100 Theme Challenge - 31. Flowers

100 Theme Challenge
31. Flowers

It was immediately obvious that Casey’s touch was different as the boy’s hands curled around Don’s thigh. When Casey had massaged Don’s arms back to life, his movements had been brisk and his grip tight.

Now Casey’s hands slid across Don’s skin, covering every inch as though memorizing the pattern of Don’s muscles. Don gasped slightly when Casey’s fingers dipped inwards to touch the more sensitive skin on his inner thighs.

“W . . . what are you doing?” Don asked, stuttering from surprise.

“I don’t know enough about the differences between our bodies,” Casey said, his voice a little hoarse. “I can’t just go squeezing around; I have to get some idea of how your muscles are set up.”

“We aren’t . . . aren’t all that different from you,” Don said as hastily as he could. Casey’s hands didn’t even pause in their examination.

“How do ya’ know?” Casey asked in a measured tone. “Ya’ ever check out a human body, ever let your hands explore skin and muscle and bone?”

“I sewed you up,” Don pointed out.

Casey turned his head to smile at Don. “That was just a small section of the outer layer of skin, Donnie. I’m talking about the whole body.”

Don didn’t want to admit that he’d done some research after meeting April so that he could find out if they were compatible. That was something even his brothers didn’t know about.

“No,” Don answered.

Casey reached over and pushed against Don’s other leg, separating them further before sliding his palms along the insides of both Don’s thighs.

“Ya’ ever want to?” Casey asked in a gruff whisper. “Ever think about it?”

Well of course Don had; he’d daydreamed of being with April so often that he’d created his own little stories about how they would finally get together. Don imagined that he would be very suave and self-assured, that he would ask her for a date and she would accept. That he would bring her flowers, take her to dinner, and dance close with her. He fantasized that he could do all of the things that she would expect from a human boy and that she would accept him as her boyfriend because of that.

That wasn’t any of Casey’s business though. “No, not really. I suppose I should look some things up on the internet if I’m going to be called on to provide anymore first aid,” Don said facetiously.

Casey chuckled. “I prefer this type of approach. I’m a hands on kind of guy.”

Clearing his throat, Don said, “How about I let you know if something doesn’t feel right and you go ahead and fix my legs the way you did with my arms? We don’t exactly have a lot of time.”

He didn’t know why he was reacting with such an intense bashfulness at having Casey’s hands on his legs. Perhaps it was because Casey was ministering to an area that was so close to Don’s groin and no one had ever touched him there, not even his brothers when they were wrestling.

“Maybe we can get together after this and learn some stuff about each other,” Casey said. His hands stopped moving as he pinned Don with an intense look.

“S. . . sure,” Don agreed, though he didn’t know exactly what he was saying yes to. Anything to move Casey along.

“Great,” Casey said brightly as he began to rub Don’s legs more vigorously.

The silence that fell between them started to feel awkward and Don said, “I was just thinking that we should call Raph and warn him not to come back here. You know, because the Kraang are impersonating our voices. He could walk into a trap and get caught and . . . .”

Don trailed off, realizing that he was babbling. Casey seemed not to notice, his concentration focused on Don’s left leg as he worked his way down to the calf muscle.

“Does that phone you designed have a silent feature?” Casey asked. “’Cause if it don’t, or if Raph forgot to switch it over, then your call is gonna give him and April away if they had to go into hiding too.”

For a second Don had a mental image of Raph and April pressed into some small space together, trying to avoid detection by the Kraang. He shoved it out of his mind as fast as he could; the thought made him a little angry and he wondered if Raph had suggested April coming with him as a way to get some alone time with her.

Don immediately felt like an idiot for even thinking that; Raph had shown no interest whatsoever in April. Casey was right of course, Raph probably hadn’t turned his ringer off. Don bet that Casey was no doubt beginning to think the genius turtle was actually an air head. For some reason, the boy always threw Don off his stride.

“I usually think a lot straighter than this,” Don said by way of an explanation.

“Don’t sweat it pal,” Casey said as he crept into place between Don’s outstretched legs and knelt down. “Ya’ got hit by an alien stun gun and you’re worried about April and your brother. I think you’re pretty darn calm considering. How’s that leg now?”

It took Don a second to register that Casey was asking if he could move. Don rolled his leg from side to side and then carefully bent his knee, lifting his foot from the ground and bringing his leg up to his chest.

“It’s good,” Don pronounced excitedly as he set his foot down. “The feeling is back.”

“One more to go and then we make a break for it,” Casey said as he started to massage Don’s right leg.

Don watched Casey work, for the first time really enjoying Casey’s touch. All in all, Casey was a good looking teen; dark hair and eyes, lean muscular body, tall and coordinated. Don could see why a girl would like him.

“April thinks you’re special too,” Don blurted out unexpectedly.

Casey glanced up quickly. “Yeah? She tell ya’ that?”

Don blushed. “Not in so many words. I can just tell.”

Casey seemed to mull that over. “Ya’ think she likes me the way a girl likes a boy?” he asked, his head down again as he resumed work on Don’s leg.

“M . . . maybe,” Don said, though admitting that was painful. He was suddenly curious to find out where Casey stood on the subject.

“I guess that’d be cool,” Casey said, shrugging his shoulders before looking at Don once more. “I don’t meet a lot of girls who can take care of themselves. I’ve gone out with a few like that, but mostly I find that guys are more my speed. Ya’ get my drift, Donnie?”

Suddenly Donatello did. Everything made so much more sense now. Raph’s apparent jealousy, April and Casey’s arguments, Mikey’s hints, Leo’s questions, the amount of time Casey spent at the lair and the confession he’d just made that he was bi-sexual. All of it was now crystal clear.

Casey and Raph were together.