Lutropublicaphobia, is the fear of public restrooms
I have a headcanno that Leo was dared by his brothers to use a public restroom on the surface. I posted it on my tumbler, a link to my account is in my bio if you're interested.
Enjoy!
It had been almost a month since their first trip top side. In that one night so many things changed. However for Leonardo , something did not change. The fear hung over him like a sack of bricks on thin string, he never new when it would crush him but he knew it would be soon. He knew it was a pointless fear, a stupid phobia that will not go away , no matter how hard he tries.
Bathrooms.
Yes, the mighty leader who led his brothers in battle with aliens from another dimension was terrified of Bathrooms. Not all bathrooms, just all the ones on the surface. He had been wandered by his father and master just how awful they are. He described them as filthy, disease ridden, disgusting places that no one should ever have to endure. His brothers had all been given this description of restroom , yet appeared un phased by it. They didn't really have any opportunities though to use a public restroom anyway.
It was this lutropublicaphobia that put Leo in his current predicament.
It was a fairly normal nnight, , the guys dtoped a pette thief , fought some foot ninja's who were also on potrol , and were currently resting on a roof top before heading back to the lair.
"Yo , Leo," raph called from his perch on the edge of the roof. The eldest look over at Raph . " Are you still afraid of bathrooms?" The questioned had caught Leo off guard but seemed to perk the interest of Donnie and Mikey.
"What? Why would ask something like that?"
"That didn't answerer my question, oh fearless one." Leo franticly searched his mind for an answer that wouldn't make him sound pathetic for his lame fear and get his brother off his shell. He couldn't think of one.
"well….I…"
"Ha! I knew it you are total scared of bathrooms!" Leo face flushed with anger at his brother's taunting.
"I am not!"
"Are to ya big chicken!"
"I'm not a chicken….You're a turkey!"
"Dudes I thought we were turtles!?" mikey cried.
"okay guys can we please have an argument that doesn't cause Mikey an identity crisis?" Donnie asked as he walked over to his bickering brothers" Look there is a simple way to settle this. We'll just find a bathroom, and see if Leo really is still terrified of restrooms."
"Sounds good to me," raph said " hows it sound to you Leonerdo?"
Leo knew his brother was just trying to baite him , for what ever reason,. Leo still couldn't even belive the topic of the argument!
" Sorry Raphie but I think I'm to old for your childish games." He said very mater of factly
"alright then , how about I make a little more grown up for you, we make a bet."
"A bet?"
"You heard me, the loser hast to do the other's chores for a mounth."
"And paint his shell pink!" Mikey chimed in , eager to be a part of the wager. Leo looked between his three brothers they all appeared to be waiting on his response.
"Come on big bro I dare you."
"I second that."
"Triplet, dude."
Leonardo thought for a moment , there appeared to be no way out of this. One on hand , he would have to degrade himself to using a public restroom, on the other hand, he would face teasing and possible loss of respect from his brothers…
"Fine. But I get to chose the place."
Raph grinned " Fair enough, lead the way Oh fear less one."
They fallowed Leo for about ten minutes before he finally stopped on one particular roof. He told the to fallow him as he led them down the fire escape to a window , he knocked a few times before it was open.
"Guys do you have any idea what time it is?"
"Dude that is cheating you can't come to April's!" Raph called out.
"technically Raph, since we didn't establish a set of rules, he can …Hi, April..Your Pajamas are really cute.."
"Thank you Donnie. Can I please ask what is going on?" April asked from her window. The boys looked nervously between them hoping for someone else to answer. Their traditional up bringing made talking to a lady about bathroom related topics , inappropriate.
"Leo has to…"
"well they dared me to…"
"We're messing with his lutropublicaphobia." Donnie said rather bluntly. Once April put two and two together she seemed to get it. "Alright come in. but be quite my aunt is in the other room." They were ninjas so the quite part wasn't very hard, no the hard part was once Leo faced the bathroom door and froze up like a snow cone.
"Come on Leo, remember our bet."
Leo took a breath trying his best to think of some way out of this, at least it was better than some disgusting truck stop or gas station.
"Oh I took a shower early and didn't really get a chance to clean up…sorry.."
Leonardo could practically see the smug grins on his brother's faces. He sucked in a lung full of air and slowly opened the door.
. He shut the door for privacy and looked around. April wasn't kidding about the not having a chance to clean. After stepping on a wet towel, he looked around the mess. The vanity was in complete disarray , and he felt smothered by the scent of shampoo,conditioner,lotion and body wash. There were clothes in a pile next to the tube that he might could over look. The various under garments lying out in the open on the floor he could not. He did feel kind of at fault for just dropping by unannounced, he was sure if April had been warned about their visit and intensions she would have cleaned up. But she was not and therefore did not. Leo simple couldn't bring himself to use this bathroom.
He hung his head in defeat and walk out the door. His brothers along with April were sitting on her bed watching him anxiously.
"You didn't even do anything!" Raph protested, " that means I win and you have to paint your shell pink!"
"Well….I. just thought it was rude to barge in on April out of nowhere…"
"Well you guys could go to this abandoned gas station on 124th street, it just closed recently so the plumbing should still work."
"Great Idea April!", said Raph as he gave her an affectionate pat on the head. Raph was grinning proudly at the face his older brother was making. Raph did feel a little bad for shoving Leo out of his comfort zone, but he has good intentions….
So the boys said good bye to April ( much to Donnie's displeasure) and headed for the gas station. It didn't take long to reach their destination, it was a fairly empty part of the city so they didn't have to worry about being spotted as much. The gas station itself stood alone on a wide filed of concrete. It was pretty small and the bathroom doors were located outside. Leo stood once again facing a bathroom door, with his brother behind him. He hesitated for a minute, he could just forfeit the bet , so what if he had to do a few extra chores for a while, and paint his shell pink. Just as he was about to say that he forfeits , a though ran across his mind.
How would he look as a leader? By losing this bet he proving to them that he can't face his fears , that he'd rather run and hid than accept a simple challenge. He knew that some challenges were better left unexpected but this was one of the few ones that deserved to be finished. It was a matter of stepping up and facing his fear , no matter how unsanitary.
"Well go on, I have plenty of vaccines at home just in case." Donnie called from behind him. Leo sighed, this time he really was going to do it. He stepped for ward and pushed the door open. Leo was wondering what would kill him faster , the smell or the dieses. Once he got past the strong smell that coated his lungs and mouth he was able to walk in.
It was a small dark room , the wall were once white but were now a dank green color . there was a small brown toilet over in the corner, he managed to convinced himself that the toilet had always been brown. The only other things in the room were a sink, a small metal vending machine on the wall and a roll of paper towels on the sink. The floor had trash of all sorts scatter about and Leo had to maneuver his way over paper towels, toilet paper and the occasional latex product. The last thing he wanted was to touch anything he didn't have to.
Once he handled his business he was met with the challenge of actually flushing. There was no way in hell je was touch the handle. SO instead he chose to left his leg up and use his foot to push it down. He heard a sickening sloshing sound and hurried over to the sick to wash his hands. He was thankful there was still soap in the dispenser he used his wrist to push up the handle on the sink and a small stream of water trickled down. Once his hand were washed he wetted a paper towel and wiped off the foot he had used to flush.
"I'm am never doing this again." Leo thought bitterly..
He couldn't believe he just did that. He was excited and slightly sickened, by the thought of what he had done and where he had done it. His father was right about the bathrooms up here. Leo was also relived now that he had done this dare and proven he could face his fears, he hoped he would never have to use restroom topside ever again. Besides, this also meant that he didn't have to do his chores for a month and that Raphie was going to have a pretty pick shell for the next few days.
He walked out to meet his brothers , they all began asking him how it was . Leo was very detailed in describing his "adventure'. Out of curiosity, Michelangelo stepped into the restroom , he instantly stepped back out. Leo laughed at that
~ epilog ~
Back at home he and Raph had met up in Leo's room to paint his shell. Raphael knew better than to go back on his word epically with Leo. He sat wordlessly on a stool while he let Leo move the paint brush along his shell.
"Hey Leo?"
"You are not getting out of this Raph , we had a bet."
"I wasn't trying to get out of it , I just wanted to say…good job on the bathroom thing."
"Oh, uh, thanks Raph." There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes before Raph spoke up again.
"You know I didn't mean to push you so hard about the bathroom..i just ," Raph though for a moment trying to word what he wanted to say " thought it was stupid that you were afraid of bathrooms and thought you should just get over it!"
Since leo knew his brother couldn't see him , he smiled. What Raph said translated to; "I'm sorry I was a jerk , I was just trying to help you get over your fear because I care even if I act like a hot headed jerk"
"Don't worry about it bro."
Over all I'm fairly pleased with it.
R&R!
