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There was half an hour left of my shift by the time Matias and I finished with the glider colony. Thanks to my class schedule including a last-block spare, I got to leave school early and thus have longer shifts at the zoo, which was necessary if I was going to be an assistant keeper. Though I was hardly going to complain about having longer shifts because this promotion just gave me the opportunity to interact more with animals than people, which was a literal miracle.

Despite my job being to take care of the gliders, the lack of an exhibit made the list of to-do's much shorter. Mat stretched it out as much as he could, taking the time to teach me things he said I "don't need to know yet" and spending a lot of extra time introducing Red to the colony. But with thirty minutes left before we could clock out and Lauren's strict No Leaving Early Policy, Mat decided we'd best use our time promoting the new glider exhibit.

So he grabbed one of the gliders from their temporary enclosure and we headed out into the borderline chaos of the Tropic Zone. I made sure Red was securely cupped in my hands before leaving the safety of the backroom.

"Is it not a Monday?" Mat whispered to me, obviously confused. I kept forgetting he'd only been in New York City for a few days and at CPZ even less.

"Yup," I replied, closing the door behind us. "Nothing stops them."

"I have noticed."

We decided to stay where we were as it was out of the way of everyone entering the building and one of the most spacious areas we'd probably be able to find.

Red began squirming impatiently in my hands, and when I uncurled my fingers he instantly clambered up my arm, curling himself close to my neck and working his claws at my shirt's collar.

Mat's chosen glider, Luz, was unsure about her surroundings and remained a tight ball of dusky fur in his hands for a minute before poking her head up and investigating. She was slightly eccentric and very curious, so it wasn't long before she was crawling up and down his arms and attracting the attention of just about every young child entering the building.

Despite her curiosity, Luz was unfamiliar with the idea of being passed around for children to hold and pet and made a point to remain far from their reach. When most of them realized this, the kids were quick to hurry past us, dragging their parents along into the bright, canopied space of chirping birds.

I felt relieved when I had space to breathe again.

"Is it always like this?" Matias asked, his voice low so only I could hear him.

I shook my head, petting Red to keep him calm. "Mondays are usually pretty chill. But this feels like peak on a Friday." Which still didn't come close to the busyness of weekends, but was unusual for today, when kids were hurrying home from school to do homework and most others were only just getting off work.

He chuckled. "Maybe it is because today is very nice."

I frowned, thinking about how between school, work and taking the sewers, I'd been cooped up indoors all day, unable to enjoy the sun and warm weather.

"There are twelve minutes before we can leave," Mat said, looking up from his watch. "Would you like to go outside?"

Twelve minutes? "Heck yes, let's do it."

He smiled and gestured for me to take the lead. Keeping Red close, I entered the canopy zone and took an immediate right. Like an extreme shortcut, the path led straight to the exit but was chained off to ensure the zoogoers didn't go the wrong way and leave right after they walked in. I stepped over the chain and followed the small group of people leaving.

The humidity noticeably dropped when we walked through the doors, but the change in temperature was hardly discernible.

Lucy, one of the sea lion handlers, smiled and waved to us from her place within the sea lion enclosure. Smiling, I waved back.

"Who is that?" Mat murmured.

"Lucy." I stopped walking, finding a nice place for us to stand partially in the shade. "She's one of the sea lion keepers. She's really nice."

"Ah," he lifted a finger in recollection. "I think I remember meeting her."

"Yeah, she's always here. She does a lot of training with them."

At the moment, it looked like she was cleaning up their enclosure. Because, despite the signs and constant reminders, children still managed to throw things into just about every exhibit at the zoo. And the huge sea lion exhibit in the middle was apparently the most popular for said garbage-throwing. And now that we were nearing 5 o'clock when no more people would be allowed entry to the zoo, the keepers usually started cleaning. Luckily, Matias and I didn't yet have an enclosure to clean up garbage in.

A few people leaving the Tropic Zone noticed Luz and Red and stopped to inquire curiously about them before continuing with their exploration of the zoo.

I glanced up at CPZ's huge clock to check the time, anxious to leave and see Raphael. Four minutes. We would head back in to return Luz and clock out soon.

I returned my attention to actually doing my job when I heard the Tropic Zone doors swing open again. The fake smile fixed to my face slipped momentarily when I saw J.T. wearing a red tank top and shorts with a black ball cap on her head and the same backpack slung on her shoulders. She noticed me a moment later, her blue eyes widening and her feet faltering as they changed direction to head toward us, a shy smile on her face.

"Hey," she said, "I'm sorry...I completely forget your name."

I grinned. "Raiya. How are you doing? You got home okay, I guess." I was trying to be as discreet about it as I could with Mat standing next to me. Oh shit.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Disoriented, but I'm better now. I had no idea you worked here, that's kinda sweet."

"Yeah, it's pretty cool." I nodded and gestured to him. "This is my friend Matias. Mat, this is J.T.."

He smiled and inclined his head. "Hi."

"Hi, is that another glider-thing?" She asked, referring to Luz who clung to his forearm.

"Sugar glider, yes." He scooped Luz into his palm. "Her name is Luz."

Her smile widened. "She's so cute. Did I miss them? I didn't see them anywhere."

"No, the exhibit isn't ready yet," I replied. "We're just trying to get them used to interacting with people before it opens, which'll be..." I glanced at Mat for help.

He shrugged. "In two weeks, I think."

"Oh, well, I'll probably be gone by then." Jaz looped her fingers around her backpack straps and shifted her weight. "But if there's anything else before then, I can totally do it. I don't have a lot planned and I wanna see New York as much as I can."

"Have you been to The High Line?"

Instantly, she brightened with excitement. "Not yet, but it's on my list! I have most of the basic tourist landmarks, but not a lot of food places which is weird because this place is notorious for food and I've been dying to try everything I've seen on TV."

"I can help you with that," I offered, petting Red. "I've lived here since I was twelve. What do you have so far?"

Her eyebrows scrunched together but Matias interjected before she could form a reply.

"I'm sorry, I'm going to return Luz," he said. "It is almost five."

I caught the hint quickly. "I'm so sorry, I forgot." I turned to J.T.. "I have to go clock out and grab my stuff, but if you wanna wait, I have something for you and I can totally help you with your list."

"Oh, sure," she smiled and looked around. "I don't have anywhere to be."

─── ─ å―ąãŪ啓įĪš ─ ───

J.T. was leaning against the acrylic-glass fence of the sea lion enclosure, watching the animals lounge in the sun while she waited for me. I hurried over, Red perched on my shoulder and a tracker grasped in one hand.

"Hey," I called, causing her head to turn. "Thanks for waiting, I wanted to give you this." I held my hand out, the small key-fob-like device dangling from my finger. "In case you're ever in trouble. It sends your location to the turtles when you push the button."

"Oh, wow, thank you," she grinned. "Leo gave me one yesterday when he dropped me off." She patted her pocket. "I have it with me right now cuz this city kinda makes me nervous and if something happened to me, my mom would probably put me in one of those hamster balls for the rest of my life."

Laughing, I swung my bag off my shoulders to throw the tracker back inside. "With the whole 'we can't protect you' macho act he put on, I didn't know if he would."

"Yeah, is he always like that?" She asked, heading toward the exit.

"No," I shook my head. "Only at first. After that, he loosens up. You probably won't believe me, but he's actually a lot of fun."

Jaz lowered her voice as we walked past a group of people leaving the zoo as well. "Honestly, I still can't believe I met them on my third day. I've heard of the secret heroes here, but I had no idea."

"I know." I took a turn off the main path. "I dunno if you wanna hop into the sewers again, but that's the way I'm taking home."

"Oh, is Leo...?"

"No, it's his brother, Raphael. He's my best friend." It wasn't a lie. And I didn't want to completely scare her after only learning of their existence yesterday.

"Oh, no I'll come with you. It's not as bad down there as I thought it'd be. Plus, you still haven't told me the best place to get some pizza around here."

Oh my God, I love her. "That would be Prince Street," I replied, heading over to the manhole cover sitting in the concrete.

She repeated the name to herself slowly while typing it into her phone. "Man, I'm so pumped to crush some New York pizza." She shook her head. "I see that stuff on TV all the time. Also, is it usually, like, thirty degrees in October here? Because I did not pack for this."

What? I stopped next to the manhole. "No, it's usually around sixty-five."

J.T.'s jaw dropped. "You're joking." Then a light bulb seemed to go off in her head. "Oh my God, I keep forgetting you guys use Farheneit here."

Ohhh! I grinned. "I was so confused," I admitted, laughing a little at our mutual confusion. "I seriously thought you were crazy. Thirty degrees Fahrenheit means snow."

"And thirty degrees Celsius is the hottest it ever gets where I'm from, which would feel like eighty-five to you, I think. We usually start getting snow in October."

"What?"

She nodded. "I packed for cold weather, not July. I can't wear anything like this after August."

I opened my mouth to reply but a vibration in my pocket got my attention and I remembered that Raph was waiting for me, probably listening to me talk from the other side of the manhole.

J.T. noticed. "What?" She asked, her smile losing some of its carefree joy.

"Sorry, I just remembered I'm keeping him waiting." I glanced around to make sure nobody was watching before kneeling down and calling Raph's name. Immediately, the manhole cover was lifted out of the way and I jumped down.

Raphael stood in front of me, looking confused. "Who're you talking to?"

"Don't freak out," I said, spinning back around as J.T. carefully climbed down the ladder. I felt him stiffen and I had to smack his arm to remind him to put the manhole back in its place once Jaz had gotten down.

She stood next to me, obviously cautious of Raph. "He seems scary but he's not," I whispered to her. She nodded in reply.

"Raph, this is J.T., she met Leo and Mikey yesterday."

"I'm the one who fainted," she amended dryly. "Twice."

Raphael smirked. "Heard about that, how're you doin'?"

She exhaled, a smile falling into place on her lips. "Good."

"Good. I'm Raphael, you can call me Raph. Leo probably told you I'm the violent one."

J.T. was frozen with shock, unable to form a reply.

I rolled my eyes at the turtle's complete lack of social skills. "That's a really good first impression, Raph," I grumbled sarcastically. "Good job."


author's note

I tried my best to get this finished yesterday but I couldn't and then I overestimated how much free time I'd have today, which is why I'm finally releasing it at midnight lol sorry guys!

I had my first training shift at my job which was very stressful and then I had to go to one of my extracurriculars and since I've gotten home I've been trying to finish this off. I'm not sure if I like how it turned out, especially the interaction between Raiya and J.T., but I really just wanted to get this out to you guys and also get a move-on with this story.

So If y'all don't know, J.T.'s faceclaim is Danielle Campbell :) As soon as I saw a picture of her I knew it was the J.T. I'd envisioned. I'm really excited for her's and Raiya's friendship to develop and also for her to start not hating Leo lmao but I'm still not sure what kind of chapters to write in her POV so feel free to leave me some suggestions and I'll definitely check them out!

I love you guys and please review! :D