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sunnflowyyr · 2 years

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Pressure. || rise!raph x reader

pairing: rise!raph x reader

warning: spoilers for the rottmnt movie !!!

summary: raph is struggling with his insecurities and the pressure he feels as the eldest sibling, more so after the kraang invasion they barely managed to win. reader finds him alone and comforts him.

author's note: i love all of them, but raph ... i love him so frickin much. mans just needs a hug and i'm here to give it to him (through this fic). also, i'm sorry if there's any errors! i rushed to finish this but i'll be jumping back into editing this when writing is fresh on my mind.

it's the fact that i relate to him as an older sibling for me-

content: angst/comfort, implied fem!reader (she/her pronouns used)

raphael sighs to himself as he looks out upon the city he has sworn to protect; whether it's humans or yokai disguised by magic, he watches them from the shadows and intervenes in dangerous situations to protect them as their warrior. a burden he couldn't imagine facing alone and is thankful he shares them with his family.

his family.

his eyes fall down to the fatigued picture in hand, the crinkled image showing his family on the same rooftop he's standing upon, wide grins across their excited faces. he can hear the laughter in that memory ringing in his ears, missing it the moment it drowns in the city noise around him. the memory calms his aching heart, but it soon turns bittersweet as his eyes gaze back out at the city. bittersweet because of the differences he could spot between the city in the image and the one before him. it was his duty to take care of this city with his brothers, who he almost lost because he wasn't strong enough.

if he had brought them here, would they be different too? scarred by the battle that had almost costed them everything? he could envision the smiles they'd put on their faces, but the thought that their minds would never escape that battle unscathed ...

tears blurred the mutant's vision, choked sobs hidden behind his trembling lip. tears spilled down his cheek and stained the image with his anguish. not only did he fail at protecting this city, but he failed his job as the eldest brother. nothing could change the past, but if he wasn't strong enough to protect his brothers then, how could he now? after it all, he could still feel the kraang crawling in his flesh, that monster's hunger for destruction still etched into his subconscious. what if they didn't lock the kraang away forever? if it came back with a powerful vengeance and destroyed his city, his family, and the life they worked so hard to rebuild? he holds the picture close, tucking his knees to his plastron and sobbing quietly.

overwhelmed by his grief, raph didn't hear someone ascending the ladder to the rooftop, landing with a soft thud. (name) is relieved to have found him, though pauses when she hears shaky sighs and quiet cries. her heart breaks at the realization that it's coming from her beloved turtle, and she approaches slowly before kneeling behind him. she's hesitant to reach out to him, so she just keeps herself an arm's length away to give him some space.

"raph?"

even though her voice barely raises above a whisper, raph still flinches in surprise; he's quick to rub the tears off of his face, sniffling in attempt to compose himself. his guts twist into knots when he feels her soft eyes on him, the thought of seeing her features drawn into worry making his lip tremble. he bites down on it to calm himself, tilting his head just enough to sneak a glance in her direction; though he doesn't meet her eye, choosing to look at the ground behind her as he forces a smile on his face. "angel, what're you doin' here? I thought you were asleep." his voice squeaks during his greeting, failing to keep steady due to how sore his throat was.

"mhm, i woke up after the movie and your brothers' said you went to your room, but i couldn't find you ... so i thought you might be up here." she answers, and his attention is already focused to the city in front of him. she slowly scoots closer, soon at his side as they both take in the view of the city. when she tilts her head after a long silence, she feels another ache shock her body; his skin was raw and tear-stained, his eyes agitated from rubbing and glossy from the inner turmoil brewing in his heart. her eyes wander to his hand, where she spots a familiar image held tightly in his grasp, as if he was terrified to lose that memory. she smiles, reaching over to place a reassuring touch on his arm as she motions to the picture. "i thought we lost that," his attention is drawn to her hand, looking down at the picture. he shakes his head, a small yet genuine smile creeping on his face. "nope, i've kept it this entire time."

"wasn't that april's birthday, when she wanted to watch the sunset?"

"yeah, it was..."

"didn't you get stomped in that game of mario kart too?"

that catches the turtle's attention, his eyes raising to look at that playful grin on her face. he smirks, shaking his head as he's quick to rebuttal; "no, i let you all win only because it was april's birthday," he answers with a raised brow that makes her giggle, and it's the sweetest sound he's ever heard. though she sticks her tongue out in reply. "sure you did, raph."

"okay, be that way; but i don't wanna hear you cryin' when you lose next time!" his challenge makes the both of them laugh, and he shakes his head after the laughter dies down before looking back at the image. the playful jabbing eased some of his nerves, but that fear still made his chest ache. raph knows (name) sees it, though she says nothing as she rubs her hand affectionately against his arm, the touch reassuring on its own and not requiring words to be shared between them. he appreciates the space she gives, not pressuring him to talk but just being there to support him. he was concerned about sharing his burdens to her, though she does nothing but welcome it as she senses his hesitance.

"what's on your mind, teddy bear?"

raph breaks, venting every possible emotion he was possibly living in; his anxiety about the return of the kraang, his grief of failing to protect this city, and how he failed as the eldest of his brothers. how he couldn't protect them or prepare them for this world, and how his weakness almost became their downfall. tears fall somewhere between his rants, yet she never interrupts his rant as he spills out to her in soft cries. they've turned to face each other, her hands holding onto his hand and squeezing gently to comfort him. when he's finished, she leans closer to him with a smile.

"raphael, my love ... you are one of the strongest people i know. your bravery knows no bounds, and you'd sacrifice yourself a million times again before you'd let your brothers go. i've seen that determination in them as i've seen it in you; and that shows just how much you've taught them. it's not your fault that the burden of protecting the world has been handed to you, yet you've fought like hell to carry it so the world didn't have to; and you still continue to do so, despite the struggles you've faced,"

each word melts the turtle, and he looks at her with wide, glossy eyes as she cups his face between her hands and makes him face her.

"there isn't a measurement for how proud your family and i are to have you as a brother, son, and hero. we love you and will support you to the moon and beyond. as for whatever evils we face, we will fight them together as a team. we've always been stronger that way." her conclusion was reached as she leans closer, pressing a gentle kiss against his beak. his eyes are wide open, feeling his heart thump heavily in his chest. tears had stilled themselves during her monologue, but soon resumed as his chest ached at her words.

he pulls her tight against his plastron, winding his arms around her back and embracing her. raph minds his strength and tries not to hurt her, but she wraps her arms around his neck and holds him tighter anyways. he shakes and sniffles, relieved by her heartfelt words as they sit together in silence. when he calms down, he kisses the side of her temple and smiles against her skin.

"(name), you have no idea what that means to me ... thank you."

she grins, pulling away to look up into his eyes and wipe his cheeks with her thumbs.

"of course, raph. i'll be here forever, as long as you want me to be."

which makes him all flustered and gets her laughing. he grins, the love behind his eyes almost sickening as he still holds you close.

"always, angel. always."

even if he's just trying to tease her, the sincerity laced within his loving tone was enough to make her heart skip a million beats.

"good ... so why don't we go back to the lair so i can beat you at mario kart AGAIN?"

"game. on. you are so gonna eat those words, (name)!"

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soft--dragon · 1 year

Text

Returning Familiarities

Set in the 2012 TMNT universe during season 3, much more wholesome than what we were given during Leo's recovery period from the big fight with Shredder

Word Count: 4,006

Warnings: Mentions of post battle injury/trauma

There isn't much tickle content in this one, but it's very wholesome overall :)

The farmhouse was a welcome breath of fresh air from the busy wildness of New York City. The turtles and humans were much more used to screaming cars and crime at every single turn, but here, it was bird song and frog bellows.

Leo found himself relaxing into the location much more once he was supported by a crutch and able to explore it a little. His mood however, wasn't always the best. He often found himself moping or zoning out, unable to do much of anything with his damaged leg and weak body. The lack of training was annoying to say the least, but there was some good that came out of being out of commission.

He'd been able to spend more quality time with his family. Often, Mikey would encourage movie nights and they'd cram around the small TV to watch old cartoons or lame action movies and make fun of them. Leo was content to simply listen to his family, grateful for the fact that they were alive after everything. Heck, he was lucky to still be breathing. He sipped on his water, basking in the comfortable warmth of his friends in the farmhouse.

Casey and Mikey were exchanging little comments throughout the show, earning laughs from everyone else at the jokes - though Leo only really smiled. That was until Mikey said something incredibly out of pocket.

"Do you think Chris Bradford ever realised how bad his name sounded? Like come on, the name reeks of a pompous American kid living in his mom's basement."

There was a sudden splutter, turning everyone's attention to Leo who was putting down a glass and had a hand pressed over his mouth. Before they could ask if he was okay, Leo swallowed his mouthful of water and started laughing.

It was almost comedic how everyone in the room froze, staring at their leader who was in fits of breathy giggles, eyes pressed shut and smiling so wide it looked close to painful. Leo leant back in his seat, his lingering giggles playing with his words as he spoke, "God Mikey, that was awful." He wiped at his eyes, giving his younger brother a warm grin, only to blink at the wide eyed stare the orange clad turtle was giving him.

"What?" He looked at everyone else and seemed to shrink in on himself under their mutual staring contest with him. "What? What's wrong?"

April was the first to get over herself. She smiled gently and shook her head, "Nothing's wrong, Leo," she reassured. "It's just been a while since we heard that."

"Heard what? A joke?"

"No," Donnie's shocked expression had melted into a fond look. "Your laugh."

"...Oh."

Leo wasn't quite sure what to do with that. Sure he'd been out for three months but he'd been awake for weeks now. He'd laughed at some point.

…Right?

The air was growing uncomfortable, and Mikey, ever the one to break the silence, launched into a new tangent about how the chickens were plotting to kill him. That caught Casey off guard and he instantly grabbed onto the new topic.

The attention shifted off of Leo, but he zoned out of Mikey's passionate proclamation of a chicken coop coup. Had he seriously been so damaged in the fight he hadn't laughed in literal months? The others had looked so spellbound at the noise, but Leo had caught the hopeful, soft look in the eyes of his friends too. So that was probably a good sign, right? He hoped so. He didn't want his messed up throat to have changed his laugh, he didn't realise how badly his friends had been waiting to hear it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Throughout the weeks at the farmhouse, Leo let himself drop his 'mandatory' leader profile, letting himself exist without forcing himself to act fine. Not like his family was buying it anyway.

He spent time with Mikey in the kitchen, offering suggestions for recipes and soft words of encouragement when Mikey needed it. Mikey dropped a couple of silly jokes here and there, and it really didn't take long for Leo's sense of humour to show itself as he muffled small chuckles into his hand. Mikey's face lit up with glee at the sounds, making Leo's chest ease a bit. It looked better than the melancholy that had mutually settled around the house. After a while, he let his hand drop from covering his mouth, his soft giggles filling the air. Even if his throat had been messed with, he saw the tension escape Mikey entirely every time his voice was peppered with mirthful titters. He counted it as a win, on both of their parts.

As Mikey stirred the batter in a bowl, Leo read over the recipe his little brother was using, eyes half lidded and body relaxed in the cosy atmosphere of the kitchen. "You really have improved with your cooking, Mike," he mumbled sleepily, "proud of you."

Mikey smiled brighter than the sun, and Leo was sure if they had been mutated with tails that Mikey's would've been wagging a mile a minute.

"Thanks dude, that means a lot!" He beamed. "Come a long way from worm and algae cakes."

Leo chuckled softly. "Those days weren't the worst honestly."

"Yeah, at least in those days I didn't have to try and figure out what human measurements were. They're kinda weird."

Leo's brow furrowed at that. "You do know what the measurements mean, right?"

"Uhhh…"

Leo's eyes went down to the paper he was reading and bit his lip to stop a smile from forming. He needed to be serious right now. "Mikey?"

"Yeah, bro?"

"How much salt did you put in this?"

"Um, one and a half tablespoons? Just like the recipe said."

Leo stared at him, lips pressed together in disbelief. "Mikey. It said one, or just half a teaspoon."

Mikey paused in his quick whisking to look at Leo. "For real?"

Leo gave a single bemused nod. "I’m not kidding."

Mikey blinked then shrugged. "Welp," he hummed. "Can't be any saltier than Donnie after losing a sparring match."

Leo actually snorted at that, slapping a hand over his mouth but Mikey already heard it, bouncing on his toes in glee. "Awww dude!"

"Shush, that didn't happen, Mikey-"

"That was so cute! You haven’t snorted since we were kids!"

"Mikey be quiet-!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hanging out with Donnie and Casey in the barn was much calmer than Leo expected. Well, calm for them at least. Where he expected them to butt heads and exchange insults every few minutes, they tossed each other tools and made light hearted jokes. Leo sat to the side on a hay bale, not wanting to ruin the atmosphere they'd clearly had been working in for a while now. It was surprising how much people could mature over three months while you're out cold. But Donnie and Casey pulled him into their little discussions, asking for opinions or ideas even though Leo knew next to nothing about their projects. It was nice, surprisingly, just existing with them. However, with their combined humour and general attitudes, Leo was pretty sure he was going to die.

"G-Guys stop plehease I cahan't breathe-" he wheezed, a hand pressed over his stomach which was starting to ache with how much he'd been laughing.

Casey, in a similar state, was slumped against his car project, dirty hand pressed to his forehead as he barked with laughter. "I'm not messing with you, Leo! Donnie literally tried to eat a freaking table he was so tired! And that wasn't even the worst of it!"

"Oh, be quiet, Jones," Donnie grinned, throwing a rag at the boy who caught it dutifully. "You're gonna ruin my reputation as the only sane one on the team."

"Donnie, when we were kids you made a bomb to get Raph back for calling you a nerd!" Leo gasped through his snickers, wiping at his eyes that had gathered moisture.

Casey swung around to Donnie. "You did WHAT?!"

Leo didn't notice Donnie and Casey keeping a tally chart of times they made him laugh - kind of a competition to see who could get him to laugh more. Donnie won in the end, but Casey blamed that on the fact that they grew up together. Little cheater knew Leo's sense of humour from birth. The winner didn't matter though. Seeing Leo throw his head back in a fit of bright cackles at Casey's screams of disbelief was worth so much more than bragging rights.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

April had been trying to train more with her tessen and telepathic abilities, and as much as Leo wanted to spar with her, there really wasn't much he could do in terms of physical stuff. Instead, he did stretches with her, - it helped his aches anyway so it was a win win - coached her through katas' and improved things where he could. His small corrections did seem to help her, the smile she sent his way when she did something perfectly never failed to make Leo smile back with an enthusiastic thumbs up. He tried to ignore the pang in his chest from having to sit on the side lines, wanting more than anything to be up on his feet and training too.

Her telepathic training however, was much more fun for the pair of them. Leo, while expected to be the mature one, was cut some slack while recovering. And because of that, no one really expected him to take that slackened expectation and run with it. He and April were a rather surprisingly chaotic duo.

As training, they'd play harmless pranks on the others. Using April's telekinesis to move objects to scare people, and making Mikey's water balloons blow up in his hands before he could throw them. Mikey swore the house was haunted by a ‘KillJoy Ghost’ who’s afterlife mission was to thwart Doctor Prankenstein. They just let him believe it, it made for some rather entertaining segments of Mikey trying to recreate Ghost Busters to catch the KillJoy Ghost. They would come clean after Mikey eventually broke something in the future - which surprisingly hadn’t happened yet. They also used April’s powers to float Donnie's tools when he was up at ungodly hours, doing this to trick him into thinking he was hallucinating from lack of sleep - therefore forcing him take a nap. Things like that were counted as training so April could have better control of her psychic abilities. However, there were times when Leo kind of wished she didn't have them.

They'd been collecting eggs from the chicken coop while the birds themselves tried to eat Mikey's ankles a fair distance away. Leo had finished his side of the coop and put down the egg basket, flicking his eyes to his youngest brother to make sure the chickens weren't really trying to kill him. The chicken coop coup may actually have been legit. Something soft and fluffy brushed against the back of his neck and Leo yelped, girly and high pitched. He slapped a hand over the sensitive skin, spinning to look at April who was still tending to the chicken eggs. He looked back again, for a sign of a leaf of something that could've brushed against him. The same sensation flicked over the back of his knees, a squeak pulling from the turtle and looking down to see what on earth it was. A floating chicken feather.

"April." He looked at her with a half-hearted glare.

The girl giggled, peeking up with a smile. "Sorry, I couldn't resist it." Her eyes then took on a playful look. "Didn't know you were ticklish, Leo."

Leo raised a hand in warning. "Don't you dare." It sounded weak even to him.

April apparently did dare because the feather suddenly rushed up to dance along the underside of his chin and neck once more. High pitched giggles leapt out of Leo instantly, shoulders shooting up to protect the sensitive skin the best he could. April cooed under her breath as the turtle squirmed in place, trying to stop his laughter but ultimately failing miserably.

Leo tried to swat the pesky feather away, but April had improved with her abilities and sent it zooming to another location before Leo’s hand was even close to it. “Aprihihil! Quhihiit ihihit!” He giggled, hunching in on himself and swinging at the feather whenever it fell into his sightlines.

“I’m not doing anything,” April replied innocently, swirling the feather around Leo’s open armpit and grinning when he practically squealed. The big bad leader of the Ninja Turtles was defeated by a feather. It was pretty cute.

It was when she brushed along his knees and ankles that his body finally collapsed under the sensations. Leo curled into a ball on the grass, giggling and squeaking like the child he was as the feather circled him like a vulture, occasionally swooping in to tickle the turtle. April was internally fawning over Leo’s endearing reactions, not having expected the guy to be this ticklish. It was lucky most of the boys were inside lest Leo die of embarrassment from succumbing to this playful barrage, at least Mikey was too far away to hear them.

She didn't tickle him for too long, backing down after a minute or two to let him breathe. Leo stayed huddled on the ground as he rubbed at the attacked spots and tried to stop his lingering titters, though they seemed permanently intertwined with his voice box now. When sufficiently calmed down, he sat up and pointed at April with a faux annoyed glare.

"Once I'm at full strength again,” he promised playfully, “I am so going to get you back."

April laughed and leaned against the coop. "We'll see, Leo," she grinned, catching the feather that had returned to her. "I may be more powerful by then, could probably take on all five of you boys."

Leo puffed out an amused breath. "Probably," he admitted. Then his smile got evil as a thought crossed his mind. "Think we could get away with doing that to Raph as training next time?"

April's answering grin was a recipe for disaster.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raph had put himself in charge of Leo's recovery back to full strength. At first, Leo was incredibly disheartened as he could barely walk a few metres without needing a breather, often snarling venom at his own body for betraying him. Raph however, wasn't at all condescending or brash, instead at Leo’s side with a steady hand and confidence that the fatigue wouldn't be forever. True to his word, with Raph's frequent encouragement and training, Leo was on his feet far faster than he expected, forgoing the crutch when he could, even if Donnie disapproved. Raph would die before he admitted it, but seeing Leo in such excitement when he could walk farther made his chest warm with pride. His brother was stubborn as a bull, the recovery was expected, maybe not in such a short time frame, but expected all the same.

Something Raph had insisted on was getting them to go on small hikes or walks through the woods, taking alternate routes each time for different terrain, but never straying far enough that they’d get lost. You only make that mistake once. Their necks still twinged every time they thought about April’s killer pinch and lecture on getting home safely. She certainly filled the role of ‘Overprotective Sibling’, Leo was honestly impressed he could almost be outdone. Almost.

The pair were doing another trek through the forest together, conversing to fill the bird song speckled woodlands with a little more noise. There was no sign of Bigfoot and that hunter that got enamoured with the cryptid, and Leo was grateful that they’d disappeared. That whole situation was weird to begin with, but the jokes that came from the experience were almost worth the nightmare fuel.

“Okay, but imagine if she and Donnie actually did like each other,” Raph swung a stick he’d found in front of him. “Imagine the kids that would’ve come from that relationship.”

“No thanks,” Leo shuddered. “Just be glad it wasn’t some kind of mutant naked mole rat or something. I don’t think I could’ve handled that.”

“Can’t be any more different from Casey,” Raph chuckled, earning an amused snort from his brother and an eye roll. “No, no I’m serious Leo, think about it.”

“I don’t want to think about it-”

“Too bad, I’m making you think about it.” Raph was suddenly in Leo’s space, grinning widely and punching at his shoulders gently. “A massive naked mole rat, right? Just give it shaggy black hair and a hockey stick, boom, Casey Jones.”

“Stop. Stop. That’s just weird-” Leo almost wheezed at the thought, pushing away Raph and trying to walk away, but Raph kept jumping in front of him and didn’t stop poking the bear.

“They have similar behaviour too! They get so violent when something outside of their colony tries to get close - I saw a documentary with Donnie about it - and Casey is just like that! Think of how many times he’s attacked random strangers just because they tried to hurt any of us.”

Leo was struggling to keep himself together. He forced himself not to laugh at Raph’s sudden hyperfixation on comparing Casey to a naked mole rat of all things as he answered. “Are you honestly suggesting that Casey is secretly a mole man?”

“With how much he digs himself into holes then yeah, I’d say that our resident, anger ridden, hockey loving friend is a naked mole rat.”

Leo couldn’t stop the laugh that burst free from him, determinedly trying to put as much space between himself and his red coded brother just so he could escape this conspiracy conversation.

“Hey! I wasn’t done! I wanna give you more examples!”

“I don’t want to hear them.”

“You laughed!”

Well, that was true, but Leo didn’t want to egg Raph on about this lest he actually try to see if Casey was a mole man. “It was the wind.”

“The wind-? Are you saying that I’m not funny?! No. No, no, no. Leo, come back here-”

Leo was already walking as fast as he could manage deeper into the woods, careful to mind roots and rocks so he didn’t trip. He heard Raph chuckling from behind him and his footsteps getting closer.

“Those naked mole rats use scents to identify each other, and we already know Casey knows what we smell like from a mile off because of the sewers. Plus he definitely knows what April smells like cause of his crush on her-”

“I’m not listening to this.”

“They also use high pitched screams to tell others that there’s danger. Have you heard his screaming before? You gotta admit that it’s accurate.”

“Not listening!”

“And hey, I just remembered that most male naked mole rats work for most of their lives and don’t breed, which is accurate for Casey, right?”

That one made Leo choke on air and almost stumble. “Oh my god, Raph! That is so wrong!” Leo couldn’t stop the giggles that fell from him as he shook his head, trying to push the thought out of his mind.

“But I’m right about this!”

“I don’t want to think about Casey’s body count!”

“In murder or getting lai-?”

Leo swung around and grappled to put Raph in a chokehold. “Stop talking about it!” Leo pleaded through barely kept back laughter, his smile matching Raph’s grin as they tussled in the middle of the forest.

“Never! I’ll make you see the truth!”

“You’re such an idiot!”

Raph managed to hook his arm around Leo’s good leg and force him to the ground, rolling onto his shell to put his brother in the same chokehold that Leo had just attempted.

A surprised squawk was wrangled out of Leo. “Hey!”’

“I’m just trying to open your eyes man.”

Leo’s chest was warm as laughter spilled free from his mouth, his heart lighter than ever as he playfully wrestled with his brother. He roughly dug his elbow into Raph’s plastron, getting a grunt from the teenager and making him lose his grip. Leo used it to force Raph off of him and pin him face down on the grass.

“Stop talking about cursed Casey concepts!” He ordered, pressing Raph’s arm to his carapace and holding it there.

Raph tried to kick at Leo from his face down position, but he couldn’t reach. Sometimes he was grateful for being a short turtle, this was not one of those times. It took fifteen seconds of his arm being bent awkwardly that he finally smacked the ground twice to yield. Leo let go immediately and lay down by Raph on the leaves, their shoulders almost touching. Raph grumbled light-heartedly and kept his face in the grass so he didn’t have to face any gloating. Leo chuckled softly and patted his brother’s shell, partially a condolence for the loss and a comforting gesture. The birds continued to sing unbothered above the pair, making the forest feel beautifully serene. Raph breathed in deeply. As much as he enjoyed crime fighting, it was actually kinda nice being away from the constant noise and battles. Maybe when they defeated Shredder they could come back here for holidays? That sounded nice.

“...I actually got you.”

The awed words stirred Raph from his musings to look at Leo in surprise. Leo was grinning up at the canopy, a spark in his eyes that hadn’t been seen for a long time. He found himself smiling as he rolled onto his back too and punched his brother’s arm affectionately. “Told you you’d be able to take me down again soon enough.”

Leo chuckled. “Yeah.” He then scoffed and pressed the skin between his eyes with his thumb and index fingers, a disbelieving smile on his face as he muttered. “And I can’t believe it was over Casey Jones being a mutant naked mole rat.”

Raph’s laughter rang through the forest, Leo’s following a moment after as they lay side by side in the grass, marvelling at the ridiculousness of their prior conversation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

April had written in a diary for months since their arrival at the Farm House, and she could confidently say that she now had a favourite section of the journal. It was when Leo had recovered so far that he had forgone the crutches for a solid week and could do something he hadn’t been able to since he woke up.

"Guys! Look at this!"

Leo was laughing as he ran, jumping small distances and being able to continue running. The boys and their humans cheered him on, whooping and clapping as he spun in the air and regained his footing.

"Yes Leo!" Mikey ecstatically pumped his fists into the air, looking close to joining Leo in his sprint with how much he was bouncing up and down on the spot.

Leo spun on his heel and boosted straight for his family, arms outstretched and mouth open in a wide grin. In a smooth motion, he swept Mikey into his arms and spun him around in a tight hug, laughing into his shoulder in pure glee.

"I was running, guys! I was running!" He gasped, eyes squinting with the force of his smile.

"We saw!" April grinned proudly, moving to wrap her arms around the pair of laughing brothers.

The others swarmed around them, joining the hug and grinning at Leo's lingering giggles, the excitement in his chest making his heart feel like it was pounding a mile a minute, or that may have been the exercise aftermath. Either way, Leo didn't care. Wrapped up in the arms of his family, he tipped his head back and whooped loudly in victorious glee, his leg not even twinging in the slightest. His family shared a soft look at the oldest turtle brother, his laughter contagious and relieving to hear unbridled, so carefree.

Finally, after months of a slow recovery, it seemed to be turning around for them all.

#my fanfic #tmnt 12 #tmnt #fanfic #this is mainly just fluff #i desperately need leo to get more hugs #he went through a lot #fluff #tmnt tickle #2012 leo #2012 donnie #2012 mikey #2012 raph #2012 april o'neil #2012 casey jones

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