Join Raphael on his adventure through Peppermint Lane! Well, inside adventure. Sometimes staying cozy at home with a good ol’ candy cane with your family is a good way to relax. Sometimes you’ll want to be alone, and that’s also okay. Want prompts that involve staying inside? Peppermint Lane is just for you.
Sometimes, giving a little means getting something back in return.
Raph didn't remember where this habit came from. Maybe it started with the various plushies Dad gave him when he was younger; don't get him wrong, he took care of them well! But the road to learning to be gentle was paved with spilled stuffing and many many stitches. On top of that, as he and his brothers grew up, so did the need to repair any clothing they may have.
Raph remembered when Mikey first caught sewing up Captain Cuddles' arm. There was a little tear and he had to patch them up. His initial fear of being made fun of was completely drowned out when Mikey waddled away and came back with a hole in his beanie. It then spread to the other two, where his services would usually be reasonably required throughout the year.
Though this winter season, the demand for his help grew. It wasn't something he would flat-out refuse; he loved helping his brothers whenever they asked nicely, but it was beginning to get tiring.
Raph called it irresponsible, but Donnie did counter with the very convincing "At least I didn't use any of your clothes."
Leo (for once) had a pass, asking Raph to help sew up the right-sleeve of all his long-sleeved shirts. He seldom ever wore them outside of winter, but it felt right to give him help when he asked. There was also Mikey. He needed help sewing up the tears in some of his jackets; he left the lair more often to accompany the Caseys around New York, but with only Junior's supervision, it was difficult to reel back Cassandra's and his combined chaos. Then there was Donnie, who Raph was sure wouldn't need any help repairing clothing, only to prove him wrong when the softshell came to him with a laundry basket of shredded clothing that fell victim to one of his "mind fog moments".
That was all within the span of two weeks, and Raph's previous plans of knitting a nice thick blanket for himself went out the window. Winter settled in fast (surprisingly so, global warming and all that). It usually wouldn't have been a problem, but heating hadn't properly been installed in the lair, let alone their individual rooms.
Sluggish and struggling to keep his working eye open, the snapping turtle decided to call it quits... It was too cold to work, and he didn't want to assign blame. He put the knitting needles aside and flopped onto his bed.
It was a monstrosity, but it was beautiful.
Mentally preparing himself to brave the cold night, he heard a knock on the door. Even if he didn't answer, they'd still come in, and they did. He wanted to say something about taking a nap, only to find the words dying in his mouth. Warmth flooded the room.
He looked over, seeing all three of them standing there with a Genius Built™ portable heater and a monstrosity of a blanket. Some corners and patches were crocheted and others were knit; all of them were various different colours of yarn, some thicker than others. There were a myriad of attempted patterns on one end and a small cluster of finished ones somewhere on another side.
"What's all this?" Raph dared to question.
"We just wanted to thank you for always fixing our stuff," Mikey hopped over to wrap the blanket around him.
"And we figured we'd be real jerks if we didn't return the favour," Leo continued.
"Also, your room is the most insulated out of all of ours and the heater's better in here than out there," Donnie quickly added.
Raph chuckled, spreading his arms open. Mikey was the first one to take the snapping turtle's offer to embrace, Leo tugging Donnie over for the hug (the softshell would've run away sooner if he didn't want to).
Cocooned in the world's ugliest crotchet-knit-hybrid blanket with his brothers, Raph wouldn't trade this moment for the world.
Title: Turtle Pile
Challenge: TMNT-Event-Blog’s “Peppermint Lane” Bingo Care (Raphael)
Prompt: Turtle Pile
Fandom: TMNT 2003
Word Count: 1758
Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl
Rating: K/G
Characters: Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, Splinter
Warning: NA
Summary: Little Raph loves staring at the tree Master Splinter brought down to the lair and that they decorated. He could stare at it all night long, although maybe tonight a few interruptions wouldn’t be too bad.
Notes: Turtle tots!
AO3 || ff.net
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Turtle Pile
Raphie stared at the tree, the seven-year-old entranced by it. He’d been amazed by the tree since Master Splinter had first brought it down to their burrow. It was green, with what Donnie had said were “needles” although they didn’t look like the needles that Master Splinter used to sew up the blankets and clothes that they had. They were sharp and pointy, though, so it did sort of make sense to Raphie, although he had quickly learned how to touch them without getting stuck. He had spent hours with the tree, touching it, smelling it, feeling it, exploring it long after his brothers had grown bored. It was so different than anything that they had in the sewers that Raphie hadn’t been able to help himself.
The tree by itself had been entrancing enough. But what Master Splinter had done to the tree had entranced Raphie even more.
He’d found some old Christmas lights that had been only partially working and given them to Donnie. Donnie had taken them gleefully and spent several hours happily working on them, taking apart and splicing together the strands until he had enough working lights that Master Splinter had been able to put them on the tree, lighting it up with all sorts of colors.
Then they had spent time taking paper from old magazines and books that were unreadable and cutting them into strips, using the partially used glue sticks they had to make paper chains that Master Splinter had wrapped around the tree.
And after that, they had gone through boxes scavenged of ornaments, pulling out the ones that weren’t broken too badly, hanging them on the tree. Master Splinter had taken the broken ones and shown them ways to turn them into useful ornaments again, using pieces from various ones to make something new. When they had finished, they had ended up with a handful of new ornaments to put on the tree.
And then—then Master Splinter had put candy canes on the tree. New ones! He told them that they couldn’t have them until Christmas Day, but they were still there, and the anticipation of having them on Christmas Day was strong.
But all of the decorations had only added to Raphie’s fixation on the tree. It was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen, and he could spend hours just sitting in front of it, staring. In fact, over the past couple of weeks he had often spent his free time in front of the tree, playing with his toys under it, coloring around it, or reading books near it.
Tonight, though, he was just sitting there, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders to keep out the ever-present winter chill as he looked at the tree.
Splinter walked out from the kitchen, heading towards the rooms when he paused, seeing Raphie sitting near the tree. “Raphael?” he said. “What are you still doing there? Your brothers are already in bed.”
Raphie didn’t look away from the tree. He just kept staring at it. “I just like lookin’ at it, Master Splinter,” he said. “It’s pretty.”
Splinter came over and knelt down next to Raphie. “I understand that, my son. But you do realize that it is past time for you to be in bed. Tomorrow you will be able to open the gifts under the tree.”
Raphie nodded. “I know, Sensei. But can I stay up a little longer and look at it? Please?”
Splinter was quiet for a few moments, but then he nodded. “Very well, my son. I am heading to bed. Please do not stay up much later.”
“Thank you, Father,” Raphie said. “I’ll go to bed soon.”
Splinter nodded. “Do not forget to unplug the tree before you do.”
“Yes, Father!” Raphie said, taking a second to smile up at the rat.
Splinter smiled down at his son, patted his head, and then left for his room.
Raphie sat there, just staring at the tree, looking at all of the things on it one by one as if he were committing them to memory. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there before he heard someone walking up behind him.
“Raphie?” It was Mikey’s voice, and Raphie looked over to see his brother standing there, not completely awake, rubbing an eye with one hand and holding a blanket in the other. “What’re you doing?”
“I’m looking at the tree. Father said I could,” Raphie said. “Why are you up?”
“Hadta go to the bathroom,” Mikey said. He didn’t leave or go back to his room, though, and Raphie turned his attention back to the tree. Mikey stood there a moment longer. “Why d’ya like lookin’ at the tree, Raphie?” he finally asked.
Raphie shrugged. “I dunno. It’s pretty. It’s really pretty. I like the colored lights.”
Mikey hummed, and then plopped himself down next to Raphie. “I like the lights, too,” he said. “They’re fun.”
“Yeah,” Raphie agreed. They both sat there for a moment, until Mikey moved to where he was laying down more, his head resting on Raphie’s knee. It didn’t take long for him to fall back asleep, but Raphie didn’t mind. He let Mikey sleep, and he sat there, watching the tree.
His eyes, this time, traveled over the ornaments, looking at the ones that they had been able to use, and the ones that they had cobbled together from pieces they had. He looked at the paper chain, made up of all sorts of different kinds of paper and from different things. They’d done all of that together, and he liked it.
He stared at it for a while longer, until he, again, heard footsteps. They came up behind him and Mikey, but they stopped, and Raphie looked back to see Donnie standing there. “Watcha doing up?” he asked his brother.
Donnie looked at the tree for a moment longer, and then looked at Raphie. “I woke up, and Mikey wasn’t there, and you weren’t there, so I decided to see if you were still out here and if Mikey was with you.”
Raphie nodded and turned his attention back to the tree. “Yeah, we’re here. Mikey woke up cause he had to go to the bathroom, and then he came here and fell asleep.”
Donnie nodded, as if that was what he had expected. “You like looking at the tree,” he said, as he sat down, and settled his arms and head on Mikey’s shell. Mikey didn’t even notice.
Raphie nodded. “I do,” he said. “It’s pretty. It’s a nice thing we did all together.”
Donnie hummed. “It is,” he said. “I liked doing it all together. I think I liked the paper chain the best.”
“Not the lights?” Raphie asked, surprised.
Donnie shook his head. “The lights were fun, but I did that by myself. The paper chain we did all together, and we didn’t have to worry about accidently hurting ourselves.”
“That’s true,” Raphie said.
“Yeah,” Donnie said.
“Where do you think Father found all those ornaments?” Raphie asked after a moment.
Donnie hummed again. “Probably in dumpsters or left outside. It’s sad, because some of them look like they used to belong to families.”
“Yeah?” Raphie asked. “How can you tell?”
Donnie started talking about the things he had noticed about the ornaments, making guesses as to the kinds or types of people that they had belonged to before. At least, he did until he fell asleep right on Mikey’s shell. Raphie didn’t mind. It was nice sitting here with his brothers.
Again, he sat there for a while in silence, just staring at the tree, letting the quiet roll over him. It was kind of nice to be here like this. It was quiet, he had two of his brothers with him, and the tree was on and pretty. He sat there a while, content to just let the moment be.
He almost didn’t hear Leo’s footsteps until they were almost on him. Raphie looked over his shoulder to see Leo coming up beside him, on the side that Mikey and Donnie weren’t sleeping on.
“I woke up and no one was there,” Leo said, answering Raphie’s question before he could ask it.
Raphie shrugged and went back to looking at the tree. “Mikey woke up and had to use the bathroom. Donnie woke up and came to see where me and Mikey were. I’ve been sitting out here. Father said I could.”
Leo nodded and sat down beside Raphie. “It’s late, though,” he said. “Why are you still out here?”
Raphie was quiet for a second. “I dunno. I just really like it. The tree is pretty. The lights are pretty, and it has the chain we made and the ornaments we hung up. And it’s just really nice to just sit out here and look at it in the quiet. I just kinda like how it feels.”
Leo was quiet himself for a moment, and then he nodded. He leaned over on Raphie a bit. “Do you mind if I sit with you in the quiet?” he asked.
Raphie shook his head. “It’s fine.”
The two brothers sat in the quiet for a good long time, just watching the tree and living in the moment. Leo stayed awake longer than Mikey or Donnie, but he eventually fell asleep as well, half-laying on Raphie’s lap. But it was okay. Raphie didn’t mind. He wasn’t far behind Leo, and soon he had fallen asleep, too, curled around Leo, with Mikey’s head still on his other leg, and Donnie still on Mikey’s shell.
In the morning, that was how Splinter found them. The tree was still on, but all four of his sons were curled up in a pile together, sleeping soundly right in front of the Christmas tree. Splinter couldn’t help but smile. Carefully he put the remaining presents under the tree and went to make himself some tea. He quietly came back to the living area with it, and sat down, smiling to himself as he took in the scene.
It was fitting, he reflected to himself, as it was tradition to have presents under the tree, and this morning, he had the best present he had ever been given—his four sons—curled up and sleeping in a little pile together. He would let them wake on their own, but as he sat there and looked at the tree that had so enraptured Raphael, he felt a peace wash over him. Yes. This was the perfect Christmas.
I have not worked on a piece of art proper lately and I’m sorry for that haha. But I’m trying my best to make up for it by showcasing as many of my LEGO Universe designs as possible! My idea of making several reference sheets of all of them remains in effect as well.
In any case, here’s 10 more of those folks, including the Faction Leaders of the Nexus Force! Many more will be coming soon enough :D
Raph's door creaked open as a familiar silhouette stood through the frame. The turtle looked up at Splinter for a moment before turning back around, pulling the blanket over his head.
There was the sound of footsteps approaching him, before he felt the dip on the other side of his bed.
"Raphael, do you want to tell me what happened?"
"Raph'll just get yelled at."
"I promise, I won't yell at you."
He bit his tongue, pulling the ends of his blanket closer to his plastron. There was the faint outline of a palm on his shell, rubbing reassuring circles through the fabric and onto the scutes.
"I just want to hear your side of the story."
"It... It wasn't all Raph's fault."
"I know it wasn't... If you'd tell me why."
A pause. Raph pulled the sheets off his head and looked back up at Splinter. "Leo said stuff, acting like he's the king of everything... It's not my fault I proved him wrong."
"Red, you broke his arm..."
"Raph knows! But if he didn't say that stuff... I wouldn't have..." He trailed off, eye contact grew difficult to maintain.
Dad sighed.
"You know you're physically stronger than your brothers." His voice was gentle, almost nonchalant and casual. Dad adjusted himself on the bed, not exactly forcing the snapping turtle to look at him, but encouraging it. Raph remained firmly under the blanket, but did sneak a peak. "It's okay to roughhouse, it's natural; I encourage it! But it's not when you get angry, and especially when you use that anger to hurt them."
Raph turned fully at that.
A question that remained on his tongue was finally pushed out. "Are... Are they scared of Raph?"
"A little... Maybe."
Wetness pricked at the corners of his eyes.
"But like broken bones, your bond with them can heal."
"They won't forgive Raph."
Dad chuckled, pulling the snapping turtle into a closer hug. He was getting up there in size, where Splinter might struggle to wrap the circumference of his whole arm around him. "Who ever said that?"
"I hurt them... Raph was bigger than his brothers, and got them hurt... All because he got mad." The turtle held onto his forearms, gripping at them tightly. The watery feeling around his eyes rolled down his cheeks. He stifled a sob, the arms around his frame only tightening in some semblance of comfort.
"My son, your strength isn't an inherently bad thing..." Dad gently lifted an edge of the blanket to wipe away at his tears, "Just as such power can destroy, it can also protect."
Raph dared to look up once again at his dad, seeing the solemn smile on his face.
"And give your brothers some credit, too," Splinter rubbed the top of Raph's head, "They'll bounce back. They always do."
The turtle laughed a little in response, the shy chortle he made ebbing away at the guilt he felt prior. Splinter reached from behind Raph. "And... If you want to apologise to Blue, I'm sure he'd like that."
"I... What if Raph gets angry again?"
"Ah, glad you asked," Dad chuckled, pulling a stuffed bear into view, "Whenever you feel angry, or frustrated, or anything like that, you can give this bear a squeeze..."
Gently, Raph took the toy into his hands.
"But... if I squeeze, he'll break."
Splinter made a show of thinking of the answer, before gently side-eying Raph and giving him another endeared pat on the head, "You'll find a way... I know you love your brothers, and they all love you."
Dad pushed himself off the bed and stretched, "So... What are you going to do now, Red?"
His resolve steeled, "Raph will keep his brothers safe."
