Out of My Shell

Chapter 14: Night Visitor

Chapter 14: Night Visitor

Raph crouched low. The slow cold spread over his skin as he scanned the contents of the mini fridge.
At least they had something. There were two sodas left inside, just as Donnie had said there would be. So Raphael reached in and plucked the bottles from their plastic and made his way out from the garage and back down the hall to Donatello's room, trying to align his thoughts into some kind of construct.
But they were a million and none. And in no time at all he was back inside, his brother waiting patiently atop his bed with an empty space seated beside him.
Raph lowered his gaze, pushing the cream soda to Donnie's palm and sat down uneasily beside him. The bed was cold and soaked, the mattress sinking low and groaning with his weight, so much so he worried it might not be able to hold from the flood.
But time proved it sturdy. And in it they found that terrible quiet they had both been trying to avoid.
Donnie was the first to kill it, popping the lid loudly off the bottle with his thumb. The carbonation hissed its freedom and Raphael followed suit, watching until all the hysterical bubbles settled low and he tipped it back, his mind still scaling buildings.
Donnie turned his glass nervously over in his hand. "....I'm not mad you know."
Raph paused.
"To be honest, I'm not even disturbed by it really.... I just... want to understand."
"...There ain't nothin' to understand. I said it yesterday. I took a joke too far." Raph said and he quickly took a long draw of his cola.
But Donnie was firm. "...I don't buy it," he replied evenly.
"Ya don't have to— Look, I got a lot goin' on... n' I ended up takin' a lot of it out on you....... And yeah, I persisted... cuz I thought it might be what I wanted at the time, but it isn't. So now I just want it over with." He tried to sound casual; his fist clenched darkly around his drink, wishing he could be anywhere but here. "......I've been real messed up since Spike left... And it... kinda went double after what happened to Karai."
Those words were indeed barbs to their memory. The mutation situation some years back hadn't exactly gone smoothly for everyone. Slash had lost his mind to a double mutation and had been taken a prisoner of the Kraang. And as for Karai....
Donnie shut his eyes, not wanting to go there, swallowing down that burning guilt that always came with her name.
"....It just seems like we're doomed to lose everythin' but each other," Raph muttered, "And when I think about that... sometimes it feels like I'll go nuts."
Donnie was quiet, but he understood that, more than he knew. There were some days it was downright scary. And they both knew they weren't supposed to think like that.
But they did. Every one of them had.
They were warriors. Fighting together. Bound to this crazy life of adventure and danger. They weren't supposed to think about 'what if's or 'more'.
And while none of these quite answered the other questions swirling about in Donatello's head, he listened, following vaguely where Raph's thoughts intersected and he chose his words carefully. "......I... know this might be kind of a Mikey thing to say but... I think we'll be okay. We're ninjas!" He smiled kindly. "And if our lives have proved anything, it's that life's pretty unpredictable."
Raph glanced over to his brother, the truth laced unkindly with lies. "Y-Yeah..."
But the brown in his eyes made him nervous. They lingered there too long so Raphael rose to his feet, ready to close this all down and make his escape.
"So... yeah," he finished, "I don' need some long drawn out rejection from ya..."
"...Reject?" Donnie blinked at that, a bit surprised by the word. "I wasn't going to reject you!" He shifted uncomfortably and looked away. "A-Actually..."
"GUESS WHO GOT A NEW TV?!?!" At that moment, Mikey came barreling into the room at top speed, skate-screeching to a halt right in the center with their new box television raised high above his head as though he had received a gift from above. "GUYS!!! ....Isn't she beautiful?!" he squeaked.
Raph's fists clenched with rage. "MIKEY!"
His brother beamed widely, unaware of his interruption and immediately moving to one of his patented victory dances. Leo staggered in the doorway right behind him, a heavy box in his arms, looking just as excited.
"We scored huge!" he insisted eagerly. "Come give us a hand!"
Raph internally sputtered and seethed; the physical urge to drop-kick both Leo and Mikey out of the room never so fierce on his mind.
"U-um..." Donnie looked over, a sort of heat crept its way to his face and he quickly ran off to help. "W-What...? Um..." he cleared his throat. "What did you find?"
"A lot. It turns out Casey's dad was totally trying to clean house, getting rid of nearly all the old stuff from their attic!" Leo looked at them seriously. "We have a grill."
"A grill?" Donnie blinked. "...And it works?"
"What are we gonna grill in the sewer?!" Raph growled irritably, still strongly considering the drop-kick option.
Oh, he tried to keep calm but it was driving him crazy! What was Donnie was about to say? That one word turned over, igniting possibilities and an excited, sick little hope in his stomach until Raphael realized Leo had been talking to him the whole time and he hadn't heard a thing.
"Yeah!" Mikey piped in. "A VCR and DVD player! Do you even know what this means?!" He stared at them seriously. When they didn't answer, Mikey thrust his arm deep into the recesses of the box, rummaging around at the bottom before promptly plucking a movie from the others. "IT MEANS THIS!" He exclaimed, shoving it in their faces. "Terror Rangers: The Last Dimension!" He stared at them seriously. "I don't care what plans you have we are watching this now."
"...N-Now?" Donnie stepped back awkwardly, his eyes turning back to his unfinished wires, but Mikey would not have it. He grabbed Donnie and Raph both by the wrists and eagerly started to pull.
"AUGH!" "Hey!" "Wait!"
They stumbled awkwardly as Mikey dragged them out into the living room to an old, plush brown futon neither of them had ever seen before. And he gave them a shove, sending them both tripping over their feet and onto the futon right on top of one another.
"OOF!!"
"YAGH!"
"Awesome isn't it?" Mikey beamed with joy.
Leo's hands hastened to get the TV fitted perfectly to its perch and immediately set to hooking up all of the cables. "It's a little small," he admitted, "but it'll serve as something until we can make a trip out to the junk yard. In the meantime, I think it makes it all feel a little more like home."
Donnie and Raph looked over, realizing they were still very much on top of each other and quickly scrambled up, retreating as far away as the futon would allow.
Though its small size didn't allow for much and Donatello's eyes turned nervously over the new piece of furniture beneath him. "....When did you guys set this up?"
Mikey popped up beside him and immediately pushed a finger to Donnie's lips. "Shhhhhhh. Obvious questions later." And with that, he thrust a small bag of popcorn to Donnie's chest, his own giant tub half his size in the crook of his arm and he scrambled down to the floor, feet kicking behind him in excitement as the soft glow of their new TV filled the expanse of the room.
Leonardo finished up with the cords and made himself comfortable on the floor against the arm of the futon remote ready in hand. Mikey's eyes grew comically wide, already shoveling fistful after of fistful of popcorn in his cheeks... and the movie hadn't even begun!
"Are we ready?" Leo hyped.
"I was BORN READY! Push play bro~" His feet kicked faster.
Leo laughed. "Alright, alright."
He had to admit he was excited too. They had been waiting to see this movie since forever! So he eagerly pushed play and the opening credits filled the room in its exciting dynamic. The music played... the screen leapt through its many faded colors...
But to the two sitting on the futon, the plot was all but lost. Their eyes held fast to the screen, fighting the urge not to sneak small peeks and fleeting glances.
Raphael tried to relax and be casual, attempting make himself comfortable on his end of the small space.
But it was rather hard to do. The futon was just so small...
Mikey glanced back, silently offering Raph a bit of popcorn from his giant bucket.
"Uh! Yeah... thanks," Raph readily took a fistful and he settled back, stretching his arm along the back of the couch as he normally did ... his hand thoughtlessly brushing over the back of Donnie's mask. He jolted at the touch and quickly pulled back. Donnie blushed and cleared his throat, shifting awkwardly in his seat.
Raph shoved the entirety of his share of popcorn into his mouth in embarrassment, trying throwing all the attention he could into the movie.
Though the out-of-context dialogue hardly helped.
~"Jack, have you lost your mind? ...This is the last thing anyone needs! Why, it could tear apart the very foundation of this team!"
~"Perhaps I have lost my mind, Short Stout, but you know what? It's the only thing I can think about.... And you've been thinking about it too."
One side view glance caused another.
~"...W-What about the Sheshoygan Tribe... and their people?!"
~"...Well, perhaps what they don't know won't hurt them." **BJOOM** "OH NO! Watch out, Short Stout! Trouble afoot! ...It's the dreaded SPACE KRACKEN! Terror Rangers... COMBINE.... ELITE... POWER!"
By the end it had degenerated to full on stares. The lasers and actions on the screen but white noise... only conscious of one another and the fact that their other two brothers were sitting so close.
It was maddening. And that daring urge flashed in his mind again. If he crossed that space between them right now and kissed Donnie, would anybody notice?
.....No. That was a terrible, foolish brush of thought. He was almost ashamed by it. And so their gaze broke once more, turning back towards to screen's lights.
But now Raph was sure. That 'Actually' back there had meant something. He wasn't in this by himself. He wasn't making this up. There really was something.
Raph was so deep in his mental musings, he nearly missed Donnie pull the T-phone out from his belt pocket, his fingers taking quietly to the screen, before discreetly hiding it away.
Vvvvvvv
Within seconds the small light and vibration kicked to Raph's pocket and he glimpsed over, sneaking a peek the screen. It was a text.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Received from: Donnie
Message: