Chapter Text
It’s not entirely unusual for Leonardo’s phone to blow up with messages while he’s out for work.
In fact, it’s pretty common for his younger brothers to spam the ever living daylights out of the family group chat with memes they find. Leo has learned to simply ignore those, only glancing at the screen of his phone whenever it vibrates with a new notification to see if it’s worth responding to or not (not like he ever understands the deep fried “Insert Text Here” pictures Mikey sends, but he digresses); other than that, the chat is also mainly used to share news, ask about things, and discuss who the perpetrator of the latest prank is, as one is wont to do – nothing that Leo needs to concern himself with while he’s working, anyway. Sometimes he will butt in to break up the equivalent of a cyber-fight before Donnie can get his hands on the Gold Codes and escalate the brawl to nuclear warfare, but he usually stays out of his brothers’ business, and they know to straight up call him if it’s about something time-sensitive that needs his immediate attention.
Point is, Leo is used to his phone vibrating relentlessly in his back pocket worse than Mikey on caffeine, and he’s also used to leaving it be, just like his youngest brother. Besides, he thinks it’s pretty unethical using his phone while at work, though his coworkers know of his family situation and are always quick to reassure him whenever he has to step out to answer a call.
Today is no different: they’ve been renovating their late adoptive father’s dojo, upgrading it with new training mats and equipment that won’t cause immediate death if breathed on the wrong way; their honorary brother Casey has been helping with assembling the Ikea furniture Leo ordered a while back to decorate the place, generally having a blast (read: threatening to stab someone with a screwdriver) trying to decipher the instructions. They get so carried away in their work that they oftentimes even stay until the late hours of the night, which is a testament to how they feel about being bested by some Swedish propaganda.
It’s close to being noon when Leo decides to take a break. Casey left not too long ago for the day, so Leo is all by himself right now; he’ll be leaving shortly too, but first there’s some things he wants to look over to make sure everything’s in order, and then it’s home sweet home for him as well.
As he makes his way to the break room, he takes out his phone to check the group chat.
9:27 – Raphiel: someone forgot to change the toilet paper AGAIIN
9:29 – angelo: 
9:29 – Raphiel: im going to beat You to a pulp mikey
10:11 – don(t): me and mikey are going to the mall yall need sum
10:34 – Raphiel: get me some more protein powder. ill pay u later
10:34 – Raphiel: and more neapolitan ice cream too
10:34 – don(t): sure thing twinnie :D ^w^
10:35 – angelo: isnt that like a slur
10:35 – Raphiel: anything that comes out of donnies mouth can be a slur
10:35 – angelo:
10:35 – don(t): you are both terrible brothers don’t ever talk to me ever again.
10:36 – Raphiel: sure thing twinnie :)
10:36 – don(t): literally die
10:42 – angelo: wait didn’t leo say we were out of eggs too?
10:42 – don(t): why are you texting me mikey you are literally standing right next to me
10:42 – angelo: idk why are you replyign donnie? 🤨
10:43 – don(t): Touché little brother.
Leo snorts, grabbing a capped water bottle and sitting down at a small table. Donnie and Mikey are probably already home by now, but Leo goes to reply anyway, typing in a confirmation that they, indeed, were out of eggs after yesterday’s breakfast-turned-food-fight fiasco, when the text bubbles pop up on his screen.
He stops typing, waiting for whoever it is to finish and send the message.
11:49 – don(t): so there may be a bit of a situation at home.
Cool, not ominous at all Donatello. Sure works wonders for Leo’s anxiety levels. Though he reasons it shouldn’t be something too bad, considering he’s not being directly called. Still, Leo raises a brow, waiting a few minutes for his brother to continue, but no more bubbles appear. He takes a sip of water, letting the cool liquid sit in his mouth for a moment, and starts typing a new message.
11:52 – Cpt. Nardo: Care to elaborate?
The response is immediate.
11:52 – don(t): no
Leo blinks down stupidly at his phone, like the answer will change if he stares long enough. It doesn’t. He supposes he should count himself lucky he didn’t get a meme back as a reply. “Alright then.”
So maybe he won’t be dillydallying at the dojo for much longer after all. Leo sighs, putting his phone screen down on the table and massaging his temple with his free hand, trying to postpone the inevitable headache he’s absolutely bound to gain by simple association to his younger brothers.
Leo isn’t even two steps in their apartment that he’s already regretting everything.
“Close the door! Close the door!” comes the shrill voice of his baby brother.
Wide-eyed, Leo is quick to comply. “Jesus, okay.” He slowly removes his shoes, definitely taking his sweet time delaying his unjust fate, and then very hesitantly makes his way to the living room, where all the ruckus seems to be coming from.
At first glance, nothing seems amiss: the room is intact with no signs of any on-going fires, Mikey is standing very suspiciously in the middle of the room with a noticeable bulge in the front of his eye-catching orange sweater, nervously looking everywhere but at Leonardo, and Donnie is sitting behind the kitchen peninsula, clicking away at his computer and generally uncaring of everything else around him. Raph is nowhere to be seen, but other than that, everything is as it should be.
That is, until he hears it.
Leo narrows his eyes at no one in particular, though Mikey sure is sweating up a storm in that weirdly shaped sweater of his. “Was that-?”
“No, absolutely not,” Mikey cuts him off, wide-eyed, but his voice alone isn’t enough to cover the sound of a cat meowing.
As if on cue, Raph comes sprinting in the living room, chasing a small cat that’s holding something familiar in its mouth, followed closely by three other kittens. “Quick, catch that cat! It stole my wallet!” Just as quickly as he came barging in, he’s running back towards their rooms, hot on the cats’ tails. Leo’s brain automatically imagines Yakety Sax playing in the background and he tries his best not to cry.
Caught with his hands in the cookie jar, Mikey finally uncurls from around his sweater bulge and carefully extracts a fifth, smaller, brown tabby kitten, cuddling it close to his chest. “I may have, accidentally, sort of adopted five cats..?” he says, trying to go for a smile and only failing terribly at it.
Leo really, really tries not to cry. “Can someone please explain what’s going on here?”
His youngest brother opens his mouth to respond.
“Actually, you’re unreliable in your explanations so I’ll take it from here,” Donnie interjects before Mikey even has a chance to talk, ignoring the indignant look the youngest sends his way. “We were leaving the mall when Mikey heard something coming from the parking lot. Turns out some jackass thought it would be a smart idea to abandon five kittens in a cardboard box in the middle of nowhere.”
There’s no missing the poorly thinly veiled venom in Donnie’s words. It’s not often Leo gets to witness the normally docile twin get heated over something. “And you decided to take them home,” he asks, though it’s really more of a statement than an actual question.
Donnie shrugs. “We couldn’t leave them there,” he says, turning back to his computer. “Besides, I’m already looking for adoption ads online and houses that can foster them. We’re not actually keeping them, despite what Michael says.”
“But look at her!” Mikey exclaims, thrusting the kitten in Leo’s face. “Kitty is so nice, she deserves the world and I would die for her.”
Donnie sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Of course you named it already,” he says, slightly annoyed. “I warned you, Mikey. That’s how you get attached and then you will be sad when you can’t keep the cat.”
Mikey sniffs, turning his head away. “I don’t talk to snitches,” he says.
“Snitches?” Donnie bristles. His left eye is twitching like he wants to strangle something, preferably someone little-brother-shaped. “You’re talking like Leo wasn’t going to notice five cats running around our apartment the moment he stepped in!”
Somewhere from down the hallway, there’s a crash followed by a high yelp.
Leo really wishes he’d stayed at the dojo, after all.
“Alright, we can try talking to our landlord, see what she has to say,” he says placatingly. He pretends he doesn’t see Donnie’s eye-roll, focusing on the way his youngest brother’s face lights up like the mall’s Christmas tree in the middle of October. “But if Miss Campbell says no, then it’s a no.”
Donnie snorts, going back to click at his keyboard. “Miss Campbell loves you, Leo. She won’t say no to you.”
Mikey gasps, smiling big and wide. He throws himself at Leo, kitten smudged between them in the hug and accepting the new position like a champ. “Thank you thank you thank you!”
And Leo chuckles despite himself, hugging his youngest brother back. “Don’t thank me yet kiddo,” he says, trying not to think of all the future vet visits they’re going to have to schedule for this cat, because Donnie is right: Miss Campbell is absolutely smitten by Leo’s charm and his single-parent disposition. Then he looks down at Mikey, raising a brow. “Though, Kitty? Is that the name you’re going to go with?”
Mikey shrugs, stepping back. “It’s short for Ice Cream Kitty.”
Suddenly, Donnie whips around to stare at Mikey, sucking in a slow, harsh breath. “You did not feed it the Neapolitan ice cream.”
The silence that follows is telling enough. It doesn’t help that Mikey has gone back to looking everywhere but his siblings, like the burnt stain on the kitchen wall from the infamous “Leo Tried To Make Toast” Incident is somehow more interesting.
Leo wonders how Raph is going to take the news he will have to share his beloved ice cream with somebody else other than himself, once he manages to get his wallet back.