Renaissance

IX

Heph's P.O.V.

      In the middle of the night, the bed dipped and wobbled and felt lighter next to me. The air swirled with cold and raised goosebumps on my back. I couldn't get warm again, and the creaking door startled me into half-sleep. I had forgotten that I shared a bed with Leo that night.

      He was humming as he left, a tune I didn't quite recognize but I knew I had heard before. It beguiled me into ripping open my eyes and turning around to find an empty bed and a door shutting. I groaned softly and waited for him to come back, but I awoke in the morning to a still empty bed.

      It's fine. I didn't really expect him to stay until I woke up. Previously, those scenes in movies where the couple would wake up and look into each other's eyes flashed through my head but it's fine. His eyes are so blue. I let myself think of them as I make his bed. A sigh blows past my lips and my cheeks puff with air. His room is nice; meticulously sorted and put together. A blue bean bag sits in the corner and next to it there's a dresser with a bunch of Space Heroes memorabilia. Captain Ryan is posed to smack Crankshaw and I can't help but laugh. He's so cute, setting his action figures up like that. How on brand.

      I shouldn't be snooping through Leo's things but it's so damn tempting and I can't help myself. I don't go so far as to start opening drawers, I don't even  know why he has a dresser. I didn't think mutant turtles needed clothes.

      There's crumpled papers sticking out of the bottom drawer. I don't want to look but at the same time...I crouch down and pinch the corner of the paper, trying to quietly pull it out of the closed drawer. Like someone was listening and if I made any noise I'd be damned to Hell. It came out easily, and was folded in half. The corners were torn or bent, and the faint scribble of black ink on the inside teased me to no end.

      I didn't open it. I jumped as a faint tune started playing from seemingly out of nowhere. I quickly stuffed the paper into my pocket and started towards the bedroom door. Why is that so loud? The door was thrown open and I barely remember walking through the hall. It felt like I was being guided by some omniscient force, but I didn't care. No one has any business playing music that loud THIS early.

      "Who the hell is playing music that loudly!?" Three turtles fall off the couch at me yelling and I don't feel bad. I stand there and the music swells instead. It reminds me of Alice in Wonderland and I'm not sure how to feel about it. It's just loud and I can barely hear myself think. They all look at me over the top of the couch like I'm absolutely insane. Which, Hell, I might be.

      "No one is playing music, Heph." Raph growls and motions towards me like I'm some sort of crooked beast angrily dancing at him. I look at him with such a pointed glare it stabs at my own attitude.

      "Little voices, buzzing poison, backwards noise from everything,"

      "Can't you hear that?" my voice rises and I'm not sure where I motion to but my hands are in the air, and I feel like if I put them down they're going to laugh at me. They all look at each other and then back at me, startled. I can barely hear myself think.

      "Dr. Swango, Says I'm psycho, says they all from Neverland,"

      "So, no one's playing music?!" I screech and they shake their heads with wide concerned eyes. I bite my lip and take a deep breath. The possibility of me being actually insane passes through my head and now I don't know what to do. They can't hear it. Aw shit–am I wearing headphones and I forgot? My hands fly up to my ears but my headphones aren't there. My ears feel numb and fake, and I find myself ignoring the inquiries of Donatello and spinning on my heels to follow the music out of the lair.