After Leo left with Donnie, Leon strode over to Raph with a displeased expression. He wasn’t sure if Donnie was out of earshot enough yet, so just made a series of rapid gestures at Raph as Raph shifted to be seated instead of kneeling. Raph ended up looking sheepish, but also tried giving an excuse for it being okay. Leon didn’t seem convinced, crouching down near Raph’s wrapped leg and tenderly poking at it to inspect it.
Glancing over to make sure the other two were out of sight, Raphael stepped over to his counterpart. “Need me to move him?” he asked, keeping his voice quiet just in case. Leon flinched at the sound, but it seemed to just be because of reflex and not because it was actually a problem.
“Raph can do it-” Raph assured, starting to move before Leon shoved a hand in his face.
“No, Raph can’t. Just because you can create a shell around your limbs doesn’t mean they aren’t being used,” Leon huffed, earning a snicker from Don as he shifted closer as well, just in case.
Raph ended up giving Leon a halfway convincing pout, but ended up relenting since Leon had a point. The movement hadn’t been completely painless. He’d just not wanted to leave Donnie and April on their own.
“Don’t worry about it kid. Once you get better I’ll let you pick me up too,” Raphael consoled, thinking that Raph just didn’t like feeling helpless.
“Really?” Raph asked, expression brightening.
“Sure,” Raphael shrugged, crouching down so that Raph could sling his arms around his shoulders to allow him to heft him onto his back. “Just don’t blame me if I turn it into a wrestling match instead.”
Raph just laughed, not minding at all if that ended up happening either. “It’s been fun to get picked up for once. So of course I can return the favor,” he agreed, being a little more relaxed this time since he knew Raphael didn’t have any issues carrying him.
The response caused Raphael to raise a brow in surprise, but he ended up just huffing in amusement as he started the trip back to the couch.
“Hey April?” Don started, moving closer to April to start addressing his question that had come up because of the mild skirmish.
“Yeah?” April voiced, sticking next to Lil Mikey but still turning to face him.
“What did you mean by Leon spiraling off of Donnie?” Don asked, partially repeating what she’d said, the words not making sense to him.
“Oh. Ever since the-... a few months ago it’s been hard for Leo to tell if he’s feeling his emotions or Donnie’s,” April answered, cutting herself off at first so she didn’t prod at any nerves that may be recently irritated. “So if Donnie gets upset Leo will get upset too, and then they both get protective, which makes them-”
“April,” Leon interrupted once he noticed what she was talking about after making sure Raph was back to a comfortable place. The sharpness of his tone caused Don to blink in surprise, wondering if he’d asked about something he shouldn’t.
“What? It’s not a big deal, and if they know then they’re less likely to make it worse,” April protested, placing her hands on her hips.
“It’s none of their business,” Leon countered, eyes narrowing defensively.
“Is this related to the- umm. You know what, nevermind,” Mikey started, cutting himself off when he realized they hadn’t actually told any of their guests that they had figured out Leon had traumatic flashbacks.
“Related to what?” Lil Mikey persisted, leaning to the side slightly in his curiosity.
“Nothin,” Mikey responded quickly, avoiding the topic while averting his gaze to the ceiling. It only caused Lil Mikey and April to narrow their eyes in suspicion, but he was luckily spared from their scrutiny when Don took over.
“Mikey, it’s fine. It’s better they know anyway,” Don assured, his voice growing more soft, especially when their guests looked at him in wary confusion. “I told the others that I was pretty sure Leon has flashbacks from trauma. I know it’s a little personal, but I didn’t want them getting upset with him if he ended up lashing out at them,” he explained gently, noting how Leon’s folded arms became hands tightly gripping his upper arms as his eyes widened.
“Oh! No, it’s not that- not really. Leo and Donnie are just twins,” Lil Mikey clarified easily, not thinking it was a big deal.
“MIKEY!” Leon snapped, rounding on his little brother and just barely keeping from swatting him.
“What?!” Lil Mikey shot back. “It’s not like it’s a secret with how you laud it over everyone.”
“Well maybe I didn’t want them to know this time!” Leon shouted, a hand flinging out to gesture at Don and the others.
This caused April and Lil Mikey to scrunch their brows in confusion, Lil Mikey pulling his head back slightly. “Since when did you-?”
Lil Mikey started to argue, but April reached out to rest a hand on his shoulder. They didn't need to be antagonizing Leon again, especially when he was already double stressed from this whole situation and Donnie’s mood. “Leo…You were always so proud of it before. Why don’t you want them to know?”
Leon ended up drawing a stressed breath that he let out through his teeth, raising his hands to helplessly try and smack words from the air to give an excuse before giving up and blurting the reason. “Because I'm tired of being a hindrance!”
“Leo. It’s okay-” Lil Mikey started, quick to reassure Leon that he wasn’t a hassle, and they really didn’t mind helping him.
“No it’s not!” Leon shouted, arms punching down at his sides. “You guys already have to deal with all of us freaking out all the time over stupid things. You don’t need to deal with my other problems- Donnie stop it!”
Don had to admit he wasn’t fully following exactly what Leon was saying other than picking up that a lot of pent up emotions were spilling from a bubble that had just popped. But when Leon suddenly cut himself off, addressing Donnie who wasn’t even there anymore, Don quickly knocked his brain from trying to apply what he already knew to the situation to mentally throwing all options out and starting from a blank page. Which ended up making it extremely hard for him to react since he had switched completely into observation mode.
“Don’t give me- It IS my fault! You don’t know what I- What do you mean so what? You’ve done worse? I doubt that- Just stop- I’m in the middle of a crowd of people ” Leon’s words sounded like he was talking to, and continually being interrupted by someone who wasn’t there. Raphael ended up watching for a bit before looking at Don and jerking his thumb at the kid in question. To which Don could only semi hesitantly shake his head. He didn’t think it was a flashback, especially since Lil Mikey and April were both just standing there with mildly confused by otherwise content expressions.
“...Dangit Donnie… That’s not fair,” Leon’s voice significantly changed after a short stretch of silence when he shifted from being stubbornly avoidant, to curling in on himself before not being able to hold back fat tears around a shaky smile. At this point April and Lil Mikey broke their stationary state and moved forward to bump against Leon, wrapping their arms around him quietly.
“... I think it’s time for both of you to take a break,” April said quietly, rubbing Leon’s back as he quietly hiccuped. “I’ll take over. Let’s go,” she beckoned, nudging him over towards the couches where Raph and Raphael were.
Giving a slight nod, Leon allowed April to usher him over to the couches, rubbing his eyes and staying hunched. He still had a faint smile that helped the others not be too concerned. But when they got close enough to where he was standing Raphael couldn’t help react to a subconscious idea, abruptly stepping forward and snatching Leon into an air stealing hug. It earned a wheezed huff from Leon, who then blinked in surprise before eventually looking up for a possible explanation. Unfortunately Raphael didn’t have a good one. “...You’re a great kid,” he half muttered pathetically, not sure why he chose those words.
It earned a snort from Leon, though he didn’t seem completely opposed to the compliment. “What are you, my mom?” he asked, the sarcasm not quite there as Don silently noticed the unusual choice of using mom instead of dad.
It was Raphael’s turn to snort softly now, and he responded without thinking too much. “I wish.” He wasn’t sure why he said that, he’d never wanted kids before. But it was surprising enough to get Leon’s head to snap up so he could look at Raphael better. “I know I’d be real proud of all of you if I were your dad. You’re pretty impressive kids. Even without all the mumbo jumbo mystic stuff.” What had Master Splinter said? Just rely on his instinct and don’t overthink it? Leon seemed rendered speechless by the comments, and Raph and Lil Mikey also looked rather surprised. It was like they weren’t used to hearing someone tell them they were proud of them.
I'm too tired to give this a third read through |D
I sat down yesterday ready to struggle to write even 100 words for this, but ended up finding the perfect song to just throw on repeat and ended up writing 3300 words X'DD so here's the first half since I don't like posting more than around 1500 per post unless it's a really bad break point.
This section and the next one are learning heavy into the Rise Leo and Donnie have a twin thing headcanon.
also none of this or the next section was planned. I just sat and wrote self indulgence as it came to mind |D enjoy if you will
