Hello! Thanks for the reviews. This chapter is kinda short, I apologize. Well, enjoy and review.
Steam floats away from my hot beverage, dispersing into the air, tickling my snout. I inhale deeply, finding the sweet smell of hot chocolate to be the most comforting thing in the world; well, after the boy sitting beside me.
Leonardo caresses his own mug, holding it close to his face as he breathes in the warmth. He does this every time he holds a hot decrease—whether it be tea, coffee, or hot chocolate. I find it pretty adorable.
The blanket wrapped around me blocks out the cold. It tangles around me like a cocoon, locking me in its arms. Yet, I can still feel the cold drafts come through the cracks when I shift my position.
"Leo," I whisper, not wanting to break the silence, "Do you want to share the blanket?"
My brother turns his gaze from his cup to me. Those sapphire orbs are the only thing to compete with the darkness, they shine through it, creating a doorway for light to walk through. "Only if you don't mind."
I can't suppress a sigh of frustration at his response. He always responds like this, it's as if he's incapable of answering a yes or no question.
Yet, I crawl closer to him, happy that I can once again lean my head on his shoulder. He pulls one end of the blanket, tying it around himself. We huddle together in the battle of keeping warm.
As turtles, heat is essential to our survival. Our cold blood comes to an abut or stop during freezing whether. Hence the reason winter—and the months leading up to it—have always been such a struggle to us. And although the sewers provide some extra humidity, it isn't much.
Within the last few years, Donatello has managed to create heat lamps for me and my brothers. He hands them over our beds that way we can bask while we sleep. But that's just about where the luxury ends. The UV light on the lamps takes up much power, making it hard to run other utilities while they are turned on and in use. This is the exact reason why we only use them at night, so we don't drain the light power we have during the day.
Luckily, we do have other anesthetics. Hoodies, coats, mittens, sweaters, hats, scarves, and blankets are kept on us at all times. It helps to push the cold away, and, as a bonus, is comfortable.
"Mmmm. Thank you, Raphie," Leo murmurs with a purr. He nuzzles his snout into my neck, his inhales and exhales warming my skin some. I'm too busy leaning into his touch to worry about the petty nick name, too busy thinking of just how grateful I am to have him here with me, here for me.
"Now, now, don't get too snugly," I whisper playfully against his ear.
Chuckling, Leonardo obeys, toning it down. Though, he doesn't withdraw his snout from pressing against my neck, and when he scoots forward, ready to hold me in a tight embrace, I take both our hot chocolates and set them on the nightstand.
I lay down, my head meeting the pillow beside Leonardo's. My brother doesn't waste time when it comes to snuggling into my neck, and he swings his left leg over, hiding it between my legs. The two of us buried under a sheet of thick blankets, I hold him closer to me, his body heating radiating onto mine. Suddenly, the basking lights turn on.
Both mine and Leonardo's hear lamps are positioned over Leo's bed, considering the two of us sleep here together on a nightly basis. With more than one lamp poised above me, basking is like paradise.
It doesn't take long before I'm practically sweating, but I don't mind it much, I'm comfortable like this. With my body pressed up to Leo's, in a nestle of blankets. I can barely keep my eyes open, and yet I'm not tired. I feel like I'm a cloud, floating through the sky, a blissful clump of air. His breaths, steady and calm, are the wind, blowing swiftly. I've never felt something so right, something so comfortable. It's nice, knowing that I have someone I can rely on.
I press a firm kiss to the crown of my brother's head, whispering softly, "Good night."
The whisper that's heaved back is soft, sounding more like a hum against the thick silence that surrounds us, hugging as tightly as the blankets.
I'm out like a light, holding my brother, warmth filling me, feeling closer to salvation than I ever have. In fact, I might as well be on its door step.
Clanks of forks against plates echo throughout the kitchen, mixing in with the sweet buzz of morning conversation perfectly. My mug steams as Michelangelo delights me with a refilling of coffee. I smile gratefully at my brother, raising my cup to him. Beside me, Leonardo shoves forkful of hash browns into his mouth while chatting with Don, who looms over the daily paper.
"Says here that I local pet store has just received a new shipment of baby turtles, I wonder if we were in the paper?" Donatello takes a small sip of his black coffee, going on to read the next article.
"It'd be nice to be recognized even as 'for sale turtles' rather than a 'disturbance on elm street.'" I mutter sarcastically. Leo nudges me, a wide smirk on his face.
"Hey, what if we adopted those turtles? We'd have baby sisters and brothers!" Mikey exclaims, hugging himself. His face his lit like a lantern, set aglow by the thought of a larger family.
I chuckle a response, but add a few words, "No way Splinter'd allow that. We're already trouble enough."
The room goes dead, and my three brothers look down, all at once. Sorrow fills their murky eyes, like fog against a lake.
I bite my lip. Things like this slip a lot. Even after a month of being here, it's still hard to remember that he's no longer our father, just a rodent who sleeps in the room behind the main room.
"I mean-" I start, but never finish.
"You don't have to correct yourself, Raph. You're right, it's always just gonna be the four of us. No one else," Leonardo talks in a reminder, and I'm not so sure who it's pointed at. From the way he stares at his hands in his lap, shaking his head, a dead look in his sapphire eyes, I assume it's for himself. Though, I could use the words myself.
"Yeah, but, we still have Casey. And April," I point out. Of course we have the two of them, they're apart of the group, the family. Casey and I are best buds, same goes for Mikey. And although Donnie glares at Casey a lot, and Leonardo rarely speaks to him, I know that they both care for Case. And then there's April. My girlfriend, the love of my life. She's definitely apart of our family.
Right?
I guess not, cause what Leonardo says next shatters my heart, splintering my soul.
"Raph, April was cheating on you. With Casey."
...
On my knees
Dim lighted room
Thoughts free flow try to consume
Myself in this
I'm not faithless
Just paranoid of getting lost or that I might lose
Ignorance is bliss cherish it
Pretty neighborhoods
You learn too much to hold
Believe it not
And fight the tears
With pretty smiles and lies
About the times
A year goes by
And I can't talk about it
The times weren't right
And I couldn't talk about i
...