Shorts | Book Of ROTTMNT

Beary Scary

You fear that you've upset Raph.

-

"Who's ready for movie night?" April announces as the two of you enter the lair. You're both immediately greeted by the guys who are already carrying popcorn and drinks in their hands.

"What are we watching tonight?" you ask everyone.

Your eyes instinctually flick to Raph. When your eyes meet, his brow shoots up. A sharp pang of fear hits you when his eyes shift away.

"Why don't you decide, since we're always the ones choosing?" Raph offers as he sheepishly scratches the back of his neck.

"Oh-oh! Can we do a romcom?" Mikey suggests, practically pouncing on you.

"C'mon, you know sci-fi is the best," Donnie persuades.

"Pick action! Action!!!" Leo begs.

"Guys, chill out!" April demands, pulling you away from them.

Instead of contemplating what movie to watch, you try to shove down this sudden sense of dread while following everyone else to the projector room.

On the way, April swings an arm over your shoulder and in a low voice she says:

"Do horror."

"Pfft, of course you'd say that," you snort.

"It'll help you get closer to Raph," she sing-songs.

You give her a playful nudge, face reddening. You sneak a glance at Raph in front of you and look back to her.

"How so?"

"You'll see," she smirks knowingly.

You were skeptical because you knew she probably just wanted to see the latest horror movie. Still, you decided it was worth getting on Raph's good side.

You take a seat next to Raph as Donnie sets up the movie on the projector. After the title card fades to black and the ominous music begins to play, you hear Raph whisper to you.

"Is this a horror movie?"

You turn to face him and notice how close he was. You hold your breath, trying to steady yourself before speaking, or else risk stammering like a love sick doofus.

"Yeah, you like 'em?"

"Oh, uh, they're alright I guess, haha," he answers unenthused and shuffles back to his original position.

You were starting to regret taking April's advice.

~

It's nearly a third into the runtime, and everyone was practically shaking in their seats, with the exception of April who was loving this.

You hear a muffled squeak next to you. You look over to Raph, who's wrapped in a blanket that barely covers his massive stature.

"Getting pretty scary, huh?" you say, leaning over.

He stiffens at your voice and leans away. "Yeah, not that I'm scared or anything!" he asserts, casually resting his chin on a hand.

"Oh no, no, no! Don't go in there!" Mikey shouts.

"Why would you go in there?!" Leo questions.

Another jumpscare pops onscreen. Reflexively, you grab the closest thing next to you. As the nerves calm down, you sense it spike up again when you see that you were holding Raph's hands.