Back again^^
I couldn`t resist with this chapter, it was just too cute for its own good...
*sigh*
I hope you like it as much as i do.
TheLadyOfSouls: thank you ^^ i was hoping that the first shower scene would be cute to someone elseXD I can`t decie which series i will choose, there are amazing episodes in all of them and i really want to write about that with my little, cute Winter... But i tell you as fast as i know, ok?
Lydja-chan: i really tried to bring something new to Splinter`s point of view, he was a pet, so somethings will never really change. And i thought about the aging of him in the series. I think he should age like a normal human, not like a rat, so he would be still young when he and the turles got mutated. I really love to write about his old habits, they will never really die. XD And i nearly died because aof AWWWWWWWWWWW at little Leo in here... Happened to me with my own little cousin so i can relate...
Illusionna: I am sorry that i brought her albinism on in the first chapter, but never explained it further. But i thought the alley would be too dark for even a rat to pay attention to something like that. But he noticed and the PD probably too... I come from Germany, so it was only natural to give Winter that background story. Although it will explain her little spleens and hobbies, which will come later. One of this habits is in this chapter. XD
LoveTurtles: Thank you, i really like that i can give a female to Splinter, he has earned that right, i think.
Again, TMNT is not mine... *sigh again*
The first morning after the storm, Winter had to phone her school. Convincing her school`s secretary that she was ill was her best option and it only took her about 20 minutes to get the whole procedure through. The secretary, after a bad imitation of a hoarse throat, wished her a speedy recovery. With a sigh Winter dropped the phone on its base and turned back into the kitchen, where Splinter sat on a chair, sipping at his tea.
"Whew… This was really hard work. I never had to lie about something trivial like that. But it is for a friend, so it is ok, right?" her eyes travelled to the giant rat, her head was slightly tilted. Gently Splinter sat his cup of steaming tea down and cleared his throat.
"I would never expected you to lie for me. But… It is necessary at the moment, so I am very grateful for that. I had hoped that I would not leave the small ones alone, even if it is with you and I am pleased that you agreed to watch over them. I shall hurry, I promise you that, but I can`t tell when I will come back. I have to find out what happened to my old burrow, and I will try to fetch a few things that might have survived. If I am not back till 7 p.m. could you please leave your window to the alley open?" He stood, stretching his back and legs. He had been cramped in this apartment for too long, without any room to run or explore.
"I can do that for you, no worries! And I will take care of your small ones, I even have planned what I want to look with them on TV if they nag too much about everything else. So I have back-up-plans for my back-up-plans!" Winter pumped her fist in the air and took a step towards the table, but didn`t looked down to the ground and so she didn`t see the pink tail there, which she tripped over.
Her eyes widened in shock as her gaze met Splinter`s. She closed her eyes fast, not wanting to see the ground rushing to meet her, the pain would be enough for her.
A pair of soft but strong hands wrapped around her middle, stopping her mid-fall. After a quick breaths she opened her eyes, staring at the kitchen tile that was right in front of her.
"Maybe I should rethink my decision to leave the small ones alone with you…" Splinter`s voice literally dripped with sarcasm, and it brought Winter`s blood pressure nearly to the boiling point, not with anger but embarrassment.
"Normally, this doesn`t happen. Normally there is no giant talking rat with a long tail in my kitchen to trip me. You done this on purpose?" Her head turned to glare playfully at him and he could see her teeth.
He fought his natural instincts to hiss at her, answering her threat. SHE was not a rat, not even an animal, showing teeth was nothing like it was back when he was still a pet.
"I would never do that, Winter. It was purely an accident." He righted her and because of the tight fit in the kitchen, he had no other possibility as to get her nearer to himself to get her back on her own two feet. He could feel the warmth that was radiating from her even through his green robe she had given to him. His hands were still on her middle, feeling the softness of her flesh through her own clothes and he –
She took a step back from him, a pink hue dusting over her pale cheeks. Her hands brushed back her hair as she opened her kitchen window, which would lead to the small alley behind the building and to the next manhole.
"Please be safe, ok? Who knows what it`s like in the sewers now? The small ones need you. And I really don`t want to lose a friend, that I just recently got!" She gripped his arm at her last sentence, forcing his gaze to meet hers, which was full with concern and worry. Something warm spread inside of Splinter`s chest, causing his muzzle to twitch slightly and he wanted to bring his head closer to hers, but again, she was not a rat, she wouldn`t know the gesture.
"Do not worry, I will be careful. And I will come back… my friend." His hand wrapped around her forearm for a second, encasing it with warmth, before he jumped out of the window and down into the morning shadows, leaving her sight in seconds.
Huffing, Winter turned to her fridge, contemplating what would be the best for her small guests, which were still soundly asleep in her bedroom. (Splinter had slept on the couch, because he was so fragging tall and Winter had slept in the tub the last few nights.)
The children were still sleeping as Winter checked on them a few hours later. They were all cuddled together, forming something akin to a turtle pile on her bed.
It was now about 10 o`clock in the morning, the waffles for breakfast with mushy apples was ready for quite some time and her homework for the rest of the week had been done, too. Now all she could do was wait for the small ones to wake up and to not make many sounds. THAT left her with just a few options.
She left the door to her bedroom open, so she would be able to hear the sounds of the small ones and jogged in her place for a few minutes, slowly inching towards her living room. As she started to stretch her arms, she kicked away the pile of blankets, which were still on the floor, making space for her own needs.
Her bare feet glided over the carpet, taking their place for her first position. She arched her back, her arms hold over her head, clenching and unclenching them with the stretch. In the movement she got to her toes slowly, balancing every moment on the way up. She could feel her muscles in her back and the small ones in her calves.
Her arms came down again, still on her toes, her left leg rose up, her feet meeting her other knee, her hands met in front of her chest. Her breathing slowed and she focused all her thoughts on her slow, but controlled movements, a routine for her.
Her body seemed to walk itself through the different figures for balance and control, she tried to picture her energy as a swirling mass inside of her, which she pushed with her movements and pulled with her breaths.
Her feet were stepping up the rhythm she had found, her body twisting in movements she had learned years ago. Her pulse sped up, her skin warmed and her breathing was becoming more strained with each ending figure, which would fluently mix with the next one. Her arms were guiding her upper body, her legs were constantly bending and stretching again, her eyes were closed as she danced along the figures, listening to her grandmother's voice in her head.
She was near the end of her last figure as her ears caught a small giggle beside her.
Her concentration broke and her eyes snapped open, landing on a small, dark green turtle with blue eyes, who started clapping enthusiastically as he noticed her attention. His small legs were wiggling under him, indicating that he wanted to move, but his muscles wouldn`t budge. He stretched his hands for her, making grabbing motions and the universal `uppie`- motion.
"What – How long are you awake? Did I wake you?" Leonardo giggled again, but pouted at her, doing his gestures again. Winter bend down, cradling the turtle in her arms, as he wrapped his arms around her neck, burying his face at her throat. He sniffed at her and poked her shoulder, his grin turning slightly sour.
Winter paused and sniffed at her own arm, her nose crinkling as a gross smell invaded it. Her top was sweat through and her sweatpants were clinging to her legs. Her hair, which she couldn`t see, was probably a mess. An annoyed groan left her lips and her gaze dropped again to the small, again smiling, turtle baby in her arms.
His hands were investigating her bare skin, comparing it with his own. His small forehead creased in concentration. Soon his small fingers were pinching the back of her hand and he stared at it, at the pale skin and her fingers, her knuckles. Leonardo grabbed one of the fingers, turning it around for his inspection, pressing one of his own against it.
Winter chuckled slightly and a smile spread over her lips, as the young one was immersed in his studies, now bending her middle finger and bringing it nearer to his face, his small face was scrunched up and he sniffed at her skin again, before a laugh escaped his mouth and he bend forward, wrapping his mouth around her finger and started to suck at it slowly.
"What are you doing? You have your own fingers to suck on, you don`t need mine!" she tried to tug her hand away, but he only started to suck a little more forcefully, his eyes becoming fogged with unshed tears and Winter thought that he pouted.
"And now I can`t even get it back? You are hard to bargain with… Maybe I can trade it back?" she grinned at that idea and walked into the kitchen, the small turtle in one arm, while he was sucking her middle finger, one of his hands was wrapped around her abducted appendage and his other was clenching her top to steady himself. His curious eyes followed every movement of her as she sat down on her chair, then moving to the still slightly warm waffles.
His sucking stopped and he turned his head, looking at her with big eyes.
"You can only get waffles if you let go of my finger. You can only have one thing, you know?" she couldn`t help the teasing tone in her voice as she reached out to grab one of the small plates, breaking one part of the waffle and put it in her mouth. Leonardo`s eyes widened at that sight.
"Mhmmm, delicious. If only you could taste it too, but alas you are busy with other things. So, I can eat all this waffles myself and I will leave nothing for the small little turtles." The turtles face fell after a few seconds. His head swiveled to her face, then to the waffle and back again before he gently took her finger out of his mouth and sat it into his own lap. A small sigh escaped his lips as he leaned forward and took a hold of the plate.
"Winter 1: Leo 0."
The small turtles had woken shortly after Leo had finished his breakfast, demanding attention as well and they all were sat neatly in a row, eating and smearing the mush on themselves and their sitting neighbors, even poor Leo hadn`t escaped the onslaught of his brothers. This massacre was companied by laughter, whining, screaming and war cries. Winter hoped that her neighbors just thought, she would play some games with really loud music settings…
`At least, it seems that they enjoy my cooking skills. Sadly, I will now have to bath them all to get this mush off again. ` Winter groaned to herself as she stared at the four little turtles in front of her. She was just happy that she could easily wash the blankets and towels in which the turtles sat, and parts of their meal.
But to Winter, who was still in her sweaty clothes and a few feet away from the still playing babies, there was now one big problem.
She had to bath the turtles. She needed a shower, and to judge the looks Leo would sometimes throw at her, she needed it bad. But there was only one tub in her apartment and she couldn`t just leave the small ones alone and unsupervised…
The only solution…
"Well, I think we just have to suck it up and bath all together, it should fit with the 5 of us. And it won`t be embarrassing, because all of you are not going to remember that and I will never bring it up again!" her face got red and hot and she closed the mental door inside her head before her thoughts could wonder into the gutter out there, but she still cheered, catching the attention of the other 4 occupants.
"Come on, little turtles, we are going to get a bath all together." She cooed at them, grabbing Michelangelo and Raphael and lifting them both up. Donatello and Leonardo looked at each other as Winter started to walk slowly towards her bathroom, then both started whining as they struggled to follow their female caretaker.
She walked slower, so that the two crawling turtles could keep up with her the few meters to the bathroom. As soon as all of them were inside, she closed the door and sat Mikey and Raph down, who both grabbed onto her pants. All 4 were looking curiously at her as she turned on the warm water and sealed the tub. Soon it was filled enough for her to place all the little turtles inside.
Mikey was the first, as he had just thrown himself in her hands to get in the water first. Raph demanded to be the second one in and started to splash at his brother as soon as his little feet touched the liquid surface. Leo gave out a startled yelp as he was lifted in and was soon followed by Donatello, who was grinning widely.
All of them were fussing around, playing and gurgling happily as Winter slowly undressed herself and placed her clothes away to wash later. The water was warm against her skin as she entered the tub, kneeling down to get closer to the small gawking babies. They were all staring at her skin and Leo let out a smug sound, causing his brothers to hiss at him lowly.
Mikey was the first to approach her again, laughing, and soon latched onto her, pressing his still smeared face to her legs. Winter cupped his face with one hand and with the other tried to wipe away the grease in his face with a drenched cloth. He playfully tried to evade her attempts, nearly falling over a few times if Leo hadn`t sat against his shell as he was splashing around with Raph and Donnie.
Water was shooting around, not only in the tub was also out of it, landing on the tiled floor and even on the walls at the far end! Mikey joined his brothers as he was released and soon World War 3 had started in her own bathroom!
As she was cleaning Raph thoroughly a huge splash of water hit her face. Every sound stopped, it was deathly quiet. Her gaze wandered around, immediately landing on Donatello, who grinned sheepishly at her. A small, sadistic grin spread over her lips.
"You-are-on!" Winter growled and pushed against the water, sending a small tidal wave towards the amber eyes turtle, drenching him completely. Donatello was shocked, his little mouth opened in a way of protest before he spluttered as he swallowed some of the invading liquid. His brothers cheered as all of them turned against the female, splashing the water with everything they could. Arms, legs and even heads (Mikey) turned to tools just for the sake of coating her with lukewarm water.
After much screeching, whining, pleading for mercy and the end victory for the small turtles, Winter heaved herself out of the tub, her hair clinging to her skin and her eyes red from laughing and water invasion. With horror filled eyes she looked inside of the bathroom, everywhere were blotches of water, little puddles, the walls were sprinkled and the towels were wet as well. And the four turtles, which were now looking over the rim of the bathtub were laughing louder than ever. Their eyes were filled with a mischievous glint that send dread through Winter`s body.
"This will be such a strenuous day…"
Splinter entered the small, but now familiar, apartment through the same window he had left it. He paused in the kitchen, his nose twitching while he sniffed the air. It was filled with the smell of his younglings, food and a sweet underlining of lemon and raspberry.
His ears caught the sound of the TV playing in the living room.
His eyes landed on the table, where a small plate was, piled onto it was something yellow, worm like and it was covered with small balls of meat in a sweet-sour smelling red sauce. He presumed that this was his meal for the evening.
The clock on his left told him that it was shortly after eight in the evening, still too early for Winter to go to bed. Inhaling his food, he placed the plate down again and went to the origin of the noise.
The only light in the living room was coming from the TV, illuminating a scene that warmed his heart, burning itself into his memories. He slowly and carefully tiptoed to the couch, leaning over it to get a better look at the small pile there.
Winter was spread over the couch, her legs resting straight but her upper body twisted so she was on her side, facing the pillows, but with space between. Her hair was all over her face and the cushions, even over Mikey. A long shirt and a soft looking trouser covered her body. Small, fluffy, white socks were on her feet, keeping them warm.
Mikey was wrenched in this space, on his shell and slightly snoring, one of his hands clenching around a strand of white hair like it was a lifeline. Donnie was sleeping on her lap, his little face on the side of her knee, his warms wrapped around her left leg. His little mouth was opened and his tail was lazily wagging from one side to the other. Leonardo had tugged himself, face first, against her stomach, his feet pressed against Raph, who was snuggling against Winter`s upper chest area and who had his head neatly tugged against her throat.
All of them were sleeping soundly, not even twitching when something on TV exploded and people started to scream.
Splinter leaned down further, his head inches away from his younglings and his new friend. Carefully he sniffed at all of them, checking if everything was alright or if something had happened while he was away. His younglings smelled like innocence and happiness. All of their expressions, as far as he could see them, were light and content. Winter smelled exhausted and like she just had fought for hours. He could see some shadows under her eyes, which would surely leave when she got enough sleep.
He leaned back again, content with the result of his check-up.
Yawning he walked around the couch, getting on all 4 as he threw all the blankets on the ground into a pile again. He curled himself up on top of that pile, draping his tail along his body. His head faced the couch, so he would notice and wake up as soon as someone would move.
He would tell Winter and his son`s tomorrow about the old, abandoned subway station he had found.
Questions? Remarks? Invitations for a turtle hegemony? *chuckles*
i am really tired right now, but i wanted to finish this chapter...
Cuteness overload on my side...
Hope you will all dream of little turtles and their pranks^^
Love ya all