#surprisingly I got a lot of time off for the holidays this year | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

callofdudes · 2 years ago

Note

Was thinking of this from the platonic ghost headcanon

Simon doesn't like taking leave because he has nothing to go home to. No family, nothing. He rents his house out to people who need it over the years he's gone. So when you both go on leave you invite him to stay with you. Needless to say you have a good time.

Could you be able to do a head canon on what him and konig would get up to during their time off

Platonic of course please 😊😊

I just want some bff ghost and könig stuff

These are taking me forever to write. I apologize in advance! 🫡 This is a lot longer than I originally anticipated. Apologies for any spelling mistakes.

A little look into their first time spending leave with you.

So like I had said on a previous post, Ghost has nothing to go home to. Nothing but graves burying family history. Each member of the Riley family locked away in silence. He doesn't like being alone at his house. Despite the fact that he relishes his alone time on base. He can't be alone in his home. And usually there is someone living in it anyway.

Ghost is constantly looking over his shoulder and jumping at the slightest sound. It's a nightmare to be shaken awake when your house is settling at night. So he just started trying to get Price to let him skip leave.

Of course, as expected this almost never works. Just to get Simon off the base and into fresh territory Price started to have Simon over for leave. He'd make up his guest bedroom and he'd make sure to accompany Ghost throughout. And this worked. Simon enjoyed the extra time he got with his captain when not in a life or death situation.

And then you came along. And so did the rest of the 141. They each had families and lives that they could go back to. Loved ones they could kiss and hold to escape the horrors that got their hearts racing every day.

Ghost was well aware you and him were friends, but he hadn't expected you to ask him on leave with you. He was slightly taken aback, sitting in the cafeteria and you just suddenly asked.

"Want to go on leave with me?"

Simon paused. "What?"

"You know. Christmas, finally we get leave on a holiday, how rare is that? I don't want you spending it all alone."

Ghost shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I don't really like holidays anyway." He continues to play with his food absentmindedly. You reached over the table and grab his hand, finally getting him to look at you. "Come on lieutenant. I know you don't want to be alone."

"And what makes you think that?"

"You go on leave with Price."

Ghost shrugged. He tried to pull away but you tugged back and stared him down. "Let me rephrase. I want to spend Christmas with you lieutenant."

Ghost sighed. "Alright sergeant. If that's what you want."

At first you'd thought he'd forgotten because he hadn't brought it up for the next week. He went about his duties as per usual and fixed everything so that his duties would be easily tended to while he was away. You were a little worried but when you saw Ghost walking toward the HELO with his large duffle bag and backpack you smiled.

Ghost threw his stuff in and sat down next to you. "Where are we going sergeant?"

Wherever you live, he's probably only ever been there for a routine mission if at all. But when you take him back to your home he surprisingly happy.

"Come on. Your bedroom is across the hall." He gives you the hint of a smile and you allow him into the spare bedroom. "It's all yours. Make yourself comfy. I'll make us something to eat yeah?"

You're set on showing Ghost around. You'd assumed that he'd stay in his room and brood to depressing music or something but after the first day and sorting himself out he was actually very social.

Well good morning!" You cheered when he tromped down the stairs in his pajamas. "Sergeant."

"Ah ah, none of that. It's strictly Y/N. Should I stick with Ghost or is Simon ok on leave?" He gave you a funny look before shrugging. "Simon's fine." He started to go through all your cupboards until he inevitably found the tea. He put on the kettle and slumped into one of the seats at the kitchen table. "Still tied?"

"Jet lag."

"Alright. Is your stomach ok for food?"

"Mhm."

Mr "I don't like holidays" turns his attitude right around in no time. You set aside a time just to go for a drive and show him all the Christmas decorations. He's leaning against the passenger side window just watching everything go by. He doesn't say much but you can see in his eyes that what you're showing him is holding his attention.

"Want to get a treat, walk the park?"

Unsurprisingly Simon loves going on walks. He always goes on walks with Price, but he enjoys walking with you. Going down to one of the natural parks and strolling with a drink or some kind of treat. He'll look around and take it all in. The silence, the quiet stir of the trees in the breeze. The leaves on said trees.

He likes listening to you talk. He goes the whole walk just listening to you talk, putting input in where he thinks he should. And you both enjoy it.

When you get home Simon is exhausted. He flops on the couch and turns on some mindless show while you get something to eat. "Simon! Food." You pass by the living room when he doesn't respond and smile when you see Simon curled up on the couch.

"Ok bud." You'll carefully pull the blanket on the couch over him and turn off the TV. You make sure you have soft music playing so that when he wakes up it won't dead quiet and go about your activities.

And Simon is passed out. He almost sleeps the whole evening. When he wakes up he's quick to come find you. He stalks into the kitchen and sees you at the table humming away to the music. He walks over and bends over and places his forehead on your shoulder. "Well good evening." You chime.

The first three days pass like that and you're astounded by Simon. He's so uptight on base, holding a status, a place above the others. Always reminding the inferiors of his high position but off base he doesn't have to. He even removes his mask for the entire afternoon in place of a medical mask. You were happy when you saw him come down, messy blonde hair showing an a few scars along his temples. "Look whose awake." He hums and goes for the tea as if it's ritual by now.

You felt honored when Simon came down like that. At least his entire face wasn't covered like he was ready for the next plague. He felt you with a portion of his face and that made you incredibly proud.

You make sure you're not locked in the house for too long. You always notice how Simon seems to relax more into the homey atmosphere after a morning run or something activity inducing.

"So in my family, every Christmas, we do a puzzle. That ok with you?" Simon loves puzzles. And he's good at them. You'll be moving and he'll snatch a piece out of your hand and slide it into place effortlessly in a spot you hadn't even seen. You got three puzzles done with how quickly you and Simon were able to complete them.

"Will you do the honors?" You smirked, handing him the last piece of the puzzle. "Sure." He scoffs and places it down. You smile widely. "Woohoo!" You cheer and raise your hands up and your flooded with joy when Simon high-fives your hands. "There we go!" And the joy in his eyes. Your not fabricating it. He's genuinely happy.

Two days before Christmas things shifted slightly. "So, I'm going to give you a heads up." Simon hummed while scrolling through his phone. "My family will be coming over tomorrow. They're going to be staying in the basement and spending all tomorrow and Christmas with us ok?" Simon is very hesitant. "And I know that you don't know them. They know you're here and I've informed them to give you all the space you need ok?"

Simon sighs. "ok."

"Ok. Just remember Simon that room is yours. If you need to get away at any time you can leave. There is no wrong or right time, we all understand."

"You won't be upset?"

"Simon. They're family, your the guest. You come first right now. Ok?"

You weren't surprised when Simon starts to go back into his shell. When you give him the heads-up they'll be there in thirty minutes he goes up to his room and comes back out with his plain skull painted balaclava on. His eyes are worried and hesitant but you stick at his side.

"Mum, dad, this is -" "This is lieutenant Ghost Riley." Ghost is straight and firm as if he's meeting a new transfer officer. He shakes your parents hands firmly which somewhat worries you. Simon is stiff because he's shaking. Once your parents come in a long with cousins and any children, you pull him aside. You look up into Simon's eyes and clasp his hands tightly. "They're ok. Remember, leave whenever you want and for however long you want."

Despite the reassurance Simon does his best to stay at your side. Your parents do seem a little weary of the giant skulking man. But they remain kind.

"Hey, your Ghost! Aren't you!" A little girl, maybe nine asks when Simon sits down. You pause. You look back at Simon when Simon looks at you. You smirk sheepishly. "Sorry Lt. Had to tell them my stories with good ol' Lt."

Ghost huffs. "Yes. I am."

"Is it true you took down twelve guys with a machete and tear gas?"

"Ok! I did not tell you that? Where did you hear that one?" You frown and look over at a slightly older boy who hides behind your cousin. Simon huffs a sort of laugh only you'd catch. "Yeah. I did."

You're beyond proud of Simon. He only goes to his room once for a few minutes just to calm down and recollect himself. But he sticks with you. You make him some tea and get him settled at the table. While your family engages him in more conversation than you'd first anticipated Simon makes it through most of it. Only dodging a few questions. "Do you have a spouse? How is your family?" It took a little discreet nudging before you managed to get your family off the topic of his personal life.

The kids were interested in him a lot and you were happy they didn't see him as scary.

That night after dinner Simon was exhausted. Just before he went into his room you turned him back and hugged him tightly. "Thank you Simon." He hums and hugs you back. "They're nice. Like you." And that is all you ever wanted to hear.

You and Simon are the first two awake and Simon actually tells you he's going to go out before breakfast. You're happy he's leaving on his own and wish him good luck. He takes his backpack but you really don't think much on it. When he comes back a couple hours later you're all awake. "Welcome back!" You holler.

Simon walks right upstairs and closes his door. You frown but won't push him on it. Bad sleep? Your family question it but you just push them off. "Possibly bad sleep. It can happen. Just let him do his thing."

Simon comes back down another hour later and acts as if nothing happened. He nods respectfully to your family and tap your hand. You smile and nod. "I missed breakfast." "Oh no worries. Put this aside for you. Let me know if you need more." You hand him a plate and he's off to the table in a confident stride.

When the kids get antsy you volunteer to take them down to the arcade. Simon comes. He's on a roll with his socialization. He keeps his hands in his pockets and examines most of the games with little interest. That is until your nephew grabs his shirt and tugs. "Can you do the shooting game with me?" You smile when Simon contemplated it. "Want me to kick your butt?"

Your family watches as Simon kicks your family in this shooting game. Racking up points and tickets effortlessly. "Y/N, give it a go." Your dad urges. "I dunno. I'm not as good as Lt." Your grab the rather heavy plastic gun and aim it at the screen. "Good form sergeant." "Learned from the best." Chaos ensues.

"Ghost! That was my shot!" You knock into him and attempt to push him but he swings right back like a battering ram and sends you flying to the ground. You gasp in pain when you hit the ground only to laugh a second later. "Should have seen that coming." Simon finishes beating your score before bending down and picking you up. "You did good."

"Not as good as you."

"Never. Your either better than, or worse than. You will never be like me."

"Harsh." You teased. He shrugs.

Same thing happened with ping pong ball.

You tossed the ball into the air and lightly tossed it. When it crossed Simon's side he wacked it so hard it zipped part your head and lodged itself in the wall. "Ghost!" You scold. "Sorry. Force of habit."

After the arcade Simon goes up to his room and doesn't come back down until dinner. He takes the seat at the end of the table near you and pulled his hoodie up so he can shadow his face when he pulls his mask up. When you notice his thigh begin to bounce you tap his arm and give him a nod. Gently reminding him he can go. But he pushes through once again and finishes his plate.

"Is it time for presents!?" The kids run to the living room and you can't help laughing. "Yes it is." You see Simon going up to his room and nod. You thought so. You all gathered around the living room and start talking.

You hear the stairs creak and look back up to see Simon hesitantly standing at the bottom step. And in his arms are four neatly wrapped presents. your jaw drops. "Simon..." You can feel tears in your eyes and you move over on the couch to give him room. Simon has never done Christmas in his life but he hopes he's got it down.

He gets the younger ones a big Lego set that they are all excited to put together when they see it. He gets your parents some nice candles and house decorations. And you. He was shaking when he gave you yours. Hardly noticable with how stiff he was but his eyes were focused on something else in the room.

When you open it your shocked. It's a framed photo of you and the 141, the one in Price's office you always stared at when you saw it because you all looked so awesome. ⬇️

(You're somewhere in there, you can be Alejandro I don't know😂)

He pulls a smaller gift from his pocket and when you open it. Now you're crying. The gift was a dog tag engraved with a saying Simon often gave you as reassurance. "Where'd you even find this?" "I had it made." "So that's - that's why you were gone this morning, isn't it?" Simon nodded.

You wanted to jump into his arms, but were hesitant. You looked around briefly, but Simon opened his arms. "Come here sergeant." You wrapped your arms around him and felt him tug you into a securing embrace.

"Thank you." You whisper.

You enjoy the rest of the Christmas evening with Ghost. He watches from the corner of his chair where you're playing a video game. Simon has to resist the mental urge to correct every wrong thing your poor nephew says about the guns in said zombie game.

And he packs it in early. He taps your shoulder to let you know he's off and he heads up to bed. You say goodnight and the rest of your family says goodnight as well. And it's late when you walk up to your room. You yawn and slip into bed. These last two weeks were great.

When you finally get back on base, in uniform with all your stuff Price meets you. "Well well. I trust you two had a good time?"

"It was great!"

"I was miserable Price. They made me have fun and stuff."

"oh you did that all on your own buddy." He nudged you in the side playfully. "I'm teasing. It was fun."

König has family waiting for him at home. Three siblings, two older one younger. And his parents. They're not the wealthiest but König's income of a steady 51K a year has kept his family afloat. For this reason Christmas can be a bit hectic at their place. When you two finally got leave, conveniently, a few days before Christmas, you were excited.

Poor boy was torn between seeing his family or hanging out with one. On one hand he hadn't seen his family in a while and on the other I wasn't inclined to leave you. It took him a while to try and decide, and this was all before he even asked you if you wanted him to come.

And knowing König he never did, too nervous to be turned down.

It was your average training day and König was having a bit of trouble keeping up. He blocked your kick in favor of taking you under in a headlock. Your heel dug into his boot in retaliation but he didn't let go. You tapped out and he dropped you.

"Hey, you doing ok buddy? I noticed you were slipping up a bit there." He doesn't have the heart to tell you or to ask so he just nods. "A lot on my mind, sorry."

"Want to talk about it? Or is it personal?"

"No, it's about you actually..."

"Oh? Do tell."

He shrugged. "I was just wondering... Are you doing anything for leave? I mean, You have family to go back to but..."

"König. Come on, you can ask me."

"Well I miss my family but I was wondering you'd be ok with me coming on leave with you?? Even though you would like to see your family over me."

You chuckled. "That's what this is about? König, you know you're welcome to come stay with me anytime you'd like."

"You wouldn't mind??"

"Of course not."

He's in a pretty good mood for the next few days. His ego was boosted a smidge knowing he'd been permitted to come with you and you could see it.

So he let the others see his pride.

The week you were supposed to leave König was attached at your hip. He followed you, helped you clean up, finish the paperwork you needed to and made sure you were secure and someone took over for you and him of course.

König was anxious to say the least. He'd never met your family and the whole flight back his couldn't help but think he was overthinking things. But he felt safer talking to you. Knowing you'd permitted him over to your house for a while wasn't something he should have to be nervous about. It was more your family he was worrying over.

When you arrived home it was early in the morning. The sun was rising and you two were exhausted. You pointed him toward the guest bedroom and told him to unpack however he liked.

"Everything ok in here?" You asked, coming to check on him after a few minutes. König nodded. "Only a slight problem." You raised your eyebrow as König laid down on the bed. His calves stuck off the bed and his toes dangled from the mattress.

You chuckled. "Sorry it's only a queen size, we can switch if you want? Mine is a bit bigger?"

"Oh no! I find it kind of funny. It's like home, the bunk back at base is barely big enough for me even after getting me a bigger one."

"Alright. If you're ever uncomfortable come to me and we can switch, see if that works for you. No problems."

König nodded.

"Ok bud. Get all the sleep you want." You yawned. "I know I will."

König is an early riser. Especially the first day back home könig is a little more antsy and just used to being up early. So while you take the chance to sleep in, König gets up at 9, much later than he normally would. And unlike Ghost, König knows how to cook. Not extremely well and not five tier, Gordon Ramsey stuff, but he can cook.

When you wake up and come down stairs to the inviting and warm scent of food your stomach growls. "Well good morning. I made breakfast for us."

You rub your eyes and see the breakfast in front of you. "Well look at you." You tease. "For me?" "For you."

König not nearly as anxious when in a domestic environment than on base. On base you know König as shy, socially awkward and a bloody murder. But in the peace of your home with just you König cooks for and with you. He roams freely. Of course he asks before using your stuff but he is no longer super hesitant after the first day.

It only takes him a day two to get into a natural gear.

Now depending on where you live König may have never been there. And if he has it's probably been on some kind of military related endeavor so he hasn't been out for sightseeing. You change this.

On the second day you and König go out and get breakfast at a restaurant. König was nervous outside of your home but he got through his order and no corrections needed to be made.

König loves his hood. Makes him feel secure and comfortable, but he's realized how much attention it would draw walking around like an executioner from the 1700's. So he's trying to like medical masks. He HATES them. They move around on his face, and only cover a portion of what he'd like to hide. But he doesn't complain about it to you.

You two then continue on to get coffee at a local place and just take a calming drive down the road. You point out all the signs and the Christmas decorations. König is thrilled.

Eventually you get out around one of the quiet natural parks and the two of you take a walk. König talks and doesn't really realize he's talking until he realizes he is dominating the conversation. And you're smiling like an idiot.

You tell him a bit about your family and spend the rest of the day out and about talking and exploring.

König settled easily.

When the two of you got home you both were exhausted from your day out. König dropped onto the couch and sighed. He rested his head back and you sat down next to him. "That was nice." König hummed and you were both out.

When you woke up König was half snoring, bent over his head head leaning on the couch armrest, his opposite arm still loosely wrapped around your shoulders.

You stirred from your sleep and stretched out on the couch. König still looked to be asleep. So you grabbed a blanket and laid it over his lap. "Sleep well."

The rest of the week carries on like this. König becomes more and more comfortable around you each day. You go for hikes and sometimes just sit around and play video games. It's amazing to see König laugh, losing track of time just sitting on the couch with you like the world doesn't matter.

You had gotten up early one morning. You were making yourself some coffee and you heard the stairs creak. "Good morning."

"Morning." Came König's rough morning voice. You pulled out a second cup as the tall shadow lingered over toward you. "How did you sleep?"

"Good."

You turned around and smiled up at him. Your smile quickly turning to shock. König looked down at you, a comforting smile playing on his scarred lips. Little scars here and larger scars there littered over his plain face. "You're hood."

"Mhm. Don't want to wear it inside anymore."

Your jaw dropped. You would have dropped the cup on your hand had König not taken it from you. "What are we doing today?" You blinked, thoughts still lingering on his face. His pale, beautiful face.

"Y/N??"

"Huh? Oh sorry! I'm just not, I haven't seen your face before. Apologies for staring. You're very handsome by the way."

König smiled.

"Well, family is coming over in a couple hours. They'll probably be here around dinner. After that they'll be staying the night and all of tomorrow for Christmas."

König nodded.

"And König, if at any point you feel uncomfortable you can leave the room. If you just have to excuse yourself and step away that is totally ok. And if you need to spend the rest of the night alone that's cool too."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, you don't even have to participate if you want to. I understand."

It was quiet for a moment. König seemed to take comfort in your words.

"Did you send your family any gifts?"

König nodded again. "I usually buy a couple months in advance and ship them off so that they'll get the gifts even if I can't make it."

"That's sweet."

"How about you?"

You chuckled. "Oh no no no, I can't tell you that. You'll go snooping."

"Snooping?? Then you got me something too?"

"Naturally."

This man has no idea what to get you. He was so excited to come down with you he'd completely forgotten about actually getting you something. So after breakfast he made up the excuse he needed some alone time and sped off while frantically trying to remember the locations of all the stores you'd pointed out the other day to see if he could find something.

When he walked into one of the stores, fixing his medical mask, he was nervous and jumpy. He ran around the store frantically for what felt like hours. Until an employee came over. "Sir? Find everything you're looking for ok?"

"I NEED a present for my best friend- I forgot to get them something and now-"

"You can find gift like items over here. And if they have a preference in jewelry or accessories we have a section for that as well."

Bless this poor boy's soul he loves you so much but has no fucking clue what to get you. At first he thinks sweater! But you already have some. Or maybe jewelry, but most jewelry and accessories weren't allowed to be worn actively on base so he'd only ever seen you wearing a watch or the occasional chain necklace.

Could you imagine being the lady who found this poor 6'10 man curled up and practically crying in the clothing section because he's freaking out about a gift. Just keep walking.

You're a bit confused at where König had gone. At first you assumed the mention of a gift had him either running away flustered that you got him something or flustered he hadn't gotten you anything. But it has been over five hours and König still wasn't home.

You're parents and family got there before he did. Weird.

You greeted your family and allowed them inside. "Hey, just so you call are aware, my military partner is staying over with us. I know I texted you about him but just be aware ok?"

You family is pretty chill about it. They've heard things about König. About how tall and strong he is. His job and how he barrels so easily through enemy forces. So his name isn't foreign to your discussions. Considering he's your partner he often comes up on discussions about your job.

You get your family set up downstairs and get to talking. You check the time worriedly and see König still isn't home. So you decide to text him. Roughly ten minutes later you hear loud footsteps at the door.

"König?"

"Yeah! Sorry I was gone so long."

"It's ok. Come into the kitchen, family is here."

König drops his stuff at the bottom of the stairs and takes off his boots. When he comes into the kitchen he towers over your family. You can't help but chuckle when your parents eyes widen at just how tall he is. You've talked about how tall he is, but 6'10 looks much taller in person I guess.

"Mum, dad, this is König."

König is just a bit stunned in the face of your parents and siblings, and your cousins were lounging in the living room.

"Hi." König waved and steps into the kitchen. "Good to see you back. Where did you find yourself off to??" You hugged him, comforted by his large hands briefly rubbing your back. "Just umm... last minute shopping and stuff."

You chuckled. "I figured."

You had informed your family about König's hood. But König made it through most of the evening before he started to get overwhelmed. With the notion of smaller children around, König didn't attempt to put his hood on, he seemingly already scared the children.

His large height was somewhat of a problem with the kids. While your family attempted conversation The youngers were terrified. So König wasn't going to attempt to put the hood on.

It wasn't until you'd mentioned how König was a pretty good sniper that one of the younger boys perked up. "Do you shoot guns like Y/N??" König hesitated. "Well, mine are a little bigger, but for the most part we handle the same kind of guns."

"Cool! So you get to sit on hills and snipe people like-" *making gun noises, you know the ones* "Well, actually. I'm not a sniper. I wanted to be but I'm actually used as a giant battering ram most of the time." This held the kids attention for a bit and König spoke freely about what his job entails with as few graphic details as he could. But eventually his attention was taken and König returned talking with you.

The kids were watching a movie while you talked with your parents for a while. König fidgeted next to you. His gaze scattered around the room until he got the courage to tap you on the thigh.

"What's up?" "I'm gonna head to bed, if you don't mind." "Absolutely, thank you for hanging out with us." König gets up to leave when you clear your throat. "And my hug?" He hugs you tightly and waves before going up to bed. And he can hear you all downstairs but tries to just get some sleep.

König is the first up the next morning. It's peaceful and with everyone asleep he has time to wrap presents. He puts on his hood and his favorite black sweater. So he looks like this giant black mass of fabric in the kitchen. But he's quiet. He doesn't want to risk waking you and your family.

The younger ones get up first, around 9. At first when they turn the corner and see König they're scared. König greets them softly and motions to the food in the sizzling pan. "I'm making breakfast. You want some?" They nod and sit down.

König serves the youngest breakfast and sits down with them. He isn't afraid to remove his hood around the kids, so he does, at least to eat.

"So, you're Y/N partner?"

König nods. "Yes, we go on lots of adventures together."

"What do you do? Do you shoot lots of guys??"

König hums. "Well, that's part of it. We fight for our home, but there are also other things."

"What other things?"

"Well, we have to stay at base and train recruits. And sometimes we have to move between several bases so we can train different groups of new recruits. And another part of it is paperwork."

The kids cringed. "So you're not fighting all the time?"

"Nope."

"That's lame."

König chuckled. "When you've been doing it as long as we have, you learn that staying at base and doing paperwork or training recruits isn't that bad. Sometimes it's a blessing."

"Why?" The kid tilted his head. "I'll let Y/N tell you when you're older."

König sat and talked with the kids until you were awake. You tromped down the stairs and yawned as you entered the kitchen. "König." You greeted, surpised. "Kids." You greeted, even more surprised to see them sitting and smiling in front of the man they were scared of a mere day ago. "I see you're getting along."

"Is it true you do paperwork all day Y/N!?" The boy questioned immediately.

You chuckled. "Not all day. Me and König have our adventures. We have some pretty good stories eh bud?" König nodded.

"Can you tell us???"

You looked over at König and sighed. Those kids wouldn't leave you alone. "Alright, König, tell them about the time you took on eight armed men with just your fists."

When your parents and other family members wake up, König goes back to wearing the hood. He doesn't want to scare your family but wearing it does make him more comfortable.

Surprisingly the kids enjoy talking to König than the rest of your family. Your parents were definitely momentarily wondering why the hell you hung out with this guy. That is until he offered to do the dishes and clean up while you got dressed.

"Alright, well, we're taking the kids to the pool this afternoon." "Like, an indoor pool??" "Yes, an indoor pool." Your father laughed. It was too cold for an outdoor pool.

While the kids start getting ready to go to the pool, you reassured König that he could come or go. But considering he had no swimwear, the two of you went out to buy him some stuff.

The pool wasn't that busy, a couple of kids and their parents buried in their phones on the lounge chairs. König was a bit off in the new environment. But the kids went right ahead to play. König sits next to you in one of the chairs and just watches.

You look over at him and smile. "And König, if it's not too much, I think you look good." Referencing the fact that he'd battled over going since he couldn't wear his mask in the water. So he'd just ditched it, only for a couple of hours and it was a weird feeling.

"Hey Mr!" König looked up at two of the kids by the deep end. "Can you throw me?" König looked over at you and you smiled. "They can handle it." König shrugged and stood. His hulking form walked over to the small kids and bent down when they reached their arms up. "Ready?"

They nodded excitedly as the first kid was swung. König lifted him high into the air and swung him, flinging him up into the air and down into the pool with a loud splash.

"Did you see how high he went!?" The other gasped. "Me next!!" König waited for the other kid to resurface. "That was awesome!!" He gasped when he pulled out of the water.

König looked back at you and you gave him a thumbs up.

König picked up the second kid and lunged him into the air. He screamed before he hit the pool only to resurface with a big grin. "Get Y/N!!"

You paused. König turned to look at you comfortable, dry, relaxing on your phone.

"König..."

The man turned and walked over. You discarded your phone and scrambled to your feet to get away. "König no!!" He snatched you into his arms and pulled you up ofc your feet. "Come on, have a little fun." You struggled and gasped as he brought you to the water.

He managed to flip you so he was now carrying you bridal style. "König please." You tried to hang onto his bicep but König rocked you back and forth. And you were flung into the air. You screamed on your way to the water and were taken under by a splash.

König chuckled that stupid little chuckle when you resurfaced. "You piece of-" You swam over and he pulled you out of the water.

König had fun. You could tell. It was the first time in a while you'd seen him just relax and let go. The first time he'd been around kids not screaming in terror and begging for their lives. It was the first time you'd seen König be able to step back and breathe. To call this a safe place.

After swimming your family came back and finished up Christmas dinner. König attempted to help but was quickly shoved out of the kitchen by your parents.

So he sat at the table and played a card game with you.

Throughout Christmas dinner König was doing pretty good. However, roughly half way through the dinner you heard this light tapping next to you. When you listened to it, and looked up at König scratched the medical mask you understood. You reached under the table and placed your hand on his thigh. "If you'd like to leave, you're more than welcome." You understood. You also god people'd out and nervous after spending too much time around people. But König had more than excelled today.

"You wouldn't mind? Just a little bit?" "Take the whole night if you need big guy, I won't be upset. You did wonderful today." You whispered. So König politely excused himself and headed up to bed.

When presents were opened your parents divided gifts equally. Your mom hummed at some of the gifts. "From König to Y/N." You smile and take the gifts. When you open them, you couldn't help but smile. He'd gotten you the sweater you'd been eyeing through one of the store windows on your walk with him. It was thick wool with holes for the thumbs on the sleeves and a turtleneck. And a multi-purpose pocket knife. You adored the sharp blades and the screwdriver end that came with it. It's almost as if he didn't have a clue what to get you. You loved them regardless.

And he got you a little card which almost had you in tears.

When the night was over and your family said goodnight, you walked up to your room and knocked on König's door. "Come in." You pushed the door open gently and slipped inside. "Thank you for the gifts." "I didn't know what to get you." "Well I think you did a fine job picking. I love them." König sat up and you sat down next to him. "I'm so glad you came with me you know?"

"I am too."

You give him a hug. "I'm really proud of you buddy. I'm really, really proud of you know that?"

"I loved hanging out with your family. They're amazing, just like you. I can see where you get it." You chuckled and wipe a tear from your eye. "That's all I've ever wanted to hear." "I mean it. They are wonderful people."

When leave is done and you two are packed up to leave, everything is a bit heavy. König will miss your house and the too small bed you gave him. But this place will forever be a refuge, a safe place in his heart and mind.

"Welcome back soldiers!" Your captain called. You both saluted the man on your way through. "How was the trip?"

"Oh we had an amazing time, can't wait to go back sir." König beamed under the hood. Your heart swelled. You were so happy.

#simon ghost riley #call of duty headcanons #ghost x reader #call of duty #könig x reader #könig x y/n #simon ghost riley x reader #simon riley x you #platonic x reader #platonic ghost x reader #konig headcanons #cod headcanons

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joshleyson · 11 months ago

Text

THIS IS: SIARGAO ✨

December film dump 🎞️

Growing up in Mindanao for almost 2 decades and never actually being able to traverse the picturesque landscapes in the eastern part of the island is something that I know I have to break before the year ends. So I did.

I flew from Manila to Cebu so early in the morning to catch a connecting flight to Siargao by noon. Traveling to Siargao was a lot of firsts for me. Not having to go to every detail but when the plane was about to take off to Siargao, we were all offloaded due to the bad weather on the island. Fortunately, instead of having to fly back to Manila, the airline was kind enough to take me to a nearby hotel in Cebu, all expenses paid including food, transportation, and next-day ticket. It was an unexpected staycation which surprisingly I enjoyed.

Coming from a very tiring day at work and then going to the airport, I felt like I really needed this quiet time, and I was able to check in to this lavish hotel all by myself while waiting for my flight the next day. Also, I had a great night as well in Cebu catching up with one of my long-time friends and her beaux. I went back to my hotel around 3 in the morning because there’s just so many things to catch up and I really missed my homie so much. Keyword: low-maintenance friendships.

So the day finally came, and I was able to land safely on the island of Siargao. Right off the bat on my first night, I had a lovely dinner with my travel friends slash buddies at work and we went to a bar, and danced the night away which to me serves as a prelude to the great experience this vibrant community had in stored for me as a Mindanaoan that have never set foot beyond the confines of Zamboanga and western Mindanao.

We spent our days being on the road which to me was such a release. Being able to smell the fresh ocean breeze while blasting our favorite Y2K songs in the car and relying on Waze or Google Maps for our next destination, to me, makes the trip so much fun because of the spontaneity and unpredictability that it brings. We went island hopping, danced in the boat, swam on open waters, ate our hearts out, moved from one accommodation to another, and I tried surfing for the first time! I never thought I would enjoy the experience because it was raining lightly at that time and the waves were so big it could easily engulf me, but man, best day ever!!!! I fell on the surfing board and slammed my body on the rushing waves several times but being able to stand on the surfboard for the first time was such a liberating experience. A little bit of a stretch, but it was and I will try it again once I go back to Siargao.

☾

I flew back to Cebu and then to Manila to catch one of my friend’s wedding and luckily I made it with no delay. Looking at the pictures that I got to develop from a Fuji film camera that I brought with me on the island, I am reminded again of the incredible healing power of what it’s like to try new things, be with nature, and just breathe. Knowing that the year is about to end in a couple of weeks, I felt so blessed to have that opportunity to break the complicated rhythm of corporate life and to disconnect for a moment.

After 3 weeks, I get to fly back to Boracay to celebrate New Year’s Eve. So many epic moments that I am also grateful for which I may save for the future but nevertheless, my last month of 2023 was such a banger and I hope it always feels that way.

By the way, I’m writing all these on my iPhone because I’m too tired to get up and open my MacBook, so I appreciate you for hanging with me this far. So that’s it for 2023!

Simply put, I just want to say Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones, and may 2024 be as effervescent as your hopes and dreams for the future.

(December, 2023)

(Photos were shot using Fujifilm Simpleace 35 mm camera + iPhone 15 Pro Max)

FOLLOW ME: Instagram/TikTok/Twitter: joshleyson

(Music by Grammy nominee, Victoria Monét. All rights belong to her and her publishers. For personal and non-commercial use only. Stream her great catalogue on Spotify and Apple Music.)

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vickytaa · 1 month ago

Text

Until I found you

Summery: You moved from Boston to LA, leaving your best friends behind. A normal day, you were working as always when..

Words: 2.4k

___________________☆__________________

This week has been so stressful. At work, my boss has been a dick and giving me extra hours. The people that came to the Caffè are such disrespectful with everyone, also with the people who work there, like me.

University, it's been hard, I had to stay awake a couple of nights studying for exams.

My family, fortunately, had been so mindful and helping me with everything they could from Boston.

They call me anytime they can and even text me every day just to see how I am.

I miss them so much. Being apart from them it's just so hurtful, and I am just waiting for December so I can go back home.

Xavier, my boyfriend, has been a bit distant. He knows how stressed I am, but he doesn't understand that what I want for him is to be with me now, instead of leaving me alone.

He just doesn't notice.

Monday

6:30 am

I woke up after sleeping only 2 hours because the night before I kept awake studying quimic, half dead.

I start slowly to open my eyes as I extend my arm to turn off the phone alarm.

Another spectacular day, Monday.

I sit up in bed with little effort while I try to wake me up completely.

I grabbed my cell phone to see if Xavier had sent me any messages cause, yesterday he hadn't come home.

We've been living together for a year, and every time we weren't sleeping there, we would make sure to tell the other.

'He might have forgotten,' I thought.

I get out of bed and walk to the bathroom. What will happen today?

I began to take off my clothes lazily and open the hot water for it to start getting warm, and surprisingly, there wasn't hot water.

'Great'

The day just started.

After bathing with ice water, I changed into work clothes, grabbed my keys, and got into the car.

On my way to the Caffè, 'Remember you - by dominurmom' started playing on the radio, and nostalgia hit.

I've always liked music a lot, but this song made me remember all those amazing moments with my childhood best friend, Nick.

He was the best person on earth, and time was air when I was with him. The laughs were natural, and the holidays with him and his brothers were unforgettable.

I haven't seen him for years, but I knew that if we saw each other again, It would be like before.

I didn't remember why we distanced ourselves because we were inseparable, but the distance killed when it's about relationships.

Leaving him to come to LA was the hardest decision of my life because he wasn't part of my life. He was my life.

When I left, I cried a whole month non-stop. My heart hurt every time it beat.

But it was the best for my future, or that's what I thought.

That song made me remember him because we used to love singing it every time we went camping with his brothers.

I missed them.

And I knew it, my body felt it too, my eyes started to fill with happy tears while I remembered us together laughing.

When I arrived, I didn't know whether to get out of the car. Is this what I always wanted?

I shaked my head to remove that thought of my mind and keep going.

4:25 pm

I was finishing my turn when I started taking someone's order.

"Good evening. What would you like to get today?" I repeated for the 53rd time in the day.

"Our friendship back"

I was shocked, I thought he might have confused me with an old friend, but when I looked up to see who it was, there he was, Nick Sturniolo. My best friend from infancy. A huge smile appeared on his face while our connected eyes started to fill up with tears.

The only thing I did was run into his arms and hug him.

It was like having that part of me that was missing again. A void is now filled.

"Oh my god, where have you been? I've missed you a lot, " I said, super excited. "I've been living for a couple of months here with my brothers, we moved to LA"

"Ohh, that's great, and what about your dream about being youtubers?" I asked.

I already knew that they started a while ago making videos, but I never had the courage to search them, I couldn't look at them after leaving them alone.

"It's fantastic, we already hit 6 million subscribers," He said happily.

"What? That incredible!" I stopped just to take a breath,

"It's a cute surprise to see you around. It's been years." I said while smiling from end to end.

When my turn finished, I went out to accompany Nick to his house, just to get to know it, and also to greet his brothers.

I enjoyed the journey as if it were something I had been waiting for for years, singing our favorite songs again in the car, at full volume with Nick.

When we arrived I couldn't stop laughing, we had been remembering hundreds of memories together.

As I entered the house, I saw Chris and Matt sitting on the sofa. A big smile formed in their faces. They couldn’t believe it; they haven’t seen me in years.

I opened my arms as they ran towards me. I hugged them while I laughed of their faces.

While I was trying to get away a bit to take a breath, I said: “you should have seen your faces”

“This was an unexpected surprise” Matt said, still without letting me go.

“Yes, but the best one” Chris added.

When they let me go, they both looked at me, and I smiled until my cheeks started to hurt.

After a while, we started chatting about our life nowadays, but suddenly I saw it. My most favorite board game was kept on the shelf.

“And do you remember when our math teacher told us to - “Chris was telling us when I interrupted him “Oh my god, I can’t believe it! This is our Monopoly game” I screamed with excitement.

I turned around to see Nick smiling at me. He knew that was my favorite game, and he had saved it all these years.

“Its... it’s the real one? Like, ours?” I asked while little tears of emotion were forming in my eyes.

Nick nodded with his head.

I ran to grab it and started opening it to play while the guys were sitting on the couch around the coffee table.

The three of them were staring at me while I was jumping with excitement.

It was a game that transported me years back when we used to stay up all night playing it.

We played for hours until we finished, and I obviously won, I’ve always been the best one, even when we were kids.

When I noticed the time, I saw it was a bit late, so I said goodnight to the boys, and Matt decided to walk me to the door.

In an attempt to break the silence, Matt said “Hey... uhm.. do you remember our first kiss?”. That was unexpected.

Yes, I remembered it. Every time I saw Xavier or felt his lips on mine ones, all I could think of was Matt.

A day before my departure, Matt and I, 13 years old child, lost in each other’s gaze, without knowing what it meant. Looking at each other, he came closer and let fall his sweet lips on mine with unforgettable delicacy and softness.

Our first and only kiss.

It was magic, like a promise, like a ' I don’t want you to go'.

I saw his blue eyes as I approached the door. A pain began to arise in my chest, I wanted to feel the magic again, but Xavier was waiting for me at home.

“I will tell my boyfriend that I got back together with you again, have driven him crazy with so many stories about you” I said. I knew it hurt him to hear the word *Boyfriend* but it was the harsh truth.

His head looked down but came back to look at me “Goodnight, Y/n” Matt said. “Goodnight Matt” I said and smiled at him. I didn’t want to go, really, but it was what I must do.

Our eyes didn’t let go for about 2 minutes until I decided to turn around and start my way home.

I could feel his gaze on me. Taking the blame, I sat on the car, and when I turned my head to look at him again, he was already gone. The door was closed. I understood him, and immediately I left.

When I arrived home, all that I wanted was to lay in bed and sleep, but clearly that’s not what happened.

I opened the door, and the first thing I saw was Xavier standing in the kitchen. He looked like he had been waiting for a long time.

“Where have you been, I’ve been waiting for ages” His tone assured me that he had drunk a lot.

“With some old friends” I said, clearly upset.

I saw him with challenging eyes. His lips parted, but before he could start whining, I asked, “Where were you last night?". He looked at me and shut his mouth with anger.

Ours was not enough, and we both knew it, but none of us wanted to take charge and broke up with the other.

“With my friend Jess. Much more pretty and friendly than you” he said.

I couldn’t believe him.

“Oh, yes?” I asked. He nodded, and I asked again. “So why are you with me and not with her now?”

“Because I wanted to come here to end up with you. Our relationship was over a long time ago. We don’t have the same connection as in the beginning. You are helpless on housework, and you are not as pretty as before. You were careless about your body.”

Wow, I didn’t see that one coming.

His last words echoed over and over in my head as I tried to stay upright.

“She is always pretty for me; she always makes everything for me to feel good.”

I looked at him dead in the eyes while trying to understand his words.

The air that kept me alive began to get stuck in my throat. A knot of fury and disappointment began to form in my belly.

“And I don’t want you to be mad just that you really need to make yourself pretty again. Like when you used to do it.”

How could he be so rude and careless?

My legs started to wobble. Since I was a teenager, I have dealt with all kinds of anxiety attacks but none as strong as this one.

The only thing I could think of was to escape from there or stay, and he leaves from there.

I needed to say something, I was frozen, but the only thing I said was “Go away”

He knew what he said hurt me, and seeing how much he hurt me or just a part hurt him too, but it was the truth.

He looked at me and started walking in my direction, like he was going to hug me or something. When he was standing next to me, I could smell his stinky alcohol breath. He looked up and down and made his way to the door.

A deep silence invaded the walls of my apartment. My heart beat with pain.

Despite this, I would no longer have to deal with Xavier every time he came home drunk.

I was speechless.

I sat on the couch trying to calm down my tears, but it was impossible, my hands were shaking as I try to catch my breath.

Why me?

I knew I wasn’t the best girlfriend, nor the most pretty, but why did he say it like that? Couldn’t he be more mindful and calmer?

Tying to calm down, filing repeatedly.

I felt useless.

The main thing on my head were his last words replaying over and over.

3:44 am

I knocked the door a few times, without waiting for an answer.

I waited for a couple of minutes before turning around to go back to the car when suddenly I hear the door open.

“Y/n? What are you doing here at- “Matt stopped talking as he saw my red eyes because of how much I cried the last few hours.

He moved a little to let me in, and as I walked inside, he squeezed my shoulder trying to get me comfortable.

“How do you feel?” He asked. A simple question that Xavier never asked me before, he never cared, and I didn’t see it.

“Xavier broke up with me. He said I haven’t worked on my body because I was to focus on other things. I am not as pretty as I used to be” While tears came down through my cheeks.

“And you believe him” It wasn’t a question; it was more of an affirmation. And he was right, I believed Xavier.

My eyes went to the floor, I couldn’t deny it.

“You know, when I was a child, I used to believe that I wouldn’t see the most beautiful girl in the world because she would be a top model from Europe, and that was until I found you” Matt confessed.

When I crossed our gazes again, they were filled with an inexplicable shine.

Our click.

“And since our first kiss, you haven’t left my mind” He added.

“You neither mine” I said.

He placed his forehead against mine and he wrap my face with his big hands, without stopping looking me straight in the eyes.

It was just the two of us, no one else.

We both felt like waiting years for this moment to repeat, but now with knew information of what it was. Love.

The magic we felt when we were teenagers revived.

His lips softly placed on mines.

☆☆☆

Dear diary:

It’s been a couple of months since Matt and I kissed again after our first kiss. Nowadays we are together and very, very happy.

I love him with everything I am, and I am deeply in love with him since I met him, because without knowing, he is the only one who takes my breath away every time he is nearby.

I will stick some pics of him to remember.

___________________☆__________________

Heeyyyy, did you like it??

:)))

#chris sturniolo #christopher sturniolo #chris x reader #matt sturniolo #matt sturniolo x reader #sturniolo #sturniolo triplets #the sturniolos #christopher owen sturniolo #nick sturniolo #matthew bernard sturniolo #matthew sturniolo #matthew #I want matt so bad #hello

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dulltoned · 11 months ago

Note

I know I mostly just ask random thoughts about brozone and how unbelievably angsty they are but

What about any headcannons about brozone? Individually or as brozone as a whole?

-🦦

(Also happy holidays!!)

Oh, that's a fun question. I genuinely haven't put too much conscious thought into it but I have a few that I can share off the top of my head.

There's at least one headcanon involving Branch in there for all of them but I might follow up with more headcanon posts somewhere down the line. (Excuse the funny little doodles, I wanted to see if I could make decent headers and I did... okay.)

-> He doesn't like being alone. He didn't spend the twenty-some years after BroZone broke up just on his own in the Neverglades but instead hopping around from place to place looking for new experiences and new people to meet. He'd always go back to the Neverglade Trail, though. Just in case someone needed him.

-> It was still really lonely but he never thought too much about his brothers or the Troll Tree. He's an expert at denial and avoidance.

-> He's pushy with Branch because he wants to try and help Branch be more open and direct with him but he doesn't really know how to sit down and have a serious conversation about it.

-> He's not stupid. He can be unobservant and a bit full of himself but he has a good head on his shoulders.

-> He and Branch bond over survivalist tips.

-> He was worried he was going to be a bad father. He still had a lot of stuff he was working on when he and Brandy had their first kid and he was old enough that he really didn't remember his dad. He certainly didn't want to emulate John Dory. He knew they'd be okay the second he saw his son in Brandy's arms for the first time.

-> Brandy helped him get over the toxic mindset BroZone gave him and while he can still struggle sometimes he's never been happier.

-> Amazing cook. His food is amazing. Cooking, baking, it's all divine.

-> He cooks for Branch a lot when he visits. At first it's because he couldn't get the image of his baby brother out of his head but then it was because Branch had confessed that no one really cooked for him before and he just couldn't have that.

-> Clay chose the admin building as his room back when he was still desperate to be anything other than the fun boy. He regrets it.

-> He and Viva have bonded a lot about their family traumas, especially over how much they missed their siblings. He never wanted to stay away as long as he had but after they found refuge in the Golf Course he never got the courage to leave Viva behind to go find his brothers.

-> Clay's hair just naturally changed color with age. It wasn't stress-induced or anything, it just happened. Like how some blonds change to brunette when they get older.

-> He really likes crossword puzzles and sudoku. It has nothing to do with his desire to distance himself from his fun persona. He's just a nerd.

-> He really enjoys Branch's input. Branch is an incredibly handy, if not a bit paranoid, realist who isn't afraid to share his opinions. It's really helpful when it comes to safety measures or even trying to avoid complicated emotions.

-> Floyd may be alive but he doesn't recover fast. The effects of the diamond vacuum (exhaustion, weakness in the limbs, a chill in his bones, dizziness, etc.) linger with him for years afterward and he finds it incredibly frustrating.

-> Floyd is such a smug little shit. He will give you shit and tease you to hell and back and then give you the most innocent smile immediately after.

-> He moves into Pop Village after he's rescued. It reminds him a lot of the Troll Tree when he was a kid and it's bittersweet.

-> He finds out about Branch's puzzle tradition and the two of them start doing daily puzzles together.

-> Floyd's pod is in the clearing where Branch's bunker is.

Surprisingly I don't really know what to put for Branch here but I think I'll reblog this later with additions for Branch and Poppy.

I hope you enjoy the holidays, thanks for the fun question.

#{ the sensitive one }#{ the leader }#{ the fun boy }#{ the heartthrob }#| branch answers |#| branch rambles |#( 🦦 )#dreamworks trolls #trolls floyd #trolls john dory #trolls bruce #trolls clay #trolls brozone #| Clue Board |

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loveandmurders · 1 year ago

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hiii i was soo happy to read an amber freeman fic cuz theres not a lot so thank you, do you think you could write for her again? like pre-ghostface amber and reader fluff?

Hello darling! It's true Amber deserves more love, so I hope you'll enjoy this <3

LIFE USED TO BE SO SOFT (Amber Freeman x gender neutral reader)

Warnings: no proof reading, fluff.

It was Halloween, and you were really excited about it. Your girlfriend, Amber, too. And you both couldn’t wait for tonight fun.

You had planned quite a lot of stuff to do together, like each year, because it was your favourite holiday to both of you. First you had spotted a party near your house which was happening in a so-called “haunted house”. You thought it could be very fun to spend some time there, and you hoped for good music and some drinks.

Then, when you would both be tired of this, you planned a little walk hand in hand, especially into the cemetery of the town. You knew you wouldn’t be the only one there, but it was alright, you could always hide in the darkness and make out until you would be on your own once again. You would try very hard to not get too heated on anyone’s tomb, because it wouldn’t be very respectful… But sometimes love and desire were making you do crazy stuff, and it wouldn’t be your fault, right?

And finally, to finish off the night, you were going to watch movies together, in bed, with your favourite snacks and soda, all cuddled up against each other. Of course, the first movie you were going to watch was Stab, because Amber was absolutely obsessed with it, and especially of Billy Loomis and Stuart Matcher. You often teased her about it, but you didn’t mind. You were yourself completely obsessed with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, so you couldn’t really say anything about it.

Amber had pleaded with you so you could both dress up as Ghostface, and hence incarnate Billy and Stu. After a lot of kisses and sweet words, she convinced you to let go of your idea to dress as Tiffany Valentine/Charles Lee Ray to put on the robe and mask of Ghostface. You had never seen her that excited before and it totally made your heart melt with happiness and cuteness. Amber could be so adorable when she was like that, like a puppy.

At least, you wouldn’t need to care about any kind of makeup or hairstyles or anything. You just put sport clothes underneath, to be able to run and freely move around, and to not get too cold either. You didn’t really know where Amber found those costumes but you didn’t really care. The mask was surprisingly comfortable, and you could see and breathe without troubles. Even better, you could move around without fearing to lose the mask. You were a little bit surprised when Amber showed you how to switch the voice changer. It felt like it was a real Ghostface costume. You asked her how much she paid for those, but she chuckled.

“A killer needs to keep their secret” she replied with a little wink and you playfully rolled your eyes at her antics.

“I’m gonna start to be afraid of you, if you keep talking that way” you teased back and she wrapped her arms around your waist, softly nuzzling her nose against yours, her eyes shining with love for you.

“Nah, you know I love you too much to hurt you” she whispered and it sounded a lot like a promise.

“I love you too, always and forever” you replied which made her brightly smile at you.

You loved how passionate she was. She was so fierce too. And you found this so attractive. Actually, you met at the cinema during a horror movie projection. You were sitting next to each other and you quickly realised you were both having the same reaction, and rooting for the slasher on screen. You invited her to have a drink at the end of the movie and she happily agreed. You got along so well, and then everything between the two of you happened so naturally. You were made for each other and you were both certain of this. She was a very caring girlfriend to you.

You played around with the voice changer and you had to admit it was really fun! No one could guess it was the two of you that way. And you did feel like you were truly one of the characters of Stab.

Amber also gave you a knife to finish the costumes off. They were real knives and it worried you. You didn’t want to walk around with a weapon in your hands. You knew that the cops were always on edge with Halloween and you didn’t want to hurt someone or yourself by accident. She tried to tell you it was alright, but you refused and bought retractable knives for the two of you. Amber seemed very disappointed but she finally agreed.

You truly hoped she took the knife you got her, and not the real one. You noticed that sometimes she seemed to not make the difference between reality and fiction. Sometimes, she was so engrossed with her Stab’s obsession, that she didn’t seem to realise that real people died. It was a little bit scary, but you still loved her with everything you had.

As usual, Halloween evening went by so fast. You screamed, you laughed, you danced, you kissed your girlfriend in dark corners, you scared people off, and you playfully threatened others for candies.

Under the full moon, you walked in the darkest streets you could find, so you could be on your own with Amber. You heard in the distance some excited screams and loud music. You really loved this atmosphere.

Amber never let go of your hand. Not because she was afraid - it seemed like nothing could scare her - but because she wanted to make sure you were truly there, with her. Sometimes, she thought you were too good to be real. But you didn’t know about such thoughts.

You finally removed the mask, so you could enjoy the fresh air on your face. She looked up at you and you smiled down at her. You were so happy to have her in your life. Things seemed so perfect and you hoped that nothing would ever happen to the two of you. You wished to never wake up from this beautiful dream.

“Enjoyed yourself, baby?” you asked “Ready to go watch some movie together now? My feet start to hurt” you added. You just wanted to go back home now. She turned on the voice changer of the mask she was still wearing.

“It’s all a movie. Life’s one great big movie.” she hummed and you playfully rolled your eyes at her, like you often did.

“Only you can’t pick the genre” you ended the quote and she happily squealed next to you. She squeezed your hand.

“You remember it so well!” she praised and you laughed.

“I don’t know how many times you made me watch that movie, but it’s certain that I know all the lines by heart now. Hope you are proud of you” you teased as you wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She snuggled against your side and let her head fall on your shoulder as she trusted you to bring her back home.

“I love you” she hummed as she removed the mask

“I love you too” you kissed her cheek and she hugged your side even more closely.

She stayed quiet after that. You were never too sure what she was thinking then, but you weren’t too worried. Your girlfriend was a good person, just a little bit obsessed that was it. Even though you sometimes wondered when she said stuff like “Billy and Stu must have had so much fun. I mean the real ones. They understood everything so well.”

But you loved her too much to believe she could kill anyone. Especially not you.

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yourgamemasterthewhiterabbit · 13 days ago

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For someone who's autistic and poorly socialized, it's surprisingly not often something happens to me socially that I just do not fucking understand or feel like I would have to make wild assumptions to wrap my head around. Normally when I am confused it has slightly more to do with being on the asexual side of demi and not understanding that people flirt sometimes.

So truly baffling interactions with family are rare. Usually I understand what's going on socially from an objective standpoint, even if I can't groc why they are treating me that way and can't seem to realize the absurdity of it, etc...

But the scenario is as follows:

Background:

I have had more than one stalker by the age of 18. One of which is banned from multiple public places because his MO was to hang out in public placed you would be known to frequent, like a mall, catch someone alone and beat the ever-loving shit out of them, usually for being gay or trans. We are talking multiple 'peace bonds' against this person by the time he was 18-20 himself. He also has a habit of cornering younger women and pressuring them for sex when they are someplace isolated and around a general tendency to make threatening comments. He started dating me when I was 14 and in the years since I broke up with him and left town I have become increasingly openly gay and trans, and he has done a lot of asking about WHERE I went off to.

I am not unaware that him specifically asides, people can use recognizing me in shared public spaces as a way to target me without knowing my exact address, the the rule has been that anyone who knows me isn't allowed to tell anyone else even what city I live in. I take other precautions like not having myself or my home in photos that haven't had the metadata scrubbed, like using a vpn obsessively and not taking photos outside with potentially recognizable landmarks or landscapes, etc... But very generally the main rule everyone else has to follow is just not fucking allude to where I live or where I will be visiting ahead of time because someone who used to know me might figure it out and if he can figure out even what mall to wait at, he might hurt me, or someone else might use the same MO.

That fact that multiple other exs since have taken up some stalkery-ass behaviour is kind of just terrible icing on the issue. The fact that I voice strong opinions online and might become a somewhat noted author at some point if I get my way is kind of a side note, but also relevant.

The problem so far:

My sister has fucking habitually refused to stop mentioning where I live or where she assumes I live or where I will be visiting for the holidays. She makes allusions to it or mentions she will visit my mother and I at the same time when I actually lived close to her and etc...

Neither of them would take this threat seriously. The fact that my sister is a compulsive liar who will just invent information and insist on it to try to get her way should be beside the point, but instead it means my mother believed her account of what this guy is capable of or interested in more than my own, and -for whatever reason- despite trusting my judgement on most things when it's convenient to her, will not trust my judgement that my city of residence being public knowledge is actually dangerous to me.

My sister would not stop mentioning where I live, accurate or not, so the rule became not to tell her where I live. Period. So my mother started playing this game of letting her guess and assume where I had moved to and simply not correcting her when she got it right.

My sister also has a habit of being very verbally abusive to me and just yelling at me the entire time I am trying to have a conversation with her, so at some point I cut her off for a couple years, and then told her the rules were that she could talk to me on the condition she stop calling me names. And that she was not allowed to know where I lived.

During the time we weren't speaking my mother kept saying shit like "So what? I'm not ALLOWED to have both my *daughters* in my life >:(" and generally guilt-tripping me about not speaking to my sister, and still basically ignoring the rule about not telling her where I live.

And my sister may have eventually stopped even vaguely alluding to having contact with me, but mostly after she stopped having any contact with me.

The current problem:

My mother will start to agree with me that I am being reasonable and that she's plenty capable of doing what I am asking if she finds out I am going to move, and still refuse to move in with her, and right after I move until she gets my address again, and then she just cycles back to the same bullshit, including trying to talk me into living with her so I can take care of her all the time and so I have no choice about her or my sister knowing where I live. Always under the guise of saving costs.

So I find out my mother has been -in effect- continuously confirming for my sister where I live, no matter how many times I have reminded her that the general city is as important a secret as my exact address. She was all "Well obviously she knows you live in [redacted]!", when there's no way to know that without her losing a game of 21 questions or telling her, and when I got upset and tried to explain the FUCK AGAIN why it has to be the city too she cycled right back to "Oh get over it! >:(" and "can't you just live in isolation alone for ever and never make an opinion know online so no one has any reason to target you so that I can just keep doing what I want without you bitching!?!"

And I just... After the realization that she was always going to cycle back to this once she personally had gotten my address out of me, and that it was going to make it unsafe for me to live anywhere forever, most of all in the cities I loved the most, my second pick, my third and so on... I just... I finally just hung up on her.

And I got the expected slew of unacceptable texts, suicide threats, guilt tripping, emotional manipulation...

But the thing about your parents trying to use guilt and shame and emotional manipulation to control you since you were a literal toddler, is that the "grey rock" response isn't an act, It's genuine, it isn't just an automatic way to cope, or pretending not to care so they don't feel like their shitty behaviour is being rewarded, you genuinely stop caring, lose interest, and emotionally shut down about the issue. She flicked the switch in my brain where I go from hyper-empathy towards the well meaning, to absolutely no empathy at all for people who are intentionally trying to take advantage or cause harm, and I am not in control of that. So she can throw tantrums all she fucking wants and there is literally no going back. Sorry if you want to know why I am like this look at the people who fucked to make me and then screwed with my head for 16 years and called it parenting!

My sister in the meantime had started tentatively texting and calling me again after years of being allowed to but simply opting not to, probably out of fear she would fuck it up. And we were getting along! She wasn't being mean and we were good!

But the moment I cut off my mother and dropped to 2 texts a year for birthday and xmas, and any necessary legal shit for paperwork, my sister stops talking to me.

No response to happy birthday or merry x-mas [which I don't even celebrate but whatever]. Nothing. Dead air. One text where she tried to defend that mom never technically told her where I lived. And then silence.

And two things stand out to me:

I get the sense that this is about her feelings towards me because I specified multiple times this was nothing to do with her at this point, that the rules for her hadn't changed, and that now mom was just on new boundaries because she couldn't fucking be trusted to respect mine

I get the nagging sense that despite that mom guilt tripped the shit out of me for not talking to my sister, she is not, in fact, bitching at my sister to text me back. I get the sense that instead she is trying to commiserate with her about how unreasonable and cold-hearted I am, and perhaps even trying to convince her to cut me out to teach me some kind of lesson.

But these are wild guesses because my sister has not communicated fuck all to me except to simply stop talking/interacting. I actually have very little idea if any of my suspicions as to why actually hold any water.

This is not an AITA post because victims -or anyone- deserve to set boundaries about their personal information and have them fucking respected regardless of how rational you think they are being. I don't think it's unreasonable that if shutting up about my location is just not physically or mentally realistic for them that they shouldn't get to know where I have moved to. They don't get to demand to have that information and also demand to do whatever they want with it even if it makes me unsafe.

I am just genuinely a little lost as to why cutting my mom off means my sister has decided she doesn't want to speak to me, or if she thinks this somehow means I don't want to speak to her.

That's it though. That's the reason I don't speak to my sister either since my mom "fucked up", I didn't cut them both off as some kind of unit or packaged deal or something [lumping someone in thoughtlessly with my sister by association is their job]. She -again- stopped talking to me the moment there were new boundaries involved. And to be honest, I actually do not know why this time. It's as inscrutable to me as whatever the real reasons are my father never bothers talking to me.

Anyway if my mother actually wanted both her kids in her life she could have stopped perpetuating the reason for contention between us, she could have respected my boundaries herself and she could respect my fucking gender. She could have actually bothered to be on her best behaviour for my sake instead of only pretending to respect my boundaries when other people were watching, or if she figured I wouldn't KNOW [and therefor would have no idea I was in danger].

And if I the fuck find out she's been trying to pit my sister against me now [we did not need help struggling to get along bitch]...

#personal #child abuse #suicide mention #family #this is just my fickign family #omg would it be great if I had a supportive family or parents I could actually go to with all the other shit I have to deal with in my life #but no fucking no and I can't even know how my sister is doing #let alone have a mother who act like she gives a fuck if I get shot at walmart the fuck #it's two tiny boundaries #don't share my location and don't be verbally/emotionally abusive #like the bar is low but here you are limbo danging with the devil in hell #what I have done or not done to deserve or not deserve this is immaterial it has nothing to do with me really and there's probably nothing #I could have done to change it #this isn't a what did I do wrong or wasn't I good enough question it's just WHY WHY WHY? WHy? What? WHY?#I'll go back to forgetting about this soon

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new-berry · 2 months ago

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A getting to know you meme? Quiz? Interview?

I’ve smooshed a few together. Mostly from memory so I might have mis remembered.

Sweet/salty/sour /spicy:

Not sour. Not spicy. I don’t mind food with flavour I just don’t want eating to be an endurance event.

Go to snack. Cheese and crackers If I ever say “I don’t like cheese” I have been kidnapped and it is a cry for help. Call the police.

Next celebration:

it’s been nearly a year since pixel the wonder dog came into our lives so we are having an anniversary party this weekend.

Favourite holiday:

I like Christmas. It’s sunny and since I often cook it I get all my favourite foods. If I’m catering I do not give a fuck.

Last year we had lasagne and a roast meal because I wanted lasagne but not to eat it for a week.

The year before that we had all different kinds of meat balls (including spicy Asian for my sister in law that were very spicy and Asian inspired and not made from an Asian person. ) we had turkey and pork and falafels purely because it is what I wanted.

My dad had his nose out of a joint a bit but genuinely that makes it more fun.

Christmas is great. We have a sensible tree and a reasonable number of gifts and a week off work.

Favourite movie: I love Fantasia. I am a bad movie watcher. I have to go to the cinema or I will think of something else to do.

Favourite sport: I do equally love netball, football, pro wrestling and ice hockey.

Last thing you cooked:

We had minestrone soup (homemade!) garlic bread (shop made) with bacon (home… fried?) . And I made cupcakes because the oven was on. I made 11 cupcakes. There are four cupcakes left. On the one hand aww they were good! On the other hand I have yet to have one and there are only four people in the house.

Last thing you wore. Jeans and a Winnie the Pooh t-shirt. (It’s pink! ) right now I have pj’s on. They have spoons and tiny love hearts on them I don’t know why. They are from one of those fly by night shops at the mall and are soooooo soft. Lucky they don’t have random swear words.

(An aside I don’t remember reading Winnie the Pooh as a kid but my partner insisted we needed a copy when we had kids so I’ve read it but as an adult. I like it. I approve.)

Last song listened to: And she was (talking heads) it’s my Iris Law song. I listen to it when I’m writing glitter because it puts me in the right head space for that fic. Then I just let Apple pick similar music and every three or four songs I listen to And she was again.

Dumb thing that makes me laugh. When writing is just like not happening I’ll play it a lot because I get annoyed look at my music list. When it’s going well it’s like“and she was” was six songs again and I have no recollection of what I was listening to. I’ll like look up blinking and release for some reason it playing like Seafret and I’ll have no idea how I got there.

Not that anyway asked but the Ivan /Thomas song is in fact Guns of Brixton. Gonna think it every time I write Ivan’s name anyway. The Clash and then Jimmy Cliff for my favourite versions. There are a surprisingly large number of covers. Arcade Fire excellent. Nouvelle Vague doesn’t do it for me.

Might call the fic “the money seems good”.

Star sign Aquarius. (Not adjusted) am I an Aquarius? It’s summer in January here :).

Favourite colour: pink with a side of purple. But really pink.

Tea /coffee. Yea please. Too much of it in lieu of water. I have my tea stewed and cold or hot and too weak. I have coffee with fluffy milk. No sugar.

Quirk. Ummm I have trained myself out of saying “bless you” when people sneeze.

One thing you would change (about you) I am an extremely impatient driver. Sometime I pretend to be singing along with music and start chair dancing when I realise I have been non stop swearing and maybe people can see I’m me in their rear vision mirror. If you mean like a physical thing? I would like to be taller. Or to not need glasses.

One thing you’re proud of? I don’t look externally for validation. I’m happy. I love those things.

Next plans (these were the writing ones I just did a WIP so..)

Going to finish Ivan/Thomas, then either going to finish glitter or re do the one I started with Jude as not a demon making (maybe) Trent not a demon because I have a different Jude one and I don’t want to write him that much. Or getting to the point of ever again.

I want to finish the last part of tidal. Which is stubbornly half / a third done because I have not added words to it. Which seems vastly unfair.

The last thing I wrote lol if you could see me I’d be laughing. I literally wrote Virgil going down on Iris while Trent holds her up. It’s like a lot of athletic flexible rich people sex. You can wait for the fic. It would sound bizzare out of context.

Pondering /fic adjacent something like that: Having an Ivan/Thomas hmmmmm. Have a tricky moment I’m trying to navigate. And also trying to thinking I tag age gap? There are 22 years between them but Ivan is 28.

What won’t you write: hahahahahhahhaa. Friends I wrote royal family incest porn. I wrote Orlando Bloom with a little person as a birthday present. I have written non con domestic violence and I’m actually really pleased with Ivan/Thomas I think some of the lines are beautiful and it’s interesting and meaty and no one will read it lol.

And I don’t care! I love getting older. I’ll cater what I want to eat and if you don’t want it you can have potatoes with my dad.

Not even being aggressive! I also make excellent roast potatoes! Just I don’t have much time to write (she says writing a bloody essay here) so I have to write what grabs me.

“What do you want, Thomas?” Ivan asks. The air con is blasting in the car but the sun still forcing itself on them. A dazzle off the outward facing windows, a raw flinch every few metres.

What is something no one else will notice but it’s important to you. I can’t remember exactly how this was phrased! I have written coach/player fic before and normally I make a point of mentioning that power imbalance by having the player refer to them as the boss or the gaffer or the mister. But in this Ivan always calls Thomas by his name.

Share a recently enjoyed fic: oh I have so many tabs open. I caught up. Nearly.

Trent is a vampire.

Joe Willock /Alex Isak. The wanting man. The wanting gets you.

#this got stupid long #I probably missed a few #thank you to the people who tagged me in the various

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whatstruthgottodowithit · 11 months ago

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Top of the List [Part Three]

Fandom: Elvis Presley, American Musician

Pairing: Elvis Presley x Addison Goodwin

Characters: Elvis Presley, Addison Goodwin, Jessie Goodwin, Lisa Marie Presley, Original Female Character, Original Male Character, Jerry Schilling, Marci Cunningham, Colonel Parker [Mentioned], Joe Goodwin

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 2798 of 9639

Summary: When you’re a kid writing a Christmas list is simple; toys and lots of them. As you get older however the wishes start to change and with a life as complicated as the Goodwin-Presleys those wants aren’t always easy to come by. For Addison it’s a family. For Jess answers. And for Elvis, well, as long as he’s got his girls he doesn’t have to wish for a damn thing.

Tags/Warnings: Angst, Fluff, Kissing, Sex, Penatrative Sex, Vaginal Sex, Unprotected Sex, Handjobs, Morning Sex, Mentions of Death, Grief, Grieving, Absent Father, Single Parent, Working Parent, Christmas Day, Secrets, Festive Period, Teen Angst, Moods, Fingering, Christmas Morning, Kids on Christmas, Magic of Christmas

Notes: Okay so I’d been planning these as two separate fics but I decided to put them together because they parallel each other so well. All of them wanting something etc etc

I did want to make it sorta ghosts of Christmas past, present and future but working out the timelines of how to establish everything was too hard.

PART ONE // PART TWO // PART THREE

ELVIS & ADDISON MASTERPOST // TAG LIST

Elvis was a deep sleeper; he always had been, even as a kid, as evidenced by the fact he’d used to have to spend every night in his parents bed to stop him from wandering off, deep in slumber and unawakenable to the outside world. So the thud of the padded door hitting his bedroom wall must’ve had quite some force on it because it was enough to pull him from sleep immediately, as was the caterwaul of his youngest daughter as she announced it was Christmas to the room before immediately appearing in front of him, a flurry of red pyjamas and blonde locks as she clambered on the bed.

‘It’s Christmas!’ she shouted, her blue eyes wide and bright as she clambered on him, her little limbs surprisingly pointy as they pierced his torso through the comforter.

‘Ya don’t say,’ Elvis chuckled, pulling her to slip in beside him and Addison, who was now stirring from sleep herself, a smile on her face and her eyes bleary.

‘I tried keeping her entertained as long as I could,’ his other daughter, Jess, said, appearing in a less chaotic fashion as she perched herself on the bed by his feet.

‘It’s okay,’ Elvis said, ‘Merry Christmas honey.’

‘Merry Christmas,’ Jess smiled, ‘Merry Christmas mom.’

‘Merry Christmas baby,’ Addison yawned, though the holiday greeting she’d had locked and loaded for her husband, who was watching her with a smile, was abruptly ripped away as Lisa decided they’d spent far too much time chatting about trivial things and instead attempted to steer them back to the crux of the issue.

'Addie, guess what?’ she said, looking up at her stepmother with a beaming smile.

‘What sweetie?’ Addison said.

‘Santa left me a stocking full of stuff by my bed! Jessie too!’ Lisa beamed.

‘Really? Wow!’ Addison smiled.

‘Is that why you’ve already got chocolate around your mouth buttonhead?’ Elvis chuckled, swiping at the corners of her lips with his thumb, though she fended him off pulling out from his grasp until she was beside her sister, where Jess remained calm and collected, Lisa stayed on her knees like a runner at the starting piston, ready to take off just as soon as the gun went off.

‘Did you guys open your stockings then?’ Addison asked, shifting towards Elvis now that there was a gap between them, his warmth inviting even though it couldn’t be any cooler than forty degrees outside.

‘Yeah, Santa really went all out this year, huh?’ Jess said quirking an eyebrow at her mother who rolled her eyes.

‘Yeah, those elves must’ve been worked to the bone, right E?’ Addison said with a giggle. Elvis shrugged, ‘what can I say? Santa’s obviously seen just how good you kids have been this year.’

‘Well you can’t argue with that right mom,’ Jess giggled.

‘Try arguing with him when he’s got his chequebook out,’ Addison said.

‘If anyone can it’s you,’ Elvis whispered in her ear, his thumb dancing underneath the t-shirt she was wearing, the soft skin of her waist warm against his hand.

‘Have you and daddy not been good?’ Lisa said, again seemingly unbothered by the topic of conversation, her mind elsewhere as she scanned the room, looking for something.

‘What do you mean baby?’ Elvis asked.

‘You and Addie didn’t get stockings,’ she said, looking at them with wide-eyed worry.

‘That’s cos theirs are downstairs remember,’ Jess said, vanquishing the worry from her sister’s eyes as she touched her shoulder gently.

'Yeah, me and your daddy left ours by the fire place,’ Addison said.

‘Oh yeah, they’re with the other presents,’ Lisa said, realisation settling her apparent nerves though they mounted again as Elvis’ face fell into an expression of suspicion, his eyes narrowing as he said, ‘and just how do you know there’s other presents?’

‘We...uh don’t,’ Lisa said, her little face just as embarrassed as her sister sitting next to her though distinctly more worried.

‘C'mon now Yisa, ya ain’t gonna lie to your daddy on Christmas now are you,’ Elvis said sternly.

Addison watched as her little face grew panicked and was half inclined to put her out of her misery, her young mind no doubt panicking she’d found herself where no kid wanted to be on Christmas morning, in trouble, but Elvis seemed to be in a jovial mood and as always when he was happy he liked to tease.

‘I’m not lying!' Lisa protested, genuine worry brooding behind her cute features as she doubled down on her fib. Fortunately for Addison though Jess intervened before the pair of them could go too far as she said, ‘it’s not her fault. It’s mine but we just had a peep.’

‘Jessie Jo!’ Addison giggled.

‘Hey I kept her from opening them at least!’ Jess protested.

‘We did read all the tags though! The biggest ones for me!’ Lisa giggled, making Elvis chuckle.

‘And here I was thinking you might be too old for all this Christmas excitement,’ Addison mused.

‘Never too old right sweetheart,’ Elvis said, nudging her with his foot as she rolled her eyes.

‘Well we might all be too old if we stay up here any longer,’ Addison said, leaning up from where she was nestled against Elvis, ‘go on. You guys head downstairs; we’ll be down in a minute.’

Lisa didn’t need telling twice and took off like a speeding bullet, heading to the door with Jess following quietly behind her. Addison rubbed her eyes as they left her, all the excitement having zapped her of the little energy she’d accrued between now and two am when she and Elvis had finally gotten to bed, more excited than the kids as they spent the night putting presents under the tree and eating Santa’s cookies. Her past Christmases had never been bad. She’d always tried her hardest to make Jess’ Christmases magical, but she couldn’t deny that this one felt different. She’d enjoyed not having to worry about the cost of things as they picked out presents for the girls. She’d liked watching Elvis and the girls cuddle on the couch watching endless holiday movies. She’d enjoyed telling him about their past Christmases, even showing him a stack of photos she’d crammed in one of the countless boxes they’d yet to unpack from the old house. And most of all she’d enjoyed that there’d been no rush to any of it. There’d been no worry or stress to any of it because as of the twentieth of December Elvis was a free man. They’d be heading into 1974 free of the Colonel. Free of ties and commitments. Free to be a family.

‘Don’t be too long you two,’ Jess said as she got to the door, eyeing her parents though she knew it was probably fruitless. As much as she loved him she’d come to find out that everything at Graceland moved at Elvis’ pace and as he eyed her mother adoringly she figured they’d not be in as much of a hurry as her sister had been to get downstairs.

‘We won’t,’ Elvis said as she shuffled out the door, calling to her before she disappeared, ‘hey why don’t ya go and wake Uncle Jer up!’

As the door clicked closed he sat up, placing a kiss on his wife to be’s forehead as he mumbled, ‘merry Christmas.’

‘Merry Christmas,’ Addison smiled against his neck, pulling back to find him watching her with a matching grin.

‘How long do you think we have before they get too excited and open them all?’ Elvis mused.

‘I’m surprised they’ve held off this long,’ Addison giggled.

‘Well we can thank Jess for that,’ he teased, ‘keeping everyone in line. She’s a mini you.’

‘Oh I don’t know five-year-old Jess would’ve given Lisa a run for her money,’ Addison mused, running her fingers along his jaw until her hand settled at the nape of his neck, teasing the hair that danced along it, well due a trim, though she quite liked the bit of length to it now that she’d become acclimatised to it.

‘That so,’ Elvis mused, leaning in till their noses were touching before he captured her lips softly in his. It was gentle at first, the pair of them too tired for a frantic rush of lust but there was a definite force to his movements as he pushed her back draping himself over her as he kissed her deeply.

‘Elvis,’ she whispered breathily as they came up for air, the throb in her core almost painful as his hand trailed down her torso, his thumb teasing her hardened nipple through the cotton of her shirt.

‘What?’ he breathed, a teasing smile back on his face.

‘We haven’t time,’ she whispered, the sounds of the kids downstairs somehow louder now that she thought about it.

‘The hell we ain’t,’ Elvis said, kissing her again as he palmed at her, his fingers dancing underneath the cotton of her shirt, teasing along the waistband of her pants.

‘Everyone’s…gonna…be waiting,’ she protested, her words punctuated by heavy breaths as his mouth migrated down her jaw, nipping and sucking along her neck as his fingers breached her pants, teasing through her slick slowly.

‘Let ‘em,’ he grunted, moving his hips against her thigh in the desperate need for some friction against his rigid cock.

‘And when the kids come barging in?’ Addison asked, trying to keep a level head though that thought was quickly snatched away as the fingers that had been teasing her breached her entrance, going deeper than expected given that the chunky rings she’d become used to were gathered on the nightstand beside them, not that her body gave little resistance anyway, ‘oh fuck.’

‘See,’ Elvis groaned, ‘besides that’s what Uncle Jer is for.’

She was panting now, grinding her hips against his hand in a way he envied, given that the silk of his pants was barely giving him any sensation. Not what he was craving at least.

‘C’mon,’ he said, peppering kisses along her jawline. He knew if he could get her out of her head, if he could make her feel good enough she’d yield to him. This was their first Christmas together, properly together. There was no worries, no impending doom, just them and their girls. And though he’d loved spending time with the girls and seeing their little faces light up with the holiday spirit, he’d loved having Addison to himself too. He knew it was probably not the time. That they should’ve headed downstairs to where the kids were waiting, Lisa no doubt bouncing off the walls with excitement, hauling everyone out of bed so that they were up and ready for when the pair of them decided to go downstairs, but he couldn’t help himself. They’d been too tired to even contemplate anything as they fell into bed last night and they’d no doubt get no time together throughout the day given that Addison had a way of being needed by everyone that rivalled even his penchant for commanding attention. So whilst they had time to breathe he was going to indulge, it was Christmas after all.

‘Five minutes,’ he said, smiling against her skin as he felt her crack an eye open.

‘That all it takes ya these days?’ she teased as he pulled back, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. She was teasing him, which was foolish really given the whimper he emitted from her lips as his fingers curled against her, ‘I’d say I’d need less than five.’

‘Fuck Elvis,’ she whimpered, her fingers knotting in his hair as he moved quicker against her, allowing her to grind against the heel of his hand, the pressure against her clit making her offer breathy moans out to the room before she stifled them by kissing him.

‘Oh God,’ she panted, any thought of the kids gone as she chased a high she hadn’t even been thinking about ten minutes ago.

‘That’s it baby,’ he encouraged, careful not to change anything should it steal the moment from her.

‘Right there,’ she said before she squoze her thighs together, trembling around his trapped hand as she came undone beneath him. He waited for those hazel eyes to find him, hooded and lustful, before they came down from the high she’d been on, ready for more. And like his daughter, Elvis didn’t need to be told twice. He was careful not to be too obvious; should the kids come running back upstairs he didn’t want to scar them for life, so it only took some quick manoeuvring—rolling her onto her side and removing impeding clothing—before he was buried to the hilt, the relief he’d been craving better than he could’ve imagined. If he’d had the time he would’ve gone slower, worshipping every inch of her body like she deserved, but like a kid on Christmas he was too excited to wait for his present. Addison seemed to be feeling the same, grinding back against him to take him deeper before she moved his touch to her chest, enjoying the way that even her sizable breast felt small in his large hand.

‘Oh God Addie,’ Elvis grunted weakly, resting his forehead between her shoulder blades, the cotton of her t-shirt absorbing the gathered perspiration on his brow.

‘I’m close,’ she whispered, rolling her eyes as he smirked against her and mumbled, ‘and you thought five minutes was too long.’

‘Shut up,’ she panted, unable to stop her walls from clenching around him as she thought of the smug smile on his face.

‘Wait for me,’ Elvis said, feeling her teeter on the edge he wasn’t quite up to yet, his hips snapping faster and deeper as he hurried towards the precipice.

‘Elvis,’ she groaned.

‘M’right here baby,’ he grunted, ‘right here.’

‘Fuck,’ she cried, locking around him as she came, trembling once again on his cock.

‘Addie,’ he groaned.

‘I got you,’ she turning her head so that she could press a kiss to his temple, which seemed to be the thing that got him over that edge, white hot pleasure running down his spine as he spilled into her, their gathered expenditure seeping out between them as his hips faltered in rhythm, his cock slipping out of her in the process. She didn’t seem to care though; in fact, she took his hand from her chest, holding it to her cheek as she peppered kisses along it, ignoring the taste of herself on her lips. They were quiet for a moment, catching their breath before she moved, rolling onto her back so she could see him properly, keeping hold of his hand as she did. Elvis pressed his forehead to her temple, closing his eyes as he enjoyed lying there knowing that it was only going to be short-lived.

‘Nine minutes and thirty-four seconds,’ she said, making him open his eyes and catch her watching the clock behind him.

‘Well maybe I was being overly ambitious,’ he mused, kissing her cheek softly.

‘You know if you needed me to buy you a watch for Christmas I would’ve,’ she giggled.

‘Don’t need a watch,’ he mumbled, ‘I’ve got all I need.’

‘Is that right?’ she mused.

‘Mmmhmmm,’ Elvis said.

‘You old softy,’ she smiled, pressing a kiss to his forehead. Elvis flopped back, whatever energy he’d been blessed with dipping as he thought about having to get out of bed and how he’d have to summon a level of excitement he didn’t feel he had in him anymore given he’d already had his fill of excitement for the day. Addison however wasn’t on his wavelength, whatever job he��d done at getting her out of her head now ruined as the sounds of people below wafted upstairs.

‘Now c’mon,’ she said, pushing the covers back and leaving him far too exposed for his liking, which he evidenced with a grumble she ignored as she continued, ‘if Lisa’s anything like Jess we’ve got about two minutes to clean up before she storms back in here.’

‘I could do a lot in two minutes,’ Elvis countered, though his quip was ignored as Addison clambered out of bed, heading towards the bathroom as he flopped back, closing his eyes as he tried to muster the energy to follow her. Though as he heard her humming to herself and the sounds of the shower coming to life as she disappeared into the bathroom, he smiled. She’d given him what he wanted, what he needed, and it hadn’t even gone seven o’clock yet. He could get through the day, for her, for his girls.

He just hoped that the excitement of the morning would be enough of a distraction to keep the girls from asking why they were now in different pyjamas.

ELVIS TAGS

@girlblogger2002 @sania562 @caitlin1996 @literally-just-elvis-fics @notstefaniepresley @artlesson8892 @18lkpeters @velvetelvis @jaqueline19997 @elvispresleyxoxo @amydarcimarie @presleyenterprise @everythingelvispresley @elvispresleywife @lillypink @richardslady121

#my writing #elvis #elvis presley #elvis x ofc #elvis presley x ofc #elvis and addison #elvis fic #elvis presley fic #top of the list

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thdorkmagnet · 11 months ago

Text

The Great Christmas Tree Heist

Summary: A Turtle Tots Rise of the TMNT holiday special, where Raph, Donnie and Leo all steal a Christmas tree for Mikey and things go wrong like they always do.

Disclaimer: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle belongs to Andy Suriano, Ant Ward, and Nickelodeon. All rights go to them.

‘Twas the night before Christmas and down in the lair, young Mikey did ask for a gift oh so rare.

Not games or toys or yo-yos to fling, in fact he asked Santa for just one little thing.

A Christmas tree, a real one, with lights all aglow, like the children he'd seen have in all the holiday shows.

And thus was decided by his big brothers three, this year they'd come back with a real Christmas tree.

So they waited and waited till the youngest was asleep, then rose from their beds and up to the streets.

A manhole was lifted then pushed to the side, three heads popping up to view the outside.

The snow was falling gently on the streets of New York, Donnie said something smart, Leo called him a dork.

Raph did shush them and told them to wait, then rose from the sewers to make sure it was safe.

With no humans around, blue and purple emerged and I'm going to stop rhyming now cause it's getting absurd.

“Okay, boys,” Raph said in a whisper, unnecessary since the streets were completely empty this time of night. Normally it was far too cold for them to be out this late but they had all dressed warmly, wearing matching coats of their own signature colors, as well as scarfs, hats, mittens, and boots so there was (hopefully) no risk of catching a cold or getting frostbite. “You remember the plan?”

“Yes, Raph, we know what the plan is,” Donnie scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Stealing a Christmas tree!” Leo enthusiastically answered, giving his older brother two thumbs up.

Raph chittered at his brother, correcting him quickly, “Not stealing, borrowing. And just for one day.”

Leo deflated a bit at that, while Donnie raised a skeptical eyebrow. Raph cleared his throat after a short awkward silence, before getting them all back on track. “Leo, you got the coordinates loaded up on your phone?”

Leo pulled out his cellphone, double checking the map was loaded correctly before nodding. “Yep!”

“And Don, you got the equipment?”

“Affirmative.” Donnie patted the large duffle bag he was carrying.

“Then it's time to begin Operation: Get Mikey a Christmas Tree or Die Trying!”

“Eh, too wordy,” Leo said in disapproval. “How bout we call it the Great Christmas Tree Heist! Now that rolls off the tongue.”

“It's not a heist,” Raph argued. “And I'm the leader so I get to make the names.” The snapper started down the street, not waiting for the other two to follow. “Now let's hurry up and get that present. We only got a few hours before Mike wakes up.”

“Oh, fearless leader,” Leo's voice sang, causing Raph to flinch and glance over his shoulder. The twins stared at him with bemused expressions, the slider jabbing a finger in the opposite direction. “The tree is that way.”

The red turtle's face lit up in a blush, sputtering out an excuse as he shuffled past the two. “Right well, Raph knew that. I just got… turned around.”

Leo and Donnie snickered as they fell in step behind their embarrassed brother.

…

Under Leo's careful directions the three turtles arrived at the tree lot with no issues. However, they did run into a problem once they got there, a large fence and locked gate, the only things that seemed to pass for security in this place. None of this deterred Raph in the slightest. In fact the sight of thick pines peeking over the fenceline only fueled his determination and without any warning he rammed into the gate, trying to knock it open.

He bounced off instead.

“Uh, Raph, shouldn't we try not breaking the door down,” Leo logically stated. “Kinda a big clue somebody broke in.”

“It's fine,” Raph grunted, pressing his shoulder into the gate’s surprisingly tough frame and pushing into it, hoping for any give. “Donnie's got a fix for it.”

“Yes, because of course I’m carrying around an accurately sized replacement door in my duffle bag,” Donnie sarcastically quipped.

“See, it's fine,” Raph said, too distracted to pick up on the obvious sarcasm. He dug his heels in and pushed harder.

“Sigh,” Don groaned with a face-palm. “Oh well, I suppose just let him wear himself out. He won't be able to break it down anyways.”

“Yes I will!” Raph shouted back.

“So why'd we pick this place exactly?” Leo asked, looking at his twin in confusion. “I think there's easier places to rob.”

“Not robbing!” Raph yelled, the veins in his neck starting to pop out from the strain.

“A couple of reasons, actually,” Donnie began, completely ignoring Raph. “First, we all agreed we were getting a real tree not some plastic knockoff which really limited our options. Since this place was closer than the others and had no security cameras, it seemed like the best spot. Not to mention it's run by a man in his seventies so unlikely he'd be up this late to interrupt us.”

“So we're stealing from an old man?” Leo asked in concern. “Isn't that kind of wrong?”

“It's not stealing!” Raph growled, feeling his strength start to waver with still no give on the door.

Again the snapping turtle went mostly unheard as Donnie replied to Leo instead. “Yeah well, most people already bought their trees for the year so any leftovers are just taking up space. So really our quote, unquote, ‘borrowing,’” Donnie did air quotes in emphasis. “...is really more of a benefit to him than a crime.”

“Right, I'm sure the police would see it that way too,” Leo teased, winking and elbowing his twin.

Raph's muscles finally gave out and with one last strained scream, he collapsed against the door, panting and defeated. Leo and Donnie went over to check on him, the blue turtle tapping him on the forehead. “You good, big guy?” he asked when he received no acknowledgement from his exhausted brother.

“Yeah,” Raph huffed, weakly batting Leo's hand away. “Just… gotta… catch my breath. Then I'll… try again.”

“Orrrrr we try something a little less asinine,” Donnie countered.

Raph and Leo shared a confused look. “Wha's that mean?” the older asked.

“I think it means epic,” Leo said with a shrug.

Donnie groaned, running a hand down his face. “My point being, there is another way in which you neglected to notice.” He gestured at the wall with a pointed look.

“Oh yeah, good idea, Dee! We can climb over!” Leo shouted, scooting over to his purple counterpart's side. “Boost me up!” He spread his arms and legs wide in preparation to be lifted but Donnie made no move towards him.

“You are confident and have a great personality,” Donnie joked flatly, expression focused as he searched inside the bag on his shoulders. Though a small smirk did cross his face when Leo howled with laughter.

Finally he found what he was looking for, pulling out a grapple line and hook. “But in all seriousness, how about instead of breaking ourselves trying to get in, let's do this the smart way. Or as I like to call it…” Donnie swung the rope around a few times before throwing it up towards the wall. “My way!” he finished with a dramatic flourish.

Unfortunately, the softshell’s aim had been ever so slightly off, causing the hook to bounce off the top before plummeting straight down. Donnie was too busy gloating to notice it, the metal falling directly on his head, knocking him to the ground.

“Dee, you okay?” Raph asked, trying to rise to his feet to check on him even though his legs felt like jelly.

Donnie sat up and rubbed at the bruise forming under his mask, face flushed in embarrassment from Leo's hysterical laughter. The blue turtle was full-on rolling on the ground, feet kicking the air in delight, throwing snow this way and that with each frantic movement, creating a lopsided snow angel underneath him.

“Yes, I'm fine,” Donnie finally muttered to Raph. “The only thing hurt is my pride.” He winced as the bump on his head throbbed. “And a possible concussion.”

Leo was kind enough to check Donnie’s head after he had recovered enough from his laughing fit to focus, using the light from his phone to check his brother's eyes for any dilation. Once he was sure it was nothing more than a light bruise, Leo picked up the grappling hook and tried his hand at it. He managed to catch the edge on his first attempt and was quick to rub this in Donnie’s face. “Huh, look at that. And with zero head injuries, too. You proud of me, Don?”

“No but I am considering asking Santa for a replacement twin,” Donnie rudely retorted.

Leo snorted. “Bold of you to assume you got on the nice list, Dee.”

“Knock it off you two,” Raph scolded before the twin turtles arguing could break into a fight. He forced himself to stand, testing to see if he could walk yet. His legs were wobbly but stable and he managed to join his brothers, positioning himself between them just in case they didn't get the message. “We're here for the tree, remember? So let's just focus on that.”

“Okay, I'll go first!” Leo exclaimed, racing over to the rope and climbing quickly. Donnie was still salty but he said nothing more, climbing up behind his brother with an annoyed frown. Raph clambered up after both, ignoring the subtle aching in his arms.

While the softshell and snapper took their time climbing, Leo rushed, thanks to the excitement and adrenaline pulsing through his veins. Once he reached the top he plopped down on the small ledge, leaning forward so he could watch his brothers’ progression. They were both only about halfway up and Leo couldn't help but tease them for it. “C’mon, slow pokes. I've seen grandmas that move faster than you two.”

“Shut it, Nardo,” Donnie snapped, sounding slightly out of breath. Out of the siblings he was the least athletic and wore out the quickest during playtime, so it was no surprise he was struggling here.

“Just be patient, Leo,” Raph added, watching the softshell closely. He would have been at the top with Leo already if not for Donnie, but he didn't mind. This way he would be able to catch him if his brother ended up losing his grip. Which seemed necessary since Donnie was clearly struggling, huffing and puffing tiredly. So Raph reached a hand up to help support him, only to be stubbornly kicked away. The red turtle let out a yelp, less in pain and more in surprise, watching stunned as Donnie wiggled up a few more inches on his own. Raph felt his chest warm at his brother's determination. Because while Donnie struggled to keep up physically with his siblings, he never stopped trying and refused help unless it had been made by his own two hands.

Raph didn't offer any more assistance after that, letting his brother climb up on his own, but still watched him closely all the same.

Leo, meanwhile, was getting bored waiting, trying to pass the time by catching snowflakes on his tongue, legs swaying unevenly in the cold, night air. Eventually he got tired of this too and let out a loud groan. “Ugh, you’re taking too long! It's gonna be New Years before we find a tree!”

“Just wait, Leo,” Raph ordered, attention still focused on Donnie. “We're almost there.”

Leo groaned again, crossing his arms in annoyance. He was itching to do something, still hyped from his successful throw and record-breaking climb. He needed something else to try, something to impress his brothers, or at the very least entertain himself.

But hopefully that first thing too.

After all, he hadn't gotten his fill of showboating yet, he wanted to gloat some more. Which meant he needed to step up his game.

A smirk stretched across his face as he was struck with inspiration, leaping to his feet a second later. He stood on top of the large stone wall, smiling superiorly down at his brothers. “Hey, I bet you I can do a backflip off of here.”

“Leo, no,” Raph said in a warning tone, eyes narrowing dangerously. But this only proved to encourage Leo, grinning wider as he started tensing and untensing his legs in preparation for the jump.

“Climb up here and stop me then Grammy Raph,” he taunted, looking quite proud of himself for the insult. Raph growled low, grip tightening until his knuckles turned white. He wanted to take Leo up on that offer, scramble up that rope and physically pull him away from the stupid stunt but with Donnie blocking his way, so he was powerless to do much beyond scolding or glaring. Both of which were ineffective weapons against Leo's impulsive nature.

“You're gonna fall and break your brain, dumdum,” Donnie commented. “If you even have one.”

Leo shrugged this concern off quickly. “Oh, come on, the worst thing that happens is I land in some snow. Big deal.”

“Don't. You. Dare.” Raph hissed in the most intimidating tone he had, reserved only for when his brothers were threatened, either by some outside force or themselves.

Leo actually seemed to think better of his idea, smirk vanishing off his face as he looked shamefully down at his big brother. He sighed. “Yeah, you're right. What was I thinking? I definitely shouldn't do this!” Then without warning, Leo leaped backwards angling his body so he'd do an arc in the air. Raph screamed his brother's name in a panic, starting to climb over Donnie in his haste.

To his credit, Leo managed to do a full 360 flip before tucking into his shell to lessen the impact.

Donnie and Raph nearly jumped out of their shells as a crash sounded from the other side of the wall, accompanied by snapping and cracking noises that sounded just a bit too much like bones breaking for Raph's comfort. Donnie blinked, confused by the loud racket. That was far too loud for just falling into snow. There was a soft moan of “owww” on the other side that was unmistakably Leo. With renewed strength, Donnie scrambled up the wall, Raph right on his heels, the two peering over to check on the state of their brother.

Leo's shell lay in a pile of sticks and branches all haphazardly stacked next to the wall. Many were broken under him and Raph practically gasped in relief that snapping sound hadn't been his little brother's limbs. Leo popped out of his shell, looking winded and face scrunched up in pain but otherwise unharmed.

“Okay, I was wrong. There was something else besides snow down here,” Leo choked out, still struggling to regain the breath that had been pushed from his lungs.

“Which is exactly why we told you not to jump down there Leo!” Raph yelled, unsure if he wanted to check on him or strangle him.

“Did I at least look cool?” Leo asked hopefully.

Okay definitely that second one.

“Dumdum,” Donnie whispered under his breath.

Once Donnie and Raph were safely on the ground and Leo had pulled himself from the pile of sticks (with thankfully nothing worse than some small scratches and a sore rump) the turtles got their first good look around. On the outside, it didn't look any different from any other part of the city but once past the fenceline, it was like stepping into a whole new world, one made of wood, branches, and pine, not the cluttered cityscape they were used to. Trees towered over the three, reaching high enough they couldn't even see the massive buildings stretching behind them. It was a forest, bathed in a layer of soft, white snow and scented in pine needles. They had been to the park before but the trees there were few and far between, now there were more trees than any of them could count, each varying in size and scattered about with no sense of organization or purpose to their placement. Some were already on metal stands, perfectly cut at the bottom. Others were still rooted in the ground. Still others were no more than sprouts. Stumps poked out from beneath a blanket of white, looking like craters on a dusty moon. A small gardener's shed was set up off to the side, old and rustic and practically crumbling into itself. Other than that there were no signs that man had ever set foot here and the turtles suddenly felt even more like intruders than they already were.

Up to this point, none of them had even thought about why Mikey was so invested in a Christmas tree this year, they had just decided to get it without question because it was Mikey and he always got whatever he wanted. But now that they were here, standing in awe of the forest stretching before them, delighted gasps fogging in the chilly, winter air they finally understood what all the hype was about.

“I know why we couldn’t bring him but I kinda wish Mikey was here to see this,” Leo's voice finally said, breaking the spell over them all as Raph and Donnie nodded in agreement.

“Okay, let’s get down to business,” Raph said once his focus had returned, hands clenched into excited fists. He looked around at the trees trying to select the right one. “Now which one of these guys is coming home with us!”

“How bout this one!” Leo said, pointing to a monster of a tree towering high above them.

“It’s taller than the lair, dummy,” Donnie replied with a roll of his eyes. He pulled out his phone, typing quickly before turning the screen so his brothers could see. “Besides, I already figured out which one to grab. I did some measuring and I think our best bet would be a five foot tree. It’ll be easier to move and fit perfectly in-”

“Or we grab that one!” Raph exclaimed, pointing out the tree that had caught his eye.

He grinned and crossed his arms, feeling quite proud of himself for finding it so quickly.

Donnie was less than impressed though, drawn-on eyebrows scrunching together as he looked the tree up and down, trying to measure the height in his mind. Once his calculation was done he gave his brother a skeptical look. “Raph, that one has to be at least seven feet tall!”

“Exactly!” Raph smiled brighter. “Mikey will be super impressed with it.”

“What’s the big deal? There’s enough room in the lair right?” Leo asked.

Donnie sighed but nodded. “Yes but I really think we should just stick with mine. it’ll be harder to carry and I’m not sure how we’ll get it down the-”

“Great! Then let’s take this baby home!” Raph ran over to the tree, grunting as he tried to rip it out by the roots. Leo was quick to encourage him, yelling praises and cheers while Donnie just groaned in defeat and reached into his duffle bag, looking around for something.

“Wait, Raph, before you hurt yourself let me try something,” Donnie said, gaining the snapper’s attention enough he actually stopped what he was doing to see what his little brother had in mind.

“Oooo you got some fancy invention that’s gonna like pick it out of the ground?” Leo asked curiously, leaning over his brother’s shoulder to see.

“Yeah, like a Gravi Gun from Jupiter Jim and the Invasion of the Portal People!” Raph shouted, eyes glittering in excitement.

“Oh man, that thing was so cool!” Leo agreed, fanboying as he thought of his and his brother’s favorite movie franchise outside of Lou Jitsu. “Please tell me you made one of those! I wanna lift stuff without using my hands!” Leo bounced on the balls of his feet, rocking Donnie with each little motion.

“No but it is just as effective as one,” Donnie replied cryptically. His face lit up as he found what he was looking for. “Ah, here it is.”

Leo and Raph both flinched as Donnie pulled out not some futuristic-y gadget straight out of science fiction but instead a very real, very dangerous looking chainsaw, spray painted in Donnie’s signature color.

“Whoa! Where’d you find a chainsaw?!” Raph asked, face going pale as he shuffled away in panic.

“You’d be amazed what people throw away, dear brother,” Donnie replied with a dangerous smile, fingers tapping against the handles in vibrant anticipation.

“Ohhhh, sweet, let me try!” Leo exclaimed, rushing to take the tool from his twin.

Donnie twisted his body so that his brother couldn’t quite reach it, holding it as far away from Leo as he could. “Leo, no! You aren’t trained to use it!” Donnie hissed, trying to elbow his annoying brother in the plastron.

This didn’t deter Leo at all, in fact it only made him fight harder, arms flailing as he tried to maneuver around his purple counterpart, who just barely managed to keep it out of his hands. “Neither are you!”

“Scoff! Am too! I read the manual online!” Donnie managed to angle his foot so that Leo tripped and fell face-first into the snow. The red-eared slider was only down for a second though before he leapt at his brother, trying to snatch it away before his twin could react. Donnie had anticipated this though and managed to stop him with a raised foot to his plastron.

“C’mon just let me try it already, Don! You're hogging it!” His arms flailed wildly, causing Donnie to pull it further from his reach.

He shot him a warning look and pushed a little harder against Leo’s plastron. “No! You’ll probably cut your hand off or something stupid!”

Leo grabbed Donnie’s ankle and yanked it up, causing his brother to lose his balance and tumble back. He let out a little yelp before hitting the snow, Leo snatching the chainsaw out of his loosened grip a second later. The blue turtle giggled in victory only to run head-first into Raph, who scooped his brother up with practiced ease.

“Hey! Raph!” Leo wiggled in his brother’s grip but the snapper wasn’t shaken, holding the slider under one arm and the chainsaw in the other. “No fair! Give it back!”

“Nuh uh, it’s way too dangerous for you to be messing with, Leo,” Raph said in an authoritative tone. He walked over to Donnie, who was busy wiping snow off of himself and his thick clothing, before handing him the chainsaw back. Donnie’s face lit up and mouth twisted into a superior smirk.

“What?! No fair! Why does Donnie get to use it!” Leo whined angrily.

Raph ignored him, instead giving his genius brother a nervous smile. “Here you go, Dee. Just… be careful okay.”

“As if that were ever in question,” Donnie said dramatically, still eying Leo smugly. Leo, powerless to do anything else, just crossed his arms and pouted.

With a few pulls of the cord, the chainsaw revved to life and Donnie’s face twisted into something wild, curious, and terrifying. The power beneath his fingertips was enlightening and he felt giddy with the possibilities. With slow, almost sinister steps he crept up to the tree, the vibration running through the chainsaw pulsing all the way down to his feet. Taking only a second to calculate the correct spot, he placed the sawblade against the trunk, resisting the urge to violently start cutting in.

“Raphael, goggles!” Donnie commanded and Raph rushed to pull a pair from the discarded duffle bag, Leo still unhappily tucked under his arm. The eldest ran up to the softshell and slipped the goggles over his brother’s eyes.

“Thank you, dear brother,” Donnie said, words polite even though his voice sounded mad with power.

“Uh sure,” Raph muttered, backing away so he could give Don his space. His eyes jumped from the chainsaw to his brother then back, starting to regret his decision already. “Y-You sure you know what you’re doing, Dee?”

“Oh yes,” Donnie replied in a steady whisper, tone dripping with bloodlust. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”

He gave a small chuckle which slowly rose in volume as he finally pulled the trigger, the spinning sawblade slicing through the tree like it was butter. “Evil laugh!” Donnie howled, before breaking into a cackle again.

Raph and Leo could only watch the whole display with growing concern, this new side of their brother terrifying them down to their core. “I think we just created a monster tonight,” Leo whispered.

Raph just nodded dumbly as the tree toppled to the ground. The chainsaw was off a second later, Donnie planting a foot atop the new stump and draping the tool over his back in a triumphant pose. “Well, how was that?” he asked, looking back at his two awestruck (and slightly unnerved) brothers.

“That was, uh,” Raph began before losing his voice halfway through. He didn’t know how to begin to describe what he just witnessed.

“The most terrifying and cool thing I’ve ever seen,” Leo admitted, eyes sparkling in admiration.

Donnie rubbed a hand against his plastron before blowing on his nails arrogantly. “Why thank you, I try.”

Raph finally lets Leo go, who rushes over to examine the fallen tree with his own eyes. “Whoa, you took it down in like two seconds!” he gasped, staring up at his twin in disbelief.

“Seventeen actually but who’s counting,” Donnie replied, smiling proudly.

Raph bent down to check the tree too, running a hand over the bottom. It was completely smooth all the way across and he couldn’t help but be impressed by it. “Nice work, Donnie. Though I’m not sure you should keep using that thing. Seems a little… dangerous.”

Donnie rolled his eyes. “Scoff. Well yes, Raph, it’s a chainsaw, it is made to be dangerous.”

“No I meant… you seem a little dangerous.”

“Nonsense.” Donnie dismissed the notion with a wave of his hand. “I was just having a little fun, but not like worrying fun.”

“And the evil laugh?” Leo asked skeptically.

Donnie’s face twisted into the same sinister smile. “Dramatic effect.”

Despite how concerning that look and response was they were still on a time crunch and so Raph decided to drop it for now, focusing back on the task at hand. “Alright, knuckleheads, let’s hurry up and get this back to the lair and decorated,” he proclaimed.

Donnie fetched some rope and tied both ends to the trunk before handing the middle over to Raph. The snapper looped the rope around himself and dug his feet in the snow, pulling against the tree with all his might. He could feel the strain in his muscles, the dull ache in his limbs from before but he just continued to tug mercilessly against the rope, willing it to move despite his body's protests.

With a sudden lurch the pine followed, Raph so surprised he nearly tripped over his own feet, turning back to his brothers to grin widely. Donnie and Leo gave a thumbs up and quickly took up the rear to help push. It made little difference but Raph still appreciated the help. It was hard work and slow going but none of them minded all that much, even Leo not bothering to complain about his own impending exhaustion. Their thoughts were elsewhere, already imagining Mikey's smiling face when he came downstairs on Christmas morning and saw the fruits of their labor. They could already hear his little squeals of delight and feel his warm hugs as he celebrated the ‘Christmas miracle’ with them.

That thought alone was worth any amount of work, no matter how tiring.

But they were all abruptly snapped back to reality as Leo noticed something they had all neglected to consider, staring at the sealed gate and towering wall in horror as he asked dumbly, “Um, guys? How are we gonna get the tree out?”

…

It took less than a minute for their calm discussion of escape to turn to a full-blown argument, Raph and Donnie both insistent that their plans were better and the others nonsensical. Raph wanted to try his original plan of busting the door down which Donnie reminded him would only expose their crime and lead to more trouble down the line. Donnie tried to explain the practical applications of a pulley system only to be shut down by the eldest that it would end up taking too long. Leo tried to pitch in that the whole argument was taking too long, only to be shot down by both before they went back to fighting again.

Leo sighed deeply. He could tell this would last a while, so seeing no other alternative he decided to just wait it out. He plopped onto the fallen pine, an elbow propped against his knee and head resting in his hand, drumming his fingers against his cheek. He watched for a while in growing boredom, finding the whole thing pointless and stupid. It was a waste of time in his opinion, neither of their ideas were good and they were both right in pointing it out. Raph's idea was too reckless and Donnie’s too time-consuming. If they wanted to get back to the lair before Mikey woke up they needed a new plan, not continuing to argue the same moot point.

But it seemed stubbornness was a family trait and neither was going to admit defeat without some kind of outside interference. “Guess its up to me,” Leo muttered, hopping off the tree.

He stepped over to the gate, examining it up and down for any weaknesses or ideas. It was made of sturdy wood, though the red paint was peeling and fading with age. Off to the side was a rusted metal handle, a small keyhole just beneath. And that gave Leo an idea.

He remembered seeing someone lockpick in a Lou Jitsu movie and it had looked simple enough that Leo was sure he could pull it off. The only problem was that they had used some kind of hairpin to do it and that wasn’t really a viable option for a mutant turtle without hair.

Guess he'd have to improvise.

Leo ran over to his brothers, tapping his purple counterpart on the shoulder to gain his attention. “Hey Dee! You got something in that big bag I can pick a lock with?”

Donnie snapped his attention onto his blue brother, seemingly confused by the interruption. “What? No, go away, Leo. I'm talking.” He shooed his brother away with a wave of his hand, before focusing his attention back on Raph. The two had ceased their argument and were now discussing the effectiveness of attaching a rocket engine to the tree. Because of course Donnie had one of those in his bag but not a hairpin.

Or maybe he just wasn't listening.

Both were likely options.

Leo huffed dramatically and crossed his arms, pouting bitterly. When this also went unnoticed he stomped his foot and loudly declared, “Fine! I'll just go find it somewhere else then,” before turning his back on his brothers.

The somewhere else ended up being the only other place Leo had to search: the gardener's shed, which was thankfully unlocked. Leo poked his head inside, squinting into the dimly lit room looking for something useful for lockpicking. He saw many tools stacked inside but most were too big for his purposes, stepping inside to get a closer look. He scanned the nearly empty shelves for something usable before his eyes landed on a small brass key.

Leo's mouth dropped open and he quickly snatched it off its hook. “It couldn't really be that easy. Could it?” he wondered aloud, slowly turning the key over in his hands.

Leo was out of the shed in an instant, racing past Donnie and Raph (who didn't even look over to acknowledge him) and right up to the gate. He stuck the key in, letting out a sharp breath as it slipped easily inside. So far, so good.

He turned the key until he heard a noticeable click, smiling widely and pumping his fists in the air in silent victory. Oh boy were his brothers about to be jealous.

Donnie and Raph at this point had exhausted every option that came to mind, frowning in mutual defeat as they stared at the ground instead of each other. “Hey guys!” They both turned to see their brother leaning against the gate with a knowing smirk. Before either could question the look, Leo stood straight and declared, “Check this out,” before pulling on the handle. The door opened with a loud creak and the turtles’ jaws went slack.

Raph was speechless, eyes bouncing between Leo and the opened gate and back. Donnie, on the other hand, had many things he wanted to say, none of which could quite leave his lips, thoughts spinning around his mind in a jumbled mess. So he settled for the most important one at the moment, “How?!”

Leo shrugged, the smug grin never leaving his lips. “Told you I knew how to lockpick,” he replied, making sure the key was stuffed deep in his pocket where his brothers couldn't see.

…

They were all in high spirits as they made their way back to the sewer entrance, the tree much easier to pull now that they were on the slippery sidewalks, the icy ground doing most of the work for Raph, which his sore body was thankful for. They sang Christmas carols the whole way there, sometimes together, sometimes singing over each other in a competitive game, but always with a bright smile on their faces.

Finally, they were back where they had started, the manhole cover still pushed to the side, though now covered in a thin layer of snow. After a bit of maneuvering the boys managed to get the tree positioned next to the underground entrance, Raph holding the pine upright and sliding it over until it dropped into the hole…

… and stopped.

Raph’s smile vanished in an instant as he stared down at the manhole in confusion, spotting the culprit instantly. The trunk fit in easily but the pine branches had caught on the sides, thicker around than the entrance itself. “Wait, what?!” he exclaimed, grabbing onto the tree and trying to push it down. The thick tangle of branches refused to be manhandled, popping back up the second he let go. “No, no, no!” he whined, forcing more and more of his weight on it but only managing to stuff a few limbs through. “This can’t be happening!”

He continued trying to force it down before switching to light little shoves against the pine branches, trying to bend them into a shape that would allow it to slide past. It stayed stubbornly in place.

He tried flipping it over in the hopes that the top of the tree went down smoother. It didn’t.

He tried jumping onto the tree and wrapping his legs around it, ignoring the way the pine needles itched against his skin, hoping his weight might be enough to make it fall. It instead tipped to the side, causing Raph to slip off and hit the concrete hard.

With each new failure, the snapper's frustration grew. Until finally out of options, Raph sat back and stared up at the tree hopelessly. It was still wedged tightly in the manhole, hanging limply to the side, seeming to mock him with its very existence. Raph stared down at his feet sadly, tail wrapping tightly around himself to provide a little comfort. He was so distraught he didn’t even notice Leo sitting down beside him until his hand was on his shoulder. “It’s okay, Raph. I’m sure Donnie will figure something out,” he assured him softly.

Donnie plopped down on Raph’s other side, arms crossed and expression flat. “Yes well, I wouldn’t need to if you had just listened in the first place. I tried to tell you something like this might happen but you were so insistent on this tree I couldn’t argue.”

“Not helping, Don!” Leo hissed.

“Luckily…” The softshell continued pointedly, shooting his twin a look. “I do have a solution. I just need to trim it down some on the sides. It won’t be as big but it will fit.”

“Wait, really?!” Raph gasped, giving his genius brother a hopeful look. “You can do that!”

Donnie nodded, a smirk tugging at his lips. “Of course I can. I’m a genius, afterall.”

Leo’s eyes lit up like Christmas lights. “Does this mean you're gonna use the chainsaw again?!”

“Indeed,” Donnie replied with a short nod.

Leo whooped before jumping to his feet. He was at Donnie’s side in an instant, digging inside the bag for the deadly tool. “Let me use it this time!”

“Absolutely not!” Donnie snapped, ripping the bag away from him. “Not until you’ve watched every safety video about chainsaws known to man, Leo.”

Leo huffed but relented, turning his back on his brother just to be rude about it.

That was when Leo noticed lights in the distance. Two bright lights, yellow and low to the ground.

And coming right towards them.

Leo’s heart dropped as he shouted, “Car!” his brother’s swerving on their heels to see. The second his eyes landed on the fast approaching vehicle Raph scooped his brothers up into his arms and dove for cover. He managed to get behind a trashbin just before a semi-truck drove by, going far too fast for the frosty streets. It plowed into the pine tree, snapping the trunk in half and sending the rest tumbling over the top. Each collision caused wood to snap and pine needles to explode in all directions, tearing the poor tree apart with each violent roll.

Finally, mercifully, the tree tumbled off the back of the semi, landing broken and heavy on the icy streets. The truck didn't even slow down, undeterred by the destruction it had just caused, and was soon gone around the next corner.

Raph, Donnie, and Leo all peeked out from their hiding spot, eyes wide with horror as they saw the state of their beloved Christmas tree. It was in shambles, loose branches hanging from severed limbs, its once smooth base now torn into jagged edges and sharp points. It looked dead, murdered. The messy street looking like the site of some vegetated massacre, bits of wood and bark scattered about and everything coated in a layer of pine needles, more of which seemed to be on the ground than the tree itself.

The boys were left speechless by the sight, faces twisted into expressions of disappointment, confusion, and defeat. Finally it was Leo who broke the depressive silence, giving his brothers a lopsided smile.

“Well, on the bright side, it'll totally fit down the hole now.”

Raph said nothing, instead banging his forehead as hard as he could into the metal bin.

…

“Y'know it looked bad before but now that we've got it in some light…” Leo paused, smile wilting as he stared at the broken, mangled mess of a tree now sitting in their living room. Donnie had already attached a metal stand to the bottom but it didn't make it look anymore presentable. It was still as sad and pathetic as it had looked on the surface, maybe even more so since now they could fully see the damage.

“It looks worse,” Donnie finished for Leo, voice a cold monotone.

The tree looked empty and barren with only clumps of pine needles dotted about its branches. Most limbs were in tatters from the nasty tumble it had taken. Large cracks ran up its center, looking like veins. If Mikey was to see the tree at that exact moment he probably would have burst into tears of empathy for the shabby shrub they had brought home. The exact opposite response they were all going for.

“It doesn't really look like the trees in those movies,” Raph admitted, cringing at the mental image.

“Understatement,” Donnie commented sarcastically.

“Maybe we can grab another one?” Leo weakly suggested.

“Well it's already after four,” Donnie pointed out, silently running the calculations in his head. Past data proved Mikey was an early riser, especially on Christmas, so statistically there was a good 98.5% chance of him waking up around 6. That left them with very little wiggle room and knowing their luck they would only end up with more complications and delays that would absolutely get them back too late. So he felt confident in saying, “By the time we’d get back Mikey would already be awake and probably completely given up on his belief in Santa.”

Leo and Raph hung their heads low, hopelessness draping over them like a dark cloud. It felt like a punch to the gut after all the hard work they'd put in to making their little brother happy. All the pain and exhaustion and fighting and stress, all amounted to nothing in the end. The only thing they had to show for their efforts was a sad, broken tree that looked as miserable as they all felt. The three all sighed as one, each lost in their own gloomy thoughts.

After about a minute of wallowing though, Raph decided he needed to say something encouraging. His brothers were sad and Mikey was still without a Christmas tree and as the big brother it was his job to fix these things. So no matter how much he wanted to curl up into a ball and cry, he forced the bad feelings down, shoving all the sadness, guilt, and worry way deep inside him and made himself smile at his bros. It was small and pathetic but he did his best to back it up with confidence, using the best big brother voice he had. “Well what’s done is done. We’ll just have to use what we got. And hey, maybe with enough decorations Mikey won’t even notice the tree’s all banged up!”

Donnie highly doubted that but chose to let that thought go unspoken for the moment. Instead, he said, “I’ll go get the decorations,” and started for the door.

“I’ll help and I’ll carry way more than Donnie will!” Leo boldly declared, sounding lighter now that there was a plan in place, and jogged after his twin.

Raph listened to them bicker until they were out of earshot, then let out a massive sigh, thankful his words had actually managed to cheer them up a little. He hadn’t really expected it to work but he was glad it did. Feeling a swell of pride and accomplishment, he turned his attention away from the tree and got to work on his own task.

Although the Hamato family never owned a Christmas tree it was always a family tradition for them to each make their own ornaments out of clay, which they would lovingly hang on the walls to greet Santa each year. Only this year, Raph was gonna see to it that they had a proper place to hang. Especially Mikey's.

He carefully took each one off the wall, setting them delicately next to the tree, taking only a moment to admire the designs.

Leo had tried to model his off of Lou Jitsu but it barely resembled their idol, looking more like a lumpy egg with stick arms and legs attached. The head was a small lump, the top part painted black for his hair, with a yellow triangle in the center for his signature sunglasses. Donnie had tried to make Atomic Lass in an effort to match his twin but had quickly gotten frustrated when the clay didn't work the way he wanted it to, so had instead switched to a simple candy cane with purple stripes. He had spent hours making sure the lines were all even and symmetrical, using a ruler and protractor to carefully shape each section until it pleased even his critical eye. Raph had made a teddy bear with a red bow, though it more closely resembled Leo's in quality, mostly due to his massive hands struggling to shape small clay.

Mikey's was easily the best one out of the bunch. It was ironically enough a Christmas tree as it seemed the box turtle had been on a bit of an obsessive streak. Although the lines weren't quite as smooth as Donnie's, there was still a delicate precision to Mikey’s sculpting that could only come from an inspiring artist. The painting process was where he truly shined though, a glossy green coating littered with small dots of every color for the lights. The trunk was brown with some light texturing to make it look like real wood. Mikey had even added a small present at the bottom and a golden star at the top. It was still clearly made by a kid but there was talent there thanks to all the time Mikey spent drawing and coloring and painting the walls. It was clear his baby brother had a passion for all things artistic and Raph couldn't be prouder.

He had even started baking, at least what he could since he was still too young to use the oven or stovetop without Splinter present. Though even that did little to stop him, as more often than not his puppy eyes were more than capable of getting their dad out of his chair and in the kitchen to help. Raph wished he had that kind of power over their pops but he was glad that at least Mikey got the extra attention.

Mikey and Splinter had been hard at work baking the whole day, making all kinds of gingerbread treats which the whole family had been snacking on endlessly. Mikey had been careful to save some back for Santa, three cookies stacked on a plate off to the side with a tall glass of milk and a little homemade sign reading “For Santa: Leo do not touch”. Raph smiled at Mikey's crooked handwriting before snatching a gingerbread man and biting off its head.

It felt a bit weird to be taking their dad's place as Santa, even if it made sense with the plans to get the tree. It had always been Splinter's job and it felt strange taking that away from him, even if he had seemed more than happy to pass the task onto his eldest children, telling them how excited he was to retire early on Christmas Eve rather than having to wait up for four excited kids to finally fall asleep. But Raph was pretty sure that wasn't entirely true as he noticed their four stockings which had been empty before they left were now notably bulging. So it seemed their dad wasn't quite done playing the role of Santa just yet.

Though it did make Raph wonder how many more years of being Santa he had in store.

Mikey was now the only Hamato who didn't know Santa wasn't real and they were all eager to keep it that way. Raph had found out the truth pretty early on thanks to being the oldest and Donnie had never bought into such beliefs even if he thankfully never said so out loud. Leo, however, had only found out earlier that year, when he discovered their dad's secret present stash and was shocked to find ‘From Santa’ on some of the gifts. Leo had been pretty devastated at first but sworn to keep it a secret from Mikey.

No one wanted to be the one responsible for ruining baby Mikey's innocence, even the loud-mouthed Leo.

Leo had since changed his tune, especially when he found out he could stay up Christmas Eve so long as he promised to help. The slider hadn't brought it up since, so it was safe to say he was over it. He'd even jokingly suggested they dress up for their little excursion: Raph as Santa, himself as an elf, and Donnie as the reindeer, which his twin had vehemently protested.

Raph had just finished his cookie when the others got back, Donnie using a remote-controlled hovercrate of his own invention to carry the heavy boxes. Leo followed behind with nothing but a shoebox, looking none too happy to be upstaged by his brother. “Uh oh, what happened?” Raph asked, Leo looking away with a pout.

Donnie rolled his eyes before stating flatly, “Nardo almost dropped everything trying to carry more than me.”

“At least I didn't cheat, Smellatello!”

“Well I needed some way to carry everything since my helper couldn't be trusted, Nerdo!”

“Okay, enough guys!” Raph scolded, making sure his tone was louder than their arguing. “You're gonna wake up Mikey.”

Both boys begrudgingly obeyed and went quiet, though Leo couldn't resist sticking his tongue out at Donnie, who retaliated by twisting a knob on his remote so that the cart suddenly flew towards Leo. It stopped just shy of bowling him over, the slider screeching and lifting the shoebox high over his head, balancing on one leg as he tried to lean away from the dangerous hovercraft.

“Hey, watch it! This stuffs breakable, remember?” Leo snapped, cheeks flushed red from embarrassment.

“Hand slipped,” Donnie responded simply. He slowly started twisting the knob again and Leo quickly moved to hide behind Raph.

“Knock it off, Donnie,” Raph began in a warning tone, grabbing the shoebox from Leo before anything else chaotic could happen. He peeked inside to make sure nothing was broken, the box half-filled with homemade ornaments from previous years. A toothy grin spread across his face as memories of past Christmases flashed through his head.

Leo, in the meantime, finally noticed the plate of gingerbread men, gasping in delight. “Mikey’s cookies! Raph why didn't you say something?” Ignoring the sign, Leo picked up a gingerbread man and stuffed the whole thing into his mouth, chewing loudly. “Mmmmm, I love being Santa.” He washed the whole thing down with the glass of milk, swallowing it all in a few quick gulps.

Raph snatched up the final cookie before his brother could devour that too, taking it and the box of ornaments over to Donnie. He handed him the gingerbread man and the softshell nibbled on it absently, focus on the mangled tree beside them. Raph could tell by the way his false eyebrows were pinching together he was worried.

“Do you really think this is going to work?” Donnie asked, eyes not leaving the tree.

“Not sure,” Raph admitted with a shrug. “But if we don't do anything then we've already let Mikey down, so we gotta at least try.”

Donnie finally met his eye, still nibbling away at his cookie. Raph noticed he actually ate the gingerbread man from the bottom and worked his way up and held back a little smile at that information. “I suppose you have a point there,” the softshell muttered between bites.

Now Raph actually smiled, bright and cheerful. “Besides Mikey won't even be able to see the tree through all these decorations you bought.” He gestured over to the four stacked boxes no doubt filled to the brim with Christmas stuff.

Donnie grinned, clearly pleased with the praise and Raph felt his chest warm. “Of course, I'm nothing if not prepared.” Donnie puffed his chest out proudly. His face turned sour, however, as he added, “Although Leo called it overkill.”

“It is!” Leo defended from the other side of the room, trying to subtly dig inside his stocking to see what he got. “It looks like you bought out an entire store's worth of stuff!”

“Scoff. Four boxes is hardly equal to a store's worth, Nardo. I just didn't know what we wanted so I got one of everything.”

“Well I say we use all of it!” Raph enthusiastically exclaimed, throwing open the shoebox and pulling out clay figures to hang on the branches. Before he could though, Donnie jumped between him and the tree, arms spread wide to try and better block his brother's path. Raph froze, giving his brother a wide, confused look.

“Whoa, Raph, what are you doing?! You can't just hang up whatever! What are we, savages?!”

Donnie sounded as if it should be obvious, but Raph really had no clue what he was doing wrong. Wasn't the whole point? To put stuff on the tree. Wasn't that why he bought all of this? Why would Donnie suddenly not want that? Maybe it was because Raph was using the homemade ones? But he had seemed enthusiastic about using the clay ornaments when they talked about it.

On top of that, Raph had absolutely no clue what ‘savages’ meant but Donnie looked like he should know, so maybe that was on him. For a lack of anything better to say, he stumbled out a very hesitant, “Uhhhh, we're… turtles.”

Donnie slapped a hand to his forehead, making Raph flinch. “Groan. Metaphors are lost on you dumdums,” he murmured unhappily. Then in a much calmer tone, he explained, “You need to wait on that stuff. There's a system to this. Lights first, then garland, then ornaments.”

Leo let out an annoyed groan of his own. Of course Donnie would ruin their fun with rules.

But Raph was just relieved he knew what Donnie was upset about now, seeing no issues with following his lead. He knew way more about this, anyways, so who was he to question his little brother's method. He slipped the ornaments he was holding back in the box, saying, “Sure, Dee. You're the expert.”

This only further inflated Donnie’s ego, turning to his twin with a smug grin. Leo just let out an irritated huff, pointedly ignoring his twin as he started rummaging through one of the boxes for something interesting. Donnie was lucky this time. Leo would have been more vocal about his grievances if Mikey wasn't asleep just a few rooms over.

“I'm so glad to hear you say that, dear brother.” Donnie started shuffling backwards towards the pile of boxes, keeping his gaze and grin on Raph. “Because I have something that's gonna really dazzle our little brother.”

Uh oh. Raph knew that tone. That smile. That look. It meant Donnie was trying to get away with something, playing innocent in hopes Raph wouldn't notice.

Raph braced himself as Donnie reached into a box.

He was expecting mechanical snowmen that shot lasers from their eyes or bombs carefully concealed as ornaments or any number of dangerous things his genius brother was no doubt capable of making.

So it caught him more than a little off-guard when Donnie pulled out a seemingly normal string of Christmas lights, grinning that pleased grin reserved for when he made something cool and impressive. “Behold, the future of Christmas!”

Raph cocked his head to the side, trying to see what was so special about them or why Donnie was being so sketchy about the whole thing. “Does… it shoot lasers or something?”

“No,” Donnie said with a frown. “That would be highly inefficient.” But the smile returned as he dove into one of his patented infodumps, carefully laying them out on a table to be better admired by his brothers. “What it is, Raphael, is a highly advanced lighting system that I invented. It's capable of glowing three times brighter than your average Christmas lights while using five times less energy. I also upgraded the bulb with a heat-resistant fiberglass, effectively eliminating the risk of it catching fire, making it a far safer substitute to traditional lights. It's cost efficient, energy efficient, and pleasing to the eye, a perfect combination if I do say so myself.”

Okay, Raph only understood like half of that but it did sound impressive and maybe a little too good to be true. There had to be a catch. Otherwise why was Donnie trying so hard to get him to agree. It was more than a little suspicious.

After some thinking, Raph realized what Donnie had failed to mention, something that made all the difference when it came to his inventions. “Did ya test it yet?”

Donnie’s eyes widened before forcefully returning to neutral, a few beads of sweat appearing on his face. His smile was just a bit too wide and posture just a bit too stiff, hands tapping against his legs in that distinctive Donnie way that only happened when he was nervous or overwhelmed. “It's functional,” he managed, eyes not quite meeting Raph's.

Yep, there was no doubt about it now. Donnie was lying. Or more accurately, hiding the truth, since he hadn't really lied yet. But now his suspicious behavior made sense at least. “You didn't answer my question, Dee,” Raph pointed out.

“Didn't I?” came the softshell’s timid response. It was almost ironic how someone who could be so good at concealing his emotions could be so awful at lying.

Leo gasped, hitting him with an accusing look. “You totally didn't. Test them, I mean,” Leo said, seeing through Donnie’s thinly veiled lies as well. That wasn't surprising since Leo was the resident expert on both Donnie and lying.

The purple turtle let out a whine of guilt before reluctantly admitting, “Okay fine. I may not have had all that much time for testing.” His voice rose several octaves as he added, “But that's only because I was too busy planning for our heist!”

“It wasn't a heist, it was borrowing!”

Leo patted the eldest on the shoulder, saying gently, “Raph, you know we love you but you can't return something after it's been hit by a truck.”

“But it does work,” Donnie cut in, emphasizing each word so he knew they heard him.

Raph hadn't doubted that, everything Donnie made worked, but it wasn't really the problem. Because even though Donnie was an undeniable genius, that didn't mean everything he made functioned properly.

And normally Raph wouldn't mind that. In fact, under any other circumstances he would be more than willing to try out Donnie’s new tech, even if it sometimes turned the microwave evil or made the toaster explode.

But Mikey’s Christmas was on the line! And that the one time Raph knew they couldn't take the risk.

“Sorry, Don,” Raph said in the kindest, softest tone he had, careful not to say anything that might upset his sensitive little bro. “I’m sure what you made is really awesome and cool but this tree’s barely holding together as is. Let's not try anything crazy, okay?”

Donnie had known that answer was coming but it still didn't make him feel any better about it. Disappointment weighed heavy on his heart and he could feel his ego deflating as he pouted sourly. And even though he knew it was pointless, a part of him still wanted to argue and pitch a fit about it. He would have too if Raph wasn't looking at him with that annoying tender look that made it impossible to stay mad at him even if he really, really wanted to be.

So, Donnie begrudgingly relented. “Fine.” And because he was still very much bitter he added, “But when Mikey isn't properly dazzled you'll only have yourselves to blame.”

Then, he set to work pulling out the lights they wanted from their boxes, making sure to ignore Leo's smug look as he did.

Raph and Leo joined him, helping sort everything into neat little piles. The mood changed for the better after that and they were all soon enjoying themselves again. Leo and Raph had fun looking at all the decorations Donnie had bought, showing off each one to the other and talking excitedly about it. Donnie just continued untangling lights, trying to pretend to still be annoyed even if his fond smile betrayed him.

They were all having so much fun in fact, they didn't hear the padding of small feet approaching.

“Raphie.”

The three turtles froze, recognizing the voice behind them in an instant as their baby brother. A quick glance over their shoulders and sure enough there stood Mikey in the doorway, favorite kitty plush pressed to his plastron.

Raph, Donnie and Leo were on their feet and across the room in a heartbeat, creating a semi-circle around Mikey to try and block his view. “Hey, little man~” Raph began in his baby voice, reserved for Mikey alone. “What are you doing out of bed?”

Mikey took a second to process that, eyes glassy and half lidded. He rubbed at them tiredly before glancing between his brothers’ smiling faces in hesitant confusion. It was clear he had just woken up. “Klunk and I were thirsty,” he muttered drowsily. He squeezed his plushie a little tighter. “And you weren't in your room.”

Mikey was still too little to reach the cup cabinet, so always went to Raph whenever he needed one. The snapper gave him an apologetic smile, saying gently, “Sorry, Mike. I was, uhh-”

“Making sure no rats got into the cookies!” Leo, the naturally born liar, said it as if it was as easy as breathing. “Well, non-dad rats, I mean.”

Mikey blinked lazily, a tiny smile tugging at his lips from the joke. “Did Santa come yet?” he mumbled, trying to look past his brothers but Leo moved to block his path, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Nope! Not yet!” he said quickly, spinning him around and giving him a small push. “So you better hurry and get to bed so he can!”

“Don’t you need to sleep too?” Mikey’s words came out slurred, eyes starting to drift closed again as he swayed unevenly on his feet.

“We will,” Raph assured him, taking his little brother’s hand in his own. “But first let’s get you that water.”

Mikey let out a noise of agreement, allowing Raph to guide him to the kitchen. Leo and Donnie shouted goodbyes to the box turtle but he wasn’t listening, burying his face in his soft cat plush and yawning tiredly. His eyes closed, trusting his big brother to get him there without any trouble.

Raph glanced back at the twins, mouthing the words, ‘Start without me.’ They both gave him thumbs up and he grinned before returning his focus to Mikey, whispering gentle words as they walked.

Donnie waited until they were both out of earshot before turning to Leo, not bothering to hide the mischievous glint in his eye or evil grin on his face. “Wanna use my lights?”

Leo’s eyes widened in surprise, before reflecting Donnie’s own look back at him. “Raph'll be mad,” Leo said, voice a hum.

“Yes but he also isn't here to stop us.”

As expected, that was all the convincing it took. “I'm in!”

By the time Raph had Mikey tucked back into bed, the lights were done. Donnie was plugging them in when the snapper entered the room, mouth instantly going slack. “Donnie!” The softshell flinched, dropping the cord he had been fiddling with. He turned to his brother with a startled look. “I thought we agreed to use the regular lights instead!”

“Yes but I figured once you saw them you would change your mind,” Donnie replied plainly, showing not even a hint of remorse.

“So you went behind my back!”

The slider slapped a hand over his older brother’s mouth, saying with a finger to his lips, “Uh, Raph, maybe try and keep the voice down. Mikester’s still asleep in the other room, remember?”

Leo pulled his hand away before Raph could get mad and the snapper let out a huff. “You went behind my back,” he repeated in a whispered but still very annoyed tone.

“Leo assisted me.”

Raph directed his scolding glare at Leo, who let out an offended gasp and placed a hand to his chest dramatically. He didn’t bother watching his volume either as he cried, “You would betray your own twin so heartlessly!”

Donnie shrugged. “I never claimed to be above such things, Nardo.”

“Oh you are so on the naughty list,” the blue turtle hissed, fuming.

“Actually you're both on Raph’s naughty list,” the eldest declared, grabbing the back of Leo’s shirt and lifting him off the ground. “Now take those off and put on the other stuff.”

“That would be a huge waste of time, Raphael,” Donnie pointed out nervously. As quick as he could he finished plugging everything in, the lights flickering on and filling the room with a brilliant purple glow. “Besides they are already on and not malfunctioning so I vote we leave it as is.”

“Uhhh,” Leo raised a hesitant finger in the air. “I vote for whatever won’t get me in trouble.”

Raph shot him a look but set him back on his feet.

The snapper sighed before saying in the calmest voice he could manage, “I'm glad it didn't mal- whatever but that's not the point. You didn't listen to me.”

“Only because you were trying to stifle my creative genius,” Donnie argued, folding his arms in front of his chest.

“Um guys?”

“I just didn't want it to explode or something,” Raph retorted.

“Should it be smoking like that, Donnie?”

“Scoff. It wasn't going to explode! The worst it could do is catch-”

“Fire!”

“Yes, thank you, Leo,” Donnie snarked, frustrated at his twin for finishing his sentence for him.

“No, I mean it's actually on fire!” Leo screamed pointing at the tree in terror.

Donnie and Raph swiveled in place, spotting a flickering flame on one of the branches which quickly spread to the one above it and then the one next to that, until the whole tree was ablaze in a matter of seconds. Raph screamed, Donnie ran, and Leo grabbed the oldest's arm, shaking him violently. “Do something!”

But Raph was too overcome with panic to think straight, yelling and running around, looking for something to put out the blaze. “Water! Water! Where's water?! Need water!!”

“The kitchen!” Leo screamed in reply, snatching Splinter's favorite blanket off his chair.

A second later the lights shut off, Donnie no doubt cutting the power in the room, explaining his absence.

Raph flinched as everything went dark but another prompt from Leo got his legs in motion, leaving Leo behind to desperately try and fan the ever-growing flames.

Once in the kitchen he dashed straight to the sink, yanking it on and cupping his shaking hands under the steady stream. He started to run back only for the water to sloosh onto the floor instead. He went back and collected more, only for it to spill before he even made it out the door. His thoughts were too scrambled to consider the plethora of empty cups, bowls, and pans he could fill instead, so went with the only option that came to mind…

Raph stuck his head under the running sink, filled his mouth close to bursting and dashed back to the blazing tree as fast as his legs could carry him.

Leo was clearly losing his battle to the flames, huffing and puffing with each labored breath, arms aching as he flapped the thick blanket up and down. “What took you so long?!” he screamed upon spotting Raph. The snapper didn't reply, instead sucking in a deep breath and spewed the water from his mouth, spraying the tree in the process.

“Ew, gross!” Leo wailed in disgust, shuffling backwards. “You couldn't have grabbed a cup or something?”

“Stand back!” Donnie shouted in warning, fumbling with the fire extinguisher he was carrying. The blue and red turtles backed away as their purple counterpart pulled the safety pin free from the handle. He took aim before unleashing a torrent of white foam to the blaze, snuffing it out quickly and effectively.

He used the entire can, making sure every inch of the tree was coated in the flame-retardant substance, only stopping once he was sure the flames were out and the extinguisher was empty. Then he pulled the can to his chest like a lifeline, sighing in relief.

For a moment the three boys just stood there trying to catch their breath, accessing the damage as best they could. It was hard to tell just how badly the tree had been burnt through the thick foam that covered it but it was clear the trunk was about half its size now, bark devoured completely by flames. The branches were now withered husks, curling up on themselves thanks to the pressure of the heat, while many others had crumbled into ash. The ends were gnarled and twisted into sharp points. Strips of metal wires and frayed electric cords all that was left of Donnie’s creation.

The air was thick with smoke and the blanket Leo was holding was singed at the ends where it had been licked by flames, but other than that nothing else had been harmed.

No one spoke or even breathed a sound, the three brothers powerless to describe the feelings of frustration, hopelessness, guilt, and lingering terror that tore at their frazzled heartstrings. Finally it was Donnie who broke the silence, finger tapping a nervous rhythm against the extinguisher as he cleared his throat. “I think I might have had the voltage too high.”

“Ya think!” Leo and Raph shouted as one.

…

The boys salvaged what they could of their present, thankful Mikey had somehow managed to sleep through the whole fiasco. Donnie did his best to clean the foam off but he wasn't able to do much without compromising the tree’s structural integrity. Leo tossed Splinter's blanket, prepared to gaslight him into thinking he lost it should the need arrive. Raph swept up the ashes and lit a bunch of sweet-scented candles to hopefully drown out the smoky scent in the air. Then they all hung up the decorations, garland, and functioning Christmas lights (much to Donnie's ire), placed all their presents under the tree and went to bed.

None of them managed to fall asleep though, even as exhaustion pressed heavy on their tired bodies, trying desperately to relieve their aches and pains by pulling them into unconsciousness. Their minds were a buzzing hive of worry, fear, and dreaded anticipation. No one knew how Mikey would react to seeing the Christmas tree but it could hardly be a positive one.

After all, Mikey was imagining a perfect, movie-accurate tree, not the burnt, mangled monstrosity waiting in their living room.

They could practically see Mikey's tears as he sobbed in disappointment. Would he reject Christmas after this? Would he hate Santa? Would they be forced to tell him the truth and then he'd hate them? Had they collectively ruined Mikey's innocence and Christmas spirit in one night?

It was admittedly a worst case (and more than likely impossible) scenario but it was difficult not to go to extremes when their thoughts were so clouded with negativity and they lacked the strength to fight it off.

They each blamed themselves for the situation they were currently in: Raph wished he'd listened to Donnie and taken the tree he'd picked out, Donnie wished he'd taken the time to check the wiring and voltage so it had never caught flame, and Leo… well, honestly Leo couldn't think of anything directly he'd been the cause of. Still he wished he'd been a little less obnoxiously antagonistic all night.

But there was nothing that could be done now, the turtles could only wait for the youngest to wake. After about half an hour, Raph heard shuffling and giggling outside his door and pretended to look fast asleep, shoving the guilt and fear deep down inside him as he did.

He heard little feet scramble across his room before a weight plopped onto his bed, tiny hands tapping his cheek. “Raph. Raph, wake up. It's Christmas,” Mikey squealed, not even bothering to lower his volume in his excitement.

Raph let out a hopefully convincing yawn and opened his eyes, giving his baby brother an affectionate smile. “Morning, Mike,” he said, rubbing at his eyes to try and sell the bit. “Merry Christmas.”

Mikey beamed sunshine, eyes shimmering despite the dim lighting. He was wiggling and bouncing in place, incapable of holding still for even a single second. Donnie had once joked that if he turned Mikey into a battery he'd be able to power the whole city and despite knowing nothing about science, Raph believed it.

“Can we open presents now?!” Mikey asked enthusiastically, ignoring his brother’s greeting.

Raph felt his stomach churn with worry and hoped it didn't reach his face. “Let’s get everyone else first, okay?”

Mikey sprung off the bed and was out the door in the blink of an eye. Raph smiled despite his anxiousness.

…

Mikey plopped down on top of Donnie, foregoing the gentle approach in favor of hurrying things along. Despite only pretending to be asleep, the softshell still jumped at the sudden physical contact. He sputtered to try and make sense of it all. “What? Angelo? Why did you-”

“It's Christmas, Dee,” Mikey emphatically informed.

“Yes, and?”

“And that means you gotta get up now so we can open presents,” Mikey continued, hands on his hips as he tried to mimic his brother's know-it-all tone. “Don't you wanna see what Santa brought you?”

As curious as he was to see if his dad had gotten him those computer parts he needed, he was much more worried about Mikey's present. All he really wanted right then was some coffee. But since he couldn't say any of that without arousing suspicion, he instead went with a simpler response. “I suppose I should get up then, since it seems I'm not allowed to sleep in.”

Mikey nodded, pleased he'd convinced his genius brother. Donnie tended to be grumpy first thing in the morning. “Yay!” Mikey cheered, hopping off him so he could stand. Despite the impatience bubbling in his chest he waited for his brother to climb out of bed, just to make sure Donnie didn't fall back asleep without him there.

Once he was on his feet, Mikey took his hand, leading him away from the warm, inviting bed and into the chilly hallway. He followed along limply, looking like a puppet being pulled by its strings.

Raph met them in the hallway and Mikey waved and released Donnie's hand, leaving his brother swaying unevenly. “I’mma get Leo,” Mikey said cheerfully. “Make sure he doesn't fall back asleep, okay?”

It was weird hearing Mikey give orders, especially since it was clear he was trying and failing to mimic Raph's ‘big brother’ tone, but the snapper just nodded in assurance, putting a hand to Donnie's shell to help keep him steady. “I will.”

Mikey, satisfied with that answer, grinned and trotted off for Leo's room, humming a Christmas song as he went. Once he was out of earshot, Raph leaned down and whispered, “You think he's gonna hate us?”

Donnie paused, trying to consider that carefully but it was far too early, his brain was far too tired, and emotions were something he struggled with on a good day. So instead he just groaned, leaned up against Raph's plastron and fought to keep his eyes open. “Ask me again once I'm awake.”

…

Leo was the most convincingly asleep, his covers strewn about, the muscles in his face and body relaxed, he even let out little snores so close to the real thing that Raph and Donnie might have actually believed he was sleeping, if not for the fact that Mikey couldn't seem to get him to wake up and Leo was notorious for being a light-sleeper.

To his credit, Mikey seemed to realize this too, getting more and more irritated as the slider refused to acknowledge him. He tried everything he could think of, he called his name, he patted his shell, he hit his shell, he told bad jokes, he tried to peel his eyes open, until eventually he was trying to physically push Leo out of the bed, whining bitterly. “Come on, Leo! I know you're awake! I wanna open presents!”

Leo yawned in a distinctively fake way, rolled over and pulled Mikey to his chest. “Hmm what's this new teddy bear I found,” the blue turtle murmured and Mikey let out a few angry chirps, fighting his hold.

“I'm not a teddy bear, I'm a turtle! And let me go!” Mikey kicked his little feet around, knocking the last of the covers to the floor.

Leo's mouth twitched as he fought back the grin. “Oh it's so noisy, it must be an electronic one,” Leo continued, squeezing his brother tighter to keep him from escaping. He finally peeked an eye open, looking over at his two brothers in the doorway, both of them grinning at the whole display. Mikey just continued wiggling. “Hey Raph, I think Santa gave me your present by mistake.”

Mikey finally managed to jerk a hand free, retaliating by tickling Leo behind the neck, where he was most sensitive to the attack. Instantly, Leo burst into laughter, releasing Mikey so he could try and pull away. But the box turtle wasn't having it, flopping on top of him so he couldn't escape easily, then tickled his neck with both hands to help add to the torture.

Leo tried to push him off but couldn't muster the strength as his lungs burned and his limbs turned to jelly. “Okay, Mikey! I give! Uncle!” he shouted between bouts of laughter but the baby turtle just tickled harder.

“Nope, this is my revenge,” Mikey giggled.

“Raph, Don, help!” Leo screamed, waving his arms desperately to get their attention.

Neither of them moved to do anything, Raph saying smugly, “Nah, you got yourself into this mess, you can get yourself out.”

“Come, dear brother, let's wait for them in the kitchen,” Donnie added with a mischievous but still tired grin.

“Let's,” Raph replied and the two started off together.

“Traitors!” Leo yelled after then, still howling with laughter.

…

The four eventually made it to their dad's room, Leo carrying Mikey piggyback, but were shocked to find it empty. Their confusion didn't last long however, as a sweet scent in the air led them to the kitchen, where they found their dad and five steaming mugs. “Merry Christmas, my sons,” Splinter greeted them kindly, taking a small sip from his cup. “I trust you slept well.”

“Did Santa come? Did he bring me what I asked for?” Mikey asked, bouncing a little against Leo's shell.

Splinter chuckled. “I'm not certain. How about you drink your cocoa and then we'll go check.”

“Yay! Dad's hot cocoa!” Mikey exclaimed, jumping out of Leo's arms. Splinter handed him a cup and he settled down at the table to enjoy, sipping slowly so he didn't burn his mouth.

Splinter set his own cup down and picked up the three remaining mugs (using his tail to carry Raph's) and brought it over to the boys. “Here you are, my sons. For all your hard work.” He made sure to keep his voice down.

“Thanks, pops,” Raph said, rumbling softly as the warmth spread through his fingertips and up his arms. It felt nice.

Donnie leaned against his twin for support, still fighting for consciousness. He glowered at the mug in his hands, wishing it was coffee instead of cocoa. He barely even liked cocoa.

Leo looked more awake and alert than his brothers but was still sporting a nasty pair of eyebags. “Did you go into the living room yet?” the blue turtle asked, half curious, half confused.

Splinter gave him a suspicious look. “No, why?”

Leo's eyes widened and he quickly looked away. “Um, no reason,” he nervously muttered, bringing the cup to his lips so his dad wouldn’t ask anymore questions.

But he jerked away a second later, sticking his tongue out in disgust. “Ugh, why is it so bitter?”

Splinter leaned forward and whispered, “Ah, that would be the expresso I added to your drinks.”

Donnie swallowed the entire cup before even needing to take a breath.

Raph and Leo followed suit, drinking greedily as they felt the edges of exhaustion slowly creep away. By the time they were done, they all felt lively and energized again, a comforting warmth filling their insides, making each of them sigh in contentment.

Splinter smiled as each of them thanked him and handed back their cups. “Yes well, I had a feeling you’d need some of my ‘Santa special’. The only thing that got me through some years.” He winked then returned to his own simmering cup of cocoa.

Mikey jumped to his feet a second later. “Okay, I’m done! Now onto presents!”

“Yay,” Leo, Raph, and Donnie said as one. They tried to sound enthusiastic, with varying degrees of success but the box turtle didn’t even notice as he led them towards the living room.

The walk there was nerve-wracking for the older turtles, dread pooling in their stomachs as they watched their little brother. Mikey was skipping and singing and beaming ear to ear, blissfully unaware that every step only brought him closer to crushing disappointment. Leo tried to think of some way to stall him. Raph wondered if he should say something to prepare him for what he was about to see. Donnie was strongly considering setting off the emergency alarms just to get them out of the lair long enough for him to finish burning the tree to the ground. Anything to keep Mikey from stepping inside and seeing his disaster of a present.

But before any of them could implement their plans, they arrived.

Mikey slipped inside without a second thought and the three had no choice but to follow. The box turtle gasped loudly, causing his brothers to violently flinch, grimacing at the sight of the tree.

Somehow, despite all common sense, it looked even worse than before.

Raph, Donnie, and Leo nervously crowded around Mikey, trying desperately to interpret his shocked expression. His eyes had grown wide and mouth hanging slack, but it was impossible to tell if it was out of disappointment or not.

Still the boys couldn't imagine him liking it, suddenly feeling like the worst big brothers in the world. Their bodies stood tense, bracing themselves for the crying and screaming and rejection of all things Christmas to begin.

Instead, Mikey squealed, the shrill noise making their ears ring. “He came!” the box turtle exclaimed and his brothers froze on the spot, staring down at him in confused silence.

“He came! He came! He brought my gift!” Mikey was a giggling, joyful ball of energy, fluttering around the tree like a moth would a flame, trying to see as much of it as quickly as possible. His tail twitched and his eyes shone like diamonds as he pointed to the tree emphatically. “Guys! Guys! Look! Santa did it! He really did it! He got me a Christmas tree! And it’s decorated and got lots of presents underneath and everything!”

Slowly, the shock turned to relief and then to joy, Mikey’s big brothers pleasantly surprised by his reaction. Leo gave Donnie and Raph a thumbs up, the snapper letting out a soft sigh before beaming, while the softshell felt his heart swell with accomplishment and pride, lips twitching into a fond smile as he watched his little brother.

Splinter stepped into the room and Mikey was at his side in a heartbeat, grabbing him tightly by the hand as he bounced up and down. “Dad! Dad, look! Santa brought me a tree, just like I wanted!”

The rat opened his mouth to reply, only to be taken aback by the sight, turning to the others, who were suddenly very interested in staring at the walls, ceiling, and floor. He plastered on a smile, managing to say, “It’s very, um, unique.”

“Uh huh! It’s even got snow on it!”

“I would refrain from touching that,” Donnie spoke up but Mikey wasn’t paying attention.

He went back to admiring it up close, squealing at every little thing he saw. “Ohmigosh, he even put our ornaments on it! Come see!” He gestured them all over and they happily gathered around.

“Huh, how about that?” Raph said with a hopefully straight face.

“There’s mine,” Leo said, pointing it out. “You can tell from how cool it looks.”

“Yours is subpar at best,” Donnie retorted.

“Ohhhh someone’s jealous that mine are all higher up than yours. Guess that means that Santa likes me better.”

“What does height have to do with anything?”

“Just admit you’re jealous.”

“Why would I admit to something so obviously not true?”

“Can you two please not argue on Christmas,” Raph sighed in annoyance.

Mikey tugged on Raph’s arm and the snapper immediately dropped into a crouch. “Can you lift me up, Raphie? There’s something I wanna do.”

Raph nodded, picking his little brother up like he was nothing and setting him down on his shoulder. As the snapper stood, Mikey reached into his hoodie pocket to pull something out. Raph tried to peek up but the orange turtle put his foot over his eyes. “Don’t look, it’s a surprise!”

The snapper lowered his gaze again, staring at the ground. Once Mikey was sure it was safe, he went back to fishing his surprise out of his pocket, tongue sticking out in concentration. Out of his peripheral vision Raph could see Mikey putting something on the tree.

After a moment, Leo and Donnie took notice of their little brother but when they moved to see Mikey ordered them to cover their eyes, which they immediately did. Finally, Mikey was done, nodding once in satisfaction as he climbed down Raph’s arm and onto the floor. “Okay, you can look now!” he shouted to the family. Everyone glanced up at the tree, spotting Mikey’s surprise in an instant.

Just below the star were five clay ornaments, clearly the work of the little box turtle, each hung on different branches. Four of them were turtles wearing a separate color each: red, blue, orange and purple. Mikey had even added small details like Raph’s spikes, Donnie’s glasses, Leo’s eye stripes, his spots. The final one hung in the middle of the four, a rat with a bright smile on his face.

“Awww, Mikey! You made ornaments of us!” Raph cooed, cuddling his brother close to his plastron.

“Uh huh,” Mikey replied proudly, little tail twitching in joy. “That’s why I wanted the tree so bad! I wanted them to have a special place to go! Plus, it looks really nice!”

Raph felt tears in his eyes and Donnie and Leo quickly joined the group hug, tucking into the snapper’s sides, placing warm hands on Mikey’s shell. Splinter took his place at Mikey’s back, hands wrapping around to hold all his young sons. They were getting steadily bigger, by next year he doubted he could hold them all like this, so he decided to enjoy it while he still could.

“You shouldn’t have, little bro,” Leo said brightly.

“Yes, but we appreciate it, nonetheless,” Donnie added, tone gentle.

“You are too good to us, Orange,” Splinter murmured, nuzzling a cheek against his head, making the box turtle giggle as the whiskers tickled his leathery skin.

Mikey just beamed and said lightly, “Merry Christmas, you guys!”

“Merry Christmas, Mikey!” his family echoed to him.

And as the Christmas lights twinkled, the small family held fast, knowing this feeling would stay and would last.

The hug lingered and lingered, not one pulled away, the celebrating could begin a bit later that day.

And the big brothers three, though had feared it a mess, declared this Christmas mission a rousing success.

For the youngest sung praises to Santa with joy, his spirit unbroken, a greater gift than a toy.

Now the heisting was over, a word Raph would protest, so they could relax now and catch up on their rest.

Until Mikey declared with stars in his eyes, “Maybe next year he'll bring me a real reindeer that flies!”

Thank you for reading! I hope everyone enjoyed! I barely managed to finish this one in time for the holidays but thankfully I got a last minute burst of inspiration when I got to Mikey's part so I was able to get it done in time. I think I just really like writing Mikey back when he was a baby, hehe. But then I like writing all of the family and their shenanigans give me so much life XD

Can't believe this is my first official Rise fic! I've still got lots of ideas for the series as it's become my most recent obsession, haha. In fact, I'm wanting to make a whole series of little Turtle Tot one shots, among other things. So yeah, if you enjoyed maybe consider giving that one a read whenever it's ready.

For now I'm gonna go and enjoy my holiday! Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas! Or Happy Holidays, regardless of what you celebrate!

#my writing #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #rottmnt fanfiction #save rottmnt #unpause rottmnt #turtle tots #disaster twins #magnetic duo #portal pals #pb&j duo #smarts and crafts #brains and brawn #sunset duo

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