Afterglow

Rated: T

Warmth

Chapter Summary: Raphael hates cold weather... April's hoping to change his mind.

I wrote this chapter really quick yesterday. I had a completely different chapter in mind for this week, but truthfully, it's giving me hell. Hope this will suffice for now until I can figure out how to tackle it. Xoxo.

April loved Raphael.

She really did.

But it was so tempting to change her mind when he'd put his ice cold feet on her warm calves.

"Raph! Stop it! You know I hate when you do that!" April shrilled from beneath the covers, pulling herself to a safe distance from his freezing toes.

"But you're just so warm..." Raph groaned and April swore she heard his teeth chattering. "God, I hate this time of year."

"Raph, the first snowfall just happened! It's beautiful this time of year! The snow, the season - Thanksgiving? Christmas!? It's just magical. You're just being a scrooge."

"Easy for you to say - or did you forget, I'm a reptile! Ya know - cold blooded? Cold weather usually signals hibernation or prepare to face imminent death." Raph groaned, burrowing himself further into the blankets and his concave side of the bed.

April nearly felt sorry for him but it was quickly extinguished upon feeling the press of his frozen fingertips pressing to her warm back.

"Yeek! Raphael! Cut it out!" April snapped, slapping Raphael's frozen digits away from her toasty warm skin.

His mumbled sorry still wasn't good enough. She huffed and finally had to ask, "Raphael, you've lived in the sewers of New York your entire life. Yet, you still deal with being frozen every year? Shouldn't you be used to it by now?"

"Nah. It's nice in the lair. Donnie may be an anal-retentive stick in the mud sometimes, but he can sure construct an awesome heater. Why do you think I rarely was here after dark last winter?"

"Wait, if it's good in the lair, than why are you here? You should be underground if it's warmer for you."

"Well then, if that was the case, I couldn't be here...with you..." Raphael spoke gently, his bright green eyes peeking at her from underneath the covers.

"Awww... So, you're risking death just to spend the night with me?" April cooed, running a hand lovingly across his blanketed shoulder.

"For one, your dad's out for the night, so can't waste that rare opportunity, but mainly, baby, if loving you kills me tonight...then I was ready for death the moment I met you..." Raph replied, uncovering his mouth to be sure and give her one of those sexy cocky wise-ass smirks she'd come to love and hate at the same time.

April tried hard to roll her eyes - she really did.

Raph was always spewing off random romantic cheesy lines, but she had to admit, this one was was pretty damn good even if it probably was from some bad online meme or from one of Splinter's beloved soap operas. An involuntary smile lifted her lips as she stared at his cute little face peeking out from the blankets and all anger she felt at him placing his cold limbs on her melted away. Leaning down, she pressed her lips over his, tensing slightly on just how cold his lips were upon her own.

"Ooh, you're freezing, sweetheart..." April tsked after pulling away, "Tell you what - I have an idea. My dad used to do this for me when I was sick as a kid. It'll be a few minutes. Be right back." she continued, standing up, grabbing a couple of the extra blankets on the bed, and making her way to the washer and dryer in the adjoining hallway.

Raph stared curiously after her waiting for her to walk back in, but it wasn't until five minutes later, she made her way back into the bedroom with a pile of the blankets in her arms. He was a little apprehensive on what she was doing, but all of that melted away when she began piling on layers of toasty blankets atop his frozen form.

Raph practically churred at the feeling of being completely encompassed in pleasure-inducing warmth. He burrowed further into the bedsheets and groaned into the pillow, green eyes closing in the comfort flowing through his system.

April smiled at his reaction, placing the sweet moment in the back of her mind to enjoy at a later date. Fully believing his fingers and toes were now of bearable temperature, she joined him underneath the sheets. Curling against his plastron, his affections were immediate as he pressed her close, his hands pleasantly warm against her lower back and hip. April smiled against his neck, languidly kissing his pulse point as the terrapin buried his face into her pool of red hair on the pillow.

Biting her lip upon feeling his feet skirting up her calves and thighs brushing over her own, she wrapped her arms around his neck and just melted into him.

"So...how do you feel about winter now?" April mumbled sleepily into the skin of his throat, making sure to rove her fingers in a circular pattern on his sensitive nape.

"Best. Season. Ever..." he grumbled in a drowsy voice against the side of her head before both fell into a pleasantly warm slumber.

Don't you just love getting toasty warm laundry from the dryer? Especially on miserably cold days? Best feeling EVER... Have a great week, y'all.