Thursday October 31, 2019

"So, as I was asking before that timer went off, how have you been lately?" Asked Jacob, as he accepted the concoction his young friend handed to him. He had no idea what it was, but he had learned a long time ago that Splinter's youngest was gifted in the art of cooking, especially now that he had full access to the city's grocery stores and markets, and it worth trying out his dishes and drinks when they were offered. With a brow raised in curiosity, he took a sip. Sputtering at the strength of the alcohol he wasn't expecting to taste. "Mikey! I'm still doing your medical exam!"

"Off the clock, as I'm running around prepping for a totally rad movie-marathon party." Michelangelo pointed out with a cheeky grin as he took a peek at the stuffed pumpkin that was currently baking in the oven. The pumpkin bread and fresh whipped cream were already prepped and waiting in the fridge, as was a pitcher of the cocktail he had given the doctor. Once the stuffed pumpkin was done cooking, it was off to Karai and Kitsune's apartment for the get together they were hosting in roughly a half hour. "So, what do ya think dude? Is the anise flavor too strong?"

"No," Jacob assured him. He took another sip, and let it sit in his mouth for a moment before swallowing to get a gauge of the flavors. He could taste lemon alongside the licorice, as well as a hint of cherry. "It's very good, but just a tad strong in the alcohol department."

"Sweet, that's just how Karai likes it!"

"How is your sister, by the way? I don't think I've seen her since last Thanksgiving."

"She's doing good!" The turtle replied happily, there was a familiar excitement dancing in his eyes as he hopped up onto the stool across from Jacob. The turtle took a sip from the glass of water he had been drinking periodically during his dashes across the kitchen during the cooking process, and then dove into an explanation for his excitement. "This is their six-year anniversary ya know. They met at a Halloween concert I took Karai to, and have been dating since then." He rested his chin on both hands, practically shaking with bottled up excitement. "I'm pretty sure Karai's gonna propose to Kitsune tonight! Like 99.99999% sure of it! That's why I want the food and drink to be extra perfect. Man, I hope she likes it!"

"I'm sure she will," the doctor chuckled. Putting aside his drink, and studying his young friend. "So, again, how've you been? Have there been any panic attacks or nightmares in the past few months since your own anniversary in March? Are the holistic methods still working well for you?"

Michelangelo sat up and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Displeased with the abrupt turn in the conversation, while silently reminding himself that he was still technically having an appointment with Jacob and that this question was bound to be asked. "I'm fine," he replied breezily. Getting up to check the pumpkin again. Then he set to work on re-cleaning the counters, eager for a distraction so he wouldn't have to face Jacob's inquisitive gaze.

"I need you to elaborate a bit more, Mikey."

"I do still get the nightmares, but I've had them linger this long in the past too so I don't think it's a big deal."

"Oh, please don't get all tough secretive loner on me, kid. It doesn't suit you! Besides, you wouldn't accept that answer if your father or Karai replied so nonchalantly to the same question," Jacob pointed out with a little shake of his head as he straightened up in his seat. After an awkward moment of silence he decided to take another sip of his drink, and swirled the glass a little in his hand. "Sorry, that was kinda snippy of me…but your mental health is a big deal, Mikey. It's just as important as your physical health. So, if the holistic treatment is starting to wear off then I need to know so I can help you."

"I'm not going to the EPF clinic, Jay." Insisted Michelangelo, with a hint of anger in his voice. "That's, like, one of my biggest triggers!"

"You wouldn't have to," the doctor reassured him. "We can continue to conduct your visits the same way we have been over the years. Off the clock for me, in the privacy and safety of your home. But as I said, if the treatment you are currently on isn't working for you anymore, then changes to that treatment would need to be made."

"I can't afford pharmaceuticals, and I don't want you getting into trouble to do me a favor trying to get me on them." The mutant argued as he wrung out the damp cloth he was using, and hung it over the sink's faucet to dry. Sitting back down across from the man who had been a cousin of sorts to him growing up, he snatched up his companion's glass and took a sip for himself. He made a face at the strength of the alcohol, and put the glass back down. He felt the tingle of heat linger in his throat and a light buzz wash over him. "Okay, yeah that's a bit overkill, I'll have to water the pitcher down a smidge before I head out." He forced his attention back onto the real topic at hand, and looked the doctor in the eye again. "Sorry dude. Anyway, if I'm honest…I just don't like the idea of using meds. Supplements are one thing; I have no problem with taking those. I'm not BS-ing you here Jay, I really do feel that they're helping. So I'd rather make adjustments to what does work, and try other alternative methods you think may help too, than take drugs that may or may not help me. Save the meds for the people who are worse off than me, okay? I've been dealing with this just fine the way we've been doing it, let's not mess that up. Please?"

Dr. Chandler stared back, silent for a moment as he assessed the situation and the history of his patient. Then he nodded his head in agreement. "Alright, we'll try adjusting the supplements you've been taking and see where that goes. How does that sound?"

"Just peachy to me, doc." Mikey relaxed a little, and a smile of gratitude flickered onto his face. "Thanks, man."

The oven's timer went off; signaling the end of the conversation, and the appointment, as the young chef went to work with putting on the final touches. Packing everything together securely in a thermal bag, and leading the family friend to the exit.

"We'll talk again next week, okay?" Said Jacob, giving Michelangelo a significant look.

They shook hands, sealing the deal, and then parted ways.


"Hey, cutie! You're right on time, three o'clock on the dot! Come on inside," Kitsune greeted Michelangelo when she opened the door of the lavish apartment she shared with his sister. Saki had raised Karai to be a smart business woman in addition to a skilled and deadly kunoichi, and his teachings had paid off once Karai entered the business field. Her fashion sense, apartment, and choice of entertainment and dining were clear statements of the wealthy lifestyle she lived. "We've had some early arrivers, and the snacks have already taken a hit, so that delicious smelling baked pumpkin is just on time!"

The young woman led him across the open concept apartment, through the dining area, and into the kitchen where they placed his carefully constructed dish in the oven to keep it warm until everyone was ready to eat a sweet dessert. "One of the early birds brought pizza, but there's also some Thai food from that new place that just opened up a couple of weeks ago so you're covered." She grinned when he handed her the pitcher, and snatched a couple of plastic cups off the counter top. Pouring herself a glass, and taking a generous sip, she flashed him a wicked smile with an enthusiastic thumbs up. "Nice! This is going to be a hit tonight too, I can tell! Thanks, cutie."

"No problem, Kitsune." Replied Mikey a little sheepishly. "Hey, thanks for ordering other stuff besides pizza. I'm not much of a pizza lover, so I appreciate that."

"Anything for you, hon!"

"Mikey, you're finally here!" Karai yelled when she exited the bedroom; she was wearing a fairly impressive Xena costume, and was gesturing at the bookshelf by the enormous TV with a sizeable collection of DVDs on it. "You're the king of horror, so go pick out the first movie!"

"I'm on it, sis!"

He wound up settling on first two Evil Dead movies, because it wasn't a Halloween party without watching those movies so it made sense to start there. He got nods of approval from everyone currently present as they migrated into the living room area and piled on and around the couch. Getting settled with their snacks and each other as Michelangelo popped in the disc.

Once the group plowed through the movies, with newcomers filing into the apartment periodically while they were playing and helping themselves to the food and drinks before getting settled themselves, the party-goers held a vote on what to watch next as people came and went to go to the bathroom and get refills on their drinks.

"Shouldn't we watch Halloween, since it's, you know, Halloween?" One of Kitsune's friends suggested.

There were mixed replies in response.

"How about Hocus Pocus?" This time it was Karai who threw the idea out there. "I don't know about you guys, but I watch that every year."

"We watched it last night," Kitsune informed them.

"So? I could watch that a hundred times and never get tired of it."

"I know!"

"I've never seen that one," admit Michelangelo. Curious about the movie now after seeing how enthusiastic Karai was about it.

His sister beamed, and pulled out her DVD. "Well, that settles it! Hocus Pocus wins!"

An hour and a half later, the turtle had decided that the fun movie about the scary yet goofy Sanderson sisters was definitely a classic that he would without a doubt be watching every year. There was only one thing about it that had really bothered him, simply because he didn't understand why all the characters made such a big deal over it. "Why was everyone ragging on Max for being a virgin? I mean, I get that they were harassing him for being the one to light the black flame candle…but it felt like they were also mocking him for his virginity too. Why did it matter so much that he hadn't had sex yet? Who cares?"

"Eh, it's just society expectations baloney." One of Karai's friends complained as he picked at the food on his plate. "For some reason if a dude doesn't have sex the second he becomes a teenager then he's not man enough or people think he's weird or something's wrong with him. It's totally lame. Especially with all that double standard crap girls have to put up with."

"It really isn't a big deal if you've had sex or not." Remarked Karai as she sauntered back into the room with beer for herself and Kitsune. "And you don't need to explain to anyone your reasons why you haven't done it yet. You want to wait for marriage? Good for you. Want to wait for the right person? That's great too. You just plain aren't interested. That's totally fine, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!"

"Why wouldn't you be interested though?" The same friend asked, honestly curious. "I know there are some people who choose to be celibate for religious reasons…but that's not really a lack of interest, that's just a personal choice!"

"Not everyone's wired the same way." Kitsune informed him, while looking like she was gearing up to unload a speech if need be. "Some guys are sexually attracted to girls only, and vice versa. Some girls are sexually attracted to other girls only, while some guys are only attracted to other guys. Some folks are attracted to both guys and girls, and some folks are attracted to everyone. And then there's the folks who aren't sexually attracted to anyone. Thus, the lack of appeal to engage in it!"

Enthralled with the topic of the conversation, Michelangelo found himself very intrigued by what she had just said. He felt like she was decoding a mystery for him that he had been afraid to ask anyone about.

"That's not really a thing."

"You're looking right at one, James." Kitsune did a little twirl, and curtsied. "The term's asexuality."

"I still don't get it; how is that possible?"

She smiled patiently at her ill-informed friend, and pointed directly at him. "You like the ladies, right?"

He nodded.

"You get all hot and bothered over them right?"

He nodded again.

"Are you bi?"

He shook his head.

"So, you don't get all hot and bothered over guys then, right? It's just the ladies you get all flustered over?"

He nodded his head once more.

"Well, there you go. Looking at other men does nothing for you whatsoever, and that's exactly how it is for me too…just, you know, with everyone. I mean, I can admire a beautiful looking woman or man, just as someone were to admire the beauty of artwork or nature. I just don't get the sexual arousal other people experience when they're attracted to someone. I honestly have no idea what that would even feel like. The concept of being sexually attracted to someone is just as bizarre to me as my lack of sexual attraction to other people sounds bizarre to you."

Feeling a little more enlightened, but still a little confused, James cautiously glanced over at Karai with a look of puzzlement still present on his face. "So, um, if Karai's a lesbian, and you're dating her, then how does that work?"

"We make it work," Karai replied as she took her seat. "And we respect each other in the process." Her tone indicated she wanted the topic dropped.

Michelangelo didn't blame her. Whether or not the two of them had sex wasn't anyone's business but their own. Although he could see that James was still confused. Mikey, on the other hand, was feeling enlightened. Kitsune talking about her sexuality lit up a light-bulb in his head, and finally gave him a label to identify himself as. Because what she had described fit the bill perfectly.

He admit that he was curious about sex, and would give it a go if the opportunity presented itself to him; cautiously, of course, since the current anti-human/mutant consensus among the general public was an unfortunate challenge at the moment for the humans and mutants engaged in a relationship. But he didn't desire sex the way his brothers had once puberty started to set in on them. He realized a long time ago that he wasn't like Leo and Donnie, but that he wasn't like Raph either. For a long time, he wondered if there was something wrong with him.

Mikey knew he was a little naive, but he wasn't blind. He saw the way his brothers got flustered around April and Karai. He overheard his bothers discuss the things they dreamed of doing with them, while Raph scoffed and harshly remarked that they didn't stand a chance with the girls they were gaga over. But unlike them, he just never felt those longings. Now he knew why.

"They really did baby me," thought Michelangelo with a sad smile as he recalled how often he overheard their adult conversations, and how his brothers would lower their voices when they noticed him listening nearby. They seemed to forget that he was the same age as them, and were always treating him like a little kid.

He remembered how overprotective the three of them had been over him, almost smothering, because he was the youngest, hatching last, and smallest of the siblings. He remembered, with budding resentment, how often they tried to keep him in the dark about the truths of the world as they entered their teenage years.

With a flicker of anger, he remembered all too clearly the embarrassment he felt when he finally learned some of those truths, the hard way, after getting himself acquainted with the surface world. Learning the innocence-shattering truth about Santa and leprechauns, which his brothers had shared sly grins with each other over the years whenever he mentioned the topics, but never took the time to set him straight about them. Discovering that the awful smells in some of the sewer tunnels were indeed from human waste, and the embarrassed anger he felt when he remembered how Donnie had assured him he had just dreamed that up after being knocked out in a fight with Snakeweed.

He couldn't help but wonder if his brothers had intended to simply preserve his naïve innocence for as long as they could…or if they were really just maintaining his ignorance for the sake of their own amusement?

"That doesn't matter now," he scolded himself. Putting on a smile when he noticed Karai watching him, and getting up to get another drink for himself. This time he snatched up a bottle of hard cider, figuring it would go nicely with the baked pumpkin as he took it out of the oven after realizing that they had never taken it out. After a quick check, he was happy to discover it hadn't dried out after sitting in the oven at its lowest setting for the past few hours. As the delightful smells teased his senses, he placed the slices of pumpkin bread onto the plates and started scooping the warm baked pumpkin on top. Completing the dishes with generous dollops of the fresh whipped cream he had made. He was greeted with pleased grins, and various compliments, when he returned to the living room to hand out the dessert to Karai's other guests. "My bros are gone, and it's not fair to their memory to be mad about something that can't be changed now."

Everyone got settled as Kitsune selected the next pair of movies to watch. The 90s remake of 'The Mummy', and its immediate sequel 'The Mummy Returns'.

Mikey caught the look in Karai's eye as her girlfriend sat down beside her and began to dig into her plate, and felt a bubble of excitement flare up and take the place of the anger and resentment he had been trying to snuff out. She was going to pop the question soon, he just knew it! And as it turned out, his suspicions were spot on. As Rick O'Connell and Evelyn Carnahan rode, camel back, into the Egyptian sunrise as the first of the two movies came to its conclusion, Karai pulled out a small box and kissed Kitsune's forehead. Whispering the famous question as her lover accepted the box and opened it with a dazzled grin.

There were cheers and congratulations from the partygoers as Kitsune screeched her joyful response.

The group sat and enjoyed the second movie, with the undercurrent of wedding excitement in the air, and then everyone mutually agreed to call it a night. Some wandered to the bathroom and guestroom to get changed into pajamas, while others collected their bags and keys and waved their goodbyes.

"Are you staying the night, little brother?"

Yawning, Michelangelo shook his head and gathered up his things. He was tempted to, but wanted to get home and share the good news with their father. "Naw, sorry sis. Gotta work tomorrow, and don't want to throw off my getting ready for work groove if I can avoid it."

"You're working tomorrow? Why didn't take the day off so you could recuperate? It's almost midnight, Mikey!"

He rolled his eyes playfully over her fussing, and kissed her forehead as he opened the door to leave. "I'm working the afternoon shift tomorrow; I've got plenty of time to catch up on my Z's before I have to hit the road. It's no biggie! I'll come visit you two lovebirds when I get out, okay?"

After another five minutes of congratulations, goodbyes, and platonic kisses with his sister and Kitsune, the young mutant finally left their apartment. Making his way to the building's roof, so he could race across the rooftops. It would be quicker than taking the streets, and he definitely wanted to get home fast to share his exciting news with their father. Although, he was sure the old rat already knew about Karai's proposal.

If his sister didn't tell him, then Mikey was sure their father had, like he had himself, deduced the life changing event was due to occur at any moment now.

"Hey Sensei, you still up?!" He asked as he entered the Lair; hopping up onto the railing at the top of the stairs and sliding down it like a child.

There was no answer, but when he rounded the corner and saw a light shining in the dojo he realized his father was meditating.

Knowing it was best not to interrupt the session, especially over exciting news that could easily wait until morning, the young turtle resisted the urge to burst into the room and backed away. He wandered into the kitchen, and scrawled a note on the whiteboard hanging on the fridge letting his father know he had come home and gone to bed. Then he left the kitchen with a yawn and drooping eyelids. "Night, Sensei." He said quietly over his shoulder as he passed by the dojo and entered the hallway where his own bedroom was. Stumbling inside, he carelessly removed and flung his clothes to the floor and pulled on his pajamas.

Crawling into bed with a smile on his face, and eagerly anticipating the morning.


I hope this chapter didn't feel too much like me standing on a soapbox when the topic of sexuality came up. But I've always felt Mikey was asexual, and wanted to explore him making that realization about himself. Originally I was going to have him stumble across the term on Tumblr and do some research out of curiosity (which is how my experience with realizing I was asexual came about), but then felt a conversation among friends at a party would be a better way of bringing up the subject and discussing it.

I like writing Mikey hanging out with his sister and his friends, and have enjoyed writing Karai in these more relaxed settings too.

Hope everyone's enjoying the fic so far! Reviews are more than welcome! :)