Being mutants living in the sewers, they only ever had the scraps of society. Broken toys, beat up books with missing pages, disks scratched to near oblivion, and discarded consuls in need of repair. Unwanted things taped, tied, and glued together as much as they could be. They were grateful for what they got but maybe there was something they’d always wanted…
“Is that Samurai Ren?”
Leonardo looked up, blue eyes catching a glimpse of his favorite childhood toy…an old action figure of the hero Samurai Ren, beat up and beloved. His swords were cut from cardboard and his left leg was missing but still…he had loved that toy. Memories flooded in, a smile slowly spilling upon his face as Leo picked up the toy.
“Yeah…it was my favorite show as a kid.” He murmured. “Samurai Ren, brave and kind! Always showing up to defeat bandits or monsters, searching through Japan for his lost love…Raph was the one who found him for me.”
“Really?”
Leo nodded, returning the samurai to his place on the shelf.
“Found him in some dumpster and came running home to give it to me. I didn’t even care that he was all beat up, I was just so happy to have my own toy. Besides, most of our stuff was in rough shape anyway.”
“Did Ren ever find his love?”
“Lotus Blossom…they were reunited in the final arc of the show. They released a doll of her too, but it was limited edition and I never was able to find one…I think I just used a little cut out of her from an advertisement to play with instead. They’re crazy expensive now.”
There laying on the shelf was a folded and rather worn out piece of paper, frayed at the edges and starting to lose color. Pulling it apart, Leonardo smiled at the familiar sight of Lotus Blossom’s long hair and red lips, so lost in childhood memories that he never saw the glimmer of recognition in your eyes…and as the night went on, he quickly forgot about the whole thing.
Butyoudidn’t.
A week later, you were back in the lair after visiting your parents back home for a couple of days. After a dinner with his father and brothers, the two of you slipped into his bedroom for a little bit of alone time…
“I have a little something for you.”
“Oh?”
“Before I was born,” you explained, “my uncle and dad had a falling out and didn’t speak for years and years. When I was nine, they made up and Uncle Teddy showed up with a gift for all of the birthdays he’d missed. And one of them was this really pretty doll…”
From out of your bag you pulled out an old but rather lovely doll, one the Leonardo recognized at once. She was dressed in a pink and white kimono painted with flowers, a red obi tired neatly around her waist. Her long black hair hung to her tiny feet, a red smile painted on her face. Though her dress was a little worn and her hair a little messy, she was still nearly perfect.
“Lotus Blossom!”
There was the doll he’d been looking for since he was a turtle tot, having been sitting in a box in your closet for years and years. Handing him the doll, Leo couldn’t stop smiling. All those years spent looking for Samurai Ren’s lover…only for her to be with his own love this whole time.
It was fate.
The doll was tiny in his large hands, looking up at him with darkly painted eyes as you smiled at him excitedly.
“I always meant to give her a samurai boyfriend and I happen to know a pretty lonely one.”
“Are you sure?” Leonardo asked. “I mean, she’s yourdoll…”
Which means that I can do whatever I like with her…so now she’s yours. I think they deserve to be together, after spending all these years looking for one another…I know that they’re only toys but it’s still a little romantic in my mind.”
Setting her on the shelf, Leonardo smiled at the sight of them: a beat-up samurai and his flower. He felt you beside him and wrapped a large hand around yours, squeezing softly as he did.
“Thank you…”
He moved so slowly, watching you carefully to make absolutely sure that you wanted this, that you wanted him…and you did. You had always wanted him and always would. Pulling you into him, Leonardo kissed you softly and slowly and so terribly sweetly…the ninja and his blossom locked in a perfect, wonderful embrace.
“What’s up, Mikey?”
Michelangelo almost didn’t hear you, those baby blue eyes still looking at the screen. But your voice, sweet and familiar, slowly pulled him back to reality as his name fell from you lips…something he loved to hear.
“Oh…it’s just nothing.”
But it wasn’t nothing.
You knew that and he knew that you knew it…so he didn’t bother hiding his screen away. Instead he allowed you to look over his shoulders at the laptop, the video still playing on the screen. It was an old advertisement and you didn’t even need to have the sound up to hear the song. It was still playing in your head after all these years.
“Oh! I remember those! This was always playing on TV.”
“Yeah!” Mikey laughed, glancing at you with a smile. “I used to love watching this…I always wanted one but, you know…it just wasn’t gonna happen. It was too expensive for us to buy and impossible to find…so I just never brought it up.”
Sometimes it was easy to forget.
They had such a cool home and great stuff but…it was mostly scavenged and repaired, almost nothing was ever new to them. Mikey loved his father too much to ever complain, not wanting Splinter to feel guilty for their lot in life, you knew that…
And you knew how much Mikey lovedart.
He’d been using odds and ends of supplies that he’d found and painting on pieces of cardboard for years, taking whatever he could get his hands on. But looking back at the screen and watching those kids open the art set made you remember that Mikey had been a kid too…just a little turtle tot, watching this advertisement over and over again and wanting things he knew that he could never have.
Finding the case wasn’t hard.
The red plastic briefcase like thing came empty, just in need of a cleaning and waiting for the second phase of your plan. Art supplies soon filled the empty slots: oil pastels, acrylic and watercolor paints, color pencils, markers, and pens too. You bought brushes and erasers and sharpeners, setting everything in its place until it was finished, filled, and perfect, even getting him a thick black sketchbook and some painting paper too.
“Mikey~”
He was playing some game, eyes on the screen and face breaking into a big, goofy grin when he heard your voice.
“Babe!” He laughed. “Did you come to cheer me on?”
“No, not this time. I actually came to give you a surprise…so close your eyes!”
Ar once his eyes were shut and you were giggling as he guessed all of the things it could be. A fleet of Ferrari’s, a space ship so he could fly to the moon, maybe even the moon itself! Oh, you would give him the moon if you could! But perhaps this would do for now…
“Open!”
Those brilliant blue eyes snapped open and for a moment, still laughing…until he saw it. Mikey looked shocked for a second, green hands running over the smooth red box, the very one he’d spent years dreaming of.
“No way…you found this?”
“It was empty when I bought it but I got all the stuff it would have come with if it had been new! Better stuff, not the kid’s stuff.”
“You…you did all that for me?”
“Yeah, Mike.” You said softly, unsure of what to say or how to say it. “Of course I did. You make me happy so I wanted to -oh!”
Before you could finish saying a thing, Mikey was was pulling you into his arms. The hold he had on you was tight but not in a painful way…in a wonderful way. It was warm and safe and he was holding on like he would never let go. It was a kind of hold that felt right and good, made for lovers holding onto one another.
“You’reamazing,” Michelangelo sighed. “I love you.”
“I love you too, baby.”
The rest of the night was spent laying at his side as Mikey tested his new stuff. Color pencils moved across the page, slowly creating a scene before you…a city sketched against a sunset sky, two figure sitting on the roof together.
“I didn’t know you liked Yu-gi-oh.”
Donatello grinned, putting away his work for a moment to look at the tin of old cards you’d found on his shelf. The box was half rusted and falling apart (it actually would fall apart if one didn’t handle it right), a pile of old cards inside. The cards were damaged, torn or cut or taped together, some were even water damaged to boot, but they were his.
“Oh!” He laughed. “Oh, yeah, I was really into it when I was a kid.”
Flipping through the spells and traps and monsters, Donnie pointed out his favorite cards as you looked through them together.
“I used to make my brothers duel me sometimes. But mostly I just collected whatever card that I could find, even if it was kind of lame. People were always tossing out the weaker cards and I would pick ‘em up. Oh, hey!”
There were four card that were held together by an old paperclip, almost like some Frankenstein creature waiting to be summoned. Golden arms and legs were bound by chains, the cards themselves wrinkled from water damage.
“Exodia the Forbidden One! I almost collected all of the cards to complete him…just never got the head.”
“Hard to find?”
“Yeah.” Donnie said. “I always thought I’d buy it one day but then we started, you know, fighting crime and as it turns out, that is a really expensive hobby. So I just put this aside and forgot I guess…jeez, it’s been forever since I looked at these.”
“Can we duel?”
“That, my dove, was a big mistake…I happen to be the King of Games.”
It was just a silly little thing to do, Donnie dueling you and talking all about his favorite episodes and characters. Getting the turtle away from the lab (or some other work that needed doing) could be a difficult task at times, but when you managed to do it, oh, it was so worth it! Still, you didn’t stop thinking about that card…the image of little Donnie searching through scraps and trash for that one card, that one little thing he wanted…it was sad.
So you found it for him.
Once more Donatello was in the lab, working away. He heard you before he saw you, the sound of your footsteps and voice coming closer.
“Later, Raph!”
And then the door was opening and he was smiling, setting aside his tools in order to greet you with a kiss. The feel of you in his arms was like heaven, the both of you melting together so perfectly…just what he needed right now!
“Got you something.”
From behind your made came a small box, made out of gold-painted metal and covered in Egyptian designs.
“Oh! The Millennium puzzle box!”
“I saw it and thought of you…look inside.”
Opening the lid, Donatello was amazed to see the very card his childhood self had dreamed of and searched for endlessly…Exodia the Forbidden One.
“Oh…dove…”
“I know how much you wanted it.” You said. “And I thought it was time that poor thing finally got a head! He’s been all arms and legs for too long.”
Quickly, Donnie placed his cards inside a box, the rusty old tin now empty and waiting for a new purpose…though he knew that he might just keep it around for sentimental purposes. The now completed Exodia was the last to fall in, all five pieces neatly sliding into place and he smiled like a little kid.
“Thank you, darling.” He sighed. “It almost feels like it’s too much.”
“Nothing’s too much for the King of Games.”
“You know…” Donnie said with a teasing little grinned. “If I’m the king, that ought to make you my queen.”
“Oh?”
“Oh, yes!”
And then he was pulling you into another kiss as you laughed, falling right back into his arms…right where you belonged. Playful kisses were peppered all along your face and neck, your laughter filling his ears and he kissed and kissed and kissed you.
“Raph, what’s this?”
Raphael turned to see what you were talking about, only to jump up at the sight of a very old, very beat up red notebook.
Oh. Crap.
“That’s just-”
“Are these song lists?”
“It’s nothing, babe.”
“Then why do you got that look on your pretty face?”
He sighed, a large hand rubbing the back of his neck. As embarrassed as he was, Raph figured that he might as well just tell you…he told you everything after all.
The big stuff, small stuff, and now…stupid stuff too.
“There was this show I watched, when I was a kid,” he said as he sat down next to you. “Kinda sucked…but the guy, he gave his girl a mix tape…and I liked that. Wrote down all the songs, used to listen to ‘em all the time.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah…I just liked it. Making something like that for someone…”
And then he didn’t bring it up again.
You knew that things had been hard for Raph. Growing up surviving off of the discards of society, he’d been hungering for a lot. He’d been lonely.
And he was a lot more romantic then he appeared to be.
It was one of those things that you loved about him. That sweetness hiding beneath a tough exterior, just waiting to come out. Bit by bit you had encouraged it, allowing Raphael to leave behind the tough guy act when it was just the two of you. And because you took every chance you got to encourage it, you immediately got to work.
A couple days later, he was picking you up from work.
Though he’d practically had to rip the keys to the van from Don’s hands, Raph was finally able to get his turn. There was something so right about sitting with you at his side, music playing as he drove through the city streets.
“Hey.”
Your lips pressed to his skin several times, teasing his jaw and neck as Raphael just melted away for you. It was something he’d always wanted, a weak spot of his that he’d kept hidden for years…until he met you. Laughing breathlessly, Raph allowed you to kiss and tease to your heart’s content before slipping away with a smile.
“Made you something.”
“Yeah?”
It was a tape. Glancing at you, Raph took the tape and slipped it into the slot, allowing a song to start playing…and then he knew.
“There’s a time and place for everything, for everyone, we can push with all our might but nothing’s gonna come…”
“Did you…you made made the tape?”
“Yeah.” You replied. “I was feeling romantic.”
“Oh, could you let it be? I wanna hold you and say…”
He felt like…there wasn’t any words to describe how he felt. It was like fire, but nothing like he was angry. It was like he was flying but he wasn’t dreaming, not anymore. This was real, this was perfect…this was you.
And he was kissing you.
“And no matter what you say or do, you know my heart is true, oh, I can’t stop lovin’ you…”
(Just something short and sweet for my fave boys…I write a lot about the turtles giving gifts but I wanted to write something where they were the ones receiving. After all, they deserve just as much love as they give!)
Imagine stumbling into the turtle’s lives by pure accident, falling from a fire escape and landing right into their arms. They’re expecting you to be shocked or scared or something…but you’re barely even phased at the sight of the giant turtles standing in front of you.
Why?
“Well, I’ve seen at least one of you over the years…like, a lot.”
Leonardo is stunned.
Stupidly, obviously stunned. Always so proud of his ninja training, he takes great pleasure in being the “unseen.” Just a shadow in a darkened alley, a swift blur in the corner of a stranger’s eye, a stolen sight that one might brush away as mere imagination and nothing more. So knowing that you’ve caught them numerous times is, well, a little embarrassing for him.
Okay, it’s more like a lot.
“Who have you seen?” He asks quietly.
“Well,” you said as you carefully gathered the books and papers that had spilled from your bag, “I’m actually pretty sure it was you. I’ve seen you running over the rooftops a lot and I remember your swords.”
And now it was just plain humiliating. Raph scoffed in utter delight, already coming up with a million and one smug remarks to make, and he could see Donnie and Mikey sharing smiles. All the times he’d scolded his brothers about being more careful, warning them to avoid being seen, were now coming back to haunt him. Oh, he was never going to hear the end of this, he just knew it! They would be bringing this up for years and years.
Leonardo looked away from his brothers and back towards you, watching as you carefully inspected your phone for chips and cracks.
“If it’s damaged, I can fix that,” Donnie said helpfully.
“I think it’s okay…” you replied, “But thank you. And thanks for catching me before I, you know, fell to my death.”
“Uh…anytime.” Leonardo replied, his brain feeling fuzzy from the embarrassment and confusion.
“See you guys around.”
And just like that you were gone, walking off into the city and leaving Leonardo standing with his brothers. At once the teasing he’d already been expecting started up, Raph ragging on him and the other two only joyfully encouraging him, but for once…he didn’t care. Not even when Don joked about telling Splinter, not when Raph told him he ought to train more. Instead he watched you walk away and wondered when he might see you again.
Perhaps next time he was running across the rooftops, he’d stop and say hello…
Donatello isn’t really too surprised.
Statistically speaking, a good number of New Yorkers have seen that turtles from time to time. After all, they’ve been living in the city for all of their twenty-two years and have been active on the surface for eight of those now. There are quite a few humans out there who’ve caught a look at them, leading to stories of some sort of man-eating turtle cryptid living in the city waterways…there are some interesting sites out there.
But math doesn’t lie and you’re not the only one who has seen them…just one of the few who has gotten to actually meetthem.
“Really?” Mikey piped up.
“Yeah,” you replied with a shrug. “But it’s not really a big deal or anything. I mean, this is New York City after all. I’d honestly be a lot more surprised if there weren’t giant turtles running around here at night.”
“How many times have you seen us?” Leonardo questioned, his blue eyes glancing sharply at his brothers.
“A lot of times through the years. Running around on the rooftops, getting into a few fights with gang bangers…actually, you know, I think I’ve seen him more then the rest of you.”
You had pointed right at Donatello when you made that little comment and already he could feel Leonardo’s glare settle on the back of his shell. He wondered if his elder brother would care too much about his argument for statistics…probably not! But you were smiling a little, brushing the dirt off of the Dittos that covered your black dress.
“And…you’re cool with that?” Donnie asked.
“Yup.”
“Then…so are we! Right, guys?”
His brothers chimed in, agreeing with the sentiment. And with that, you were off, grabbing your button-covered bag and walking away to catch your bus.
“See you around…?”
“Uh, Donnie. My name’s Donnie.”
“Later, Donnie.”
Forgetting about the impending doom that loomed over him (he could already hear Leonardo’s scolding and feel that sting in his muscles from Master Splinter’s punishment, which was sure to be brutal and terribly clever), Donatello grinned to himself as you vanished into the city…but he was certain that he would see you again.
And maybe you wouldn’t mind that at all…
Michelangelo is curious.
You saw them? For years? And you didn’t freak out or anything? That was rare for humans. Even compassionate people like April got a little freaked and, yeah, he couldn’t really blame anyone for screaming…still hurt though. They were no monsters, even if some people thought otherwise (Donnie had shown them those cryptid sites and he hadn’t liked that much). He’d been expecting screaming or fainting or something…
And yet here you were, cool as a cucumber!
“Just one of us?” Donatello asked, clearly eager for answers. “Do you know which one?”
“Oh…I dunno…” you murmured, running a hand through your hair as you thought it over. “He’s an artist.”
At once Michelangelo felt his Leo and Don glaring at him and Raph, both who claimed that honorable role as artists. The two brothers shared a guilty glance, each of them wondering who had earned himself one of Leonardo’s long lectures.
“I’ve seen him spray painting these gorgeous pieces! There’s these blue angel wings and this neon melting heart by the place I work-”
“Mikey!” Leonardo snapped, Don slapping the back of his head simultaneously.
“You’reIl Divino?”
Well, his secret was out. Michelangelo had been sneaking out every so often to paint the worn out brick and cracked concrete of New York City with his art…and now everyone knew. Including the pretty human in front of him. The fact that she liked his art so much made it possible to pretend that he wasn’t about to be destroyed by his brothers.
“I love your art…especially that roses beneath the bridge!” you chirped happily. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen it around.”
“I’ve been, uh, busy.”
“Well…” you said, picking up your sharpie-covered messenger bag, “if your schedule clears up, I hope to see your work again.”
“Yeah…”
Then you were gone, giving the turtle a little smile as you walked away. Already he was planning a new piece, something with neon pink…and a girl with a bright smile. Leonardo’s lecture began as Raph and Don walked away, laughing to themselves.
And Mikey was stunned totally stupid, wondering what you would think of his next piece…
Maybe he’d get to ask you!
Raphael is unsure.
From the second you nearly fell on top of Leonardo, he’d been expecting the whole shebang. Screaming, panicking, all that good stuff. It happened to them about every time a human managed to find them, a guy starts to expect it. But you could not care less and he…
He’s the confused one right now.
Since getting back on your feet, you hadn’t been even a little phased. Perhaps the fall had scared you but the turtles had not. Straightening your jacket, the metal and plastic pins caught his eye. A lightning bolt, several sarcastic phrases, a red eye. They were cool. You were cool, sighing as you looked back at the turtles.
“When have you seen one of us?” Leonardo asked. “Who?”
“I dunno…which one of you likes to stand on rooftops and angrily scream into the sky a couple times a week?”
At once all of his brothers turned and looked right at him, an unspoken answer to your question. Raph looked away, face hot and eyes burning. Raph’s temper was well known to his family…and apparently to you too.
“Uh…ya heard me, huh?”
“Actually, I screamed back at you once. I believe I told you you to get your crap together and stop throwing fits at four in the fucking morning.”
“That was you?”
Hands on your hips, you looked at the turtle with confidence and attitude. It was almost like you were daring him to snap back, ready for a bite back…he almost wanted to take you up on it! You were not, he realized, even a little bit afraid of him. Shocking for a human but strangely comforting at the same time for the turtle.
“Yup.”
“Why ain’t ya mad at me?”
“I was for a while. But then I saw you beating some Purple Dragons into the dirt and I thought, eh, give the guy a chance.”
Raphael grinned, chuckling beneath his breath. Clearly, you were not like most other humans. He felt certain that if aliens landed right here in font of you, you’d probably just tell them to get out of your way because you were late and trying to get home.
“I gotta go. It’s nice to finally meet you…?”
“Raphael.”
“Later, Raphael.”
He liked it. The glint in your eyes and edge to your grin, the way you said his name…there was just something about you that he liked. And there was something else telling him that this wasn’t the last time he’d see you.
Request: “Can I have 2012 Donatello solving mysteries with his Sherlock Holmes type darling (very intelligent, quiet, and observant)?”
A/N:Thank you for requesting! I had a lot of fun writing this, it combined two of my favorite things, TMNT and Sherlock Holmes!
Pairing:Donatello x Reader (female).
It seemed like the twists and turns of Donatello’s life would never cease to amaze him.
One would think that being, ya know, a teenage mutant ninja turtle would leave life with little ability to surprise or shock you but one would be wrong. Very, very wrong. Life seemed to enjoy sending Donatello and his brothers through the weirdest twists and turns…which was exactly how he ended up meeting you.
A routine patrol had gone off the rails when he found the Purple Dragons chasing down a young girl.
Trench coat flaring in the wind and camera in hand, you ran through the city streets as the furious cries of gangsters followed you. Having separated from his brothers, he had no back and only one chance to act.
Some part of you would have liked to say that you’d been seeing him for what he was but the truth was…you hadn’t. Eyes closed toght, you had been blind to it for far too long. It had been going on for so long and you had gotten to the point where you just took it.
When he called you names…
According to him, you were stupid and useless, never ever doing anything right.
When he criticized you endlessly…
According to him, you were so damn difficult, so hard to please, alwats screwing up anything you touched.
It hurt.
It hurt like hell.
But you took it all, every word and every barb, always saying nothing. Doing nothing. Like a good little punching bag.
Somehow, the toxicity of your relationship had become your new normal. You had begun making excuses for Adam for years, telling yourself that every boyfriend acted like this. It was a bad day, a bad mood, a bad time. Or it was a rough patch, right? Everyone went through rough patches but…it would be fine. It was normal, it was okay, everything was okay.
Until it wasn’t.
Until you met the turtles.
It had happened so suddenly, a series of accidents that lead to a masked turtle saving your life. And from there, a friendship begsn to blossom. You never told your boyfriend about any of it. He never wanted to hear what you had to say anyway so…you kept it to yourself.
Everyday, you came home to the same old thing.
Useless. Disastrous.
Insults thrown your way, a screaming fight in which you never uttered a word. You only sat there and let yourself be screamed at before Adam stormed out, leaving you to weep.
And every night, you ran off to something new…something wonderful.
One turtle in particular had taken to you, always slipping away when no one was looking. A rooftop overlooking the city and stars became a special sort of place. There you would hear and feel everything you didn’t even know you had wanted.
Beautiful. Intelligent. Funny.
He told you that you were all kinds of wonderful. That you were everything he had ever dreamed of, all that he had ever wanted…and that you deserved so, so much more then that bastard.
And for the first time in forever, you believed it.
They weren’t the biting remarks you were so used to, they were like honey…warm and sweet, and you began to crave it.
You began to fight back.
When your boyfriend snapped at you, you snapped back.
Teeth bared, claws out, you weren’t backing down anymore! He was shocked the first time you dud it, standing there with a stupid look on his face. Damn, did that feel good! When Adam tried it again, he found that this wasn’t a fluke. It was courage. It was you, the you that had been gone for so long, broken down by cruelty…and brought up by love.
“Shut up!” He had screamed, storming towards you.
But you didn’t back down.
You didn’t run and hide.
Pushing back, you glared up at him and, for the first time, you saw Adam for what he really was. Ugly. Evil. A tyrant that had ruled over you life with cruelty and abuse for far, far too long. But tyrants fall and empires crumble, new life springing ftom the ruins of what once was.
“No!” You screamed back, “No! I’m sick of this and I’m sick of YOU! People don’t act like this when they love each other so you don’t love me…so just leave!”
He’d laughed bitterly, smirking that smug like smile, it made you want to smack him.
“Who could ever love you?” Adam sneered. “Who could ever want you? You’re lucky that-”
No. No.
He wasn’t doing this anymore. He wasn’t going yo break you to bits again. You weren’t going to let this happen, not now and not ever. No one else was going to treat you like that ever again. Fire burned within, a raging anger bursting forth and interrupting his little tirade.
“I love me! I want me!” You shouted, shoving him away. “And I am so fucking done with you.”
“Y/N-”
But you weren’t going to hear any more of it. Throwing him and all his stuff out into the rainy street, you glared down at the man you had once loved…the man that had become your nightmare. Every nasty thing he’d ever said to you ran through you mind, destroying any pity you may have felt for the pathetic little creature. There was no parting kiss or kindness for him. The last thing you would ever say to Adam was a simple order:
“Never come back.”
The door was shut. The locks were changed. In fact, you changed everything. New sheets (you hated the ones he had slept in), a new look (you wore everything he had told not to), a new you.
It was…awesome.
Laying back in the sunlight, you felt as though everything had changed for the better. The nightmare was over and your eyes were wide open…and your phone was going off.
The name displayed on the screen made you smile, a message flashing brightly.
“Meet me on the roof?”
“Always.”
Waiting on the roof, you wore a smile on your face and a dress in his shade. The sun set slowly, stars beginning to appear one by one by one, and from out of the shadows, a figure appeared.
“Y/N!”
“Hey, you~”
That toxic love had up and died but you would not mourn it. A sweeter love had taken its place…and you were ready to live again.
(This is based of According to You by Orianthi. Moral of of the story, treat your girlfriend right or she will find someone else who will)
Being mutants living in the sewers, they only ever had the scraps of society. Broken toys, beat up books with missing pages, disks scratched to near oblivion, and discarded consuls in need of repair. Unwanted things taped, tied, and glued together as much as they could be. They were grateful for what they got but maybe there was something they’d always wanted…
“Is that Samurai Ren?”
Leonardo looked up, blue eyes catching a glimpse of his favorite childhood toy…an old action figure of the hero Samurai Ren, beat up and beloved. His swords were cut from cardboard and his left leg was missing but still…he had loved that toy. Memories flooded in, a smile slowly spilling upon his face as Leo picked up the toy.
“Yeah…it was my favorite show as a kid.” He murmured. “Samurai Ren, brave and kind! Always showing up to defeat bandits or monsters, searching through Japan for his lost love…Raph was the one who found him for me.”
“Really?”
Leo nodded, returning the samurai to his place on the shelf.
“Found him in some dumpster and came running home to give it to me. I didn’t even care that he was all beat up, I was just so happy to have my own toy. Besides, most of our stuff was in rough shape anyway.”
“Did Ren ever find his love?”
“Lotus Blossom…they were reunited in the final arc of the show. They released a doll of her too, but it was limited edition and I never was able to find one…I think I just used a little cut out of her from an advertisement to play with instead. They’re crazy expensive now.”
There laying on the shelf was a folded and rather worn out piece of paper, frayed at the edges and starting to lose color. Pulling it apart, Leonardo smiled at the familiar sight of Lotus Blossom’s long hair and red lips, so lost in childhood memories that he never saw the glimmer of recognition in your eyes…and as the night went on, he quickly forgot about the whole thing.
Butyoudidn’t.
A week later, you were back in the lair after visiting your parents back home for a couple of days. After a dinner with his father and brothers, the two of you slipped into his bedroom for a little bit of alone time…
“I have a little something for you.”
“Oh?”
“Before I was born,” you explained, “my uncle and dad had a falling out and didn’t speak for years and years. When I was nine, they made up and Uncle Teddy showed up with a gift for all of the birthdays he’d missed. And one of them was this really pretty doll…”
From out of your bag you pulled out an old but rather lovely doll, one the Leonardo recognized at once. She was dressed in a pink and white kimono painted with flowers, a red obi tired neatly around her waist. Her long black hair hung to her tiny feet, a red smile painted on her face. Though her dress was a little worn and her hair a little messy, she was still nearly perfect.
“Lotus Blossom!”
There was the doll he’d been looking for since he was a turtle tot, having been sitting in a box in your closet for years and years. Handing him the doll, Leo couldn’t stop smiling. All those years spent looking for Samurai Ren’s lover…only for her to be with his own love this whole time.
It was fate.
The doll was tiny in his large hands, looking up at him with darkly painted eyes as you smiled at him excitedly.
“I always meant to give her a samurai boyfriend and I happen to know a pretty lonely one.”
“Are you sure?” Leonardo asked. “I mean, she’s yourdoll…”
Which means that I can do whatever I like with her…so now she’s yours. I think they deserve to be together, after spending all these years looking for one another…I know that they’re only toys but it’s still a little romantic in my mind.”
Setting her on the shelf, Leonardo smiled at the sight of them: a beat-up samurai and his flower. He felt you beside him and wrapped a large hand around yours, squeezing softly as he did.
“Thank you…”
He moved so slowly, watching you carefully to make absolutely sure that you wanted this, that you wanted him…and you did. You had always wanted him and always would. Pulling you into him, Leonardo kissed you softly and slowly and so terribly sweetly…the ninja and his blossom locked in a perfect, wonderful embrace.
“What’s up, Mikey?”
Michelangelo almost didn’t hear you, those baby blue eyes still looking at the screen. But your voice, sweet and familiar, slowly pulled him back to reality as his name fell from you lips…something he loved to hear.
“Oh…it’s just nothing.”
But it wasn’t nothing.
You knew that and he knew that you knew it…so he didn’t bother hiding his screen away. Instead he allowed you to look over his shoulders at the laptop, the video still playing on the screen. It was an old advertisement and you didn’t even need to have the sound up to hear the song. It was still playing in your head after all these years.
“Oh! I remember those! This was always playing on TV.”
“Yeah!” Mikey laughed, glancing at you with a smile. “I used to love watching this…I always wanted one but, you know…it just wasn’t gonna happen. It was too expensive for us to buy and impossible to find…so I just never brought it up.”
Sometimes it was easy to forget.
They had such a cool home and great stuff but…it was mostly scavenged and repaired, almost nothing was ever new to them. Mikey loved his father too much to ever complain, not wanting Splinter to feel guilty for their lot in life, you knew that…
And you knew how much Mikey lovedart.
He’d been using odds and ends of supplies that he’d found and painting on pieces of cardboard for years, taking whatever he could get his hands on. But looking back at the screen and watching those kids open the art set made you remember that Mikey had been a kid too…just a little turtle tot, watching this advertisement over and over again and wanting things he knew that he could never have.
Finding the case wasn’t hard.
The red plastic briefcase like thing came empty, just in need of a cleaning and waiting for the second phase of your plan. Art supplies soon filled the empty slots: oil pastels, acrylic and watercolor paints, color pencils, markers, and pens too. You bought brushes and erasers and sharpeners, setting everything in its place until it was finished, filled, and perfect, even getting him a thick black sketchbook and some painting paper too.
“Mikey~”
He was playing some game, eyes on the screen and face breaking into a big, goofy grin when he heard your voice.
“Babe!” He laughed. “Did you come to cheer me on?”
“No, not this time. I actually came to give you a surprise…so close your eyes!”
Ar once his eyes were shut and you were giggling as he guessed all of the things it could be. A fleet of Ferrari’s, a space ship so he could fly to the moon, maybe even the moon itself! Oh, you would give him the moon if you could! But perhaps this would do for now…
“Open!”
Those brilliant blue eyes snapped open and for a moment, still laughing…until he saw it. Mikey looked shocked for a second, green hands running over the smooth red box, the very one he’d spent years dreaming of.
“No way…you found this?”
“It was empty when I bought it but I got all the stuff it would have come with if it had been new! Better stuff, not the kid’s stuff.”
“You…you did all that for me?”
“Yeah, Mike.” You said softly, unsure of what to say or how to say it. “Of course I did. You make me happy so I wanted to -oh!”
Before you could finish saying a thing, Mikey was was pulling you into his arms. The hold he had on you was tight but not in a painful way…in a wonderful way. It was warm and safe and he was holding on like he would never let go. It was a kind of hold that felt right and good, made for lovers holding onto one another.
“You’reamazing,” Michelangelo sighed. “I love you.”
“I love you too, baby.”
The rest of the night was spent laying at his side as Mikey tested his new stuff. Color pencils moved across the page, slowly creating a scene before you…a city sketched against a sunset sky, two figure sitting on the roof together.
“I didn’t know you liked Yu-gi-oh.”
Donatello grinned, putting away his work for a moment to look at the tin of old cards you’d found on his shelf. The box was half rusted and falling apart (it actually would fall apart if one didn’t handle it right), a pile of old cards inside. The cards were damaged, torn or cut or taped together, some were even water damaged to boot, but they were his.
“Oh!” He laughed. “Oh, yeah, I was really into it when I was a kid.”
Flipping through the spells and traps and monsters, Donnie pointed out his favorite cards as you looked through them together.
“I used to make my brothers duel me sometimes. But mostly I just collected whatever card that I could find, even if it was kind of lame. People were always tossing out the weaker cards and I would pick ‘em up. Oh, hey!”
There were four card that were held together by an old paperclip, almost like some Frankenstein creature waiting to be summoned. Golden arms and legs were bound by chains, the cards themselves wrinkled from water damage.
“Exodia the Forbidden One! I almost collected all of the cards to complete him…just never got the head.”
“Hard to find?”
“Yeah.” Donnie said. “I always thought I’d buy it one day but then we started, you know, fighting crime and as it turns out, that is a really expensive hobby. So I just put this aside and forgot I guess…jeez, it’s been forever since I looked at these.”
“Can we duel?”
“That, my dove, was a big mistake…I happen to be the King of Games.”
It was just a silly little thing to do, Donnie dueling you and talking all about his favorite episodes and characters. Getting the turtle away from the lab (or some other work that needed doing) could be a difficult task at times, but when you managed to do it, oh, it was so worth it! Still, you didn’t stop thinking about that card…the image of little Donnie searching through scraps and trash for that one card, that one little thing he wanted…it was sad.
So you found it for him.
Once more Donatello was in the lab, working away. He heard you before he saw you, the sound of your footsteps and voice coming closer.
“Later, Raph!”
And then the door was opening and he was smiling, setting aside his tools in order to greet you with a kiss. The feel of you in his arms was like heaven, the both of you melting together so perfectly…just what he needed right now!
“Got you something.”
From behind your made came a small box, made out of gold-painted metal and covered in Egyptian designs.
“Oh! The Millennium puzzle box!”
“I saw it and thought of you…look inside.”
Opening the lid, Donatello was amazed to see the very card his childhood self had dreamed of and searched for endlessly…Exodia the Forbidden One.
“Oh…dove…”
“I know how much you wanted it.” You said. “And I thought it was time that poor thing finally got a head! He’s been all arms and legs for too long.”
Quickly, Donnie placed his cards inside a box, the rusty old tin now empty and waiting for a new purpose…though he knew that he might just keep it around for sentimental purposes. The now completed Exodia was the last to fall in, all five pieces neatly sliding into place and he smiled like a little kid.
“Thank you, darling.” He sighed. “It almost feels like it’s too much.”
“Nothing’s too much for the King of Games.”
“You know…” Donnie said with a teasing little grinned. “If I’m the king, that ought to make you my queen.”
“Oh?”
“Oh, yes!”
And then he was pulling you into another kiss as you laughed, falling right back into his arms…right where you belonged. Playful kisses were peppered all along your face and neck, your laughter filling his ears and he kissed and kissed and kissed you.
“Raph, what’s this?”
Raphael turned to see what you were talking about, only to jump up at the sight of a very old, very beat up red notebook.
Oh. Crap.
“That’s just-”
“Are these song lists?”
“It’s nothing, babe.”
“Then why do you got that look on your pretty face?”
He sighed, a large hand rubbing the back of his neck. As embarrassed as he was, Raph figured that he might as well just tell you…he told you everything after all.
The big stuff, small stuff, and now…stupid stuff too.
“There was this show I watched, when I was a kid,” he said as he sat down next to you. “Kinda sucked…but the guy, he gave his girl a mix tape…and I liked that. Wrote down all the songs, used to listen to ‘em all the time.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah…I just liked it. Making something like that for someone…”
And then he didn’t bring it up again.
You knew that things had been hard for Raph. Growing up surviving off of the discards of society, he’d been hungering for a lot. He’d been lonely.
And he was a lot more romantic then he appeared to be.
It was one of those things that you loved about him. That sweetness hiding beneath a tough exterior, just waiting to come out. Bit by bit you had encouraged it, allowing Raphael to leave behind the tough guy act when it was just the two of you. And because you took every chance you got to encourage it, you immediately got to work.
A couple days later, he was picking you up from work.
Though he’d practically had to rip the keys to the van from Don’s hands, Raph was finally able to get his turn. There was something so right about sitting with you at his side, music playing as he drove through the city streets.
“Hey.”
Your lips pressed to his skin several times, teasing his jaw and neck as Raphael just melted away for you. It was something he’d always wanted, a weak spot of his that he’d kept hidden for years…until he met you. Laughing breathlessly, Raph allowed you to kiss and tease to your heart’s content before slipping away with a smile.
“Made you something.”
“Yeah?”
It was a tape. Glancing at you, Raph took the tape and slipped it into the slot, allowing a song to start playing…and then he knew.
“There’s a time and place for everything, for everyone, we can push with all our might but nothing’s gonna come…”
“Did you…you made made the tape?”
“Yeah.” You replied. “I was feeling romantic.”
“Oh, could you let it be? I wanna hold you and say…”
He felt like…there wasn’t any words to describe how he felt. It was like fire, but nothing like he was angry. It was like he was flying but he wasn’t dreaming, not anymore. This was real, this was perfect…this was you.
And he was kissing you.
“And no matter what you say or do, you know my heart is true, oh, I can’t stop lovin’ you…”
(Just something short and sweet for my fave boys…I write a lot about the turtles giving gifts but I wanted to write something where they were the ones receiving. After all, they deserve just as much love as they give!)
Imagine stumbling into the turtle’s lives by pure accident, falling from a fire escape and landing right into their arms. They’re expecting you to be shocked or scared or something…but you’re barely even phased at the sight of the giant turtles standing in front of you.
Why?
“Well, I’ve seen at least one of you over the years…like, a lot.”
Leonardo is stunned.
Stupidly, obviously stunned. Always so proud of his ninja training, he takes great pleasure in being the “unseen.” Just a shadow in a darkened alley, a swift blur in the corner of a stranger’s eye, a stolen sight that one might brush away as mere imagination and nothing more. So knowing that you’ve caught them numerous times is, well, a little embarrassing for him.
Okay, it’s more like a lot.
“Who have you seen?” He asks quietly.
“Well,” you said as you carefully gathered the books and papers that had spilled from your bag, “I’m actually pretty sure it was you. I’ve seen you running over the rooftops a lot and I remember your swords.”
And now it was just plain humiliating. Raph scoffed in utter delight, already coming up with a million and one smug remarks to make, and he could see Donnie and Mikey sharing smiles. All the times he’d scolded his brothers about being more careful, warning them to avoid being seen, were now coming back to haunt him. Oh, he was never going to hear the end of this, he just knew it! They would be bringing this up for years and years.
Leonardo looked away from his brothers and back towards you, watching as you carefully inspected your phone for chips and cracks.
“If it’s damaged, I can fix that,” Donnie said helpfully.
“I think it’s okay…” you replied, “But thank you. And thanks for catching me before I, you know, fell to my death.”
“Uh…anytime.” Leonardo replied, his brain feeling fuzzy from the embarrassment and confusion.
“See you guys around.”
And just like that you were gone, walking off into the city and leaving Leonardo standing with his brothers. At once the teasing he’d already been expecting started up, Raph ragging on him and the other two only joyfully encouraging him, but for once…he didn’t care. Not even when Don joked about telling Splinter, not when Raph told him he ought to train more. Instead he watched you walk away and wondered when he might see you again.
Perhaps next time he was running across the rooftops, he’d stop and say hello…
Donatello isn’t really too surprised.
Statistically speaking, a good number of New Yorkers have seen that turtles from time to time. After all, they’ve been living in the city for all of their twenty-two years and have been active on the surface for eight of those now. There are quite a few humans out there who’ve caught a look at them, leading to stories of some sort of man-eating turtle cryptid living in the city waterways…there are some interesting sites out there.
But math doesn’t lie and you’re not the only one who has seen them…just one of the few who has gotten to actually meetthem.
“Really?” Mikey piped up.
“Yeah,” you replied with a shrug. “But it’s not really a big deal or anything. I mean, this is New York City after all. I’d honestly be a lot more surprised if there weren’t giant turtles running around here at night.”
“How many times have you seen us?” Leonardo questioned, his blue eyes glancing sharply at his brothers.
“A lot of times through the years. Running around on the rooftops, getting into a few fights with gang bangers…actually, you know, I think I’ve seen him more then the rest of you.”
You had pointed right at Donatello when you made that little comment and already he could feel Leonardo’s glare settle on the back of his shell. He wondered if his elder brother would care too much about his argument for statistics…probably not! But you were smiling a little, brushing the dirt off of the Dittos that covered your black dress.
“And…you’re cool with that?” Donnie asked.
“Yup.”
“Then…so are we! Right, guys?”
His brothers chimed in, agreeing with the sentiment. And with that, you were off, grabbing your button-covered bag and walking away to catch your bus.
“See you around…?”
“Uh, Donnie. My name’s Donnie.”
“Later, Donnie.”
Forgetting about the impending doom that loomed over him (he could already hear Leonardo’s scolding and feel that sting in his muscles from Master Splinter’s punishment, which was sure to be brutal and terribly clever), Donatello grinned to himself as you vanished into the city…but he was certain that he would see you again.
And maybe you wouldn’t mind that at all…
Michelangelo is curious.
You saw them? For years? And you didn’t freak out or anything? That was rare for humans. Even compassionate people like April got a little freaked and, yeah, he couldn’t really blame anyone for screaming…still hurt though. They were no monsters, even if some people thought otherwise (Donnie had shown them those cryptid sites and he hadn’t liked that much). He’d been expecting screaming or fainting or something…
And yet here you were, cool as a cucumber!
“Just one of us?” Donatello asked, clearly eager for answers. “Do you know which one?”
“Oh…I dunno…” you murmured, running a hand through your hair as you thought it over. “He’s an artist.”
At once Michelangelo felt his Leo and Don glaring at him and Raph, both who claimed that honorable role as artists. The two brothers shared a guilty glance, each of them wondering who had earned himself one of Leonardo’s long lectures.
“I’ve seen him spray painting these gorgeous pieces! There’s these blue angel wings and this neon melting heart by the place I work-”
“Mikey!” Leonardo snapped, Don slapping the back of his head simultaneously.
“You’reIl Divino?”
Well, his secret was out. Michelangelo had been sneaking out every so often to paint the worn out brick and cracked concrete of New York City with his art…and now everyone knew. Including the pretty human in front of him. The fact that she liked his art so much made it possible to pretend that he wasn’t about to be destroyed by his brothers.
“I love your art…especially that roses beneath the bridge!” you chirped happily. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen it around.”
“I’ve been, uh, busy.”
“Well…” you said, picking up your sharpie-covered messenger bag, “if your schedule clears up, I hope to see your work again.”
“Yeah…”
Then you were gone, giving the turtle a little smile as you walked away. Already he was planning a new piece, something with neon pink…and a girl with a bright smile. Leonardo’s lecture began as Raph and Don walked away, laughing to themselves.
And Mikey was stunned totally stupid, wondering what you would think of his next piece…
Maybe he’d get to ask you!
Raphael is unsure.
From the second you nearly fell on top of Leonardo, he’d been expecting the whole shebang. Screaming, panicking, all that good stuff. It happened to them about every time a human managed to find them, a guy starts to expect it. But you could not care less and he…
He’s the confused one right now.
Since getting back on your feet, you hadn’t been even a little phased. Perhaps the fall had scared you but the turtles had not. Straightening your jacket, the metal and plastic pins caught his eye. A lightning bolt, several sarcastic phrases, a red eye. They were cool. You were cool, sighing as you looked back at the turtles.
“When have you seen one of us?” Leonardo asked. “Who?”
“I dunno…which one of you likes to stand on rooftops and angrily scream into the sky a couple times a week?”
At once all of his brothers turned and looked right at him, an unspoken answer to your question. Raph looked away, face hot and eyes burning. Raph’s temper was well known to his family…and apparently to you too.
“Uh…ya heard me, huh?”
“Actually, I screamed back at you once. I believe I told you you to get your crap together and stop throwing fits at four in the fucking morning.”
“That was you?”
Hands on your hips, you looked at the turtle with confidence and attitude. It was almost like you were daring him to snap back, ready for a bite back…he almost wanted to take you up on it! You were not, he realized, even a little bit afraid of him. Shocking for a human but strangely comforting at the same time for the turtle.
“Yup.”
“Why ain’t ya mad at me?”
“I was for a while. But then I saw you beating some Purple Dragons into the dirt and I thought, eh, give the guy a chance.”
Raphael grinned, chuckling beneath his breath. Clearly, you were not like most other humans. He felt certain that if aliens landed right here in font of you, you’d probably just tell them to get out of your way because you were late and trying to get home.
“I gotta go. It’s nice to finally meet you…?”
“Raphael.”
“Later, Raphael.”
He liked it. The glint in your eyes and edge to your grin, the way you said his name…there was just something about you that he liked. And there was something else telling him that this wasn’t the last time he’d see you.
Being mutants living in the sewers, they only ever had the scraps of society. Broken toys, beat up books with missing pages, disks scratched to near oblivion, and discarded consuls in need of repair. Unwanted things taped, tied, and glued together as much as they could be. They were grateful for what they got but maybe there was something they’d always wanted…
“Is that Samurai Ren?”
Leonardo looked up, blue eyes catching a glimpse of his favorite childhood toy…an old action figure of the hero Samurai Ren, beat up and beloved. His swords were cut from cardboard and his left leg was missing but still…he had loved that toy. Memories flooded in, a smile slowly spilling upon his face as Leo picked up the toy.
“Yeah…it was my favorite show as a kid.” He murmured. “Samurai Ren, brave and kind! Always showing up to defeat bandits or monsters, searching through Japan for his lost love…Raph was the one who found him for me.”
“Really?”
Leo nodded, returning the samurai to his place on the shelf.
“Found him in some dumpster and came running home to give it to me. I didn’t even care that he was all beat up, I was just so happy to have my own toy. Besides, most of our stuff was in rough shape anyway.”
“Did Ren ever find his love?”
“Lotus Blossom…they were reunited in the final arc of the show. They released a doll of her too, but it was limited edition and I never was able to find one…I think I just used a little cut out of her from an advertisement to play with instead. They’re crazy expensive now.”
There laying on the shelf was a folded and rather worn out piece of paper, frayed at the edges and starting to lose color. Pulling it apart, Leonardo smiled at the familiar sight of Lotus Blossom’s long hair and red lips, so lost in childhood memories that he never saw the glimmer of recognition in your eyes…and as the night went on, he quickly forgot about the whole thing.
Butyoudidn’t.
A week later, you were back in the lair after visiting your parents back home for a couple of days. After a dinner with his father and brothers, the two of you slipped into his bedroom for a little bit of alone time…
“I have a little something for you.”
“Oh?”
“Before I was born,” you explained, “my uncle and dad had a falling out and didn’t speak for years and years. When I was nine, they made up and Uncle Teddy showed up with a gift for all of the birthdays he’d missed. And one of them was this really pretty doll…”
From out of your bag you pulled out an old but rather lovely doll, one the Leonardo recognized at once. She was dressed in a pink and white kimono painted with flowers, a red obi tired neatly around her waist. Her long black hair hung to her tiny feet, a red smile painted on her face. Though her dress was a little worn and her hair a little messy, she was still nearly perfect.
“Lotus Blossom!”
There was the doll he’d been looking for since he was a turtle tot, having been sitting in a box in your closet for years and years. Handing him the doll, Leo couldn’t stop smiling. All those years spent looking for Samurai Ren’s lover…only for her to be with his own love this whole time.
It was fate.
The doll was tiny in his large hands, looking up at him with darkly painted eyes as you smiled at him excitedly.
“I always meant to give her a samurai boyfriend and I happen to know a pretty lonely one.”
“Are you sure?” Leonardo asked. “I mean, she’s yourdoll…”
Which means that I can do whatever I like with her…so now she’s yours. I think they deserve to be together, after spending all these years looking for one another…I know that they’re only toys but it’s still a little romantic in my mind.”
Setting her on the shelf, Leonardo smiled at the sight of them: a beat-up samurai and his flower. He felt you beside him and wrapped a large hand around yours, squeezing softly as he did.
“Thank you…”
He moved so slowly, watching you carefully to make absolutely sure that you wanted this, that you wanted him…and you did. You had always wanted him and always would. Pulling you into him, Leonardo kissed you softly and slowly and so terribly sweetly…the ninja and his blossom locked in a perfect, wonderful embrace.
“What’s up, Mikey?”
Michelangelo almost didn’t hear you, those baby blue eyes still looking at the screen. But your voice, sweet and familiar, slowly pulled him back to reality as his name fell from you lips…something he loved to hear.
“Oh…it’s just nothing.”
But it wasn’t nothing.
You knew that and he knew that you knew it…so he didn’t bother hiding his screen away. Instead he allowed you to look over his shoulders at the laptop, the video still playing on the screen. It was an old advertisement and you didn’t even need to have the sound up to hear the song. It was still playing in your head after all these years.
“Oh! I remember those! This was always playing on TV.”
“Yeah!” Mikey laughed, glancing at you with a smile. “I used to love watching this…I always wanted one but, you know…it just wasn’t gonna happen. It was too expensive for us to buy and impossible to find…so I just never brought it up.”
Sometimes it was easy to forget.
They had such a cool home and great stuff but…it was mostly scavenged and repaired, almost nothing was ever new to them. Mikey loved his father too much to ever complain, not wanting Splinter to feel guilty for their lot in life, you knew that…
And you knew how much Mikey lovedart.
He’d been using odds and ends of supplies that he’d found and painting on pieces of cardboard for years, taking whatever he could get his hands on. But looking back at the screen and watching those kids open the art set made you remember that Mikey had been a kid too…just a little turtle tot, watching this advertisement over and over again and wanting things he knew that he could never have.
Finding the case wasn’t hard.
The red plastic briefcase like thing came empty, just in need of a cleaning and waiting for the second phase of your plan. Art supplies soon filled the empty slots: oil pastels, acrylic and watercolor paints, color pencils, markers, and pens too. You bought brushes and erasers and sharpeners, setting everything in its place until it was finished, filled, and perfect, even getting him a thick black sketchbook and some painting paper too.
“Mikey~”
He was playing some game, eyes on the screen and face breaking into a big, goofy grin when he heard your voice.
“Babe!” He laughed. “Did you come to cheer me on?”
“No, not this time. I actually came to give you a surprise…so close your eyes!”
Ar once his eyes were shut and you were giggling as he guessed all of the things it could be. A fleet of Ferrari’s, a space ship so he could fly to the moon, maybe even the moon itself! Oh, you would give him the moon if you could! But perhaps this would do for now…
“Open!”
Those brilliant blue eyes snapped open and for a moment, still laughing…until he saw it. Mikey looked shocked for a second, green hands running over the smooth red box, the very one he’d spent years dreaming of.
“No way…you found this?”
“It was empty when I bought it but I got all the stuff it would have come with if it had been new! Better stuff, not the kid’s stuff.”
“You…you did all that for me?”
“Yeah, Mike.” You said softly, unsure of what to say or how to say it. “Of course I did. You make me happy so I wanted to -oh!”
Before you could finish saying a thing, Mikey was was pulling you into his arms. The hold he had on you was tight but not in a painful way…in a wonderful way. It was warm and safe and he was holding on like he would never let go. It was a kind of hold that felt right and good, made for lovers holding onto one another.
“You’reamazing,” Michelangelo sighed. “I love you.”
“I love you too, baby.”
The rest of the night was spent laying at his side as Mikey tested his new stuff. Color pencils moved across the page, slowly creating a scene before you…a city sketched against a sunset sky, two figure sitting on the roof together.
“I didn’t know you liked Yu-gi-oh.”
Donatello grinned, putting away his work for a moment to look at the tin of old cards you’d found on his shelf. The box was half rusted and falling apart (it actually would fall apart if one didn’t handle it right), a pile of old cards inside. The cards were damaged, torn or cut or taped together, some were even water damaged to boot, but they were his.
“Oh!” He laughed. “Oh, yeah, I was really into it when I was a kid.”
Flipping through the spells and traps and monsters, Donnie pointed out his favorite cards as you looked through them together.
“I used to make my brothers duel me sometimes. But mostly I just collected whatever card that I could find, even if it was kind of lame. People were always tossing out the weaker cards and I would pick ‘em up. Oh, hey!”
There were four card that were held together by an old paperclip, almost like some Frankenstein creature waiting to be summoned. Golden arms and legs were bound by chains, the cards themselves wrinkled from water damage.
“Exodia the Forbidden One! I almost collected all of the cards to complete him…just never got the head.”
“Hard to find?”
“Yeah.” Donnie said. “I always thought I’d buy it one day but then we started, you know, fighting crime and as it turns out, that is a really expensive hobby. So I just put this aside and forgot I guess…jeez, it’s been forever since I looked at these.”
“Can we duel?”
“That, my dove, was a big mistake…I happen to be the King of Games.”
It was just a silly little thing to do, Donnie dueling you and talking all about his favorite episodes and characters. Getting the turtle away from the lab (or some other work that needed doing) could be a difficult task at times, but when you managed to do it, oh, it was so worth it! Still, you didn’t stop thinking about that card…the image of little Donnie searching through scraps and trash for that one card, that one little thing he wanted…it was sad.
So you found it for him.
Once more Donatello was in the lab, working away. He heard you before he saw you, the sound of your footsteps and voice coming closer.
“Later, Raph!”
And then the door was opening and he was smiling, setting aside his tools in order to greet you with a kiss. The feel of you in his arms was like heaven, the both of you melting together so perfectly…just what he needed right now!
“Got you something.”
From behind your made came a small box, made out of gold-painted metal and covered in Egyptian designs.
“Oh! The Millennium puzzle box!”
“I saw it and thought of you…look inside.”
Opening the lid, Donatello was amazed to see the very card his childhood self had dreamed of and searched for endlessly…Exodia the Forbidden One.
“Oh…dove…”
“I know how much you wanted it.” You said. “And I thought it was time that poor thing finally got a head! He’s been all arms and legs for too long.”
Quickly, Donnie placed his cards inside a box, the rusty old tin now empty and waiting for a new purpose…though he knew that he might just keep it around for sentimental purposes. The now completed Exodia was the last to fall in, all five pieces neatly sliding into place and he smiled like a little kid.
“Thank you, darling.” He sighed. “It almost feels like it’s too much.”
“Nothing’s too much for the King of Games.”
“You know…” Donnie said with a teasing little grinned. “If I’m the king, that ought to make you my queen.”
“Oh?”
“Oh, yes!”
And then he was pulling you into another kiss as you laughed, falling right back into his arms…right where you belonged. Playful kisses were peppered all along your face and neck, your laughter filling his ears and he kissed and kissed and kissed you.
“Raph, what’s this?”
Raphael turned to see what you were talking about, only to jump up at the sight of a very old, very beat up red notebook.
Oh. Crap.
“That’s just-”
“Are these song lists?”
“It’s nothing, babe.”
“Then why do you got that look on your pretty face?”
He sighed, a large hand rubbing the back of his neck. As embarrassed as he was, Raph figured that he might as well just tell you…he told you everything after all.
The big stuff, small stuff, and now…stupid stuff too.
“There was this show I watched, when I was a kid,” he said as he sat down next to you. “Kinda sucked…but the guy, he gave his girl a mix tape…and I liked that. Wrote down all the songs, used to listen to ‘em all the time.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah…I just liked it. Making something like that for someone…”
And then he didn’t bring it up again.
You knew that things had been hard for Raph. Growing up surviving off of the discards of society, he’d been hungering for a lot. He’d been lonely.
And he was a lot more romantic then he appeared to be.
It was one of those things that you loved about him. That sweetness hiding beneath a tough exterior, just waiting to come out. Bit by bit you had encouraged it, allowing Raphael to leave behind the tough guy act when it was just the two of you. And because you took every chance you got to encourage it, you immediately got to work.
A couple days later, he was picking you up from work.
Though he’d practically had to rip the keys to the van from Don’s hands, Raph was finally able to get his turn. There was something so right about sitting with you at his side, music playing as he drove through the city streets.
“Hey.”
Your lips pressed to his skin several times, teasing his jaw and neck as Raphael just melted away for you. It was something he’d always wanted, a weak spot of his that he’d kept hidden for years…until he met you. Laughing breathlessly, Raph allowed you to kiss and tease to your heart’s content before slipping away with a smile.
“Made you something.”
“Yeah?”
It was a tape. Glancing at you, Raph took the tape and slipped it into the slot, allowing a song to start playing…and then he knew.
“There’s a time and place for everything, for everyone, we can push with all our might but nothing’s gonna come…”
“Did you…you made made the tape?”
“Yeah.” You replied. “I was feeling romantic.”
“Oh, could you let it be? I wanna hold you and say…”
He felt like…there wasn’t any words to describe how he felt. It was like fire, but nothing like he was angry. It was like he was flying but he wasn’t dreaming, not anymore. This was real, this was perfect…this was you.
And he was kissing you.
“And no matter what you say or do, you know my heart is true, oh, I can’t stop lovin’ you…”
(Just something short and sweet for my fave boys…I write a lot about the turtles giving gifts but I wanted to write something where they were the ones receiving. After all, they deserve just as much love as they give!)
Imagine stumbling into the turtle’s lives by pure accident, falling from a fire escape and landing right into their arms. They’re expecting you to be shocked or scared or something…but you’re barely even phased at the sight of the giant turtles standing in front of you.
Why?
“Well, I’ve seen at least one of you over the years…like, a lot.”
Leonardo is stunned.
Stupidly, obviously stunned. Always so proud of his ninja training, he takes great pleasure in being the “unseen.” Just a shadow in a darkened alley, a swift blur in the corner of a stranger’s eye, a stolen sight that one might brush away as mere imagination and nothing more. So knowing that you’ve caught them numerous times is, well, a little embarrassing for him.
Okay, it’s more like a lot.
“Who have you seen?” He asks quietly.
“Well,” you said as you carefully gathered the books and papers that had spilled from your bag, “I’m actually pretty sure it was you. I’ve seen you running over the rooftops a lot and I remember your swords.”
And now it was just plain humiliating. Raph scoffed in utter delight, already coming up with a million and one smug remarks to make, and he could see Donnie and Mikey sharing smiles. All the times he’d scolded his brothers about being more careful, warning them to avoid being seen, were now coming back to haunt him. Oh, he was never going to hear the end of this, he just knew it! They would be bringing this up for years and years.
Leonardo looked away from his brothers and back towards you, watching as you carefully inspected your phone for chips and cracks.
“If it’s damaged, I can fix that,” Donnie said helpfully.
“I think it’s okay…” you replied, “But thank you. And thanks for catching me before I, you know, fell to my death.”
“Uh…anytime.” Leonardo replied, his brain feeling fuzzy from the embarrassment and confusion.
“See you guys around.”
And just like that you were gone, walking off into the city and leaving Leonardo standing with his brothers. At once the teasing he’d already been expecting started up, Raph ragging on him and the other two only joyfully encouraging him, but for once…he didn’t care. Not even when Don joked about telling Splinter, not when Raph told him he ought to train more. Instead he watched you walk away and wondered when he might see you again.
Perhaps next time he was running across the rooftops, he’d stop and say hello…
Donatello isn’t really too surprised.
Statistically speaking, a good number of New Yorkers have seen that turtles from time to time. After all, they’ve been living in the city for all of their twenty-two years and have been active on the surface for eight of those now. There are quite a few humans out there who’ve caught a look at them, leading to stories of some sort of man-eating turtle cryptid living in the city waterways…there are some interesting sites out there.
But math doesn’t lie and you’re not the only one who has seen them…just one of the few who has gotten to actually meetthem.
“Really?” Mikey piped up.
“Yeah,” you replied with a shrug. “But it’s not really a big deal or anything. I mean, this is New York City after all. I’d honestly be a lot more surprised if there weren’t giant turtles running around here at night.”
“How many times have you seen us?” Leonardo questioned, his blue eyes glancing sharply at his brothers.
“A lot of times through the years. Running around on the rooftops, getting into a few fights with gang bangers…actually, you know, I think I’ve seen him more then the rest of you.”
You had pointed right at Donatello when you made that little comment and already he could feel Leonardo’s glare settle on the back of his shell. He wondered if his elder brother would care too much about his argument for statistics…probably not! But you were smiling a little, brushing the dirt off of the Dittos that covered your black dress.
“And…you’re cool with that?” Donnie asked.
“Yup.”
“Then…so are we! Right, guys?”
His brothers chimed in, agreeing with the sentiment. And with that, you were off, grabbing your button-covered bag and walking away to catch your bus.
“See you around…?”
“Uh, Donnie. My name’s Donnie.”
“Later, Donnie.”
Forgetting about the impending doom that loomed over him (he could already hear Leonardo’s scolding and feel that sting in his muscles from Master Splinter’s punishment, which was sure to be brutal and terribly clever), Donatello grinned to himself as you vanished into the city…but he was certain that he would see you again.
And maybe you wouldn’t mind that at all…
Michelangelo is curious.
You saw them? For years? And you didn’t freak out or anything? That was rare for humans. Even compassionate people like April got a little freaked and, yeah, he couldn’t really blame anyone for screaming…still hurt though. They were no monsters, even if some people thought otherwise (Donnie had shown them those cryptid sites and he hadn’t liked that much). He’d been expecting screaming or fainting or something…
And yet here you were, cool as a cucumber!
“Just one of us?” Donatello asked, clearly eager for answers. “Do you know which one?”
“Oh…I dunno…” you murmured, running a hand through your hair as you thought it over. “He’s an artist.”
At once Michelangelo felt his Leo and Don glaring at him and Raph, both who claimed that honorable role as artists. The two brothers shared a guilty glance, each of them wondering who had earned himself one of Leonardo’s long lectures.
“I’ve seen him spray painting these gorgeous pieces! There’s these blue angel wings and this neon melting heart by the place I work-”
“Mikey!” Leonardo snapped, Don slapping the back of his head simultaneously.
“You’reIl Divino?”
Well, his secret was out. Michelangelo had been sneaking out every so often to paint the worn out brick and cracked concrete of New York City with his art…and now everyone knew. Including the pretty human in front of him. The fact that she liked his art so much made it possible to pretend that he wasn’t about to be destroyed by his brothers.
“I love your art…especially that roses beneath the bridge!” you chirped happily. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen it around.”
“I’ve been, uh, busy.”
“Well…” you said, picking up your sharpie-covered messenger bag, “if your schedule clears up, I hope to see your work again.”
“Yeah…”
Then you were gone, giving the turtle a little smile as you walked away. Already he was planning a new piece, something with neon pink…and a girl with a bright smile. Leonardo’s lecture began as Raph and Don walked away, laughing to themselves.
And Mikey was stunned totally stupid, wondering what you would think of his next piece…
Maybe he’d get to ask you!
Raphael is unsure.
From the second you nearly fell on top of Leonardo, he’d been expecting the whole shebang. Screaming, panicking, all that good stuff. It happened to them about every time a human managed to find them, a guy starts to expect it. But you could not care less and he…
He’s the confused one right now.
Since getting back on your feet, you hadn’t been even a little phased. Perhaps the fall had scared you but the turtles had not. Straightening your jacket, the metal and plastic pins caught his eye. A lightning bolt, several sarcastic phrases, a red eye. They were cool. You were cool, sighing as you looked back at the turtles.
“When have you seen one of us?” Leonardo asked. “Who?”
“I dunno…which one of you likes to stand on rooftops and angrily scream into the sky a couple times a week?”
At once all of his brothers turned and looked right at him, an unspoken answer to your question. Raph looked away, face hot and eyes burning. Raph’s temper was well known to his family…and apparently to you too.
“Uh…ya heard me, huh?”
“Actually, I screamed back at you once. I believe I told you you to get your crap together and stop throwing fits at four in the fucking morning.”
“That was you?”
Hands on your hips, you looked at the turtle with confidence and attitude. It was almost like you were daring him to snap back, ready for a bite back…he almost wanted to take you up on it! You were not, he realized, even a little bit afraid of him. Shocking for a human but strangely comforting at the same time for the turtle.
“Yup.”
“Why ain’t ya mad at me?”
“I was for a while. But then I saw you beating some Purple Dragons into the dirt and I thought, eh, give the guy a chance.”
Raphael grinned, chuckling beneath his breath. Clearly, you were not like most other humans. He felt certain that if aliens landed right here in font of you, you’d probably just tell them to get out of your way because you were late and trying to get home.
“I gotta go. It’s nice to finally meet you…?”
“Raphael.”
“Later, Raphael.”
He liked it. The glint in your eyes and edge to your grin, the way you said his name…there was just something about you that he liked. And there was something else telling him that this wasn’t the last time he’d see you.
Being mutants living in the sewers, they only ever had the scraps of society. Broken toys, beat up books with missing pages, disks scratched to near oblivion, and discarded consuls in need of repair. Unwanted things taped, tied, and glued together as much as they could be. They were grateful for what they got but maybe there was something they’d always wanted…
“Is that Samurai Ren?”
Leonardo looked up, blue eyes catching a glimpse of his favorite childhood toy…an old action figure of the hero Samurai Ren, beat up and beloved. His swords were cut from cardboard and his left leg was missing but still…he had loved that toy. Memories flooded in, a smile slowly spilling upon his face as Leo picked up the toy.
“Yeah…it was my favorite show as a kid.” He murmured. “Samurai Ren, brave and kind! Always showing up to defeat bandits or monsters, searching through Japan for his lost love…Raph was the one who found him for me.”
“Really?”
Leo nodded, returning the samurai to his place on the shelf.
“Found him in some dumpster and came running home to give it to me. I didn’t even care that he was all beat up, I was just so happy to have my own toy. Besides, most of our stuff was in rough shape anyway.”
“Did Ren ever find his love?”
“Lotus Blossom…they were reunited in the final arc of the show. They released a doll of her too, but it was limited edition and I never was able to find one…I think I just used a little cut out of her from an advertisement to play with instead. They’re crazy expensive now.”
There laying on the shelf was a folded and rather worn out piece of paper, frayed at the edges and starting to lose color. Pulling it apart, Leonardo smiled at the familiar sight of Lotus Blossom’s long hair and red lips, so lost in childhood memories that he never saw the glimmer of recognition in your eyes…and as the night went on, he quickly forgot about the whole thing.
Butyoudidn’t.
A week later, you were back in the lair after visiting your parents back home for a couple of days. After a dinner with his father and brothers, the two of you slipped into his bedroom for a little bit of alone time…
“I have a little something for you.”
“Oh?”
“Before I was born,” you explained, “my uncle and dad had a falling out and didn’t speak for years and years. When I was nine, they made up and Uncle Teddy showed up with a gift for all of the birthdays he’d missed. And one of them was this really pretty doll…”
From out of your bag you pulled out an old but rather lovely doll, one the Leonardo recognized at once. She was dressed in a pink and white kimono painted with flowers, a red obi tired neatly around her waist. Her long black hair hung to her tiny feet, a red smile painted on her face. Though her dress was a little worn and her hair a little messy, she was still nearly perfect.
“Lotus Blossom!”
There was the doll he’d been looking for since he was a turtle tot, having been sitting in a box in your closet for years and years. Handing him the doll, Leo couldn’t stop smiling. All those years spent looking for Samurai Ren’s lover…only for her to be with his own love this whole time.
It was fate.
The doll was tiny in his large hands, looking up at him with darkly painted eyes as you smiled at him excitedly.
“I always meant to give her a samurai boyfriend and I happen to know a pretty lonely one.”
“Are you sure?” Leonardo asked. “I mean, she’s yourdoll…”
Which means that I can do whatever I like with her…so now she’s yours. I think they deserve to be together, after spending all these years looking for one another…I know that they’re only toys but it’s still a little romantic in my mind.”
Setting her on the shelf, Leonardo smiled at the sight of them: a beat-up samurai and his flower. He felt you beside him and wrapped a large hand around yours, squeezing softly as he did.
“Thank you…”
He moved so slowly, watching you carefully to make absolutely sure that you wanted this, that you wanted him…and you did. You had always wanted him and always would. Pulling you into him, Leonardo kissed you softly and slowly and so terribly sweetly…the ninja and his blossom locked in a perfect, wonderful embrace.
“What’s up, Mikey?”
Michelangelo almost didn’t hear you, those baby blue eyes still looking at the screen. But your voice, sweet and familiar, slowly pulled him back to reality as his name fell from you lips…something he loved to hear.
“Oh…it’s just nothing.”
But it wasn’t nothing.
You knew that and he knew that you knew it…so he didn’t bother hiding his screen away. Instead he allowed you to look over his shoulders at the laptop, the video still playing on the screen. It was an old advertisement and you didn’t even need to have the sound up to hear the song. It was still playing in your head after all these years.
“Oh! I remember those! This was always playing on TV.”
“Yeah!” Mikey laughed, glancing at you with a smile. “I used to love watching this…I always wanted one but, you know…it just wasn’t gonna happen. It was too expensive for us to buy and impossible to find…so I just never brought it up.”
Sometimes it was easy to forget.
They had such a cool home and great stuff but…it was mostly scavenged and repaired, almost nothing was ever new to them. Mikey loved his father too much to ever complain, not wanting Splinter to feel guilty for their lot in life, you knew that…
And you knew how much Mikey lovedart.
He’d been using odds and ends of supplies that he’d found and painting on pieces of cardboard for years, taking whatever he could get his hands on. But looking back at the screen and watching those kids open the art set made you remember that Mikey had been a kid too…just a little turtle tot, watching this advertisement over and over again and wanting things he knew that he could never have.
Finding the case wasn’t hard.
The red plastic briefcase like thing came empty, just in need of a cleaning and waiting for the second phase of your plan. Art supplies soon filled the empty slots: oil pastels, acrylic and watercolor paints, color pencils, markers, and pens too. You bought brushes and erasers and sharpeners, setting everything in its place until it was finished, filled, and perfect, even getting him a thick black sketchbook and some painting paper too.
“Mikey~”
He was playing some game, eyes on the screen and face breaking into a big, goofy grin when he heard your voice.
“Babe!” He laughed. “Did you come to cheer me on?”
“No, not this time. I actually came to give you a surprise…so close your eyes!”
Ar once his eyes were shut and you were giggling as he guessed all of the things it could be. A fleet of Ferrari’s, a space ship so he could fly to the moon, maybe even the moon itself! Oh, you would give him the moon if you could! But perhaps this would do for now…
“Open!”
Those brilliant blue eyes snapped open and for a moment, still laughing…until he saw it. Mikey looked shocked for a second, green hands running over the smooth red box, the very one he’d spent years dreaming of.
“No way…you found this?”
“It was empty when I bought it but I got all the stuff it would have come with if it had been new! Better stuff, not the kid’s stuff.”
“You…you did all that for me?”
“Yeah, Mike.” You said softly, unsure of what to say or how to say it. “Of course I did. You make me happy so I wanted to -oh!”
Before you could finish saying a thing, Mikey was was pulling you into his arms. The hold he had on you was tight but not in a painful way…in a wonderful way. It was warm and safe and he was holding on like he would never let go. It was a kind of hold that felt right and good, made for lovers holding onto one another.
“You’reamazing,” Michelangelo sighed. “I love you.”
“I love you too, baby.”
The rest of the night was spent laying at his side as Mikey tested his new stuff. Color pencils moved across the page, slowly creating a scene before you…a city sketched against a sunset sky, two figure sitting on the roof together.
“I didn’t know you liked Yu-gi-oh.”
Donatello grinned, putting away his work for a moment to look at the tin of old cards you’d found on his shelf. The box was half rusted and falling apart (it actually would fall apart if one didn’t handle it right), a pile of old cards inside. The cards were damaged, torn or cut or taped together, some were even water damaged to boot, but they were his.
“Oh!” He laughed. “Oh, yeah, I was really into it when I was a kid.”
Flipping through the spells and traps and monsters, Donnie pointed out his favorite cards as you looked through them together.
“I used to make my brothers duel me sometimes. But mostly I just collected whatever card that I could find, even if it was kind of lame. People were always tossing out the weaker cards and I would pick ‘em up. Oh, hey!”
There were four card that were held together by an old paperclip, almost like some Frankenstein creature waiting to be summoned. Golden arms and legs were bound by chains, the cards themselves wrinkled from water damage.
“Exodia the Forbidden One! I almost collected all of the cards to complete him…just never got the head.”
“Hard to find?”
“Yeah.” Donnie said. “I always thought I’d buy it one day but then we started, you know, fighting crime and as it turns out, that is a really expensive hobby. So I just put this aside and forgot I guess…jeez, it’s been forever since I looked at these.”
“Can we duel?”
“That, my dove, was a big mistake…I happen to be the King of Games.”
It was just a silly little thing to do, Donnie dueling you and talking all about his favorite episodes and characters. Getting the turtle away from the lab (or some other work that needed doing) could be a difficult task at times, but when you managed to do it, oh, it was so worth it! Still, you didn’t stop thinking about that card…the image of little Donnie searching through scraps and trash for that one card, that one little thing he wanted…it was sad.
So you found it for him.
Once more Donatello was in the lab, working away. He heard you before he saw you, the sound of your footsteps and voice coming closer.
“Later, Raph!”
And then the door was opening and he was smiling, setting aside his tools in order to greet you with a kiss. The feel of you in his arms was like heaven, the both of you melting together so perfectly…just what he needed right now!
“Got you something.”
From behind your made came a small box, made out of gold-painted metal and covered in Egyptian designs.
“Oh! The Millennium puzzle box!”
“I saw it and thought of you…look inside.”
Opening the lid, Donatello was amazed to see the very card his childhood self had dreamed of and searched for endlessly…Exodia the Forbidden One.
“Oh…dove…”
“I know how much you wanted it.” You said. “And I thought it was time that poor thing finally got a head! He’s been all arms and legs for too long.”
Quickly, Donnie placed his cards inside a box, the rusty old tin now empty and waiting for a new purpose…though he knew that he might just keep it around for sentimental purposes. The now completed Exodia was the last to fall in, all five pieces neatly sliding into place and he smiled like a little kid.
“Thank you, darling.” He sighed. “It almost feels like it’s too much.”
“Nothing’s too much for the King of Games.”
“You know…” Donnie said with a teasing little grinned. “If I’m the king, that ought to make you my queen.”
“Oh?”
“Oh, yes!”
And then he was pulling you into another kiss as you laughed, falling right back into his arms…right where you belonged. Playful kisses were peppered all along your face and neck, your laughter filling his ears and he kissed and kissed and kissed you.
“Raph, what’s this?”
Raphael turned to see what you were talking about, only to jump up at the sight of a very old, very beat up red notebook.
Oh. Crap.
“That’s just-”
“Are these song lists?”
“It’s nothing, babe.”
“Then why do you got that look on your pretty face?”
He sighed, a large hand rubbing the back of his neck. As embarrassed as he was, Raph figured that he might as well just tell you…he told you everything after all.
The big stuff, small stuff, and now…stupid stuff too.
“There was this show I watched, when I was a kid,” he said as he sat down next to you. “Kinda sucked…but the guy, he gave his girl a mix tape…and I liked that. Wrote down all the songs, used to listen to ‘em all the time.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah…I just liked it. Making something like that for someone…”
And then he didn’t bring it up again.
You knew that things had been hard for Raph. Growing up surviving off of the discards of society, he’d been hungering for a lot. He’d been lonely.
And he was a lot more romantic then he appeared to be.
It was one of those things that you loved about him. That sweetness hiding beneath a tough exterior, just waiting to come out. Bit by bit you had encouraged it, allowing Raphael to leave behind the tough guy act when it was just the two of you. And because you took every chance you got to encourage it, you immediately got to work.
A couple days later, he was picking you up from work.
Though he’d practically had to rip the keys to the van from Don’s hands, Raph was finally able to get his turn. There was something so right about sitting with you at his side, music playing as he drove through the city streets.
“Hey.”
Your lips pressed to his skin several times, teasing his jaw and neck as Raphael just melted away for you. It was something he’d always wanted, a weak spot of his that he’d kept hidden for years…until he met you. Laughing breathlessly, Raph allowed you to kiss and tease to your heart’s content before slipping away with a smile.
“Made you something.”
“Yeah?”
It was a tape. Glancing at you, Raph took the tape and slipped it into the slot, allowing a song to start playing…and then he knew.
“There’s a time and place for everything, for everyone, we can push with all our might but nothing’s gonna come…”
“Did you…you made made the tape?”
“Yeah.” You replied. “I was feeling romantic.”
“Oh, could you let it be? I wanna hold you and say…”
He felt like…there wasn’t any words to describe how he felt. It was like fire, but nothing like he was angry. It was like he was flying but he wasn’t dreaming, not anymore. This was real, this was perfect…this was you.
And he was kissing you.
“And no matter what you say or do, you know my heart is true, oh, I can’t stop lovin’ you…”
(Just something short and sweet for my fave boys…I write a lot about the turtles giving gifts but I wanted to write something where they were the ones receiving. After all, they deserve just as much love as they give!)
Imagine stumbling into the turtle’s lives by pure accident, falling from a fire escape and landing right into their arms. They’re expecting you to be shocked or scared or something…but you’re barely even phased at the sight of the giant turtles standing in front of you.
Why?
“Well, I’ve seen at least one of you over the years…like, a lot.”
Leonardo is stunned.
Stupidly, obviously stunned. Always so proud of his ninja training, he takes great pleasure in being the “unseen.” Just a shadow in a darkened alley, a swift blur in the corner of a stranger’s eye, a stolen sight that one might brush away as mere imagination and nothing more. So knowing that you’ve caught them numerous times is, well, a little embarrassing for him.
Okay, it’s more like a lot.
“Who have you seen?” He asks quietly.
“Well,” you said as you carefully gathered the books and papers that had spilled from your bag, “I’m actually pretty sure it was you. I’ve seen you running over the rooftops a lot and I remember your swords.”
And now it was just plain humiliating. Raph scoffed in utter delight, already coming up with a million and one smug remarks to make, and he could see Donnie and Mikey sharing smiles. All the times he’d scolded his brothers about being more careful, warning them to avoid being seen, were now coming back to haunt him. Oh, he was never going to hear the end of this, he just knew it! They would be bringing this up for years and years.
Leonardo looked away from his brothers and back towards you, watching as you carefully inspected your phone for chips and cracks.
“If it’s damaged, I can fix that,” Donnie said helpfully.
“I think it’s okay…” you replied, “But thank you. And thanks for catching me before I, you know, fell to my death.”
“Uh…anytime.” Leonardo replied, his brain feeling fuzzy from the embarrassment and confusion.
“See you guys around.”
And just like that you were gone, walking off into the city and leaving Leonardo standing with his brothers. At once the teasing he’d already been expecting started up, Raph ragging on him and the other two only joyfully encouraging him, but for once…he didn’t care. Not even when Don joked about telling Splinter, not when Raph told him he ought to train more. Instead he watched you walk away and wondered when he might see you again.
Perhaps next time he was running across the rooftops, he’d stop and say hello…
Donatello isn’t really too surprised.
Statistically speaking, a good number of New Yorkers have seen that turtles from time to time. After all, they’ve been living in the city for all of their twenty-two years and have been active on the surface for eight of those now. There are quite a few humans out there who’ve caught a look at them, leading to stories of some sort of man-eating turtle cryptid living in the city waterways…there are some interesting sites out there.
But math doesn’t lie and you’re not the only one who has seen them…just one of the few who has gotten to actually meetthem.
“Really?” Mikey piped up.
“Yeah,” you replied with a shrug. “But it’s not really a big deal or anything. I mean, this is New York City after all. I’d honestly be a lot more surprised if there weren’t giant turtles running around here at night.”
“How many times have you seen us?” Leonardo questioned, his blue eyes glancing sharply at his brothers.
“A lot of times through the years. Running around on the rooftops, getting into a few fights with gang bangers…actually, you know, I think I’ve seen him more then the rest of you.”
You had pointed right at Donatello when you made that little comment and already he could feel Leonardo’s glare settle on the back of his shell. He wondered if his elder brother would care too much about his argument for statistics…probably not! But you were smiling a little, brushing the dirt off of the Dittos that covered your black dress.
“And…you’re cool with that?” Donnie asked.
“Yup.”
“Then…so are we! Right, guys?”
His brothers chimed in, agreeing with the sentiment. And with that, you were off, grabbing your button-covered bag and walking away to catch your bus.
“See you around…?”
“Uh, Donnie. My name’s Donnie.”
“Later, Donnie.”
Forgetting about the impending doom that loomed over him (he could already hear Leonardo’s scolding and feel that sting in his muscles from Master Splinter’s punishment, which was sure to be brutal and terribly clever), Donatello grinned to himself as you vanished into the city…but he was certain that he would see you again.
And maybe you wouldn’t mind that at all…
Michelangelo is curious.
You saw them? For years? And you didn’t freak out or anything? That was rare for humans. Even compassionate people like April got a little freaked and, yeah, he couldn’t really blame anyone for screaming…still hurt though. They were no monsters, even if some people thought otherwise (Donnie had shown them those cryptid sites and he hadn’t liked that much). He’d been expecting screaming or fainting or something…
And yet here you were, cool as a cucumber!
“Just one of us?” Donatello asked, clearly eager for answers. “Do you know which one?”
“Oh…I dunno…” you murmured, running a hand through your hair as you thought it over. “He’s an artist.”
At once Michelangelo felt his Leo and Don glaring at him and Raph, both who claimed that honorable role as artists. The two brothers shared a guilty glance, each of them wondering who had earned himself one of Leonardo’s long lectures.
“I’ve seen him spray painting these gorgeous pieces! There’s these blue angel wings and this neon melting heart by the place I work-”
“Mikey!” Leonardo snapped, Don slapping the back of his head simultaneously.
“You’reIl Divino?”
Well, his secret was out. Michelangelo had been sneaking out every so often to paint the worn out brick and cracked concrete of New York City with his art…and now everyone knew. Including the pretty human in front of him. The fact that she liked his art so much made it possible to pretend that he wasn’t about to be destroyed by his brothers.
“I love your art…especially that roses beneath the bridge!” you chirped happily. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen it around.”
“I’ve been, uh, busy.”
“Well…” you said, picking up your sharpie-covered messenger bag, “if your schedule clears up, I hope to see your work again.”
“Yeah…”
Then you were gone, giving the turtle a little smile as you walked away. Already he was planning a new piece, something with neon pink…and a girl with a bright smile. Leonardo’s lecture began as Raph and Don walked away, laughing to themselves.
And Mikey was stunned totally stupid, wondering what you would think of his next piece…
Maybe he’d get to ask you!
Raphael is unsure.
From the second you nearly fell on top of Leonardo, he’d been expecting the whole shebang. Screaming, panicking, all that good stuff. It happened to them about every time a human managed to find them, a guy starts to expect it. But you could not care less and he…
He’s the confused one right now.
Since getting back on your feet, you hadn’t been even a little phased. Perhaps the fall had scared you but the turtles had not. Straightening your jacket, the metal and plastic pins caught his eye. A lightning bolt, several sarcastic phrases, a red eye. They were cool. You were cool, sighing as you looked back at the turtles.
“When have you seen one of us?” Leonardo asked. “Who?”
“I dunno…which one of you likes to stand on rooftops and angrily scream into the sky a couple times a week?”
At once all of his brothers turned and looked right at him, an unspoken answer to your question. Raph looked away, face hot and eyes burning. Raph’s temper was well known to his family…and apparently to you too.
“Uh…ya heard me, huh?”
“Actually, I screamed back at you once. I believe I told you you to get your crap together and stop throwing fits at four in the fucking morning.”
“That was you?”
Hands on your hips, you looked at the turtle with confidence and attitude. It was almost like you were daring him to snap back, ready for a bite back…he almost wanted to take you up on it! You were not, he realized, even a little bit afraid of him. Shocking for a human but strangely comforting at the same time for the turtle.
“Yup.”
“Why ain’t ya mad at me?”
“I was for a while. But then I saw you beating some Purple Dragons into the dirt and I thought, eh, give the guy a chance.”
Raphael grinned, chuckling beneath his breath. Clearly, you were not like most other humans. He felt certain that if aliens landed right here in font of you, you’d probably just tell them to get out of your way because you were late and trying to get home.
“I gotta go. It’s nice to finally meet you…?”
“Raphael.”
“Later, Raphael.”
He liked it. The glint in your eyes and edge to your grin, the way you said his name…there was just something about you that he liked. And there was something else telling him that this wasn’t the last time he’d see you.
If you’re anything like me, you have two great loves: TMNT and the Twilight Saga. So what would it be like if the boys watched the Twilight movies with you?
Leonardo is a bit baffled by the whole thing.
He hates Edward and the way he often treats Bella (tampering with her car? Breaking her heart?? Literally ALL of New Moon) but doesn’t like Jacob much better (he would never dream of forcing you to kiss him.
Team Bella-needs-therapy.
He liked a lot Jacob before Eclipse (you know, when his character was assassinated by SM) but is just okay with them both by the end of the whole thing.
Is a gentleman and is APPALED by their behavior, just appalled. “I think Charlie should get to shoot them both, honestly.”
But it’s also terribly romantic and he can see the appeal of it, even gets into a little bit. He won’t read the books but he’ll watch the movies whenever you want.
He loves the music and the soundtracks (especially New Moon’s).
Carlisle is his favorite character, Charlie too.
Donatello enjoys the vampire lore. It’s interesting (he really likes the powers and the history of the Volturi). But he will always prefer CLASSIC vampire stories such as Dracula and Carmilla.
Team Volturi (because the Cullens would not stop being dramatic and causing drama and he’d want to kill them too).
Is horrified by Renesmee and thinks she’s SO creepy.
He has a slight tendency to laugh out of nowhere because certain lines are just so weird. “Spider monkey?? Really???”and “WHO NAMES THIER BABY THAT OH MY GOD!”
Will jokingly call you his “little cocaine binge” as a sarcastic reference)
But he will read the books if you’re that into the series and likes them a lot more then the movies, begrudgingly admitting it.
Will insist on watching Dracula afterwards to enjoy “a real vampire.”
Alice is his favorite character, he thinks she’s cute and sweet.
❤Raphael secretly loves it. The drama, the romance, Edward feeling like a monster that is unworthy of love…he totally gets that. He even gets a little emotional about it but acts like he’s “meh” about the whole thing.
Totally Team Edward.
But he LOVES Bella and Jacob building motorcycles together and wants to do it with you now, please, please, please build a motorcycle with him and drive away into the twilight.
The first two films are his favorites, mostly the first because of the ✨aesthetic✨ of it.
Will occasionally suggest it as a date night movie (because YOU like it) but you both know he just really wants to watch it. “I mean, we could watch it…if ya want to…”
He loves the happily ever after/true love themes and he will absolutely read the books (but WILL NOT let his brothers know this and reads them only at your place when he’s visiting).
Rosalie is his favorite character and he cheered her on as she slaughtered her abusers (he likes Emmett too).
Michelangelo totally loves it. The drama! The romance!! A girl torn between two loves, oh, whoever will she choose (he loves a love triangle and you can pry this trope from his cold, dead hands)!!!
Totally Team Jacob.
But gets super pissed at his behavior in Eclipse and is so upset that he was ruined (because he was so cool and sweet before, why did Meyers do him so dirty???).
Will say the lines in over dramatic voices just to hear you giggle at random moments. “THIS IS THE SKIN OF A KILLER BELLA!!”
He doesn’t have the patience to read the books but will listen to audio books while painting and really likes them, especially on a rainy day…it jsut hits different.
Leah Clearwater is a QUEEN and his favorite character (and kind of hates Sam for breaking her heart).
