#and Leo’s like UGH FINE I GUESS I’LL HELP

[turtleblogatlast]

Headcanon that Leo really loved to give his family massages growing up. We know that he’s good at them from the episode “You Got Served” and we know he likes spas and relaxation and getting massages himself from when he tried to get these in “Bad Hair Day” and from when Donnie made a tennis ball massage machine in “Smart Lair.”

So I think it’d be cute to think that maybe one day Leo overheard Splinter complaining about a bad back and immediately Leo thinks back to a comic or movie or something he saw where a massage helped so he offers to give one and it actually ends up helping Splinter.

Then April swings by the Lair at a later time and mentions her back hurting because of her backpack from school and Leo’s all like “I gotcha!”

From there, he occasionally manages to convince Donnie to sit for one because Donnie’s shrimp posture does not help him any (Leo pokes fun at how sandpaper-y Donnie’s shell is despite knowing it’s always like that and Donnie smacks him for it.) Donnie usually prefers hand massages instead however as all his typing and inventing adds up over time, and shoulder massages too once he starts wearing his battle shells more. Leo also figures out how to give massages to Raph and Mikey’s shells as well, though it’s a struggle at first to not scratch his hands on Raph’s spikes.

I think since Leo has such bad luck with spas and the like, he tries giving himself massages (though it’s not as helpful.) Like, with how his abilities work his legs are probably always aching from his portal jumping and one foot landings, so maybe he branches past back massages out of a need to help his own aches too. (Though he really wants a shell massage himself, the same way he’d give them…the one time with Donnie’s tennis ball massage machine was but a short moment of what Leo’s been missing out on and what he’ll continue missing out on…)

I don’t know, I just think it’d be cute to think Leo could have honed his massaging skill this way in order to help out his family (and also partially because he wants a massage himself.)

[ju1cyfru1t]

the hourglass ⏳ (rise! leo x reader)

prologue

pt.1

rottmnt x reader (Leo centered)

gn reader, platonic???, arguing, leo being stupid 🤞

takes place in the turtles finding mystic metal era 🤭

Today had just not been your day at all. From the moment you woke up, everything was going wrong.

You woke up late because you had stayed up last night to study for a math test, April was sick so you were alone in most of your classes, and you had so much homework to do tonight. You know when you’re having a bad day and all the little things just seem to add up? It was one of those situations.

Now you’re walking home through the busy, noisy New York streets, absolutely exhausted but you knew you weren’t going to get to rest anytime soon.

That’s when it caught your eye in the window of an old, run down antique shop; an hourglass filled with pink sand a golden frame. It had a glow to it, willing you to go into the shop and look at it. There was just something about it…

You picked it up and observed every detail, turning it over. That’s when you saw the small piece of mystic metal wedged into the base. You knew you couldn’t just rip it out or you would damage it. Ugh.

You whipped out your phone, listening to it ring a few times.

“You’ve got Donatello.”

“Hey, Donnie,” you looked around to make sure you were alone except for the small old woman behind the counter but she was deep into a magazine, “listen, I’m at this crusty antique shop and I think I found a piece of mystic metal.”

“Perfect! Great!...What’s the catch?”

“Uh…Well, it’s wedged into the bottom of this hourglass.” You sighed.

“Hourglass?...Hm, just bring it by and I will extract it.”

“What? But I’d have to buy it and it’s…” You searched for a price tag, “Oh my god, it’s 20 dollars!”

Donnie laughed on the other side of the phone, “Don’t even worry about it! I’ll reimburse you…Maybe.”

Oh, the things you do for them. You thought for a second and took a deep breath, “Ok, fine. But you owe me…See you soon.”

The old woman set down her magazine as you placed the hourglass on the counter and digged through your wallet, praying you had enough to buy it.

“Alluring, isn’t it?” She smiled at you with a wink. You had a bad feeling about this.

“Oh, yeah…Haha.” You laughed awkwardly.

You looked very awkward as you carried your newly-owned, oversized hourglass down the sidewalk and you were definitely getting some weird looks. Hey, it’s New York City, right? Surely, they’ve seen weirder things anyway. I mean, you certainly have.

The worst part of visiting your mutant friends is having to crawl down into the sewer and hoping to god no one saw you. But…I guess if it would help them then it’s fine. They definitely owe you though.

You didn’t even bother to knock and just let yourself into their underground lair, which both you and them were used to by now. You looked around, but you didn’t see any of them around. Alright, guess you’ll just head up to Donnie’s lab and see if he’s there. Honestly, you just wanted to get this over with and go home. You loved visiting them, of course, but you were undeniably overwhelmed and not in a good mood at all.

“Whatcha got there?” You jumped and swiftly turned to face Leonardo who had a curious expression.

You sighed in relief, “It’s just you.”

“What is that?” He snatched the hourglass from your hands.

“Hey!” You reached to grab it back, but he moved it out of your reach, “Be careful, Leo. That’s not a toy!”

Leo smirked at you, raising an eyebrow (that he doesn’t have but you know what I mean), “Uh huh, I’m very careful, trust me.” He tossed the hourglass from hand to hand, observing it like you had in the shop.

“I’m serious, Leo, it’s fragile. Just give it back, ok? it’s got a shard of that metal you guys need in it and I need to give it to Donnie.” You groaned in annoyance.

“Come on, lighten up!” Leo scoffed, “What’s got you in such a bad mood?”

“Sorry,” you breathed out, “I just…Had a rough day at school.”

There was silence for a moment before Leo burst out laughing, “Seriously? School? Rough? Yeah, ok.”

“What?” You narrowed you eyes at him, confused. What the hell was he laughing at?

“I’m just saying…What’s so rough about it? You go to school, you learn or whatever, you go home. Seems pretty easy if you ask.” Leo snickered.

Now it was your turn to scoff, “And how would you know, Leon? It’s so much more than that. I mean, it’s so socially draining! All the work at school, and then the homework when you get home. It is hard. I don’t get to just relax all day like you. And put down the damn hourglass before you break it!”

“Woah, woah, woah! Protecting the city don’t just happen on it’s own, you know. I train super hard, I wouldn’t have time for pointless schoolwork. I just don’t see what’s so important about it. You act like school is all that matters to you” Leo’s smug smile faded and he shrugged, still carelessly playing with the hourglass.

“It’s not that easy! I have to care. I mean…God, you couldn’t walk a day in my shoes.”

“Oh, yeah? I’d love to see you walk a mile as a hero.” Leo challenged, smirking.

“If you knew what I go through and how hellishly unfair it is for you to even say that! Put that down!” You grabbed the other handle of the hourglass, trying to yank it away only for Leo to yank right back and leaving you in a tug-of-war.

“Puh-lease! I’d love to be in school all day without a care in the world besides some homework!” Leo’s smile turned into an annoyed, offended look.

“If you only saw the world my way for one day.” You laughed in disbelief at his dismissive, arrogant attitude, “Let go!” You pulled harder at your side of the hourglass, closing your eyes tightly.

A bright pink light filled the room and there was a buzzing sound, but you both were too angry to pay much mind before it faded away.

The hourglass hit the floor, but the glass didn’t shatter. The only part that broke was the small shard of glowing mystic metal, it fell out onto the floor with a small clink.

“Look what you did! I swear you act like such a child!” You groaned, looking back up and seeing…yourself?

“Oh, really, Y/N? I’m a…” Leo looked up and saw…himself?

You both rubbed your eyes and looked back up, blinking a few times, but you were seeing correctly. Whether you believed it or not, you had switched bodies and were staring back at yourselves.

“WHAT THE FU-”

[antonio-chandranis-dream-blog]

TODAY'S DREAM. EARTH YEAR 2005 A.D.

Um.

My name is Antonio Chandrani-Rivera. I’m 15 years old and my alchemy has been fluctuating, so I somehow. Can be. Here.

Via my gorgeous abode!

Yes. Through that. Shut up. Why do you sound more girlish than usual?

Though… I think I’m dreaming. I must be.

Oh, darling! You certainly aren’t.

So I am… Only in a dream would I worry this much over Alejandro of all people. I could be with Diego right now. Or doing oceanic combat with Layla or Raj. Even if I’m in the [UNKNOWN COORDINATES], isn’t it better just to find Leo?

I read in my history books that Earthians in the year 2005 “blog.” I guess we have something in common even after 100,000 years… Weird as shit.

I need a private place to talk about this one idiot. As far as I understand about the more emotional(?) humans in the year 2005, they love “comms” and hate “epic fails.” But this place seems like it has no comms and has a lot of epic fails.

Historically, in the year 2005 A.D., when elemental prowess among humans was still burgeoning, the renown dumbf*ck of 100,000 years ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ fell in love with a beauty. ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ kept hanging around that annoying beauty and the two along with L̶͉̹̩̞͗̔͆̀͐͌͐-̸̡̞͇͍͇̼̬̪̤̘͖̗̪̟͆̀̀̽̐͋̐̒̓̏̌̐͂͠ͅ-̵̛͈̲̲̹̩̩͒̎̌̈́͑̈́̓̉̈́̆͑͋̀͝ĺ̴̟͍̟̘͚̼̿̃͆̄͑̉͒ą̴͇̩̫̮̮͈͍̰̊̾̐̑͆̈̈́͝͝ simply ACCIDENTALLY protected the fated child. I can’t stand it… Thinking of them.

But I’m not ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒… I’m Antonio Chandrani-Rivera from 100,000 years in the future. I’m alright. I’ll be fine.

The truth is, I can’t remember.

What was I thinking about? That’s right.

Alejandro Caldera gave me a historical artifact. Not anything from 100,000 years ago and especially not from Earth, and instead from our own planet. Obviously. Still, it’s something quite old.

He said I give him too much. Too many…gifts. I can’t believe he even called them that. Is he stupid? The last thing I gave him was a nail clipper.

It’s a gorgeous book. A pretty green even with the glitzy gold. It’s from his own family’s archive. The family that despises me…

Don’t you even worry, young Nasir. If you have trouble, I can ascertain you might get some answer… Or zero. I have to admit, it’s a bit spotty for me here. Only that one’s very over-besotted over your potential in that era… In a timeline like this.

What the fuck are you talking about? Why are you able to interfere with my posts to this level? This wasn’t worth it, was it…?

It’s never worth it with Alejandro Caldera. What should I do? Can people on Earth decode runes yet? There’s runes all over this thing… Alejandro says he hid something for me in this book. He was too playful…! Whatever it is, it seems like such a gentle thing.

You should avoid someone that gentle, Nasir.

I will never listen to you, djinn. And like usual, my name is Antonio.

What should I do…? Ugh, I’m so annoyed…

This odd dreamy blog has a poll function, so I’ll let someone else decide! If no one decides, I guess I’ll have to figure something out on my own.

[crayonverse]

Lab Rats S4EP23 - Marbles and Worry

back at it again with the scriptverse......

same AU as the vanishing rewrite and also based off of a incorrect quote i posted a bit ago.

features a lil bit of leo/logan. also ig in the AU the upgrade wasn’t as op in canon. Elite Force hasn’t happened yet as well

cw some swearing + brief implications of past abuse/current abuse

INT, BIONIC ACADEMY, DOUGLAS‘S LAB

Douglas is busy tinkering with Marcus’s arm, and also seemingly overwriting something engraved in their framework. A brief glance shown on what Douglas is working on, shows that in Marcus’s palm, is ‘Property of Giselle Vickers’s engraved into the framework.

DOUGLAS: Anddd... there we go. All gone!

Marcus looks at their palm, and thumbs over where the words used to be, now stating ‘Belongs to no one.’ Marcus smiles, but they seem to control their joy.

MARCUS: Thanks.

Douglas seems to give Marcus a leading look.

MARCUS: ... Dad. (Rolls eyes)

DOUGLAS: (Giddy) Aw, why thank-you, son.

MARCUS: Don’t get used to it. I’m still not fully trusting you.

DOUGLAS: Yeah, yeah, okay. (Reattaching Marcus’s skin casing) How’s your capsule holding up?

MARCUS: Well, it’s not a closet like with Giselle, and it doesn’t look like a cage, like with a certain somebody...

DOUGLAS: Hey, it fit the theme of the liar! Can’t judge me for that.

MARCUS: Eh, I can judge you a little.

Douglas sarcastically laughs in response, finishing up fixing Marcus. They check out their arm for any cracks or imperfections, and they find none. Marcus stands from their chair and begins to leave, but is knocked into by Logan and Taylor, who are running in.

LOGAN: Mr. Douglas! We’ve got an issue, can you please help us?

TAYLOR: Yeah, our capsules are frizzing out!

DOUGLAS: Uh, yep. Okay. I’ll handle it. (mumbling) How does Donnie’s tech keep breaking...?

Douglas quickly leaves, carrying his tool box with him. Taylor and Logan suddenly take notice of Marcus, and Logan quickly moves forward to shake their hand.

LOGAN: Oh, hi! I’m Logan.

MARCUS: Um. Cool.

Marcus awkwardly shakes Logan’s hand, and Taylor offers her hand as well.

TAYLOR: I’m Taylor. I don’t think we’ve met?

MARCUS: Right, uh... I’m Marcus. Douglas’s... other child.

LOGAN: (Casually) Damn, he gets around.

TAYLOR:(panicked) Logan!

LOGAN: Right! Filter! Filter thoughts!

MARCUS: Well, don’t worry about that. I wasn’t... b-born.

TAYLOR: ... C-Section?

MARCUS: I’m, uh, made out of metal. Completely.

LOGAN: Like a robot?

MARCUS: (slightly annoyed) Android, actually.

TAYLOR: Huh, wait... Leo told us about you. ( You’re the weirdo android that tried to kill him.

MARCUS: Ah, right. He’d tell people that. Uhm, well, we’ve... moved past that experience.

TAYLOR: “Moved past”? Really?

MARCUS: Yeah, moved past, as in, I’m not trying to kill him anymore, and he only vaguely wants to murder me.

LOGAN: Huh, guess that makes sense.

TAYLOR: (Uncertain) If... If you aren’t trying to hurt Leo anymore, then I guess you’re cool.

MARCUS: You’re... giving me a chance that easily?

TAYLOR: Well, I tired to kill Leo too, so it’d be hypocritical if I hated you for that. He gave me a second chance, so I’m giving you one too.

MARCUS: (Half-genuine) Thanks...

Logan squints a little at Marcus, placing a hand on his hips.

LOGAN: So... Can you do anything... cool?

Marcus once overs Logan, then smiles.

Transition

Marcus is holding Logan and Taylor up with one hand each. Taylor seems to be enjoying herself, and Logan looks ecstatic.

LOGAN: (Giggling) This is so cool! I can never get anyone else to do this!

TAYLOR: It feels like I’m floating!

Marcus starts laughing too, enjoying their amusement, when Douglas reenters holding his toolbox and a fistful of corroded wires.

DOUGLAS: I found the issue, sea water--

He notices what is going on.

DOUGLAS: ... The hell are you three doing?

LOGAN: (Grinning) I asked Marcus to pick us up!

DOUGLAS: Why?

Marcus replies in a way that sounds like what they’re saying is completely obvious.

MARCUS: Because I can?

DOUGLAS: Marcus, put them down. Now.

MARCUS: Ugh, fine.

Marcus carefully lowers them both, with Logan making sure Taylor lands correctly. She silently thanks him with a pat on his back.

DOUGLAS: You can’t just pick people up!

MARCUS: (Annoyed) Adam picks up Chase and throws him all the time!

DOUGLAS: That’s- That’s different! That’s Donnie’s parenting, not mine.

MARCUS: (Sarcastically) Still your genetics, why don’t you try to parent them too?

DOUGLAS: (Sighing, said quietly) Why can’t you be through your asshole teenager phase yet...

Douglas pinches the bridge of his nose and dumps his toolbox on the floor. He’s clearly restraining his anger in front of Logan and Taylor.

DOUGLAS: Taylor, Logan, can you two leave?

TAYLOR: Alright...

LOGAN: Um, bye Mr. Douglas. Goodbye Marcus.

The two leave, although they are both nervous, as they’ve never seen Douglas so wound up before.

DOUGLAS: Listen, I know you’re happy about... freedom and stuff, but there’s still some rules to follow. Like not potentially endangering someone who’s blind.

MARCUS: Huh? What are you talking about?

DOUGLAS: You didn’t- Taylor! She’s blind.

MARCUS: Oh, I didn’t know that... I thought she was just having trouble with her laser sight or something...

DOUGLAS: Just, try not to use your bionics on students, alright? I don’t want anyone getting hurt and you leaving a bad impression.

MARCUS: I feel like... you’re overreacting. I have super strength, I wouldn’t drop anyone.

DOUGLAS: That’s not the point! I haven’t done a check on you yet. I don’t know what Giselle did to your chip. She could’ve put some stupid... I don’t know, killing bionic!

MARCUS: I would know, I can tell when--

DOUGLAS: (Yelling) Marcus!

Marcus immediately stills and freezes in place. They instantly straighten up and take the posture of a military unit.

DOUGLAS: No, sorry, I shouldn’t have- Sorry I yelled at you. (Sighing) The dorm capsules just made me mad, I won’t take it out on you. My bad.

MARCUS: R-R...Right. Yeah.

Although Marcus loosened up from their posture, it’s clear they’ve receded into themselves, covering their lower stomach with their arms and awkwardly looking into the floor.

DOUGLAS: Sorry.

Douglas makes a move to place a hand on Marcus’s shoulder, but they flinch away briefly. Douglas nervously takes his hand back and pats his legs awkwardly.

DOUGLAS: Just... don’t pick anyone up until I’ve done a check on your bionics, yeah?

MARCUS: ... Okay. Sorry.

DOUGLAS: It’s- It’s fine, Marcus. Don’t worry.

MARCUS: Okay...

Marcus slowly leaves Douglas’s Lab.

Fade out

Fade in

INT, BIONIC ACADEMY, MENTOR’S QUARTERS

Leo and Bree are sitting on the couch, eating from separate chip bowls. They are watching some sort of horror movie.

BREE: These things kinda lost their flair now that we know why they got made.

LEO: Yeah... knowing that the lead director tried to kill us and everyone we care about really dampens the way the zombie’s bite into heads of innocent victims.

The TV plays a chomping sound effect and a woman screams in a high pitch.

BREE: Do you want to see if Zombie Hair Stylist is any good?

LEO: Oh, I watched it already, I give it... a 6/10. Effects were up to standard but the plot? Way too messy to follow. There’s about 8 different subplots and half of them aren’t relevant.

BREE: Is it gory?

LEO: Yeah?

BREE: Let’s watch it.

Leo shrugs and makes a move to grab the TV remote, when Taylor and Logan wander in, still looking nervous.

LEO: Hey!

Leo warms up instantly, giving the pair a bright smile.

TAYLOR: Hey Leo.

BREE: Also here.

TAYLOR: Oh, hey Bree, as well.

LOGAN: Uhm, can we ask you guys a family question?

BREE: (Pausing the movie) Sure? Go ahead.

LOGAN: So uh, is Douglas known for-

TAYLOR: Being uhm, violent?

Bree and Leo look between each other in confusion.

LEO: He yells... I don’t think he’s ever hit anyone in retaliation, though.

BREE: Yeah, he mostly uses a gun or something.

LOGAN: Oh well that’s worse.

LEO: (Worried) Why? Is something happening?

TAYLOR: We, uhm, met Marcus.

LOGAN: Yeah! And we asked if they could pick us up, because they have super strength, like Adam, but Douglas came back and he seemed really mad at Marcus, so we--

TAYLOR: --We were worried Marcus might be hurt. We’ve never seen Douglas so... pissed before.

LEO: Oh, uhh... Douglas is just really wound up because of everything. I’m sure in a few days he’ll calm down.

BREE: Yeah, there’s no issue!

Logan and Taylor look at each other for half a second, then turn back to Leo and Bree.

TAYLOR: Um, not to be rude, but that... didn’t really answer the question directly.

BREE: Uhh...

LEO: Okay, look. I’m like, 90% sure Douglas doesn’t get violent.

LOGAN: 90%...?

LEO: Listen, the man commits felonies on the reg, I have no clue what his morals are.

LOGAN: So, should we be... worried?

BREE: No! (Pause, uncertain) No?

LEO: Yeah-- No, no! Douglas isn’t a terrible person... Ish. He’s pretty forgiving and kind to Daniel, who’s also his son, so Marcus is going to be fine, trust me.

TAYLOR: Alright. Yeah. Thanks, sorry to uh, bother you both.

BREE: It’s cool, during our convo I changed my mind. (Turns to Leo) Let’s watch Zombie Truckers 10 again.

LEO: Oooh, yeah! That’s the best one.

BREE: (Obvious) Yea, that’s why I picked it, duh.

Logan and Taylor leave their quarters as Bree and Leo continue talking about their movie choice.

INT, BIONIC ACADEMY, MENTOR’S QUARTERS HALLWAY

LOGAN: Right. Marcus is all cool and fine. Nothing to worry about.

They both pause and look at each other.

TAYLOR: But, y’know, to be safe... Let’s just hang out with Marcus. To make sure everything is chill.

LOGAN: Because it is chill. And Marcus is fun.

TAYLOR: Yeah. Exactly.

They both nervously run off in the direction of the cafeteria.

Fade out

Fade in

EXT, BIONIC ACADEMY, ISLAND GARDEN/BEACH

Marcus is sitting on a bench embedded into the sand. They’re lasering various clumps of sand into glass, turning them into marbles. As they finish up another one, Logan and Taylor run into the garden, puffed out.

LOGAN: Hey!

Marcus turns around and sees them both, confused.

MARCUS: Um, what’s up?

Logan and Taylor walk over to Marcus’s bench and sit on either side of them.

TAYLOR: We wanted to know if... You’re okay.

MARCUS: Hm? Why wouldn’t I be?

LOGAN: Um, when we left, Douglas seemed really angry and...

MARCUS: (Realizing) Oh! No, um... My dad’s always been... a bit tougher on me. I guess. (Unsure) I-I know, he means well... probably.

TAYLOR: Well, y’know, glad you’re uhm, okay.

Logan looks down at the sand.

LOGAN: What are you doing?

MARCUS: ... Heating up sand so it turns into marbles?

TAYLOR: Oooh, cool.

LOGAN: (Picking one up) I bet Bob or Spin would like these right?

Taylor pauses as if she’s trying to remember something.

TAYLOR: Right, uhm...

LOGAN: One smells like ketchup and the other smells like Lego bricks?

TAYLOR: Oh! Yeah, they’d like that stuff.

MARCUS: Do you want them? I can literally make a handful in a second.

LOGAN: Hmm... I have a morally dubious idea.

TAYLOR: (Interested) What is it?

MARCUS: Why did you announce it like that?

Logan ignores Marcus’s question.

LOGAN: We could... do pranks with them. Right?

MARCUS: Like...?

TAYLOR: Do you want to fill Chase’s and Adam’s capsule with them?

MARCUS: (Grinning) Sounds fun.

LOGAN: Hah! I love doing pranks. Leo says that he’s “super cool and great” at doing them, so I want to be like that as well. He’s so amazing and cool, he has really good ideas too, and have you SEEN his cooking? Oh it’s so... (Continues speaking out of sight)

MARCUS: (Questioning) Hm?

They look at Taylor for a second.

TAYLOR: (Mouthing) ‘IN-LOVE-WITH-HIM’

MARCUS: Ah, makes sense.

Marcus watches as Logan continues to ramble about Leo, and Taylor tries to gather all the marbles below in her hands.

Fade out

[imagine4000]

Turtle Rush Part 9

Hey guys! Thanks for your support! Here’s the next chapter before the finale, so I hope you stick around to the end. Happy reading. Stay safe, healthy, and in good spirits!

.

. .

. .

WHIIRRRR~

The latch opens up, letting Raph and Dahlia step out of the tank.

“You sure you wanna do this?”

“We’ll be fine, Leo. You just keep your twin away from committing murder.”

“Whaaa—nooo~. I was just going to have a friendly demonstration of why you shouldn’t mutualize, dismember, and/or humiliate the very existence of your enemies who dare mess with—”

SLAP!

“No! Bad Donnie, bad!”

SPRITZ–SPRITZ!

“Augh!”

“No plotting or evil scheming! Back in your corner!”

Raph and Dahlia sweat drop at Mikey spraying water at his brother as if scolding a cat. The duo then confronts the deer yokai.

“Miss Dahlia.”

“Artio.”

She scans the area.

“A forcefield...”

“You didn’t think I would waltz around in this mess unarmed, did you?”

Artio reaches into his pockets and takes out silver brooches.

“Protection charms?”

“This situation on the surface is bad for business below. So, Mr. Corvidian is offering a deal.”

“Where have I heard that before?”

“Raph, please...”

“These charms will repel the curse.”

“Let me guess,” Dahlia assumes, “you help us break the spell and stop those thieves. In return...”

“You promise to give yourself up.”

HONK—HONK!

[Fat chance, buck-o! Don’t try to angle the situation in your favor!]

D2k18 waves his fist towards Artio in anger while his voice booms through the speakers.

“Sorry, but that deal ain’t happenin’.”

“You won’t last ten seconds out there without getting possessed, big guy. You’ve witnessed firsthand, Dahlia...that curse is too great, even for you. Either you take the deal, or both our cities will perish.”

“If I agree?”

“Corvidian can care less if your friends try to rescue you. That’s how confident he is at getting his way.”

“Oh, we’ll be there to stop him,” Raph challenges, “you can bet on that.”

Artio reaches out, prompting Dahlia to shake his hand.

“When does it happen?”

“Who knows...it’s up to my boss when he feels like it. But know that you and I will meet on the outskirts of the Hidden City. Some day.”

“I understand. For now, you and Raph lead a team to getting that firestone.”

“What will you do?”

“I’ve got one more stop to make to even the odds.”

. .

. .

.

>>>>>>>FAST FORWARD>>>>>>>

CREAKING~

Dahlia leads R/M2k3, D/L2k12, D/M2k18 into the piled wreckage facility.

“Okay, I’ll bite. What’re we doin’ in a junkyard?”

“More like a deathtrap,”M2k18 quivers, “this is a really bad idea, ‘Lia.”

“What do you have to be afraid of in here?”

CLANG!

“Hey you!”

“Woah!”

They see the giant mantis hopping off the cars and lands in front of them.

“A giant bug?!”

“Man, this city is crawling with mutants.”  

“Say, you’re not those annoying turtles. Who the heck are youz? Their cousins?”

“Who wants ta know?”

“Me, ya overgrown salad.”

“Knock it off, Repo,” Dahlia cuts in, “I need to borrow your cat.”

“Uhh...a cat?”

“Oh, Mrs. Nubbins~! I’m back~!”

“Woah, woah, hey! Are you crazy?! You tryin’ ta get us killed?!"

CLATTER!

The turtles gawk the moment the mutant feline runs towards them.

“Every man for himself!”

“I’m too pretty to die!”

“Me too!”

SLIDE!

“Sit, Nubbins!”

SCREEECCHHH!

By Dahlia’s command, Nubbins sits in front of her before the others become cat food.

“Down~...”

THUMP!

“Now, shake.”

The manti-cat lowers her mantis claw for Dahlia to grab.

“Good, girl.”

Dahlia tosses a tuna fish, which Nubbins happily eats.

Reow~

Nubbins purrs against her head.

“Aww, I missed you too. Look what I got.”

Dahlia waves a protection charm before pinning it on her collar. Under Nubbins’ left paw is her owner, still groaning in pain.

“Ugh...say, how come she listens to you?”

“It’s a female thing.”

“So, this is Plan N, huh?”

“What better way to round up some rogue villains than with a rogue mutant herder.”

“In this case, a giant cat bug.”

“Wait till our Raph gets a look at you.”

“Now wait a sec! You can’t just—”

“Relax, I got your compensation.”

Dahlia points her thumb towards the crates of used parts, satisfying the greedy mutant.

“Alright, boys, let’s move out.”

ROAR~!

With everyone on board, Nubbins leaps out of the junkyard. Riding up front, Dahlia feel D2k18’s arms around her waist.

“I can’t let you go through with it.”

“Somehow, I knew you were lipreading back there.”

“I’m not kidding.”

He tightens his hold, resting his head on her shoulder.

“You can’t expect me to let you give yourself up like that.”

“I have to, Donnie.”

“But he’s—”

“Artio is much of a victim to Corvidian as my dad was. There must be another reason for wanting me to go with him. I have to find out for myself.”

Dahlia puts a hand over his cheek.

“If anything does happen, I know you’ll swoop in and save me like a boss.”

“Like you need saving,” he chuckles, “but give me one moment of heroism so I can rub it in thy brother’s face.”  

“You rub your success in anyone’s face.

“Aww~.”

“Shut it, Mikey.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Not you, knucklehead.”

“Watch out!”

SLIDE~!!

L2k12’s warning makes Dahlia pull on Mrs. Nubbins’ collar, avoiding a collision with a runaway truck.

CRASH/CLATTER!

Looking up, their mouths drop at the building where the gem is, covered in mystic vines and a cloud of mist circling in the sky.

“That wasn’t there a minute ago.”

“We better hurry. Anyone have eyes on Colton?”

“DAAHHHH!”

WHOOSH!

“Mikey?!”

M2k12 screams as he dangles by Colton’s tail, being jet-rocketed in circles. April and D2k3 spot them when passing by.

“Thank goodness you’re here!”

“Splinter, Raph, and Artio are fighting Jax! Other Donnie and Draxum are heading for the barrier!”

“Donnie, give Purple-Rain a lift! Leon, Red-King, you help capture Colton and the others! I’ve got Jax!”

Everyone but Dahlia gets off of the mutant cat.

“Hey, Nubbins~ see the tasty fishman?”

The feline licks her lips in response.

“Go fish!”

REOW!

Nubbins makes a running start then climbs up the skyscraper while Dahlia forms two swords to evade every obstacle in their way.

FWOOM!

Landing on the rooftop, Dahlia hops off of Nubbins and sees Jax rampaging against the trio.

“Raph!”

“Dahlia—you’re okay!”

“We need to get this charm onto Jax! It’s the only way to repel the spell on him!”

“Give me the charm and keep distracting him!”

“No, it is too dangerous!”

“There’s no time! Artio, do it!”

The deer tosses the charm to Dahlia as the others hold Jax off. Pulling the metal off the pipes, Dahlia shoots four pieces to form handcuffs and ankle bracelets chaining the sea creature in place.

SCREE~EECH!

“Watch it!”

SHATTER!

The men back away when Jax breaks the restraints.

“He’s been exposed by the spell for too long!”

FWIP—FWIP!

“Dahlia!”

SNAG/URGH!

One of Jax’s dreadlocks wraps around Dahlia’s wrist and pulls her in.

“Big mistake!”

Using his strength against him, she takes this chance to cling from behind and clip the charm onto his coat.

SHAAA~

“GASP!”

THUMP!

In seconds, Jax is on his knees, wheezing, while Dahlia stands beside him. The red, scaley being finally turns to the girl, dazed, and confused.

“Kid...you...you saved me.”

“Hey, even thieves like you don’t deserve ‘this whole situation’.”

[Guys, we got a problem!]

[It’s the crystal!]

Hearing the Donatello’s, they look up at the tower where they’re stationed.

“According to the level of mystical properties that’s radiating at a high frequency with—”

“It’s overheating! The inferno gem has become a ticking timebomb!”

[Say what?!]

“Not even Colton’s facial recognition could turn this off!”

“At this rate, it’ll explode with such force, the entire world will succumb to madness in mere seconds!”

[So, what do we do?! There has to be another way!]

[How much time until?]

“I’m estimating about, uhh...seven minutes?”

[Aw, swell! We have three geniuses and not one of them can come up with a plan?!]

“Get off our shell, hothead!”

“You try tearing down a ginormous mystic weapon the size of a tour bus!”

“That’s enough,” Dahlia shouts, “all of you—head for the loading docks!”

[What are you gonna do?]

“Something stupid. Leo, portal them, now.”

[But I—]

“Do it...please.”

[...You better come back.]

“With a dozen pizzas, mi amigo.”

[Dahlia—no! Whatever it is—]

She cuts D2k18 off and turns to Artio.

“Years ago, Nova taught me a spell only used for the most crucial moments. I think you know what I’m talking about.”

“...It’s a long shot...but we don’t have a choice.”

“W-Wait—what are you—Dahlia, what’s going on?”

“Artio, find Hypno and meet us at the tower. Jax, we’ll need you too.”

“I’m all ears, kid.”  

“I’ll explain on the way. Okay, girl...one last shot. You ready?”

ROAR!

“Let’s do this!”

“Dahlia, wait!”

But R2k18 is too late, as she rides on Nubbins, heading for the threat at hand.

CRACKLE/FZZT/RUMBLE!

The mechanism holding the gem breaks down piece by piece. It doesn’t take long for Dahlia and Jax to regroup with Artio as he brings the hippo mutant with him.

“Think you’re up for one more spell, Hypno?”

“This fellow briefed me in, but I’ll give it a shot.”

Each take a corner, surrounding the weapon. Taking a deep breath, Dahlia conjures material from all around, then transfers it to the rooftop.

WHIRR/SHOO~OOM!

In one fell swoop, a large encryption is drawn from her powers, right under the machinery.

“...‘Ase-rasu...mani-fesu...restori-va-ragul...safa paray’...”

[Ase-rasu...mani-fesu...]

All three chant as their hands glow, the aura emanating to the symbol, then floating up to ensnare the gem inside a giant ball of their combined magic.

“Jax, you open a portal right before it explodes! We’ll force it right out of this dimension!”

WHIRL—WHIRL~!

A strong wind circles, forcing them to dig their feet down from losing balance. Nubbins uses her mantis claws to hold Hypno and Artio, and Jax using his lock to grab Dahlia’s waist.

“Something is happening,” Hypno hollers.

“Stand your ground,” Artio warns, “the stone’s reaching the final peak!”

“C’mon, Jax, where’s that portal!”

“I have to find the right coordinates! I need more time!”

WHIRL/FWOOM!

“Ahh!”

“Dahlia/Kid!”

A powerful force pushes her out of Jax’s hold and off her feet.

ZOOOOMMM!

“Gotcha!”

Out of nowhere, D2k18 flies in for the save.

C-CLACK/CLANG/WHAM!

Using his battle-shell, the claws firmly plant on the concrete as Donnie holds her from behind.

“Donnie?!”

“I told you! I’m not leaving you behind!”

SHAA!

Just then, L2k18 appears from a portal, the others from both sides of the law follow behind. Each support Jax, Artio, and Hypno by forming a line.

“Guys!”

“We’re with you, girl!”

“If you go down fighting—”

“Then so do we!”

WHIRRR~

“I got it,” Jax hollers.

“This oven’s about to blow,” Meat-Sweats shouts.

“I don’t want to explode,” Ghost-Bear whines.

“Twenty seconds people,” D2k18 warns.

“Artio, Hypno—on my mark!”

“Right/Yeah!”

“Twelve seconds and counting!”

“Get ready in three...”

“This better work!”

“Five seconds!”

“Two...”

“Brace yourselves!”

“Here we goooo!”

CRACKLE!

“NOW!”

WARP!

💥🔥KA-BOOOOOMMMM!🔥💥

A black hole appears, just in time before the gem destroys itself.

FWOOM/WHIRL/CRUMBLE/SHATTER!

Despite the gravitational force pushing everything in its way, the three pillars give one final attack.

TOSS!

They throw the bubble of chaos into the portal before it disperses into thin air.

“...Did...did it work?”

“I...think so...”

💨💨WHOO~OOSSSHHH💨💨

At the exact moment, the sky turns back into the night shade, the thundering clouds fall apart, and more importantly...

“Huh/Wha.../Oh my/Ugh...”

The townspeople are brought back to their senses, without a shred of disorderly madness in sight.

“Guys, it worked! We won!”

“Whoo/Aw yeah~/Boom/Alright!”

The turtles from all three dimensions and even the villains, take a moment to celebrate. All except for three people, standing from a far distance.

“So, Jax,” says Dahlia, “where did you send it?”

“To a desolate galaxy. Where no forms of life have been created yet.”

“What are you gonna do now?”

“It won’t be long before the authorities from our dimension track us down. Besides, my DPG (dimensional-portal-gun) is running low, so...”

“You’re turning yourself in?”

“No point in sticking to a plan that’s up in smoke.”

“You could’ve left when you had the chance,” Artio implies.

“Yeah, well...I kinda owed a nosy teen for saving my tail.”

A tiny smile is sent her way, with the same gesture returned. The alien tosses the charm to Artio, then walks over to his comrades.

“I will need the other brooches. Those costed a pretty penny.”

“Yeah, yeah...but...thanks, anyway. I guess, this time, I owe you one.”

The deer yokai reaches into his coat and hands her a gift pouch.

“A little something to remind you of our deal.”

FWIP!

Just then, Dahlia is startled by D2k18 when being pulled to his side, not taking his domineering glare off of Artio for a second.

“Pardon me, but could you tear your filthy hooves off this precious, wonderful, and amazing lady, sir?”  

“Pfft...whatever you say, purple. And Dahlia...”

“I know.”

With a simple nod, Artio raises his hand.

SNAP!

🔥FLARE!🔥

Like that, he fades with the green flames trailing behind.

“Ugh, show off.”

Dahlia takes this time to open the pouch. In her hands is a hairpin, embroidered with multi-colored gems, the centerpiece an aquamarine gemstone, and three-colored feathers.

“Why would Artio give me...this...?”

That’s when she notices a small, folded paper. Flipping one side up, it reveals a short note that leaves the girl gasping in shock.

“What’s it say?”

Instead of answering, Dahlia clutches the note and hairpin close to her.

“I understand now.”

“Um...as much as I pride myself on my intellect, I’m quite stumped on the relaying message, here.”

“I’ll explain later. But first...we have one final mission.”

. . . .

[Moments Later…]

SLASH!

“Got another slice right here!”

“Dibs/Mine!”

SHAA!

“Ha-haa!”

“What/Hey!”

L2k18 snatches the pizza off his doppelganger before warping away from the other Raph’s and sitting on a lounge chair near the trailer.

“Ya can’t win em’ all, mi hermanos.”

“Who wants more lemonade~?”

In the deepest parts of the forest, everyone is celebrating their victory at Todd’s Cuddle Cakes Puppy Rescue Park.

Bark-Bark-Bark!

“Aww~ c’mere you!”

“Best! Day! Ever!”

M2k12 & M2k18 fawn over the puppies that pile on them like a blanket of love.

“Mm...this pizza is way better than the joint we have back home,” Skeet comments.

“How would you know,” Colton jokes, “we haven’t had a decent meal in years.”

“Thanks for letting us in on the fun, kid.”

“Even you guys deserve a little reward.”

“Psst...”

On the sidelines, D2k18 is pulled away from the puppies surrounding him and turns to Todd.

“Now’s your chance, friend.”

“O-Oh, uh...right. Shelldon, if you would.”

[On it, bro.]

The techno turtle hovers above the crowd.

BLAAARRREE!

“Dah/Ahh/Gyahh/Ow!”

Once the blow horn stops, everyone turns to D2k18.

“Ahem...ladies and gentle-turtles...fellow mutants and other worldly beings. I have a crucial and hopefully final decision to be made public. If the lovely lady in pink would kindly step up, please.”

“Here we go/Ooh~/Shh, quiet.”

The three brothers watch in anticipation as Dahlia stands in front of Donnie.

“I’ve been wanting to give you something.”

“Oh, Donnie, you didn’t—”

“Too bad—so act like you’re supposed to be surprised just for dramatic effect.”

Dahlia giggles as Donnie gives the capybara a signal.

FWEE~FWEET!

BARK!

A few awes are heard as Melvin (brown fur with curled tail) walks over wearing a collar with a note tied to it. She kneels down to open the note and instantly brims with joy.

“Oh-mi-gosh...you’re giving me Melvin?!”

“You always said you wanted a pet. Of course, I’ll do my share in pet sitting when you’re in school…”

“I love him! Thank you so much!”  

Donnie holds her hands in his with a sincere smile.

“This past year, you’ve influenced me in more ways than one. You’ve been an ally, a friend, and the only person who could put up with my attitude longer than those dumb-dumbs have.”

“Hey/Ugh/Watch it.”

“But most importantly…you never gave up on me even when I did. You made me question a lot of things, yet every theory, footnotes and logical explanations all ended up with the same answer. And that is…without a doubt…how much I’ve fallen in love with you.”

At this point, Donnie’s brothers have their phones out recording while everyone is waiting in suspense.

“It’s happening, it’s happening~.” 

“Shush, I’m trying to capture the tender moment.”

“Send that to me later.” 

“Do. You. Mind?” 

Donnie sends an annoyed look their way before regaining his composure. 

“So, um...I know we confirmed our feelings earlier, but I thought a few witnesses wouldn’t hurt. Physical proof for future use.”

“Couldn’t resist gloating,” she teases.

“Naturally. But all jokes aside…I need to ask.”

He brings her closer.

“Dahlia Shinzo…would you do me the honor of being my official girlfriend?”

All the anxiety he felt before is now replaced with sheer confidence. Everything he had planned to the last detail, finally leads up to this day. After a brief silence, she reaches up to caress his cheek, expressing all her love in one answer.

“I’d love to, Donatello Hamato.”

🎉BLARE/WHOO/YEAH-HAA!🎉

An uproar of cheers bellows as the terrapin grins, victoriously.

“Yes-yes-yes-yes—YESSS!”

He spins her around as they laugh, then brings her in for a kiss filled with passion and longing.

“Bravo,” Hypnos applauds, “I always knew those two make a marvelous pair.”

“Ay dios mio,” Ghostbear wails, “it’s so beautiful~!”

“Oh, clam sauce—not on the apron!”

Meat-Sweats yanks the fabric away before the overgrown furball uses it for a tissue.

“Atta boy, twin brother!”

“Those are my besties!”

“Your genius son,” Draxum comments, “finally had the backbone to proceed as planned.”

“Obviously takes his charming personality after me,” Splinter proudly states.  

“Whoo-hoo~ go other Donnie!”

“The you from here’s pretty cool, bro. You should take some pointers.”

D2k12 nudges R2k12 as they chuckle.

When the newly appointed couple part ways, they press their foreheads against each other’s.

“Hehe…so, tech-boy…was it worth the wait?”

“I’d replay this chance a million times over, my love.”

SHAA~

“Hm/Huh?”

Suddenly, a portal opens revealing five men in long dark robes.

“That’s our cue, boys.”

The ring leader walks towards Jax.

“Jax of Dimension (XXXX)…”

“Relax man, we’ve been waiting for you. No tricks this time.”

The aliens’ hand themselves over as the men use futuristic neon-glowing cuffs.

“Give me a minute.”

Jax faces the duo.

“Hey, you…you’ve got one heck of a girl right here. Don’t let her slip away from ya.”

“Not in a millennium.”

“Thanks again, Dahlia. This dimension is lucky to have someone like you.”

Though wrists bounded, he reaches out and she gladly shakes his hand. Dahlia turns to the authority leader.

“They helped save our dimension. Will that count for anything in their defense?”

“Perhaps.”

“Oh, and since you’re here, they could use a ride home as well.”

She gestures to the turtle doppelgängers.

“Yes, I see...well, we best get you all back to your proper dimensions, then.”

“We’re going home?”

“Finally!”

“Sewer sweet sewer—here I come!”

“Well, we better say our goodbyes.”

Every turtle meets with their opposites.

“So long little me’s. It was a shell of a ride.”

“Keep being awesome, dudes.”

“Bring it in, fellas! Altogether now!”

CLAP!

“COW-A-BUNGA!”

The Mikey’s high-three with spirit.

“Y’know…yer nothin’ like us.”

“I’m not?”

“Nah…”

R2k12 lightly punches his larger doppelgänger.

“You’re better.”

“Keep it up, man.”

“Heh…you too. Now c’mere~.”

“Woah/Easy big guy!”

R2k18 chokeholds his smaller selves as they smirk.

“—aaand give at least one hour to spend your ‘me-time’ without the thought of training. Maybe then you’ll learn to loosen up and be half as great as me.”

“If you can keep your end of the bargain.”

“Dude I was already an A-Class swordsman. There’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“That’s not what your Mikey said.”

“Not after that “incident” from a certain weekend.”

“Wait what? Oh, that little snitch!”

L2k3/12 laugh as their outgoing-self storming over to his younger brother.

“Thanks for all your help.”

“Did you forget? We’re the smartest minds of our worlds. The others would be lost if they didn’t have the true brains of—”

“Donnie…”

“Okay, okay, this was a team effort.”

“And thank you, Dahlia.”

“We would’ve been turtle soup if you hadn’t found us.”

“And our world would’ve been destroyed if not for your help.”

D2k12 surprises her with a hug.

“I won’t forget what you told me.”

“You better.”

D2k18 leans towards his 2k3 counterpart. 

“Is it weird to be jealous of myself?” 

“Ahaha...”

The turtles regroup with their families just as Splinter is walking towards them.

“If feels weird seeing another Splinter.”

“Brings back a lot of memories.” 

“I understand how you all must feel. Though you may not be my boys…you will always have a place in our family.”

M2k12 lunges in for a hug, making the rat chuckle as the other versions join in.

“Gentlemen…if you please…”

The head authority gestures to the portal. Just before they enter, the turtles look back at their new friends.

“See a later dudes.”

“Get back safe.”

“Until then, guys.”

“We’ll we see you guys again?”

“Hey, we traveled back in time and space before.”

“So we’ll definitely find a way back.”

“Eventually.”

“Let’s have another pizza party at your place!”

“It’s a promise.”

Both versions form a line then bow in respect and gratitude, to which the third party does the same with a smile.

WARP/SHAAA!

In mere seconds, the portal closes, and closing the final chapter to their latest adventure. Dahlia picks up Melvin and turns around.

“C’mon guys…let’s go home.”

That word never felt right as they head for the Turtle Tank.

“Um, do you mind if we hitch a ride as well?”

“As long as you don’t touch anything.”

“Or try to kill us.”

“Like always.”

“You try to make a delicious meal out of turtles, and you’re labeled a murderous foodie for life.”

“Ooh! I like another of those ice creams with sprinkles!”

“You almost ate the entire dispenser on the way here!”

Following behind, Donnie and Dahlia watch in amusement as the group argues amongst themselves.

“Some things never change.”

“I’m glad something did, though.”

Donnie puts an arm around Dahlia as they blush, timidly.

“Hey...”

“Yeah?”

“Knowing there’s other versions of you and your brothers...I wonder what my counterpart is like in their worlds.”

“Good question. Well, one way or another, I’m sure they’ll see ‘you’ in no time.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Easy...”

Donnie steals a kiss to the cheek.

“You’re meant to be with us.”

Though a little corny, Dahlia smiles at the wholesome comment.

“I think so, too.”

In their hearts, they know that someday it will happen, and be together with everyone like they are now. As a family.

. . . . . .

TO BE CONTINUED...IN THE FINALE...

[chiliiscereal]

So my friend has been on and off lately.

I decided to write this for me cause I needed it.

Requests are open!

Chosen last

Summary:

Readers friends only invite them to things if they have no one else to go with. Reader keeps their mouth shut about it and just guesses that this is how friendship works. One day they meet the turtles and April, and for once they’re not chosen last.

Pairing: platonic turtles x reader

(Implied female reader but I’ll do my best to avoid pronouns! Sorry if a she/her slips out)

“I couldn’t find anyone else to go with me so do you want to tag along?”

“I had a plus one and everyone else was busy.”

“No one else can make it and I don’t want to be lonely. Wanna go with me?”

“Sorry I guess I forgot to invite you!”

“What do you mean you were there? I could have sworn you were somewhere else... huh poor memory I guess.”

“Sorry! There’s no room for you to come with! Next time for sure though!”

All of those were common things you’d heard before.

You weren’t exactly sure if it was a normal thing in friendships. It must be since no one else mentioned it.

Still, it hurt that you weren’t prioritized. You were always the last thought. Last minute.

And you always said yes.

Someone needs you to be their plus one for the dance so they don’t look bad?

There you are.

Someone needs a wingman for this boy they like?

You’re already on your way.

It’s not that you minded.

You just wanted to be... appreciated.

You just wanted them to see you.

Maybe they would if you kept trying.

Maybe they would if you made them a homemade gift for each birthday.

Maybe they would if you always answered back their texts right away.

You thought you needed to earn the right to be appreciated.

You realized how wrong you were when you met the turtles.

————

You brought your jacket closer around your body, shivering.

Of course you had to walk home! Alone! In the dark! In the RAIN!

Apparently it was too much to ask for a ride home after hanging out. There wasn’t enough room in the car!

Of course.

Just like every other time, asking to come along was too much.

You shivered again as rain dripped down your back.

“This sucks.” You groaned.

You eyed every dark alley way. You’d read enough fanfiction to expect some cringey creepy man to come out and attack you.

But what DID attack you was completely unexpected.

“LOOK OUT!” A voice shouted.

You didn’t even have time to flinch before something landed on top of you. The weight of it brought you to the ground with a shriek.

“Sorry about that!”

That wasn’t a ‘something’ but a someone!

They scrambled off you quickly.

You stood up and whipped around, rubbing your aching head. “What the hell were you doing?! Do you do parkour on the rooftops or something?!”

Ugh, today just wasn’t your day.

Finally, you glanced up.

They... they clearly weren’t a human.

Green skin...

Orange dots?

A... a shell??

And an orange mask.

Your jaw nearly dropped.

The creature gave you a sheepish grin. “Umm... hey! Yeah... maybe.. possibly... I was doing parkour on the roof...?” He rubbed the back of his neck and eyed the sky, a blush forming across his face. “I was on my way... my way to the comic con!”

He must be looking for a way to leave.

You weren’t ready for that though. You still needed to know what he was! And possibly his name!

You inched closer, holding your phone closer. Just in case. “What... what exactly are you?”

His eyes were on the floor now, as if your words had made him... upset.

“Sorry if that offended you!” You responded immediately. Ugh why did you word it like that? You didn’t mean it as if you thought he was a monster! “I just... I’ve had a really confusing night, my mouth runs faster than my brain, and I just got body slammed into the cement!” You rubbed the back of your head again.

He seemed much more satisfied with this answer. “Well... I don’t think you’d believe me...”

You eyed him up and down. “Dude, I think just looking at you would be enough for me to believe you.”

He let out a small laugh. “So ummm... yeah. I’m a turtle?”

You frowned. “Yeah, I think I see that.”

Well this was a strange turn of conversation.

Why not?

It’s New York after all.

He shuffled nervously. “People aren’t really supposed to know about it.”

You waved him off. “Psh, I don’t have anyone that would want to hear it or believe me anyway.” You stepped closer, your grip on your phone loosening. “Honestly, that’s pretty cool! I didn’t know people like you existed!”

It hurt but it was true.

Your friends would think you were making stuff up for attention.

“MIKEY!”

The new voice cause you to nearly jump out of your skin.

Three people, just like this guy, landed by his side.

One with a red mask and build like a tank.

Another with a blue mask and strange yellow stripes.

The last one had a purple mask and a staff of some kind.

“Are you okay, little man?” The red one asked worriedly. “You just took a huge fall!”

“I swear you’re gonna be feeling that a week from now.” The blue one snorted, resting his SWORD on his shoulder like it was a baseball bat.

“I estimate it’ll be closer to three weeks.” The purple one corrected, tapping a device on his wrist.

You stepped back.

There were more people like... Mikey? Was that his name?

Well, might as well find some way to get into this conversation. You weren’t gonna let the most interesting thing that ever happened to you slip away.

“You’re name’s Mikey?” You asked, the three surrounding the orange masked turtle jumping.

“Human!” The blue masked one shouted.

The large red one shoved Miley behind him. “Hi! Uh... we... we were just on our way to Comic-Con!”

“Guys-.” Mikey tried only to get Interrupted.

“Could you help us find our way?” The purple one joined, cutting him off.

You raised an eyebrow. “Nice try. I already know you guys are turtles.”

“Dang it Mikey!” The blue one shoved Mikey. “You just gonna spill our secret to everyone you meet in New York?”

“She deserves to know!” Mikey squeaked. “I messed up a flip and body slammed her into the concrete!” He turned to you, eyes hopeful. “And... she didn’t seem scared of me!”

This stopped the other boys.

Mikey shoved them all away from him. “These are my brothers! Leo,” he pointed at the blue one, “Donnie,” the purple one, “and Raph!”

You waved awkwardly, eyes landing warily on the largest one.

These guys didn’t seem as sweet and trusting as Mikey.

Donnie was looking you up and down for any sign of a threat.

Leo has his sword out.

Raph has his tonfas ready in his fists.

Maybe it’d be better to just leave.

“I’m not gonna tell anyone.” You shook your head to further emphasize your point. “I was just walking home anyway. All of this...” you spread out your arms, “was a complete accident.”

Mikey gave you a toothy grin. “Yeah, sorry about that.” He turned to his skeptical brothers. “She seems nice! She could be just like April!”

You kicked at the ground sheepishly now that the attention was back to you. “You can just go and I won’t tell anyone.”

“We can’t just let you go.” Donnie scoffed.

For a split second, you thought they were going to kill you for finding out their secret. Or kidnap you. Something bad.

“Not with that whole situation.” He gestured to your forehead.

Curiously, you reached up and touched it.

Your fingers were wet with blood.

Go figure.

“No, it’s fine, really.” You assured them. “My apartment isn’t too far-.”

“Please, it’s fine.” Raph waved you off. “It’ll make up for this bonehead over here.” He loosely jabbed his thumb in Mikeys direction.

You wanted to say yes.

You wanted to say yes so badly.

“I don’t know, you probably got plans.” Leo shrugged, putting his sword away. “It’s a Friday afternoon, after all.”

That was enough for you to make a decision.

“No, I’m actually free.” You offered. “I actually don’t even have a medicine kit at my house-.”

“Alright let’s go!” Mikey grabbed your wrist excitedly and lead the way, not even waiting for you to finish your sentence.

————

You only meant to spend ten or fifteen minutes there, tops.

But after Donnie had your head taken care of Mikey wanted to know if you wanted to play a video game.

You couldn’t say no.

Then, after an hour of the Lou jitsu game, Leo wanted to know if you wanted to check out his sword.

You felt like you had to say yes.

It’s not every day you get to see a sword!

After accidentally getting portalled to New Jersey and FINALLY making your way back, Donnie wanted to know if he could borrow you.

He needed to fix his computer and he needed your smaller fingers to reach the back for him.

Saying no just wasn’t an option.

After almost exploding the poor piece of technology, Raph wanted to know if you knew April O’Neil.

You heard them mention her earlier but you didn’t know they meant THAT April. You’d seen her around before but never really talked to her. Who knew she’d be involved with mutants from the sewer?

He invited April to join them as well.

He thought some human company and someone who would make you feel more normal about the whole situation would make you more comfortable.

He was right.

April was AWESOME.

You hadn’t realized how loud and how fun she could be!

She talked to you about how she met the turtles and every little adventure they went on!

You hoped, secretly, that you could be a part of newer ones.

Eventually, the time came for you to leave.

You were sad of course, but you felt happier than you had in days.

You left with five new numbers in your contacts list and a baked green bean casserole from a rat.

Maybe you should get body slammed into the concrete more often.

————

“Wanna go to that party with me after school?” Your friend asked casually at the lunch table. “Dana couldn’t go with me and everyone else is busy. I need a plus one!”

You smiled as you responded to a meme Leo sent you, your friends words going in one ear and out the other.

“Y/n.” She asked again.

Still no response.

“Are you even listening to me?”

You snapped out of it and straightened up. “What?”

“You and I are going to a party after school.” She informed you. “We should probably pick out our outfits right when it ends. I don’t know if I’ll be able to drive you but you can just walk-.”

“Oh,” you picked your phone up again, “sorry, I have plans.”

This got her to stop. “You have plans? But you never have plans?”

Your other friend snickered. “Yeah, you’re a hermit! You never go out or do anything!”

You blushed furiously. “I’m going to my friends house to watch a movie, okay? I’m not a hermit.”

“A friend, huh?” One of them rolled her eyes. “How come I’ve never heard of them before?”

“I just met them last month.” You picked at your shirt nervously. Why weren’t they happier for you?

“Them?” Another repeated, shocked. “You have more than one knew friend?”

“Yeah.” You straightened up a bit. “Them. They’re super nice but they don’t go to our school.”

The first one rolled her eyes. “Fine, whatever, think what you want. But I need you to sit with me and Jake at the park tomorrow so he can compare-.”

You didn’t even let her begin to finish her sentence. “I’m busy that day.”

“Again?” She gaped. “Seriously?”

“Now you’re just making stuff up.” Another scoffed.

“Why is it so unbelievable that I’d be busy?” You glared at them, clutching your phone protectively. “You’re all busy all the time! Why can’t I be?”

They glanced at each other with knowing looks.

“Because you barely talk to anyone! No offense, but you can be really boring.” The one next to you shrugged. “What even is your friends name anyway? You’d have said their name if they were real.”

You felt your face heating up.

Boring?

Quiet?

“His name Mikey.” You grumbled. “And maybe I don’t talk because none of you give me a chance!”

“A boy?!” The one in front of you gasped. They didn’t even acknowledge any of your other words. “Please, how could you score a boy?”

“He’s probably really ugly, no offense y/n.” One chuckled as if she were joking.

You had enough. “You know, I’m feeling a little crowded. I’m gonna go sit somewhere else.”

“You don’t even have anyone to sit with! You’re a hermit, remember?” One girl called out to you.

“I do have someone to sit with.” You growled, heading for April’s table. You should have started sitting with her a long long LONG time ago.

“Alright, see you Monday I guess.” Was the reply.

The way they just blew it off... UGH. You wanted to punch something.

“Hey, what brings you to the cool kid table?” April grinned, shoving Dale over to make room. “Aren’t you supposed to be with your other friends?”

You managed to shove away the buzzing anger in your head, replacing your frown with a matching smile. “Nah, there’s not enough room for me AND their egos.”

April snorted, assuming you were joking. “Well there’s always room for you here!”

Those were words you’d waited too long to hear.

—————

You still saw your old friends and occasionally filled in for them when they needed an extra.

But you denied their offers more and more.

For once, you knew what it felt like to be prioritized.

“Hey we’re gonna watch a Lou Jitsu movie, wanna come?”

“I saw this glass painting trend online and I thought you’d want to come over and do it with me!”

“I heard this song and I thought you’d like it. Here’s the link!”

“Check our this hilarious meme!”

“Dale and I are gonna go to that shin dig. I don’t know if that’s you’re thing but you’re welcome to join us!”

What a refreshing change of pace

Let me know if I should make a part two!

[egg-on-the-run]

I got my first proper request and I literally accidentally deleted it. Am I stupid? Yes. Did I immediately panic? Yes. Do I remember what was on it?........ mostly.

Haha anon I hope you see this I'm so sorry but ily.

The turtles s/o who's usually very calm but just bursts into anger.

Notes: swearing :) I think it's funny

Leonardo:

He's used to a very calm s/o, you like to meditate together, he's always been good with helping you with breathing exercises.

You both like to keep arguments to a minimum, and even when fights do take place there isn't a lot of yelling

But when your mother came to visit :) that was just :) a lot of pressure :)

And she stayed in your apartment :) for a week :) everything was fine :)

Leonardo hadn't seen you for an entire week, not an overly long time, but certainly not pleasant. And he knew that you got stressed when you couldn't see him often. So as soon as you texted saying you had dropped your mother off at the airport, he immediately came round.

You were already screaming the moment you walked in the door.

"Oh she has some nerve! Some nerve! Speaking to me like that!"

"I'm guessing you're car ride went smoothly."

"She's been bugging me all week! When are you getting married? When are you have kids? I want some grand babies before I die! Ugh! She's obsessed with maintaining this perfect image all because her friend's kids are married and making babies like rabbits!"

He stayed quiet, not exactly sure how to comfort you. It wasn't like he could provide you with these things, and by the sounds of it, your mother would never approve of your huge turtle boyfriend.

"She just can't get that I'm happy! I have my own life and it's perfect the way I want it to be! I have a perfect boyfriend! You're a fucking delight! She–she's just so obsessed with her image that she'd never get that!"

"You... You think so?"

"I know so! She's too stubborn and she'll never get how fucking great you are and it just— UGH! It fries my brain."

"Even though I... I can't give you all those things... I can't legally marry you, we can't have kids."

"Even if you could give me a mansion and a diamond ring, or if all you could give me was a-a fucking walnut! I love you Leonardo, not that prim and proper white satin wedding she's made a thousand Pinterest boards for. I love you, I just wish she would get it."

Leonardo leaned down and kissed your cheek

"I love you too."

He believed in dealing with anger appropriately, but seeing you defend him with such passion made him feel so much more secure.

Raphael:

He's seen you angry before, he encouraged it. He's all about helping you with your confidence, teaching you to not be afraid to take up space and stand up for yourself.

But holy cow. You were mad that night.

He'd warned you not to take the trash out at night, wait to the morning — or better yet, he'll take it out for you when he came to visit after patrol.

But you are Raphael's girl. You are stubborn.

So you take the trash out, and some absolute creep decides that "flirting" in a dark alleyway in the key to a girl's heart.

Raphael swooped in, told the man to scram. But bold and drunk, the man spits back with a "Oh yeah? And would she want anything to do with a freak like you? What are you gonna do? Hit me? Aw, big angry turtle, you're gonna scare your girlfriend away."

It was two of his biggest insecurities. His appearance and his rage, especially in regards to scaring you away. It was a low blow, Raphael should have known to just walk away.

But he clammed up, he'd never admit when his anxiety got the best of him and you don't blame him.

"Oh go fuck yourself. If a vile man like you doesn't scare me, why the hell do you think a good man like him would?"

"A good man? He's not a fucking man! He's some freaky turtle thing, a pretty little thing like you deserves a real man."

"And are you a real man?"

"More real than your little pet."

The next thing you knew, the man was on the ground. You assumed Raphael knocked him out, but Raph's standing behind you and you're the one with your hand in a fist.

"Oh my god. Oh–Oh Raphie I knocked him out! O-Oh my god!"

"Holy shit Y/N! You probably broke his nose!" Raphael is grinning, shaking your shoulders.

"I didn't mean to hurt him."

"He deserves a broken nose at the least for messing with you! He was an asshole and he needed someone like you to set him straight!"

"I, um, well, I suppose he did! Saying such horrible things about you, I-I guess he did need someone to put him in his place."

Raphael ruffled your hair, "Thank you, my knight in shining armour."

"That make you my Prince?"

"Your Prince who was right about not taking the trash out at night."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

He appreciated you standing up for him more than you could imagine. And he found it mighty hot how hard you hit that guy. Seriously! He must be a good self defence teacher.

Donatello:

Donatello loves you so much, loves holding you and hugging you whenever he can. He adores it when you sit on his lap while he works.

But do you like to cuddle when you sleep? Tough luck. Getting him to bed is like trying to lick your own elbow: near impossible.

Regardless, you try. Because every once in a while Donatello is too tired to fight and he will go to bed.

Tonight is not one of those nights.

"Baby, please, just come to bed. Everyone's already asleep."

"I'll be there in a minute, just go on without me."

You sigh, not really seeing the point in fighting. Instead you return to his bed, trying to keep yourself awake playing games on your phone. When half an hour passes, you go back and try again.

"Donnie come on, aren't you tired? I just want to cuddle."

"I just need to put some stuff on a hard drive, April's writing a new article, she needs it for tomorrow."

You sigh once more, "Promise you'll come to bed right after?"

"I promise."

Donatello's bed is comfortable, but it's more comfortable with him in. You force yourself to stay awake; despite your exhaustion you're determined to cuddle tonight. It's all you want.

But it did not take an hour to put some documents onto a hard drive. And he's being awfully loud for just typing away on a computer.

"Are you fucking joking right now?!"

He jumps, almost dropping the box of beakers in his arms, "Hey love... Can't sleep?"

"You're rearranging your lab?! Why are you—since when do you rearrange things, huh? What the hell?!"

"I just y'know, thought things needed a change..?"

"Oh, and now is the time to change things, really? Of all the times to move your fucking beakers you decide to do it in the middle of the night after I specifically asked you to come to bed? Seriously?"

He gives a nervous grin, the kind that usually made you smile in return. But it was late — rather it was early at this point — and you were cranky.

"You can sleep without me, you're a big girl." He teased.

"I want to sleep with my boyfriend! I want to cuddle! Is that so much to ask for?!"

Donatello blinked, "You're right, I'm sorry, but I swear, I promise, I'll be ten minutes, honest."

"You can finish this tomorrow. If you're not in bed in the next ten seconds, I am going to scream and wake everyone else up."

"Don't be ridiculous—"

"Ten."

Donatello jumped, quickly moving to shove supplies in cupboards a little recklessly. You continued to count down from ten, storming off back to his bed for hopefully the finally time this night.

By the time you got to the very firm "Three... Two... One..." Donatello was racing to bed, dived in beside you, crashing and knocking your heads together.

He'd never tell you, for fear you'd let it get to your head, but he kind of liked it when you got bossy.

Michelangelo:

Anger and Michelangelo just don't mix. They just don't. He's the king of communication, he's tries his hardest to avoid fights at any and all costs. You've always appreciated his determination to talk things out with you.

But with his brothers? He shuts down, he goes quiet and just accepts whatever blame they put on him: he knows they don't mean it, they only say mean things when they're angry.

But it hurts, hearing his big brothers tell him he's stupid, that he's childish, that he's lackadaisical.

"What kind of word even is that?! I swear Donnie must read a thesaurus as a bedtime story.."

So he's allowed to complain, and you let him ramble when he comes to visit. He sits on your bed and the words just tumble out of his mouth, lets you move around the room tidying up while he rants.

"I just—Raph keeps calling me stupid. And I just—I-I just—You know, sometimes I believe it."

You freeze, sweater only half folded and turn to him, "But you're not stupid. Just because you're not some brainiac like Donatello doesn't make you stupid. If that was the case, then I'm stupid, Raph's stupid, April, Leo, Splinter is stupid. Do you think we're all stupid?"

"Well—no, but—"

"But what?"

"But I... I am a little stupid."

"No you're not! Mikey, how many times has you out of the box thinking saved the day? Y-You were the one who suggested playing friggen buck-buck to take down Shredder! Y-Your skateboarding—hoverboarding skills saved the world. You think your brothers could do that?"

Mikey scrunched his nose up, "That's not smart though. They're right. My-my focus is all over the place, I-I could never come up with a plan like Leo, I could never have half the brains Donnie has, and Raph just—he gets things that I don't and I-I am stupid!"

"I need to have a word with your brothers—"

"And that's another thing! Everyone still treats me like I'm some kid! I don't need you to have a word with them! You're not my mom."

"Then you have a word with them! But sitting here and complaining about things that just aren't true isn't going to change anything!"

He's taken aback. Much like himself, you hardly ever yell, never ever raise your voice at him.

"I am not going to stand here and let them insult you day in and day out! Either you do something about it, or I will!"

He blinks at you, you're aggressively folding the sweater in your arms and grumbling about how you could definitely take Raphael in a fist fight if need be. You mumble something about how nobody gets to speak to your boyfriend like that, and it finally clicks with Mikey.

"Alright. I'm going to talk to them," He's mostly talking to himself, "I'm going to show them that I'm not some stupid, ditzy, lackadaisical kid anymore. I'm your boyfriend, and nobody gets to speak with me that way!"

You beam at him, anger disappearing within the second with his newfound confidence, "Hell yeah! Nobody insults my boyfriend!"

"Your boyfriend!"

"My boyfriend!"

"Your boyfriend!"

His brothers' version of a wake up call is to point out his weaknesses, tell him what needs to be corrected. But you much prefer to build him up, point out his strengths.

But jeez, he does not like your angry face.

[kurlyfrasier]

The Plan: Step One

Raph x Reader

Synopsis: Reader has a plan to win her favorite terrapin over. Step One: Learn how to fight. Now if only Raph would agree, then everything else could follow.

Warnings: None, really Raph being stubborn and arguing ensues lol

Word Count: 2130-ish

“No,” the word- quiet as it may have been- reverberated through the lair as everyone fell silent, including Mikey.

“What?” I asked, scrunching my brows in confusion. Out of all the brothers I figured Raph would be the one who would teach me how to fight, or at least teach me how to defend myself.

“Ya heard me,” the largest and fiercest (in my opinion) of the brothers stated, sounding annoyed as he crossed his arms over his chest. A tell tale sign that he wasn’t backing down any time soon.

“Why-”

“I’ll teach ya, Dudette,” Mikey stumbled over the pizza boxes on the floor in his rush to get to me, settling a heavy, beefy arm around my shoulders.

“No,” Raph shoved his arm off my shoulders before pushing him away from me. “Ya won’t.”

“I won’t?” Mikey sounded hurt as his shoulders slumped in disappointment- as did mine.

“Why not?” I asked, too confused to be angry about Raph hurting his youngest brother, who only wanted to help- he always wanted to help. My words caused Mikey to gaze up hopefully at his favorite brother.

“‘Cause he won’t take it as seriously as it needs ta be taken. He’ll get distracted too much or make ya do too much too early or somethin.”

“I can teach her,” Donnie piped up, sliding his glasses back up his nose, sending a sweet smile my way. I beamed back at him, nodding excitedly. There was no way Raph could say no to Donnie, he was the most careful of them all.

“Nuh-uh,” Raph shook his head and my heart dropped.

“Bu-”

“Yer too sciencey ‘bout it. All those numbahs and figures and wha’not,” he shook his head again. “It gets confusin’ and that’s not wha’ anybody needs when they’re fightin’ fer their life.”

“I’ll teach you, y/n,” Leo stepped forward from the outskirts of the room, daring Raph to contradict him as the two younger terrapins and I glanced back and forth between them. He was the leader, after all. My heart soared at the prospect. I truly wanted Raph to teach me- for reasons nobody needed to know- but Leo was the only one who could really challenge Raph in a spar. Not to say Donnie and Mikey couldn’t handle their own, but I could always tell Raph took it easier on his little brothers, but always gave his best with the oldest. Whether that was because they were almost always at odds or because Leo was truly more of a challenge was yet to be discovered.

“No,” Raph growled out, his stance shifting from relaxed and in control to tense and barely contained fury in the span of less than a second. It was amazing really- how quickly he could go from one extreme to the other. His green eyes- sharp as the sais glued to his hips- clashed with Leo’s icy blues. I stepped back, knowing better than to interrupt as I silently prayed this wouldn’t come to blows.

“And why not?” Leo smirked, knowing there was no real reason Raph could possibly come up with.

“‘Cause,” Raph surprised us all with a smirk of his own as he continued. “Last I checked, yer girlfriend don’t like it when you spend time with y/n, here. Plus, all that meditatin’ crap prob’ly ain’t necessary for what she wants.”

Leo’s eyes widened a bit and his step faltered, eyes flickering in my direction as if he was worried I didn’t know Layla wasn’t my biggest fan. My stomach dropped as all hope drained out of me. 

“It’s okay,” I whispered, gaining everyone’s attention as I gave Leo a tight smile. “I don’t wanna cause any problems between you and Layla. Besides, I know she doesn’t really like me much.”

“Sorry,” Leo started, reaching out for me before I stopped him.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said, wishing to be anywhere but there. “Um- I’ll just head home for the day. I have homework to do anyway.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Raph watched you leave with a heavy heart. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to teach you per se. It was more like he didn’t want you purposely putting yourself in danger. He knew when you got good enough (which you would, he had no doubt about that) that you would want to help them on patrol, or worse, go fight on your own during the day when he couldn’t be there to keep you safe. And it was that thought- the thought of you getting hurt because he wasn’t there- that kept him from teaching you how to fight. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if you, of all people, got hurt.

“I’ll go make sure she gets home safe,” Raph quickly stated and followed after you- only to get tugged back by all three of his brothers.

“It’s daylight-”

“So?” He growled, yanking his arms out of his brothers’ grips to no avail.

“You could be seen-”

“I don’t care! She could get hurt!”

“Which is exactly why she should learn how to fight,” Leo muttered under his breath. Raph heard though. Loud and clear. The words forced him to pause, allowing his brothers to drag him back.

“No,” Raph’s voice was quiet before he turned on them with a piercing gaze the moment their grip loosened, pointing at each one with a dare. “None o’ ya betta go behind my back and teach her.”

“Whoa, dude,” Mikey lifted his hands in surrender. “I won’t teach her anything. Promise.”

“Good,” Raph grunted out, looking at Donnie.

“I like my shell in one piece, thanks,” he said, walking off toward his lab.

“And you?” Raph glared at his older brother.

“Fine,” he huffed out. “But I don’t see why you won’t let her learn. It would be good for her, ya know.”

“Doesn’t matta’,” Raph dismissed, marching his way out to the tunnels. He had to make sure you made it home safe.

“She should be able to defend herself!” He heard Leo shout after him. “You can’t always be there!”

Raph barely kept himself from telling his brother that he should worry more about Layla’s insecurities than you, but decided that particular fight wasn’t worth it.

The sun hid behind deep, gray clouds as Raph caught up with you. He cursed under his breath when he noticed you turn down an alley. You had told him yourself that you didn’t like taking alleys and almost always stayed out of them. So why had you taken one that day?

Raph sighed in relief when he saw the alley was empty aside from you and made his way down.

“Why ya takin’ the alley?” Raph asked worriedly, causing you to spin around in shock at the sound of his voice.

“Raph!” You whisper-hissed, eyes watery from unshed tears. “It’s daylight!”

“So? I wanted ta make sure ya got home safe,” he shrugged like it was no big deal if someone saw him and wondered what made you cry.

“Well, I wouldn’t need you to make sure I got home safe if you would teach me how to defend myself,” you stated defiantly, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Ya still on that?” He growled, fisting the hands at his sides.

“Yeah, Raph. I’m still on that,” you fumed, hands now on your hips, causing his gaze to settle on those curves. He wondered what it would feel like to rest his hands on those same hips. “Leo teaches Layla, why can’t I learn?”

“Don’t tell me ya jealous,” he scoffed- a sad attempt to cover up his own pang of jealousy at the mention of his brother’s name. Is that all you wanted? To win over his brother?

“No. I just wanted to- Ugh. Nevermind,” you sighed, dropping her hands before turning around to head home. “It doesn’t matter anyway.”

“It doesn’t?” Raph’s heart tore at your retreat. “Then why’d ya ask in the first place?” His voice taunted you.

“Because, Raph,” you spun on your heel, piercing him with a fury he had never seen before. “I wanted to spend time with you.”

He took a step back as you stepped forward. 

“I wanted to not feel like a defenseless little girl.”

Another step as frustrated tears fell from your eyes.

“I wanted to not be so afraid.”

Another had him against a dumpster as you continued forward, poking him roughly in the chest 

“I wanted to not be such a worry- a bother to you.”

Raph shook his head, but you ignored him like you did your tears. 

“But apparently, that’s all I’ll ever be.”

“Ya not-”

“Or maybe you just don’t think I’m worth the time, huh? Is that it?”

“Y/n,” he grabbed your shoulders, shaking you gently to get your attention- he had heard enough. 

“What?” The tears blurred your vision as you let them fall, not caring that he saw. 

“Y/n,” he rasped, leaning down to your eye level, cupping your cheeks to wipe the tears away. “Yer not a botha’ and ya don’t have ta be afraid ‘cause yer not defenseless,” he smirked. “Ya got me.”

“Raph,” you all but snarled, frustrated beyond belief as you ignored the way your heart fluttered at those words. You wanted to pull away, but couldn’t find the strength- his hands on you felt so comforting, so right, so- “That’s the point! What if you’re not around?”

“I’ll always-”

“Like right now! You aren’t supposed to be up here!” You couldn’t help but stomp a foot on the pavement. “That’s why I was taking the alley. To maybe get hurt-”

His gentle grip on your face tensed as you realized your mistake.

“You what,” he ground out through clenched teeth, moving his hands back to your shoulders- unwilling to let go, even if you were being unreasonable.

“Well, I- I thought if I g-got hurt maybe you’d teach me to d-de-defend myself,” it all sounded like a question as you second-guessed yourself. It had you wondering if maybe your plan wasn’t quite full proof. 

“Lemme get this straight,” Raph stood tall, reluctantly releasing his grip on you. “Ya thought gettin’ yerself hurt would force me ta teach ya how ta fight so ya can purposely find trouble?”

“Well, y-yes and n-no,” your gaze flicked beyond Raph, onto those walking past the alley entrance. He followed your sight to the traffic and, with a heavy sigh, picked you up in his burly arms.

“Wh-”

“The roof,” he stated flatly as he hopped up to the roof, bouncing from fire escape to fire escape before settling you down on a random metal box. “Please, enlighten me,” he demanded, staring you down, eyes sharp and all-knowing as he crossed his arms over his chest. Touching you did distracting things to him and he did not need that while he was trying to figure out your way of thinking.

“Uh,” you gave him a tentative smile as you found your bearings. “I don’t wanna find trouble, I just wanna be able to fight it off.”

“What ya were tryin’ ta do- searchin’ fer somebody ta hurt ya- proves ya wrong, y/n.”

“It was only to make a point!” You exasperated, rolling your eyes, wishing Raph would understand.

“So, if-” your head snapped up at him, looking too hopeful for his taste. “And that’s a big if, Princess.”

“Yeah?” You smiled.

“Do ya promise not ta go lookin’ fer trouble?”

You started nodding your head when he gestured with a hand to stop.

“And don’ ya dare go thinkin’ ya can go on patrol.”

“I promise! I promise!” You hopped up, jumping up and down in excitement. “Please, please, please!” You begged, grabbing an arm and hugging it tight as you rested your head on his bicep- considering you couldn’t reach his shoulder.

“Fine-”

“Yes!” You loosened your grip for a victory pump, but Raph caught it before you could.

“But if I so much as hear ya got yerself in trouble-”

“I won’t! I promise!”

“Good,” he grunted out. “But if ya do, then ya neva’ leavin’ my sight. Got it?”

“Got it,” you beamed up at him before nudging him down enough so you could tip-toe up and give him a peck on the cheek, surprising him. “Now let’s go!” You squealed, running for the ladder to get off the roof.

“Now?” Raph asked, cheeks red from your kiss.

“Yes now,” you rolled your eyes with a smile, excited to spend more time with your favorite turtle, hopeful your relationship will grow into something more than friendship as you proved yourself to him. “I’ve got some fighting to do!”

“I’m gonna regret this,” Raph muttered under his breath, shaking his head as he followed you to the lair.

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

 part 2 

[remmushound]

Animal crackers part 1! @errorfreak88 @digitl-art-monstr

Growing up, the brothers often spent their time unsupervised. Splinter did his best to keep track of the four fast-growing children he had taken in as his own, but he had to sleep. He couldn’t do it when the boys were asleep; that was when he went topside and brought home food and toys to shower them with when they woke. He couldn’t take alternating nights either; his sons needed fresh food to grow healthy and he wasn’t going to sacrifice that just because he was physically and mentally exhausted. Mornings were for sleeping, from after the brothers had their breakfast to right before they had their lunch. Afternoons were for family time, exhausting as it was. He had chosen this; he didn't have to take the brothers in, but he did, and that was his decision. He had to stick to it and give them the lives they deserved to live, even if it took its toll on him.

When Splinter was asleep, Raphael was in charge. At least, that’s the way Raphael saw it. He was the oldest, the biggest, and the strongest, and his brothers looked to him to lead. He did his best to uphold his father's rules, but it was hard when he often forgot what those rules were, which led to him making up his own rules and enforcing them instead. That only served to further confuse his brothers, since the rules changed day to day and what was allowed on any given day was anyone’s guess. The only one who actively worked to enforce the rules that Splinter had put in place was the young and tepid Donatello.

“Raph, you’re not supposed to go out alone!” Donatello grabbed Raphael by the tail to try and yank him back, though it was like an ant trying to move a cookie by itself.

Raphael looked back at Donatello, staring curiously as the softshell tried with all his might to pull Raphael back into the lair. The five-year-old snapper had hardly gotten a few steps out of the boundaries of the lair, marked with yellow tape, before Donatello had chased after him.

“Relax Donna!” Raphael whipped his tail free of Donatello’s grip, but before he could walk away, he was grabbed by the hand instead. “Donnaaaa!”

Donatello hung on tight to Raphael’s arm as Raphael lifted him from the ground and tried to shake him off. “You’re not supposed to leave!”

“UGH! You’re like Velcro! Get ooooooffff!”

Donatello glared at Raphael with narrowed, angry eyes when Raphael stopped shaking him. With a final swing, Raphael knocked Donatello off and the softshell landed on his carapace with a sharp yelp. His eyes immediately watered as his hand went to grip at his throbbing shell, but still he got up to try and chase Raphael as the snapper hurried to run away.

“I’ll be fine, Donna! I’m a big turtle!”

“YOU’RE FIVE!” Donatello called after him, to no answer as Raphael disappeared out of the softshell’s short field of sight.

***

Raphael loved exploring. His dad would come out here every night and somehow come back with yummies, and Raphael was a big, growing turtle and needed even more nummies to grow even bigger! If dad could do it, so could he— he was already big enough to pick his dad up and place him high on shelves like a toy, so surely he could find food just like his dad! He wouldn’t eat it all, of course; his brothers needed fed too, and he would surprise his daddy with just how much he would bring home!

Raphael gave a soft squeak when he heard a crunch and he looked down at his feet, lifting his right foot and tilting his head to see what it was he had stepped on. What he found was a cream-colored cookie that vaguely resembled an elephant split into three pieces. An excited ohhhh left him as he knelt to grab it, then stopped halfway down to think.

What was it that dad had said about food on the floor? Raphael strained himself to think. Either…

“Raphael, don���t eat food off the floor, it’s yucky!”

Or…

“Oh sweet! Animal cracker! Get it get it get it get it!”

The second one sounded right, so Raphael quickly picked up the pieces and shoved them immediately into his mouth. They tasted sharply of sewage, but Raphael was used to that by now— he couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten food that hadn’t tasted like sewage. Once he got past the yucky taste, what remained was a delicious cookie that made him churr with excitement and close his eyes to enjoy it completely.

When he opened his eyes again, he gave a happy squeal and flapped his hands. He saw another animal cracker, and another! There was a whole line of them leading down the dry part of the tunnel! He couldn’t count past six yet, but there were definitely more than six! Enough for him and his brothers to share, and enough to make his daddy so proud! So down the tunnel he started, collecting the animal crackers and starting a stack of them in his arms. He wished he had thought to bring a bag like his dad always did, but he had big arms! He could carry lots!

Raphael’s jaw fell open with a loud gasp, dropping the collected animal crackers on the ground. He stared in amazement at the sight before him. There were lots and lots of more animal crackers, stacked in a convenient-to-collect pile— much more than he had previously gathered. His feet tip-tapped and he gave a loud squeal as he pumped himself up before running to the pile with outstretched arms.

Then he was flying upward, his body snared and trapped in… something! It took him a few seconds of panic to realize it was a net, like the one he and his brothers used to catch buggies to play with. But he wasn’t a buggy, and this net was big! One of his legs slipped through a hole and he cried out at the painful burning sensation. His entire weight rested on that side and the rope constricted against the base of his leg. He could feel his spikes slip between other holes, and when he tried to push himself up his arm got stuck too. He didn't know what was happening, but now he was hurting, and he was alone and he was so far from home that if he called for help, he couldn’t be heard but he was in so much pain he didn't really care—

“DADDY!” He wailed into the tunnel, his own echo the only reply. “Daddy! Donna— Leo!”

He tried again to stand up, but that only made it worse and got him more tangled in the rubbing rope.

“Daddy! Daddy…” He screamed for his father until his voice got hoarse and the only thing he could do was call out weakly and cry.

He didn't know how long he had been trapped for. It was long enough for him to be too tired to cry anymore and long enough for his trapped arm and leg to start to feel numb and tingly with no way to relieve it without burning the limbs against the roughness of the rope. Raphael had his free arm wrapped around his head as he gave out soft, occasional gasps whenever his exhaustion allowed for it. At the sound of footsteps, he was just barely able to lift his head up enough to look.

“Daddy…?” He asked, soft and hopeful.

“You weren’t what I was going for…”

The voice definitely wasn’t his daddy. It was a human, tall and skinny with a scary look on his face that made Raphael yelp and try to pull away. He wasn’t supposed to talk to humans, humans weren’t supposed to see him! He pulled his head as far into his shell as it could go, but he couldn’t go completely inside like his brothers could.

“But you’re a good find nonetheless…” The humans hand reached up to touch Raphael and Raphael tried his best to move away. “I can always get the rat later.”

“C… can you pwease help me?” Raphael whimpered, “I can’t get out…”

“That’s the point.” The human took a knife and sliced through the rope holding it up. Raphael fell and hit the ground hard, crying out as he landed on his side and his arm and leg slammed into the stone before his shell. He tried to find a way out of the net, but before he could, the human grabbed the net and slung it over his shoulder.

“D… daddy’s that way!” Raphael pointed down the tunnel. “I wanna go home!”

The human didn't reply.

[ais-for-alex]

The Scars of Our Past: Chapter 26

Logan was avoiding mirrors, the moment his eyes caught sight of his own image in the reflective surface he forced himself to look away almost instantly. He couldn’t stand to see the gash just over his eyebrow, still held together by a steri strip, the skin around it purple and blue with mottled bruises. He couldn’t stand to look at it, because each time his eyes caught hold of the physical reminder of that game Logan found himself snapped back onto the ice. Back to that moment he glanced up through bloody fingers to see his normally even-tempered best friend filled with a white-hot rage, beating another man down onto the ice. Logan would see that horrible look in his eyes, the look that if someone hadn’t pulled him off of Carrow, Finn would have continued hitting him until his hands bled.

Almost worse than that though, was the memory of their conversation afterward, in the locker room. Logan could hear Finn’s words, playing over and over, like the needle of a turntable getting stuck creating a fucked-up loop of his voice.

You’re a fucking coward. You’re a fucking coward.

The hardest part was that Logan knew Finn was right, he is a coward. He had been running away from his feelings for his best so long, now it was all he knew how to do. Sadly though, it seemed that while Logan was too busy running with his tail between his legs, he had finally pushed Finn to his breaking point.

In all the years he had known him, Logan couldn’t remember a single time he had actually raised his voice to him, despite all of the shit they had been through together. The sound of hurt in Finn’s voice as he begged Logan to just tell him, was a sound he wouldn’t be forgetting anytime soon.

Coward.

I know.

It felt weird now, sitting in the locker room. The rest of the team seemed completely unfazed, they moved and joked as if Logan and Finn hadn’t flung themselves over the jagged edge of a cliff and were now tumbling through the endless sky. Just waiting to see if there were rocks at the bottom of the fall waiting to break their bodies on impact. In their defense though, the team didn’t know any of that, however, Logan still felt like their cheer was out of place.

Finn hadn’t been there when Logan got in that morning but even without the man himself there, he was avoiding Finn’s stall like the plague. Logan had zero desire to step back into that space, back into those memories so he kept his eyes firmly trained on the floor. He made quick work of getting his skates and pads on, so quick he ended up being the first player out on the ice for practice.

Beginning his warm ups Logan took in a deep breath, held it for a moment, then when he breathed out, he pushed away every thought in his head. He let the scrape of his skates on the ice drown out the memory of Finn’s voice, he let the smooth glide of the puck against his stick ground him in the moment, he let his mind focus on Kasey getting the puck past his sharp eyes into the back of the net. Over and over those were the only things Logan let his mind focus on, scrape, slide, shoot, that was it. He breathed a sigh of relief when he finally heard Coach’s whistle signaling the end of practice and he joined the throng of his teammates shuffling off the ice.

Logan savored the feeling of hot water coursing over his body, the feeling of it rinsing away the sweat that clung to his skin, he closed his eyes and let the spray wash over his face.

“Dude! Drop it,” Finn’s voice echoed through the shower as he wandered into the showers.

“Oh, come on Don Juan, tell us about her!” James said teasingly.

Her, Logan’s eyes opened, the water stung but he didn’t care, her?

“So what? She sees your fight on the ice and suddenly you’re just irresistible?” Logan turned to find James ruffling Finn’s hair.

“Pfft, I’m always irresistible,” Finn laughed and gestured to his naked body, “unlike some of us,” he said, giving James a bit of a shove before turning on the shower head and stepping into the steaming water.

“Ok first off rude,” James said indignantly as he turned on his own shower, “and second I’m not letting this go until you tell me something, hair color, eye color, was she at the game? She’s not a snake’s fan, is she? Ugh,” James shivered in disgust.

“Seriously?” Finn scoffed, turning his head to shoot an exasperated huff. When he did though Logan’s eyes zeroed in on the dark red bruise over his pulse point, distantly it clicked in his mind that this was probably what had prompted James’s probing but in that moment he didn’t care. Logan felt sick, the thought of Finn going out and finding just some random girl after their fight made his skin crawl.

“Please! I live vicariously through other people!” James shouted.

“Fine, blond. You happy?” Finn asked with a shake of his head.

“No, but I’ll accept that’s the only information you’re gonna give me.”

Logan was done, he didn’t want to hear another word, didn’t want to think about Finn and her whoever she was. He quickly shut off the shower, snagged his towel, and hastily moved towards the exit. Out of the corner of his eye though he noticed Finn glance up at him just as Logan slipped through the door back into the main area of the locker room.

He moved mechanically, it felt like his hands had flipped into autopilot as he pulled his clothes on over damp skin, darkening the fabric of his shirt as his hair dripped onto his shoulders until Logan roughly shoved a snapback on his head. Logan grabbed his things at random and chucked them into his bag hoping to make a quick escape, but just as he was zipping it up Logan felt a warm hand settle on his shoulder. Every muscle in his body tensed then melted as a shiver ran down his spine as the soft brush of Finn’s thumb against his neck, Logan couldn’t help the sigh that fell from his lips.

“Hey,” Finn whispered in a hushed voice, “it’s not what you think.”

It felt like his heart was breaking but Logan shoved the feeling aside and shrugged out from under Finn's touch.

“It's fine Harz, you don’t have to explain yourself to me. If you want to go out and screw around with random girls, it’s your right to do so. Not my place to have an opinion.”

“Lo…” Finn’s voice was sad and soft.

“I’m- I’m going home,” Logan said, slinging his bag onto his shoulder, the strap digging into the place Finn’s hand had just been.

“Give me a minute to get dressed and I can drive you,” Finn replied. Logan’s heart shattered even further at that, the small selfless offer, because this man; even when he was mad and hurt he just couldn’t seem to stop himself from caring for the people in his life.

“No,” Logan said firmly, “it's fine, go finish your shower. I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that Logan stepped away, leaving Finn behind standing in front of his stall as fled the ice rink out into the blistering cold winter air.

***

Logan pretended not to notice the slight tremble in his fingers as he slid his phone from his pocket and typed in the pin number. He pretended that the cold afternoon air wasn’t burning his lungs as he made his way down the sidewalk heading home. And he pretended the reason his heart was beating out of his chest was just lingering adrenaline from practice rather than the roiling jealousy in his stomach. Logan pretended he wasn’t turning green with envy over some faceless, nameless woman who got to so carelessly touch Finn the way his fingers had itched to touch him for years. He pretended that the blood running through his veins wasn’t spiked with bitterness, that it was her lips that sucked wine colored marks into the warm skin of Finn's throat rather than his own.

Shakily, Logan pulled up his contacts and scrolled past Finn’s and easily found the number he was looking for, the call rang loud in his ear for a moment before finally connecting.

“Hey,” Leo greeted, his voice filtering through the phone, his breathing was loud like he was panting heavily.

Logan wasn’t entirely sure why he had called Leo, all he knew was that he was sad, and jealous, and hurt, and the one person he would normally turn to for comfort was firmly off the table considering he had just walked away from him. All he knew was that Leo made him happy, and Logan desperately wanted to feel happy right now.

“Hey,” he said softly, “whatcha doing?”

“At the gym,” Leo huffed, “running- grabbed the call- on my- headphones,” his words were interrupted by sharp breaths.

“Oh, um- sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your work out.”

“S’ok, I’m- almost- done,” there was a faint beeping on Leo’s end of the call as he turned down the speed on his treadmill, he was still panting but his breaths seemed to start coming easier. “So, what’s up?” Leo asked when he was breathing a bit more evenly.

“Ah, not much. Just left the rink and I-“ Logan paused, he wasn’t sure how he wanted to finish that sentence. He what? Ran away like the coward he is? He wanted to be comforted by the man that made his insides squirm just to think about over another man?

“Lo? Are you ok?” Leo asked, voice soft and filled with concern when Logan’s pause stretched a bit too long.

“I- yeah, I’m- I’ll be fine, it’s nothing,” Logan shook his head as if he could shake loose the thoughts in his mind.

“Alright, if you say so,” Leo said, accepting the answer but Logan could hear it in his voice that he didn’t entirely believe it was nothing. “Hey! What are you doing in like an hour?”

“Um, nothing?” Logan answered a bit thrown off by Leo’s sudden question, “Why?”

“If you want some company, I can come over? We can hang out, if you want?”

Logan felt something tight in his chest break loose at Leo’s offer, “yeah?” he asked hopefully.

“Yeah,” Logan could practically hear the smile in Logan's voice, “It’ll be fun.”

“I guess I’ll see you soon then,” Logan said softly, a smile beginning to pull at his lips.

“I’ll see you soon.”

When the call ended Logan sighed and slipped his phone back into his pocket, he glanced up when a car honked near him only to find Dumo’s car pulling up next to him.

“Why the fuck are you out here walking?” Dumo asked through his open window as the vehicle rolled to a stop.

“Ne posez pas de questions stupides, vieil homme. Laissez-moi entrer,” Logan huffed, trudging over to the passenger door.

Logan rolled his eyes at Dumo’s chortled laugh as he popped the lock to let him into the car.

French translation: Don't ask stupid questions, old man. Let me in!

Read on AO3

Chapter 25 Chapter 26

[ninak803]

Elitist Nightmares

It's here, it's here, it's here!

Thank you @whataboutmyfries to help me with this one. You told me the obvious things I totally had forgotten.

If you haven't read the other chapters yet, check out my Masterlist!

Please, please, please read the tags for TW!

Characters by @lumosinlove

Chapter 4

Remus

It was the middle of the night, the full moon was shining bright, everyone in the city fast asleep. Except for Remus.

He was lying in his bed, rolling from one side to the other, unable to find sleep. Grey eyes haunting him. His mind just wouldn't shut up. No, instead a thousand thoughts kept him awake. 

Remus rolled back on his back and sighed, finally giving in. 

His thoughts wandered back to the moment in the nightclub, where Sirius' eyes landed on him. Remus knew he'd seen him, he just didn't know how. There were so many people standing around them, he wasn't eye catching, he really wasn't. That's what made him so good for his job.

Okay, so things needed to move on now, he and Leo needed to make progress. He couldn't sleep, so he as well can start thinking of a plan on how to get close enough to Sirius to actually eliminate him. 

Remus knew his routines by now and killing him when he's outside in the city, running errands, was out of question. He wasn't alone then, James Potter never leaving his side. Their best chance was to get to him when he was home and alone. Well, as alone as someone can be in such a big house with so many employees. Remus would need the layout of the Blacks mansion, the blueprints. He was sure he could get them somehow. He would call Moody first thing tomorrow morning for that. He owed Remus something, and he had a lot of connections to the right people.

Remus wouldn't take Leo with him for this part of the job. It was easier for one person alone to break into the house, kill the heir, and come back out. Unnoticed. Less risky. Remus would be fine, he was pretty skilled with a knife. He didn't use a gun if he could avoid it. Killing someone with a knife was silent and very effective if you knew how to use it and Remus definitely knew. It wasn't his first time and it won't be his last. The only difficulty was that he had to come pretty close to his victim with that method, which could end in a fight, so Remus had to prepare himself mentally for that. To go through things that could happen in your mind all over again and again is a good way to prepare yourself for the actual situation, it wouldn't throw you off guard then and you won't just stop in panic and don't know what to do, so Remus needed to think of everything that could go wrong and think about how to handle it. He woulddo that when he had the blueprints and an actual plan on how to get in and out.

A fight with Sirius wouldn't be too bad, Remus still had surprise on his side, which was enough most of the time. But even if Sirius would recover fast enough, he still wasn't a problem for Remus. For all Remus had seen over the last week, Sirius didn't seem to be very muscle-bound. He was rather slim, but Remus knew to never underestimate your target. He had made that mistake once. 

He rubbed over a scar on his arm absentmindedly as he thought of it.

Remus didn't know what Sirius was like. He was very guarded wherever he had seen him, even when he was dancing with that girl in the club. He seemed to have fun, but something was off, Remus could feel it. Like in the club, he got this weird feeling in his stomach again, he really didn't like it. He didn't know what it meant, but it couldn't be good, so he tried to ignore it, like he ignored most of the things he didn't want to think about: His family, his nightmares, his life outside of his job.

His thoughts wandered back to Sirius, to his forearms, his shoulders, his eyes… and Remus finally surrendered to sleep while thinking of his lips.

~

“Do I want to know what you need those blueprints for, kid?” Moody asked.

Remus had called him the next morning to tell him what he needed and a couple of hours later, Moody had called him back.

“It's better if you don't. Trust me.”

“Okay then. I'll bring them over to yours tonight.”

“Thanks.” Remus said and hung up.

Leo looked at him curiously, Remus hadn’t told him about the next steps yet. They were sitting in a small cafe, mugs with coffee in front of them. Sirius Black was just a couple of meters away, on the other side of the street, sitting on the porch of a fancy restaurant with his brother. Leo and Remus had a clear view of them from their place in the cafe, but they were surrounded by a lot of plants, which made it harder for them to be seen.

“We need to plan our next steps. I called a friend to…” Remus started but trailed off. 

“Oh, damn it. Is he serious?” Remus said angrily when his look fell on a brown-haired boy in a bright red T-shirt and a snapback on his head. He was sitting on a bench, alone, and talking without a phone in his hand. People were already staring at him. 

God damn it, Tremblay.

“What is it?” Leo asked him.

Remus sighed.

“You know someone is watching the other brother, right? So now have a good look around us and tell me what's wrong here.”

Leo did as he was told, and it didn't even take him a full minute to see what Remus meant.

“The guy on the bench.” he stated and Remus nodded.

He kept watching Logan; they were quite close, so Remus tooka good look at his mouth.

“He's talking to Finn, his partner. Over an earpiece, I'd say.” 

He shook his head, pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Logan’s number. Logan picked up just a moment later.

“Lupin? Whats up?” Remus heard him say.

“Get the fuck off of the bench, Tremblay. Now.” Remus almost growled.

“What -” Logan started looking around, but he had no chance to see them.

“Go home. Now. I'll meet you and O'Hara there in an hour.”

“But-”

“Now.”

Logan hung up, looked around one more time, then got up and walked away.

Finn

“So, Lupin’s coming over now and then what?” Finn asked as he and Logan left the coffee shop close to their apartment. They ran out of coffee earlier that day, and he really needed a strong one now. A visit from Remus? Finn didn't think it was just out of politeness.

Logan shrugged.

“Don't know. He wants to talk, I guess?”

Finn looked at him. Logan was biting his lip, a thing he did when he was nervous.

“Don't worry, Tremz. It'll be fine, okay?”

“Ouais. Sure. Yeah.” he said, not convinced at all.

They took the next corner to their flat, when Logan stopped in his tracks and Finn, who was walking slightly behind him, bumped right into him. Spilling his hot coffee all over himself.

“What the fuck, Lo?!” Finn said angrily, then looked up to see who was standing in front of their door.

Remus and… A boy he hadn't seen before. Finn took a closer look at the unknown and… Oh. He totally understood Logan's sudden stop now, not that Logan would stop for a guy though, he probably was just surprised that Remus was already here. But the other one looked gorgeous: tall, blonde, friendly blue eyes…

Finn shoved Logan's shoulder.

“Come on… Let's get over with this. And you owe me a coffee now.” Finn said with a quick look at his coffee drenched shirt.

“You can have mine.” Logan mumbled and Finn laughed.

“Thanks, but no. Ugh.”

Finn drained his cup, and they walked to Remus and the blonde one. Remus nodded at them briefly, as Logan let them all in.

Finn closed the door behind them, then followed the others into the living room.

“Hi.” Finn said, not knowing what else to say.

His eyes wandered back to the other one who was looking back and forth between him and Logan, curiously.

“Hi. Im Leo Knut. Nice to meet you” he introduced himself with a cute southern accent. Finn's heart melted immediately.

He cleared his throat.

“Nice to meet you, Leo. Im Finn and this is Logan.” he said and gestured to Logan, who only nodded politely.

“So, what's up, Lupin?” Finn then said and looked at him.

Oh no. Remus seemed to be angry. 

“What did you two think today? Tremblay was sitting in plain view for everyone! Talking to himself like a maniac!”

“I wasn't talking to myself!” Logan tried to defend himself, and Finn wished he wouldn't have said that.

Remus shot him an angry look.

“Oh yeah, I know that! But no one else knew you were wearing an earpiece. So yeah, you were looking like a maniac and everyone was staring at you. I'm pretty sure the Black brothers noticed you as well! What the hell were you thinking?”

Finn swallowed hard.

“They didn't notice him. I'm sure of that, they were very occupied with their conversation.” he said.

Remus shook his head.

“I hope you're right, O Hara. Otherwise you're putting the entire mission at risk.”

“There weren't many options for where I could be sitting and still have a good view of them!.” Logan defended them, well he tried.

Remus looked at Leo, then said:

“Do you want to tell them some other options, than a bench in clear view for everyone?”

Leo was silent for a moment, thinking apparently.

“Well, first there was the cafe, where we were sitting. We had a good view, but the plants all around kept them from seeing us. Then there was a bookshop you could have gone inside. It was right on the corner. And there was a traffic mirror hanging around, with the right angle you could have used it to look at the restaurant.”

Lupin looked at Leo and smiled.

“See? And he does this job for a bit over a week now, boys. You should've known better.”

Finn looked at Leo, who blushed, but smiled nevertheless. Oh, he had dimples when he smiled! Finn couldn't help but smile at the sight.

“Damn it. I didn’t notice all those things… Sorry... “ Logan said meekly. 

He looked at the floor, angry at himself.

Remus sighed.

“Just… be more careful, you two. You know what's at stake.”

They both nodded.

“Sorry. We'll be more careful. Won't happen again…” Finn said “Do you want something to drink, maybe?”

“No, but thanks. We still have a lot to do. We have to go now.” Remus said and headed for the door.

Leo smiled at them, the dimples appearing on his face again.

“See you.” he said and then followed Remus.

“Yeah. See you.” Soon, Finn hoped.

Oh, he was doomed.

Sirius

He also had lunch with his brother the other day. It was a nice, sunny day, and he enjoyed it until Regulus mentioned the family dinner the next day. Family dinner meant not only having dinner with his parents, but also with his cousins. Sirius really couldn't stand his family, except for Reggie. Most of the time he loved his little brother, when he wasn't acting like a younger version of their father.

The week was pretty eventless. There weren't many meetings to attend for him, which he was glad for. He had lunch with James and Sirius had paid, as promised, after losing their bet. It was nice to spend time with him, James was his best friend after all. It sounded weird that his bodyguard was his best friend, but Sirius was lucky to have him. James was smart, funny, and he understood him. Sirius told him everything, absolutely everything.

But even the family dinner went over without any incident, which was a quite rare occurence.

So on Friday evening during dinner he was in a good mood, looking forward to his night out at the club. After the table was cleaned from their empty plates Sirius stood up, but his mother looked at him, smiled and said:

“Sirius, darling, please sit down again. Regulus you can go.”

Sirius swallowed hard and sat down again, looking at his brother, who shot him a worried look. It never ended well when she wanted to talk to him alone.

His mother got up and came closer, too close for Sirius' liking.

“You know what you did?” she asked.

He just shook his head. He really had no clue what he'd done wrong this time.

“Liar.” she said simply, and the next moment her hand hit his cheek.

Sirius couldn't help it as the tears stung his eyes. He looked at his hands in his lap so his mother couldn't see them.

“The girl in this club of yours.” she helped him to remember.

Her hand found his cheek again, Sirius felt her ring hard against his skin, cutting it open.

He swallowed hard. The girl seemed nice. They had talked for a while, dancing, drinking together. Sirius really didn't know what the problem was and how his mother found out.

“She's a reporter and wrote an article with the information you gave her so willingly.”

“I guess you don't want to go out tonight?” James said softly.

“I didn't know…” Sirius whispered and made the mistake of looking up into his mother's angry face. Her eyes didn't show any mercy or understanding for her son.

~

There was a knock on his bedroom door, and he got up from his bed to open it. James was standing in front of it. He took in a sharp breath as he looked at Sirius' face.

And with every touch of her hand, Sirius' hatred grew. He hated his mother, his life and, most of all, himself.

“Ah… Sorry, I forgot about you.” Sirius said and let him in.

“Don't be sorry. Really. You did nothing wrong, trust me.”

“No. Not really. Sorry. I should've told you sooner. You could be home by now.”

Sirius shook his head.

Sirius didn't meet his eyes. He hated that James saw him like that, all beaten up and feeling so small. James pulled him in for a hug, carefully so Sirius could move away, but honestly Sirius needed a gentle gesture after that, so he let James hold him.

Sirius laughed a little, it sounded forced as Sirius tried to hold back his tears.

“She was a reporter. The girl in the club. She just used me and I didn’t notice.”

James moved away a bit to look at him.

“She was? Damn, I'm sorry. I should've known. That's my fault…”

Sirius shook his head.

“No. It's fine. Go home to Lily and Harry. Enjoy your early quitting time, okay? I'll see you tomorrow.”

“You sure you don't want me to stay?” James asked worriedly.

Sirius nodded with an almost invisible smile.

“Go home. Im okay, don't worry. I'll just need some sleep now, that's all.” he didn't even sound convincing to himself, but James got the message. Sirius wanted to be alone now, so he left.

Sirius looked into the mirror. His reflection looked horrible, his cheek was already bruising and his lower lip was split open.

He hung his jacket over the mirror so he didn't have to look at himself again. He was ridiculous, a joke.

Sirius didn't even try to sleep that night, he knew it was no good. He either wouldn't find sleep or he'd have a nightmare, so he just stayed awake and stared out of the window, lost in his thoughts.

That's why he didn't hear the quiet crack his bedroom door made as it was opened and someone entered. He didn't hear the steps coming up his way. He heard someone inhale behind him, but it was too late for him to react as he got slammed into the wall, a knife at his throat, facing a stranger.

[migeviellardi]

Out Of Comfort

Rottmnt Donnie Centric Fanfic

Genre : Adventure, Action, Humour, Hurt/Comfort

Summary : Things happens sporadically at times, especially when you meet an interesting stranger that saves you from a lonesome rock decides to fell on your head.

Chapter 3 The Stranger

Mikey : All clear.

Leo : What do you mean ‘all clear’?

Mikey : I’m making sure there’s no police around.

Raph : I thought they’d let us go.

Splinter : They are. But that doesn’t mean that you boys don’t behave.

April : It’s alright, Splints. I’ll make sure they won’t cause any troubles.

Casey : Ugh, what’s the point of life if there won’t be a trouble?

Baron : That you won’t be here, existing.

Casey : WHAT?!

April : Okay. You need to chill.

Donnie walks right behind the group as they strolls the Hidden City’s streets. Head covered in his hoodie with his hands shoved in his pockets. So far, they hadn’t realize he’s being quiet. He’s not having the mood to talk to any of them. 

Although, he agrees with Mikey, he still hasn’t trusted this whole situation. He looks around to make sure there’s no undercover cops or something, perhaps Big Mama’s goons. 

Big Mama. What could she be doing right now? There’s no telling if she’s watching or plotting something. Two years after the incident of ‘You-know-who’, was caused by that wretched spider-lady. 

Nobody knows what her deal is. Her fanatic obsessions about Battle Nexus always made everyone in the world got involve. She had no chill, she never does. Which come to wondering why would his father dated a girl like her?

“Donnie!” 

April’s voice startled him. The group had their heads turned to him. “You okay?” 

Donnie : Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.

Leo : Uh, no. You’re not.

Donnie : Can it, Leo!

Leo : You were spacing out again, Don! And considering we’ve been brothers for like,  forever, usually that means you’re not.

Donnie : Oh, so you’re an expert now?

Leo : I’m an expert to know what you’re thinking, Donnie.

Donnie : No, you’re not.

Leo : Yes, I am.

Donnie : And, why is that?

Leo : ‘Cause we’re twins.

Donnie : We’re not twins.

Leo : Whatever you trying to say, Don. I don’t care. We’re born with the same age.

Donnie : And that doesn’t MEAN that we are. We’re not even the same-

Leo : Ah ah ah, don’t wanna hear it! Lalalala~~~

Donnie : Leo-

Raph : ENOUGH!!

The twins startled at Raph’s shouting. Raph sighed, pinching his nose-bridge.

Raph : We’re here to have some fun, okay? And if I see you two fight again, imma  SHOVE YOUR HEADS into a toilet. Y’all understand me?

Leo : Yeah, yeah.

Donnie : Hmph.

Raph : Good.

Splinter groaned, massaging his constant headache. Why can his sons just behave?

Splinter : Alright, since you two done arguing, why don’t we split up-

Baron : I’ll call dibs with Mikey.

All : .............

Leo : Whoawhoawhoawhoa, did you just say ‘dibs’?!

Baron : Yes, I did.

Mikey : Aawww, okay Barry. I’ll go with you.

Leo : Does nobody questioning that he said ‘dibs’?!!

Donnie : Great, now it’s haunting me.

Raph : He looks weird saying that.

April : Am I hearing things, Barry? Did you eat something alive at your lab again?

Casey : Why you making this a big deal?

Leo : Of course, it’s a big deal. Calling ‘dibs’ is our thing!!!

Splinter : For the love of Hamato, please don’t say that ever again!!

Baron : Don’t worry. I already regretting ever saying that. But my point still stands, I’ll  go with Mikey.

Mikey : Don’t listen to them, Barry! You did a good thing.

Donnie : Michael, you better stay out of his head!

Splinter : Okay, fine. Baron will go with Mikey. I’ll go with red.

Raph : Sure thing, pops.

Leo : Nah, fam. I got somewhere else to go. I’ll fly solo.

With that, Leo took off immediately.

April : What about you, Donnie? Are you fine on your own?

Donnie : Yeah, I’ll be good. You go ahead dealing with the....

Casey : .....

Donnie : Uuh-I’ll go this way. 

Donnie left the group. He can sense for-sure that Casey staring at him. He doesn’t know why she terrifies him so much, she hasn’t done anything to him, regardless of those times they fought her while she still a Foot-recruit. Maybe he’s just paranoid, the fact that he did forgot to take a battleshell with him. 

His hoodie made it obscure and that his brothers didn’t warned him about it means they didn’t know he didn’t use it. With that in mind, he should be more careful and not get himself involve on a fight. The fact that he also didn’t bring his bo. 

“What is wrong with me?” he said to himself. Now fully knowing that he’s extremely vulnerable and too open for an attack, he began to be more cautious. Perhaps he needs to visit a place where there’ll be no violence. A place that strict with rules, like a Mystic Library. 

No. Raph ever told him that their last visit got thrown apart by the Foot-Clan, and if he make a noise above whisper, he’ll be send to a Kiddie Room that filled with hungering monstrous children-behaved Yokais who’s out for blood.

Guess not every safe places are safe after all. 

Then, Donnie yelped as he felt being pulled backwards. Suddenly a huge rock drops in front of him and shattered to bits. Donnie went shocked as he tumbled and fall on his back. A short flying yokai flew down to him.

“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. Are you okay?” she apologized, her wings flutters real fast as he helped him up. 

“Uh, yeah yeah. I’m okay.” the fairy like yokai blew away some dust from him.

“Oh good, I am very glad.” then she turned to his left. “Thank you kindly, sir. I’m not sure what will happen if you didn’t save him.” 

Save him? Donnie looked to his left. A tall human stood still with a sharp gaze staring at him. Donnie flailed back at the guy. The stranger gave him an unexpressive look. He’s a few centimeters taller than him. His slim posture stood steady and a bit stiff. 

He’s unruly silverish grey hair nearly obscuring his slanted grey pupils in his pale skin tone. He’s collar on his cyber yellow jacket unfolded. It also unbuttoned that reveals a white blank T-shirt underneath. His hands shoved in his navy blue pants pockets, looks somewhat made out of a comfy fabric. He’s black and intricate design shoes looks appealing as well.

Donnie don’t know what to say. The stranger keeps staring at him, not saying a word, not even when the fairy said her final apology and flutters off. 

And there it was, the awkward silence. Donnie held his hands close to his chest, he knows he’s extremely vulnerable, but he needs to be ready for a fight. 

Then, the stranger walks towards him. Donnie instinctively walks backwards, keeping his distance from him. He startled and horrified as his shell hits a wall, he was cornered. The men were an inch away from his face. Donnie pressed himself against the wall, body’s trembling in fear, seeing the guy eye to eye.

Then, the guy swept his shoulder from the leftover dust. Donnie flustered by his gesture. The air somewhat less tense than two seconds ago. 

“You alright, kid?” the stranger finally asked. He spoke in a low tones, but not a deep one. Donnie was stunned, he would say something but he can’t. “Are you shook?” 

Once again, Donnie couldn’t speak. Some lump in his throat made him unable to let ou a single word. The stranger sighed, arms crossed.

“I assumed that you are, so I don’t think leaving you here alone will be a good idea.” he walks away from him. Donnie still flustered of what just happened. He stares as the guy moved away then startled when he turned back to him. “Come.” 

He ordered. Donnie isn’t sure if he should trust the guy, let alone that he’s a human. Since when there’s a human besides April and Casey walking in the Hidden City? But he did saves his life. If that rock got him without his battleshell, he probably be dead by now. 

Donnie took a deep breath and release, he followed the stranger somewhere. At least he still have his phone with him, so whenever he’s in trouble, he could call for help. Right now, he keep his distance to the guy in front of him.

What was he doing here? Is he from New York? Because he doesn’t look like he does. And his aura are extremely, menacing. He can’t see it, but he could feel the tensity whenever he got close to him.

The stranger stopped and turned to his right. Donnie was confused when he realize that he took him to the Run-on-the-mill Pizza place. Huh, so he likes pizza too.

Donnie followed him inside, he took a side on the sofa side. He points at the other end of the table, telling him to sit down. Donnie do what he told, and things back to its awkward silence. This time, the guy took his attention at his phone, ignoring Donnie’s constant staring at him. 

Donnie probably would do the same if it wasn’t with the awkwardness hanging in the air.

“Good day, gentlemen.” Donnie look up to see Hueso stood there with his notepads on his bony hands. He seems unimpressed seeing Donnie. “Anything you would like to eat?”

“Order up, kid. Don’t wait for me.” the stranger said, eyes still on his phone. Donnie blinks at the words. He looks back at Hueso who’s staring at the guy then back at him, raising his boned-eyebrow. 

“Uuuh, as usual. Please.” Donnie forced out to smile. Hueso notice that, he wrote his order at the notepads. Then, turned to the stranger. 

“Whatever the kid’s ordered, make it two. I’ll take the bill as well.” he said, still not looking up from his phone. Hueso wrote it down and took off, he took the chance to pat Donnie’s shoulder.

It made him jumped, not sure what’s that for. He watched Hueso leave until he’s longer visible.

“Something bothering you?” Donnie looked back to the voice. The men stares at him at last. The lump in his throat is back, but he knew he can’t stay quiet forever, the guy knew he could speak. He might gets angry and pissed if he didn’t talk.

Donnie clears his throat, gathering his courage to speak up.

Donnie : Um, thanks. For saving me.

Stranger : It won’t happened if you didn’t spaced out.

Donnie : Oh, yeah, that I...*rubbing his neck* I didn’t mean to- Well, I guess I can’t help  it.

Stranger : Can’t help what?

Donnie : Well, I dunno. I just can’t think straight for these past years, science block often  drives me crazy.

Stranger : Science block?

Donnie : More of a tech block, I guess. I just, every time I tried to built things it’s just  didn’t work, all I do it’s fix and fix and FIX-

Stranger : Kid.

Donnie : -it keeps jeopardizing my usual productivity, if wasn’t for a certain  ‘you-know-who’ who took pleasure destroying my LAB that I built since I was  NINE-

Stranger : You what?

Donnie : -destroying my techs like layers of newspapers, my home, my family’s life!!  Sure, we start off with new lifes now that we’re ‘Hamatos’, elite group of ninjas  or whatsoever. Yeah, life was good, until I certainly am NOT!!

Stranger : Okay, kid-

Donnie : -And what would I do? Quit? Run away? Oh, I could. I thought about it. But of  course, my father won’t let me. Keeping me in full surveillance 24/7, For  YEARS!!

Stranger : KID!!

Donnie flinched, then he looked around to see Hueso, with their orders in his hands, and all the customers staring at him. Donnie felt very embarrassed, he pulled down his hood to cover his face, looking away towards a wall. Hueso sighed heavily. 

“Here are your orders.” he puts down two large portion of pizzas on the table. Donnie held on to his hood, ducking his head onto his arm. “If you like, I’ll call Pepino to-”

“No.” Hueso blinked, “No, please don’t! Don’t call anyone!” his voice was semi-whispered. Hueso can see his hand trembles clutching the fabric of his hoodie. Hueso felt sympathetic, it wasn’t the first time the turtle took this place to vent his feelings. 

“I will get some coffee, my treat.” Hueso took off again. The Stranger glanced at the kid, he could hear some sniffles coming off of him. He knows the kid’s crying. He held on to his hoodie for dear life, not wanting everyone to see his tears.

He hates it, Donnie hates it. Crying means weakness, feelings that aren’t supposed to show that make him more vulnerable. He can only hope his family and friends didn’t know about this. He doesn’t want them to worry, he wanted them to stop. He’s fine, he can take care of himself. He’s also a Hamato, he can fix his own problem.

“Sorry.” the word took him back to reality, he sniffles as he slowly peeks from below his hoodie. “Didn’t mean to upset you, kid. I just concern that if you keep spacing out like that, you might hurt yourself.”

The stranger apologized to him, why? What did he do? It was him that supposed to be sorry. For what he done, Donnie just revealed his whole problems to a total stranger. Now, he’ll probably payed the price. Way to go, Donnie. What a way to keep yourself from trouble. Now watch this stranger use your weaknesses to enslave you.

Suddenly, a small blue entity appeared on his face. Donnie flinched, the blue thing looks at him. It looks like a little ghost, with it looks limbless and its body looks like tiny tendrils work as torso and arms with its round head containing two white friendly eyes.

The little thing squeaks, tilting its head. It was a cute to look at. It then flew close to Donnie’s face and hugged his cheek with its tiny tendril arm. It felt warm and comforting, as if it was a real hug. Donnie hovered his hand onto the thing, wondering how to hug back the thing without squishing it.

It then let go of the hug and gently patted his head, telling him to calm down. Donnie wipes his tears, he smiled at it. The blue thing smiled back, twirls happily knowing its attempt of comfort works.

It then flies towards the stranger, perching on his finger. The stranger smiles down at his little friend. It squeaks away, seems talking to him. Donnie titled his head slightly, curiosity began to appear.

“What is that?” he asked. The stranger glances at him. “It looks, cute. It’s that a ghost?”

“This is a wisp, kinda like a small ghost. And also, it’s a ‘she’. Not an ‘it’. Her name is Sia.” he explain. Sia waves happily at him, Donnie waved back. 

“Their more of a soul remnants rather than ghost. Whenever someone or something died, their memories remains, in a form of a wisp.” he added. Donnie blinks, he don’t know souls did that.

“So, are you a....psychic?”

“Kinda.”

“So, you can see ghost. And,....her type of thing?”

Sia flew circling the stranger’s head, “Yes, that’s what psychic means.”

“Well, I know. It just--are there more around here?” 

The stranger looks around him, from corners to corners. Then back at Donnie. “There are, but not much. Five including the one besides you.”

“My what?” then a small greenish entity appears right beside him. Donnie startled. It looks exactly like Sia, only it’s on different color. Donnie somehow felt a familiar precent from it, suddenly a tear came down to his cheek. He startled, what makes him cry?

“Who-who’s this?” he asked.

“Some wisps might wanders around aimlessly when they separated from their souls.” Donnie glanced back at him, “Others, might come back and followed whoever they’re close to.” 

“Whoever they close to?”

“The same case with the one in front of you.” Donnie’s eyes widened. This wisp is whoever close to him? Who was it? Why it felt familiar? 

“And, I believe it’s a ‘she’ as well.”

Donnie gazed back at him, tears began to streams out some more, “And, her name is Karai.” the men revealed. Donnie shocked hearing her Gram-Gram’s name. He looked down to the wisp, she nodded at the sound of her identity. 

Donnie’s tears began to burst. It might not be a real form of her body, but it’s enough to make him pulled her small presence into a hug. Donnie let himself cry one last time, holding close the wisp of his dead Gram-Gram to his chest. 

He could feel the wisp hugged him back. He felt it somehow, the warmth of her arms began to wrapped around him, hugging him close. Almost felt like she never left, that she’ll always be there. Watching over him, accompanying him. He didn’t get to spent much time with her, he wish he could. He wished she still alive. Here with his family.

Donnie let go off the hug, wiping his tears. He cupped his hands to let his wisp sits on his hands. He smiled, she’s not Gram-Gram, but she’s the closest thing about her.

Then, he realized that the stranger still there. He quickly dried his tears with his sleeves, gathering back his bearings.

“Sorry, I...Name’s Donnie by the way.” he finally introduced himself. The stranger raised his eyebrow. He held out his hand at him. Donnie stares at it and took the handshake gesture.

“Silver. Just call me Silver.”

[cracklingbooks]

hi so i have a fic request, but honestly i just want soldezangelo content so its fine if u dont feel like writing that haha

prompt: after nico wakes up from a terrifying nightmare, will and leo goes to comfort him and let him know how much they love him. :)

idk im just in a mood for fluff haha, but this also works for solangelo <3 thank you again!

Thank you very much for trusting me with your prompt, I hope you'll like how it turned out! I’ll be honest, I didn’t know that soldezangelo was a thing till today, so I wasn’t sure whether it was like a proper ship or a bromance or whatever... I’m sorry! So basically I made a solangelo + Leo thing! :)

I truly hope you like it, since it’s my first ever prompt! Ugh

I posted it on ao3 too 

He had no idea how he had arrived there, all he could remember were bits and pieces of the journey; long gaunt hands, dead trees with broken branches, darkness all around him. And oh, the feeling of complete solitude. It was encompassing.

Nico was the only one in that lonely land and he felt completely lost.

And then he saw it, like a beacon in the night: the faintest light in the distance and it was calling his name, like a sweet lullaby. It looked like the sun, but it was overshadowed by that thick foggy darkness; it looked impossibly far, but it was calling his name! It had to mean something, Nico was sure.

He started running, running, running, till his heart was about to explode and his lungs were imploding. The light didn’t look closer at all, but the voice kept shouting his name, always louder, till Nico thought it was going to break its voice.

That’s when he recognized it. Will. That was Will’s voice and he sounded incredibly pained.

Nico stumbled and while he was falling to his knees, he cried out Will’s name, holding his gaze fixed on the light like it was the only thing able to keep him together. He was falling and his pieces were crushing to the ground in a loud noise of clattering. He seemed to keep falling for centuries, because his body didn’t hit the soil right away.

His voice was scratched, broken like he was, “Will!”

He kept falling and falling, till the darkness swallowed him whole. That’s just what happened to lost boys.

He didn’t know how much time passed, but at some point, he was laying on the ground. It didn’t happen with a loud crush; he knew he was laying down because he felt the cold grass tickle his neck. His body was shivering impossibly and he felt nauseous, but above him there was the brightest starry sky he’d ever seen. He was back at Camp Half Blood.

He breathed deeply, trying to take everything in, but his lungs were hurting, so he started coughing convulsively.

“What…?” He heard a voice, but it was barely more than a whisper over the thundering blood in his ears. “Nico!”

Then there were two faces over him, hands running over his arms, looking for injuries.

You won’t find any scar, Nico wanted to say, I’m a broken boy, but there is no proof of that on my skin.

He tried to back away from those preoccupied touches, but his limbs were to heavy to be moved, much less controlled. He was trembling and colliding, he didn’t know how to stop. He just wanted everything to stop spinning so fast.

A light appeared from somewhere above him and was pointed at his face; he couldn’t see anything anymore over that terrible brightness, but the voice spoke again, sounding a little panicked, “He doesn’t seem hurt, but I don’t know if we can move him.”

There was a shy answer, but Nico couldn’t make the words out, because the newly appeared light brought back to his mind the light he’d seen earlier and he just needed to know that Will was okay. It took him a couple of tries, but in the end, he managed to croak out, “Will… please.”

There was a hand in his hair, pulling it back from his eyes. “You’re right, Nico.” The voice said, “Go call Will, and tell him to come here as fast as he can. Tell him Nico needs help, he’ll be here in no time. Go!”

The light disappeared immediately. A gentle hand helped him to sit up and suddenly he was staring right at Leo, his cheeks almost completely covered in grease, and his eyes were big and worried. He felt immediately relieved at the sight, because it was so familiar that he almost felt like he wasn’t completely lost. Just a little.

He swallowed the dump in his throat and Leo’s gaze never left his face.

“What happened?” Nico asked, squeezing his eyelids for a second, trying to make his eyes focus. He was seeing a blurry world.

“You should tell me, mate.” Leo replied, kindly. “We were going back to our cabin when we heard you shout and cough. Did someone hurt you?”

Nico shook his head.

Leo whispered the next question, like he wanted to give Nico the chance to pretend he didn’t hear his words, “Why are you crying, then?”

Nico hadn’t realized he was crying, but now that he knew he was doing it, he couldn’t stop. He tried to hide his face, letting his hair fall in front of his face. “I don’t know.” He said, honestly. “I’m just defective, I guess.”

Leo wasn’t having any of that. He shook his head and cupped Nico’s cheeks, tilting his head back to make him meet his gaze, “You aren’t, Nico. Not even a bit.”

Nico sighed and wrapped his arms around his own body, trying to stop the tremors. “You are a mechanic, Leo. You can fix anything.” He squeezed his eyes, trying to breathe, but it wasn’t working. “Fix me, please. Just fix me. I don’t want to be like this anymore.”

He sounded desperate and pathetic, he knew that, but the world was spinning and blurry and he just wanted it to fucking stop.

Without notice, Leo pulled him in his arms, clenching him in a bone-wrecking hug. Nico buried his face in the crook of his neck and let himself be rocked gently; Leo smelled like grease and steel and fire. Nico tried to let that scent warm him up.

Leo said, “You aren’t broken, Nico. Your heart may be a little chipped because of all the things you’ve been through, but each time you filled the cracks with gold. It may be heavy now, but it’s strong and beautiful and beating. You are alive, Nico, and if there is air in your lungs, it means you aren’t broken. So I need you to focus; breathe, please.”

And he did. He took in a deep breath and another and another, till eventually his lungs remembered how to work on their own.

There were loud footsteps and branches breaking and then Will was there, running toward them at full speed. He crushed by Nico’s side on his knees and Leo let him go, sitting back on his heels.

Nico’s relief rolled off of his body in hot waves at the sight of that messy blonde hair and those damn freckles of his, because Will was there and he was okay. He was okay okay okay. That was the most important thing.

Nico could deal with being broken, but he could’ve never been able to see Will being hurt or lost. Never. He could bear his own pain as long as he knew Will’s heart was happy and pumping blood in his body.

Will’s hands were everywhere. On Nico’s cheeks, his arms, his hair, his chest, his thighs, his neck. In that moment, Will wasn’t wearing his boyfriend face, no. He was full-on doctor. “Are you hurt? Do you have wounds? Did you hit your head?”

Nico shook his head three times, one for each question. Since Will didn’t even flinch, he added, “I’m okay.”

Will took in a sharp breath and held Nico in his arms so tightly that it was like he was trying to hold all of his shattered pieces together. It was with that smell of home and that familiar warmth, that Nico’s body family stopped trembling. He rubbed his forehead against Will’s neck and he felt like coming back to life.

Ah, Gods. He wasn’t sure whether he was listening to his own heartbeat or to Will’s or to a mix of both, but he felt completely filled with love. The darkness dissipated slowly, one steady beat after the other.

After a time – three minutes or maybe three centuries – Will eventually pulled back to look at his face, but kept his hands securely on Nico’s arms, almost as if he was worried that he could disappear at any moment right in front of his eyes.

Nico saw the exact second when Will’s face went from doctor to boyfriend. “Oh, you scared me to death, Nico! I’ll lock you in your cabin for the rest of the summer and you’ll never ever be allowed to be out of my sight ever again. You are an absolute menace, I almost had a heart attack! If I’ll have white hair by my mid-twenties, it’ll be your fault, damn you!” He was mumbling quickly; too many words to say in so little time. Relief was now rolling off of Will too, even if it was mixed with a lot of other feelings.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know… I’m not sure how I got here.” Nico’s mind was a little blurred and he couldn’t remember much of that day.

“You shadow-travelled in your sleep, Nico. You were having a nightmare and I tried to shake you awake and call your name, but you didn’t wake up. And then you just disappeared. I looked for you everywhere, but couldn’t find you anywhere. Then Leo’s brother found me and told me where you were. Thank the Gods they were here.” He turned to look at Leo and hugged him too, “Thank you, Leo. Gods, thank you.”

Leo shrugged and offered a little smile, “Boys with chipped hearts have to stick together.” He says and even if Will couldn’t really understand, Nico did.

What Leo meant was that Nico wasn’t alone. Not alone at all.

Leo stood up and grinned at them, before running his fingers fondly on their hair, “It’s better if I go to sleep. You’re in good hands now, Nico. I’ll see you both at breakfast, try to get some sleep, huh?”

Nico barely had the time to thank him, before he disappeared with a yawn in the trees, where one of his brothers were watching us curiously.

Soon, Nico and Will were alone and even if it took them quite some time, they managed to get to Nico’s cabin. He was leaning almost completely against Will’s body, because he was so knackered that his legs weren’t bothering working more than he strict necessary, but Will didn’t seem to mind at all; if anything, he held Nico closer with every step.

Will helped him change his pyjama, that was stained with grass and mud, and then changed his own (because of course he kept some of his clothes at the Hades’ cabin).

They slid under the blankets, in those sheets that smelled both like light and darkness, like Will and Nico. It had been a while since they had smelled just like Nico, since for the whole summer Will had slept with him.

Will pulled him closer and Nico placed his head on that spot on his chest, where he could feel both Will’s heartbeat in one ear and feel his warm breath caressing his opposite cheek. That was Nico’s favourite place in the whole world. Screw that, in the whole universe.

“I could’ve accidentally taken you with me when I shadow-travelled, I’m sorry.” Nico whispered, feeling guilty.

“I don’t care.” Will replied, softly.

“But you could’ve been hurt.” He insisted. The thought was almost unbearable.

“I don’t care,” he said again, rubbing circles on Nico’s back with his hands, “Besides, if you’d taken me with you, I could’ve made sure that you were okay sooner. So, please, next time take me with you. I’d like it better if you didn’t go away at all, but if you do, take me with you.”

Nico couldn’t really find any word to tell Will just how much in love with him he was, so he kissed softly his chest and hoped it was enough.

“Are you okay, by the way? Do you want to tell me about your nightmare? It could help.” Will whispered, holding Nico closer.

Since he barely remembered his nightmare, Nico shook his head a little. The only memory embroided in his mind was the feeling of losing Will in the darkness, so he said, “Just… don’t ever leave me, okay?”

“How could I ever? You own my heart, Nico; you know that.” He whispered; then, “I don’t say it often enough, but I love you. I love you.”

Nico tilted his head back a stole a kiss from those soft lips, “I love you, too.”

Then, safe from that blinding darkness and that feeling of solitude, Nico managed to fall asleep in the arms of his boyfriend, who held him tightly. The last thing he heard before drifting off was Will’s low sleepy voice murmuring a lullaby in his ear, like he always did whenever Nico had a nightmare.

His dreams were filled with kisses and rays of sunshine and home home home.

[another-snape-story]

Some Things Need Treatment

Chapter XVI

“Eyes still a little swollen,” Snape smiled softly, once he met you at your door. Being the first person he saw in the morning, you filled him with strength and desire to make it through the day.

“And you’re still limping,” you answered sympathetically, shyly hiding your face.

“Last night left unpleasant reminders,” he agreed.

He was right. But these would vanish soon, while something more important would remain indelible. This was the price you payed to find out the man you so much cared for cared for you no less. After the long midnight talk you still didn’t know much about each other, but connection between the two of you got stronger. None of you was perfect – you both had dark spots in your past, but nothing of that mattered, unless your hearts were capable of remorse and compassion.

“But I like the way it ended, anyway,” you looked up at him, hoping he was the same opinion. Although his glance fled far ahead, the corner of his mouth slightly leapt up. “Thank you, Snape...”

“You know my name, don’t you?” His tone lacking in expressiveness was back again, and sarcastic arch of an eyebrow so typical of him. With this, you felt the remnants of strain and tension which still nested inside swiftly and lightly flit away.

“I think so,” you chirped playfully.

“Maybe it’s time to finally start using it? Just an assumption.”

“Highest time! But I like calling you Snape,” you teased, and he rolled his eyes.

“How’s your leg? Hurts too bad?” So discomposed you were the day before – you didn’t ask him if he was all right. Even he himself forgot about this minor inconvenience.

“I can bear it.”

“You’d better visit Poppy,” you insisted, seeing how much pain it actually caused him.

“I’m fine, I’m telling you!” Snape groaned displeased. “Besides, I’d prefer keeping it undisclosed.”

“Oh I see! You want me to help you with it,” you giggled.

“What?” he frowned. “NO!”

“Ugh! Come on! I won’t faint seeing your wound!” you puckered, jokingly moving fingers before your face in a sinister manner, as if it was one of the most terrible things in the world.

Snape coughed. “I don’t like the way this conversation unfolds.” He looked embarrassed, which highly amused you.

“Severus… You need treatment!” through with fooling around, you suddenly got serious again. “I mean it! I have some really good remedies…”

“I am a Potions master. Do you believe I can’t make one myself?” Although his expression suggested nothing bur annoyance, Snape’s heart melted at the sound of his name coming from you.

“Please?” you didn’t take your pleading glance off him, and resolute, adamant, menacing Potions Professor had to give up.

You spent the whole day – apart from classes you regrettably couldn’t skip due to being a teacher – brewing an improved Wound-Cleaning Potion by your own recipe, which you hoped Snape would not only appreciate as a token of your attention, but also asses it from professional point of view. Making something for him was extremely enjoyable – beside all your efforts, you seemed to put a grain of your soul into this process.

It was late in the evening when you set off your office right to the dungeons, a vial with purple liquid in your hand. You haven’t seen him for too long and were impatient to finally meet him.

“POTTER! GET OUT! OUT!” you heard familiar voice thunder through the hallway, which – unlike its usual measured tone – now seemed to reach the highest point of irritation.

Luckily, it happened when you were about to go downstairs, and therefore saved you from roaming the castle in search for your colleague so dreadfully stern-looking, but really kind and understanding. Smiling to yourself, you headed for the source of the sound.

Meeting Harry sprinting back to the stairs was no surprise.

“What are you doing here?” you stopped the boy, who looked at you wide-eyed.

“Just wanted my Quidditch Through the Ages back,” he explained, short of breath.

“Immediately return to your dorm,” you railed strictly, “it’s too late for reading!” but tumbling to the reason he needed this very book before the upcoming match added leniently:

“Moreover, what you might find there won’t considerably affect your performance during the game, while the lack of sleep definitely will.”

The boy beamed, eventually finding your argument convincing and wishing you good night hurried away.

“Thank you Filch, I’ll handle it myself,” Snape was saying, when you stepped into the staff room.

“Professors,” pressing crumpled blood-stained fabric to his chest, the old caretaker bowed slightly and left.

You understood at once what he and Filch were doing here. You didn’t feel hurt Snape rejected your help, but accepted his. You were even glad this procedure escaped your intervention. Not that you found it repugnant, of course not! – you only wished to refrain him form any kind of distressing experience.

“Is everything all right? You missed dinner.” Snape awkwardly adjusted his frock-coat.

“Oh, did I? Lost the track of time working on this,” with a proud smile you handed him the vial. “Don’t worry, I’m not insisting you use it right now,” your voice so soft and somehow reassuring.

“What a relief,” he grunted not without sarcasm, taking a closer look of the bottle’s content. Internally Snape was deeply touched by your kind gesture. Used to being neglected his whole life, he found it hard to believe that someone might care for him, and even harder to express his gratitude. On the other hand, the man hated showing his weakness, he hated even thinking of it, thus your excessive attention to his wounded leg made him feel a little uncomfortable – really uncomfortable – no less grateful though. The prisoner of this highly embarrassing situation, as he would classify it, Snape let his defensive habit take over.

“You’re welcome,” you flopped on the sofa, expecting him to join you, what he leisurely did.

“Thank you,” he uttered quietly after a short pause.

Your hand landed on the furrowed cord cushion, unconsciously shortening the distance between the two of you. “Don’t mention…”

“How are you?” The question bothered Snape the whole day. “Feeling better?”

“I guess,” you sighed. “But I’m still thinking... If it were not for me…”

Snape’s hand found yours. “What is done – is done. You can’t change it. But you shouldn’t feel responsible for everything that happens in the world you can’t change!” He leaned back, looking at the ceiling, yet his mind travelled somewhere miles away. “The guilt,” he spat, hating the anguished experience standing behind a short simple term. “It will eat on you. Destroying you slowly. Mercilessly. Unless there’s nothing left but an indifferent, apathetic carcass.” His fingers tensed as he spoke the last words.

He was far from being indifferent, you could tell. What he had to go through? Poor, poor man. Hiding his pain, he convinced himself he was incapable of having feelings, but you can’t fool one’s heart. The whole time you’ve been here, you tried to perceive why he appeared so distant, so cold and reserved, why he showed no particular interest or concern about his surrounding, but now you seemed to find the answer.

You wished you could help him, just as he did the night before, take the burden off his shoulders, relieve his heart. But was there any chance he would accept it? No way, you knew it for sure.

“Let’s get drunk,” you suggested ardently, shoving all the troubles aside for a while.

What Snape truly appreciated, that you’ve never pressured him, trying to fish out what was his bother. He couldn’t explain how you’ve always managed to make him feel better with just one phrase, which, however, fitted the situation surprisingly perfect.

He turned his head towards you, a subtle smile on his lips.

“I have a bottle of firewhiskey in my chambers,” you put a convincing argument into his consideration, before he could say something.

“Do you realize you’ve just invited me to your private quarters?” his eyebrow gave a leap.

“I just said there’s a bottle in my quarters, and we’re drinking in your office,” you stated cheekily, “because mine lays in the other part of the castle. Come on!” You started up to your feet, pulling his hand.

Was it inappropriate? Was it wrong? Snape didn’t give a damn. He just trusted himself to your will, wishing to stay with you the longer he could, without thinking of the consequences. Without thinking of anything else.

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[rottmntquotes]

Petition Episode (Joke Script Part 1)

(Screen opens up on Donnie; He is sitting in his lab, working on his Self-Cleaning Toothpick, and whistling the show’s theme song. A beat or two passes before Leo races into the lab, and the camera focuses on Leo as he scrambles around, constantly falling onto his face. In an attempt to get Leo to leave, Donnie turns in his swivel chair to face Leo.)

Donnie: Leon, what do you want?

Leo: DONNIE! You have to see this!

Donnie: See what, exactly?

(Leo shoves his phone in Donnie’s face, smiling with enough force to split his face in half. With surprise clear on his face, Donnie slowly takes the phone, raising a brow and turning his focus to the commercial playing on the screen.)

Announcer #1: Hello, hello, hello! Are you a bored soul? A lonely pony? A group or duo who has nothing better to do than sit around at home and work on meaningless inventions?

Donnie: Hold on, wha-

Leo: SHhhhHHHhhHHH!

(Donnie glares at Leo briefly, sighing heavily before looking back at the phone screen.)

Announcer #1: If you answered yes to one, two, or all of those questions, then you may be eligible to try out for a new show filmed down here in the Hidden City!

(Donnie’s eyes widen slightly; He looks at Leo, silently asking for an explanation.)

Leo: It’s a commercial Draxum showed me! He managed to pass through a mystic wall that allows me to get news and stuff from the Hidden City!

(Donnie hums, handing the phone to Leo and thinking intensely. Leo waits as patiently as possible, glancing around and reaching for Donnie’s Self-Cleaning Toothpick. Donnie slaps Leo’s hand away, coming to a conclusion.)

Donnie: I assume there is a reason behind you showing me this commercial?

Leo: Yeah there is! (He jumps up onto Donnie’s desktop to sit next to Donnie) I wanna do it!

Donnie: How does that affect me?

Leo: Because I wanna do it with you, doofus! We rarely do anything together anymore!

Donnie: We went to get ice cream together just two days ago.

Leo: Okay, but-

Donnie: And the day before that we played six rounds of cards.

Leo: Don-

Donnie: And two days before that we watched a marathon of your favorite Jupiter Jim movies.

(Leo scoffs, throwing one leg over the other and sighing dramatically.)

Leo: Fine! Be that way! I guess it is too much to ask!

(Donnie lifts a brow, smirking lightly.)

Leo: It’s not like I want to spend more time with my favorite big brother anyways! Oh, woe is me to have my brotherhood left in twain!

Donnie: Are you done?

Leo: Hold up, not yet. (He leaps up to stand on the desktop, leaning back and placing the back of his right hand on his forehead, and pouting) I cannot believe what my life has come to! Whatever shall I do without the love of my entire family?! I feel myself withering away! Oh! Ancestors, is that you?

(Donnie shakes his head, now smiling widely.)

Donnie: Nardo, if I agree to go, will you stop?

(Leo drops his act, nodding rapidly. Donnie sighs, reluctantly agreeing.)

Leo: Heck yeah! Let’s go participate in a Hidden City game!

(The screen switches to the Hidden City, where the boys are following a map given to them by Hueso to find the studio of the game. Leo is constantly making near contact with random Yokai, and Donnie tries his damndest to keep this from happening to his best ability.)

Leo: Okay, acording to the map, the studio should be right-

(A Fox Yokai interrupts Leo with a loud cheer. She is dressed in a red dress with purple highlights, and her tail and head tuft are purple as well. The twins are less than impressed by this look, and show it with their confused/slightly disgusted frowns.)

Donnie: Uhm, can we help you, ma’am?

Fox Yokai: Yes! I am one of the announcers of the game, and you are the last Yokai on the roster!

Donnie: Wait, the last-

(Leo pushes Donnie to the side, knocking Donnie onto the ground unintentionally. Leo then shakes the Yokai’s hand and introduces himself.)

Fox Yokai: Yes, I know who you are, and I also know who your brother is. We will go over the formalities later, for now we must get into the building.

(Leo helps Donnie up, shaking with excitement. Donnie rolls his eyes, placing his right hand on Leo’s head.)

Donnie: I don’t trust this Yokai. She knew too much about us before we even spoke.

Leo: You’re just being paranoid. (He removes Donnie’s hand) No need to be! We’re here together! And we’ve got each other’s backs! Our Twin Trust hasn’t failed us before, after all.

(Donnie grumbles, unable to deny Leo’s claim.)

Leo: C’mooooon, Don! Just this one thing! Then I’ll do whatever you want to do the next time we hang out! I promise!

Donnie: Ugh... fine. But on one condition.

(Leo tilts his head.)

Donnie: You have to assure me that this isn’t like that stupid Maze of Death.

Leo: Don, please. I would know if this was anything like that maze. And, it isn’t. You have my 100% Leo Guarantee!

(Almost instantly, the camera switches over to Raph, Mikey, and Splinter, who are sitting in the living room. All of a sudden, Draxum appears out of nowhere, startling everyone.)

Draxum: JITSU! WHERE IS THE BLUE ONE?!

Splinter: What are you talking about?!

Draxum: I showed your son a commercial of one of the most dangerous Hidden City games in an attempt to get him out of my apartment!

Raph: WHAT?!

Mikey: Barry! How many times have I told you that that’s not an efficient way to get rid of the twins?!

Draxum: I know, I know! But now isn’t the time to worry about that! (Turns To Face Splinter) Your son, depending on when he inevitably left, is about to sign himself up for a Hidden City game that ends in death nearly 97.55% of the time!

(Raph faints, his body thudding so hard that it makes everyone jump. Mikey chuckles nervously, tending to Raph and leaving Splinter and Draxum to talk things out.)

Splinter: What made you think that showing Leonardo such a commercial was a good idea?!

Draxum: He would not stop talking to me! It was the only thing I could show him that kept his interest! When he said he was going to show the purple one and ask if they could go together, I thought he was joking! That’s his thing! It’s was he does!

(Splinter groans, pinching the middle of his snout before sighing heavily and looking back at his sons. Mikey had managed to wake Raph up, and they were now looking straight at their father.)

Splinter: We must go and save your brothers. Goodness knows what they have gotten themselves into.

(The camera switches to the twins, who are standing in the middle of a group of large Yokai. Donnie is visibly worried, his legs are shaking, his hands clenching around his Tech Bō, and his eyes are shifting around to keep track of his surroundings. Leo is visibly excited, he is standing straight, smiling cheek to cheek, and biting his lip to keep from shouting his joy. The group is standing outside a large house, and they are looking at the Fox Yokai, and a brown and white Rabbit Yokai. The Fox Yokai is clearly happy, and the Rabbit Yokai is clearly disinterested in the situation.)

Leo: *Whispering* Are you ready Don?

Donnie: *Whispering Angrily* N-not r-r-really...

Leo: *Whispering* Hey, it’s gonna be okay. I’m here with you, remember? Twin Trust.

(Donnie calms down substantially, sighing ruefully and leaning against Leo.)

Donnie: Remind me never to do stuff like this with you again.

Leo: No.

Donnie: And why not?

Leo: Because you know you have fun bonding with me.

Donnie: Yeah, when I’m not being threatened with death.

(Leo chuckles, giving Donnie a sideways hug. The twins look forward, waiting for the Yokai to begin explaining what is expected of them. Beside the twins, the Yokai around them are getting slightly antsy. Donnie and Leo share a look of uncertainty. Leo seems more put together than Donnie, but neither objects to the idea anymore. Donnie then looks at the ground, thinking to himself.

“This is not going to end well...”)

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

*This was completely experimental, and I’ll keep going based on the feedback I get. Hopefully this gives you an idea of what I think would make a neat episode.

[winryofresembool]

Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 20

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: The dorks have a talk.

A/N: 20 chapters and almost 40k words later! If someone had told me some time ago that I will write another long multichapter fic, I’d have laughed at them. But here we are! In honor of that, I’ll give you a Caleo centered chapter :D

Thank you again to everyone who commented the previous chapter(s), I just wanna let you know that I see you! And please keep them coming because I really really do love reading them. It's not always easy to stay motivated to keep writing a long fic but you guys certainly help me :)

Words: 1500ish

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / AO3

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It was another Saturday evening, and Calypso was trying to decide what to do. Her stress levels were pretty high due to the issues with the people who she had considered friends (she still hadn’t managed to talk to Leo, only awkwardly greeting him when they were in the same space), upcoming exam season and a reminder that her financial situation wouldn’t allow her to live on her own much longer. That’s why one side of her really just wanted to curl up in her bed with a good book and forget that the rest of the world existed. But she had also been invited to a fellow history student’s birthday party and one part of her said that maybe it would be a good idea to get to know her co students better, especially in her current situation.

Debating her options for a while, she decided that taking a shower would give her some extra time to make her decision. After taking her time in there, humming some old tune her mother had taught her, she took her towel from the wall and noticed her mistake. She usually took clean clothes with her into the bathroom when needed, mostly to avoid awkward situations in the corridor with her male flatmate, but this time she had been so distracted she had forgotten. She had already thrown her previous clothes in the laundry basket and didn’t feel like digging them from there, especially since she had decided to go to the party after all. Figuring that the odds that Leo would be in the common area in that moment anyway were pretty slim - she hadn’t at least heard any noises from there - she decided that it would be safe enough to just use the towel.

Just when she thought she was in the clear and was about to step into the safety of her own room, Leo’s door opened.

“Um, Calypso? I was wondering…”

That was all he managed to say before his face turned as red as a tomato because he realized that she was only wearing a towel. Calypso wanted to make a high pitched squeal but in the last moment she managed to gather some dignity and just grunted, pulling the door in front of her to give her more cover.

“Yeah? What is it?” She peeked from behind it.

“I… just… um, wanted to talk… um, because I feel this situation is getting, um, ridiculous, but… clearly this is a bad moment…” Leo stuttered, not even daring to look at the direction of Calypso’s door even though she was perfectly hidden behind it.

Calypso sighed. “Yeah. But… give me a couple of minutes… Maybe we can talk after that.”

“Al-alright,” Leo agreed and banged his door shut exactly at the same time with Calypso.

Once Calypso had picked clean clothes and seen from the mirror that she didn’t look quite as embarrassed as a few minutes earlier, she told Leo that she was ready to talk with him. He too seemed a bit calmer, although Calypso thought she still spotted some red in his elvish ears.

“Sorry ‘bout that, I heard you walking in the hallway and thought…” He ran his fingers through his hair, not seeming to know where else to put his hands.

Calypso wanted to snap just to let some frustrations from the past few weeks out but somehow Leo’s equal amount of embarrassment managed to mellow her down. “Don’t worry about it… It’s not like you saw anything, anyway.”

“Yeah… I mean I didn’t! Ugh, this is not how I wanted to do this! I mean, to talk with you!”

“Calm down, Repair Boy,” Calypso said and with that one nickname she managed to melt some of the ice that had gathered between them. “Nothing happened. In fact, I’ve been meaning to talk to you too...”

“You have?” Leo asked with surprise, finally managing to shake the embarrassment off.

“Yes.” Calypso nodded. “I… Listen. I don’t know what’s going on between us two. I don’t know how close you are with Percy. But I do know whatever happened between me and him happened over two years ago and we only saw each other face to face one time, like I already told you. I don’t feel anything towards him anymore and I never even expected to see him after I moved out of New York. So if you’re worried it might affect your friendship… you don’t have to. I don’t have anything to do with him anymore, and I don’t care who he’s seeing, and so on. And if it makes you feel any better, I only told him about my circumstances because I had to. Not because I find him more trustworthy than you. And even he knows just one part of it.” She wanted to reach out to him, put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly, like she already had earlier, but she wasn’t sure how he’d react to that. Instead she ended up crossing her arms over her chest.

“Alright,” Leo said finally after letting the information sink in. “Don’t worry about it. I think I overreacted too. To be honest, I’m not even sure why. I guess it might be because I was worried about you? You know, you’ve been trying to help me with my issues but you don’t let me… us help you. This super mysterious ‘thing’ just keeps popping up so I think it must be a big deal to you. You can trust us. But I guess I just need to learn to be more patient so I will try that…”

“Thank you”, Calypso said, this time managing a small, reassuring smile. “I appreciate it. And I… I want us to be able to be friends again. If that’s still something you want. Even if you are a bit of a nuisance sometimes…” She smirked playfully. “… It would mean a lot to me.”

“A nuisance or not, to me it sounds like you secretly like hanging out with me.” Leo retorted back, his face lighting up like the sun.

Calypso threw her hands in the air dramatically. “Fine, I may actually enjoy your company sometimes but don’t go boasting about that all around the campus.”

“C’mon, you know I’m not actually like that.” Leo snorted. “What happens in the flat number 7 stays in flat number 7.” Calypso looked at him in disbelief so he had to add: “Well, sometimes I talk to Piper but that’s only because she basically has magic powers or something, nothing stays a secret from her.”

“I will keep that in my mind,” Calypso chuckled, but then got serious again. “Hey, are we good now? I mean, you don’t mind even if I don’t…”

“Yeah, it’s OK. Piper also said that I should respect your privacy and I know she’s right there.”

“Thanks,” Calypso answered, genuinely relieved. She couldn’t help but tease Leo a bit, though, because he seemed to like it as much as she did. “Smart girl, that Piper. You should start listening to her more often.”

“What? Are you implying that I’m not smart? I have you know back in high school I had the average of...,” Leo protested, put Calypso cut him out.

“Alright.” She lifted one of her hands towards Leo as a sign of stop. “I believe you. But you know what? I’m kind of hungry right now. Would you be up for some Chinese?”

“I… I thought you were going to go somewhere,” Leo said with confusion, gesturing towards Calypso’s clothes. He knew her well enough to be able to tell that when Calypso wanted to stay at home on Saturday, she was wearing her pajamas instead of a nice, white dress with some flower prints on it.

Calypso got flustered when she realized she had already forgotten about her earlier plans. “Oh… I was… Someone I know from the university has a birthday party… But truth to be told, I was kind of torn about going… and I don’t think anyone’s really expecting to see me there anyway.”

Leo’s quickly changing expressions told her that he was both surprised by her decision and also wanted to tease her to get a ‘revenge’ for her earlier teasing but for once he managed to bite his urge. “So… you’re going to hang out with me instead?”

“Yeah. If that’s cool with you.”

“I thought you’d never ask! Hey, I was thinking, we could…”

Leo started blabbering about all the games and movies and TV shows he wanted to show Calypso. Some of it went right through Calypso’s ears but she was still happy to listen to him talk about things that made him excited, and to see that they were capable of being the way they had been before the Percy incident. As they were huddled on the sofa eating their Chinese food while laughing at some funny scenes on Brooklyn 99, Calypso thanked herself for deciding to stay at home in the end.