It's 3 AM
Raph grumbled as he walked from his room. It wasn’t often he was up this late, in fact, if he had a choice he would be snoring away in his bed right now. His feet dragged against the floor as he made his way to the kitchen, rubbing the soft fabric that covered right eye socket.
The lair was silent, not even the muted sound of techno bounced through the lair from Donnie’s lab. There were no late night video game sessions in the living room, no laughing up in the makeshift arcade. There was no late night gossip sessions going on anymore-
Geez, they really were getting old. He was nearly 40…
But, that was okay. Because the peaceful nights were becoming more and more welcoming as the days wore on. Raph would personally attribute it to the feeling of being safe, that there had not been a “big bad” in quite some time. They were able to let their guards down. In fact, the last big catastrophe hadn’t even been all that dangerous to the world at large.
Not the entire world, but for their small world beneath the city? It was a family’s worst nightmare.
Massy had been gone for a while, so long that his little yogurt cups in the fridge had expired. Raph remembered seeing that when he was doing some chores, something to keep his mind busy. Mikey had been panicking, jumping every which way in order to find a solution for something. Leo was split between trying to find answers from the Hidden City and trying to comfort Mikey. Donnie was locked up in their lab trying to make the machine that ultimately brought Massy home.
Raph had been.. Admittedly, useless. There wasn’t much he could do beyond try and comfort Mikey. And yes, he provided adequate distractions, but there’s only so many punching bags that Mikey can destroy before it’s considered unhealthy.
But, Raph could pick up on chores. That was something he could control. Mikey always preached about how important a stable home is for his son, always. So, Raph would do his best to try and keep the house just as it was when Massy left.
He had tried, maybe not the best, but he had tried. Along with keeping up patrols so his siblings didn’t have to worry.
He had tried.
But now, the house was quiet. Massy had been back for two weeks and there were no worries. Sometimes, Raph would catch Mikey peeking into Massy’s room. To make sure he was still there.
Raph found himself doing the same thing.
But as he ducked into the kitchen, he pulled a mug down from the cabinet in order to partake in another thing that made him feel old. He was going to drink some tea.
When Splinter was alive, Raph wasn’t one to care about drinking tea. Mikey and Leo loved it, Donnie couldn’t even have coffee pulled from their cold, dead hands.
But Raph hadn’t taken anything. He kept himself up with training, he didn’t need to drink anything.
Now, with the ache in his body and sleep eluding him, he could at least try and drink something to aid his efforts of sleeping.
Chamomile was his tea of choice, stirring the water around in the cup as he dipped the bag in. He’d let that steep as he made his way back to his room.
The large turtle turned slowly, listening to the swish of his tail as it dragged across the floor. He could lift it up, but why expend the effort.
His footsteps were soft as he made his way down the hallway, but then he paused seeing light peeking out from the door to Massy’s room. He sighed, breathing out a soft sigh as he considered if this is a battle he should pick.
He.. He probably should.
Raph continued closer to the door, cocking his head to the side as he heard rapid shuffling and then the light within the room went out. He rolled his eyes as he stopped outside the door, lightly knocking on it with his knuckle. When silence followed, the older turtle slowly turned the knob and opened the door.
“What a good child, always sleeping..” He spoke softly as he reached over and flicked the light on.
Standing right before him, Massy had wide eyes. His arm was extended out to the light switch and he was frozen stock still. Raph felt a smirk come to his face as he brought the mug up to his lips, leaning against the door frame.
“Would you like to explain yourself, young man?” Raph questioned. Massy’s arms dropped to his sides. The teen shifted on his feet for a moment before he walked over to his desk, gesturing to the papers on his desk.
Raph carefully made his way into the room, tilting his head to the side as he looked at the papers.
At first, it seemed like letters to the family. The names Leo, Donnie, Mikey, and Raph are very obvious. But when he saw Danny, Ms. Morrison, and Saki? He knew who these letters were meant for.
“I’m writing letters to my friends… I um… I miss them, I guess.” Massy admitted as he moved to sit at his desk, picking up his little black pen. But he didn’t start writing, he just tapped the end of it against the wooden surface. Raph moved to crouch next to Massy, his hand coming to rest on the back of Massy’s chair.
“It’s okay, you’re allowed to miss them, I guess,” Raph mimicked before he looked to Massy.
The young turtle’s face screwed up into something unreadable. It was hard to decipher what he was thinking, but he was thinking. Raph let out a sigh, carefully nudging the chair.
“Come on, I’m not your dad. I can’t read your mind. Tell Uncle Raph what’s going on,” Raph laughed.
Massy seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then he turned his head to look at Raph. “Should I miss them?” He asked softly. Raph went to open his mouth- but luckily Massy kept talking so he didn’t have to answer yet. He didn’t even know what to say.
“I mean- We had fun, yeah. But I’m home now. I probably won’t see them ever again. I forced them to be my friends! Why should I care?” Massy bit out, tossing his pen to the desk. He moved to pull his legs up to his chest, eyebrows pulled together.
Raph stared at him for a long moment, considering his words carefully before he opened his mouth again.
“Because they became your family,”
“What?”
Massy’s expression softened as he processed the words, cocking his head to the side. “They didn’t.. No, they didn’t.”
“They did. Not in the same way that we are a family, but you spent a long time with them. You bonded with them, you spoke to them. They became your family. And even if you don’t see them again, they’ve left an impact on you. Massy, you aren’t the same kid as you were before. There is no way to get rid of that.” Raph took another long sip of his mug, looking over one of the letters.
It spoke about hanging out, playing video games. Being kids.
Massy didn’t get to be a kid often here, not when you’re surrounded by other kids.
“Don’t beat yourself up for missing your friends, Massy. Even if you’re happy to be home.” Raph moved to get up. “But maybe you should write them in the morning, you’re starting to misspell your words.”
Massy hummed, nodding his head. He had been up too late, and Mikey wanted him up early in the morning for mystic training with grandpa Drax.
Massy moved to get up, but as he did, Raph’s hand came down to his head.
“Thanks uncle Raph…” Massy said softly, and Raph smiled, his snaggletooth digging into his lip some. Massy always wondered if it hurt.
“Get some sleep, kiddo,” Raph instructed as he got back up to his feet, groaning as his knees ached. Yeah, he was ready to sleep. Once again rubbing the fabric over his eye, he left the room with the hopes that sleep would come to him.
Massy stood next to his desk for a long moment, looking down at the letters. He would need to reread them later, he may need to rewrite them too..
WIth little effort, he pulled a paper out from the pile. It was easy to identify, crumpled up and stained with some tears. He considered his uncle’s words, about impacts and bonding. With a small smile, he crumpled up the letter and threw it back in the wastebasket- a spot where it had laid many times before.
As he shut off the light and climbed into bed, he left that letter amongst the trash. He didn’t need to send one to Taina.
With a small sigh of relief, Massy hugged onto the old bear plush given to him by his red uncle and he found himself dozing off to sleep. He had to be up in four hours.
Hi, prompt given to me by @nights-flying-fox