Title: Why Raphie Hates Bugs
Day: Febuwhump 2024 Day 9
Prompt: Bees
Fandom: TMNT 2024
Word Count:
Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl
Rating: T
Characters: Raphael, Splinter
Warning: 1807
Summary: All Raphie wants to do is feel like he's helping his family. So, when he finds a hive of bees in the sewers, well, he knows that bees make honey, and they all like honey. It can't be that hard to get some of it, right?
Notes: So, just as a note, don't jump in water if bees are ever chasing you. From what I've read, they'll wait for you to surface. Raphie can do this, because he's a turtle. However, if you're near things like shrubbery or bushes, that are close together or densely packed, do run through them. It'll scrape a lot of the bees off of you. That I learned when my grandfather was attacked by bees once, and he learned it from watching a cow do it when he was a boy. Also, you can't just use any smoke to smoke out bees. Some kinds, usually ones from more synthetic materials, will actually agitate the bees more. You need more natural materials to help them calm.
Why Raphie Hates Bugs
Everyone knew that Donnie always made the coolest things. He found broken toys in the trash and fixed them. He made the water and the stove and the fridge work. He figured out how to hide their home. He found and fixed the lights and the TV and the radio. He even fixed that wrestling lamp for Raph and figured out how to use all the small bits of crayons they found to make new crayons. He found cool looking bugs and could tell them all sorts of things about them, putting them in cages to watch them for a while. He was good at finding and making things.
Leo was good at finding things, too. He wasn't good at finding things in the same way Donnie was, but he was good at finding what they were looking for. He always found a lot of stuff when he went out with Father, and it was usually things that they were looking for, too! He was just good at it.
Mikey wasn't good at finding things, but he was good at making things. He didn't make things like Donnie made things, but he still made things. He would help make things comfortable or make up stories when the books they had were damaged. He was always making up silly things, and playing around, and he made things cheerful.
Raphie was glad that his brothers could do all of those things! It was good for them all and good for the family! But sometimes it made Raphie feel a little bad. Donnie was good at making them new things. Leo was good at finding things Father was looking for. Mikey was good at making things to make people happy. But Raphie couldn't figure out what he was good at. His brothers were much better at finding and making things.
At least, they were.
One thing Raphie was good at, was exploring. He liked to go out and explore the sewers. Sometimes he found neat things, but most of the time it was just him walking around. He probably went further than Father wanted him to, but if Father didn't know, well, Raphie wasn't going to tell him.
And this time, it let him find something good.
Food wasn't something that was easy for them to get. Sure, Father managed to find enough most of the time, especially when he went to the places that gave food to people. But there were always things that they could use or that they wanted. One thing that was a favorite with all of them was honey. They loved honey and putting it on things. It was sweet and it made things taste better! But it wasn't easy to get.
Raphie wasn't stupid, though. He'd listened to Donnie talk enough and seen enough cartoons that he knew that bees made honey. And he knew that they stored the honey in their hive. What he hadn't known was that beehives didn't look like they looked on cartoons. At least, he hadn't known that until he had heard some buzzing in the sewers near Central Park and gone to look. In a broken pipe, near a drain, he had seen something he hadn't ever thought he'd see—a beehive.
Raphie didn't like bugs the same way that Donnie or Mikey did. He didn't want to play with them, or pick them up, but he didn't mind if they were around, and they could be neat to look at when they were in Donnie's cages. And even though he knew that bees could sting, he figured if he was careful, then he could stop and look for a little bit. So, he had. And then he came back to watch it again and again. Part of him had thought that maybe he should show Donnie, because Donnie would love this, but another part of him liked keeping this just for himself.
The thought of keeping it a secret had just grown stronger when he realized that he could get them all honey from the beehive. If he did that, then he'd be the coolest, because he'd bring them all something that they loved.
Of course, doing that wasn't easy. Raphie wasn't sure how to do it, to be honest. He knew that bees could attack people. But he also knew that people had to get the bees away somehow. So, he'd looked through Donnie's encyclopedias and watched shows with Donnie about it. That was how he had learned that beekeepers used smoke to make the bees sleepy and then they just took the honey.
Of course, they also used special suits, and Raphie didn't have that. But he did have a hat and some gloves, and he knew how to make a fire and smoke! He'd just have to be quick, because if the humans saw smoke coming out of the sewers, then they might send someone to figure out why.
It seemed a foolproof plan in his mind, and all Raphie had to do was put it into action.
Of course, it wasn't easy to get away from his family, especially with little brothers that liked to follow him. So, he ended up waiting about a week before he could go back to the beehive. Making sure no one was following him, Raphie retrieved his bag of supplies from where he had stashed it and made his way over to where he knew the beehive was.
He stopped before he got there and pulled on the floppy hat and the gloves that had two of the fingers tied back so they fit better. And then he got out the jar that had the paper and cloth to burn in it, and the matches.
Carefully he opened the jar and got out a match. He got a little closer to the beehive, trying not to worry too much about the bees that were now flying a little closer to him. It took him a time or two, but he struck the match and lit the stuff in the jar on fire. It took it a minute to really start burning, and the smoke smelled kinda sharp, but he had it! Now he just had to get it to the hive!
Moving forward with his smoking jar, and trying to ignore the buzzing bees around him, Raphie moved closer to the hive, holding the smoking jar up. It was right next to the entrance to the hive, and Raphie grinned. Yes! This was going to work! He'd be able to get the honey for his family and then he'd be the coolest!
Or, at least that's what he thought.
It didn't seem to be working right. Something was wrong. The bees were supposed to be calm. But they weren't. In fact, they were buzzing more and starting to swoop at him. Raphie felt something sharp, and he yelped as a bee stung him, nearly dropping the jar. That—that wasn't supposed to happen!
Suddenly, another bee landed on him and stung him, and then another, and another. Raphie dropped the smoking jar, letting out a cry. This wasn't what was supposed to happen! He turned to run, but the bees chased him, some already on him, and he swiped at them with his gloved hands. They didn't let up, though, chasing him, landing on him, stinging him. Raphie cried, and yelled for his father, even though he knew there was no way for his father to hear him from here.
Raphie finally came to a bigger sewer pipe, one that had water flowing through it, and he leapt into the water, holding his breath and completely submerging himself. He slapped at his skin under the water, trying to get the bees that were still on him off, and let the current carry him away.
When Raphie finally emerged, there were no more bees on him or flying around. He pulled himself out of the stream, crying. He hurt! The stings hurt! They were all over him, and they hurt, and his head felt funny! He was, at least, a little closer to the lair, and, crying and stumbling, he limped towards home. It felt like it took even longer to get home than it had been to stay under the water, and when he got there, he stumbled in, crying loudly for his father.
Things got a little blurry after that, but he could remember Father rushing up to him and calling out instructions to his brothers, being made to take some sort of little pink pills, and Father pulling lots of something out of his skin with tweezers.
Raphie woke up later, in Father's bed, with Father sitting nearby. He didn't remember coming here, but he didn't mind it so much.
He sniffed. "Father?" he called out.
Father's attention snapped over to him. "Raphael?" he said, moving closer. "Raphael, how do you feel?"
Raphie felt his lip tremble and his eyes tear up. "It hurts," he whimpered.
Father's face softened, and he laid a gentle hand on Raphie's head. "I am sure, my son. Tell me what happened. How did you get stung so badly?"
Raphie teared up. "I—I'm sorry!" he said, starting to cry. "I just wanted to get us some honey! I thought I did it right! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Father reached down and pulled Raphie into his lap. "Shh, shh, my son, what are you talking about?"
Raphie curled into his father's hold and through tears and with a trembling voice, told him what he had tried to do. Father held him close, listening and rubbing a gentle hand on his shell. When Raphie finished, Father sighed, and pressed his nose to Raphie's head.
"Oh, Raphael. While I appreciate what you did, please know that you don't have to go to such lengths. I promise you, your brothers and I love you even without the honey, and you are very helpful to this family."
"I just wanted to make everyone happy and do something cool for everyone," Raphie sniffed. "I just wanted to help."
"I know my son. I know," Splinter said, pressing a kiss to Raphie's head. "But you already do more than you know, my son. There's no need to do more."
Raphie wasn't satisfied with that, though. "Stupid bees!" he said, curling his hands into his father's robe. "All I wanted was some honey! All they had to do was share some of it!"
"I know, my son, I know," Father reassured him.
Raphie buried his face in his father and cried. It wasn't fair! It wasn't! Bees were stupid, and so were all other bugs! And Raphie didn't ever want to get near them ever, ever again! He decided right then and right there—he hated bugs, and nothing was ever gonna change his mind about that!