Calm Cool and Collected 5...
...That's what Miyamoto was trying to be while seeing the older red eared slider at his door. It was well into the after noon and quite hot, so instead of the old warrior style look that Miyamoto had seen him less than a week ago, Leonardo-san wore an unbuttoned guayabera and board shorts that were a bit shorter than expected. Miyamoto felt a void in the turtle’s presence as Leonardo-san was missing his large prosthetic arm.
“Hi Mr. Usagi, I hope I’m not interrupting you” said Leonardo-san holding up the remaining part of his right arm as if the phantom part was to be placed behind his head in a laid back manner.
“Not at all. Welcome, Leonardo-san. You just missed Yuichi, he was in such a hurry after training.” Said Miyamoto, who just noticed the the large amount of bags hanging off of the older turtle's left arm. “Come in and have a seat , I will help you set your bags down,”
“Thank you, just wait, one moment,” Leo said turning down to Raph, who was at the bottom of the flat’s stairs, “Hey bro, I have something to do, you can do some shopping if you like, here use Don’s credit card, I don’t think they’ll mind.” He tosses the card to the alligator snapping turtle mutant.
Leonardo-san was much taller than Miyamoto realized, a good half foot taller than his friend Gen, the bounty hunting rhino, and maybe a bit broader. Standing across from the turtle was the only time he felt small talking to someone.
It felt a bit ridiculous to have a crush at his age, being in his late 30’s. Then again his love life was complicated and he was treading uncharted waters openly asking out a man. He has had close encounters with other men but something about Leo-san was different.
Maybe it was that he was next in line to be head of his family, the Hamato Clan, which was odd because the ancestral Hamatos were human like their cousins, the Hikiji clan. Maybe that was the case, he was related to an enemy, however Miyamoto also had close encounters with a neko ninja clan member named Chizu and…. The rabbit mind trailed off, a trait all Usagi’s share, given the conditions.
“Hello, Earth to Space Usagi.” Leo-san said, waving his left arm in front of the samurai, snapping the rabbit from his trance, “Oh good, anyway thank you for inviting me. I really need a friend my age. I don’t know if I can listen to Dad Draxum’s lecture on calligraphy.”
“I like calligraphy.” said Usagi. “Its a beautiful discipline…”
“As it helps one focus on the art in ones words and the words of ones art.” Leonardo-san and Miyamoto. Leo continued as Miyamoto stood impressed, “Thats why samurai must also master the are of the brush as they do the sword. Thats what Draxum said anyways. So you fancy yourself a Samurai.”
“I don’t know, do you fancy a samurai.” Responded Miyamoto.
“Oh” Leo said, his eye markings a bit redder than before. Though Miyamoto thought he somehow insulted the turtle.
“Chikushō. This man wants a friend, not a cheap replacement for his dead wife” Thought Usagi. In a hurry, the older rabbit gestured to the low table, “Here take a seat while I prepare tea.”
The technology of this age never ceases to amaze Miyamoto, staring at the electric kettle on the counter, he gasps in awe seeing how fast the water is boiled to the perfect temperature for tea. Despite his attention focused on the kettle, he could tell that Leonado-san shared the same fascination from across the room.
“Is this your first time seeing an electric kettle in action” said Usagi
“Oh, nah, my dad had this old kettle he would always use and it turn out to be an evil helmet of an evil suit of armor so we had to destroy it, I got him an electric one, lets just say Donnie made it evil too.”
Miyamoto’s deep chuckle resonated in the flat, “I’m guessing the purple one and the blue one give you the most trouble,” bringing the tea to the low table.
“Yeah, they are twins after all, and I should know I was a twin too.” said Leonado
Was is a very common word here
“I never had any siblings of my own but there was a boy in my village, Kenichi, who would cause as much trouble as one, he later became village magistrate after my father passed, then he married Mariko, my childhood sweetheart…”
Leonardo-san made an audiible gasp, “ YOUR childhood sweetheart, whoa, I would have never done that to Donnie.”
“Donnie, isn’t that the name of your son.” Miyamoto cocked his head in confusion before understanding, “Oh Donatello is named after your brother.”
This must have struck something in the older turtle as a bit of pain flashed across his face. Miyamoto then reached over from his seated positon to place a hand on his shoulder and said, “I’m sorry for your loss,”
“If you did this everytime you hear about what I lost, might as well keep your hand on my shoulder,” Said the turtle, then he places his hand on the rabbit's shoulder, “I’m sorry for your loss. I could never imagine losing a son,”
“It hurts me more that I wasn’t there for him as much, Kenichi was more of a father to him than I” replied Miyamoto, his ears drooped down in regret.
“Wait, he raised your kid.” Leo said in shock.
“Guess I got back at him some how for marrying Mariko.” the rabbit chuckled throught the sadness.
“You sly dog, does that mean Yuichi is Mariko’s too?” Asked Leonardo-san, shaking Miyamoto a bit .
“No,” said the rabbit flatly
“Me and Don were like that too… Not in the way that our dad placed his egg in different baskets like you”
“What do baskets have to do with my previous love affairs, speaking of which, do you mind if I ask what Madonna was like?” Usagi questioned. The turtle loosed his playful grip on the rabbit's shoulder.
What was she like indeed, know one knows,
Catching a glimpse at the TV placed in the living room the low table was located, Leonardo found his answer, “She loved telenovelas.” Leo lied looking straight into Miyamoto's eyes. The word confused the rabbit, Leo’s heart began to race with excitement given this opportunity to finally share with someone his love for the genre.
Leonardo continued his mission to teach Miyamoto the fundamentals of telenovelas and hispanic television, grabbing the remote and sweeping the rabbit off his feet in order to plop themselves onto the sofa. This small but astonishing moment took the rabbits breath away.
“Do you know spanish?” asked Leonardo-san. Miyamoto, still silent out of awe, shook his head. “Well its a good time to learn,” Leonardo continued. Flipping through the channels he found one that he had yet to finish.
Despite not understanding the language yet, he understood alot through Leonardo-sensei’s riveting commentary. Now both rabbit and turtle are hooked on the show's curious plot involving twins, forbidden love, clones and what honor means in one's culture. Before they knew it they spent two whole hours curled up against one another.
The chime of Leonardos phone told them that their time together was up. “Oh, Raph's back, looks like I have to go, you understand right Miyamoto”
Miyamoto nodded, “If you must, I had a wonderful time with you and…” He froze, trying to figure out the puzzle of his love confession, yet out came his love language, acts of service. “Let me help you with your bags.”
Now Leonardo-san was gone
Miyamoto stares at the doorway for a bit longer. “I should have told him.” the rabbit said to himself.
Raph was waiting outside of the apartment with the rest of the groceries. Leo-san offered to hold the more than he had already and Raph let him. She knew something was up with him, and it was a bit alarming how he knew a lot about her. Leonardo was the first to know Raph was genderfluid, even before she came out to him.
Raph despite being in her late teens and towering over most people at six feet, Raph felt comfortable acting like the younger sibling for once around Leo Sensei and that still means calling him out. “You like him don’t you.” She said.This statement caused a very obvious “What! No…” Come out of Leo-san and him almost dropping the groceries.
Raph continued, “Come on, You can tell me, and it's really obvious.”
“Like your crush on Cassandra”
“Shhh! How do you know about that!?”
“ I’m from the future, remember.” The older turtle chuckled, “To be honest I was kind of jealous when you married her and then became a parent. I always felt like I could never fit the role you had in Jr.’s life.”
This made Leo-san tear up, remembering how happy his Raph was when she saw Casey Jr. for the first time. The time they taught Casey parkour, that was the day he lost his last baby tooth. All those milestones that Raph witnessed before her life was cut short around the time Casey turned twelve. But this Raph didn’t see death in her future, what she saw is what she said out loud, stars twinkling in her eyes, “We end up together.”
“Yeah, When you're ready to tell her, tell me and I’ll be your ultimate wingman.” Leonardo-sensei said. Once they reached the entrance of the lair, Raph stopped him, offered to carry the rest of the Groceries and said “Go tell him big bro.”
