"Venus? Are ya in there?” Raph called out as he rapped his hand against the wooden door, then waited for an answer or even a small noise to indicate that she was in there. Although he did have a fleeting thought of how “improper” it was to peek inside a girl’s closet, he also had a strong feeling this was where Venus had stocked herself. Maybe because he could relate; he too would always try to find ridiculous hiding spots whenever he got upset. They lived in a cramped lair after all, privacy was a rarity.
And his intuition was correct. The first thing Raph saw when he pushed the door open was Venus cramped up in the corner. He realised then he had no idea why the younger turtle seemed so upset in the first place… Something happened during training, somebody said something before she suddenly stormed off - Raph couldn’t bother remembering the details as his mind had been up in the clouds the entire morning. When he snapped out of it, Leo had already ordered them to split up and look for Venus.
Now, here she was, Raph was the victor in finding his lost sister, and he couldn’t come up with a single thing to say. For a short moment, he thought about calling Leo, at least he knew what was going on, but he quickly deplored that idea. He was her big brother as well, so wasn’t it his job to make her feel better? Granted he hardly knew her, only a few months had passed since she came into their lives to throw the fraternal heirarchy into disarray, yet he figured this was a good opportunity as any to actually get to know her on the most basic level.
Though, this was probably the worst place to have any heartfelt conversations. There was barely enough space for two mutant turtles, and so he got down on his knees, feeling more than just a little awkward as he was forced to sit so close to Venus, their legs bumping against each other while he tried to move some junk that were in the way.
“So, ya wanna talk ‘bout what happened?”
The sound of faint clicking coming from the closet doors before her made her heart reflexively skip a beat. Her eyes dart to the one responsible and she recognized it to be Raphael. Venus chews on her lower lip and looks away, eyes downcast in defeat. How naive it was for her to think she would not be found so easily by one of her brothers. Then again, she didn’t have much options to choose from considering her sizable body structure.
But with stubbornness still over logic, Venus remained silent and refused to budge from her place. This morning’s spars had made her feel especially worthless since it consisted of one of them who just had to apparently (albeit unintentionally) love rubbing it on her face, the other making a wise crack about it and the last one scolding them both in vain. Just because she could deal with their side comments everyday doesn’t mean it wasn’t difficult. And what part of her fighting style was so strange, anyway? she thought. She lets out a frustrated huff and kept herself from thinking about it any longer. She wanted to be alone.
While Raph had never said anything to belittle her, ignoring him was like trying to ignore a cliff sign. The most she had discovered about him so far was that he was passionate when he fought and was rebellious in nature. Venus expected him to tell her to return back to the dojo, but surprisingly, he kept quiet himself--and even decided to sit with her. Her eyes widened in disbelief, unconsciously adjusting her position so that they’d both fit inside somehow. She welcomed his presence, wondering the reasons behind it. Was he here to look for her or did they make fun of him too?
Her mental questions were answered instantly when she heard him ask about what had happened. She sighs as her shoulders slumped, the female now resting both palms over her knees. A few moments after his inquiry, Venus finally chose to break the deafening silence. “Raphael, I... Am I really so weak?” she murmurs to herself in a small voice, not once meeting his eyes. “Does it--please your brothers to watch me struggle?”
romaincrisis
snowghoul
2087
