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chil-aglia · 2 days ago

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𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮 |ROTTMNT| (Male OC)

A Step Closer

Be sure to read the tags on my Ao3 so you guys know what you’re getting yourselves into.

Art is done by me, PLEASE feel free to make your own art and idk tag me in it or something—

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The mask never came off. It practically stuck to Giovanni’s face ever since he got it. But no one told him to remove it, they understood that this mask was special to him, a real gift he ever received in years.

Giovanni was adjusting to the family life, it wasn’t perfect, but he became less jumpy around his brothers and father, still on edge and he frequently has nightmares, but he made the effort of slowly coming out of his shell.

Still, he felt odd. It was like this was all still a dream to him. He can still feel the slimy and squishy tentacles of the Krang crawling along his body, choking him, suffocating his windpipe. He sometimes just shivered and felt sick whenever he just recalled them. But he didn’t want to burden or worry anyone, so he kept these feelings to himself.

He knew it was unhealthy to do that, but he didn’t want to risk ruining everyone’s mood just because of him.

Giovanni was currently sitting in Splinter’s chair, cross legged as he watched his brothers act out scenes from the movie they were watching. They started introducing him to Lou Jitsu movies, A.K.A. Splinter’s old movie star life before he was mutated into a rat.

Giovanni didn’t understand any of it. But he kept patient and watched on. He supposed this was normal for his younger brothers to act out these scenes, Mikey told him that they have seen all the movies countless times that it was embedded into their brains, they knew all the lines and all the action.

Giovanni was impressed.

”Hot soup!”

Giovanni flinched when Raphael suddenly threw Leo and Donnie behind him, the twins crashing on the floor and landing in front of Giovanni who panicked that they were hurt as he looks down at him, arm stretched out hesitantly as though he was scared to touch them.

But he blinks when they laughed and sat up, cheering and clapping for Raph praising him on the performance.

Giovanni sighs softly in relief as he got back to his original position.

“Hey, you guys smell that?” Leo spoke up, sniffing the air, his brothers copying him. “Ugh, yeah…what is it?” Mikey made a slight disgusted face as he follows the stench. He walks towards Giovanni and blinks at him, Giovanni tilting his head in puzzlement.

”Whew! It’s Gio!”

What’s me?

Leo slides in and gave a brief whiff as he pokes his tongue out in disgust. “Eugh, yeah…guess you haven’t had a bath for some time. But it’s time for you to get clean.”

A what?

Noticing the confused expression, Leo widens his eyes before turning to the others. “Uh, oh. He doesn’t know what a bath is. Someone gotta bathe him.” He explains as Mikey immediately shakes Donatello’s shoulders.

”I volunteer Donnie!”

”Wait, what?!”

Leo grins and slings an arm around his twin, “Thank you for volunteering bro. Go have fun!”

He shoves Donnie gently over to Giovanni who stared at him as Donnie gags a bit at the smell. “Why do I have to be the one to give him a bath?” He groans over to the boys who laugh sheepishly at him.

What’s a bath?

Giovanni perks up, a little curious about this ‘bath’ they kept speaking of. Was it good? Safe? Something for him to eat?

“It’ll be fine. Besides out of everyone here, you seem to interact with Gio the least! This is good for you two to be more aquatinted!” Raph smiles in assurance as Donnie glares before sighing and shaking his head.

There was no way out of this was there?

“Very well. I’ll have Giovanni here come out squeaky clean!”

Donnie wasted no time and grabs the oldest brother and drags him away to the bathroom. Giovanni lets Donnie take him away, but he couldn’t help but gulp. He was nervous being left alone with the soft shell.

He enters the bathroom that he’s only been in probably once. And that was just by accident when he was looking for one of the rooms of his brothers to return something they left behind in the living room.

Donnie closes the door, making Giovanni flinch and turn around. “All right, now, do you know anything about bathing?” Donnie asks in a more begging tone, but to his disappointment, Giovanni just shook his head.

”Sigh….all right. Guess I have to do everything.”

He huffs and walks over to the bathtub, turning the tap on as water pours out. Giovanni leans over Donnie slightly to get a better look, however since he now closer, Donnie had to resist the urge to gag.

”Boy, you really do smell.”

”I smell?” Giovanni mumbles in confusion as he steps back and sniffed his arm, but he didn’t smell anything out of ordinary. “You probably don’t smell it because you’re already used to your own scent. But trust me, you need a bath.”

Donnie looks to the tub and turns it off once the water was at a reasonable level. “Okay, get in.” He gestured as Giovanni remained where he was, feeling anxious of getting in. Donnie blinks at him, “Well? Chop, chop. The water will get cold.” He encourages but Giovanni just shifted uncomfortably on his feet.

Donnie hums in thought, he was hoping this was going to be easy but of course he should’ve expected that Giovanni would be uncomfortable with getting into something that he had no idea about.

”Look, it’s safe. It’s just water.”

Donnie placed his hand in the tub, splashing the water lightly. “It won’t hurt you. Promise.”

Donnie was just winging this, feelings and making others comfortable was suited for Mikey. But since his brothers oh so kindly gave him the task of bathing his oldest brother, he didn’t know what else he could do.

Relying on visuals to help Giovanni become more comfortable with the idea of getting into the tub. He was surprised that it seemed to work as Giovanni walks over and hesitantly dipped his finger into the water.

Giovanni relaxed at the feeling before he raised his feet up and hopped over the tub lightly, placing both feet into the water. “Yessssuh!” Donnie grins, a step forward in the right direction.

”Okay, now sit down in the water.” He instructs, to which Giovanni listens as he squatted down before sitting in the water. He shivered at the weird feeling of being almost submerged.

Donnie gazed at the grey mask around Giovanni’s face, “We should take this off, so it doesn’t get wet.” Donnie points out, tapping lightly at the mask as Giovanni points but nods.

”All right…but I’ll get it back?”

”Course you will.”

Giovanni unties his mask and handed it to Donnie who placed it on the sink counter. “Well, guess we should start scrubbing.”

He grabs a loafer and soap, turning in the direction of Giovanni who looks between the items in curiosity and nerves.

Giovanni discovered a new kind of love. He loves baths. Loves being in water.

Donnie had been the one to witness all the chaos that Giovanni brought when it came to being bathed. At first, he shivered and almost avoided being scrubbed, but then when Donnie eventually managed to touch him and start slowly, he saw the changes in his brother in an instant.

Giovanni was purring at the sensation. It was like his body went on autopilot, he began slowly sinking into the water before he completely submerged, blinking and looking up.

Donnie had deadpan, watching his brother not coming up. And since he was a turtle, he knew that Giovanni could hold his breath for a while. Donnie had to drag him back up to the surface since he didn’t want to stay in the bathroom any longer than he already has.

But of course, with Giovanni’s best found love for water, it wasn’t easy. Whenever Donnie turned away for a second, he would hear the rippling of the water in the tub, looking back to see Giovanni being completely under water.

But none the less, Donatello managed to clean his brother, draining the tub and drying him off with a towel. He gave back the mask to let him tie it on himself before opening the bathroom door and announcing out loud.

”I’ve done it! Behold, a clean Giovanni!”

Mikey received a phone call from April, he was in his room painting away until he saw his phone lighting up with a picture of April’s smiling face coming up.

”Chello!”

April chuckled on the other end when Mikey picked up, “Hey Mikes. How’s it going? Haven’t heard from you in awhile.” She greeted, as Mikey smiles happily. “Sorry about that. It’s been quite busy here. We’re all helping our brother out and—“

”Whoa, whoa. Back up. Brother? Who?”

Mikey widens his eyes in realisation. They forgot to tell her about Giovanni. “Ohmigosh! We’ve been so caught up; we forgot to tell you about him! Okay, so, you remember that mutant turtle we brought back to lair to get him treated?”

”Uh, yeah. You guys never told me what happened to that guy.”

Mikey beams as he stands up, pacing around excitedly. “Well! Long story short but he’s actually our older brother. He was, uh…trapped in the prison dimension for years, until we brought him back.” He explains the short version, but he grew weary at the silence from April.

”Uh…Apri—“

”You have another brother and you didn’t think to tell me?!”

Oh, she was mad.

Mikey chuckles sheepishly, “Yeah…sorry about that. But hey! Maybe you can come and meet him?”

“Meet him? Uh…I don’t know, he might not like me.”

Mikey blinks but shakes his head, “Nonsense! Everyone likes you. In fact, bring Casey with you too. That way you two can meet him. His name is Giovanni by the way.”

”Giovanni. Your pops sure likes those renaissance names. Look, I’d love to meet him but…I don’t know.”

”Want me to ask him? He’s in the living room.”

”What? Uh…yeah okay.”

Mikey nods, even though she couldn’t see it, as he skips out his room and runs to the main living room, noticing Leo and Donnie fighting over the remote while Raph and Giovanni watched the twins. Raph was already used to their antics, so he just looked bored, whereas Giovanni was sweating anxiously.

“Hey guys! April’s on the phone!” Mikey announces, as Raphael turns to greet his little brother, “Tell her I said hi!”

Mikey smiles and looks to Giovanni, “Hey, Gio.” He calls out, immediately Giovanni looks over to him upon hearing his name, “I was wondering, how would you feel about meeting our friends, April and Casey?”

All the brothers froze and glance over for Giovanni’s reaction. “Meet…who?” He questions softly, he tried to remember if he knew these guys, but their names weren’t familiar to him. “Ah, you only met them once. But you were unconscious, so does that technically count? Anyway, they’re cool people, but if you’re not up to meeting them, that’s fine too.” Mikey assures with a gentle smile.

People? Ah…he means humans right?

Giovanni hums in thought, before he gave a slow nod. “Okay. I would like to meet them.” He agrees, which shocked the others, but Mikey was excited none the less, placing his phone back to his ear.

”He said he can’t wait to meet you two! When do you think you and Casey can come?”

“Well, Casey still has homework catching up with. And I gotta study for a bit…but maybe we can come over later tonight?”

”Sounds good! I’ll let the guys know. See you then!”

Mikey bids his goodbyes and grins at his brothers, “They’ll come by later tonight. That all right with everyone?” He asks to which they nod, until Leo hesitantly spoke up, his eyes trained on Giovanni.

”You sure you’re up to meeting new people? Heads up, they’re human so…”

Giovanni tilts his head at him in confusion, “Should I…be worried?” He asks out of curiosity, as Raph shakes his head and sweats a little awkwardly. “No! No, not at all. It’s just…well, we don’t want them to accidentally trigger you. You said that humans before in the past captured you…?”

Giovanni glanced down, nodding to Raph’s words. “That was the past though. I barely remember those people. Besides…you guys have friends that are human. Me, meeting them was bound to happen at some point.”

He gave his brothers the best reassuring look he could muster, “I’ll be okay….”

Stop shaking, stop shaking, stop shaking!

Giovanni tried to not show it, but he was shaking like a leaf. He had assured his younger siblings that he was fine when meeting their human friends, but now that it was actually happening, he couldn’t help but be smothered in anxiety.

He was waiting in the kitchen area; Mikey having been the one to go greet Casey and April and bring them over. The others remained with Giovanni, all noticing the nerves radiating off him, but they didn’t want to startle him out of the blue. Giovanni perks up when the sounds of multiple footsteps got closer, ahead of him entered Mikey with two humans by his side.

”And voila! Gio, come meet April and Casey!” Mikey waved him over, his older brother showing hesitation but complied and walks over. The humans blink at him, surprised to see Giovanni walking over as the last time they saw the mutant he was unconscious and injured.

”Whoa! Hey, how are ya? I’m April O’Neil! I’ve been a friend of your brothers for years.” The female human smiles warmly, extending a hand out to shake, but Giovanni just eyed the hand and gave her a slow nod in greeting.

The younger human, a male, clears his throat as he awkwardly waved. “Hi, I’m Casey Jones. Um…I haven’t been around here long, but uh…I know your brothers too.”

Mikey slung an arm around Giovanni, “Casey’s from the future. So, he kind of knows us for a while too. Uh, with our future selves at least. Time travel is kind of weird to explain.” Mikey rubs his head as Giovanni was more focused on the fact that Casey was from a different time.

”Future? Time travel is a thing here…?”

Casey blinks, “Uh, well, I was sent here by Master Michelangelo. The one from my time, to help stop the Krang invasion.”

Upon the mention of Krang, Giovanni tensed, eye going wide and body being stiff. It was quite noticeable as Casey quickly apologised. “Sorry! Uh, I wasn’t thinking.” He rubs the back of his neck, wanting to smash his face into a wall.

“Hey, Gio? You okay bro?” Leo softly spoke, walking over to him as Giovanni snapped out of the daze and nods. “I’m fine. I’m okay…sorry, haven’t heard that name in a while, so…”

He clears his throat and face a tiny assuring look. “I’m all right.”

Donnie waits for some time to pass before he couldn’t help but comment about something. “Say, Casey, since you’re from the future, how come you’ve never told us about Gio?” He questions, eyes narrowing in thought as Casey straightens up slightly.

”Right, um…well it’s because I wasn’t sure if you guys have already met him or not.”

”Even if we did, you didn’t mention him once.”

Giovanni tilts his head curiously at the conversation as Casey frowns a bit. “Well, to be honest with you all…I actually never met Giovanni in my time.” He informs, the silence growing as well as the tension.

”But…you knew us?” Raph stated, puzzled by this, but Casey nods in understanding. “You see, in my time, Giovanni wasn’t around. But I had no idea if he was alive or not. No one told me. Whenever he was brought up, my master's would have this sullen look and didn’t speak about him.” Casey starts off, looking between the brothers for their reactions.

”There were a few pictures of Giovanni around, but they were old ones. I think he vanished when he was maybe in his mid 20s or early 30s? And whenever anyone did talk about him, they only told me stories of his deeds and their memories of him. Apparently, I only knew Giovanni when I was still a baby, but since I was, well, a baby, I don’t remember him much.”

He frowns softly and turns to Giovanni who was taking in the information. “I’m sorry…I wish I knew about your future self, but I don’t. I like to think that future you is still out there somewhere, but realistically…” He pauses but he didn’t need to say anything else as Giovanni inhales some air.

”It’s okay…um, if anything I’m sorry.”

”Huh? Gio, why are you sorry?” Mikey looked at his older brother with confusion on his face as Giovanni continued to hold Casey’s gaze. “I’m sorry that you didn’t get a chance to get to know me. And uh, I’m sorry if future me disappeared or something.” He says softly with a sad look, which Casey immediately saw and shook his head in slight panic.

”I’m not mad or anything! Sure, I would have loved to see you more in my time, but it’s fine!”

He breathes in to calm down as he offered an assuring smile, “I could…tell you stories about him if you’re interested?”

”I…I’d like that. But maybe another time though.”

”Sure. Whenever you want.”

It had been a few days since Giovanni met April and Casey. He had surprisingly warmed up to the humans rather quickly. His brothers all saw April as an older sister or something and saw Casey as part of the family.

Therefore, Giovanni was rather comfortable with them as well. He might’ve not seen them as siblings, but he knew that they had a special place in the family.

Giovanni walks along the hallway of the lair; he paused when he his brothers all heading to the exit of the lair and heading to the sewer tunnels. “Where are you all going?” He innocently questioned, taking a few steps forward as Raph turns to him with both an awkward look and assuring one.

”Patrolling time. It’s been pretty quiet topside ever since the…well, that.”

Ever since the Krang came here.

”But, we figured we check out everything to make it’s all good. Don’t worry, we won’t be gone too long.”

Leo cuts in and gave a thumbs up. “We have it all under control bro! It’ll hopefully be a quick surveillance around New York, and we’ll be back home.” He assured as Giovanni slowly nods, watching them bid their farewells and headed off inside the sewer tunnels.

He heads back inside the safety of the lair and raised his head to stare at the ceiling. His expression distant and deep in thought.

Topside…he actually hasn’t left the lair since he first arrived. But now that he thought about it more, the more he was curious about what the outside world was like. He felt…a little lonely being in the lair while his brothers ventured outside without him.

”Something wrong?”

Splinter walks towards him, noticing how Giovanni was standing there looking at the ceiling. “Yeah, um…well, when can I go to the surface?” He asks, which briefly startled Splinter who blinks owlishly at him. “Ah…curious, are you? Well, that’s to be expected, it was a matter of time before you wanted to explore more of the world.” He smiles at Giovanni who nervously fiddled with his fingers and shifted his feet on the spot.

”The outside world is both a beautiful place and also a dangerous one. Especially for your brothers and yourself.”

Dangerous…?

He gulps, feeling a little unsettled. “I know that sounds scary, and it is…your brothers have made quite a few enemies, and they often get into troublesome situations. If you were ever to go topside, you’ll know doubt find yourself in situations that may require you to fight.” Splinter explains truthfully, as he noticed how on edge Giovanni grew upon listening to him.

He knew that this was probably going to put off going topside for Giovanni, but he had to tell him. For his own safety.

”Actually…do you know how fight?” Splinter changes the topic, as Giovanni stared at him in thought. “I…remember being trained by the humans in lab coats, but I hardly ever used that training when I was sent to the prison dimension.” He explains shortly, scratching the back of his neck as Splinter hums in understanding.

”Come with me.”

The rat walks off as Giovanni follows. Not knowing where he was being led to until he saw the familiar room of the dojo. To be perfectly honest, he’s probably only been in here once, and that was because he heard noises coming from inside, only to find his brothers training whenever they had time.

He was puzzled, why he was brought here, focusing his attention back to his father who walks to the centre of the dojo and looks back to face his son.

”I want you to spar with me.”

Spar….?

Giovanni had to think about it for a moment until he realised what he meant. “Fight…? I-I can’t fight you!” He shakes his head, instinctively stepping back to gain distance.

”You can’t? Or you won’t?”

”Both! I…I don’t think I have the heart to attack you.”

Splinter softly pouts at his son, he could tell that Giovanni didn’t like the idea of bringing harm to him, but Splinter needed to see where Giovanni's abilities were at in a fight.

”I’m sorry…but sparring with you will help me determine where you are at. So, I may help you.”

Help me…?

He bites his lip, looking to the side as he rubs his palm against his arm. He can’t fight his father…he hasn’t fought properly in a long time. He barely fought the Krang, he would just get lucky and escape or they let him go.

He remembered using Leo’s sword to block an attack from Prime, but that was about it.

“I don’t know what to do…” He whispers, his voice soft and small as Splinter’s ears flatten in sympathy. “I know it’s…strange. To hear me request that you fight me. I just want to see what you’re capable of so that I know where you need more training in. If you want…we stop at any time. Just say so.”

That seemed to ease Giovanni’s mind. He just needed to say stop and Splinter will pause and not fight him. He could…he could work with that.

”Okay…if you promise that we won’t spar anymore when I say stop.”

”Promise.”

Giovanni looked over his father’s face, looking for any sort of lie on him. But he saw none and he relaxed his muscles. He walks over to the centre, standing in front of him as he awkwardly got into a defensive stance. Splinter watches until he was ready.

Giovanni gave a nod, silently telling him he was ready.

Splinter charged at him. He was swift for an old rat guy. It shocked Giovanni who barely had time to react as he held his arms up in an ‘X’ stance above his face as he blocked the kicks.

”You just fight back my son! Defence will not always be with you!”

But it’s safer.

Another hit, from Splinter’s tail. Giovanni winced, biting the inside his cheek as he kept his position.

”Attack my son. You will not hurt me. I promise.”

Attack…

He froze when a recalled something…a memory.

Giovanni’s past self gasps in horror and pain when Sister Krang threw him to the side harshly. “What a pathetic sight. Why aren’t you fighting back Vermin?”

It hurts…

Sister Krang jumps up and landed on Giovanni who wheezed and let out a yelp as he felt his lungs being crushed slowly at the pressure. “You’re boring me. Fight back Vermin, show me the desperation of living in your eyes…attack me.”

Attack. Attack her. Attack to live.

Attack..

Attack.

Attack—

Giovanni was brought back to reality as he looks up, face sweating as he sees Splinter jumping up in the air, but in Giovanni’s eyes, he saw Sister Krang being the one to jump towards him instead. Thrusting out one of her tentacles at him.

It was Splinter’s tail that thrusted at him. Whatever the case of who it was, Giovanni reacted none the less. He dodged, jumping back as he managed to grip the tail, it surprised Splinter who didn’t have time to register what was happening as Giovanni pulls Splinter towards him.

When he was close, Giovanni lets the tail go and round house kicked Splinter, knocking him to the side as the rat skids along the ground, groaning lightly and looking up in shock. Giovanni pants as he eyed his father.

He runs towards his opponent, Splinter quickly got back up and dodged the incoming kicks and punches. But he wasn’t expecting Giovanni to be so fast, one moment he was in front of Splinter, then in a blink of an eye he was behind him, punching his father in the back, which sent him flying to the wall.

Splinter shakes his head, keeping his eyes focused on his son who stares back.

He’s good…I’m honestly surprised that he was able to knock me down a few times.

Splinter runs forward, using Giovanni’s blind spots and kicking him in the side. The mutant turtle gasping and gripping his side, stumbling back.

But he still needs some help in a few areas.

The two continued to spar for some time, sweating and panting as Giovanni dodged and attacked. Splinter doing the same thing. Learning more about his son as they went.

Eventually it got to a point where they were both tired and Giovanni uttered out a small but loud enough ‘stop’ for Splinter. Who, as promised paused the fight and sat down to catch his breath. Giovanni crouched to the floor, panting as well as he stared down at his shadow. “My son…you fight well. A little rusty, yes. But you’ve surprised me today.” Splinter smiles exhaustedly as he stands up and walks over.

”I’ll have a think about what I can do for you. You rest and hydrate.”

Giovanni blinks up at him, nodding in agreement and understanding as he witnessed his father leave the dojo. When he was alone, Giovanni sat on the ground, legs crossed as he placed his hands over his head.

He didn’t want to say anything. But sometimes, during the spar, all he saw was the Krang attacking.

He grips his head tightly, closing his eyes firmly as he felt his lips tremble.

He was still traumatised by them. But Giovanni expected that to be the case, it wasn’t natural for someone to get over their trauma so quickly. That takes time.

But…the sparring did make him feel better in a way. That despite not fighting properly in years, he could still hold his own.

He was close…to going to the surface with his brothers.

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A/N: Ayy, you get to see Giovanni in action. Kind of. He still hasn’t gotten his weapon yet, but that’ll come soon.

I APOLOGISE FOR ANY GRAMMAR MISTAKES THAT WERE MADE, I TYPE REALLY FAST AND OFTEN DON'T SEE THEM UNTIL I ACTUALLY PUBLISH THE CHAPTER.

quotev - 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮 |ROTTMNT| (Male OC)

Ao3 - 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮 |ROTTMNT| (Male OC)

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