Night of Sevens

Donnie gulped down his nervousness. April watched him expectantly, waiting for whatever question he had for her. He mentally braced himself. 

Come on, you’ve hung out with her plenty of times and this is no different. Except you’re not asking her as a friend. . . No. Just go for it. What’s the worst that can happen?

“Would you. . . p-possibly want to hang out tonight?”

Shell!

“Sure! I’ll be a little sore after training, but I’m up for whatever you’ve got planned,” April smiled up at him.

“Great! We’ll head out when Splinter’s done whipping you into shape. Not that you need to get into shape because you already have great physique. What I mean to say is that. . .!” Donnie’s train of thought stumbled, desperately searching for a way out of the hole he dug himself into.

“So, I’ll see you after training?” April interrupted, clasping her hands behind her back. Donnie’s words caught in his throat. He took a breath to calm his nerves before speaking again.

“Yeah. We’ll head out at 7,” he replied, rubbing the back of head.

“Great!” April turned on her heels and strode towards the dojo. Donnie stood frozen, his eyes trailing after her. He sighed quietly.

Why do I chicken out every time? Oh well. At least I can have time alone with her.

~

“Hello, Mr. Murakami!” April greeted her favorite noodle shop owner. Scanning the restaurant for any lingering patrons, she waved Donnie inside. He swiftly ducked in and April closed the door behind him before any late night jogger spotted him.

“Ah, April-chan. I presume you have brought a Turtle-san with you. Go ahead and close up for the night,” Murakami insisted. April flipped the sign on the door to ‘Closed’ and joined Donnie at the stools lining the counter.

“Hi, Mr. Murakami. I hope we’re not making you close too early,” Donnie said apologetically.

“It’s no trouble for two of my best customers. Are your brother’s not joining us?” he asked.

“It’s just the two of us tonight,” April replied. Donnie glanced at her, wondering what she meant by that. He shook his head, berating himself for reading too much into such simple words. “Hopefully they won’t be too jealous that you’re feeding us without them.”

“Well, I suppose you two will simply have to enjoy my food in their place,” Murakami chuckled warmly.

They chatted politely for some time before Murakami reminded them that they should fill their stomachs if they planned on making the most of the night. April demanded that Donne ordered something other than pizza gyoza. He resigned, supposing that he should vary his diet on such an occasion. In no time, the blind chef cooked up two steaming bowls of ramen for the two.

“Mmm,” April sipped her noodles happily. She then scooted her bowl closer to Donnie. “You have to try this.”

“What? I can’t even eat my own noodles first?” he said with a smirk. April smacked his arm and he laughed.

“Ok, ok, let me taste it for myself.” He expertly claimed a few noodles with his chopsticks and sipped them up in no time. He shared an excited smile with April.

“Wow, this is amazing. Murakami, what’s your secret?” Donnie asked.

The old chef simply smiled.

“It is my original recipe, so I am afraid I cannot say.”

“We won’t tell anybody,” April promised.

“Maybe I will tell you in time. Meanwhile, enjoy!” He exited into the back room to avoid any further questions from his insisting customers. Donnie and April stared after him.

“Next time we’ll get him for sure,” Donnie said deviously.

“He can’t escape us forever,” April steepled her fingers. They made eye contact and laughed at their mock mob impressions. For some time, they chatted away until their noodles were no longer steaming. Donnie mentioned that it was safe to head out to their next destination. Finishing off their food, April paid Murakami and they headed out, promising to bring everyone else next time.

“Have a fun night!” he called after them. As soon as the door shut, he set to sweeping the floor.

“Don’t get frisky, you two,” he commented to himself.

~

After carefully navigating the sewer tunnels, Donnie pulled April out of a manhole to reveal they were in Central Park. Being a more secluded section, it was unlikely that anyone would pass by. April commented Donnie on his smart thinking and he blushed lightly.

For the time, their only light was the moon and the stars. It was enough for them to observe the woods surrounding them and the buds emerging from the ground. Seeing as it was late spring, the flowers and saplings were nearly ready to bloom. They only needed time.

The two stopped at a small bridge arching over a creek. April seated herself on top of the wooden railing, making herself only a few inches higher than her companion. Beside her, Donnie leaned his forearms on the railing. He made a quick mental note to make sure she didn’t slip backwards into the freezing water below. Hypothermia was a sure way to kill the mood of any outing.

Even though April settled comfortably on her perch, a small shiver traveling across her skin. She tried to suppress it, but it didn’t slip past Donnie’s attention.

“Are you cold?” he asked, concern in his voice.

“Only a little. I wish I brought my jacket is all.” By now, the cold of the night didn’t bother April as much as it did when she first started hanging out with the boys. That didn’t mean New York nights were something to take lightly.

“Sorry I don’t have a jacket to give you.” Donnie’s tone shifted. If he were human, he would valiantly place his jacket around April’s shoulders. They wouldn’t have to visit the park under the cover of night. He could have taken her somewhere fun like a karaoke bar or the museum. But such things were barred from him. It was simply the way of the world and no invention of his could change that.

April peered down at him. The last thing she wanted was Donnie’s mood to be sullied by his mutant status. He needed a distraction.

“It’s fine. It’s not like you have to wear clothes or anything,” she smirked. If anything, a little friendly banter would redirect his focus.

“Hey, I think my mask counts as an article of clothing,” he replied a little defensively.  April spotted the shine in his eyes, the kind that challenged her to best him in a battle of wits.

“It counts about as much as my headband,” she replied with air.

“They’re on entirely different levels. Mine symbolizes years of tradition and training. Yours symbolizes a choice to keep a little hair out of your face,” Donnie pointed out, confident that April couldn’t top him now.

“Oh yeah? What else are you supposed to do with a lump of hair that does nothing but demand washing and brushing every day?” Even though she was lightly teasing him, April was really touching on own personal annoyance with her hair. A pixie cut wouldn’t work for her, so a ponytail was the only hairstyle she could bother with.

“It can’t be that bad having hair.  Your head retains heat better with it. Imagine how cold you’d be right now if you’re head was as smooth as mine.” Donnie swept a hand over his head dramatically to emphasize his point. This earned him a giggle from April.

“True, but look at this.” April tugged off her headband and loosened the ponytail holder’s grip around her hair. Combing her fingers through, the locks fell in tresses around her shoulders. “If it gets loose, then it gets in my face and I can’t even do easy moves like somersaults. Do you see how this makes being a ninja difficult?”

“No.” April paused, her eyes meeting Donnie’s. The serious expression on his face appeared so suddenly that it almost startled April. While she had certainly seen this side of him before, Donnie’s gaze was too intense for her to handle. She shied her flushed cheeks away and nervously gathered her hair to tie it back up. His gentle hand took hers, stopping her in her tracks. His eyes held her gaze this time.

“Your hair expresses you. You shouldn’t hide it so much,” he said earnestly. The girl before him was gifted. She could interact with the human world in ways he never could, so she deserved to fully express herself.

April knew where he was coming from, having hidden away from the world his entire life. Her eyes softened and her hand tightened around his thumb.

“For what it’s worth, I wish you didn’t have to hide,” she murmured gently.

“I don’t have to when I’m with you,” he replied quietly.

April’s breath caught a little in her throat, stunned by his words. Donnie leaned up to his full height, the top of his head lingering near April’s forehead. His hand rested on her cheek, catching in her moonlit locks. At his touch, her cheeks reddened. Her eyes lidded as she leaned her forehead against his-

A low growl sounded from the darkness. The two whipped their heads, muscles tensing instantly. Something pounced and several shadows rushed at Donnie and April. They drew their weapons in time, but paused when the animals quacked hysterically.

The ducks swerved to fly around them, but one smacked right into April’s chest, sending her toppling. Donnie arms snatched around her waist before she plummeted off the bridge. However, the duck smacked the tessen right out of her hand. April tried to follow its flight, but it’s black shade blended in with the night. The only clue to its whereabouts was a plop when it landed in the creek.

“No! My tessen!” April cried.

“I’ll get it.” Donnie handed her his bo staff. “Use this on whatever scared those ducks.” Swinging over the railing, he landed smoothly in the knee-deep water and sloshed towards where he calculated the tessen would be.

April readied the bo towards where the ducks flew from. She heard a friendly bark and a dog trotted towards her.

“I apologize if we scared you,” a raspy voice said. A bearded man in raggedy clothing limped onto the bridge, reaching for his dog. “Duck herding is Magpie’s favorite, especially on a full moon.”

April glanced at her friend. Luckily, the trees overhanging the creek sheltered Donnie from the light. His silhouette was difficult to make out, so his identity was safe for now. She just had to keep this guy distracted.

“It’s all right. I just didn’t expect a duck to run into me. Any reason why she’s up past her bedtime?” she referred to Magpie, hoping to keep his attention on anything but Donnie. And if she knew anything, it was that dog owners could go on about their pets.

“Well I reckon that the singing of the park trolls kept him up and once she caught a whiff of duck, there was no stopping her. Here girl,” he called. On command, Madpie circled around his legs, tail wagging excitedly. He chuckled and patted his dog, then sneezed and wiped his snot on his patched sleeve.

April raised an eyebrow. This guy was clearly off his rocker. She had to send him on his way somehow without angering him. The last thing she wanted to do was engage in hand-to-hand combat with someone who clearly didn’t believe in bathing.

“Isn’t it a little late for you kids to be out here? The gremlins like to capture young women around this time of the year for their rituals,” he asked, his eyes wide with worry.

“Well, my boyfriend and I just wanted to take a stroll and we hardly noticed the time,” April answered. At a certain word, she heard a splash in Donnie’s general direction, then some confused mumbling. She mainly called him that to deflect the man from trying anything fishy. But there was another reason as well. . .

“Well that’s valiant of him to dig through the mermaid-invested waters to look for whatever you lost,” the man grinned.

“I found it!” Donnie called, holding her beloved fan in the air.

“Great! We’d better get going now. Curfew and all that.” April excused them. She rushed to meet Donnie on the shore towards the path they came from. They disappeared into the shadows. The man waved after them and Madpie hopped into the air yapping.

“Have a safe night! Kids and giant turtles these days. Come on, Magpie, let’s go find us some leprechaun gold.”

Magpie yipped.

~

They headed for April’s with only the occasional comment of how strange the man was. They shrugged it off saying he was hardly the strangest person they had encountered.

Arriving at the apartment, the two climbed up to her balcony. Donnie avoided eye contact for a moment before speaking up.

“I’m glad we got to hang out tonight,” he said, using a neutral term for their outing.

“Me too,” April replied. She reached her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a hug, which he gladly returned. Holding each other for a moment, they slowly let go. April turned and stepped through the window to her room. Meeting Donnie’s eyes, she said,

“Can’t wait for our next date!” before gently closing the window.

Donnie’s breathing stopped, his eyes bugged. He stood frozen on the balcony before the meaning of her words sunk in. A smile crept onto his lips. Leaping off the balcony, he sprinted the entire way home whooping excitedly, not caring who heard his happiness.