Leo Blues
Leon (Future Leo) realizes that his younger self is feeling a bit blue and decides to help him feel better.
I wrote half of this months ago and the other half today. Shoutout to my friend @little-banjo-frog for giving some ideas and helping with the fic!!! :D
This is part of an AU but you don't really need to know context. Just that Future Leo is back to past, and maybe some other family members, and he is hanging out in the lair with others.
Oh also this is inspired by @tmnt-event-blog 's prompt (basically what motivated me to finish it haha)
Word Count: 2530 ☆ Fandom: rottmnt ☆ Warnings: a very brief implication of death/losing someone close ☆ AO3 Link: Here!! ☆
Leon knew himself well. Not himself himself, but his younger self. Leo was a younger version of Leon after all, and Leon knew what it did mean when he sulked away from everyone.
Today Leo was less chatty, he didn’t leave his room other than to get breakfast and join his brothers to help them with some things. These two things were more than enough to tell Leon his younger self was in a bad mood.
That is exactly why right now Leon was on his way to Leo’s room. He didn’t tell anyone else, since he knew how he used to be around on such days. Always hiding his negative emotions and keeping it to himself. Not wanting to share the hurt and make anyone else sad. Leon was worried that he wouldn’t talk to him either, but he had to try his chance. What were your future selves if not to help you when needed, right? Ignoring the 'annoying them till they start throwing stuff at you' part, of course.
He knocked the wall before opening the curtain and entering Leo’s room. As he expected, he found the boy sitting on his bed with legs crossed, his phone in his hand but his eyes blankly staring at the ground. Leon wasn’t even sure if he heard him coming. He most probably didn’t, considering how he flinched when Leon put his hand on his shoulder and sat next to him.
“Hey, pequeñin ,” He said as he kept his voice low and smiled softly.
Leo gave him a confused look before smirking. “Hey, anciano .”
The older turtle rolled his eyes, but said nothing. He wasn’t here to jokingly bicker with his younger self. “Haven’t seen you around a lot today.”
“Eh, got stuff to watch and catch up.” Leo shrugged.
Lies. “Ah, so feeling blue , huh?” Leon stated the fact, but not without smirking at his word choice.
“Blue suits me well after all.” Leo replied casually, with a wink and matching smirk.
Leon felt himself relax a bit, at least his younger self felt comfortable enough to open up with how he was feeling to him, even if it was in the form of joking. “Has no one ever told you being this blue is too much?” Leon asked.
“I thought you’d know the answer already, considering we share the same sixteen years of the past.” Leo answered.
“Heh, you’re right. How did I miss that?”
The two sat on the bed for some seconds, enough for Leo to slowly lean towards his bed frame and for Leon to come up with a quick plan to repaint Leo’s mood.
As he got up he said “I’ll be right back, and don’t worry I’m not bringing anyone.” to Leo. The other was quiet, only watching him leave.
Leon’s first destination was the living room. The last place he had seen Leo’s tablet (which he probably had forgotten to pick it up yesterday). Entering in, he saw it was still on the same spot as before. The room was empty, nobody other than Splinter who was enjoying his usual commercials. Leon smiled at the nostalgic scenery. No matter how long passed since he returned to the past, he still couldn’t get used to the fact he once again was back at home. Back to the casual chaotic life he had before the apocalypse. The little simple things would forever make him feel warm.
After picking up the tablet, he walked towards his next destination: His room. Or rather his, Future Mystic Hands’ (they really needed a shorter ‘official’ nickname that both Mikeys would accept) and Case’s room. He took the extra blankets (Mikey Two wouldn’t need them anytime soon) and left.
Next up was the kitchen, which was the final room to visit before returning to Leo’s room. As he came close to the entrance he heard the chatter. Casey, Donnie and April’s laughter filled the kitchen. The three were sitting on the chairs, mugs of three different kinds of drinks on the table. Casey was the first one to notice him: “Hi Sensei!”
"Hey Case," Leon ruffled the boy's hair as he walked by him. Casey grumbled in protest, but Leon could see his grin. What a hypocrite.
"Will you join us Big Blue?" April asked with a smile, "Mikey's made hot cocoa."
"Sorry guys, got other plans."
"What other plans?" Casey questioned, raising a bow.
"Finally catching up on some TV series." He answered.
"All by yourself?" April asked.
Leon got two mugs. "Yeah, myself and I."
"I see, you mean you and Leo ." Donnie pointed out. "And here Future Boy was telling us some future stories."
Leon turned to squint at Casey. "What kind of future stories?"
"Ummmmm…" Casey looked away. Bad sign. A very bad sign.
"Nothing you should worry about." April said and sipped from her cocoa.
"Somehow this makes me worry even more." Leon deadpanned. Then he turned back to what he was doing.
Donnie smirked, "You'll most likely find out soon anyways."
That could only mean an embarrassing story. But hey, two could play that game. "Well, maybe you'll find out more future stories too."
"Oh ho ho, tell us all of them man." April sounded excited to learn more embarrassing stories. Leon couldn't blame her, there were a lot of crazy silly things going on even in the doomed future.
"Maybe not all of them." Casey chipped in, looking with somewhat pleading eyes to his sensei.
"Perhaps." Leon replied, meanwhile finishing with preparing the tray with the snacks, leftover pizza and hot cocoa mugs. "But not yet."
"Leaving us at cliffhanger?" April huffed.
"I didn't even start saying anything."
"The trailer was enough."
Leon grinned, "Soon in the lair… stories from the future." He said dramatically.
"Three V.I.P. tickets, please." Donnie said after sipping his probably way too sweet coffee. "For the premiere."
"We accept payment with story sharing." Leon smirked.
"Deal. Junior shared plenty."
"Sweet."
Leon turned to look at his protégé. Casey watched with confusion. Then Leon realized that the boy didn't know– or rather didn’t remember. "Do you remember cinemas, Case?"
"Yes?" His eyes shined brightly the moment he connected the dots, "Oh!"
"...Future didn't have cinemas." Donnie announced his own findings as he thought out loud. "I hadn't considered that."
"I believe you guys can fill him with some culture of the present?" Leon asked.
"Of course, there's so much for the Future Boy to discover!" April got her arm around Casey's neck and pulled him closer. Casey smiled, putting down his mug of tea to side hug her.
It was good to see the boy had gotten better at being relaxed. Being always on alarm was a hard habit to break from after everything he went through.
As the three began talking about all the places and things his future lacked, Leon left the kitchen and headed back to Leo's room.
The boy was now under the blanket. Leon could tell that he still was on his phone from the subtle light.
"Hot cocoa delivery," Leon announced.
"Mikey's?" Leo asked from the spot he was in.
"Yep."
He peeked and then reached to him, "Gimme!"
Leon gladly gave him one of the mugs. "If you come out we can share the snacks."
This perked Leo's interest a bit more. He squirmed out of the blanket, no more laying on the bed. He noticed the rest of what Leon collected on his short trip in the lair.
Leon took his place next to him and wrapped the blankets he brought around them. He placed the snacks and pineapple pizza between them, and the tablet in front of them. "What do you wanna watch?"
Leo shrugged, "Dunno."
Good thing Leon was still a Leo. He knew what his comfort movies were and he could use this to his advantage. “Kung Fu Panda?”
“Sure. Are we doing a marathon?” Leo asked.
“You bet. After all, it has been a while since I last saw them.” Leon grinned. He barely could remember the movies, or the days he would watch them with his family thanks to Donnie, in the middle of the apocalypse. He really hoped they could do that again, just not in an apocalyptic situation.
Leo looked at him, with a glint of sadness. He quickly looked away towards the screen. “You better plan watching Secrets of the Scroll too, then.” He said. Voice completely normal, as if it wasn’t him who was hiding under blankets a short while ago.
“You know I will.” Leon hummed. He hadn’t missed that look, and he would help himself. “Before that… is there something you want to talk about? You seemed like you wanted to say something a second ago.”
He seemed uncertain for a moment, “Ah, no. Nope.”
“Are you sure?” Leon knew that this was a lie. “Because whatever you say, stays between us.”
“Yeah, yeah… just…” Ah, there it was. “Remember last night’s patrol?” He said a bit quietly.
Leon nodded, “Yeah. Didn’t you guys end up kicking Stockboy’s butt?”
“Yes… but…” Leo pulled his legs towards himself. “I almost failed.” He whispered.
“But you didn’t.” Leon pointed out, urging his younger self to talk.
“But I almost did!” Leo repeated. His hold on the mug tightened.
“And why is it a problem?” Leon questioned, genuinely. He wanted to know why Leo found it such a big problem.
“Because the last time I failed, everyone I loved almost died .”
Leo sounded so tired, and equally panicked. And Leon couldn’t even blame him. Not when he did the same thing. Not when he did lose them. Not when he froze once he heard the words.
Leo took a breath, “Sorry, I… I didn’t mean to. I…”
Leon looked at him. The boy he once was. So young, sad, broken… Unfairly punished by a cruel fate. And never ever let himself relax, to be seen weak. Especially after the apocalypse. After losing so much. After becoming a leader, responsible for whatever is left. This boy had almost experienced it. He almost had the same life as him. And even though he managed to escape the hell, he still was suffering from it. Even though he literally had sacrificed himself, he had given his everything to save everyone, he was still hurting thinking of what could’ve been. Of what happened.
And, oh, how unfair that was.
He put his mug aside, then gently took the mug Leo was holding from his hands (who looked at him confusedly) and put it next to his. Then he pulled the boy into a tight hug. “It is okay, Leo.” He said, voice small but powerful. “It has passed, everything will be alright.”
“But what if I make another mistake? What if everything goes bad again, because of me ?” Leo responded, his voice trying to stay strong but clearly close to breaking.
“You will make mistakes.” Leon said. “You will make so many of them. Just like I did. Even after everything that happened. Even when I was a leader.” He pushed away the memories full of pain, regret, and shame that creeped from the back of his mind. He had learned to accept them, once he had time to recover and focus on himself. Or rather he was learning to, it was a hard process to return to what you had locked to survive. He didn’t want Leo to do something similar, or let his fear destroy him. “And you know what? It is amazing that you make mistakes. It means you are trying something new. You are trying to be better. To learn. That you realize them means you are trying to learn from them.”
“And what if I don’t have time to learn from them the next time I make a mistake?” Leon knew Leo had shut his eyes and was doing his best to not let everything out, to not break in front of him. He was holding Leon tightly too.
“You will have time. Trust me.” Leon affirmed. “After all, what is important is the fact that you are trying. You aren’t giving up. You are trying to be better. And I am so proud of you.” He broke the hug and looked at his eyes. “I know you think otherwise, but you are actually a much cooler dude than me. You are even teaching me new stuff every day.”
Leo smiled a bit, a shaky one. “How so?”
“You were the one to remind me what I always fought for, you are the one to remind me who I was– or rather, I am .” Leon smiled at him. “You are beating yourself up for something impossible, and while I know it is hard to not to do so, I also know you are strong, Leo. And you are never alone.”
And with those words, Leo finally let himself relax and smile. Then Leon saw as tears fell, right before Leo hugged him tightly. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t really have to. Leon knew how much it meant to be reminded of having someone by your side even at the worst times. For someone to confirm even when the world felt like it was ending (which was not an unfamiliar concept for both of them, sadly) things would turn out well. So he held the boy, until he stopped crying and shaking, letting everything out after who knows how long.
When Leo broke the hug and sat, leaning to Leon instead of his bed, Leon patted his head. “How blue are you feeling?” He asked, handing back now luke warm hot cocoa. Somehow, they hadn’t gone cold, which to be honest was weird.
“Less than before.” Leo smiled. “I never had thought I’d end up getting hugs from my older self, but here you are.”
“Isn’t it insane?” Leon replied with a smirk.
“It is.” Leo grinned. Then he added. “Thank you.”
“Don’t even mention it.” Leon replied. “Now drink your cocoa and get ready, because I want to watch Kung Fu Panda.”
Leo grinned. “Sure thing, old man.”
“No, even after those hugs? You are cruel.” Leon teased.
“Those are just facts.” Leo smirked. Then he sipped the hot cocoa, “Mmm, this is good.”
“I bet it is.” Leon said as he sipped his. Oh, it was even better than he remembered it to be. “It really is…” He nodded. He had missed this so much.
“So are we watching the movies or..?” Leo asked, a fake hastiness in his tone.
Leon laughed, “Yeah, let’s start.” He grinned as he opened the movie.
He didn’t think much of it, but he was grateful for Leo. He wouldn’t ever talk about it, but those words he told his younger self? He needed to hear them too. He had forgotten them. He may have had his family back, but still sometimes it was hard to remember things weren’t always bad. That things would be okay in the end, and that he wouldn’t ever be alone.
So in the end of the day, both blue masked turtles had ended up feeling better– or as they would call it, less blue.
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[Based on Asks I Get] Here’s the Cheatsheet to My (Sterek) Fics, Folks:
Why am I Following You Again?: 👋🏻 You’re probably here because of There’s Monsters at Home. Stiles is a BAMF, Derek is a Failwolf, the Pack has to actually learn how to form Voltron (figuratively), Derek gets possessed by a demon (literally), Stiles is blind (temporarily), and there’s a semi-sentient phoenix tattoo. There’s art from @andavs for it here because she is one of the coolest people I’ve ever known. Big facts. There’s also a gifset that eeames made that can only be found in the fic now (thanks, tumblr) so check that ish out!
You Wrote a Sterek Fic Where, Like, They’re Dicks... But It’s Good? Also, Stiles is Correct™ about How Much It Sucks to Sleep in the Same Bed as a Human Heater: You’re thinking of Seat Belts & Gravity, and your description is much better than mine. On. Point.
There was One Where, Like, They’re in College and There’s the Pack But Not Really Because I Think Everyone was Human and No One Knows Derek and Stiles are Together Even Though It’s Not a Secret?: You’re thinking of We’re Burning One Hell of a Something, aka The One You Will Never Find If You Don’t Bookmark It Now. I’m serious, I just told you what it is but navigate away from this page for one minute and what’s it called? You don’t know, but an Ellie Goulding song is stuck in your head and this is going to drive you gonzo now. Just bookmark it, for serious.
😭 B-But Protozooey?: That’s Of Bananas, Babies and Buzzkills and I’m sorry. Oh, and get all your bwhahas and wah-wah-wahs in podfic form: here!
What are the Rules to Brackets?: Brackets is a fictional game created in The Quadruped, Rhypophagus Team of Goatliness that is based solely on the pure chaotic energy of True American in New Girl ..... what about any of that fic makes you think rules belong there?
P.S. What Does Rhypophagus Mean?: Granted this was never a super popular word but it did used to be a... word and it means trash-eating - I cannot explain to you why there’s only, like, one link on Google that will tell you that now. I’m thinking Larry and Sergey liked my fic so much they decided: all roads must lead to this miss! It’s the only thing that makes sense really.
Did You Write a Ballet One Where, Like, Afterwards I Wanted to Crawl into a Dark Hole and Eschew All Human Contact?: I did! Thanks for noticing, and you’re welcome! It’s called Birds of a Feather Fuck Together. You probably remember this art for it too!
There was a Nerd/Jock Thing But Also Still Werewolves... Am I Remembering This Right?: You are! It’s Option C) Some Bad Guys are Werewolves, but Not All Werewolves are Bad Guys. I should make longer titles, huh? Also there is awesome art for it by NateintheAttic.
Are You the Person Who Did the One Where the Hales are Still Alive and There’s, Like, Magic and Scott’s a Seer and Also Everyone Thinks Scott and Stiles are Gonna Bone (Including Derek)? No, Right?: I can see why you would think I am not that person because it is all kinds of happy but that was me! It’s called Instructions for Dancing. It’s got a bittle prequel on tumblr here and a scene from Derek’s PoV here.
Did You Ever Finish that One that I Started to Read on Tumblr and Then Lost Track of around Part, Like, Fifteen?: I did! It’s completed on tumblr as the Subway Sleeper Series and posted to AO3 as a huge block of zaniness under the name Hibernation Station. Oh! And art exists for it: here and here!
There was One about Allison?: There was! It’s called Phases of the Weaker Heart and it’s entirely from her point of view with some of my fave pre-slashy Sterek sprinkled in. @goodoceangonewrong giffed one of my absolute favorite scenes: here and lunchee did an absolute gorgeous reading of it here.
There’s One with a Dog and Baltimore and Frosted Flakes and Baseball and Smiling and Also, Like, So Much Baltimore Though?: That’s [Hilary Duff Lyric Redacted]! You might also remember the art for it: here.
There’s One Where Stiles Talks, Like, So Much?: That could be so many, help me out here! .... Holy-Os, Now with Thirty Percent More Bonermallows? Oh, of course! That would be How Weetabix Got His Marshmallows Back! You’re welcome, you dirty birds 😉
Okay, This is Going to Sound Weird but Boyd was Just, Like, Stealing Clothes Off Dead Hunters in the Background?: That’s Apathy, Apathy, You’ll be the Death of Me and it sounds perfectly in character to me so I’m not even sure what you mean by “weird.”
Are You Ever Going to Finish Your Series/Write a Sequel Like You Said You were Going to?: I am super sure that I am one day going to do those things, yes. Is that based on reality or previous patterns? Listen, sometimes you just have to have faith, y’know?
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