Rules for Harmonious Coexistence In the Lair
April and Casey are once again hanging out at the Turtles' lair, making the most of their vacation before their senior year to spend as much time as possible with their mutant friends. Casey is playing video games in front of the TV with Mikey, while April reads a novel on the couch, with Raph nearby reading comics. Donnie is at the coffee table taking apart an old radio to rebuild it with upgrades that only he would understand and be able to make work, and the team leader is in the kitchen preparing snacks (which consist of cutting fruit into cubes and filling bowls with junk food).
“Oh.” April looks up from her book, turning toward the red turtle beside her. “Rapha, would you lend me your dumbbells?”
Raph gives her a sidelong glance for a moment before nodding. “Sure, no problem.”
Abril opens her mouth to thank him, but before she can get a word out, Rapha looks over his shoulder toward the kitchen and shouts, startling the two humans. “Leo!”
With slight surprise, Abril and Casey, who has been distracted from the game, watch as Leo peeks out from the hallway leading to the kitchen; his blue eyes quickly scan the room for any danger, and when he finds none, they finally settle on Raph.
“I'm lending my dumbbells to Abril.”
Leo looks at Abril for a split second, then nods. “Okay.” And with that, he heads back to the kitchen.
The two humans wait a couple of seconds for something else to happen, but when nothing does, they both look at the red turtle. Raph, on the other hand, goes back to his comic as if nothing happened. “You can look for them in my room; should be near the bed.”
“Uh… What was that?” Casey asks, raising an eyebrow.
Raph raises one corner of his mask in response, looking at his best friend over the top of his comic book “Me lending April something.”
“Yeah, but,” April speaks up this time. “Why did you tell Leo?” she asks curiously.
It’s Mikey who answers this time, right after the screen shows his character as the winner. “For Leo's log, obviously.”
“Leo's log?” The two humans repeat in unison.
“The log of borrowed items in the lair,” Donnie adds.
Raph, lowering his comic to his lap, takes pity on his friends from the surface and explains. “We're all a mess when we borrow or lend things.”
“We were always fighting over things that weren’t returned or things that were returned without notice, so after Donnie almost ripped Mikey’s head off thinking he’d lost his blower, we invented Leo’s log.”
“And how does it work…?” April asks, intrigued by this new information from the brothers.
Donnie answers her quickly. “Any borrowed item must be reported to Leo immediately; the deadline for returning the item, if you have it, must also be reported, and finally, upon returning the item, Leo must be notified within twenty-four hours.”
“And what if Blue wants to borrow something? Will he tell himself?” Casey asks with a smile.
Raph rolls his eyes. “Clean out your ears, Jones. Leo is the only one here who’s responsible, and anyway, he doesn’t usually ask to borrow things.”
“We all agree here that he’s the most trustworthy when it comes to looking after other people’s belongings.”
“I’d even lend him my shell if I could!”
“And I’m sure he’d return it cleaner than before.”
Casey waves his hands in a soothing gesture before looking at Donnie with a raised eyebrow. “Okay, Blue is responsible and a saint, but what if he forgets that someone lent something?”
Mikey wastes no time in making a sound of disapproval. “Leo has an incredible memory—he remembers everything, bro! Just like elephants!”
“I’ve theorized that he might have a photographic memory, but he hasn’t let me test him.”
“So when you return the dumbbells, tell Leo,” Raph asks, his face surprisingly serious as he looks Abril in the eyes.
Abril returns his gaze, nodding. “I understand.”
Just then, Leo returns from the kitchen, his arms loaded with chopped fruit (which surely only he and Abril will eat) and junk food. He sits down carefully on the floor and sets everything down on the open space of the coffee table. While Mikey and Casey fight over the chips, the leader turns to Abril with a subtle smile on his mouth.
“Did you pick up the dumbbells, Abril?” he asks.
Abril, not quite understanding, jumps. “Oh, no, I’ll go now,” she says quickly, leaping off the couch and hurrying toward Raph’s room.
Leo watches her leave, slightly perplexed, tilting his head like a confused puppy.
