Clad Colors
TMNT x reader I am currently working on! If anyone's interested in reading it on ao3 here's the link
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
“Oh my God, April, this is so cute, how’d you even find this place?”
The aroma of savory broths and velvety noodles fills the small building, its cozy atmosphere relaxing the stress of finals week away with every breath. It had been a long week with grueling study hours, and after surviving on mac n cheese cups and Monster Energy drinks, it was a welcome change of pace in food. April knew the town well and had already planned this outing for a while.
“My dad used to take me here after our neighbors had recommended the place for us, told us it’s the best in Chinatown.” Grinning as the small, blind chef brings out both ceramic bowls of food, she thanks him.
“Well, this is definitely needed, that's for sure. It felt like my brain was coming out of my ears for a couple of days.” I take a small sip of the pork broth and nearly melt on the spot.
“For a blind guy, he sure knows what he's doing. I don't think I've had anything like this before.” I say wolfing down the steaming noodles, they melted in my mouth.
“Tell me about it,” she grins, chewing her noodles. "This place has been up as long as I can remember. I come here for everything, from celebration to catastrophe, to be honest.” Her face is full of nostalgic memories.
“One time I had come here during my senior year of high school with some friends of mine, and the restaurant was being ransacked by some punk gang members,” She pauses, looking as if looking for the right words for her story, “My friends ended up taking care of them though.” putting an end to that short narrative.
Whoa, tough stuff there. “Your friends fended them off?? Hah, that kind of makes them sound like vigilantes. That's still cool, though I bet the cops had fun with that one.” April had mentioned her friends before in a couple of conversations in the past, but never really divulged information about them. All you knew is there were four of them, and they were all around mine and April's age. I want to pry more on her friends; she talks so highly of them, and yet I've never met or even seen pictures of them. I let the curiosity wane to the back of my mind and let it go for now; I'll find out one way or another about them.
She half smiled, “Errrh, something like that. My friends are pretty good at self-defense for the most part.”
_________
Dinner had ended pleasantly with Mr. Murakami giving both of us the signature ‘April O’Neil discount’ as he calls it. We make our way down the dark pavement, weakly lit streetlamps guiding the way towards April's apartment complex.
“Girl, you sure you're good with walking home alone? You know I don't mind walking you there, right? Casey can live an extra twenty minutes without me.” She stops at the apartment's stair steps, staring at me with wide brown eyes.
“Nah, I’m totally fine walking back. It's not that far away, plus I have some small grocery shopping I need to hit at the 24/7 market before I go home and forget.” I give her my best reassuring smile. She has a right to be worried. 11 pm at night isn't exactly prime time to be strutting around alone as a single person,
“Just be careful and text me when you're home, okay? Can’t have you kidnapped or some shit, or I’ll pull a John Wick move, alright? Goodnight y/n!” Waving, she walks inside, leaving you in the chilled spring air to walk home. Pulling the hood of your juicy tracksuit, you begin the journey.
Grabbing groceries was easy enough when no one's there except for a drowsy middle-aged cashier. With bags in hand, I make it down the streets once more, wanting to get home quickly so I can sleep until 2 pm the next day. It had been what felt like years since you'd actually slept through the entire night without something keeping you up.
Walking on the sidewalk, I feel on edge. I stopped to look at an alleyway I've passed a hundred times before, pondering if I should take it since it would make this whole ordeal go faster. It cuts through having to go a whole other block on my usual path, although normally taking this road meant a one-way ticket to drunken harassment from men in the bar's back door.
'Not like it's that hard to be harassed nowadays.'
What's one small shortcut? The alley was seemingly empty at the moment and dead silent. The bar must've been closed tonight... Weird. I stand a second longer pondering this decision, and like the idiot I am, I take a step into the alley. Whatever. If I die, at least I'll have had Chinese food for a last meal that's always worth it.
I start making my way through the darkened street, suddenly remembering a self-defense tactic my cousin had taught me. I grab my keys, putting them through each knuckle as a mini shank. Absolute genius, I know, now if I punch it'll tickle. But for now, it'll have to do. No one just comes to New York City without any semblance of safeguarding. My Father made sure of that.
'This is such a bad idea, taking the long way around would've just been better. c'mon y/n you’re smarter than this.'
My body is on high alert, listening to the sounds of the city as I continue to walk. My ears picking up on the sounds of siren horns, a classic, the local stores' trash rustling from the overabundant rat population. Probably scrounging the last of the Chinese takeout left on the street.
Listening more carefully, I hear something different. Footsteps. They are subtle and far away but definitely audible. I grip my groceries tighter
'Shit, am I being followed??' I thought to myself, suddenly more aware of the prick of eyes following my figure.
The hair on my arms raises. Paranoia is the last thing I need right now. But these footsteps sound like they are pacing up.
'God, I'm going to end up dying next to a dumpster, how embarrassing.'
My shoulders tense, and I pick up speed. I am a quarter of the way out. I fight the urge to let the prey instincts in me kick in; running would mean the chase begins.
Suddenly, a snide voice pipes up from behind, “Hey, lil lady, what's the rush out of here??” This shortcut was a massive mistake.
