[OOM: Up on the roof]

[mnt_raph]

*It's a nice dream. One might even say a happy dream, which is why there's an inadvertant reaction with the Pixie Dust he'd had sprinkled on him two days before. Raph doesn't know it, but he's been floating an inch or so above the bed for a good five minutes now. As one stage of sleep flows into the next, the dream ends and Raph comes crashing down onto the bed. This wakes him up enough to realize he's in bed, and he's not alone. Rolling onto his side he sees a mop of black hair sticking out from under neath the blankets. Half asleep he scoots over and wraps his arms around the sleeping figure, placing a kiss on the nape of her neck.

Something doesn't seem right, but he's too groggy to be able to put a finger on what exactly that is.
He rests his forehead between her shoulders.....her....broad shoulders.....waitaminute....

Eyes opening slowly at first, and then wider when the changes begin to sink in.....'round about now is when the screaming starts....*

Comments

[locks_it_up]

And it's about here that she notices the extra set of clothes.

She opens the door to the bathroom, and... bottles? She knows those bottles.

Death is very, very still.

Her voice cuts through the sound of the shower, flat and sharp.
"What happened."

[mnt_raph]

fuck
*He smacks his head against the tiles repeatedly.*
i don't know.

*Oh how he means that. With every fiber of his being....*

[locks_it_up]

"Stop that."

She finds herself taking a breath as a calming mechanism... and stops herself.

"Would this have anything to do with Tim running half-naked and screaming into the bar this morning?"

[mnt_raph]

*The dull thud of skull against tiles stops, and were there not a showercurtain obscuring her view, she'd have seen his cringe at her mention of Tim. When he opens his mouth to answer, the only thing he can muster is a dry heave.

Not exactly his most proud moment. Still wearing his boxershorts, arms braced on the corners of his shower, wanting to to die while Death stands beyond a plastic curtain.*

[locks_it_up]

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't hurt. So she doesn't say.

There's a whole lot of silence, actually.

Then: "My brother's getting married. I... I was going to ask you if you wanted to come with me."

[mnt_raph]

*His head drops.Somehow he manages to croak out...*

take me. please...

*No, he's not talking about the wedding.*

[locks_it_up]

She starts forward a half-step... and stops.

"Not yet, baby."

[mnt_raph]

*The water shuts off. There's a sound like someone wiping wet hair from their eyes, and then the ever familar sound of a wall being punched full force. The tile has the good sense to break.*

[locks_it_up]

She wishes he wouldn't do that.

Death hugs herself. She's not actually physically cold, but she feels somehow quite alone at the moment.

"I'm not happy at you."

[mnt_raph]

*Still behind the curtain, he flexes his hand. Joints pop and relocate. Bones shift.*

ain't exactly tickled wit'myself at the moment, either.

[locks_it_up]

The sound puts her teeth on edge.

"You didn't hurt anything seriously there, did you?"

She might not be happy with him, but he is still hers.

[mnt_raph]

Nahhh.
*The ego is begining to wellback up to the surface.*
Jus' my pride. Ain't like I'm gonna miss that.

*He pushes the showercurtain over and stands before her a sopping mess. Seriously, we're talking full on pathetic here.*

[locks_it_up]

For her part, she looks like she's been kicked in the stomach.

She doesn't have words.

[mnt_raph]

*His expression shifts. Neutral to penitant...all the while anger lurks in the background. He'd reach out to her, if he didn't feel so damn dirty.*

[locks_it_up]

Her arms drop to her sides.

She knows damn well he didn't mean to. She should reach out and tell him it's okay. She wants to, even.

But she's hurt.

[mnt_raph]

*run. Run. RUN. You've fucked things up again. Regroup. Escape. GET OUT!*
Hands clenched into fists, body tense, jaw set.
Ready for flight....when it hits him....he has no where to go. No where left to run. No where to hide.
There's no where she isn't.

His legs look like they're going to buckle as his body goes slack. With a thud, he sits back on the edge of his tub, hiding his face in his hands.*

'm so sorry.....

[locks_it_up]

She reaches up and swipes at her eyes. There's no way she's crying.

"I'm not going to say it's okay. 'Cause it's really not."

She kneels next to him, touching the back of his hand gently.

"But it will be."

[mnt_raph]

*He leans into her touch.*

you really should just squish me....

[locks_it_up]

"Should. Can't. Love you too much."

[mnt_raph]

*he looks at her through the spaces between his fingers.*

but then you could keep me in a Sucrets box for safer keeping.

[locks_it_up]

"There is that."

She takes her hand away, and stands.

For some reason, she doesn't want to see him right now.

But she stays.

[mnt_raph]

*Leaning his weight elbows on knees, he looks up at her and then away.*

i can understand if you wanna go. i mean, i don't want you to go...*he sighs* ...but i don't want you to see me like this...i feel like you deserve an explanation, an' I'm never good at explainin' myself, an' this I really can't explain...an'...i just don't understand...it doesn't make sense...an' for the love'a just hit me.
please.
something.
anything.....please

[locks_it_up]

She is still. And very quiet. For a long time.

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to tear Desire a new one."

And then she leans back down, and lifts his head up to kiss him.

This time, she does not hold back.

[mnt_raph]

*The moment her lips touch his Raph's whole life turns to eleven. From egg to grave, he feels every single moment at once.
All the pain.
All the pleasure.
All of it.
Breaking free of the shell, to the breaking of his body through years of abuse until the final rattle shakes him free yet again. Lifeless husk left to the elements.

Her kiss is oblivion.*

[locks_it_up]

Too far. She went too far.

She rarely scrambles, is rarely flustered, but this is different. She can feel him slipping away, into her...

And she won't allow that.

What it looks like is her breathing into his mouth.

What it actually is, is her forcing him back into himself.

What it feels like... is very roughly like being born. Hatching. Crawling out of the dark and into the light.

When she is sure, positive that he is himself and whole, she pulls away, and studies his face. She is hurt. Hurt and afraid and maybe a little bit angry... but mostly, she just loves the idiot.