Chapter 5 - "What kind of suggestion?"
A relieved turtle put down the final nunchuck in the pile of cleaned and polished weapons to his right. It had been a tough couple of hours, where he several times wrestled with the thought of skipping the nunchucks, just to teach his little brother some sort of lesson. But he couldn't live with the thought of not doing his very best, so he ended up cleaning them anyway. He leaned back in the couch with a tired sigh, a small smile stretching his mouth, until his was grinning madly.
"What's up with the creepy face?" Raphael asked from the floor by the VCR, where he rewind another tape.
Leo glared at his brother, his smile vanishing instantly. "I'm happy," he said, in a manner that pointed to the complete opposite of happiness.
"Yeah?" Raph questioned with a raised eye ridge. "Well ye don't sound very convincin' about it."
"That's because you're pissing me off," Leo pointed out, before rising from the couch and walking up to the DVD, placed upon the television set. He pressed eject and watched as one of the 'Band of brothers' discs appeared. He carefully lifted it between his thumb and index finger, replacing it with another disc from the super-sized 'Band of brothers' box.
"Oh, ya betta' put that back in the case," Raph threatened, when obsessively watching his brother switch the discs.
"Oh, relax Raph," Leo shushed his suddenly tidy brother, when pressing play. "I'm not Mikey." He watched as the menu appeared on the screen, while walking backwards towards the couch with the remote in his grip.
"Well that's juz damn lucky fer you, cuz iffa see 'im near these movies again - he's history." Raphael rose to his feet with the final DVD case in his hand - 'Coneheads.' He slid it in between the other DVD's in the bookcase, not caring if it didn't fit, but just pushed extra hard, till the flick blended together with the others he had been sorting out all day.
"Whatcha' watchin', Leo?"
Raphael spun around to find his youngest brother come out of the bathroom, walking up to the back of the couch.
"Band of brothers," Leonardo mumbled, while setting the proper picture size.
"So what number are ya on?" Mikey asked, leaning forward on the back of the couch.
"If you mean episode, it's number five," Leo said, while folding together the package of DVD's and putting it back in the box. "But if it's which disc, I just put in the third."
"So..." Mike trailed, "how many discs are there?"
"Six," Leo answered, while removing their weapons from the couch and putting them on the coffee table. "But don't worry, I can update youon what's happened," he quickly added, excited about someone other than himself seeming interested in the series.
"Yeaaaah... okay, I'm gonna go," Michelangelo said, pointing towards his own room, to avoid being dragged down the horrible swamp of never ending war movies.
Leo then turned his optimistic eyes towards Raphael, who instantly realized what his brother wanted. "Forget it," he refused. "Sides, it's up ta me ta put dinner on the table," he remembered and fled for the kitchen.
"You two just don't know how to appreciate a good movie!" Leo called after his siblings, who chose to act like they didn't hear him. Leo shook his head in disapproval before returning to the film.
In the kitchen Raphael stood by the fridge to see what he was doomed to cook.
"Pasta and broccoli with tomato sauce?" He read to himself, liking his task less and less the further into the sentence he read. "Hell no."
Donatello placed his empty plate in the sink, ignoring the signals his roaming stomach sent out to him. "I'm gonna go to bed," he told the others, still seated at the table and eating their food.
"I understand." Splinter nodded at his student. "Sleep well, my son."
"You too, master," Donnie said, turning around to face his family. "G'night everyone." With that, Don left the kitchen for his dearly missed bed.
"He's turning in at eight thirty?" Raphael turned to the others, a pasta string hanging out of his mouth. "That's early even for a geek."
"You mustn't forget that your brother wakes up an hour earlier than yourself," Splinter reminded and grabbed his nearly empty glass of milk.
"Yeah," Mikey jumped in. "Or maybe he didn't get enough food to be able to stay awake." He glanced at Raphael, with a mocking smile playing on his lips.
"Maybe that's cuz you ate it all," Raph shot back, glaring at his brother from across the table.
"Or maybe it's cuz ya only made pasta," Mike countered. "I mean, I like Italy and everything, especially that Michelangelo dude. But no one can eat themselves full on just pasta." He pointed to his already empty plate.
"S'cuse me, Your Bottomless," Raph hissed, "but I didn't wanna pull a Leo." He hastily pointed to the blue masked turtle next to him, who tiredly rolled his eyes, knowing he would be taunted for that in years to come. "So I figured that instead of ruining dinna', I would juz play my cards safe."
"What, and not make any?" Mikey questioned, putting his fork down on his empty plate, while staring expectantly at Raphael.
"You should be glad ye got any dinner," Raph hissed, before returning to his spaghetti plate. "It's not like ya earned it."
"Since when do we have to earn food?" Michelangelo wondered, looking at Leo for support.
"Since I started makin' it," Raph replied with his fork in his mouth, not even looking up from his plate.
Leonardo shrugged his shoulders at Mikey before he went back to his food, and Mike, who could sense when a conversation was over, got up to put his dishes in the sink. Splinter mused silently to himself, his smile hidden behind his glass of milk, as things seemed to be going just like he had imagined it.
At least when he ran the household, he didn't have to argue with other people about who did what, and how well they did it.
Dinner had passed, and Raphael was left to clean up in the kitchen. He instantly noticed that in the competition of who held the most resemblance to a pig, Mike's greasy manners had won by far. The only clean space at his place at the table, was the part where his plate had been placed. Splinter and Leonardo were of course spotless, while Donnie only had a milk ring from his glass. Then, there was Raph himself, but since he was the one cleaning it up, he figured he wasn't in the competition.
After filling the sink with water, and using way too much washing-up liquid, he began scrubbing the evenings dishes clean, while muttering a censored word here and there.
"Evenin', Mrs. Potts," Mike greeted happily as he waltzed into the kitchen. "How's it going?"
Raph froze at the cheery voice and gritted his teeth, before diving back into the nasty water with his itchy hands. "Would be a lot betta' it you weren't here," he calmly replied to his baby brother.
"Yeah, ya don't have to be a ninja to sense the tension in the air," Mikey said, stopping by the table. "Anyway, I only came to see if ya know where Leo's hiding? It's time for the Green Angels of the Night to go to work."
"Makin' up stupid names ain't gonna make patrollin' with Leo any less boring," Raph harshly pointed out, putting another clean plate to the side.
"Yeah, well someone has to keep the relationship alive, and Teacher's Pet isn't very hot on the romance front." Michelangelo giggled at his joke.
"Would ye stop shoving images into my mind," Raph snapped, holding an innocent glass under water longer than necessary. "What I'm doin' is gross enough!"
"Sorry," Mikey apologized, flatly. "So do ya know where he is?"
"He's in Splinter's room," Raphael revealed, finally allowing the poor glass to come up to the surface. "Probably askin' for pointers for tomorrah's practice."
"That cheating son of a bitch," Mike cursed, his good mood suddenly gone, when being reminded of his chore switch with his oldest brother. With that, Mike turned on his heel to fetch his partner in patrol, mainly to keep him from getting any more tips from Splinter.
Of course, Raph didn't mind, seeing as he was finally left alone with his disgusting chores.
The two turtles stopped at the edge of a rooftop, the tallest spying down over the city with determination in his eyes. The smaller one that stood next to him seemed to have no interest in the city whatsoever, but kept his glare on the other one, his eyes burning a hole through the green skin of his older brother's face.
Leonardo casually turned his head to the side and noticed the deadly stare Mike gave him. "Oh, would you give it a rest, Mikey!" he exclaimed, his frustration getting the better of him, although quiet enough not to draw unwanted attention. "I did not ask master Splinter for any pointers!"
"Oh yeah?" Mike retorted. "Then how come you got all quiet when I came in?" He gazed suspiciously at the blue masked turtle, as if he was a suspect in interrogation.
"Because you gave me that same look," Leo half explained, half defended himself.
"Oh, I'm onto you, Leo," Mikey whispered, angrily. "You're not getting away with this."
"Look," Leo sighed and closed his eyes, before giving his brother his full attention. "I get it that you're mad at me for taking over morning practice--"
"You bet I am!" Michelangelo interrupted.
"But we still have a job to do," Leo continued. "And it would be a lot easier if you kept your eyes on the city instead of me." He stared expectantly at Mikey, waiting for him to answer.
"Fine," Mike agreed after a moment of thinking. "But only for the safety of New York."
"Of course," Leo agreed flatly, before turning his shell and running off to the next rooftop. "So let's go."
Michelangelo quickly caught up to his big brother, angrily glaring at him every now and then, when Leo was too concentrated to notice.
Throughout the night Leo thought tiredly to himself, And me who thought Raph and Donnie would be the one having problems.
Raphael shared a much too quiet night in front of the TV with master Splinter, watching another dramatic episode of 'ER', that the old rodent necessarily had to see. Most of the lair was dark, apart from the light that came off the TV, and Raph sank deeper and deeper into the couch, his spirit fighting to survive the boredom. Splinter sat in his old chair, nervously scratching at the armrest when another patient's heart gave in on the operation table.
Raph had never though he would miss his brothers, and kept reminding himself to enjoy the silence while it lasted, but watching 'ER' with his father wasn't quite the same as hanging out with his very loud and very annoying brothers.
A few minutes later, as the patient had died, and two more doctors had hooked up together, Splinter turned in his chair. "Ridiculous that they have us wait another week for the next episode," the rat smiled tiredly at his son, who nodded in response, even if it only was to keep his dear old dad happy. "I think I will retire for the night," Splinter concluded and rose from his chair, grabbing the cane that rested beside it. "Goodnight, my son. Do not forget to turn off the television."
"Sure," Raphael answered, instantly switching to another channel. "Night, Splinter."
Then as his father had retreated to his own sub-car, and Raph had flicked through the dozens of channels one too many times, he finally turned off the TV and got up from his deformed position on the couch. He stood in the silent living room for a few seconds, contemplating oncopying his father and go to bed, when he suddenly thought of something else.
Raph set his course towards Donatello's sub-car, pulling the doors open without so much as bothering to even consider knocking first.
Donnie woke up from the sudden sound of the doors sliding open, and stirred tiredly in the darkness. "Who's there?" he mumbled into his shoulder.
"Don," Raph called out in the darkened room, stumbling over gadgets when trying to find his way towards to mattress in the left corner. "Donnie, get up. I hafta talk ta ya."
"Ra-aph..." Donatello complained, rolling over in bed to ignore the rude intrusion. "Go away. I'm sleeping."
But Raphael wasn't planning on leaving, and continued his bumpy path towards the bed, tripping over Don's ridiculously big toolbox that stood in the middle of the floor, as if it had been put there just so someone would crash violently to the ground.
The loud noise of someone heavy hitting the floor, followed by Raph's cursing and hissing, caused Don to wake up in a flat second. He quickly sat up and reached for the lamp above his bed, finally introducing his pitch black room to some light.
"What're you doing?" Donnie hysterically exclaimed, when spotting his clumsy brother lying in a heap of gadgets and tools. "You're breaking all my stuff!"
Raph angrily staggered to his feet, caressing his bruised butt. "Thanks fer yer concern, Don," he muttered, while moving aside to allow his freaked out brother to inspect his inventions. "Maybe if ya didn't hafta store yer crap on the floor, I wouldn't have had ta trip over it." He carefully stepped over the tools to sit his injured ass on the mattress.
"Well, lucky for you that nothing got hurt," Donatello spoke up from the floor, tinkering with a speaker to his soon to be stereo.
"In case ya didn't notice, someone did get hurt," Raph bitterly pointed out from the bed, his green behindgetting a little too green.
Donnie only ignored his brother's whining and began putting the tools back in the box. "What're you doing in here anyway?" he asked, while picking stuff up from the floor.
"I came with a proposal," Raph declared, deciding to leave his butt be. "I might've come up with a way ta get back on Mike."
Don froze in his cleaning, a hammer in his hand. "What d'ya mean?" he curiously turned to look at Raphael.
"Course, Leo has ta agree to it," Raph admitted. "But somehow I don't think that'll be a problem this time."
Don put down the hammer in the box before turning his full attention to his evil sibling. "What are you saying?"
Raph smiled when he realized he had gotten himself an ally. "I'm sayin' that tomorrah on mornin' practice, it's time for Mikey to put in a little extra."
"As in, make him pay?" Don inquired, his eyes gleaming with foreign anticipation.
"Exactly," Raphael confirmed with a grin. "Anyway, we'll need Leo's approval, but he ain't home yet."
Donnie rose from the floor with the toolbox in his hands, putting it away on his desk before turning back to Raph. "So we'll just wait for him to get back," he simply said, leaning his shell against the desk.
"I thought ye wanted ta sleep?" Raph asked with a sly smile.
"Naah, I can sacrifice a couple of hours," Donnie waved off his brother's comment. "After all, it's for a good cause."
"Yeah," Raphael agreed sadistically. "Splinter's always talkin' 'bout the Greater Good." The two party-planners shared a moment of evil laughter, thinking about the many ways to get back on their little brother.
Leonardo jumped down the final steps of their entrance ladder, glancing up at Mike who came climbing down right after him. It had been a tough night, and not in the sense that the criminals had been many, but more like in the Mike's-a-pain-in-the-ass kind of tough.Mikey had been eye-balling him the entire night, even though Leo had pretended he didn't notice, and that had slowly sucked him dry on his trademark patience. Now he only wanted to go to bed, and the fact that the lair was dark and quiet would make sleeping a whole lot easier, since Leo mightneed the extra help with going to sleep, with all the anger boiling withun him.
He descended the platform stairway and headed off towards the bathroom to brush his teeth, his brother's footsteps echoing behind him.
Michelangelo left for the kitchen without whispering the smallest word of goodnight to his brother, and got slightly surprised at how clean everything was after Raphael had done his part of the household. Not that it hadn't been cleaned when Leo or Don cleaned up earlier today, but still, coming from Raph that was quite a surprise.
Mike walked up to one of the cupboards and brought out the bag of cat food. Klunk immediately recognized the noise and came running from Mikey's room, where he had probably been napping. The cat stroke itself against Mike's legs, causing the angry turtle to melt a little.
"How'my s'pose to stay mad when your all cute and friendly?" he asked the non-speaking cat, and bent down to pet him, striking his hand across the furry back.
Mikey then filled the bowl that stood in the corner of the counter, and moved out of the way as the cat jumped up to eat. Mike couldn't help himself from snatching a cereal, even though he knew from experience that it tasted like crap, and filled up Klunk's other bowl with clean, fresh water. He put the water next to the bowl of cat-snacks and stoke his pet one final time across the back, before turning off the lights and leaving to brush his teeth.
Leonardo felt himself drifting off to much welcomed sleep, after having spent several minutes on cursing his annoying little brother. And just as peace washed over him, a knock on his door brought him right back to reality.
Leo opened his eyes and sat up in bed, staring at the door to his sub-car. "What?" he asked, hoping it wasn't Michelangelo coming to accuse him of cheating on his chores.
The doors slid open and two dark silhouettes entered. Leo reached for the lamp on his bedside table and hit the switch. "What're you guys doing here?" he asked, tiredly rubbing his eyes to get used to the light.
"We came with a suggestion," Donatello answered from the far end of the room, a strange smile creeping onto his face.
"What kind of suggestion?" Leo wondered, looking from one brother to the other.
"One ye don't wanna turn down," Raph said smugly, his grin three times wider than Donnie's.