Authors notes- I don't own the TMNT or any of their friends, associates or arch enemies.
Casey's point of view for the moment, and no, I'm not very good at him either.
Oh, by the way, Donatello fans forgive me! He is my favourite but this opportunity couldn't go amiss!
Oh woe is (not) me.
"Hey Casey, Raph, wanna come for a run with me topside? It's getting late, I'm sure there's some Purple Dragons lurking."
Raph waves his hand in the air.
"Some other time Leo." I say glumly, picking up the remote to change the channel as the wrestling finishes.
"It's nearly 2 days until Karm and April get home, you can't stay glued to the TV until then."
"Yeah we can, there's nothin' else ta do." Finding some hockey, I put down the remote, knowing asking my buddy Raph if he wants to watch it would be useless.
"There's plenty to do. Mikey's begging anybody to play on his games with him."
"Hockey." I grunt. Leo gives up and goes topside. Sighing, I pick up my fifth can of beer and swig it back. Crushing the finished can, I throw it on the floor.
"Can I have a beer?" Raph mutters, not taking his eyes from the TV.
"Sure man." I hold out the last beer of the pack to him, and slump into the kitchen to get the next pack.
"Jeez Case, why d'ya drink this shit?" Raph finally breaks his gaze from the TV to give a disgusted look to me.
"It's prob'ly just warm, have a cold one." As I collapse back onto the sofa, I hold out the cold can to my friend. Grunting in thanks, he takes it from me, fixing his eyes back on the TV and opening it with a hiss.
"Not bad."
"I'll finish that." I take the warm beer from the table and swig at it.
"Case, man, yer gunna end up drunk again, and sleepin' on our sofa. Splinter's gettin' a bit pissed off."
"Yeah, so what?"
"What's it like bein' drunk?" Raph takes his eyes off the TV again.
"Ya don't feel nothin' yanno, just like, full of bubbles." I shrug. Bursting out laughing, Raph puts his can down. I frown at him, and soon join in. We end up leaning against each other, wiping tears from our eyes.
"How much have you two had?" Don appears from his lab, clutching his huge coffee cup.
"I've had two swigs bro, don't go all Leo on me." Raph turns to his brother.
"Wasn't going to." Don shrugs and heads off into the kitchen.
"Man, Don needs to lighten up." I sigh.
"Yeah." Raph sighs too. "An' I know how. Got any vodka?" Raph asks, the corners of his mouth curling into a grin.
"Way ahead o' ya!" Jumping up, I rush into the kitchen, heading straight for the fridge.
"Hey Donny-boy." Raph asks. "Whatcha workin' on?"
"Nothing that would interest you Raphael." Don spoons two spoonfuls of coffee into his cup.
"Ya work too hard bro, c'mon, come watch some TV with us."
As I take out some cold pizza from the fridge, Don suspiciously eyes me up, then does the same to Raph.
"I guess I am pretty tired, some TV would be good." Don nods, putting boiling water into his cup.
"Lemme get the milk fer ya Don." I grin and take out the milk.
"Thanks Case." He smiles tiredly.
Graciously, I top the black liquid up with milk, making the cup almost overflowing. Winking at Raph, I put the milk back and sneakily take out the vodka from the fridge. As Don heads for the main room, Raph pats him on the back, causing the almost over spilling coffee to spill.
"Raph!"
"Ah jeez sorry Don, lemme get that for ya." Taking the coffee cup and putting it on the table, he takes a cloth and hands it to Don. Quickly, and carefully, I sip at the coffee, wincing as I swallow the hot disgusting drink, then top up the drink with vodka, giving it a quick stir. Finally I wipe down the cup in time for Don to turn around to take it off me.
"Thanks." He looks at it tiredly and takes it into the next room. Giving Raph a devilish grin and a thumbs up, he snickers and follows his brother into the next room.
"Leo wanted us to do something." I mumble to myself, hiding the vodka behind my back and following my two friends into the next room.
"So Donny, whatcha wanna watch?"
"Well, there was an interesting documentary on, but you two won't want to watch it, so…"
"Here ya go." Raph hands the remote over to Don.
"But…" He frowns. "I thought you two were just going to take up the TV forever?"
"We have seen the error of our ways!" I announce, slipping the vodka next to the sofa out of Don's sight, waiting for my opportunity to slip more and more alcohol into his coffee. "You guys deserve the TV too!"
"Right, okay." Don blinks, turns the documentary on and sips his coffee. "This tastes a bit weird, is the milk off?"
"Naw it's fine bro, yer just tired." Raph grins.
"Yeah, I guess." He nods and continues to watch the documentary. I slide back into the chair, picking up my beer and chuckling to myself.
'This is gunna be one hell of a night.'
Authors notes- Change over to Leo's point of view.
As I take the stone elevator to the Lair after my run, I sigh.
'I guess Raph and Casey are gunna be slumped in the chair still, Don's gunna be working away and Mikey's gunna be fixed to his games. I didn't think Karm leaving would affect us so-'
The doors open to reveal Mikey sitting in the armchair, gasping for air and clutching at his sides, whilst Casey and Raph stand nearby, clapping and cheering. Meanwhile, Donatello, the rational, calm, quiet brother is… dancing on the coffee table.
'…much. What the fu-'
"Hey Leo! You gotta see this!" Mikey manages to say in between laughing fits.
"Leo!" Don spots me and grins broadly, raising his coffee cup. "Now where have you been? Hmm? Out! Yes! That's right! Y-y-you! You have be-been out!"
Casey and Raph collapse onto the sofa, cackling manically.
"Don, what are you doing?!" I ask exasperated.
"Me? W-what am I doing?! No!" He grins. "Thish, is about you! Going out and and and… being naughty!"
Once again this display earns a roar of laughter from Raph and Casey, Michelangelo now unable to talk as he almost chokes from laughter.
"Raph, what the hell have you done to him?!" I hiss, going over to my brother, and folding my arms. Finding this funny, Don proceeds to mimic me.
"Yesh Raph! You naughty, naughty boy! Uncle Leo wants a word with you!"
Mikey proceeds to start crying with laughter.
"Ya told us we can't stay glued to the TV, Leo." He grins manically. "So we didn't."
"Yesh! Bad TV!" Donny turns to the TVs and starts to point his finger at them. "Un-uncle Leo wants a word with you!"
"Ya hafta admit, it's pretty funny seein' Don like this."
"I, Raphael, am not like anything…!" Don turns around, puts his hands on his hips and huffs at Raph, then falls from the table. Raph and Casey howl, and Mikey clutches to the armchair in hysteria. It's then I spot the bottle in Casey's clutches.
"Is that… vodka?! You gave Don vodka?!"
"Hey, he needed ta lighten up! He's gunna work himself ta death Leo, he needs ta relax!" Casey grins.
"Vodka, vodka, it's the best in the world…ka!" A singsong voice echoes out from underneath the coffee table. As I rub my temple, a very stern and disapproving voice rings out.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Shit, it's Splinter!" Casey hisses.
"Daddy!" Don calls out.
"Donatello, what is wrong?"
"Nothing!" He clambers to his feet from underneath the table. "Yanno, you, yesh, you should worry so much daddy-dearest. Don't worry, dum dum dum, be happyyy!" Don flings out his arms wide.
"Raphael, Mr. Jones, no doubt you are the cause of this!"
"C'mon sensei, Don needed ta relax!"
"Yeah, c'mon Splinter, lighten up."
I close my eyes, waiting for the impending carnage.
"Mr. Jones, I bid you goodnight. Raphael, you are in charge of putting Donatello to bed and making sure he does no damage to himself."
"Yes sensei." Raph says, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Uh, same time tomorrow night Raph?" Casey stretches, then sees the look on Splinter's face. "Uh, okay, same time next year!" He quickly grabs his vodka and coat and hastily makes his way out.
"Nooo, Raphy, don't want to go to bed." Don says as Raph lifts the now dizzy turtle.
"Tough luck bro." Raph manages to walk him upstairs.
"Mike, you okay?" I ask my youngest brother. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he nods, grinning manically.
"Whew, yeah, I'm, I'm okay. Night Leo." Mikey pats me on the back before slumping off upstairs, chuckling to himself.
I look over to my father, both paws rested on his walking stick and tail twitching.
"Sorry sensei, I was out and-"
"Silence Leonardo."
I bite nervously at my lip.
'I'm in for it.'
Splinter's tail lays limply on the floor, and his ears twitch. I swear I see the corners of his mouth curl up, and to my surprise, he starts to laugh. Thinking back to Don's actions, I too start to laugh. We stand there for a few moments, father and son, laughing more than we have in the past 10 days, each thinking the same, one thing.
'We need Karm and April more than we know.'