#it’s Donnie’s turn to talk about his age! or should I say ages

[hitwiththetmnt]

Just a Number P1 P2

Gee Donnie how come you get to have two ages?

[theyhavetakenovermylife]

Can I request more 2012? I really like your table tease story with Donnie BTW! My request is what do you think would be good turn ons and turn offs for the 2012 turtles.

Turn Ons and Turn Offs (18+)

2012!Turtles x reader

A/N: Of course you can!💚 And I’m happy that you liked it😘💜 These focuses mainly on the spicy stuff, but there’s also some general relationship aspects in there. As you know, not all turn ons has to be strictly sexual💙❤️ 💜🧡 (Btw, thought you all should know I wrote this while listening to Shady Lady by Ani Lorak).

All characters are aged up.

Warning: Talk about sex, and possible break ups. And spelling. My head did a upsi every once in a while.

Leonardo:

Turn Ons:

Your admiration for his leadership skills is evident, and Leonardo is drawn to your determination to better yourself, just like he always tries to better himself. He finds your disciplined nature and eagerness appealing, often finding himself lost in admiration as you dive into whatever you’re passionate about.

Your respect for tradition and loyalty to your friends resonates with his own values. Your ideas of a relationship matches up with his, and both of you found that you had the same goals for your love lives.

When you let him geek out and take an interest in his sci fi series, board games and martial art rants. It made him weak in the knees to have you sit next to him, listening intently to all his words.

Leo likes to view himself as an independent leader with a mind of steel, making the decisions and leading the flock. But, he did like it ALOT when you took control in the bedroom. It gave him a change to relax, and, well, you looked hot as fuck on top of him.

But as much as Leo LOVED it when you took control during intimate times, it made him feel like a true man and a real leader, whenever you looked to him for protection or help. It made you look so small and cute, and he could just eat you on the spot.

Training you. More than once a small training session between you and Leo had turned into a heated makeout.

Calling him Sensei. Leo will lose his shit and become dominant very quickly.

Your eyes. Leo loves to watch your eyes during sex. Both of you made a big deal out of looking into each other’s eyes during your climax.

Teasing. Him or you? It didn't matter. Leo just had a thing for teasing and foreplay, finding it amazing the longer it lasts.

Turn Offs:

If you did not understand his role as a leader and what it meant to him, Leonardo was OFF. Leo is committed to his given role, and he can become frustrated if he senses any disrespect towards their mission or disregard for his orders. That same goes for his partner, if they decided not to see how important it is for Leo.

He values structure and organization, so if you're too spontaneous or disregard the importance of training and preparation, it might put a strain on your relationship. It’s not that Leo doesn’t like a few spontaneous things, but he has a daily routine that he needs to follow.

Leo doesn’t like it when it gets too messy in the bedroom. Sure, he can get into the kinky stuff, and bodily fluids tend to get involved, but it has to be easy to clean. So it’s a big no when it comes to bringing food into the bedroom. Maybe something to drink so you can keep going, but other than a few snacks for movies, no food.

Degradation. Leo likes it when you call each other things; good boy, good girl, Sensei, slut has even been used, but he will never talk down to you. He’s not against talking about how much one of you was loving it, but peeling each other apart with words. Never ask or expect him to call you dumb, stupid or something worse, because he won’t do it.

If you bleed, either from a bite or Leo being a little too rough with you, he shuts the whole thing down. You can say you liked it, but Leo wasn’t having it. Blood meant pain, typically a pain that was way stronger than any pleasure. Leo did not like it, fearing that he was hurting you too much.

Raphael:

Turn Ons:

Your fiery spirit and unwavering determination catch Raphael's attention from the start. He's drawn to your confidence and independence, finding your willingness to stand up for what you believe in incredibly attractive.

Raphael appreciates your straightforwardness and isn't afraid to engage in some friendly banter and teasing with you, loving the challenge you present. Nothing could get Rapg in the mood, like when you returned his comment with an even fiery one, continuing back and forth until one was the ultimate winner. That winner tended to be the dominant one that night (even though Raph tended to take that role from you very quickly), or some very hot brat taming.

 Just like playful banter, playful fighting could rail Raph up so easily, trying his best to keep you pinned to the ground. He found it adorable to watch you struggle against him, and at times he would let you think you had the upper hand, before he pushed you to the ground, smiling mischievously at you, your flustered expression keeping him going every time.

Rough sex is his favorite kind. Though he would never try to intentionally hurt you, he did have a thing for hearing you whimper and plead for him, often turning into a whole game of dirty talk.

Begging has Raph spinning. He could lose his mind, just to the sound of your begging. However, if you really want him to enjoy it, don’t beg straight away. Make him fight for it. That’s the most fun part.

This man LOVES spanking. It is the sound, and the way your flesh jiggles afterwards, and the reddening of your skin, almost matching the color of his bandana. Raph loves watching your ass turn red during doggy style, calling it proof that he has been the one doing this to you.

Sex outside the bedroom? This man will do it anywhere with you. All you have to do is ask, and he will do it.

Turn Offs:

While Raphael admires your independence, he can become frustrated if he feels like you're shutting him out or keeping secrets. He values honesty and loyalty above all else, so if he senses any deceit or manipulation, it could lead to some serious clashes between you two. He can easily become insecure, overthinking very quickly, and make up ideas in his head, based on things you once said. Just talk to him, it makes everything easier.

Raph’s not a fan of overly clingy behavior and needs his space to process his emotions. That does not mean that he doesn’t want you around, but sometimes, when he’s mad at his brothers, he just needs to punch a punching bag first, before he tells you what's going on.

Raph loves to choke you doing sex, but if you choke him, he will pull away. Make sure he’s okay with it before you do it, otherwise he will start gaining some real trust issues when it comes to your intimate activities. He may be open for it one day, but he NEEDS to know it before you get down and dirty.

Stay. AWAY. From. His. ASS. No finger, no nothing. He ain’t doing it. Nope. Nuh-uh. Your butt, hell yeah! But his butt? FORGET IT.

His tail too! Ask first, otherwise, he will get aggressive or just walk away.

If you as much as joke about getting down with one of his brothers, his done. Leave. Raph is a pretty insecure guy, so a small joke can easily break him. Don’t do that to the poor guy. He’s trying his best.

You can get your ass spanked and your throat used and choked, but he will never make you bleed. He wants you to enjoy it just as much as him, so as soon as you tell him you don’t like it, he will stop. He will shut the whole thing down, even if you protest, deciding to spend the time cuddling instead.

As much as Raph loves to do nasty things with you, don’t you dare tell anybody. It’s not because he doesn’t want people to know that you two are intimate, but he just doesn't want people all up in his and your very personal business.

Donatello:

Turn Ons:

Donatello is captivated by your intellect and curiosity, often finding himself engrossed in deep conversations with you about science, technology, and the mysteries of the universe.

He's drawn to your creativity and innovative thinking, appreciating your unique perspective on the world. Your passion for learning and exploring new ideas resonates with his own interests, creating a strong intellectual connection between you two.

Donnie is a BIG fan of phone sex. Masturbation together over the phone or sexting when you couldn’t be together. He loved it all. If you’re in the mood, just send him a pic and he is ready. He can fix whatever he was working on another time.

He has a thing for seeing you in his color. A purple shirt, or maybe even surprise him with purple underwear, and he will be ON. Sometimes he will even let you wear his bandana, maybe even wrapping it around you during sex. He just loved the sight.

Donnie LOVES dirty talk. All of it. He can be so sweet and caring on any other occasion, but during sex, he can talk so nasty to you, making you wonder where all that came from. But in truth, he had always been like that. It just took a person he trusted to bring it out of him.

Neither you or Donnie have a set role when it comes to sex. You feel like being submissive? Sure, then he’ll dominate you until your world starts shaking. Or let’s say that you feel like dominating, Donnie will happily be submissive, begging and pleading for you.

Let him watch you. Please! He finds it so hot!

Your purple genius turtle likes to try out news in the bedroom. He has a very open mind when it comes to your sex life, and will pretty much try anything you bring up, and things that has been thinking about for some time.

Turn Offs:

Donnie doesn’t have a lot of sexual turn offs, most of them having something to do with the maintenance of a relationship. But he will NEVER do anything you don’t want him to! Never ever! If you don’t want to, he will throw the idea away, prioritizing your comfort way more.

Donnie values honesty and transparency in a relationship, so if he feels like you're hiding something or being evasive, it can cause some tension between you two.

When it comes to relationships, he's also not a fan of recklessness or impulsiveness, preferring to carefully analyze situations before taking action. He wants to talk to you first, going through all the pros and cons, making sure that both of you are on the same page, and that nothing is left in the unknown. If you disregard safety protocols or act without thinking things through, it could lead to some disagreements.

Donnie is not always available, even though he really wants to be. Since he’s the only one that knows how to fix a toaster, his help is often needed in the lair. Therefore it would really discourage him in the long run, if you didn’t come down to visit him.

Cut him off during his long rambles about the newest thing he was working on, or show a general lack of interest in his work, and Donnie will quickly find himself rethinking the entire relationship. It’s not a lot he’s asking for, and his trying his best to make space for you in his life, so if you can’t give him that, is it even worth it?

Break some of his work on purpose, and he will feel like you have betrayed him.

Michelangelo:

Turn Ons:

Your fun-loving nature and sense of humor immediately click with Mikey's laid-back personality. He's drawn to your adventurous spirit and willingness to join him on spontaneous escapades around the city. Mikey loves your positive attitude and ability to find joy in the simplest of things, often finding himself laughing and smiling more when you're around.

There’s many ways to get Mikey in the mood, one of the easiest ones being just telling him. Whisper in his ear and tell him you’re in the mood, and you’ll find that he too will be in the mood. It doesn’t take much more than that.

Something as simple as cuddling could get him going. Hug him in a certain way that reminded him of how you would press yourself against him, and his mind would go wandering until he couldn’t contain his excitement anymore.

Dress up in something revealing, and Mikey will not be able to keep his hands from himself. Especially something that puts focus on your chest. It will definitely help with this boob man.

There’s no way around it, but Mikey will bring food into the bedroom, and he will find a way to involve it in your acts. Licking syrup off of each other, or maybe eating ice cream from your chest. If Mikey can think of it, he will do it.

Mikey genuinely wants sex to be fun and enjoyable for both of you. It is a light hearted and pleasurable affair, and he will not see any reason to stop before you and him are satisfied… for the time being.

Sneaking around in the lair and in the city above can also really get him going. Mikey can’t help it. The thought of getting caught did some very interesting things to him.

Does Mikey like to be a little submissive sometimes? Yes, yes he does.

Roleplay? YES! This man LOVES it! Anything creative in the bedroom and he is hooked!

Turn Offs:

Mikey is not a fan of negativity or pessimism, preferring to surround himself with positivity and optimism. He understands that not everything is a dance on roses, but if you continuously point out the negative, he can find himself growing quite bored or maybe even tired of the relationship.

If there is one thing Mikey can’t stand, it is when he is forced to put a damper on his imagination and creativity. Tell him no to a good roleplay one too many times, and he will become quite agitated.

Mikey understands that sometimes life gets serious, he does not like it when his sex life has to be serious too. Mikey is not against intense intimacy with eye contact and all that, but let him have fun dammit! Can’t he have fun, then what is the purpose?!

Stick to one position for too long, and Mikey will get bored. And once Mikey is bored, the mood is gone. Keep it interesting, listen to his suggestions and have fun.

Keep Mikey stuck in the bedroom for too long, and he will - you guessed it - get bored. If you won’t sneak around with him, he will feel utterly lost in boredom. It takes a lot to make Mikey rethink a whole relationship, but with everything combined, he may be getting close to that point.

And the worst of them all. Probably the one he would put as the base for a break up; make him feel or call him childish. Now, Mikey wouldn’t care if his brothers called you and Mikey immature and childish, but if you called him that, along with sucking all the fun out of his life, Mikey would call it quits. He wants to have fun with his partner, and if his partner refused to do that, he wouldn’t want to be with them.

[dandylovesturtles]

listen ok I know shit is dire in CAS land (by @somerandomdudelmao) but I had this stupid idea and it's a slow day at work and I type fast so here you go I didn't proofread this at all

I'm sorry I made it silly

Massive spoilers if you haven't read the new CAS update

...

"I can fix it," is a much easier thing to say than to do. Casey's thinking that as he takes long, quick strides through the lair, turning the problem over in his head as fast as he can. He hopes Uncle Tello can't hear the parts of his thoughts that are in a panic, but based on their conversation before he probably can.

Uncle Tello doesn't say anything about it, and Casey kind of wishes he would, just for the reassurance that he's still there.

He's so absorbed in his thoughts he doesn't notice Donnie (the younger Donnie, the physical Donnie) standing in front of him until it's too late and he's already collided with his back. Coffee spills everywhere, though thankfully it only splashes his plastron where he can't get burned.

Younger Donnie whirls, something distinctly murderous in his eye that feels so weird and wrong directed at Casey. It cools only slightly when Donnie processes it wasn't one of his brothers bumping into him, and somehow that feels just as weird, that Donnie has to readjust his feelings to accommodate the unfamiliarity. (He's not family, not to this Donnie.)

"Is something chasing you?" Donnie snaps.

"Uh... no-"

"Is there a fire?"

"No, but-"

"Do you need glasses?"

"I don't... think so?"

"Then watch where you're going!"

He spins on his heel and marches off, toward the kitchen to get more coffee, Casey assumes. For a moment he's left too off kilter and dumbfounded to remember what he was doing.

Then Uncle Tello's voice in his head startles him out of it. What just happened?

Oh, uh... I ran into the other version of you.

Ran into?

Literally. I spilled his coffee.

Ah, and he didn't take it well.

And Casey knows he shouldn't stop for this. Casey knows they may be on limited time and he has to fix this and Uncle Tello shouldn't have to listen to his whining about things that don't matter.

But he's been holding in so many feelings for so long and even if it's just in his head, hearing his uncle's (dad's) voice makes it rush out of him before he can stop it.

I don't think he likes me very much. I touched his shell the other day and he snapped at me. I got mad at him when he touched your tech and that made him mad, too. I don't know how to talk to him.

He doesn't really know how to talk to any of them, is the thing. It used to be the easiest thing in the world, and now it's a wall he hasn't yet learned how to scale.

He can feel his thoughts spiraling against his will. He doesn't have time for this, but the grief and the lack of sleep and the lack of easy affection are all mixing together with the weirdness of it all into a dangerous Molotov cocktail of emotions and he's not sure what will light the fuse.

Casey Jr, says Uncle Tello's voice.

Uncle Tello?

Do you want to see something really funny?

Casey can't help but make a strangled noise at the back of his throat, one that isn't a laugh but isn't a cry either. Something funny?

Yeah. Trust me, it'll be hilarious. Go to my lab.

Casey hesitates. He doesn't let me in there without him...

I feel confident I outrank him. Wait, how old is he?

Sixteen.

Ahhh, that explains it. I know I'm an absolute delight now, but at that age I could be a real pill.

It startles an actual laugh out of Casey. Without arguing further, he rushes to Donnie's lab, quick before he can finish brewing his coffee.

How do I get in?

Is this the subway?

Yeah.

Okay, there's a manual override for the voice lock hidden in one of the wall panels, should be... three to the left, middle of the door. Give that a good knock. Shave and a haircut~

Casey does as directed, and the panel slides back, revealing a flat, glossy keypad.

What's the access code? he asks, feeling like they're on some secret mission now. Maybe it doesn't fall into what people in this time consider normal, but to Casey this is standard stuff. He falls into the rhythm of it like a well loved song.

Oh one one four twenty one twenty seven, says Uncle Tello.

Casey punches it in and the door slides open. He slips inside and hits the button to close and lock the door behind him. Donnie still hasn't returned; the mission is proceeding as planned.

Wasn't that the code for one of the weapons lockers in the old- at base?

Yes, it was. Poor security protocol to reuse codes, I know, but I'm partial to that one.

What is it?

Atomic Lass's birth date. Uncle Tello pauses, then adds, Has he shown you any of the old Atomic Lass episodes of Jupiter Jim?

Uh, no...

Ah, continuing to fail my already low expectations, Teen Tello. Never mind, we'll worry about that later on.

Later on. Right, they shouldn't be doing this, they should be trying to fix Uncle Tello, they should be-

To my computer, Casey Jr! I can't type so you'll have to do it for me.

Uncle Tello's voice pulls him out of his reverie, and he hurries to do as he's told.

Uncle Tello walks him through passwords and then through navigating the OS. It's old and out of date compared to what they had in the future (Donatello's custom OS, better than the hacks at Apple and Microsoft, or so he said), but when Casey had called it old and out of date Donnie had gotten mad about that, too.

Ada Lovelace, this is old, says Uncle Tello's voice now, and incredibly Casey laughs again.

But they find what he's looking for and then input a series of commands into the command line. Casey isn't familiar with all of them, but if he had to guess, they just sent a video from late 2019 to every device in the lair.

Alright, mission accomplished, time to retreat, says Uncle Tello's voice, and he hurries out of the lab, just in time to hear a ping from the phone in his pocket.

He pulls it out and watches the video. It's Donnie, only slightly younger than the teen Casey now lives with, adjusting the camera before grinning and posing in front of it. He's in his lab, though a different one than the one here in the subway. He looks cocky.

He moves further back from the camera so his entire body is framed in its lens, then steps onto a skateboard. He glides in a circle for a moment, then jumps to try and do some kind of trick. Casey doesn't know the name of it, but what he does know is that Donnie's feet get caught in his board, and he ends up tumbling to the floor, crashing in an undignified heap, arms splayed out and face smooshed against the concrete.

It shouldn't be funny.

(It's pretty funny.)

It seems the others echo this sentiment, because suddenly Casey can hear laughter erupting from elsewhere in the lair.

"OMIGOSH! Barry, you gotta watch this!"

"HAHAHAHA BRO ATE SHIT!"

"Hah... Don't worry Donnie, I'm sure you'll get it next ti-hahahahaha!"

There's the sound of scurrying feet, and then Donnie slides into the hall, glaring at Casey who forgot he should be moving away from the crime scene.

"YOU!" he screeches.

Casey freezes. What is he supposed to say? What excuse does he have? The you in my head told me to do it? Yeah right.

Casey does the only sensible thing and turns to run.

Casey Jr?

Uncle Tello!?

What's happening now?

The other you is after me!

Oh. Well. Better run fast.

Casey turns on the speed, sprinting down the corridor and toward the only exit he knows, Donnie hot on his trail.

Why is every younger version of you so scary!?

Oh please, there's no way that scrawny, barely pubescent mess is scary. Have you ever heard his voice crack?

...Well, yeah...

See? Hilarious. And we didn't even have to pull up my browser history.

Okay, but none of this helped us fix anything.

Ah well. One problem at a time.

[afreakingdork]

You Are My Sunshine, My Only Moonshine - Chapter 9

RotTMNT x Reader

I am constantly blown away by this chapter art by @yamin-yups

Rated: Teen and Up Audiences

Relationships: Michelangelo (TMNT)/Reader, Michelangelo (TMNT)/You, Donatello (TMNT)/Reader, Donatello (TMNT)/You

Warnings: POV Second Person, Gender Neutral Reader, Anxious Reader, Introverted Reader, Stuttering, Aged-Up Mutant Ninja Turtles, Romance, Love, Love Confessions, Falling In Love, Unrequited Love, Rejection, Aromantic Asexual Michelangelo (TMNT), Bisexual Donatello (TMNT), Pansexual Leonardo (TMNT), Lesbian Cassandra Jones | Foot Recruit, Demisexual April O'Neil (TMNT), Implied Cassandra Jones | Foot Recruit/April O'Neil/Sunita, Endgame Donatello (TMNT)/Reader, Romantic Love, Platonic Love, Panic Attacks, Sexuality Crisis, Agoraphobia, Social Anxiety, Happy Ending, Fluff

Synopsis:  You’ve lost most of your life to anxiety and fear. Now, in your late 20s, you are desperate to reclaim it and during one such outing you encounter the sun personified. With his and his similarly celestially inspired family, will you finally reach your goal or will you lose yourself along the way?

This chapter contains reference to body dysmorphia. Remember that what you feel is completely valid, but we can sometimes see ourselves differently than we really are. Please keep yourselves safe.

Also available on Ao3

First 💛 Previous

“Maybe we take a break from going out into the packed public for once?” Mikey was upside-down, but compensated by holding his phone the opposite way. 

It put him right side up in the video chat, but the view was extra blurry. “Is that… okay?”

“I’m the one suggesting it!” Mikey stuck out his tongue, but his reflection seemed to confuse him on which way the appendage should go. “It’s been awhile. I haven’t been able to see you.”

“Yeah… well…” Though for you it would have been predictable, Mikey hadn’t felt the firsthand effects of your setbacks yet. 

Panic attacks always caused you to withdraw into yourself. 

You weren’t supposed to.

There were times when it was easy to keep going.

Others, such as now, left you homebound for as long as society allowed.

The push to normalcy now included your thoughtful friend.

“Do you know after my tremors went away, I spent months avoiding art because I was afraid of how it would look?” Mikey told you casually. 

You weren’t sure what he was talking about.

You tried to recall something about tremors, but came up short.

You wanted to ask more, but there was a more startling aspect than the content itself.

You couldn’t believe there was ever a period where Mikey avoided art as he had been nothing, but a loud proponent of all its merit.

“Why?”

“Because I knew my level and then… I didn’t. I knew I’d have to get back there. It was like riding a skateboard, but needing to take that time? For a second time. Chancing the bad result? It was like my healing was one thing and then by doing that it would show me just how much further I still needed to go. Like that dude with the cat and the box. I didn’t want to open it and find out. I couldn’t do it.”

“Isn’t the saying… something… about riding a bike?”

“We were skateboard tots!” Mikey rolled over and with it so did his camera, inverting the image.

You nodded lightly.

“I switched up crafts. Started new ones that weren’t so finger focused. Pour paints and candle work!” He made grabby hands at the lens as he fixed his phone angle.

“Something low key…” You hummed where you were sitting at the foot of your bed.

“Yeah, something quiet, calm, and… oh! Oh yeah!” There was another flip, but this one was out of excitement.

“D-don’t… bust through a wall…!”

Mikey appeared within a flurry of static. “Did you just make a Kool-Aid Man joke?”

“I make jokes!”

The wattage of his smile turned up to a blinding degree. “Well then I’ve got just the wall to bust through!”

-

“No.” Donnie glowered over his shoulder.

“Please!” Mikey bounced his plea with his head straight up to the ceiling of the garage you were currently in.

An oddity in the subway, but something you imagined had to exist based on logic, your eyes were openly roving around the tidy depot.

“Absolutely not.” Lifting out from under a hood and minding his head, Donnie craned an elbow to the engine block he was working on. “You know you’ve been banned.”

“One time!” Mikey groaned.

“No!” Donnie felt the need to rip off his leather work gloves to throw an unencumbered finger in Mikey’s face. “You were banned once after crashing eleven separate times!!”

“Eleven?!” You squeaked.

Mikey flipped back and forth between the two of you, obviously caught in who to address first. “My driving is fine!” He chose you and then flipped to Donnie. “I’ve changed!”

From the duffel that was slung around your body, you had already been clinging to the strap as it gave you something comforting to hold on to. With the new knowledge that you had almost been driven somewhere rural by someone with that kind of driving record, you now scooped up the entire sack to soothe yourself. 

“Forget that.” Donnie flicked his gaze to you. “You’d need a full crash suit to survive him.” He then folded his gloves into a pair and went to check his tool box.

You wilted further.

“We’re already packed!” Mikey rounded a new argument. “This is going to be our big, no-stress, relaxing getaway and you’re making it exactly not that!” 

“That’s unfortunate. The bus station isn’t far.” Donnie knelt down to get a wrench.

“And how’s that going to work!? We get dropped at some station and walk to the cabin!? You know it’s in the middle of nowhere!” Mikey stepped up to throw menace over his brother.

Donnie smelled it a mile away and lifted his head, pouring twice the malice. “Oh, you want to play?”

Mikey gulped and nodded his head once. “Let us borrow a car, the tank, a shell cycle, whatever! You’re being unfair!”

“Your planning is poor.” Donnie was slow to get on one knee. “You’re ill equipped.” To the other, he got a foot under him. “You’ve informed no one.” Rising to his towering height above his brother, he loomed. “You walk into my garage, where I am in the midst of my own personal and much needed zen in the form of refurbishing my newest baby and expect me to drop the keys of another into your hands knowing full well that you have destroyed more vehicles on more occasions than I can count on our joined mutant fingers and toes because you just so happened to suddenly decided that you needed to take a weekend trip with your friend of which whom you have a similar slapdash scheme going on with to go to our family’s cabin up north on a whim!?!”

Having watched Donnie not take a single breath, you backed up nearly the same distance that Mikey’s head had shrunk down into his shell.

“Y-yes?” Mikey peeped.

“No.” Donnie said the word firm and quiet, but punctuated it with a tap to Mikey’s plastron which caused the stiff turtle to fall over. “Now leave me to my work.”

Only a shell laying there, you leaned forward to look over Mikey without compromising your spot.

Donnie swung his wrench and moved over to a creeper with the intention to disappear under what looked like a turtle-themed moon buggy.

“You-” Your voice echoed in the garage and you tensed up.

Mikey’s head emerged from his shell to peek at you.

Donnie halted his motion, but didn’t turn.

“You… um… could… come with us?”

You watched Donnie’s lips wobble with disdain.

“N-Not a-as a d-driver! Y-you said…”

In a loud pop, all of Mikey’s limbs emerged. “That’s a great idea!!!”

In a smooth rotation, Donnie both turned and lifted his wrench with a threat.

Mikey crab walked several paces away.

“I’m disappointed.” Donnie sent a glare in your direction. “If your thought is even-” He caught a glimpse of his wrench. “-5/16ths as moronic as his then you are banned from the garage itself. Know that, would you still like to continue speaking?”

Gaze plummeting, your heart tried to escape and you screwed the whole of you shut to keep it inside.

Your entire body shook with the force of your nerves and you had to wait until your BPMs dropped to a manageable limit before you could manage speech. “You… said… m-much needed… so maybe… the trip would… well… be calming… for you too?”

There was a clink of metal hitting the ground.

Banned.

You were banned from the garage.

That was fine.

In theory, it wasn’t.

In theory, you were mortified.

Despite your best efforts, you had never been banned from anything.

Now you were.

A glaring dark spot on your permanent record.

Was Mikey a bad influence?

“You do say driving gets your mind off things…” Mikey said with a sudden supportive starkness.

You kept your gaze firmly rooted to the floor in shame.

“Also hold up!” In a slap of feet against concrete, Mikey righted himself. “You take a few of those things back, Don! I may have pushed the idea through, but it was not poorly planned or ill equipment or whatever you said! Y/N worked crazy hard on putting together everything in the short time frame I laid out!!”

You twitched.

“There’s maps, multiple trails marked, a calculated amount of water, with extra rations, flares… Like do you think this other bag is mine? Heck no! I’m not bringing anything! Both these bags are Y/N’s! They’re both stuffed with… stuff! Like-like!” You felt Mikey come over to you. “How you contacted the ranger’s station to tell them we’d be in the area? I’ve never even thought of that! We’ve never done that have we, Dee?”

Donnie continued his bout of silence that you didn’t dare look upon.

“What else…?” Mikey slapped his forehead. “I mean, come on! I can’t even remember it all!”

“I… got that satellite phone… you were pretty excited… about it.” You mumbled to the ground.

“With the backup batteries, Donald!” Mikey hummed a self-important sound. “The backup batteries!!”

The garage made it very clear that Donnie was walking over to you.

You bounced ever so slightly to garner the courage to meet his eye.

“Who did itinerary?” Donnie asked. 

“Me.” Mikey remarked casually.

“I assume food too?” Donnie’s voice was heavy with judgment. 

“Nope.” You could see a swoop as Mikey folded smug arms.

“That’s not quite…” You cleared your throat. “Mikey… shared his… favorite dishes that you… all make…when you… go.”

Donnie dipped into your eye line and you startled.

He’d bent at his waist and come down at a perfect angle.

You stared with warped lips.

“How long?” He narrowed his gaze.

“T-the trip?” Your gaze wobbled.

Mikey opened his mouth and Donnie threw out an arm that, by the sound, must have slapped the younger in the face.

“Yes.” Donnie kept his hand in place.

“Tonight… tomorrow… back Sunday?”

“Is that a question?” Donnie’s head tilted.

Mikey grunted, annoyed.

“No…” You got out, quiet.

“You agreed knowing full well you’d be alone with him?”

Slapped with a similar heat from the first time you’d realized that fact, you gave a tight nod.

‘We have separate rooms!’ Mikey mumbled through closed lips with surprising clarity.

“And that’s okay?” Donnie disappeared.

You chased him up to find he’d released Mikey and was waiting on him for an answer.

“It’s a no brainer.” Mikey nearly rolled his eyes. 

Donnie’s brow lowered, unsatisfied.

“Yes, it’s okay because it isn’t a thing.” Mikey huffed around his clarification.

“I suppose… I’ve been persuaded.” Donnie looked down thoughtfully and you watched him trace back to where he’d dropped his wrench.

Mikey jumped into the air with a sudden bout of energy and caught your hands to spin you.

“Y-y-yay!” You stutter, stalling on the rotation.

“Cabin, here we come, baby!” Mikey cheered. 

“I need my things!” Donnie barked. “And you.”

You jolted. “Y-yes?”

“You will send me triplicate copies of your plans.”

“S-sure…” You spastically patted yourself down for your phone.

“I refuse to engage with either of your antics.” Donnie’s own appeared in his hand. “I am no third wheel. I am coming because I will apparently have to deal with your whining otherwise and because I am not in the mood for the lecture from Nardo and Raphael when they return.”

“Have they texted yet?” Mikey peered over Donnie’s shoulder.

“No. Security detail means one must pay-” Donnie suddenly dropped and ducked through Mikey’s legs in one fluid movement. “-attention. This is why you weren’t requested.”

“And why didn’t they request you, hm?” Mikey pushed his lips into one corner of his mouth.

“Because…!” Donnie trailed off with widened eyes. “My talents lie elsewhere! Enough interruptions. I will drive and then you will leave me be! I am to have my zen! Is that understood?”

“Yeah, yeah, crystal.” Mikey finally did roll his eyes.

Donnie took a few steps away as you found your phone and held it unsure of how to send him the details.

“He’s totally going because he heard ‘yakiniku’ when you mentioned we were making my favorite foods.” Mikey walked over to you with a smirk.

You watched Donnie take an irritated pause before continuing on to get his things.  

-

The ride in the tank had passed with booming music and a tour from Mikey that you only visually participated in because you were terrified to move about the cabin. The younger seemed not to notice as he explained parts with stories more than function. Donnie alternatively, had shades on that further marred his calculated expression and he said nothing as the studious driver.

Leaving the city and entering scenic woodlands, you were soon left to admire the views until you eventually deviated off the road toward the cabin. Tracking it with the little local map you had found, you busied yourself in the comfortable way that most people disliked on road trips: silence in a cozy bubble all your making.

There didn’t have to be talk, that’s what road trip mixes were for.

You only made exceptions for car games. 

You liked that they had simple rules and there were little stakes to be had. 

You only wished cars were safer modes of transport.

There was also something to be said about environmental impact and the culture of automobiles in America, but other than that, you found them nice.

Pulling up to what you imagined was a quiescent place, Mikey could not be restrained a second longer.

Out of the tank in a flurry, you watched through the windshield as his form screamed straight up the cabin’s steps. “He doesn’t do great on car rides, huh?”

“Sitting still for too long? Michael?” Donnie rose from the captain’s chair.

You gave a small smile and gathered up the few things you’d taken inside with you. Your actual bags were stored in an outer compartment and Donnie waited for you as a safety net as you made the harrowing steps down the tank ladder and to the ground. Landing with little fault, you joined him in getting the luggage until Mikey tore back over to grab some of the load. He talked loudly of dust that had accumulated and Donnie griped at him that it was obvious they’d need to clean.

You fondly watched the two bicker and set-up became the next directive. Throwing back plastic sheets that coated furniture, Donnie had a multitude of inventions to clear the space quickly. You had to run to the windows to release the dust tornadoes formed. Making it out mostly unscathed, you then helped Mikey hang bug nets. With the late Spring weather warming the air, soon everything was prepped and Mikey did a little closing dance number, capping off the preparatory part of the trip.

“Swimming hole time!” Mikey cheered and then turned knowingly on Donnie. “Then BBQ and prompt lights out so I can make a lumberjack breakfast first thing!”

“We’re grinding beans… we roasted…” You offered softly. “Uh… Coffee… beans… that is…”

“Oh yeah, I forgot we took that class.” Mikey chuckled. “You almost fell into that sack!”

You squashed a noise of distress at the memory.

Understanding the schedule, Donnie dismissed himself with a turned foot and headed to one of the cabin’s many rooms. You were left to look about the quintessential log cabin where the huge living space and connected kitchen then butted up against a row of doors. They spoke of many rooms that traced the back of the cabin and then up a staircase to a second floor. From what you could see, there were about eight rooms in all. The entire cabin then had a wraparound porch that extended into the wilderness. It was land that both belonged to nature and not, but Mikey had been cagey about revealing property lines. 

“Welp!” Mikey folded his hands on his hips. “Your boy needs to get wet before he explodes.”

You gawked at him.

“Seriously!” He was looking out over the cabin with a vacant stare that held a sort of unhinged quality. “First the car, then stuck inside? This is not an inside trip. if I am not unleashed in the next, oh I don’t know… 2 minutes, I’m going to lose it!”

“Uh…!”

“You got those trail maps?” He turned, both looking through you and not at.

“Y-yes!”

“I color coded the one to the watering hole. Orange, obviously.” Mikey approached with a waggling brow ridge. “I saw you in the car, keeping perfect pace. It was awesome.”

“Just to s-stay b-busy!”

“Uh huh! Your smile said otherwise! You’ll meet me there then! Same way!” He patted your shoulder once with a whack before bolting out the door.

You stared after him now knowing why he’d chosen to travel in his swimsuit.

Looking down at your road trip ensemble, you still felt sure of your decision to take the few hour drive comfortably.

There was a noise of a door opening and Donatello emerged, changed into a casual outfit punctuated by purple swim trunks.

You stared at him and felt a little like a caught fawn.

Donnie took you in before his gaze dulled with understanding. “He ditched you.”

“I’m… going to meet him.”

“He always does this.” Donnie responded dismissively. “You should have seen him in time out as a tot.”

“Oh?”

“One minute in time out for him was comparative to thirty for the rest of us.” Walking around a large kitchen bar, Donnie studied the rations.

You took a few steps toward him for the sake of it.

“He’s so impatient.” Donnie murmured, poking several waters aside to find a carton of juice boxes that Mikey had insisted on. He quickly tossed the set into the fridge. “He’s not even an aquatic turtle.”

You sort of wished you had done more research past looking up pictures of their species.

“You’re losing daylight.” He emerged from the fridge. “Or are you not swimming?”

“I-I am…!” You squeezed a fist to your chest. “Are… you coming too?”

Donnie blinked slowly at you. “No, why?”

“Oh…” You shouldn’t have assumed. He’d already told you otherwise. “Sorry… your bottoms… I thought…”

“Board shorts.” He punctuated the words with an odd accent.

You gave an unsure nod.

“I’m glad their sign was translated.” He glanced down at himself.

“Sorry…” You murmured when he made no further movement and quickly left to avoid any awkwardness.

You weren’t sure what you expected.

It’s not like you wanted to exclude Donnie.

You knew that pain too well.

You also didn’t want to make him feel unwelcomed.

You were painfully aware of that too.

He hadn’t wanted to be a third wheel and you had made it a silent mission to keep that from happening.

Something else you’d experienced in the past, you’d been the unwilling chaperone on more than one occasion just to satisfy parent’s minds. The good one, in their minds, you had always been ditched and the feeling wasn’t one you cared for. Shoving past the bygone era, you were seen now and you tried to relish that.

The sun’s attention was a fickle thing, but you were getting more use to losing Mikey’s. Something you thought should scare you, instead you felt your friendship with Mikey was stronger than ever. You no longer feared losing him in the same intangible way and you weren’t sure if you should crop that up to Mikey’s feelings about you. Instead it felt as though you’d reached a better status quo where Mikey’s running off felt more like the sun moving on its predetermined rotation. It would eventually round back to you and in that way you expected Mikey’s claustrophobia even if you hadn’t known about it.

You picked a room at random and rummaged through the duffel that you placed on your bed. There was a woodsy smell that teetered on musty in a way that spoke of it being well lived in even if its occupants only came every so often. You had your own little stand up mirror, nightstand, dresser, and a closet though you doubted you’d use anything past the first. Pulling out a single slick piece of black fabric, you double checked the door was closed before changing.

The perfect swimsuit was one you hadn’t imagined you’d find. Not one for flashy things, you only wanted a muted cover that also happened to cover you. Water did unimaginable things to fabrics and you hated the way it clinged. You wanted something you could disappear in, that brought no unnecessary attention, and could be forgotten on your end. Finding it in a matter of minutes into shopping as opposed to the years it took when you were younger, the item had even been on sale.

Stepping into it and pulling it up, you shimmied into the fabric and turned for that same show stopping image you’d seen in the changing room.

What stared back was an image of allure.

No.

That was wrong.

That’s not what it had looked like.

It had covered you.

It hadn’t accentuated anything.

It was simple.

You squirmed, changing angles in hopes that it would get better, but each only revealed more.

What had changed?

You’d purchased it this week.

Were you hallucinating?

Was there something in the wooden walls?

Had the tank crashed and this was you playing out some morbid purgatory?

You pinched yourself.

A sting bit your forearm and you threw your gaze back at the mirror for the unwilling shapes it concocted.

This wasn’t right.

You wanted to swim.

There was no way you could.

Miserably turning away from your image, you rooted through your bag for a cover up. Finding one in some oversized t-shirt you’d brought for comfort, you held it and hated that this wasn’t the way you imagined it would be employed. You figured it’d be a back-up pajama top and not something to hide your shame away in. Clinging to the fabric, you hastily pulled it over your head with an imaginary clock ticking away because Mikey was waiting.

You were ruining everything.

Stumbling out into the living room, you found yourself alone.

Momentarily thrown, but shaking off how Donnie wasn’t a priority right now and the guilt that came with that, you went for your pile of maps. Finding the trail one with the orange lines, you gathered some shoes and careened down the porch.

Buzzing insects mocked your sloppy descent as you rotated the map to be on your course. Following it more than your way, you took the necessary inlet and folded its winds to a drawn T. Bushes and trees concealed you, but the splashing of what was beyond reached your ears faster than you’d hoped. A journey not long to its destination, you slowed as you came to the final bend. You could hear Mikey blabbing presumably to himself as he hooted before resounding sloushes followed. In your mind he jumped off some kind of ledge, you took a deep breath before making the final steps leading to the watering hole.

Somewhere quaint if you had the perspective for such a thing, a tree towered comfortably overtop a sizable pool. One mucked up from algae as the little stream feeding into it didn’t stir the water near enough, you watched roiling green as Mikey emerged with a flip of his wet hair.

“Y/N!” Mikey shouted happiness. “You made it! Come on in! The water’s fine!!” He swam backwards as if giving you room.

The guilt was staggering.

No, Mikey.

I won’t be swimming today.

My body looks like shit and I can’t stand it.

I’ll watch you though.

Have all the fun.

You deserve it.

Signing off your name, you slunk forward only to clip a sight of mixed purples.

Donnie craned his neck back to view you from beneath a large sun hat he’d put on. Sitting on a few rocks that made up the closest edge to you, his lids lowered in a way that said he was reading you like a book.

Hating how he did that, you squeezed the bulky hem of your shirt and walked up. “Uh… M-Mikey…?”

“A-yup!” He stopped splashing to hear you better.

“The… um… car ride… sort of took… more out of me than… I thought? Would it be alright if-!”

“You don’t have to swim.”

You blinked wide and over to him.

“If you don’t want to, don’t!” Mikey continued on. “Let’s compare: are you upset I’m swimming when you don’t want to?”

“O-of c-course not!”

“Then why should I care in the reverse?” He fell back and floated, eyes closed, on his shell.

That was right in a way.

Sweet in another.

You wished you’d put together the same reaction.

Inching closer, it felt like pouring water into an overtaxed bucket.

Another guilty drop in your damnation.

You’d seen your friend in a bad light.

Shirking all the more, you toed off your shoes and let your feet lay flat on one of the worn rocks. It put you near Donnie who’d become the moon on a sunny day’s backdrop. He shined upon the same stone and illuminated its age. The rocks were older and wiser than you’d ever be. They never worried about getting wet. They only knew how to exist, something you wished came as easily to you. Sitting down because you needed more of you to drink from the stone’s wisdom, you kept a lowered head to the water’s edge. It sloshed in a beckoning way and you imagined it too would feel good in a different way. 

You really had wanted to swim.

Imaging your tears would do little to fill up the pool while also overflowing it, you heard a tepid sigh beside you.

Eyes wide and shooting up across the pond, you then turned to where you’d sat down next to Donnie.

Someone who you mistakenly forgot about during your pity party.

How was that for a third wheel?

“It’s always something with you.” He spoke softly.

“Sure is.” You gave an awkward laugh.

“That’s…” He made a little concerned noise. “… I didn’t mean it in a cruel way.”

“You didn’t have to. It is.” You threw your legs off the rock and threatened to drown your toes in the water. “It’s a cruel fate. I’m…” You remembered yourself. “Sorry. Nothing. What are you doing here?”

“My species is aquatic.”

You snuck a glance. “You’re pretty dry then.”

“You are too.”

You frowned deeply and watched Mikey pick up a sun drunk grin as he spread his limbs out to float on. “I don’t know why I feel like this. Everything was fine before…”

“With what?”

“This…” You threw a hand over yourself. “Stupid ugly swimsuit.”

You could feel Donnie’s gaze linger.

“Just trust me.” You folded your legs against yourself.

 “I’m not sure I do.”

You squinted at the glistening water before looking at him.

“I barely know you.” He responded simply, waiting there.

“Oh.”

“Disappointed?”

“In what?” Your ugly side was leaking far beyond the reach of what your shirt could cover. “I didn’t think you trusted me. You may have been wrong about me being bad, but that wouldn’t make you less suspicious. So it’s not that. What’s left? The swimsuit sucks. It’s not like you wanna drool over it. I don’t want anyone too. I wanted to swim.”

Hearing your wish aloud, you pressed hard on your chest with your legs.

You could flatten out your entire form if only you were malleable.

“The water is opaque. I can alert Mikey and we’ll turn away so you can get in.”

You felt too far gone for solutions.

You weren’t worth the trouble.

Burying your chin into your knees, you stewed.

“You know how many times the others have made fun of my board shorts?”

You told yourself you didn’t care.

If that was the case then Donnie didn’t either. “Hundreds, though it might be my attitude when wearing them. I like the excuse. To have my day off and not worry about pleasantries. To not have to tailor myself to others. I can tell them to shove it. It’s my day off and how I look isn’t anyone’s damn business.”

Sounded like an odd hill to die on.

“Everyone should have those days.” Donnie craned his arms behind him and leaned back to soak up the rays he was in.

The tree overhead was clipping your light.

Donnie was free. 

Mikey was free. 

Head lifting a little, you pondered your friend.

He’d needed to get out and he did.

Now he was a vision, glowing amongst the pool.

In contrast there was you, wadded up and tossed away without even giving yourself the chance.

Another terrible reminder that this was the point.

This was what you were trying to avoid.

This was what you were trying to learn from.

Mikey didn’t even have to do anything to be himself.

He just was.

Instead of his usual bustle of light, he shined by matter of existence.

That was why you chased him. 

You wanted that. 

Staring at him until sun spots mucked up your vision, you turned the mass to Donnie.

Beside you in the same pose, he was more calculated.

He had to put on his wares.

His was an unseen struggle you hadn’t considered.

No one gleamed quite like Mikey.

That didn’t mean they didn’t shine in their own right.

Donnie’s darkened scales only threw prisms in a different way.

The cool moon’s glow.

Letting your legs fall, this time your feet drew to the allure of the water.

Just out of reach, you stared hard, making sure the pair would keep their eyes closed.

The both of them were still as if asleep, but you waited past whatever insect was chirping before you slowly tugged your hem out from under you. Emerging without more than the sound of rustling fabric, you rolled your shirt up around your waist. The next move was one harder to conceal, you threw a desperate glance at your friend.

Water rocked the resting Mikey like a babe and you wanted to feel that too.

You wanted to be nestled by the sun’s glow.

You wanted to feel weightless and have those burdens removed.

You yanked the shirt over your head and dropped it to your side.

Donnie stirred at the sound, but didn’t open his eyes.

“It’s… It’s okay… I’m not… okay… but I think I… I don’t want to care…”

He cracked a lid and stared skyward.

“It looked so different in the store.”

“How so?” He asked a whispy cloud.

“It looked… I don’t know… covering? Like it didn’t… show any bits. Like it… hid them away.”

He blinked slow and comfortable. “I’m a designer, you know.”

“What?”

“Genius Built Apparel. Where fashion meets function.”

You stared on.

Of course he was. 

He also built a tank and a legion of dusting robots. 

If this were any other family you’d think he was pulling your leg. 

You’d seen more than enough to believe. 

Most of your stare came from the cocky name. 

Though even that made sense. 

Donnie was a carefully constructed sphere. 

Who were you to take away his gloating? 

He tilted his head just enough to glimpse your face. “I’m serious. I’ve dissuaded Mikey from many a faux pas.”

You shook your head.

“May I?”

“What?” You switched to eyeing him.

“I can take a clinical eye. Examine stitching. Find your err.”

You bounced one of your legs.

You did want to know where it had all gone wrong.

You could theoretically fix it then.

Wash this all away in the water you so desperately wanted to get in.

“You won’t make it weird?”

“I don’t drool on the metaphorical clock; you were right about that, but I understand your concern. I have accosted you before.”

“Different kind of weird. That was mean weird. You were a jerk weird.”

Donnie chuffed and it rolled down his plastron.

You watched it fall into his lap before forcing your gaze back to his face in a rush. “Promise… Promise I can pull your hat down if you… do anything.”

“I won’t so a simple enough agreement. Sure.”

“Go… ahead…” You folded your arms to your sides, obviously nervous as you listened to his clothes move.

In a twist, he was examining you and he gave a faint hum.

Not wanting to see exactly how he saw you and growing miserable, you stared into the water.

You could throw yourself in and be done with it.

“Here.” He spoke.

You moved to the sound on instinct and found him pointing to your hip.

His eye was indeed one you imagined a tired scientist gave the samples he was cursed to study.

You immediately relaxed. “What?”

“This ruching here is meant to cover cellulite when the fabric gets wet. When dry it acts a similar concealment, but the way the strips are sewn are for the first purpose.”

“Oh…” You tilted your head to look.

“Thing is, it’s also leading lines.” He didn’t get any closer, but he mimed tracing the seams of the fabric that curled around your hip and beneath where you were sitting. “It’s meant to direct the gaze to certain assets.”

 You blew out an annoyed breath.

“Dressing room mirrors, where I imagine you first saw this, aren’t slapped on walls without thought. They're engineered with angles and lightning to make clothes look as flattering as possible.” He brought his eye to yours. “Where did you see yourself today?”

“There’s a… mirror in my room.”

Donnie’s lip twitched with distaste. “That floor length one?”

You nodded.

“Dad uses that one to feel tall.” He sneered openly. “It tilts up from below, the worst possible perspective.”

You blinked a few rapid times.

“It took the ruching and blew it up.”

“So it’s not… that bad?”

“It’s anything, it's tasteful!” He spoke with an irritation that said that should have been obvious. “It fits your body well. Does it have a certain allure? Yes, I’ve already spoken of assets, but it is not a piece that invites unnecessary solicitation.” 

“Assets, assets. What are you, an ass man?” You retorted automatically. 

“There is nothing quite like sinking your teeth into that soft, inviting flesh.” He took your response and held it between his teeth.

In a blink, you saw an imaginary Donatello around your hips pointing to the fabric and on contact with the thought your face exploded.

“I say generally speaking, of course.” He clicked his tongue as if scolding you and turned away toward the water.

Hot.

You were too hot.

Run.

Throwing yourself forward, you submerged as indelicately as possible into the water.

Sinking like a stone into the silence, your burning flesh was quickly soothed by a cold lap.

A sweet embrace, you kicked to the surface and emerged with a pathetic gasp.

Never graceful, you shook yourself free of clingy drops and spun back around to view the rocks.

Donnie was staring up at the sky again and you sort of hated him for it.

Swim.

You’d swim with Mikey.

Spinning around, the other turtle was not only longer floating, but you couldn’t locate him at all. Quickly worrying that you had toppled him in your dive, you swam forward. “Mikey?”

Quieting to listen, you didn’t hear anything past the faint roiling of the water against its container.

Thinking he must have dove, you looked down to find Donnie’s earlier comment to be a correct one. With the water murky to a fault and a new fear cropped up. You had no idea what was in the water and you immediately darted for the closest shore. Something several long feet from Donnie, it was a sort of marshy landing that rocks from below steeping up to meet. They were covered in a slime that clung to your feet and had you pausing until you heard an off-toned lap behind you.

You whirled around with wide eyes and found a sea monster waiting for you.

Something matted with algae, it groaned pathetically and you sucked in enough air until the balloon was full enough to scream.

“What!? Who?! Where?!” The creature splashed with Mikey’s voice.

He’d been captured by another mutant.

You turned to get out of the water with some intention of getting to the tank.

It had to have missiles or something.

Anything to help.

You’d take a bowling ball launcher at this point.

Catching grip with one foot, you hoisted up the other. The many rocks acted like a disjointed ladder and your entire torso emerged from the water before one of your feet slid. The moment it happened felt like you were falling out of time. In slow motion, you knew your face was one of surprise. You painted an open expression where the imminent terror that you were falling couldn’t catch up as neurons to save yourself from the action. 

Your mind knew, but your face didn’t know that you were going to crack your head open on the rocks you just slipped on.

“Y/N!”

“Y/N!”

Two voices.

Too far.

Something skewered your side as the first injury of many.

Hoping only to black out on that first step, you willed your possessions to your friends.

You didn’t bother hoping they would remember you. 

You only hoped that they could make some use out of your worldly imprint.

No matter how small it was. 

Water rushed to greet you and shoved you away. 

That wasn’t right. 

That was the wrong direction.

Water swayed like waves. 

The equal and opposite reaction wouldn’t come until you fell in. 

Why had it preemptively come for you?

Your arms dangled heavily from gravity and you forced your eyes from wherever they had gone.

The monster was right in front of you. 

Its face was one of Michelangelo.

Green sludge caught in his blackened locks and his worried expression peered out from between a small part. 

He had you by the waist and was holding you up in the air. “Are you okay!?”

You were a loose toy strung up.

Flopping down, lifeless, you were a doll that couldn’t close its eyes until it was laid down.

A second deafening splash came as you hung there.

Mikey’s lips were moving awfully fast.

“Did they hit their head?!” Donnie’s voice broke through.

“No! Above water the whole time! Donnie! They aren’t saying anything, I don’t-”

“Shock?” Donnie wondered, but he never came into frame.

Where was he?

Mikey jostled you as one might bounce a colicky baby.

It was pulling a string on your back and you hacked on contact. 

You wheezed, forcing air in where terror had torn it from you. 

You fought. 

Not Mikey exactly, but the situation. 

It strung your arms back. 

It shoved your torso forward. 

It threw your head skyward. 

You gasped, alive. 

You saw blue.

It was the sky.

You hadn’t died.

Mikey had saved you.

Finally.

You came down from your arching to translate your joy. 

Mikey’s face slid into your vision and he was the picture of a boiled red tomato dotted with summertime spots.

He was looking at you. 

He had ogled you. 

He was embarrassed. 

Your blood pressure plummeted twice as fast as it had when you thought you were about to die.

This was worse.

This time you heard yourself scream as you lashed out.

Water flew up as if to welcome you, to bring you where you were meant to be. 

Drowned. 

Returned you to that place where you weren’t an object to be viewed.

You were a person floating free.

Liquid carried life.

It supported it.

It didn’t have it.

Vertigo struck you as you moved within a blink. 

In a disorientated spiral, your lids fell heavy as your inner ear tried to correct the imbalance. 

There were no longer hands around your waist. 

Something clicked like an engine uselessly turning over. 

Weary, you realized you were standing in a safe spot in the water. 

You drew up the dreary blinds of your curtain and found a muscled arm thrown out protectively in front of you. 

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!!!” Mikey cried, loud and desperate.

“What the hell was that then!?” Donnie’s voice rang close.

That firm limb tucked you further behind someone. 

You were being shielded.

A squabble happened in front of you, but you only looked down at the jade appendage acting as your guard rail.

You touched the arm and it felt familiar.

“Don-nie?” Your voice came out synthetic.

His was the body you were behind and his face appeared in a whip of his head. “Are you alright? Can you swim? I’ll move.”

“I’m not…?” You weren’t swimming.

You weren’t doing anything.

You were standing in the water. 

“What…?”

You looked past Donnie and glimpsed Mikey with a faint blush still stuck to his cheeks.

“Y-you…!” It felt accusatory on your lips.

“I’m sorry!!!” Mikey screeched.

“Turn around, dummy!” Donnie growled hot and was in motion.

You were soon ushered into a spin with an indelicate hand to your back and all but rushed over to the rock you had jumped off of.

You heard a splash of what you assumed was Mikey growing distant behind you. 

You hoped that would cool him off. 

“You ready?” Donnie’s voice appeared like it was newly there. 

“For what?” You were already used.

What was left?

Was it time to take out the recycling?

“I’m going to lift you up. Your shirt is right there.” Donnie instructed. 

“My shirt…” You were forlorn.

It was your back-up comfort item.

“Ready?” Donnie asked again.

The water rocked you and you barely bumped his firm plastron. 

You nodded dumbly.

Your hips were taken in what you read as a clinical way. 

You were barely bounced once, then twice, in a way that ballet dancers got momentum to lift their partners. 

Sure enough, you were lifted cleanly out of the water.

Only this time you felt well handled.

You weren’t swung around like a toddler holding up their favorite doll.

A child who cared for his toys put you on a shelf.

When your knees touched down, you drank in the life of the rock and scrambled for your shirt.

All the things that had just occurred crashed into you.

Shoving your head through the hole, you yanked the shirt down your body as you were already in motion. Forest floor digging into your bare feet, you didn’t need the map to retrace your steps. You followed the single, winding, prickly path and emerged out by the cabin only to fly inside it. A sanctuary amongst the unrelenting woods, you left a rotting drip trail as you entered your room. Your door clattered from where you had thrown it open and you ripped your duffel bag to shreds to get to its confines.

Pulling on layer after layer, you could see Mikey’s blush with each piece of clothing.

He’d looked at you.

You shoved your feet into a third pair of socks.

His gaze was amorous.

Into a thermal that was very much against the season, you ran out of clothes and stormed the dresser.

Sexual.

There were oversized men’s clothes that struck you as maybe being Raph’s and you thanked their huge size.

You put shirt after shirt on.

Mikey had said, point blank, that he wanted to see how far his feelings went.

Why were you so stupid?

You screamed.

Raw and uncut.

Tearing at your larynx, you ripped a few too many layers off as they impeded your melt down.

You needed space to breathe.

You needed to be swallowed whole.

Stumbling out to that accursed mirror, the shape you found there was a frumpy one.

Smiling a teary look at it, you watched it warp your face into one of dismay and you cried.

Where had you last felt okay?

It wasn’t here.

Moving around the room you searched for it.

That intangible something that would help.

Knocking everything over, you finally got a hold of a much too large pillow and hugged it to your body.

It was large and not at all as firm as you wanted.

You needed a hard wall.

You needed that unrelenting nature.

You weren’t something to be judged with heat.

You needed a cold light the sun couldn’t supply.

The wall knocked.

You spun around with your pillow defense to find the back of a head waiting there.

“I come as an emissary.” Donnie spoke slow and methodical.

“You can-!” It wasn’t Mikey.

Your pillow fell slack into one hand.

It wasn’t Mikey.

You let it drop with a thump to the floor.

It wasn’t Mikey.

“…come in.”

You took a wobbly step to spread out your clothed legs in hopes of keeping yourself upright.

Donnie didn’t move.

“You can… come in…” You repeated, not sure if you had gotten the first phrase out.

“No.”

“No…?” You took another step and saw how Donnie was clearly beyond the boundary of your open door.

With his back to you. 

Not impeding on you in any way. 

“This is your space.” He spoke it like a finality. 

You stared at the knot of his mask tails and tried to place what you felt.

“Being out here with us…” Donnie let the sentence hang before he lowered his gaze to the floor. “I want to… respect that much.”

“Why’d you say it like that?”

“I prefer the term ‘sanctum,’ but I couldn’t fit it in.”

“A sacred place…?”

The back of his head nodded. “My lab is supposed to be one.”

Sanctums weren’t places to be invaded.

If they were then they were violated.  

He understood.

Is that what you felt?

Camaraderie?

Even his mania in the beginning had been one you made sense of.

Was that why you hadn’t complained?

No, you were rewriting history from your current perspective.

It was also the only one you knew.

It was one where you envied one man. 

It was where you once feared another. 

Now their roles were reversed. 

You never had to explain your misery to Donnie.

You didn’t have to make him understand.

He was the moon.

You rushed towards him.

Donnie heard the footsteps and made it about half a turn before you reached him. “As… I was saying, I talked to Michael and come in his stead to-”

You collided with that unrelenting wall of plastron. Finding an odd hinge between the front of his shell and the back, you did your best to tuck into that space and weaseled under his arm. You felt it rise above you, out of your way and a rotation brought you more towards his front. There you felt him stop to take your over-clothed form in.

“I’m sorry!” You choked on tears, rooting the sound as deep against Donnie’s wet clothes as possible.

He let your misery hang for exactly one second. 

Then he surrounded you in a soft moon glow.

He pulled you toward his chest and you burrowed closer to him.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I completely overreacted. It was just too much… Too much attention… the way he looked. He said… I thought he wouldn’t… I didn’t want…!”

A hand pet through the layers of your back.

Even and careful.

No further connotation other than to soothe.

Squirming to get your arms out from where you were crushing them, you wiggled them free to embrace him.

You squeezed a sigh right out of him.

“I know.” He spoke into your damp head. “I know…”

You nodded and basked in the tide. Pulled by the moon’s orbit, the waves rolled in and out with a sway. A gentle rocking, you were cast a comfortable drift by it. This was the one you had longed for from the swimming hole. Here, you floated amongst sturdy shores. Held safe, the guiding white light poured around you. One that pushed back against the darkness, it shone on you. Lucky to be in its reach, it wasn’t the type you soaked up. It instead washed over you in a cleanse. Feeling lighter and a little stifled, you extracted yourself from moisture to moisture.

Everything around you from your leaking face to the clingy pond water was soaked and you frowned down Donnie’s body. Standing in a little pool mostly created by him, you wanted to stick your tongue out at it, but you feared the bacteria clearly clinging to your skin.

“The cabin is yours tonight.”

Before you could register the words, you felt him strengthen his resolve with a puff of his chest.

“I don’t want to hear complaints otherwise.”

You wanted to pout.

“I checked the systems when we were doing our preliminary cleaning. The water will be hot. Shower, bathe, do whatever you’d like. We’ll be staying outside.”

You gave a faint nod to the wet floor.

“We’ll grill and I’ll make you a plate. Preference?”

You shook your head. “I don’t… feel like eating…”

“Bland it is.”

Now you were pouting.

“Y/N.”

“Yeah?” Your head felt heavy.

“I still have a message from Mikey to deliver.”

“I really don’t want to hear it.” Irritation brought you to look at him.

Donnie took you in with a sort of smile. “You’ll want to.”

You dropped your features in a way that said you didn’t believe him.

“He said he’s not ready to talk as he’s having his own crisis, but he’ll let you know when he’s ready to apologize.” Donnie tilted his head, almost amused.

You blinked straight out of your bitterness to stare openly.

Donnie gave a single knowing nod.

“Enjoy your shower.” With one last sweep over you as if to check you were all still there, Donnie turned and headed for the door.

Watching him go, you saw the faint amber hue of sunset.

“It’ll all work out.” Donnie tossed just as he grabbed the knob to exit.

You turned and stormed straight to the bathroom. Drowning in clothes and scum, you locked the door tight and turned the shower knobs to their highest setting. Leaving the water to warm, you started removing your outermost shirt. As soon as it hit the ground you felt possessed. You tore off your clothes with each subsequent layer removed at a faster and faster pace. You needed to be freed. You needed that ridiculous protection off of you as soon as possible. All of it soiled, you stripped down bare and left your feet for last.

The moment they were naked and pressed to tile, you leapt into the old style tub. Instantly boiled by the too hot water, you let it scorch you with clenched teeth at first until the burn seared and you adjusted the dial for something reasonable. Still a lobster in a pot, you scrubbed your skin until you thought it might flake and then doused it in suds until you couldn’t see its color. A sea of white foam, the second scrounge came through, washing the detritus away.

Pickled in the process, you emerged and greedily took up every towel in the room. It meant toeing around the disgusting mound of clothes you’d left, but Donnie had said the cabin was yours. Until tomorrow when you’d clean the place up, you instead mourned how you hadn’t even brought your toothbrush in with you. Scowling at a fog coated mirror, you cracked the door and watched the steam leak out.

Chasing it with your ear, you didn’t hear anything, but there was a distinct lemon scent.

You followed the smell into the hall where you quickly placed it was cleaner. The floor had a sheen to it that spoke of a recent mopping. The clean line ending abruptly at your door said exactly who the culprit was. Donatello had snuck back in to clean and you were thankful for it. He’d left your sanctuary untouched and instead set a stool just outside the door. 

On it was a stack of comfortable looking clothes and a note.

‘Keep your room or upgrade. I recommend the one upstairs, second bedroom on the right.’

You folded the note along its lines and placed it back on the offered clothes. You then gathered the lot and took it with you along with a brave face as you entered your room. You barely looked up as you salvaged what you could from your duffel. Carrying the mostly limp sack, you then moved to follow your recommendation. It led you through the darkened cabin and up the winding wooden stairs where the door in question was closed. Knocking on it out of politeness, you found it empty and slipped inside. It was decorated similarly, but clearly different. Comfortable in its own sense, you went about your nightly routine as best you could and thanked the space for not having a mirror. Growing more weary by the second, you thought vaguely of meat as you instead pulled back the covers.

Sinking in and imagining charcoal lighting the men’s faces, you settled down into the welcoming embrace of bed.

You eventually got up and padded across a tiled floor.

Pulling out a single slick piece of black fabric, you double checked the door was closed before changing.

The perfect swimsuit was one you hadn’t imagined you’d find.

What luck, you thought, as you slipped it on.

Stepping into it, you shimmied into the fabric and turned for that show stopping image in the changing room.

It was perfect.

It covered you in all the right ways.

Finally, the piece you’d been looking for.

Smiling and striking pose after pose, you saw a hand wave above the curtain.

“Come in!” You called to it. 

Sanctum’s were only to be entered with permission. 

“Silly.” You looked over your pleasing image once more. “Is it still a violation if I request it?”

“I guess not.” Instead of drawing the curtain back, Donnie slipped through it.

Tucking himself a strong wall behind you, he looked into the mirror at you.

What looked back held no heat, only appreciation.

“Do you like it?” He checked with you without passing judgment himself.

“I do…” You smiled.

He gave one of his own, though subdued, and flicked his gaze down. “Look here.”

You lowered your gaze to find him kneeling behind you. With his head popped out around your hips, he was looking up at you in a way you liked quite a bit.

You felt powerful.

You were a light bright enough for him to want to project.

“This ruching here has leading lines.” He didn’t touch you, but his hands ghosted over you along the fabric’s pattern.

Your lips parted and your chest filled with heat.

A celestial body was meant to look on.

You were safe. 

“May I?” He asked you once again. 

You were glad and responded with a breathless, “Please.”

His mouth opened a dark orbital maw, a new moon, which then glinted into a teeth-filled waxing crescent headed in its trek to sink into your soft flesh.

You jolted the moment the teeth supposedly hit their mark. 

You stared into the dark abyss and saw drifting images of sharpened grins. 

You were dizzy.

A sheen of sweat to you, you tossed back a cover. 

The black hovel above you took shape as logs in the cabin ceiling. 

They lined up like thick thighs appearing from where board shorts had hiked up. 

Begging for a taste.

Awareness struck with a sharp inhale.

Fully awake and doused with dread from your dream, you voiced your despair with a whisper.

“Oh no…”

💛 NEXT 💛

I swear I handed this to my betas over a year ago... @tmntxthings and @thepinkpanther83

[fishsticksloser]

Eyes Wide Open

Raph + fem!reader & Mikey x fem!reader

Warnings: mutual pinning, mentions of marriage, fluff, aged up, no tcest!!!

A/N: Mikey info dumps about food and there's nothing you can say that will change my mind. I wish we could get an episode about Raph and Mikey... I wanna know what happened... >:[

Donnie │ Raph │ Leo

You and Raph were playing games together, the other 3 off doing their own things.

"You are so cheating, Raph!" You laugh.

"Am not!" Raph chuckles. "This is cheating!"

He reaches over to mess with your controller. You got it out of reach in time, though. You both were laughing and maybe being too loud.

"I should probably head home." You stretched, finishing a round.

"Why don't you stay the night?" Raph asks. "I don't think anyone would mind."

"Where do I sleep?" You question.

"Uh..." He hums.

"I'll just head home, R-Dawg." You wave Raph off, starting to head towards the exit.

"I wish you were my sister... Then we'd have a place for you." Raph sighs.

"What do you mean?" You laugh nervously.

"Well... I know you and Mikey get along really well..." Raph begins, picking at his fingers. "So if you, uh, married him you'd have a place to stay."

"Raph..." You mumble. "As much as I would like to stay here with you guys, we're a little too young to get married and Mikey doesn't even like me in that way."

"What?" Raphael frowns and he meets your eyes. "Yes he does... You don't know that? I wouldn't have suggested him if he didn't have a crush on you."

"Ra-"

"I'm serious, y/n. Mikey has a crush on you like you do him."

You left to find Mikey, you wanted to know if Raph was telling the truth, if he was you hoped to take your relationship with Mikey further.

"Mikey?" You call.

"In here!" He yelled back from the kitchen. You quickly found your way to the kitchen and sat on the island, behind him. "Taste."

You gladly tried whatever he was making. It was amazing, like it always was. He explained what he was making and talked about the techniques used.

"Mike, I have a question." You spoke after he had finished. "Raph was talking about something and I just wanted to check with you."

"Okay."

"You have to answer honestly okay?"

"Why am I a little worried, now?"

"Raphael, your lovely older brother, said that you have a crush on me..."

"He said that?"

Mike cursed under his breath, you couldn't hear exactly what he was saying. You took that as a yes, though. You hopped off the counter and touched his arm.

"Mikey?" You mumble. Mikey turns to face you.

"It is..." He looks at the ground, anxiously. You couldn't help the smile that spilled across your face. You kissed him. His hands held your waist to steady himself. You pulled away, both beaming at each other. "Will you go out with me?"

[shreddeddescent]

i think the the untrained eye the way ive presented my leo and raph might make it seem like their characterization has been reversed (someone might be like aha rise fan ass) but like i think the way i see them is like. okay. raph is the oldest brother and they all know that, but he gets to a point where he just cant be the one in charge. and despite leo's immaturity at a younger age, he really comes into his own when he's you know.....not being abused by an evil fucking father. shredder's conditioning never worked on leo cuz it all went into raph first, and then raph broke apart when he hit puberty cuz alllllll that specific conditioning went out the fucking window.

so trying to make leo get his brothers in line never worked. and he actively fought. and he was actively punished for lashing out about it. that sounds like a classic raph thing you know, being angry and acting out. but we're talking about a kid whos 12 and never had to do that being hit with responsibility. very much like ahaha NO? ends up punished. ends up getting raph punished. shredder thinks its cuz raph coddled him. he thinks tang shen coddled his kids when she was around, now he needs a new woman to blame. so if leo fucks up, raph gets punished too.

raph seemed more put together younger cuz he was barely letting himself be aware of how bad the situation was. he picked up the pieces of his brothers and never worried about himself.

being in a safe environment let leo turn into the mature one who was able to handle being a normal teenager without fear, and it turned raph into a fucking maniac who didnt understand that no one was about to hurt him again. he cant handle it, he gets way too close to his mom about how fucked up his dad is and he resents his brothers for not seeing her the same way he does.

i should also say it seems like ive been neglecting the donnie and mikey part. what i think is interesting about their perspectives is that they don't exactly feel caught in the middle of it, but they're both aware their father didnt care about them as much as leo and raph.

mikey was told he was coddled, he ended up malnourished in a way that stunted his growth and it makes raph specifically see him as way younger than he is and he parentifies himself to mikey, which he accepts cuz like. that is the closest thing to a parent mikey has. they have a weird relationship, mikey genuinely sees raph as mom sometimes, definitely more than he'd ever see splinter as one. she tries, but its very much like 'you just showed up when i was 9 i dont know you but thanks for caring'. he's the same age as donnie but has somewhat age regressed in the sense of like "oh, people need someone to be happy! and be funny! i can keep this together cuz im okay! people need a baby brother thats me! im fine!" but hes not.

donnie was very much aware shredder saw him as spare parts because he was born broken to his father. chronic pain, he's weak. he didnt fight as good. he was told he just wasnt trying hard enough, that shit was all in his head. while he knew that wasnt true he didn't fight anything, he behaved. he thought he'd be killed over anything, so he moreso observed the situation, recognizing the patterns of abuse and processing it a little faster. he was ignored for the most part, used as the bargaining chip for his brothers. 'i could simply give him to stockman to make use of his DNA'. empty threat, he's only got four turtles. waste of money to get rid of him. he knew that, maybe his brothers didnt. he and raph kinda bond over being broken from birth in a way. even though donnie is the fastest one to point out no raph, youre a boy, stop talking about yourself like your body is broken and wrong. he kind of oversteps but only because he hates the idea that raph thinks he's just as broken as him for something so fucking common.

leo's a good big brother to mikey and donnie, he doesnt treat them like they're babies as much as raph does, hes aware of their capabilities more. aware of their mental states more. post escape, raph bonds with splinter too much, leo bonds with them. they might sneak out sometimes and pretend they're cosplayers out in the street. he lets them go have fun like normal kids. hes a good brother, he's determined to let them be kids when he didnt get to be one.

raph would fucking lose it if he knew leo let them do that. but he sleeps all fucking day and has no idea. he's way too in his own head now cuz he's got time to fucking think for once. and he doesnt want to.

[trentsambuccus]

23: “You dumbass. Don’t do that. Ever again.” Donnson & Donatello (age 11)

@promptsbytaurie

-2038-

The door to the room creaked as the black-clad turtle mutant walked in. His glasses shone in the purple light of his father’s lab, the sparks of a torch lighting the room for 30 seconds before the older turtle grabbed a different tool.

“Yes, Don? I’m a bit busy right now.”

Donnie said after a minute of waiting. Looking from the corner of his eye, glancing at the tween standing awkwardly to the side.

“Hmm? Oh. I was wondering if I could watch. I’d like to learn more about tech if that’d be ok with you papa.”

Donnson said after a pause. Having been lost in thought after forgetting why he came in the lab in the first place.

They looked at the kid, offering a soft smile nodding his head before turning back to his work.

“It should be fine as long as you don’t make too much noise or touch stuff. Trust me when I say I’ll call your uncle Leon on you kid.”

They both chuckle before quieting into soft silence. The techno music in the background and sound of metalwork the only sounds left in the room. The purple-clad turtle was attempting to create a device to help his youngest brother with his aging issue. Though many things can go wrong when inventing, especially when using explosive chemicals and metal. That was exactly what happened. Something went terribly wrong, all caused by a singular spark.

It seemed like it all happened in slow motion. A spark flew too far and the chemical reaction was immediate. Donatello didn't notice. Donnson did. A power unlocked in that moment, before the kid’s eyes could even widen, teal smoke enveloped his father’s body. Tossing Donnie out of the explosion’s range. A instinct you can call it. The ninpo was unlocked, the generational power that unlock through family. There was no celebration in that moment though, ‘cause only one of them got out of that room.

The explosion went off. Pa is out. Ringing, it was so loud. Yelling, who’s yelling? Pain, why does it hurt? Oh, yeah. Burning, my shell feels like it’s burning. That was the thoughts of Donnson as he lay under flipped equipment.

A thud of a leather-like shell against concrete. An explosion and teal smoke disappearing. The blast is hot and the ringing hurts. The kid was in there. My son was in there. There’s yelling, I think it's coming from me. Those were the thoughts of Donatello as he ran into the flames the explosion caused.

Grunts and a weight is lifted. He felt light. Was he being held? He couldn't tell. Everything wasn’t clear. It was blurred. Everything was blurry. Oh yeah, his glasses, where were they? Sound was blurry. A father carrying their son out of what was their lab. People running over. Donnie’s mouth was moving yet Don couldn't make out the words he was saying. After a quarter of a hour he was finally able to hear. A parent’s worries ringing through the air.

“That was so idiotic! You could have been badly hurt! You- I’m supposed to protect you. I can’t even see your injuries 'cause you’re in your shell.”

“Papa. I think the invention is broken.”

His voice finally came back, he didn't know when though. Silence filled the space for once before a strained laugh flew through the air around him. Donnie laughed, ‘cause of course his boy would say the most obvious shit after being hit with an explosion. Dr.Feelings is going to have to talk to the boy about brushing off self-sacrifice later.

“…You dumbass. Don’t do that. Ever again.”

Donnie will have to talk about the ninpo later but for now, his focus is on his injured son. The absolute idiot in his arms. The purple-clad turtle glared into the the eyes peaking up, at them from the shell.

[officialleehadan]

Text Mood

Sorcery Spells

+++

“I know you, Lala. You’re still up, looking at those books. Go to bed.”

The first text from Naveen took Leadah by surprise, the night of their dinner when he delivered the crucial books she needed for her research. She sent back a quick text thanking him again for the books, realized just how late it was, and stumbled off to bed without thinking much more of it.

“How is Basics for Babies? Anyone interesting in this season’s students?”  he texted her a few days later, after she sent him a particularly whiny text about how one of her students, who had a significant knack for fire magic, managed to set herself on fire rather than cast the shield they were working on. “Besides your firebug?”

“Had a bad week. I’m safe. Just tired,” he sent two weeks later, after a silent streak that had Leadah worried. Since they started texting, he never took more than a few hours to reply to her. She tried not to overthink it, mostly failed, and kept texting him as if nothing had changed. All the same, the text that finally came through was a relief, and telling. She knew what bad week meant in mob-speak. She wondered how many were dead. She didn’t ask. “Sorry it took me so long to reply.”

“As long as you’re safe,” she told him and picked her words carefully because she did know what it meant for a ranking member of the mob to have a bad week. It was better not to be too direct about any of it. That was a lesson the Slums taught young. Some things were need-to-know, and nobody needed to know. “But you’re okay, right? No new dents you didn’t already have?”

“Nothing I can’t handle. Healer, remember?”

She had forgotten. It seemed so at odds with everything she knew about him, but it made sense, too, in some ways. He had been a bully as a child, but that quickly turned into a fearsome protective streak as he aged. Leadah wondered how that translated to whatever he did for the mob.

“My brother is an idiot,” she sent three days later, frustrated beyond belief at her work, her brother, her magic, and everything relating to any of them. “A talented idiot, but an idiot. I’m not sure we have the same parents.”

“Can’t say can vouch for you being related, but you sure do look a lot like your mom,” he replied almost immediately. “Better than looking like Donny, I admit. What’s Beck doing now?”

“Flirting with my biggest competition,” Leadah told him and wondered if her irritation was palpable over the text. “Lunch should have been over an hour ago and we need to get back to work, and she HATES me.”

“Because you’re prettier than her, more talented than her, or because she doesn’t like slums-kids?” Naveen asked, just as quickly as before. He must be on his own break, or maybe he was taking it easy from his bad week. Leadah didn’t know and hadn’t asked. “Or all of the above?”

“Probably the slums thing,” Leadah replied with a glare at her brother, who was showing no signs of leaving her pretty, wealthy, mean coworker any time soon. “I’m not prettier, or more talented than her.”

“Agree to disagree.”

“You haven’t even seen her!”

“Don’t need to.”

The resolute statement left Leadah so shocked she could only stare down at her comm. It wasn’t that she didn’t know that Naveen was a little sweet on her. They dated briefly in school, before he left, and they lost contact. He made it clear that he wasn’t going to pressure her, which she appreciated, but the unwavering faith in her was new. Even Beck, in his nicer moments, didn’t believe in her like that.

“How are things on your end?” she asked instead. She still wasn’t sure how she wanted to handle Naveen. He had sure grown up, and they had talked a lot already, about everything and anything that crossed their minds. It was a new, but welcome intimacy that she wasn’t quite ready to risk on a romance. “Better this week?”

“Better this week,” he told her, accepting the change of subject smoothly. Leadah blessed him for it. She was bad at romance on a good day, and today wasn’t a good day. “Just paperwork, mostly. A few meetings. I don’t usually get involved with the lower management, but there was a supply line issue that needed attention.”

So, smuggling, probably. Leadah asked, cautiously, what Beck usually did for the mob, and he, honest if nothing else, told her everything he knew. Despite her annoyed text to Naveen, her brother wasn’t stupid, and he probably knew she was talking with Naveen again. He hadn’t been happy they dated in school, but that was mostly because he was kind of an ass most of the time, and didn’t like sharing his friends, or his sister.

Still, he told her what she needed to know, mostly without judging too much.

“All handled?”

“All handled. So, Beck is being an idiot?”

“A talented idiot. We’re making progress,” Leadah admitted, and returned her lunch tray to the stack by the trash cans, and went for the small café. She didn’t often indulge in the fancy coffee from the café. The cafeteria coffee was free, and she had a coffee pot in her office. Still, it seemed prudent not to murder her brother before they finished the spell, and for that she needed sugar and caffeine. “Mostly thanks to you. Those books are priceless, and as far as I can tell, no one else is coming at it like we are.”

“It’s because you’re a genius,” Naveen texted her as she placed her order and went to wait at the counter for it to be ready. “You’re gonna figure it out. The hard part is gonna be explaining it all to me. I’m crap at magic theory.”

“If I can keep the babies from lighting themselves on fire, I can explain the spell to you, once it’s done,” Leadah said and laughed to herself, already in a better mood from the conversation alone. She still wasn’t going to tell anyone but Beck about the spell before they published, butt she was feeling significantly more hopeful about it. Across the hall, Beck finally seemed to be ready to end his flirtations, so she could probably end hers, too. Not that she was flirting. Definitely not. For sure. Probably. “Beck is on his way over. I need to get back to work.”

“If anyone can figure it out, it’s you. Try not to beat your brother up too much. He’s an idiot, but he’s a good friend.”

“He’s a good brother too, but don’t tell him I said so.”

“Your secret is safe with me. Good luck.”

Leadah smiled down at her comm as the barista called her name.

Armed with coffee and a better mindset, she went to meet her brother, ready for the next battle against the troublesome spell.

+++

Sorcery Spells: (FULL COLLECTION)

Star Song (Subscriber Only!)

Homeward Bound

Step Outside

Working Together (Subscriber Only!)

Old Friends (Subscriber Only!)

Reconnection (Subscriber Only!)

Text Mood 

Business Mug (NEW!)

+++

MASTERLIST

[wtf-a-psychoanalysis]

Calm Cool and Collected 5...

...That's what Miyamoto was trying to be while seeing the older red eared slider at his door. It was well into the after noon and quite hot, so instead of the old warrior style look that Miyamoto had seen him less than a week ago, Leonardo-san wore an unbuttoned guayabera and board shorts that were a bit shorter than expected. Miyamoto felt a void in the turtle’s presence as Leonardo-san was missing his large prosthetic arm. 

“Hi Mr. Usagi, I hope I’m not interrupting you” said Leonardo-san holding up the remaining part of his right arm as if the phantom part was to be placed behind his head in a laid back manner. 

“Not at all. Welcome, Leonardo-san. You just missed Yuichi, he was in such a hurry after training.” Said Miyamoto, who just noticed the the large amount of bags hanging off of the older turtle's left arm. “Come in and have a seat , I will help you set your bags down,”

“Thank you, just wait, one moment,” Leo said turning down to Raph, who was at the bottom of the flat’s stairs, “Hey bro, I have something to do, you can do some shopping if you like, here use Don’s credit card, I don’t think they’ll mind.” He tosses the card to the alligator snapping turtle mutant. 

Leonardo-san was much taller than Miyamoto realized, a good half foot taller than his friend Gen, the bounty hunting rhino, and maybe a bit broader. Standing across from the turtle was the only time he felt small talking to someone.

It felt a bit ridiculous to have a crush at his age, being in his late 30’s. Then again his love life was complicated and he was treading uncharted waters openly asking out a man. He has had close encounters with other men but something about Leo-san was different.

 Maybe it was that he was next in line to be head of his family, the Hamato Clan, which was odd because the ancestral Hamatos were human like their cousins, the Hikiji clan. Maybe that was the case, he was related to an enemy, however Miyamoto also had close encounters with a neko ninja clan member named Chizu and…. The rabbit mind trailed off, a trait all Usagi’s share, given the conditions.

“Hello, Earth to Space Usagi.” Leo-san said, waving his left arm in front of the samurai, snapping the rabbit from his trance, “Oh good, anyway thank you for inviting me. I really need a friend my age. I don’t know if I can listen to Dad Draxum’s lecture on calligraphy.” 

Yes, Friends…

“I like calligraphy.” said Usagi. “Its a beautiful discipline…”

“As it helps one focus on the art in ones words and the words of ones art.” Leonardo-san and Miyamoto. Leo continued as Miyamoto stood impressed, “Thats why samurai must also master the are of the brush as they do the sword. Thats what Draxum said anyways. So you fancy yourself a Samurai.” 

“I don’t know, do you fancy a samurai.” Responded Miyamoto.

“Oh” Leo said, his eye markings a bit redder than before. Though Miyamoto thought he somehow insulted the turtle. 

“Chikushō. This man wants a friend, not a cheap replacement for his dead wife” Thought Usagi. In a hurry, the older rabbit gestured to the low table, “Here take a seat while I prepare tea.”

The technology of this age never ceases to amaze Miyamoto, staring at the electric kettle on the counter, he gasps in awe seeing how fast the water is boiled to the perfect temperature for tea. Despite his attention focused on the kettle, he could tell that Leonado-san shared the same fascination from across the room. 

“Is this your first time seeing an electric kettle in action” said Usagi

“Oh, nah, my dad had this old kettle he would always use and it turn out to be an evil helmet of an evil suit of armor so we had to destroy it, I got him an electric one, lets just say Donnie made it evil too.”

Miyamoto’s deep chuckle resonated in the flat, “I’m guessing the purple one and the blue one give you the most trouble,” bringing the tea to the low table. 

“Yeah, they are twins after all, and I should know I was a twin too.” said Leonado

Was is a very common word here

“I never had any siblings of my own but there was a boy in my village, Kenichi, who would cause as much trouble as one, he later became village magistrate after my father passed, then he married Mariko, my childhood sweetheart…”

Leonardo-san made an audiible gasp, “ YOUR childhood sweetheart, whoa, I would have never done that to Donnie.”

“Donnie, isn’t that the name of your son.” Miyamoto cocked his head in confusion before understanding, “Oh Donatello is named after your brother.” 

This must have struck something in the older turtle as a bit of pain flashed across his face. Miyamoto then reached over from his seated positon to place a hand on his shoulder and said, “I’m sorry for your loss,”

“If you did this everytime you hear about what I lost, might as well keep your hand on my shoulder,” Said the turtle, then he places his hand on the rabbit's shoulder, “I’m sorry for your loss. I could never imagine losing a son,”

“It hurts me more that I wasn’t there for him as much, Kenichi was more of a father to him than I” replied Miyamoto, his ears drooped down in regret.

“Wait, he raised your kid.” Leo said in shock.

“Guess I got back at him some how for marrying Mariko.” the rabbit chuckled throught the sadness. 

“You sly dog, does that mean Yuichi is Mariko’s too?” Asked Leonardo-san, shaking Miyamoto a bit .

“No,” said the rabbit flatly 

“Me and Don were like that too… Not in the way that our dad placed his egg in different baskets like you” 

“What do baskets have to do with my previous love affairs, speaking of which, do you mind if I ask what Madonna was like?” Usagi questioned. The turtle loosed his playful grip on the rabbit's shoulder. 

What was she like indeed, know one knows,

Catching a glimpse at the TV placed in the living room the low table was located, Leonardo found his answer, “She loved telenovelas.” Leo lied looking straight into Miyamoto's eyes. The word confused the rabbit, Leo’s heart began to race with excitement given this opportunity to finally share with someone his love for the genre.

Leonardo continued his mission to teach Miyamoto the fundamentals of telenovelas and hispanic television, grabbing the remote and sweeping the rabbit off his feet in order to plop themselves onto the sofa. This small but astonishing moment took the rabbits breath away. 

“Do you know spanish?” asked Leonardo-san. Miyamoto, still silent out of awe, shook his head. “Well its a good time to learn,” Leonardo continued. Flipping through the channels he found one that he had yet to finish.

Despite not understanding the language yet, he understood alot through Leonardo-sensei’s riveting commentary. Now both rabbit and turtle are hooked on the show's curious plot involving twins, forbidden love, clones and what honor means in one's culture. Before they knew it they spent two whole hours curled up against one another.

The chime of Leonardos phone told them that their time together was up. “Oh, Raph's back, looks like I have to go, you understand right Miyamoto”

Miyamoto nodded, “If you must, I had a wonderful time with you and…” He froze, trying to figure out the puzzle of his love confession, yet out came his love language, acts of service. “Let me help you with your bags.”

Now Leonardo-san was gone

Miyamoto stares at the doorway for a bit longer. “I should have told him.” the rabbit said to himself.

Raph was waiting outside of the apartment with the rest of the groceries. Leo-san offered to hold the more than he had already and Raph let him. She knew something was up with him, and it was a bit alarming how he knew a lot about her. Leonardo was the first to know Raph was genderfluid, even before she came out to him. 

Raph despite being in her late teens and towering over most people at six feet, Raph felt comfortable acting like the younger sibling for once around Leo Sensei and that still means calling him out. “You like him don’t you.” She said.This statement caused a very obvious “What! No…” Come out of Leo-san and him almost dropping the groceries. 

Raph continued, “Come on, You can tell me, and it's really obvious.”

“Like your crush on Cassandra”

“Shhh! How do you know about that!?”

“ I’m from the future, remember.” The older turtle chuckled, “To be honest I was kind of jealous when you married her and then became a parent. I always felt like I could never fit the role you had in Jr.’s life.”  

This made Leo-san tear up, remembering how happy his Raph was when she saw Casey Jr. for the first time. The time they taught Casey parkour, that was the day he lost his last baby tooth. All those milestones that Raph witnessed before her life was cut short around the time Casey turned twelve. But this Raph didn’t see death in her future, what she saw is what she said out loud, stars twinkling in her eyes, “We end up together.”

“Yeah, When you're ready to tell her, tell me and I’ll be your ultimate wingman.” Leonardo-sensei said. Once they reached the entrance of the lair, Raph stopped him, offered to carry the rest of the Groceries and said “Go tell him big bro.”

<Previous

Next

[hi-i-love-u-bitch]

Feral AU

A Rottmnt AU where everything is the same except the turtle boys turn out a little more animalistic then usual because Draxum wanted warriors not children. They’re a bit more reminiscent of the turtle species they once were; adding in sharper teeth and claws, and a much more limited range of speech.

Like Splinter is still able to save them and raise them in the sewers and they’re still much more intelligent than an average turtle but they heavily rely more on instinct. Splinter tried teaching them to talk and they can a little but their main form of communication is a series of chirps, clicks, and growls. Which is fine, the most important part is that they UNDERSTAND and are aware of what Splinter is saying. He had a better time teaching them sign language as they seem to better excel in things involving physical movement and motor skills.

SPEAKING OF WHICH!! They are able to learn and pick up Ninjutsu much faster than average and were able to access their Ninpo at an early age. It should be noted that Splinter did NOT teach them Ninjutsu as a means to train them in the ways of the Hamoto clan life mission but as a way to expel all the restless energy those boys had. Draxum had designed them to be warriors so they can’t be idle for too long or they’ll get bored and wreck the den. Splinter needed something physical enough to tire them out as well as something to focus on instead of just mindless destruction.

They are proficient in BOTH hand to hand combat and combat with their weapons.

The boys themselves behave a lot more animalistic, though they still keep some of their distinct personalities:

Raphael

He is an ABSOLUTE UNIT of a boy! You thought he was big before but now he’s an absolute MONSTER of a guy reaching at about 9ft by the time he’s 16yrs! And he’s still growing!

Communicates mainly in growls and deep rumbling churrs, sounds like a fucking motor enginee.

Obviously since he’s the biggest he is the self appointed guardian of the family and he takes his job VERY seriously! Super over protective! Nobody will ever hurt his family on his watch!

He is still very sweet though and a total cuddle bug! Basically the mind set of those HUGE dogs that think they’re a lap dog. Kind of sort of behaves like one as well not gunna lie. His favorite place to nap is atop Splinter’s lap but poor boy is too big so only his head can rest comfortably. Which is fine, Papa still coos and awes at him anyways, always making sure to give him some nice scratchies under his chin.

The best way to know what he’s feeling is to look at his tail, a large scaley, spiky thing that wags when he’s happy!

Still has his stuffed animal collection and enjoys being surrounded by warm soft things. He’s still a little rough when playing with his toys so most often than not they have to be patched up or fixed. He doesn't have as delicate a touch as Mikey does to be able to sew his own things back together so he usually asks Splinter to do it. He has been trying to learn knitting though, it’s a bit slow going due to his massive hands trying to hold regular size knitting needles but he’s getting the hang of it.

Despite that he is very self aware of how big he is and always makes sure to be extra careful when roughhousing with his brothers, especially Donnie.

If any of his brothers get too rowdy and wander off where they’re not supposed to he’ll pick them up like a mama cat with her kittens by the lids of their shells.

He is not above biting people when in a fight, and trust me when I say you do NOT want to be anywhere near those chompers. But he also gives affectionate little nips when playing with others.

The back of his shell is THE best spot to lie atop of when sunbathing! All his brothers plus Splinter can nap atop his shell comfortably and he quite enjoys the comfortable weight they provide as he sleeps.

Not adverse to wearing clothes but then again not a lot can fit his enormous frame and when it does it gets torn up fairly quickly by how rough and clumsy he is. He absolutely loves to wear ribbons though and has an extensive collection of them he keeps in a shoe box. They’re a bit dirty as he’s found them all in the sewers but still quite colorful and pretty. He let’s Mikey and Splinter tie them around his wrists, tail, and neck in cute bows.

As an alligator snapping turtle he is mainly carnivorous but he’ll eat mostly anything really. His favorite being, ironically, fresh fruit especially watermelon.

Still absolutely HATES Miss. Cuddles!

Donatello

The second largest of the group though that’s mainly by height then by build, almost 7ft tall. Long and slender with a thin whip-like tail he can use similar to Splinter when fighting.

Second most protective next to Raph but definitely much more ruthless. If you are not part of his immediate family/clan he could care less of what happens to you.

Also not above biting people, especially his brothers. Though he definatlly has the weakest bite force when compared to the rest of his brothers it still hurts like a mother fucker.

A Lot more cat-like in nature compared to Raph. The key to Donnie's mood is in his body language, seemingly ever calculated and graceful, and in his eyes. All the turtles have slit-like pupils that can narrow and expand depending on their environment but Donnie's seem to function a lot more with his emotions as well.

He’s definitely still the smartest amongst his brothers, ever curious about the world around him and is the only one Splinter was able to teach how to read successfully. Though quite like Raph, Donnie prefers to communicate through clicks and chirps, though he’s more fluent in ASL then the rest of his siblings.

He’s still quite a talented engineer though his inventions tend to look quite rough as they are mainly scraped together using whatever junk he finds laying around. He isn’t all that bothered by how things look so long as they work how they’re supposed to.

Unfortunately, safety in science is not his first priority which has led to quite a lot of injury. Burns scars form electricity and harsh chemicals as well as cuts from shap tools and raw metal edges. Splinter had to practically force him into wearing at least gloves and goggles while he worked by threatening to take away his tool box.

He hissed and growled and snapped at Splinter for a full week and a half but eventually caved.

(Still just as stubborn and hardheaded)

His favorite thing to make is bombs because we all know that every iteration of Donnie ever is a pyromaniac.

Donnie does have a battle shell (made out of scrap metal and memory foam to cushion the inside) but he rarely ever wears it, unless absolutely necessary. Splinter has always been wary of Donnie and his most vulnerable area but aside from keeping his middle child constantly wrapped in bubble wrap the only other thing Splinter could think to do was teach Donnie how to defend himself as a regular human would.

Though they aren’t completely cold blooded Donnie HATES being cold and is usually wearing either large hoodies or sweaters. But he absolutely despises pants!

He still loves to dance! Especially to groovy 80s jams and electro pop!

He’ll eat about almost anything you put in front of him though he seems to enjoy more soft and mushy foods as well as any kind of seafood.

Still terrified of beach balls.

Leonardo

He’s a little more normal in height though that still leaves him at 6ft and growing. A stockier built around the shoulders with long sturdy legs that can deal pretty powerful blows.

His tail is pretty thin, almost boney in texture, flat too, and only about 10in long. It moves a lot like Raph’s tail does, wags when happy, tucked between when scared, and droopy when tired.

He talks the most out of all his brothers though it's quite choppy and sounds a lot more like warbling chirps then words. His “turtle speak” involves a lot more clicks and high pitched chirps, almost sounding quite bird like.

He and Raph are neck in neck when it comes to their skills in ninjutsu, though Raph excels more in defense while Leo is obviously more offensive.

He’s not much of a biter but he will claw a mother fucker’s eyes out if need be.

Though he is a lot more easily distracted and can be quite lazy at times, preferring much more to play than train. Splinter has to constantly find ways to keep Leo focused on the task at hand which usually involves turning things into puzzle games.

Donatello may be the smartest among them but Leo is a scarily good stradagest when given proper motivation.

Definitely still the most confident and charismatic. He’s always the leader of things whenever mischief is afoot. That usually involves reckless stunts Leo wants to try out after seeing it on tv or during one of their many Lou Jitsu marathons.

His ability to create portals does not help Splinter in his endeavor to stop Leo’s trouble making.

He and Donnie spend the most time in water, to the point where Splinter had to build a large shallow pool in the middle of the lair for the boys to soak in. It isn’t a bad thing if they’re dry but if they so happend to get sick it’s best to keep them in water to help them heal faster.

He has slept in the pool before and it scared the shit out of Splinter the first few times it happened because he thought Leo had drowned.

Is the most adversed to wearing clothes, it restricts him too much and he doesn’t like that. The only “clothing” he tolerates are the straps for his weapons and a blue cloth he uses as a bandana for his head. He’s okay with certain hats and neckerchiefs so long as they don’t get in the way.

Again, will eat literally anything though he likes a lot of water based veggies or anything with a good crunch to it.

Not a lot seems to frighten Leo though Splinter isn’t sure if that’s due to bravery or naivety on Leo’s part. That boy seems to not have any self preservation skills what so ever.

Michelangelo

The smallest amongst his brothers though that’s mainly due to him being the runt of the clutch he originally hatched from. Has more of a lean and limber build which makes him a great climber and the fastest out of all of them.

Has the sharpest claws of the group, which really help out a lot with the whole climbing aspect. Mikey is always atop of something, swinging down from seemingly out of nowhere. His favorite perch however is atop of his brothers’ is shoulders, especially Raph since he’s the biggest.

You’d think with the claws he’d be more prone to scratching but that is not entirely true. Either way once he latches on there is very little you can do to get him off unless he wants to.

The cutest little stubby tail you’ve ever seen! It wags like a little bunny rabbit!

He and Leo are the most hyper and energetic of the four, with Raph and Donnie being a bit more low energy. If they don’t have something to focus on they’ll cause all kinds of mayhem, running around all over the lair causing chaos and destruction.

He’s just as fluent in ASL as Donnie is and also just as talkative as Leo is, though still choppy due to limited range in vocal cords. His chirps and clicks in “turtle speak” sound a lot more monkey like though less high pitched “ooo’s” and more tenor based trills.

Definitely the most empathetic amongst his brothers when it comes to outsiders. He’s still weary, don’t get him wrong, but he’s a lot more curious. Even in this universe Mikey still very much wants to make friends!

Still the very creative; loves to draw and paint, and is very messy about it. His favorite place to paint is on his brothers’ shells! They don’t mind of course and they really do enjoy how colorful and bright Mikey decorates them. (Always make sure to use washable, hypoallergenic paints kids!)

Mikey LOVE clothing! He thinks it's so fun to dress up and will sometimes even make his own clothes out of cloth scraps that he finds. Has delicate enough motor skills that Splinter was able to teach him how to crudely sew and stitch things together.

Is the most picky eater out of all of them, though that happened after he learned how to cook. Once he figured out that food could actually taste GOOD when you put effort into it he could never go back to just eating whatever. This was both a blessing and curse with Splinter because on one hand they couldn’t exactly be picky about what they ate with their circumstances. But on the other hand they had a lot more variety and nutrition when Mikey was in charge of cooking.

Before meeting April and her mom (more on them later) as they could not exactly go out shoping for beef and chicken, a lot of the turtles’ protein came from bugs. And as picky an eater Mikey is now he still actually prefers eating bugs over regular meat. His favorites are grasshoppers and earthworms.

He is afraid of the dark and does not like sleeping alone.

Splinter/Lou Jitsu/Hamato Yoshi

Splinter has obviously gone through the most change out of everyone, going from human to mutant rat overnight is definitely not good for your mental health. To physically lose your humanity is one thing but psychologically as well is just a whole other can of worms.

He’s still himself, mentally and personality wise, but sometimes he gets these “episodes”. They usually happen when he’s under stress or backed into a corner (both physically or emotionally). He’ll revert into a more animalistic and primative mental state, somewhat like his boys if a little more “savage”. He’s hostile and aggressive, he can’t talk or even properly communicate at all, possibly not even understanding how to do so. Thankfully he’s never hurt his boys in that state, as even then he still sees them as his children who he must protect.

Has a chunk missing from his left ear courtesy of Raph from when he was a baby and teething. He has a lot of bits and scratch marks from his kids, mainly from rough housing and temper tantrums.

If he had the funding he would absolutely spoil these boys rotten, though as it is the boys aren’t very materialistic and hardly even understand the concept of money.

He’s kept every single gift his sons have made for him. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

Out of all of his boys Donnie is the clingiest, even as a teen. Splinter doesn’t mind though he insists that one day Donnie will grow out of it eventually. (He won’t, he’s a complete daddy’s boy!)

Though all the turtles are bipedal, more often than not they’ll be running around on all fours, which is fine, whatever makes them comfortable. What Splinter does mind though is that he’ll catch himself doing the same thing, like if his body is unconsciously mirroring what is “natural” to him. He doesn’t like to think about the implications of what that means.

As a rat, Splinter has a lot anxiety and awareness of his surroundings do to his heightened senses. Perhaps its from the fact that he is naturally considered prey in the food chain of the animal kingdom. Either way, sometimes he’ll have really bad days of extreme anxiety. He’ll feel like he’s in danger and needs to hide himself and his boys someplace safe. They cannot leave the lair at all during those days and the boys need to stay within Splinter’s line of sight at all times or he will absolutly freak the fuck out.

He lives in constant perpetual fear that either Draxum is still alive (Spoiler: he is) and looking for them or that Big Mama will discover them and force them to fight in the Battle Nexus.

Splinter is face blind. He already had ATROCIOUS eyesight when he was a human, it got even worse when he became a rat. Which is why he color codes the boys cuz if not they’d all just be green blobs. This is also an excuse for cutesy nicknames!

Leo: Baby blue, Little blue moon, My tiny Blueberry boy, Blue Jay/Blue bird

Raph: Little Robin, Rose bud, Big Red, My precious little flame

Donnie: Little violet, My brilliant amethyst, Tiny storm cloud, Sweet plum

Mikey: Sunshine, My shining star, Baby tangerine, Little goldfish

All: My Precious Treasures, My beautiful boys, Little ones

[[Let me know if you guys wanna know more about this AU]]

[[To be Continued….]]

[imashoe69420]

Hi :) can You do rise boys or just Leo reacting to a fem reader wearing a toxedo (suit) because she don't like dresses?

Personally, I prefer a tux over a dress. So this’ll be easy for me to write lmao. I’ve been doing a few rise!bros x readers so I’ll do Leo x reader this time!

Also I made the reader gender-fluid but biologically female. I hope that’s ok :)

=========================

Suits > Dresses

Prompt: You and Leo make your own prom after not being asked to the dance at your school. Well… that was half the reason.

Pairing: Rise!Leo X GF!Reader

Pronouns: Feminine but gender-fluid (they/them/she/her)

Relationship: friends (somewhat dating at the end)

Timeline: Post!Movie

Warnings ⚠️: angst, gender dysphoria, mild language

========================

When you texted Leo saying that you wanted to make your own prom so him and his brothers could join, he took it as a challenge.

The only prom he’d seen was from the “coming-of-age” high school TV shows you’d force him to watch with you, so he knew to go loosely off of that. He needed the music, the kissing booth Photo Booth, the sparkly lights, and the dress.

You’d never talked about your sexuality or sexual orientation to Leo, fearing the conversation would be awkward or he wouldn’t understand or care. Some days, you felt like a boy. Other days, you felt like a girl. Sometimes, you were androgynous. It wasn’t something that you could control or ignore. It was a part of you, and sometimes that sucked.

Leo came over to help you pick out a tux for him and a dress for you online. He was extremely eager, pointing at every other dress commenting about how pretty and shimmery they were.

Sure, they were pretty and shimmery and would look good on anybody, but none of them stuck out to you. None of them made you feel… well, you.

“(Y/N), you would look so good in this one!” Leo tapped on a slim red dress. “C’mon, let’s get this one.”

You shrugged, laughing awkwardly. “That one? Isn’t it kinda…” your words trailed off.

“Kinda amazing! C’mon, c’mon, get that one.”

The turtle’s pleas eventually got you to buy the dress and his suit, but an uneasy feeling settled in your stomach.

Despite your appeasement, Leo could sense that something was wrong. Even though this had been your idea, you didn’t seem as excited about it as he was.

(Y/N) was a big question mark to him. But he didn’t mind that much. In fact, it’s one of the things that made him start to develop feelings for you. He enjoyed the mild switch-ups in your style and demeanor. He’d mentally guess what you’d look like when he arrived at your house, and he was usually wrong.

Nonetheless, he liked how your personality always stayed the same. You were always boisterous, your mind bouncing with crazy ridiculous plans and ideas.

Last week, the two of you built a makeshift amusement park in the sewers. A day or two after that, the two built a miniature chocolate factory from the iconic movie with real toothpaste lids you claimed you’d been collecting for six months.

Where did you get all of them? Leo didn’t ask. He was just happy that you were really passionate about something fun yet so intricate.

As soon as the sun set, the turtles began decorating your school rooftop. Raph set up the Photo Booth and concessions while Donnie set up the DJ booth. Mikey scattered rose petals and confetti on the floor and plastered his drawings along the photo booth wall and rooftop door entrance. All of them adorned a suit and tie associated to their designated colors. April—dressed in a bright green dress—supplied them with the camera.

Leo soon portaled onto the rooftop in a white dress shirt with blue dress pants, blazer, and bow tie. “Hey, hey, how’s it goin’, mis hermanos?”

The oldest of the turtles turned his head to smile at him. “Real good! Just some finishing touches and we should be good.”

After a minute of admiring his brothers’ hard work, a question popped into his mind.

“Mike,” he glanced at his younger brother, “where’s (Y/N)?”

The orange clad turtle shrugged as he threw a handful of glitter into the air, the substance landing on his attire. “She hasn’t texted any of us.”

That was strange.

Again, this was your idea, so why weren’t you here for it? Leo was somewhat frustrated, but gave you the benefit of the doubt. Maybe you were running late.

But you weren’t.

In reality, you’d been sitting on the foot of your bed staring down at the red dress in your lap for several minutes. Maybe half an hour. You weren’t sure, but you were sure that you didn’t want to wear that dress.

But you felt awful about it. One, because the dress was absolutely gorgeous, but not something you’d ever wear. Although your attire heavily depended on what area of gender dysphoria you’d be in, you were never attracted to dresses. In formal settings, you’d always preferred a suit and tie or at least a dress shirt and tie.

You finally stood up and set the dress on your bed. Ambling over to your closet, you pulled out the suit and tie set you’d been dying to wear. All it was was a regular black and white color scheme, but you felt your heart flutter at the sight of it.

This made you feel pretty. This made you feel seen.

“Hey,” Leo knocked on the glass of your bedroom window, “everything’s ready. Let’s get going before my bros eat all the concessions… which is just pizza. Maybe pizza was a bad idea.”

You stuffed the clothing back into your closet before letting him in. “Uh, yeah, I’m almost ready.”

Leo furrowed his would-be eyebrows at your clean face and large gray t-shirt draping over your body. “Doesn’t look it.” He lifted the dress off your bed and held it in front of himself. “Is it too small or something? Shit, we didn’t check the size before ordering it, did we?”

You faked a chuckle at his worries as you laid a hand against his shoulder. “No, Leo, it’s fine.”

“You sure?” The blue clad turtle sets the dress back on the bed. “You’ve been kinda weird the whole time we’d been planning this. Were you not serious about this or…?”

Ah, shit, now he’s upset, you thought. Now you had to explain your hesitation—“no, of course not. Get out so I can get dressed!”—or suck it up as per usual.

Leo’s confused expression turned into one of joy before he hopped out the window to give you privacy.

You didn’t want Leo to think you were weird. Especially Leo. You two did everything together.

He went with every idea you had no matter how crazy or nearly impossible it seemed. While in the middle of your theoretical rant, you’d notice him staring at you in a way you could only describe as entranced. You were never sure if he was entranced by you or the topics you could talk about for days, but you sure hoped it was you.

The only reason you bought that dress was because of him. He wanted to see you in it and that alone rose the temperature in your cheeks.

This was for him and him only.

~~~

You texted Leo asking his to form a portal from your bedroom to the rooftop. He obliged, the glowing blue circle appearing in front of you.

When you step through it, Leo, his brothers, and April are on the other side. The decor definitely wasn’t exactly what you envisioned, you loved that the group did all this over a meaningless text.

“This is so awesome, you guys.” You thanked them. “You’re some of the best friends I’ve ever had.”

The turtles and April cooed before pulling you into a group hug. House music soon begins to blare as Donnie mans the DJ booth. Bright lights strobed as you and the others jumped up and down in the beat of the music, screaming and chanting in joy.

As the night progressed, the songs slowly became quiet enough to hold a conversation. Leo caught you drinking from the punch bowl and decided to try his luck.

“I wouldn’t drink out of that if I were you.” He advised, a wide smirk on his face. “Who knows what’s in here?”

“He said inconspicuously.” You giggled. “Although, we all knew he had spiked the punch bowl.”

Leo sneered playfully. “You’ve been hanging out with Donnie too much.”

You shrugged as you poured a second helping of the translucent drink. “He says, jealousy distorting his features.”

The turtle sputtered, shocked by your allegations. “Jealous? Oh, hardly. I know I’m your favorite twin.”

With another shrug, the music changed into a slow song. Leo looked you up and down before smirking.

“You look incredible in that dress.”

To be honest, you’d forgotten you were wearing it until he pointed it out just now. Suddenly you felt dirty and uncomfortable with the way the tight-fitted material clung to your thighs. Why did he have to say that?

You tried your best to offer him a smile. “Well, you’re the one who picked it out. You have good taste.”

A look of worry washed over his face before returning to his signature cocky expression. “We should dance.”

He held out his hand towards you and you graciously took it. You wanted to do everything to again forget that the retched dress wasn’t sticking on you like a rubber glove.

The dance was conflicting. You hated the dress and the way it accentuated your curves, and it overall made you feel like somebody else. But the way Leo admired you as the two of you danced alongside your friends caused you to think that all the discomfort and dysphoria was worth it.

Even though you looked gorgeous, Leo couldn’t help but feel awful. He had seen you holding the suit when he approached your window. You gazed at it the way he’d ogled at the red dress. The turtle had somewhat known of your androgyny, but never pressed you about it in fear he was wrong and you just enjoyed both men and women’s clothing. But seeing you right now uncomfortable with the clothing he’d picked out for you broke his heart.

“Hey,” Leo murmured as you and his switched positions, your arms around his neck and his hands against your hips, “you—uhm, you can totally wear whatever you want.”

You shot a hopeful look up at him, surprised on how he found out. “Huh?”

“You can wear the tux if you want. It’s not gonna upset me if you do. I just want you to be comfortable.”

No one had ever told you that. No one had told you to change out of a dress and into a tux. Your parents constantly pushed you to solely embrace your femininity. It wasn’t that they were homophobic or transphobic or anything. They just didn’t understand because you’d never told them.

“No, Leo, it’s okay—” you attempted to deny his allegations, but he shook his head.

“Go put the tux on, (Y/N).” He let go of you before creating a portal back to your bedroom.

~~~

After portaling back to the party, everyone’s attention was drawn to you. There you were in the black and white tuxedo that didn’t cling to your skin or accentuate any part of your body you didn’t want to be prominent.

You felt like yourself.

The group cooed at you, complimenting your formal wear. You couldn’t feel more proud of your attire.

Leo smiled at you once the group dispersed and invited you back to the slow days. You agreed.

He simply couldn’t take his eyes off you. He thought you wouldn’t look as good as you did in the dress. Once again, he was dead wrong.

The turtle sighed benevolently. “You look even better.”

Heat soon raised to your cheeks at his comment. “Thanks… and thanks for letting me change. I know that dress meant a lot to you but—”

“It doesn’t mean as much to me as you do.” Leo admitted, gently squeezing your hips. “I’m sorry I wasn’t thinking about what you wanted. This was your idea and I didn’t let you have a say. I’m sorry for being a dickwad.”

You chuckled as you rested your head against his clothed plastron. “You’re not a dickwad. I think you look adorable in that suit. It’s strange seeing you in human clothes.”

He raised his would-be eyebrow. “Human clothes? As opposed to…?”

You loved the banter you’d get into with him, but this moment was too precious. Instead, you stood on your tippy-toes and pecked his cheek.

“Thanks for giving me the best prom ever.” You whispered.

Leo’s brain more or less short-circuited. He had daydreamed about this moment for weeks, but now that it was happening, he didn’t know what to do or say. The only thing he thought to do was pull you flush against his chest and murmur back.

“Anything for you.”

[transamorousnetwork]

Trans Women Wanted A Movie About Trans-Attracted Men: They Got One

A big complaint about trans-attracted men has been that they’re too chicken shit to come out and own their trans-attraction. Some celebrities have come out acknowledging their attraction to trans women, or have been outed by others. And, at least several trans-attracted men I know are out loud about their orientation. One wrote a book about his attraction. Another has a book in the works.

Still, the trans community generally has expressed dismay that trans-attracted men remain scared to out themselves. Trans women say if more did, society would accept transgender women more. Some trans women even express interest in someone making a movie about the subject.

Years ago, The Crying Game was that movie. It was pretty good as far as it went.

But Richard Gadd’s Baby Reindeer, which debuted on Netflix last month, took the genre to a whole freaking other level. Trans women got their wish, again.

Let’s take a look at what I think is a tour de force in LGBTQ cinema for many, many, many reasons. Over the next few posts, I’m going to weigh in on this magnificent limited series from multiple angles.

Spoil alerts!

Talking about the show without giving away spoilers would be really tough. In this post, I’ll do my best to avoid spoiling the really good parts. I can’t promise I’ll do so in the next posts. You should go watch it, therefore.

Baby Reindeer features a main character named Donny. He’s a bartender and aspiring comedian. One day a woman comes into the bar. But this is no joke. Donny immediately perceives she’s having a hard time. That woman turns out to be a major stalker who ends up stalking Donny for years. Donny’s relationship with this woman seems like the main plot.

But another one overwhelms the stalker story in my opinion. That one, we discover, is Donny’s trans attraction, how he discovered it and what happens as he tries to overcome his MASSIVE, INTENSE and world-shaping shame and self-loathing.

^^Baby Reindeer: Number one on Netflix. From Actress Nava Mau’s Instagram profile (Photo from Instagram). 

It’s a true story

What’s really good about this is Baby Reindeer is a true story. It’s also HIGHLY fictionalized. Still, Gadd, the creator, did a great job fleshing out all the characters, making them believable, nuanced and many-layered. No villains exist here, which is good because villains and victims both are fictions. Everyone creates their reality.

The reason I love that Baby Reindeer is true is that it offers deep insight into the lives of trans-attracted men. Now, not all men who are attracted to trans women are like the guy depicted in the series. Still, of the dozens of men I’ve spoken to or worked with, some things do ring true, things portrayed in the main character’s personality.

At least 60 percent of the men I’ve spoken to or worked with have divergent sexual experiences. Not all of them were “abused”. But many experimented with avant-garde sexual practices. This includes experimenting with male siblings at a young age (which is more common than I thought), fantasizing about sexual acts with their mothers, or even being curious about acts with animals.

At least two of my trans-attracted clients experienced suicidal ideation borne of extreme self-loathing. At a key moment in the series, Donny says he goes through everything he experiences because of his intense self hatred. I’ll revisit the power of self-directed hatred later. It’s important.

The point here isn’t that trans-attracted men are weird or sick. It’s that they came here with a curiosity around a subject most people find so taboo, their beliefs on the subject are intense and likely to trigger harsh judgements. They also cause extreme conservatism towards sex, even though some of those same people who harbor taboo perspectives on these curiosities act out the curiosities themselves. I know this because they often get caught.

Self-loathing common among many

There’s a lot of harsh judgement in Baby Reindeer. Donny does the worst of it, which causes his life trajectory to careen into darkness.

Avid readers of this blog who watch the show will notice that Donny acknowledges as the cause of all the shit that goes down, his extremely intense self-hatred. Again, in one revealing and powerful scene, he admits loving his self-hatred more than anything else, including other people, including himself.

That’s a powerful acknowledgment.

Many trans-attracted men share this powerful hatred. It may not be as intense as it is portrayed in Donny’s life. After all, the story is highly fictionalized. But it’s still there in many trans-attracted men and still intense. That intense emotion always attracts circumstances matching the vibration underneath hatred. And many people have self hatred going on in them. Especially transgender women.

So when watching the show it should be no surprise to anyone that Donny experiences all that he does: failure in his relationship with a cis woman; failure in his dreams to become a comedian; rape at the hands of a male predator; a crazy stalker, and, generally, a fucked up life. It’s all fascinating to watch, painful at times, but so spot on about how the Universe works.

Self-loathing is what makes people “victims”. Remember, there aren’t any victims because people draw to them through their beliefs experiences they live through. “Victims” are vibrational matches to “perpetrators”. Together, they perform a dance, a dance that can destroy and even end in death.

Lives created through self-loathing

Such experiences attempt to alert the person to what’s going on in them. No one can create an experience outside their persistent beliefs. That’s why we encourage clients to clean up their beliefs. Doing so can dramatically improve one’s life experience. Especially in love.

But if a person holds beliefs like Donny does, that person’s experience will look much like the character’s life. The experiences will start as much less intense. Ignored though, and they will increase in intensity. The person will then feel unsatisfied or “unlucky”. In that dissatisfaction, they’ll complain about their life. They’ll see only the worst happening. And in that focus, they’ll invite even more unfortunate experiences.

This often plays out in comments to this blog. I’ll offer absolutely overwhelming evidence the majority of people support trans people, for example, and nearly every commenter will double down on their focus. A focus on things proving their beliefs that the world is against them is “true”. Even though ample evidence shows it’s not.

What those people don’t understand is, that focus is exactly why they experience these experiences. And no one need experience them! Except those who are matches to those experiences.

Getting what they wanted

Baby Reindeer is an amazing movie about trans attraction. And I haven’t even mentioned the spectacular performance delivered by the beautiful transgender actress Nava Mau. I recommend every trans woman watch Baby Reindeer. Every trans-attracted man should too. Maybe those men will see themselves in the Donny character and do something that will help them change their own life experiences.

There’s so much more I can write about this spectacular series. And I’m going to do so in the next post. In the meantime, go watch it. It’s on Netflix.

If you have seen it, share your perspective. What did you think? One client who watched it, watched all seven episodes in one night. Afterwards he could only text me one word: Fascinating.

Transgender women have been asking for a movie like this for a long time. Well, they got one.

[kokorowoutsu]

-- RP: @skullboneandunown

skullboneandunown:

Lily gently brushes some hair from Willow's face and smiles at Jewel. "She always helped Donnie go to sleep when he was her age, so she's more than happy to help." As they leave the room, the gentle melodies of Jewel singing are heard behind the door. Professor Xavier nods in understanding. "Please, take all the time you need. Rushing things will only make them worse." He chuckles softly at Bahamut's reaction. "Worry not, my new friend. She won't be that far from home if she does go to my school. I saw too it that our students are taught more organically than those at Blueberry Academy." He turns to see Ashe and Lily come back down the stairs, and wheels away to join Donnies parents in the kitchen. Donovan and Flannery share a look before he speaks up. "Well...the Professor had a proposition for you and Leon regarding Willow. It's... something you should talk to Leon about."

She's quiet as she eyes her husband now and after being gently led away by the hand to a corner, Ashe listens to what Leon has to say. Her expression shows hurt and then a sad understanding of the situation. She knew it would be tough for her daughter, but it wasn't like she wouldn't be able to come home if Xavier's school was close enough. For now, she'd be learning at best the basics of reading and writing as well as pokemon. Her daughter couldn't own one, but she could at least be accompanied by Epona, the Ponyta she was so attached too.

In the end, she found it better then sending her overseas and or to Blueberry Academy. After a little while, Ashe followed her husband back over before consulting with Flannery and Donovan. "His school sounds like the best bet for her." As her now newly named godparents, Flannery and Donovan had a say. "Because of how schooling is here, she wouldn't start until the end of summer, but she'd be in the first grade at best. I... honestly think it's best she gets used to other kids her age and learns in a more closed environment. I don't want her exposed to Blueberry Academy... at least not til she's ready. Sending her overseas to here was an option too, but I want her close by." Ashe admits with a soft sigh.

"I guess that means i'll be pushing the Hoenn League challenge to this summer -- that way she can come with us." Leon admits, but his gaze now turns to the two. "What do you two think?"

[nani-nonny]

Reading ch 8, not going pass the title and am IMMEDIATELY smiling like a goofy, giddy idiot before trying to calm down and focus on reading!!

When i read that DMD and LCD were close to each other i for seconds forgot that " Achilles " is LCD and thought it was WDS and wondered 'hmm, what's wrong?' Until i finally remembered it's LCD and sucked air thinking 'WHY ARE YOU SO CLOSE?!? 6 FEETS FOR QUARANTINE!!'. Also DMD running away and - forcefully(?) - guiding everyone somewhere is like... A bit childish, bruh.

The fact the 4 can set up camp with no words or even glance at each other is like.. 👌🏻✨ please i need my IRL people do that.

Seeing that reunion start talking first i was thinking 'Of course he getting talk first! Old man gotta see people's tea!!'. And he asked about his name, my mind went 'oh boy! Oh boy! Come on buddy, don't show them you're 100% mama's boy, k?'.

Tho i admits i loved how big mama in reunion's time had retired.. Wonder if she's back with Splinter... And wonder if Someone took her place, maybe Donnie?

The moment he mentions ✨ After War ✨ and how everyone reacts to him ESPECIALLY LCD is just makes me go 'Aww! He's admiring him!🥺', it made my heart melt, like how kids see someone who did greater things and be like them?!

But the moment he 'bit' his tongue i was like WOW!!

Bro, the two - DMD & Reunion - are deflecting the questions as if they're playing Tennis!

WDS just result to begging is so me, feeling so done and don't want to be teased anymore and just wants straight answer. Reunion begin speechless made me think 'That's what you get for trying to sip other people's tea!!' But i liked how he used a dating sim game to describe the situation.

Now my brain went 'wait he lost everything? How? He won, his brothers are alive, the city is safe... Does he mean his childhood??'. So back to DMD giving out a short summary was good but LCD is a bit cringed or disgusted and i don't blame him! I don't think he can tell the truth but would he lies about his nickname's story??

AND DAMN IT WDS EXPOSED HIM!! Wonder what the ghosty brothers would say!!!😂 and when Reunion said 'father issues on top of mother issues?' I just laughed xD AND THE MIDDLE FINGER MAKES IT BETTER!!😂😂😂 their shenanigans is soo good! I live for this!! AND WDS ASKED FOR HIS AGE AGAHAHAHA!!!!😂😂😂

When WDS whispered 'I know' i was certain he'll gonna have to tell them about his *ahem* ear scratching! Lol.

But this chapter left me EVEN MORE EXCITED 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

This squad of peepaws is honestly bringing out the childishness that the peepaws have hidden deep behind the angst and Resistance Leader facade /j

And Reunion being a chismoso gives me *life* he has to know everyone’s business hahah!

In his timeline, Big Mama is like the granny that have those little porcelain dollies that are encased in the glass cabinets except it’s artifacts she hoarded from her big time boss era. She’s working with prosthetic legs trying to simply vibe in the weak society the turtles are trying to rebuild.

The memes!!! <333333

Old Timer is being looked up to for a brief second and it makes me happy :)))

But yes, Reunion has everything. He won the war and got his brothers back thanks to the past turtles resetting his timeline, but that doesn’t erase the fact that he had to lose everything in order to get it back. So he definitely has that lingering in the back of his mind that he often brings up in therapy. He lost the war once, and he’s glad he was able to beat it the second time around, hence his “reset”. (In simpler terms, the movie happened, but thanks to past turtles, they were able to turn back time and restart on a better note. Sadly, he and the future turtles remember dying.)

Anyways, we’ll have to see what LCD shares about his story after WDS’s turn hahah! And it should be WDS’s turn on the second night of their journey to saving the original Leo! (Next chapter)

[fishsticksloser]

Eyes Wide Open

Donnie + gn!reader & Leo x gn!reader

Warnings: mutual pinning, mentions of marriage, fluff, aged up, no tcest!!!

A/N: The twins ever! I wish I had a relationship like theirs with my twin. :( Also, I can't get over how cute Donnie is in the gif...

Donnie │ Raph │ Mikey

"Screwdriver..." Donnie held his hand out to you.

"What kind?" You ask. "Phillip, flat... torque?"

"Phillip..." He sighs. You place the Phillip head in his hand. "When have I ever used torque?"

"Never, so why do you have it?" You laugh.

"It comes in the pack..." His voice drifted off as he worked. You spun idly in your chair. "Finished. Ta-Da."

"Thank you so much, Dee." Donnie hands you your fixed coffee machine. "You're the best!"

"I only fix a few things for free, then you have to start paying." He reminds you. "Unless you're family."

"Am I not family?"

"Hmmm....? No. Not yet."

"I'm hurt, Grimace." He hated being called Grimace, but you loved calling him it. Especially when he was being stubborn.

"Maybe you should marry Leo, then we can talk pricing." Donnie smiles. You feel your face heat up. Donnie always had to have the upper hand...

"Don-"

"Think about it." Donnie covers your mouth.

You left with your coffee maker, grumbling about Donnie. You made it home finally, not expecting a blue branded turtle to be sitting in your living room.

"Leo!" You grin, setting your coffee machine on the kitchen counter.

"I was wondering when you'd get home." Leo hugs you, picking you up a little. "Where were you?"

"I was with Donnie, he was fixing my coffee machine." You answer, wrapping your own arms around him.

"You were at my house and I am at yours..." Leo chuckles, setting you down. "We have to work on that."

"You're brother..." You shake your head. "Telling me I have to pay for him to fix stuff."

"Did he really?" Leo snorts. "He's been doing it for April, no charge."

"He said family gets free maintenance. I'm not family so then he told me to-"

"What did he tell you to do?"

You shook your head, trying to make the topic drop. It was a ridiculous thing Donnie said to rile you up, he liked doing it as payback for calling him Grimace.

"Let's just say I called him Grimace."

Leo laughed. He loved the nickname, though he couldn't use it because Donnie isn't afraid to send Leo to med bay. "I'm actually very curious as to what he said after you called him Grimace."

"It was just Donnie being Donnie." You joke.

"I'm serious. What did he say?" Leo gave you puppy eyes and you were doomed.

"He told me I should marry you if I wanted the family discount."

"He said that?"

You nodded. Leo paused for a few moments, like he was digesting those words.

"I don't know about marriage..." Leo ponders, hand on his chin. He turned away from you.

"W-What?" You cough.

"Yeah... I mean, that's a way off, right?" Leo smirks, turning back to you. "I think we can start smaller... Don't you?"

You couldn't speak. Was this really happening? You nod, numbly. Leo's smile widens and he cups your face.

"No offense, but I really would like to hear you say it." Leo shrugs. "I just like verbal conformations."

"Yeah... That sounds good." You manage. Leo leans down and kisses you. He pulls away and you laugh, softly.

[softturtletot]

Y/n was in her room in the lair feeling a bit stressed out from the day , she takes a look at her phone to notice the turtles had texted her slightly worried since she had ran to her room and locked her door . She sighs and quickly texts them back that she's fine and just needs some time to herself to which they reply :

Tmnt 2012 group chat

———————————————————-

Leo : are you sure your ok y/n ?

Y/n: ya I'm sure I just need a bit of time to myself ...

Mikey: ok dudette ... just know theirs some pizza down here still left if ya want some

Donnie : you know you can talk to us about anything, right y/n?

Y/n : .... I know Donnie , I just I wanna be alone for now

Raph: now don't you go hiding away y/n ! You better come out and talk with us later about this , it's not good to bottle things up

Y/n: I know and I'll speak to y'all about it later but I just need a bit of time to collect myself

Donnie: ok , just know  well be in the living room when your ready to talk

Y/n : ....ok

She quickly gets off her phone and curls up in her bed as a tear slips down her cheek and feels her mind go a bit fuzzy so she grabs ( stuffies name) and holds it tight while wondering if she should tell them or not but decides to slip into her little space . So she gets up and grab her coloring book and gets into a cute fluffy unicorn onesie and puts ( favorite cartoon )on on her phone and starts to hum and smile as she colors while feeling herself slip into her younger mindset .

In the turtles minds in the living room : I hope she's ok

Leo then looks to his brothers , should we go check on y/n ?

*The others look at him with concern * I don't know bro *Mikey says as he looks down in his lap * she seemed like she really doesn't wanna be bothered right now* raph and Donnie nod in agreement though still worried and raph huffs a bit as he doesn't like that she's hiding * We should go to her room and drag her out here ! Raph says gruffly. *The others look at him in shock as he crosses his arms and say * raph that would be very rude of us and *then Mikey speaks up * um dudes what if one of us goes and checks on her instead of all of us ... so she doesn't get overwhelmed? * The others look at him and think about it as leo then speaks *

Actually that isn't a bad idea * he looks at the others seeing that their a bit hesitant on checking on her and sighs * I'll go check on her . Leo then heads over down the hall to y/ns room and knocks but doesn't get an answer except quiet giggling and it makes him tilt his head and he turns the doorknob surprised to see it open and slowly peaks into her room and his jaw drops at the scene ; seeing y/n in a unicorn onesie while coloring with ( favorite stuffie) beside her and ( favorite cartoon ) on her tv . He then clears his throat quietly so she doesn't hear and thinks to himself, we'll that explains why she didn't hear me knock but I wonder what she's doing , whatever it is it's kinda cute * Leo then smiles a little softly but curiously and slowly walks over and y/n finally notices him as her eyes widen and tear up as Leo looks at her with worry and shushes her softly * Hey it's ok y/n I'm not mad or anything* y/n then speaks softly with her words still slightly slurred* y-you won h-hate mwe ? *Leo looks at her softly and shakes his head *no I'm just a bit curious as to what's going on

* Y/n blushes a little nervously and speaks softly * d-do you know age regression l-Leo ? *Leo looks at her and shakes his head * sorry I don't really know what that is but I'm guessing it's part of why your like this correct ? He asks calmly *She nods and explains about how it's a coping mechanism of hers that helps her with trauma and depression, how her mindset goes into a space sort of like a child's or even younger depending on how far she slips *Leo nods his head with a look of understanding and a soft smile on his face as he tilts her chin up seeing y/n looking up at him with teary eyes and speaks softly to her *hey none of us would hate you for that y/n ever , it seems like a pretty healthy way to cope and I'm sure the others will think so to if you choose to explain to them * Y/n looks a bit nervous but nods her head and smiles a little shyly and speaks *Theirs um another part to it , their are caregivers who take care of the little when their um i-In that mindset. *She looks down a bit nervous as Leo smiles softly down at her and coos a bit *does that mean you want us to be your caregivers y/n ? * he says gently as he holds her chin back up to look at him and she nods nervously making him smile * well I may not know much about being a caregiver so you'll have to be a bit patient with me but I'll surely try my best * he says gently as he looks at her and she smiles back at him and then speaks nervously * I-if I go back to the living room with you could you um explain to the others , I-I'm a bit nervous * Leo nods with a gentle smile and he grabs her hand to which she looks down and sees she's still in her onesie and blushes * I I think I should change before we go *Leo then chuckles a bit * no need to worry y/n I think your onesie is adorable * he says sweetly making her blush shyly * he then tugs softly on her hand * let's go sweetie , you got this ok ? * y/n nods slowly as they walk to the living room and y/n hides behind Leo as soon as she sees the others as they look at her curiously * um Leo * Mikey says * why is y/n hiding behind you and wearing that ? I mean it's cute but * Donnie and raph nod agreeing with Mikey's question as they look to Leo * Leo then smiles a bit and starts explaining a bit about y/ns regression and why she does it and the others nod in understanding * y/n looks at them from behind Leo nervously and sees them slowly come up to her as Donnie bends down a bit and speaks softly * hey it's ok , we think it's a healthy coping mechanism too we don't hate you * the others nod as Leo smiles and turns around to look at her too and Mikey speaks up excited * hey dudette I may not know much about being a caregiver and neither do my bros but we'd be willing to try * he says with a smile as the others nod and raph speaks up a bit * I don't really understand but your our friend and friends help each other and if this is something that helps to keep a smile on that cute little face of yours then I'll try too * he says with a soft smirk as y/n blushes a bit and feels herself get picked up as she looks up to see Leo had picked her up with a gentle smile and sits down with her in his lap as he holds her she looks up at all of them as the others then sit on either side of them on the couch * so what kind of names do ya like to be called when your in that space y/n? * Donnie asks curiously * y/n looks down at her lap while playing with the bottom of her shirt * I I like names like l-Little one , baby girl , princess , angel , and s-sweetie * she says slightly embarrassed as the others smile * theirs no need to be embarrassed little princess none of us find this weird , in fact it's adorable * they all smile and nod as y/n blushes as she feels her mindset slip a bit and starts to go a bit nonverbal but quickly tries to explain before she goes to deep into her space * g-guys theirs another part * they nod and ask what it is gently as she explains about how she sometimes goes nonverbal if she slips further or is sleepy and they all nod in understanding as she finally lets( finishes in next post )