Contemplating Christmas:

Michelangelo hummed along to the Christmas music that played on the old radio that rested on top of the refrigerator. Rolling up onto the balls of his feet, he reached up and turned down the volume, then went back to the task at hand.  Setting two mugs on the narrow counter space next to the small kitchen sink, he quickly dumped a package of hot chocolate powder into each of the cups, then carefully added the hot water.  "Hey Dom!" his voice rang out cheerfully, carrying down the hall to where his friend stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, gently wiping away the smeared eyeliner from under her eye.

"Yeah Mikey?"  She called out as she set the make-up stained washcloth on the sink, then examined her reflection in the mirror to make certain that she no longer looked like a raccoon.

"Do you want peppermint in your cocoa or..." his words became a high pitched shriek as he turned to find a shadowy figure climbing in the window.

Her heart leaped into her throat as she heard the shrill scream. Without hesistating she moved to the hall closet to grab the baseball bat that she kept there.  Gripping it tightly, she silently made her way down the hallway, then carefully peered around the corner, her dark green eyes seeking the threat that had caused Michelangelo to scream.  The breath that she had been holding escaped her in a soft sigh when she saw Raphael standing there, smirking at his younger brother.

"Raph?" surprise mingled with relief filled her voice. "What is going on?"

"Raph just about gave me a heart attack."  The orange masked turtle said as he placed his hand over his heart.  Then frowned at his older brother. "DUDE!  That is SO not cool, sneaking up on people!" Mikey chided him.

Michelangelo's scolding tone only caused Raphael to chuckle. "The look on yer face..." he teased. "Priceless."

"Not cool."  Mikey repeated.

Taking a good look at his brother, the fabric of his mask rose. "What's with the Santa get up?"

Without missing a beat, Mikey grinned and said. "Well my Elf costume is at the cleaners."

Raphael groaned and rolled his eyes. "Sorry I asked."

"Woah..." Donatello's voice drifted into the room as he climbed through the window. "You were right about the bat." he said as his gaze fell upon Dominique who was still clutching the bat.

"Right about the bat?" she asked as her attention was drawn from Raphael and Michelangelo, to the other brother as he entered the room.

"Well, when I didn't hear back from Mikey, we thought maybe his surprise went ...badly..." Donatello began, however, was interrupted by their older brother, who looked much like the cat that had swallowed the proverbial canary.

Chuckling, Raphael explained. "I told him, how ya might have whacked Mikey with the bat if he scared ya."

A sheepish expression settled upon her features as she slowly lowered the baseball bat. "Thankfully, that didn't happen."

"YOU'RE thankful!?"  Michelangelo's blue eyes widened to the size of saucers and for a moment he simply stared at Dominique. However, his shock was short lived, and he quickly quipped.  "Remind me to NEVER throw you a surprise birthday party."

"Speaking of surprises..."  Donatello said as he looked around the room, his gaze drawn upwards to the hundreds of white paper snowflakes that hung from the ceiling.  Reaching up, his fingertips brushed against one of the lower hanging ones. With great care he slowly turned it around to better examine it, then reached for another; his chocolate brown eyes examining it closely, noticing the small differences, and as he moved to look at another, he realized that much like real snowflakes, no two were alike.

"Isn't it fantastic?"  Dominique's features brightened as she watched Donatello study the incredible display that Michelangelo had created. "I mean, it's just...beautiful." she said as she moved closer to the brightly lit Christmas tree that stood near the corner of the room.

"It is quite impressive..." Donatello admitted, truly impressed by the snowflakes that had been so carefully crafted by his younger brother. Like the ceiling, the tree that he now stood in front of, had been covered with Origami snowflakes of every shape and size.  "Very impressive indeed." he said, smiling as he looked over at Dominique.

Across the room, a small smile tugged at the corners of Raphael's mouth as he watched Dominique, who with a childlike wonder, excitedly showed Donatello the differences in the ornaments.  Realizing how happy his little brother's surprise had made her, he turned to look at Michelangelo and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Ya did good."

Michelangelo's eyes widened ever so slightly as his older brother's words reached him.  Raphael wasn't one to offer praise, at least, not lightly, and so he couldn't help but feel himself swell with pride as Raphael smiled at him.  "Yeah?"  hope filled that one word as he smiled back at his brother.

"Yeah...real good."  he smiled, then said. “Now get out.”

“Aww, thanks Raph.”  He beamed, truly happy that his brother had acknowledged his hard work.   “That means... “ However, his features fell suddenly as he heard his brothers next words. “Wait! What?”

Raphael quickly clamped his hand over Michelangelo's mouth to try to keep him quiet. "Listen..." he hissed. "I need to be alone with Dom..."

Ever the opportunist to gross out Raphael, Michelangelo licked the palm of his brother's hand.

"Eewww...ack! Mikey...could you be more disgustin'?" he growled.

"Is that really a question?" Mikey grinned at his older brother, then quickly put his hands up as he saw the vein thumping in Raph's head.  "Dude, chillax... I'll go...I totally understand."

Raphael blinked, having been totally taken off guard by his younger brother's seemingly sincere remarks.
"You will? You do?"  he asked.

"Totally!" Mikey chirped. "You want some smoochy-smoochy time!" he winked at his brother whose face now nearly matched the color of his mask.

"It's not like that!" Raphael exploded suddenly. "I just need to ask her...."

"Ask me what?"  Dominique's soft voice cut through the red haze that had settled upon him and he shut his eyes tightly to try and regain control of his temper.

"Dude, seriously, she's the Raph whisper." Michelangelo whispered to Donnie as he fell into place at his side.

"MIKEY!" Raph yelled as his eyes snapped upon.

"Okay...Okay... I'm...we're going..." Mikey grabbed Donatello by the arm and started to drag him towards the window.  "Bye Dom!" He smiled brightly at her, then grinned at the still steaming Raphael. "Later ... Romeo...and don't forget, kiss her once for me!" he taunted, the last bit was said in a sing-song voice just before Donatello snatched him by the back of jacket and yanked him out the window onto the fire escape.  

Dominique sighed, then shook her head at the antics of the youngest of the brothers. Returning her attention to Raphael, she noticed that he had taken to counting in hopes of keeping his temper in check.  "You okay?" she asked softly as she reached out to place her hand on his arm.

"There are not enough numbers..." he growled under his breath just before he felt a slight pressure on his arm where her fingers curled around the leather that covered it.  Taking a long slow breath, he released the final bit of the anger that had nearly consumed him, promising himself that he would hurt Mikey later, when Dom wasn't around.

"Better?"  she asked in a soft, soothing tone, then fell silent and waited patiently for him to regain his composer.

Seeing the concern that had etched itself into her features, the worry that flickered within her dark green eyes, he felt a pang of guilt as he knew that he was the cause of her distress. That was the last thing he wanted, especially tonight, and so, he managed to smile for her. "Yeah. I'm good."

"Good." a warm smile touched her rose colored lips as she met his gaze and held it. "So..." her voice came softly as her hand slowly moved down the length of his arm to take his hand in hers.  "What was it that you wanted to ask me?"