The Shadow's Secret│TMNT

21 || Closing the Distance

I slammed the apartment door behind me triumphantly,

"Freaking nailed it!" I yelled to no one in particular.

I slipped my shoes off before striding into the kitchen in search of food where I grabbed a bowl of pre-cut lettuce Olivia probably planned on using tonight for a salad. A crash from my bedroom made me stop, lettuce halfway to my mouth. A curse followed the commotion and I growled in annoyance, scooping up the bowl and heading to my room. I swung the door open to find Raphael, fuming, and kicking at something on the floor.

"What are you doing?" I demanded. The turtle snatched something off the hardwood floor and held it up,

"This god damn pencil made me fall on my ass. What the hell is it doing laying around?"

I shrugged, chewing on a piece of lettuce. "I'm an artist, I lose my art shit. Chill out."

Raphael narrowed his eyes incredulously at me. "What the hell are you doing?"

I waved a piece of lettuce in the air before popping it into my mouth. "Eating."

"You're eating..." He stepped closer to look into the bowl and raised a brow at me, "undressed, plain salad?"

"Better known as lettuce genius." I walked past him into my room and set the bowl down on my desk. "Oh, I freaking nailed the interview, thanks for asking," I exclaimed, my voice brimming with sarcasm.

I bent to scoop up a pile of clothing I'd created earlier and organized it all back into my closet. Raphael only grunted, which prompted me to continue.

"I start working tomorrow, I'm super pumped to wear a sexy zoo person outfit. I'll have to text Uncle Tom and tell him I can't make it tomorrow." I slipped t-shirts and hoodies back onto hangars and returned them to their proper places. "Really appreciate the interest."

"Anytime," he muttered. I watched him pick a black and white striped dress from the floor as I walked over to my computer.

"You have a dress?" He said in surprise.

I rolled my eyes and opened iTunes. "Yes, I happen to be a female, so I do in fact own a dress. And I can, in fact, pull it off. So shut up." I tapped play and retreated to my closet with the bowl of lettuce to snack on. A grin flickered across his face and he tossed it to me so I could hang it back up.

That soon became our routine.

He would throw articles of clothing at me and I would snatch them from the air and return them to their places, all the while singing and dancing. I played air guitar but had to stop to catch an incoming hoodie from Raph. But my signing didn't falter.

"We won't hesitate, to break down the garden gate.

There's not much time left today, yeah, ya."

"You are the weirdest person I know," Raphael muttered, watching me oddly but I could care less.

"Life is a highway!

I wanna ride it!

All, night, long.

If you're goin' my way!

I wanna drive it!

All, night, long," I threw my hands up, "come on, you have to know this song.

Through all these cities and all these towns.

It's in my blood, and it's all around.

I love you now, like I loved you then.

This is the road, and these are the hands."