locks_it_up | (no subject)

*Raph takes a good look around the room.*

Things have been bad, haven't they?

*He's seen April do this. When she's scared or stressed she cleans.*

She looks down.

His voice... the way he moved... the sheer horrifying wrongness of seeing her little brother twisted in such a way...

"Yeah."

*He lets go of her hand, and then takes a step behind her so he can wrap his arms around her. Warm equals comfort, everyone knows that.*

but it's over now, right?

She leans back against him, and shifts her neck to lean her cheek against his.

"Yes."

good.

*Turning his head to kiss her temple.*

so, out o' curiosity. How long has it been since you've had a nap. or do i not want to know?

"I was with you, the last time."

Death does not often sleep.

Nah, that was like...full out sleepin'. Naps are shorter and ... well, I guess for you that would be nappin'. Okay, you know what? Nevermind.

She laughs, a little.

"So. Bed, or hammock?"

I uh...never shared a hammock with someone before. Can you even do that?

"It's possible."

She slips out from his arms and walks to the door. Sure enough, outside is the same garden... but now there's a hammock strung from two of the live oak trees.

The sunlight is golden and dappled and perfect.

*Nah, you must be hearing things. That wasn't a whimper coming from Raph. Nope. Totally hearing things.

His eyes don't move away from the door, as he marchs outside making sure to pick up Death and throw her over his shoulder en route.*

From over his shoulder:

"You know... that's really kind of annoying."

She sounds somehow amused, though.

*He chuckles*

You'll learn to cope.

*After putting her in the hammock he kicks off his boots and walks barefoot in the grass.*

She watches him, fingers looped in the space between the ropes, and smiles.

To see him like this is better than good. It brings her a certain kind of calm. Peace, even.

*Raph looks back at her and smiles broadly. Were he back in his old skin, it's a smile that would make him look a whole lot like his younger brother. As it is, he just looks a whole lot younger. Or more to the point, like the 21 he actually is.*

Well? Go on. Get Comfy.

One arm behind her head, one draped across her belly, looking at him.

She returns his smile. It makes her happy.

"I'm plenty comfy."

*He looks away, blushing under the attention. Maybe it's not so much away as up, actually. Raph scans the oak tree for a suitable branch, eyes darting back and forth measuring distance and calculating force needed to bridge that distance. There's a crouch, and a leap....and he lands in the tree, causing it to sway just a bit.

He climbs as high as he can go, scouting out the surrounding area. When his eyes have had their fill of greenery, he makes his way back down the tree. He comes close to losing his footing a couple of times, but nothing he can't recover from. Eventually winds up hanging upside down on the lowest branch overlooking the hammock.*

hi.

She shifts her eyes upward to look at him. And grins.

"Hi."

She reaches up to bat at his hair, then laughs.

*He, in turn, bats her hands away. There go his eyes again, only this time he's scanning the hammock. Arms reach the branch as legs disengage and rotate forward resulting in a flip which lands him in the hammockd without causing it to rock in the slightest.*

Huh. Still got it.

*He smirks.*

"That's my ninja."

She kisses his cheek, and nuzzles carefully against his neck before snaking an arm around his waist and pulling him closer to her. If such a thing is possible in a hammock.

*He smiles and follows her lead.*

damn straight

*Well, that is until the very last moment, when his weight shifts and he rolls her on to his chest*

She raises herself on one arm to look down at him. Like she was studying.

In the trees, birds sing, and the wind sighs through the leaves.

*He twitches slightly under the scrutiny.*

Whaaaaaat? Should you be like, sleeping or something?

A small, unreadable smile.

She puts her head back down on his chest.

"Mmm. Maybe."

*One arm drapes across her back while the other grabs the edge of the hammock and pulls. The hammock begins to sway with a steady rythm. Raph was never one for sitting still.*

maybe?
Why? you got somethin' else in mind?

She takes this proposition into careful consideration. "Hmmm."

Her thumb strokes the bit of available skin between his shirt and the waistband of his pants.

"I hadn't been thinking of anything."

*A breathless laugh excapes*

Haaah....me neither....well, I wasn't anyway....

She smiles into his shirt.

"I think I'd almost be too tired to have very much fun."

Note the almost, however.

*The contrast of her skin against his, and her weight on his chest...it's dizzying. He chuckles*

...wouldn't... want you...to...strain nothin'....

"Could go all kinds of wrong, me straining something. And where would that leave us?"

Oh, hey, look... he has more skin for her to touch. This is a nice thing.

A squirrel chitters up somewhere in the branches, and the sunlight sways almost in time with the swing of the hammock.

*Electric. Her touch is almost electric, and his body reacts in kind.*

bad place. very bad. super bad....

*His hand, no not the one clutching at her back, the other one. The one that was rocking the hammock? That one twines itself in her hair as he leans up and kisses her deeply.*

She might just breathe in when he kisses her, and the hand at his hip goes up to flutter at the juncture of neck and jaw.

She kisses him slow and long and leisurely, in the same easy time with the sway of the rest of the garden.

It's quite amazing that he lives through it.

*The hand at her back finds its way under the hem of her shirt, palm splayed against the small of her back.

The only thing that doesn't keep time with the with the kisses and the trees, is his heartbeat.*

She can feel his pulse through his lips, his belly, his hands...

Slowly, slowly, she breaks the kiss, and looks him in the eyes, fingertips resting on the exquisitely sensitive flesh below the ear.

"You alright?"

*His head drops back to the hammock and he looks up at her. There are stars in his eyes.*

as rain.

*A look of concern flashes across his face.

you?

She brushes hair from his forehead with tiny movements of her fingers, and smiles.

"Perfect."

She looks down at him with a smile that's almost sleepy-- maybe it's contentment.

*He smiles a small smile. His normal smile, not the madcap one from before.*

i think that's the sweetest word i ever heard, right there. come'on, get comfy. ain't everyday you get to nap. should enjoy while you can...

Maybe it is.

She starts to say something, but is interrupted by a yawn.

She snuggles down to rest her head on his chest, and listens to the rhythm of his pulse, the sway of the trees, the murmur of the brook, the soft susurration of the wind in the grass...

The sun is warm, and her brother is whole.

And so this small part of Death slips into sleep with absolute contentment.

*In truth, Raph isn't all that tired....but that won't stop him from drifting off to sleep. One part training, one part sloth, he just can't help but get sleep when ever he has the chance for it. Never know when that chance will happen again.

Before his eyes become too heavy to hold up he gives the hammock another good rock. Swaying leisurely in the breeze, he too drifts off to sleep.