noli-timere

[sparky-scratch]

I was watching ROTTMNT TikTok compilations and scrambled to find your blog the second I saw your Mikey – because he was mostly black instead of green which is MORE SCIENTIFICALLY ACCURATE and I LOVE IT (you're the only artist I've seen who dared to make Mikey more box-turtley) – so I just wanted to say you have my absolute respect and admiration.

Also, I might be six days late for this, but could I request 3D Encore Leo for the art meme?

Either 3D Encore Leo or 1B Spotless Donnie, I literally cannot choose 'cause I love your designs so much, it's your pick

i did both because. ahhh disaster twins my beloved !!!

[marwhoa]

request: You write the turtles boys so well! I literally can't stop smiling when I read your fics - they're so sweet and endearing. I was wondering, only if it strikes your interest of course, if you'd consider writing about the boys being jealous of each other when the reader spends time with them one on one? Like, maybe a slot for Leo where he thinks reader finds Donnie funnier? Or one for mikey, where he thinks that reader likes how big raph is? Or for raph, where he thinks reader is more enamored with Leo? Or Donnie, where he worries that Mikey is flirting with reader? Of course they're all misunderstandings, and maybe it could end all fluffy with confessions and comforting their respective boy? If not, don't worry, but if so, thank you! 1 look forward to whatever you put out next.

🝮 “ green with envy ”

rise!boys x y/n

author’s note: screaming profusely !!! eeeee !!! So hey yeah here’s a fic, this took a while because it sat in my notes for days before I finally posted it, my bad. This was kinda hard cause I’m not experienced in the realm of jealousy—hopefully y’all like it? ᗡ: also does envy even fit this scenario? Lmao I just be naming these fics any thing, can y’all tell?

word count: 6.1k

┆ ── ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ — Leo 💌

Leo never expected he could ever become… jealous, not him—no, no, NEVER him. He had too much pride, too much confidence. There should have never been any room for doubt in his ability to keep you focused and adoring on him, and him alone.

But, perhaps he had given himself too much credit? Or, maybe he had given his twin too little credit.

It wasn’t as though you were his. Just friends, and technically that meant you belonged to the whole family, not just him. But, no one could blame him for coveting you. From how starry-eyed you looked at him to how genuinely you laughed at his jokes, Leo found out too late that he had been falling for you, and here he was still falling. The way your nose crinkled when you laughed, or how your face lit up during Mikey’s dinner times, even down to the wheezing laugh you would give into if he pushed his jokes on too long, all of it spelled out lovely disaster for his heart.

But, fear not, he thought. He was the face man and the funniest turtle, surely there was no competition? No one could be better than him at getting you to make the faces you did.

Or well, it should’ve been no one. He wasn’t even all that funny, but Donnie managed to get you to keel over to some stuff he said—and he didn’t even intend for them to be jokes! A natural comic, can you believe the nerve of this guy?

So, yeah, Leo never expected himself to be jealous, and especially never towards his own brother, but god the way you were showing that tickled-silly expression to Donnie, wiping tears as he confusedly asked what was so funny? It had him gripping the arm of their couch, digging his nails into them. He wasn’t going to take this any longer! Sure Donnie meant no harm and would never try to swoop in and steal the prize he had his eye on, but Leo couldn’t help but still be… aggravated.

The pent-up annoyance was dispelled by the red-slider leaping over the couch, sassily walking over and snaking his arm across your waist.

“ Yeah, whatever, Donnie is sooo funny, but hey, Y/N, let me show you something better! ”

Never mind the fact that he had nothing planned as he twirled his katana in his other hand, slicing the air until a blue portal shimmered into existence. You glanced back and waved good bye to Donnie, fully intrigued by whatever it was Leo wanted to show you.

“ Oh—okay! What is it? ”

“ Who am I to ruin a surprise? ”

He cocked a brow at your question, tugging you through the portal and stepping out into the courtyard of the Witch’s city. While amazed, you wondered just what this had to do with anything—but, of course that was a comment you would keep to yourself until having fully exhausted the excitement of exploring not just any random town, but rather a town of witches!

“ Oh, Leo, finally! I’ve been begging you to bring me here for weeks! ”

Before he could even say anything, you were quickly rushing up to the nearest shop and sparking up conversation. Such a busy bee, but it was just another aspect of you he was captivated by. However, with such an impromptu visit to a rather overwhelming area, he found chances to spark conversation and get you to laugh to be stretched few and far between.

“ Oh wow, this store really doesn’t leave mushroom for walk-through, huh? ”

He gestured to a potions-ingredients shop, which, you guessed it, specialized in all things fungal-based. His shoulders drooped as you continued ahead, not even hearing him. That joke was gold! Huffing, Leo caught up with you and laced his fingers around your wrist, effortlessly stopping you in your tracks.

“ Mm? Leo? ”

You stared up at him with such a look of focus, all your attention finally fully on him, and he had to fight his legs not to reduce to jelly instantly. Instead, he took a deep breath, cocked his head, and insisted you follow him.

Down weaving alleys, through crowds of people, eventually you reached a park unlike any seen on the surface. The paths were lined with thick, luscious plants cultivated through the town’s magic. Foliage swayed with no wind, as though dancing like silk fabric to whatever music only they heard.

Your attention only left the plants when you heard Leo start clearing his throat and then flashing you a look that you recognized all too well. A grin was already tugging at your lips, and Leo finally felt like he was the only one in your world again. His hands held onto his belt and he kicked out his legs, faking as though he were tipping a hat. It seemed like some western cowboy impersonation?

“ What in carnation? ”

There you went, first with a light and short laugh.

“ Well I do say, I took a leaf of faith bringing you here,”

Which then melded into a series, topped with a “ Wait, Leo, hush—please! ”, all stuttered and peppered through your increasing laughter.

“—but, beleaf it or not—“

He wasn’t even able to finish the entire spiel before you were holding onto him, laughing with such a melodious voice. Which, of course, devolved into your trademark wheeze n’snort after dragging on too long.

“ Pwffhaaha!! Leo, wha-what’s with you today? ”

You wiped away a tear, and suddenly Leo was finally brought back to reality. Your hand on his forearm lingered, and he was just completely beside himself with how the glowing willows beside the garden softened your face ever-so-perfectly.

“ Y/N… ”

His voice was so uncharacteristically soft that it had you a tad bit spooked, hand gripping a teensy tighter. Your head cocked slightly in confusion.

“ I.. Ugh, okay, it’s—it’s dumb! But—“

He dragged his hands down his face, groaning exhaustedly.

“ I thought, maybe, you might’ve… Liked Donnie, more than me. ”

“ Huh? Why would you think that, I love all of you guys? ”

“ Yeah, but I love you, and—“

The shock painted on your face had him holding his breath. Alarms went off in his head, telling him he maybe should have held his tongue, not jumped ahead so quickly. The two of you searched each other’s eyes in silence, you recovering from what he said, and him preparing himself for what you would say. Soon enough, your face twisted into a confusion tinged with a bit of playfulness.

“ Wait a second.. You’re jealous, aren’t you? Of Donnie? What for? ”

“ What? What do you mean what for? You, you’ve been laughing at everything he said all day, don’t you think he’s funnier? Don’t you like him more?! ”

If it weren’t his dumb puns and act earlier, it was this that would do you in.

“ Leo, you dummy! Sure I was laughing, but that doesn’t mean I like him more than you, I just, well… ”

It was your turn to be a bit bashful as your eyes looked everywhere except him.

“ I, well.. You’re my favorite, Leo, not Donnie.. ”

As you batted your eyes at him, hoping he would connect the dots thoroughly, your answer was given in the form of his beaming expression as he swept you into his arms, spinning.

“ Ah-hah! So you do like me—and I’m the funnier turtle!? ”

“ Oh no, I shouldn’t have said anything, now you’re too powerful! ”

Playfully you cried, leaning back with your hand dramatically draped across your forehead. Leo chuckled at your antics leaning in to lay his head against your stomach as he tightened his hold firmly.

This was definitely something he would rub in his brother’s face later on—and said brother would be profusely confused by what brought it on???

┆ ── ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ — Mikey 💌

Mikey was the last turtle you ever considered could suffer from the classic ailment of “ jealousy ”, and you couldn’t help but feel both ashamed yet intrigued.

While you weren’t too sure what it was that had got him so riled up, you were observant enough to see the way his eyes lit up with a startling emotion. At first it was impossible to pinpoint, just a glimpse of something indiscernible yet startling that crept into his blue hues at the oddest of times.

The first time you had seen that frightful emotion peek its head was during a date. The two of you had decided to hit a bar late at night, him donning a cloaking brooch, of course.

When you arrived, the loud music was entrancing, luring you both onto the dance floor to get lost in each other’s arms. The music coiled around you both, closing the gap to a suffocatingly tight end, as if either of you couldn’t stand any sort of distance apart. The floor vibrated, from both the booming speakers and the music reverberating the whole building alongside the dancing bodies around you both.

Mikey beamed with the brightest smile, and you just knew he was laughing, albeit drowned out from the ambiance. You were both having the time of your lives. Absorbed into a bubble fit for only the two of you, eyes locked on each other, neither party was ready for the stranger’s hands that snaked around your waist, pulling you in without any mind paid to you already having a devoted dance partner.

Chills set in and you turned to Mikey instantly, locking eyes, but the look in his eyes was enough to have your voice hitch in your throat.

That night ended with you both getting kicked out after Mikey wailed on the guy, but after a while, you both laughed and talked all about the fight on the way home.

The next time you saw that look was when you were hanging out with Leo while waiting for Mikey to return back from patrol. He had invited you over, and you planned to do it after wrapping up a few things, so he figured he could finish a patrol and be ready for you when you got done.

Unfortunately for him, you happened to finish your escapade much too early, and thus were at the lair awaiting his return. Leo happened to pass by, so you roped him into a conversation to bide the time. When Mikey did eventually come home, he stepped in to see you nearly keeled over in laughter.

You had been laughing so hard that when you noticed Mikey, you gave a weak wave and continued dying. He was curious what the joke was, but Leo simply shook his head and left, his own laugh dwindling down the hall. Once you recovered and were on your feet, you caught that same scary emotion swirling in his eyes. He tightened his lips and only softened when he turned to you.

More and more questions arose as you came to experience this look time and time again in all kinds of situations, but the one that finally made all the clicks pop into place was his outburst after you were with Raph.

He had been taking care of some villains on patrol with Mikey when you had ended up in the wrong place, wrong time. Their battle had turned to a violent one, with the villain bashed straight into a wall. Debris crumbled down right as you turned the corner, eyes shooting up to see parts of the building falling towards you. There was no time to move, so you just closed your eyes shut right and braced yourself.

But, no pain ever came, just a bit of dust. You opened your eyes, seeing a huge shadow casted over your body, and when you looked up?

It was Raph, who blocked the falling debris with his mighty shell.

“ Raph! “

You yelped, heart thundering in your chest, and Mikey misunderstood the shimmer in your eyes as Raph rose to full height, throwing the concrete off and away. He misinterpreted why you hugged him so tightly when he scooped you up, taking you away from the damage and ushering you to run the other way.

When you’re focusing on the wrong things, it’s easy to get the signs wrong, and boy had the ache in Mikey’s heart got everything so totally wrong. You liked Raph, didn’t you? Why else would you look at him like that? Did you like it when folks were bigger than you, unlike him who simply had an inch or two on you?

How could he be so stupid?

So, that’s how you ended up where you were now, seconds from entering your apartment when Mikey met you with a sour look on his face. You noticed that same glint in his eyes, still trying to piece together what it meant.

“ Why didn’t you tell me? ”

His voice wavered, and you responded with a hum of confusion. Inviting him in, he closed the door behind you both. His lips tugged down as he searched everywhere for the words to say. Finally, he found them and settled back on you as you were putting things down and unwinding.

“ With Raph! You like him, don’t you?! ”

“ Wha? ”

“ You—You! ”

He seemed frustrated, wracking his brain until finally he threw his hands out and shouted.

“ DO YOU LOVE RAPH MORE BECAUSE HE’S SO BIG?! ”

Silence blanketed you both as you processed his words. Finally, you placed a word on the emotion you always saw in his eyes. Struggling not to laugh at the absurdity, you snorted and shook your head.

“ Jealousy! That’s wh—wait, no, Mikey, no, I don’t ‘Love Raph cause he’s big’ ”

“ Then why do you like him more!? ”

“ Where is this coming from, Mikey, I don’t like Raph like that—I like you. ”

You stepped closer, and Mikey let you in. Your hands reached up, cupping his cheeks, and he leaned into them with such a desperation that you felt bad for finding this whole situation so silly.

“ Just, you always seem so happy when he’s around, and whenever he saves you instead, you always.. ”

His eyes were elsewhere as he spoke, almost as though he were seeing the absurdity in it all now with a clearer mind.

“ Ahh, mhmm, yup, alright so Mikey usually people are very happy when they’re saved from danger—and I mean, I probably look happy cause I’m friends with him too, but I’m dating you, silly. ”

You booped his snoot, smiling as his eyes lit up with the love you were accustomed to seeing them full of.

┆ ── ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ — Raph 💌

If there was any one of the brothers full of insecurities, it would come as no surprise as the spotlight shone upon the red turtle, atop the winner’s pedestal. As someone who once led his brothers in the face of battle, who grew up with the elder sibling curse of forced parenthood, it came as no shock that there were a couple of problems sprinkled into his character.

While he had spent much of his life up to this point recovering and healing from what dared chip at his exterior, there was more than a few bits of stubborn grime that lingered on his surface. It ate away at him, leaving behind vulnerabilities.

Then you came along, and throughout the honeymoon period he experienced nothing but delights. Never had the negative Nancy in his brain perked up to talk her shit, misleading him in circles until he was a mess of unbundled, tangled up rope.

You were a light, something that seemed to power wash the grime away, cake over it with your delicate touch and sweet words. Much smaller than he, you were probably one of the kindest humans he met, someone he cherished more than life itself.

And that, in and of itself, was a vulnerability. You were his weakness, and the shrewd dark spots in his brain couldn’t wait for the rose-colored glass to shatter and let them sink their teeth into this beauteous opportunity.

The sensible part of him knew your kindness knew no ends, that it wasn’t limited or excluded to simply him or a select few. In fact, your sweet demeanor shared with his brothers? It was a breath of relief—it was an understatement to say he had been nervous to introduce you to the family. You were okay with him because he saved you, but his brothers and father weren’t present. They hadn’t been the heroes slamming down against concrete, scaring away the silverfish that preyed upon you one fateful night.

Turns out the trash-eaters had a hankering for good food, and you, all alone, on your way back home with a doggy-bag from Cleo’s Beach Shack, served to be the perfect target.

The night had been quiet, albeit suspiciously so, but your full tummy and weary limbs had their guard fully down. You daydreamed of the bed awaiting you at home, arms beckoning you forth with pillowy softness.

That delightful image was disturbed by the sudden rustling and clank you heard from behind. Turning, your eyes shooed away dreamland and were alert. An empty can rolled from a bush, tinking into someone’s trash can at the curb. Not a soul in sight, so surely it must have been one of New York’s infamous rats? Y’know, that creature that is practically extinct in this city, like there’s no way you would ever see them—definitely not at the metro nor the coffee shop, and surely never this residential street with primo rat hot-spots such as unsupervised trash cans full of food waste.

Yeah, of course, must have been a rat. You’re so paranoid, just hurry on home, nothing bad will happen. Nothing bad ever happens to pretty little guys like you, alone on dimly lit streets, lined with houses whose doors are locked to high hell.

Nothing bad, especially not like the cold metal that clamped firmly on your ankle. Never anything as worse as the chilling growl from whatever tripped you up, glaring with red eyes and flicking a long, sharp-looking tail.

“ Oh sh—“

Your voice feebly complained, raising into a scream to the heavens above as it lunged towards you.

Or well, towards your to-go bag, but who’s paying attention to the little things like that when your life is flashing before your eyes?

Thankfully, the end never came. There was the sound of a growling struggle after a tremor shook your shivering frame, and as you opened your eyes to peek at whatever held up your attacker, a silhouette towered over you. He casted a long shadow over you, which should have been intimidating as hell, but instead it left you feeling…

Safer?

In his hand laid two identical buggers, squirming and chomping with animalistic hunger. This had to have been worse than the rats, you’d take the rats any day, at least they weren’t massive.

… well okay, they are, but this is a whole ‘nother level.

The most shocking part was this giant hero taking a step back, assuming the position of a pitcher, and launching the creatures into the distance. There may have been a glint shining, and was that the cheer of an audience you were hearing? No, that was your imagination, obviously.

But you were not imagining this guy in front of you. Much too tall to be human, unless it was some basketball lead who somehow had balls of steel to save a stranger.

Every warning sign imaginable was washed away without a trace as your savior turned around and shot a shaky smile, warm as a summer sun.

“ S-Sorry about that, are ya okay? ”

He spoke with the timidness of someone a fourth his size, and you couldn’t help but be completely charmed to death.

From that day you would see him more and more, to the point that it felt as if maybe he had been appointed your personal body guard. Ah, but, you didn’t really mind, did you? You loved his company and his toothy grins. You adored his warm, gentle hugs, and it was too sweet how you could feel his hands tremble as they held yours ever so delicately.

So yeah, he worried to introduce you to his family, but the way you brightened up the room instantly had him starstruck. You’re perfect, that’s it. That’s the tweet.

The rosey glass shattered after a few lingering months of dating. His insecurities reared their heads, resting sharp grips on his shoulders as they whispered in his ears all kinds of falsities. You liked his brothers, but maybe you liked his brothers? Why else would you be so nice to them?

And, maybe that’s why you were smiling at Leo like that? Raph is right here, so why were you talking to his brother? He couldn’t even focus enough to heard you both holding the most mundane conversation ever about some shop that opened up over on Moore’s. He steeped in the tea of jealousy, filling his senses to the brim with worry.

The worst part about it was that if you liked Leo, he couldn’t even blame you. Leo was like water, while Raph was stone. Raph stood still, he could be bossy at times, while Leo was a spunky little river that would keep you on your toes. Leo was never boring, and he could keep a smile on your face for as long as the day lasted..

But he didn’t want any of that to be true. None of it.

The conversation was stopped by a meek voice asking for your time, attention shifting from Brother Blue to your beloved, clad in what became your favorite color in these past few months.

“ Y/N, can we talk? ”

Ignoring Leo’s nudge and teasing “ ooooooohs ”, you nodded with a smile, following Raph with a pep in your step.

“ Of course, dear. ”

That lead to the silence you currently shared—with him leaning against the wall of his room, gaze fixated on some smudges on the floor. That should be cleaned up, he thought, trying to not think of how you were sat on his bed, awaiting whatever it was he needed off his chest.

“ Raph? ”

You were the first to talk, already well acquainted with your love’s tiptoeing when it came to any sort of conversation that might be unsavory. You watched as he twisted his expression, tightening his lips—whatever it was, it was bothering him profusely, and you couldn’t help the pang gripping your heart..

“ Raph…? ”

Again, your voice seemed weaker this time. That was what gave him the drive to speak, he couldn’t handle leaving you in such a state, he needed to know if these worries of his were dumb!

“ Do you like Leo? ”

“ What. ”

Your response was so fast and curt, the product of being completely taken off guard with a left hook. There were plenty of other ideas you had for the direction of this conversation, such as having beaten his leftovers last week or how you have his favorite hoodie in your laundry basket right now. Maybe even the secret trips to Donnie’s, who was currently helping you get together a gift for Raph’s birthday next month. A particularly low worry even fretted that this might be a conversation about your relationship and how it should end.

But, instead it’s about Leo? What an easy question to answer!

“ Sorry, I didn’t mean that, I mean to say no. ”

Raph’s shoulders loosened and a breath of relief slipped out of him—when had he even started holding his breath?? Never mind that. You snorted at the absurd thought of liking Leo of all people.

“ Why would I like Leo? Raph, c’mere. ”

You held your hands out, and the way his hands fell into yours spelled out a desperation to be close to you. With a gentle tug, he climbed onto his bed, and you melted into his chest. A storm was brewing in his chest, his heart thundering nervously.

“ Ya just, Raph don’t know, something—he, just… Raph was worried, s’all. Afraid ya preferred him over a… ”

While he was searching for whatever word to insult himself with, you captured his attention with a gentle peck on the lips. Your fingers gently held his chin, turning his focus to lay fully on you.

“ Over a charming, handsome hero? ”

There was that adorable smile, peppering his lips as a light laugh erupted from his chest.

“ You think I’d prefer Leo, who is a risky little ticking time bomb, over my knight in shining armor? ”

He whispered a rebuttal, something along the lines of “ he really is, huh? ”

“ Oh Raph-a-doodle, never could I want anyone other than you. ”

Leaning up, you pressed your forehead against his and gazed into his eyes. They searched yours for a hint of deceit, for anything to latch onto and spiral about, but all he found was warmth.

Thus, the jealousy flame died out, and he plummeted backwards against his bed, dragging you down with him. He gave a heavy exhale as you giggled atop his plastron, scolding him for being so silly.

┆ ── ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ — Donnie 💌

The green of jealousy was a hue you never expected to be painted across the purple canvas you called your boyfriend, but surely there is a chance for any reality to blossom true, right?

Jealousy had sewn seeds far before either of you could catch on, oblivious to the roots which spiraled and narrowed vision to see only one option as opposed to the myriad of other reasonings. You had poured love into your dearest Donnie, so much so that you couldn’t even fathom any room for jealousy. How could he ever be jealous? Surely he knows full and well just how you look at him? Obviously he knows just how only he can pluck the strings of your heart, strumming love with each touch, in a way unlike any other.

Why, if you were Excalibur, then he was your King Arthur.

So, yeah, may the gods above forgive you for not considering a jealous Donnie as a reality to worry about—though, is it really too worrying? Your boyfriend being jealous? Kind of interesting, doesn’t it just trip up your heart into a flurry of skips?

No? Just me?

Anyways, you had missed entirely the shifting of his gaze when Mikey would enter the room. The low growl, the holding of his breath, none of it had appeared in your mind as you laughed along with whatever silly antics the youngest brother would get up to. Sometimes you would even entertain him! I mean, he is your boyfriend’s little brother, so it’s only right that you laugh at his jokes, get along with him, and all that good stuff.

But, jealousy was the type to hold someone still, to draw their gaze upon one stiff perspective and allow no other reasoning. For a man of science, even he was not above the laws of insecurity in relationships, so when he saw how bouncy his brother was around you, never did he contemplate the obvious. Nary a thought shall he consider that it was simply his brother getting along with his brother’s girlfriend, nor did he consider maybe you were being nice. No, the sour, bitter green dipped his head in the nastiness of jealousy, and all he could consider in this moment was that you must have liked his brother more.

Or maybe, his brother liked you and intended to steal you away? Why else would you laugh so heartily at whatever nonsense his brother spouted? Whatever reason was there for the times he would find you in the kitchen, fixing up dinner alongside Mikey? What else could explain you returning home with topside art supplies and personalized tips to his youngest brother?

Obviously the jealous mind of Donatello Hamato was going to omit one important factor: you did this with all his brothers. If they told a good joke, you would laugh. If Mikey made dinner, you were guaranteed to be in the kitchen helping by fixing you and Donnie’s plates to your liking. If there was something on the surface any of the brothers needed, you would totally put it on your errand run, delivering it during your next visit.

But, jealousy cares not for easy explanations. It craves the most dramatic interpretations, and in this case?

The juiciest interpretation was that Mikey had set his eyes on you, Donnie’s prized lover, and you had fallen for him hook, line, and sinker.

No, no, no, Donnie says, not on his watch would he let you be swept off your feet by anyone else.

“ Y/N. ”

Donnie leaned forward, fingers firmly locking with yours and giving an urgent tug. There was a thickness layered in his eyes that left Mikey shrinking away, confused as to what he could’ve done wrong.

“ Let’s go,”

Straightening up, he couldn’t help the grin widening on his face in a “ I’ve won ” type of manner. You simply waved to his brother.

“ You haven’t forgotten why you’re here, have you? ”

The look in his eyes caused your heart to skip, unprepared for such a heavy gaze that you hadn’t yet experienced. A nervous smile rose on your expression as you looked anywhere but the face giving you a look that would serve to make you fall even harder.

“ Of course not, Dee. ”

Donnie noted your refusal to eye contact, and instead of assuming it was one of your usual bashful moments caused by yours truly, his thoughts were plagued with theories of Mikey somehow worming his way into the heart Donnie swore was his.

“ Right. ”

He muttered in a curt fashion, leading you both to his lab.

The uncomfortable awkwardness blanketing the atmosphere had not gone unnoticed as you followed him, thumb stroking loving little hearts upon the upside of his palm. Usually he would meet this with a firm squeeze, but you could recognize when your genius had his mind up in the clouds. He wasn’t even paying attention to you, was he?! And to think you came all this way to entertain his experiments, hoping to get a kiss or two, only to be met with unnecessary coldness?

What the heck, man?

“ Prepare to behold the wondrous creations of the genius, Donatello. ”

Whatever stink he had been brewing in just seconds prior had evaporated as he unveiled his newest creation: an air-fryer that could quite literally create anything from thin air.

You tried to ignore the distant shout of the youngest brother, something along the lines of “ Hey! Where’s the air-fryer?! ”

Donnie had not ignored it, nor had he dismissed the stifled laughter from you that he surely knew the cause of. His hands clenched, wrapping into crossed arms as he leaned his weight into the table.

“ Annoyed sigh. ”

While rolling his eyes, he muttered an annotation to the peeved groan slipping his lips. There it was again, you noted with a narrowed gaze, that odd discontentment he’d been soaking in this night.

“ Alright, spill it. ”

You mirrored his lean, relying on one of the structural pillars in his lab to hold your weight. Your fingers thumped impatiently against your bicep as your eyes soaked in Donnie’s body language. He seemed to stiffen, either nervously or defensively, you didn’t know.

“ Spill what? ”

He spoke with such an accusatory tone that you were almost ticked off. You held your tongue, hoping to keep this civil and not devolving into mindless argument.

“ Spill wh—?! ”

Sputtering, your hands gestured wildly before quite literally framing him. He knew what you meant, he wasn’t dumb!

“ Whatever is making you so, so—so THIS! ”

His brow raised, and he almost seemed insulted as you threw your hands up with a frustrated growl.

“ Why are you so upset with me right now? What did I do? ”

That seemed to do the charm of dragging out what you’ve been looking for, the explanation, as he straightened his posture and pushed off the table.

“ Oh save me the innocent act, Y/N,”

Confusion painted your face, and for a moment he physically faltered, unsure to continue after such a clear display of hurt across your pretty face. After a second, his mouth tugged into a frown, shaking off the hesitation to continue his claim,

“ I know you like Mikey, so just do us both a favor and go scurry along after him. ”

Donnie waved his hand off, pointing to the door. Whatever look you had on your face at that moment must have embodied just how deeply the pain in your heart crawled, right on down to your very core, because he seemed to balk at his own words. A bit of regret wrapped around him as he muttered something too low for you to hear.

Tightening your lips, you straightened this time and took a few steps to close the gap between you and him.

“ You will not talk to me like that, and what’s this about me liking Mikey? Your little brother? ME? You think I like him?! ”

There was no way, right? He couldn’t be serious? You, liking Mi—he might as well have been your brother too! You could never like him over Donnie?! What an outrageous claim, you thought, standing your ground in front of Donnie. This could have been avoided if he had just not been such, such a…

“ Obviously! Why else would you be bringing him gifts and helping him out in the kitchen? ”

You opened your mouth to speak, only to be interrupted as he continued with an accusatory finger pointing no where specific.

“ And I’ll have you know that I have read about ‘Cooking together’ and I know how much of an intimate bonding experience it is! ”

The childish stomp he gave, throwing his fists against his sides stiffly, served to diminish almost all the frustration bubbling up. You snorted at the sight, causing him to loosen up, confusedly tripping over his words to sputter out a “ Wh-What, what is this, what’s so funny? ”

“ … You’re a riot, Dee. ”

Wiping away the tiny tears pricking from such a hearty laugh, your eyes met his with less of anger and more of the warmth he was far too familiar of.

“ Since apparently I’m the only one of us with some sense, I’ll have YOU know that I do that for all of y’all! ”

Sheepishly, he seemed to curl into himself as you poked your index finger right into his plastron to emphasize the “ you ”.

“ I bring you gifts all the time—April, Raph, Leo, hell, even Splinter, too! ”

Jealousy was starting to burn away, leaving behind the bashful shame as he started to finally contemplate the more reasonable explanations for your behavior. Silently he condemned himself for starting up this whole dumb debacle with such a blatant disregard to the facts.

“ And of COURSE I help Mikey with cooking. You have a specific palette that he doesn’t always remember fully, so it’s up to me to make sure you get a fulfilling meal you’ll actually eat, dummy! ”

Ah, now that was the part that did him in, something he didn’t even know. Just as you were going to continue, he stepped closer.

“ Wait, you do? ”

“ I do—do what? I said a lot of things, Donnie, be specific. ”

Derailed, you stumbled over your claims, lost suddenly at which point he had cling to.

“ I thought Michael was just inconsistent in his preparation of my dishes, but since you say that, I do recall my meals being much better when you were around. ”

His hands had found their way upon your shoulders as he spoke, gaze flitting all across the lab as he collected his thoughts.

“ I had suspected meals were just better when you were around because, well.. ”

You softened as his gaze fell onto you.

“ Because you were there.. ”

Silence fell upon you both, except more comfortably this time. He exhaled deeply, marked with his trademark “ relieved sigh ” then smiled at you.

“ Oh Y/N, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to drag you into such a ridiculous argument. I was just… ”

“ You were just… Jealous? ”

Your teasing gaze was searing through him, so much so he shut his eyes tightly and groaned annoyedly.

“ As much as I would wish to not admit it, yes. I may have been experiencing,”

He waved his hand in the air, as if collecting his words.

“ Jealousy, towards your interactions with Miguel.. ”

Donnie was relieved as you laughed away all his worries, leaning in to plant a kiss on his lips. The moment lingered for a few, as if desperately needed to mend this situation, stopping only when you pulled away.

“ Alright, you’re forgiven… For now—BUT! Next time just talk to me, dummy, you got me all riled up for no reason. ”

With that, you gave a playful shove that had him gasping as though he were insulted, and quick to rush to his experiment’s side with more questions than he could keep up with.

Not like he hated an attentive and questioning audience, though. Much appreciated.

[acefiree]

𝗯𝗮𝘆! 𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗹 | bestfriends

Raphael ✷ x reader ( pining like idiots ) MASTERLIST

ᕦ(๏益๏)ᕥ: after a bad day at school, you hang out in the lair in hopes of forgetting about the events that took place, only to get into an argument with the hothead in red.

WARNINGS: tension, potty mouth characters, angst, argument, mentioning of assault

NOTE: this was a request from my wattpad ooffff

      "GIVE IT BACK!" I shouted as I chased Mikey across the common area of the lair, the orange-clad turtle cackling manically as he jumped the back of the sofa and somersaulting with ease, which honestly left me a little baffled for a moment with how simple he made it look.

It always amazed me how easy the guys made stunts like those seem, the years of ninjutsu training being a constant reminder of how amazing the four Terrapin brothers were. Though, right now, Mikey was on my shit list and was honestly about to be my least favorite Ninja Turtle.

"Come on, Sweetcakes!" He shouted with a silly grin, pausing only for a second so he could dangle my phone teasingly between his fingers, the device twisting as he winked at me, "You gotta be faster than that, Babes, see ya!" And with that, Michelangelo took his skateboard and zoomed off, my phone still in his possession.

I'm going to kill him! I was too busy staring up, eyes following the retreating terrapin, to notice when a certain hothead stepped out of the weight room. I was also too busy to notice just how close said hothead was.

"Dammit Michelangelo, if you don't give it back, I'm gonna—oof," I grunted, falling onto my back starfish as I ran into what I thought was a wall. A groan left my mouth, a harsh throb coming from my nose. I raised my hand and rubbed it, my eyes watering. "Oh man, that fucking hurt." I whined to myself.

After eating shit and promptly taking the world's biggest L – I laid there on the dirty floor of the lair, contemplating my life, when a pair of calloused hands suddenly grab onto me and I was pulled upward into a sitting position. Tears clouded my vision, blinking a few times as I tried to make out the red blob sitting to my right.

"Shit, Doll. Are you okay?" A moderately rough voice asked, sounding underlining concerned.

"Jesus? Is that you? I think I knocked myself stupid—fucking wall came out of nowhere."

There was a deep chuckle that came from Raphael, his hands aiding me as I tried to stand. I wiped away the tears in my eyes. I felt something wet above my lip, so I wiped it, only to cringe when I looked at my fingers and saw blood.

I blinked at it, face blank. "I think my nose is bleeding."

The terrapin placed a finger under my chin, turning my head upward so he could see, rough palm cupping my jaw lightly to keep my head in place. His eyes rounded, green gaze filling with concern. He sucked his teeth, his scarred lip shifting into a deep frown at what he saw.

"Ya feelin' okay? You wanna go see Don?"

Only when I pull back does my mouth curve into a soft smile, cheeks warming from the display of concern, and dare I say affection from my best friend. There was pain in my nose, but other than that, I knew I'd be fine. I should have been watching where I was going. This was the second time today I had gotten myself hurt.

I knew my expression dropped when I thought about what happened at school today, and my hand went to my sleeve-covered wrist, subconsciously rubbing the bruise hiding beneath the fabric. Raphael didn't seem to notice my change in mood, more focused on the blood smeared under my nose.

I cleared my throat, "Can you help me clean this blood?" I questioned, pushing my thoughts aside. I could worry about my arm later, right now, my focus was the fresh blood on my face.

Raphael didn't hesitate to nod, "Yeah,"

Now, all I expected him to do was find a paper towel or something and help me clean the blood. What I didn't expect was for him to pick me up, large arms scooping me up like a damn princess, into his broad plastron chest as he took me into his room quickly, obviously still concerned.

I shot him a surprised look, "I can walk."

He tilted his head toward me, "Nah, I gotcha."

This wasn't the first time Raph had acted like my Prince Charming and swooped me off my feet. Any time I got hurt, or he thought he could move me faster, here he came. Thick muscled arms ready to hold me close and take me anywhere I wanted go, like my own personal Turtle Uber.

Another soft smile slinked to my lips as he placed me on the edge of his bed, turning his shell to me as he stepped away to grab the First Aid kit he had stashed in his room. I knew I was practically mooning up at him, but I couldn't help it, I really loved this side of the burly turtle. He liked to play tough, but moments like right now proved how soft and caring he could be. As he turned back to face me, the Raph paused, noting the smile on my face.

He raised a non-existing brow. "What?"

"Thank you," I said instead of saying what I was really thinking.

He huffed a chuckle, shaking his head. "Don't worry about it, now c'mere."

I scooted closer to the edge of the bed, tipping my chin up to give him access to my face. He paused before he took a step closer, noting the fact he was practically towering over me now and it was about to be hell for him to reach my nose to clean it. With a deep sigh, and a roll of his eyes, the hothead sat the Aid kit down.

What's with the attitude? It's not my fault I'm so damn short. Maybe he shouldn't be so tall. Has he ever thought of that? Like I'm a woman—

Before I could even question Raph, I was suddenly lifted off the bed like a damn child and placed on the desk resting in the corner of the room. My hands snapped out, fingers slipped over the dibs and rough texture of his scaled skin, trying to steady my self as I locked eyes on green. I was now face to face with Raphael, and I swear, for a moment my heart seemed to pause in its steady beat. I felt a sudden awkwardness at our close proximity, and I did the only thing that any reasonable person would do in a situation like this with their best friend.

I booped him.

With precise and agile movements, my hand lifted with my finger pointed, poking him directly on the end of his snout. Raphael jerked his head back a little, eyes widening a smidge from not expecting that, and mouth popping open to say something, though no words came out.

So, with him shocked and me slightly amused, we slowly locked eyes. I watched with a suppressed grin as his piercing gaze went from mine then to the finger that was still pressed on his nose. He looked baffled I did that, and when I began to giggle, a look of something grew in the depth of his gaze.

"I'm sorry, Red! I couldn't resist – I've always wanted to do that!" My shoulders shook as I laughed, removing my finger to place my hand over my stomach. "Your reaction was so cute!"

Raphael was watching me with an unknown look, but as soon as the word cute left my mouth, his face shifted as if I had just offended his dead grandmother.

"I'm not fuckin' cute—wait—Ya think I'm cute?"

That's what I said? Right? I give him a look, calming myself so I'd stop laughing enough for him to actually clean my face. Raphael's face looked as if it were turning a shade darker and I wonder if that was a turtle's version of a blush.

"Well, yeah, I did."

He looked rather stunned, "Uh, oh...let's just get your face cleaned up, Doll." He brushed off my words as he grabbed the First Aid kit. My face fell. This wasn't the first time he brushed off one of my comments. And if I'm being honest, it hurt my feelings, making me feel stupid for even trying with him.

When was he going to see that I loved his stupid face?

"K," It was a clipped and short reply, one that he caught onto instantly.

He didn't comment on it though. Good. Because I didn't want him asking. Cause then I'd have to explain his aloofness hurt my feelings, and that I was trying to flirt with him. God, why are men so stupid sometimes? Especially hotheads like him.

I closed my eyes, so I don't have to look at him, breathing in through my nose to keep my mouth closed. I felt him gently grasp the bottom of my chin, a damp rag softly wiping under my nose to clean the blood. His gentle grip almost made me squirm. How could he not see the effect he had on me? I mean, everyone else could see it.

Maybe he did, and he knew. Maybe that's why he always brushed it off. Because he didn't feel the same, and he didn't want to reject me and ruin our friendship.

When he was done, I waited for him to remove his hand, but it never moved, his grip only tightened before I felt my arm get snatched into his grasp. Shocked and slightly caught off guard, I furrow my brows and quickly open my eyes. I nearly fall out by the look he was giving me now, and I almost pull my arm away from him when I see where he is looking.

"What happened to your wrist?"

It wasn't a question, and the low tone in his voice made me want to shrink back and hide. His face was taught into that miffed expression I've only ever seen him wear when arguing with Leo, or when he had a bad patrol. Then, when he looked at me, his expression changed, and I had to blink slowly to process it. His pupils dilated in the most alluring way possible.

I swallowed thickly, wondering if I should tell him what happened, or if I should take my chance and give into the urge to kiss my best friend right now, who looked so pissed and worried about why my wrist had a handprint bruised on it.

"Nothing," I quickly lied, trying to pull my arm away, but to no avail.

Raph's eyes snapped back to the purple and yellow fingerprints on my smaller arm, his hand practically swallowing limb, a quick reminder of just how much bigger he was than me. His gaze slowly lifted back to match my own and the breath in my lungs felt as if it was ripped from my body. Oh. Oh. He was pissed.

"Who did this?" He all but growled now and I had to stop myself from shying away. I didn't like when he got like this, but for some odd reason, I couldn't pull away. His gaze had me locked in with a vice grip, and all I could do was frown up at him.

Might as well tell him. He's my best friend. He deserves to know. "Some guy at school – we got into a small disagreement—"

"Who?" This time, his voice was a lot lower, and a dark look flashed in his eyes.

Against my better judgment, I told him. "J-Jason." I said before quickly adding, "It's okay though, I delt with it—"

Raphael frowned, "Were ya' goin' to tell me?" He asked, looking a bit hurt at the fact I was trying to hide it from him, "I don't want you seeing him anymore."

Not that I was planning on hanging around that asshole anymore, but the fact Raphael sounded so possessive when he said that made me frown and open my mouth to argue back. Though, when his hand that was still holding my chin shifted and slipped to cup my jaw, any words I had planned to say left me and all I could do was stare up at my best friend, my mouth slightly parted.

Raphael still looked rather upset, but with our proximity, his gaze trailed over every inch of my face. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, but by the way his expression was slowly softening the longer we had a small stare off, the more I could guess he was feeling the same thing I was. And boy, was my heart hammering now.

My whole body went stiff as he leaned forward and I don't know what possessed me, I really don't, but I moved an inch closer to him and his grip on my wrist tighten only slightly as his other hand shifted, his thumb falling to the pulse on my neck and pressing in lightly. My heart paused when I noticed his gaze fall to my lips.

There was thick tension between us and all I wanted to do was kiss him, so he'd shut up and stop being so pissy. His possessive nature pissed me off and I wanted to show him he couldn't tell me what to do. And so, I did. My eyes fluttered shut as he moved closer and kissed me, the feeling of his lips making my head spin as I reached up with my free hand and cupped his cheek.

At my touch, he froze, seeming to wake up from whatever little daydream he was living in. Raph quickly pulled away and I instantly opened my eyes confused.

Why'd he stop?

The look on his face hit me hard.

Regret. Anger. Fear.

"R-Red?"

He put a foot of distance between us, his green eyes unable to look at me. He was breathing hard, shoulders tense. Is he mad? Why is he so upset? He was the one who kissed me. Well, we both did, but that's besides the point.

"T-that was a mistake," He groused out, unable to meet my gaze.

What? My heart felt it shattered into a million of pieces as what he said registered in my head. A mistake? Kissing him? It didn't feel like a mistake. I quickly hopped off the desk and stepped closer to the tense turtle, unsure on how to approach as I hid my wrist again.

"Red, what do you—"

"We can't do this," His voice rose, causing me to jump from how loud and unexpected it was. "You should go,"

What in the hell is wrong with him? What did I do wrong? Was the kiss really that bad? Was he really that mad because I hid a bruise? And he's never raised his voice at me before...There was tears in my eyes now and I knew if I spoke my voice would give it away. But right now, I didn't care if he knew I was crying.

Fucking asshole.

"It's just a bruise, and that kiss wasn't a mistake to me..." My voice wavered and sounded full of raw emotion.

His eyes snapped to me like autopilot, surprise written all over his expression with the underlying of frustration. But when he saw the tears streaming down my face, and the pure look of heart break in my eyes, his whole demeanor shifted and I could tell he wanted to say something. I save him from having to choose. My eyes dropped as I lower my head so my hair could shield my face from his view.

Without uttering another word, I rushed from his room, ignoring the soft whisper of my name from his lips. Fuck him. Fuck this. Fuck everything.

"Hey Babes, you still want your—whoa why are you crying?!" Mikey said, sounding rather alarmed. His little outburst grabbed the attention of his brothers and I mentally curse myself.

"Dear, are you okay?"

Damn, now Splinter was concerned. I was blocked by Mikey, Leo, and Donnie as Master Splinter stood on his little meditation podium in front of the water slide. Upon hearing all the commotion, I heard movement from the direction of Raph's room and I knew he stepped out. It didn't help I could sense his stare, his gaze always having that effect on me.

Not to make anything obvious, I wipe my eyes.

"I-Im okay guys, April called, and we got into a little argument – I have to go home. It's just a silly fight between friends."

My excuse was an obvious lie, because like, me and April were pretty close and rarely got into scuffles, plus Mikey still had my phone. though the phone he had was just my old back up, and never worked...but, I knew the guys and Splinter didn't believe the utter bullshit that just spewed from my mouth.

Mikey stepped closer, his usual happy demeanor gone and filled with concern. I had to blink a few times to register the look. He never looked like that, he was always goofy and smiling. But now he was looking at me like I just stole the last of his orange soda crush, and I didn't like that, not one bit.

"You promise, Sweetcakes?"

Oh god. Why did he have to ask that. Promises was one thing I took very seriously. And even though Raph just ripped my heart out like it was nothing, that didn't mean I wanted to throw him under the bus and embarrass him in front of his family—it's not his fault he doesn't like me in a romantic way. You can't help how you feel for someone. It's something that comes naturally, and he didn't love me.

I just have to get over it and accept it.

Plus, the fact I was hiding a bruise from him probably didn't help the situation. I knew how protective Raphael could be, which is why I didn't want him knowing about it in the first place. But the cat's outta the bag now, and I couldn't tell if he was mad about the bruise or the kiss.

I made the mistake of looking over to my right. Raphael stood there, eyes set on my face as an intense emotion danced in the pools of his gaze. In this moment, I couldn't read him. It was as if I were staring at a complete stranger. I quickly looked away, but I knew everyone noticed, yet acted like they didn't.

"I-I promise, Mike—I'll see you guys later..." I felt instant guilt as I promised the youngest. He was gonna be so upset when he figured out my promise was a lie. But I'll face that bridge when I have to cross it. For now, I just wanted to go home and forget this day completely.

Leo and Donnie quickly shared a look, while Mikey's face shifted into a look of disappointment. Splinter assessed me carefully, his paw coming up to rub his whiskered beard. I saw him glance in Raphael's direction, but he said nothing.

He looks back at me, "My child, If that is what you say happened, then we will respect it—you may leave if you wish, but Flower?—"

I hummed, letting him know I was listening.

He gave me the softest look I had ever seen from him, his obsidian gaze sending me a message I couldn't understand. "You are always welcome here—don't ever feel like you don't have a place within this family. We all love you, my sweet flower."

His words prompted tears to begin to fall from my eyes again and a hiccup left my mouth. Embarrassing. So fucking embarrassing. This was the first time in a long time anyone has seen me cry, and now I had a full audience. Everything that had happened to me today came back at full force and I couldn't help the tears.

"Wh-I-" I cleared my throat, wiping my eyes again as I looked at every one, even Raph. "I love you all, thank you...I'll remember that. Goodbye."

They all watch in silence as all but rush out the lair, little did I know, they heard mine and Raphael's argument.

----------------------------------------

THIRD PERSON POV

It was silent as they all watched the young girl practically run from the lair, as if she had a fire lit under her feet.

All eyes shift to the hothead across the lair, and he instantly went stiff under their gaze. He knew there was a possibility they had heard the little squabble. But at their stares. It only confirmed it for him. His heart was pounding, emotions battling in his consciousness at all the events that just occurred.

That was the first time he had seen her so hurt, so upset. She had never, in the time he'd known her, cried – and that is a pretty long time now.

Raphael felt his chest tighten as the image of her hurt expression flashed in his head, and regret began to web it's way around his drumming heart. He hadn't meant to hurt her the way he did. The thought of someone else – especially a human male – hurting her didn't sit right with him, and especially since she felt the need to hide it. Did she not trust him? The thought alone just reminded him of the deepest fear he had about their friendship. His biological make-up being the key to most of his anger.

Then there was the kiss.

He felt as though she didn't share mutual feelings with him. He had kissed her without asking – he thought he had fucked up the only friendship he cherished. When he yelled at her, he wasn't upset with her per-se, he was pissed at himself.

But like always, he fucked up. And like always, his big damn mouth had to go and make things worse.

"What did you do, Raph?"

Raphael's eyes snapped to his older brother, taking in the accusing tone as Leo asked the question. There was also a firmness behind it. The leader knew damn well what took place, he just wanted Raph to admit it.

The hothead shot him a smoldering glare, "I didn't do shit, Fearless!"

"Don't lie Raphael – don't act like we didn't hear everything." Now it was Donnie that had spoken.

It shocked Raph at how upset he sounded. Felling a bit defensive, he let out a grunt. "Back off. I-I didn't mean to hurt her. I didn't—she—I thought—" He struggled to get out a proper sentence, not knowing what to tell his siblings that were all looking at him as if he committed murder.

Splinter watched his son with a thoughtful look, he stepped down from his podium and walked towards the dojo. "My son, come."

Raph quickly looked in his father direction, his hard expression slowly dropping as fear twinged in his heart. He knew whatever punishment Splinter had, he would take it. He honestly deserved as much. Without looking at his brothers, he made his way into the room with his father.

Mikey turned to the others, his expression sullen. "Guys, I'm going to go check and make sure she made it home..." He was running out the lair before Leo could say anything.

Not like he was. He and Donnie were both shocked by their younger brother. The look on his face was so alien, they knew Mikey was deeply concerned for his friend. So, neither of them said a thing, allowing the orange clad turtle to go check on the girl. They knew he could help her better than they could...

...Raphael paused in the threshold of the door, his shoulders tense as he watched his father take a seat in a kneeling pose on the floor. Splinter motioned with a paw for him to come over, and waited patiently as the larger turtle did. Once he was seated, he began to speak.

"My son, what you said tonight must never happen again – do you understand?"

"Hai Sensei,"

The old rat noticed Raph wouldn't meet his eyes, and he could see there was an internal battle going on his head.

"Raphael, what troubles you?"

He was silent for a moment before slowly looking up, "Sensei—dad I fucked up."

"Explain."

Raphael took a deep breath in through his nose, "With her—she—I kissed her without asking. I-I thought I ruined everything. I felt ashamed. I told her to leave because I felt like an ass, and then she was hiding something—I didn't know..."

Now it made sense. Raphael had always been the most in touch of his emotions, much like Michelangelo. While Mikey channeled his emotions through kindness and compassion, Raphael expressed his emotions through anger and retaliation. It took the old rat master years to understand the anger his second oldest harbored, so he knew Raph honestly didn't mean to hurt the girl the way he did.

"You love her."

It wasn't a question. Raph just nodded.

"Then why are you telling me? You should tell her."

Raph was shocked, his eyes blinking. "B-but she hates me now—dad you didn't see the way she looked at me..."

Splinter shook his head, "No. but I saw the way she looked at you when she proclaimed her love for us—those words weren't meant for us, my son. Sometimes you can be so blind to the people in front of you."

Raphael didn't know what to say. He swallowed and looked down once again, his father's word resonating with him.

Splinter placed a gentle paw on his shoulder. "Give her time, she will be back. You can fix things then. But for now, give her space. You both are experiencing heightened emotions—talk when you are both calm and have thought over your words carefully."

He was right. Raphael thought. With a nod and a thanks to his father, he left the dojo, heading to the only place he knew he could channel his emotions.

The weight room.

MASTERLIST

[mysticovo]

Hiya! Could you do a Rise!Donnie reverse hurt/comfort fic?It could be about anything,I just feel like that silly goose needs a hug or something.✨🌕

I studied code because I wanted you

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I was falling in and out of sleep. The sound of a keyboard filled the almost silent room. Soon the noise switched to tinkering, then back to typing every few moments. The relaxed breathing slowly became strained. A few angered mumbles drifted through the air.

I opened my eyes to a room bathed in purple. My face resting on something green and scaley. I originally came to the lair for a study date with my boyfriend, Don. Eventually it evolved to me on his lap cuddling him. I suppose I fell asleep in the process of it.

He was probably running updates on Shelldon or fixing whatever his brothers must’ve broken, again.I shifted my head to the side to gaze down at what he was working on. It was a…smart..toaster? I feel like it was used in another pranking war by the others.

He took of the case and was focusing on fixing the very, very damaged internal machinery. Specifically the heaters and power source. While also untangling the wires. It wasn’t working as he planned. He slammed down the screwdriver in his hand and slapped the other over his eyes.

“Dee?” I asked. He jumped once i said something, “ Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah of course I am”, he replied. His voice was wavering. The hand around his eyes tightened while the hand on his desk drifted to my back and hugged me closer to him. His entire body was shaking and his breathing became heavier. I sat up to fully look at him. It seemed as if he was on the verge of tears. “Oh Don”, I sighed out. That…might’ve been the final straw before he broke into tears. Donnie shoved his face into my top and threw an arm around my neck. I hugged him closer to my chest and laid my head on top of his. The sobs were a muffled mess and it was all I could hear. We sat there for a while. I don’t know for how long but it felt like hours…

A muffled noise came from Donatello. I looked down at him as he shifted his head to the side.

“What was that?” I asked him softly, I didn’t want to overstimulate him when he was already upset.

He sat back up and brought back that mask he usually had, the bad boy one of course.

“Never mind…I’m fine”, He mumbled back as he rubbed the last few tears out of his eyes.

“Donnie…you can’t just say you’re fine when you just broke down like that..” I at him again and brought a hand to his cheek/beak. He was avoiding my eyes. He was..hiding something. “You can tell me anything.”

“I just-“, He sighed and looked down at our laps,”-I’m the tech guy. I’m the smart one. It’s all I’m good for….if I can’t do this simple fix and be that, why would any of you need me..”. Tears had welled back up in his eyes, his voice was wavering again and it seemed like he was holding the cries back. He was…trembling.

“Don, none of us could ever think that-”, I paused, hugging him again and rubbing my thumb against his beak,”-Plus you’re more than that. Why even made you think that we wouldn’t need or want you?” I started to wipe away the tears in his eyes.

“You see everything my brothers do and are. Raphael is strong, everyone thinks Leo is funny and the face of the group and Mikey’s the creative one. I’m nothing like them..”, He mumbled it again, his gaze softened as he looked into mine.

“Donnie, I wouldn’t want you any other way. Preferably nothing like your brothers….no offense to them though.” I sort of laughed when I said it, I didn’t mean to though. I didn’t really expect him to laugh as well. More of a chuckle maybe? At least it was boosting his mood.

“You’re still funny at times, I love it when you make a science related joke that almost nobody gets. I sometimes get them though. You’re strong as well, it doesn’t matter if it’s with some tech or not. Remember that time you swung an entire giant drill with just a Bo stick? How is that not strong? What about all the battle shells, the turtle tank and all of the other tech you’ve made? You wouldn’t be able to without some creativity. I know you say you’re not like them but you are in your own special way. And I love that..I love you..”. I smiled at him, he had an expression on his face that was sort of hard to make out. I think it was a bit surprised, but somewhat happy? I gently and softly kissed him on his beak, right next to his mouth but not on it.

“I…love you as well…”. He mumbled it again. It was a hard thing for him to vocalize.

“please don’t ever think like that again. Now…do you wanna go back to cuddling? Maybe you can ramble as we do…”, I smiled at him and pressed my forehead against his.

“I’d..I’d like that..” He smiled back and hugged me, moving to grab his forgotten screwdriver.

“Want to hear some facts about uranium?”

~~~~~~~~~~~ The title is from Rat by Penelope Scott. I hope you liked this moon anonnie! Sorry it took so long! It’s been sitting in my school notebook for a while and has sort of become an inside joke from one line. Points to whoever guesses it. 💜🐢💜

(⌒▽⌒) Bai my mystic deers!!

[black-aurora-nora]

The Lie Above Pt. 1 | Yandere!TMNT (2016) x Teen!Reader

The TV loudly played throughout the sewer that had been your home for a few months now. The same theme song that you'd now grown to hate played for the umpteenth time and you found yourself unable to watch what was once your favorite TV show.

You huffed, turning down the volume and picking up a word search book. This would be your 20th one, if you remembered correctly.

Flipping through the pages, you huffed again and threw the book back onto the small table.

You hated this.

You hated when your brothers left, but you understood that it couldn't be helped.

The world was ending outside, above the sewers. A couple months ago, an alien species called the Krang began their colonization of the world. Your brothers were some of the only few left that could help in the rebellion.

And though you understood that they were needed, you wished that your life wasn't so dull. Hiding out was incredibly draining.

You missed your old life.

Your mom and dad.

You used to cry a lot when you first found out they were dead. Leo was the one that told you and Mikey would stay behind to watch after you while you grieved.

The both of you grew close during that time but then you got better and they had to start going out to fight the bad guys.

Sometimes you worried about them.

Speaking of the devil, you heard the telltale sounds of your brothers cheering and whooping as they arrived back to the base.

"Wassup, (Y/N)!" Mikey greeted.

You mustered up a small smile, "Hey."

Raph groaned at your lack of enthusiasm, "Oh no," He groaned, "She's in a sour mood again. You run out of word searches again?"

Leo elbowed him, shooting him a sharp look, "Don't."

"What's troubling you, my little sister?" Mikey asked in a silly tone, coming over to sit by you and drape a green arm over your shoulder, "C'mon, you can tell Big Bro Mikey, ignore the big bad Raph."

“There’s nothing to do down here. You guys are gone for hours and I’m stuck here watching reruns and doing word searches.” You explained, “I need something else to do.”

Donnie hummed at that, taking in what you said with a push of his glasses, “Like what? I’m sure we can find something else for you above ground.”

You shrugged, sliding away from Mikey.

An idea popped into your head and you blurted it out, “What if there was a way I could help you guys out during your missions?”

“No.” Leo responded firmly.

You slumped slightly before continuing, “I don’t mean go out with you guys,” you corrected, “I meant what if Donnie taught me how to use some of his computers? I could be the team’s ‘eye’.”

Then you’d never be bored and know that they’re safe. It was perfect.

“No, (Y/N).”

You furrowed your brows, “Why not? I’m not in the line of fire and I’m actually a part of the team! I could be great help as long as Donnie teaches me!”

The three brothers looked to the leader and Leo only kept his eyes rested on you.

Raph crossed his arms, cocking his head to the side, “Do you really think that you’re smart enough to use Donnie’s computers? Or that Donnie has enough time to teach you?”

Those were good questions but you had answers.

“I’m not smart enough now, but I can learn and you guys can’t go out during the day so that leaves plenty of time for him to teach me.” You felt yourself glowing at how well you answered.

How could they say no now?

"Look, (Y/N)," Leo started with a sigh and you felt yourself slump ever so slightly, "Donnie is already our tech guy. We can't waste time trying to teach you what he already knows."

Donnie nodded sadly in agreement, "Leo's right, (Y/N). Plus, we need to rest up during the day. I can't have a sharp mind on little sleep, y'know?" He chuckled nervously.

"So... I'm just supposed to stay trapped down here doing nothing?!" You asked rhetorically, "You guys can go out and fight in the rebellion but I have to sit down here with no one to talk to and three things to do?" Your arms crossed over your chest, "Yeah, that sounds fair."

Raph scoffed at your display of attitude, "You make it sound like we have fun while we're out there."

"It's better than staying down here," You huffed, unable to stop yourself from speaking out your thoughts, "Sometimes I wish I'd died before I'd met you guys."

You felt a release in your chest. It kind of felt good to get that out. But it also felt bad because you knew it would hurt your brothers.

But maybe you wanted to hurt them. All they ever did was leave you down in the sewers expecting you to greet them with a smile every time they came back. It was only fair that they feel a bit of what you dealt with every day.

There was a stunned silence that surrounded you and you almost said more.

"You don't mean that." Leo told you tightly. He sounded like he knew what he was talking about.

A shrug left you, "Yeah, because Leo always knows the answer." You said with whimsical sarcasm. "Leo always knows what's best, so who gives a fuck what (Y/N) thinks, right?"

"(Y/N)-" Mikey reached out for your shoulder but you stood up.

"Let's just get poor (Y/N) some more puzzle books, that'll shut her up. Let's make sure she doesn't get too close to Mikey because I'm Leo and what I say goes, right?"

Despite how visibly upset you were, Leo's fortitude didn't crack.

"You're obviously upset and saying things you don't mean. Why don't you go cool off in your room?"

Without another word, you beelined straight to your room and slammed the door.

The brothers remained silent for a few more moments until Raph spoke up.

"She read you for filth, huh?" He chuckled.

Mikey snorted at the comment, “Yeah, Leo, that must’ve sucked. I’m glad I wasn’t on the receiving end of that one.”

“I don’t know if more word searches is going to fix this.” Donnie thought for a moment, “I can try and get some other TV shows burned on some CDs but who knows how long that’ll hold her over until the next tantrum.”

“We’ll have to talk to her later. Try to help her understand that she’s got no choice but to stay down here.” Leo told his brothers.

“Probably need to make this ‘rebellion’ seem more dangerous than she previously thought.”

With that said, Donnie turned to go to his computers, “Since (Y/N) went to bed early, I’m going to make sure that her parents aren’t still looking for her on the news channel.”

“Good idea. Hopefully they’ll lose hope soon.”

The four brothers went their separate ways and (Y/N) quickly scurried back to her room, heart in her stomach.

What the hell was going on?

[prismarts]

Rooftop Meeting

Plot: Min makes an unlikely friend when she spends the night stargazing on the rooftop of her apartment building.

Notes: Mostly silly fluff, Min says hell (I'm sorry Mikey xD), The ULTIMATE BESTIE DUO, Bradford mention cause he sucks, Mikey has a new human bestie now-

Trigger warning: Mentions of food (let me know if I need to add anything-)

Word count: 1511 words (a short one this time gaaah, it's been a while)

Tags: @alovesongtheywrote @slowpokenz @nyxicnymph @mxcheese @tempesthreads @sergeantsporks @marcoofthemoon @entergoodusernamehere @l1linya @generalfandomsofthefreak @e7y1 @tenebrius-excellium @bernie-the-nugget @eldrxtch-requiem

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

The rooftops of New York’s apartment buildings were probably not the safest places to be sitting around late at night but it wasn’t as if Min had anyone at home to really be around. She may as well take this time to do some stargazing…and that was exactly what she did.

Sitting on the rooftop of the apartment building she and her brother lived at, sitting towards the edge of the roof but not so much that she could fall. Telescope in hand, she tried to see if she could find some stars….though that was rare..

Especially in New York..

She sighed as she moved the telescope away from her eye after a while, rubbing her eyes sleepily as she thought to herself, the sounds of the city were everywhere, the sound of cars still driving around at night, car alarms, she could even hear some screaming… but that was normal when you live in the city.

Though she started to hear something strange….skateboard wheels?…and they were getting louder and louder and… closer??? 

Before she could even react or move out of the way, she heard an excitable yell that…devolved into a scream-

“BOOYAKASHAAA, WHA- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!-”

And then a crash and thud right behind her, she could have sworn she even saw something fly forward and away as someone…crashed behind her. A skateboard soon rolled towards her as she scrambled to stand up.

“What the heck!? Are you okay!? How the hell did you get up-"

She walked over, squinting her eyes as she tried to see who it was. Who would be so dumb and reckless as to ride a skateboard and jump around on rooftops!?! She heard the guy groan as she approached him, it sounds like a guy but….the shape of him looks so…bulky? Weird..

Min froze when the figure groaned in what seemed to be pain and realization as he seemed upset about something, his head whipping up for a second as he scrambled around a little…

That’s when she noticed that he..was definitely not human-

She was going to say something there was a GIANT TURTLE in front of her, she gripped her telescope in her hands a bit defensively as she tried to hold it up to strike, until..

"AAWWWW MY PIZZAAA!!..."

The giant turtle was talking….

HE WAS TALKING!??! 

Min thought to herself as she seemed to be in a panic, trying to figure out what to do as the giant turtle…boy? Seemed to roll and flop on his back in a frustrated groan. She was able to get a good look at him, definitely a turtle…she can see a shell and everything…but also, an orange mask around his eyes and.. Were those?…

"Y...you're....a giant...talking turtle....with......are those nunchucks!?", Min yelped as she held her telescope close to her, a giant talking turtle and he was armed?!

She tried to make sure she wasn’t distracted…just in case the giant turtle decides to do something…attack maybe? But he just seemed to be..laying down there. He seemed really upset.

"Huh? Oh...yeah.... aww man! My pizza's gonee...", He grumbled, an almost pouty look on his seemingly freckled light green face as he let out an upset whine as he continued to lay on the roof.

"Pizza?..."

"....it fell off the building when I tripped.."

She blinked as he explained, that explains the thing that seemed to be flying off earlier..must have been the pizza box that he dropped. She thought for a moment as she sat down quietly, he seemed…harmless.

It wouldn’t hurt to do something..

She was a little suspicious, eyeing the turtle for a moment before taking out her phone. "I can...order you another one...if you want?", She offered, there was probably no harm in it.

Suddenly, the turtle jumped up excitedly, sitting up as his baby blue eyes seemed to shine at the idea, "REALLY?!??!", He exclaimed, rocking back and forth with excitement before he froze a little as his eyes squinted in suspicion as he seemed to move back the tiniest bit.

"This isn't some sort of trick is it?"

Min couldn’t help but roll her chocolate brown eyes as she thought to herself quietly, she doesn’t blame the turtle for being suspicious, she was suspicious too. 

".....Listen, turtle guy, if I was gonna trick you or trap you...I would have done that like... as soon as you fell on your face. Now what kind of pizza do you want?", She asked, looking as the smile seemed to reappear on his face.

“Pepperoni!! Oh! And make it a large!”, He said excitedly as he seemed to grin more and more, he must really like pizza.

“That’s a lot of pizza for a single…talking turtle.”, She said with a laugh as she ordered the pizza for him, looking at the turtle now that she got an even better look at him, he looks…humanoid to an extent too which somehow makes it less scary.

“My name’s Mikey! And it’s not just for me. Pizza’s for my bros too!”

She turned to look at him again as she seemed even more curious by that, “...You have brothers?..”, That question made Mikey panic slightly, gah he wasn’t supposed to say that.

“I uh…well uh…gah! I…No?”

Min raised an eyebrow at him for that answer.

“Okay, yeah, I do. I’m not supposed to tell you about my bros…..and I’m not supposed to be seen..”, Mikey seemed to mumble as he rubbed the back of his head, he laughed nervously.

“Well, don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone that I saw you.”

“Really?”, He asked, seeming…confused but with a suspicious tone in his voice.

“Yeah, sure. Your secret is safe with me, Mikey right?”, Min asked as she smiled a little when Mikey nodded, seeming excited by this, “Yeah! What about you? What’s your name, dudette?”

“Min, Min Xiuying..”

“That’s a cool name!”, Mikey exclaimed, smiling a little more as Min couldn’t help but smile back as it turned into a grin when she asked, “Sooooo…. Do you always skateboard on rooftops and crash in front of people?”

“Oh dudette! All the time! My bros and I do it for patrol all the time!” 

“Patrol?...”, She tilted her head, confused as to what she meant as Mikey seemed to light up even more, beginning to excitedly ramble about himself and his brothers, how they turned into these giant mutated turtles, how they’re actually trained ninjas and how they’re out at nights fighting evil alien robots…

Time almost stopped as Min listened to Mikey’s stories about his life, his brothers, he has three of them, Leonardo, Raphael and Donatello…and they apparently have a dad too! Master Splinter (who is apparently a giant mutant rat-), he called him, the one who taught them all the skills.

Soon they both heard a knock at the door to the stairway, Min signaled for Mikey to hide as she opened the door to take the pizza from the pizza guy, leaving him a tip as she closed the door after.

“Time moves fast… Here’s your pizza.”, She said as she smiled a little, though it seemed a little strained. She enjoyed his company…it’s been a long while since she had an actual friend..but they just met and she’s just helping him.

“Cool! Thanks dudette!”, Mikey exclaimed, standing up to take the pizza as he smiled excitedly when he saw the pizza before looking up at her for a moment, “Hey, you wanna be my friend?”, He asked suddenly, smile still wide.

“What?...Really?..”, She asked, surprised as she looked at the turtle, oddly enough, she was the slightest bit taller than him.

“Yeah! You seem really cool! Definitely cooler than Bradford…”, He grumbled, seeming a little upset about that Bradford guy for a second before smiling back at Min, “You’re definitely cooler than him! You even got pizza for me and my bros!”

“Y..yeah, we can be friends!”

“Cool! I gotta go, Leo’s gonna freak if I’m gone any longer than I already am! Plus, the dudes are gonna be soooo hungry! But we can hang tomorrow night if you want!”, Mikey said as he grabbed his board, tucking it under his other arm as he held both pizzas in his hands again, no more skateboarding for the night. He can’t drop another pizza.

“Yeah, let’s hang out tomorrow, you can tell me more about all your ninja adventures.”, Min said as she gently nudged Mikey’s arm, making sure not to push him so much that he drops the pizza again.

“Yeah!!! See ya tomorrow, Min!”, Mikey said before running on the rooftop, jumping to the other building’s roof as he seemed to be going really fast, must be those ninjutsu skills that he has been training so well at.

Min smiled a little as she took a breath, she couldn’t help the big grin on her face. She has a friend, an actual real friend. 

She can definitely say, she has the coolest friend ever.

[loveylo]

rottmnt!Mikey vs the need to sleep (a silly drabble)

hey gang i am unable to sleep so i decided to let the writers aura take over me, this is probably gonna be bad LMAOO

TCEST DNI THIS IS FAMILIAL LOVE/AFFECTION!!! I HAVE A BAT!!!

no TWs from what i know of? mostly just about Mikey and her inability to sleep. small mentions of nightmares, but it's all mostly fluff!

Headcanons/Tags for this oneshot:

He/She Raphael

They/It Donnie

She/Her Mikey

He/Him Leo

all of them are audhd sorry i don't make the rules !!!

this is after the movie btw!!!! not gonna go too much into it tho :3

FLUFF AND COMFORT!!!!!!!! ANGST IS NOT MY STRONG SUIT!!!!!

For the past three hours, Michelangelo Hamato has been unable to lay down and rest. Now you see, in the Hamato household, this wouldn't be a big issue! Mikey could just wander over to Raphael's train cart and cuddle under her blanket-like arms, no biggie. Except, it WAS a biggie.

Mikey, as tired and desperate for sleep as she is, is also restless. So restless in fact, that NOTHING satiates her need to do something. She tried painting, playing video games (calm ones! for your information, donnie!), watching cat videos, and even just meditating! MEDITATING! These truly were desperate times.

The only solution? Scream into a pillow.

"Uhhh... Mikester?" Leo's voice cuts through the screaming sesion.

Mikey bolts up, wide eyes staring straight at Leo, "Y-Yeah? Wussup Leo?"

"You uh," Leo gestures to the pillow, "You good there?" And what the hell was Mikey supposed to say to that?

'Nothing! LOLZ!' or maybe 'Ya'know how it be! Just a silly nightmare!' OR MAYBE 'It feels like my entire body is writhing to do something but nothing is the something my brain desires'

But all that comes out is a meek, "Not really..."

Leo's eyes soften at the confession. Letting out an affectionate sigh, he crosses the barrier into the orange one's train car, and holds out a hand.

"Turtle pile? Just you an' me, or all of us?" it's a quiet question.

"Yes please, all of us." and a quiet answer.

A pile of green limbs and multicolored blankets sit in front of the TV. Donnie is already snoring away, tired from their days work. Raph is curled up around his three younger siblings, a wall to the outside world. Mikey and Leo were the only ones with their eyes still open, watching the end credits scroll past the screen.

Leo was clearly on the verge of passing out, yet Mikey still sat restless.

"You can rest y'know," She whispered. Her head sat upon Leo's left shoulder, content.

"Nahhh," Leo starts before devolving into a yawn. He continues anyways, "I am just DYING to know who made all those special effects!

"The special effects cast were shown on screen like... 10 seconds ago Lee..."

"Hmm, I dunno what you're talkin' about Mikester! Last I saw, the camera crew were being shown."

"That's because that was the last time you had your eyes OPEN, dude."

Leo rolls his eyes, "Besides," he changes the subject. "I wanna keep you company, big guy. Don't want ya' to be lonely!"

Mikey smiles softly. Huffing a laugh, she leans more of her weight into Leo. "I don't think I'll be lonely, I have you guys with me."

Leo hums and closes his eyes. There's no need to answer with words. He reaches an arm over, and pulls his sister closer. It's warm.

"Ya' sure you'll be okay if I sleep?"

"I'll be okay."

And he knows she means it.

[shadow-lag]

Oh boy,, welp. Time for another long post of rambles. This time I'm watching the '03 tmnt B)

I'm on episode 4 and while I wasn't gonna do another one of these I've already had to put my phone down and walk around my room so here we are.

Fair warning: this will ofc contain spoilers. Everything I say will be random with limited context. (I dont expect anyone to even find this so-) And I'm a massive dork B) let's do this

I remember literally 80 seconds in I couldn't take a damn thing seriously- this is gonna be veryyy fun to watch

I can now see so many references rise (18) made and I'm going insane /pos New iterations make references to its past media! Who knew!

I think April is missing a rib or two /hj girl is absolutely snatched. I love her pants, I want those irl. (Classic big pants little shirt combo (why am I so gay))

Oh look! The boys are bonding over their anger issues! Why are they even fighting rn o(-( rise Casey is so small. Why is this Casey jacked- "for a little green dude, you are totally nuts" WHY IS HE SO SHORT YOURE RIGHT. he tough but smol. Lmfao. "Well isn't this romantic" HELLO??!??? guess I wasn't the only one getting enemies to lovers vibes over here, but you didn't need to point it out- damn. (Am I getting baited? In the ripe time of 2003?) Should Mikey have a personality outside of just being the funny guy? Yes. Do I appreciate all the jokes still? Yes. Yayy validate his cool new kick (I hate how Leo and Raph always beef. I need more happy brotherly bonding)

For brothers who aren't meant to be on the surface, they sure do make quick besties with the "surface dwellers" (as splinter would call them lol). Man any hope we had is gone fellas. The hets are here /lh? Casey within seconds has flustered April. This a lost cause smh. Casey you are on thin ice,, And in today's new. Local alley man parents a robot built in front of his very eyes (for money ofc). Mans is getting real emotional over this robot son rn. Wow this episode is actually pretty telling about parenting if you look at it too long. Yeah! Tell it to him straight April! Misogynistic characters don't belong in our silly little shows /srs

Bro just compacted his bike. Interesting to see them all have different sets of wheels and not just skate boards. Would have been cool to see that return. Or at least the roller blades (yes I'm 100% biased) I'm sorry if I've terribly read that. But did he just call the big blonde dude "hun"? What? (/neu) HE FLIES!! jet pack is much cooler but this is fun. WHY ARE THEY TAKING A BODY SHAPED THING FROM THE WATER? WJAT IS THAT. Is that a krang husk? The krang is in 03 isn't it? (Unfortunately (I hate the krang)) OH NO THATS DEFINITELY THE KRANG NOOO

Why IS Raph and Casey so buddy-buddy. I just feel like raph isn't the type to open up to someone so quickly o(-( Oh boy the foot is advertising turtle skewers all over the city. I don't think they're all too fond of raph little friend lmao. Casey why are you so ignorant- God yeah they reallyyy don't like casey rn lmfao BRO THEY STOLE RAPH AND THE DRAGONS ARE GONNA BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF CASEY? DUDE that's a little fucked up ngl. Ah I see. Smart moves case now go save your boyfriend. "This is some nice steel. How about telling me who gave them to you?" "Your mama" DAMN!! FOR REAL? WOW (I didn't think that clip was real ngl-) ah yes ofc he escaped he had plot armor my bad. Oh they're gonna drop Casey in the infinite water swirl. YOOO let's go Mikey!! Yippee the day is saved once more! Lmfao they really don't like when casey visits. I'm confused. I know this other ninja guy is most probably the shredder but who is his enemy is this? Does he work with the krang or like?? Maybe just a case of them connecting the wrong dots ig. Now who the fuck are the three monotone council members o(-(

Ooh boy fallen angel. Quite the title. Geez what did Casey get into now- hm I feel like fleeing the city would solve several problems but is a completely overlooked solution /hj man they look so goofy is normal clothes. Skivvies? What is that supposed to mean Raphael 🧐 I'm starting to think big guy isn't even human- nahh I think a wee bit of murder here would in fact be justified.

Ah yes vehicular manslaughter for this episode /j omg they've befriended the homeless and they are so sweet what the heck :(((( I'm crying /pos (no bc this is actually how it'd play out realistically. Outcasts stick together and I'm just- it says so much about our society but it's just a silly turtle show:( no wonder it attracted so many queer/trans folk with rise) don't you laugh at that sweet old man>:( help him get his friends back. Just got a very blunt lesson on capitalism. Based. Oh shit and now we are getting into slave labor. Uh- this episode is really touching up on reality huh. Oh god who the hell is this ugly dude gross. Please make him stop talking. What a veil thing. Yes good fall to your doom. NO WHY SAVE HIM? HES A HORRIBLE PERSON

Wait do they actually have tails? Mikey don't lie to me like this o(-( I wish with the design overhauls in rise they would have gotten tails. I know like it's easier to not animate them though so. I guess I can't complain too much. Oh the swords are important you say? Bad choice to say that out loud you're definitely going to lose them now. For plot ofc. And character development. NO YOU IDIOT DONT GO ANYWHERE ALONE. someone wack him with some rolled up newspaper and tell him you're proud of him please. Not funny-haha, funny weird. -Mikey, probably. I need tone tags on this guy /hj. Is he pulling my leg rn? What are you going against? No way he's not the shredder with the foot clan. Dude is definitely lying. Leo needs to leave. No don't accept the sword. No way it's real. Sincerity my ass o(-( dude. Council? Of krang right? God this show- so I'm assuming the krang and the foot doesn't like each other then? At least it's not mutual at least. Oh geez leo throw your brother off the building why don't you- Okay yes he is the shredder then. Ninja rat moment! Gotta throw in the tragic backstory. Bro got straight electrocuted to death /hsrs. Dang. Poor rat man. Wow Leo really did get played. L. Oooo fight scene in the storm! Come on give this big doofus another scar. God these council people are weird. Oop- here comes the shredder.

Oh okay so Hun is that dudes real name- I'm just dumb-

[a break in the rambles. Notes? Idk. This is gonna be extremely long huh- barely even through the first season and it's already an essay. Maybe I should tone it down a bit. I mean surely tumblr has a character limit]

"Whats the one thing I told them not to do? Face the shredder. Surely that's what they're doing then" (paraphrased) ofc. Like most rebellious children lmao. (My siblings for example lmao) welp they just broke into someone's apartment- lmao that poor kid. Raph is going to kill Mikey for that one if the foot doesn't first lmfao. Noo you can't leave the old (rat) man to figure out technology come on donnie. Bro is that the sword light saber thing from the mando? Wait so are they allies with the potentially the krang guys now? Master splinter had the look tm. Hmmmm I feel like the shredder will somehow survive that. Yep. He'll be back. L.

Bro there's super heros in this too- they'd accept super heros but not our favorite turtle bros? Not very cool new york. Don't make fun of his art :( damn poor mikey. Yes! April support!! Oh no who's this guy. THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS? Oh. Super hero. Lmao in their faces.

"Meep"

There is literally so much lore in this series holy cow

I saw something something "kirby" on screen and damn near exploded. They are nothing alike at all. But man does my brain like to play me like a fool. Man this series was written by a bunch of crystal girls (/neu) oh my god donnie took kirby (the tmnt version) to dreamland /j holy shit kirby fucking died (please know my main coping mechanism is humor) (it's actually kinda sweet to think he's in a land of his imagination!)

[Okay this is so much longer than what my rise one was already omg- I should just close tumblr and give it a rest lmao. Honestly if Casey and Raph first interactions didn't seem so enemies to lovers this would have never happen /hj]

"Of the four of us leo is the one turtle you never have to worry about" *cut to leo fighting like 20 dudes by himself in the rain* Whats with Leo and getting thrown off buildings??

No it's not a great loss they're not dead just like walk through the fire and save them or something o(-( m a n

Wow calling the next one tales of Leo makes it sounds like he's actually dead damn- omg we get turtle tots in this one too this is amazing. The sillies<3 Raph. Buddy. Goofball. ITS OKAY TO SHOW EMOTION (that isn't just anger) COME ON

I was gonna say we need more light hearted goofy episodes like monster hunter but was completely cut off from, and I quote, "Someone once said, "The only difference between men and boys is there size of their toys." " and I am literally jaw dropped to the floor bc I did not take that line well- I am fighting demons rn (trying not to laugh in the middle of the night) I am so thrown off by that line-

Bro why did Leo call Baxter Stockmen a fruitcake💀 I'm sorry- did he just cut shredders head clean off??😭 sorry shredder but there's absolutely no coming back from that one lmao. EXCUSE ME?? well damn I guess there IS coming back from that one. So, not human?

If it weren't for like ninja honor and morals and all that Raph would 100% have these goons dead. Raph goes blind (real) Raph making friends with literally every "hothead" he meets in alley ways (part 2)

Oh these guys are absolutely wack job krang. EWWW NO THEY ARE KRANG D: oh man the boys are in trouble now. Just like give them their dad back and we can allll go home. Why is splinter in the orange juice. They really have no reason to fight. Like. Listen, crazy idea now. Just communicate. OMG THEYRE FUCKING GONE. THEY'VE BEEN DISINTEGRATED.

Okay wowza that's only season 1. 6 more seasons to go- this is going to be one wild ride huh. This show really knows how to keep ya on your feet. All this is doing though is making me wish we got more Rise o(-( how come this wack iterations (/pos) got so many episodes, but rottmnt barely got 2 seasons and a movie?

Starting season 2 same day ofc. I have to binge this show as quickly as humanly possible /hj perhaps I'll try to write less, maybe I'll write even more who knows. Eventually I'm sure I'll hit some sort of limit. This singular post is about to be more words than any fanfic I've ever wrote lmao.

Bros just got reconstructed in space. Mmm the star wars tmnt crossover all us nerds wanted. The guys are always getting into so much trouble 😭 I like how Mikey is more worried about how the colors of the dress clash with his bandana more than the fact its a dress. Based and real. Oh god the blue dude is hitting on Mikey o(-( yeah yeah kick his ass! Oh noo don't get caught. :0 It's chewy but blue! Girlboss Mikey!! Girlboss Mikey!! "You go girl!" Bro I'm dead lmfao. Finally they all have,, GUNS

"The big house" oh man they're going to jail. Oh wow yeah they're in jail. And now they are going to bust out of jail. Wonderful. Damn it Raph. Well dang guess spoons are a weapon. Welp off to the games they go then. Oh boy they've taken a hostage of a dictator. THE ROBOT IS GOING TO KILL HIMSELF?? Okay no he doesn't die (yet?. Hopefully not) Wow they all have horrible aim. It is truly bizarre all the shit the turtle bros get themselves into to. (How many times am I gonna have to say that before I can have a silly goofy episode o(-( ) Also can I say those tube things they have in their mouth for oxygen make no sense- like I can understand how that would actually work properly- I can only imagine it was just the easiest solution (to draw) They look so silly in the space suits /pos. Just makes me wish they would have been given tails in the rise redesign hauls </3 Oop the krang is bringing them back it seems. HOW MANY PARTS ARE IN THIS ONE?? ITS LIKE A WHOLE MOVIE AT THIS POINT LOL. Okay well it's to be continued, but this one is a different part 1, 2, ect. Oooo and now the new yorkers are suspicious. SPLINTS!! HES BACK!! YIPPEE. Ooo wait what they're buddies? Utroms. So um. Not krang? But like. Sorta similar? Do the krang and utroms have like a civil war or something I'm so confused o(-( Oh. My. God. Baxter is a fucking spider. I agree with Mikey I would not go in the pod. Okay okay. So this criminal utrom is gonna be the krang then, right? OMG THE SHREDDER IS THE EVIL UTROM DUDE. BRO. NOW IT ALL MAKES SENSE. BAXTER YOU MOTHER FUCKER. WHY CANT YOU JUST DIE ALREADY. I genuinely can but believe there's 7 seasons. Like. What on earth (or within the rest of the universe for that matter-) could they possible get into after this?? The shredder is literally a roach, how does he keep coming back o(-( at least stockmen is free from his control? Even know he has like just a head left- YIPPEE!! THE BOYS ARE GOING HOME!!

Splinter I have like 27 IQ what's with all the riddles. It's so odd seeing them without their bandana on lol. Raph you don't have to be a jerk all the time smh smh. Leo just happens to be better than all of you half of the time. No big deal- (kinda feel bad for raph and mikey. Mikey mostly. It feels like they don't have anything special:( I mean hell donnie is extremely smart, he's probably the most special. But leo has that edge in combat) Yep family B) *distant punches and screaming*

Oh boy quite the intro. Leo just dies. Right off the bat. /j what. Why does he seek leo o(-( icecream!! Raph seems to like mint chocolate chip! Win! Oh right this guy. Wonder what his deal is- DITTO!! Huh- this is so dumb >:( agreed very over dramatic. Also didn't shredder kinda like,, defeat himself. It was his bomb thing after all. Omg did this dude just portal away in his cape. Metaknight?? Is that you?? /s literally stole mks moves smh. Haha take the L random ninja dude. Now he's the real greatest warrior in the galaxy. Wow this episode is so random lmao I love it. Can the time be right like now- I'm so confused o(-(

The little intro things are so silly. They're like interviews at the beginning. No Casey it's not a date or anything at all nooooo. (I wish it wasn't a date smh get your romance out of my goofy ninja turtles show) dude I kinda feel bad for this robot kid thing. If only the nanobots ended up in better hands. LMAO "and when will you have her home young man?" AS IF YOU ALL ARENT FRIENDS IM CRACKLING. Thank you donnie finally someone wants to help it. NO NO KISSING>:( GO BACK TO BEING SILLY AND GOOFY

Yes you are absolutely always getting into wack ass situation Mikey great observation. Finally someone said it. Noo Mikey is about to be eaten by a giant gator- bros just trying to live and they're messing with him lmao. HUH? Are those like magic glasses o(-( oh no he just talks normally. Just a normal everyday fellow mutant. Swear to God if he's working on a new body suit for shredder- who *somehow* is still alive. SEE RISE RAPH COULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH COOLER WITH A BIG TAIL. YO cool he's a mutant dude too. Wait was he there when the building exploded and all that? Yes. You the one it just scanned fight it first. YEAH GATOR GUY KICK HIS ASS!! Bro,, :( thats so sad what the hell.

This show was absolutely written by a bunch of crystal girls. (/neu (I have a bunch of crystals myself lol)) These guys are insane. Where do they get the funds for all this stuff anyways- damn right you're proud of him. Dude is insane intelligent-

Ooo starting this one with a song huh. The foot? And the wacky tie guy? Oh shit right it's the gang wars episode isn't it- TURF WAR (my brain is impeccably small) [splatoon reference]

Ya know I wonder if these sorts of shows have like idk psychological affects on kids? Like do they leave any sort of impression on them? Are kids who watch these "crime fighting or hero" shows more likely to be "good-do'ers" and have better morals bc they are given an example of the hero and see how the bad guys always lose, have bad endings, and inflict so much pain (and property damage lol). Are these kids more likely to take up jobs like police officers? What even makes a person want to be a cop anyways lol. Idk. Food for thought I guess. All coherent thoughts must go to the mega-post after all.

BAXTER? IS BACK?? AGAIN??? I shouldn't even be surprised anymore.

Honking

Have I mentioned how much I envy their voices sometimes. Bc damn o(-( it's just occasional lines. Here and there. Lmao transmasc things ig.

Bro. Raph. Leo. Stop fighting you dingdongs. Ofc Hun is back. BROS GOING TO BLOW. Karai? Haven't I heard that name before. YOU CANT JUST COME IN HERE AND KILL OFF LEO LIKE THAT LADY. genuinely how do they make this last 7 whole seasons lol

Why are those two dudes like super yellow- I can only imagine this is sorta racist..

I'm sorry is that the shredder?? Broooo. Oh- yeah yeah that makes sense. That's what I was thinking lmao. This is just- dude o(-( would have been cooler if the plan worked. RAPH!! SPLINTER!!!!! God damn it he is actually back. Where is your honor!?

I'm so sorry, Baxter? Uhh that's a bit too far now. Please just kill him off. This is getting ridiculous 💀

Woah the plot twists in this one is crazy fr ZOG NO!! he killed a man in cold blood,, the turtles would have been toast without you Zog. Rip <//3

Uhh I think I skipped one but WOAH TINY ROBOTS ROBBING THE COMIC STORE! They've got the tiny guy. Ofc Don is tracking the old men lmao. Plot twist, the two super heros had,,,, SEX. Win day for Mikey tho let's goooooo.

THE BATTLE NEXUS USED TO BE HONORABLE? Wow splinter is even more of a nut than the boys. BUNNY BOY??? REAL?? I remember absolutely nothing anyone told me about usagi? (I forgor his name) aww splints:( the boys are all grown up. Uh oh. Traximus sounds so close to Draximus which is my dogs name lmao. BUNNY BOY-O IS BACK OMG. omg he's so dumb looking lol. Ooo toffas! The shredder?? Well his helmet anyways. So uh. When do they kiss? (Joke) wait what if splinter and like leo both make it to the very top? Do they just fight each other? Aww donnie:( poor dude he will never live this down lmao. Woah the ninja dude is just as bad as the shredder. L. This guy is so lame. Kill him off! LMAO ofc. Quite the match ups. Mikey sorry you're out lol. Aw splinter you're so cool. Okay that makes more sense tbh- dude is about to get clapped by his son. (Uh killed that is) Oh? Kinda surprised Raph won that. Okay. Ohhh noo. I am so normal about this show (lie) Okay I'm not quite down with this one but I don't see how the ship stands as of now- unless the fandom is literally just clinging on anything we can get lol [boy this is making me what to do a video essay just rambling about this show. Just overall. And some of its themes and topics it discusses. I have my gripes, but I'm overjoyed to watch it still] anywaysss. Uh oh leo! Donnie to the rescue! (Wrong target tho don!) You stupid red haired jerk. Welp big powerful dude is dead. Oop. Wait until raph and mikey finds out what happened. YOU SCUM DONT FRAME THE RAT >:( Usagi the doctor bunny! Mikey! Stop running your mouth! Eep! You red haired mf>:((( stop>:(( ofccc it's the dragon. Uh oh. Uh oh. They don't even get to see what happened to Leo. Lmfao now it's raph and mikey that's hilarious. Oh my God mikey being annoying is a genuine strategy lmfao. This is hilarious. Crackling rn. Raph that's absolutely stupid?! Let's go!!! (Love this trax guy) uh hating this stupid shadow creatures tho. Yippee! Donnie and Usagi saving the day! I can certainly see why everyone loves Usagi. He's such a little critter /pos /aff. Brave Usagi!! Yippee!! NO DONT SKEWER THE RABBIT. Oooo leo! Mikey for the win!! It would absolutely be the most funny outcome. Yeah good! The staff should fight back! Too bad it didn't fight back hard enough. Oh boy a dimensional rift huh? Is kirby coming to eat a car? (Sorry) ((lie)) bye bye red losers! Fall to your own evil plans. WOOOOOOO LETS GO MIKEY!! That's it with Usagi? A bit surprised. The sillies<3 once again mikey is technically the most powerful lol. No- not the dinos coming to invade earth- God that was a long one. See ya in the next!

Hm perhaps it is in fact the end of the world. Donnie D: looks like we're going back to space boys

Raise the stacks? Who is this guy? Wait I thought the justice league knock offs were all old and stuff. This show is so confusing o(-( oh boy they're bringing out the nukes. Oh- do they actually survive nukes? Yes ofc they do. I agree with Mikey. Hand over my happy ending. Damn poor donnie- BRO JUST NINJA-ED HIS WAY OUT OF THAT?? Wow this is going to kill the economy fr. Come on donnie your brothers can totally kick ass (plus they're like not even on earth rn-) oh god they're gonna get shot. Yippee!! Another rebellion dude! Double ship theft. Poor mikey. He just wants credit for all their hard work lol. Did he- did he just come back to earth?- this little bot is a funny guy. Uh oh I think that's the other space nerds isn't is? The,, government? Makes sense. Raphy is such a cute nickname. It's hilarious how he's the one with that kind of nickname since he's the 'hothead' ughhh the American government is here. Leave the space stuff to the mutants please. Oh they're just goons o(-( Uh nvm government? No it is the military? I'm so confused. Why do they have laser guns. Yeah Don that's what I'm saying. Heyyy splints time to go. Yes take them with you and go. Now we fight the US military. WHO IS THIS FREAKY GUY???? ew stop. Bishop. Yeah. More like bitch hop out of here right now. Stop speaking like that. I hate this show. Where is the justice. Well hopefully honeycutt actually like wiped his memory or whatever. This is why you can't trust the government kids. No leatherhead D: stuck in a drawer.. gross. Holy shit I hate this bishop guy. Yall better hurry before they look their DNA and shit (and their lives-) GO SPLINTER JUST LIKE KILL SOMEONE FOR ONCE. (sure it goes against the ninja honor whatever but this guy deserves it!!) HE IS ONE SCUM BAG MAN WHY THE HELL IS HE WINNING??????? Hate this. Someone give raph a gun and permission to kill. Oh boy he IS the system. Rare good side win. Still hate bishop an insane amount. Let's keep in mind these guys are like what 16? The trauma is off the charts o(-( another honorable hero lost o7. This show is so wacky and weird. At least they won? I mean obviously some things are foreshadowed but things are still so unpredictable- I wonder what trouble the boys will get into next. I mean bitch bishop will be back, so will the shredder and the foot. And I guess baxter is to some degree alive??

Oh god who's this guy. A true ultimate power bump? I suppose? Raph this is why we don't cheat in racing. He's a good guy you goons o(-( yay! Old lady to the rescue! Finally a cat that likes Raph. Rise!raph wishes. Um? The train can't really get them right? Plot armor and ninja quickness and all- If anything happens to this old lady I'm coming after everyone myself. Ah yes thinking. A brave new world for mikey. Awww he gave the money to the old lady:D yippee!! Literally the best part of the whole show calling it now. Finding out one of them isn't dead? Cool. Helping this wonderful old lady? Absolutely awesome! I hope raph gets another tea party with her honestly-

And this episode, trauma response, nightmares! Poor LH:( oo the evil turtles are scary. Oh no. Mikey is out- aw:( dudes got landmines fr. I love how they look after each other and joke around <3 the sillies <3 okay back to the saddness- what the fuck why is everyone in this place absolutely wackjobs with no heart and morals??? o(-( YAY!! Can't handle another sacrifice. :) family

Oh boy this one is titled hate. Can only wonder what this is about. They always get into the wackiest situations- lmao never alone april and casey. Bro I thought that was Casey and he got shot- damn- lmfao bro got pants. LMAO I have a solution hate crimers to kick the aliens out of New York we are gonna,,,BLOW UP THE ENTIREY OF NEW YORK. Quite the plan. Uh oh mommy's home casey. Aw Ma likes April. Lmao she found about splinter and the turtles too that's amazing. Ma is another character we must protect at all costs.

BATMAN? nobody?? Huh. Mikey be like mom said it's my turn with the video games >:( lmao. Dudes covered in true black paint lmao. Wow they touch and go guys are back. L. Broooo why are there so many villains in New York. What does the rest of the world do? Do they have villains? Who fights there weird crimes? Villains across the globe be like. Ya know what'd be cool? If we went to new york permanently. Hell yeah he's a someone now. I think Hun is gonna be fired lmao. I think a certain group of everyone's favorite green boys accidently pulled an all nighter lmao.

Uh guys maybe you shouldn't leave casey out at night. MORE TURTLE TOTS!! omg they're so cute. Young casey? Why doesn't anyone remember this? They're so silly. Lmfao they are horrible liars. They're so adorable. They're so goofy omg. This is so silly that's why casey scream goongala or whatever all the time- lmfao theyre all confusing him. It seems like leo and donnie were the first to take any sort of training to heart. They are all still horrible liars tho lmao. Busted~ oh well I guess casey was just sorta a natural in street fighting-

Ooo Christmas episode? Please tell me mikey gets to keep the cat pleaseeee (I'm sure he'll like give em to the kids or something but man it would have been nice) how does clunk say in his coat through all that- oo raph? I didn't think he was the type to be into interfering with people's romantic relationships (trying to make casey and april kiss with mistletoe lmao) I guess it makes sense. Cj and him are the closest. USAGI!!!! what did he say o(-( aww they got swords for each other lmao. I wonder if he will actually use it. Lmao L casey. I too love cookies. Aw:( where's mikey? Just in hot pursuit with the cops no big deal. He's literally causing more harm than good o(-( lmao beautiful. PLEASE LET HIM KEEP THE CAT. Aww. rat santa. Wait does this mean he keeps the cat?????:D

Did she just break his neck- dude stop fighting each other lmao. I wonder who keeps calling donnie? This is the second time now. Dang did they actually train the foot clan this round? Bro:/ stop hitting on the foot lady. B o o m. Karai? Good. That's right. Eventually she'll be on the good side. Confused,, always.

Excuse me. Did master splinter just fucking die as the intro o(-( THE CAT IS HERE!! uh oh. What. Why does Don just know Italian lol. Welp time to fight the dead. Okay so this isn't real. I wonder what this all means? What they fear most? IVE SEEN THIS CLIP WITH RAPH AS SHREDDER BEFORE? HUH? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN. IM SO CONFUSED HELP. Hmm so Leo's is about not like being independent enough? A good enough leader to not need help. A good enough ninja to not get his own father killed for coming to his aid. He fears being a disappointment and a failure. Oh o(-( Uh. Donnies? Maybe afraid of losing those he's meant to protect ig? Having people not listen to his own orders and paying the price.? I'm not really sure on that one. It's a bit confusing and probably could be interpreted more than the others. Mikeys seems tied back to that one deal leo almost made with the shredder. But also a fear with losing his brothers in whole. Raph is clearly afraid of hurting those he loves whether it's directly or indirectly. Probably due to his consistent rash course of action. Those are just my quick theories though! I did drop out of psychology after all lol. What happened to the staff? Ah there it is. What would leo even do with all kinds of power anyways lol. Oh my that must be spooky to watch- oh. Welllll guess it's not dead:/

Oop new guy is finally killing off baxter. Ohh the calls were from her. Damn he doesn't get squashed. Or the calls are from honeycutt. I'm not paying attention enough lmao. Omg they've been shoved into a crate haven't they? Rude. Can't just drop them like that. Let's go professor!! Welp wrong direction oh well at least it's not in the air. Kinda feel bad for karai.

Wow that's a lot of lore. Just out of basically no where lmao. Woah these filler episodes are getting out of hand- bizarre.

Okay. And I thought last episode was crazy. Dude just tried to attack time. Okay,, so that all happened. Wack. How do you think they tell these to splinter? Do..they even tell him? Is it worth trying to explain-

Bro can't bishop just die please. Poor raph is bike is gone. Surely baxter doesn't make it out of this one.

Bro donnie just appeared- oh wow. He's back. They are back? Ohh wait so they do actually tell splinter of all the shenanigans they get into lol. Or some of them at least. Omg so I guess that one time when donnie said during the second nanobots episode that if splinter were evil they would also likely be evil. I guess he was wrong. At least in this universe. The turtles are always the good guys. Omg that's absolutely hilarious mikey really knows how to leave his mark huh?

Good morning all beings and forms huh? I think that one. Wayy better than ladies and gentlemen.

Okay I was gonna comment on raphs more (speaking of the other two, I wonder what these mean? The others so far seemed less harmless than this one, if anything they were enjoyable (sure mikey had to save the world but he loves superheros so) I can only assume donnie will be saving this world, or trying to anyways, or teach someone(s) a valuable lesson (like raph did) I'm just confused as to what part of this could be possibly enjoyable for donnie. I've actually heard a good overview of this episode. Guess I'll actually have to watch the full thing before I come back huh lol. Oop- it's crazy to think in a similar reality they would split up. You would think leo would stay, but it makes senses it's actually mikey. Oh- hes dead. Holy moly they've merged. It kinda makes sense after all that hun and baxter would form a (probably forced) alliance and join the rebellion. Oh. Nvm. They still hate each other lol. Damn donnie better watch his back now- oh my they look worst for wear too. Oop straight to the room it seems. Damn he's huge. Finally! April has a gun! Oh- guess hun is a goner- Mikey? MIKEYYY. AIM FOR THE HEAD DAMN IT. How does leo fight so well blind? Oh damb there goes leo- holy shit this uh doesn't end well does it. Uh? Are they not really dead then? Um. Yay! They did it? Guess he saved this world. Woah. Quite the episode. I wonder why his was so,, bad? He too saved people and taught a lesson. It'll be interesting to see Leo's now.

So leo goes to usagi land it seems (idk where that dudes from sorry-) oh wait so we don't see Leo's part in that one? Just usagi somehow contacting leo and taking him to the battle nexus area. Okay still going with this plot line. Very confused. Oh- what-? Is this for real? o(-( it's so funny to think so one realizes they're ya know green and such when they have clothes on. Uh oh- this isn't good. Why even is Usagi so like loyal to Leo? Maybe it is just some honor thing and this is how a friendship would work. I mean Raph has Casey. Oh dang so he gets all of them at once. Crazy. I guess he would have the most focus. Dang poor donnie- looks like they're a but more powerful than what they thought. Oop- quite the few episodes.

Icky sound I hate it. When can bishop just like idkkk pass away maybe? Please? Hate this guy. Wow he really does get around for an earthling. Uh maybe that's where he got the tech. Evolution? That thing is half robot. Aw he pushed mikey out of the way:( oh god he's ugly. Ew he just disappeared. Let's go honeycutt! Well there is 4 more seasons I'd say they do something right you freaky jerk. Dang conceded much? Can it truly be over with bishop. I really hate this dude. Oh- wish came true? Guess they really hung this guys career to dry then. I'm surely not complaining. Damn. I never win smh.

Oh? Interesting. Ooo he actually got a shot in? Wait isn't donnie and LH in the tunnels?? Oh dang. Brawling moment. How the hell is this bishop dude so good at combat. Huh? He didn't know? I would have thought he knew. Dumb blob. Looks like the end for you. Damn you karai stop being a dumbass. Oh shit donnie. Jump jump jump! Let's not forget this is only the half way point of all this-

Welp to space we go then. Oh god he's got an even uglier body. Does splinter like make it to the finale of all this? WHAT HELLO EXCUSE ME HUH DID THAT REALLY JUST HAPPEN IS LEO OKAY HE MAKES IT RIGHT SURELY THIS IS LIKE TOTALLY FINE RIGHT. Oh man. I am just. I'm gonna need to pace around the room. Wow Karai finally using your brain here. Leo? Man:( honor to the end huh. I just want to know how they actually survive all this. Bc if they do surely the shredder does too. YES UTROM!! THANK YOU. Too bad bishop didn't magically end up on the ship. Wish he would die too lol. Wow this dude has caused so much harm. Finally. Dude is gone. Too bad Karai. You could have stopped this yourself. Woah this is great. Rare turtles win:) really should have just totally killed that evil blob tho. Would have been easier and for the better- lol they're gonna need a new intro now.

Well shit they can just never catch a damn break- oh sweet yeah new intro. I guess shredder is really gone then? Who is this weirdo. Ofc wack job has a gun. Oh my God they've put Raph in the closet. Lmfao. That's perfect. Uh oh mikey. Hard to fight with no legs. Finally some good luck lol. Hell yeah you are all that and a bag of chips mikey B) lmfao. I need to see donnie with more winning one liners. Nightie night dragon boy bam! (I don't mention enough how much I love 03 donnie. Hes just a funky lil guy.) Lmfao the little doodle. I haven't been keeping proper track of my favorite episodes but I'd say this is one of them. S4E1. Let's go ninja April!! Raph you're such a butthead lmao. Aw that's cool. What would they do with a bunch of money anyways?

There's no such thing as boring around here mike. Omg I just noticed. Usagi is in Leo's little intro thing. Perhaps I can see where the fandom is coming from with these two. Damn. Leo:( omg casey you dork. Uh oh- can't even watch the stars around here smh smh. Woah raph stopping leo from hitting something? The universe has shifted lmao. Why so many flowers o(-( (does he stink? Eh probably) Dude just got picked up like bird food. Amazing burnt pancakes. The sub plot love story is really coming together. Dude mikeys legs will never heal at this rate- oop into the bubble you go weird crazy blue lady. What? Interesting gift ig? But a gift nonetheless?

Man leo:( always so hard on yourself. He's definitely got that leader syndrome. Uh fish lady? Oh more of those ancient people. "Where we could spawn" excuse me- how do they stay under water that long. Leo's shell :( I didn't notice the slice until now. Oh god I didn't know those things were called "dikes" it sounded like donnie was calling me a slur 😭 "Um, just a little guy in-" nope cut. Stop right there. You are in fact just a little guy. End of sentence /aff yeah idiot. The turtles are good do-ers! Lil fish people live!

Hm?. Leo going out without the bros. But bringing casey? This is a bit confusing. I agree with case he's definitely be eating out of raphs bowl a little too much. No one thinking for you blue one. What has gotten into him anyways:/ Leo's lost his mind. Was that the sound of bones breaking? I'm sorry has he actually gone nuts? Oh boy whats in the ice crate. Agreed what on (totally not) earth? Oh creepy demon thing. Why does the military have that beast anyways- damn I'd just leave if I were Leo. Looks like they've got their hands full anyway. Ew- oh. He's in two pieces. Leo actually goes insane (real) oh. That thing is a test subject ain't it. Oh god that's nasty. What is this show rated- they don't show much blood violence but uh body gore is in the table- do you think Leo's shell ever heals all the way? Ouch- Bishop you whore. Well damn looks like everyone knows the boys are back in town. Aw:( that's so sad dude. Everytime I see bishop I hate him even more.

Is that the clone thing guy? That the turtles took out? Yeah I'd say so. Mikey is so goofy /pos. That's a lot of rats- oh no mike- this ain't good. It's the damn rat king. How does this guy control the dang rats anyways o(-( the boys are going home with a million and a half diseases tonight- that whole building is going down. Leo stop trying to take things by yourself it's not going to redeem yourself. I agree with raph. Something has definitely gotten into leo. Oh my God that's so many rats. Gone to the rats. The like one million rats. Why didn't the rats eat him. I'm so confused. What does he even have to do with rats??

Oh boy mikeys gotta do a rematch. Huh? Are they training or actually fighting leo?? Oh okay training. Lmfao mikey. Aw even all the shit he talks about mikey he's still the first to jump in and save him. Sore loser much? LMFAO poor mikey. Okay so like really what's with leo. Doesn't he technically still have a match in the battle nexus? Sureee "play". Dude might actually kill mikey. Nope I think he is in fact talking about himself. Mikey o(-( you have to be serious. Damn- very VERY sore losers. Dude is speaking in key board smashes. Holy moly what a jerk. Mikey is going to have rights to gloat after this one. (So will leo honestly) LETS!! GO!! MIKEY!! Lmfaooo yeah they are never hearing the end of this. This is hilarious.

What just happened to splinter? What's with the water o(-( OH NO KLUNK! You are not about to tell me that poor little cat drowns:( no klunk:((( that was so uncalled for:( ew people. BISHOP YOU BASTARD YOU KILLED KLUNK. YOU WILL KNOW PAIN. yeah maybe a bit of a show off- DUDE- what the fuck is wrong with this damn bishop guy. Dude. Casey and April are basically dead without their plot armor. Shredder,,,,,, no way. He can't be real. This must be a trap. They've made mock robots before. Down to damn soup cans. This is not my silly little turtle show. Perhaps this is a vision. Oh wow he is good. The element ninja things? I've seen faint things about an early version of the mystic powers in 03. Is this how they get it? Klunk is okay:D Karai you bitch why are you like this.

Have I mentioned how much I absolutely hate bishop? That creep isn't fully human is he. No wonder bitch boy is so good at combat. Oh no that goop is not going to be good for the sewers.

Lmfao splinter. Read em and weep boys. Aw klunk. Raph is really rubbing off on Leo huh.

Uhhh idk where I left off here or if what I had saved. Uhh anyways! Yippee casey you actually used your thinking skills! Oh shit it sounds like hun broke raphs arm- uh oh. Have I mentioned how funny it is they replace cuss words with "shell" it's hilarious (to me). Lmfao donnie with the missiles! Casey. Remember what raph taught you. Your honor. Or what your dad said ig. Oh boy. Gotta have some wicked on the fly driving skills huh donnie- yes you are amateurs. You're like 16- damn leo is going off- aw he's gonna visit his dad:( wait did they just leave leo? Awww dude:(

Oh it's that nobody guy again? Oop- lmao poor mikey. Always getting slapped upside the head lol. Dude looks wack in the shadows lmao looks like xray might be in trouble- lmfao mikey in the dress again /pos. This isn't good for xray. Yeah everyone needs to packing! (But as transmasc reference) the gang shit in 03 goes insane fr o(-( it's so funny how absurd everyone's aim is. Let's go xray. Uh. Doesnt jencko still have a gun? Who let all these thugs have such high tech weapons- uh oh- he's nobody>:) success! Lmfao he's still in the dress. Ugh hun. Oh wait wasn't she supposed to go to jail?? Wonder what they're hiding in that statue. Karai can't you just like turn to the good side. Where's your honor? (Or morals for that matter-)

Halloween episode!! Shell yeah!! (Lol) I also love Halloween:D but uh for different reasons lmao. Ofc they ruin Halloween too- lmfao raph just stabs his pumpkin. Ofc donnie uses the laser. Uh oh werewolf. And a witch and uh pumpkin king? Uh- what if it wasn't a costume. How could he be so sure before he sliced at his face o(-( couldn't he have just paid for it? Like- agreed. Carmel apples are yummy. Lmfao. Looks like raph and mikey sorta get their way? Leo stop being such a downer smh. Aw:( that's so cute. Ooo-kay. Lol. So silly how they always managed to get involved in all this. Was the door too good for them o(-( ooo fun fact. Good pearl necklaces actually have knots between each bead to protect the pearls while wearing and in the case of a weak string snap very little pearls will fall off. So a good quality pearl necklaces should not snap and go everywhere like that:) little creepers. Aw don. How powerful are their kicks? Oh dudes made of stone. Yeah:) they are nice kids:) little nicer than what you'd like officer-

Wow good quote actually. Looks like we get more usagi! Excited to see what he does this time. Agreed. Leo is losing it. Geez mikey really laying it down hard huh? Saying it as it is- raph should totally train his temper lol. Miyamoto? Haven't I heard that name before? Lmfao. Why does he have shades on? Maybe they just can't handle the light of the city. Why is leo separate from the group:l bounty hunter? Why is everyone after leo- damn. You would think more people would be after mikey. Champ of the battle nexus and all. Damn how does bunny boy read him like an open book- time to trauma dump. Maybe this is why people think he's gay /lhj. Man rabbit got some trauma of his own. HA even got big guy scared. Usagi is not impressed lmao. Casey to save crazy rhino. Raphs gonna slap him for that lmao. Uh oh. Lmao they're just in the window. Oh no. Ooh Leo's got the look in his eyes fr. Leo o(-( oo little spin move there. God Leo stop being such a hard ass o(-( move on. Crazy. Even splinter sees Usagi has a special bond with Leo. Hope I get to see him in more future episodes. Aw damn mikey lost all his comics- guess he'll have to train now lmao.

Answers to what you fool o(-( damn Leo. Maybe you should listen to your family dingdong. And your closest friend. Raph:( Leonardo dude.. guess he's getting shipped off- man the bros looks so concerned for him. Lmfao they called him a poopy face ha- Yeah he is a bit cranky. Think about the proper response. See! Think dumbass! Crazy to think he goes off on his own like this. Wow this little dude is uh? Something else lol. Did this dude really train yoshi? I have a feeling that's the plot twist. Why does this guy fart so much lmao. This is gonna be some journey for leo huh? Oh? Interesting. Finally all that just to comes to terms with something- well now I can only wonder if Leo will be back in time for the next event in new york. By the looks of it he's got a few episodes away first.

Oh. Yikes- Guess they aren't taking too easy to that. TWO MONTHS?? HELLO? That's so long:( what does kumquat mean?- shredder? No no wait karai. Dumb bitch. Oh shit. What are you doing in my house? What are you doing in my house???? /ref. Ugh foot scum. It's Karai bc she's dumb and a jerk. God damn you Karai. How is this honorable? HMMM? Damn all their stuff is totally gone after this:( how could you>:( damn you. Oh damn oh damn oh damn. Man o(-( honestly they probably should have stuck together. How were they preped underwater too- that more kitty:( it's so adorable how much mikey cares for klunk<3 damn- a bit much don't you think?- I love klunk a normal amount (lie) drilling out of here- damn can just never catch a break. Wow. Woooowwww. Great honor KARAI you asshat. >:( why is everyone so mean- um- what- what the fuck- WHAT. you know what I'm honestly surprised that she let april go. Honestly.

KICK HER ASS LEO. Ughhhhh I want to scream and pace around the rooommmm. Poor guys man:( just let them live in peace. I want my happily ever after please- aw leo found them all:) ughh leo leoooo why couldn't you just make this a supply run:/ wow leo a lot more noble than what I could have been- personally she didn't deserve mercy. I can only hope she uses this last chance for good. Though I can only have my doubts. Aw a gift :) how sweet.

I knew it. Bitch shop is part alien tech. Which is why he's even good at fighting in the first place. Oh god- Yeah I honestly for the worst for donnie everytime something gets destroyed. He puts so much time and effort into his work. Poor guy:( ewww what is that. Nasty. Agreed I too hate bugs- vile. Ewww. I might skip this one- ew didn't think I'd be getting nightmare fuel from tmnt but here we are ig- and I thought the krang stuff in rise was bad. Ain't seen nothing yet huh- Bug bite?? That can not be good. Isn't that alien language? I bet bishop has no issue hacking into any computer,, oh? April's uncle huh. Wow these people are fantastic. Is this real- in my 2003 tmnt? Peace? I see. Ofc it was too good to be true. How did she just remember all that- gross the bugs are back.

If baxter wasn't so absolutely insane I'd almost feel bad for him. Something bad happens to his mom doesn't it. Gross- ewww his finger. Dude you're like melting rn and you go to revenge?? Dude is deranged. You can't let your traumas define you stockman. So uh who's maning the helicopter? Man. *almost* feel bad. I love how donnie just steals stuff from the enemy every few mission's lmfao. Love that guy.

Omg donnie is a dinosaur guy. Woah they look so goofy. Okay he's been "under the weather" a couple times now. Holy shit what is this foreshadowing- nothing good I'm sure and probably something to do with that bug bite. Lmao they got scared. Wha- even splinter is fed up with their bull shit lmfao. Saved by a sneeze lmao. Also imagine if mikey actually changed history with the potato chips- think we scared it off? Nope. Think something really horrible is coming now? Yep. DUDE. LMAO. poor bros literally can't catch a break. Wow donnie! You've saved humanity! Again! (Except your brothers didn't die this time) ((man same as it never was goes insane-)) what. They just. They're just gone for 3 whole months. Damn- lmfao. They just be wildin ig.

Oh? Yoshi seeking revenge? Not exactly the honorable thing to do. Mikey lmfao. Raphs in trouble with splinter lmao. Story time story time!! Gender? Doesn't matter. Can you kick ass? -raph, probably. Yoshi is a natural so it seems. I wonder what happens to his friend in this. Aw. They are brothers now. Aw she cared for the rats. Tang<3 oop. Why does love have to get in the way of good relationships. They take the girl don't they. Mortu! Guardians hm? They are so going to take up the position anyways- more jealousy between the boys. Not gonna be good- Wouldn't they kinda be sister and brothers tho? Uh. He doesn't actually kill her over this right- Wooooww. Okay. That's lame dude. Shredder is just everywhere. Dude. All this over a girl. L. I wonder how old the ancient one is. Wow splinter is a reminder of failure- odd name. Interesting. Oh? What's he doing? What is this thing? Things? Huh o(-( oh boy. Sounds like trouble is nothing else.

What. What happened to donnie? Donnie and that massive brain of his. Saving the whole world and shit. Where Don then- Is that donnie? wow casey actually cleans up? Ah he's still sick. Hopefully this isn't some sort of horrible plot point. Surely he'll be totally fine. Damn poor Casey and April. They wanted to go out lmao. Never a break in new york city. They really do relentlessly bully mikey lmao. Ew god no. Tmnt is not immune to some light body horror huh. Oh boy they in area 51 fr. Did they save stockmen? Oh- bad idea dude- go get the guys o(-( why does he look like that? Ooo I wonder if that's where they got the idea for rise raphs plastron. Damn now they gotta fix donnie. I knew this cold was so much more than just a cold. Lmfao guess mikey isn't the biggest fan of case. Leo's just like. For fuck sake. Lmao. Raph deserves an F word pass from nick. Damn:( Leatherhead is so sweet dude. Geez. What do they do now? Wow. Bishop I to am going to ram my foot so far up your ass for this.

Damn bro. I mean plot armor and all ofc they get him back. INVISIBLE FLOOR TILES? (DR/UT reference) I kinda thought this was gonna be a call from the boys. So uh. Who's this bastard? Karai why are you so annoying. It's funny to see area 51 talked about outside of that one 2019? 2020? 'Storming' of area 51 lol. Hell yeah "convince" this bitch. (I hate him with a passion). Wait did the cloaked thing have to do with the basement things from ancient one? At least see what the hell is wants first o(-( how do we know he will actually help donnie? Ughhhh. DONT YOU DARE. God I hate bishop. Man this has got to be rough for leo. And the rest of them ofc. They can't just leave donnie with these monsters:( bishop really is making a deal with the devil. He is so evil. Ofc he lied. What an asshole. They're busting in to foot hq (again) uh oh. The things they're about to do for donnie- I wish people cared about me to even a faction of that degree lmao. Oh? Did the element dudes send the message? God bishop is so fucking annoying. Raphs gonna have fun with this one. "Crud" please just let them say fuck. Lmao. Man can they really handle this alone? And without that one sword. Interesting. This whole thing is one big confusion. BOOM. What does it do? Fucking communicate maybe 💀 are the elite magic? Oh? Interesting. LMAO RAPH. Uh oh. This ain't good. Dude. Talk maybe? Tell him what it is even?? Say how horrible bishop is perhaps??? Ofc they fulfilled their side. Anything for their brother. I hate this guy so much. At least explain what it does. Let's fucking go leatherhead!! Brilliant!! What a fantastic character LH is. Totally not much trouble at all. Certainly. If it were not for LH and donnie getting mutated (again) none of that containing the outbreak would have been possible. Wait? So what did that do then? Set the elements free? Yeah. Welp they're smart I'll give them that. Omg they're gonna bring that blob back?? Oh shitttt.

Magic tree man? Self healing magic tree man? With honor?? Uh? Maybe? "You tried to eat my leg" lmfao mikey is so offended by that. Even with all the angsty chaos I'm glad there's still lots of humor in this show. (Probably the only thing that keeps me coming back lmao. I couldn't handle pure angst. 2003 mikey I'm convinced absolutely enjoys wearing dresses. Or at the least flowy clothing. OOP- raph just tackles him off the building- ooo. It's interesting what they are able to build (and then build again-) down under new york. Oh? Ancient one? Again? What has begun again? Aww. They are brothers your honor. Oop. Doesn't feel too good anymore. Hm. Lmao mikey is just goofing off. It's hilarious how they play back. I can only assume these are those elemental guys? I wonder why they're doing this? Did they just want to beat them up? Oh? Where are they gonna take them? Interesting? Sounds a little odd too pin them against each other though if you need warriors you would think you'd want them all alive. Aw. We love good dad splinter. So confused. Hm. Where are these other four from then? I am beyond confused. OOOO WAIT will the brothers get their mystic powers (or 03s equivalent anyways) through this? Why does splinter need to save them? What do they know that the bros don't? Why is this show so bat shit crazy and confusing o(-(

One more season down. Honestly. I'm not sure what my favorite episodes are. I certainly like some more than others though. And I definitely and not looking forward to this being all over.

Oh I see. So they've gotten like save the entire universe again I see. Honestly I'd say, even as weird as they are, they're like the utroms and possible on the good side. Wait why exactly do they look like the shredder then? Or how would the shredder know of them then? Where's the fifth? Looks like there should be a fifth? And the underside down foot symbol? OMG DONNIE you nerd /affectionate. I can definitely see some reference taken from here for rise. This show wildin. Fr. They really just go head first into any fight huh. Bro joi is gone- Um. Okay. Um. Uh.. alrighty then! Wow this show is a lot!

Starting to look like being a skilled ninja is not all that cool anymore lmao. Donnie is a man of science and does not understand this dude lmao. Damn it mikey o(-( "oops" DUDE this show omg. Anri for raph. Inazuma for Mikey. Byakko for donnie. Banrai for raph actually? Wait what happened to Leo's? Wait what about leo D: mike. I swear. BRO IS A FUCKING BEYBLADE?! Don is a tornado. So Leo can just use others weapons? Orrr not- My oh my does this just like. Wow.

I am blinking rapidly. Alright so saki was a good guy at one point? Is this the like same blob we are talking about here?? Wow. Well. I think this is enough confusion for one night I'll pick this back up in the morning. I viewed the thumbnails for the upcoming seasons. It seems season 7 sees an art style change? And we are left on a cliff hanger. I'm honestly not sure if it's worth continuing. So the odd look humans are now god like fantastic. Wait he just becomes a dragon? How does he recover from this to go to new york?- dragon fight! (I- I guess) so I'm guessing the boys will have to learn to form laser beams out of their hands too.

So are we gonna ever get am explanation as to why Leo never got his weapon? Come on raph I've seen you become a beyblade you've got this. It makes sense how donnie got it so easily but Leo? Not getting it? Aw they really needed that support. Damn. Poor splinter:( aw donnie is just talking about his projects back home. Mikey is just sonic now. I wonder what they all will become. Leo? Also a dragon! I knew it. This still doesn't explain why he doesn't get a weapon lmao. Woah. Just the projector image of Leo's dragon melts them- It seems they wanted them to take all the pieces. In all fairness it does seem kinda dumb to keep them all together.

Dude what happened to being immortal? And like. Shouldn't they have some form of communication to tell the others to stop? Devour of dreams? Sounds like a kirby boss. So the sword was meant for leo? This is so strange. Did he know he was going to die this whole time? What. How did that just happen? Damn. They really can't have shit huh?😭 the five gumbas lmao. So they just totally killed that quiet "immortal" guy. Why did they get the most annoying voices lmao. Bro :'0 dude. What the fuck man o(-( kinda lame how these all powerful ninjas were taken out so quickly. Oh? 03 leo has portal powers too? (Sorta)

I'm gonna be honest. Despite a few small things (and how hard leo is on himself) I absolutely adore the 03 gang. I'm disappointed it's all serious shit all the time though. Sure there's a bit of goofing around and such. But not at the same level I was under the impression I'd get. I suppose this is a different iteration. Some people actually prefer the silliness to stay very limited. I don't know. I guess litte mx. doesn't like violence should stay out of cartoons with lots of action hm?

Lmfao mikey was so ready for this day. God why don't they just say sparring or training or just like roaming around idk- I've read one too many fanfics to take "blowing off steam with _" seriously o(-( man last thing we need is nanobots in stockmens hands. See silly little episodes<3 limited fighting for their lives at least-

Ah. Terrifying. Karai? Right what is she doing here? Feels like a bit of a time skip- right a dream. I've always known Karai had good in her. See this is the kind of shit that happens when chaos wins the splatfest. Smh. Damn it Karai. Welp. Guess you die now. Damn well. Looks like saving donnie is the end of the world but him dying is also the apocalypse. Interesting. Don't. Don't mercy this thing. Don't. No. Ugh. She fell for it. Damn starting to hate this things more than bishop. How are they gonna banish the shredder again tho? After all of this is finished? If the ninja tribunal had to watch over his body forever won't they suffer the same fate? But how? Dude was dead o(-( how does that work?

[moxfirefly]

So I’ve been working on this for a little while now after a comment @supershiny-raven left on one of my post. I present to you:

How the others find out you and the turtles are dating.

Raphael entered the Lair with you in his arms. His brothers stumbling by him, Leonardo actually tripping.

The gang had gone to drink at Vern’s fancy penthouse, a round of drinks had turned to four and before anybody had common sense he had broken out his fancy wine collection.

That had truly been everyone’s undoing.

Yours as well.

Raphael the tank had pretty much only gotten buzzed, even more so upon seeing your state he figured he needed to somehow get you and everyone else home safe and in one piece.

“Where do we dump Donnie?” April had one of his arms slung over her shoulder while Mikey had his other, they had quickly found out the purple banded terrapin was a fan of wine. “Whatever is flat and comfortable, you think you can manage him and Leo?” Raphael nudged his older brother who had dozed off while resting against the couch.

“Yeah yeah brah, we totally-“ He unceremoniously let his brother fall on the nearest cot, poor April taken along for the ride. “Shit, sorry girly”

Raph shook his head, you groaned stirring awake and tightening your hold on him. Raph was basically carrying you with one arm beneath your rear. Making his way towards his room he gently placed you on his bed and set about the task of removing your shoes. “Hey hey mister, I got a boyfriend” You squinted at the large terrapin at the end of the bed.

“Yeah I heard, lucky guy gets to put ya drunk ass to bed, where’s your makeup bag baby?” He got up when you half hazardously pointed at the dresser.

Pushing yourself up a little on your elbows you watched him gather your face creams and a pack of makeup wipes. He sat back down but next to you and motioned towards his lap. “C’mere, let’s get your face off” You giggled when he manhandled you onto his thigh and took out the wipes. Slowly and in the most excruciatingly loving way Raphael set out to wipe off your makeup. Each stroke removing foundation and eyeshadow, you mumbled something he somehow understood in your inebriated state. “Yeah yeah I got ya kid” With all the careful dexterity he developed over time, he gently removed your eyelashes.

“Somebody has been paying attention” You giggled, feeling the buzz in your body shift into grogginess. Raphael looked inside the bag, adding some cream to your face to hydrate it. He examined his work, a lazy smile as he caressed your face. It felt bizarre he could actually do this, touch a beautiful girl and do something so silly as help them out with their face routine. The two of you had been rather quiet about your relationship, enjoying it all to yourselves.

“Ya were the cutest drunk at that party” He ran his knuckles across your chin, You smiled sleepily lifting up enough to catch his lips in a languid kiss.

The door creaked open and there stood April, her own slightly drunk face breaking out into a sweet smile. The two pairs of eyes that landed on her read ‘get out’ and ‘keep your mouth shut’ slowly April backed up nodding with a giggle.

Then there was a ruckus of what Raphael only assumed was April tripping and Leo drunkly laughing his ass off.

____________

Michelangelo

Oh he was screwed.

So insanely screwed.

How could he misplace something he kept on his person so diligently?

Mikey turned over everything he could in his room, currently he had done just that with the mattress but to no avail.

His phone was missing.

His phone with that very scandalous polaroid you’d taken for him.

Mikey had nearly passed out when you gifted him the picture and to his delight he had stuck the polaroid on the back of his phone in its clear phone case. He kept his phone on him all the time, sure he’d have to be a little sneaky about placing it down but he could manage.

Now though? He was about to have a coronary.

Okay, currently in this disaster there was no trace of it. This meant he’d have to scavenge the living room.

Where his family was.

Mikey swallowed and scurried out with a silent prayer that it would there.

Raphael and Leonardo were currently watching a basketball game. They seemed pretty engrossed and perhaps wouldn’t notice that he was scouring the ends of the earth for his actual girlfriend’s literal boobs. He peaked aglance at the couch, his large brothers had to take up so much space to make it worse.

“What are you looking for?” Came Donnie’s voice from the kitchen. The orange banded turtle froze, he tried giving him a nonchalant shrug. “Just checking how I can give Raph a wedgie ya know” Donnie raised a brow ridge, mug of coffee to his lips.

“I double dare ya numbnuts, the Knicks are down ten points and I’m pissed” Raph grunted as the opposing team landed another shot and Leo sighed exasperated with the outcome. His eldest brother got up thankfully which allowed him to take a look at the that side of the sofa. To his dread but relief there wasn’t anything.

Where the fuck was his phone?!

“Hey snot face, can ya order a pizza?” Raph grumbled as the game seem to worsen, a pizza could fix up his mood. Mikey frozen, mouthing a series of ‘shit shit shit’ as he frantically looked around.

“Oh man that would fix this terrible game, can you order it with extra bacon too?” Leo went straight to the fridge to grab something to drink. “Order some cheesy sticks too will you?” Donnie asked as he poured himself another mug of coffee.

Yes all of this sounded wonderful and his stomach did grumble but

HIS GIRLFRIENDS BOOBS.

Raph had scooted further to grab his own soda from the coffee table and just as he did he saw his phone. Relief washed over him but to his immense dismay and terror, the back of his phone was facing up. Which means the clear case he had was displaying the infamous polaroid he had been gifted.

You had simply asked him one thing.

‘Please don’t let your brothers see my tits’

It all felt slow motion, his eyes going wide, his hand diving to the couch and just as he did, Raph’s quick reflexes kicked in unfortunately and he turned to grab his youngest brothers wrist. “Ya ain’t giving me a wedgie man!!”

Raph’s eyes followed Mikey’s hand and then his eyes bugged out.

“Why are there titties on the sofa?!” Raph made for the phone but only got a face full of pillow cushion. He snatched the phone before it could be grabbed by anybody else. The red banded brute grinned as his brother hugged the phone to his chest. “Advert your gaze you perv!” Mikey all but shrieked.

“I’m not the one walking around with a titty pic as my phone cover” Raph grinned, just to make matters worse Leo and Donnie had gathered.

“Mikey why are you walking around with a random porn pic on your phone cover” Came Donnie’s disapproving tone.

“It’s a polaroid” Was all Raph needed to say.

The silence that fell was brief, then a series of ‘ooh’s’ sounded off and Mikey all but frowned and felt his cheeks heat up.

“No way! That can’t be...” Leo was incredulous. The relationship between Mike and you had remained rather on the down low. It was fun, a little secret away from the world that could stay between the two of you.

“Mikey, are you and y/n a thing?” Donnie asked exactly what the rest wanted to know but Mikey dreaded to answer. He sighed dramatically and tucked his phone into his pocket, shooting Raph a glare as his green eyes followed the motion.

“Listen dudes she made me promise that nobody would see that picture and I’ve already broken that cardinal rule thanks to this jerk face” He frowned at Raph, who in turn rolled his eyes.

“Well maybe keep the picture in your wallet or your room?” Leo sipped his soda with a matter of fact tone.

“Or as a background on your phone cause honestly man” Donnie smiled to himself when Mikey shot him an incredulous look. “Why’d she give you that?” Raph inquired sneakily with a smirk.

“For our three month anniver- AH YOU DICK” Mikey huffed out as Raph began to laugh, it was so easy to trick Mikey when one played their cards right.

____________

Donatello

Investigating could take a toll on anybody, even if by all means you weren’t a detective it still didn’t mean you wouldn’t find yourself researching and investigating crime. It seems to be part of the job description when you befriend four giant crime fighting terrapins.

In away you could help, you did.

Everyone had huddled around the living room, the coffee table littered with pictures, clues and all sorts of pieces of evidence that could possibly lead to the culprit they were trying to catch. You had set down a stack of papers, eyes already screaming for a break. Leo and Casey were at the kitchen talking, Casey had just clocked out and was reporting back what the nights investigations had gathered. Raph and Mikey were checking out the pictures Casey had brought over and Donnie naturally was researching on a laptop he’d placed there.

You had nudged him to come over and join the huddle, and secretly you just wanted him close. The two of you were dating, quietly and unannounced, but in those first few stages of just wanting to be glued to one another it was a little difficult to do said glueing.

On a few occasions with prying eyes preoccupied with their investigating, you had reached over to rub his cheek, his sleepy eyes spoke greatly of how tired he felt. Donnie had been at this already for a while, you’d been there with him along the way.

With a stretch of his arms, Donnie yawned and rolled his neck. The clock on your phone read 3:45am, he was due for a nap at the very least. “Why don’t you lie down, I can keep helping out here” You reached over again and took off his glasses, he smiled tiredly but shook his head. “I’m fine, I can keep going” Despite his entire body language screaming otherwise, Donnie would always soldier on.

By the time another hour passed, people consumed enough Coffee to give themselves an additional pulse (and somebody committed the mistake of giving Mikey said coffee) the investigation had died down. A few walls were hit but a few leads had come from it as well. Everyone was ready to call it a night (or morning).

Casey yawned, twisting his neck to let out a few pops. “Okay who’s staying and who’s coming with me?” By the sounds of April softly snoring against an equally happily snoring Raph, it seemed she would stay. Casey had a few hours of sleep to catch on before heading for his next shift and you had to preoccupy yourself with the same before tackling a night shift at your job. Donnie’s tired eyes expressed how he wanted you to stay over but he knew work was closer to your place.

“I guess I’m carpooling with you” You told Casey, already grabbing your jacket and bag. A quick hug to Leo and Mikey, a bow to a recently awaken Splinter and you were next to Donnie.

He’d been sitting on the kitchen table, arms crossed and looking closer to being k.o’d.

It was the sleep deprivation honestly, on both your behalves.

Because you had spread your arms for a hug and so had he, but your face had met in the middle and before either of your foggy brains could comprehend what was happening you had smooched him.

On the lips.

For about a minute.

Minute and a half honestly.

You both froze, the awake members of the family staring with raised brows. Donnie furrowed his brows, lips pursed in a thin line, you still had your own in a kissing motion.

“Well at least we solved one mystery tonight” Spoke Mikey with a snicker, Leo nudged him.

Donnie sighed by shrugged. “Not exactly how I wanted to announce this so yup, I’m her boyfriend, she’s my girlfriend, please hold all inquires for a later time when I’m actually awake” He pulled you in again for a hug, and another kiss (greedy boy) and instructed Casey to deliver you home safely.

With a blush but albeit happy look on your face you waved everyone off.

___________

Leonardo

Keeping a relationship quiet had never proven to be so difficult. Truthfully it came easier when the circle of people surrounding you was bigger, but a close knit one? Everyone suddenly had the powers of observation up to God level.

But Leo’s ninja skills were God level too and you knew how to keep your trap shut and not sigh like a love struck teenager every second you saw him. So it had gone good, real good for a while. The thrill of maybe sharing an intimate kiss while others we’re around was a sensation you never expected to enjoy. When it was time to leave, Leo would ‘walk you’ home safely and by ‘miracle’ run into a few thugs on his way back.

Because there’s no reason a brisk ten minute walk to your apartment should turn into an hour and a half.

Raph wasn’t buying but cared little to stick his nose into it. Donnie was too busy to bother. Mikey had an idea but decided due to bro code not to voice it.

His father though?

Splinter knows what’s going on because well, he’s Splinter. You live long enough with four giant sons all with their unique personalities and traits, you pick up a thing or two about parenting pretty easily.

And Splinter is a phenomenal parent.

Both Father and Mother to his sons.

So naturally he’s irked that his eldest is sneaking out at odd hours and trying to conceal his return. Because Splinter feels that out of all four, Leo has always been the most open with him. Once Raph hit those pre-pubescent mood swings, Donnie began to teach himself all matter of subjects and Mikey was too busy trying to set a new record of heart attacks to give his father while skateboarding; Leo always remained the same.

Even with all the acolytes Leo has achieved in his ninjutsu training, he still had his hiccups and his father would never spare the opportunity to turn into a teaching moment.

So when Leo had kissed you passionately on his way out of your window, you still in nothing but the skin that he had dedicated a fair amount of time in kissing and bitting. He thought he was being slick, he thought he was going to ninja his way into the Lair, into the showers and straight to his bed.

What he didn’t account for was his father waiting up on him. A mug of hot tea on the kitchen table and hands clasps together in what Leo recognized all to well as ‘Dad Mode’.

He’d been caught with the proverbial hand in the cookie jar. His gear was half hazardously on, mask slipped down around his neck and for Christ sake he was holding a shoe. It was 6:30am and he smelled like a girl, a pretty girl no less. The jig was up, especially when his dad motioned for him to come forth and seat opposite him at the kitchen table.

“Dad I can ex-“ Splinter held up a finger and pushed the mug of tea towards his disheveled eldest son.

“My son, I am not angry” Which was truthful, he wasn’t, in fact he was ecstatic that Leo had found somebody, somebody good and somebody that loved him for he has. Long ago he had accepted the pain that his sons would not find suitable partners and the ache it would come with for them. But here was Leo, nervous and trying to adjust his clothing because he’d been with a woman, a woman he clearly loved.

“I like y/n, she is kind, thoughtful and caring to us” Splinter emphasized each trait with a tap of a long nail on the table. “She should be treated with respect, I hope I have instilled that teaching unto you, a lady is to be respected Leonardo” Leo nodded at his fathers words, he nodded and prayed that the underwear he had stuffed into his pockets wouldn’t magically transport on the table to further humiliate him.

“So please my son, do not lie to me, do not come home late in this state and not expect me to know what has transpired” Dad voice was on, coupled with the sympathetic eyes though, man Splinter was good at this shit.

Leo hung his head, clearly ashamed of his dishonorable doings. “Hai, sensei” Even as an adult being scolded by his father never stopped hurting.

“And please do tell her that there isn’t anything hide, she is welcomed in our home, I would not mind getting to know my future daughter in law a little bit more” Splinter enjoyed the way his son nearly choked on his tea.

“Perhaps I can tell her a few anecdotes of your growing up” He smiled when Leo looked at him with pleading eyes. “I believe I have a few embarrassing ones she will find most delightful” He stood up and placed a hand on his sons broad shoulder. “I’m sorry dad, sorry for sneaking around and not telling you” He was earnest in his words and Splinter bowed his head.

“I know, thank you Leonardo” He walked away, hands behind his back.

Leo sighed and pulled out his phone, shooting you a quick text.

-so my dad wants to formally meet you... as in introduce you as my girlfriend.

It felt nice to hit send on that message.

[frosteee]

TMNT 2003: The Cute Moments (Ep. 1, S. 1 - Part 1)

I have now made it my mission in life to show all tumblr every cute moment in the '03 TMNT series (according to me). Way too many people seem to see the '03 series as a grimdark misery-fest when it actually had a ton of adorable moments. It would be awesome if this could persuade people to check them out!

I'll be adding pictures and corresponding dialogue underneath.

So let's do it! Episode 1: Things Change!

Raph: Teacher's pet!

Leo: Ninja-dropout!

Donnie and Mikey: Oooooh!

I don't know if other people would classify this as a cute moment, but I just find it adorably hilarious how Donnie is actually joining in with Mikey to annoy Raph. It's such a silly petty bro moment, I love it!

Splinter: My sons!

I love how Master Splinter calls the turtles his sons so openly - and frequently, too! This is a recurring cute thing, but this moment is the first time we hear Splinter calling the turtles 'my sons', so I'm counting it here.

Also a cool detail I just noticed - Master Splinter puts his cane on Raph's shoulder rather than Leo's, since he knows better than we do at this point that Raph is the impulsive hothead.

Leo: Look out!

I couldn't catch the preceding moment of Leo pulling Raph out of the way of falling debris (the shot was too blurry), but here is the even cuter second shot of Big Bro Leo with his hands protectively on Raphie! Seriously though, if Leo hadn't noticed the ceiling was about to cave in, Raph would have been dead! Are you going to take back that 'Teacher's pet' comment, Raph? ;)

Look how happy my bois are that their dad's alive! Look at the happiness! Look at it!

Splinter [on the Shell Cell]: Hmm... which button do you press to answer this thing? Hellooo?

Leo: Master Splinter, are you alright?

Splinter: Helloooo?

Leo: Master Splinter -

Splinter: Stupid device...

Leo: Master Splinter, you don't need to press any buttons. You already answered it.

Splinter: Ah.

Splinter's so cute XD I know the 'old people can't use tech' is a tired trope at this point, but Splinter's frustrated muttering and Leo's patience make this scene work! This will not be the last time the poor sensei struggles with technology. I love the idea that Donatello makes things like the Shell Cell for him, but the poor guy just can't get his head around them. Splinter tries, lord he tries! Maybe I should do a 'Splinter vs Technology' series...

Also, another small detail - as Leo is trying to help Splinter with the cell, Donnie moves to try and do it himself (Leo took the cell off him to speak), but Leo wags a finger to tell him 'no, I got this' - so cute ;)

Splinter: Leonardo. Whatever those mechanical menaces were, they have eaten through the support structure of our home. We must leave right away!

Aww, it's sweet to see the turtles gather round Leo as Master Splinter tells them the grim news. Yeah, they're trying to listen carefully, but their expressions betray how scared they are. In just a few minutes they have had their home of 15 years destroyed and now have to find a new one. I like to see this moment as them coming together for comfort ;^;

Oh course, Raph has to ruin it by shoving Mikey away. Damnit Raph, let your bros be soft!

Leo: Nice work, Mikey!

Mikey: It's a ninja thing!

Big Bro Leo giving his baby bro praise is precious. Good leader moment and good bro moment. Well done Mikey, you kicked a nasty Purple Dragon goon into unconsciousness!!

Mikey: What happened to good old-fashioned padlocks?

Donnie: Where's the fun in that? This one's allll mine!

Donnie wielding those screwdrivers like Raph wields his sai - with intent to give villains a bad time - gives me life. He's so happy to have his moment - go Donnie, go! Wreck that combination lock!

Mikey: Gimmie some green! *high five*

Just minutes ago Raph and Mikey were having a tussle because Mikey was teasing him, but now they share an adorable high-five after a decisive turtle victory! More bro moments like this please!

Mikey: Uh - looks like you got your wish, Raphie-boy!

The first utterance of the endearing nickname 'Raphie-boy' - adorable in a 'kid brother being annoying but also omg that's so cute!' kind of way. Even better, Raph can't do anything about it at this moment because they're surrounded by creepy ninja-looking guys. I wonder who they could be... ;)

End of Part 1!

[fanfic-inator795]

RotTMNT Oneshot: Sweet Sixteen

((This scene just popped into my head, aaaaand I don’t feel like writing anything else atm so- hope you all enjoy))

It wasn’t often that the lair was bustling early in the morning; the Hamato-Jitsu family stayed up late, and often slept in even later. But on certain days such as these, only one person was allowed to sleep in...

At about 7 a.m., all activity was quickly shushed as silent shadows crept towards a specific room - a bedroom with red-tinted walls thanks to the small lamp that was still lit. They could hear quiet snores, and grinned to themselves as they snuck inside.

Still somewhat asleep but awake enough that his ninja senses were reacting to certain noises and scents, Raph snorted a bit and turned over as he began to stir from his slumber. He instinctively hugged his teddy - he had chosen Dr. Huggenstein the night before - close and tried to bury his face in the back of its head, hoping for just a bit more sleep.

And yet, his mind was slowly starting to wake. He could smell something fruity and buttery near. He could hear quiet giggles and quiet steps padding across the floor of his room. And, despite his eyes being closed, he could still somewhat ‘see’ figures coming closer and closer, until they were standing right in front of him...

With his curiosity now too much for even his sleepy mind to ignore, Raph opened one eye, and-

“SURPRISE!”

The snapper flinched, startled as he sat up and nearly throwing a punch at his ‘surprise’ - although this was anything but a surprise attack, and due to expecting it, his family easily stepped back, avoiding the hit expertly as they laughed. 

Donnie and Mikey threw bundles of red and green confetti at him, and as Splinter held up the stack of strawberry and chocolate waffles, Leo leaned over and placed a plastic “Sweet Sixteen” tiara right on his big brother’s head. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you~!”

Although he groaned a bit at being surprised by one of their family’s longest running traditions (again. You’d think expecting it would be enough to STOP him from freaking out), Raph still smiled as his family sang and clapped. 

When they finished, Raph naturally invited them all in for a group hug. “D’awww, thanks guys.”

“No probles, Big Brother.” “Happy birthday, Raphie!” “Heh, seems like we got you pretty good this year, huh?”

“Ugh, only ‘cause I was in a deep sleep!” Raph argued, pouting only a little, “I’ll be ready next year.”

Splinter just chuckled at his boys, shaking his head. He hadn’t expected this Birthday Morning tradition to last sixteen years when he started doing it when they were all tots (albeit with less screaming involved, at first) but he was sure glad that it had. “Here,” he said, handing the snapper his breakfast, “Best to eat them before they get too cold and soggy.”

“Right, don’t wanna lose that crunch,” Raph agreed, quickly digging in. Although they still had their own breakfasts to prepare, his brothers and father kept him company as he ate. Honestly, Raph appreciated that just as much as he appreciated the breakfast itself.

Naturally, they discussed Raph’s ‘birthday wish’ plans for that day first - another family tradition, the birthday boy (or girl, in April’s case) gets to decide what they all did as a group that day. For his Sweet 16, Raph had decided on some sparring with Frankenfoot, go-karting at Albeartoland, a small shopping spree at Teddy Bear Town (gotta spend that bday money somehow) and capping off the night with a three-hour wrestling special that was premiering on TV (after presents and cake, of course). 

His bros approved of all these ideas, and after texting the schedule to April and CJ, they gave her approval too.

Afterwards, the brothers moved on onto talking about past birthdays, followed by Leo, Mikey and Donnie all talking about the plans that they had for their upcoming birthdays. But as fun as this conversation was, Raph couldn’t help but notice his father growing quieter the longer it went on.

Eventually, his brothers excused themselves to both grab their own breakfasts and give Raph some space to get ready for the day. (The guy didn’t even have his bandana on yet! How embarrassing - or at least it would’ve been if there was anyone but family there). The only one who stayed was his pop, sitting there as content as ever with a soft, slightly bittersweet smile on his face.

“...Everything alright, Pops?” Raph finally asked, once he had polished off his waffles.

“Hm? Oh yes yes, I’m fine... So, how are you feeling, my son?” Splinter asked, “Sixteen is a pretty big milestone, after all.”

“Heh, I’m good. ...Honestly, it doesn’t feel all that different from fifteen” Raph replied. Thinking about it, he added, “Maybe ‘cause a bunch of stuff has already happened in the past year?” He was now officially a year older, yeah, but it felt like he had already done plenty of changing and growing before then.

Who would’ve thought that he would be given mystic weapons (and later mystic powers), learn about his dad’s past, take down several city-ending threats, meet the spirits of his family, and become a hero alongside his family and friends all before his next birthday? That whole situation was... pretty crazy to think about. Amazing, yeah, but definitely still crazy. In that sense, maybe a more normal and lowkey birthday was just what he needed.

Raph was brought back to the present when he felt his father patting his shell. “Yes, you make a fair point... Still, this birthday is just as much an accomplishment as anything else, and certainly worth celebrating properly.”

The old rat sighed a bit, closing his eyes for just a moment. “You boys are growing up so fast... Before I know it, you will be all grown up. You and your brothers...”

“Aw, come on, Dad...” Setting his plate to the side, Raph pulled Splinter in for a one-armed hug. “We’re always gonna need ya, no matter how old or grown up we get.”

“Heh, I know...” But it was still admittedly nice to hear. “Still, you cannot blame me for being a bit... well, a bit shell-shocked as it were whenever I think about how far you have come, Red. I remember when you were all small enough for me to hold in my arms, and now-”

Splinter stopped, his eyes widening as if he realized (or maybe remembered) something - something apparently funny enough to make him laugh. “Did I tell you- ah, no, I wouldn’t have... Well, no time than the present. Want to know something about the day you were born?”

Raph’s eyes widened at the suggestion, more than a little surprised at his dad’s sudden openness about that day, which Splinter supposed he should have expected, considering previous reactions to anything (or anyone) relating to it.

“I know I do not always-” or ever- “talk about the day I was mutated, but it was not a completely bad day.” He smirked. “I got you boys that day, didn’t I? Heh, you were all so tiny and cute! And you-” Splinter laughed again, and while he was still a bit surprised, now Raph was curious about what was so funny, and how did it involve him?

“Okay, so- this was before your boys were- yourselves. Back when you were norm- ah, average turtles. I was picking you all up, looking at how cute you all were and, well, at one point I decided to give you a kiss on your little head - and you know what you did in return? You bit me!”

“Pffft-!” Raph brought a hand to his mouth, hiding his laughs. “I did not!”

“Oh yes you did!” Splinter shot back, grinning now, “Bit me right on the lip! And I am pretty sure I still have the scar to prove it, somewhere under all this fur. Oh, I was so mad! Heh, but only for a few seconds. It is cruel to be mad at a baby, after all...”

His expression softened a bit as he thought about what happened next. Although Splinter was sure that he would always have mixed feelings about what happened that day and the transformation he received, he would always see the creation of his sons as a blessing that he would always be grateful for.

“Once you were all yourselves, I did all I could to get you boys to safety. And when I held you and your brothers in my arms and saw you all looking up at me... I knew that I would never be able to let you go.” 

Even before he began calling them his sons, even when he still only saw them as ‘innocent creatures’ and had no idea what they would eventually become, they were still his. And they always would be. 

“You have all grown so much that day... And I am not just talking about size, although you especially have certainly gotten bigger.” Splinter looked up and smiled at his eldest. “You are strong, and brave, and so kind... You are more of an honorable man at sixteen than I ever was, and I am so, SO very proud of you, Raphael.”

By this point, Raph’s tears were already beginning to fall, but the snapper could hardly care about that. He just brought his rat dad in for another hug - one that Splinter happily returned. When he eventually felt his son’s grip begin to loosen, Splinter moved to stand on his tip-toes and moved his tail towards his son’s head.

Understanding what he was getting at, Raph lowered his head, allowing Splinter’s tail to lift up the silly tiara as his dad planted a kiss right on the center of his head. “Heh... Happy birthday, my son.”

Wiping his eyes, Raph nodded back. “Thanks, Pops.”

“Oh please, thank YOU for not biting me again.” 

The two shared another laugh, staying beside each other a bit longer. When Splinter did finally decide to leave, he made sure to grab his son’s plate to take back to the kitchen. “Try not to come home too late, I’ll be sure to have supper waiting for you all when you get back. But make sure to enjoy yourself today too, okay?”

Raph chuckled, nodding again. “I will,” he promised - easy enough to do, considering it already felt like a great day. Splinter gave him one last smile before walking away.

As he put on his bandana and his wraps, Raph continued to smile to himself. Maybe he didn’t feel any different than he did at fifteen, and maybe in comparison the days where he escaped a Battle Nexus or fought a dark armor, a birthday wasn’t THAT big of a deal.

But maybe his dad was also right. Maybe it was still an accomplishment that he was a year older - that he was still there, still living and still right beside his family, even after a less-than-normal ‘birth’ and everything that came after. 

Maybe that really was worth celebrating, especially when that celebrating was done with the people that actually made his life worth living.

Speaking of which- “Hey, Raph! You still in there?” “Come on! We’ve already got the dojo set up, and we’re pretty sure Buddy’s just gonna start punchin’ stuff if you don’t get in here!”

“Yeah yeah, I’m coming - and you guys better be ready!” Raph shouted back, grinning. 

With his wraps, belts and bandana all now on, he grabbed his sai, spinning them a few times before sliding them into their holsters. Once that was done, he happily raced out of his room and ran towards the dojo, more than ready to seize the day - seize his birthday - for all it was worth.

THE END

[aslanjadecarlyle]

ghost of you (asheiji)

This oneshot is birthday gift from me to myself

-

You May also find this oneshot on my AO3 account: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33681853

-

In which Michael makes an imaginary friend.

-

Warnings: post-canon, grief/mourning

Michael is eight. Eight years, five months, and four days, to be exact. He’s too old for imaginary friends.

But, his friend that shows up in his parents’ living room one day can’t be imaginary. He can’t be, because Michael recognizes him.

“Ash!” he squeals.

He’s not sure what Ash is doing here. According to his parents, Ash had “gone away for a long time,” and they’d both had tears in their eyes when they sat him down to talk about it. That was just a few days ago. But, Ash is back. He hadn’t been gone for very long.

He’s back, and he’s right here in Michael’s living room!

The older boy looks surprised. And pale. He looks very pale, but it only makes the green of his eyes even brighter as they widen. “Michael?”

“Hiya, Ash!”

As Ash’s eyes soften, they are sad, but calm. “You can… you can see me?”

“Course I can, silly!” Michael grins as he jumps to his feet. “Oh boy, just wait ‘til I tell Mom and Dad that you’re back. They’ve missed you a whole lot.”

“Wait, Michael,” Ash calls out.

Michael, who’d started for the hallway, stops in his tracks. Confused, he turns back to the older boy.

“I don’t think telling your parents about me is such a good idea,” Ash says softly.

Michael juts his lower lip out in a pout. “Why not?”

“People don’t…” Ash pauses. Hesitates. “People don’t… normally come back from where I went to.”

“Where did you go?”

Ash hesitates again. Michael frowns.

“What’s wrong, Ash?”

“Nothing, buddy,” Ash says. “Just… I went to a place that you won’t have to worry about for a long time.”

“Oh. When I do have to worry about it, then will you tell me?”

Ash cringes, but he nods. “Of course.”

Michael smiles, eyes sparkling again. “Okay!”

“Michael?”

At the sound of Jessica’s voice, Ash freezes. As Michael looks at him, he puts a finger to his lips.

Michael nods.

“Yeah, Mom?” he calls back, going into the hallway. His mother is coming down the stairs.

“Are you talking to someone?” she asks. She’d just gotten out of the shower and she’s wrapped in a fluffy robe, her hair still dripping wet.

Michael shakes his head. “Just me. I made up a new game.”

“Oh. That’s nice.” She smiles, but it’s small and sad. All of her smiles have been sad since Ash went away.

As she turns away to go back upstairs, Michael says, “Hey, Mom?”

Jessica pauses, then turns to face him again. “Yes?”

“I miss Ash.”

At that, Jessica’s eyes mist over. She stares down at the floor and tries to hide her sniffling, but without much success. “I think we all miss Ash, sweetheart.”

“Will he come back?”

Jessica tries to hide the tear that escapes down her cheek, but she’s too late. Michael sees it. “Probably not, Mikey.”

Michael’s eyes widen. His mom hadn’t called him Mikey since he was a little kid.

“Okay, Mom. Okay.”

“Michael, if you…” Jessica pauses. Takes a deep breath. “If you want to talk about Ash, or anything else, your dad and I will always be here to listen.”

He nods. “Will Dad be home soon?”

“He has another hour at work, but he’ll be home after.” She ruffles his hair, but he doesn’t cringe away like he normally would.

He nods. “Okay.”

After she goes back upstairs, Michael returns to the living room. Ash is huddled in a corner on the floor, knees drawn up to his chin.

“Are you okay?” Michael asks, voice squeaking a little.

“I will be,” Ash mumbles.

“How long will you stay?”

Ash lifts one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. “I don’t have anywhere I need to be. I can stay awhile.”

Michael’s eyes light up again. “Oh, yay! Will you play with me?”

Lifting his head, Ash manages a small smile.

“Of course, buddy.”

*

Ash keeps his promise. Ash stays.

They’d been almost caught a few times, but Michael is starting to think that neither of his parents can see Ash, which is weird. They’d had no problem seeing him before he went away.

When he asks Ash about it, Ash says he doesn’t know. He says that the place he went to changed him, and maybe grown-ups can’t see him anymore.

Michael accepts this answer, but he’s still curious about where Ash went. Whenever he asks, all Ash says is that it “was a bad place.” He’d tell Michael more about it when he was older.

Michael didn’t like this answer.

He was almost eight and a half. Eight years, five months, and twenty-three days, to be exact. He thought he was plenty old enough.

But, even though he gets frustrated, the frustration usually fades quickly. Ash was sticking around, and they still played together. That was enough, for now.

It took a lot of concentration for Ash to play, though. He could hardly roll a car across Michael’s bedroom floor without focusing absolutely all of his attention on it. Michael thought maybe he was sick, but Ash said that the place he went to made him weak. Not sick, just weaker than he used to be.

Michael hadn’t realized it before, but Ash was good at keeping secrets. He wished he was as good at keeping secrets as Ash was.

Because one night, about two or three weeks after Ash came back, Michael accidentally lets their secret slip.

He and his parents are sitting around the dinner table. Salmon, green beans, and rice tonight — one of Jessica’s favorite meals. Max and Michael normally preferred burgers and fries. But, it’s still good. Everything Jessica cooks is delicious.

Max is talking about work, and Michael, in typical eight year old fashion, zones out.

That is, until Ash’s name comes up.

At the mention of Ash’s name, Michael perks up. Forgetting the promise he’d made, he pops a piece of fish into his mouth and says, delightedly, “We’re going to play a new game later!”

Talk ceases. Max and Jessica both turn their attention to their son.

“Who are you going to play with, bud?” Max asks.

Michael smiles. He thinks it’s funny that Ash started calling him ‘buddy’ like his dad does. “Ash! He can’t play a lot of games anymore, but he said he’s gonna teach me a new one. One he can play.”

The clinking of silverware stops. Both adults freeze, then glance at each other.

“You’re going to play a game with Ash?” Jessica asks.

“Yeah!”

“Where did Ash come from?” This time, it’s Max who speaks.

Michael shrugs. “He came back. You guys acted like he’d be gone forever, but it was just a few days.”

“A few days? But it’s been weeks…” Jessica glances at Max.

A frown is settling deep in Max’s brow. “How long has he been back, bud?”

Michael shrugs. “You guys talked to me, told me Ash had gone away. But then he came back again a few days later.”

Jessica sucks in a breath.

“All right.” Max inhales deeply, nods. Then, he smiles. “How about you finish dinner in your room, huh? A special treat.”

Michael’s eyes light up. “Can I watch TV?”

“Of course, bud.”

Jessica helps him prepare a tray, then Michael takes his food to his room without complaint.

When he arrives in his room, Ash is waiting for him.

And then he remembers his promise.

“Oh!” Michael gasps. He stands there, tray rattling as his hands start to shake, and his lower lip quivers. “I’m s-sorry, Ash.”

Ash, though, only smiles at him. “It’s all right, buddy.”

“Are you gonna leave?” Michael’s eyes fill with hot tears. “I’m sorry!”

“Nah.” Ash leans back, crossing one Converse-clad foot over the other, “I won’t leave.”

“Really? You’ll stay?” Michael sniffles, but manages a smile.

Ash smiles back. “Yeah, I’ll stay. But, playtime is going to be a bit delayed, all right? I need to check something.”

Michael nods. “O-Okay.”

“Finish your dinner, huh? I’ll be right back.”

Ash leaves Michael, still sniffling but calming down, in his room, and ventures out. He knows there’s no reason to be overly cautious or sneaky, but old habits die hard

(pun intended)

as he creeps down the hallway.

He finds Max and Jessica talking in the kitchen. He stands, totally exposed but unnoticed all the same, in the doorway, and watches.

Jessica has her head in her hands and her shoulders shake. Her tears are silent, but he knows she’s crying. Max has a chair pulled up next to her and he’s got his arms wrapped around her.

“Maybe this is his way of coping,” he mumbles.

“B-By thinking he can see Ash? Max, Ash is, Ash i-is—“

“I know.” Max cups her face in his hand. He attempts to wipe the tears away, but they come too quickly. “I know, Jess. But, I don’t think he quite understood when we tried talking to him. Maybe this is his way of… processing.”

“He’s too old for imaginary friends, Max!” Jessica snaps.

But, she’s not angry. Not at Max.

She’s angry at the world.

She’s heartbroken.

“This will last a few weeks, maybe a few months,” Max predicts, “but he’ll grow out of it. Maybe it’ll help if we sit down with him again. Explain things… properly.”

“Y-You mean, tell him—“

Max nods.

“Oh, but Max—“

“I know,” he mumbles, pulling her into a hug, “but, is it really fair to let him continue to believe that Ash could come back someday?”

“I, I—“ Jessica hiccups, sniffles. She rests her head on his shoulder and closes her eyes. “I suppose you’re right.”

“I’ll talk to him after school on Friday,” Max mumbles, rubbing her back.

“Okay,” she whispers. He holds her tight. “But, what if…”

“Hm?”

“What if… it doesn’t help? What if he still thinks he can play with Ash?”

Max sighs deeply, presses his lips to her forehead. “If it doesn’t pass after a few months… it may be a good idea to take him to a child therapist.”

“Max,” she whimpers.

“I know. Shh. We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.”

It is then that Ash chooses to take his leave. He returns to Michael’s room with hunched shoulders. He can no longer feel pain, but he’d swear his heart would be aching in his chest if it could.

Michael, though, is thrilled (and incredibly relieved) when Ash returns.

“You came back!” he exclaimed, hopping off his bed. His plate, now empty, sits on his dresser.

“I told you I would.” Ash smiles, but it’s small and shaky.

“I’m sorry,” Michael says again.

“Don’t be. You kept the secret for a long time.”

“Can they see you now?” Michael asks.

Ash shakes his head.

“But—“

“They know, but it’s still probably a good idea not to talk about me too much, all right? Sometimes grown ups think ghost stories are silly.”

Michael frowns. “But, you’re not a ghost, are you, Ash? Ghosts are dead people.”

Instead of answering, Ash says, “Hey, how about I show you that game now, huh?”

At the mention of a new game, Michael grins.

“Okay!”

Questions forgotten.

*

When Michael comes home from school on Friday, he doesn’t come straight to his bedroom. Instead, Max calls him into the living room. He says he needs to talk to Michael about something important, but assures him he’s not in trouble.

Ash could observe, but he knows that he’d only be distracting Michael.

So, he sits on Michael’s floor.

And he waits.

Michael is gone for a long time.

But, finally, his bedroom door creaks open. He pokes his head into the room first, lip quivering, eyes flooded.

“Michael—“

“You lied to me,” he whispers.

Ash stares down into his lap, fiddling with the zipper on his coat. “I’m sorry, Michael. I—“

“I said ghosts were dead people, and you said you weren’t a ghost!”

Technically, Ash hadn’t. He’d changed the subject. But, he knows what Michael means. He’d been lied to for weeks.

He felt betrayed, and it was because of Ash.

“I’m so sorry, buddy. I…” Ash hesitates.

Michael stares at him, heavy tears down his cheeks. His eyes are red and swollen.

“I can leave, if you want,” Ash offers, quietly.

He doesn’t know where he’d go. But, Michael doesn’t have to know that.

“No,” Michael whimpers.

“What?”

“I don’t want you to leave!” the boy cries. He sits on the floor, school bag still heavy on his back, and sobs. “Don’t leave, Ash. Please don’t go.”

Ash had thought it selfish of him to stay.

But, looking at Michael, eight years old and already having to deal with more than any boy his age should, he thinks it’d be much more selfish of him to leave. At least, for now.

“Okay,” Ash mumbles. “Okay, buddy. I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

“Ash?”

“Yeah, buddy?”

“C-Can I hug you?”

“I’m… not sure, Michael,” Ash admits.

“Can I try?”

Ash hesitates. “All right.”

Michael hurries at him, arms outstretched. But, he passes right through Ash like he’s made of smoke.

Ash shivers. Michael hangs his head low and sniffles.

“I’m sorry,” Ash says.

“I wish I could hug you.”

“I know.”

They’re interrupted by Jessica, who knocks on the open bedroom door. Michael looks up at her from his position on the floor, then looks away.

“I’m so sorry, baby,” she murmurs.

Michael ignores her.

“I don’t think… I don’t think it’s good for you to be alone right now, Mikey.”

“I’m not alone,” Michael says. He looks next to him, at Ash. “I have Ash.”

Jessica looks directly at him.

Ash’s green eyes are wide and bright.

But she does not see him.

“I’m so sorry, Mikey. Please… come watch a movie with us? It will take your mind off of…”

“Go with her,” Ash whispers.

Michael freezes.

“Go on, buddy. It’s okay. They just want to take care of you.”

“You’ll stay here?” Michael whispers, believing himself to be quieter than he is. Jessica’s eyes widen.

“I promise.”

“Okay,” Michael mumbles. Slowly, he gets to his feet. “Okay, Mom. Can I pick the movie?”

Jessica tries to smile.

“Of course.”

*

Michael turns nine tomorrow.

And Ash has stayed through it all.

Since learning of Ash’s death, Michael has tried to quiet down around Max and Jessica. He still talks about Ash sometimes, but, though the subject is still a sensitive one, they have dropped the idea of taking him to see a child therapist.

Ash and Michael still play sometimes, but mostly Ash has become somebody to talk to. Every day, after he comes home from school, Michael tells Ash about his day.

Ash can’t help but compare his nine-year-old self to Michael, and he’s so grateful he would cry if he could. Michael had gone through a lot in the past year that no eight-year-old kid should have to go through, but it was nowhere near the inferno that had engulfed Ash’s childhood. And, most of all, Michael had parents who loved him. Who supported him. Who helped him however they could.

Something that Ash himself had never, ever had.

They’re in the kitchen. Ash is leaned against the refrigerator, arms crossed over his chest, easy smile on his lips. Michael is helping his mother frost his chocolate birthday cake, but he keeps sticking his fingers in the frosting whenever she turns her back. Max is decorating in the living room, but pokes his head into the kitchen every once in awhile to sniff the air.

“Why does Michael get to lick the spoon?” Max whines.

“Because,” Jessica huffs in exaggerated annoyance, “only one of you is turning nine tomorrow.”

Michael sticks his tongue out at his father.

Max grins, about to retort, when the doorbell rings.

“Ah!” Max grins. “I believe our special guest has arrived!”

“‘Special guest?’” Michael echoes. He and Ash exchange a look, but Ash shrugs.

“You stay there, boy!” Max orders before hurrying to the door.

When he returns, Ash’s jaw drops.

“EIJI!” Michael screams.

Eiji smiles.

“Hiya, Michael.”

Michael runs across the room, knocking Eiji back against the wall in a hug. Laughing, Eiji wraps his arms around the boy.

Ash is frozen.

He can’t stop staring.

It’s only been six or seven months since Eiji left for Japan, and, apparently, he’d come back earlier than that for the funeral. But, this is the first that Ash has laid eyes on him since… the hospital.

Since he was alive.

Eiji’s hair is a little longer, a little shaggier — it looks like he’s trying to grow it out — but, otherwise, he looks the same as he had six, seven months ago. He—

No.

Not the same. Not quite.

His eyes are dark, dark and sad. He’s laughing as he hugs Michael back, but there is a heaviness behind those eyes that wasn’t there before. Because of…

Because of Ash.

“Eiji, Eiji,” Michael repeats over and over, like it’s been a lifetime since they’d seen each other, “You came from Japan?”

“I did,” Eiji says. His voice is soft.

“You came for my birthday?” Michael squeezes tighter, afraid to let go.

Eiji laughs as the air is squeezed out of him. “I did, yes. But, not only reason.”

“Huh?” Michael finally lets Eiji go as he takes a step back and looks up at him.

The gentlest smile pulls at Eiji’s lips. “I been thinking of relocating to New York. Permanently.”

Ash’s mouth falls open.

“You’re moving here?!” Michael demands.

“Well,” Eiji says, “I sure going to try.”

Ash continues to gape at a man who cannot see him.

What happened to going back to Japan?

“It’ll be wonderful to have you around again, Eiji,” Jessica gushes, wrapping him in a hug and gently squeezing, “You are always welcome here.”

Eiji holds Jessica close as he hugs her back, sturdy and comforting. “I appreciate you very much, Jessica.”

Jessica is shaking her head as they pull apart.

“You boys,” she murmurs, voice thick, “did not deserve any of what happened to you.”

Her own traumas go unspoken.

“I hate to interrupt,” Max says, stepping in as soon as he realizes Jessica is becoming overwhelmed with emotion, “but, I think we still have some presents to wrap. Can you watch the cake for us, Eiji?”

Eiji laughs. “Of course.”

Wrapping his arm around Jessica’s shoulders, Max leads her out of the room and takes her upstairs.

Michael waits until they are out of earshot before turning to Eiji, big smile on his face. “Guess what!”

Eiji smiles. “What?”

“Someone else is here for my birthday!”

Snapping out of his Eiji-induced trance, Ash’s eyes go wide. Pausing, Michael looks at him. Ash looks very scared for a moment.

But, after a moment, he nods.

“It’s okay,” he whispers.

Michael grins.

“Huh? Another guest? When will they come?” Eiji asks.

“They’re already here!”

“What?” Eiji crosses the kitchen and looks out into the hall. “Where?”

“Right here!’

Eiji turns to look back at Michael, who’s pointing at the wall.

“Ah, I get it. Is your friend invisible?”

“Yes!”

Eiji chuckles. “Well, then. What his name?”

“It’s Ash!”

The laughter cuts off as quickly as it had started.

“Your imaginary friend… is Ash?”

Michael scowls. “He’s not imaginary. He’s dead!”

He says that so excitedly that Ash can’t help but laugh. He covers his mouth with his hand.

Eiji is starting to look a little pale. “Don’t be silly, Michael. There’s no such thing as ghosts.”

“Yes, there is!”

Shaking his head, Eiji leaves the kitchen. Michael and Ash both follow him into the living room.

“Don’t you believe me?” Michael asks.

Crossing the room, Eiji goes to Jessica’s bookcase, picks a seemingly random book, and begins to flip through it. “You’re very imaginative, Michael. You should be an author when you grow up.”

“I’m serious!”

“There’s no such thing as ghosts,” Eiji repeats. He takes his book and sits on the floor… just like Ash does. Leaning against the wall, he pretends to read.

Michael looks at Ash, exasperated.

Biting his lip, Ash looks back at Eiji. His head is bowed as he skims the page.

Michael bites back a giggle as Ash moves closer to Eiji. He stands right in front of him, and Eiji shivers.

This, though, is where Ash falters.

In the months since Ash had shown up in Michael’s house, he has not been able to muster the strength to touch a living human.

Ash looks back at Michael, who nods his encouragement. He turns back to Eiji, who is still pretending to read though his teeth have started to chatter.

Slowly, very slowly, Ash bends down. Then, he leans forward and wraps Eiji in a hug.

Michael is all but holding his breath.

At first, nothing happens.

Then, Eiji gasps. The book falls from his hands, into his lap, and his head jerks up.

He stares directly into wide, bright, beautiful green eyes.

Ash’s smile is very soft.

“Hello, Eiji,” he mumbles.

“Nice to see you.”

[heyheydidjaknow]

It is 6 am. I know that it reads like I’ve never heard of pacing. Trust me, I’m aware. Quite frankly, I am entirely too tired to care. It might not even be as bad as I think it is. It’s possible, I guess, but not likely, I don’t think. I don’t have proofreaders, and it’s probably too edgy or too soon for more edge but you’re along for my ride and I’m sorry. I’ll probably rewrite it at some point, but right now I’m happy I’m even awake right now to post it. My eyes hurt and I'm a little queasy but we are powering through. Having said that, let's torture some fucking teenagers.

Chapter 12

Donatello stares at the small knife intensely.

It is an incredibly boring-looking one. Knowing as little as he does about culinary arts, he does not know the exact use of it, its size and shape giving him very little insight into its use in that environment. He is willing to make an educated guess and assume the blade itself is made of carbon steel, which is not exactly a strange choice for a knife in his opinion. It is not a combat or survival knife. It is hardly sturdy enough to last long in a combat setting. He is tempted to call Mikey to ask him to identify it for a second but thinks better of it.

After all, it fell out of your pocket. Questions would be asked.

He picks it up off the floor, weighing it in his hand. ‘This is a kitchen knife, right?’ He picks your jacket off the floor, folding it neatly and placing it on the back of a chair. ‘Why would she carry around a kitchen knife?’ He rests his head on his arms, holding the offending tool in front of his eyes, continuing to analyze it. ‘To fight? She knows carrying around a knife like this with no combat experience is a bad idea, right? Don’t people usually use pepper spray or something when they want to defend themselves?’

An image flashes into his head. You, standing alone in an alley, pointing this poor excuse of a weapon at a member of The Foot or the Purple Dragon. You, falling back and hitting your head and bleeding out with a knife sticking in your side because you fell on it wrong—‘It’s not even in a sheathe’—and trying to crawl back out into the street, begging to god not to—

He blinks, noticing his knuckles going pale around the handle, mouth weirdly dry.

He swallows. He forces his grip to loosen. ‘That’s dramatic.’ He gets up, slipping the knife back into the pocket of your jacket, hoping he put it in the right one. ‘She’s fine. She’s probably just scared after everything that’s happened. It won’t come to that.’

He sets back down, picking the last gas mask up and turning it over in his hands to give him something to do. He will not have time to properly test whether it works exactly as planned, but he is fairly certain that it and its brothers should allow them to breathe with little difficulty when they need to go into the TCRI building through the elevator shaft. If that is the plan they go with, anyways-- he had elected to stay out of the planning party, seeing as creating explosives strong enough to destroy the portal is enough of a challenge on its own, and he has faith in you and his eldest brother to come up with a good course of action. You guys always did. Bradford was dead after all, a fact that he had been informed made their lives considerably easier. In your words, “Mousers are the fucking worst, and if Bradford had gone off and recruited Stockman, we would have to deal with all of that way sooner.” You had quickly admitted that you did not know how long the peace would last, but you seemed pretty satisfied by the way things were happening overall, despite his accidentally causing the power cell to be stolen—“We’ll have the whole thing under control after this mission, don’t you worry.”

You had also claimed that you had the staking out of Shredder’s lair under control, but that is neither here nor there.

The door to his lab slides open. “Donnie,” you call, “we need to go over the game plan. How’re the explosives coming?”

‘Why is there a knife in your pocket instead of a taser?’ “Theoretically? Well.” He shrugs, getting to his feet. “I can’t really test if they work, but they’re good to go, probably.”

You smile teasingly. “They’re not gonna go off randomly?”

“Probably not.”

“Probably?” Your smile widens.

“No promises.”

“Well,” you grin, “I sure hope they’re good explosives in that case; wouldn’t wanna almost bleed out again.”

His stomach churns. “For sure,” he agrees, crossing the room as you start to “walk” back to the war room/kitchen. “Have you guys decided on anything?”

“Well,” you sigh, “Leo’s bein’ Leo if that’s what you mean. I don’t mind their plan, mind, but it seems a bit silly.” You hold the door open for him. “After you.”

“Dude, totally.” Mikey nods eagerly in agreement to something someone said. “I can get him on board, on prob.”

“Good.” Leonardo taps his finger against the blueprint splayed across the counter. “Now all we need is a big enough box.”

“There should be crates down by the docks.” Raphael looks over at you. “Any stores up top sell ‘em that big?”

“Probably.” You lean against the doorway as Donnie steps past you. “You guys know we don’t know what they’re breathing, right?”

“Yeah. So?” The green-eyed brother gestures to him. “He can figure out letting us breathe.”

“Can and did, but I’m not sure that’s what she’s talking about.” The tall boy crosses his arms across his chest absentmindedly. “If the gases they’re breathing are highly flammable—which, knowing the absurd biology of the Kraang, isn’t out of the question—” You stifle a laugh, covering your mouth, “using explosives in there might blow the roof off the place.”

“That’s good, ain’t it?”

“Not If you don’t want to be pressure cooked, no.”

“Is there some other way to destroy the portal?” Leonardo laced his fingers together, leaning his elbows on the worn island.

“Without knowing the metal they’re using?” He shakes his head. “Even if we did, I’m not sure if I could safely create hydrochloric or nitric acid, especially on such short notice, let alone transport it.”

“Then we’re screwed.” Raph looks off. “Perfect.”

“Unless you feel confident in busting out of that building on a time crunch, we’d need someone to be close enough to the bomb to actually use the detonator. Seeing as we need all hands on deck, we really don’t have anyone that could fit the bill.” Even with his back to you, you notice his tension. “Unless you guys just want to crack a window or something, but that would kinda negate the point of doing the whole stealth thing, setting off an obvious alarm.”

“That’s not true.” Mikey points out the obvious. “Y/N could do it.”

“I’m down,” you shrug, moving your hands to slide in your nonexistent pockets. “You’d need to let me know when to do it so I don’t fry you guys, but I might as well add domestic terrorism to my non-existent rap sheet.” You smile wryly at that.

You think you hear Donnie mutter something before speaking up. “I’m not sure there are any buildings high enough up or close enough to be an effective--”

“Sure there is.” Mikey, again. “There’s that apartment building across that alley. It’s plenty tall.”

“Oh yeah, huh?” Raph smiles sharply. “Even has a fire escape to climb.”

The idea of climbing anything anywhere makes you want to vomit, but the idea of having to deal with whatever goes on with the saving of Leatherhead later is enough to ignore it. ‘Stop being a pussy,’ you reprimand yourself, feeling vertigo already. ‘It’s a fucking ladder. A twenty-story high ladder, yeah, but it's still just a ladder.’

“She can’t use a ladder,” the tallest brother protests. “She can’t use one of her legs.”

“Then she can take the stairs, or we can carry her there before we go.” You take slow, deep, quiet breaths. “It’s no big deal. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind doing it, right?”

You are suddenly incredibly grateful that you are leaning against a doorframe. The idea of being carried over buildings, twenty stories into the air, makes the ground sway underneath you. You subtly dig your fingernails into the walls on impulse, trying to slowly relieve the pressure.

“It’s not about—What are you even talking about?” You barely register his bashful embarrassment, swallowing thickly. “I’m just saying…”

You can barely hear them, shutting your eyes as you feel sticky, warm blood on your fingertips, dripping down in between your digits. You wipe the phantom liquid off on your jeans quickly, thoroughly, opening your eyes to see what you register as the other three ragging on Donnie about something you do not catch. You lock your knees to keep them from shaking as bad as your hands, ignoring the nausea and staring straight ahead. ‘Your folks didn’t raise a wuss. Your hands aren’t wet. Snap out of it.’

You force yourself to focus on counting threads in your sleeves. You get to thirty-five before you feel someone shaking your shoulder.

“Dude, you alright?” Mikey was waving a hand in front of your face, having apparently crossed the room from his seat on the counter. “Hello?”

Your eyes snap up from your wrist to look at him. “Hm? Yeah, totally.” You nod. “Just zoned out is all.”

He put the back of his hand to your forehead as if he knew what he was looking for. “You sure? You look sick.”

You nod again. “Just didn’t sleep well last night. I’m fine.”

“Do you plan on zoning out during the mission?” Raphael smirked. “Don—”

“No,” you cut him off sharply. “I’ll be fine. When are you guys going?”

“A couple of hours.” Donnie is staring holes into you. “The hours listed online say actual people work until then, but the actual building is open for another few hours, so by the time we get far enough down to hopefully not feel the effects of the blast, we won’t have to worry about witnesses or people getting caught up in it.”

“Awesome.” You start out the door, using the walls to limp back to the lab. “Meetcha back here in an hour.”

He runs after you. “Need me to come with you? I can help pick a crate out.” The way his words spill out is not lost on you. “O-or I could drive you there if you want—it’s bad to walk around so much on your leg, especially at night.”

“If you don’t mind vomit in your party-wagon, sure.” You slip through the gap in the door, grabbing your jacket and pulling it on. “Honestly, Donnie, I’m fine.”

“But—”

“I walk home all the time.” You use the chair to roll over to your walker, snapping it open and getting to your feet. “I’m just going to go to a hardware store, buy a couple of the largest boxes they have, grab some dinner, and come back. Besides, you have to worry about getting in, right? I’ll be fine, really.”

He wants to argue. He does not.

“Text me if you need anything while I’m out.” You maneuver past him with a bit of difficulty. “Want me to pick up some pizza while I’m out?”

“… yeah.” He nods, shaking off the feeling sinking into his gut with a bit of difficulty. “If you want some, you’ll have to eat it on your own, though.”

You smile back at him. “I’ll get something else to eat,” you roll your eyes, voice oozing with honey seemingly unintentionally. “Don’t you worry too hard about me, now; your brothers give you a hard enough time as is.”

“Don’t get yourself killed and I’ll think about it,” he jokes, mostly serious.

You laugh. “I’ll try, Dad.”

He has never noticed how loud you walk until today. Maybe it is just that it is unusually loud in comparison to him and his brothers, or maybe it is the sound of it knocking around the concrete walls of the lair bouncing the sound off the walls, but he cannot help but notice it, how easily he can identify where you are just by listening. How has he never noticed that? ‘You could hear her down the street, walking past. Anyone with ears could tell where she is, no problem.’

He feels himself grip onto the door to keep himself from running after you and insisting he come with you. ‘If someone can hear her walking down the street, someone can hear her scream. They’ll call someone. Who would leave a teenage girl to get attacked?’ He does not answer his question.

He shuts the door. ‘And she has a point. I still need to figure out how to get us into TCRI without the cameras catching us.’ He sits back at his workstation to think. ‘It doesn’t have to be too advanced. A remote-controlled dolly wouldn’t take much time to build, and I have the code already.’

It is not an effective distraction, but it is enough to preoccupy him for a solid half an hour.

--

You are back at the time you say you are going to be back. The trip did not take you long, although carrying the boxes and food was an unforeseen challenge, and you bought yourself a burrito and soda, so all is well. You and the guys eat in the kitchen, you do not have another episode and, all in all, you almost forget about the fact you will have to be carried up a twenty-story building.

Standing and staring up at the building they had ended up next to is an easy reminder.

You swallow your dinner back, mouth dry. ‘Commit.’ You fold your walker up, hiding it behind a dumpster and hooking your arms around Donnie’s neck before you can chicken out, shutting your eyes tight, the humming of their van—you had walked—doing nothing to ease your nerves. You hear the others say something before the engine roars back to life, the tires squealing against the asphalt as they drive off.

“I’m not going to drop you,” he promises, barely noticing the extra weight as he hooks one of his arms under your thigh to pull your body flush against his. Your legs immediately tighten into a vice-like grip around his middle, pulling him even closer.

“Fucking better not.” He starts to scale the building with a bit of difficulty, with one arm otherwise preoccupied. “I’ll haunt your ass.”

He smiles at that. He jumps up, grabbing onto the railing of a fire escape and earning a squeak of terror and a quiet string of obscenities from you. He takes longer than usual out of necessity but finds a quiet joy in how hard you cling to him, swallowing laughs drawn out by your swears—his personal favorite is, “Oh fuck me Mother Mary!” which is a result of him overshooting the railing, resulting in both of you violently swinging back and forth for a time.

“Are we on solid ground?” Your voice is pleading.

“We’re on the roof, yeah.”

You let go, sliding down to your knees and lacing your fingers together behind your neck, breathing for the first time in the eternity—two minutes—it had taken to get there. You want to cry, your heart pounding out of your chest as you try to catch your breath.

“Are you okay?”

You nod once, shifting back and putting your head between your knees to regain your head.

‘Did I do something wrong?’ He crouched down in front of you, concerned. “You sure?”

You nod again.

“Are you being honest?”

“I will be in a sec,” you snap shakily.

He backs off, staying in that position.

You give yourself a count of fifteen before looking back up at him. “I’m good.” You take a deep breath, pulling yourself into him again. “Let’s do this shit before I’m not.”

The journey over is painfully silent, other than your guys’ breathing. Balance is the only real problem throughout. Holding you and making sure not to crush you makes the normal measures he would normally use to soften his falls impossible, meaning his jumps cannot be as high or far as normal—the last thing you need on top of everything else is a concussion. The trip might have been rendered shorter had it not been for the need for the Kraang to know nothing of their whereabouts, but he does not think it is too long until he moves to let go of you.

You do not let go of him.

“Y/N?”

Nothing.

“Y/N,” he says again, “we’re here.”

You do not move to let go of you, your heartbeat thundering against his chest.

“I’m going to set you down.” He unhooks your legs, lowering himself and setting you on the floor. “See?” He unlatches your arms, gently pulling you away from him.

Your face is white as a sheet, mind only barely registering the fact you were on solid ground. He would be concerned you were dead had it not been your incredibly fast pulse. You stared straight ahead, eyes unfocused.

You blink, pushing the hair out of your face as you get to your feet. “Sorry,” you mumble. “Zoned out. Tired.”

He hesitantly gives you the detonator. “Alright,” he relents. “You know the plan, right? You remember it still?”

“I’m scared, not dumb.” Your face flushes. “Sorry. That was mean.”

He blinks, confused. “It’s fine,” he shrugs. “Lack of sleep can cause irritability, especially in teenagers.” His voice is soft despite his own anxiety about the whole plan. He hands you your phone. “I’ll come back to pick you up. If I don’t in two hours, text me. If I don’t respond…” he trails off.

Your stomach drops. “You will,” you assure him firmly. “I know you will.”

“If I don’t,” he nods in agreement, if only for your sake, “hell will’ve frozen over anyway.”

You chuckle nervously at that. You reach over, cupping his face in your hands. “Seriously, though,” you make him look at you properly, “kick their asses for me.”

He smiles, his face heating up under your hands. “You got it.” He gets up. “See ya, then.” He smiles tipsily, waves, and runs off.

You watch him bound rooftops, grateful he had seemingly not noticed the violent shaking of your hands as you set the electronics down. You swallow again, dragging yourself and leaning your back against the ledge, crossing your legs in front of you. You lean over, placing the detonator down next to you carefully and picking your phone up. You shakily input the passcode, turn the volume as low as it would go, and press the speaker to your ear, sinking into a song with a slow exhale of breath. While you had refused yourself any illicit substances for the same reason you had gotten rid of your sleeping pills, you saw no issue with relying on music for some stress relief, the familiarity of the slower song letting your heartbeat match its rhythm.

You reach down, pulling your pant leg up and carefully peeling the tape from your good leg, wrapping your fingers around the handle of the paring knife and holding it at your side. Sure, you know, logically, it would do little but hinder you in a fight, but you felt as though you needed something, anything to make you feel less weak. You already feel the embarrassment from clinging onto him so tightly, tears pricking at your eyes. “You’re the literal definition of a damsel in distress,” you mumble, scoffing at yourself. “A young, unmarried woman who is in distress. A crazy damsel in distress at that.” You blink them away. “God, you’re really fucking pathetic, huh?” You chuckle, swallowing again and pressing the phone closer to your ear. “You’re almost a fucking adult and you’re scared of a little height and a little blood. Perspective, Y/N.”

It feels like an hour of sitting, knees now at your chest as you listen to music to take the edge off—‘Like taking ibuprofen for an amputation.’ Regardless of how effective it is, it does something, at least, and that is all you can ask for right now.

You jump out of your skin when your phone buzzes with a text. You fumble with it, pulling it to your face to read Casey asking if you were still free next Tuesday for his stupid fucking game. You text him back that, yes, you are, and hope he stubs his toe for the false alarm.

--

The text comes at eleven-o-three.

You almost drop the phone, the message “NOW” crossing your screen. You pick the device up carefully, craning your neck back to glance at the building across the street, feeling as though you missed something incredibly important despite knowing the contrary. You swallow one more time and slam your hand down on the button.

The sound of the explosion roars in your ears, your eyes widening at the light now illuminating the roof, images of that night burning in your head and squeezing your throat. You drop the detonator, covering your ears as the ground in front of you is seemingly set alight. It barely registers to you that it is a cold autumn night. Why would you care when all you can hear is screaming? Why bother when your heart is begging to be let out of your chest, when your blood is pooling under you and all your scars are open? All you can see as you shudder, shutting your eyes tightly, is that man’s sides slashed with glass, warm red dripping out of him and onto the dashboard.

You look up, choking on your fear.

You remember what you forgot.

The walls of the top three floors of TCRI?

They are made entirely of the glass now showering down on you.

Table of Contents

Chapter 11

Chapter 13

[let-me-write-shit]

Somebody To You: 27

SURPRISE!!! Posting Friday’s chapter a bit early!!! Please, if you haven’t read Chapter Twenty Six yet, go back and read it or this might be hella confusing! Let me know what you think. Next chapter will be out on MONDAY!! 

Word Count: 3,450

Warning: Fluffffff

Click Here For Previous Chapter & Other Completed Stories

PLEASE let me know what you think

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CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

She felt Michael’s attention snap back and forth between his ex-girlfriend and the famous singer, dumbfounded and confused, unable to speak. She knew he had recognized Harry right away and was debating whether he was seeing things or not. Harry’s eyes flickered between the two ex-lovers who had just been laying side by side on the trampoline together as he stepped closer, sheepishly smiling giving them a little wave. 

“What are you doing here?” She spluttered, sitting up straighter, the trampoline bouncing slightly from her change in position.

“I wanted to talk,” Harry’s voice sounded small and unsure, worried that he had just interrupted something important.

Zoey’s eyes widened, her face twitching, “So you flew here instead of calling?”

Harry realized how silly it sounded and attempted to hold back a chuckle as he explained, “Well...I wanted to see you, too.”

“I’m sorry, what is happening?” Michael finally spoke up after forcing himself out of his astonished trance.

Zoey, amused at his confusion, introduced the two, “Harry, this is Michael…” Harry gave a nod, friendly smile, and a quick wave as Zoey continued, “and  Mikey, this is my friend, Harry-”

“Yeah, I know who he is,” Michael cut her off with a laugh, “I’m just confused as to how the hell you know him and why I’m just now finding out.”

“It’s a long story. I’ll fill you in tomorrow, okay?” she looked at him, tilting her head and urging him to leave with her eyes.

“Yeah, okay, I better get going, anyway. See you tomorrow,” Michael got the hint and gave her a quick one-armed hug before shimmying towards the end of the trampoline, jumping down and holding a hand out for Harry, offering a friendly handshake. To Harry’s surprise, it wasn’t the typical death-grip he usually got from men who felt threatened by him; it was loose and casual. “It was nice meeting you, man,” Michael nodded, looking him up and down in a way that made it look like he was still in disbelief.

“You too,” Harry grinned, watching as Michael disappeared into the house to leave.

Slowly, Harry turned to face Zoey, her eyebrows raised, still confused. He tried to hide his anxiousness as he made his way over, climbing onto the trampoline which caused it to bounce a bit more. He settled in sitting across from her, close enough to where their kneecaps touched, folding his hands together and looking at her.

“So…” she finally spoke, “you wanted to talk?”

He didn’t know why he was so nervous. Over thirteen hours he sat in his flight thinking of what he wanted to say, worrying about how she would react when she saw him, wondering what her response would be. He had it all planned out, rehearsing it in his head on the drive over. But now that he was here, looking into Zoey’s eyes, the words seemed to fly away. Be honest, he heard his mother say.

He took a deep breath, wanting to just get it all out there, “Well, first, I wanted to say that I am sorry for what I said last night. It was fucked up and I honestly didn’t even mean any of it. You were right. I was just being insecure.”

“Okay. That’s a start,” Zoey nodded, urging him to continue. His voice was so deep and soothing that it was hard for her not to smile. Especially knowing he flew across the ocean just to ‘talk’. And how could you be upset when his green eyes lit up so beautifully under the night sky?

He flashed a grin at her before his expression turned more serious, “I don’t know why I found it so hard to be honest with you about how I’ve felt. Maybe because I was still confused about everything and I didn’t know how to relay it to you because I didn’t fully understand what I was feeling myself. So I’ve been thinking a lot, trying to figure out everything going on in my head, and this is what I’ve come up with so far,” he prefaced, looking into her eyes. She could sense the earnestness in his voice as he spoke, “You came into my life unexpectedly. Like, literally stumbled in, dropping your bags full of shoes on me while I was seeing someone else - unexpectedly.” 

They chuckled at the memory before his demeanor trickled back into being more serious, “I’ve never had someone I felt like I could open up to as quickly, or as deeply as I have with you. And that scared me at first,” he admitted, earning a grin and nod from Zoey. “But it never felt forced or unnatural. You spoke to me like a person. You called me out on my shit and were there for me when I needed the reassurance. And somewhere along the line that friendship started to fizzle into something else. And I contributed it to you becoming my best friend. It felt like the right thing to call you, at the time. I mean, you were. I talked to you every day, I told you everything, I thought that had to be it.”

He paused, searching Zoey’s face for a sign of understanding, but she just listened, holding her breath, not wanting to jump to conclusions. He continued, “My friends and family kept making jokes about it being more than that, and I kept pushing them off because, you know, I have a type” he emphasized, rolling his eyes at himself which made her snort. “But the more we talked, and the more I thought about it, it started making sense. It got harder to hang up the phone whenever I talked to you or say goodbye whenever I visited. It got harder to hear about you with other people, and to see you with other people made it even worse. Then, in Italy,” Harry shook his head as the memories rushed back, smiling in amazement, “Italy was one of the most amazing weeks of my life and I realized that my friends were right. I did like you. A lot. And that scared the shit out of me. Because you were my best friend. Or my soulmate, whatever you want to call it. You were meant to be in my life.”

Harry took a deep breath, voice a little shaky. She could tell this part was hard for him to say. She wanted to reach out and hug him, but instead, she let him continue, “I always say my biggest fear is death. But that changed after I met you. My biggest fear became losing you. You know I don’t have a great track record with relationships. They’re always short-lived and don’t always end on the best terms. So, when you asked me where our relationship stood, I panicked. I was so scared that if I took the leap and we started dating, it would end up like one of my past relationships and you’d end up hating me and we’d never speak again. I couldn’t handle the thought of you not being in my life, so I lashed out and said some fucked up things.”

He took Zoey’s hands in his, desperation thick in his voice, eyes pleading, “I’m so sorry for saying those things, and I completely understand if you’re still too pissed off at me and need some space because if anyone said those things to me while I was going through the same thing with my stepdad, I would have lost my shit. And I know how selfish this sounds, but I need you in my life. I need to be able to hear your voice, and see your face, and talk about all the stupid shit that keeps us up until two in the morning. The thought of me being just an old friend, or a passing fling, or just some guy you slept with in Italy a few times is enough to absolutely destroy me. I don’t want to be just some passing phase. And if that makes me selfish, then I’m okay with that. Because I need to be somebody to you. Even if it’s just as friends. I can’t lose you.”

“Harry,” she hushed, placing a hand on his cheek to calm him down. The smile that was forming on her face had been replaced by concern as she said, “I’m not pissed at you. I was just disappointed that you felt like you couldn’t tell me any of this to begin with.”

Harry placed a hand over the top of hers that rested on his cheek as he nuzzled into it, relieved to hear that she didn’t hate him, “I was just scared.”

“Well, you had no reason to be.” she pulled his hands into her laps, “I’ve always been here for you, and I always will be here for you. You can’t get rid of me that easily. Do you know how many more jokes I have at your expense? How many more Princess Bride quotes I’ve been saving for the right moment?” she joked, making him chuckle. “Harry, I know how insane your life is and I understand if you don’t want to take certain risks that might affect it negatively, so I would never force you into anything. If you want to stay friends, then I get it. I won’t leave just because you don’t want to date me. But I want us to be able to be honest with each other about it instead of making excuses or deflecting. Besides, maybe we’re better off as friends, anyway. Save us the awkwardness of telling Nancy and Rory,” she giggled, avoiding eye contact and trying to find a justification.

Harry forced her to attention upwards, lifting her chin with his finger as he looked into her eyes with severity, “And if I did want to date you?”

Zoey stared at him in silence for a moment before a smirk formed, “Are you asking me out?”

He smiled, his dimples showing deep on his cheeks, blushing, “Will you be my girlfriend?”

Zoey beamed, launching forward and knocking him on his back, pressing her lips to his, forcefully, which made the two of them bounce and fumble from the movement of the trampoline. They laughed in the kiss before Zoey forced himself off of him and they fixed their hair that had gone awry, Harry’s heart beating wildly. He felt a weight lifting off of his shoulders, finally getting all of his thoughts and feelings off of his chest. The fear of losing her was still in the back of his mind, but it was dwindling at the knowledge that she was now his. For once, he didn’t want to think about the consequences of the press or his career. He was too excited right now to care. But there were a few people that needed to know.

“Guess we need to tell Nancy and Rory, now,” Harry said.

Zoey’s eyes widened, shaking her head, “No way am I doing that on my own.”

Harry laughed, pulling her into a hug, placing a kiss on her forehead and whispering “We’ll figure it out. Don’t worry.” 

She looked up into his eyes and they began kissing some more. She melted into his embrace, wrapped up in the moment of bliss and euphoria. Harry holding her as they kissed, his hands entangled in her hair as she cupped his warm cheek, feeling the tensing of his jaw as their tongues swirled together. But as the trampoline bobbed, a realization had struck her and she pulled away, “Do my parents know you’re here?”

Harry shrugged, “I texted Katie letting her know I was coming. She let me in. I didn’t see your parents.”

“Oh, God.” she groaned,  sitting up straight, “You don’t have to meet them, do you?”

He laughed, “Technically, I’ve already met them.”

“Maybe we can just sneak you past them or something,” she muttered to herself.

“Come on,” Harry urged, “they’re not that bad.”

“Harry. You’ve only had to deal with them through a phone,” she warned.

The more Zoey tried to convince him not to, the more he wanted to. After a lot of back and forth, Zoey finally gave in, leading the way towards the house. Locking the back door behind them, she poked her head into the kitchen, living room, and dining room but the only person downstairs was Katie who was watching TV while scrolling through her phone. Zoey had Harry sit with her younger sister while she went in search of them upstairs.

Katie looked up at him with a grin, but her face screwed up as she got a better look at him, noticing how raw his lips looked and how disheveled his hair was, “Were you two…?”

Harry seemed to figure what Katie was referring to and instinctively wiped his mouth before running his fingers through his hair, causing Katie’s mouth to fall open. He shushed her, grinning, but that didn’t stop her from gasping and whispering back, “You and Zoey?!”

He nodded, chuckling, “Yes.”

“So you two are, like….dating?” again, earning another nod of affirmation causing the eighteen-year-old’s mouth to fall open and eyes to widen even more, putting her phone face-down on her lap. 

The clambering of feet descending the steps just behind the living room wall got their attention and Harry quickly got to his feet just as Zoey had rounded into the room, her parents in tow. When their eyes landed on him, they widened at his presence shouting out a sound of delight as they gingerly made their way over to him.

“Harry, what a nice surprise! We didn’t know you were in town,” Mary was the first to reach him, wrapping him in a hug. “You’re a lot taller than I expected you to be.”

Harry laughed, “I get that a lot,” he pulled away, shaking their dad’s hand as he explained, “It was a spontaneous decision. I didn’t know I was coming until this morning.”

Everyone sat scattered around the living room as Mary said, “I’m so glad to be meeting you in person. I don’t know if Zoey told you yet, but we are just so grateful for you taking our girls to Italy and making sure they were okay and had fun.”

“You’ve been great at keeping us updated and answering our million questions,” her dad agreed, adding, “We know we were a pain, but we just wanted to make sure our girls were in good hands, and they certainly were.”

“Of course, it was no problem at all. I completely understand,” Harry smiled politely, earning a quiet giggle from Zoey who had taken notice of how proper he had been sitting. 

“So when did you get here? And how long are you staying for?” 

“I came straight here from the airport, but I’m not here for long. I’ve got to get home and get back to work later this week.”

“So, wait. Where are you staying?” Zoey asked, confused.

He shrugged, “I was going to call around to see if any hotels have any rooms available. I’m sure I’ll find one.”

“You’re more than welcome to stay here, Harry,” Mary offered, “It’s the least we can do. We don’t have a spare room, but I’ve fallen asleep on the couch many times and it’s not too bad.”

Harry and Zoey shared a look, silently agreeing that it was a good plan, but they needed to warn her parents about their newly founded relationship. Sure, they were adults now, but it was still their house and they didn’t want to be disrespectful and cross any boundaries. It’s been a long time since she introduced a boyfriend to her parents after being in such a long relationship previously and she had almost forgotten how terrifying it was.

“Mom, Harry and I. We’re…” Zoey looked over at Harry, nervously pinching the fabric of her jeans, “He’s my boyfriend.”

The word felt strange to say in reference to Harry. It’s not that the word made her feel uncomfortable. It’s just, he’s Harry Styles. ‘Harry Styles the famous singer’ sounded right. Even ‘Harry Styles the style icon’, or ‘Harry Styles the famous lyricist’. But ‘Harry Styles my boyfriend’? She had to admit, it had a certain ring to it. 

“Well, yes, I figured,” Mary laughed as if it were no surprise. Zoey’s eyes widened in shock along with Harry and Katie as her mom explained, “Well, he took you to Italy for your birthday and flew Katie out in first class. Why else would he do that if he didn’t like you?”

Zoey spluttered, prepared to defend Harry’s actions from that statement. How could she possibly assume that? It wasn’t just Harry who had planned the trip. Her friends did, too. But the more she thought about it, the more she understood what her mom was saying. Things like that didn’t just happen to normal people like them. Not here. Not in the real world. Not even in Harry’s world. Sure, he was a very giving person. But Harry went above and beyond to make sure her birthday week was special. And he did that because he cared about her. Whether he had admitted it to himself, yet, or not. He wouldn’t have done all that for just any friend. He did it because it was her. She closed her mouth, grinning in defeat.

“So, you said you’ve got to get back to work? Is that in LA?”

“England. London, actually,” Harry nodded, “I’ve got a writing session scheduled for Thursday afternoon, so I have to leave tomorrow night.”

“Writing session?” their dad repeated, “Are you a writer?”

“Are you serious?” Katie bellowed, aghast.

“What?” His dad asked, both he and Mary looking between them, confused.

“Dad, he’s Harry Styles!” Katie responded. And when the information didn’t seem to register Katie’s shock only grew, making both Zoey and Harry chuckle as her little sister tried to explain, “He’s a famous singer! He used to be in the band One Direction.” When that didn’t work, Katie groaned, shouting, “He’s the one that sings Watermelon Sugar!”

“Oh!” both parents shouted in surprise, causing the new couple to laugh. “Oh my goodness, well isn’t that something? I’m so sorry. I don’t get around to reading the internet much. I had no clue you were a singer! How exciting!”

Harry nodded, still laughing, “Yes, it is. Thank you.”

“Well, do you think you’ll be able to stay for the BBQ tomorrow before you leave?” Mary asked, “It’ll be pretty small, but you’ll get to meet a few nice people. Bonnie and Christopher, Zoey’s best friend’s parents, will be there. And then there’s Paul, Carol, and Michael. Or would that be too awkward?” Mary trailed off, looking wide-eyed at her eldest daughter.

Zoey shook her head with a chuckle, “They’ve already met, ma.”

His dimples deepened as he smiled, clasping his hands together, “Yeah, I can stay for the BBQ. Sounds like fun!”

She couldn’t help but smile, looking up and seeing how relaxed Harry looked at having a conversation with her parents. It felt bizarre to have him meet them minutes after making their relationship official. It felt like she was breaking a cardinal rule or superstition. Was it bad luck to have a partner meet your parents so soon? She supposed he was right, they had already met. Maybe that was part of the reason why Harry seemed so comfortable; he already knew them. Still, she hadn’t expected it to go so smoothly.

But how would it be introducing him to her unrelated family? To Mr. and Mrs. Lewis or Michael’s parents? Would that be just as easy, or would it be significantly more uncomfortable? She had just got done explaining everyone how she was single, what was she supposed to say now? Especially considering they were bound to know who Harry was. Was she supposed to introduce him as her boyfriend? How would Paul and Carol react? She knew how much they loved her and knew they only wanted her to be happy, but would they be disappointed in her from moving on from their son? She didn’t want to make them uncomfortable. And Michael? He had moved on from her, so he wouldn’t be too upset, right? Would he take offense to Harry being there if he knew they were dating? Would it seem like she was trying to shove in his face the fact that she moved on with a hot, successful, British singer? Maybe she should just refer to him as a friend? Or would Harry be offended by that? She should have this conversation with Harry first.

KEEP READING

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Taglist for Somebody To You:

@thurhomish​ , @stilljosiegrossie​ , @odetostep​ , @apples2019​ , @stylesmioamore​ , @inyourhaven

[mychemicalficrecs]

do you have any longer frikey fics, preferably bottom frank if theres smut

I do have some longer Frank/Mikey stuff, but no guarantee on bottom Frank!

Longer Frank/Mikey

Emotional Brilliance by kopperblaze, 21k, Mature. Toro and Mikey are a good team, Mikey doesn’t get why Brian had to hire someone else. In particular he doesn’t get why Brian had to hire Frank, who knows nothing about Lush products and who's incapable of keeping his mouth shut. Lush!AU. The one where Ray is a skin care expert, Frank is obnoxious, Mikey is annoyed and Pete leaves glittery handprints all over everything.

Gross roomies by turps, 36k, Explicit. Frank loves living with Mikey. Sure, the apartment is a mess, the kitchen's a toxic wasteland, and there's something growing in the refrigerator that's just a day or two away from becoming sentient, but other than those minor inconveniences, it's all cool. Or it is until Mikey decides to embark on a journey of sexual discovery and adventure and Frank's left at home with nothing but the fridge monster for company. To make matters worse, Mikey insists on telling Frank everything he does with his new kinky friends, right down to the tiniest detail. And now suddenly Frank is best friends with his right hand and he can't stop thinking about Mikey in ways he never has before. The really big problem, other than suddenly being in lust with his best friend, is that Frank isn't sure why.

Won't Know 'til You Begin by knight_tracer, Sena, 24k, Explicit. In which Frank is an accidental pervert, Mikey sleeps with Fabio, Gerard is much too sincere when talking about pain sluts, Ray is terrible with women and great with guitars, and Otter's got really bad taste in music. Alternately, the one where Frank realizes he has a thing for Mikey, Mikey realizes he has a thing for guys, and they're both adorably stupid failboats.

On Air by ladyfoxxx, 15k, Teen And Up Audiences. Frank's a radio DJ at an alternative station, spinning punk tracks and talking shit. When he gets handed the most popular show at the station to host, his first guests are independent horror filmmakers Gerard and Mikey Way.

Standing on a Planet that's Evolving and Revolving by Green, 13k, Explicit. The evolution of Frank Iero, age 15.

Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room by Femme (femmequixotic), 15k, Explicit. Frank wants to touch Mikey, to slide his fingers across the sharp angle of his cheek just below his glasses, to drag his thumb along the curve of his bottom lip, to smooth his palm down Mikey's long throat.

What Dreams May Come by sperrywink, 15k, Explicit. His career in music derailed, Frank never met the other guys in My Chemical Romance. A silly tale of teleportation.

a scent and a sound by mwestbelle, 15k, Explicit. In an urban fantasy world where werewolves can't hold a decent job and no roommate wants them, werewolf Frank is looking for an apartment. He finds one with Mikey Way.

Heart Wrapped in Clover by Sena, 19k, Explicit. Everbody's got their not-so-secret secrets on tour. When you live out of a van, you just can't help but notice things that you shouldn't talk about if you don't want to embarrass your friends or start a fight. Frank wishes sometimes they talked about things, though, because he's dying to ask if anybody else has noticed that sometimes, Mikey wears panties.

Tints Verse by turps, 65k, Mature. A MCR AU where Ray has his own gardening firm, and one day he does a job for the Ways.

We Used To Be Friends by ladyfoxxx, 50k, Explicit. "You and me, right Mikes?" "Yeah, fuck everybody else." Best friends since high school, if Frank could've chosen a brother, he'd pick Mikey. Then Mikey became a rock star and Frank... didn't. After years of radio silence, Mikey steps onto a stage in Jersey and back into Frank's life. (Or, the one where Frank is a school teacher and Mikey plays rhythm in The Used.)

And the Painted Ponies by turps, 35k, Mature. After years of struggling to be taken seriously as a bodyguard, Frank Iero is finally well established. He loves his boss, Ray, he loves his job, and he prides himself on his professionalism. But then he's assigned to be the personal bodyguard of Mikey Way. Mikey Way, aka Roboboy, is a successful high fashion model. Loved by designers and the public alike for his trademark lack of emotion, but mocked by the tabloid press for the exact same reason. Mikey is someone that Frank's sure he'll hate. Except it doesn't work out that way. In fact, it doesn't take long before Frank discovers he really likes Mikey. Maybe too much.

Better Than A Paid Life by gala_apples, 15k, Explicit. Gerard and Mikey Way are the Killjoys, a motorbaby duo. That is, until their car gets wrecked in a battle and the dashboard accessory of their new Trans Am is an ex-Companion with a mission.

Crash by Gorgeous Nerd (gorgeousnerd), 26k, Explicit. In a future version of Seattle, Frank Iero's a lot of things: bike messenger, cage fighter, sometimes thief, Ray Toro's roommate. Mikey Way's also a lot of things: record label owner, co-heir to his grandmother's fortune, younger brother. Neither are normal. But they don't know just how far each other's abnormalities go until Frank's past and a secret of Mikey's unexpectedly shove together. (Dark Angel AU.)

Sound Tracking by turps, 46k, Mature. The beat is muted, almost non-existent, and the loss hits Bob hard. He's used to living his life in a constant thrum of sound, sensing those around him, the rhythm of the universe a constant companion, but here there's almost nothing. He can feel the sound that's been pulling him for weeks now, but little else. This place is dead, almost silent, and Bob aches with the feeling of being cast into nothingness. A MCR - Bob and Gerard centric space AU where Gerard's band has been taken from him and Bob helps find them. Also features FOB, especially Pete.

Drink Cider From a Lemon by turps, 20k, General Audiences. A story about friendship, love and building your own kind of home.

Mikey Way and the Quest for the Stone by Roxy_palace, 29k, Explicit. “I’m in Colombia!” Mikey said, raising his voice over the crackle of a poor connection. “No. no, no, no, no,” James wailed. Mikey could really relate to his disbelief. He couldn't believe he was in mother fucking Colombia either.

Below the Trees, Which Are Below the Stars by alpheratz, 38k, Explicit. In the mid-1920s, Gerard and Mikey moved to France - Gerard to pursue art, Mikey because he couldn't stay behind. Now, it's 1930, and Mikey's become an airmail pilot, flying the mail route to Dakar with his navigator Frank. For a long time, the only rough thing about Mikey's life was the strain on his and Gerard's soulbond when Mikey was away, but his growing feelings for Frank and the arrival of Frank's old friend Ray could change everything.

Food of Love by Lucifuge5, 12k, Teen And Up Audiences. Ever since it re-opened, Frank's been "Sweet Nothings"'s number one customer. That he harbors a gigantic crush on one of the owners is something that he's kept to himself for the most part (Ray will never tell a soul.) It's not until he strikes a friendship with the older brother of the object of his affection that he 'fesses up. Moved by Frank's pining, Gerard promises to help Frank woo Mikey. Complications arise when Gerard's "helpful advice" is anything but. Will Frank be successful in his courtship or are his chances to win Mikey's heart as ruined as a burnt cupcake?

You Only Hear The Music (When Your Heart Begins To Break) by Acadjonne, 28k, Mature. Mikey and Frank have known each other for years. They're roommates, and best friends. They're also friends with benefits. The arrangement is casual, and it suits them both. Somewhere along the way, Mikey develops feelings for Frank, but he pushes them aside. They aren't important, he'll be fine. Or, Mikey is fine, until he somehow ends up pregnant a year into this thing with Frank, and all of a sudden, he's got more to deal with than just how long he'll be able to hide his feelings for Frank or how the hell he's supposed to afford his transition.

Give Me A Reason To Believe (Failboats In Love) by Acadjonne, 14k, Teen And Up Audiences. On the night of October 31st, Linda and Frank Iero welcome a baby boy into their family. He weighs six pounds, four ounces, and is nineteen inches long. They give him a family name, and he becomes the third Iero man to bear the name of Frank. A year later, on All Hallow's Eve, a sleeping baby is taken from his crib and replaced with a fake. The babe will later be taken from the hands of the goblin that stole him, and he will be raised by two rowan treefolk, a house brownie, and some pixies. ----- When Ray walks down the stairs to the Way family basement, the last thing Mikey expects to see is a scrappy and long-haired form following behind him. But as he later finds out, Frank is almost always unexpected in the best of ways, the rest of the world be damned.

Death's Muse by TheFratelliEffect, 53k [WIP], Mature. Lonely and depressed, Mikey Way is battling through the drab years that immediately follow college. Struggling to make a living as an artist, Mikey has became a battered down, quiet introvert whom wants nothing to do with the abusive romance he is unwillingly involved in. On a cold winter morning, the starving artist is confronted with the opportunity to paint Frank Iero, the Midnight Falls' elusive, young doctor, which he takes up immediately. Love and lust ensure as the story opens on the painter as he meets his muse.

Gallons Of The Stuff by MCRmyGeneral, 20k, Explicit. Frank has been amused by blood for as long as he can remember. When he was a child, it was a simple fascination; the way it felt on his hands, the way it looked dripping to the floor, the way it smelled. But as he grew older, that simple fascination morphed into a daring lust. Blood no longer amused him, now it turned him on. Frank has never intentionally hurt someone just to see their blood. He just takes what he can get whenever an accident happens. But when Mikey is hurt bad, Frank discovers how hard it is to keep his hands, and thoughts, to himself. He loves Mikey, he has for a long time. But now, he finds his silence so much harder to keep. He has two choices: either tell Mikey how he feels, about him and his blood, and risk scaring him away, or keep quiet, and never let the man know how much he means to him. Whatever he chooses, he knows that someone will get hurt.

[homesweetsewer]

Consolation Prize: Part 2 (Donatello x Fem Reader)

Hello! Finally got around to posting Part 2 (yay!). I’m thinking this is going to have 2 more parts to it...my muse willing. I also wanted to say that I’m horrible about checking my inbox so if you’ve sent me a message, I promise I’m not ignoring you. I’m slowly sorting through what’s in there and you are not forgotten. Gonna go ahead and link the rest of this little series since quit a few people told me it helps them navigate and I’m all about being user friendly!

Harmless: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

Radiant: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Consolation Prize: Part 1

“I think that should do it for tonight.” Donatello pushed away from the workbench and stood from his chair to stretch his long legs. “We’ll need to test the final compound and work on creating an efficient delivery system, of course, but it should neutralize both the acid and base properties rendering the chemicals useless.” 

“And prevent the contamination of the city’s water supply.” A smile stretched April’s lips as she beamed up at him. “Don, you’re a genius.” 

“That’s the rumor,” the ninja joked as he rolled his shoulders, relieving the kink in his neck from being bent over for so long.  

April laughed and stood as well, stretching her slender body in an attempt to relieve her own aches and pains. She looked up at the turtle from beneath long eyelashes. “Seriously, Donnie, I really appreciate you taking the time to help me with this. I know you probably have a million other things you could be doing instead.” 

“I’m happy to help. Besides,” Donatello shrugged, “that’s what friends are for, right?” 

“Right,” April’s smile took on a sad edge. “I’m glad we’re able to do this,” she softly stated. “You know...after everything.” 

“Yeah,” the bespectacled turtle quietly answered, a soft smile of his own gracing his lips. “Me, too.” 

April didn’t need to elaborate. They hadn’t really talked about it, but Don knew exactly what she was referring to. He wouldn’t lie. He’d been hurt badly when he’d learned months ago of the woman’s relationship with Casey. At the time, he’d believed himself to be in love with her, hanging on her every word and action as if her very presence gave him life. The crush he’d had on the woman felt so silly now...embarrassing, really. Looking back, he could see that what had transpired between them, despite being a painful lesson, had actually been a blessing in disguise. If it weren’t for his heartbreak, he would have never found the amazing gift that had been staring him right in the face the entire time. 

You. 

He had a girlfriend...an incredible, beautiful, funny, intelligent girlfriend that he loved more than anything else in the world. Sometimes he felt like kicking himself for not realizing what you meant to him sooner, but then you’d smile at him or take his hand in your own and his heart would feel like it would want to explode right out of his chest and he’d forget about everything else except for you in that moment. The two of you just seemed to click so perfectly together, moving from friends to something more with surprising ease. You were able to see beyond the green skin and shell, down deep to who he really was and you loved him regardless. Him! How on Earth had he ever gotten so fortunate? His smile grew at the thought. 

“You seem really happy,” the woman observed. “Things must be going well?” 

“Things are great. I am really happy,” Donnie quickly confirmed. He gushed, a giggle escaping from his throat, “She’s...she’s amazing. Sometimes it’s still hard for me to believe it. She could have literally anyone she wants, but she still chose me for some reason.” 

April made an amused sound. “She’s a smart girl. She knows a good man when she sees him.” 

“Heh...” Donnie shook his head and looked away, embarrassed. “Uh...what about you and Casey?” 

“You know.” April smirked and gave a half shrug. “Casey is Casey.” 

“Ah,” Donatello wasn’t sure exactly how to respond and so merely nodded. To be honest, it was still a bit of a sore spot where his pride was concerned and he was glad she hadn’t gone into detail.  

April sighed and stepped toward the turtle. Without warning, she wrapped her arms around him, ensconcing him in an embrace to the best of her ability with her cheek pressed against his plastron. “You’re a great guy, Donatello, I mean that. I’m happy for you...both of you. You deserve it. You all do.” 

“Um,” the ninja stiffened slightly and patted her on the back awkwardly. Now that his feelings towards her had changed, it felt weird being so close to her. “Thanks, April. That means a lot coming from you.” 

April lingered for a moment longer before pulling away and looking up at him with an almost melancholy expression. “Well...I guess I should probably get out of your way. Thanks again, Donnie. Enjoy the rest of your night.” 

“You’re welcome,” Donatello replied softly as he watched the woman turn and slowly make her way out of the lab. “You, too.” 

He stood there for a long moment after she left, a low hum emanating from deep in his chest as he turned the interaction over in his mind. He was glad that he and April were still able to work and spend time together as friends after all that had transpired. He’d been hurt and angry at her for a while, yes, but those feelings had faded once he’d had a real opportunity to sit down with himself and examine them. He still cared for her, but the giddy feeling of butterflies he’d once had whenever she was around had been replaced with a warm feeling of friendship, which he was thankful for. He could think clearly in her presence now and truly appreciate all she’d done to help his family. April was good people. She had a place in his heart, but it wasn’t exactly what he thought it would be. That space had been perfectly filled by another and he couldn’t have been more at peace with it. 

He was a logical turtle. He put more stock in science than he did fate or destiny, but he couldn’t help feeling that everything had worked out as it was meant to. He’d been entirely truthful when he’d said he was really happy. He couldn’t imagine anything more satisfying or fulfilling than being in a romantic relationship with his best friend. You’d both decided to take things slow and he was perfectly okay with that. He’d never been in a relationship before, he was a turtle after all, and he appreciated the time to feel things out and get them just right. This was previously uncharted territory for him, for the both or you, really, but he couldn’t think of anyone he’d rather explore it with. He had plans, so many things that he wanted to do and experience, and he wanted to do those things with you, if you’d allow it. 

Speaking of which... 

Donnie’s eyes drifted toward the clock mounted on the wall and his eyes immediately widened behind his tortoise shell frames. An undignified squeak escaped from his throat as he bolted for the door. “Oh, no…no, no, no…”

The ninja burst out of his lab to find the lair more or less deserted. The lights were dim and the television silent. Muffled snores emanating from the couch reached his ears. He crept forward to peek over the back to see Mikey shell up, sleeping peacefully with his face buried in the cushions. Moving silently so as not to disturb his youngest brother, he crept toward the kitchen to find his older brother carefully rearranging the fridge in order to accommodate the evening’s leftovers.

Don cleared his throat, “Raph?” 

“He lives,” Raph responded gruffly as he rose to his full height and turned to look at his brother. He inclined his head to the cardboard box he still held in his hands. “We saved ya some pizza.”

“I’m not…” Donnie shook his head. “I’m not hungry.”

“Suit yourself,” Raph shrugged and shoved the box into the space he’d cleared in the refrigerator. “Its there if ya change your mind.” 

“Where, uh,” Donnie stuttered. “Where is everyone?”

“Where do ya think they are?” Raphael scoffed and slammed the refrigerator door and moved to shoulder his way passed his brother and out of the kitchen. “Its after 2 AM, genius.”

Donnie hurried after him. “I know, but…”  

“If you’re askin’ about your girl,” Raph guessed, “she left over an hour ago. Leo was feelin’ all chivalrous and walked her home for ya. Ya know, since ya stood her up and all.”

“What?” Donatello squawked in indignation. “I didn’t stand her up!”

“Yeah?” Raph turned to look at his brother, one brow raised. “What do ya call it then? This ain’t the first time you’ve flaked out on her. You didn’t see her face after she sat here all night waitin’ on your sorry shell to remember she was here.”

“I-I was working,” the purple masked ninja defended. “I lost track of time!” Then, he added forlornly, “she didn’t even say goodbye…”

Raph looked pointedly at the other turtle. “Said she didn’t think you and April wanted to be bothered.”

“Bothered?” Donatello looked helplessly at his older brother. “Why would she even think that? She’s never a bother!”

“That’s not the impression she got. Look,” Raph shook his head and turned to continue his trek through the lair, “ya got a good thing goin’ here, Don. Ya don’t think any one of us would give our right arm to be in your shell? Ya got a great girl and she thinks the world of ya. I hate to see ya screw that up.” 

“Wait,” a look of alarm settled over Donnie’s features. “You think I’m screwing things up?”

Instead of answering his brother’s panicked question, he stopped at the couch and balled his fist, knocking on Michelangelo’s shell. “Get up, Mikey,” he ordered. “Go get in bed.”

“Mmmkay…” the youngest turtle roused slowly, allowing his much larger brother to practically lift him from his reclined position by the rim of  his shell and set him on his feet. Bleary eyed, he moved almost zombie like in the direction Raph propelled him in with a careful shove. “G’night, bros…”

“Raph!” Donatello demanded, “what do you mean I’m screwing things up?”

Raphael sighed and held his hands up in a defensive manner. “All I’m sayin’, is that it ain’t a good look.”

Exasperated, Donnie demanded, “What does that even mean?”

“It means,” Raph started, “that all the movies and books I’ve ever seen have taught me that girls don’t like it when ya repeatedly blow ‘em off to go hang out with your ex.”

“My ex?” Donatello looked confused for a moment before what his brother was getting at dawned on him. “You mean April? April isn’t my ex anything,” the tall terrapin insisted. “We were never together! Nothing ever happened! She knows that!”

“Not for lack of tryin’,” Raph pointed out. “Do ya remember how twisted up ya got when ya thought she was ghostin’ ya?”

Donnie swallowed hard, nodding. “Yeah…”

“Now imagine,” Raph painted the picture, “that instead of sittin’ at home alone, worrin’ about ya, she was holed up somewhere with some guy she never stopped talkin’ about and fawnin’ over to your face. How would that make ya feel?”

Donatello felt like someone had punched him in the gut as what his brother was getting at hit him full force. “But,” the purple banded ninja shook his head, “she knows April and I are just friends. I’d never do anything to betray her trust like that. She’s not just my girlfriend…she’s my best friend. I love her. She knows that.”

Raph eyed the other turtle skeptically. “Does she?”

“Yeah…” Donnie answered hesitantly, now feeling unsure under his brother’s heavy gaze. “I-I think so…”

“Ya think so?” Raphael shook his head. “Ya better make damn sure that ya know so. A girl like that…she’s got options and they ain’t limited to mutant freaks. She doesn’t have to be slummin’ it down here in the sewers with your scaly ass.”

“Seriously?” If Donatello wasn’t panicked before, he was now. He could feel the color drain from his face and his heart begin a furious gallop in his chest at the thought of losing you. “You think she’ll leave me?” 

Raph shrugged, obviously done with the entire conversation.

Fear gripping him, Donnie asked, “what do you think I should do?” 

“I’m a turtle, not an advice columnist,” Raphael deadpanned as he moved off toward the room he and Mikey shared. He called back over his shoulder, “you’re the brainiac, you figure it out. I’m goin’ to bed.”

Donatello was left standing alone in the middle of the darkened lair, his eyes glassy with unshed tears and his heart breaking over the thought of losing you. His brilliant mind whirred at a million thoughts a minute, all swirling around how foolish he’d been lately when it came to you. Now that he thought about it, all the signs were there. He’d done it again. He’d taken you for granted. He’d let himself get sucked into another project, with April of all people, and hadn’t really considered how you’d feel about it. Relationships were so new to him that, honestly, it hadn’t even crossed his mind that you’d be upset. 

He berated himself. How stupid was he? Of course you’d be upset! He knew he would be if the roles were reversed. He couldn’t lose you. He wouldn’t let that happen. You meant everything to him. You had to know how much he loved you. He’d make sure of it. 

He checked the time and sighed. It was late. Too late to call you now or slip out and go to your apartment. He didn’t want to disturb you should you be sleeping. He’d already done enough damage for one evening and didn’t want to make things worse. 

“I’ll call her first thing in the morning,” he promised himself. “I can fix this. I know I can. It’ll be fine.” 

At least, he hoped it would be.