Now Raph understood – better than before, at least – what might have made Rahzar tick. It seemed as though Fishface and Raphael were not the only ones with a thirst for violence in their hearts, or the desire to grow stronger, to work past their limits and do nearly anything to reach their goals. The difference was that Raphael had placed a barrier for himself, built it for the sake of his family and his own honor. The Foot Clan and the Hamato Clan had very different definitions of the word, it seemed.
For a little while, Raphael just listened quietly. Sometimes he nuzzled at Rahzar's snout or chest, or pressed his thigh up against those talons in invitation. It would be a while longer before the stench of pheromones returned, but Rahzar was more than welcome to explore the turtle's body in the meantime. This was actually the first time in a while Raph felt so peaceful, and the fact that this was true in what might very well be the belly of the Foot's cathedral? Incredible.
There were more things to talk about on this strange night, however.
Slash.
That was who Rahzar was wondering about.
The bigger question was how much was Raph willing to tell him? He would not point out the location of the Mighty Mutanimals or the weaknesses of its members. That would be betraying one of his strongest allies, and most importantly, one of his closest friends. Still, he could talk about it a little bit, enough to explain a piece of his history. Quid pro quo, that was how the saying went, right?
The turtle sat up with Rahzar, positioned himself so he could properly face the canine, and breathed in a sigh. This was going to take a little while.
"No, he's not related to any of us us," Raph answered awkwardly. "Not that I know of, anyway. He was a pet...my pet." Pursing his lips, it became clear Raphael was a little trouble. For all the good terms he was on with Slash, losing him as a pet was difficult. He could not tell him the same things he could when he was still Spike, could not cuddle him and feed him lettuce and vent to him when his brothers were giving him grief. For as happy as Raph was to have a new friend and partner to fight alongside, he also lost the source of comfort he once had, and it sucked.
"His name was Spike. Master Splinter gave him to me when my brothers and I were still little kids. He was the only friend I had down there, and when I couldn't talk to my family - AKA, most of the time - I could talk to him. He wouldn't talk back or make fun of me; he just listened and chewed on his leaf. I swore, it was like he understood what I was saying...and as it turned out, he did.
"Donatello blew something up and the debris almost hit Spike. I got so pissed off that I nabbed the mutagen canister he was holding and brought it to my room with Spike in tow. It ended up spilling over though...and Spike got into it. He's been known as Slash ever since."
How did he explain the next part? Slash would not have been interested in affiliating himself with the Foot (especially now) but it still made Raph wonder. He sought out a hand of talons for comfort, squeezed them lightly just so they would not cut into the nerves on his fingers. "Because of all my venting, he thought he might as well take my brothers out so me and him could work together instead. I was really excited about it at first...I just didn't know about the whole he's going to kill my brothers' thing until it was almost too late. I had to defeat him in battle and knock him off a building just to try and protect them, so obviously we had bad blood between us for a while. We're cool now though; just don’t see him all that much now that he has his own team going around town."
Raph still was not one hundred percent sure how they ever became friends again. It just happened naturally, and he assumed it to be because they had known each other for so long. For many years, Raphael had been the center of Slash's world. He just never quite thought of it that way, never thought of how much he would miss his beloved pet until everything was too late and there was no going back.
Wait.
Rahzar had asked who Slash was.
He did not ask Raphael to give him an entire life story.
"Hoo-boy, that was lengthy!" Raph said with a little, nervous laugh. "Sorry. That was probably obnoxious, huh?" Nice one. You apologized. Now shut up.