Push-ups (2014 Raph x Reader)
Prompt? The reader has known the turtles for a few months and before she knows it, she’s grown extremely close to Raph and whenever he’s furious or upset she finds herself sitting on his bed listening to every rant he ever has to get off his chest.
When you meet new people - or talking mutant turtles - for the first time, you don’t exactly expect to get really close to them. Well, this time it was different. You had never really had many friends except for a few close ones and the turtles changed that. You had met them when Kraang’s attack had occurred and you were with your aunt, the chief. You had tagged along with her when she went to meet the turtles and you couldn’t have believed your eyes.
They spoke actual English, walked on two legs, and wore human clothes. They were ripped and muscular and you’d be lying if you said the one with the red mask didn’t terrify you. Not because he was a mutant, oh no. But because he could shatter every bone in your body with one swift move
You could’ve never guessed that not even 4 months later he’d be your best friend that you had fallen for. Slowly, you found yourself listening more. Listening to the words yelled back and forth between him and Leonardo. Listening to the red-clad turtle himself rant about how it wasn’t always his fault and how he wished Leo would shut up and realize that they have just the same amount of right to control themselves as he did.
And after a while of you just sitting on the couch and listening, he started to trust you more. He started to trust you with more words and more feelings after he realized that everything he said to you was never uttered to anyone else that you knew.
Soon the “therapy” sessions moved to his room. Some days he’d rant for hours, others he’d just listen to you talk and the metal music played softly in the background as he did exercises. You walked into the lair today with a small frown on your face. It was extremely quiet and the only sound was the occasional curse from the direction of Donnie’s lab.
You couldn’t see any turtle or rat in sight which shocked you when you were suddenly thrown over someone’s shoulder and carried in the direction of the turtle’s rooms. You knew immediately that it was Raph - you could see the designs on his shell and the black shorts he usually wore.
“Hey Raph.” You mumbled relaxing immensely. He only grunted in reply but that was enough for you. Soon you heard the old creak of a door and before you knew it, you were tossed onto a bed covered in old pillows and sewn blankets, watching Raph pace back and forth.
“He doesn’t understand. None of them listen.” He started talking at incredible speed before stopping abruptly. Instead, he pulled out his sais, squatted down, and started doing push-ups whilst using his weapons for support.
You knew what this meant as it happened often. He would get what he wanted to say out, before realizing he doesn’t know how to use words to express his feelings directly. Sometimes he would exercise and other times he would look at you to start speaking to give him advice.
This time you stood up and walked over to his desk before pushing play on his little stereo. A song you didn’t recognize started playing softly in the background and you walked over to Raph with a knowing grin on your face. You sat down in front of the furious turtle and started to speak softly.
“Each of you have a special spot on the team, Red.” You mumbled, reaching over to play with the torn ends of his mask. Despite your actions and your words, he continued to perform push-ups but made no effort to show he wanted you to stop talking. “Now as much as I constantly want to agree with you about how Leo pushes you around and expects too much of you - I want you to know he does it with best intentions. He wants to keep you and this whole family safe. And while he might do it in the wrong ways, he just wants to help.” You finished hoping that he wouldn’t be mad at you for what you had said.
Instead though, he stopped and held himself up with one sai and used his other hand to grab your ankle and pull you under him. He continued doing what he was doing before and each time he let himself down, he pressed his lips to your’s quickly. After you realized what was happening, you grinned and continued playing with his bandana straps. It only stopped after his band CD stopped playing on the stereo.
