The day after the Meat Sweats fiasco I was chilling in my place. You must be wondering where my crib is. I don't want to brag but I live in one of those ritziest mansions money could buy. My place is in the corner of Manhattan next to the Hudson River; a great view to see New Jersey, especially during a sunset on the terrace. My mansion is a seven-floored townhouse mansion. It was duked with eight bedrooms, eight bathrooms, two half baths, three kitchens, six fireplaces, a big ass basement with and an elevator; some of those bedrooms became my training rooms. Only three bedrooms are vacant: my room, my parents' room, and a spare room for guests. The staff comes and goes as they please; they come, do their jobs, and leave.

(this picture does not belong to me or the setting. this is the place I imagined Merrill to live in. I do not own this place nor claimed property to it)

Yeah, I got maids and butlers, but I barely talk to them. I don't acknowledge them, and they don't acknowledge me. They get paid regardless. I don't know any of their names, except Lucia (I prefer to call her Lucy).

She was with Mom when she (mom) was a little girl. Lucy is like my grandmother without the bloodline. Lucy comes over in the morning, does her daily housekeeping duties, and leaves after a long day (leaves at 7 or 8 pm). I told her she was welcome to stay in the guest room so she wouldn't hurt her feet, hell, I even offered her a drive, but the little woman is as stubborn as a horse.

So, my morning turned out to be as ordinary as before. I woke up with my hair as messy as a mophead wearing my gray tank top and black shorts. Yeah, the staff isn't shocked about the limbs. I sluggishly walked to the kitchen from the bottom floor not bothering to brush my teeth. All I wanted was my nice cup of coffee. There's a coffee maker my dad bought with a timer. Every night, either Lucy or I, put in coffee grounds in the machine. So as soon as the timer kicks in the machine makes my coffee. There I was thinking I'll get myself a nice early morning coffee after the shit I went through last night. I could enjoy my day. Training regime for two, probably three hours. Read a good book on the terrace. To top off my evening, a good ol' classic horror flick. My mind was reeling to Nightmare on Elm Street.

I walked into the kitchen. My eyes filled with eye crusts. I expected Lucy to serve me coffee. "Here's your coffee. Black like your soul." That's not Lucy. I blinked away the sleepiness. I saw a certain turtle smiling a bright grin. I could've sworn I saw a rainbow and a unicorn dancing over his head. Sparkles fly over to my gloomy cloud.

I grabbed my cup, which was a chibi grim reaper drinking his cup of coffee and too exhausted to care. "Thanks for the coffee." I hobbled out of the kitchen hunched over like the hunchback of Notre Dame without his caffeine. I took one sip the hot liquid touched my lip until I realized I had an uninvited guest. I rushed back to the kitchen. "What the fuck are you doing in MY house?"

Leo spun around in the kitchen and headed upstairs passing the gym. I followed him – my drink left on the kitchen counter – as the curious turtle made his way to the library. "You call this a house? This is a palace! April said you were rich, but she never mentioned you were rollin' in it!" he managed to get in the living room.

"You didn't answer my question. For that matter, how did you get in without being spotted?" I saw him gawking at the movie collection.

Leo pointed to his sword strapped to his back. "Uh, magic sword", he said, offhandedly.

I raised an eyebrow. His answer wasn't reassuring. "I meant how did you know where I live."

He looked away from the movie collection and looked my way. Then, he looked away a blush forming on his cheeks. "I thought about you. I mean, I thought about where you were and how to get to you. So, I managed to portal here inside on my first try. Who knew, right?" his blush was too cute for words. I shook my head. Get ahold of yourself, Merrill. He ain't that cute.

"It doesn't help you broke and entered without consent. What would happen if I didn't spot you first? Or what if one of the housekeepers spots you? They will call the cops on your shell faster than you can swing your odachi." And my parents will question me about my choice of friends. I prefer not to say that to the mutant turtle standing in my living.

"Oh yeah. I almost forgot!" Leo pulled out a small, folded paper. "You had a few miscalls from the house phone. One of them was Lucia; she said she wasn't going to come in due to a family emergency. A man named Winston – pfft, Winston – called in sick. Oh, and your mother called; said she gave the servants the day off, also she mentioned she needs to work on your training regime, and she is working on speaking with your principal to lift the suspension. Yeash, I feel sorry for the man married to her. She sounded like she enjoys taking charge." Tell me something I don't know.

"That would explain why the house is quieter, besides the unwanted houseguest. I hate repeating myself. Why are you here?" I found my body moving closer to Leo. He stared with wide eyes. His body stepped back; his shell contacted the wall.

He blushed harder. He avoided my eyes. I wasn't having that. I shot my arms. My palms smacked on the wall trapping Leo with no escape. I leaned in close. "Why... are you here?" I knew my breath stunk, but Leo made no remark. Speaking of, he didn't answer. I grabbed his chin and forced his gaze on me. "Well?"

"I... I... I..." he stuttered. I'm not getting anywhere.

"Whatever you're going to say, speak the truth. It's no use telling a lie with me."

Leo bit his lip. "I kept thinking about yesterday..." yesterday? "How did you know where I was?" this shit again?

"I told you. I was in the neighborhood when I heard you", I repeated.

"Heh... and you told me not to lie..." I raised an eyebrow. "Knowing you, you would've done something the moment it happened. For example, let's say sure you were close by. If you did hear a noise, you would've investigated and seen I was in danger and beat Meat Sweats to a pulp. Saving me and wasting little time dealing with overcooked pork. But no, you weren't there, which means you were somewhere far away when it went down." I must hand it to the turtle. He's not as dumb as I gave him credit for.

There was no way I was admitting it. "What proof do you have other than my word?"

Leo sneered. "Because I saw you talking with Ricardo!" he quickly covered his mouth. I was so stumped that I dropped my hand holding his chin. I didn't expect Leo to know that tidbit. Wait... he said he saw me speaking with Ricardo. My mind flashed to yesterday. How was I able to find Leo? My mind flashed as though I was the turtle himself. It was like I was in Leo's mind. I shook my head. No, that's not possible, yet, shocking enough, it made sense. I had one test to cover. I grabbed his chin again, pushing Leo against the wall. It surprised him. "Merrill –"

"Shut up", I interrupted. I saw his eyes closed tightly. I didn't know which heartbeat I was hearing, or which one was the loudest. It was evident that the sound was so loud throughout the quiet room. I leaned in close. Our foreheads touched. I didn't know what I was expecting. Something like a memory or a picture show of Leo's life. Something I hear loudly appeared in my head instead.

'Why is he so close? Is he going to take advantage of me? Is this what April meant? Is this what Raph warned me about?' his mind buzzing with anxiety.

Holy shit.

'Did Merrill say something?' I definitely heard him. He opened his eyes. Our gaze locked. 'I know I heard him talk...'

Now I'm not going crazy. His mind was loud and clear. Leo's eyes widened.

Oh –

'My –'

"God!" we both yelled. I stepped back. I weaved through my messy hair as Leo held his chest. "I heard you!" we spoke again. "You were in my head!" Pause. "Stop saying what I was going to say!" This is getting bizarre.

"Okay. Okay. Okay", I told myself, "Let's chill. Let's all just chill."

"Well, I'm not comfortable having someone I just met hearing my thoughts!"

"Speak for yourself, Sunshine. I'm just as overjoyed as you. The question is how." There's no way I caused this. Last I checked to be part cyborg isn't considered having superpowers; it's more of an enhancement. Not to mention, it's not magic-based either.

"You're part cyborg?" Fuck. Did he hear that? "Uh, yeah." Double fuck with a side of fuck-me-sideways. "You know you could pull back the swearing."

"I'm not exactly a cyborg. I just have robotic limbs and eye cameras installed in my brain. No big deal."

"Awesome...!"

"Leo! Focus! We need to figure out what caused this... this..."

"Mind-link?"

I rolled my eyes. "Sure. Let's go with that... It can't be me. I don't have any powers in general or have telekinesis."

"It can't be me either", Leo said, "the closest thing to magic is my sword and it's only ability is making portals." I looked at is sword. He already knew what I was thinking. "You can't be serious", he frowned, not satisfied with my thought.

"It's the only item with magical properties", I reasoned, "also, you before you grabbed said weapon."

Leo folded his arms. "You were the one who loves to get his hands all over me. And I said it's not me. I don't have magical powers! My sword is known for making portals. I used it as fast-travel, cheaper than Uber."

"Sure, it has those properties, however, we're not extending on what happens if we absorbed the energy."

"Like what, control the weather? Summon lightning with a snap of a finger?"

"You obviously haven't watched BLEACH."

"A show about cleaning products?"

"Oh, you poor unfortunate soul." Does it only affect us, though? Can we communicate telepathically with other people? Leo probably heard my thoughts. "Okay... let's test it out", I said. Leo looked at me with his head tilted. "The first person we see is our test subject. We'll start by contact to make it easier and if that doesn't work, we focus on the person's mind. And if that fails, we'll about our failed contents."

Leo raised his hand like a student in the class. I rolled my eyes but nodded regardless. "Does it have to be the first person we see, or can it be someone who won't think of any weird behaviors?" I blinked. That was a good question. "Thank you", he said, gleefully. I was already sick of the mind-reading bullshit.

"I guess it would help if the person we see is someone who won't ask questions and goes along with it."

He nodded. "Okay, that sounds easy."

I took my hand out. Palm facing up. "Give me your phone."

"Why?"

"To drop it in the toilet. What else would I need your phone? I'm putting in my number." Leo quickly took his cell phone from his pouch. He was getting frantic he almost dropped his device, but I managed to grab it. I gave it back so he can unlock it. As soon as he opened it, he went to his contacts and opened a new file. He gave me it and I already added my contact. I gave it back. Leo's eyes were glued on his screen. He kept looking at my number. He seriously had a crush on me.

"No, I don't!" he yelled, coming back from Lala Land. "You have a crush on me!"

I scoffed. "As if, cabron. Where was I? Oh, yeah! Now I remembered." I grabbed his wrist and led him to the foyer. I opened the door and kicked the slider out. "Next time, call before entering my place", I said my piece and closed my door. I sighed. Now, who's my guinea pig?

~Lady Ai~

After Merrill kicked me out (rude much), I went to an alleyway. I made sure no one spotted me. I jumped on the fire escape and made my way to the rooftop. I pulled out my phone. I reopened it. Merrill's number appeared on my screen. I can't believe I got his number. I got Goth Boy's cell number! Man, the guys would freak if they knew.

...what's wrong with keeping one lil' secret? Maybe two if we could figure out what's wrong with us. I don't mind spending time with Mr. Dark Cloud. He's cool... if he's not being such a dick. Hopefully, I don't do anything else embarrassing like that dumb kiss. Shit, don't think about it, Leon! You were just saying thank you. Noting more nothing less. Sure, he's good-looking, especially in his tank top and shorts. And how he cornered me, tilting my head with his cold, metal fingers, maybe a little closer he might've –

'You know I can still hear you, right?' I shrieked. Holy shell! Did he hear me? 'Yes, I did. Did you forget how our minds are linked? I'm guessing no since you also forget you're near my area. Let me guess you hopped on the builder next door.' This is embarrassing!

I got to go! I hopped away. Building after building. Rooftops after rooftops. In the back of my mind, I heard faint laughter getting further away.