"Just smell them."

"No. You're making me think they smell like shit."

"How can they smell like shit, Raiya? They're flowers."

I shrugged and eyed the vase of tiny, purple flowers warily.

"Come on," Liv urged. "I got them last night, it's not like they're bad or anything."

I narrowed my eyes a tad and leaned forward to inhale the bouquet's scent...And holy shit.

Olivia read my expression and grinned knowingly. "Right!?"

"They smell like heaven," I said.

"Almonds?"

I took a huge whiff and nodded. "Yeah." Then I took another. "...and vanilla, kind of. What are they?"

"Heliotropes! Andy got them for me when we were at the botanic garden...Oh! And," she surged to her feet and rushed over to the kettle, picking a mug off the counter to show it to me. It looked like a white cup with a pattern of vertical black lines that occasionally had black rectangles filled between them.

"Very pretty," I agreed sarcastically. Olivia smirked and raised the kettle up as well. I snorted. "Liv, what the hell are you doing?" Remaining suspiciously silent, she poured the steaming hot water into the mug with a flourish. I rolled my eyes at my sister's unnecessary dramatics. She stared at the cup as of expecting it to come to life and start hopping about the kitchen. I watched her with raised eyebrows, unable to understand her excitement. And then the black rectangles on the mug began to fade to red and yellow and blue. Recognition flitted through me.

"Oh, it's like that famous painting."

"Composition two in red, blue and yellow by Piet Mondrian," Liv announced proudly, dropping a tea bag into her now colourful, steaming mug and leaning back against the counter with a smug smile. I laughed softly and shook my head at her. And the turtles think I'm a nerd.

"You're such a loser," I said, dragging the heliotrope bouquet closer to me so I could enjoy the incredible smell.

"There was a really pretty tulip in acrylic at the museum," Liv added, sniffing her steeping tea absently.

A flower in acrylic? "Like a painting?" I asked.

"No, I mean it was literally in acrylic. Like an actual tulip was preserved in acrylic and shaped like a box. It was really cool and I would've gotten it, but it was like four-hundred dollars!"

My jaw dropped "For a flower in a box!?" I sputtered.

"It was really pretty," Liv murmured, her tone prompting me to make a mental note to let Andy know about the boxed flower sometime.

"Well kudos to you for restraining yourself," I laughed. "Besides, a colour-changing cup is way cooler and more functional." I hopped off my stool, making a hurried beeline for the fridge to sate my nagging hunger.

"So what should we do today?" I asked, scanning the shelves and drawers for potential breakfast options.

"I kinda just wanna have a home day," Liv mumbled, fiddling with her tea bag's string.

"Cool with me," I said, my eyes falling on a container of cream cheese. "Do we still have bagels?" I asked hopefully.

"Ummmm...yup." I heard her twist the bag open and pop one into the toaster sitting beside her.

Score! I grabbed the container and swung the refrigerator door shut before heading toward Olivia. My sister had a deeply thoughtful expression on her face, and I suddenly felt very apprehensive.

"How about..."

"I am not putting one of your scary black face masks on," I declared, shooting down the idea before she could even think of it.

"They're charcoal," she argued, shooting me a light glare. "And I wasn't gonna say that, I was gonna say we should–"

"I'm not gonna let you do my makeup either," I interrupted determinedly. Then Olivia really glared at me.

"Just shhhhh!" She ordered.

"Okay." I crossed my arms and leaned back against the counter. "Fine."

"Thank you." She tossed hair out of her face and sniffed experimentally at her tea before finally saying: "We should bake something."

My lips twitched up into a huge grin. "HELL YEAH!"I cheered. "LET'S BAKE A CAKE!" The toaster popped, making Liv jump a bit. I snickered at her reaction, earning me another glare.

"Why the hell would you want an entire cake?" She asked.

I shrugged and spread cream cheese on my now-toasted bagel. "Go big or go home." I caught the sound of her heavy sigh and grinned to myself. 

"We can make cupcakes–"

"Done."

••• 影の秘密 •••

One batch of cupcakes and two batches of unplanned cupcakes later and Olivia was on the verge of dumping the remainder of the icing all over me.

"Raiya what the fuck are we gonna do with all these?" She demanded, slathering a pitiful amount of icing over the top of one.

"Well first we're gonna ice them properly," I said, sneaking my spoon into her bowl to scoop some more onto the cupcake. "And then I'm gonna eat them."

"Raiya, you can't eat thirty-six cupcakes before they go bad," she argued.

I smirked and licked my spoon. Try me. I reached a hand back to scratch at the itch that had suddenly sprung up at the back of my head, but it was only after I scratched uselessly at it that I realized the itch was in the back of my mind. No, it wasn't an itch...it was a tickle. Someone is watching me.

I just about choked on my own saliva. Thankfully, Liv didn't seem to even notice, but she did notice when I began to walk away.

"Hey! Where are you going?" She demanded. I bit my lip and thought desperately for an excuse.

"I have to pee," I said, then darted into my room without once turning back to look at her. I thanked whoever was looking down on me that she didn't notice the cupcake I'd stolen.

Raphael didn't take his gaze from the ceiling as I entered. "You really need to work on that," he said, laying on his back on my bed.

"Shut up," I muttered, licking icing off the tips of my fingers. "And stop creeping on us."

"What else am I supposed to do?" He asked. "I already went through all your shit." I blew the breath from my cheeks and rolled my eyes at the half-assed lie intended to rile me up.

"No you didn't."

"I will," he countered.

I lifted the cupcake into the air. "Do you want this or not? Cuz I will not hesitate to throw it at you."

Finally, Raph turned his head to look at me. "You wouldn't waste a precious cupcake on me."

I shrugged. "You're right, I guess I'll just eat it," I said, turning and striding into my bathroom.

"No you won't," he called after me, obviously unaware of just how much I loved those little morsels of heaven.

I smirked. "Try me."

AN: Apologies for the short chapter haha I'll put the next one up asap

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