"Nice try, Leo! How are you so slow, even WITH the power of portals?!" Donnie boasted at Leo's fail attempted at grabbing his mask off the training dummy. I sat off to the side with Master Splinter and observed their abilities for the first time. No wonder crime has gone down recently!
"Stay focused, Purple! Blue, don't let your ego get the best of you!"
"Yes, Master Splinter!" They both yelled.
Splinter would tell me the techniques that they are performing to help provide me context for when I begin my training. They look like they know what they are doing from someone inexperienced in the ways of self-defense but apparently, they are still a bit sloppy or out of focus. Splinter would encourage or advise them as they played on. My focus was on everyone, but I could not help but keep my eyes trained on Donnie as he continued to stay on the defensive. He was completely invested in the matter at hand though I think he would take quick glances at me. It is taking a lot of self-restraints for me to not cheer for him solely. I would keep the cheers inside my head for the time being.
"Here I come, baby!" Mikey uses his acrobat like abilities to move swiftly past Raph, tying him up with his weapon in the process. The big guy ends up falling hard. Raph tried to break free, but he doesn't want to accidently break the chains. Mikey grabs Raph's mask dummy to seal his victory as he stands on top of the snapper's shell.
"Ugh...good game Mikey." He smiles through his groan as Mikey lets him go and helps him up. He looks over at Leo and Donnie, still having their scrimmage. "Geez, they are still at it? I have never seen Donnie-or Leo for that matter, so serious about this."
"Oh? This isn't the norm for them?" I replied.
"Nah, one of them eventually gets bored and can kind of half-asses it, usually Donnie so he can get back to his inventions. Guess he is putting on a show this time." He grins at me, making me slightly flustered at his assumption.
Splinter furrows his brow in agitation. "Well-WHATEVER is his motivation, they need to hurry it up! Soapy Treadmill comes on in ten minutes! PURPLE! BLUE! Wrap it up, if someone does not get the others mask in less than ten minutes, you both will take care of me when I get rat flu again!"
Donnie shudders at the thought, I can only assume that it must be as disgusting as it sounds. This makes him change his stance to be on the offensive as he tries to close in the space between him and Leo. They clash their weapons and begin to have a power struggle.
"Ha! You actually think you can best me Donnie? I beat you almost EVERYTIME!"
"Keyword my dear brother being, 'ALMOST'!'" He uses Leo weight and force against him, causing him to fall on the floor. Donnie takes advantage while he is down and strikes him away from Leo's dummy mask, leaving it unprotected. He runs up to the mask and snatched it with force. "Loud VICTORIOUS Laugh! I believe that is 3-7 dear brother of mine, I am catching up to you!"
"Oh really?" Donnie turns around and his proud face droops. "Cause the way I see it, I WON!" Leo held the purple mask in his hand, with the help of his portal.
"Ok, seriously, how is this fair?! Leo can just teleport everywhere!"
Raph looks over at me and addresses my concern. "It's ok, Y/N. We let him do it only twice a session, so he doesn't rely on it too much. Also, we can't expect our enemies to play fair."
"That...makes sense actually."
"However, as I see it, it was a TIE! You guys grab the masks at the same time!" Mikey exclaimed, and he was right.
"A TIE?! Uh, this slider does not do ties! I want a tie breaker!"
"Ugh, Leo, how about another day? Frankly, I am tired and want to focus on my inventions before our next mission. Plus, I think Y/N got enough of what to expect."
"Fine...we will settle it OUTSIDE of training." Donnie just playfully rolls his eyes at Leo and pushes past him, walking in my direction.
"So, what did you think? Seems like I can hold my own just fine." He was right, he was quite skilled with his Tech-bo. It was kind of sexy at how determined he can be while in action. I bit my bottom lip just thinking about it.
"Yes, yes, you all did very well, now I must get going to my show. Y/N, if I don't see you before you leave tomorrow, stay safe. Purple will guide you to and from our home from now on, until you are more than capable of handling yourself."
As much as I don't like being treated like such a child, I agreed to his terms.
"Good, we will start with the basics and then try to find your style-"
"WILL SHE GET A COOL WEAPON LIKE US, POPS?!" Mikey yelled so loud that it echoed through all the tunnels. Splinter covered his mouth.
"Orange...I am standing, RIGHT HERE. As far as a weapon is concerned, we can start her off with a few back-ups that I have stored. However, that is up to her grasp on basic fighting abilities. Now, I must go!" He runs of to catch his shows, leaving the turtles and I far behind.
"Well, as I said, I need to catch up on my inventions. Y/N, you don't have to come but I would not mind your company in the slightest." That was such a tempting offer, but I need to play along and try to keep distance.
"I think I will try to get to know your brothers a bit more, since I will be visiting more often!" Mikey rushes in for hug, surprising me a bit but it was welcomed. Leo begins to chime in.
"Well, I can easily keep you company Y/N, my brother is a bit dull in the excitement department. I can tell you all of the times that I accomplished missions!"
"TIME. The ONE time."
"Geez Raph, FINE. I still helped those other times though." Raph just rolls his eyes at Leo while walking away, Mikey unleashes me and then suddenly gives a serious look.
"Um, y/n, do you have a moment to talk?" I was bit taken back by his tone. This was slightly unexpected, but I nodded. "Good! Hey guys, I am going to steal her for a bit! We will catch you later!" He waved his brothers off while walking me to a private area, leaving Donnie and Leo behind.
'Oh, ok then. Have a good talk!" Donnie gave us a small smile until we were out of view. Have a good talk? That is not suspicious at all. I kept wondering what Mikey would want from me until we made it to his room. It was completely covered in color; I took a moment to look at all of the illustrations before Mikey asked for my attention.
"So, I know this is coming from left field, but I wanted to talk about it in private."
"Um, sure Mikey, what is on your mind?"
"It's not about what is on my mind, but yours. Donnie told me what happened that night after he came back from your place a several weeks ago. He asked me to possibly talk to you about it. I am not sure if you still want to, but I am here." That's right, I told Donnie it was ok to ask him for help, but I didn't know he was so young at the time. I couldn't talk about this with him.
"It's ok Mikey, I am in a better place now, the guy is gone, and I am safe-"
"I get that, but you seem quick to defense when someone makes you feel 'weak'. I think it stems a lot from that night and you just haven't realized it yet. You had a vulnerable experience and if my brother wasn't there, it would have been worse. You live alone so you don't have anyone to rely on but yourself and if you feel like you can't take care of yourself then you get scared and have a fight/flight response. That is typically normal but, in your case, I don't think you really dealt with the trauma." Woah, ok, a lot to unpack there. How does this young box turtle know what I am feeling so quickly? Where did he gain such insight to being with? He is only a year younger than Donnie but still, you wouldn't think he would have such high emotional intelligence.
"Uh, I don't really know how to respond to all of that. I admit, the idea of being looked down on and feeling...small, sets me off. I have been more irritable than usual too. You saw that at lunch."
"Yeah, that's my point. If you want to be able to help us, you got to focus on yourself first. Your mental health needs to heal. You haven't had the time too really think about it and it ends up lashing out at others who just want you to be safe. Like with Donnie." I lowered my head in shame and embarrassment, reflecting what happened at lunch. Mikey is right, I need to re-invent my mentality if I want to be more effective.
"You nailed me hard, Mikey."
"When we are together like this, call me Dr. Feelings. If you want/need a safe haven to vent and work through things than I am your man."
"Oh! Donnie told me about that persona of yours, what about Dr. Delicate Touch."
"Dr. Delicate Touch feels NOTHING." Woah, ok then. That must have been what Donnie meant with that personality.
"Noted. Is this what you and Donnie were talking about before we started eating? It seemed like Donnie knew what to expect when we left."
"He gave me a bit of a reminder, yeah, he is really concerned about you. It did kind of hurt to see how y'all acted earlier. However, he did also tell me about his tactic about keeping his distance and while I can kind of agree with him; he still went about it wrong. You guys should not be walking on eggshells with each other. I know my brother, as smart as he is, when it comes to things like this, he is the 'dum-dum'. My brother's and I support you guys, but we just don't want anyone to get hurt in the process. No more fighting unless it is with training, ok?" He looks at me with earnest and holds my hand platonically.
"Okay, Mi- I mean, Dr. Feelings."
"Great! Since it is your last day with us until next week, I figured we could just hangout today! Maybe we can invite April so you can meet her!"
"Sounds like a great time, I hope she likes me. You guys have known her for a while, huh?"
"Oh yeah! Pretty much since we were green beans!"
"I know this might seem like an awkward or weird question but has April and Donnie ever...you know?"
"Uh...OH! Oh, not really, I think there was SOMETHING there at one point, but they decided to be friends. I can't honestly tell you how it is now, Donnie keeps certain things private."
"Oh, ok...makes sense."
"Don't worry about it! Dee, CLEARLY likes you. My brother wouldn't play around with someone's heart like that."
"Thanks, that does make me feel a bit better."
"That is what I do, baby! I will send her the invite to come over tonight! Until then, let's just have a good time and get to know each other better!" Mikey seems super excited but for some reason, a part of me wasn't sure about meeting April, especially if her and Donnie have SOME kind of history together. All I can do is hope that nothing awkward happens tonight.