#Raph's wound up being... long

[standfortheangels]

🎨x4 for everyone! :D [like one for each muse that is~]

Send 🎨 and I will use a doll maker to create an NPC from my muse's canon (meme post here)

Aaaand here we go!

Mia's only NPC of note at the minute is Kris, so I guess, let's go with him.

I've had this image of the two of them (from rinmaru games) for Years now that I don't think I've shown off before.

but the meme did say I would make one. soooo... have this one too!

This one is from THIS meiker.io game. It didn't have a blue hair option, but... I've been considering changing the both of them from blue anyway? Not sure yet though.

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Mike's NPC is his sister, Kate!

from THIS meiker.io game.

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Raph's NPC is........ *drumroll*

His Mother!

This is the way she appears to other humans, as they're only seeing the body possessed, not the demon within. A demon looking at her would see... I guess you could call it a reskin in a way. The same base form, but recoloured based on Aeshma's true form- a form she can only take in hell- with additions like, spikes, horns, flames, etc. wherever appropriate, (Not saying she has all those- I haven't actually nailed down her design yet, they're just examples), and of course like all demons, fully black eyes. This is enough for other demons to recognise who she is no matter which body she decides to inhabit.

Raph sees her... somewhere in between. He sees fully black eyes always, the same as when he looks in the mirror. But everything else sort of exists as a wavering sheen, or an overlay that's affected by his own energy. When his demonic energy is higher, his vision gets closer to that of other demons. If it's lower, the demonic traits look less solid, less opaque, though they are still there. So to an extent, he can choose which image to focus on. If he focuses on the demonic traits, or on his own demon side, or just gets really angry, the overlay is slightly clearer than her human body.

This is all part of why he hates Aeshma so much. Because he was constantly seeing his human mother under it all. The times when he was most connected to his own humanity, or when he needed a mother more than ever, she almost looked normal. It seemed as though she easily Could be the kind of mother that normal people had. But never would be, because she was being puppeteered by this demon. Every time she was committing violent murder in Raph's line of sight, he could see and remember that there was a real, human woman inside of her, who wasn't like this, probably never would have done something like this. There was a woman behind those eyes somewhere, who was being forced to do and watch so much she never should have been. Who was probably terrified every time. He could never forgive his demon mother for doing that- or for sealing away the human mother he could have had.

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Finally, for Chester's NPC...... An Ancient Tribesmen.

I remember you being interested in these, and I tried drawing them but I just couldn't get it to look the way it did in my head. BUT I FOUND A GAME (This one here) THAT LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE IT!!

TADA!!

[taleeater]

Lab Rat Part 1

TMNT 2003 x Reader

Opening setting inspired by the blood draining scene in the 2014 TMNT bayverse movie.

Reader has she/her pronouns.

The turtles are captured and taken to a secret laboratory to be tested on. But they are surprised by what- or who they find there. With seemingly no hope for rescue, they are forced to rely on the strength and bravery of their frail and timid new friend.

Warnings: violence, torture, abuse, mention of experimentation, blood, injury, electrocution, whump

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A pulsing headache, bright lights searing through his eyelids, muffled voices, and the subtle scent of ethanol. This is the uncomfortable sensation that greeted Leo as he drifted into consciousness. He blinked his eyes open to a squint, his blurry and slightly concussed vision trying to adjust to the room. In front of him, he saw a few figures moving around the wide open room of a low lit laboratory. Though it was hard to really make out the shapes past the bright spotlight shining in his eyes. He groaned and tried to move, finding his limbs restrained, arms stretched out on either side of him. Upon further inspection, he noticed a long thin plastic tube attached to his inner arm that snaked around the metal restraint on his wrist and fed down and out of sight. Squeezing his hand he tested the confines of the wrist strap.

“It’s a venipuncture IV… they’re draining our blood.”

Leo’s head snapped up to his right at the sound of his brother’s voice. His vision swayed at the fast movement and steading to find his purple clad brother restrained beside him.

“Donnie…? Where’s Raph and-“

“Hey!!! Leo’s up! How’s that concussion bro?” Mikey’s joking tone sounded further away.

Leo leaned forward as best he could and looked down past Donnie, seeing Raph and then Mikey strung up in a similar fashion as he was. Raph was still out cold with blood dripping from a wound on his temple.

Donnie followed his eyes and interrupted his thoughts.

“Raph got hit a bit harder than you did, he might still be out for a while.” He said with a sympathetic tone. “Do you remember what happened?” Donnie asked, in typical fashion checking for any brain damage.

Leo blinked for a moment, allowing for his mind to focus. “We were on patrol…”

The memory flashed before his eyes. It seemed routine, stopping a weapons deal from going down under a bridge by the Hudson. But when they had swooped down to start knocking out thugs, they had suddenly all been shocked with high voltage electricity. They were too stunned to find the source, the thugs stepping in quickly to knock them all unconscious before they could recover. The next thing he knew, he was here.

A low groan sounded from between Don and Mikey.

“Raph!” They all exclaimed, trying their best to turn their attention to their brother.

“Turn the lights off, will ya? My heads killing me…” He mumbled groggily.

Suddenly, a single loud clap sounded across the room, drawing their attention.

“Ah! I see you’ve all awoken. Well, mostly…” The dark figure snickered. His shoes clicked on the tiled floor as he walked closer and slowly emerged from the shadows.

A gangly pale man, slightly less than average height, thinning hair, and a white lab coat approached the podium. He stopped just shy of the base of the short staircase leading up to where the turtles were being held on display.

“I am Dr. Cobble. I am sure you are familiar with my close associate, Mr. Bishop?”

Leo, Mikey and Donnie all groaned.

“Him again? Doesn’t he ever give up?” Mikey bemoaned dramatically.

The doctor cleared his throat. “Yes, well, he was kind enough to supply us with this wonderful titanium steel adjustable medical grade holding platform. See how nicely they’re working? We can plug you full of needles and you can’t move an inch.” His giddy rambling shifted into an evil sneer that had Leo glaring daggers at him.

“In exchange, I am to provide Bishop with plenty of samples… of you four mutants. After all his trouble, I’m surprised by how easy it was to capture you!” He openly laughed at them as the brothers glared at him with trepidation.

“Now-“ Not allowing anyone time to respond, the doctor loudly clapped his hands again. This time the rattling of a dingy supply cart squeaked as it pulled up next to Dr. Cobble, pushed by another person in a lab coat. “Today, we are starting out with plenty of blood samples while you four get settled. In the meantime, I’ll have my assistant here patch up any open wounds. Wouldn’t want any festering to poison our precious samples after all!” He said in a sing-song voice and strolled away to another part of the room.

“….I really don’t like him.” Mikey groaned.

“Don’t worry Mikey, we’ll find a way out of here soon!” Donnie comforted him. Raph was still worryingly quiet from his head injury.

Leo had his eyes trained on the lab assistant gathering up a tray of what appeared to be bandages and antiseptic and carried it up the stairs, approaching Leo first.

Leo bared his teeth at him and glared with sharp eyes, a warning not to try anything funny.

The intern just looked at him with tired eyes and huffed, clearly unbothered as he instead passed Leo by and walked down to start with Mikey instead.

“Woah, hey- careful with that! Ow!” Mikey loudly protested. Leo and Donnie worriedly leaned forward as best they could to watch the assistant clumsily and not-so-gently rub an ointment from his coat pocket thoroughly into the large bump on Mikey’s head and slap a large square bandage over it. Luckily their brother’s injury was not severe enough to break the skin.

Mikey whined irritably as the bored lab assistant moved on to the seemingly unconscious Raph. He gathered some antiseptic on a piece of gauze and reached his hand up to wipe away the blood trailing down Raphael’s face. When suddenly, quick as lightening, Raph’s eyes flashed open and he lunged forward as far as he could, snarling and snapping at the assistant causing him to startle and stumble backwards out of range. He dropped his tray with a loud clatter and lost his balance, tumbling off the edge of the podium with a loud gasp. He hit the tiled floor with a thud followed by a long groan. Several of the other scientists in the room rushed to his side to check if he was okay.

Raph chuckled darkly. Despite the bleeding head wound he still had some bite left in him.

Leo looked over and gave his hot headed brother an amused smirk. Mikey was chuckling and Donnie sighed in relief, deflating a bit in his restraints.

“What happened??”

Dr. Cobble strut back to the front of the room, looking frustrated. Two other scientists rushed up to him and spoke to him quickly, while the group gathered at the base of the podium dispersed when two scientists carried away the injured assistant off to another room.

“I leave you idiots alone for TWO MINUTES and you’re losing control of the test subjects. It seems like you all need a little reminder as to what to do when that happens.” Dr. Cobble stepped forward and pulled what appeared to be a remote out from his pocket. He turned a dial and flipped a switch, and in seconds Leo and his brothers were alight as electricity surged through their bodies from the restraints on their wrists.

Dr. Cobble laughed shortly as he watched them struggle, before eventually flipping off the switch.

The turtles were left panting as they tried to catch their breath.

“See? Easy as pie. Any time they act up, just use a remote! That’s what we had them updated for, to include the new additions!“ He shoved the remote back into his pocket and regarded his team. “Now, who would like to volunteer to finish cleaning up these animals?”

No one spoke up or stepped forward. There was a hush over the room as the few left standing around shifted uncomfortably. Clearly less than enthusiastic about approaching the red one again.

“Really? No one?!” The doctor's expression pulled into a sneer as he clearly became angry.

After a brief pause, a small hand reached up from the back of the room.

Someone had volunteered.

Dr. Cobble's expression morphed into one of twisted amusement as he straightened.

“Ah… my dear (y/n)… Have you decided to make yourself useful today?”

There was another pause and the small frame concealed in shadows shifted uncomfortably. They weren’t wearing a lab coat, Leo observed.

The doctor appeared to grow agitated at the lack of response and curled his hand into a fist.

“Come. Here.” He jabbed at the space in front of him as he ordered.

There was a quiet gasp from the small form, followed by the padding of bare feet across the tile as they approached the doctor.

The room was still. Leo’s breath caught in his throat as the form of a frail young woman in a white papery hospital gown and a ratty gray cardigan, crossed into the light and stopped timidly in front of Dr. Cobble, her eyes downcast. She appeared to be close to Leo and his brothers in age.

“There. That wasn’t so hard, was it?” The doctor cooed in mock comfort. But it didn’t last long. He frowned at her with cold eyes and thrust a finger in the direction of the abandoned supply cart.

“Take some bandages and disinfectant up to the mutants and treat their head wounds. And be quick about it.” He followed with another loud clap that made her jolt, before she quickly nodded in confirmation and scurried over to grab what she needed from the cart. The rest of the laboratory personnel easily returned to their duties, no longer paying attention.

Leo looked over at Donnie and caught his brother watching the small figure with the same puzzled stare as he was. The purple turtle caught his eyes and they shared a questioning look before turning their attention back to the girl. She piled up a tray with gauze, bandages, and another bottle of antiseptic, before carefully ascending the stairs towards them.

She locked eyes with Leo first, and tried to offer him a small shy smile as she stopped in front of him. Her hair appeared to be unkept and overgrown, and noticed a strange metal collar fixed around her neck that caught the light as she moved. The skin peeking out underneath looked red and chapped.

“Hi…! Um… I’m (y/n)… what’s your name?” She quietly asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She wasted no time crouching down to place the tray at his feet, carefully extracting some disinfectant onto a piece of gauze as she glanced up at him intermittently to show she was listening expectantly.

“Uh…” He glanced around first to check that Dr. Cobble had left. “Leo… my name is Leo.” He offered, feeling his brow ridges crease in confusion.

The girl straightened up and faced him again, poised with the gauze in hand.

“Leo!” Her expression seemed to brighten marginally. “Can I touch you with this? I need to disinfect your cut before I put a bandage over it. I-If that’s okay.”

Leo was honestly a little taken aback by the request. “S-sure, do what you need to.”

He watched her nod at his consent before slowly reaching up in his line of sight, so he could watch what she was doing, and gently dabbing the damp gauze at the tender spot on his head. He flinched and hissed a little at the sting, making the girl pull her hand away and locking eyes with him.

“I’m sorry, I know it hurts a little. Can I keep going? I promise I’ll be careful.” Her eyes carefully searched his, her brows knit with concern and a hint of uncertainty.

Leo hesitated at such careful treatment. It almost felt like a trick. What did she have to gain from this? Who was she?

With no other current options, he sighed and pulled a half-smile. “Go ahead.”

She searched his eyes for a moment longer before returning to her task. Diligently swiping away the dried blood on his temple before stooping down and returning with a thick bandage.

“I’ll just apply this bandage and… there! We’re done. Thank you Leo.” She flashed him a small grin before pulling the tray over to work on his brother.

Leo blinked as he processed the interaction, lightly baffled. Then Donnie’s stuttering caught his attention.

“Y-y-y-yes! That would be fine, Miss (y/n). Please proceed.” He looked anxious as he watched her bend down to handle the supplies. She must be giving him the same treatment.

“Luckily, it looks like you aren’t bleeding anywhere… so I’ll just need to apply a little bit of this salve before covering your bruise with a bandage.” She held up the tin and let Donnie thoroughly look over the packaging, patiently making sure to flip it over so he could read through the ingredients and instructions. Once he seemed satisfied that the salve would be safe to use on his skin, Donnie gave (y/n) a grateful nod of approval. She then opened it in front of him and swiped out a little glob of the ointment, lifting her hand up slightly to his face after Donnie leaned down to try and smell it.

“It might hurt a little when I apply it… is that okay?”

Donnie met her eye contact and shyly smiled. “Yes, go ahead.”

And in the same manner she did with Leo, she gently dabbed on the ointment, doing her best not to prod at the swelling lump. Donnie made no noise of complaint. Then she reached down and retrieved a bandage.

“Okay, last step. Almost finished...” She looked very focused as she flattened the bandage into the right spot on his head. “All done! Thank you Donnie.” She pulled her hands away and looked at him kindly, before collecting her tray and moving over towards Raph.

This left Donnie with a similar look of bewilderment that Leo had from the exchange. He seemed a little lost in thought as his gaze drifted over to meet Leo’s, to which Leo raised an eyebrow at him, quietly asking the same question he was thinking.

“Oh no. Get that shit away from me.” Their attention was drawn over to Raph’s venom.

“I-I’m sorry! I won’t do anything you don’t want me to! I- my name is (y/n)…”

“And why should I care? I don’t want no scientist’s lackey touchin me. Now get lost.” Raph bit out angrily before settling again, his head hanging forward a bit limply as he relaxed. The girl looked downcast and seemed a bit lost, but fixed her hands together in front of her and made no move to touch her supplies or Raph.

“Don’t mind him, he’s always grouchy. Nice to meet you (y/n)! I’m Mikey.” The final brother piped up and pulled her attention. She looked over at him surprised, but quickly changed into a light smile.

“Nice to meet you too, Mikey. Is your head okay?” She asked him a little less quietly, seemingly emboldened by his outgoingness.

“Oh this? Yeah, this is nothin! You should see the other guy-“ Mikey spoke as animatedly as he could while fixed in place, his head moving around while he spoke. She giggled a little bit.

“Say, you don’t look like a scientist. Do you work here or somethin?” Leo and Donnie immediately perked up at the question, Mikey hitting the nail on the head.

“Ah- I-!” She stammered, looking nervous.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING???” A booming voice burst through the room.

All the boy’s eyes shot up to the sound of Dr. Cobble angrily striding back over to the podium. (Y/n)’s whole body was wracked with a violent tremble as she suddenly shrunk in on herself. Leo and Donnie couldn’t see her expression from their angle, but from Mikey’s eyes flashing between her and the angry doctor, his expression faded from deeply concerned to mad. Raph lifted his head up to regard the doctor with glaring annoyance.

“You should have long been finished tending to these freaks. And now I’ve caught you conversing with them?? I DID NOT GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO SPEAK!! Now…” The mad doctor’s eyes drifted over to Raph, and with wide eyes looked him over. “Oh…! Oh ho ho…!! And it appears you still haven’t finished your job!!”

He took a step closer to the stairs, his head tilted in question and his wild eyes bore into (y/n)‘s trembling form. The girl hiccuped and shuddered as she tried her hardest to muffle her erratic breathing. She did not dare move.

Dr. Cobble reached into his lab coat pocket and pulled out the remote again, not breaking his stare. (Y/n) flinched with her whole body at the appearance of the remote, but remained quiet. The boys all narrowed their eyes at the doctor in challenge, ready to feel the jolt hit.

The doctor’s face stretched into a grin, and with the remote’s setting turned up high, he flicked a switch.

But it wasn’t the same switch.

“AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!”

To all of the turtle’s shock, the electricity didn’t hit them. (Y/n) shrieked at the top of her lungs as her whole body tensed from the powerful volt that erupted from the collar around her neck. The poor girl dropped to her knees and hugged herself tightly as she spasmed, unable to escape the waves and waves of painful electricity that wracked her body.

“Hey… HEY!!! STOP THAT!! THAT'S ENOUGH!!!” To everyone’s surprise, it was Raph who started yelling.

“QUIT IT, SHE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG!!” Mikey joined in, furious.

Dr. Cobble only laughed as he watched the show. After what felt like far too long, he toned down the dial and shut her switch off. (Y/n) fell limp into a slouch on the floor. The smell of burnt flesh and iron reaching their noses. Their only sign she was still conscious was her shuddering breaths.

“Was it not you who volunteered for this job? You disappoint me, (y/n)! I let you roam around the lab today! Gave you a responsibility! And you not only neglect your duty, but I catch you speaking behind my back!”

The doctor paced back and forth at the bases of the stairs like a predator, easily ignoring the murderous glowers from the turtles as he kept his attention trained on the young girl.

“I’ll give you another chance to prove yourself…” Dr. Cobble’s voice softens in mock empathy. “Finish up your job, quickly and silently, and your testing today will be minimal. Am I understood?” His tone was cold and final. (Y/n) nodded quietly from her spot on the floor.

“Good. Now hop to it.” And with another loud clap, (y/n) startled into action.

She grabbed the gauze and spilled some disinfectant onto it, and leapt to her feet. Dr. Cobble stayed put, his eyes boring into her back as he watched her do her job. But still she paused. She sniffed wetly, biting her lips into a line as she hesitated in front of Raph. Her hand poised and trembling in front of his face but not moving to clean his wound.

“…hey. Hey hey hey, it’s okay. You can do it, okay?? I give you my permission, or- whatever. Just do it!” Raph scrambled to encourage her, realizing that what she was waiting for was his consent. He looked her up and down with palpable concern, actually seeing her now.

She reached up, and still with trembling hands, cleaned the gash oh so gently until it was cleared of blood. Then quickly retrieved the bandage and carefully smoothed it over the tender bruised spot on his head.

When she was finished, she picked up the tray, and almost stumbling from her shaking, rushed down the stairs past the overbearing watch of the doctor. She placed the tray on the cart, and joined by two men that appeared to be armed guards, was quickly escorted out of the wide echoing laboratory down a hallway that led out of sight.

The brothers were stunned in silence as they watched her go, flinching slightly as the sound of a heavy metal door slamming shut broke the spell.

“Well! I think we all learned a very valuable lesson today.” Dr. Cobble started cheerily, seemingly relaxed from his crazed state. He turned to the four turtles, regarding them strung up and half bled dry on their steel crosses, and sneering smugly.

“Do not disappoint me.”

To be continued.

[untitled-tmnt-blog]

Summary of some answers from today's Q&A with Ron Corcillo!

(July 29, 2023)

Bullet points are below the cut, since it's a pretty long list! Some combine multiple answers, and they're categorized for ease of reading (obviously not every single answer is included, but I tried to get most of the ones I thought people might find interesting!)

Apocalyptic Future

The turtles were fighting side by side with Cassandra when Casey Jr was born, and Leo trained him to be a warrior. Casey Jr only has brief memories of his mother from when he was very young, and he was mostly raised by Leo.

The chips on Leo's plastron are probably battle scars.

Mikey was likely the equivalent of being in his 70's. He was powerful enough that he could unlock almost any mystic ability you could think of, but using them took a toll on him physically. The more powerful the ninpo, the more potential it has to sap your energy.

Mikey can open up portals through all of space and time (as opposed to Leo, who can mostly portal over relatively short distances), but it took him a long time to get to that level of ability.

Mikey probably grew a little taller than seen in the movie, but shrank as the use of his powers depleted him. Donnie would be slightly taller than Leo, and Raph would be at least 6'6".

The characters have obviously taken hits and lost some things from years of fighting the Krang, but Leo still does have his ninpo.

They never worked out the specifics for how Raph and Donnie died, just that they lost their lives in the war against the Krang.

Future Leo was mortally wounded in his bleeding side, and that was why he didn't go with Casey to the past.

If season 2 hadn't been cut short

The sudden declaration of Leo as leader wouldn't have happened, and was more of a joke because of how abruptly the show ended. The original plan was for the transition to be drawn out over much of season 3. Raph and Leo probably would have been co-leaders for a while, and the transfer of leadership wouldn't have caused tension since Raph would like to share the burden. There might have been some situations where Mikey or Donnie took the lead, too. Ron never saw the turtles as a group where there had to be one absolute leader.

Karai would have lived for much longer, and been training the boys in person for a number of episodes.

If there was a season 3 / plans they had for future seasons

They probably wouldn't have ever taken a dark turn with the show, but may have gotten into more of an extended plot line after the movie.

The missing sister who was Big Mama's henchperson would probably have been a very disciplined super serious ninja, to the point where she's actually funny. She was going to be named after a female artist, possibly Frida Kahlo, and the turtles would have had to win her back from Big Mama by helping her to see that she had been brainwashed as a child.

Their other missing sister was going to be trapped in another dimension for years, and might have been "a little kooky" from being there so long. The turtles would have split up to rescue their sisters, but there were no definite plans beyond that.

We would definitely see Casey Jr again. Ron would love to see a spin-off where Casey and Cassandra roam the world and fight the Krang and remnants of the Foot.

It was going to be revealed that a Krang spaceship had crashed into the back of the crying titan in the Hidden City. The ship's fuel was the source of the ooze that gives the Yokai their power, and possibly the origin of the Yokai themselves. The crashed spaceship is what drew the invasion there a thousand years ago.

Mikey's powers could have opened the door to some multiverse episodes.

We might have seen some redemption from Big Mama, but then also seen her relapse to her villainous ways.

The Rat King likely would have been the next big villain. Shredder's story is pretty resolved, so they wouldn't have gone back to him, but maybe they could have revived the dark armor. There were no existing plans for Bishop, but once the turtles became better known heroes, he could be a thorn in their side. They would have done a lot more with the Krang.

Donnie probably thinks he's much smarter than Raph, so it would have been fun to do an episode where he got to see how Raph beats him in common sense and emotional intelligence.

The turtles would probably talk to Karai's Hamato spirit when they need guidance.

Season 3 would pick up where the movie left off. They would have launched a new story right away, but the aftermath would have been in the background. We would have seen how they changed as a result of the movie events, as well as how they deal with now being in the public eye as heroes.

Miscellaneous

The 2012 series was very traditional TMNT, so a big goal of Rise was to mix things up. Making Raph the leader opened up a lot of possibilities for both Leo and Raph: Raph didn't have to be angry all the time about not being the leader, and Leo was free to be cocky and fun-loving. It was a breath of fresh air for writers who had done previous TMNT versions.

As for how the turtles take after Yoshi: Donnie got a lot of his cockiness from him, as did Leo. Mikey senses that Yoshi misses his family, and that's part of the reason he always tries to hold the family together. Raph got his courage and sense of duty from him.

For Halloween, Raph would be a kitten, Mikey would be a lion, Leo would be a rock star, and Donnie would be J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Raph's favorite music is R&B, Leo's is glam rock, Donnie's is techno, and Mikey likes boy bands.

When asked about the turtles "favorite" brothers (obviously they all love each other): Mikey is Raph's favorite. As much as Leo gives Donnie a hard time, he really likes him. Ultimately, the three younger brothers all really look up to Raph.

The turtles all had their mystic powers inherently, but they didn't know it and couldn't unlock them without a little boost. Their mystic weapons acted as a conduit.

Splinter has a lot of power that hasn't been revealed, and there's a good chance he can do anything the boys can do if he really tries (which is how he could use Leo's portals). Their powers all would have grown and expanded over time.

Ron really likes fanart of the turtles, Splinter, and April in emotional family situations, as that is the heart of the show.

They didn't really get into romance in the show, but fans are free to use their imagination.

Hueso would never admit it, but he and Leo do have a close friendship.

While Ron doesn't think the show will be brought back any time soon since Nick's focus is on Mutant Mayhem (which he thinks Rise fans will enjoy, since they seem to have a lot in common), he does think it could be brought back further down the road. The most helpful thing is fans' continued support through watching, posting, and spreading the word!

[monotonesmile]

So kind of serious-ish I guess so totally find if you don’t wanna answer this!

Can I request Rise boys x Reader who is also an older sibling 

Reader is an older sibling so also has all those big sibling worries - feeling like they need to be a constant good example for their younger siblings and so they have to be good at everything, being a bit like a parent in how they worry a lot on if they’re a good sibling or not. Just general stuff like that 

Rise Boys X GN!Reader

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Leo:

Leo probably would immediately know that you’re an older sibling, as much as people joke about him being a dummy, Leo genuinely is observant and smart, he could tell you were similar to Raph in some places, he’s seen how you act towards those younger than you, almost like a parent.

Leo doesn’t really mind you being an older sibling, he just wishes you’d take care of yourself for once.

Leo will actively hold you down in bed just to get you to sleep, and I don’t care what anyone says, THIS BOY CAN SING! He will sing lullabies until you fall asleep, he won’t leave your side until you wake up either, he is taking any chance to cuddle you.

If Leo had injured himself on patrol or something, he’d be surprised when you started to patch him up, not expecting you to actually know how to clean and bandage injuries and he’s curious about how you know, which is when he realized that you’ve likely done this to your sibling(s) before, of course you’d know how to treat wounds if your trying to protect and help your family.

Leo will try to get you to relax by watching Lou Jitsu or Jupiter Jim movies, because it helps him relax so why wouldn’t it work with you? He’d also watch you do your own hobbies with the most adorable expression on his face, he loves seeing you in your own space and doing the things you love.

Donnie:

Donnie absolutely knew you were an older sibling, he’d tell you to your face. What? Didn’t think he wouldn’t research you and your family? Come on, this is Donnie we are talking about. He would research everything about you before you even started dating, he does it to everyone he comes in contact with.

Honestly, none of them would really mind you being an older sibling, Donnie would absolutely try to make a schedule for your days, trying to help with the weight of your responsibilities to your sibling(s).

Donnie would be very strict about the sleep schedule he’d give you, he knows people can’t function properly without proper sleep (despite his insistence on not sleeping either), some nights, he would let you hang out with him in his lab if neither of you could get to sleep. You’d probably fall asleep before him, so he’d take you to bed but wouldn’t return to his lab, he’d lay down with you and get some rest too.

Donnie honestly wouldn’t be all too surprised by you trying to get him to take a break from his projects, his brothers have tried to do the same with varying levels of success. Though what would surprise him would be you not giving up like his brothers would, he’d probably be so surprised that you could drag him out of his lab so he can rest in his bed.

Donnie trying to get you to relax definitely is an…experience…because he doesn’t really relax himself, so he doesn’t really help you relax either, but he does try to make sure you’re following the schedule he made, which would include a point where you should be relaxing, though it’s up to you on what you want to do to relax. Donnie would be happy to listen to you ramble about your hobbies and interests as long as you’ll listen to his own rambling.

Raph:

Raph, you’d have to tell him that you’re an older sibling, and he’d be the most understanding of your situation, having been in a similar one for most of his life. He’d also be the most likely to try and help with your responsibilities, to the best of his abilities at least.

Like I said, none of them would mind, Raph definitely would try to get you to rest while he helps deal with your sibling(s), who either love him or not, but he’ll try regardless because he knows the struggle.

Raph would try to find a healthy solution to getting you to sleep properly, he’d be willing to watch movies or shows until you fall asleep, holding you until you wake, acting as a bed for you. He’d probably try to talk to you about your sleeping habits as well, trying to find something that works best for you.

Raph would be the most surprised by someone else trying to take care of him, he’s so used to taking care of others that the idea of someone taking care of him is honestly baffling. He’d probably appreciate it though, he secretly enjoys being pampered by you but he still wants to act like the tough turtle he is, you’ll wear him down eventually and then you’ll have a big churring snapper on your lap.

Raph would be slightly overbearing with trying to take care of you, he’d probably try to get you to relax with cuddles or going on walks together, but he wants you to be comfortable, so he would do the most to help you, whether it works or not, he is trying. As for your hobbies, he would watch and listen to you, maybe he’d even partake in them if he’s curious, it makes you happy and he wants to make sure you’re happy!

——————————————————

[Requests are open!]

[turtleblogatlast]

cw: // death mention // violence // torture //

Aw man I have an idea for a “Leo spends a lot longer in the Prison Dimension” divergence.

The way the Prison Dimension works is that it essentially keeps you alive so long as you haven’t completely broken.

Leo, despite how sure he was that he was going to die, didn’t want to, and that’s all the Prison Dimension needed to keep him “alive” and “resetting” him. His body is kept in the exact same state he was in when he entered the dimension - messed up, but mostly okay.

Also, Leonardo “jokes are how I cope” Hamato eventually uses his newfound “oh I can’t die” status as a way to relentlessly quip at Krang One. Sure, he “dies” many times doing this, but eventually he just treats it like a game. How much does he have to fuck around until he finds out?

The amount varies.

He’s thankful that his (Casey’s-) photo is still intact, though at some point he has to etch the names of the people in it (his family-) into the walls of whatever building rubble he called home.

Sometimes he and Krang One talk. It’s almost nice, at times, having another being there.

Leo doesn’t know what to think of this.

The nice feeling always ends with his “corpse”, anyway.

Leo’s eventually saved, of course, and he’s brought back home and he smiles, smiles, because of course his brothers saved him! Of course he got out! He never gave up, not really, so they didn’t either-

And then he noticed how tall they were. How Mikey had hair, how Raph’s scars had long healed, how Donnie’s tech was more advanced.

Six years, they tell him. Six years.

And Leo looks the same. Just as banged up as ever, still a mess of bruises and cuts that he’s grown so familiar with. (And it does not escape Raph’s eye how dark the ring of bruises around Leo’s neck are-)

And it’s fine! It’s fine. He just needs to play catch up, now. He’s technically six years older too, right? Only his body is sixteen. His wounds will heal, and he will grow up too.

Only that doesn’t happen.

Because here’s the thing about the Prison Dimension: it’s grown fond of Leo. Six years is nothing to it, but Leo was new, different from what normally comes through. Leo was a bright blue light that only grew brighter with time, coming back from where it was almost snuffed out. So, a piece of the Dimension attaches itself to Leo’s soul, living yet not, and he remains as he’s been for the past near decade.

His wounds do not heal. He does not grow.

He exists more than he lives. And in the back of his mind he can hear Krang One screaming.

He wonders if his own screaming was heard back.

[fungalittleweirdo]

All four 12 turtles first meetings/impressions headcanons pleeeeeaaassseee <3333

anything for pookie <333

2012 TMNT First Meetings Headcanons

Leo

i think he would be interested in keeping you safe if you're a civilian

if you're a criminal he might talk you down from doing crime first, if you don't listen to him though he will kick your ass

but back to if you're a regular person in new york– if you were in danger he would most likely defend you

and if you insist on keeping him company because he saved your life, he might get a little shy and embarrassed

are you hungry ? he'll get you an order of pizza gyozas as soon as possible

you're one of the few humans he's ever met, it's a little hard for him to socialise with you at first but then gets the hang of it

if you're interested in any of the things he's interested in he will ask about it

he might infodump about space heroes if you're not careful

if you let him, he might develop a silly little crush on you

sorry this leo first impression headcannon thing is purely spoopy fanservice

Raph

he'd think nothing of you if you're a civilian

if you're a criminal he'd beat your ass, no questions asked

but if you're insistent on talking to raph after he saves your life or whatever he'd get annoyed and ask why you want to talk to him so bad

but this is only if he's still with mona

if he hadn't been with mona at all or they broke up or whatever, he might be bored enough to have you around for company

he might end up venting to you if you listen to him for long enough

raph feels as though he's never listened to and to have someone so ready and willing to hear him ramble, it comforts him

you might become his favourite friend after a night of talking and getting to know one another

he also would like it if you wanted to watch him train and cheer him on, it helps dissolve his insecurities

Donnie

depends how you react to him when it comes to you being a civilian

as for you being a criminal ? he'd ask you why, how, when– he wants every little detail about the crime you're committing and the context behind it. he might not even want to kick your ass at all, maybe he just wants to talk.

now, if the turtle's saving your life and you're grateful like a normal person, thanking him and going on your merry way, he'd be proud of himself for handling whatever you tangled yourself with on his own.

if you make out his save as a knight-in-shining-armour-saving-his-princess situation ? he would get all flustered and embarrassed, falling for you hard if you give him any semblance of affection as thanks.

the mutant is starved for affection after all the years he's pined and yearned. crushing should be his middle name and it's not for crushing his enemies.

spending the rest of the night talking to him would probably mean him checking for wounds or if you got hurt.

he would worry about you no matter if your life was threatened or if someone just tried to steal your bag

haha you're the next april (whether you reciprocate or not is up to you)

Mikey

nah dude you're chill brah

bro's clueless if you're committing crime

but otherwise he'd fight whatever's threatening you then offer if you want to hang out with him

whether you agree or scream and run away it's your choice (but the latter isn't what you're here for, is it ?)

he'd take you to murakami's or some pizza place he knows of for food first

after eating you guys would go up to the rooftops and he'd try to show you tricks on his board

maybe try to flirt with you if he finds you easy on the eyes

you spending time with him kind of reassures him that he's not annoying like his brothers say he is, so you're making him feel better about himself just by keeping him company

he'd love to talk to you again !! definitely will call you in the middle of the night to ask you if you think pineapple belongs on pizza.

[reallyhatethiswebsite]

Bratty bottom Raph and gn reader for sweet anon 😊 nsft

Read on AO3

-

Such a rare and wonderful treat you had splayed beneath you. A feast laid out on red silk. Raphael’s usually well-kept hair was in disarray from the amount of times you’d run your hands through it. Big brown eyes were wide, black-hole pupils consuming his irises. In them you could see your reflection looming above him, perched on his abdomen with your thighs either side of his belly. A lovely, fetching flush spread across his cheeks and ears. His throat bobbed when he swallowed. You followed it with the tips of your fingers, resting them in its hollow. His neck seemed bare. He’d look amazing in a collar, you thought. Maybe some day he’d wear one for you. 

“Is it your plan to do nothing but ogle me all night?” He snapped. His handsome aquiline nose always scrunched up when he did. What a stunning creature. 

“You say that like you don’t enjoy being ogled,” you replied sweetly. The erection you felt against your ass was an obvious indication. 

“There’s a time and a place,” the devil said between grit teeth. He gripped the meat of your thighs, dug his fingers in. If he were in his true form, no doubt you’d have shallow wounds that he’d lick clean when you were done. Instead, his blunt human nails bit crescents into your skin. The dull pain was quite pleasant. You rocked back a little, pressing on his cock. He hissed, rolled his hips as best he could. Trying to rub his aching prick against you. It felt thick and hot, like soft steel. At its base, squeezing him just right, was a ring. Made of infernal metal. Enchanted with runes. No matter how close he was, no matter how many times he’d been brought to the edge, Raphael couldn’t come. 

In his long life Raphael had collected many different interesting toys – plugs, rings, dildos, cages, things like that – but this ring was your favourite. Simple but incredibly effective; say the right word and it would displace itself, giving you full control over when and where your devil could orgasm. Such a rush, a thrill like no other, to test him and his limits. Of course he could overpower you whenever he wanted, but part of the fun, the game, was to see how much he’d let you get away with. Touching him in places you normally couldn’t, feasting on his sexual ruin, licking tears of overstimulation from his cheeks as you milked his ruddy spent cock and overworked his prostate until he whined for you to stop…ah, there was nothing like it. 

Raphael didn’t often submit like this. Only when the mood took him, and he’d been stressed lately. He was clamouring for orgasm; desperate for it. Beads of sweat rolled down his temples. His jaw clenched tight. Nipples hard and full of blood – you’d been relentless plucking them like sweet strings, suckling when the desire struck, telling him how pretty he’d look with piercings you could roll around on your tongue. His chest heaved. His bulky frame trembled. He was going to leave bruises where he held you. You could just imagine how full and fat his balls were. He was almost at breaking point. You supposed you had been playing with him for a while now.

“Poor thing,” you cooed, swiping his bottom lip with your thumb. You moved away before he could bite it, knowing him too well. If looks could kill, you’d be a pile of ash – and yet beneath you he remained. “I suppose I should take care of you. You’ve been such a good boy, after all…”

“You are treading on very thin ice, little mouse,” Raphael growled, but as always, his body betrayed him. He shuddered. His upper lip curled, angry, frustrated. The threat in his eyes was real, you knew, and yet… You wanted to play just a little bit more. 

You smiled innocently, reached behind you to hold his cock, so warm and stiff and heavy in your hand. The devil watched, rapt, as you lifted yourself up and guided his cockhead to your entrance. You were ready for him. Always ready for him. Both of you sighed in unison when you rubbed his sticky glans around your hot hole, a tiny tease, but he was getting impatient, pushing down on your thighs.

“Inside,” he hissed, brown eyes flashing yellow briefly, a hint of glistening fang. “Let me inside.”

“As you wish,” you purred, sinking down on his cock completely in one drop. You groaned throatily as you took him in. He always made you feel so full. The way he tensed, his sharp inhale, the twist of his expression; these things told you he would’ve finished instantly. Except you hadn’t taken the ring off. You felt it nudge against your hole when he bottomed out.

“Damn you!” Raphael barked raspily, composure disintegrating. He viciously bucked his hips, teeth bared. You tumbled forward with a cry, your hands flat on his pecs for stability. For a moment you felt claws digging into you as he struggled to maintain control of his form.

“Tell me what you want,” you breathed. Your faces close when he reared up. He was done laying pliant. You slipped into his lap as he crushed you tight. You could taste his humid panting. His stare burned.

“You know what I want.”

“Say it,” you whispered. “I want to hear you tell me.” 

He was so handsome even when he sneered so terribly.

“I want to come, you contemptuous creature,” he snarled. He bit your mouth, spat the rest of his words behind your lips. “I want to finish inside you. I want to fill you with my spend. Mark you from the inside. Make you mine body and soul. You are mine. Now let. Me. Come.”

“Fuck,” you gasped. How could you say no to that?

[aealzx]

“You know, I think if we had a competition for the most gnarly injury you’d win it every time,” Leo commented while he focused on properly cleaning the four definitely infected slashes across Donnie’s back. It had been tense at first, considering it had been way longer than Leo would have liked before the wounds were properly addressed. The others had tried to take care of them without him since he'd been with Splinter at Big Mama's place, but they just didn’t have his eye for the important things. And Shredder really did some damage this time. At least Donnie's battle shell had managed to take the brunt of the blow. “Raph would win on the sheer number of injuries, of course. He goes through band aids like personal sized pizza. But you definitely, somehow, always end up with the most complicated ones.”

Leo was making jokes. And while it was exasperating to listen to, it was also reassuring for Donnie to hear. It meant that while he still felt awful and kept a fistful of Splinter’s robe, Leo was confident he would be just fine. “...I think this is a competition I’d rather lose,” Donnie responded, voice muffled by the pillow his face was mostly smothered in. Leo was being as gentle as possible, but the sterile saline still caused his tissue to sting, earning hisses and flinches from him.

Leo could only chuckle in response, tenderly pressing Donnie’s shell so he could see inside the gash better. “Don’t worry pops. He’ll be just fine. I can already see improvement because of the antibiotics,” he assured when he noticed Splinter giving him a mildly frustrated look. “This isn’t even as bad as the one he got when he was a tot - oh, another piece of metal. Hang on.” His assurance broke off as he was able to confirm that there was a foreign material that needed to be removed from the wound, setting one of the many bottles of saline down in exchange for needle pointed tweezers. Donnie already knew the drill by now, and responded by sucking in a stiff breath and tightening his grip on his dad, Splinter returning the motion by holding him a little more firmly. He wasn’t looking forward to the stitches, but he was looking for the long nap he was going to take once Leo was finally done.

And at least Leo’s hands had gotten a lot more steady over the years.

____________________

Here, have a little side turtle thing unrelated to any of my existing projects |D Or well, mostly unrelated. I started drawing this like 2 weeks ago and then forgot why I wanted to draw it other than Mikey mentioning it in CDK. And sometimes I like to draw angst, but then I ran out of the super angst desire for this one and ended up making it a little lighter in the text?

I just really wanted to get something up after this long |D Even if I am more in a state of "why did I draw this again? e,e" atm X'D

[cutielights]

Warnings: injury mention, Leo being Leo.

Desc: Leo x G/N reader, unspecified if human or mutant/yo’kai. Comfort, cuddles! Generally trying to feel better about the whole world ending thing. 2nd person.

A/N: Happy 300! :D 741 words

Feeling Apocalyptic

The sound of chatter accompanied by several pairs of heavy duty boots thumping by your closed door fills your ears as you slump into your sorry excuse for a bed, the mattress flipped over as the springs had started to pop. Goosebumps run up your arms, only mildly soothed by the blanket you pull around your shoulders as you lean your head back against the metal wall with a soft *thud*.

You glance at the digital clock, the dim light displaying 11:39 PM. You know you really should be asleep in this condition. The stitched gash on your side beginning to ache with every movement. Those painkillers must be wearing off.

As you close your eyes, your mind runs rampant with worries and criticisms about the apocalyptic state of the world. This bloodthirsty apocalypse event had its birthday yesterday, it’s one now, gee I bet its parents are so proud. Has it had its fun yet? People are dying by the day and supply runs are beginning to yield less and less, it’s not going to be long before we have to start charring rats on a skewer.

Sighing in frustration and throwing the thin covers off , you sit up and move to swing your legs back over the edge of the bed.

Or, you would if pain hadn’t shot up your spine, a burning sensation accompanying it and irritating the gash desperately trying to heal. This injury is still fresh, the stitches clearly visible when you lift up your shirt, some scabs preparing to form along the lower edge. There was no room left in the med bay. This injury is on the lighter side of things.

Carefully, you shift your weight to lay down on the bed, moving a pillow over your head to block out the noisy hallway. Closing your eyes, it doesn’t take long for your body to eagerly pull your consciousness down into the abyss, leaving you in a dreamless sleep.

The scent of diluted disinfectant fills your nose, cold fingers wrapping around your arm. Your body responds, eyes shooting open and arm jerking back as you lay eyes on the perpetrator.

Alas, no Kraang. Just Leo.

A tired grin graces your lips as he leans down for a small kiss, the rare, warm, embrace more than welcome in this environment.

Landing a peck on your lips, his eyes flick back up at you before he pulls away, sitting up. “Sleepy, Mi Vida?” He chuckles tiredly, deep shadows making themselves known in their bed under his eyes by the lamplight. “You should really be asleep.”

This man’s audacity. “You woke me up-“ Nevermind. “Kinda hard with a gaping gash on my side.” You cross your arms, wincing a little as the skin around said wound becomes pulled with the movement, eliciting a worried flash across Leonardo’s face before quickly regaining a playful persona.

“Oh but I could have sworn you were patched up by the best just this morning, Mi Vida, hm?” He smiles, a gentle hand tracing the irritated skin around it, cold skin soothing. “You look great for someone actively bleeding out.”

You roll your eyes at this quip, perhaps not finding it as amusing as he does. “You finished all your ‘Resistance Leader Duties’ in order to come and annoy me?” You ask, a sly smile creeping across the corners of your lips.

“No, I had some issues left,” he mumbles, leaning his forehead against yours before closing his eyes, “Raph made me stop, said he could handle it.” He pauses before tiredly chuckling once again. “It’s five AM, I hadn’t stopped. Neither had Dee, wrestled him into bed.”

Snorting at this, you grab a pillow, whacking it playfully against his head.

“Hey- what was that for?”

“You don’t know what a pillow’s for?” You tease, laughing with him. “It’s a pillow. You just said it’s five in the morning, read between the lines.”

Leo grumbles at this, shifting his position. “Fine.” He lays down with you before pulling you closer to his chest, resigning his leadership role for a few hours rest. He hums, the vibrations tickling you as he traces circles into your waist. It doesn’t take long for the movement to subtly slow, eventually coming to a full stop as sleep takes him. You look at his peaceful face before the corners of your mouth curl into a soft smile. Resting your head under his, you too, fall back asleep.

A/N: eepy. Me, it’s me, I’m eepy. May edit this even when it’s up idk, finished this at 5am

Tags: @chillingshadow @crow-the-fox @moonchhu @ghoul-with-a-gun

[klunkcat]

Life is short, and I've shortened mine

rise of the tmnt gift fic for the T3 server november exchange, for the very lovely @remedyturtles

Sensei is a character that can actually be so life changing and brain consuming. Very grateful to have the opportunity to play in your sandbox, exploring their headspaces is actually incredible and also devastating.

Note: This is an offshoot from Rem’s “little kid with a big death wish” fic and will not make sense on its own I fear.

title from good bones by Maggie Smith

read on ao3

___

He didn’t ask for this, is the crucial thing. He’d been— not relieved to be dead, because he hadn’t managed to make it yet to where his brothers were, because his kid was still out there fighting for tomorrow. Relieved was too gentle a word, but he’d been something. 

Maybe less tired. 

It was nice to think about, selfishly. He’s been carrying lead weights and anchors at the edges of himself since the moment the world fell, but there’d never been any other volunteers for the job. Somewhere quietly inside himself he’d thought the ending would mean a moment of reprieve. He should have known, though. They’d all been the universe's favorite chew toys for long enough, dying was too nice a bow to wrap around it. 

He really hadn’t asked for this, no matter what the subconscious thoughts he’d hit to death with sticks in the back of his mind said about escaping. Stumbling across the kid— another him, a version of him he’d never gotten to be, that he thinks maybe distantly he shouldn’t have needed to be— he’d hoped he could silently wrap himself in that thick blanket of nothing and fade out at least. Not fuck things up for him worse, but, well. 

Maybe the throughline to being Hamato Leonardo was fate-led curiosity; he’d never learned how to leave well enough alone in either direction. Of course Leo had scouted him out, of course he’d been compelled to try to help the kid float when he should have stayed put, of course. Of course. 

And so, as the classics say, here they were. 

“Can you give me a number, Leo?” Raph’s voice creeps in, all-over earnest and thoughtful in the way he intrinsically is—was. It’s a shard of glass to hear it at all, it’s everything he’s ever wanted. The kid fuzzes out a little and slips sideways a step; oops , Leo thinks. There’s a hard line around not transmitting too loud, he’s still trying to figure it out. 

Could do without whatever that was ever again , the kid thinks, sharp and rattled under the surface.

Leo winces. Sorry, I’m all thumbs over here. Trying to keep quiet. 

Psh, younger Leo rolls his eyes. You’re all one thumb .

The kid turns back to his brother, thrumming still between a one and zero now. He’s scrambling to ground still, to focus. He gives Raph a quick OK sign that there’s no way Raph doesn’t see through. It’s kind of funny to watch his force-fire white-knuckling deflection in technicolor from the outside like this, he’s not sure why he ever thought this worked. 

“That’s okay, that’s fine. Can you give me a number, bud?” The pleading edge hurts to hear. 

They hold up a shaky one, maybe overconfidently. Mikey and Don are in the room somewhere, he can hear them shuffling even with Leo’s eyes closed. The sudden memory of a thousand days where the only rest his littlest brother got was when he was locked in meditation, the way he walked like his bones and joints hurt right up until the end, nearly knocks them both back to a firm zero. 

The kid glares at him, Leo holds his hand up apologetically and imagines zipping his non-existent lips shut. 

They’d been doing better for the last few days. He’d started talking out loud, had been at a solid two a handful of times. He knows the kid’s frustrated and exhausted, he can feel it, especially seeing them slip all the way back. Leo feels a hot well of shame creep up his ethereal throat. 

He knows it’s a push and pull game they’re playing. Wounded leading the wounded, and all. 

It’s still a lot, to think of seeing his family that isn’t his family. Of them knowing he existed and talking to him. Points towards the ‘he should fuck off forever’ category, as soon as they figured out how to get rid of him.

(The kid talked about it like they’d miss him if he left, like there’d be some great love lost— they didn’t know him, though. He’d lived through twenty years of a war they’d never have to see. Leo was not the teen they were missing, the one they were trying to call home, because he’d given that up a long time ago.

Of course he had to leave, this kid had a life of his own to live now. Leo didn’t have anything.)

“ — he was for a moment, just give him time,” Raph’s saying. He forces the kid to take a purposeful long breath in, squeeze his fingers, twitch his toes. Keep him from tipping all the way over into the dark where he’d accidently shoved them. 

“See, he’s back with us,” Raph continues, brightly. The kid groggily radiated all sorts of furious signals like a firecracker popping in several unplanned directions, all different fonts screaming exhaustion and hurt the only way he knew how. Leo’s heart aches for him. Beating himself down for daring to survive at all. 

“Is he?” Don’s voice cuts in haughtily. Leo makes them blink their eyes open, caught out despite the kid’s anger. 

They’re looking for you, bud. Rise and shine.

I don’t care, the kid hisses. Fuck off. 

Okay. Well. Less than ideal. 

“Which one are we dealing with,” Don’s voice hovers closer, half lodged in icy suspicion. He wouldn’t be this closed off for his Leo, obviously. Leo— Sensei smothers a sigh. 

“He’s trying not to  answer the phone right now. So, just me. Sorry.” 

“Is he okay?” Raph asks, concern evident in the dark shadow of his brow. Sensei can’t look at it directly, it’s not for him to feel all the reminiscent grief of a brother that isn’t even his. How he feels about any of this never helps anything. 

“He’s….” He prods the kid and gets an indistinguishable slew of curses and general hypothetical middle fingers back. “He’s taking a break, he’s okay.” 

Don arches a brow back. “I don’t care that we’re forced to take your word for this, just to be clear.” 

“Fair enough. He says, and I quote, bite me, so I think that’s where we’re at.” 

“Ah,” Raph hums. “Well, if you can tell him I’ll be back in ten minutes with tea, I’d love to check in on him then.” 

Sensei nods, relays the message with a garbled hiss as a response. Expected. 

Don stares at him, impassive. Arms crossed and eyes narrowed. Feral cat radiating protective instincts three counties wide, like always.

It’s… an ache under the skin, to be left alone with Don. He hasn’t forgotten the way Dee’s face would shift in a scowl, he never could, but seeing it played out on a younger face scratches something in him regardless. 

“I want to speak with my brother, if it’s all the same,” Don says, blunt. 

“I’ve been trying to ring him, I promise. Bad morning.” 

Don arches a brow with a twitch to his jaw Sensei knows means he’s attempting to fight off a full on annoyed pout and failing. It hits him sideways to see, funny in the chest. A thousand sense memories, a different Donnie and a different place, coalescing all into one. His Don had gotten really good at not emoting at all near the end, he’d almost forgotten.

Hey, the kid grouses. Who’s flying this plane?

Right, thumbs again, Not-his-Don hovers closer when he blinks back to the front. A frown touches the middle of his maskless forehead. 

He makes himself walk through a few quick grounding steps and breathe in as deep as he can before speaking. “Back, sorry. Uh, Sensei, that is. Leo’s listening though.” 

Don’s still frowning, but he leans back a touch. “He’s making it harder for you to stay here too, isn’t he?” 

He doesn’t think the phrasing of that is fair, but. “Was all me that time, if I’m honest. We’re at a one now though, I’m good.” 

“Is he ?” Don tilts his head. 

Sensei considers. The kid’s not sinking back there just… Curled up, pill-bugging. Radiating furious hurt energy like a solar system all on his own. He’s present enough to tell Sensei to fuck off and focus on Don at least. 

“Think so, yeah. He’s just…” He mimes a snapping maw with his good hand.

Don sighs and rolls his eyes, there’s an edge of anxiety there Sensei can still read as bright as anything. Isn’t that a thought. Twenty years without and this younger Donnie is still under his skin like a part of himself. 

He needs you bud, Sensei tries again, nudging his younger self. 

I’m tired of this , the kid growls back, not-voice cracking all the way through in a way that makes Sensei ache for him. 

Sensei sighs, patting his shell. I know.

Don shifts his weight in front of them, frown deepening as he moves to tap on his wrist guard. Probably texting the family about the general Bad Leo Day, he imagines. He knows how this would go with his Don— the way it would itch at him being unable to instantly resolve whatever problems his brother had. He never dealt well with any mystic issues affecting Mike for the same reasons either. 

There’d always been a thrumming line between them, some unspoken thing; Sensei carried it with him even now, even with the end gone dark. He knows Don’s having a hard time reconciling all the ways ‘Sensei’ is his Leo and is someone entirely different. Managing the fear that his Leo will go somewhere far away inside himself and he’ll only be left with someone he doesn’t know. That he’ll be left alone. 

The worst part about being a twin is when you aren’t one anymore, after all. 

Bad thought. Shit. The pull in the back of his mind grows louder. He holds up a shakier zero. Don’s sharp eyes narrow, tapping something harder on his guard before shifting closer. “Leo?” 

Can you stop being horribly sad for five minutes while looking at my brother? It’s so not helping. 

He shakes his head. “Still me,” the words come out soupy. The kid jabs him angrily somewhere in the back of his brain, uncurled with annoyed concern, which is maybe an unintentional win. 

“Is it— can you ground him?” 

He’s trying; his brain fires unhelpful flashes of the days after. Of the months of searching desperately, of the moment he woke up in the middle of the night with sudden certainty that wherever the other half of himself went, he couldn’t get back on his own. Shit. 

Shit , the kid echoes, less angry with the barely concealed concern. Sensei can feel the dark pit creeping at his arms even as he blinks furiously to stay present. 

“Not him, it’s— sorry, all me again. Don’t think I can stick around.” He squeezes his fist, forces himself to breathe deeper, but it catches somewhere around the middle. The kid slides forward with a flurry of aggrieved panic that sparks through him and sends him back down several flights. There goes that plan. 

Sensei cracks an eye back open and catches a familiar flash in Donnie’s eyes, and yeah— sorry, kid. Lights out. 

The last conversation he remembers having with Don had been about Casey. He was getting to the age where he was asking to follow them out on missions more and more, curious about everything Uncle Tello was up to. He wanted to help, desperately. Itching with the need to be useful in a way they all understood. 

It was different with Casey, though. He knew why it was different.

“We let Mike do this stuff when he was his age,” Leo had said with a sigh. “It’s hard to find good reasons to say no that aren’t just three rounds of my own loud clamoring panic. He should go, he’s trained plenty.” 

Don clicked his goggles, focusing on a project in front of him with a hum. “Mike wasn’t dealing with an apocalypse. He was, at worst, trying to find a new place to tag at Casey Jr’s age, so.” 

“Exactly,” Leo smooths his hand across his head. “But also…” 

Don looks at him, eyes gone big with the layers of lenses so he gets hyper close up patented ‘Tello Eye Roll in high definition. “But also, you’re a mother hen, and he’s talented, and he’ll just sneak out anyways if we keep making him hang back.” 

“Points for you,” Leo sighs again. “Want to make that a daily double?” 

“You remember how Micheal was about being babied,” Don sighs. “So, I don’t know. Let him go on a supply run, something small. A practice version,” Don shrugs, turns back to his work. “There’s that lower activity quadrant we got a ping on last week. I can take him and go get that part we need to fix up the generator.” 

Leo lets out a long breath. “Yeah, that— huh. That could work. He’s always saying he wants to learn more about how to keep things running around here, he’ll be over the moon. Kid asked me last week if I could show him how to do stitches.” 

Don snorts. “Great, soon there’ll be two of you.” 

Leo steps forward, leaning his elbow on Don’s chair to peer over at his desk. There’s a mess of wires in front of him, a plate he’s meticulously soldering ends together on. “Eh, there’s already two of me.” 

“Excuse you,” Don nudges him back with a shoulder. “As the funnier twin, I resent that remark.”

He laughs, lets out a breath. The thrum of Don’s room sometimes settles him, like it’s echoing the place in him where his ninpo sat before. Constant hums of his family flitting through open rooms. 

“You don’t think I’m being paranoid, do you?” Leo has to ask. The variables tripped around each other in hyperspeed in his mind at all times, racing down to the ends of his fingers. Casey’s only thirteen, they’re down too many runners, there’s never any right choices and only Leo to make them.

Don pauses for a second. He flips up his goggles before Leo can wrench the question back into himself, not that it had ever worked before. 

“I’ll keep him safe,” Don says, slowly. “It’s a good call, he’s earned it.” 

“You’re just saying that because it was half your idea.” Leo glances away, embarrassed on some fundamental level that Don had even needed to give him the reassurance. He sighs, squeezes Don’s shoulder quickly as a thank you. Don hums with a smirk. 

“Well? Are you going to teach him? Don’t think we have any oranges to practice on.” The implication rings loudly enough, Casey stitching up real wounds is a foray they haven’t dared make.

Leo waves his hand. “Might be a good idea for the kid to have some medical information in between all the supercomputer nerd things.” 

“Avoiding the question is a bold move.”

Leo deflates, winces. “Yeah. Thought it might make him worry less.” If he could help without leaving the base at all, maybe they’d both relax. A quieter thought, under that: maybe Leo would, if he knew Casey could take care of himself without him. 

Don squints. “It might. Here’s a better thought, his Sensei letting someone else take on the riskier missions for once, hm?” 

Ah, well. 

Leo feigns a wide grin anyways, shrugging. “What can I say, the Krang love me.” 

The arched eyebrow he receives is scathing. He is scathed. He waves his good hand Don’s direction with a huff. “Don’t look at me like that, this is about the kid. Table the psychoanalysis for Mike to take over.” 

“You want Michael to get in on this?”

Good point. He sighs again, shuffling over to a side table and crossing his arms. This is an old argument, the circles of it are worn through and practically scripted. If dear Tello insists, he purses his lips. Round and round they go. 

“I’m faster.”

“Other people are fast enough.” 

“Enough isn’t safe.”

“Letting the Krang learn all your moves is?” 

“Come on, I’ve been fine.” 

The scathing meter ramps up as Don’s eyes pointedly flick to Leo’s robotic arm. “They blast you with enough of their power? How long is that going to be true.” 

“I know how they work.” 

“For fucks sake Leo, the rest of us grew up in the apocalypse too.” 

The rest of you aren’t responsible for it, though , he thinks with all forty old years of packed self directed venom. There’s no point to this conversation, he finds the way out Don wants. 

“Fine. I’ll stay back for the next few, okay? You and Case can do the supply run. April’s been saying she wants to get back out, I can send her with Angel.” 

Don’s steely gaze doesn’t shift, his jaw tense. Usually, this is where the conversation stalls and dies out. World like theirs is lacking in many things, including fuel to burn with. 

“I’m sick of watching you do this,” he spits out, sharp and barbed. It stops Leo up short. 

He nearly says ‘do what’, but he knows his twin. They haven’t gone into any of this since— well, since Raph. Since the mantle of the Resistance became something heavier and lodged in him with anchor weights. Since everyone started looking at him like his plans were god. Since his fuck up ruined everything.

No time for heart to hearts, really.

“Come on, Dee,” he swallows roughly, carefully. “I’m careful. This isn’t about that.” 

“Isn’t it? Isn’t everything you do about that?” 

Leo works his jaw. “It isn’t.”

“When will you stop acting like you have to make up for it, then?” 

Ouch. Leo redirects. “We’re going to win this. It’ll work out, you know it will. I’m not going anywhere without you.” 

Winning the war hasn’t been a tangible thought in his mind in years either; he’s not sure he knows how to do anything but follow the script anymore, though. He hopes he’s putting up a strong enough act.

Don’s hand clenches around his soldering gun, relaxes. “There’s only one you,” he practically growls out, and Leo’s chest squeezes. “If he goes somewhere he takes me with him. Do you get that?” 

He swallows again. “Course I do. I’m not— this isn’t about me, Don. Strategically, until they start catching up to me we have to make them believe I’m their only concern. Promise, that’s all this is.” 

You swear? He almost hears a younger Donnie ask, crouched up in their hideout over Donnie’s gameboy. 

“I’m not going anywhere,” he says, with as much sincerity as he carries with him. He wouldn’t, there’s nowhere else in the world for him to go when everything that matters is right here. 

“You aren’t allowed to pull anything. I’d know if you were,” Don glares. “We need you.” He says it funny, emphasis on both the need and the you all at once, like one of those endless staircase paintings that look different the longer you try to make sense of it. Leo holds up his hands helplessly. 

His twin’s stare pins Leo through for a long moment. He takes the whole half a second of pause to step closer. “Hey, that whole thing— back at you. Obviously.” 

Don lets out a long breath, expression flat and assessing. For a moment, Leo thinks he might say more, but he turns his chair around to continue soldering. 

“Obviously.” 

They’d let the conversation fall lighter, moving to charitable waters. And Leo had let Don take Case out for an easy supply run. 

The last thing his twin ever said to him was lost somewhere behind the distress beacon and the noise of the Krang leveling an entire building on him. He thinks there was a sorry in there, or a be right back to the scared kid he was giving up the world for. 

The part that’s always stung, a burr against his core, is that they never find any sign of where Donnie went. There’s his ninpo, and his bo staff with his fucking mask tied around a bleeding wound on Casey’s arm, the hum of electricity somewhere down the corridors of his mind, and Casey safely bundled and shaking in a propped up section of rubble. His kid is so terrified, asks for Uncle Tello in a quiet whine like he knows.  

He doesn’t remember the mad scramble to get there, the fact that he’d reached so far down into his struggling well of ninpo he’d felt something entirely shatter apart in his hands. The way Mikey had put his own hands over Leo’s, and brought the two of them together all at once. He only remembers the wake of whatever devastation cracks through him once it’s clear they were too late. 

The recording he’d left that Leo couldn’t bring himself to listen to for weeks. 

Leo would know if he died. He would. The light never goes out, but Don never comes home. It’s a loss he can’t name all the same. 

It’s impossible to regather whatever off the cuff words he’d said last, before Don left. Had he said be safe? Had he said he’d loved him? They’d never needed to say it before, but the lack still haunts him. He hadn’t gotten to say goodbye.

‘Be right back’ is a shitty thing to lie about, he thinks wryly.

It’s the first promise he’s ever broken. 

The ache never leaves but there’s no time for grief. He steps outside of himself and into whatever he needs to be, and he chases the corridors in his mind to that safe space Donnie’s ninpo has always rested. The door is closed, but it’s still humming. He doesn’t know what that means. 

“God, stop ,” the kid groans at him. Leo– Sensei blinks back into himself, or— to the place between what constitutes as himself these days. The spot by the tree with just the two of them. “It sucks when it’s you somehow even more than when it’s me.” 

The sludge is still there, distantly. Tugging at him in ebbs and flows. Sensei makes himself breathe out, take a look at the kid. Take stock, soldier. Focus on the problem at hand, deal with your shit somewhere else. 

“Or, here’s a thought: you could deal with your shit at all. Call me crazy, but this ‘shoving all my old man pain in a box and burying it deep down’ thing seems like it’s fucking us both over.” The kid whines, leaning his head back. The irony does not escape either of them, he knows. The Uno reverse is unspoken.

Magnanimously, Sensei lets it slide. 

The kid’s problem is more complicated and knotted somewhere inside himself than he likes to acknowledge, at least Sensei’s is all obvious lines of too-long-losing-wars and grief. It’s all outside. The problem has always been that it’s outside.

Sensei settles beside him, hand on his knees and head tilted up to the still sky. They don’t speak for a long moment, instinctively mimicking the long drawn out grounding breaths in sync. He wonders if it’ll ever stop feeling so strange. Seeing himself from the outside like this, entirely encased in different baggage. It’s hard to think about anything other than ‘he’s so small’, loudly. On repeat. It’s not a helpful thought. 

“Sorry,” Sensei breathes as the sludge lessens minutely along his back. “Should be used to that by now.” 

The kid shrugs. “Is there a way to be used to it?” 

He knows he’s asking for them both. The truest answer feels the most bleak, so he opts for something gentler. 

“I think there has to be a way to think around it at least? Make the brain box bigger. Less likely for the shit in it to hit things.” 

There’s a long sigh beside him. “Sounds exhausting.” 

A long pause. “Would it… help? To talk about it?” 

Man, this little blue. Sensei can’t help the smile that tilts across his heart; he’s so tentative and determined all in one. Still stretching a hand out even though he knows whatever Sensei’s going to say might bowl him right over again. 

He shakes his head. “Nah. I tried once, with my Mike. It’s an old scar anyways.” 

The conversation hadn’t gone anywhere helpful, even with Mikey’s ability to see right inside his brain. They’d both been too tired to argue. 

“I don’t think I could do it,” the kid says, sullenly. Tiredly. He rolls his head to the side to make eye contact with Sensei. “Live without any of them.” 

Yeah , he thinks. He doesn’t say that there hadn’t been much living at all. “You know it's the same for them about you, right?” 

The kid scowls, turns away. “Saying things you don’t mean about yourself seems kinda useless, old man.” 

I mean it about you, though , he thinks. Something twitches in the kid's face. “I had twenty years as the last resort,” Sensei offers. “Changes your perspectives on things.” Or your priorities, really. Whether or not they needed him didn’t change that he was responsible for keeping them alive. 

Or that he’d failed. 

It’s obvious math with the kid anyways. He can see the way the kids brother’s hover, checking in and creeping forward and patiently holding his hand, working constantly to make him feel safe. Twenty years and mires of grief isn’t enough to drown out all the big and small ways he can see how his family loves. 

“What was he like,” the kid turns with a sharper look in his eyes. “Your Don.”

He sighs, lets it roll through him. “Tired.”

He closes his eyes. 

“He was really tired.” 

He’d barely slept, all the way up until the end. Too many defense algorithms to scrub through footage of, supposedly— he wonders now if he should have checked in more. If he should have asked. 

“Yeah,” the kid says, quietly like he doesn’t expect Sensei to hear. “You feel tired a lot, too.” 

Oh . He supposes that’s fair. 

Sensei swallows and imagines the fractured pieces of his heart settling back into their ruins. “It’s funny, he made all the systems in our base use his voice. Had to hear him anytime someone tried to use the microwave. Technically his last words to me were ‘front door compromised’.”

“Yeah. Funny. You ever thought about therapy?”

He doesn’t want to talk about this, it never helps. The rioting part of his core that is four parts missing and agony and one part instinctive need to move forward writhes anytime he lets himself remember any of it at all. As if he does anything other than remember it. 

“Kid—” He exhales. 

The kid turns to face him, frowning with that divot above his brow and his dead set determined set to his beak that screams stubbornness in neon colors. “Listen. I know how— I do the same thing, with my Ang, right? You know, where he doesn’t need all of my… me-ness on top of everything. So tell me the real version, get it out of that slow cooker of a brain so you can stop freaking out every time Don breathes our direction.”

He’s having a weird brain schism, he realizes. The divides between where this kid went and where he himself had walked are so different, sometimes past him feels like a different turtle entirely. A younger one, boiling entirely over with how little he sees himself at all. 

I see you , he thinks, tragically. Pointlessly.  

Sensei breathes out. “There’s not much—” his voice breaks, he clenches his hand around the inexorable pull of that dark space at his edges. The kid sees all of it anyways, doesn’t he? Dancing around it only makes it more his problem, less Sensei’s alone. His throat burns with some memory of tears, it feels silly but the words crawl out of him anyways. “I just. I never got to say goodbye. We never found out if he—” 

But he had to have. It’s so much worse to imagine he had been alive and trapped, that Leo had left him there in that awful world. He had to have been dead because his twin would have broken apart the planet itself to get back to them if he could have. 

His shoulders round forward and he squeezes his eyes shut for a moment. “I just, I should have gotten to say goodbye.” 

The kid is silent. A long moment passes. 

Sensei feels a small hand carefully land on his knee. “Sorry.” 

He puts his larger one over the kids, squeezes it. “Nothing for you to be sorry for, kid.” Nothing in this whole wide world. “Whatever my Don was doing, I have to believe he’s with everyone else now.” It makes it manageable, at least. Widens the box in his brain so he can think around it. 

The kid hums thoughtfully. “Can we… I mean, dad talks to our ancestors and things, in the mystic plane, right? He could maybe—” 

Panic wrings through him, ice cold and visceral. Sensei feels the shudder crack through both of them and their tree side hang out waver into darkness. “--right, okay.” The kid gasps. “Bad plan, got it. Noted.” 

“Sorry,” Sensei manages. “I just…” He doesn’t want to know what they think of him. What any of them would say about the world he broke. He knows them, he knows, but he’d been tired for so long before that, and he doesn’t want to know that Don went slowly or painfully. That he’d been waiting for Leo to find him.

Maybe he deserves to know how much he let him down. 

The kid's hand twists, squeezing his back as hard as he can. “Forget it, shit. Grounding, let’s um. Let’s do that and not whatever this is. I hate this, fuck. ” 

They walk through a few start and stop steps, the kids hand tight in his the whole time as they both dig their heels in to stay. It hurts, and Sensei wants to give in. The hand in his keeps him pushing through, cracks through him enough to speak. 

“He, uh,” he clears his non-corporeal throat. “He kept a section of his database specifically for chess games for me. To run on my wrist guard when I couldn’t sleep.” Which was most of the time. Sensei shakes his head. “Kept a file for Mario Party cheat codes, too.” 

The kid stares at the side of his face. Breathing steadier. He can feel it like a brand. “I knew he cheated. Asshole! I knew it.” 

Sensei shrugs, a laugh surprising him as choked off and wobbly as it is. “He rigged up a giant screen once. Told me he was going to come for my crown once and for all, right in front of the entire base. Raph ended up winning.” 

The stare gets more intense. “No.” 

“Swear on my life,” he says. Pauses. “Or, well. My ghost possession afterlife? Don was furious.” 

“Raph never wins at Mario,” he can hear the cogs in the kids' heads freezing in place. Hell has rained ice, pigs have started flying. Raphael, chronically confused at Mario Party mini game rules to a truly fascinating degree, won a video game.

“It’s true,” Sensei laughs. 

“Was it the pity stars?”

“It was the pity stars.” 

“Ah.”

He remembers how hard Mike had laughed at that, just absolute shrieking peels of delight as the rest of his family stared in complete silence. April had needed to drag a completely feral Donnie back to his quarters because Leo ended up crying laughing with him. 

There weren't a lot of those good days after they lost dad. It’s important he holds onto them. It’s important he doesn’t let himself forget even when it’s hard to think about. 

“That’s a relief,” the kid says, leaning back again. “Was starting to think everything about the future was completely and morbidly depressing. Least you had Mario Party.” 

At least they had Mario Party. 

The kid wakes up on his own, Sensei tucked carefully somewhere in the background. There’s a flurry of commotion somewhere out in the hall that sounds a lot like Mikey and Raph, but it’s still and quiet in the med bay. 

Shit, the kid thinks, looking at the clock. It’s definitely been more than a few hours since they fell under. Sensei can see the medical clip on the kid's finger is back in place before he wiggles it off. 

“Number?” Don’s voice cuts in, stern. Flat. Standing with his arms crossed in the corner of the room by his desk. 

They hold up a two after a long moment. “I’m fine,” the kid says. Don’s expression doesn’t change.

“Who am I talking to?” 

The kid groans. “Don’t be like that, Tello. He didn’t mean to. Half of it was me, anyways.” 

Don looks squarely unimpressed, but something eases in the line of his shoulders. Relieved not to be talking with the body snatcher, probably, he gets it. 

“He said he dragged you under, it’s been twelve hours. Am I not supposed to think your parasite is making it worse?” 

He’s not wrong either.

The kid radiates frustration at both of them. “He’s not— Dee. He’s been through a lot. Leave off him, alright? I was pissed off, he got his flip switched. I wasn’t making it easier. I’m doing good, I don’t want to be mad, okay?”

Don’s expression flickers, faltering as it always does around their particular brand of pleading honesty. “Fine, I’m not done talking about this but. Tabled, for now. What do you need.” 

The kid thinks for a minute. Water would be good, Sensei nudges him. 

“Would you talk to him?” The kid says instead, startling both Don and Leo. 

Don recovers first, eyes narrowing. “Why.” 

The kid’s brain is a mess of picture show slides, a strange warped retelling of Sensei’s own memories. It makes him wince, guilt rising thick in his chest. He’s gotta get better at locking that down. 

“Look he— he misses his own Don. It’s not the same thing, but he had a rough night. Just shut up and talk to him.” 

“Oxymoron,” Don and Sensei say in sync. The kid glares. 

Kid, Sensei tries. 

No. Not up for debate. You won’t let me tell Casey? Fine, this is my compromise. I’m tired of playing referee. 

Sensei hates the pang of panic that still lights up in his mind at the thought. The kid lets out a frustrated growl. 

Stop trying to leave! I’m sick of it. What if I— what if I don’t want them to pry you out of here. What then? You gonna sit here in this pissing contest stand off with my Don until we die? 

There’s. A lot to unpack there, and not enough of the kid standing firm enough to do it— the conversations knocked them both back swiftly to a one that’s tenuous at best. Sensei didn’t make it so long as a general without knowing how to pick his battles, anyways. 

If this is what you need from me, okay, he relents. 

The kid’s glare is still hot, assessing. He turns back to himself, to the med room. 

Don’s fussing with his tablet, brows twitching and his hand firmly in Leo’s good one. “‘M here, sorry.” The kid squeezes his twin's hand for them. “Just having a conversation, hard to be both places at once.” 

Don’s jaw shifts. “I will refrain from the comments I desperately want to make.” 

“Noted, file that under an IOU.”

Don rolls his eyes. “Scoff. As if I don’t have a mountain of those already.”  

The affection in the kid is warm and strong as anything. He clears his throat. “What if I… what if I asked him to stay. Sensei. Would you be mad?” 

Sensei shoves his own festering pile of guilt and doubt aside as hard as he can. Don’s expression flattens. “Why would you want to do that.” 

It’s your life, Sensei whispers. 

The kid shakes his head. “Casey needs him.” 

There’s another need underneath it, neither him or the kid acknowledge it directly. 

Don sighs, eyes squinting in the vague pained way of his. “I’m supposed to be okay with someone that is not you, taking you away from us when—” He cuts himself off, breathes out sharply. 

The kid stays silent. 

“Fine. Tabled. Get him out here.” 

Sensei slides forwards, patting the kid on the arm distantly and ignoring his grumble about it. He’s bracing himself— he knows how Dee is, in any version of them. Getting his head chewed off would be the easiest way out. 

“For the record,” Sensei starts, with a faint curve to his mouth. “I agree with you.” 

The kid glares. 

Don arches a brow, crossing his arms. “I don’t…. Like you, being here. I’m not convinced you aren’t impacting him in ways that are halting his progress.” 

Sensei manages a shrug. “You’re probably right. I try really hard to stay out of his way where I can, but. You saw yesterday.” 

Don’s jaw works, terse in every line of his body. Sensei remembers how his Don was before Raph. The way he’d gone along with all of Leo’s plans just inherently trusting that his goal was always to get everyone back out above anything else. The way he’d shifted. Their last conversation had been a lot of sharp lines like this; something adjacent to doubt. It still burns, funnily enough, even from a sixteen year old version of his twin who doesn’t know subtlety at all. 

“If I told you I had figured out how to rip you out of him without injuring Leo at all, would you fight me?” 

Sensei nearly laughs, I’d thank you, he tries not to think. “No,” he says with a stronger lilting smile. “I’d just ask that you do it before Case realizes I’m here. He doesn’t need that.” 

Something in Don’s face shifts. “When Leo says you’ve been through a lot, what does that mean.” 

“Ah,” Sensei huffs. “Maybe not a conversation for right now—” He can feel the daggers of the kid’s ire, nonetheless. Sighs. “Krang won where I’m from, Case probably mentioned.”

“And that means?”

He winces. “A lot of things that are hard to remember, mostly.” 

Don’s gaze is assessing. He types something onto his wrist guard. “Any triggers I should know about?” 

You. Raph. Dad. He breathes out. Shakes his head. 

“Fine. Bring him back, please.” 

The kid’s eye roll is something fierce internally, externally it’s too much effort to muster. “Dee. That was barely anything.” 

Don shrugs. “I talked to him, didn’t I?” 

It’s fine , Sensei reassures him. He means that it wouldn’t help, not with the hole that’s been carved in him for years. 

There’s nothing at all in the world for what he’s missing. He should just be better at it. The missing. 

Something stubborn lights up in the kid, a spark he doesn’t think he’s seen in the younger turtle since they crash landed together. Fuck this. 

“Can I ask you something and have you promise you won’t get mad?” 

Don’s brow twitches. “I’m not promising shit.” 

A pause. “Say it anyways.” 

“If you went somewhere,” the kid starts, and his voice shakes like a nervous glance over his shoulder. Sensei tenses immediately. “If you went somewhere, and you didn’t know how to come back. What would you do?” 

Don’t , Sensei thinks, helplessly.

“Wouldn’t happen,” Don says. Not a moment of hesitation. “I wouldn’t let it happen.” 

“What if you didn’t have a choice?” The kid asks. 

He has to imagine his Don didn’t have a choice either, clings to it with everything in him. He didn’t know the kid had seen that, the wilful refusal to believe in any world where the other half of himself would walk away on purpose.

He doesn’t know the expression on Don’s face. He’s seen it before, at the planning table. After missions. He’s never known what it meant. “I’d come back,” Don says, like it’s obvious. 

This younger version of his brother, some spun off worried and sideways Donnie, leans forward and pokes the kid as carefully as he can in the center of his chest. 

“If I still exist, in any universe, I’d be coming back.” 

Sensei swallows. He remembers this; that simple constant of trust, of knowing half himself sat between his ribs and the other behind a desk with a computer screen. He remembers believing it, too.

There’s a hallway in his mind that he goes to, where his ninpo once lived and breathed. A living room where he kept all the lights on. There’d been a time where all the rooms and all the doors had been flung wide open. They’ve been shut for years now. 

“If you didn’t?” The kid asks, voice small. 

Sensei walks through the empty room, hand trailing against the wall of his mind. He hasn’t visited this door, hasn’t been able to think about it around the hurt in him. He presses his forehead to the wood of it, now. 

“If I’m gone, it would never be forever. You’d just have to wait longer.” 

In his dreams, or at least where he goes when the kid is sleeping, the door is warm. 

He sits himself against it, and pretends it's the same as the door being open. To feel his brother existing here at all. 

Sometimes he thinks he can almost hear someone knocking back. 

[theyhavetakenovermylife]

Wounds of the Battle Nexus (Fluff/Angst)

2003!Raphael x reader

A/N: I’ve always been a big sucker for the Battle Nexus in TMNT 2003 so I just had to do this.

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Raphael participates in the Battle Nexus but ends up getting injured. You stay with him in the medical area.

Warnings: Non graphic injuries and spelling.

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After three years of dating Raphael, you finally got to see it. The dimension between dimensions that your boyfriend and his family had been talking so much about. The Battle Nexus. Even as Master Splinter and Leonardo opened the portal, you clung to Raphael arm, excitement growing even further.

Once inside the realm of the Battle Nexus, you were in awe. Raphael had told you about many of these creatures, but you had only dreamed of the day you could see them yourself. Friendly triceratons mingled among two headed beings, talking, trading in the market or eating together.

But it was the Battle itself you had arrived for. Your boyfriend, his brother and father had decided to participate in the Battle Nexus once again. And you had asked over and over again if you could come along and watch it. And well, it didn’t take long for Raphael to say yes. And as you sat among several of the turtle’s friends and watched the turtles, their father and friends fight in the ring, you were more than happy to be there.

The Battle Nexus had been a chaotic whirlwind of adversaries, pushing the turtles and every contestant to their limits. Round after round the brothers moved up, until one was to be the first to lose. That one would be Michelangelo, being teleported out of the ring with just minor injuries.

The next round it was Leonardo and the round after that it was Donatello, leaving Raphael as the last turtle, now going straight to the semi final. You cheered and celebrated proudly as your boyfriend entered the ring for the semi final, to fight against what looked like a big guy made of stone, carrying a big sword in one hand. The gyoji started the semi final with a bang of his gong. The crowd started cheering as the four computers started going at it. Raphael found himself facing off against a formidable opponent, his adrenaline pumping with every clash of his sai against the stone giant.

As Raphael dodged one attack after the other, he caught the sight of you out of the side of his eye. His heart swelled a bit as he saw you jumped and screamed his name in encouragement. Oh how he loved you and the way you raised your arms whenever he landed a blow.

It looked as if Raph was about to gain the upper hand on his stone opponent, until he was surprised by a giant uppercut and thrown against the stone wall. The whole crowd gasped as Raphael fell onto the ground on his hands and knees. The air was heavy with a mix of exhaustion and tension. Raphael, usually quick to recover, winced as he tried to assess the extent of his injuries. His plastron bore scratches and the back of his shell was aching a bit. It had most likely cracked a bit. Raph raised on to one foot, his sai, though still firmly in hand, trembled slightly from the strain. Raph wanted to stand and continue fighting, but his body made the decision for him, his legs giving out under him, causing him to call on his end before being teleported out of the ring and into the medical area. You wasted no time leaving your seat, running to find Raphael.

When you made it to the medical area, Raph was putting up a struggle, refusing to let anyone treat him, let alone touch him. His brothers and Master Splinter tried in vain to calm him down, while the physicians kept being pushed away by the angry turtle.

“Get ya nasty paws off me!”, he grunted, trying to stand from the futon they had placed him on. “I don’t need no help from anybody!”

"Raph”. Your boyfriend looked in your direction at the sound of his name, watching you step into the room. His brothers breathed a sigh of relief. “You need to sit down," you insisted, concern etching your features. He grunted in agreement, acknowledging the pain that radiated through his body. The adrenaline that had fueled his movements was replaced by a dull ache, and the reality of their physical toll began to set in. You had always had a calming effect on Raphael. You made him relax and listen to reason.

Raphael laid back on the futon before turning to his side, letting the physician look at his shell. You took a seat on a cushion next to him, before taking one of his three fingered hands in yours. The boys and Master Splinter took this as their que to leave.

Raphael met your gaze, a mixture of gratitude and hesitation in his eyes. You knew that look very well. He was happy that you were there, but he was sad. Maybe even embarrassed. You stroked his hand with your thumb, as a way to tell him that he had no reason to feel embarrassed.

The physician finished dressing his wound on his shell, before moving on to the rest of his body, all while Raph stayed silent. You knew that Raph did not wish to speak while the physician was there. No, he wished to talk to you alone with no one listening. That was what Raphael was most comfortable with, especially after a situation like this. But all while the two of you waited for the physician to finish, you sat there, stroking his hand while sending him soft smiles.

Raphael watched the physician leave before he turned towards you. He didn’t say a word, but instead opened his arms up, inviting you to lay down beside me. With a smile you did so, getting comfortable on the futon while making sure you didn’t accidentally hurt him any further.

“How are you feeling?”, you asked, your hand finding his face to stroke his cheek.

“Beat”, Raph answered, leaning into your hand. “My shell aches”.

“How else are you feeling?”, you asked him. Knowing your boyfriend well, you knew he was hiding some feelings away.

Raphael nuzzled his head closer to yours, ducking so that his forehead was pressed against your nose. “Dumb”.

“And why are you feeling dumb?”, you asked, continuing to stroke his cheek.

“I lost”.

“Raphael, you made it all the way to the semi final and you kept up against a stone giant. I wouldn’t call that a loss".

“You wouldn’t?” Raphael looked you in the eyes.

“No, I wouldn’t”, you said with a smile, caressing his cheek once more. “You may nor have won the title of the Battle Nexus champion, but you will always be a champion in my eyes”.

Raphael ducked his head under yours once more, before wrapping an arm around your wait, pulling you closer to his plastron.

“I’m damn lucky to have ya”, he said, nuzzling his head further against you. “I love ya (Y/N)”.

You chuckled, letting your fingers trace over his scalp. “I love you too, Raph”. You pressed your lips to his forehead, hearing him hum in relaxation. “My champion”.

[weevil-writes]

Staples, comics and Banana bread

rottmnt x Leo reader

Tags: Mention of injury, slight blood, angst, unconfessed feelings, fluff, angst with a happy ending

The Kraangified remnants of the foot clan were left scattered across the pavement.

battered and beaten. Ripe for the EPF to escort them to who knows where.

Thanks to Raph, the very last infected Foot-brute was sent into a nearby alley wall, impacting a crater into the cement upon impact.

Raph turned back to Leo- who stood with his shell facing him.

“You okay Leo? That kraang goon nearly clipped you-!”

Leo still faced away from him, trembling, moving his hand to his side as Raph spoke.

“…ye-yeah Raph..I’m right…r-right as….rain..”

Leo tried echoing his words as if it would distract his brothers from the wound he covered with his hand. But the moment his legs began shaking unsteadily, Mikey ran in to support his older brother.

Donnie, April and Raph hurried over at the same time.

“It did get you, Leo! Hold on-! Mikey, lay him down for a moment, Donnie, put pressure on his side, now-!”

April dug through a compartment in Donnie’s battle shell, handing him a medkit and watched as Donnie swiftly opened it.

Leo winced as he was gently laid down, groaning when his plastron scraped in on itself. His side was lightly cracked, and blood ran down steadily. 

It was clear the foot tried impaling him with a tendril, but missed by a couple inches.

Donnie already had a sterile gauze he put over the gash to keep Leo from bleeding any more. As soon as he applied pressure, Leo flinched and cried out in pain. 

His eyes pricked at the edges and he longed to claw everyone’s hands off of him. 

April kneeled next to Leo’s head, and she softly cradled Leo’s face, wiping away his tears.

Leo appreciated what his brothers and sister were doing for him.

But he felt shame for letting this happen, he felt shame for obligating them to help him.

He sluggishly squirmed and dug his heels in the ground. He whined and stifled cries when they carried him, and he yelled and kicked when they stapled him back together. he sniffled when he felt the soft bed underneath him and his father’s old hands holding his. 

And he sobbed when he was all alone, because he felt like a failure. Coming home in pieces while his brothers were left unscathed.

He didn’t want to need help.

He wanted to be as good as his brothers.

Walking down the familiar sewer tunnels, you scrolled through your phone, listening to music. You didn’t have to look up to know where you were going- 

You just took a left and kept going.

Over the ramp,

Through this tunnel,

Past those two rats with the weird hair,

Over this little bridge,

Take a right,

And you looked up to see the familiar subway-sewer lair, filled with those unforgettable neon lights and smells of something Mikey cooked up.

Wandering around as if in your own home, you looked for any signs of the turtles.

It was awfully quiet, however. Only splinters faint soapy treadmill and snores echoed from another room.

So you tried asking.

“Hellooo? Anyone hooome~?”

You heard a faint “huh?” From the kitchen. Walking into it, you saw Leo with a questioning expression.

When you rounded the corner and he saw your face, he let his shoulders relax.

“Oh, it’s you. I thought piebald was setting up to scaring me again.”

You chuckled as his comment and leaned against the counter, smiling. 

He smiled back for a moment before glancing down. And back up again.

 He looked worried.

You couldn’t see what he looked at, being on the other side of the countertop, but you walked closer to him.

“What’s wrong?”

He chuckled- “nOthing-!“

He blurted out before leaning close to the table, mirroring you. He made an effort to stand farther away from you. 

Leo was a good liar around anyone and everyone but you. 

You could see his faux grin wobble.

Quickly walking right next to him, you inspected the floor.

“What-? What’s wrong?”

Looking tile to tile, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Just a couple crumbs and a dry spaghetti noodle.

Then out of the corner of your eye, you saw Leo’s hand flinch- he was covering his side.

Looking back at his face, you gave him an unimpressed look before grabbing his wrist and moving his hand out of the way.

..oh.

Your face fell and all was left was a shocked, hurt complexion that hung around your eyes.

The side of his plastron was cracked and multiple staples held them altogether. The cracks were red in between, it looked so painful.

Why was he even standing? It looked like it hurt to stand.

“It’s fine, really. It’s like, it’s a week old. Its not as bad as it looks.”

He flashed a small smile, but it didn’t change your empathetic face.

“I’m sorry that happened to you. It looks pretty nasty.”

He shrugged. 

“Well, accidents happen, right? Do you expect villains to not hurt me?”

You frowned.

“You weren’t…putting yourself in danger, right?”

“What?”

“You’re not using yourself as a human shield again, now are you?”

His eyes bulged a little and he swallowed.

“….n…noo…”

You raised an eyebrow.

“I-well, I’m not technically a huma-“

You grabbed his shoulders and he decided not to finish that sentence.

“…I’m sorry. I-I was…just…”

You sighed and pulled him in a hug, being mindful of his injury.

He blinked a couple times, staring at the back of your head before wrapping his arms around you. He exhaled as he buried his face in your hair.

“…I’m sorry. I keep doing that.”

You nodded. Still holding the hug.

“I’m afraid for you, Leo. You keep getting hurt like this.”

You gently scritched his shell, and he melted a bit in your arms.

“…I..would rather be hurt myself….than watch my brothers be hurt..”

You sighed.

Hug was still going.

Awfully long.

But it was nice.

“There’s… a line, Leo. Between protecting your brothers and..nearly getting kebabed every mission.”

He chuckled at your word usage, and he gently rubbed your back.

“…yeah…”

After almost 3 minutes of hugging, you both let go. (Unwillingly.)

“Crap! My banana bread!”

Leo scrambled to the oven, opening the oven door and fumbling to put his blue mitts on. Pulling the loaf out of the oven, he set it on the stovetop.

He waved at it, trying to cool it down.

“Does it look burnt..?”

You went over to where he was and poked at it with a fork. Shrugging, you replied-

“No…? You should cut it and see.”

He pulled a drawer open and got a knife. Holding it steady, he cut out two small slices and gave you one.

The banana bread was pretty good. The chocolate chips had melted nicely, and thankfully Leo didn’t add any raisins or walnuts.

“This is pretty-“

You choked on your food and coughed for a moment.

“SINCE WHEN did you start BAKING-?!”

Leo stared at you for a moment before chuckling a little. A bit of blush hung around his cheeks.

“When your brothers start making you stay home from missions, you gotta find ways to pass the time.”

You laughed. 

“Man, you must be bored if you’re baking bread now!”

He feigned a pout and the warmth on his face grew.

You covered the bread with a cloth to let it cool down before looking back to Leo.

“I got something to fix that.”

Pulling off you medium-sized backpack, you set it on the floor and unzipped it. You pulled out the latest JJ comic volume. It was hardcover and had alternative cover art that was hard to find.

“Look what I found at my local Noblebarn~”

He gasped, his eyes growing all sparkly.

“NO WAY! I thought it was being released next month!”

You replied with a coy grin.

“It is. But if you have a friend who works there, you can get some things early…”

You placed the book in his hands, and he stared at it cluelessly for a moment.

…

“It’s for you.”

His eyes grew wide like dinner plates and he looked at you with a unbelieving expression.

“…really-?! for me??”

You couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Yeah, for you.”

He giggled girlishly and set the book aside to hug you again. He nearly crushed you.

But that was a good sign that you made him very, very happy.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!”

He laughed, then picking up the book again reverently. As if it was fine china.

“Let’s go read it! C’mon!”

The both of you ran to the couch like you were little 3rd graders again, jumping onto the sofa and sitting impossibly close, eyes glued to the comic.

Before Leo would flip the page, he would look to you and ask “next page?”

“Yeah” you’d reply, before studying the comic again.

Oh, the things that kept you two occupied.

[truths33k3r4]

What are the moments/phrases/comments that can REALLY set the turtles off?

SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG FOR ME TO ANSWER I NEEDED TO DRAW MORE PANELS FOR ITTTTTT

Hey, Anon! :)

As per usual, I will go answer your question going through each turtle at a time. :)

Donatello - There are a slew of different things that set Don off~ The main ones being when things (somehow) don't make sense to him, and ESPECIALLY when someone talks down to HIM when THEY are the ones being a colossal twit. If you don't have the facts to back up your theory or opinion, then DO NOT SHARE UNLESS YOU'RE PREPARED FOR IT TO BE DESTROYED BEFORE YOUR EYES. If you can't take the cold-hard facts of life, then go live in a Fantasy novel.

Raphael - Like his twin, Raph has many things that annoy him and force him to resort to exploding like a volcano. The biggest one for him is when his home is just. Too. LOUD. It is very difficult to focus on sketching in your notebook when the obnoxious screeches of your little brother fill the air around you. The explosion reaches a crescendo when he realizes he accidentally poked his pencil through his sketchbook...

Leonardo - As someone who's normally quite calm in nature, Leo rarely loses his temper or shows emotions that he doesn't want to. But his precious composure sometimes crumbles into dust when his family doesn't communicate to him. This is especially true if it involves concealed injuries that are kept from him, the Team Medic. The art down below is based on what occurs in this chapter of my story, when Leo catches Raph hiding wounds he got from his time in the dreaded labs.

Lotus - This girl's temper rivals that of the twins. She has a difficult time toning down her fireworks of emotions since being saved from the labs that forced her to be silent. Her temper especially appears when someone (in person or in a tv show or film), convinces another weaker or shy person to act how they want: Manipulation, gaslighting, dehumanizing, etc. The brothers quickly learn to never pick any kinds of movies with that kind of villain, just to keep Lotus from spiraling into the unwanted memories of her past.

Michelangelo - The most rare to ever lose his temper given his sunny and chill personality, Mikey has to be pushed to his very LIMIT in order to explode like Raph or Don. Simple arguments don't do all that much besides annoy him, (just because of the fact that his brothers are fighting), but what really gets to him is when a fight lasts longer than it ever should have, and neither person involved is effectively communicating. Just... ARGUING. This is when he *lovingly* reminds them to look at their pride, KILL IT, and then focus on correctly fixing the dispute between the two.

Thanks for the question!! These were REALLY FUN to draw!! :)

To God be the glory!

~ Melissa

[qoldenskies]

!!opening requests for rottmnt bad things happen bingo!!!

i've already taken a few, but i thought i should officially make a post with the squares and include descriptions for what i already have done so you can all see!! i'll put the prompts under the read more and edit it when im given/get concrete ideas for certain squares! i'll take requests for the ones on the list marked with N/A!! all that i ask for is no character death! i prioritize donnie whump but nobody is safe from me!!

you can request fics in the post-clipped wings canary continuity universe!

---

Self-Harm: Raph & his brothers — post-movie — Sometimes, long after his possession, Raph still hears Kraang voices. He vows to keep himself under control just in case it happens ever again—no matter the cost.

Claustrophobia: Donnie & Mikey — canary continuity (post-cw) — covers movie events — Mikey and Donnie are trapped in the tank and unable to escape. This reopens some old wounds.

Lifted by the Neck: [taken, description pending]

Don't You Dare Pity Me: Leo & his brothers — series of vignettes — Leo's pain tolerance has always been supernaturally high. He doesn't understand why his brothers think this is a bad thing.

Power Fatigue: Mikey & his brothers — post-movie — Mikey won't let his family die, no matter what.

Internalized Prejudice: N/A

Recorded/Broadcasted Torture: [taken, description pending]

Self-Loathing: Whole Hamato family dynamic — pre-s2 finale — The boys are hit by a spell that heightens their paranoia, and Splinter is forced to confront some uncomfortable truths about them, and about himself.

Mind Control: [taken, description pending]

Disproportionate Retribution: Donnie & family — doomed future — It's a year into the apocalypse, and they desperately need allies. Witch Town vows only to assist if Donnie answers to his mistakes.

Stage Fright: Splinter & family — time-frame ambiguous — Splinter spent years as a performer, but the Battle Nexus left some... well, scars that he refuses to acknowledge. This time he can't hide from it.

Exclusion/Rejection: N/A

Take Me Instead: Donnie & his brothers — ambiguous pre-movie — Donnie accidentally activates a spell that transfers his brothers' pain to himself. He is more fine with this than he realistically should be.

Bullying: [taken, description pending]

Tortured For Information: N/A

Frostbite: Raph & family — ambiguous pre-movie — Raph is made an example of by anti-mutant extremists.

Bleeding Through The Bandages: Leo & ensemble — doomed future — When Leo loses his arm, his brothers are scattered on long missions elsewhere. His resistance step up to take care of him in their absence.

Kind Restraints: Leo & everyone, really (primarily Raph, CJ and Draxum) — post-movie — Big Mama hosts a party to celebrate the Hamato clan's win against the Kraang, and not every yokai is okay with Draxum's presence; and sometimes Leo will move before he thinks.

Tranquilizer Darts: Raph & Donnie — ambiguous time-frame — Donnie and Raph are trapped in a cell together, and Donnie won't wake up.

Hysterical Strength: April & family — doomed future — Nothing can stop April O'Neil.

Forced to Hurt Someone: Mikey & Donnie — post-movie — Donnie always joked about being the best to call when his brothers need to hide a body. He never expected it to actually happen.

Dehumanization: Donnie & family — post-movie — Donnie accidentally uploads his consciousness into his computers. He doesn't want to come back out.

Sacrifice: Donnie & family (primarily Mikey) — post-movie — A cult demands a live sacrifice to their God. Donnie steps up so they'll let Mikey go, unaware of the hell he's just subjected his family to.

Locked in a Cage: Donnie & his brothers — canary continuity universe (post-cw) — Donnie has a fight with his family, and after locking himself in his lab, he realizes he's been sealed in.

Starvation: Donnie & family — doomed future — In the apocalypse, rations are hard to distribute. In an effort to protect his family, Donnie develops a bad habit.

[fishsticksloser]

Hello! How are you?

If requests are still open(If I was somehow mistaken when I read open sorry ;-;) can I request Y/n as turtles s/o tending their wounds?

I mean, during the fights they get hurt, mostly after the movie

It's okay if you don't want to do that, you can ignore it <3

Have a nice day/afternoon/evening/night!

- 👾

Tending to Wounds

RotTMNT + gn!reader

Warnings: injuries, blood, angst, platonic fluff, swearing, alcohol but in the sense of cleaning wounds, not written as headcannons

A/N: Thank you for your request! ☺️ I hope you have a great day/afternoon/evening/night. I moved the order around because my idea for Donnie is... Very angsty... And long... Platonic fluff cause there's nothing saying whether you're dating or not in the drabbles so it's up to interpretation

Leo

Leo hissed as you applied pressure to a decently sized gash on his leg. He placed his hand over yours, a silent plea to be more gentle. Of course that wasn't optional as stopping the bleeding was more important.

"That was incredibly reckless." You grit, wiping away dirt and dried blood.

"I know- Fuck." Leo groans as you apply alcohol to the wound. "A warning would've been nice."

"You get a warning when you stop being reckless."

"I'm sorry..."

You start stitching him up, making sure your not hurting him too bad. You wrap up Leo's leg and start to take care of all the bloody supplies. You stop in front of Leo as he stared at his leg.

"Leo..." You sigh, placing your hand on his shoulder. "You're more important than you realize. You can't just keep throwing yourself out there like that and expect everything to be fine. Your brothers need you... I need you."

Leo reaches for you, pulling you towards him. He rests his forehead on your chest, you feel sobs rock through him. You gently rub his shell and the back of his neck, letting him fall apart peacefully.

Mikey

Mikey's leg bounces anxiously as you gather supplies. It wasn't that Mikey was badly injured, you could just tell that there was a lot. You settle in front of Mike and start to set up.

"Are you okay?" You ask, his knee bumping you. "I mean other than physically."

"Yeah." Mikey answers. "I just... I don't like this part."

"I'll be as nice as I can."

You clean up around the wounds with water, making sure there's nothing in them before you have to apply alcohol. You lean over him, trying to take his attention away from the cuts.

"I'm gonna need you to be the bravest you've ever been." I got this from a comic and :( /pos

You apply the alcohol. You glance at Mikey and see he has his eyes closed tightly. You pat the wounds dry and bandage them up.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" You gather the ruined supplies and throw them away.

"No..." Mikey squints in confusion. "I didn't even feel it."

Raph

Tending to Raph was pretty easy. He stayed very still and didn't pay attention, opting to talk instead.

"You know, there's this new...." Raph talked about the new teddy bear store opening, you zoned out, focusing on the cut on his arm.

He continued to ramble, very excitedly. Soon enough, he was all set. He looked over his bandages and started to leave before turning back to you.

"I should take you there sometime." Raph smiles.

"I'd love that."

Angst Below

Read At Your Own Risk.

Donnie

If you knew how bad it was going to be, you'd have set up before they brought him in. Raph carried Donnie into the lair, yelling for your help. He was quickly rushed to med bay, in and out of consciousness.

"What the hell happened?" You ask, applying pressure to the gash.

"I-I don't know!" Raph stumbles. "I turned around and he..."

"He lost his battle shell getting me out of the way..." Mikey sniffed. "It's my fault..."

"Mikey, it's not your fault." Leo held Mikey, his own tears rolling down his cheeks. "But, you can help, right?"

"It'll take a long time for his shell to heal..." You sigh, Raph hands you the rest of the supplies. "But yeah, I can do it. Can you all wait outside?"

They didn't argue, filling out of the room, slumped. You return to Donnie who lay on his stomach, giving you a clear view of his bleeding shell. You grabbed a pillow, resting it under his head and chest to make him comfortable before setting to work.

You now sat next to Donnie, holding his hand, your head resting against them. You feel Donnie's hand tighten around yours and you shot out of your seat.

"I feel like roadkill." He groans, stretching his limbs slightly.

"You kind of look it." You sigh. He turned to face you, humor dancing in his eyes. Donnie crossed his arm, laying his head on them. "Are you in pain? I can get you some meds if so."

"A little..." He yawns. "I think I'm okay right now." He looked around, seeing his brothers laying together on the floor, fast asleep. "How long have I been out?"

"A few hours." You get him some water, letting him soothe his scratchy throat. "You're okay now. Rest."

Donnie began to doze off again. You kissed his temple and turned off the lights, letting the 4 turtles sleep.

[tmntxthings]

∑一 Gasoline・゜・。

author’s note: so I started this months ago and came back today and somehow finished it? it’s now 4 am and idk what I’ve written but we posting it babyyyyyyy

song: reckless driving by lizzy mcalpine, ben kessler

warnings: cursing, narcissism, over-dramatics, cringe, sarcasm, flirting, confessions, unedited

—————————————————————————

Okay, I’ll admit. I’m not the best when it comes to..following the rules? Heeding caution? Listening to anyone??? Yeah not the greatest in that department.

But! I’m practically flying high in all others. Better brother, better turtle, cooler weapon, and not to mention handsome as fuuuck. So handsome in fact, I know I’ve snagged your attention. Heh. Call it what you will, intuition or gut-feeling, I know I’ve been occupying your mind.

But the thing is, you won’t admit it. No matter how much I prod, tease, or blatantly ask. It’s always “Leo, no.” “Leo, stop!” “Leo, shut up!!” And never “Yes, I think about you endlessly Leo, you’re right, and super handsome, be my one and only turtle”

…

Yeah…

It’s never ever that. And maybe that’s the reason why I can’t let this go. Because I know I’m right. If I wasn’t why would you keep coming around? Why would you spare glances my way? Why would you wear blue? It was all so infuriating to see these little details only to be denied again and again.

Raph says I’m getting a little obsessed. Donnie doesn’t give two fucks. And Mikey says something even worse, that I’m in love. Barf. Gross. Me? Love? Hell no. I collect admirers. I flirt with everyone. Unabashedly. Why would I fall in love with someone who is so clearly in denial that they are in love with me??? All I’m doing is getting them to admit the truth, and then they’ll be another tally mark. Another addition to the ever growing list of admirers I have.

It comes with the title of being the Face Man and all of that. Perks of being me I guess!

And so I was up to my usual antics.

“Keys Y/n, keys babe!” You scoffed pushing my hands away. “Keep your grabby mitts away, there’s no way in hell I’m letting you drive.”

“I curbed one time Y/n. Once! Give a turtle some slack here!!” I’m practically begging at this point. Because I have a plan. A genius plan to get you to finally admit the truth. It’s going to be epic.

“I think you’re also forgetting the three times you purposely ran into trash cans. You almost backed into another vehicle. And don’t get me started on how many times you accidentally forgot the keys in the car!”

…Okay so maybe there are a few more reasons as to why I shouldn’t be driving. But no matter! I’m a master manipulator. I can sway those around me like a pro. Plus since ya have feelings for me, I’m sure you actually really do just wanna hand over those keys. You’re just like playing a little hard to get is all.

“Whaaaa?? Are you sure that wasn’t Angelo? Pretty sure that was totally him and not me.” A big cheesy smile lights up my face trying to turn that frown of yours upside down. “Plus in any case I’ve got super rad portal powers to snab the forgotten keys!”

“Leo. No.”

And the actual begging and groaning and bemoaning ensues. I don’t throw temper tantrums that often. Only when necessary. After many ‘pleases’ and promises to drive extra careful. I finally get my long awaited—

“Leo, I said noooooooooo!”

A hard flick resonates against the space right above the middle of my eyes. Dramatically I flinch backwards crying out in faux pain. My hands going up, one covering the space that has just been so grievously wounded. “Oh c’mon that didn’t hurt…”

“Did it?”

Peeking through my three fingers I see the wisps of concern on your features and it’s at this moment where my all-of-the-sudden-plan enacts. As you draw closer out of worry it’s just too easy to create a small portal with my other hand that is behind my back. Don’t ask how the dagger got in my palm. Sometimes being a ninja just has its perks.

And just like that the keys to your car are securely in my hand and I bolt before you can realize you’ve been…hand-pocketed? Pick-pocketed? Whatever the case!

As I gloat from the driver’s side window, with the locks safely on so you couldn’t just rip open the door and strangle me like you were threatening to do right now. I make a show of raising the volume in your car and celebrating more with a little dance in the drivers seat. It’s not until you shake your head and the flames extinguish from your eyes do I dare to unlock the passenger door for you to get in.

You do slam the door close though. “Dramatic much?”

I can’t help but tease. I love winning. I love rubbing it in everyone’s face. And it makes my bones sing to see you get so riled up all over little ol’ me. You glower, somehow holding your tongue, perhaps giving me the silent treatment as you take over the music.

Driver gets veto power though. So I skip a bunch of songs you choose until I feel the flames start to rise again and I worry we (or rather I) may never even make it out of your driveway before I turn into roasted turtle. And that can’t be tasty.

So I let this particular song play. Humming along since I don’t know the words as I start to pull out and drive on the road. You stay silent for the most part and that just won’t do so I may or may not get a little too close to a curb for comfort on your side of the vehicle.

“God damnit Leo if you curb!!” You hiss as you clutch the handle on the car door. “Whoopsie!” I laugh getting back to the middle of the lane easily enough. “Where did you want to go so badly anyways?” You grump. But at least you’re talking now! “It’s a surprise!” I sing-song.

Now initially, my plan to force your admission of feelings was to continue to drive really recklessly and maybe almost die in a car crash or something like in the movies. And while you think I’m about to die you just have to tell me that you are helplessly in love and like magic. Confession secured.

But now thinking about it more seriously there are plenty of unknown factors like, what if I do actually kill myself in the process. Or ya know, you get hurt? Or I just wreck the car and we both are totally fine?! I don’t see myself surviving much longer after that if that ends up being the case. So I have nothing. Zilch. Nada. No back up plan was really made.

So I just drive.

And as previously mentioned, I’m not the best driver…

So you are on edge the entire time and constantly telling me to “Watch out!” “Don’t curb!” “Don’t hit that dude crossing the street!” “Red means stop!” “Yellow means slooow!”

Thankfully I know what green means. Aka turtle. Aka go ninja go ninja go. I’m proud of that one. Anywho, the drive winds up and down the backstreets of New York until even I don’t know where the fuck we are.

I pull over, parallel parking. Miraculously it’s one of the few tricks I can do with a car and you breath out a very unnecessary sigh of relief. “So this is the surprise?” You are looking around the low rise buildings with slight curiosity but more confusion than anything.

Nothing here is really special. No shops. No bright sparkly lights. It’s actually pretty grim because a few of the streetlights are out making the dark night even darker. It’s probably the least romantic place in the world. Definitely holds no sentimental value for an awe-inspiring confession.

My head hits the steering wheel as I close my eyes and say “Yup!” As bright and false as possible. I feel like a jerk and even worse than that a failure. I’m greeted with silence and I don’t open my eyes to check your face. I’m sure it’s turning into disappointment right now.

“Leo, everything okay?”

My head turns slightly, if only because your voice sounds a little different. I mean you usually are quite serious, but it’s also one filled with… care? “Just thinking.” And that is not a lie, just a very vague statement.

“Wanna talk about it?”

I mull it over. What am I even thinking? Driving around in the middle of the night. Being chaotic. Being a nuisance. Being with you. Dragging you along. Trying to get you to say something you’ll never say in a million years. And turtles sadly don’t live that long.

“Y/n, do you like me?”

I don’t dare take my eyes off of you now. Truthfully I feel like spewing out nonsense to cover up my mistake. I just had to open my big fat mouth. To actually say shit I actually mean. Or in this case something I really want to know. Your eyes widen ever so slightly, and you tilt your head as if you hadn’t even considered that a possibility. Liking me.

I’m instantly filling up the silence. “Like better than Mikey right? Pretty sure I don’t have to sweat over Donnie. And Raph may be second place but I’m definitely number one right?”

This way it’s easy. This way it’s safe. This way no one gets hurt. This way I don’t get hurt. This way I can play it off.

“I do like you.”

My thoughts empty and I straighten up. Swallowing back the spit that’s suddenly filling up my entire mouth. “Right duh, of course you do. Everyone does!” I laugh, smiling big as if nothing you just said affected me. Like I totally won’t be thinking about this even later tonight back at the lair. Overthinking it. Surely you meant it as a friend… but a turtle can hope?

“Even though you are so annoying.” You tack on, but your smile is too much. It’s genuine. It’s not plastered on like mine. It doesn’t hide anything.

Oh shit.

I just continue on, blabbering complete and utter nonsense at this point. Because part of me can’t believe it. That you really said it. That you do like me. That this surely isn’t possible, that you’re about to laugh and say that this was all some funny joke.

“Do you like me?”

And where there was nonstop chatter, it turns to silence. I avoid your stare now. In fact I turn my whole face away because I can feel my red marks heating up. Which is never a good sign. Blushing will only end in embarrassment. More than I can handle.

“Whaaaat? Me? Like you?”

I leave it open ended. To be inferred that I couldn’t possibly. But I think I just continue shooting or maybe slicing myself in the foot. Over and over and over again. Because in the window I can see you’re still looking my way. And your lips are pursed together in a small know-it-all smile. I whip my head back around, forgetting all about the embarrassing heat that covers my face.

“Y-yeah. I do.”

And then you lean forward.

Time slows.

And I feel your lips on mine.

And my eyes are so wide. I don’t know what to do but just stare. I don’t move. I don’t breath. Your eyes are closed and your lips are soft if only a little chapped. You pull away slightly, and I can feel your breath fan over my face.

“Good.” Is all you say. And I nod like a dumb pile of rocks is all I have for brains. “Now how about I drive?” Again I’m nodding.

The only thing that breaks the trance is the warning beep from your display signaling that I’ve just wasted all of the gas left in your tank.

…

Whoops!

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