fiendingforgreen prompted: sunbathing
ooo
"It's this way," Raphael declared, tramping through the dank tunnel."C'mon, ya babies."
"This is dangerous," Donatello said quietly, thumbs nervously rubbing the knuckles of his fists. "I mean - it's the middle of the day. If sensei catches us - "
"Ain't no one forcin' ya to come, Donnie," Raphael threw over his shoulder as he marched determinedly on. "Yer free to turn back whenever ya want."
Donatello bristled, squaring his shoulders. "Please. I have an obligation as a scientist to observe, participate in, and record this experience. And why do you even talk like that?" he continued in an irritated tone, his voice echoing off the close, curved walls. "We've all been raised in the same way. It makes no sense that you would develop such an idiosyncratic accent so distinct from ours."
"He gets it from those dock workers he sneaks off to watch all the time," Leonardo said primly, bringing up the rear and doing his best to maintain a wary ninja's demeanour even as he kept a tight and comforting arm around a wide-eyed Michelangelo. The tunnels were cold and damp. "I caught him with some of their cigarettes the other day. He stole them."
"Yeah, thank yew, Mistah Taddle-Tale," Raphael sneered, deliberately exaggerating his Jersey affectation as the four brothers sloshed through the twisting tunnel, the scent of mildew and garbage wafting from the grimy brick. "They left 'em behind, as a madda-a-fact. Shows what you know."
"You shouldn't have taken them anyway, Raphael," Leonardo said, cautiously eyeing the shadowy tunnels they passed and keeping his baby brother close.
"Hey, I was just practicin' my ninja stealth!" Raphael retorted smartly, marching brash and belligerent at the front of the line, indifferent to the chilly gloom of the drains. "Ya always say we should practice, Leo. Ninjas gotta be stealthy, right?"
Leonardo narrowed his eyes at his brother's shell and opened his mouth to reply. But Michelangelo cut in:
"Are we there yet, Raphie? This is taking foreverrrrrr and my legs are getting tired!"
Whether or not he was deliberately trying to derail his brothers' mounting argument was unclear, but it had that effect all the same. Raphael huffed out in irritation and snapped over his shoulder:
"Quit yer bitchin', Mikey - it ain't too much further."
Michelangelo giggled. "Raph used a cuss. Leo, will you carry me?" He turned huge, glistening blue eyes imploringly up to his big brother's face. Leonardo stopped glaring at Raphael and looked down at Michelangelo's beseeching face. He hesitated. Michelangelo really was getting too old to act like the baby all the time, but on the other hand - it was his duty to look after his brothers. Michelangelo sensed his brother weakening and slowed his pace a little, clinging to Leonardo's arm and limping just ever so slightly. Leonardo's brow furrowed and he had just started to stop when they rounded a corner and brilliant golden light suddenly hit them like a smack.
"Here it is!" Raphael shouted gleefully and ran ahead, his bare feet slapping in the fetid water around their ankles.
Donatello gasped, his jaw dropping open, his eyes wide and bright. He wandered towards the brilliant sphere of light in wonder, his chin tilting upwards as it bathed him in its splendour.
Michelangelo squeaked and pulled out of Leonardo's embrace to run up to Raphael, exhaustion forgotten. Leonardo rolled his eyes, set his jaw and walked with restrained dignity to join his brothers.
But even Leonardo couldn't stem the awe that took away his breath as he reached the mouth of the tunnel.
The storm drain opened out onto the harbour, filthy run-off burbling over their toes as it spilled out into the ocean twenty feet below. It was a glorious day, the sky blue and cloudless, the water sparkling and the sun bright and high above them, its rays falling on their shoulders and upturned faces with all the loveliness of a kiss. Spellbound they stood, soaking up the sunshine with rapturous expressions, the warmth oozing into their skin and filling them with soporific contentment.
Out on the water, a horn blared as the boats slid by and the waves lapped at the rocks below. The breeze licked warmly over their cheeks and the scent of brine was rich and sour. Michelangelo slipped his hand into Leonardo's, who took Donatello's. And because it was his baby brother, Raphael didn't object when Michelangelo reached out his free hand to his, just took it and held it tight.