Claiming Him part 8

Claiming Him
part 8
Story contains TCest

Michelangelo felt like crap. He'd only meant to shut Donny down, not actually stomp all over his feelings.

Don wasn't anything like Raph and when he'd tried to talk to Mikey about sex it was probably because he was genuinely concerned that what the older three brothers were doing might alienate the youngest brother.

If Mikey hadn't been so quick to snap at Don, his genius brother would probably have found a more delicate way of broaching the subject. Mikey's harsh criticism had gotten Don all flustered and he'd blurted out an offer that had then made Mikey defensive.

Mikey knew that his tongue could be razor sharp, but he'd never used it on Don. He now understood that he shouldn't have been so reactionary; he should have let Don explain things in his own way. It wouldn't have been difficult to keep Don from going into details.

An intelligent conversation would have given Mikey the chance to tell Donny to stop bringing up the subject. Mikey could be done with this instead of having Don locked in his lab, Leo trying to play peacemaker and Raph pissed as shell.

Mikey had the urge to hang a big sign from the refrigerator that said 'See, this is why I said sex would mess up our family.'

Not that it would have gone over too well with Master Splinter.

Leo had been with Don for a long time and Mikey didn't see any indication that they'd be coming out soon. He was a little surprised that Leo hadn't called him into the lab and asked him to apologize to Don, or to at least talk about what had happened between them. Mikey was sort of hoping Leo would call him, then he could make it clear to both of them that he didn't want to talk about sex ever again.

Mikey didn't think he'd have to tell that to Raph; his hot headed brother was angry enough to not speak to Mikey for the rest of his life. He'd never seen Raph so angry over how one of his brothers felt; they always each took care of their own personal issues.

This was a new side of Raph and Mikey didn't understand it. Anything Mikey didn't understand made him nervous.

Mikey opened his bedroom door and took a peek around the lair. If it weren't for his grumbling stomach, Mikey would simply remain in his sanctuary.

From a shadowed corner came a tiny 'meow' and then a small orange fur ball sauntered up to Mikey and rubbed at his legs. Leaning down, Mikey picked up Klunk and scratched behind his ears.

"I guess you're hungry too, baby? Let's go down to the kitchen and see what we can scrounge up," Mikey told his cat.

Klunk purred and settled comfortably in his arms, enjoying the ride to the lower level. At the bottom of the stairs, Mikey could see his Father seated on his favorite chair, watching one of his programs.

"Have you eaten dinner yet, sensei?" Mikey asked, approaching the television room.

Master Splinter looked over at him. "No Michelangelo, I have been too engrossed in this story."

Mikey smiled. "Okay, I'll throw something together. I guess the others will come eat if they get hungry."

His Father had already turned back to his show, a single nod of his furry head indicating that he'd heard his son.

Flipping the lights on in the kitchen, the first thing Mikey did was open a can of tuna for Klunk. Scooping it into the cat's special dish, Mikey stroked Klunk's fur and then began rummaging through the cabinets.

He was too hungry for anything time consuming, so Mikey decided to make a pasta dish of some sort. Putting some penne on to boil, he pulled the leftover chicken out of the refrigerator and started cubing it.

A little while later Mikey carried a steaming plate to the table and sat down to eat. Master Splinter couldn't have been dragged away from his program by ten horses, so Mikey had taken a plate in to him.

Mikey was still blowing on the first bite when Raph walked in.

The fork stopped halfway to Mikey's mouth as their eyes met. He expected to see the ill-concealed anger still on his brother's face, but was surprised to find that the rage he'd shown Mikey earlier was completely gone.

Something else that Mikey couldn't quite place had filled in behind the anger. Mikey noticed that the rims of Raph's eyes were slightly reddened and that his shoulders were down.

"Um, are you hungry dude?" Mikey asked tentatively. "I made a big pot of pasta and chicken with that cream sauce you like."

"Sure Mikey, thanks," Raph said quietly, grabbing a plate and spooning some food onto it.

He sat down adjacent to Mikey, his eyes fixed on his food. Watching him from the corners of his eyes, Mikey started to eat.

The silence stretched uncomfortably for several minutes. Usually Mikey enjoyed his food and took his time to savor it, but now all he wanted to do was finish what seemed to be a tasteless pile on his plate.

"I don't like this anymore than ya' do," Raph said out of the blue.

Startled, Mikey looked directly at him. "What? The food?"

Raph poked at his pasta and shook his head. "Nah, the foods good. This. Ya' know, us not getting along 'cause of . . . of that other thing."

"Maybe you guys shouldn't have started that other thing," Mikey snapped before he could stop himself. "Sorry," he said contritely. "The subject gets on my nerves."

Instead of going off on him, Raph just shrugged, his eyes still focused on his plate. Mikey could see that his brother had something he needed to say and although Mikey was positive he knew what it was, he decided to hold his tongue.

"The cats sorta out of the bag and it's damned hard ta stuff it back in, Mikey," Raph said.

"Me knowing about it and ignoring you guys is a lot different than you suddenly deciding to grope me on the dojo mats," Mikey said. "Don seems to feel I need a sex education lecture when I already know way more . . . ."

"Do ya' think ya' could shut up for a minute?" Raph asked, not rudely.

Mikey closed his mouth in surprise and nodded, curious.

"Ya' remember a couple years back, when we went after the Shredder? Ya' know, when he thought we were dead?" Raph asked, finally turning his head so that he could look at Mikey.

"What has that got to do with . . . ." Mikey started to say.

Raph's upraised palm stopped him. "Hear me out. Ya' remember that, right?"

"I'm not likely to forget it," Mikey admitted.

"Yeah, me either," Raph said. "There we were, the five of us fightin' our way up the inside of that building and tryin' ta find Shredder. All kinds of shit getting thrown in our path. And just about every time somethin' bad started ta go down, Donny would dig into his bag of tricks and come up with somethin' new ta deal with it."

Mikey grinned. "He was totally on his game that day," he said.

"It was more than that," Raph said. "He didn't have any fear; none. If stuff worked he was happy, if it didn't he tried ta figure out somethin' else. He was so set on getting us ta the top of that building that he didn't worry sometimes about watchin' his own shell."

"I remember you were watching it for him," Mikey said.

"That's the point I'm trying ta make," Raph said, his expression rapt. "He wasn't absent minded like ya' probably think, he just wasn't worried 'cause he knew I'd be there. He knew it, Mikey."

Mikey took a minute to absorb what Raph was saying.

"Don doesn't scare easily anyway," Mike said.

"No he don't. He doesn't scare and he doesn't back down from a fight, but the job he had ta do that day meant he had ta concentrate on that more than the fighting. He never said a word either, he just left it ta me ta make sure he didn't get dead." Raph shook his head, a look of wonderment on his face. "Leo don't even show me that kind of trust; he sometimes second guesses my moves. But Donny . . . Donny always trusts me."

Mikey started to understand. "Are you saying that you were watching his back again earlier?"

"Yeah, something like that," Raph said. "I don't like for Donny ta get hurt." He paused and Mikey saw the slightest change in color on his brother's neck. "When Don's in pain I kinda feel it too."

Looking back down at his plate, Mikey tried to process what Raph was telling him. If he was hearing his brother correctly, Raph had formed an attachment for Don that went further than that of a sibling and beyond sexual gratification.

Mikey almost jumped out of his seat when he felt Raph's rough, calloused hand settle on his thigh. Startled, his head shot back up and he found Raph leaning close to him, the intensity of the fire burning behind his gold eyes bright enough to scald.

"I ain't gonna be mad at ya' for not understanding what me, Leo and Donny got going, Mikey," Raph said, his voice hoarse with emotion. "It's new ta ya' and I get that it's freaking ya' out. I don't wanna spend the rest of our lives making ya' jump like ya' just did whenever I touch ya' either. Do me a favor though, brother ta brother. Don't tear us down. Even if ya' can't ever see your way clear ta join us, don't rip what I got with Don apart."

Without waiting for an answer, Raph jumped up from his seat and hastily left the kitchen.

Despite having eaten very little, Mikey found that he really wasn't all that hungry anymore. The emotion that Raph left behind filled the kitchen with its power, making even the dull walls seem to shimmer.

Was that what is was like to care about someone so deeply? The sheer passion in Raph's voice made Mikey's throat close up; he couldn't have responded to his brother even if Raph had stayed behind to listen to him.

Mikey could still feel the heat from Raph's hand where it had rested on his leg. It almost felt as though Raph's inner soul had been seared into Mikey's skin.

Maybe that's what Donny felt whenever he was with Raph. Could it be that the callous display Raph had put on in the dojo was a cover for more profound feelings, that Raph might even be afraid of his own passion?

Mikey shook his head and stood up abruptly, knocking his chair over. Why the shell was he even thinking about this? He hadn't wanted anything to do with his brother's carnal urges and he wished that they would stop trying to explain this stuff to him.

Dumping both plates into the sink, Mikey's nostrils suddenly quivered as he noticed a strange but not unpleasant scent in the air. Sniffing curiously, it finally came to him that it was Raph's musky body odor.

Shaking, Mikey decided that it was a good evening for a really, really long run through the sewers and over the rooftops. An extremely long run, all by himself.

TBC……………..