a glass of water. The air was cold and the lair was dark, with the exception of Donatello's bedroom light. Venus shook her head at the thought of Don stupidly staying up for two nights in a row, but instead of going back to bed, she curiously wanted to pay him a visit.
She found the turtle sitting in front of his computer, scrolling down pages and pages of what looked like to be important information. Don quickly glanced in recognition towards Venus, before returning his highly focused gaze to the gently illuminated screen.
"What are you looking at?" Venus asked after a few minutes of having no interaction. She walked towards the screen, only to have Don swiftly change it to another window. She placed her hands on her hips and warily gazed at Donatello. "I know the window trick," she said bluntly. Don sighed and reluctantly pulled up the Internet browser that he was originally looking at, knowing that she wasn't going to like what she was about to see. Venus stared at the screen for a little while before giving Donny an accusing look.
"You're looking up dragons!?" Venus said in surprise, wanting an explanation.
"I wanted to learn more about them, like where they came from, how long they live, what they eat…" Donatello said, remaining calm.
"But I know all about that. Why didn't you just ask me? I have lots of scrolls in my room about them," Venus stated, her voice showing that she was quite upset.
"But I can't read them," Don pointed out.
"I could have gone through them for you. You should have came to me first instead of staying up till some ungodly hour!" Venus argued, getting offended that Don didn't want her help.
"Look. I'm just doing some further research just to back up some of the things that your ancient parchments have told you," Donatello stated, getting annoyed.
"How can you do further research if you haven't gone through the scrolls yet!?" Venus continued to argue.
"Venus, why do you care about it so much? So what if I want to do my own research!?" Donatello said loudly. Venus was quiet for moment.
"Dragon Lord murdered Chung I. I just want to give him what he deserves, just like how you wanted revenge on the Shredder. It's important to me," Venus reasoned with a softer tone, even though there was more to it than that.
"I know that. It's just that I want something more modern. Something more reliable," Donatello continued.
"More reliable? Don, the page you're reading now could have been written by a Harry Potter fan, for all you know!" Venus said. Donatello stopped what he was doing. She had a point. There was a rather lengthy silence between the two turtles. All of a sudden, Don became annoyed.
"Just leave me alone, okay!" he said sharply. Offended, Venus left the room and went back to bed. Donatello sighed to himself, deeply thinking about the conversation that was just held.
*****
Venus rinsed her breakfast bowl and placed it with the other dirty dishes beside the kitchen sink. It was Raphael's turn to wash up this morning. Instead of having breakfast privately with Leonardo, like she did the other day, Venus ate with the whole family, as she was too tired to get up any earlier, thanks to the conversation with Donatello last night. The female turtle watched as everyone went on with their separate daily tasks; Leonardo headed for the dojo, Raph went back to his room, Don tried to get more parts for the Hummer while Master Splinter meditated in the living room. Venus' eyes continued to scan around the lair, only to lock onto Mikey's.
"Hey, I was wondering… would you like to go out for lunch? I just haven't the chance to talk to you much lately," Mikey asked sweetly with a slightly sympathetic tone. Venus couldn't resist his expressively sad appearance and reluctantly agreed. Mike's face brightened immediately. "Great! We'll leave at noon! I'll bring Ally!" Michelangelo said, before skipping away. Venus was confused for a second, until she finally figured out who Ally was.
*****
Lunch ended up being an under ten-dollar meal deal from McDonalds, much to Venus' disappointment. The two turtles sat at the end of a large sewerage pipe that looked onto the water surrounding the harbour. It was quite a beautiful and secluded spot, although it was partly on the smelly side.
Venus watched as Mike operated on his burger, skillfully taking out his gherkins. "I thought you liked them?" Venus questioned after swallowing a mouthful.
"That was until Don told me that they make you fart," Mike said with a smile. Venus stopped chewing on her burger and immediately threw out the green gherkins. The two ate in an awkward silence for a few minutes whilst Ally splashed behind them.
"So…" Mike started off. "Is there a McDonalds in China?" Mike asked, making small talk. Venus stared at him for a while, knowing where the conversation would lead.
"I don't want to talk about China. I want to learn more about you guys," Venus said, scrunching up her papery rubbish.
"Like what?" Mike questioned.
"Well… what was it like growing up here in New York?" Venus asked, looking into his eyes.
"It was alright," Mike began. "Splinter really helped us get through most things. Leo and Raph fought a lot of the time-"
"No. I mean, what was it like for you?" Venus interrupted. Michelangelo was unusually quiet for a while.
"Truthfully, I was sad for most of the time. Sad and scared. Splinter's training helped me overcome most of my fears, like the pitch-blackness and the really creepy echoing sewer sounds, but I took a lot longer than everyone else did. Raph and Leo teased me a lot… especially Raph, but I knew that they still cared about me. Things were okay, until we learnt about the Foot. That's when everything became serious. I couldn't cope with it at first, but Don helped me to keep looking on the bright side of things… best advice anyone's ever given me! Then one day, Raph became jealous of Leo, and Leo started to degrade Raph. Ever since then they've been fighting over whose better. Don and I became closer, mainly because we shared the same amount of worry. We worked as a team and we helped to calm down Raph and Leo after most fights; I was always stuck with Raph. He's not a bad guy; he just wants to be understood. But one thing's for sure; I wouldn't be the person I am today without Don," Mike admitted with honesty. Venus remained thoughtful for a while.
"So are you still good friends with Don?" Venus questioned.
"Yeah, a bit. But we're not as close now compared to when we were little. He became interested in electronics when he was eight, and was a smarty-pants genius by ten. I just don't have that much in common with him than I used to. I think I'm closer to Raph now, mainly because he's always got something fun or evil in mind… and I can always point the blame on him! With Leo… Actually, come to think of it, I don't talk to Leo that often," Mike said thoughtfully.
"I noticed that," Venus commented.
"Yeah. Leo usually talks to Don and Splinter… He talks to Raph a lot as well… if you can call that 'talking'!" Mike said with a smile. "But since you've arrived, things have been… different."
"How so?" Venus asked with curiosity written all over her face.
"Well, for starters, I don't have to keep seeking Don out for friendship, because I have you," Mike said softly. He placed his hand on hers, making Venus realise the context in the last part of that sentence.
"Mike, we've been through this," Venus said with a serious yet gentle tone. "We're not meant for each other. Don't get me wrong, I love talking to you and I think that you're a great friend… It's just that… I don't want it to be anything more. I don't want to wreck what we already have between us," Venus said. Michelangelo nodded, slowly understanding what she was trying to say.
"So what are you looking for in a boyfriend… just out of curiosity," Mike asked, slowly becoming his old self again. Venus looked away from him, pondering over his question.
"I don't know yet," she finally said.
"…Do you have anyone in mind at the moment?" Michelangelo asked with a big cheeky grin. Venus blushed.
"No," she lied.
"It's Leo, isn't it?" Mike guessed. A big grin was on his face. Venus tried to find an answer, but her mind found something else to say.
"Where's Ally?" Venus questioned as her eyes scanned hurriedly around the sewer pipe.
"Huh?" Mike exclaimed before quickly joining the search. They both turned their heads in time to see a tiny shell submerging in the nearby river. Venus covered her mouth with her hand in shock while Mike dived in after the baby turtle.
*****
Venus and Mike both returned to the lair sopping wet, along with Ally the baby turtle. As soon as they saw her, Leo and Raph rushed towards the female turtle, although Leonardo was somehow the only one who made it to Venus, as Raphael seemingly fell over an 'invisible' crack. "Hey," Leo greeted, before turning around to watch Raph angrily scramble off of the floor.
"Hey Leo." Venus couldn't help but smile. Mike gave Leo a wink before departing from the two lovebirds. "So what have you been up to?" Venus questioned lightly.
"Nothing much. I was just about to do some more training though. I was wondering-"
"I'd love to join in," Venus interrupted. She blushed slightly in embarrassment from being too excited. Leo gave a small laugh.
Raphael watched as Leo and Venus headed to the dojo hand in hand. He growled to himself, but stopped when he realised that he had to be more aggressive. "Ah, Venus! Can I talk to you for a sec?" Raphael blurted out before the two turtles disappeared behind the doors of the training area. Venus shrugged and nodded while Leo gave him a dark look.
"What is it?" Venus said casually.
"I was wondering if you'd like to have a game of laser tag tonight. If you wanna go, we should leave now as it's dark and all," Raphael said, becoming nervous by the end of the invitation. Venus gave him a thoughtful look. She loved playing laser tag; but then again she wanted to spend more time with Leo.
"Yeah, I'd come," she accepted, figuring that Raphael's invitations were rarer than the opportunities that she could be with Leo. "Sorry Leo. Maybe later," Venus said with slight sadness. Leo nodded simply and continued to cast dark looks towards Raph. He realised that things had become a lot more competitive.
Raphael gave Venus' body a quick look over. "You should dry yourself off first," Raph pointed out. Venus looked down at her body and noticed that she was still wet from chasing a tiny turtle around the water's of New York City.
"Oh! I can't believe I forgot!" She clutched her shivering forearms and rushed to her bedroom. Raphael raised an eye-ridge when Venus emerged seconds later and ran towards the bathroom instead. "The towels are in the rest room!" she murmured to herself. "I'll be ready in a minute!" she called out excitedly to Raph before she disappeared into the bathroom.
Raphael chuckled and shook his head. He then found Leo's continuous dark look. "What?!" he asked innocently.
To be continued…