Acceptable Risk

Friends in Low Places

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, neither characters nor anything pertaining to the franchise. I do own a cat though, so I have that going for me which is nice.

Author's Note: So I've decided to write some shorts (some might not be so short some might be rally short) from the perspective of April/Raph. Originally for the 2012 series Raph was supposed to be in love with April, not Donnie. Since the series presents him as a guy who can't really be honest with his feelings I figured that Raph would be the ultimate tsundere type guy.

Also I'm on tumblr starsiasestra#tumblr#com (#=.). Come follow me if you like. I'm a big turtles fan and sometimes post extra stuff there

A new player has entered the battle. In light of the new episode tomorrow featuring Casey and Raph I decided to do a story on Raph's view of April's new friend. This time he's seen as competition instead of a possible comrade. This one takes place after Slash and Destroy.

April slammed her locker shut, covering a yawn as she did so. After avoiding the guys for so long it was good to have a sleepover like before the…incident.

Getting permission from her Aunt wasn't even an issue this time. The older woman had been deeply concerned when April went from spending all her time with her "home-schooled friends" to spending no time with them at all. When April asked to go this time her Aunt had been so pleased that April was socializing again that she'd practically shoved her out the door with a giant tube of ice cream and a bag of brownies.

Still her friend's nocturnal habits were going to take some reacclimatizing.

Turning around, books in hand, she almost ran smack into the parson behind her. April was about to apologize when she caught sight of who it was that she'd almost plowed over. Her words trailed off as she stared.

Casey Jones wasn't what one would call a hygiene super-star. While he wasn't disgusting or anything he still favored he haphazard look. Today that look had taken a nosedive from untidy into crazy survivalist territory. His bandana hung loosely around his neck and his hair was sticking up at odd angles. April was even sure she could see some leaves and…were those feathers? Casey's clothes were caked with dirt and some other unidentifiable stains, and one of his shoes was missing.

"Whoa Jones," April covered her mouth in surprise. "What happened to you?"

"The animals in this city are nuts." Casey replied, throwing his hands in the air. "I was walking to school like normal and this cat jumped on my head. From three stories up. Weird enough right? Then I was attacked by a bunch of pigeons. I was even chased by a bear. A BEAR! This is New York, the only time there should be a bear in this city is when the Yankees play the Cubs."

"There have been some weird things going around her." Keeping her face neutrally sympathetic, April made a note in her head. Maybe this had something to do with the Kraang. "I'll walk you to the nurse's office before class. You should have those scratches checked out."

"Thanks Red," Casey cast April a wide, sheepish grin, "Are we still on for studying tonight?"

"Of course, wouldn't want to miss out on binomial distributions would you?"

"Aw man Red, cut a wounded guy some slack would ya?"

…

Leo was casually polishing his sword in the pit, when a strange noise caught his attention. Following the sound he came to a stop beside Raph's door. It was open a crack so it wasn't really snooping right? Right.

"…So then she runs off to go make sure her new 'friend' is okay. Ugh he looks like an idiot. I bet he thinks that bandana makes him look cool or something. Looks more like a stupid girly scarf to me."

Leo leaned forward a tiny bit further, angling his eye to the crack in the door. From his vantage point he could see Raph, laying on his bed and talking to…a pigeon?

"And," Raph continued, ignorant of his unintended audience, "she's going to hang out with his again tonight. For 'studying' or something. I don't get what she sees in that toothless loser. I'm…we're way cooler. She should be hanging out with us."

Quietly Leo stepped away from the door. He'd heard enough. Ever since Spike, now Slash, went rogue Raph had lost his most important confidant. If talking to pigeons made him feel better. Well, Leo wasn't going to ruin it for him.

Anyways, what harm could it do?

…

Little did Leo know that somewhere, in another part of the city, a gang of raccoons were picking the lock on a certain teenager's bike.

Poor Casey I'm so mean to him but …bad things happen to those who get in the way of my ship. I actually don't mind him that much as long as he keeps his big hockey hands to himself. Raphael, who may actually be a Disney princess, has an unknown army of animals at his disposal who take it upon themselves to deal with unwanted rivals. I am sooooo excited for the new episode tomorrow. Thanks again to all those who reviewed my story. They are always wonderful to hear and it's nice to know that others like my twisted crack ship. A special thanks to GlowingGreenEyes who gave me some excellent ideas (one of them was in fact about Raph's view on when April meets Casey). Once again if you like this or have any ideas please drop me a review. Well, I'm going to bed now so Big Sister says goodnight.