Book 2: HomeFront

Love Me or Leave Me Be Lonely

 With no need to go out at night, their sleeping patterns changed some. Only a rare few times they wouldn't go out during the night, in which they could experience actually waking up at sunrise and sleeping through the night. The idea popped into his head when he woke up that morning.

Most people were awake at the hour, with the exception of Donnie. Unlike Michelangelo and Raphael, he was given the most respect for sleep for he would stay up all night innovating and not watching TV or listening to music. With him asleep and everyone in the house groggy, the wide awake turtle jumped at the chance. He settled himself on the floor behind the drum set. That was where they now kept their CDs, games, and other digital media. The drum chair was not used for he was trying to be somewhat invisible for what he was doing was sneaky. His legs stretched out a little in the cramped space with a cardboard box sitting on the floor between them. On the top and all four sides of it, the label "Donnie" and "Keep Out: Especially You Mikey", was written in quick, black marker. Being him, just mentioning him to not do something is all to tempting to commit. Mikey ignored the warning signs and began to curl his three fingers around the edge of the top of the box.

"Mikey!" A sharp tone out of the blue nearly scared the shell off the young ninja. He reacted by pressing his hands on his pecs and giving a pitchy, short-lived scream. With shocked pupils, Mona came into the picture. Given that she had her hair wrapped up in a towel, she had just come out of the hot tub. With her usual uniform under construction in Angel's abuela's hands, random t-shirts and printed shorts was her go to outfit for the hot season. "Are you going through Donnie's stuff?" She questioned, eyes zooming in on the "Don't Touch". Her hands reached up to the top of her head, seeking to unwrap her hair by tugging on the towel. Her long strands fell in wet clumps as they escaped. In a matter of seconds, he devised an explanation that would surely convince the lizard lady; he immediately relaxed to his previous state.

"Sensei said we need to learn about each other better." He presented with such presence. His eyes gently exaggerated as he blinked. Although he was sitting on the floor, he tried to look as professional as possible bay placing his enclosed hands on top of the box and speaking clearly, yet quietly. "Getting to know someone the best is getting into the things they don't want you to touch." His tone quickly changed to playful as he pulled the top off the box from impulse.

Inside was definitely something he's never seen before. It was a rather large box to begin with, but he wouldn't believe that there would be records stacked inside them. Mona crouched down with matched curiosity as the young terrapin slowly began to lift up the paper covers. Some were tore up while others faired much better.

"Count Basie and the Kansas City 7, Florence Mills: Harlem Jazz Queen, The Old, Weird America?" He read aloud to her as he pulled a select few covers. "What the shell... this is why he kept that record player."

"We have a record player?"

"No, Donnie has one. It's in the corner of the lab. He said it's gonna be worth a lot of money and I'm really not supposed to touch it."

"Someone's coming!" Mona tried to say as quietly as possible after she jumped from her spot. Mikey was quiet to listen to big footsteps coming near them.

"Uh..." His words and hands fumbled as he rushed to stuff the records back. Being so tightly packed, it was nearly impossible to get them back in time without the person coming seeing what was going on as well as too risky to break them and have Donnie find out anyways. In a last ditch effort, he slid the three records underneath the cart that supported the boxes. Surely, Mona could retrieve them later from their tight spot. Then, they had to find a way to not look suspicious. Already standing, Mona grabbed a random box as Mikey stashed Donatello's back.