Chapter Text
They gently tossed a bag of chips his way. "We're watching Jupiter Jim and filling up on chips." Donnie said.
"I don't want to." He sobbed.
"Shut up." They told him, "You're being annoying."
"I'm feeling emotions, you wouldn't understand." He said, throwing the chips back at Donnie's face.
"I'm a person- turtle- too. I just don't get all worked up over a stupid boy." They scoffed, pushing him over so they could sit on his messy bed. "I went out to buy you blue Doritos, at least try."
He look up from his mess of pillows and blankets miserably. "I can't."
"Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm sad. Miss boy."
"It's just some guy! Why do you care so much?"
"He was beautiful and gay! You remember how I would imagine the guy of my dreams when we were little?"
"Brown-eyed, long light hair, pretty tall but not too tall?"
"Literally the exact same guy, just real!"
"How did no one realize you were gay..."
"Not just that, I broke his nose, we sang Lady Gaga-"
"You've told me the story," They groaned, "like, a million times."
"I don't know how to deal with this!" He cried, flopping into Donnie's lap. "How do I do this Donnie?"
"I mean, you don't have to see them ever again, so..."
"But I do! I swear I do! I'll die without him." Leo said, shaking his head. "I'll die and I'll be an old, dry, crumpled up corpse. No boy in sight."
"I'd go to your funeral."
"Blegh! You wouldn't look good in all black. Too edgy."
"I'd wear purple to your funeral! I'm not giving into societal pressure and trends."
Leo grumbled, chuckling just a little bit. "Why are we talking about my funeral? This is dumb."
"But you're not crying anymore."
"Yeah you win, whatever." He laughed, sitting up and readjusting so he was pressed into Donnie's side. "Movie."
"Man of many words, you are."
Leo was out cold before long. He hadn't slept in many days, he was too hung up on everything else. Donnie stayed up, humming the songs and patting their twins smooth head absently.
Leo was going back out the next day. He was meeting with April, they were going to a sandwich shop. Not a very good one, but it was nearby. Donnie suddenly didn't want to stay home without him.
They were spontaneously acutely aware of their enlarged cranium.
They grabbed Leo's cloaking brooch off of his nightstand and ran out to their lab. They scanned and studied it for hours, then made one of their own. By 4:41 A.M, they had a brand new cloaking brooch- purple, of course- and they were just about to put it on when Leo walked in.
"That was disorienting, Donnie. I woke up and weren't there."
He was standing in the doorway, already holding a cup of coffee. "I had a vision." They called back and grinned. "You wanna see?"
"Do I ever!" He beamed, practically jumping to their side.
"This'll either work, or fry my brains. 50/50."
"Wait, what-"
They activated it before Leo could even do anything. It worked, surprisingly, but Leo was too caught up on their screaming. They were screaming like someone was trying to kill them.
"Donnie, Donnie! Why are you yelling?"
Donnie abruptly stopped their cries of horror when they realized they weren't dying. "Ah. So... human me." They grumbled awkwardly.
They looked down at their hands, felt their nose, blinked a few times and made a noise somewhere between a scoff and a sigh.
"You don't like it, do you?"
"Are you kidding? Of course I don't like it!" They admitted quickly, tossing the brooch away.
"Told ya."
"You didn't tell me shit!"
"Well we were all thinkin' it."
"Well I wanna go sandwich shopping with you today without having to hide!" they groaned, reluctantly pinning the brooch back on. "I can do this."
"Wh- I never invited you out for sandwiches! That's me and April's thing. You already hang out with April enough." Leo changed the subject, crossing his arms.
"Don't- don't stand like that, Nardo, you look gay."
"I am gay! Don't change the topic."
"Whatever. I'm going and I'll pay." Donnie ordered, turning their nose upward. "I'll even give you a piggyback ride, free of charge."
"Deal!" Leo agreed eagerly.
-
Usagi scrambled up from his bed at the sound of his alarm. They couldn't find their phone in the darkness of their room, so the alarm kept ringing... and ringing... and eventually they got pissed and knocked over their lamp. Then of course he found his phone at 2% between his mattress and the floor.
This was going to be a terrific day!
The water wasn't working, the air conditioner hasn't been working, and the ceiling is leaking once more. Still going better than usual.
Scratch that, they just rolled down the stairs. And the old lady that lived beneath him watched him roll past as she took her cat outside.
Embarrassing!
They showed up to work, deadbeat as always. No one would expect a minimum wage worker at a mediocre sandwich shop to be very happy about their situation. Especially not in the middle of New York.
Unless...
The boy you're fated to meet comes tumbling through the doorway. He's smiling, laughing, telling stories without a care in the world. He hasn't even looked in Usagi's direction yet. He's with two others, one who looks exactly like him.
A twin?
"Leo?" He called out nervously. That got his attention, and he watched as the realization hit. "Leo!"
"Yuichi?"
Usagi slid over the counter and ran up to him, not sure if they should hug him or not. Leo didn't hesitate though. "You were right Leo! And you brought back my flannel!"
It hadn't been on purpose, Leo just wore it everywhere now. "Yuichi you have no clue how beat up I've been, I thought I'd never see you again!"
Quickly, their hug was forced apart. "Excuse me, I don't believe we've met, so get your dirty mitts offa my brother." Leo's lookalike interjected, arms crossed and gaze intense.
"Oh boy." Leo said as he shook his head, looking away in embarrassment.
They paid no mind, continuing on with, "Donatello, they/them, introduce yourself, lowly peasant."
He was shooting nervous glances at Leo, who just shook his head as if there was nothing that could be done. "I'm Usagi... uhm, Yuichi? I-I'm I-"
"You seem pretty nervous, hm?" Donnie added, putting their hands to their hips and leaning over them.
"What? No!"
"Donnie, leave 'em alone." April finally stepped in. "Sorry about them. I'm April! She/her. Leo's told us all about you. He just won't shut up!"
"April..." Leo whined impatiently.
"I am starving! Could we maybe speed this up?" Donnie interrupted once more, causing Usagi to sigh and assume his place behind the counter once more.
The place was practically empty, and their managers were never around nor did they care what happened. So he sat at the table with the trio, laughing and talking happily.
Except for Donnie.
Donnie didn't like them one bit. They thought he looked stupid, and spoke strange, and smiled weird- the list could go on a ways. To be honest, Leo could do better. They'd been expecting a tall, well built guy with long silky white hair, not just some dude. Basically they expected what Leo had told them.
Which was wrong!
"So Leonardo and Donatello, hm? Who's next? Vincet?"
"Raphael and Michelangelo." Donnie answered monotonously as they looked at cat memes on their phone.
"So there's four of you?"
"Well Mikey's the youngest. He's little. Donnie and I are twins, and Raph's... Raph." Leo answered, hissing as he described the eldest.
"And I could barely handle my little sister... jeez."
The group continued their prolonged chatter for a while before setting off. Usagi made sure to get Leo's number before he left now that they had a phone. He'd stolen it off of some old guy, but he hadn't any need for one anyway so what did it matter?
For weeks it went on. Leo never spent a minute off of his phone, and nor did Usagi. Donnie considered smashing both of them with their hammer, but they knew there'd be consequences. Usagi nearly got fired for all the time spent stuck in their screen.
Then he popped the question.
Leo had been in the hidden city, fighting some petty thieves with his brothers. If not for Mikey, he would've gotten his head ripped clean off. He was looking down at his phone trying to fight with one hand and fathom the text he'd just received.
'Wanna be my bf?'
"Leo!" Raph yelled over at him as the fight roared on, "Keep your head up!"
He decided it was an issue for future Leo.
Future Leo was not very excited about it! He ran around the lair like a headless chicken, asking everyone for advice.
Donnie suggested that Leo, "Shut up and lemme kill him. They're obviously not good enough for you."
Raph wasn't much help either, "You like him, right? Why don't you just say yes?"
But Mikey came in clutch like always. "Gimme your phone." He said, snatching it out of Leo's hands.
"Wait!"
He read what he was typing aloud, "'Hey Usagi, this is Leo's older and cooler bro Mikey! He's too nervous but he says he'd be totally cool with it. Thanks!' And... sent!"
Leo stood there with his jaw dropped halfway to the floor. "Mikey! What have you done?"
"Uhm, I saved your hide, that's what."
"But Yuichi doesn't know about this," he motioned to himself, "or this" then the lair, "or any of this! Do you have any idea what you've d-"
"He's typing."
"Give it here!" He snatched his phone back, swiping at the back of Mikey's head. Then he thrust it back into his little brother's face "Wait, I can't read it! Tell me what it says."
"Oh no, this is bad." He said in a grim voice.
Leo felt his heart drop, like it had stopped beating. "What?" He muttered brokenly.
"I'm kidding. They said that's great and they wanna meet you at the park in 10 minutes."
The dizziness in Leo's head grew exponentially. He had a boyfriend. A real boyfriend, not just a cardboard cutout of Jupiter Jim that Mikey made for him.
He sprinted out of the lair, nearly forgetting his brooch on the way.
That damn brooch.
He was kind of starting to hate it.
Leo made it to the park to find Usagi sitting on a bench. His hands were folded politely across his lap, but he looked nervous. They glanced up and met Leo's eyes, calling him the next over their slight distance. "Hey! Leo, come here, sit with me."
He did as told, watching Usagi struggle to decide if he should put his arm around Leo or not. Leo did it for them. "So... boyfriends, hm?"
"Yeah! Yeah..." Usagi trailed off, face growing red. "I uh, wanted to talk to you."
"Go for it."
"We both have... secrets. It's obvious. I just wanted to ask if that was going to be a problem before we actually... y'know."
Leo nodded with a far-off expression. He got it. "I would never do anything to hurt you, Yuichi."
"And I, you."
"I know."
Leo turned to Usagi and pressed his nose into his cheek. It was a little thing he did to show affection. His brothers were used to it, as was April, and he'd even done it to Usagi before. Still, they blushed so easily at the simple action. It seemed to mean more now, even if it was the same old thing.
Once he came back around, Usagi whispered, "It's cute when you do that."
"Don't call me cute!" Leo scoffed, sounding offended.
"But you are!" They defended, laughing loudly. Once they both subsided, Usagi asked boldly, "Can I kiss you? Or is it-"
"Too soon."
"Figured, I just... I want to, at some point. Can that happen?"
"It'll happen." Leo assured, placing his hand on Usagi's.
-
For three weeks this went on. Leo would come home, flick off his cloaking brooch, and jump into any one of his brother's rooms. There he would squawk about the latest news from his days with Usagi. Each date with him was described in such detail that Donnie often felt like they were a third wheel and Raph would try not to recoil in disgust at the descriptiveness he was providing.
Then one day, Leo thought it was time.
Time to show Usagi his true colors (green).