Don settled into the couch, a pizza box settled on the coffee table in front of his knees, with Leo sitting on one side of him and April on the other. Warm contentment flowed over him as he relaxed, waiting for the movie to start.

These movie nights had started when Leo learned that April had never seen the historical films of Akira Kurosawa, and wanted to remedy that immediately. The four Turtles had come over with Leo's copy of Rashomon and April had ordered pizza, and they had spent the evening glued to the old movie. Well, most of them had — Mikey would have preferred Rashomon if it had involved alien space bugs instead of an ambiguous murder.

They had had so much fun that night that it soon became a regular event — the Turtles, Casey or April would provide a movie, and they would feast on pizza while they watched something new to them. Leo's favorites had soon been exhausted, and they had moved on to a colorful variety of films, including some of Mikey's gory sci-fi.

On this particular evening, the choice had been The Fellowship of the Ring. Don had heard good things about it, but unlike most people, he hadn't been able to simply go to a theater and buy a ticket.

He turned to April. "Have you seen this movie, April?"

April yawned, quickly hiding her mouth behind her hand.

"I saw the theatrical cut," she said. "They say the extended cut is really different, so I'm looking forward to seeing what's in there."

"You look tired," Don said, concerned.

"I just had a late night doing some cleaning," she said, waving off his concern. "It's no big deal."

"Quiet, this part is important," Mikey said, twisting around.

Don fell silent at his brother's urging, focusing all his attention on absorbing the movie's introduction and all the important backstory it held. The one downside of movie night was that four seventeen-year-old boys — plus Casey, when he was there — could get a little rowdy, which made it difficult to follow more complicated stories.

For the next hour, the Turtles remained glued to the TV screen, each in his own way — Raph and Mikey loudly rooted for the characters during the fight scenes, Leo seemed to be caught up by the elves and Rivendell, and Don simply enjoyed the unfolding story. He was enjoying the movie, although sometimes the running commentary from his brothers made it a little hard to hear the dialogue.

But around the halfway mark, Don suddenly felt something warm and solid rest against his shoulder. At first he squirmed a little, not thinking about what that weight might be. But then he looked down, and his eyes widened slightly at what he saw.

April was fast asleep. Her head was tilted toward him, resting on his broad shoulder as if on a pillow, and her pale cheek was pressed against his green skin. Her eyelids were tightly shut, as if she were trying to block out the world around her, but her mouth still looked relaxed and almost curved in a smile.

For a moment, he was too surprised to react. Then he smiled slightly, and settled back against the cushions, letting April sink deeper against his shoulder. She must have been pretty tired, he reflected, to fall asleep in the middle of an action movie. It was probably better to let her rest than to wake her so she didn't miss anything. And if he moved again, he might wake her…

As he looked down at her, April murmured something and nestled deeper against him, her face moving closer to his throat, her body molding softly against his frame. A tendril of red hair slipped down the side of her face, brushing against his bicep. He was tempted to brush it back out of her face, but he hesitated as she moved again, her hand trailing along his plastron, leaving streams of warmth radiating through his chest.

His smile began to fade, and a sadness crept into his eyes as he looked down at her sleeping face. Gently he raised an arm to steady her, as she dreamed on through the clash of swords.

April only realized that she had fallen asleep when she finally woke, drowsily roused by the sounds of the movie — the clashing of swords, the swelling orchestral score, the sound of Raph and Mikey cheering on the main characters. A small smile crossed her lips. It sounded like they were enjoying themselves, despite the prior awkwardness.

Her head was resting against something slightly warm, very smooth, and firm against her cheek. Still half-asleep, she nestled against it, wishing it were a little softer. Her head slipped slightly, moving against something solid, and she smelled a familiar, warm scent that seemed to be everywhere around her…

"April," a soft voice said in her ear. "April, wake up."

April's eyelids fluttered as she unwillingly did as the voice commanded. Her hand slipped up to rest against the surface against her cheek, and was rewarded by something warm and solid wrapping around her. It drew a smile from her lips. She felt good — she felt secure and warm — she felt something brushing against her cheek, caressing it…

"April, wake up."

Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and started to sit up, but found that she couldn't. Then her eyes widened as she realized that the solid surface against her cheek was a broad green shoulder, and her face was pressed up against a throat. A muscular arm was stretched around her body, holding her steady so she didn't simply slip down onto his lap, and the other hand was resting against her cheek.

Don was looking at her with his dark, soft eyes, and smiling a little. "You fell asleep about halfway through the movie," he said amiably. "I didn't want to wake you, but it's almost over now, so…"

"I'm sorry, Don," April said, feeling her cheeks flush red. "I didn't mean to use you as a pillow."

Don gently let her go, uncurling his arm from her shoulders, and April removed her hand from his chest and her face from his shoulder. She felt a little chilly as she scooted down the sofa from him — but then again, she shouldn't have been cuddling him in the first place, she told herself sternly.

For his part, Donnie didn't seem embarrassed by what had happened. He simply stretched his arms over his head, letting the kinks in his muscles slide out now that he was no longer cradling a sleeping woman. April felt her blush deepen at the idea, and privately vowed that in future, she would sit on a chair by herself when watching movies with the boys.

"Okay, what did I miss?" she said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Well, almost all the fight scenes, the glowy elf lady, Gandalf fell off a cliff, and Boromir just died," Mikey said cheerfully. "It was gruesome."

"Aw, I was hoping he'd make it," April said, disappointed.

"Sorry, April. He died in the book, too," Leo spoke up.

As the credits began rolling, Raph stood up and yawned. "What time is it?" he said.

"Almost eleven," April said. "Too late to start the next movie in the trilogy."

"But it doesn't even really end," Mikey protested. "It just stops, and we have to see the next one to find out what happens."

"Tell you what," April said fondly, patting him on the head. "In a week we'll get back together and watch the next movie, and pig out on pizza again. Will that make you happy?"

Her answer was four eager smiles across four green faces, and a glance between them that forged an unspoken agreement. In her time with the Turtles, she had learned that they were pretty easy to keep satisfied. They were more or less completely happy as long as they were well-fed and kept entertained, whether it was though TV, play or martial arts practice. Even Leo, arguably the most mature of the four, was a sucker for pizza and movies.

She was also relieved that Raph seemed to have gotten over his prior irritation with her over Casey, as there was no hostility in his gaze now. Apparently watching the movie had evened out his mood… or perhaps he had just taken Leo's words to heart.

"… or we could just pump Leo to find out what happens in the next book," Raph was saying with a wicked smile.

"You'll have to wait and see," Leo responded with a smirk, gathering up the discarded soda pop cups cluttering the floor. "I'm not telling you what happens next."

April bent down and picked up one of the discarded pizza boxes, which Michelangelo had been sitting on. Her apartment was usually fairly tidy, but it tended to get messy whenever the Turtles were there for a considerable period of time — after all, she reflected, they were four seventeen-year-old boys who lived in a sewer. Fortunately they — and by "they," she meant Leo and Don — tended to clean up before they left, and often corralled Mikey and Raph into pulling their weight as well.

But her eyes drew back to Don, who had been sitting silently on the couch all this time, his fingers playing with the tails of his mask, as if he were lost in thought.

"You okay, Don?" she asked, sitting down beside him.

He blinked and looked up at her. "Hmm? What? Oh yeah, just thinking," the Turtle said.

"What about?"

"The Sentinel robots," he sighed. "There are some kinks in the programming that I just can't seem to work out."

April touched his shoulder lightly, without thinking. But her earlier behavior flashed through her mind as she felt his muscles tense slightly, and he looked up at her with a strange, almost sad expression on his face.

"Why don't you bring them over to my place?" she said, quickly removing her hand. "A fresh pair of eyes might help you finish the robots."

Don looked almost shy. "If it isn't any trouble…"

"Don, since when has working with you been 'trouble'?" April said, smiling. "Just bring them over tomorrow, and we'll work on them together."

He smiled crookedly, his eyes softening slightly — or maybe that was just the dim light. "I'd like that."