Disclaimer: I do not own the TMNT. They, along with their ninja butt-kicking awesomeness belong to Mirage studios. But, one day soon, I will own them all! Oh yes! MUAHAHAHAHAAA!!!!!!!
*cough* Ahem. Sorry for that.
Alright, let's talk. A CLUB???!!! Now normally I'd consider myself crazy, but it just seems the best way for these four to get out on the market. So, a club it is! This promises to be entertaining…
I'm just so EVIL! And I enjoy every second of it!
Now, let's get on with the story!
PS- This chapter was edited March 6, 2010
'The Underground' looms over the disguised turtles, with its neon lights and reflective mirror balls. The bass of the music vibrates the entire structure as the four brothers stare the unfamiliar building in apprehension. There is a discernable amount of bitterness radiating from the four brothers, having been sent against their will to the slightly tacky club. Finally Leo admits defeat, flashing his false ID at the bouncer with his brothers not far behind.
"Nice job on the IDs, Donnie," Raph whispers to his brother seconds before the change in atmosphere sucks him in. It seems time has stopped for a few moments as many people, look toward the four men. The women are enticed by the new blood, an infrequent occasion as of late at 'The Underground'. The girls, whether single or taken, are intrigued; one girl in particular happens to be very interested in the dominant, blue clad man. She smiles at her friends mischievously, and entreats, "Excuse me for a second, ladies…and Greg." She stands without a response, although she doesn't expect one, and moves sveltely through the mass of bodies thumping with music. She eyes her target for a moment and grins to herself, thinking, 'This is going to be fun.'
The four teen boys are like statues. They scan the crowd for April and Casey whom vanished the moment they entered but can't see them anywhere. No doubt part of April's plan to get the boys to socially interact. Leo's eyes flit casually across the room until he comes across an attractive girl. She has auburn tinted brown locks, entrancing hazel eyes and a light dusting of freckles across her bare shoulders. She wears a black halter dress that hits at her knee and heels that make her hips sway as she walks. It takes him a second to realize that she is making a beeline for him, and he panics. In an attempt to avoid her, Leo starts to talk to Raph about their katas.
The girl draws up to Leo and hangs back at his side, trying to catch his eye as he ignores her. Uneasily deterred, the girl moves forward another step and gives both men a dazzling smile. Turning her attention to Leo, she asks politely, "Excuse me for interrupting, but I was wondering if you would like a dance?"
'Darn,' he curses, turning his head to see her better. He opens his mouth to refuse, but her eyes look so hopeful, he can't say no. Leo swallows and replies, "Sure."
"My name's Rachel," she introduces herself, offering her hand genially. Giving her dainty hand a shake, he replies formally, "Leonardo." She smiles at him brightly and he smiles slightly back, letting her tow him to the dance floor quite submissively. For once, he doesn't mind taking the backseat. Mikey raises his eyebrows in disbelief at Raph, answered by an unconcerned shrug. Mikey turns to Don, knowing he's just as confused about Leo's behavior as he is. They converse with their eyes, seeming worried, until Raph gives them both a look, telling them to relax. Calming down, Don and Mikey stand with Raph for a while listening to music. After three songs, Raph suggests awkwardly, "We should mingle or somethin'. People might get the wrong idea and think we're…uh…ya know…"
Understanding the implication, Mikey grins and replies, "Sure thing, Raphie boy, just make sure to save me a dance."
Hand quick as lightning, Mikey smacks Raph across the backside. Before Raphael can blink, Mikey's on the other side of the room, the only hint that he's still in the state after his gutsy move his loud, manic cackling.
"You better sleep with your eyes open, Mikey!" Raph hisses threateningly, although he can't hear him. He then sighs heavily and makes his way over to the drink counter, leaving Donatello alone. Don rolls his eyes and walks in the opposite direction to find those who appreciate his company.
Raph plunks himself down on a spinney stool at the bar, running a hand over his face. 'Why'd we let April talk us inta this?' he wonders, already bored with the club scene. He considers the likelihood of giving his brothers and friends the slip and busting some Purple Dragons when he notices a girl sitting beside him. A few seats over sits a middle aged man who's eying the girl, his expression a disgusting leer. Raph can practically read his thoughts and barely suppresses the urge to punch him. 'Big perv,' he says to himself. He then notices that the girl looks upset and that her eyes are glassy from holding back tears. An uncommon amount of compassion overthrows Raph's tough guy act, and he says gently, looking a little nervous, "Penny for yer thoughts? Although, I bet they're worth more than that."
Startled, the girl lifts her head, and Raph gets a good look at her.
'Damn, she's gorgeous,' he says to himself, studying her long ebony hair, her pale skin and rosy cheekbones. Before now, he had overlooked her small frame, now realizing it is entirely built of muscle. The most alluring thing about her are her pale blue eyes, drawing Raph in. She looks rejected, angry, confused, ashamed, sad and a little relieved all at the same time. He is driven to shift in his seat to face her fully. She processes what Raph said, eyeing him warily. He seems absorbed but she decides he can't be any creepier than the guy on her other side. Forcing a smile, she counters, "Do you have the time?"
His never breaks as he waits intently for her response. She surrenders to his pleading eyes, inhaling a deep breath, and launches into her story with a feeble voice, "Well, this night started out as a blind date that my friends set me up on with some guy they knew from Connecticut who was coming into town for the weekend. They said he was really athletic, nice and good looking, so I said yes." She glances up at him to see if he's still listening. Hs concentrated expression gives her the courage to plough on in a stronger voice, "We were all here together, dancing and having fun when my friends boyfriends showed up. They decided to go to a movie and told me to stay so my date wouldn't think I stuck him up." Glaring at the linoleum counter top, she forces another false smile, muttering, "That was three hours ago."
Embarrassment conspicuous in her expression, she adds in a lowered voice, the already soft volume taking on a hushed quality, "On top of all that, Ricky over here keeps on offering me drinks."
She indicates with a tilt of the head the older man at the other end of the counter, on his fourth scotch. Her attention returned to the topic at hand, she searches Raphael's eyes avidly, and her smile becoming more genuine, finishes, "And now, I'm telling all my problems to a guy I just met, expecting him to actually care. Is this a sad story or what?"
"Let's give this sad story a happy ending," Raph suggests, a kinder expression covering his face. "How 'bout we go sit in a booth so I can hear some of yer better experiences?"
Her head bobs up and down appreciatively, and she says, "By the way, I'm Vanessa."
"Raphael," he responds, putting out his hand in gesture. She grasps his hand with a surprisingly firm grip and he flinches slightly. Seeming to notice the start of his hand, she shakes more gently. As the two leave their stools to find a quiet booth, Vanessa hooks her arm around Raph's casually. Although surprised he says nothing, leaving her arm where it is. 'Hook, line and sinker.'
During this time, Donatello weaves his way through the club, trying to avoid the ladies who a try to flirt with him. He looks around and sighs, missing his laboratory with all its comforting smells and books and his computers. He suddenly stops dead in his tracks and turns to look at a girl who sits quietly at a table by herself. He stares at her for a long minute but she seems to not have detected him at all, which makes him observe her with utmost interest.
Beautiful is the only word to describe her. A long mane of blond, bouncy waves frame her face, piercing green eyes protruding subtly from her features. Her slim, long fingers move over buttons adeptly, their milky hue reflecting the lights as she focuses on her palmtop. She bites her bottom lip in concentration, mumbling a word to herself once in a while.
She notices Don watching her from a distance and glances up, noting he's good looking. The girl returns her attention to her palm top, and she works for another minute, exclaiming, "Shoot!" softly in exasperation. Don edges closer to her and her eyes flit over him again. 'Why is he staring at me?' she wonders, a little uncomfortable under his watchful eyes. When he is a few feet away, she decides to make the first move. Feeling bold, she looks up sharply and asks curtly with a hint of sarcasm, "Are you looking at me because I'm out of place," she gestures to her palmtop, "or because you're checking me out?"
'Shell,' Don says to himself. He can tell her question is more out of curiosity than annoyance, but it's hard to think of something when she's looking right at him. 'Okay, just say something to her, anything!'
Without thinking, he replies, "Both." '…anything except that. Nice going, stupid.'
At this, she flushes pink from embarrassment and flattery. She feels shy again and grasps for something to say, her smile silly. The break in conversation makes him nervous and he says, "I noticed you were having trouble with your palm top. Can I help you…I'm sorry, what's your name?"
'I can't believe I didn't even ask her name first!'
'I can't believe he asked me my name!' The girl replies, "Lily, and yes, you can help me. I'm having some trouble with keeping my files on the correct drive, and at the same time, trying to rebuild my firewalls. What's your name?"
"Donatello, Don for short," he answers, holding out his hand for the palmtop and taking a seat next to her. He presses a few buttons, opens and closes folders and files, all the while explaining what he's doing, and finally, he finds the disturbance.
"Oh, your hard drive is in the incorrect mode, which moves all your files to the D drive. All you have to do is change the setting, turn it off, turn it back on, and then it should be back to normal," he assures, fixing it rapidly. Finished with the first task, he moves on to her firewalls, studying them raptly, and asks with interest, "Did you create all your own programs?"
"Most of them," Lily replies nonchalantly, no more conceited for the impressed raise of his eyebrows. Hungry for knowledge, Don demands, "How do they stay stable? It's such a small machine, it doesn't have many gigabytes."
"I use a compact system, making sure my programs are powerful enough so that viruses can't get through, but I try to use smaller amounts of memory, keeping it intact."
'Wow, beauty and brains,' he says to himself, surprised by her interest in such things, yet excited to find someone who actually likes computers. A file catches his eye on her desktop, and looking up at her briefly, he enquires, "Are you interested in engineering?"
She smiles and replies, "Yeah, I like to design things; build things; fix things..."
Don steals a glance at the icon on the screen again, curious as to what her plans look like. Noticing his sideways glances, she insists with an amused chuckle, "You can look at my diagrams if you want, I don't mind. I could always use a second opinion."
Curiosities taking over his embarrassment at his own lack of subtlety, he asks, "Are you sure?"
She gives and affirmative head nod and he smiles. He clicks on the icon, opening to page upon page of inventions, plans and designs. Lily shifts in her seat to better her view; she follows his vivid eyes along the screen, a grin washing over her face at his leg bouncing with energy.
Meanwhile, poor Mikey is having worse luck than his brothers with the ladies, already having been rudely rejected seven times in the past twelve minutes. No wonder, with lines like 'Do you have any overdue library books? 'Cause you've got fine written all over you' and 'How much does a polar bear weigh? Enough to break the ice. Hi, I'm Mikey…'
Reviewing his fallings out, Mikey contemplates other ways to pick up girls. 'Maybe it I had a mustache…' His train of thought screeches to a halt when a strikingly beautiful girl catches his eye in the crowd of dancers. Her skin glows bronze under the lowlights, her honey chestnut locks bouncing with her motion, the gold tones picked up by the brightest lights. Like a force, Mikey is drawn to her, her white smile dazzling, her persona emanating she hasn't a care in the world. As he nears her, the sparkling blue of her eyes reveal the gold and green flecks throughout, her irises hypnotizing.
His mind quickly fabricates a plan to talk to her, and cautiously, he begins dancing randomly in her direction, grabbing her attention. She peers at him with a little confusion, until she realizes his motives.
'Oh, this guy thinks he can dance, huh? Let's see if I can't show him how it's done.'
Once he is near enough, she turns slightly to face him and her dancing becomes a little more intense, the moves a better quality than the swaying and hip shaking it consisted of only moments before. The group around them back off, and they watch with fascination. Not wanting to be beaten by a girl, Mikey kicks it up a notch, earning himself a few whoops and a wolf whistle. At his turn tables, the DJ sees the dance off in progress. Wanting to give the people in the rapidly growing crowd some entertainment, he changes the song to a more up beat tune, regarding the pair with interest.
Recognition registers over the girls face, and a smile slowly forming across her face, she begins to break-dance vigorously. She's amazing, much to Mikey's surprise, and the make-shift audience cheers loudly. Entranced by the way her body flows in sync with the music Mikey knows he's lost the dance-off. To end on a lighter note and gain some face, he uses what he has left: he expertly undertakes two clean back flips, and for his grand finale, a flying kick. He smiles defiantly at the girl when the applause reaches his ears, cheek seeping from his every pore.
Unfazed, she counters with a split jump, a round off, a back tuck and a forward walk over. She follows immediately with a one handed hand plant, like the one Mikey can do on his skateboard.
The spectators go wild! Mikey, clearly defeated, takes it like a man, being a good sport. As soon as the crowd has dispersed, Mikey compliments the girl.
"You're a really great dancer."
He seems so sincere that she flushes slightly. Unable to fight the urge to smile, she responds gratefully, "Thanks, you're not so bad yourself. My name's Samantha," She adds, sticking out her hand and waiting expectantly for him to reply. He catches on in a few seconds, the delay causing him to fumble, "I'm Michelangelo," completely ignoring her hand. Her eyebrow raises inquisitively, so he suggests, "You can call me Mikey."
They're quiet for a few moments, Mikey staring at the floor nervously, Sam rocking back and forth on her heels expectantly. More than a little highly strung, she stammers, "Uh, so…would you like to…dance?" Then, seeing his face, an expression she takes as panic and uncertainty, she quickly assures, "It's not a competition, I promise."
Mikey appears reluctant, but inside he's jumping up and down screaming, "Yes! Finally, I get to meet a girl without her fainting the second I speak! Score!!!"
Regaining his composure, he replies, "Sure, why not? Sounds like fun," He follows her closely to the dance floor and catches a glimpse of Leo as he passes. Mikey grins at his brother and winks, pointing to Sam as she walks in front of him. Exasperated and amused by Mikey's shameless performance, Leo hopes for a deflation in his brother's ego, although the pretty girl will most likely compensate for the self-confidence Mikey lost in the dance-off.
Swaying back and forth gently with Rachel, his attention returns to their conversation on sports. Nothing prepares him for what he hears next.
"So, what sports did you say you do regularly?" he asks, thinking he didn't hear her right while some of his attention was on Mikey.
"Oh, I like to play soccer, basket ball, volley ball and lacrosse. I swim, kick box, skate-"
"What, are you good at every sport on the planet?" Leo interrupts, chuckling politely. Her face spreads into a smile, and more joking than being serious, she replies, "Mostly any sport that I either get to kick something or hit a ball with a stick."
He laughs, and remarks, "You sound like my brother, Raph."
Interest piqued, Rachel asks, "Were those your brothers who came with you tonight?"
A little surprised by her interest in his family, he responds, "Yeah: Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo."
She giggles and enquires, "Do foreign names run in the family?"
Leo laughs again and answers, "Yeah, my family is a little out of the ordinary."
"Aren't all families?" she points out, grinning. Most of her answers are wise and unexpected, others just making him laugh at their obviousness, and he finds himself asking 'Why didn't I think of that answer?'
He recalls an earlier Q&A they had, when she had asked him randomly, "Why do people find ridiculous things funny?"
Leo had to think about this for a few moments, finally responding, "Because they're strange, I guess."
"I think it's because the thought of somebody doing something uncharacteristic or against the generalized opinions we hear everyday from society makes us laugh. The human mind works in strange ways, and the only thing we can do is laugh about it." That one interested him quite a bit.
He returns to the present, and in an attempt to keep her talking, he conjures up a good question to make her think as much as she forced him to. Before he can ask it, however, she returns to the subject he so casually dismissed, and insists, "Tell me more about your brothers."
"Well, Raph is a violence seeking hot head we love to death, though we don't show it. He wouldn't have it any other way. He can be aggressive, but usually only when defending someone; he's passionate about that. Often, we're the ones who are arguing, but it wouldn't be a normal week without a fight between us. It's the silence from him you have to worry about, that means something is up. Still, he's fun when he wants to be, and helps a lot when he's in the mood.
"Don is a genius. He's the level headed one, but he's a dreamer. He always has his head in the clouds. He can be shy and quiet sometimes, but he always has time for us. We couldn't live without his intelligence, compassion or wit. He's so funny, even though he doesn't try. Sarcastic maybe, but funny. Then again, sarcasm runs in the family, it comes to Raph so easily.
"Then there's Mikey, who's a child trapped in the body of a twenty year old. He finds a twisted joy in pranking all of us, especially Raph. He's almost always happy, optimistic and confident, if not full of himself, and adds a certain level of insanity to our household. I think we need it to keep us all from over thinking things or from becoming oblivious to each other. To keep us from driving each other away with our self centered personalities, he drives us up the wall and forces us to bond."
Leo tilts his head to the side and looks for assurance, asking, "How's that?"
"Very good, very informative," Rachel replies. Working up the nerve, she asks, "Can I meet them?"
'NO!' is what Leo feels like shouting in urgency, but instead he makes an excuse off the top of his head. Sensing his reluctance, she adds hastily, "If you want to. I mean, I don't want to force them to meet me or make you feel uncomfortable."
"Thanks," Leo mumbles gratefully, and in an attempt to change the subject, she asks, "How do you see yourself? I want to find out if it's anything like I see you."
"I'm sort of the leader out of my brothers, being the oldest, and I take responsibility for them, no matter how much they resent me for that. It is my purpose to protect my family, and that is why I train so hard in the Martial Arts."
'Oops, let that one slip out.' Shaking it off, he continues, "I like to talk to my brothers, go skateboarding with them, watch movies, and read a book when there's peace. Um…I meditate more than I sleep, get into fights with my brothers, although I don't exactly enjoy that. I…like candles, if that counts?"
"Yes, it does," she laughs, and suggests, "Now that I know so much about you, I want to know how much you know about me."
Not wanting to forget anything or start out wrong, Leo thinks for a few seconds, then reviews, "Your name is Rachel, you moved to New York twelve years ago, you are 23 years old, but you'll be 24 in March, you have a taste for architecture from the 1800's, you like AC/DC and Leanne Rimes, your favorite color is blue, you like cats, photography, the movie Juno and Rockets. You ask unending questions, do every sport known to man and you play with your hair a lot when you flirt. Need I go on?"
As he says the last fact, she immediately stops touching her hair and drops her hand to her side, blushing furiously Allowing a chuckle to escape her lips, she praises, "Excellent, you were listening. I'm impressed."
"I try," he replies lightly, letting his hands slide farther down to rest at the small of her back as they rock to and fro on the dance floor.
"Do you want to dance?" Lily asks casually. Don has to look over at her to see if he's heard her correctly, or if she's joking or if maybe Mikey finally got to him and he's hallucinating that she asked him to dance. No such luck. Her eyes are at full attention as Lily waits expectantly for his verdict. A little nervous, he stammers, "Sure," standing up shakily. In a series of clicks, she turns off her palm top, slipping it into a black case and stashing it in her pocket, patting it for assurance.
With inconceivable grace, she leads him through the mass of bodies, finding an area with enough oxygen, and taking in a shallow breath turns to him. A façade of certainty on her face, she reaches out and clasps his hand firmly, only smiling faintly to the trembling of his hand as he places it at her waist, heart racing to the contact. She places her other hand on his shoulder, pleased at the feeling his muscle flexing under her slight pressure. Aware of his shyness, she sways gently, feeling the song as it whispers about their ears. Becoming a mite braver, she pulls his body a little closer to hers, their chests almost touching. He is scared, thrilled, intimidated and empowered by her being so close to him, all at once. The warmth of her hand on his shoulder sends a wave of…something through his body, although he can't decipher exactly what it is. Don relaxes to the almost inaudible sound of Lily's voice, humming the song, and he smiles at the novelty of it all.
Raph glances over at Vanessa again, noticing how lost in her thoughts she seems. Not oblivious to him watching her, she bites her lip in nervously. She finally asks him the thing that has been bothering her for the past half hour.
"Uh, Raph? Do you…want to…to dance? I really like this song."
In an attempt to impress, he replies in a voice that sounds more confident than he feels, "Sure, that sounds good," leading Vanessa to the dance floor. He places his hand on her hip lightly and grasps her hand, his breathing a bit shallow. As if he has done this before, he glides about their small section of the dance floor elegantly to her surprise, having expected him to be clumsy and awkward.
'But I'm not complaining!' she reminds herself, readjusting her hold on his hand again. The song soon ends, but they continue to move back and forth in their own little world, neither noticing the time.
It turns out to be Mikey who checks his watch by instinct, realizing the late hour. Gasping in panic and fear, he mutters, "Shell! It's almost eleven thirty!" unaware he has just said it out loud. Sam giggles at this expression, thinking how cute he sounded, then reprimands herself exasperatedly 'No! I just called him cute! I've known this guy for how many hours? Get a hold of yourself, Sam!'
Jerking her head slightly, she regains her composure just as Mikey says apologetically, "I'm really sorry to up and leave like this, but Master Spli-I mean my dad said that our curfew is eleven, and it's eleven thirty now. C-can I have your number, so I can see you again?"
It's pretty cute that he has a curfew, and Sam is surprised by his request, wondering if he really means it. He seems sincere, his blue eyes imploring and she replies, "Sure, as long as I can have yours."
'Stupid!' she screams at herself in her head 'That was so pitiful!'
Mikey didn't appear to notice how keen she sounded, and hands her a pen and note pad with flourish. In a neat print appropriate for school, she writes her number swiftly on the paper, tears it off the pad, and hands all three back to Mikey, who clumsily scribbles his shell-cell number on the next page, handing it to her eagerly.
"Bye, Sam!" he calls over his shoulder as he bolts into the crowd to find his brothers, and she gives him a slight wave of the hand. It's only when she can't see him anymore that she discerns a faded picture of a turtle-like creature with an orange mask and a pair of nunchucks printed on the slip. She smiles at the quirky picture and thinks about Mikey's big, beautiful blue eyes with their mischievous twinkle…
'No, Sam! Take it easy!' she chides herself, but can't help but muse, 'Shell, his butt is prime property!'
In the enormous sea of people, Mikey finds Don first, sitting with a blond girl in the midst of a conversation about cold fusion thrusters.
"It'll take some cold fusion thrusters strapped to the car if we want to get home in time to avoid Master Splinter's wrath! It's already eleven thirty!" Mikey blurts when he reaches the table. Don's eyes widen, and he curses, "Oh, shell!" glancing at Lily with yearning. He apologizes automatically, as if a programmed robot, and expects a quick goodbye when she orders, "Give me your cell."
He hands it to her obediently, and she punches in some digits hurriedly, not remarking on the incredible engineering of the shell-cell. She finishes in three seconds, a record time, and informs, "I'm speed dial number six. Bye, Don."
Don leaps from his chair, throwing, "Bye," over his shoulder as he lets himself be swallowed by the mass of people, catching only a fleeting glimpse of the beautiful face. They search frantically for Raph and Leo. Fearless is the first they find, sitting with the pretty girl who had stolen him away after only two minutes in the club.
"Sorry to interrupt, but if we don't get going right now, Master Splinter will make us do training for 89 hours straight again!" Mikey blurts a little impatiently.
Leo's head snaps up suddenly at Michelangelo's voice, and he looks between both of them a little sheepishly. Observing the awkward edge to the short silence, Rachel introduces herself.
"I'm Rachel; it's very nice to meet you. Is it Donatello and Michelangelo? Am I right?"
"Yeah," Don replies politely, and pretending to be irked, Mikey teases, "Geese Leo, did you tell her our whole life story or somethin'? Bet you're bored to death, huh Rachel?" Leo lets his eyes drop nervously and he asks, "Can I have your number? I really hate to leave."
"Yeah, do you have a pe-" she is cut off by a pen and a pad being shoved in her face by Mikey, which she takes graciously, careful not to make any sudden movements as Mikey and Don's seem highly-strung. She jots down her number efficiently, and asks in return, "May I have your number too?"
Without responding, he writes it down in clean, bold lettering, and hands her the slip of paper, giving her a light peck on the cheek. No one is more surprised than Leo is, but he remains calm, bidding, "Bye. I hope to see you soon."
"Bye," she answers faintly, still in shock. Rachel presses her fingers gingerly to where he kissed her, her skin tingling. Taking another look at his receding back, she smiles softly, tucking the piece of paper into her purse at the nearby table where she had abandoned her friends earlier, not one of them acknowledging her presence. With a ghostly quiet, she leaves the club, absolutely glowing.
Finally, they find Raph, sitting next to a stunningly beautiful girl, both breathless from their dancing escapades. Upon their arrival, Raph casually greets, "Hey guys. Haven't talked to you all night, but I saw Mikey get schooled on the dance floor!"
As his chuckles subside, he introduces Vanessa, telling her each of their names as well. Vanessa smiles warmly and replies, "Wow, it's really great to meet you! I've heard so much!"
The two milder brothers return her smile, but Mikey bluntly quips, "It's nice to meet you too. You're lucky you met Raph on a good day."
She looks at Raph pointedly, and murmurs in almost a whisper, "Yeah, I am lucky," completely ignoring Mikey's comment. Raph flushes furiously, and asks briskly to divert attention from himself, "D'ya have yer pen and pad on ya, Mike?"
Mikey fumbles in his pocket and whips it out, disappointed that Raph didn't blow his top in front of Vanessa. Quickly, Raph scribbles and almost illegible series of numbers on the page, handing her the pad shortly, and in round, clear digits, she writes her own number and hands it to Raph. As she draws back her hand, he grasps it and presses his lips to it swiftly. His astonished brothers exchange curious looks as Vanessa says, "Bye Raph, see you later."
"Bye," he murmurs, not wanting to leave, but knowing he must if he wants to see her again. It's hard to go out with someone when you're grounded, after all. Exiting quickly with thoughts flowing madly through his mind, he keeps his eyes on the doorway, afraid that if he looks back he'll never want to go home. Vanessa's mind is in a similar state, not knowing what is to come, not sure if he likes her, just knowing how good that kiss on her hand felt.
And we're off! Wow, the guys made some progress tonight, eh? Won't be long now ;)
I myself found it an interesting chapter, but that's probably because I got to put the TMNT in an awkward, new situation, and I also got to describe their sexiness. But that's how it goes for us authors, dreaming of what we can't have and substituting with vivid stories, dreams, fantasies and imaginings. I wish I could be one of these beautiful girls, preferably Lily, and I wish I could meet one of these guys…I'm sorry, men.
Preferably Donatello, in his turtle form. He makes me feel all warm inside ^.^
What I liked about doing this chapter was establishing that since they weren't really exposed to girls during their teen years, at the time of their early adulthood, they're going to have that freshman innocence (which I, by the way, think is cute), and that is going to make them all act a little strangely around people of the opposite sex, and just people in general.
I really wanted to make the two tough guys, Leo and Raph, kind of nervous and edgy, because these are the two who have the most difficulty coming to terms with their feelings. I thought it was a nice touch to have them in this way, seeming young and cute.
I also had fun with Don, ahahahahaha! I loved making her beat him to the punch, it was great!
And poor Mikey, the ladies weren't impressed with his pick-up lines. I bet he rehearsed them for a long time in front of the mirror, too! How disappointing.
Anyway, thanks for reading, please review!