Chapter Text
Raph lighted the last candle, then stepped back and looked around the room. Perfect.
He was preparing for this moment since last Friday, so he wasn't ready to accept any mistakes now, even the tiniest imperfection wasn't allowed to enter this room. Too much was at stake.
The red ninja took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Fuck, how did he even get to this point? He used to be a tough guy and while strong emotions were indeed his thing, he had never imagined that they would one day be leaning into ... well, romantic kind of way.
Damn, he was bad at this. Sure, he can try to set the mood but let's face it, he is not the kind of guy who could sweep someone off their feet with some grand romantic gesture. When it comes to expressing one's love feelings, he is described as awkward at his best. Raph knows rage, sorrow, jealousy, and while he could never claim that he is especially good at expressing them, they are at least familiar to him. But love ... Boy, that's a whole nother story.
Raph shook his head, crossed his arms, and leaned against the wall. God, what is he doing? The ambient might be alright, but he cannot do anything about his general behaviour. Gosh, he will utterly humiliate himself. He should just clean everything up as long as he still has the chance, tell Mikey that it was a stupid idea, and wait for a more proper moment, one that will be more Raph-like, more ...
But while he was thinking that, a picture of Donnie came to his mind. He cursed out loud and sat on a chair, defeated. Fuck. He has to do it like that, it's for Donnie after all. This is the least he can do for him, Donnie deserves this little love-story scene, even if it's with a guy who knows nothing of chivalry and whose reputation has nothing to do with being gallant. Yes, he must do it like that, for Donnie, especially after everything that has happened recently.
He stood up and started walking across the room nervously. The clock on the nightstand was nearing 7 o'clock. He knew he did everything he could think of that would make the atmosphere just right, yet somehow it didn't feel like it was good enough.
Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by a soft knocking on the door. He turned around just as the door opened, and Mikey's head popped out into view. His little brother looked around the room and whistled. With a mischievous smile, he said: »Woow, nice Raphie. I never thought you had it in you.«
»Shut up,« came Raph's answer, but his voice didn't convey its usual annoyance.
To red ninja's displeasure, Mikey saw his nervous fidgeting. The smaller turtle walked inside the room with an encouraging smile. »Don't worry bro, Donnie will be amazed. I mean, look at you, you even put a tie on! Who wouldn't want to jump you, all dressed up like that?«
»Mikey, you ...«
This time Raph's words came out more like a growl, however, Mikey only laughed: »There it is, you already look more like yourself! Shall I bring the main guest then?«
These words harshly brought Raph back to reality. Right, dinner. Shit.
He unconsciously raised his hand to loosen his tie but stopped himself fast enough and coughed awkwardly instead. »Uh, yeah. I mean, it's now or never ... or whatever.«
Mikey smiled, now with a softer look in his eyes. »Don't worry, everything will be just fine. Besides, you already kinda know that he is into you, right?«
»I guess ...«
»See, there is nothing to be afraid of!«
Raph sighed. Oh, there is, one just doesn't see it at first glance.
Suddenly, Mikey stood up straight, mockingly imitating a soldier's stance. »Well, I'll be going now. I'm pretty sure I'll have no trouble finding Donatello, he is in the lab most of the time anyway, so expect him to arrive at your door in a matter of minutes ...« Mikey turned and started walking out of the room. Before he left Raph alone, he sent one last grin over the shoulder, and said: »Go get him, tiger!«
At that, Raph started towards the door, but Mikey was gone in a blink of an eye, so Raph just closed the door behind him (not all that gently), then took another deep breath.
Yeah, the red hothead knew that there was some truth in Mikey's words. In an unexpected turn of events, Raph did find out that Donnie's feelings ran deeper than just simple brotherly love. However, that didn't mean that tonight would be going according to plans just yet since they had a lot to talk about.
Raph sighed, sat on his bed, and closed his eyes. Not for the first time he wondered how he got here. In response, his mind helpfully provided him with certain images from two weeks ago ...