#Leatherhead could probably hug all four of them at once if he wanted to

[tmntkiseki]

Thinking about Leatherhead today and getting mushy over this big soft crocodile and his relationship with his four tiny adopted turtle brothers.

[spectrumscribe]

I very much want to read some more ST AU dribbles!!! I love them a lot

this got long, whoops. (Stranger Things is just too good a universe i guess to be short)

Nine curls deeper into her burrow of blankets, torn between wanting to steal them all and run away back into the woods- where she could open a portal, go see her friends, be safe from humans and all the dangers they hold- or just staying where she is.

It’s warm. She’s warm. She hasn’t been this warm in a long time and it’s what’s keeping her inside the home instead of on the Other Side.

Nine hears the heavy footsteps of the big man Casey brought her too, accompanied the soft but noisy machine making ‘music’ in the background as he makes things to eat. Nine’s mouth waters as the smell of what’s cooking wafts out of the kitchen and into the living room. She however doesn’t give up her hiding place under the big desk. Food will come if she can get to it safely.

Casey said this man was safe, though. So maybe she’ll get some without a fight.

The heavy footsteps leave the kitchen, and Nine goes very, very still as they approach her location. She hardly breathes as the man bends in front of her hiding spot, a good length from it and not crowding her. Nine appreciates it, even if she doesn’t understand why he’s doing that. Casey never fails to be in her personal space, and neither did the men and women in white coats.

“Here, Casey told me you like eggs,” says the man. Nine cautiously meets his eyes, which are faded green and lined by creases in his skin. He’s much bigger than the white coats had been, but… he’s also much softer when he speaks, and hasn’t tried to lock up her anywhere yet.

Casey said this was okay. That Nine can trust Mr. Hirutarum. (Old man Leatherhead, Casey had whispered to her when they arrived, and then said to never call him that. Which was and still is confusing. Why call him that and then tell her not to?)

Leatherhead/Hirutarum sets the eggs on the floor, and without another word, walks away. Nine waits for more to happen- a condition for the food, for him to watch her until she eats it or says no, something- and all that happens is the man going back into the kitchen. Nine keeps waiting, hears the sound of dishes clinking together, and then nothing else for a long while.

The eggs smell good. Nine remembers that they were the first food she stole for herself, when she figured out how to get back to this world from the Other Side.

Her stomach grumbles insistently.

Nine risks reaching out and brushing her powers against the man’s emotions. She senses conflict, a mixture of pity and anger. But also empathy and a steady thrum of calmness.

And sadness, under that all. Nine doesn’t understand why, but she only really cares about whether or not the anger is aimed towards her. Since it isn’t, she decides she’s safe enough for the time being.

Nine slips out of her blankets and makeshift cave to snag the edge of the plate, quickly retreating again after. The fork barely stays on the plate as she does, and Nine barely waits to start shoveling warm yellow food into her mouth. It burns, but not nearly as bad as some things have.

The man Casey brought her to remain where he is, and Nine takes comfort in his distance. For now, and possibly just because he feeds her and lets her have blankets, Nine thinks she’ll stay here. Just until she figures out her next step.

Later, she slips out of the house while Leatherhead sleeps- she likes that name better, it makes the most sense with the wide scars on the sides of the man’s head- and goes a ways into the woods surrounding the small house.

Pulling on the pool of energy that rests in her stomach, Nine presses a hand to the first tree she gets to and opens a tear. Her nose drips red as she does, and Nine wipes it on the sleeve of the black jacket Casey gave her.

“Hi,” Nine whispers as the first head pops out of the tear, the wet squelching sound breaking the silence of the night. She holds out a whole egg that she took from Leatherhead’s cold box. “Here. Food.”

Brave’s mouth opens, his jaw splitting into three parts with his tongue slipping out to grab, and Nine places the egg in it’s grasp. A crunch, and Brave chirps happily as he devours his snack.

Nine senses it before it happens, and dodges as Brave is shoved through the tear by Stubborn. Smart and Clever pile out a second later with excited yelps, and Nine is then surrounded on all sides by hungry and demanding friends.

“Hi, hi, missed you,” Nine says warmly to them all, and starts sharing the eggs from their carton. Leatherhead said she could eat as much as she wants, and far as Nine is concerned, her friends eating is the same thing as her eating. Leatherhead doesn’t know about her friends just yet, but if he’s as nice as he seems to be, then he should agree with Nine about this.

More please, she picks up from Clever, and Nine obliges by tossing him another egg. They’re much smaller than ones in the Other Side, but still good. The carton is empty before she knows it, and then its just her friends pushing their faces into her empty hands.

“All gone,” Nine says apologetically, sending sorry along their link. A chorus of disappointment and are you sure? filters back to her, and Nine presents the empty box for inspection. Clever sniffs it, and then takes a chunk out of it just to be positive all the treats are gone.

Find more? Brave suggests, scenting the air. Nine shakes her head. This is still too new a situation to show them to Leatherhead, and she likes being somewhere warm. She won’t endanger a (probably) safe place to sleep just because her friends are lazy about finding food for themselves on the Other Side.

She tells them that as clearly as she can along their link, and is jostled around as they sulk and bump against her. Nine pats their heads and calls them dumbasses.

??? Smart questions the new word.

“Casey,” Nine explains its source, and giggles when her friend grumbles and sends don’t like loud annoying and stupid in response.

A cool wind sweeps past Nine, and she shivers a little; it’s long since dark and getting colder as the night goes on. Her friends press close to shield her, but Nine thinks of the warm blankets and hiding spot in the house, and decides tonight she’d like that instead of huddling for warmth.

“Go,” Nine orders sternly, and is ignored by her four friends. It takes shoving and pushing and more stern orders to go home before they go back where they came from. And they refuse to leave even after that until they’ve all individually gotten to say goodbye and have a hug. Nine allows that part only because goodbyes are hard even when temporary, and this makes it easier to handle.

“Be safe,” She tells them all, and is responded to with you too by all four.

Nine shuts the tear in the tree, watching the fleshy walls seal up and turn back into bark. Nine pats it once, silently promising to open it again next time she has a chance, and trots off to go sleep somewhere truly warm for the first time in forever.

Maybe she’ll tell Leatherhead about her friends, if he turns out to be as nice and good as Casey is. But not yet, and probably only if he keeps giving her tasty things to eat. (And by extension, tasty things to her friends to eat.)