Chapter Text
Milo was a calm kid. Most would probably describe him as a serene person, chill even. But sometimes… sometimes things made him angry. This particular morning was no exception. In place of the normally peaceful tones of his morning alarm waking him up, he instead received a wake up call via his sister’s foot smacking him in the face. Groaning in pain, Milo blinked his eyes open to his utter revulsion at the discovery of the method of his awakening, shoving away Mia’s leg in disgust.
“Ughh! Gross, Mia!” Milo complained, loud enough to wake a normal person. But Mia remained asleep as always, nothing short of a foghorn could wake her up on a good day. Milo looked down and rolled his eyes at his sister’s corpse-like state. She was flipped the wrong way on the bed and was holding the… entire blanket balled up into a big bundle where her arms gripped it tight against her body. Her rumbling open-mouthed snores were almost as loud as the yellow and turquoise pajama set that practically glowed in the darkness of his room, already too bright for Milo’s eyes. He scooted off the bed and stood with a stretch and poked at Mia’s head, speaking in a slightly louder voice, “ Ya know , for someone who says they have nightmares you sleep like a stupid rock!”
Earning nothing other than an extra gross choking snore, he sighed and gave up. Opening the metallic subway car door with a little more effort than he probably needed to, he winced at the loud grating sound from his careless action. He heard Mia’s voice whine softly and he felt guilt flood his chest. A quick look back over his shoulder into his room made him frown. Without hesitating, he quietly stepped into the dark car and grabbed one of his softer blankets, placing it over his sister gently. A half smile lit his face as he saw her pinched expression turn into her usual one of carefree bliss.
Closing the door slowly this time, he padded his way up the abandoned subway steps and headed towards the kitchen. Milo found the kitchen empty and cold. The frown started to make his way back onto his face, unhappy at the lack of company and conveniently made breakfast. He shook his head and took a deep breath, just like Uncle Raph had taught him. He counted to 10 while he tried to think positive. Since Mom and Dad weren't up, he could sneak some of his favorite cereal!
He went into stealth mode and reached back to grip the hood of his unicorn onesie, dramatically throwing it over his head. Giggling, he grabbed a chair and climbed up onto the counter to open the cabinet that held the special chocolatey ‘weekend’ cereal box. He gazed up in the dim light of the kitchen and searched for his prize. Scrunching up his nose at the boxes and boxes of grandpa’s nasty branflakes, he eventually found what he was looking for.
Someone had put it on the highest shelf. Straining on his tippy toes, he grabbed the corner of the cardboard with the tips of his fingers. Just as he began to pull the box towards him, the sudden illumination of the kitchen lights startled him and he lost his balance, tumbling off the counter and down towards the floor.
Milo let out a strangled gasp as the pit of his stomach flew to his throat as he fell. Closing his eyes reflexively, he flinched in surprise as he felt his momentum stop suddenly. Peeking his eyes open, he looked up and saw the surprised red-crescented expression of his dad.
“Whoa there kiddo~ what are you doin’?”
Milo blinked rapidly, taking pinched breaths as he looked over to the reason he was over here in the first place. The brightly colored box lay on the kitchen floor, chocolate flakes and marshmallows strewn about the tiles. Bright anger and embarrassment flooded his face with a hot blush and he brought his clenched fists to press into his eyes in frustration.
“Ahggg! NOTHING! I’m doing nothing ! Okay? Everything… everything freakin’ sucks !” Milo gasped sharply and moved his hands that covered his eyes to slap over his mouth. With wide teary eyes, he looked up to Leo and apologized immediately against his hands, “ OhmygoshI’msosorrydadIdidn’tmeantoswear! ”
Leo did his best not to laugh at his son. But Milo’s earnest expression and cute little unicorn onesie caught him off guard and he snorted lightly before he could catch himself. Quickly scooping him up, Leo gave him a few spirited tosses and reveled in the immediate change on Milo’s face as he pealed out into loud giggles.
“Woah-ahahaha! Dad!~ Ahahaha! Cut it out!~” Milo’s mood instantly soared, his dad could throw him so high! He could almost touch the ceiling!
“Yeah? Everything sucks ? Not anymore! You’re flying bud! Flying’s the best!”
Leo just grinned and kept throwing him until he started to see another change on his face. The green of his pistachio skin started to get a little more intense and his eyes grew wide, “Um dad! Yeah - cut it out! I’m gonna-!”
Leo caught him a final time and froze, anticipating dodging any possible projectiles. “You okay bud?”
Milo just screwed his eyes shut and swallowed, throwing his dad a toothy grin and a thumbs up.
“Nice job! Man you definitely got your motion sickness from your mom. Alright so let’s get breakfast going then shall we?” Leo hoisted him up slowly and Milo climbed onto his shoulders, resting his chin and hands on his dad’s head.
“But I spilled the cereal Dad… It’s all gone.” Milo nearly whimpered, resting his cheek on Leo’s head. Grabbing a spoon from a drawer, Leo made a small portal underneath the box on the floor, catching it and setting it down on the counter. He looked into it and saw that it was in fact, pretty much empty.
“Hm. Well bud let’s see what else we got.” Leo reached out to open the cabinet, knowing full well that there was probably not much other than Splinter’s fiber regulating crap. “Ya know if you put a ton of sugar on grape nuts they’re actually… not… bad… what the-” Leo and Milo both gaped at the cabinet in confusion.
The cupboard was filled with boxes of the same sugary cereal brand that Milo dropped, every box replaced with Milo’s favorite breakfast food. Blinking in curiosity, Leo grabbed a box and shook it. It wasn’t new, and it had already been opened and half eaten. Shaking his head, Leo made a mental note to figure this out when he was more conscious.
“Um… okay! Weekend cereal it is! Just don’t brag to your sister, you know how she gets when she has this stuff in the morning.” Milo let out a cheer and they both ate their bowls of cereal happily together. Leo regretted it later however, the sugar crash hit him hard and he joined Milo for his afternoon nap.
…..
“Ugh… UGhGHHhhhhhh… UUUUGHHHHHHHHH~!” The echoes of Mia’s bored sighs traveled down the endless tunnels leading off from the garage. The smooth sound of rolling skateboard wheels joined the chorus of her complaining as she did laps around the turtle tank. She blew a big bubble of the gum in her mouth and giggled to herself as she popped it with her finger, earning her another sound to add to the melody of her suffering.
Yin’s gentle voice chimed over from the small temporary painting studio in the corner of the room, “Sweetheart, if you’re that bored go find something to actually do . I can’t imagine skateboarding around in a circle is very exciting. Grab a canvas and join me! It’ll be fun!”
“Ughhh but mom!” Mia slowed to a stop and sat down on her board, scooting it over towards her mom in the corner. “I suck at painting! You’ve seen it! You thought my drawing of Dad was a fish! ” Mia whined disparagingly.
“ What? I love that drawing! There is a reason why I have it framed you know!”
“Yeah, because Dad laughs his ass off every time he sees it.”
“Heh heh, yeah he does!” Yin said with a fond smile.
Mia just sighed and rolled towards her mother to rest her chin on her smock-covered leg, peeking up at her canvas. “Mm. That’s really pretty Momma.”
“Thanks little bud~” She leaned down and pecked a quick kiss on the top of her head and continued working. “I know you know what I’m about to say and I can practically hear your eyes rolling,” Mia was indeed rolling them, “but it’s not about if your art is good or not. Creation isn’t a competition, it’s something you do for you. You don’t have to be so hard on yourself all the time. You don’t need to be the best at everything you do.” Yin’s soft words settled in Mia’s chest, but didn’t take hold. The memories of her near endless moments of screwups wouldn’t let her take them to heart.
“...pff I’ll settle for being mediocre at anything for a start…” Mia mumbled bitterly.
“What was that?”
“Nothing! Ya know what-” Mia quickly stood up and re-mounted her skateboard with new-found energy and took off, “I’ve thought of something to do~!”
“Mia! Don’t go bothering him too much, he just got out of training with Uncle Mikey - aaaand she’s gone.” Yin let out a light sigh and turned back to her easel, lightly shaking her head and giggling to herself. “It really did look like a fish.”
.....
Here is a link to the comic dub I made to see what happens next...