TMNT Rae/VC - New Magic

"Oh, no! Not right away," Mikey shook his head, "We're still too rambunctious right now. We're probably going to wait a few years, but of course, if something happens it happens. We talked about that," he nodded proudly, glad they had planned ahead, "If-when she does get pregnant, we also agreed that we're too impatient so we'll probably find out the gender as soon as we can. We don't care either way, really, but you know how we are."

"I wasn't thinking right now." Leo burst into laughter, "but I was just wondering if it was in the cards. Yeah I could see that. You'd demand it and then make us bear the suspense. I can imagine you'd tell us in an overly dramatic fashion, both the gender and the pregnancy." He shook his head from side to side. "You'll have your hands full, no matter who they take after more. Good thing you're nothing but a bundle of energy."

"We're already kid magnets and I swear parents are so thankful when their kids return to them when we all play at the park. I bet those rascals go home and konk out." Mikey grinned, "I should leave you to it," he hopped to his feet and headed for the door, "Remember to ask her name next time," he winked at Leo and sauntered out.

()

It was about midnight and Raph was out for a patrol, decked out in his winter ninja gear when he arrived at his destination. "Do you /ever/ sleep?" he asked as he opened the door to Madeline's garage with some difficulty, "The door's practically frozen to the frame! Kami..." he had been away a week since she hadn't called him to do bike or car repairs and it wasn't nearly as freezing as it was but it was creeping in. "Did I make things so awkward that you don't wanna see me?" he asked her since she hadn't responded and walked over to the wall he'd put the heat charm, able to charge it from the other side since the walls weren't that thick.

"Not awkward no," Madeline shook her head. She looked tired, and she was swaying a little as she moved around the garage. There was hardly...anything in here. Just one motorbike and one car. "No one's been coming. The weather's too awful for anyone to try to get up here, let alone get out of their driveways. I didn't want to call you, and then have you be bored if there wasn't anything going on. I don't want to use you. Though -um- I guess I should've called...if you wanted to hang or something..."

"Yeah..." Raph came up behind her quietly and easily, his hands on her shoulders and he let his magic wash over her, "I can't say I'm not upset. I don't want to use you, either, or make you feel like it's just fun in the sheets. Cassidy would murder me herself, remember?" he rubbed her arms, wishing his charm would work faster, but it was just a slow creep, "We can do things other than work on bikes and cars. You don't seem like the mall-type person, but I could be wrong. Rock climbing, pizza ranch buffet...I dunno. That's just it, I /don't/ know, so why not tell me?" he did notice she was wearing the cloves he had bought but then given to Cassi since he was too chickenshit to give them to her himself. "How are those? Are they good for work?"

"Cassidy told me that you bought them for me." Madeline looked at the gloves and smiled happily as she flexed her fingers in them. "They're easy to work with and nothing gets caught with the fibers. You took a lot of time looking for these things. You didn't have to, but thank you." She thought about what he said, and it was true. He didn't know her and she really didn't know him. "What do you feel up to doing, right now?" She asked after a moment. "Do you want to hang somewhere? Do you want to grab lunch? I can't do a lot, but...you'd be surprised on what I can do."

"It's after midnight, but I'm sure we can find a place to eat. It is a city that doesn't sleep. Maybe a bar that serves food?" Raph suggested, "I can call my brothers and see if someone else can patrol tonight instead and spend it with you? I'm glad you like the gloves...and I'm sorry I didn't give them to you."

"It's okay," Madeline thought about it for a moment. She didn't have anything to do really. "That sounds good. If you think your brother's aren't going to kill you for it."

"Alright," he leaned down enough to plant a kiss on her cheek and pulled back, fishing in his jacket pocket to pull out his cell. He paced around a bit as he talked to Leo, getting a pissy voice on the other end about how since he was leader he couldn't just do his own thing anymore, along with some other things. The line cut off before he could even snap back a response and he growled under his breath. Shoving it away he reached up and took his mask off, then turned his reversible jacket inside out. "Leo said he'll let it slide this time since I'm new at being a leader /and/ because it is so bitchin' ass cold so a lot of would-be badguys are probably inside as well. Though, he added that I really should do this during the day instead of when I should be patrolling."

Madeline nodded, "It's a good thing you can change out of your ninja gear like that. Leo was the one that had the disappearing magic, right? Did you guys ever figure out the cause?"

"No, and if /he/ knows he's not telling. Probably embarrassed about it when he shouldn't be," Raph shrugged, "He's not using it during training in case it backfires again. If he does use it at all it's for small, simple things like when we played 'keep the remote away from Mikey' earlier."

Once Madeline grabbed her keys he put his arm around her waist and pulled her close, the two of them getting out of the garage, "We're gunna have to take a cab since I've just been rooftop jumping. Probably shouldn't with the ice and stuff, but whatever," he shrugged.

Madeline frowned, but nodded her head. The cab was probably the best bet, it was too cold to roof jump and she'd much rather not freeze her ass off before they were able to get seated with a nice drink and warm food. They got outside and he hailed the cab, giving instructions to head down towards the bar Feiry Wave. As the taxi driver drove, Madeline placed her hands near the warmth of the car's heater. "I had my magic back fire on me once..." She said with a soft, wry smile. "It was awful and humiliating. I can't blame him for being scared."

"It's something everybody goes through. Kami knows I did a lot since my anger issues were awful. I was always kinda jealous of Leo being so chill and in control of not just his powers, but pretty much everything. Anything he gets his hands on he's good at or takes care of very well. A lot of the time I would just...destroy it. Mostly by accident," he shrugged and reached to take her hands in his, warming her much faster as he let the red glow float around their hands. He supposed he was being pushy and should just leave her be, but...it'd been a /week/. He had been feeling anxious and he honestly didn't care that Leo chewed him out. He needed to see her.

Madeline blinked when she noticed that his fingers were trembling as he held her hand and she furrowed her eyebrows in concern. He wasn't letting anything show on his face, and she decided that right now, it was probably best she didn't ask. She curled her fingers around his and smiled shyly. "I don't mean to push people away when they do things for me. I just don't know what to do sometimes when they do. A lot of time, it's out of charity. Out of so called "goodwill", but well...they never really own up to it. When you gave me the gloves, I was a little hesitant, but Cassidy assured me that you had -uh- specifics for it. Most people would be content to give me a pair. You...-um-...you thought about what I needed. Not many people -um- do." She shrugged helplessly. "She told me you were -um- worried I might chew you out...or worse."

"Yeah...yeah I was..." he slid a hand up her arm, taking to glow with him until he hooked his fingers behind her neck. He leaned forward as he tugged her, but instead of kissing her he just pressed their foreheads together and released a heavy but relieved sigh, "I understand you do your best to fend for yourself. I get that, I really do. My 'but' is...that I want to 'own up to it'. I want to help you out because I can, not out of pity. My fear was you'd think I was taking pity on you and that's not it at all. I was...I still am, worried about you."

Madeline sighed softly, relaxing a bit as she felt his fingers lightly rub at her neck. It felt good and it felt nice. "I don't think you're doing this out of pity." She said after a moment. "Like I said, you had specifics you wanted for my gloves. People with pity don't do that, I think your concern is...legitimate. My concern though is that I don't want you to take too much on, you know? Heat charms, sex, and gifts are one thing. But draining yourself is another. I don't have a lot to offer you, Raph. Shelter maybe. A good mechanic. Maybe a conversation and easy neutral ground. But other than that? It's not a lot."

"No, but it's enough," Raph assured as the taxi pulled up to it's destination, "It's the simple things in life. I always thought I could survive just fine on the streets." He helped her out since there was a slick patch and they got themselves inside and up to the bar, "Hey, this place has a dance floor. That's cool. Pretty versatile aren't they?" he mused.

"It's a good place. Especially since Candy's the D.J right now." There was a blonde sucking on a lollipop up at a stand, moving records and smiling as he bobbed his head up and down to the music. Madeline grabbed Raph's hand and lead him towards the bar. "The crowd's alright, rarely any fights." She assured Raph. "Though knowing you, you'd probably relish it."

"Maybe, maybe not," Raph said coyly as he hopped onto one of the bar chairs and took a glance at the menu. It wasn't very much, but things like salads or egg rolls. Snacks to fuel somebody just enough and easy to make. It didn't look like the type of place for a full kitchen in the back. "So what are you after, eh?"

"Hm?" Madeline blinked a bit and looked at him. "What am I...after?" She thought about it for a moment as she looked at the food. Sam would probably see how skinny she was, and then she'd have his wife knocking at her door again. Like usual, but if she didn't pop in every now and then, he'd probably call missing persons'. "I can be after a lot of things with that vague question."

"Well /I/ was talking about food, but what did /you/ think I meant?" Raph snickered at her, "I'll get the eggrolls myself. Those sound pretty good." He leaned his cheek against his hand, "So, do you come here often? You knew who the DJ is."

"Egg rolls and a salad." Madeline nodded, placing the menu back. "I hang here sometimes. Sam's the bartender and owner of the place. His manager, Nix, doesn't own it but they like to do the whole "I wanna speak to the manager/owner thing, and it'll always surprise them when it's Sam and not Nix who has the most power. Laid back kinda guy. Has a wife. His brother in law is the D.J." She gestured to the D.J. "Candy for the candy. He's married to Nix. You could say this place is family owned and operated. It's just shocking Sam's brother doesn't work here. Cassie only does Weekends and some weekdays."

"Well damn. Where does his brother work then?" Raph's eyes widened, "You know a lot more people than I thought. I don't mean anything rude by that, just...you seemed like very much a loner who doesn't go very many places and Cassi seemed like your only friend. Do you know anybody else?"

Madeline smiled warmly, "His brother works as a police officer, he's hoping to be promoted to being detective. He's the only one whose deviated from the bartending scene. Though Sam and Cassandra had worked really hard to pull him through the academy. He's married to Miranda, another officer. She's expecting." She tapped her fingers to her lips as she thought about everyone that she met. "Um...in here at the moment? Not really, it's a bit dark to see though. I -uh- I guess I give off the loner vibe a bit too well huh? I think it surprises a lot of people to know I got a lot of connections. Explains a lot, doesn't it? About the ninja war...and -um- why they wanted me in."