Own it..then Redeem it (2007!Leonardo x reader)
Chapter 3: Why me?
You get out of your shift for the evening and go straight to April’s place to visit the guys and Splinter. You really missed the lair, and the guys as well. Thing’s felt pretty distant but you try your best to visit them when you can. It’s not that you wanted to avoid them, you just couldn’t deal with all those painful memories between you and Leo. Every square inch of that place reminded you of him, it was his home. However, you also had to remind yourself that it became your home as well.
Walking up to the top floor of April and Casey’s new home, you smiled on how they finally decided to move in together. April talked about how their penthouse was beautiful and roomy for both of them, also in case the turtles decided to crash for the night.
You knock on the pristine door and April opens it with the third knock.
“(Y/n)! I’m so glad you came. Come on in.” April opened the door wide open with a happy smile.
You walked in their penthouse and started staring at everything.
“Things have been going well between you two huh.” You smile at April and hug her as a greeting.
“Thanks to me of course.” April looked smug and you chuckled.
We walked to the living room and you saw Casey on the couch with a newspaper. He looked up and grinned at you.
“Hey there, ready to face ‘fearless’?” Casey sits up and puts the newspaper down.
April pats his head with her wooden sword as a warning.
“What? She can take him if she wants to.” Casey pouts and rubs his head. You chuckle and hug him as well.
“Let’s hope it won’t come to that.” You smile at them.
“So, I called Donnie and asked when they’ll be done with their patrol, he says at 11, so we can wait a little until then.” April informs and turns on the music while the t.v is on.
“Wanna spar a little, it’s been a while. I mostly practice by myself tho.” You ask and put your backpack purse beside the couch.
“Sure, I’ve been wanting to ask you anyways.” April smiles and makes her stance.
“Just don’t whine when you tap out.” You make a stance and grin while she playfully rolls her eyes.
While you and April were sparing with each other, Casey entertained himself a bit by watching the ‘cat fight’. That's what he calls it everytime you and April spar together. He then just looked at the newspaper when he saw a picture of Raph in his Nightwatcher outfit and started reading the section.
During the spar, you and April heard a familiar news that came in this morning.
“Witnesses say there are holes in the floors, as if something or someone had just blasted straight down through them. Leaving authorities ‘scratching their heads’.” The anchor raises an eyebrow.
You and April immediately stop and turn to the t.v screen. You turn to each other and things somehow make it a little more clear.
“So this confirms that he’s back then.” April raises an eyebrow at the construction site.
“Looks like it, the four of them together are trouble but effective. So whatever happened that night gave them motive to strike into the scene. Something big.” You try to analyze the situation.
“We’ve got an image in from an amateur cameraman, and I do stress amateur.” The anchor says showing the image of what seems like a statue man.
“Whoa, April, wasn’t that the statue you delivered to Winters from Central America?” You asked and turned to her.
“I think so..Casey come look at this.” April called out to Casey. When you both turned around, and he was gone. You figured that he went out playing ‘trick or treat’ again. April went close to the window and sighed. “Be safe.”
“Don’t worry, he can take care of himself. That guy can give and take more hits than I give him credit for.” You state and she chuckles. You both sat back down at the couch and looked at the t.v. The news ended but we still had suspicions about it.
“There’s just no way that those statues can come to life just like that.” April frowned a bit, thinking.
“From everything that we all went through April, anything is possible. Maybe someone, somehow activated those statues. Actually, there were alot of statues that Winters had collected. Maybe he had them for a reason.” You leaned forward and put your palm under your chin.
“Why would Winters even want moving statues-? Wait, how do you know he had a collection of statues?” April turned to you confused.
“I may or may not have been to his place before…” You chuckle nervously.
“Did you-?” April eyes widen and you stop her immediately.
“No! Oh god no. When we first met, I was at his Gala, my boss only wanted me there to speak about his business since he trusts me more than his other employees. Winter and I talked about it and made some agreement. Later on, he wanted to show me something that he hasn’t shown anyone before. I saw a room that was filled with alot of ancient scrolls, weapons, and familiar statues. That's actually when he offered to get some coffee with me one day.” You explained to her and she nodded in understanding.
“Why did he show you that?” April asks.
“I’m not sure, he said that he saw something special in me. Maybe it’s his way of getting girls?” You were trying to be sure that’s what it was.
“I guess, but that doesn’t explain why he-” April was cut off by a grunt from outside the window.
You both got startled and quickly made a defensive stance, but then you guys relaxed when it was just Casey...and Raph. Seeing Raph limp made you both worried and panicked.
“What happened to Raph?!” You got closer and tried to help him by getting Raph’s other arm moving him inside the apartment.
“I don’t know! There was a monster he wanted to go after, then the foot showed up, and walking statues. They hit him with this.” Casey showed a syringe and gave it to April.
“I’ll call Donnie.” April went quick to the phone. You told Casey to get a bowl of water and a towel while you check for injuries. Your eyes widen when you see a weapon that resembles a ninja star. It was deep in his shell and it felt like stone. An ancient weapon.
“They’re coming on their way. How’s he doing?” April asked, gently touching his arm. Raph’s head was on your lap while you wiped away the sweat on his face and neck.
“He’s breathing more normally now, but still a little woozy. Whatever was in that syringe really knocked him out.” You responded, dipping the towel in water to dab. The three of you were worried about Raph.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your waiting was finally over once you heard a thud in front of the window. Mikey’s big smile showed and he opened the window to get inside, you smiled in relief. Two other thuds were joined which means that he’s back. Mickey stared at the whole apartment like you did before. Donnie came in after Mikey with an apologetic smile towards you. Leo then emerged into the window looking at all of us. You didn’t give a big smile like the rest of them.
“Leo! You came back.” April said happily.
“Leo!” Casey swings in his chair.
“Sorry the reunion isn’t under better circumstances.” Leo apologies and enters the apartment.
“Whoa-ho-ho! Nice pen kids.” Mikey smiles big at the apartment and then looks at Raph on my lap. “Oh, hey Raph.”
Donnie approached Raph and started checking on him.
“Well, his vital signs seem to be okay. Pupil dilation is normal.” He says.
“That’s not everything.” You say pointing to the back of Raph’s shell.
“Whoa!” Donnie turns Raph to see his shell.
“Whoa.” Mikey says in curiosity while Leo was concerned.
Donnie takes the weapon out and inspects it.
“Some sort of stone, probably obsidian I think.” Donnie analyzes and Leo walks up to Raph.
“Well is he gonna be alright?” Leo asks worriedly, he touches his brother's shoulder.
“Ugh, you're still here? Go back to the jungle.” Raph says with a little slur, shoves his hand away and lays back on your lap.
“Well, at least his personality is still intact.” Leo raises an eyebrow and shrugs.
“(Y/n)! I missed you.” Mikey hugged you tightly but made sure not to disturb Raph.
“I missed you too buddy.” You smiled and hugged him with one arm. You couldn’t bring yourself to talk to Leo or even make eye contact with him.
While April was explaining the story of ‘The Legend of Yaotl’, Raph sat up and you guided him to the kitchen to bandage his arm. He gave you a grumble ‘thanks’ and drank some water to freshen up. You smiled and you both walked back out to the living room.
“Well if you ask me guys, this has Winter's name written all over it.” Donnie told everyone and you were a little shocked about his answer.
“How did you figure that Donnie?” Leo asked, while Casey and Mikey agreed.
“Because, this has Winter’s name written all over it.” Donnie answers with a grin.
“Can I see that?” You asked and Donnie gave it to you, it really was true. What could Winters possibly gain from forming a relationship with me?
“Your rich boyfriend has goons now (Y/n)? Didn’t see that coming. Now I know who to thank for the shot in the arm. So where do we find this guy and his stone jokers?” Raph says sitting down while holding his arm. You glare a little at him for the information he gave out to everyone.
“Boyfriend?” Donnie,Mikey, and Casey turned to you with a shocked face.
“It’s not like that. I’ll explain later.” You rubbed your temple. Leo seemed a little hurt but crossed his arms and ignored the information for now.
“We’re not going anywhere until we get Splinter’s blessing.” Leo firmly says and frowns at Raph.
“Did you get his blessing for extra days on your ‘vacation’?” Raph glares at him.
“That’s different.” Leo glares back at his hot headed brother.
“Different how? Oh I get it! It was a perfect excuse to ghost (Y/n).” Raph snaps at the leader.
“Raph!” You exclaimed, surprised by his sudden choice of words.
“What? You think I’m gonna let him stand there and quote a rule book to me that he ain’t following for a year!” Raph stands up abruptly and points at Leo while glaring at him.
“Look Raph, if you got something you wanna get out of your shell. Now’s the time! What you're not gonna do is include (Y/n) into this. And I’m not gonna stand here and debate Splinter’s direct orders with you!” Leo pointed at Raph with a hard glare. Raph clenches his jaw.
“Fine then, I quit.” Raph gives up and exits out the window, but not without Casey’s words before he left. You wanted to talk to Raph, even though he threw you out there like that.
“If you don’t mind April, I’d like to take these to the lab for some tests. We should start figuring out these pieces.” Donnie stands and walks towards April.
“Sure Donnie, I’ll come by with Casey tomorrow evening.” April smiles and nods. You can’t focus on the situation when Raph stormed out.
“I’ll catch up with you guys later, I’ll come by tomorrow evening since it’s my day off. Don’t overwork yourself Donnie.” You waved at them and headed out of the window in search of Raph.
Leo wanted to stop you but he stopped himself. How can he even begin to start a conversation with you, you couldn’t even look at him in the eye. Maybe now isn’t the right time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You went on the search for Raph, only to find him in his Nightwatcher outfit. He took his anger out on some crooks and went back up to the roof. When he saw you, he groaned and took his helmet off.
“What is it now (Y/n), I don’t wanna get into an argument with you so do us both a favor and let me be.” Raph turned around and grabbed his duffle bag.
“Raph I didn’t want to argue with you at all. I just wanted to see how you were doing.” You approached him and sat on the ledge of the roof.
“Yea right, after what I said I wouldn’t be surprised if you're upset with me.” Raph scoffs and retouches his weapons.
“Honestly? A little, but I wouldn’t have said it any better if I were to tell him off.” You looked at him with a smile.
“Well at some point he’s gonna get the courage to talk to you, so you might want to figure things out soon.” Raph puts the helmet back on and looks over the city.
“Figure what out?” You asked, wondering what he’s referring to.
“I’m talking about things between you, Leo, and Winters. You're either team Winters or team Leo.” Raph points out as if it was obvious.
“You didn’t just say that.” You cringed at his reference.
“What? Not a fan of Twilight anymore?” Raph grins under his helmet while looking at you.
“That was a phase! I was 15!” You blushed and slapped his arm, making him laugh.
“That phase is worth it now. I’m gonna shove it in your nose whenever I get the chance. It’s your fault Mikey got into it.” Raph smirks and picks up his duffle bag.
“A-At least he was able to read actual novels for once instead of comic books!” You defended yourself the best you could. Raph stops for a moment and tries to say something but couldn’t.
“You're right, you turned our little brother into a zombie. He wouldn’t put down the book for video games until he finished it. It was the weirdest 2 months I’ve ever experienced, and he’s damn weird. Donnie was this close into analyzing his brain.” Raph looked at you and shivered at Mikey’s behavior.
“It wasn’t that bad...right?” You were unsure on how good or bad you affected Mikey.
“It was a horrible experience but at least his phase is over.” Raph shakes his head.
“Anyways, need a ride home? I’m pretty much done for tonight.” Raph takes off his gear and shoves it in the duffle bag.
“Sure, I wouldn’t want to wake up late.” You stood up and followed him.
“I thought you didn’t have work tomorrow.” Raph raises an eyebrow at you.
“Winters texted me again, he offered me a job, better than my recent one. If he’s actually the bad guy then this would be my chance in becoming an undercover spy, right?” You explained to Raph and he crossed his arms disapprovingly.
“What?..” Your frown, you thought it was a good idea.
“You shouldn't be too trusting with that guy. Have you even talked to the rest about it yet?” Raph asks and you scratch your neck.
“No, but I can tell them tomorrow.” You sighed a bit.
“Ya better, cause if anything happens to you, we won’t sit still.” Raph starts the motorcycle and sits on it, you sit behind him and securely wrap your arms around him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You woke up and did your morning routine with some music. Today is when you investigate Winters. You just couldn’t wrap your head around Winters being the bad guy. He seemed too genuine with you and you felt it. Which was strange, because Karai was always bad news to you no matter how she has benefited us at times. There has to be something that Winters is doing.
You walk out of your apartment and keep thinking about Winter’s motives.
‘He brought the curse upon himself. Maybe he wanted to break the curse? Being immortal isn’t all rainbows and sunshine. Living more years than others could bring regret and sorrow. Not being able to have a normal life is something everyone wants. I feel bad for him. I mean, if he wanted to take over the world, he could’ve done it years ago.’
Your thoughts were interrupted when a limo came up and the driver opened the door for you. “Right this way ma’am.” The driver smiled at you and you got in.
“Thank you.” You smiled and looked inside the limo. ‘He’s too rich.’
Once you arrived at Winter’s Corp., you took a long look at the building and the tiny peach hairs at the back of your neck stood up. Something about this place is definitely weird. You quickly touched the back of your neck and rubbed the uneasiness away.
You walked inside the building and stared in awe at how huge it was inside. Everyone was just doing their business. Some looked dressed professionally, others were casual, and the rest seem to work here. There was a big symbol in the middle of the marble floor, one would assume it was a logo or decoration, but those are the same symbols on the ancient weapon that was embedded in Raph’s shell. ‘It can’t be a coincidence.’
Continuing the walk to Winter’s office, you saw a woman who you assumed to be his assistant. The woman was typing away on her computer, with a concentration expression. ‘She’s very gorgeous for an assistant.’
“Uh, excuse me? Do you happen to know if Winter’s is in his office? I need to talk to him about his offer.” You politely asked the woman. She looked up at you and pushed up her glasses.
“Do you have an appointment meeting with him?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. She inspected your appearance and tensed up a bit.
“Not really, but he said I can drop by when I have my answer.” You responded.
“I’m sorry, if you don’t have an appointment then I can’t help you. Mr.Winters isn’t in his office right now. He’s a busy man.” She frowned and gave you a scolding glare.
“Fine. Mind telling him that (Y/n) (L/n) came by?” You bit your tongue and tried not to start an argument.
“Only if he has the time.” The ‘lady’ turned to her computer and typed away as if she never noticed you. You were about to say something to her until the telephone audio turned on beside her.
“Ms. Lane, be a dear and show (Y/n) her way in.” Winter's voice suddenly came through the audio.
The woman, Ms. Lane was surprised at his sudden voice and jumped a bit from her seat. She pushed the button on the machine.
“But Mr. Winters, she doesn’t-” She was gonna oppose but he cut her off.
“Now Ms.Lane, do we need a discussion on how to treat our clients? I thought you were better than that.” Winters tsked and scolded her for her behavior.
She lowered her head a bit and nodded. “Yes Mr.Winters, she’s on her way.” She stood from her desk and picked up her journal.
“Follow me, Ms.(Y/n).” She clenched her jaw and led you the way to Winters. You couldn’t help but smirk the entire time.
“Gladly.” You responded and followed her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“That’s weird…” April said, watching her walk away with the assistant.
“Is that (Y/n)?” Casey asked, rubbing his head.
“Yea, but I wonder what she’s up to now.” April frowned a bit and tried to think.
“Whatever it is I think we should wait up and see if she’s okay. The last thing we need is another weapon on someone else's back.” Casey glared at the door to Winters office.
“You’re right..” April smiles to herself at how caring and protective Casey can be.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Mr. Winters? Ms. (Y/n) is here.” Ms. Lane looks confused as to where her boss should be. She looks around and frowns.
“Mr. Winters?” She speaks up louder. You also look around the huge office.
“Over here. I’m sorry for the sudden disappearance, I was currently out of the shower.” Winters was on the second floor in his office. What surprised you and the assistant was that he was in his sweatpants and shirtless with a towel around his neck. You both blushed at his sudden appearance and you tried not to stare so much while the other one welcomed the sight completely.
‘Why the hell do these things happen to me…’
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Your Heart’s Desire
a very late submission to tmntflashfic‘s valentine’s day prompt thing, since it got insanely long, and has to be broken up into parts.
Master Post of Chapters.
————————————————————————————-
Chapter Five.
Casey slammed his bag down on the table, and slumped into his seat. His fellow arts student, directly across from him, raised her eyebrow.
“What crawled up your sorry ass and died?” She asked, eyes skimming over the dark circles under his eyes, and the scratches on his arms. “Or better question, what attacked your sorry ass?”
“I went from having one demon, to two demons, to three demons, all of them pissy little assholes-” Casey counted on his fingers quickly. “-in under, like, a week or two or some shit. I don’t even know anymore. Jesus.”
“You got another cat? Cats? Two new cats, plus the first one. Yikes.”
“Yeah. Sure. My cats.”
“Three cats is a lot of cats, Casey. Even for a currently single art student.”
Casey dug out his energy drink, cracked it open, and took a sip before answering. “You’re telling me.”
“So what happened to you last night? The cuts and shit. Your cats turn on you or something?”
“Or something.” Casey grumbled, nursing his drink. Caffeine. Sweet, sweet caffeine. “Two of them got chased off by the other one, and then showed up again in the middle of the night- not even after four AM, god- and proceeded to continue their piss fit in the middle of my living room, trash my kitchen and couch in the process, and bring my neighbor’s wrath down on all of us. Again.”
Two extraordinarily angry demons dropping out of thin air- right onto another demon, who’d finally gone to sleep maybe an hour ago- in the middle of the night hadn’t been fun. Casey had woken up to the loudest racket he’d heard in… probably a few hours. Maybe.
There’d been fire involved. There’d been purple electricity involved. And just for shits and giggles- knowing Mikey- there’d been balls of pure energy launched into the fray that left chunks missing from whatever they hit.
And then April had kicked down his door, broom and water gun in hand, and everything went straight to metaphorical hell.
Not literal hell, thank god, but they certainly were heading that direction for a while there.
Donnie had tried to kill Casey at least twice more. Maybe Mikey too. That being- Mikey maybe trying to kill Casey, and Donnie maybe trying to kill Mikey. At the same time. Casey hadn’t been able to tell for sure if Mikey actually tried to kill him or not, but he had a very deep suspicion of that one stray plasma shot.
April was the only reason anyone actually went to bed afterwards. Casey now had three new words to live by: Witches Kill Bitches. Yikes.
Casey took another long sip of his drink.
He’d gotten electrocuted, beaten, and just a tiny bit burned. Fun night. Maybe one of the wildest he’d had in a while.
Whoop-dee-fucking-doo.
“Why don’t you just give two of the cats back? The first one sounded chill enough without the others.”
Casey laughed dryly. “Oh I wish. I really fucking wish.”
If April couldn’t chase the other two off- and damn if she hadn’t tried- then no one could.
Casey’s classmate shook her head sympathetically and despairingly. “Casey, I do not envy your life, nor do I understand it.”
Casey slumped over the table, balancing his already empty drink in his hand. “You and me both. God.”
april
april
april
APRIK ANSWER ME
fuck april*
CAPS LOCK STANDS THO
Casey for god’s sake
What is it?
It’s not even three AM yet why are you texting me
I JUST REALIZED RAPH MIGHT ACTUALLY KILL ME
…how is this news?
He threatened your life at least five times the first day you met.
YEAH BUT I JUST REMEMBERED THE SOUL THING
THE SOUL THIGN APRIJG
THESOULTHING
You’re worse than I am at three in the morning.
What ‘soul thing’, Casey.
THE SOUL THING ABOUT HOW IM SIGNING MY SOUL OVER TO HIM FOR WHATEVR STUPID CNTRACT I MADE AND HOW ILL DIE ASSOON AS HE TAKEE IT
Typos galore, and
Yikes.
THIS IS WHY IM SITTING IN MY EMPTY BATH TUB AT THREE AM IM GOING TO FUCING DIE
APRIL HELP IM FUCKED
I FUCKED MYSELF OVER RLLY BADLY THISTME
H E LP
And somehow, I’m betting you still find him ‘hot’.
YES THIS IS PART OF THE ‘FUCKED MYSELY OVER’ BIT
Oh Casey.
Casey, Casey, Casey.
How did you make it to adulthood? Really.
SHUTUP THATS NOT HELPGUL RIGHT NOW
APIL IM SCREAMING
SCREMAING AT THREE AM IN MY FUCKIG BATHTUB
FUCK MY FICKING LIFE OH MY GOD
Raph’s kept you alive this long, he probably won’t kill you.
I’m assuming, at least.
You’re very hard to keep alive, Casey. If he just went and killed you after all this, it’d be a waste of time and effort.
Of course I could be wrong and your demon call boy could just be insane.
SCREAMING APRL
SCRMMING IN A BATHTUB
NOT
HELPING
ME
At this point, you may be beyond help.
Even mine.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
ohshit i woke up don
fuc
fuckripme mikes awaketoo fukcv
apl make sure my funeral is a nece one I deserved better ing likfe than this
fkjgb;eiugb;bkbgfjnfgt
Casey?
Casey?
Good grief. None of us are ever getting a full night’s rest ever again.
I’m getting my gun, Casey. I’ll be there right away.
I just need pants first.
In the end, Casey didn’t ask Raph about the soul thing. He was, in a word that he was never ever going to repeat to anyone, too chicken-shit to do it.
If Raph’s reply was “Yup. When we complete the contract and I take your soul- you die. Tough.” then Casey wasn’t sure how he’d handle that. Better to just avoid the whole awkward “will you kill me or not” conversation for now.
And besides, he didn’t really want to bring up the whole ‘ending the contract’ thing. If he did, that meant they’d have to start working on it again, and Casey… didn’t really want it to end. Not just yet.
He focused instead on surviving the transition into having Donnie as a member of their crowded household, and not dying in the process.
The lanky demon, dark as Raph but with way more hair and way less muscle, was a complete know-it-all. He took every chance he had to lord over Casey the fact that he was just some ‘ignorant human’, Donnie’s words not Casey’s.
He also took every chance he had to hint very unsubtly that Casey didn’t deserve Raph’s presence in his home, and Casey tried not to read deeper into that beyond speciest tendencies Donnie seemed to have.
Mostly though, as long as Donnie was preoccupied by the thick textbooks he kept getting from somewhere, or by Mikey or Raph, he didn’t give Casey much attention at all. Just lounged around Casey’s apartment building, and made snide comments at everyone.
It wasn’t intolerable, seeing as Donnie had gotten over his ‘murder the human’ phase pretty quick. Still annoying for Casey though, trying to make it through his own apartment, only to have a long tail trip him up, or a large wing snap out in his face. Casey retaliated with holy water mixed into Donnie’s food portions, smacking the demon’s protruding appendages with his hockey sticks, and sicking Raph on his brother when all else failed.
Or April, but watching the two of them stare one another down, broom and magic in hand, was a bit hard on Casey’s heart, so. Not so much that option. He liked his apartment intact, thank you.
So basically, Casey snapped at Donnie and Donnie snapped at him and they both threatened violence until someone pushed them apart. No blood was shed- no more than what was usual lately- and they somehow found a balance of mutual dislike.
In the end, neither of them liked one another, but Donnie had been very clear he wasn’t leaving until Raph did, and Casey had been very clear that he either shove it or shove off.
But no one was dead yet, so. Kudos to both of them.
Now Casey was dealing with a new problem, created another time over with the newest addition to his already too cramped home: feeding them all.
“Why do you guys have to eat so fucking much?” Casey grumbled, shoving the heavy grocery cart along. “God. This is more than I eat in a month.”
“I need power, because you’re a moron who can’t even remember why he summoned me,” Raph answered as he tossed yet another package of food into the cart. “And because Don and Mike are little shits who like to be as annoying as they can.”
“Yeah, I kinda figured that out,” Casey said sulkily. Accommodating three demons at once was a major hassle, especially when one was liable to set the neighborhood on fire for a laugh, and the other was still in the middle of a silent pissing contest with his neighboring witch. Oh the trials of adulthood. Casey felt like he deserved a vacation.
If it wasn’t for the insane load of cash Donnie had magicked up, Casey knew he would’ve hit broke by now. From where the cash had come from, Donnie wouldn’t say, but looking at all the zeroes in his account, Casey hadn’t felt like questioning its origins.
He had however, questioned why he wasn’t paying some price for the generous donation. Donnie had replied vaguely that his due was being covered by Raph, and then promptly fucked off into the open air; lifting off the ground with sweeps of his wings, and leaving Casey outside the supermarket without a real explanation.
Fucking demons.
Upside of things, Casey had gotten to send his dad and sister a good chunk of cash, and he didn’t have to worry about student loans anymore. Downside, his dad had texted to check if Casey had switched career choices to become a hitman and his sister had texted with the question if escort prices had suddenly gone up.
No faith from his family, honestly. Couldn’t he make money in a legal manner? Casey could totally make that much money if he tried.
Raph came back to the cart with an armful of hotdog and hamburger buns, and dumped them into the already very full cart.
“For the meat,” Raph explained shortly to Casey’s questioning look.
“What meat?” Casey asked.
Before Raph could answer, a shopping cart went racing past their aisle, and Casey caught a glimpse of Mikey riding it and what looked like majority of the raw meat section stacked in with him.
“That meat,” Raph said, pointing after his brother, and Casey could hear semi-maniacal laughter coming from that direction.
Casey sighed, and started to push their cart towards the direction Mikey had gone. “Guess we’re having a barbeque tonight, since no way this is all fitting in the fridge.”
Something crashed on the other side of the store, and Casey started pushing their cart a bit faster.
After they’d wrangled Mikey, magicked away the witnesses memory of the demon’s full-tilt crash into the flower stand, repaired said flower stand, and Donnie had at some point reappeared mysteriously out of thin air to snark at everyone- Casey managed to herd the three demons towards the check out with their purchases.
Again, he got his usual cashier, and the man gave Casey another look for his newest addition to their gaggle. Donnie admittedly stood out even more than Mikey did, in looks at least, being well over six feet. Mikey still had him beat in aura of crazy though.
In comparison to his siblings, one twitching constantly and the other giving everything a calculative and condescending look, Raph was practically normal seeming. Slightly below average height, and just a tinge of surliness to him.
And then Raph hiccupped a smoke ring, and the image was ruined.
Casey paid for their food, and didn’t give the cashier any explanation for his friend group.
Since Casey didn’t technically have a barbecue for barbecue, and neither did April, the task of cooking the meat got passed over to the walking fire pit. They also ended up relocating to the roof, after Raph set Casey’s ceiling on fire.
A pleasantly warm evening wind blew over the roof top, wafting the smell of cooking meat towards Casey. He glanced up to look at the other roof top occupants.
April had brought one of her folding chairs up with her, and was reading a book near her garden. The position was only semi-protective seeming, and everyone was giving her garden a wide birth.
Mikey was busy playing with a cat that’d appeared out of nowhere, despite Casey’s apartment building being pet free. Casey had started to question the cat earlier, but then he’d seen it had deep, bottomless black eyes, and had figured he’d leave well enough alone. At least it seemed more interested in rolling around on the roof with Mikey, rather than causing extra property damage like all the other demons in Casey’s life.
Donnie was the opposite of Mikey, completely lax and silent. He was laid out on a blanket that he’d probably stolen from Casey’s linen closet. Wings out and tail twitching, Donnie seemed intent on catching the last rays of the sun before it went down, slowly paging through yet another thick book he’d pulled out of nowhere. Eventually, he and April were probably going to bond like the condescending smarty-pants assholes they both were, and then everyone else was probably going to die.
Raph was rotating a couple dozen meat products in the air, flames licking around them in helix spirals. It smelt great, and Raph’s intent focus on keeping the food from burning gave Casey the chance to side-eye him a bit.
Admittedly, Casey might’ve been side-eyeing all the demon brothers, because shit- it wasn’t like they weren’t all relatively to very good looking. Even Mikey wasn’t exactly hard on the eyes, as unlikely as it was for Casey to ever risk going for him. Because he liked his extremities intact and not bitten off, and he totally still caught Mikey eyeing him like food sometimes.
Point being- Casey had a lot of very attractive men staying in his apartment at the moment, and wow was he very gay.
He tried to remind himself that A) two out of the three would probably kill him if they got the chance, and B) his focus was on Raph, as impossible to obtain as the demon likely was, and that he shouldn’t get distracted by the demon’s siblings.
And besides, he liked Raph the best anyways. Better personality, even if no one else would probably think that except for Casey.
Casey refocused on the sketchpad in his hands, and did his best to reroute his wandering thoughts. No gay thoughts for him, no siree. Not while he was in the presence of others.
He was in the middle of yet another sketch of a full demon form- this time Donnie’s, because the long swooping tail and wings were fun to draw. He was still trying to get the proper look down, since at the moment it looked too much like a regular dragon, and not a demon.
“Hey Raph,” Casey said, glancing up from his drawing again. “Quick question. How come you all look like dragons? Not very demony.”
“Because that’s what fits this era best,” Raph replied. Which made no sense.
“Elaborate a little more than that?”
Raph gave him a look, but answered anyways. “Our manifesting shapes change depending on the plain of existence we enter, and also with whatever the sentient population will fear best. In this era, it’s apparently big scaly lizards with wings. I’m not complaining, since it’s better than some we’ve gotten.”
“Dragons are cool shit though,” Casey said, twirling his pencil as he watched the meat in the air do the same. “They’re everywhere in media. Not exactly the boogieman.”
“Worked well enough on you,” Raph said, giving Casey a teasing smirk.
Casey scoffed. “Man, whatever. It was morning and I was hung over. ‘scuse me for not being able to keep my cool with a fucking demon in my house.”
Raph gave a warm laugh, and Casey found himself smiling just a tad wider than he usually would.
“Okay, I got another question then,” Casey said, leaning forwards on his crossed legs. “Which one of your ‘manifestations’ has been your favorite? You gotta have one, seein’ as you’re old as shit now.”
“Shut up, I’m young by demon standards,” Raph said, rolling his eyes. “And if you really wanna know, one of them was one I had just a couple hundred years ago. Not on this plain of existence, but it wasn’t too far off in similarity.”
“Yeah? What was it?”
“A turtle,” Raph said, and Casey couldn’t help the startled laugh that came out of him.
“What? No way. How is a turtle scary?” Casey asked in disbelieving amusement. “They’re like- tiny and cute and shit. Slow too.”
Raph shrugged, twirling his wrist so all the meat in the air would too. “I’d show you, but since I’m busy… hey Donnie!”
“What?” Donnie said in a tone that Casey recognized easily from his own sibling.
“Get over here; I want you to show Casey what the turtle manifestation looked like.”
“Ugh, no way. I’m busy right now,” Donnie said, giving them both a grumpy look.
Raph twirled a couple hotdogs threateningly towards Donnie. “Do it, or I use your horns as extra roasting sticks.”
“Raph- come on, don’t be a dick.”
“Don’t be a lazy shit.”
“Raph.”
“Donnie.”
“Fine,” Donnie grumbled, getting up if only because the hotdogs had been getting dangerously close to his seven inch horns.
Casey stood up too, officially and extremely intrigued about what would happen next. He wasn’t alone in that either, since April had set down her book to watch the rest of them, and Mikey and his weird cat had gone still.
Donnie steepled his fingers together, and closed his eyes. For a moment, nothing happened, but then a rune circle appeared under his feet. From the bright purple magic, a wall of water swirled up and around Donnie. The height of the airborne whirlpool grew, and Casey could see that something inside was growing with it.
Then, the water’s surface broke at the bottom, and receded upwards to reveal-
-a giant bipedal turtle.
Casey let out a shocked laugh, and couldn’t believe his eyes.
Donnie had gone from six something to twelve something, now with the addition of a shell, plastron, and dark green scales. A long staff was strapped to his back, held in place by royal purple sashes wrapped around Donnie’s chest and shell. The water receded to pool in the air above Donnie’s head, and it condescend into a sort of reflective disk. Casey mentally compared it to the halos he’d seen on angels in church murals.
Donnie reopened his eyes, which had remained luminous red through the transformation, and looked down Casey with a displeased look. Somehow, even with a beak like mouth, he managed to sneer at Casey.
“Ta da,” Donnie said, giving a half-assed jazz hands. “One turtle reporting for duty. Can I change back now? This itches.”
Casey noted that instead of discordant and harsh, the demon’s words were actually close to lyrical sounding in this form.
“Why’s it itch?” Casey asked, secretly hoping to prolong things so he could memorize the finer details of this form. Shit, this would look amazing in watercolors.
“Because it’s not the right one for this world,” Donnie said in a deeply annoyed tone. “It’s wrong and it feels a bit like wearing a winter coat in summer, I guess.”
“Oh. Neat.” Casey replied vaguely, still busy memorizing.
“You know,” April spoke up. “I wonder if anyone can see the shit you guys do on this roof. I don’t know about you, but it would be weird to see a giant bipedal turtle on my roof if I didn’t know better.”
“I have spells that erase memories of events like this,” Donnie replied smoothly, with only a hint of ‘duh’ in his tone.
“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure Raph doesn’t, because yesterday a guy at the coffee shop down the way said he saw a really weird ass bird in the sky. About the size of a mini-van? Pointy horns too.”
Everyone looked at Raph, who looked a little embarrassed.
“Raph.” Donnie said in a disapproving tone.
“Sometimes I forget to turn them on, okay?” Raph defended.
“I can’t believe you.”
“Shut up! Do you want dinner or not?”
“I do! We do!” Mikey interjected, waving his cat around in the air like something out of the Lion King. The cat made a long warbling meow, and Casey’s felt goosebumps prickle on his skin.
While the others were distracted, he took the chance to pick up his sketchbook and start a rapid gesture drawing of Donnie. Maybe later, he could get Raph do switch forms too, and draw him as well.
So while Casey hurriedly drew, Donnie got pelted by hotdogs as he kept berating Raph for his carelessness, said hotdogs quickly snatched out of the air by Mikey and his cat and devoured, and April calmly watched the whole show from over the top of her novel.
All in all, a pretty normal evening for them lately.
Casey was about done with being assaulted by demons.
Example: being stalked on the way home from campus, and feeling increasingly evil vibes being aimed at the back of his head.
The first afternoon in days that didn`t involve one or more of his mostly unwanted house guests tagging along- and this happens.
Casey risked a glance over his shoulder.
The man, concealed by his loose black hoodie and blue ball cap, was still following him. He seemed normal enough from first glance, no tail or horns or anything in plain sight, but Casey also knew better by now than to be fooled by that.
Casey thought he saw a flash of icy blue eyes from under the hat brim, and he whipped his eyes back to the sidewalk in front of him.
He was at least a half hour’s walk from his apartment still, and the bus wouldn’t save him now.
Why didn’t demons have cell phones? Raph could probably destroy a small city on his lonesome, but he didn’t have a god damn cell phone.
Casey tugged out his phone, trying to casually speed up his walking as he did.
april help im being stalked by one of raphs crazy relatives pls send help rn
A cold shudder went through Casey, and he knew the guy following him had gotten closer again. On and off as he’d been walking the last five minutes, every time Casey looked back, the guy got closer.
Fear sweat prickled the back of his neck, and Casey swallowed.
He didn’t have a handy bat or hockey stick, and he didn’t have a demon protecting him either. Unless someone got here quickly, he was probably going to end up demon food.
Pretty sick way to go, all things considering, but he’d rather not die on this particular day.
“Respond,” Casey muttered. “Please, god- April, respond already.”
Casey felt a rush of air go past him, and it felt way too fucking cold for this time of year. Something not actually there tried to climb up his spine, and Casey shuddered all the way down to his soul.
He typed an all caps message of ‘HOLY FUCK APRIL IM SERIOUS PLS RESPOND RN’ and started walking even faster.
Wow this was not how he wanted to die right now. Maybe later, maybe a few years down the line, but not right fucking now.
His phone chimed, and Casey gasped out a choked laugh.
Raph’s on his way. ETA should be less than a minute.
Why can’t our lives be normal anymore.
BESNIDELATERIMGONNADIE
What else is new?
Casey would have replied again, but a violent shudder went through him as an ice cold feeling gripped his body. He didn’t want to turn around, really, he didn’t- but he did anyways.
Raph’s brother- probably the elusive Leo- stared Casey dead in the eye, from just a block away. Navy blue eyes froze Casey to his core, and he felt like he was suddenly breathing sub-zero air.
Leo opened his mouth, and something reverberated through the air. The other humans walking down the street around Casey stumbled, and Casey���s knees came close to buckling. He only barely recovered enough to keep standing.
Welp. Time to start running.
Casey bolted fast as he could, and he cursed Raph for bringing this kind of insanity into his life.
Casey might’ve been slacking on his exercise lately- too much demonic influence in his life to even remember- but he could still sprint like the wind. He’d never quite grown out of the skinniness from his teenage years, and he counted his blessing that he hadn’t packed on muscle like he’d hoped he would. Wind whistled past him as he ran, and Casey felt caught between sheer terror and utter excitement.
Nothing like running for your life to kick the old adrenaline into gear.
Casey risked a partial glance over his shoulder, and regretted it as caught sight of Leo still hot on his tail. The demon wasn’t even running, he was just walking- and yet, he was still only a block behind Casey.
Fucking demons. Fucking demon magic. Fucking life.
Casey pushed himself to run faster, and prayed he wouldn’t land on his knee wrong and wipe out. He’d be screwed if he did.
He yelped as the sidewalk ahead of him was suddenly coated in ice, and he had to stop short before he hit it. Casey turned to the left, and darted across the street. A lone car honked at him as he ran, and for a second, the accident that’d fucked his knee over flashed across his eyes.
Then it was gone, and his feet hit the sidewalk across the street. He kept running, lungs heaving as he attempted to give Raph time to show the fuck up and save his ass.
Casey had to change directions again though, as the sidewalk again was covered in ice. This time with jagged points aimed directly at Casey, ones that would impale him clear through if he fell on them.
Casey dodged away from them, and found himself in an alley. An alley with a dead end.
Shit. Clichés. He hated clichés.
Casey whirled to run back out, and found Leo blocking the way. Casey retreated further into the alley, and raised his hands to the calmly advancing demon.
“Okay, so, I dunno if the other two have told you this yet-” Casey swallowed, trying for bravado instead of nervousness. “-but I’m officially off the menu. Just ask Raph, he’ll vouch for me.”
Leo didn’t pay his words any mind, and the air around Casey suddenly went freezing. With a wave of his hand, encircled by blue runes, Leo sent the alley into the deep freeze.
Casey’s airways went dry from the sudden drop, and he glanced around in panic. The walls of the alley were quickly being covered in ice, sharp points growing from both sides like jagged teeth. Casey’s shoes skidded momentarily, as the ice spread across the ground as well.
“I’m serious, Leo,” Casey said, trying to get the demon’s attention by saying his name. “Raph and me are cool. So if you could, like, be a little less literal with the chill, he’ll be here any second now to explain the shit that’s been going on-”
Leo remained quiet, but shut Casey up with a harsh gust of ice wind. Casey inhaled sharply, and coughed at the sheer coldness. It spread through him, and he coughed harder as he struggled to breathe.
Then-
He realized he couldn’t move his feet.
Casey made the mistake of glancing down, and saw that his feet were encased in ice. Ice that was steadily climbing up his legs, and locking him in place.
The dark ice moved quickly, spreading up Casey’s body almost faster than he could register what was happening. It covered his legs, and then spread to his torso, and Casey couldn’t breathe, ice filling his lungs and chilling him through.
His eyes clouded with tears, as ice wind kept whipping around him. He was half blind, more than half frozen, and came to the conclusion he probably was going to die.
He managed one last cough, before the ice spread to his neck, and froze his lungs in place. He felt the ice spreading down his arms, and Casey couldn’t think it was so cold. Everything was burning, the freezing prison wrapping itself around every piece of his body.
Casey felt the ice creep onto his face, his vision blurring as it did, and he couldn’t fight it at all.
The ice covered his nose, and spread over his eyes and head, and then Casey was trapped in the dark. His eyes frozen shut and his lungs frozen in place.
Then-
Something flared, hot and burning, on his chest-
And the ice shattered around his face, around his chest, and Casey could breathe again.
He blinked rapidly, sucking in as much air as he could, and tried to clear the clinging ice crystals to his face. Everything hurt, his hands and feet and legs and every bit of skin on him- they felt like they were still encased in ice. Cold enough that the warmer air was making them burn.
Casey saw something red flicker on his chest again, but he couldn’t see well enough to recognize what it was.
He spotted Leo, who’s calm, blank expression had broken. He was staring at Casey in shock, visibly confused as to why Casey wasn’t a human popsicle.
Then Raph fell out of the sky, right onto Leo, and threw his brother across the alleyway. Casey managed a short laugh at the sudden shift in mood, Leo looking utterly confused and offended by the turn of events, and Raph looking like he wanted to set everything and Leo on fire, the both of them yelling at one another in increasing volumes-
And then Casey’s vision went black, and he felt himself hit the ground.
next part.
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