#((like I know raph said it himself but I have a slight joke on why he drake its why i picked drake as a crush and why he watched a show the

[ducknotinarow]

MM Raphael - All Symbol Headcanons please uwu

| Send me a symbol and I will write a headcanon about…  For multimuse blogs, please specify! *disclaimer I aint a spoiler free blog I have stated before like with Helluva Boss, this is your warning now there are spoilers in this post.*

I love this little gremlin boy so much. look at his smile pure gremlin uwu from the full trailer we got I knew I would be satisfied with this take on Raph. I can be kind of picky but that's just cause Raph was a character I always loved. I do like that Raph's anger issue was his only character trait least not like all he is about but that they did focus on the fact Raph dose just kind of like to fight in general. I like that he is sort of aware of it though and seems to try and handle it but clearly doesn't know so he turns it towards his more violent tendencies. And dose seem to try and not take it out on people around him. He has anger in him and he's trying which is why I love that he seems to turn towards sports at the end of the movie cause its not often a part of Raphael shows often give much attention to that he loves sports too. I look forward to more from this franchise with my boy ;3; I really just like that you can see for all of the boy they know who they wanna be but havent quite learned who they are.

𝓕 : My muse’s handwriting. (Is it good, bad, difficult to decipher, do they prefer writing by hand or with the help of some form of machine, e.t.c.) 

"I'm not the best with uh spellin, " One of the more stylized writing styles clearly. The boy haven't had proper education for years so I feel they learned a lot from what they saw and Raph liked the subway graffiti they would see when making their way back home and learned to make it his writing style. Raph tries to control his emotions carefully emphasis on tries here of course. Draws attention to himself as seen in a lot of fights he tends not to care much for the whole be stealthy thing when it comes to a fight. Even crowing to get said attention before jumping in. Raph has a more out going personality shown from his large lettering. The gaping in his writing shows Raph enjoys his freedom.

Tends to take being grounded from the surface not well at all and pitting the blame toward Leo. Being able to explore the surface is the only real freedom he had and he dose carry this thought into going to school. Of course the heavy pen pressure come from tension and anger he has. That he doesn't full know the best way to deal with yet. I think having Beep bop and Rock steady however will help a bit but having a friend who gets it will do him even more wonders since they are closer in age. Despite being outgoing the slant of his writing shows Raph is a bit reserved which we see when it comes to April he doesn't talk as much as the other do or did when around her compared to how he is around his brothers even around the other mutants he was a tad more reserved here and there. Or outside of fights. Im pretty positive they will likely be like Splinterson considering Splinter isn't Yoshi but I would be to surprised if they didn't find a way to make use of Hamato for this verse but i'm not changing my tag XD so still under Hamato even if he won't be using that name unless stated he will be Splinterson in MM.

✈ : My muse and  traveling. (If they do it frequently and why, if they never left their home town, e.t.c.)

"Hmm I've been in the sewers, the subway, roof tops shipping yards-" Currently Raphael has only ever been around New York, they have gone to some pretty well know locations like Central Park or Madison Square garden, or stadiums but have yet to ever be out of New York. Of course, he likes the idea of maybe seeing more now that he's able to go to the surface. But hard to say if everyone is still willing to change their tune about Mutants. Even if they have been shown as Hero's this doesn't fully mean everyone and everywhere is ready to accept them or willing.

✿ : My muse and nature. (If they are an ‘outdoorsy type’, like the sound of bird’s singing, if they have never set foot in a forest, e.t.c.) 

"Ehhh I dunno 'bout that. 'ike i'll go I guess if I gotta?"

Despite living in hiding this guy is a pretty much a city guy at heart he is so used to the loud sound of a buzzing and bustling city. But with his wild energy he might love going out to the woods.

☼ : My muse’s first memory. (Where it was, who was with them, how this memory makes them feel, e.t.c.) 

"uh dunno I kind remember stuff as a kid like havin' nightmares and going to pops." I feel Raphael dose vaguely remember the one time Splinter took him and his brothers up to the surface.They seemed young but were able to start their training not long after. Raph sometimes had nightmares about the man that chased after them and would be the one to wake everyone else up and go to Splinter to sleep with. Dad is safe after all ;3;

☙ : My muse’s favourite food. (Bonus: A memory, be it good or bad, associated with said food.)

"Dose bulk up count as a food?"

Course it's pizza, but the bulk up in the crate during their shopping time was funny to me. Of course Raph always remembers the first time Splinter got his hands on a pizza for them. It was some of the first human food they ever tried and the most beautiful thing Raph has ever seen at that time in his life.

♬ : My muse and music. (What type of music they like listening to and in what context, what music they would never listen to, e.t.c.)

"Drake! he's the g.o.a.t!" Raphael likes Rap and R&B the most when it comes to music he dose enjoy Rock and heavy metal as well of course. But his favorite artis is Drake and if he could meet a celebrity he would want it to be Drake. he watched Degrassi solely because he found out Drake acted on that show. He might have a slight crush on the dude but he hasn't really figured that out himself. He also likes DJ Khaled, and Lil Wayne but course hes got his usual go to. He dose like a bit of pop as well here and there. He also will never admit it but some of the stuff Donnie listens to is kind of okay as he would phase it.

↺ : My muse and the past. (Do they live in the past and struggle to let go of past grievances, or move on more easily, is there anything in their past they want to forget, e.t.c.) 

"Eh I sort of do maybe?"

Raphael in a way dose in that he's very aware of the situation he was once in, forever made to hide away from a word he just wants to be part of. Surrounded by the same four faces all his life. It sort of feeds into the little freedom he has and more he'll get. Raphael just wants to be able to meet more people experience things he never got to before all because he never really got to live before, not like how humans do at least. Going to school just being on the top of that list simply because it's such a normal mundane thing but something he thought he never have. That it never even occurred to him that humans themself sometimes aren't all given those same freedoms he thinks they are lucky to have.

☾ : My muse and sleep. (How much they sleep, how much they wish to sleep, if there is something that never fails to put them to sleep, e.t.c.) 

"Eh not 'ike i got much a bed time? oh guess I do now?" Raph's used to staying up late seeing as it was the only time him and his brothers were able to out and about that Splinter could agree on with at least. So Raphael is far more used to being active at night over during the day going to take a lot is adjusting to the change least during the school week. Raphael likes to be up late still often going to bed late in night school night or not. Getting to sleep can be a bit of struggle so he tries to tire himself out in all the ways they tell you not to like aimlessly using the internet thinking he'll pass out. Sometimes he dose but ends up leaving his phone playing videos because of it. So it's always low on battery.

✧ : My muse and art. (If they have an artistic side or not and why, favourite artist if they have one, e.t.c.) 

"I like the stuff I seen on the streets." I pick his writing style for a reason Raphs a fan of street art, he has watched humans in the cover of the night work on their own street art. Murals, tags and such that they come across the city always tends to catch his eye he thinks it looks cool. When he was learning to write he really wanted to sort of have a style like what he saw. Raph tends to doodle out his name and even brothers names with designs things he thinks fits each of them. Course later hell add another name with some hockey sticks and such. It's far more like graffiti he dose and sticker art. He came across some name tag stickers and will put his stuff on that to slap around the city when him and his brothers would run around for their errands in the past. Usually slapped on to the back of signs, street lights, even some bollards, or billboards. It's mostly either his name "raph" or styled stuff showing Sai.

❃ : My muse and social media. (If the muse is/would be on social media and why/why not, their general opinion on it, e.t.c.) 

"Eh I sort use it?"

Raphael lurked in the past mostly making use of video platforms. He has a bad habit of falling asleep when watching tiktok and sending the videos to his brothers accounts. Once they get into school he will use twitter and snapchat, so to be in contact with some of the friends he's made. but he mostly sticks to texting apps like discord or whatsapp. Raphael just isn't much for social media but it was kind of the only way he could be part of the human world, so he did use it to just watch stuff. Mostly used it to watch dumb videos he found funny or keep track of news of stuff he was interested in. Like following Music Artis he likes.

✉  : My muse and others. (If they social and outgoing or more introverted, and why. If they prefer communicating with others face to face or in written form, e.t.c.). 

"I finally got some human friends so 'hats cool." As I mentioned before Raphael is pretty out going in general, he's not shy or even close to being an intervert himself. But he can be a tad reserved as a person. When it came to meeting and being around April of course he doesn't shy away from talking and answering questions but he dose tend to hang back a tad. When they met superflys crew Raph sort of did the same once the idea of afight was dropped with this reveal. We do see him pretty ecstatic around Beep bop and Rocksteady however but he still seems the most comfortable around his brothers even when at the Dance he's a bit more playful with them. But we can see him being open around the kids hes befriending. He's a friendly person and likely willing to talk to anyone but it takes him a moment to warm up and be more okay with all his sides being shown.

Raph still wants very much to meet someone who just understands him in a way most don't. Raphael knows he has a lot of anger issue to work through and he tries to handle that best he can but it has made him pretty interested in things that come off more violent like things. Sport, horror movies, fighting in general. Raph isn't a bad person or even trying to be intimating well outside a fight of course, but his interest likely will sort of give him a rep in school as a tough kid, scary dog privilege basically. Look big and mean but when you know Raph? once again scary dog privilege hes loyal and pretty loving very outwardly at that.

Why meeting Casey is such a thing. Casey and Raph hold a bit of rivalry since Raph going into school he wants to just try out for every sport the school has to offer. Of course, this meant the hockey team as well. Raph liked the more contact sports like football over soccer so he tried for the team along with another kid. They were both good but the coah wasn't sure who to pick. Raph wasn't fully set on it but this stupid kid picking a fight with him made him a tad petty so they wound up getting into a fight. To which even after going home with a black eye he told Splinter in a very excited manner he had made a friend. Sure Raph has some like friends least kids he could get along with but I feel thats more outta of convince. Casey is the first person he kind of opens up around to with stuff he hasn't with his brothers even. That got long TDLR: Raph can be reversed and def has the aura of a scary dog like a pit bull so people can be a tad turned off from getting too close to him and his over ethuism for certain things. He got some humans hes friendly with who gotten past that but he can be a tad reserved deepening how comfortable he gets with someone else. And much like many dogs like Pits? Hes actually very friendly, and welcoming.

▶ : My muse and level of education. (If the muse has some form of education, what education they perhaps wish they had, e.t.c.). 

"I only now going to school so?"

Anything Raph dose know was taught by splinter or something he abosrd growing up. I don't see him being the best student when it comes to school either. He dose great in subjects like Gym and even art a bit. (I like to think he'll take some art classes) but as for the rest? he'll have some struggles mostly Math and Science courses.

◐ : My muse and animals. (If they like animals and treat them well, do not care for them at all, e.t.c.). 

" uh 'm a turtle?" I think Raph likes animals I feel i've said this with nearly all them so far? i really just think Raph is a cat person. But I feel MM also is pretty big on dogs as well. Which is why I keep saying hes got scary dog privilege haha. Dogs sort of match his energy but cats are nice and calming. I feel he treats them pretty nicely gently and with care knows ya gotta let an animal come to you sort. And when one dose? hes the happiest turtle in the world at that moment uwu

❒ : My muse and gifts. (If they are good/bad at finding gifts, good/bad at receiving gifts, good/bad at wrapping gifts, e.t.c.) 

"ehh I try?"

I think Raph has found things for his brother like if he spots something they might like or related to it? he'll snag it when on their runs.

☘ : My muse’s relation with their family. (If they speak with each other and how much, if they are close or estranged, e.t.c.). 

"I Love them I do jus'..ya know I wanna know others too? nothin' wrong with it?"

Raphael is very much a teen in that part of his life where he's trying to have his own life. Sometimes he can get carried away with it even no that it's something he can have, rather spending time with a friend over his brothers. It's nothing against them at all more him not quite learning that balance yet. But of course his brothers will always be his top priority when it comes down to it. His brothers mean a lot to him and they were his first friends as well. Nothing can ever get between him and them he will feel bad if any of them feel as if that is the case of course.

Raph very much tries to play cool around his brothers pretending he doesn't care but you can see how thats just an act. That he is playing to around his brothers. Sometimes he lets it slip like mentioning he would like to go to school never fully saying why though. Raph is very close to them all though openly joking around with them just being a full dork and getting up into to trouble like messing with Leo's sword and throwing ninja stars around. Despite him sometimes being annoyed with hoe Leo acts and can be you can also see how excited he gets when leo wants to join in on something for once. He gotta be close enough with leo to not be too upset hes playing with his sword. Even leo sort of joins in a bit when they are playing around on the roof. Raph seems to be able to get his brother into messing around.

Like Mikey dose when he tends to start most the jokes they get into even. Raph's clearly older brother side kicks in around them letting Mikey climb on top of him and such. And Raph being quick to jump in to try and help him and Donnie out when they need it that is. Doesn't baby either of them but is for sure there and ready to get in the mix of the danger.

With Donnie his twin uwu never letting this go when I can apply it. He dose pick on them a tad for being a weeb but it is outta of love, luckily anime is more main stream so I doubt Don will have to worry about being picked on for it but if he was? Raph would stand up for them in his own way "Hey he might be a a major dweed for likin' it and he is a major dweeb for likin' it but least he got better thing todo then pick on someone for it" type of sticking up.

He dose try and show some care into what his brothers like but it's cause he really just needs that himself in his life.

He loves Splinter and respects them he dosen't like be grounded but he'll stick to it and not break it even if he grumbles over it. Raph in part dose understand Splinter just looking out for him and his brothers. Sometimes that means he gets grounded or scolded but he dosen't always take it personally more that Splinter dosen't understand to which yeah some bits Splinter dosen't understand. But Raph still dosen't fault them to much for it. Hes still not ready to have a mom though and a tad grossed out on Splinters relationship but it makes him happy so? As for the rest of his family he is getting used to the suddenly abundance he has. He liked having more family around and is closest to Beepbop and Rocksteady, his sort like uncles he can be found with them the most when it comes to the extended part of his family. They sort of get the anger thing and often offer some advice when he's feeling just a tad ganged up on. I like to think they encourage him on his friendship with Casey since they are such an inseparable pair themselves.

[evanhamato]

Hello! How are you? Hopefully great!

May i please request hurt/comfort, platonic head canon younger sister reader and her older brothers?

It's about reader who's going through a rough break up since her boyfriend cheated on her with no remorse, so the gang are comforting her and having their revenge on the ex.

[ Family First ]

ROTTMNT x GN!Reader dealing with a breakup

A/N: im so sorry to hear about your ex :( i really hope you can move on from that! also, there wasn't really any gender specific terms used so, i applied it as gender neutral if thats okay (plus, trying to be more inclusive for people who may be going through a similar situation)! have a nice day siniora and thank you for requesting! <3

Relationship: Platonic / Familial

TW: Hurt/comfort, slight mentions of violence, threats, fluff

Raph

Calm on the surface, reassuring you and rubbing your back.

He is genuinely boiling underneath the surface.

However, he redirects his anger to focusing on comforting you.

What kind of person does that anyways?

You get babied for the next week.

Food? Made for you. Fast food? Ordered. Drinks? Brought to you and pre poured.

If he ever comes across said ex, it is so very difficult for him to keep his composure

Passive aggressive to the max.

But of course, he doesn't want to be seen as violent so he will leave as quickly as possibly.

That doesn't mean he doesn't give your ex a nasty stare.

Leo

Tells you how he 'told you so'.

Tries to cheer you up with jokes and snarky remarks about your ex.

But, if you don't like the jokes, he goes stone cold immediately.

Distractions, its what helps him calm down!

Karaoke by humiliating himself, dumb jokes that never land.

But also, he'll talk about his day, or anything really.

If you guys are out and he spots your ex, of course he's not happy to see them.

But, why waste energy on that when your right there?

Walks in front of you, on weird angles, anything to hide you.

He'd rather you not see your ex.

Donnie

He's stunned.

He can't wrap his head around the fact someone would cheat, the concept is foreign to him. (100% not projecting haha../sar)

Emotions. Not his category, not his strong suit.

Also, romance is something he understands but, also does not.

He obviously understands this meant a lot to you so, he goes out of his way to accommodate to your physical touch needs if needed.

Hugs, cuddles, shoulder rubs, its a limited time deal.

He knows sometimes he inherently says mean stuff so, he tries to keep his sarcasm down a notch.

He doesn't wanna make you feel like a fool for something that wasn't your fault.

He doesn't give your ex an ounce of attention.

Nothing. If they try to interact, Donnie doesn't even respond. He's above that.

Mikey

When he hears about what happens, he pinches the bridge of his snout (beak, snout?) and shakes his head.

Not at you, but at your ex of course.

The whole situation is just a matter of morality and clearly your ex didn't have good morals.

Of course, its just normal reassurance.

You go to bed feeling crappy. Wake up, go to the lair.

When you arrive, everyone acts secretive.

That is until they reveal they're going for the day to a festival with you!

Mikey doesn't acknowledge your ex, like Donnie.

He doesn't completely ignore said ex though.

He will deliver the nastiest stare like Raph, not a single word exchanged other than that.

[gravityknife]

Adventures of The 144p Progenitor

The USF Silent Path: Turmoil & Soil

Story #11

"It has been suggested by AI-guidance, and has been unanimously decided by Admiral Alfred, Colonel Zefhris, Admiral Vince, and Colonel McCarthy that we boost our efforts in the rescue process. It's a direct order from all the way up the chain. We intervene with the objective of peaceful negotiations. And we save our fellow USF members. Our warships are authorized to return fire if diplomacy signals fail, on the advisory of Captain Jack. Overall, the objectives are simple. You are to implement search and rescue, and small-scale aerial-to-ground combat strategies and tactics immediately... following our debriefing. You are now dismissed," Lieutenant Colonel Army brawned, exiting the planning room with three other higher ranked officers. The door closed behind them.

"Sooo, f$ck the vote, then?" Captain Dan complained, chuckling.

"Okay!! Damon, Myles, and Ian, we're going to stay with our process here, focusing on getting our frigates in and out. The USF Plaza goes to Damon, USF Retribution to Myles, and the USF Element to Ian. Myles? Get up!!"

"Cruisers are in my command, Natalie, let me know when to move them in," informed Captain Michael, drinking the rest of his space soda then throwing it into the burner (garbage incinerator.) "Aries and I got this."

"Ramon. Dan. With me, we're going to be on comms with command while Natalie and Michael lead in the tactical element. We will watch the strategic display, and you guys notify me if you see anything that could threaten our mission. Communicate with me, guys, you got it?" Jack ordered.

"Yes sir!" Ramon and Dan responded.

"Adam, if you could, be my eyes and ears between operations and command. That's what I need you to do," ordered Jack.

Captain Adam resounded, "Yes sir!!"

Everyone in the SOP (Strategic Operations Planning) room got into their respective positions. They manned displays that showed the frigates' and cruisers' vitals, updated data and news from satellite feeds coming from the warzone, strategic view of the USF Silent Path and the rest of the fleet, geographical and meteorological information around Yakkenden, and other information surrounding the situation.

"Ian, you know how to use that thing, right?" Joked Myles, taking control of his display setup.

"Shut the f$ck up, Myles!" Ian laughed.

"Boys!! Pay attention!!" Natalie scolded.

Dan added, "Yeah, guys? This isn't joke time, okay? I need you guys to focus. I need a heads up display on the frigates' course of action."

Myles and Ian refocused, furrowing their brows and looking through the available intel updates to determine if any changes needed to be made.

"The zone is hot, Natalie, what are you doing?" Asked Jack.

"We're going to steer them towards the mountainside and funnel them up North. Then they can fly straight through to the CS," Natalie answered with slight panic in her tone.

"Sounds right, they'll have cover between all those trees," Damon claimed. "Natalie, I'm getting contacted by the commander of the Plaza."

"Damon, talk," Natalie demanded.

"He's telling me that the terrain looks like it's pushing upward from the ground. They're not able to stay low behind cover, please advise," informed Damon.

"We're getting those readings, too," Ramon said, thinking to himself what the h$ll is that? "We don't know what's going on there, but it shouldn't impede progress, just slow them down and raise altitude. Strategic shows that the Azkonce are retreating West, away from the mountain range."

"Keep them on the route, Natalie," Jack ordered. "Subterranean scans available?"

Dan replied, "Jack, we don't know. Half of these blips aren't even coming up on time."

"Yeah, why are the readings coming in so slow?" Ramon asked.

Jack straightened up, "Not right now, guys, stay on geographical for now. How is weather looking?"

"Doesn't look good," Dan chuckled.

"Michael," Jack prodded.

"Not getting anything from the Raph nor Zogg about it. Manageable is my guess," Michael replied. "Commander Bryson, are you in good standing?"

Commander Bryson informed: Affirm, holding strong at altitude of two-hundred seventy-five thousands meters, weather patterns ineffective.

"Ten-four," responded Michael. "A-Okay, Jack."

"I need to know what's going on, Natalie, talk to me," Jack demanded, scolding in tone.

"Yes, Jack, I know, give us some time. They're still chatting on the comms with each other. Communication is not focused toward us," Natalie defended.

"Yeah, sounds like they're hitting some chop, there, Nat," said Myles.

"There's another windstorm, stronger than the last, about to drop on them, Jack... and it spans all the way across the mountain range," claimed Dan loudly.

"Stabilizers?" Jack prodded.

"No, these aren't the new ships, Jack," answered Ramon. "That's why operations in the Albatross suggested holding position to the Explorer unit."

Aries stirred a tad in his seat. Michael looked up from his display at Jack then back down.

Too late now, Jack thought to himself. "Switch to topological." The strategic display's colors inverted and then the entire map looked like a topological map. "Why is it showing the frigates are so high in altitude? They'd be out of cover entirely."

"That's... hold on," responded Myles.

"Commander, you're being advised to drop altitude," Ian reported.

"There's no point in that yet, guys, hang on," Natalie said. "Theoretically, yes, but realistically, what the f$ck is going on with the terrain?"

"No volcano present, so it's gotta be something else," Myles suggested.

Ian told Natalie, "They're going as low as they possibly can, telling me that based on the rapid movement of the terrain, they'll hit the ground within a matter of seconds."

"Is it really pushing that fast?" Dan asked.

"It can't be," Ramon said. "Not according to what we're seeing now."

Jack asked, "How far are they from the DZ, Nat?"

"They're taking a very long time getting there, but the ETA is two minutes," Damon replied. "Plaza is still up front."

"Wait. Guys? What is that?" Dan reported in surprise. "Switch to heat signature. Jack, look at that. What is that?"

Jack made the adjustment. "Why is it showing vehicular heat signatures on the terrain beneath the frigates?"

"Subterranean!" Yelled Ian.

Michael chuckled, prompting Aries to jolt himself more awake. "I suggest getting those frigates away from the ground," Michael suggested.

"Those aren't animals, those are vehicles," informed Ramon.

Damon replied, "Yes! We know that! And now the commander and his whole bridge is yelling at each other."

"Tell them what's going on now, Damon! Come on! Myles?" Natalie slapped.

Damon looked nervously toward Natalie, holding his headset, then recommended, "Commander of the Plaza, if you are aware of the terrain changes, we advise you to pull up and stay on course. Your cover will be negligible, but we will be guiding—"

"The Element just took a hit!" Ian exclaimed. "Element is dropping. Commander Sheros, do you come in? Do you read me?"

Commander Sheros resounded: Something got through the bottom of the ship! There is something underneath the ground! We are not changing course! Diverting auxiliary power to engine and thrusters! Oxygen levels dropping in lower levels of the ship!

"Myles," prodded Natalie.

"Silent Path to Raphael, get in range and be ready to fire down upon coordinates golf-five-six, echo-three-one, triangulated echo-three-one, papa-two-six, charlie-six-nine, how copy?" Michael began.

A commander from the Raphael responded: That's affirmative, Silent Path, en route, copy safe to engage on your command.

Aries related, sending the same order to the Zoggmendzing Ghost. Another commander confirmed their movement. Both Aries's order and Michael's order went unchallenged.

"Myles, tell the commander of the Retribution what's going on with the Element," Natalie commanded.

"He knows," Myles said, flipping through tabs on his display. "Commander Alapai, do you have enough power to tow the Element? They're breaking away and veering off course due to severe hull and interior damages."

Commander Alapai snapped back: Negative, we'll be down here all day, cuz. We'll go back if we have to—"

"That won't be necessary," Natalie said, overriding Myles's comms. "Don't deviate. Stay on course."

Commander Sheros transmitted: There is something shooting up through the ground! We are circumventing!! High alert!! Captain Natalie, we are losing reserve power rapidly, displays show that our auxiliary engines have been damaged, ma'am!! We can't stay up for long!!

"Oh God," Ramon said, prompting everyone in the room to look at the strategic display. Blips were appearing right underneath all three frigates. "Jack."

"Uhh— Jack. This is bad, Jack," Dan yelled, his voice cracking slightly. "Natalie? Order the frigates out of there!... ? now!... ?"

"Dan," Jack said to Dan in a murmur. "Keep them on course. Natalie, keep the Plaza on course. Adam, tell command what's going on and that we may have to send in that reserve fleet to back off whoever that is. They're attacking us."

Michael guessed, "They must think we're Azkonce. I'm thinking that they're— so—"

"Exaaaactly, that's gotta be the Egrucians, brah," said Aries.

"Ay," Michael scolded with his eyes squinted, "Maintain discipline." He chortled into a serious face.

Aries was grinning, trying not to laugh.

"Strategically, I think they're right, Jack," Dan said. "Azkonce headed West of Yakkenden and all the gunfighting is going on near the center of the city now."

Ramon inquired to Michael, "Are those cruisers ready to hit back?"

"They're ready," Aries responded enthusiastically.

"Yeah. Ready," Michael nodded.

"Still nothing from the Explorer unit?" Asked Dan. "Anyone?"

"Radio silence, Dan," claimed Adam, after he reported to command what the situation had become. "Command is telling me that the reserve fleet is ready for combat, but to pull our ships back. Explorer unit hasn't responded for some time, now."

"Now? There's nobody where the DZ is," Damon informed.

"Now?! They're firing artillery against the mountainside, guys. What the h$ll, get them out of there, Natalie!!" Ramon forced. "Do you hear that?! They're hitting!!"

Natalie reacted, "Oohh, sh$t!! Guys, maneuver them up the mountains, now! Tell them to take cover on the— Jack, are there any units up on the mountain top?"

"It's clear of units but that storm is going to cover the whole f$cking range, Nat," Jack resounded.

Natalie patted her boys on the shoulders.

Myles, Ian, and Damon all gave orders through their comms, telling the commander of each ship to bail out and return fire as necessary. Natalie was guiding each one of them, looking over their displays, and trying not to panic.

"They're going to engage, but it won't be to much advantage," said Myles to Natalie. "There are no visuals below, and the artillery is too far away."

"Wait! That's only going to draw more attention to them! USF Silent Path to USF Plaza!! God, God, hold your fire!!" Damon vehemently shouted, focusing his passion.

Myles and Ian followed suit with giving the orders but it was already too late, as more of the Azkonce units were beginning to fire at the frigates, mistaking them for Egrucian ambushers.

"Cruisers," Dan pushed toward Michael and Aries, without looking at them.

————————

A representation of the hellish battlefield beneath the frigates, the fight between Azkonce and Egrucian forces.

The frigates were weaving back and forth in the strands of heatwaves and cold pressures, heavy rainfall, and thunder storms. The commanders of each ship were pushing their engines at maximum to pull up. The more time they spent down there, the worse off they were, losing fuel and power, as well as taking hard hits from invisible, underground forces, as well as from artillery in the city.

Breaking through the hardened terrain, numerous subterranean vehicles sporting the insignia of the Azkonce were ravaging upward to the surface, finally revealing themselves. Vehicles, termed 'Steel Gophers,' were breaching the force shields and hulls of the frigates with laser-insulated rods, same as they were while still underground. Other vehicles, termed 'Cloud Pushers,' were reaching the surface of the planet and then planting themselves into the ground with long, strong-fibred cables. Then, they unleashed a net-like plasma blanket that would snag the incoming artillery projectiles and use the remainder of its own speedy momentum to send the projectiles directly back to the enemy.

From what it seemed, everything between the Azkonce and the Egrucians was equally anticipated, one tribe never being above the other in terms of superiority.

The frigates were having an extremely challenging time dodging the weaponry of the Steel Gophers. They strayed from their original course and began flying up the mountainside to escape the falling artillery projectiles as well as the AA-battery-like weaponry of the Steel Gophers.

Heavily damaged, the frigates made it up to the peak of the mountains, but they weren't able to keep up in the air. They dropped down onto the flattest surfaces available and remained in contact with The Silent Path.

A representation of the magnificent lightshow that was coming from the laser weaponry, though the sounds of each weapon was far more terrifying.

The Steel Gophers and the Cloud Pushers were followed as subterranean Egrucian vehicles surfaced, faster than the Azkonce's vehicles. They were termed, 'Radio Ants' or simply 'Ants.' They looked like motorcycles without riders, like large drones, and they screeched like banshees. The screech was shrill, constant, and terrifying. They had a head piece that lifted up from itself, revealing a laser ring, and it shot bursts of plasma-covered shells, 10mm in diameter, into the Azkonce vehicles. Some of the vehicles were completely disabled and were left like carcasses.

Azkonce humanoid soldiers were climbing up out of the disabled and broken vehicles, and firing plasma beams that left a liquid trail, falling to the ground and emitting steam. The plasma beams cut through their targets and disabled them immediately. The Azkonce soldiers had helmets with visors that switched from turquoise to deep black. They fired their weapons into the ground, controlling their aim, and explosions could be heard at a subterranean level.

Suddenly, more vehicles burst up through the ground. They looked like shoddily melted together steel plates and beams, and it was difficult to determine if they were Azkonce or Egrucian. Thrusters appeared to melt through the backside of their hull, dropping melted metals into the ground below. They shot themselves upward into the sky, sounding as loud as Earth's ancient F22-Raptors. They headed toward the direction of Yakkenden, and without much pause began firing the same needle-like lasers that the Steel Gophers were firing, only larger in diameter, and the color purple. They were termed 'Death Angels.'

There were literally hundreds of units crawling up from underground in that area, many of them driving over each other or crawling over each other. The sound of the war was deafening, though truly was something to behold. The Azkonce units were seemingly overwhelmed by the Ants, but more and more units kept shoving upward from underneath the ground, knocking other units out of the way, blasting their turrets and cannons wildly into the sky accidentally, as well.

The cruisers, the USF Raphael and the USF Zoggmendzing were flying high above the surface of the planet, though dropped down to an altitude of around 100,000 meters. The deep, infrabass humming sound of their engines was not only bada$$ to hear, but was proving to be an effective crowd control against all Azkonce and Egrucian units.

Some Azkonce and Egrucian units began fighting upward towards the mountain tops where the frigates had inevitably created another CS. Other units were digging back underneath the tundra-like soil and still blasting their weapons at the vehicles above ground.

The Ants were proving effective against the more stationary Cloud Pushers until the Cloud Pushers inverted their plasma cannons into their vessels, causing a transformation. Then, they protruded plasma cannons on its four-sided top compartment. The entire vehicle would reel its dense-fibre cables in, in a snap, and then were being aimed manually by Azkonce crew members inside, shooting out at the Ants like harpoons, then pulling them into a shotgun blast of plasma energy from the top compartment. These units were something that the USF had to respect and fear.

More artillery projectiles were hitting and missing their targets, like an endless barrage. The warzone in Yakkenden thickened, as did the acidic plumes of smoke. The weather worsened as a windstorm passed over the area, as was predicted on the USF Silent Path. The artillery projectiles and the plasma nets were chaotically flying in every direction, hitting every unit and destroying many, and still there were more Azkonce Steel Gophers drilling up to the surface to blast more of the Ants away.

Another murder of Death Angels crowed into the skies, thrusting themselves toward Yakkenden. This time, hundreds of them were blitzing the city. The artillery suddenly ceased against the mountainside, and AA-battery positions termed 'Smokers' began firing long streaming plumes of smoke toward the Death Angels, interrupting their internal drive systems and causing their flights to fail. Death Angels were dodging each other and the smoke left and right with high precision, making the Smokers a very sensible weapon to use against them.

There was no telling how the citizens of Yakkenden felt throughout this war. And if this one battle was of any sign on how battles were on all of the other fronts, merely thousands on each side killing each other by one city, it was that the billions of Azkonce and Egrucian units were going to make the war last. Thousands of units from billions in one battlefront, at that intensity and with that kind of power, was not a good sign at all for the USF. Still, the USF was hopeful... from afar.

[ray-jaykub]

May I be the first to indulge friend?

🔒 - what’s something they love a lot that they’re embarrassed to tell others about?

With the four lads? Or maybe just Don and Mikey?

As a thank you to being the bestest friend and writing mate in the world, I'm gonna do all four. Because they're all weird

Warnings: Mentions of internalized homophobia, me projecting

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leonardo: > Leo, boy wonder, fearless. Whatever name you wanna call him. He is often the cleaner brother, strict morals and often the most polite and respectful of the four.

>It's all quite frankly a lie... partly, anyway

>This man is just as down bad, if not more so, then us readers and writers. That's right, honor boy loves fan-fiction. It's his favorite pastime and quite frankly a border-line addiction. He's written a good bit of his own even! Is it good? Not really. But it helps him cope so why say anything?

>It's mostly about some OCs he made when he was like 15 but when you read it, it's obviously just self insert. He is so bad at hiding the fact this is infact him and that's part of the reason he hides it but it's also because he'd never hear the end of it.

>Master Splinter caught him writing once and asked to read it, he didn't really say anything while reading it and like any parent just said it was good and left it at that. Leo is mortified to this day.

>You would have to be married with kids before this man even lets you know the book exists. You are forbidden from knowing it resides under the mattress, if you did know about it he'd probably burn it. Not because he doesn't trust you! He just knows it's cringe and the love-interest that was introduced is obviously you and he can't handle the humiliation

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Raphael:

>Men. He's embarrassed about liking men. But it's so obvious that he does and no-one ever really talks about it. It's 99% true they all assumed he was, cause Mikey is so obviously open about it and even Don is so everyone is already okay with it. There would be no reason to hide it!

>It'd be more so a masculinity thing for him, especially because he'd be a bottom in a mlm relationship. Joking, joking! But in all seriousness He just feels like it's a flaw and it's internalized, sometimes he'll catch himself appreciating a man, whether on TV or walking the streets and he'd feel terrible about it. 

>It's a pretty serious problem when it comes down to it and He needs therapy and fast. Master Splinter has already tried to sit and have the "I love you no matter what conversation" to see if he could help Raph resolve what's going on with himself but he won't budge. And he sure as hell won't tell his brothers.

>But maybe if he did they'd be able to get through to him

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Donatello:

>His media, the stuff he watches. None of his brothers will ever understand his obsession with Angel Beats, vocaloid, or Sailor Mercury

>He’s tried to share the shows he watches with his family before. But even just the slight hint of disapproval or not understanding and he regrets every choice he’s ever made up to that point

>The only time ever showing them something worked was with Master Splinter and star wars. It’s their bonding media and they will hold marathons every now and then. They both refuse to watch the newer ones.

>There’s not a lot Don can show his family. Not because they don’t like it but mostly because they don’t understand it. His taste is so absurd even Mikey is hesitant to ask or wonder about what he’s into. 

>It sucks for Don because he doesn’t ever really hide anything, (besides his internet history, but who doesn’t?) it’s just that no one ever cares enough to wanna know. This plays a lot into his self isolation, not just physically but mentally he does tend to be on his own little island. Alone. And that’s the hard part.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michelangelo:

>Quite literally the most open out of the four. Almost too open. But even the most open people have their secrets and maybe his is a little childish. Dating sims of all kinds. You can romance em? he’s playing it

>Avid player of Monster Prom! Has been accepted by every character and could do it again blind folded. His favorite is Polly, a total party ghost. He played Stardew and married Penny, made another save and married Elliot. Played Arcana and fell hard for Julian, was down bad for weeks.

>Point is if it’s out there he has played it but there’s no way in hell his family can know and it’s all Raph’s fault. Story was they were talking about celebrity crushes one day and Mikey had fan-art of the person he was pining for in one of his games but Raph looked at it funny (when he really didn’t react at all) and he decided he’d never show his babies to anyone ever again. Can’t do it won’t do it.

[lazypanartist]

hello !! i was wondering if you could do any rise headcannons for a (platonic) transmasc reader who hates their voice and has a lot of dysphoria bc of it? thank you so much in advance ^-^

Amen 😔 Went thru this last year. If that's how ur feeling, I hope that you can find peace within yourself (and know that vocal training works wonders!)

You didn't specify characters, so I went with some fan favs. If you want more/a continuation, just let me know ^-^

Dysphoric Voice

Trans masc reader

-----

Raph

Can tell when something's wrong

He's heard about dysphoria in passing, but this is the first time he's seen you so out of it

Kinda just. Picks you up n holds you

Lets you cry if you need

Best person to vent to, 100%

Zero judgement; everyone has their demons

Leo

Starts cracking jokes as soon as he hears that you're upset

No joke (except for his)

Remember episode 1, when he said it's how he copes?

Yeah

Anyways

His method of attack: making you laugh so much/hard that you forget what you were worried about

And he will NOT stop until he's getting results

Donnie

May have a slight emotional disconnect, but he actually knows what to do

In theory, ofc

Recommends Testosterone, vocal training, offers to do even more research and become your vocal coach himself

Kinda deflates if you say that you've tried (the coaching, at least)

Not great with comfort, but he'll try

Mikey

As soon as he learns that there's something going on,

He'll do pretty much whatever he can to help you feel better

Even if he can't help with the issue itself, he'll try and help by distracting you

Has you watch movies, paint, cook with him, whatever

He just wants to make sure you can smile

April

She loves you

Know that, first and formost

So whatever crazy ideas she has all come from the heart

Sure, she lets you vent, or offers a shoulder to cry on

But she's a woman of ACTION

If no other plans of attack?

Will go with you to your doctor for recommendations, esp if you have anxiety

Casey Jr.

Has NO IDEA what the term 'trans' means if you started transitioning before he met you

As soon as you told him what was up, he was devastated

I mean

Sure, he had more pressing things to worry about growing up,

But your voice being the cause of mental anguish?

He's heartbroken

Doesn't know how to help, so he lets you vent to him whenever you need

Baron Draxum

Another one who has no idea what you mean unless you spell it out

Doesn't really seem like there's anything like that in the Hidden City

Unless..

Goes through all of his mystic magical stuff

Gives you a glowy choker to put on

Magically changes your voice 💕

Since if appearances can be changed so drastically, why not sounds?

Only one who can actually do anything about it 🙃

(Don't ask how he got the choker.. probably stole it tho)

[nrrrdgrrrl2002]

Decided to make something for Slight Rewrite

“Leo turned off the movie as the end credits rolled. “Well that stunk” raph stated. Leo gave raph an offended look.

“Space heroes 7: going towards a dark place is a treasure!” Leo said. “Tell that to Casey” raph smirked as he pointed to Casey, who fell asleep during the movie.

“Wow.I don’t think he’s ever fallen asleep in the lair” april said. “Yeah. The movie was that dull” raph said, prompting Leo to glare at him.

They noticed Casey was curled in on himself. His knees to his chest and his arms wrapped around himself. “That cannot be a comfortable position to sleep in” Donnie said as he noticed this.

“Still better than sleeping on your desk” raph said. “Oh ha ha”Donnie responded sarcastically. “Am I the only one who thinks it’s weird he sleeps with his mask on?” Mikey asked as he crawled closer to Casey.

“Well he never takes it off so why would he now?” Leo answered. Mikey and april looked at Casey. “What do you think he looks like?” Mikey asked.

“He’s probably almost as ugly as raph” Donnie joked, prompting raph to stamp on Donnie’s foot as he got up.

“What if we take a peek?” Mikey stated. “I don’t think Casey would like that” april brought up. “He’ll probably kill you before you see anything” raph said.

“But I wanna see” Mikey whined. “I mean. If Casey’s gonna be a part of this team, we should at least know what he looks like if we’re gonna trust him” Leo stated.

“Yeah. Cause betraying someone’s trust is TOTALLY how you know they’re trustworthy” raph said sarcastically.

“Yeahhhhhh. We should probably leave it be” Donnie said, not noticing Mikey pull the mask up anyway.

“Aww! He’s adorable!” April said as she saw Casey’s face. “You find shark teeth adorable?” Leo asked, pointing out Casey’s almost full set of fangs, only missing 2 front teeth.

“Ooh! I want shark teeth. Donnie-“ mikey started. “No” Donnie responded.

“Aww! Look at his freckles!” April said as she saw freckles all over his face. “Pff! He has freckles? He really is a dork” raph said.

Mikey and april glared at raph. “What?” He asked. “I don’t see what Casey has to hide. He looks fine” Leo stated.

“Well. I don’t think humans are supposed to have fangs” Donnie stated. “Maybe he had the sharpened” mikey said.

“Can humans do that?“ Raph asked towards april. She shrugged, not knowing.

Casey’s eyes shot open. He clawed a too close mikey in a panic as he frantically felt his face and looked for his mask.

“DUDE WHAT THE HELL?!” Mikey yelled as he held his bleeding cheek. Raph immediately jumped over to Mikey to check on him.

Casey scrambled to get his mask back on as he was panicking. “Casey what the f••k was that for?!” Donnie said.

April tried to reach for Casey to calm him. “STAY AWAY!” He yelled as he smacked her away, his eyes wide as he hugged himself.

“Dude, relax! We’re not judgin” Leo tried to calm Casey. “Yeah, you’re only a little ugly” Donnie tried to joke. Raph pulled on Donnie’s mask tails at the badly timed joke.

“I need to leave I need to leave” Casey muttered as he jumped up to walk off. “Casey! We’re sorry. We shouldn’t have done that!” Raph tried to say, but Casey just kept walking unt he was out of the lair.

“I think we screwed up” Mikey said as he held gauze to his wound. Raph lightly smacked Mikey for the comment.”

[remmushound]

Bay/Rise 30!! @brightlotusmoon @errorfreak88 @selfindulgenz @digitl-art-monstr

Raphael shifted uncomfortably as he tried to find a position that didn't put pressure on the tender parts of his shell. It made it hard to focus when one wrong move meant pain, and even sitting in the same position for too long meant the same. Donnie had checked him out after they had returned from their fight with Cassandra to make sure his shell hadn’t endured any more damage following the savage outburst. Raphael hated being seen like that, especially by anyone other than his brothers, and two episodes so close together left him exhausted yet unable to sleep. His adrenaline was still pumping hours after the fact, his body quivering with a savage, slashing tension begging to be released at the slightest pinprick. He always liked to be alone when he was like this— not alone in the sense that made him panic though. Alone in a room surrounded by others outside the room while he was trying to lock away any unneeded stimuli to give his overworked body a break.

His shaking hands made it difficult to weave between the knots of the scarf he was knitting, but it did hold his focus enough to dissociate from the stress and unfamiliar environment all around him. When the knitting itself didn't prove enough, Raphael started to rock back and forth while repeating mantras under his breath.

“Nothing lasts forever. Nothing lasts forever. Nothing lasts forever. Nothing lasts forever. Nothing lasts forever.”

The slight squeal of the door sliding open slashed through Raphael’s temporary calm like a knife. He flinched, far more than he knew he should have but he couldn’t help it. His body tried to force him into a charge, but Raphael’s mind caught up enough to stop himself when he got to his feet. Leo was standing there in the doorway with a curious look in his eye.

Raphael sat back down. His attempt at knitting was completely forgotten as he started to rock again and repeat his mantra 

“Are you alright?” Leo asked, slowly closing the door behind him to seal him and Raphael together in the room.

Raphael started to panic. He sucked in as deep of breaths as he could manage, repeating his mantras even quicker while he tried to deny the panic inside him. Something as big or bigger than him was always intimidating since as he grew up around beings that were always so much smaller than him. Something bigger that could hurt him if they wanted to, and though he tried to tell himself that he wouldn’t be hurt by this honorable shinobi, his mind screamed at him that Leo would attack. 

“No one can take your joy, no one can take your joy, no one can take your joy…”

Leo stared at the other mutant intently for a moment before sitting seiza-style in front of the panicked mutant. “I was wondering if we could talk.”

“Talk?” Raphael blinked tears out of his eyes as he brought the sapphire pools to look up at Leo. They were the same size now, on equal standing, and that small improvement made Raphael’s heart pump just slightly easier. “Oh… okay. Yeah. I can talk.”

“Great.” Leo smiled as he gave Raphael another moment to himself before saying, “So. Your Leonardo tells me that you’re the leader.” 

“Uh, oh.” Raphael laughed weakly, “Did he?”

Leo gave a weak, hopeful smile. “Uh. Yeah. You. You’re not, right?”

Raphael blinked and tilted his head slightly. “No—no I am! Is your Raph not?”

“Mmmm.” Leo pursed his lips, shaking his head slightly, “No.  No, it’s uh. Me.”

“You?” Raphael pointed at Leo and laughed at first, until he quickly realized it wasn’t a joke. “Really? Wow. This world is… all kinds of messed up.”

“That’s what I thought when I heard that you were the leader of your brothers.” Leo laughed and rubbed his head, giving an almost frustrated sigh. “What I just… can’t… for the life of me figure out is why your Master Splinter chose you.”

“He… didn't…?”

That statement made Leo’s mind reel, his head almost spinning for a moment before he was able to collect his cool enough to ask. “So your… your master didn't name you the leader?”

“No.” Raphael said.

“Then— then how did you decide that, huh? What made you worthy?

“W-worthy?” Raphael sputtered, starting to rub his hands together almost painfully. “Uh… nothing, I guess, it was just… default? Being the oldest, I—“

“Oldest?” Leo interrupted yet again, “You’re the oldest?”

“Yeah…” Raphael’s head shrunk slightly into his shell when faced with the near-aggressive interrogation. His heart started to beat up again and an almost fiery heat built up in his lungs. “Yeah— I’m the oldest and Donnie and Leo are twins and Mikey’s the baby of the family.”

“Well I’m the oldest in my family.” Leo declared almost proudly.

“Good for you!” Raphael’s praise was genuine and it seemed to catch Leo off guard, “It’s nice to know another big brother now, I guess! You know, someone who knows how the other feels—“

“You don’t have any idea how I feel.”

Again, Raphael was caught off guard by the sharp tone. “Oh— I’m sorry— I didn't mean to downplay your feelings, if I did—“

Leo stood up again and made Raphael reel back to try and get more distance between them. His mind started to go numb again as primal control was ready to take over in an instant. He felt worse than he had in years— he couldn’t have another outburst. He wasn’t even sure his body could handle another one so soon—

“Why does anyone trust you?” Leo asked, getting close to Raphael to try and bait him into lashing out. “You go off the handle without thinking! Why are you given any credit?”

“Please don’t yell.” Raphael requested.

Leo eyed the snapper suspiciously. His tense muscles, locked jaws. Fingers digging into the stone almost hard enough to break nails.  Body quivering with anticipation. Leo almost smiled.

“You want to fight me, don’t you? I can see it in your eyes! You’re just as impulsive as my Raph! So? Go on! Hit me!”

Raphael flinched at the shouting, his arms bunched to his shell and his eyes threatening to glaze over with the protective white layer that always came during his fights. “I don’t like it when—“

“You don’t like it?” Leo prodded Raphael on the chest, “Then do something about it! Fight back!”

“I don’t—“

“I know you want to!”

“Could you please—“

“Just do it! Hit me!”

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” Raphael stood up quite suddenly, swinging out a massive forearm to slam hard into Leo and send him stumbling as if he truly hadn’t expected the other turtle to hit him. Raphael let out a growling cry in the other mutant's face, spitting slobber and foam as he roared a challenge.

Leo reeled with the blow, clutching at his chest with both hands and shifting uncomfortably as he tried to regain both balance and breath. And yet he smiled.

“I knew you would…”

For a second, snapper and box turtle stood facing each other in a silent challenge, neither willing to back down and surrender to the will of the other. Then there came a scream that made Raphael’s sense return to him in its entirety once more. Both mutants snapped their head back to look at the door, mounting horror in both their chests.

“Pops?” Raphael breathed.

A crash. Another scream.

“SENSEI!” Leo nearly broke down his door in his panic to run to his father’s aid.

[etherealhoneybee777]

My first ever fanfiction! (Work in Progress)

Summary:

Mikey has been feeling depressed for weeks, but mean comments about his cooking send him over the edge. Leo comforts Mikey and talks to him about his feelings, and he realizes the impact that words can have on his little brother. 

I wrote this fanfiction because I have a history of mental illness, and I project pretty hard onto Mikey. I wanted to see what it would be like if Mikey was depressed, and how his brothers would help him cope. Please excuse the potential bad writing! This is the first short story I’ve written in a long time :) TW for depression.

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13941733/1/Small-Words-Tumbling

The fanfiction:

Small Words, Tumbling

Mikey was curled up on his bed, watching small slivers of light stream through the blinds of his window.

Worthless. Screw-up. Good-for-nothing. Waste of space. Everyone would be fine if you were gone.

He had spent the better part of the day in his room, only coming out to train and prepare meals. Although his brothers would often make fun of the disturbing things he would eat—like anchovy jellybean pizza-Mikey knew that they relied on him to cook practically everything, since they were hopeless in the kitchen. Mikey loved cooking because it made him feel valuable to his brothers. Mikey always had the unshakable feeling that he wasn't as good as the rest of his family. Donnie was a tech genius. Leo was the leader. Raph was a badass fighter. And Master Splinter was, well, Master Splinter. The rest of the family had something specific and valuable to contribute, and all Mikey could do was cook. Cooking was Mikey's talent. No one else in his family could do it. Sure, he wasn't the best fighter, but if Mikey didn't cook, no one could eat. Mikey had been feeling deeply depressed and worthless for months now, but the fact that he could cook made him feel valuable to his family. It was the only thing that made him feel valuable anymore, if he was being honest.

That's probably why what happened that morning hurt Mikey so bad.

That morning, Mikey strode into the kitchen confidently. He had the best idea in the world: grape French toast. Grape soda was delicious. French toast was delicious. So why not combine them?

And so Mikey labored in the kitchen, stirring flour, egg yolks, butter, and sugar until it made a smooth mixture. Then, he pulled the grape soda out of the fridge and poured a generous amount into the mixing bowl.

"Yeah!" Mikey screamed to the empty room, "This is gonna be awesome!"

Thirty minutes later, there were four plates piled high with vivid purple French toast. Mikey pulled out a can of whipped cream and a bottle of syrup and placed them on the counter next to the plates.

"Hey guys, it's time to eat!" Mikey bellowed into the layer. Raph, Donnie, and Leo, who had been watching some morning Space Heroes, got up and sluggishly walked to the kitchen.

"Thank God, I'm starving," Raph said, rubbing his plastron. As he walked into the kitchen though, his slight smile turned into a scowl. "Mikey," he growled, looking at the purple pieces of toast, "What the fuck is this?"

"It's grape French toast, dude!" Mikey said as he tried to hand the stacked plate to Raph. Suddenly, Mikey lost grip of the plate, and three pieces of grape French toast went flying towards Raph's lap.

"Seriously, Mikey?" Raph sneered. Then, he picked up a piece of the purple French toast and waved it in the air, "Whatever this is…it's disgusting!" Raph lowered his voice to a hesitant grumble. "I just wish we'd order takeout instead of letting this genius cook. Honestly, I don't know what to do with him sometimes."

Mikey felt hurt blaze through his chest, for reasons he couldn't explain. He was used to being insulted by Raph, even though he was grumpier than usual today, but no one ever insulted Mikey's breakfasts. Sure, Mikey's cheesy jokes were often met with annoyance, and he was often belittled for being unfocused during fights, but no one ever insulted breakfast. Breakfast was Mikey's one sanctuary, the one place where the things he did could be appreciated.

Mikey looked at Donnie and Leo for some reassurance, but he couldn't find any. Leo was silently flicking his pieces of toast into the trashcan and reaching for a granola bar. Donnie was reluctantly sniffing his pieces of toast but refusing to take a bite.

"Maybe you should go back to cooking the regular breakfasts, you know?" Donatello said, not unkindly. Mikey's heart felt like it was about to burst as he watched Donnie scrape his toast into the trashcan and wash his plate.

"I'm sorry, guys," Mikey said, looking at the ground sheepishly, "Eggs and bakies tomorrow, I promise!" he continued with forced cheer.

Raph grumbled as he walked out of the room and sat on the couch to continue watching Space Heroes. Donnie scurried off into his lab. Leo moved to walk out, but not before he caught a glimpse of the hurt in Mikey's bright blue eyes.

"Hey, Mikey," Leo said, lips bent downwards in concern, "Raph is just a little grumpy today."

But the damage had already been done. As Leo turned away, Mikey's eyes started stinging, and all of Mikey's negative thoughts came flooding to the surface. You're not good enough. You're not as good as your brothers. You can't get a single thing right. Screw-up. They would never miss you if you were gone. Mikey ran to his room, making sure that his brothers couldn't see the tears welling in his eyes.

He stayed in his room for most of the day, only coming out to train. When Mikey trained that day, he only spoke to answer questions and say Hai sensei. He didn't see his brothers trade looks of concern with each other. When training was over, Mikey walked briskly back into his room.

"What's wrong with Mikey?" Raph asked, a tone of annoyance veiling his concern.

"He'll probably come out and tell us soon enough," Leo replied, looking anxiously towards Mikey's room.

Mikey sat in his room for hours. It was so impossibly lonely, not being with his brothers, but how could he face them now? He wasn't good enough, and he didn't want to be a burden to them. He had cried his eyes out for an hour, until he felt like he couldn't cry anymore. It was so stupid that he felt this way over an offhand rude comment Raph made about his cooking. But, the truth was that Mikey had been feeling pretty worthless for weeks, and Raph's comment seemed to validate Mikey's feelings. Mikey desperately wished he could be someone else, someone focused and attentive during battle, someone who knew how to talk to people. He wanted people to laugh with him, but they only laughed at him. Like he was some big joke.

Mikey didn't want to be a joke. He wanted to be a leader, a badass, someone with a purpose. But he was just a burden. A screw up. And his brothers were left to pick up the pieces. Honestly, they would be better off if he wasn't around.

Mikey slowly felt himself sinking deeper in his bed as his thoughts consumed him. He almost didn't hear the slow, methodical knock at the door.

"Mikey, can I come in?"

Leo.

Mikey didn't answer. He had started crying again, and besides that, he just really didn't want to talk to Leo. Mikey was surprised when the door squeaked open and golden light filled his room anyway.

"Mikey!" Leo's eyes widened as he saw the tear tracks on Mikey's face. "Oh my god."

Mikey felt Leo place his weight on the bed. He turned to look at Leo's eyes. Cool and calm. But Mikey could tell that beneath his collected exterior, Leo was panicking.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Leo said, a little too gingerly. Leo was used to comforting Mikey after his nightmares when they were young, but, now that they were older, Leo no longer knew the words to make his brother feel better.

Mikey stared at Leo. He felt like there was a huge blank expanse between them, like a black sky with no stars. Mikey desperately wanted to reach out and close the divide, but Leo would never understand how Mikey felt. Leo was a fearless leader. He always knew what to do, and people took him seriously when it counted. Meanwhile, Mikey felt that he was the last person anyone would trust in an intense situation.

Leo furrowed his brow in concern at Mikey's silence. "Talk to me, Mikey. Was it the thing that Raph said this morning? We didn't mean to hurt your feelings by not eating the breakfast you made for us."

Mikey shifted his eyes to the floor. "Uh…it is and isn't about what Raph said this morning," he said finally. "I just…I don't know. I just feel like everyone has their thing, you know? Like you're the leader, and Donatello is the smart one. Raph is super good at fighting and Master Splinter has taught us everything we know. But no one really needs me. And I always screw up our fights, too." Mikey's mouth felt dry now that he had said what he had been feeling for months out loud. Surprised that it came out that fast. But he had wanted to say it, needed to say it.

Leo's bright blue eyes widened in surprise. "Mikey, we do need you." He put a comforting hand on Mikey's shoulder. "And your thing is being Mikey. The team wouldn't be the same without you. And sure, you've messed up our fights sometimes, but you've saved us more times than I can remember," he looked down and continued gravely, "We are all equally valuable in this family."

Mikey refused to look at Leo. Leo's words were comforting, but for some reason, Mikey's throat felt like it was filling with clay. It was only when his vision blurred that he noticed he was crying. The crying quickly evolved into full-on sobbing. It felt like a torrential storm, punctured only by the choked sounds of his shaky breaths.

"Oh god, oh god. Mikey…"

Before Mikey knew it, his head was buried in Leo's chest, and his body was wrapped tightly in strong green arms. Leo rubbed Mikey's head, which he usually only did when Mikey was seriously injured. Mikey should have felt closer to Leo, but he felt the black, starless expanse between them getting wider and wider.

Mikey pulled away, wiping his eyes. "You just wouldn't understand."

Leo's eyes flashed with hurt, but he quickly replaced it with his signature practiced calmness. "Wouldn't understand what?"

"You're the person that everyone needs. You're our leader. If you were gone, nothing would ever be the same. You don't understand being worthless. You don't understand what it's like to be the kind of person that could disappear forever, and no one would ever miss. That's my life, dude," Mikey said, his voice strained from all the crying.

Mikey looked at Leo. And he was surprised to see that the pantomimed calm patience that usually occupied Leo's eyes be replaced by an intense, gripping fear.

"You're not worthless, Mikey. You mean so much to all of us," Leo said. "I love you, little brother" he continued. Mikey could tell that wasn't all that was on his mind.

Leo paused a long time before finally speaking again.

"Mikey…you haven't ever thought of hurting yourself, have you?" Leo's voice was shaky and deeply sad. Even though Mikey had been crying, for some reason Leo sounded sadder than he was.

"No," Mikey answered quickly and with certainty. Truthfully, he had never even considered it, at least, not in any real way.

"Promise?"

"Promise." Mikey gave him a slight smile.

Leo pulled him into a second embrace, squeezing Mikey even harder than he did last time. This time, Mikey didn't pull away. He just stayed there, leaning against Leo's neck, feeling a million times lighter than before. The black expanse between the two brothers had vanished, and he felt closer to Leo than he ever did.

"Mikey…" Leo started, and then paused. Mikey could tell by the strained choke of his words that Leo had started crying.

"Mikey," Leo began again, "If anything ever happened to you, I would miss you for the rest of my life."

[fabuloustrash05]

Courting A Salamandrian

Chapter List

Words: 1833

Warnings: Swearing and some adult themes

Author’s Notes: Sorry for the long wait. I was hoping for this chapter to be up and ready before the end of August but now that school has started up again I gotta focus on that so it got held back, but dont worry! I’ll still be posting chapters when I can! (Also little fun game to play, take a shot every time Raphael sighs in this chapter LOL)

~~~~~

Chapter 7: The Next Step

“Mona Lisa, I’ve loved you from the moment our eyes met- no, that’s no good,” Raph said to himself as he paced in his bedroom. 

“Mona! From the moment you punched me in the face, I knew you were the one for me- oh God! That just sounds weird…” 

He sighs, “Mona you are my love, my world, my life. I want to love you everyday till the end of time! No, too much..” He sighs again.

“I love you! Marry me!!” he shouts.

 “...no too forward.” Raph takes a deep breath.

“Okay, Raphael. You can do this.” 

He takes a deep breath.

“Mona Lisa, my whole life, I never thought I’d feel the way I feel when I’m with you. You make me feel safe and loved and I want to do the same for you everyday. My life is not complete without you in it. So...” He gets down on one knee, “Mona Lisa, will you marry me?”

Chompy, who has been rehearsing with Raph from the comfort of his bed, does a cute little roar not before breathing a little fire from his mouth onto Raph’s face.

“You’re not helping...” Raph says with a glare. He wipes off the fire ashes on his face and groans. It's not as painful as it used to be. Chompy has breathed fire in his face so many times that Raphael barely feels anything at all. He looks at the alien turtle with slight annoyance for him burning his face. Chompy then gives Raph a cute smile. Raph sighs and smiles back, “You’re lucky you're cute.”

He sits on his bed and lies down as Chompy hops onto his stomach. Raphael pets the alien turtle’s head softly as he looks up to his bedroom ceiling with disappointment.

“I’m a lost cause, aren't I?” Raph sighs aloud to himself as he pets Chompy. “I don’t even know what I’m doing! I can’t even think of what to do to court her, let alone think of a good way to propose. And I can’t just propose to her out of nowhere!” 

He sighs, “What am I gonna do?” He mumbles to himself.

At that moment, Raphael’s T-Phone rings. He picks it up from his nightstand. 

Hockey Head Is Calling

Raph answers, “What do you want, Jones?”

“Raph! Dude! You busy?” Casey shouts from the other end.

“Not really...”

“Good. Wanna hang out? I just got off work and I bought some sick new hockey gear and I wanna test them out! We could hit some random shit off my apartment’s rooftop and see what it’ll hit!”

Raph snickers. Maybe a night out with his friend is what he needs, “Okay, I’ll be there soon.” 

“Awesome. See you then!”

Raph hangs up. Carefully, he lifts a dozing Chompy and places him to rest on his bed. Then, heads out the door to see his friend.

The night was young. The city roared with noises from the people on the street and cars in traffic. Atop the roof of an apartment building were Raphael and Casey Jones. 

Casey’s greasy black hair was now at a medium length and pulled back into a half ponytail, his bandana still wrapped around his forehead. He wore a hockey jersey with a black jacket over it  - along with dirty pants. A young adult who still dresses like a rebellious teen. 

The two friends hung out on top of the roof of Casey’s apartment, Raph sat on the edge of the roof drinking a soda as he watched Casey smacking old cans and bottles with his hockey stick. Casey placed an old tin can down in front of him, took a few steps back, then charged at the can, shouting his famous catchphrase, “Goongala!”, hitting it off into the air. The can arced and looped, twinkling as it vanished.

“So, where is your roommate?” Raph asked as he took a sip from his soda. “He’s not gonna come up here and see me, right?”

“No way,” Casey says as he begins setting up another old bottle. “Woody went to visit his family upstate. He’s not gonna be back until next week, so I got the apartment all to myself.” 

Casey takes a few steps back and charges again at the bottle, smacking it with his hockey stick. The bottle goes flying into the air and soon meets its end with a loud crash.

“Yes! That’s gotta be at least fifty points cause it hit that billboard and then landed perfectly into that dumpster,” Casey said with a cocky grin.

Raph rolls his eyes, “Don’t you have something better to do other than this stupid game?” Raph asked.

“Stupid?!” Casey gasped. “You love this game! Come on, it's not fun unless someone else plays.” 

Casey grabs another hockey stick and tosses it to Raph. He catches it with one hand as he continues to drink his soda. 

“I’ll pass,” he says as he places the hockey stick down.

Casey glares at Raph. “Okay, what the hell is wrong with you?”

“Huh?”

“I asked you if you wanted to hang out, you said sure, but now you’re acting like you don’t want to be here. What’s up?”

“Sorry, I just got alot on my mind. I thought maybe this would help clear my head.”

“Well, maybe if you tell me what's bothering you, I could help clear up that head of yours.”

Casey grabs a fresh soda and sits on the ledge next to Raph.

“Doctor Casey Jones is in,” he jokes as he cracks open his can.

Raphael hates to admit it, but Casey might actually be right for once. He should tell his friend what he has been planning. 

“Well... it’s about Mona Lisa…”

“Ah, lady trouble,” Casey said as he took a swig of his drink. “What about her?”

Raph breathes out a long sigh, “I’m going to ask her to marry me.”

Casey looked at his friend. His eyes widened with a combination of surprise and shock.

“Wow…” 

After a short moment of silence, Casey continues, “Why?”

Raph looks at Casey, unsure why he would ask such a stupid question.

“Because I love her and want to spend the rest of my life with her.”

Casey laughs, “No, seriously. Why?” 

“I just said why!”

“No, Raph, dude, I know you. You’re not the type of guy who would tie himself down like that. There’s got to be a different reason.” 

Casey thought for a moment. He then loudly gasped in realization as he snaps his fingers and quickly points at Raph with a devilish grin, “You got her pregnant!”

“W-what?! No! I didn’t-”

“You knocked her up and now you have to marry her, am I right?” Casey smirked. “Is it a shotgun wedding?” He laughed, jumping around and gyrating his hips.

“No! That's not the-”

“I mean, I’m not surprised,” Casey kept going, “You two go at it more than bunnies do.” 

“We do not!!”

Casey laughs, “Yeah you do! Remember that time when you guys got caught doing it in the dojo?”

“SHE’S NOT PREGNANT, YOU IDIOT! I WANT TO MARRY HER BECAUSE I LOVE HER!!”

Casey acknowledged the anger and seriousness on his friend’s face. Unbelievably, this was no time for jokes.

His eyes widened, “Oh my God…you are serious,” Casey said, shocked, “W-when did you decide this?”

“Over a week ago...” Raph sighed. “Last week I asked Sal Commander for his blessing and I got it, but now... I don’t know what to do. My mind has been blank. I’m not a planner.”

“No shit, you're not. You’re never the kind of guy to plan,” Casey said to Raph. “I’ve always known you as someone to focus on what's happening now, but maybe you just need something to help you get inspired on what to do next.”

“Like what?”

Casey shrugs, “Uh, do you have a ring for her?”

Raphael’s eyes widened. He really hasn’t thought this through! He actually forgot that he needs an engagement ring. Raph sighs in disappointment, “No…” 

“Then there you go. Maybe once you have a ring you’ll know what to do next,” Casey smiles. 

“Casey, I’m a mutant. I don't have a job or a lot of money to spend. I’m just a mutant turtle from Earth who has nothing. I have nothing that I can offer Mona, let alone an engagement ring.” Raph rested his head in his palms feeling hopeless, “Mona deserves the world and I can’t even give her a stupid ring.”

Casey looks at his friend with sorrow. He can tell Raphael has been so worried about his plans, but he knows him better than that. Casey’s smile returns, “I don’t think Mona cares if you can give her the world or not. She loves you for you.” Raph lifts up his head and looks at Casey.

“Don't beat yourself up over this. That’s not the Raphael I know.” 

Casey is right again. Mona never cared about any of this kind of stuff. She doesn’t care what Raph can and cannot give her because she always just loves being with him.

Casey takes another quick sip of his drink. “How about I help you get the ring?” he offered, staring out at the city lights.

Raph looks at his friend surprised, “Y-you’re serious?”

“I mean it. Once you get a ring then maybe you’ll be more motivated and know what you want to do next. I’ll chip in and help you pick out the perfect engagement ring for Mona Lisa.”

Raph smiles at his friend, thankful for his offer.

“Thanks Casey, but I don’t think that’s enough.”

“What do you mean?”

“I want to do something for her. I want to court her in my own special way. I want to do something that will show her that I love her before I ask her the question. Like... a big grand gesture, but I can’t think of anything...”

“How about you get her name tattooed on your arm? Not only will that show that you're dedicated to her, but it will also make you look badass,” Casey suggested. “I’ve got a buddy who’s taught me a thing or two about tattoo art. I’ll call him up and borrow his supplies and I’ll-“

Raph puts his hand up. “I’d stop you from coming at me with a Sharpie! I’m not trusting you with a needle on my skin, Jones!”

“Oh, come on!”

“I wanna do something big for her, but not that.” Raph sighs, “I’m worried I won’t be able to think of anything…”

Casey pat his friend on the back, “I’m sure you’ll eventually think of something. Sooner or later the perfect opportunity will come. Let’s just focus on getting the ring for now, okay?”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Raph slightly smiles. “I’m surprised you’re taking this so seriously, Jones.”

“What can I say? I’ve matured.”

The two friends stayed silent again. They watched the city and its chaos on the streets below.

“Hey Raph?” Casey asked.

“Yeah?”

“Are you sure you didn’t get her pregnant?”

Not mature enough. He smiles.

Without warning, Raph punches his friend in the arm, hard enough that Casey falls backward, laughing, onto the roof’s tarred surface.

~~~~~

[TAGS]

@waferreyes for making the cover

@monarel @ryebread-02 @petrichormeraki @cesarin @watermelon-beauty-queen @terra-mations @starfiretheninja @nerdgirllife @pixelpoff @bludinkdragonz

(If you would like to be added to the tag list to be updated on the newest chapters, message me and let me know!)

[ducknotinarow]

"Hey, Raph? What do you & your friends do in that club of yours?" He's fiddling with his hands, not really looking at his brother yet. "I mean, do you talk about things like what dad & mom do?" He doesn't want to weird him out or anything & hopefully he isn't. "Just curious, that's all!" ( mm verse LeoRaph :33 look you inspired me xP )

| muse interaction

Raphael chuckled a little when a picture was posted in the group chat he was part of with his teammate from the wrestling team he had joined. It was a slightly sexual joke honestly Raphael didn't realize that was part of human humor. Or in the least it was the humor of him and his friend on the team. Often they would tease over how overly sexual a lot of their practices could come off and how awarkwd the same moments were at times. Eh to be fair when your whole sport was pinning guys down to a mat though having a sense of humor over it seemed pretty normal. Raphael fell right in throwing in the same kind of jokes with them. Maybe it was pree pressure from hanging around a bunch of rowdy teens. But well it did make him grow curious.

Which is why he had gotten to be a tad protective over his need of privacy when it came to his texting. It's not like he was doing anything wrong of course, but he also didn't need everyone in his bussniess. Besides he didn't need anyone thinking he was thinking about all that stuff. Well okay maybe his searches weren't all thar innocent either but no one needed to know about that either.

He was of course but they didn't need to know who he pictured in his own mind when the topic would rise up. Said person happened to be next to him right now seeming to be texting. April likely. Look Raphael liked April he did she was cool but at the same time? He didn't see what Leo was so hooked over. So he turned back to the group chat. The guys were being horn dogs right now talking about who they found attractive and what not. And now Raph found himself turning his thoughts to Leo again. When remarks about doing things in the band room, or back behind the bleachers when no one else was around.

"Hey, Raph? What do you & your friends do in that club of yours?"

Raph hadn't noticed Leo's attetion was on him now only offer a faint 'uh' in response to his brother needing to replace the current thought in his head woth the fact he needed to pay attention right now. Watching how Leo's habit of fiddling with thier fingers helps him to draw his attetion on to his brother instead. They seem nervous?

"I mean, do you talk about things like what dad & mom do?"

"Like dad and mom?" He offers a slight tilt of his head trying to piece it together "Oh ew don't mention them with that gross." A very mature response clearly from Raphael. Till it hints him to ask "wait why?"

"Just curious, that's all!"

Raphael has to admit when Leo gets clearly flustered and nervous ots adorable, but thst makes him wanna push she them do it more slightly smirking he sets his phone away now. Uncaring about the conversation his teammates were having now. "Jus' curious uh?"

Sliding over to sit closer to Leo, letting his thigh press aginst thier own as he rested his elbow to thier shoulder. Always taking advantage of his much larger body shape when it came to Leo. Where Rpah was bulky, Leo was slim. So it made it easy to shift his weight on to them. "Curious 'bout what excatly?" He muses he already knew he just loved making Leo be clear especially when they felt nervous. Even if it slightly came with the idea this might also be about April.

That fromed a sour pit in his stomach. He'd ignore it for now.

"Oh what's 'his? Dose Nardo have impure thoughts?" He asks fixing his brother with a knowing look. "I mean hey, I can only guess with ya ain't bein' clear Leo. Might need to make it more clear for me? If ya lookin' for help or somethin' ?" That came out mkre suggestive than even Raph had meant for it but damn he was curious now.

Besides, maybe this could work in his own favor?

[rottmntquotes]

The Turtle, The Skeleton, And The Monster Hunter

“Hey Cantaloupe? Do we have any heavy duty band-aids?”

With a raised brow, Donatello turned to look at his twin brother, confused and a bit annoyed by the question. “Nardo, why would you ask such a dumb- OHMIGOSH!”

Leo chuckled nervously, a hand held over half of his face, which was cut with a burnt outline; he was soaking wet, and behind him stood Hueso, who was just as soaked. In almost half a second, Donnie was at Leo’s side, looking over the wound and speaking his typical jargon worriedly. When Leo then complained about a pain in his side, Donnie led the Slider over to a medium sized cot.

“Come on, let me see; let me see it.” Donnie instructed softly, searching Leo’s side for any sort of injury. Eventually, Donnie came across the side of what looked like a broken harpoon, which had lodged itself right into Leo’s side. “Oh Pizza Supreme, how did this happen?”

“Well...” Leo muttered, turning his attention to his leg and pulling out a thorn.

“Nardo...” Donnie said in a warning tone, gripping Leo’s chin and forcing Leo to make eye contact. “What. Happened?”

A strained whine was let out before Leo started to explain how he had gotten himself so beaten up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Come on Hueso! You have to have something to help me!”

“I am sorry Pepino, but it would not be fair if I decided to give you such help and then deny it to any other customer.”

Leo whined loudly, walking around in a circle anxiously. Not even fifteen minutes ago had Leonardo raced into Run-of-the-Mill, begging Hueso for any sort of free pizza to make up for something stupid he’d done to make his brothers upset with him. Of course, Hueso gave Leo an unimpressed glare, knowing very well that helping Leo would only make things worse.

Despite what many think, Hueso cared immensely about Leo, so much so that he- secretly -considered Leo a son. Not only that, but Hueso had admittedly found himself accidentally referring to Leo as “The son I have at the restaurant who can’t tell the difference between humility and entitlement.” The skeleton Yokai had spent enough time helping and disciplining Leo to the point that he now just decided that the best way for Leo to learn was to let him deal with the consequences himself.

“But Hueso, please! My brothers won’t talk to me, and I really do feel bad about what I did!” Leo cried, getting onto his knees and tugging at Hueso’s shirt. When Hueso said nothing, Leo sobbed dramatically and plopped down onto the floor face first. The teen’s next words were somewhat muffled, but Hueso was able to make out most of the words. “My brothers are mad at me, and you won’t help me! You helped me last time!”

“Pepino, you are causing a scene.” Hueso announced quietly, crossing his arms with a slight smirk. “Need I remind you that you are a teenager?”

“Could you at least come with me and help me apologize?” Leo requested, looking up at Hueso and pouting.

“I am genuinely confused as to how my presence will help your brothers forgive you, but fine.” Hueso agreed, watching Leo stand up in a flash. With a soft sigh and a slow head shake, Hueso followed Leo out of the restaurant, instructing the assistant manager to look after the restaurant for the time being.

On the way to the lair, Hueso took notice of how Leo’s demeanour started to change immensely. The Slider’s pupils constricted, his upper lip pulled back to reveal his sharp teeth, the scales on his neck seemed to raise up, he started to hiss, and his hands started to flutter rapidly. Hueso frowned, furrowing his brow bone in concern.

“Pepino? What is wrong?” Hueso asked, reaching out a hand and putting it on Leo’s shoulder. Shockingly, Leo replied with a defensive growl, gripping Hueso’s hand and throwing Hueso into a nearby tunnel that led away from the lair. In a hushed voice, Leo instructed Hueso to stay close and follow Leo farther into the tunnel. Hueso nodded and complied, deciding that he should push back his confusion in order to stay safe. When the duo stopped, Hueso took his chance to ask what was wrong.

“Someone’s following us.” Leo whispered, looking around the corner for any sign of another presence. Much to the dismay of both males, Leo’s decision got his face just barely grazed by a burning arrow, leading him to screech in pain.

“I KNEW IT!” a voice cheered, and footsteps started getting closer to the two. “Prepare to be taken down and put down, reptile!”

Hueso gasped, urging Leo to stand and grasping the teen’s hand. In their hurry to escape, neither Hueso nor Leo took the time to think about the fact that they were leaving footprints that led straight to them.

“That’s right... lead me to your den...”

______________________________________________________________

“Hueso... I can’t see... I’m too dizzy...”

“I am sorry Pepino, but we cannot stop here!”

Soft whimpering nearly broke Hueso’s heart, but he had enough will left to keep from giving in to his fatherly instinct to stop and comfort Leo. First the two needed to find somewhere to rest and get away from the vile creature chasing them, then they could deal with Leo’s injuries. When the sound of footsteps got even closer, Hueso turned to find a camo dressed human chasing them with a harpoon gun.

“I got ya now, you freakish beauties!” The human shouted, pointing the gun at Hueso. At that point, Hueso was running on nothing more than instinct and adrenaline, and the sudden idea of jumping into the giant whirlpool came to mind. When the two disappeared into the water, the human groaned with exasperation, pointing the harpoon gun towards the water. When the human caught sight of a flash of green, he took a shot, cheering when he saw a sudden pool of blood.

Underneath the water, Leo screamed, trying to remove the harpoon in horror. Unfortunately, Leo was too weak and shocked to get the harpoon out completely, so Hueso snapped in in half, hugging Leo close and keeping a tight grip on the turtle as they got sucked farther into the whirlpool. For what seemed like forever, the two flew through the water, eventually ending up in a reservoir a good ways from the lair.

 Hueso instantly swam up to the closest ledge, dragging Leo onto the ledge and doing chest compressions. Only a few were needed, and Leo started coughing up water, along with a bit of blood. With a heavy sigh, Hueso helped Leo up, allowing Leo to lean against him. Before Hueso could say anything, a loud splash drew the duo’s attention, and out of the water flew the human, laughing darkly as he held up his weapon.

“Your time is up, freaks.” The human pointing his weapon at Leo and preparing to shoot the teen. Hueso- in a moment of intense paternal instinct -let out a loud shout, his eyes turning green as his rib cage shot out of his shirt, growing nearly ten times in size and grasping the human in a tight grip. During this process, Leo had been unintentionally tossed to the ground, and the next thing he remembers is blacking out.

“Pepino... Pepino, wake up... Pepino!” Leo shot up with a yelp, groaning and rubbing his head as it started swimming. Hueso apologized for the sudden wake up. “We need to get you home, little one. Your brother is better suited to deal with your injuries than I.”

Leo nodded slowly, standing up as fast as possible - which, mind you, was not very fast. The rest of the journey was a bit slow, but Hueso did all he could to keep Leo’s mind off the pain, telling horrible dad jokes and stories about Hueso Jr.

“You’re... a really good dad, Hueso.” Leo complimented, letting out a huff of pain and chuckling as Hueso stopped and asked if Leo needed to rest. “I’m okay, Bone Man. Or, with the way you’ve been looking after me, should I call you Bone Dad?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Well I’m going to anyways.”

“Of course you are...”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“And then we- ow! -walked for a little- OW! -longer until we- OW! OW! OW! -Donnie! That hurts!”

Hueso chuckled lightly, sitting next to Leo and clearing his throat. Leo turned to look at Hueso, who gestured to Donnie. Knowing what this meant, Leo sighed heavily.

“Uhh... Cantaloupe?” Leo asked, looking up at Donnie nervously. Donnie hummed in acknowledgement, running a hand over the broken harpoon. With a hiss of pain, Leo placed a firm hand on Donnie’s, earning him his twin’s full attention. “I’m sorry. For... for what I said, I mean. What I did was wrong, a-and I swear that I will never do it again. I was being a... being a... a... bad brother... again.”

Donnie smiled, placing a hand on Leo’s cheek. The two then looked at each other silently before Donnie smirked and slapped Leo out of nowhere.

“Yep. I deserved that.” Leo muttered, smiling widely. Next to the twins, Hueso stood up, announcing that he was going to go home and freshen up. The twins said their goodbyes, and Donnie- very loudly -called Raph and Mikey into the lab. After appearing, Leo was forced to apologize once again, and was so distracted by his brothers’ forgiveness that he completely forgot about the harpoon lodged in his side.

Donnie, of course, did not.

“Guys, I know that you GAH! I HATE YOU SO MUCH!”

“Now, now Pepino! Do remember what brought you to me in the first place!”

The rest of that night was spent tending to Leo’s wounds, forgiving Leo’s dumb decisions, and cuddling until they all fell asleep on the couch.

[2k18leo]

“Did you just kiss me?”

((reposting this because I made a few alterations. Happy (little late) New Year!!!)

“So, you think you’ll go through with it tonight?” April asked you with a smirk and an eyebrow wiggle. The two of you were heading up the elevator of the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square. It was already past nightfall on New Years Eve and you were both lugging around big boxes of various fireworks to the roof, where you would later meet up with the turtles.

A warm, pink glow flashed across your cheeks as your eyes glanced to hers and then straight down to the floor. Letting out a little wry chuckle, you stammered, “I-I don’t know. I mean, all you guys are gonna be there and--” She cut you off,

“Girl,” she let out a groan, “So what? It’s New Years!” She straightened her glasses with her cheek while shrugging her shoulders. Her hands were placed in their usual spot, within the pockets of her bright yellow-green sweatshirt. “We’re literally gonna have the best seats in the city. It’ll be perfect!”

“What if he… rejects me?” You say in a joking way to help keep the mood light, but deep down that question has been burning inside you for so long.

April let out a hearty laugh, her shoulders twitching rhythmically, “Don’t be crazy. He would never.”

“But what if—” you began.

“But nothing, hon.” She cut you off, smiling, “Trust me. I know him. I know all of them. We’ve been friends since I was, what, eleven? You gon’ be just fine.”

April has known the boys for a much longer time than you have. You’ve only been friends with them for maybe a little over half a year? Maybe April did know what she was talking about… you hope.

The elevator finally came to a halt at the top floor and the both of you carried the boxes of fireworks out and down the hall to a fire escape exit. There, the two of you carefully climbed the rest of the way to the rooftop.

The crisp air hit you right away, blowing your hair out of your face and back behind you. And the lights. Wow. You never, ever seemed to get tired of this view. It was breathtaking, to say the least. An image could never entirely capture the beauty of that skyline. Billions of shimmering lights dazzled beneath you to miles ahead of you. But this, Times Square, there’s just nothing like it. Millions of people were crowded together at the base of the hotel, all clamoring, laughing, and continuously waiting for the big ball to eventually drop, marking a new year.

“Ayyeee, there’s my favorite girls!” You heard that familiar voice behind you. Turning around, you recognized the blue-clad turtle with the shit-eating grin, followed by his three brothers who were leaping up from the side of the building. Of course, Leo’s presence made a slight pink glow across your cheeks. Out of the corner of your eye you see April giving a smirk in your direction as she eyed the two of you. Leo was oblivious to the expressions between the both of you as you shot her a warning glance. The turtle’s mask tails lightly flapped in the wind as he made his way over to the boxes of fireworks.

“Ho-ho yeah! Let’s see what we got!” He rummaged through the boxes with Mikey when you heard Raph set down a large watercooler on the other side of you. He tossed you a soda in a koozie, which you gratefully accepted, and then one to April and another to Donnie. The purple-clad, who was tinkering on his bo staff to make sure the flame thrower worked, as well as the fire extinguisher, caught the soda without even glancing away from his weapon.

“How you been, Shorty?” said Raph, shutting the cooler after getting himself a soda, then using the cooler as a seat.

You answered, completely used to that nickname he had coined for you, “Great! Bit chilly, but what else is new, y’know?” You shrugged your shoulders in your big wool and polyester coat. The weather was even harsher on the roof of this building. “Still job hunting, so that’s a drag.”

“Ah, well,” said the snapping turtle, raising his soda can in your direction, “To a new year and a new job.” And everyone chimed in to repeat the phrase, wishing you good luck. An appreciative smile took a new expression upon your face as you raised your drink as well.

A short time passed and it was about seven minutes to midnight; you were mingling with Donnie and Raph about random topics. Mikey has been deejaying in the middle of the roof. You guys were sitting on the edge of the building, overlooking the crowd. You three were currently discussing where you would each like to travel and why. You could hear April howling with laughter from somewhere behind you, probably at some wise-crack Mikey or Leo made.

You kept a close eye on your phone to check the time. The closer it got to midnight, the more nerves scattered themselves inside your body. You were really trying hard to listen to Donnie explain how the pyramids of Egypt would be such a fascinating travel location because of all the myths saying that aliens created them or something, but your mind was just mostly focusing on a completely other topic. Leo.

While subconsciously nodding along to Donnie’s story, now off on some tangent about wheatfields, you were straining your ears just to hear Leo’s voice, or even his laugh, behind you. It was such an attracting sound. So sweet. Like honey attracts bees. And you, of course, were the bee. Gah, were you even going to have the balls to pull this off tonight? Every feeling inside of you was either rooting for it to happen or for you to back out and play it safe. Now normally, you weren’t a risk taker, but this was gonna be different. When that ball dropped, you were gonna change that part of yourself. This is the time to try new things, after all. Ugh. Why does this have to be so difficult?

“Yo, y/n!” Leo’s voice chimed, calling to you, “Hey, come look at what we’ve set up. D, bring your torch!”

You got up, followed by Donnie, and walked up to the other three who were gesturing to the fireworks they had laid out in such a specific pattern. Raph stayed behind to alert the rest of you when the time comes. Four minutes to midnight. The crowd’s cheering grew slightly louder as the time passed.

“Alrighty, so you got your standard Peony shells,” Mikey pointed at a few rather large firework casings, “Some Chrysanthemums, a few Willows, a Diadem, which I’m more than pumped more, your Palms, Horse Tails, and Rings. And as for the smaller stuff, we got Roman Candles, Fountains, Firecrackers, Sparklers, Smoke Bombs, and some Ground Spinners. So, I’ll definitely be the first to say, you girls hit the jackpot!”

Directly after April first bumped you proudly, Leo nudged your shoulder in an approving way. You smiled up at him, praying that he couldn’t see the blush on your face. He smiled back and you couldn’t tell if he gave you a wink or not, the moment passed too quick. Okay, two minutes to midnight.

“Aye, the ball’s about to drop.” Raph called to us, “C’mon, let’s go!”

You all made your way back over to the edge of the building, hanging your legs over the edge. You sat by Mikey, who plopped himself in between you and April, and Leo made his seat on the other side of you. Something in your heart did a tiny dance and you couldn’t help but smile. Not just about the fact that Leo was sitting next to you, but about the whole scene. Times Square, the crowd of millions of people beneath your feet, you literally dangling your feet off the edge of the rooftop of a towering hotel, your closest friends in the world by your side. Honestly, what could top this?

There it went, the chrome ball that everyone had their eyes on, slowly falling every second. The swarm of people below you started chanting, “SEVEN… SIX… FIVE… FOUR…”

You and the gang joined in, “THREE… TWO… ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!”

Loud cheers and screams echoed all around you. Mikey spun his flaming kusari-fundo around above his head in a celebratory twirl, making you laugh. You turned to your other side to finally do it. You were going to kiss Leo. This was it. Your body felt so light. A huge smile was across your face as you turned to face him. But before you could even act on anything, his hands were latched to your cheeks with his lips pressed against yours. Wait. He kissed you?! Immediately, Mikey said exactly what you were thinking,

“Omigosh!”

April laughed at Mikey’s reaction as you flooded out all noise around you. So, this is what it was like… kissing him. Wow. You couldn’t believe your senses. The only thing that made you pull away was a thundering BOOM that erupted above you. Once you realized it was only Donnie who had set off the first of the fireworks, you looked back to Leo who was smiling wildly at you.

You smiled back and then realization hit you a second time, “D-Did you just kiss me?”

His expression faltered a little bit. Was that disappointment in your voice? But he nodded back with a smaller smile. Your eyes lit up as another firework went off above the roof. Without warning, you practically threw yourself on him, kissing him again.

Behind you, Mikey turned to April, “Did you see—?”

April nodded in a smug fashion, “Yeah, she planned for it.”

“Pay up; he kissed her first,” said Raph, chuckling to April. He held his hand out, awaiting his prize for winning some bet he and April had set months ago. April rolled her eyes and slapped a ten dollar bill in his huge hand.

The rest of the night was spent with laughter and shimmering lights followed by booming sounds. Leo had his arm around you most of the time, when he wasn’t trying to do some reckless tricks over the fountain fireworks, of course. Mikey was trying out some moves with his kusari-fundo by trying to light multiple fireworks at once. Donnie was ready with the fire extinguisher application wired into his staff. Raph and April were having a Roman Candle fight and laughing when Leo got hit with one of the blasts. When you checked to see if he was alright, trying to stifle the laughter that was bubbling inside you, he gave you a reassuring wink and kissed you on the forehead before lighting a Roman Candle himself to chase Raph with. Was it always this easy? Why did you believe things had to be so complicated? He liked you back. After months of overthinking things, he actually liked you back. What a wonderful start to the year.

[blackevermore]

T.U.R.T.L.E

[ Taz x Mikey ]

Summary: Mikey feeling that insecurity about not being human and Taz is there so paint him back to himself.

Genre: Wholesome

Warning(s): Slight mention of nudity but that’s it.

Word count: 1,815

A/N: Can I just love him? Like, smother him in kisses and just AHHHHHHH....yeah? I was also inspired by this imagine .

"Michelangelo, did you draw a sun across my chest?" Taz looked around Mikey to the standing mirror beside his bed. There was, in fact, a heavily detailed sun starting from the side of her left breast to the other side of her right. Without looking back towards her boyfriend, she could tell he had a very cocky smile across his face. Proud of his work, he turned his head to look at her reflection, giving a thumbs up. They sat on the floor in front of his bed facing each other, Taz's legs were over Mikey's as she sat in between his legs.

"Babe I'm trying to use my killer art skills to display a wicked symbolism of you being my sunshine," Mikey explained closing his eyes and making a stereotypical Italian gesture. Taz felt the sudden urge to pick up the bottle of red paint next to her and slash it in his face. However, she reframed herself since they would need it for the rest of the session.

Today was Wednesday which means naked art therapy, which meant Mikey's room was completely off-limits, which also meant no one was allowed to bother the couple until they emerged from his room. They started doing this on a whim after an awful mission which left Mikey to feel very much not like himself for a week. No one knew what exactly to do to make Mikey happy. Raph offered to battle him in NBA 2k19 but Mikey turned it down. Leo offered a skateboarding battle with Donnie topping it off with allowing Mikey to order whatever ungodly combination of pizza but he turned those down as well. They all knew it things were terrible when Mikey turns down pizza. Donnie was ready to push the emergency button, but their father put a halt to it quickly. He told them that it wasn't platonic love that needed to reach him, for he always knew he had that, but rather romantic reinsurance. Having friends and family accepting you was strong, but the bound of romantic and intimate acceptance was greater.

With that in mind, Donnie video called April to get her cousin to come over. Taz made it in ten minutes, ran past everyone shouting a single 'hi' and straight to Mikey's room. She had an idea on how to cheer him up.

This was their thing now, it wasn't meant to be sexual, just therapeutic with having them both at their most valuable states. Painting whatever they wanted on each other and talking things out.

"You say that, but I can clearly tell you just wanted to paint my boobs." Taz turned back to the paint tray and dipped a finger into the yellow and booped him on the nose. For a moment, Taz was laughing along with him but then stopped to look him over. Mikey was wearing the disguise bracelet beta that Donnie had invented. Mikey originally didn't suppose to have it, of course, he took it out of pure curiosity. Donnie tried to snatch it back, unsure if the bracelet would actually work or not. There was a high chance it would blow up when Mikey pressed the activation button. Before Donnie could catch up with his much faster brother Mikey had already pushed the button, and a bright white light flashed scanning him from head to toe.

"Oh my god it worked," Don said dumbfounded.

"Bro!! I'm a dude!!" Mikey yelled, causing Raph and Leo to stop sparring and peek their head out of the garage.

Taz could only imagine the happy dance Mikey was for a day straight until the bracelet ran out of juice and he turned back into his turtle self. She didn't mind the disguise, Mikey will always be Mikey no matter what he looked like but she prefered, in more intimate moments like this, he wouldn't use it. This Mikey has human the whole way round. Sun-kissed sun honey brown skin with fields of freckles and birthmarks where his usual turtle spots would be. His tattoos were still there but more prominent. He still had his buff yet slim figure, but his shell was gone, and he also had messy curly shoulder-length hair. His eyes didn't change, which was a blessing because they were already as beautiful as ever. If Mikey was human Taz was sure she would still fall head over hills for the pizza-loving, never so serious, fun-loving turtle-er guy.

She knew why he became insecure at times, he heard the stories from Raph and Leo about their teen years. Since Mikey was the youngest, he had only came out of those years only five years ago. He had a lot of things bottled up that he ever talked about. Even though he was the more emotional brother, he still had his more personal matters. If Mikey could only make one wish for the rest of his life, Taz was sure that it would be to be human and live up top with her. He would totally keep all the cool ninja lifestyle. However, to be able to walk around without getting weird looks or even worse people being afraid of him. Mikey had built up a very tough skin over the years for whatever came his way, but that never stopped his heart from hurting.

This made Taz feel terrible.

Mikey noticed her change in behaviour and stuck a hand up in front of her shaking it back and forth. 

"Baby girl?"

"Mikey, why are you wearing that?"

"Wearing what? We're both naked, that's the whole point of this babe." Mikey winked and dropped his eyes low then back up. Taz's eyebrows knotted, clearly not amused with the joke (which she would have laughed at any other time).

"Mikey seriously-”

"Babe we're fine, come on we're naked and painting and having a good time."

"Mikey-"

"Now turn around so I can bust out a killer back mural that I've been thinking about. Neon colours always look the best on you if I do say so myself, and I did, I say so myself." Mikey turned to his side and picked up a tray and a few paints as he prepared for his art attack.

"Michelangelo, Michael, Angel!" Taz rose her voice to break his rambling he was trying to distract her with. Even if all his names out of order, it still shook him silent as she gave him a look at told him to shut up and listen. Mikey's smile dropped, and he slowly sat the supplies down. Taz's face softens when she saw the light in Mikey's eyes die down and dull, it broke her heart. Taz took a breath then nodded, she picked up her brush and dipped it into a shade of green that matched Mikey's normal skin tone. She scooted closer than she already was and placed Mikey's hands on her plumped waist. Mikey didn't move and kept his eyes only on Taz's face as she wrote out something across his chest.

"You are Triumphant, Unyielding, Renowned, Talent, Loved, Exuberant. You are a 'T.U.R.T.L.E', and there is nothing wrong with that, there was never anything wrong with you." Taz used her free hand to press the button on the bracelet to deactivate it. Mikey refuses to put up a sign of protest as show his self change back through the reflection of the girl's glasses. He could feel his chest tighten and his breath hitch as Taz moved her hand up his arm then back down to grab his hand and take it in her. 

"You've been spending too much time with Donnie." Mikey cracked a feeble joke relating to the words she used in her acronym. Taz finally gave him that smile he was ever so lucky to be blessed with. He loved nothing more than to see her smile towards him.

"Yeah I have but at least I have a bigger vocabulary to compliment you with." Taz stuck out her tongue then reached up to wrap a hand behind Mikey's neck to pull him down for a kiss. He quickly melted against her lips and pulled her entirely onto his lap with his other hand that was still on her hip. Taz giggled and pulled away from the kiss. 

"Seriously though," Taz fixed her glasses then cleared her throat. "When we are around family and friends, I don't want to see that bracelet on you. When you do that it feels like your hiding from me." Taz gave him a playful, sad face and poked out her bottom lip.

"Hey, that's my puppy face I use on the other! You can't use that on me." Mikey pulled her down for a kiss and Taz happily gave. After a few more seconds of their small make out, the girl pulled away again and patted his shoulder right above his tattoo.

"Mikey stop trying to distract me, I need to know your answer." Taz wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against his plastron. Forgetting all about the paint on both of their bodies.

"Okay okay, yeah, I promise. It's just...a lot, and I know you already know this but-"

"Hey ya knucklehead, I don't care how many times we'll have this talk, I want you to feel comfortable as you are around me. I know what you long for, but we must embrace and love what we have now." Taz cupped his face and pushed his cheeks together. Mikey bubbled with laughed from his baby girl's attack. He nuzzled into her neck and kissed a small trail up and down.

"I love you. I really didn't know love could feel this good." For a moment, the laughter died down, and the tone of his voice was solemn. Taz closed her eyes and rested her cheek on top of his head.

"I love you too Micky, no more hiding." Mikey nodded and settled into their position until he saw a sudden glow of light. He shifted a bit, not enough to get Taz's attention, but enough to know where the glow was coming from. He could see it was coming from between them from Taz's necklace. He had seen it do that before. It only happens when she got overly excited about something or if she got upset. Of course, he never said anything about it to her in fear that she would panic, but he did wonder why it did that.

For now, Mikey would leave it alone, they already were having their heart to heart. This wasn't about her right now. Mikey smiled and wrapped his arms around Taz and held her tight, earning him a kiss on the head and a soft hum. Taz, on the other hand, was anything but relaxed, her emotions were everywhere. She was telling Mikey to not hide and to be himself, but yet she was hiding as well.

[fanfic-inator795]

RotTMNT Oneshot: Winter Nights

Summary:  It can be hard dealing with all the snow and the cold, especially for four little turtles. But, even the harshest times of the year can still bring light and joy - their father will make sure of that.

((This story is also posted on AO3. Unfortunately I can’t provide a link since Tumblr’s still being weird about links showing up in tags, but if you can, please hop over there and give this story a kudos or a comment. Anyway, enjoy! ^v^))

Even with how deep they were underground, he could hear the wind howling above. His hearing was much sharper now, thanks to the mutation… Though, if he was being honest, he was more thankful for the warm fur covering his body than the increased strength in his senses. Especially now, with four small, cold bodies clinging to him.

Lou Jitsu sighed, watching his breath form a cloud in front of him before evaporating. Taking a moment to pull the thick blanket tighter around him, he then started absentmindedly petting the head of one of his boys, though he wasn’t really sure which one. Not that it really mattered, he was pretty sure none of them could feel it anyway.

He had been afraid - completely and utterly terrified - the morning he had been unable to wake any of his sons up. However, a bit of research gave him some relief, and he prayed that they would all wake up as happy and healthy as usual once the hibernation season was over. But until then, all he could do was hold them and keep them warm.

“What I wouldn’t give for a kotatsu right now,” Lou mumbled, resting his tired head against the cold metal of the sewer pipe, “Or maybe just a strong drink…” If only he could fall into his own hibernation… Just fall into a deep, peaceful sleep and forget all his troubles.

Underneath the blanket, he felt a couple of his sons start to shiver. So, he sat up and hunched over the small bodies in his lap, protecting the baby turtles as best he could.

Above them, people cheered and screamed despite the cold, with the bright lights and the city-wide celebration being more than enough to tempt most into braving the harsh winds and frigid temperatures.

()()()()()()()()()()()

“Why’re we so sleepy all the time now, Papa?”

“Because it’s winter,” Lou answered simply, “And you are turtles. Turtles get sleepy in the winter. Remember that picture book I gave you?”

Donatello pouted. Of course he remembered, he had read that book back and forth looking for answers, and had only found simple statements. “But why? Why do we have to be so sleepy in winter?” He stumbled forward, clinging tightly to his father’s robe and acting more like the youngest of their family rather than the second oldest. “It’s not fair… I don’t wanna sleep…”

Lou patted the softshell’s head. “I know you are frustrated, Purple, but winter will be over soon.”

“Not soon enough,” the boy pouted. Knowing he wouldn’t be in the mood to walk, Lou picked him up and carried him over to the heat lamp that had been set up in the corner of the small, stone room. The lamp had been a miracle of a find, as were the small space heaters he had managed to discover and fix up before the city dump had been almost completely covered in snow. But, even with there being plenty of heat sources, it still wasn’t warm enough to keep his boys awake, nor were the lamps and heaters comforting enough to keep them from wanting to cuddle up next to their rat-dad at least once a day.

As he got closer to the cuddle pile, he could see that Donnie wasn’t the only one awake. While Mikey and Leo were happily sleeping the season away, Raphael was lying on his back, looking restless and annoyed. Lou made sure to give him a couple pats as well.

“Why can’t we move somewhere with no winter, Pop?” Raph asked. He tried to stand up, but only managed to sit up before flopping back down on his stomach.

“The only parts of this country that are warm this time of the year are miles and miles away,” Lou tried to explain, “And by the time we arrived there, winter would be over, and it would be time to go back home.”

“I know what that’s called,” Donnie said, perking his head up slightly, “From the book! It’s called… migrasin, or something...”

“Well I wanna migrasin!” Raph demanded, giving his father the sternest (yet sleepiest) glare he could muster. It was adorable, but Lou held back a smile, not wanting to make the four year old’s mood worse.

“Maybe next winter. Now come on, back in bed, both of you.” There were a few protests and a couple sobs, but eventually his two oldest sons settled down, sleeping alongside their brothers as their father began singing a simple Japanese lullaby to them.

Still, as his gentle voice echoed through their temporary home, the rat-man couldn’t help but feel pity for his sons, and hoped that this year’s winter would be a short one…

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

“...They sorta look like… sparkles.”

“Yeah, cold sparkles! How does somethin’ so small make it so cold?!”

“I think it looks pretty!”

“And look, it turned into water in my hand!”

“I thought you already learned that, Dee.”

“I did! But this is the first time seein’ it happen! And if it gets cold enough, it’ll turn back into ice! Isn’t that neat?!”

“Yeah, it’s really cool. Ice cool ~”

“Booooo.”

“What are you boys doing?” Lou - now called Splinter occasionally by his kids - asked. He tried to look stern, but amused smirk still crept onto his face as the turtles sheepishly moved away from the open sewer grate. Thanks to the bright light from the street lamps, he could see small flakes of snow fall through the grate and onto the metal floor of their sewer domain.

“We were just… checkin’ out the snow,” Raph explained, kicking his foot slightly, “Cause, I thought it was just rain, an’ then Leo said that he thought it was snow, so we had ‘ta double check and… We wanted to see the snow.”

“It’s really pretty!” Mikey repeated, his eyes practically sparkling. Splinter chuckled. He had a feeling there would be quite a few snowflakes drawn on the walls of their home in the next few weeks, courtesy of the young box-turtle artist.

“And so small!” “Really REALLY small!” the twins exclaimed. “It’s so weird!” “But so cool!” “Stop using that joke, Leon!” “Make me, Don- *yawn* nie…”

The rat’s smile fell slightly. “...Come on, you four. Home is just down this pipe.” And this time, he would be standing behind them, to make sure there was no more wandering off. Though, just because he could only see their backsides didn’t mean he couldn’t still see their disappointment…

As soon as they were in their home, he gave each of them a sweater or hoodie to wear to bed before sending them off to their rooms. With a bit of luck, winter wouldn’t completely hit for a couple more weeks, giving him time to prepare - and his kids a bit more time to play. But…

“It still won’t be enough,” he mumbled to himself, his ears folding down low.

New York winters were particularly harsh, it seemed. Always cold, always lasting for months, and never turtle-friendly - especially not for turtles who were old enough that they didn’t need all day naps. Turtles who were old enough and energetic enough to desire more than just a couple hours a day for playtime, especially now that they were starting to discover various interests and favorite things to do. Turtles who were absolutely miserable this time of year, no matter how much comfort Splinter tried to give them or how many Christmas decorations he scavenged in order to bring cheer to their home.

He clenched his fists, tail twitching slightly in agitation. He had to do something about this… He needed to do something for his boys! Rat or not, Lou Jitsu certainly wasn’t about to let this cruel season hold his family hostage for yet another year!

So, as soon as he was sure his boys were tucked in and sleeping away, he got to work.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

It was late, nearly midnight, but even the lively Big Apple seemed to be at peace. Most of the city’s citizens were tucked into their beds, grateful that there was no evening snow to shovel. The sky was clear as well, with there only being a slight icy breeze felt in the air. Still, as pleasant as the weather was, it was still winter - still a season of snow and ice and freezing cold.

Naturally, this cold was felt throughout the vast urban landscape, even in its deepest sewers…

“Daaaad, why do we gotta go out tonight anyway?” Leon pouted. He leaned on his twin, who begrudgingly refrained from pushing him away, if only so he wouldn't have to take his hands out of the sleeves of his coat.

Splinter glanced back at the boy, his eyes slightly hidden under the cabbie beret he was wearing. “You said you were bored, did you not?”

“Well yeah but, that doesn't mean I wanna help with chores…” Leo quietly retorted. Sure, he hated being stuck all season, but whatever his father was planning didn't exactly seem like a great alternative.

“Me neither… Especially when it's so cold above,” Donnie added, already bracing himself for the bitter cold as he and his family began walking into the tunnel. He tucked his chin under his scarf, wishing that he could go all the way inside his shell like his youngest brother could. “We should’a waited until I finished my new machine! It'll be able to dig through dumpsters and junk yards for us so we don't have to get our hands cold!”

“Then it is a good thing that tonight is not a scavenging night.”

The two five year olds blinked. ...Well, this made sense, they supposed. After all they still had plenty of food, as well as a couple toys they had managed to find. And thanks to their father having spent weeks gathering up abandoned costs and blankets for them all before the real snowstorms started to hit, there was nothing else they really needed. “So why are we going up then?” the purple turtle inquired, not liking being confused, “And WHERE are we going?!”

“You shall see, Purple One. Just a bit longer, our destination is just a few minutes away.” His rat ears perked up slightly as another one of his sons groaned.

“But why can’t you just tell us where we’re going, Pop?” Raph complained, crossing his arms.

“Because it would ruin the surprise.”

“Ugh…” Raphael kicked a stray chunk of ice, making sure to kick it towards the sewer walls so it didn't hit anyone in his family, and smiling just a little when the ice shattered on impact. “I still wanna know though…”

“I just hope it’s somewhere fun,” Leo added, thinking about all the trips they would take during the warmer seasons to places like the park or a restaurant or a mall, both to learn how to sneak around and to enjoy themselves without humans bugging them. Not like now, where they were just stuck inside their home half the time and trapped under a heat lamp or a blanket for the other half. “We haven’t been to the city in for- eeeeeever! ”

“I promise you boys that it’ll be well worth the effort,” Splinter insisted. He carefully stepped around a small puddle of ice, and used his tail to give his sons a path to follow.

“Papa knows the best places ever,” Mikey stated confidently as he easily grabbed his father’s thick coat and began to climb up onto his shoulders. As much as they helped with keeping him from getting too sleepy most of the time, the thick material of his parka and the clunky boots on his feet made it a bit harder to be as bouncy as he usually was. Thankfully he - as well as the rest of his brothers -  had gotten a couple weeks to get used to moving around in their new every-day attire. And even if he hadn’t, Mikey’s grip and balance were as perfect as ever, even at only the tender age of four. Splinter had no doubt in his mind that his youngest would grow up to be quite the acrobat.

As he nuzzled his father’s warm fur, Mikey asked, “Is it still going to be winter where we’re going?”

“Yes, Orange,” the rat said simply, “Of course.”

“Oh…” And just like that, Mikey’s enthusiasm for this secret destination disappeared, his mood falling in line with his grumpy and reluctant older brothers’. “...I hate winter,” he mumbled, face still pressed up against Splinter’s furry cheek. Splinter held back a sigh, and stretched up his tail, using it to give his youngest son a comforting pat.

All of his hard work - all of his prepping and scavenging, getting every they would need, listening to the weather report several times a day as he waited for the perfect night - it would all be worth it. He was sure of it.

“Do you boys know why winter is so cold?” he asked as he looked down their metal path. He could begin to see light.

“‘Cause of all the snow!” Donnie answered immediately, “And wind, and ice, and all that other bad stuff!”

“Very good, Purple - except for that last part. Winter is not completely bad, it is just another season. Another part of life.”

“Yeah it is!” Raph lightly argued, “It’s always all cold and wet and- and cold!”

“True, winter can be tough to get through,” Splinter nodded, “The cold can be dangerous, if you aren’t prepared… But, there can be bright spots to this season.”

Leon tilted his head in confusion. “Like what?”

But Splinter didn’t give an answer. Instead, he simply said “Oh look, we are almost there.” Thanking his lucky stars that their new home was so close to a park, Splinter took them up to the entryway of the pipe where metal met snow, and watched as his sons’ expressions turned to ones of awe and amazement.

To them, snow was just the white stuff that fell from the sky and made things cold, the mysterious force that forced them to stay underground whenever it first started falling. Other than letting it fall into their open hands for just a moment or two, they had never really seen it up close. They had never seen what it looked like on the ground - and had certainly never seen this much of it! Entire fields of it, stretching all the way to the trees and sidewalks on the edge of the park as it sparkled in the light of the bright moon above.

“Whoaaaaaaaa…”

“Mm-hm,” Splinter nodded. He gave them all an encouraging smile as he took a hand out of his coat sleeve and gestured towards the winter wonderland. “Your gloves and booties should protect you, so go ahead and try-”

“WHOO!” In an instant, Mikey leapt from his father’s shoulder and right into the snow. He fumbled a little, nearly slipping but catching himself just in time. “Whoaaaa, it really is snow!” Curious, he put a hand to the snow, and with a squeak he pulled it away. It really was cold! But also soft… He put a hand to it again, this time scooping up an entire handful. It was like cold sand! With a laugh, he threw it up and let it rain down on him. Sure it was still cold, but the warmth of his clothes as well as just the excitement of it all kept him wide awake.

“Looks like Orange has the right idea,” Spinter smirked. His older children looked on, their own curiosity growing. One by one, each turtle stepped out into the snow, exploring how it felt in their gloved hands and under their feet while Mikey continued trying to do spins and flips in it, not caring if he slipped a little.

“So, this is all the snow that fell from the sky?” Leo asked, looking back at his father, “All clumped together? I didn’t even know snow could do that!” No wonder it made things so cold! But it was so pretty too, and so- so-... White! Definitely a shock to a five year old red-earred slider who only ever knew the dark colors of the sewers and the warm colors of his blankets and his father’s robe.

“It’s cause the ice that snow is made out of sticks together better the colder it gets!” Donnie grinned, the gears in his little mind already turning as he picked up his own handful of snow. “It really is like water, like how a puddle just gets bigger the more rain you put in it. It just all stays together, see Dad?!”

Amused, Splinter put a hand to his chin, feigning surprise. “How interesting! You know, I believe you can turn water into steam as well, once it gets too hot. Water is a very fluid element, you know.”

“I wonder what else I could turn water into…” Donnie mumbled, bringing the handful up to his eyes and examining the snow crystals carefully. Splinter expected nothing less from his clever Purple boy. He made a note to himself to try and ‘borrow’ a book from the library on the water cycle and other weather phenomenon for his son later.

Raph meanwhile, had made his own discovery. “It tastes a lot like water too,” he commented before taking another bite of his handful, not minding the coldness off it too much, “Crunchy water…” When he noticed his brothers giving him a bit of a look, he just shrugged. “It looked like sugar! I thought it would be yummy!”

“Soooo, what do we do in the snow now, Pop?” Leo asked. If the snow covered all the grass and trees, then it probably covered up any play equipment at the park too, so what else could be done?

Splinter, remembering all the various snow days from his own childhood very clearly, gave a grin. “Well, Blue, since you asked…”

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

“I’m gonna get you this time, Leo!” “Nuh uh! I’m gonna get YOU!” “Heh, you gotta catch me first!”

Snowballs flew through the sky one after the other, most of them falling flat onto the earth rather than hitting their target. Leo could dodge and evade like nobody’s business, but he had a bit of trouble with throwing far, and half the time he’d throw them upwards and end up hitting himself with them. As for Raph, he would keep trying to make the “biggest snowballs ever” in between attacks, not caring how many times they’d crash to the ground, not getting anywhere near his brother.

But it hardly mattered, really. Raph and Leo still continued to laugh and chase after each other, neither of them keeping any sort of score.

“Raphieeee!” Raph turned to see his baby brother waving his arms at him. Practically a whole army of snow angels had been formed in the field behind him, complete with stars and pictures drawn beside them.

“Whoaaa, cool!” Raph grinned, “I wanna try!” Letting himself go limp, the snapper fell back onto the snow, and began moving his legs and arms. With a much bigger back and thicker limbs, the angel didn’t come out quite as clean as Mikey’s, but he was still proud of it.

“Now your angel and mine can be friends!” Mikey beamed before turning to his blue brother, “Hey Leon, you wanna make an angel too?”

Leo breathed out a cold breath and rubbed his arms a bit. “Maybe later, Mikey. I wanna do something first.” Knowing instantly what Leo was going for, Raph and Mikey followed his lead back to where their father sat with his carefully packed tote bag beside him.

Splinter hummed. “More hot cocoa?” he guessed. The boys nodded enthusiastically, making him chuckle. “Alright, but remember to share, Blue” he said, reaching into his bag, “This is the last of it, and then you all will have to have soup instead.”

“Kay!” Leo took a couple sips before passing the thermos along. “Hey Donnie, d’you want- WHOA! Donnie, are you making a snow machine or something?”

“No, it’s a snow turtle!” Donnie explained, pressing a bit more snow onto the back of his creation, “It’s like a snowman - that was what Dad made when he was a kid - but wayyy better, cause it’s a turtle. Come on, I’ll show you guys how to make one!” Quickly finishing up the cocoa, the three of them cheered and ran over to their purple brother, eager to learn how to make this amazing thing.

As for Splinter, he just continued to watch his sons play and actually enjoy the season for the first time in their young lives. It had, indeed, been very much worth it…

However, as clearly as he could see the happy grins on his boys’ faces, he could also see the young reptiles start to shiver. Even with all the layers of clothing and warm things to drink and eat, they couldn’t stay out there forever. Still, there was one last thing he wanted them to experience before calling it a night…

“This is gonna be AWESOME!” Raph grinned, gripping the edge of their ‘ride’ tightly. Mikey nodded, having to force himself to sit still and not hop up and down in excitement, as per his father’s request. Donnie stepped in next, looking a bit more cautious. His twin seemed to share the same concerns, glancing back at his rat-dad.

“And you sure this is okay?” he asked, “An’ not something crazy people do?”

“Hmmm, well, I’m PRETTY sure.” “Daaaad!” Splinter laughed. “It is completely safe, Blue, believe me.” The hill wasn’t too steep, and there were no trees or rocks in sight. It was the most perfect sledding spot he had ever seen! “It’ll be alright,” he insisted.

Admittedly curious, Leo finally stepped on, making sure to huddle up next to his brothers and leave plenty of room on the trash can lid for Splinter to sit down on it. “Okay,” Splinter began, giving a toothy grin. He placed his tail on the cold ground as he wrapped his arms around his boys. “Hang on, all of you! Ready… aaaand… GO!” His tail pushed against the snow, and in an instant, they were off!

He heard the boys yelp, but within seconds they were all laughing and shouting in excitement, grinning as they flew down the hill. Still keeping his tail out, Splinter steered them, allowing their makeshift sled to weave back and forth, and even hop off the ground a couple times!

“Faster! Faster!” his children cheered, hollering and putting their hands in the air. So, Splinter leaned forward, increasing their speed. Maybe he could try out a couple tricks too, he thought to himself. A couple spins, or-

The lid hopped off the ground once more, hitting an unseen bump that Splinter hadn’t been expecting. As such, his arms weren’t wrapped quite as tightly around his turtles as they should of been. And, as their ‘sled’ came back down to earth, time seemed to slow as he watched his youngest fly off of it.

“MICHELANGELO!” Splinter cried out with a gasp as the box-turtle landed. However, instead of stopping dead (Splinter cringed. Bad word choice, very bad) in the snow, the young orange acrobat instinctively tucked into himself and rolled until he was safely on his shell.

“Woo hoo!” Mikey cheered, his body - and his own makeshift ‘sled’ - easily keeping up with his family’s speed, “I’m sledding! I’m sledding!”

“No way! Go Mikey!” Hey, I wanna shell-sled!” “Me too!” Before he could even try to stop them, each one of his sons backwards dove over the side of the metal lid. Even Donnie was daring enough to try it, knowing that the small backpack stuffed under his coat would easily protect his shell. And, just like their baby brother, each of them began to scream and laugh with delight as they slid down the hill.

“...Oh, what the heck?” Splinter mumbled, his grin returning. He crouched down, and- “ HOT SOOOOUP! ” he howled, jumping headfirst into the snow and leaving the trash can lid behind as he rolled away from it.

Unbothered by the splashing snow - unbothered by the cold or the wind or even winter itself - the five of them slid and flipped and spun and cartwheeled to their hearts’ content, until finally slowing down as they reached the bottom of the hill. Yet even as they laid there, their joyful laughter still couldn’t be contained.

“I LOVE winter!” Mikey yelled as loud as he could, his brothers enthusiastically agreeing with him. Still laughing as his heart continued to race - Goddid he miss this feeling, though it felt even better now that he was sharing it - Splinter gathered up his boys, hugging them close. “See? It’s just as I said,” he said, a bit breathless, “Lots of good things about winter!”

“Yeah!” “Uh huh!” “Lots of good things!” “I LOVE WINTER!” The turtles laughed again, still smiling even as their joy mellowed out and fell back to earth like snowflakes in the night.

Unsurprisingly, all the excitement had completely wiped them out, and Splinter had a feeling that even with heat, they’d still end up sleeping for a couple days straight. Even so, as he carried three turtles in his arms and one on his back through the icy sewers, he found he didn’t have any regrets.

Their wet parkas and booties were taken off as soon as they reached their home, instantly replaced with cozy sweaters and hoodies that Splinter had left sitting near one of the space heaters. “Come on, little ones,” he cooed, guiding them towards their rooms, “It is way past your bedtimes.”

“Hey, Papa?” Leo said suddenly, his voice quiet as he rubbed his eye.

“Yes, Blu-?” Leo grabbed onto him, hugging him tightly. His brothers quickly followed, their smiles strong despite their fatigue.

“Thanks for making winter fun,” Leo finished, nuzzling his stomach, “It was really fun...”

“Of course,” Splinter nodded, happily returning the hug, “I am glad to hear you all enjoyed it.”

“Can we go play in the snow again later?” Raph asked, nearly cutting himself off with a yawn.

The rat man hummed. It probably wouldn’t be for a while. There was a snowstorm announced for next week, with harsh wind chills after that… But after tonight, there was no denying that even the harshest conditions could still have perfect nights.

With a soft smile, Splinter answered with “...I suppose we could make nights like this a tradition.”

()()()()()()()()()()()()

“You got it all ready, Mikey?”

“Yep!” Mikey proudly lifted up the tote bag. “Two thermoses of soup, three of hot chocolate - and all in different flavors!”

Raph grinned, nodding. “Great job, bro. Now-”

“I’m telling you, Leon, my sled is Olympic-level quality!” he heard Donnie argue as the rest of their group (save for one member) walked into the kitchen, “There’s absolutely no way you’re going to beat me in ANY race. Period!”

“Dude, not only do snowboards beat sleds any day of the week, but my snowboarding skills are LEGENDARY!” Leo insisted, completely unphased by his twin’s boasting, “Come on! Everyone knows it’s not the equipment, it’s the champion that uses it.”

“Tc’ch, yeah,” Donnie rolled his eyes, “Just make sure you don’t slip and fall flat on your shell again, Champ.”

“I mean, if you ask me,” April smirked, her old green and gold sled already tucked under her arm, “I think I’m gonna kick both your shells, but that’s just me.”

Raph shook his head at the three of them, though even this old debate couldn’t bring his mood down too far. (Especially once he saw Mikey sneaking some gingerbread snickerdoodles into the bag.) “Hey Pop! You ready to go?”

“Just a moment, Red!” Splinter asked, his eyes still glued to the fabric screen in front of him, “You know how I like my holiday specials!” Though, it seemed that even the holiday spirit wasn’t enough to convince the scorpions to be docile, pinching away at the poor contestant and destroying his chances of winning a season’s worth of Christmas cakes and fried chicken. Chuckling, Splinter finally turned off the tv and began getting dressed, his ears open to the conversations the rest of his family was having.

From what he could hear, Mikey was planning some sort of ‘snow sculpture masterpiece’ while Raph was already egging Leo on for a snowball fight after his, Donnie and April’s race down the hill. April was insisting that they also had to try ice skating with her now that the pond in Central Park was finally frozen enough, and Donnie sounded eager to try out some new invention of sorts along with his high tech sled.

Splinter’s smile softened. Maybe he didn’t do much during them these days, other than sipping cocoa on a bench and occasionally hitting one of his boys with a surprise snowball for laughs (had to always keep them on their toes, after all). Maybe leaving his comfy chair and going out into the cold with his aging joints was a bit of a pain. Quite a bit of a pain, actually. And maybe - no, certainly - his family was old enough to go have fun in the snow without any supervision from him.

Still, Splinter found himself unable to give up their tradition. Not as long as his family still enjoyed it, still enjoyed his company, and not as long as it still brought smiles to his sons’ faces even in the coldest weather.

So, he bundled himself up, and followed his family down the cold sewer tunnel and into the light of the moon and the sparkling, pure-white snow, fully expecting another perfect snow night.

THE END

[werelywrites]

Is it ok if I ask for headcanons of the turtles (separate & poly bc I love all of them too much) realize they are in love with their shy, pure and sweet human friend who is open-minded and non-judgemental since they're slow at everything and has no talent that is known so they know how is like to be judged unfairly?

SO i was putting the finishing touches on this, when i realized that i was answering it as if none of the guys were in a relationship with you yet when they realized they loved you.

But that sometimes doesn’t happen. People can start a relationship without being in love and then realize that they do love each other after.

So RIP Werely. I’m sorry!! I hope ya like it!

Enjoy!

Leo:

*he’d be at your place relaxing. Sitting on your couch, leaning back, completely at ease when it hit him so hard he’d actually curl into himself a bit as if someone physically punched his gut.

*it would make so much sense! You made him feel like he can be himself around you. You hold him up when he needs it the most, when he didn’t realize he needed it.

*because he’s leader he’s got a lot on his shoulders and you just lift them off when he’s with you. You’re so calm, patient, understanding, and wise and, honestly, he could go on and on.

*you always made him feel comfortable in his own skin

*he had accepted long ago that being a mutant turtle kinda sucked when it came to the whole world being against who you were (he lost count of the amount of people they’d rescue only to have the scream in their faces)

*he didn’t want to change who he was, he liked being a turtle but he’d be a liar if he didn’t wonder what it’d be like to be human

*but with you around, he liked himself a whole lot more

*butterflies will dance in his stomach once he realizes you had been calling his name to see if he was alright.

*instant blush

*he’d shoot out of his seat. Uh yeah! Fine. I’m fine. Thank you [y/n]. Just, uh, remembered something…needed to be done…in the dojo. He’d have a foot out your window but the pout you’d give him once you asked if he was going to leave he’d put on a brave face. No matter how much he wanted to retreat and meditate to sort these feelings at.

*for the rest of the evening he was a mess. He couldn’t stop staring at you. His mind in a giddy haze. Thinking over and over again how he was in love with you.

*he had never been nervously happy-scared. (what a combination of emotions, Leo)

Raph:

*he’d realize it after he’d be venting to you how frustrated he was how because the world saw him as a freak he couldn’t do what he wanted. He wanted freedom.

*you’d listen and add kind words in reassurance and agree that it was unfair. You didn’t chastise him for wanting more. You didn’t tease him. Didn’t patronize him either. You were just there supporting him and he just…..oh wow! He’d gulp loudly

*he’d go instantly flustered. All words he had got swallowed.

*he knew he liked you, you were a very dear friend, but love? Oh he had no idea when it started but there was no doubt as to why.

*you were perfect

*he’d feel so small under your gaze. Shit he’d give anything to hold you at this moment

*but he was terrified

*he knows you accepted him for him but with this new realization his brain just didn’t want to remember that bit.

*you deserve someone so much better

*being your friend was fine, but being your lover? It was too much to ask.

*after you leave, he’d try to sort out his feelings but mostly trying to keep himself from going after you and scooping you up in his arms begging you to love him in return.

*knowing that he loved you will make him angsty and will avoid you for a while

*once you’ve had enough of him avoiding you and you’ve confronted him (whether or not you cry or fight or both it’ll result in the same) he’d apologize. I’m sorry [y/n]. I’m…uh.. just sortin things out. I don’t wanna talk about it. But do ya…wanna still hang out?

*being with you is such a sweet torture that he knows he should push his feelings for you under a rug but he truly can’t help himself

*you will notice that before the realization that he treated you gently, but now after the realization he’ll treat ya extra gently

Donnie:

*you’d be helping him in his lab when it would hit him. Just being there handing him stuff he needed, listening to his ideas, asking questions, enjoying each others company, humming on occasion.

*he’d drop his tools so fast you’d think they burned him (luckily, he wasn’t working on anything too dangerous)

*his mouth would be open and he’d have a sparkle in his eye, like the way he gets when he has the perfect idea.

*he’ll feel silly and giddy, his heart with do flip flops and he’d want to do the same honestly. He’ll get a burst of energy and he’d want to go do something. Make something. Spar with Raph. Anything

*he’s on cloud nine!!

*once you say his name in question he’d freAKIN SCREECH!!!! (he forgot you were there)

*ok so he came back down to earth but he still bounced on his toes. Seeing you he was reminded that it was nerve wracking to admit one’s feelings

*but you might not return these feelings. He calculated the possibilities and his chances were…slim

*but that didn’t stop his heart from racing whenever you were around him again

*you’d touch his arm to try to see whats wrong and donnie.exe will stop working

*rebooting

*nervous bean shook and wanted to melt in your touch.

*he’ll do more stuff around you/with you just to be around you more. Hot water not working? He’d come fix it right away. Slight virus on your laptop, give him a second. He needs you to help him fix something. I’m sorry [y/n]. This is taking longer than expected to fix this. I might be used to long nights but you..d-d-do you want to take a break? *realizes what he said could be taken as an innuendo* *huh, who knew turtles could get so red?* !!!!!!!!!!!

*just as he thought his heart was full, you do something sweet for him like bring him coffee and he’d feel like he’d combust on the spot.

Mikey:

*it’ll come out of nowhere for him. It happened when everyone was around and you’d let out a laugh that he’d just hear over everyone else and wham! It hit him..

*Sure he flirts with you and seemed confident but once he realizes that he’s in love with you he’ll be bashful. Confidence out the door

*he would not be able to make an coherent sentence for a while

*he’d grab the nearest pillow and whop! Right on his face and scream

*but then he’d hide his feelings behind his flirting (he meant it before, but now it had extra meaning)

*constant squealing on how cute you were

*clingy boy becomes extra clingy

*he’ll have a fire going. Fueling the things he does for you and what he says and things he does with you.

*despite his hopefulness, he’s not an idiot. I knows that love comes with heartbreak sometimes.

*god he hoped his did not ended in heartbreak.

*you’d have no idea of the terror going on in his heart because he’s all smiles and jokes

*but then he’d catch you looking at him with a sparkle in your eye and his fear will melt away.

*honestly after more time passes from his realization the better he’ll feel. Fear and longing turning to giddiness and hope.

*he’ll end up having the most confidence out of all his brothers because he just knew… you know.

*holding onto his feelings was just poisoning his mood. So why do so?

*he’ll still not tell you outright but he’ll show it and literally say everything and anything else that meant it. You’re so cute [y/n]! We’d be the cutest couple around! Eh? Why are you getting red, babycakes? You’re not falling for me are you? ;)

Poly!Turtles:

*after they all individually come to realize that they all love you, it will take a decent amount of time for them to confront each other about it.

*they knew each other well enough to tell the signs when one falls for you.

*there will be sibling rivalry for your attention

*eventually though it’ll start to get kinda hostile.

*despite most of them if not all don’t want to fight, none of them will want to back down either

*it’ll honestly take either Master Splinter telling them to get their shit together and/or you to complain how stupid they’ve become with their fighting for them to finally sit down and discuss what do about this. None of them wanted to back down so…depending on if you’re ok with this,,,could they share?

(A/N: i actually started a fic about this ages ago of how they all just sit down and go through the discussion of being in a poly relationship, i just never finished it so i’m glad that i can sorta do it here)

*they will all agree that it was THE most embarrassing discussion between brothers ever. But it got the job done.

*you’ll notice that they’ll still squabble for your attention but they’d be more respectful of each other.

*if you’re not at the lair, one if not at least two of the guys was are you place.

*when you’d expect to only be hanging out with just one (as it was before) now you’d find yourself in a turtle pile. How many movie nights ended up with everyone squished on the couch?

*quiet moments? What are those again?

[agwood511]

Work: A My Killer Romance Story (Continued...)

Here is chapter three for my story. Once I’ve posted the whole thing I’ll make another ‘table of contents post’ with links to each chapter, but I want to get it all out here on Tumblr before I lose my nerve. I hope you enjoy reading this fanfic!

Chapter Three: Opportunity Knocks

Things weren’t as bad as they had been, but I saw us heading back down a dark path. Raphael was losing interest. I didn’t know what to do.

I thought if I was more like a Collector or a Reincarnation Agent, he’d be happier. Once he’d said that he never once wished for me to be anything different, but now I wasn’t so sure that was still true. All I could think about was how happy and at peace he seemed during our Death Realm vacation.

I decided to talk to him about it while we were walking Shadow one Saturday morning.

(Beckett) “Hey, Raph?”

He sighed. Not angrily, just like he knew something was coming.

(Raphael) “Yeah?”

Yeah, not what. That’s a good sign. Or maybe neutral.

(Beckett) “I was wondering… do you think things would be easier if I was more like you?”

(Raphael) “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

(Beckett) “You know. A Collector.”

I was hoping for immediate denial. I didn’t get it. He thought about it. Finally he sighed again.

(Raphael) “I don’t know.”

He seemed like he hated admitting that. I could understand why. I nodded and looked away. I waited for the lump in my throat to disappear before I spoke again.

(Beckett) “Maybe, we could try taking the seal off my powers. There isn’t really anything stopping me now. No crisis getting in the way of me learning to control my ability. I still have a few vacation days, I could take some time off work to adjust…”

(Raphael) “If that’s what you want.”

He shrugged noncommittally. In that moment I was terrified that my abilities might not be enough.

(Beckett) “S-sure I do. Maybe… if you wanted… you and Nathaniel could go back to the Heavens to research phasing. I’m sure he’d like that a lot… and you told me once that you miss it there. I could come too… i-if you… wanted…”

I trailed off, thinking he’d probably like it better if I stayed far away from the Heavens.

(Raphael) “I’ll talk to Nathaniel about it.”

I nodded, my heart despairing at the idea that this might not work. After a moment, I felt him reach for my hand, and I knew he was trying to comfort me, because he knew, like I know, that the path we’re on is dark, and we can’t see the end, but there are only two possibilities.

The following Monday I was in my office, keeping myself busier than ever, just to stop thinking for a few hours. I was so involved in my work that I jumped when I heard a knock at my door. It was open, and I saw that it was Xavier again.

(Beckett) “Hey. You need something?”

He came into the room this time, and actually came all the way around my desk. He sat on the edge of it and gave me a look. It was oddly concerned.

(Xavier) “You know how unusual it is that I get a call from an Agent?”

(Beckett) “Probably pretty damn, since you’re talking to me about it.”

He nodded.

(Xavier) “Nathaniel called me. Is taking the seal off really what you want? I was under the impression you were happy leaving it where it is. Considering the lifestyle you live.”

I sighed.

(Beckett) “It’s what I want now.”

(Xavier) “For Raphael’s sake?”

(Beckett) “For mine. Because of him.”

(Xavier) “Beckett…”

I shook my head.

(Beckett) “He’s done more than enough changing for my sake, Xavier. I can stand to return the favor. Besides, learning to control my abilities can’t be a bad thing. I’m not losing anything to do this.”

(Xavier) “As long as you’re sure.”

I looked him in the eyes.

(Beckett) “I am. I’d do anything for him.”

(Xavier) “No one would say otherwise. You have gone to the ends of the Earth for him, in the most literal way possible.”

(Beckett) “Xavier Van der Belt, that was almost a joke. Are you feeling okay? Maybe I should call a doctor…”

He snorted.

(Xavier) “I’m more than capable of making jokes, Beckett! I just happen to be so busy doing serious things I don’t do it often.”

I smiled.

(Beckett) “Well, you should. You’re almost likeable when you do.”

(Xavier) “And you’re almost likeable when you take me seriously.”

(Beckett) “Look at that. There’s hope for us after all.”

(Xavier) “I guess there is. Well, I’ll let you get back to work, since you were actually doing it for a change.”

I shook my head at him.

(Beckett) “Yeah, maybe you should try it sometime, slacker. You’ve come to visit me twice in the same number of months. Aren’t you falling behind on work?”

(Xavier) “Pshh! This stuff is nothing. No offense.”

I never thought I’d see the day when Xavier cheered me up, but today he managed it. He left the room, seemingly in a better mood himself, and I threw myself back into work with a bit more energy.

I was ahead of the game by the time lunch rolled around, and I felt really good about it, so I decided to take a quick break before diving back in. I didn’t leave the office though, I just stepped out onto the roof for a breath of fresh air.

Maybe it was all the time I spent in Nathaniel’s company, or flitting across the three realms with one inhuman or another, but I’d begun to recognize when something like that happens around me now. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end and I sighed. I didn’t bother turning away from this view.

(Beckett) “Xavier already came to talk to me, Nathaniel, you don’t have to.”

(Addison) “What did the Prince have to speak with you about, I wonder?”

I gasped and whirled around to see the King of the Heavens himself. He smiled and gave a slight bow. Not forgetting the kind of person he is, I curtsied quickly.

(Beckett) “Your highness. I have to say I never thought I’d see you again.”

(Addison) “Ah, well, I would hope it’s a pleasant surprise. I’m here to ask for your help.”

My eyes widened.

(Beckett) “My help? What could I possibly help you with?”

(Addison) “The problem of the half-human soul. Given your knowledge of the other realms, and your heritage, you are uniquely suited to help me solve this problem.”

(Beckett) “What problem, exactly?”

(Addison) “Your soul, and the souls of your kind, cannot re-enter the cycle in their current, mutated state. The occurrence of half-humans is extremely rare, your souls end up wandering for centuries after death, making it impossible to send you through the cycle again when the opportunity happens to present itself.”

(Beckett) “That is a problem… how do you expect me to help you?”

He took a step closer and I tensed. I didn’t trust this man, I have no reason to. He raised his hands in a way that was supposed to be nonthreatening. He made no move to walk any closer.

(Addison) “I want you to agree to a series of experiments. I want to convert your soul into that of a Collector’s.”

My jaw dropped.

(Beckett) “Is that even possible?”

(Addison) “I believe so, but I won’t be able to prove it unless you help me. You see, I have no doubt that the dominant half of your kind is Collector, or Reincarnation Agent.”

(Beckett) “Because your kinds are naturally stronger.”

It wasn’t a question. There’s no point getting insulted over the truth. Humans are weaker than Collectors and Agents. Weaker than half-humans too, but less so.

(Addison) “Yes, exactly.”

Could I do this? If there’s a chance I could become a Collector, become more for Raphael, shouldn’t I do it?

I narrowed my eyes at him.

(Beckett) “Why should I trust you?”

(Addison) “You don’t have to trust me. It’s not about trust, Miss Jackson. It’s about how far you’d go to save your own soul. I’m providing you a way to do just that.”

(Beckett) “Well then, given how much is at stake, you’ll forgive me if I’m hesitant to give you an answer right now.”

King Addison smiled and nodded.

(Addison) “It is wise of you to consider such a decision carefully. Here…”

He pulled a phone out of his breast-pocket and set it on the ground by his feet.

(Addison) “This is a trans-realm phone. The way to contact me with your answer is in there. Good day, Miss Jackson.”

The king shimmered and vanished, back to his realm, I assume. And I realized, while staring at that phone… even if I just pick it up I’m making a huge decision. If I grab that phone, I’m sure Addison will know, and he’ll know that I’m willing to consider his offer if I do.

Am I willing to take this leap?

I took a deep breath.

To Be Continued…