Mean, Green, & Making A Scene

(Warning: Sweet Raph ahead. I really hope I didn't make Raph seem OOC in this post XD I just wanted to show that sometimes he can't keep his soft side from showing when with Ava.)

Raph initially tensed when Ava moved to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling the turtle into a hug. Once it finally clicked what was going on, he raised his brow in surprise while he stared down at the top of Ava's head. Very hesitantly, he went to return the gesture by bringing his arms around her waist; giving her enough time to pull away if needed. He blinked a few times as Ava murmured her thanks, telling him how much it meant to her that he stuck his neck out like that for her brother.

This caused a small smile to flit about Raph's lips, "It's no problem. He means a lot to you and if scaring off some dorks for him makes you happy, I have no problem doing it." He told her in a quiet voice, having unknowingly let his soft side show in this moment. Raph didn't really consider the fact that he had broken one of his family's most important rules, he had done it to help Jake. Help people, that's what they did, right? Besides it made Ava happy to know that her brother wouldn't have to deal with those jerks anytime soon, which in the end made Raph happy.

Ava's lips soon came in contact with Raph's cheek, giving him a small peck. But that was all it took for the turtle's face to light up like Times Square. Seriously, his face was as red as his mask for a few seconds. He took a step back while tilting his head down to hide his blush, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck. "Thanks..." He said in response to her words, ones he did not often here, not even from Casey. But then again, their relationship was far different than the one he had with Ava.

However, the turtle quickly snapped to attention when he heard Jake tease them; looking at the boy with narrowed eyes. It wasn't like the glare he had given the bullies, it was similar to the one Mikey got when he was trying to press his brothers' buttons. So nothing severe. Raph wouldn't have to do anything though, Ava taking off after her brother as he sang.

His eyes ridges raised when she tackled him into the bean bag, having smacked a hand over his mouth to silence him. It didn't do much good however, Jake still managing to get the words out in a muffled voice. "It's not like that, Jakey!" She scolded, "We're just friends, Jakey." Raph nodded along to this, siding with her. "Besides" Raph said as he gained a smirk, "I don't think she could handle this." Judging by his tone, Raph was clearly joking, something he was known for.

However the amused look Raph had soon dropped as Ava made mention of the friendship bracelets she had made for him and Mikey. Of course, his brother would probably tease him over such a gift, but it was thoughtful nonetheless. She had taken the time to hand make something for Raph, and although he didn't have the bracelet on him now; he'd add it to his weapon's hilt soon. "It was cool" Raph told her with a slight smile, one which assured her that he had liked her present.

Even Raphael seemed to be shocked by Jake's words, his eye ridges shooting up at the words. "Whoa!" He exclaimed almost immediately after Jake stated that he would give them some "adult alone time". He assumed that due to Jake's age, he didn't really understand what he was implying- Raph and Ava were close, but they weren't that close.

However, before Ava could correct him, Jake retreated inside the building. This caused his sister to shake her head, thankfully not making a big deal out of it. If she had then this situation would be a lot more awkward than it had to be, so Raph was appreciative of her just shrugging it off.

She took a moment to brush herself off , her attention soon turning towards Raph. "Can't handle you, eh?" She said in response to the turtle's earlier statement, strolling up to him. It wasn't long before a finger was pressed against his plastron, "I think you have a challenge there, mister. It's you who can't handle me." Raph tilted his head at the statement, mirroring Ava's look as he once more crossed his arms. "Oh really?" He questioned with a slight smile, speaking with a teasing voice as well. "Nothing for nothing, you're not the scariest thing I've face" He commented, though he seemed to forget that it wasn't looks which made the threat. Ava had a fiery streak, evident by the first night the turtles had met her, when she had pulled a knife on Hun.

Despite the snark between them, both individuals' eyes were soft, making it apparent that there was no animosity between- Quite the opposite in fact. Ava soon spoke again, telling Raph that she was glad he liked her gift to him. She probably assumed that Raph would of teased her for it, for she had seemed relieved when Raph told her that it was cool.

She went onto thank him for walking Jake home, to which Raph nodded, afterwards stating that she had a project due and it was driving her crazy. "Do you need me to drag Donnie over here?" He asked as a joke, though in actuality, Donnie liked to help out with schoolwork. He did so with April and Denise, though the latter didn't seem to need his help as much. She could work her way through a problem, she was a smart girl after all. If Raph had to take a guess, Denise was probably the top of her class. She had to be if she was able to keep up with Donnie's science blabber.

That aside though, Raph blinked when Ava was checked the time on her watch. They both soon realized that it was way later than either had anticipated, already nearing two in the morning. Wow, how long had they been standing around talking? Raph nodded understandingly when Ava said that it was probably time for him to head home. It was, otherwise Leo's "Mother Hen" alarms would go off. Despite the many times that Raph stated that he didn't need Leo to babysit him, Leo still fretted over him, he did with all of them. Raph assumed it had to do with him being the oldest and thinking it to be his job to watch over them, even when they didn't want him to.

"Yeah. Now's usually the time that Leo has an attack of some sort if we aren't home" Raph said, getting that feeling you usually got when having to part ways with someone. "You still coming to train, right?" He asked her, that teasing smile soon returning to his face, "Gotta get some muscle if you hope to take on any of us."

Raph gave her a lopsided smile as she said that she'd be at the lair tomorrow night. Raph was aware that Ava was a busy person, she had a lot to balance in her life. From school to home life to after school activities, it was a wonder she had time to do these training sessions. But seeing how tomorrow was the weekend, she'd have time to catch up on sleep and do what she needed to get done.

"Better get some shuteye" Raph told her, unlike Donnie though, Ava wasn't the type to work herself to death. She knew her limits, which was good. Donnie on the other hand, once he got really involved in a project, he wouldn't quit until he finished it. This led to numerous all-nighters and times where one of the brothers would have to drag Donnie out of the lab. It got really annoying, but now that they had Denise, Raph was hoping he could get her to sweet talk Donnie into leaving the lab and consuming something that wasn't caffeinated.

The turtle soon went to approach the ledge of Ava's building, turning his head to look at her when she told him to be safe on the way back. He gave her another smile along with a two-fingered salute, wishing her a good night.

Their goodbyes exchanged, Raph took a running start towards the building's ledge and leapt from it. He could be seen landing on the neighboring apartment complex, repeating the actions again and again until he was out of sight. This left Ava to finish her project and get some much needed sleep. However, neither were aware that the moment they had shared on the rooftop wasn't as private as they initially thought.

OOC: Yep, time for some training. I’m not XD Just kidding, it’s going to be interesting to have Denise argue with someone since she’s pretty non-confrontational. That’s fine, I hope the event goes well for you.

OOC: Bump.

OOC: The argument? Hmm... I'm not sure. Maybe Denise accidentally spills something on some notes that Donnie was working on?

OOC: Yeah, sure.

OOC: I could start, but I’m out at the moment. So I’ll have to wait until I’m home.

The next night, Ava was due to come down to the lair for training. Admittedly Raph didn't have much planned other than to show her how to use the sai, along with some other weapons. Denise was already here and was probably working with Donnie on something, or just hanging out. He wasn't sure which, but he and the others appreciated her spending as much time as she did with him. It gave Donnie an outlet to express whatever it was that went on in his head, and saved his brothers having to listen to something that they knew nothing about.

As of now, Raph had snuck Ava into the dojo and handed her a roll of athletic tape. He told her that it'd be best for her to wrap up her hands. It would help to keep both muscle and bone in a stable position as they trained, as well as reduce pain. Just goes to show that the wrappings which the brothers wore had purpose other than making them look cool, they would probably get a lot more injuries without it.

While Ava got to work on taping her hands, Raph went to the weapons rack to retrieve a spare pair of sai for her. "You wanted to start with the sai first, right?" He asked her, turning back around to look at her. As per usual with these training sessions, it was advised that Ava wore something that was easy to move in; also that she kept her voice down. They were still sneaking her around the lair, and it was a wonder that Splinter had yet to find out- Or if he had, confront them.

Seriously, there was no sneaking anything passed that rat; it was like he had a sixth sense. A lot of the times that Ava had come to visit, he actually expected Splinter to pop up without warning. That had been the case when Denise had been hanging out with them.

(Can I just say that I like the idea of Splinter knowing the whole time but never saying anything? Since Raph is one of the most emotionally reserved of the turtles, there's a lot of benefits of having Ava around. She is one of the people that Raph is most comfortable around, aside from maybe Spike.)

Admittedly, Raph also wondered why neither him nor Mikey made mention of Ava to Master Splinter. If anything, he'd thought that Splinter would get along fine with her. Being surrounded by his teenage sons all of the time, it seemed that Splinter enjoyed the company of someone who was more mature; which Ava was. Then again though, Splinter was pretty finicky about human company. It probably had to do with if someone found them, knew where they lived, and turned against them- It would be bad news for them.

The pair of sai in hand, Raph approached Ava before he flipped them, that way the handles were facing Ava. "Here you go" He told her, allowing for her to take the weapons. At Ava's mention of her becoming better at the sai than Raph, the turtle let out a snort, "Fat chance. I got at least a decade of experience over you, but I like the enthusiasm." He told her with a smirk, if that was Ava's goal then she had a lot of catching up to do. Raph and his brothers had been training since they were tots, and they were still learning. Ava had a long way to go to get to their level, but she had the mindset, which was a great first step.

"We're going to start with some basic maneuvers" Raph told her as he retrieved his own sai from his belt. "So to start, hang them by the prongs from your thumbs with the handles facing outside" The turtle instructed, demonstrating what to do with his own weapons. "Then put your pointer finger along the length of the handle as you wrap your other fingers around it to hold it."