#i'm aware that there's probably medical inaccuracies but this is basically angst for the sake of angst lol

[bambiraptorx]

Follow up to this post, which is basically exploring an AU of Minor Interference where Draxum doesn't swear the mystic oath and thus is capable of hurting the turtles intentionally. I'm having fun exploring the concept lol

content warnings: child abuse, injuries, implied/referenced violence

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Leo's the annoying one, and he's well aware of it.

Since training with Draxum he's taken it on almost as a badge of honor: he's the loud, obnoxious one, the best at pissing Draxum off, the best target for anger. See, he'd figured out early on (from the first day of training, when he'd pissed the goat man off enough to bring out the vines) that Draxum doesn't like leaving severe injuries unhealed. Maybe it's his own weird brand of guilt? Maybe it makes training more effective in his eyes or something?

Point is, Draxum doesn't leave bones broken, or skulls fractured, or plastrons cracked. Any damage he does in a fight, he fixes. There's a weird sort of honor system behind it, as far as Leo can tell, but there's a catch: Draxum can only heal so much. He's got limits.

And hey, if every hit he takes is one Draxum can't dish out to one of his brothers? Any limit is a point Leo can twist in his favor. It's not like the pain lasts that long anyway. So Leo's self-appointed role is now the agitator, the instigator, the 'get in your face and call you ugly so you hit him instead of them' guy. It's not much, but it's something.

But there are times that he regrets it.

Like right now.

Breathing has never been this hard before, he's pretty sure. He did a good job of pissing off the old goat, judging by the state of his... well, his everything. He's not even sure what is and isn't damaged at this point (which a certain someone won't be happy about, but given that this is that someone's fault in the first place, he doesn't have room to complain). Leo's just gonna stay on his side where he finally collapsed for a while.

Loud clacks approach him across the floor, and it takes him a few seconds longer than it should to recognize them as hoof steps.

"Larkspur. Report your injuries."

He tries, or he thinks about trying. Not that he can really tell which is which. So he got a couple of kicks to the face and can't move his jaw or breathe right or think straight! Nothing Sheep Face can't fix, right?

Something prods his outstretched right arm, and the fiery pain already there seems to get ten times stronger. He lets out a hiss, weak-sounding even to his own ears, and tries to pull his arm away-

Ow ow ow that hurts that burns the fire is running up and down his arm and he can't even move it he can't do anything to stop it ow ow ow-

A shadow falls over his face, and Draxum has either the decency or the gall to look something like ashamed at the damage he's caused. "Larkspur? Are you alri- can you move?"

Leo attempts to shake his head, but ouch his broken jaw does not approve of that. He'd hate to see the state his beautiful face is in right now.

Draxum frowns. "Marigold! Come help me with your brother."

The pain of his sharp inhale sends him into a coughing fit, wheezing and nearly panicking as he tries to catch his breath. He can't-- he can't let Mikey see him like this, Mikey doesn't need to know what this looks like-- he's too young, he shouldn't-- he can't breathe, he can't breathe-

Things get fragmented after that.

Hands on his legs, his shell, his arms, his face, aggravating the pain and somehow soothing it too. (He wishes he could say he's never felt pain anything like this but it would be a lie.) Something snaps-- pops into place, and he nearly screams. (Maybe he does scream.) Healing magic forces itself into his body, coercing his bones and blood and organs into place.

He drifts in an ocean of pain for... he doesn't know how long. It holds him up, keeps him afloat, just long enough for him to reach the shore. (He isn't all that sure if he wants to wake up, won't it hurt?)

He wakes up on some sort of cot, Mikey by his side. He's stiff and sore all over, and something in his throat tingles unbearably.

"Don't try to talk, idiot." His little brother's voice is harsh with worry, even as he rubs something cold and sticky on Leo's face. "We had to break out some potions and healing salve for this, and it's going to take a while to kick in."

Healing salve? Huh, that's new. He must have pissed Draxum off even more than he'd thought. It doesn't feel like a win, but he'll count it. If he adds it to the ratio...

For a second, or maybe longer, he's back in the ocean again. Not for quite as long this time, thankfully. He catches a long shadow over him, a door opening and closing, the tail end of something Mikey's saying in a nearly a whisper. "I didn't think--I didn't know he was that... hard on you." Mikey's brow creases, and he doesn't quite look Leo in the eye. If he's talking, he probably expects a response, which means that goopy stuff on his face must be active by now.

He must have been out of it longer than he'd thought.

Leo coughs, the sound as harsh as the rasping itch in his throat. "Not always. 'Sides, I've been... goading him on for a while. Jus' went too far, I think." His jaw still doesn't feel quite right, but he can't tell if that's post healing fuzzies or something deeper. Maybe it's just the face goop.

Tears begin to well in Mikey's eyes. "He shouldn't--he shouldn't do that, Leo. This isn't--" he cuts himself off, unable or unwilling to say any more. The tears overflow, running down his face as he sobs. Well, they've all got their coping mechanisms.

Leo sits up, a little awkwardly but it's good enough, and hugs his little brother. "I know, I know."

Mikey hugs him back, and for once, he doesn't mind the tears and the snot that comes with being his brother's shoulder to cry on. They stay there, holding each other on the cot of purple vines, and if Leo's eyes get wet, he doesn't let on.

Some way, somehow, he's going to get back at Draxum for this.