Out of My Shell

Chapter 16: Heat and Jealousy

CHAPTER 16. Heat and Jealousy

"GUYS!!!"
"April!"
She had the floor. Just as quickly as she had entered the room, he was swept away. His hands abandoned their task and in moments he was there by her side—fretting, worrying. Even Leo and Mikey had gotten up couch and rushed over to help. And just in time to hear Donnie unleash his usual onslaught of clingy, over-the-top questions.
"What's wrong? Are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt? You aren't hurt are you?!"
Raph bristled from his place and spun back to the can opener, half mocking his brother's words, throwing his focus on one particular screw in the silver metal body and began a violent operation of screwing and unscrewing it together again—if for nothing else just to keep his hands busy.
To keep that boiling temper of his on simmer.
But Donatello took no notice. His eyes were on her and the current look of fear that pinched her visage. And although Raph didn't see his, he didn't have to.
He always looked at her like that. Like her presence was the very ground he stood upon.
She pushed the long bangs from her eyes. And Donnie could smell the shampoo in her hair.
"I'm alright Donnie," she assured, "but... someone broke into my bedroom last night... while I was sleeping in it."
"...What?" Worry knitted his expression. "Are you sure?"
"I'm positive. My room is completely destroyed! I can't even tell what they stole... or... even if they took anything at all... And it's just my room. Everywhere else looks totally fine!"
"And you didn't wake up?" Leo wondered.
"That's the crazy part! ...I didn't hear a thing!"
Leo turned to the others. "We have to check it out."
"Do we really though?"
Leo turned around in surprise at Raph's seemingly random outburst of rudeness. "Uhhhh... yeah...? We do...?"
"She could be in real trouble!"
Raph's glare whipped hotly over to Donnie, who only gave a small shrug of his shoulders, not quite able to meet his eyes. And it just angered him further.
"No, Raph's right. It's fine, really—I don't think it'll be necessary. My dad will be home later tonight." She explained. "I'll admit I got spooked being there by myself, but between the Foot, angry mutants and exams—some petty thief is the least of my worries... I just didn't want to be home alone."
"Well, regardless... I think it's a good idea for us to check it out," Leo replied. "If they were looking for something just in your room, I doubt it was random."
"Yeah, we'll get to the bottom of this," Donnie offered a kind hand to her shoulder. "And if you need it, you can always stay here with us for the night."
"Thanks guys." She smiled.
Raph growled and slammed the screw driver down into the counter loud enough to make them flinch, but after a few shared glances, they shook off his mood.
They had their mission.
And Leo gave the motion. "—Let's move."
--
The gentle whine of distant sirens poured lazily through the city street tonight, masking their footfall; the five taking familiar shadows en route up to the third story, past iron and brick, to the pale yellow glass that marked her bedroom.
And April let them in, undoing the latch and climbing over the sill into a disaster. The sheets off the side of her bed were torn to rags. Every desk and dresser drawer she had had been meticulously pulled out and their contents scattered about the floor. The full length mirror on the wall was broken in its place. The floor was completely littered with trash: shreds of pictures, papers, clothes, personal things and pillow feathers. But by far the most disturbing part was that every single surface seemed to be covered in millions of little tiny scratches.
Almost like the claws of a cat. Or... perhaps... something else.
Donnie blinked deftly. "And you slept... through this?"
"Completely." She motioned to her bed. Her outline stood eerily against the sheets where she had been sleeping untouched.
"Dudes, this is too creepy~" Mikey whined.
Even Raphael briefly stored away his angry bravado as he looked around the room. April was still their friend after all and this was just disturbing.
"Yeahhh, I don't think this was some random burglar," Donnie concluded.
"But what could have done this?" Leo's eyes swept hard over the mess. "It doesn't look like Mutadroid's slashes..."
"But there were similar marks left from the chainbugs in the living room," Donnie pointed out.
Leo thought about it. He did have a point. "But why would they go after April?"
"I don't know," he admitted, "but... what else fits the profile of doing this much damage in the middle of the night without making any sound?"
"Not makin' any sound?" Raph gaped. "Maybe you weren't there. Those things never shut up! I still can't get that noise out of my head!"
"That's what I'm saying. It doesn't make sense."
"And those people on the news said that they didn't hear any sound at all," Leo pointed out.
"Just like April," Donnie muttered.
"...Again, this is creepy~" Mikey couldn't help cowering a bit behind Donnie's back.
"Either we're dealing with a totally different enemy here," he reasoned, "or Mutadroid is beyond sophisticated and is messing with us on purpose."
"But... why?" April wondered. "What does it have to gain from tearing up buildings, scaring Mikey in his sleep or... destroying my bedroom?"
That, Donnie didn't have an answer for. "I don't know," he told her honestly. "....Are you sure you haven't noticed anything odd... like, anything missing or out of place?"
"Oh, yeah," Raph butted in snidely. "Wouldn't want any of your precious belongings to get all messed up now would we~?"
Donnie glared over. His was demeaning, borderline baby talk! He wasn't quite sure what sparked this particular surge of asinine behavior but he was going to try his best to ignore it.
Though that was proving difficult. He could feel Raph's eyes burning a hole through him.
April blinked, addressing Donnie. "...Uhhhh... no. Not especially. All my valuables are here. They're scratched up but, I mean, they work. The only thing that I did find kind of odd... was this."
She gently laid a single photograph in his hand. It was a picture of him and April. She had taken a long time ago back in the lair, the two of them smiling on the couch with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Donnie remembered it fondly, however; the photo in his hand had been drastically altered.
He was no longer in it.
"Every picture I have of you looks like that now. It's like you've been totally scratched out of every single one."
Donnie blinked. "—Just... me?"
"Yep. Just you." She brushed the hair out of her bangs again. "It's a shame really. I kind of liked that picture." But this time as she pushed her hair away, Donnie noticed something different. "April.... let me see your arm."
"My arm?" She looked at it curiously but obediently obliged it into Donnie's large hands. He paused in task a moment, suddenly having to steady his head from her scent, but he took her arm regardless, turning it over carefully to examine it.
He thought he saw something. Between her shirt sleeve and the brown arm bands she wore.
"...What is it?"
He moved the sleeves aside and revealed two scratches, mild as paper cuts stood out against her skin. And she gasped.
"When did this happen?" he demanded.
She shook her head in confusion. "I swear to you, Donnie... I don't remember getting those."
"Yo, Donnie! Over here!" Leo called. "You might want to check this out."
Leo was crouched on the floor across the room by April's bedside and moved aside for Donnie to see. In the fold between the box spring and the mattress was what appeared to be crushed, spindly cog of folded metal. It looked as though it could perhaps be part of a crushed chainbug.
Donnie extracted it with a pair of tweezers and carefully lifted it towards the light, squinting curiously.
"Is it something?" Leo wondered.
"....Yeah," he muttered. "....It's... definitely something."
-
"Mm-hm-Mm hm Mmhm Mmhm~ Mm-hm-Mm hm Mmhm Mmhm~ La La La La Lalalala~ Da-de-duh-de-duh-da~ Dadada!" Mikey had his favorite ringtone stuck in his head, singing it in excitement on the way home. His navigation assistance was hardly needed in the Shellraiser this time around and so he sat on the floor, with a box full of food goodies from April's house set in between his knees. He could hardly contain himself. He was sooooooo hungry right now, but he had promised the others he wouldn't and they were keeping a sharp eye on him to make sure he kept it.
But that didn't stop him from looking. And the more he looked, the more excited he got. "Man, I love you so much April!" He hugged the box close to his chest.
"Mikey, it's just food," she laughed. "It isn't even that much... especially considering the way you guys eat."
"Dude, are you kidding?! Pizza stuff~? Popcorn, pickles, canned meals... Pancakes...?! Mac and cheese?!" Then he gasped his eyes shimmering with delight. "You even gave us giant popsicles!!"
"That reminds me: be sure to get those in the freezer right away when we get to the lair," she ordered sternly. "For some reason my aunt bought enough to feed the entire neighborhood...."
She paused, watching Mikey gnaw the edge of the box. "Or... at least... to feed a couple mutant turtles," she corrected with a smirk.
"Well it couldn't have happened at a better time," Leo said honestly. "We've been kind of starving back home."
"...Unless you include the ham," Donnie interjected.
Mikey glared hotly at him. "Don't you ever say that word again."
"...I'm actually really looking forward to trying the apple cider," Leo admitted shyly from the wheel.
"I thought you might," she smiled. "...Doesn't really matter to me. As long as I got rid of some of some of that stuff."
"Yeah, well, I don't see why we need it," Raph gnarred. His fists tightened around his controls, trying to ignore how close April was sitting to Donnie's knees... or how happy Donnie seemed of the fact. "...It's not like we can just eat popsicles and pancakes for the rest of the week."
Now Leo glanced back in the rear view mirror. "Okay, Raph," he said tiredly. "What's up your shell?"
"Nothing."
"...Yeahhhh, seems like a whole lot of that going on with you lately."
Donnie tried to ignore him, rapping his nervous fingers along the edge of his seat and he caught sight of April again from his peripheral. Of course he understood why Raph was upset but, really, right now, he just wanted to forget all of it and move on.
Liking April was normal. It was safe and comfortable, even if it sometimes made his chest hurt with defeat.
At least she didn't squeeze his stomach or turn him inside out. She didn't make him question his entire life... or make him feel like he was going insane.
She was just... her... with those freckles and blue eyes.... and that sweet, girlish smell in her hair that drew lazy circles in his brain....
"Sooooooo, uh... April. How did you think your exams went?"
"They went okay. Casey and I were up all night studying," she smiled wistfully and Donnie noted the modest hint of color in her cheeks. "...It was a bit rough keeping him on task but we muscled through... and in the end... we had a really nice time."
Raph glanced back. "....I bet that's not all you did."
Donnie's eyes widened. Leo threw on the brakes of the Shellraiser at that and whipped back in his seat.
"RAPHAEL!"
"What?!" He demanded. "I'm just sayin' they were probably all up on each other at some point kissing and stuff."
That didn't fly. Every one of them knew what he had meant.
Now April glared. "Okay, first of all, you have no right to speak to me that way. Second, I fail to see how that would be any of your business in the first place!"
"It... absolutely.... isn't," Leo amended venomously. "We are sooo sorry, April. Just... ignore him. Raphael clearly forgot his manners elsewhere.... Raph, I don't know what your problem is but you have absolutely no right to talk to her that way! And unless it is an apology, I don't want to hear a word from you for the rest of the ride home."
He jumped up from his seat. "FINE! SEE if I care! It's not like I want to ride with you guys anyways! I'm takin' the stealth bike!"
"Ohhh, no you don't," Leo threw the Shellraiser into drive, throwing their momentum hard and making Raph fall back in his seat. "You're answering to Master Splinter for this one."
"Um... b-besides that," Donnie interrupted shyly from his seat and his small voice drew everyone's attention. "I-it appears I didn't quite... um... pack the bike."
Raph turned on him at that, his fists balled with a new rekindled rage. "...What?"
Leo glanced back. That served a slight surprise to everyone. After their previous escapades, Donnie pretty much made it a point to never let the Shellraiser be caught dead leaving the garage unloaded or unprepared. Or at the very least, let them know beforehand...
But as Donnie now scrambled to check all the stats further now on his computer, it appeared that not only had he not finished loading everything back into place, they seemed rather low on ammunition from the last Mutadroid attack as well.
But he had fixed everything. He must have... forgotten to load it perhaps?
But how could he have forgotten?
"I... uh... was pretty much done with everything... and then... I.... Well, it appears we're um... not as stocked..."
". . .Soooo don't find any trouble?" Leo clarified.
"That would be wise, yes," he replied.
"How could you just forget to load everything back on?!"
Donnie glared at Raph, his patience instantly re-thinned. But Raph reveled in the fight of his eyes.
And things got personal quick.
"I'm sorry. I've just had some things on my mind lately!!"
"Ohh, is that right?!" he sneered. "Care to share with the rest of the class? Really, I'm curious!"
"Oh, trust me Raph, I've noticed... You've made that fact perfectly clear."
"GUYS!" Leo interrupted. "What are you two even fighting about?"
Donnie whipped back. "Yeah, Raph. What are we fighting about here?"
Bottled words stormed between them, whipping violence in Raph's chest, but they both had an audience and the words clenched hard his teeth. "...Nothin'." He threw himself back down in his seat, arms folded tight to his chest.
Leo looked between the two and then even to Mikey, who was clearly just as baffled by it all as he was. But after a moment of silence, Leo firmly adjusted in his seat and they continued a quiet drive home.
-
There was a hard scrutiny in his eyes as he turned her arm over in light. The moment they had returned to the lair, Donnie had taken April into his lab, holding every clue they had found under a meticulous study of microscopes and bright bay lights.
"...Well, there's nothing in your skin," he confirmed, rolling back, "but I confess I do feel a bit better now knowing they're clean."
"Me too," she smiled. "Thank you, Donnie."
Donnie returned her smile warmly, but it was one short lived, as there was a quiet storm brewing just outside the room, in the dojo... though he tried to drown him out.
Raph growled unhappily, his feet padding careful circles around Leo, sai clenched tight to train, but his mind wandering out of drive, knowing just beyond the shoji... he was alone with her... doing who knows what.
And he was stuck here. With Leo.
He spun his sai in his hands. She should have never shown up. The way Donnie was acting was disgusting. It sat like nettles in his skin. And so far the only thing Leo had successfully done was find new ways to piss him off further.
Which, admittedly, was like a super power of his at this point.
"Seriously, Raph. Get your head in the game," Leo launched into a frustrated attack, his swords swiping close and locking with his sai. "What's your deal today?"
Raph shoved him back and treaded carefully, not answering.
"Okay, can you at least tell me why you and Don are fighting? And what has been your malfunction since April's shown up? ...You've been acting crazy!"
Another growl ripped from his throat. "Just... back off Leo, okay?! I'm really not in the mood!"
As if to mock him, the twittering sound of Donnie and April chuckling and giggling assaulted his ears, igniting a new twinge of rage.
.
"Well, it sounds like your guys' hard work should pay off," Donnie replied, a bit amused at Casey's expense, listening to April's stories of trying to keep him on his exams. "And on the bright side, at least you didn't end up with pie all over your walls."
"I know, right? My dad would have killed me."
Donnie chuckled and again he heard the low sounds of Raph's sparring, letting it roll through his brain and he lifted his eyes, intent to banish him again from thought.
His fingers twitched a little in place.
April smelled nice today. Really nice.
He wondered if he should tell her.
No, that would be weird.
"....Donnie? HEY!"
"Hm? Huh, what?" He blinked. "Oh, sorry, April... What's up?"
"Are you okay? You were really zoned out there... And you had this weird look in your eye."
"I'm fine."
He heard another growl; the clink of his sai. It buzzed oddly in his skin but he didn't know why, just acute enough to ignore...
"I was wondering if there was something else you needed help with," she repeated.
"Oh... um... well..."
Her hair. A tiny violence suddenly itched at him to throw all of the things off his table, growl at her freckles, tangle his fingers in her locks, chase down that scraping metal sound of sai over footfall and pin Raphael to the floor.
All of those things at once. And then it passed and he couldn't remember what he wanted to tell her. His head felt sort of foggy, so much so he had to blink. "...P-Perhaps... I'm um... not feeling so well..."
"Are you okay? If you need anything..."
Her voice petered out. He could hear the dips and lolls but it seemed to become clouds in his brain, rolling to nonsense.
And then he hissed something strange. "Nng...ah...... Body..."
"What?" April blinked.
Donnie's eyes snapped to hers, finding instant clarity. "Huh?"
"You said 'body...'"
He blinked. "Uhhhhhhhh.... Right. I... uh..." he cleared his throat, his mind now scrambling for a quick recovery. "Bodyyyy... check... OH! That's what I forgot to ask! Did you check the rest of your body for scratches?"
"Oh," April nodded. "Yeah I did. I didn't see anything weird..."
"Phew," Donnie sighed with relief.
"Um... but..."
He raised his eyes in question.
"Well, there is sort of... one thing... or not," She thought about it and sat a little straighter. "...Never mind, it's embarrassing—I don't think it's anything anyways... Nothing for you to worry about," she amended.
Donnie grew concerned. "No, what is it?"
Again she hesitated.
"Seriously, anything you can give me would be a huge help."
She thought it over and then blushed slightly. "...Alright, but you better behave," she warned.
Donnie gaped and stammered; a bit slighted at the demand. They were talking about medical science here! What did she take him for, some kind of pervert?!
....Okay, perhaps he didn't have the best track record...
Her eyes were firm. "I need Doctor Donnie on board for this, got it?"
"...A-Affirmative."
". . .Alright. There's this... place on my back," she grabbed the hem of her shirt. "I can't reach it or see it, but it's been bugging me since this morning..."
.
"GRAHHHH!" He pushed him back and roared. "...PAUSE THIS!"
"What?! Why? What is it?" Leo froze to listen at his demeanor, eyes wide and chest still heaving from the fight.
Raph looked around. He couldn't help but feel a disturbance in the air. "...I think my pervert senses are tingling."
"What?" His voice was so quiet Leo hadn't quite heard him, but whatever it was; he was getting really sick of this weird, distracted behavior of his. "Raph, stop being stupid!"
"I'M NOT BEIN' STUPID!" He snapped. "You're the one being stupid!! What's even with you?!"
"ME?! What's with you?! You're the one acting like a deranged psycho here!"
Ugh! He was so irritating! "...What's with me is that this training is completely stupid and unnecessary!!"
Leo studied him evenly. "Given that its purpose was to keep you away from Donnie and April, I'd say it's very necessary."
Raph ground his teeth, fitfully throwing one of his sai to the floor. "I QUIT!!"
Leo scoffed. "You can't just quit!"
"WATCH ME!" He stormed out.
.
She started to lift her shirt and he stopped her. "Are you sure? I-I understand now why you might not be comfortable with me... I can ask Leo to do it instead, if you like."
"Are you kidding? You're the doctor here. And I do trust you Donnie," she assured with a smile.
"—Very well."
April began to lift her shirt slightly up to the middle of her back, though so far he didn't observe anything along her skin.
"Where is it at?"
"Higher," she replied awkwardly. "Like... higher."
Understanding slowly found its way to his eyes. "Is it by your bra strap?"
She blushed a bit at his blunt, to-the-point phrasing. "Uh... yeah, around there." she shifted. "...Is that alright?"
"Only if it is with you."
She nodded her head and Donnie pushed her shirt a little higher until he found the black translucent band. He paused; his toes curled slightly in place, but he was honest, looking around for any clues or scratches, finally hooking a finger beneath the strap to check underneath, brushing a point on her skin. "Oh, it's nothing serious. The hook's just bad. It's digging into your skin."
"Really? That's all?"
"I might be able to fix it later, but for now I can makeshift this part to be a little more..."
BOOM!
Raph burst into the room, slamming the door open so hard they almost fell out of their seats. And they shrieked.
He processed the scene. April's shirt hiked. Donnie's fingers in the latch of her bra.
And Raph almost saw red. "I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!! YOU SKEEZY CREEP!!"
April pulled her shirt back down, covering herself in modesty. "RAPH! There is this thing called knocking!"
But he hardly cared. His gaze was venomously locked on Donnie.
"Raph, please," he started. "I-It isn't what it looks like! She asked for my help...!"
"YEAH?! Did she also ask for me to STICK MY SAI UP YOUR...?!"
"RAPH!" Leo ran in to mediate the scene, Mikey following after. "What is going on here?!"
"I'll tell you what's goin' on!! I leave the room for five minutes... AND HE HAS HIS HAND HALFWAY UP HER SHIRT!!!"
"WHAT?!" Leo whipped towards him.
"O-Out of context!" Donnie defended. "April asked for my medical confidence! And Raph burst in unannounced and out of control!"
"It's true," April replied firmly. "Donnie did nothing wrong."
Leo glared at Raph, but he was glaring past him. He didn't understand the turbulent look in his eyes, but for a moment, he almost looked wounded.
That first time they almost kissed burned hurt behind his eyes.
Donnie swallowed. He didn't know why that look cut him so deeply or why he even felt the need to defend himself as much as he did, but it yanked at his conscience, so much so he could barely stop himself from going after him as Leo dragged him out the door.
Outside Leo pushed him to the wall and searched him menacingly. "Raph, I'm going to ask you this once and you better be honest: do you have some sort of feelings for April we don't know about?"
Raph shoved him back. "No. I don't. Now get the heck out of my face before you find a sai where the sun don't shine." He shoulder-checked him on the way out.
Donnie watched from the door, unable to help himself. "Raph..."
He plodded away rigidly, determined not to hear.
And it hurt. Surely he understood....
He shut his eyes. No....
He grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. "Raph... Look..." But the words force-stopped in his throat. He wanted to speak but all eyes in the lair were currently on them. Leo... Mikey... April... even Master Splinter could be somewhere in ear shot.
Raph followed the shift in his eyes down to his thought and shrugged out of his touch, sitting on the couch with his arms crossed tight, shooting a glare at the unwelcome stares.
They all jolted and began an awkward chorus of whistling or humming and looked away, trying to look busy, not wanting to get on Raph's bad side any more than they already had.
But Donnie still stood there complacently, wondering what he ought to do. He didn't want to leave. He felt more than guilty! It was like he was holding his breath and then he just wanted to yell everything that had been going on inside his head that week. Every thought. Every dream. Every time he had held his breath and stayed awake. The tight in his shell. The confusing twist in his stomach. That crackling fear. The simple ache he had for love or a physical touch, when even among his brothers, he was a freak; a tall mind just further doomed to stand alone.
He was a man of books! Of psychology! He knew how to define attraction.... Until he thought about Raph... until he was caught staring into his eyes.
How fiercely he hated him for planting this seed in his head when they were brothers!
They had lived together their whole lives! He had treated him halfway terribly through a lot of it. And... and now he wanted him?! What, physically? Romantically? Sexually?
What if they did kiss?! Then what?! What would happen to them? They were brothers! Leo, Mikey, Sensei they—
Why did it feel like he was tearing apart at the seams?! Everything was normal before he changed it!
This entire whirlwind burned a hole through him as he stood that spot in the room. Raphael didn't know and he ignored him, picking up the remote to the TV and cranking the volume just loud enough to drown his ill-begotten jealousy.
And as he did, April wisped by, pulling Donnie from his trance in her simplicity. She paused at the couch and tentatively took a seat beside the angry Raph, shooting Donnie a nervous sort of shooing motion.
Donnie hesitated. He wasn't sure her presence in this situation was a good idea at all.
But April just relaxed her posture beside him, propping her feet up alongside.
Raph's eyes scanned over and moved back to the TV. April shot Donnie another look and so he obliged a few steps out of range.
A few moments in TV silence swelled on through, though Raphael remained visibly unamused.
"...Thanks for sticking up for me."
His eyes snapped over.
She looked down and pushed the hair softly from her eyes. "Even if you did totally jump the gun back there, I just wanted you to know... I really did appreciate it." She threw her arms around his middle and Raph's eyes widened, going rigid in surprise.
Still she smiled, planting a small, thankful kiss to his cheek. And while he was still rather bristled by the matter, there was something out of the corner of his eye made him pause.
Donnie's reaction. His hands balled to fists, eyes leaping fire between them, knitting shock, horror, conflict, disgust...
And something undeniably jealous.
Raph turned that over in his head. And his tune instantly changed.
"Oh, it's alright, April~" He wrapped his arm intimately around her waist and pulled her close, tracing a finger seductively along the edge of her face. "...What can I say? ...I'm lookin' out for ya."
Donnie's jaw dropped.
April blinked and looked away, a bit surprised and slightly off-put by his behavior. "R-Raph..."
He released her waist with ease and now played the charm low. "Well, I'm just glad you've forgiven me! Care to, uh, watch the rest of this movie with me?"
"Sure!" She smiled in relief and turned back towards the TV.
Raph made sure to meet Donnie's eyes from beyond the couch as he snaked his arm casually around her shoulders. And after a few moments, she leaned in to comfortably rest her head in the crook of his arm.
Donnie's eye twitched. Raph didn't even look back, walking his fingers suggestively along the back of the couch.
And that was all Donnie could take. "A-APRIL!" He stormed loudly over to the couch. "Mind if I sit!?"
"Um...?"
"Heh." He tore her out from beneath his arm so she sat normally between them as he sat down. "Thank you."
Raph glanced over and Donnie's look was stern, as though the silent warning were to somehow put him in place.
And Raph responded in kind. He casually turned back at the TV and then he jumped in his seat, feigning excitement to grab her knee. "Oh, APRIL! Ya gotta watch this! It's my favorite part!"
His touch stayed too long.
Donnie quietly seethed, halfway considering ripping his hand off. And then another, calmer idea struck him to knock him off his high horse. He leaned back, checking around the room around for witnesses. Leo had tentatively gone back to the dojo and Mikey and Sensei were both nowhere to be found.
He reached over the back of the couch, past April, to the tail ends of his mask and began an action of running them through his fingers just hard enough for him to notice.
Raph froze.
Donnie glared over haughtily, enjoying the power; the tattered fabric locked around his hand.
And their stares held just a moment too long, hiding their secrets and that chemistry neither of them understood—until the small washing sounds of the TV reminded him of April between them and he unwound his hand, resetting his former warning glare.
Raph narrowed his eyes and moved his arm again towards April's waist.
Donnie snatched his mask back and yanked hard.
"HYAGH!" he yelped and his head crashed into the seat.
April glanced over and Donnie quick feigned an innocence. "April could you get us some popcorn? There's some on the kitchen counter. Do you mind?"
"Ah. Sure thing." She got up.
"Are we really doin' this right now?" Raph hissed over.
"...I don't see it!" she called from the kitchen.
Donnie glared viciously. "Here~" He answered. "Let me help you~"
Raph stewed madly in place and watched him go, wracking his brain. He would not be outdone. He refused.
He had one trump card up his sleeve. And he planned on using it.