#(OOC: leo like oh no. i am getting a bad grade in convincing people that i'm not traumatized. something which is b--)

[n30n-le0n]

[If he'd been a little more tuned into people's emotions, like Mikey was, maybe Leo would have noticed Egon becoming distinctly uncomfortable over being referred to as a "dad". Granted, the slider had expected that a man who was a complete stranger to him probably wouldn't be comfortable over such a term being applied to him period, but he had no way of knowing that it was conjuring up bad memories for the scientist the longer they sat there, the longer the panic ebbed and flowed in him like some kind of fucked up tidal cycle. But Leo was too far gone in his own emotions to pick up on another's, and so it was that any subtle clues to the other man's mental state flew completely over his head as he sat there, giving a shaky nod at Egon's words.]

Y-yeah. I do. I did. I mean, I don't really have time for that kid stuff anymore. I have to be the leader. I gotta...I gotta go out on patrol and make sure everyone's safe, 'cause if....if I....if I don't, it's--

[A failure. Just like you. Failure failure failure.

You worthless little pest. Wretched scum. You're not even FIT to be made into one of our soldiers. I will RELISH in finishing the job we started--

The Krang's claws snaked closer, trying to reach out to snag him. Leo twisted away, breath stuttering in his chest for a moment as he gazed at something that he thought was very much solid--and then he remembered what Egon had said earlier, trying his best to make his words come out clearly in spite of his panic as he narrowed his eyes towards the shadows.]

F-fuck off, you mutated gumball. You're in a literal prison dimension. You c-can't hurt me anymore. You can't. Nobody here is gonna let you. Just fucking get it over with if you wanna try!

[The Krang recoiled back into the shadows, hissing in anger as though it was a rattlesnake waiting to strike. Fighting down the urge to see where it was going--Leo couldn't help but think that he'd just managed to more thoroughly piss it off, as much as yelling at it actually had felt good for a split second--he turned back to Egon, no longer looking quite as frenzied.]

I....I dunno. You said yelling at it might work. I think I just pissed it off more, though.....

But....it probably would have come at me by now if it wanted to. M-maybe it's just trying to scare me? I can't s-see where it went--

[He peered into the shadows for a moment before relenting, fixing his gaze back on his company.]

Uh. Yeah. Guitar. I, uh....tried acoustic once? I guess? But I really like electric more. Something about the general feel of it. It's kinda class-ay, you know? It just gets down to your bones and....I don't even really know how to describe it, dude, it just...

[Leo gestured around vaguely for a moment before relenting.]

I guess I just heard the music enough or saw videos and decided it would be fun to try? I don't really know when it started, I just remember begging my dad for one. Of any kind. And he'd sneak up to the surface and get some song books for me and stuff, and then one day he brought back this, like, absolute dogshit guitar for me. I mean, not because he was being....you know. Or anything, he just....can't really let himself get seen by people, you know. So he'd have to root through a lot of sale bins to get stuff for us. But anyway, he brings back this shitty little guitar, like, I legit don't think that thing had been tuned in years. But I latched right onto it and started playing, and, uh....I'm pretty much entirely self-taught, I guess, April helped me a little with the chords and stuff but--

[Breathe. Breathe. Calm down, you fucking spazz.]

I know how to play most of the Queen songs, I guess. Uh....and I'm working on a couple of other eighties songs, too. Some James Taylor, I think? Fleetwood Mac? I can play that song....who's it by again? I dunno their names, but I think it's called The Boxer or something like that? Dad really likes it. Said the, uh....guy who plays you in our universe liked it too. What were the words again? Oh, yeah. I am just a poor boy, though my story's seldom told--

[Leo's voice, soft though melodious, rang out through the empty space for a moment--and then he clapped a hand to his mouth, looking around as though the noise would attract unwanted attention.

But there....was none.

It was just the lab, and the darkness, and the red lights of....the experimental tech that Egon had told him was up here.

There wasn't a Krang. He wasn't in the prison dimension. It was just Egon, who....who now had the tiniest inkling of how fucked up he was. Who was probably feeling that dangerous emotion known as pity towards him now. And Leo couldn't have that. He couldn't have another person who had fucking enough on their plate worrying about some failure like him.

The realization dawned in his eyes for a moment. Only for a moment. And then he leaned back, pinning that cocky smile back onto his face despite the fact that it was wavering more than a bit at its edges.]

Hey, why don't you go get a guitar and I can back up my supposed rad skills, huh? We'll have a jam sesh together. It'll be totally awesome. And we can forget that I just had a stupid little nightmare, like. Pssh. Whatever. It's totally not an issue. I just thought the lights in the lab were something else, you know? Not like I'm scared of the dark or anything. Naaah. Everyone has bad dreams sometimes, right? It's fine. Not a problem. Don't need to worry about little ol' me. Let's just play guitar and stay up the rest of the night and it'll be absolutely fine. Who needs sleep, am I right?

[But it wasn't fine. Not even remotely. He had that frenzied look on his face like he did whenever he was trying desperately to get Mikey to stop obsessing over something and just go to sleep--like the time he'd been so convinced that Piebald had come back for revenge, which, okay, his little brother had been half right about that--and his cocky smile seemed stretched a bit too wide, and his voice kept wavering as his gaze practically pleaded with Egon to just drop the subject, to just leave well enough alone, to just believe that he was perfectly fine and dandy as the two of them sat there.

Knowing Leo's luck, however, it wasn't going to be that easy. Nothing in his life ever was, anymore.]

[It had to come to a head eventually. Leo just wouldn't have guessed it would be so soon.

He'd been lingering around the firehouse for several days--or maybe it was weeks, days had tended to blur together for him ever since the Krang situation--getting used to the "being trapped in another dimension" situation along with everyone else. He'd been introduced to the rest of the team (with some glares thrown in Peter's direction whenever he thought the man wasn't looking), and had even learned that he wasn't even the only person displaced from his home dimension residing within their headquarters. Apparently there was another Ray lingering around too, something which had made Leo's head spin trying to comprehend. How could there be two versions of a guy just....floating around? Eventually he'd just resolved to not think about it too hard--this situation was weird enough without adding extra layers to it.

Other than that, the days passed relatively normally. Or at least, what passed for normalcy in his current day-to-day life. He played pranks, he joked with the team, he pleaded to go out on busts. He ate substandard pizza from some carryout joint, he entertained them, he patiently tolerated Egon's poking and prodding and questioning about how his powers worked and how the portals knew where to send him and so on and so forth. He asked to drive the Ecto and only grew more and more petulant when he was denied. In a way, it felt like he was back home with his brothers. It felt normal. Organic, in a way. It felt safe.

But even safety had to come to an end.

Leo had already had a restless night, plagued by nightmares that left him startling awake and trying to regulate his breathing. Upon the third occurrence of this, he sat upright, groaning and pressing the palms of his hands into his eyelids in exasperation.]

Goddamn stupid night terrors. Ughhhhh. Why won't you just let me sleep--

[Go get Egon, you stubborn son of a bitch. He'll understand. He'll probably sit up with you and--]

Nope. Nuh-uh. Not happening. I've been annoying enough. He doesn't need me pulling him away from....important science work or whatever. It's fine. I'm fine.

[At least, he was fine until the small nightlight conveniently chose that moment to flicker and die, plunging the room into an inky blackness.

Fuck. FUCK.

Leo wasn't afraid of the dark. He wasn't. It was just that the dark reminded him too much of the prison dimension and how dark it had been, and how fetid the Krang's breath had been as it had snarled in his face, and---

And there were suddenly red lights shining in the darkness, too bright and too sinister to be of any comfort, and Leo found himself jolting backwards, breath stuttering in his throat as a shrill yelp escaped his mouth before he could help it. He couldn't help it. He knew he had to stay quiet, stay quiet doN'T LET IT SEE YOU, but it escaped his mouth almost instinctually, primally, before he could stop himself. How had the Krang come here, how had they managed to escape the prison dimension, they couldn't be--]

E-E-g-gi-UYS--

[He wanted it to be a yell. He was pleading for it to be a yell, but instead it came out as another strangled, panicked yelp as he flailed backwards, a loud and panicked hiss sounding from between his lips as his shell collided with something metallic, as he felt that chill again and heard the words slithering out of that toothed maw--

I've come for you, little PEST. You will not escape my grasp so easily THIS time.

Fuck, where were his swords, he had to....he had to teleport away, make a portal, something, anything, but he was tangled up in the stupid blankets and he couldn't move and he couldn't breathe and--]

NononononononononoNONONONONONONONO--

@dr-egonspengler