Work Text:
It's maybe half an hour past closing time when Hueso's paperwork gets rudely interrupted by a loud crash heard from the main dining room. The skeleton yokai sighs and wishes he was surprised but at this point the equipment of his restaurant gets damaged at least twice a week. It doesn't usually happen this late but if the continuous "shit"s muttered under the intruder's breath are anything to go by, Hueso isn't in any serious danger. That is unless said intruder decides to drag him into their own conflict that surely has nothing to do with Hueso himself.
The skeleton gets up from his chair, abandoning his work to check how bad the damage was. And maybe to see if his unexpected visitor was safe as well. But mostly to assess the damage. He makes his way to the crime scene (breaking and entering is still a crime even if done with the use of a portal) and he's not exactly surprised to see a certain red-eared slider hastily picking up one of the two chairs he knocked over. Hueso must admit, Leo's not the stealthiest guy he's ever met, especially for a ninja.
"Pepino," he draws the turtle's attention from the chairs to himself, to which Leo tries his absolute dandest to compose himself and look casual.
"Hey, if it isn't my favorite Bone Man in the world!" the slider greets him, not planning to acknowledge the fact that Hueso most definitely saw the mess Leo made.
Hueso turns the light on and takes a better look at the teenager in front of him. He doesn't seem to be hurt, which is a good sign, nor does he look like he's in life threatening danger. If anything he's probably just a little guilty over barging in like that and additionally knocking over the chairs.
"May I know what brings you here?" Hueso asks and after giving it more thought adds, "and where are your brothers? Don't tell me you've lost them again."
"What? No, nothing of the sorts," Leo assures, moving past Hueso to happily invite himself into the skeleton's office and continues, "they're safe and sound at home."
Hueso's eyes follow Leo's every step, watching as the teenager inspects the various pictures hanged on the corridor walls as he slowly makes his way towards the office door.
"Why the unannounced visit, then?" he inquires, growing a little impatient. Leo isn't acting particularly weird but it is a bit unusual for him to be here this late seemingly with no good reason and it's starting to bother Hueso a little more than he'd be content with. Which ideally would be not at all. But it isn't.
"Oh, you know, just wanted to..." Leo turns to face him and trails off, trying to come up with something to say, "hang."
"To... hang?" Hueso repeats after the teen and gets a simple nod in reply. "Here, alone, in my restaurant, well past closing time?"
"Yes...?" Leo says, not sounding very convinced by his own reasoning but it doesn't look like he's going to reveal the actual motivations behind his visit, even if he does hear how ridiculous he sounds.
"You know, Pepino, your excuses are usually much better but for my own sake I'll let it slide," Hueso gives up and passes Leo to enter his office and finally finish his paperwork to go home. "Have fun 'hanging' here alone. Goodnight."
For a while Leo is quiet and Hueso almost manages to close the door before the slider's voice stops him.
"Wait! Do you need, like, help or something?" Leo asks, looking like he desperately needs something to do. "Maybe with cleaning? Or... Well, actually, cleaning is all I can really offer."
Hueso takes a deep breath, realizing this night is not gonna be one of the short and easy ones. Not with Leo who evidently has a lot on his mind and tries whatever he can to escape it.
"No, I don't need any help, Leo," he replies politely and upon seeing the teen's face drop adds, "Do you?"
Leo freezes in his spot, earning a pointed look from the skeleton yokai, to which he sighs and finally gives in.
"Fine, yes, I do need some help," he admits and follows Hueso into his office, "but nothing too bad! Just some advice."
Hueso watches as Leo takes a seat on the edge of his desk. "Pepino, are you sure I'm the right person to be giving you advice? Don't you have a father for that?"
Leo looks down on his lap for a second, trying to hide the puzzled look on his face before he looks up again. "Yeah, well, he's kind of the issue."
"Is he alright?" Hueso worries and the terrapin quickly goes to wave his hands in protest.
"He's fine," Leo says, deciding that Splinter being upset over of the terrible romcom drama he's been watching this week probably isn't what the skeleton is asking about. "I just need to consult someone who's a dad, but not my dad."
"Well, then what is it?" Hueso prods, getting slightly impatient. Leo clearly needs to get something off his chest and Hueso would rather get it over with sooner than later.
Leo's walls drop, demonstrated by the loud sigh he lets out. He opens his mouth and closes it again before he finally speaks up, "Okay, so you know how I'm a certified men enjoyer?"
Hueso gives the teenager a blank stare, not sure if he's getting this right. "A what now?"
Leo feels his stomach drop as anxiety crawls through his body, settling somewhere around his chest cavity, making him painfully aware of his own heartbeat. He was so sure that Hueso already knew about his preferences, he didn't even think about the possibility of the man having something against it. He's terrified now but he really doesn't want to show it so he decides to test his luck and pray that Hueso isn't actually homophobic.
"A homosexual," Leo rephrases with all the fake confidence he can muster at the moment. It isn't exactly a lot but he deems it enough for it not to look like he's about to grab his sword and portal his way out of this one. Which is precisely what he feels like doing.
"No, not really," Hueso replies calmly. "I haven't felt the need to contemplate your love life before."
Leo lets out a breath he didn't notice he's been holding since he closed his mouth. "Oh, right, I just assumed you knew since I'm not exactly subtle about it. I definitely wasn't with the whole Don Suave thing."
Hueso shrugs and goes to type something on his computer, the quiet clicking of the keyboard filling the room. "That's the entire point of the Don Suave charm."
"Yeah, but we didn't even make any eye contact, I barely looked at you guys!" Leo reasons, ready to get into a pointless argument about a very unimportant detail, as he often does.
Luckily Hueso puts an end to their discussion before it even gets a chance to really happen, "Where is this going, Pepino?"
The silence that fills the room after this question is weirdly thick and heavy, crushing Leo with its weight. He suddenly feels stupid for coming here. He really could've just come with this to Mikey or Raph, or even Donnie! But on the other hand, asking them for advice on this would require them knowing and so far Leo was doing a terrible job at filling them in. He just couldn't bring himself to open his mouth every time he's tried to come out. Which was part of the problem and the main reason he ended up here, at Run of the Mill, over half an hour after it's closed, sitting at the edge of Hueso's desk in his office. Leo sighs for the third time this evening.
"Señor Hueso, I haven't told anyone yet," he confesses and expectantly looks at the skeleton, who, up until now, has been patiently waiting for Leo to gather his thoughts.
"And...?" he encourages Leo to elaborate.
"And dad's started to crack jokes about marrying us off to some 'young ladies', and I swear to god," Leo gets up and starts pacing around the room, no longer weighed down by anxiety, "every single time I have to use all my willpower not to tell him right then and there."
Leo pauses for a second and spins around to face Hueso once again before he continues his rant, "Because I'm not stupid, right? Like I know that's one of the worst times to act on impulse but, man, do I want to just shout it right in his face."
"And what's stopping you?" Hueso asks, not getting what the teen's problem is. "Leonardo, you don't think your father could-"
"No! No, he wouldn't disown me," Leo cuts in and then quietly adds, "I think."
Hueso's nonexistent heart aches at that. From the turtles' stories their father didn't seem the greatest at parenting but it sounded like he loves them a lot, albeit his mistakes as a dad. Leo's lack of confidence in his words conveys the fear of losing that love and Hueso feels terrible upon finally understanding where the slider is coming from. He doesn't even know what to say to comfort him but Leo saves him by speaking up again.
"It's just... How does one go about telling something like this to their family? I don't want to just barge in and shout 'Hi, I'm gay!'" he says, sitting back on the desk, "I know I'm loud and obnoxious but even I have some limits."
"Start with your brothers since they actually know your father," Hueso turns towards the teen, abandoning his work for a moment, "I'm sure they'll be of help. Definitely more than I could ever be."
Leo doesn't say anything for a while after that, the thoughts running through his head are very apparent in the way his brows knit together. Hueso gives him time and goes back to his computer, almost startling when the terrapin finally speaks up.
"I can't," he admits, "I don't think they'll have a problem with it but I couldn't take it if they did."
Hueso's boney hand lands on Leo's shoulder shortly after this statement, announcing the coming reassurance, "I don't know your father, Pepino, but I do know your brothers and I'm quite confident that they'll need more than your orientation to stop loving you. You're good kids, Leonardo, all four of you."
Leo blinks aggressively, trying to get rid of the tears welling up in his eyes and he gets up again with newfound hope swelling in his chest. He exhales through the nose, "Right, if anything goes wrong I'll just play it off as a joke. I'm good at jokes."
"Well, I suppose that's one way of doing it," Hueso comments, happy that Leo is back to his enthusiastic self but not exactly sure if he could call his need for a backup plan a success with this whole parent-figuring thing.
Leo puts his hand on the handle of his odachi but he doesn't move it any further, glancing at Hueso once again, "Thanks for the talk, Bone Man. See you later?"
"To be frank I'd prefer it if you didn't come here later than this," Hueso says with a deadpan face, to which Leo rolls his eyes but smiles briefly anyway and finally draws out his sword to create a portal with a few swift slices through the air, miraculously avoiding the wallpaper.
"Goodnight, Leonardo. And good luck."
"Night, Señor Hueso," the slider replies and disappears into the bright blue portal, allowing Hueso to get back to the overdue paperwork.
***
Leo does not have a good night. He can't sleep. Which isn't anything unusual, as he's been dealing with insomnia for as long as he can remember. Splinter told him that even as a child he was always the most trouble to put to bed, with Donnie being a close second. Which is why throughout his life Leo would often find himself in Donnie's lab in the middle of the night, both of them unable to fall asleep. And he would probably do it this time as well – Donnie was definitely awake, Leo could hear various noises coming from the lab in the silence of the night – however sleep-deprived Leo had a habit of doing a very poor job at masking his emotions and keeping his mouth shut. In other words – one pointed look from Donnie and he'd fold, spill his guts, word vomit all of his thoughts. And he'd rather keep his tonight's thoughts to himself. Which is precisely why he settles on making his way to the kitchen, dragging his feet across the floor in exhaustion, and puts the kettle on the stove with the intention of making himself a nice cup of chamomile tea, hoping for it to help ease his inner monologue and finally put him to sleep. Before the water even gets the chance to boil, Leo is startled by the quiet footsteps behind him. He doesn't have to turn around to know who just entered the room but he does anyway and, to his dismay, is met with Donnie's face, devoid of his mask and drawn on eyebrows, his, as Leo likes to call it, glorious forehead on full display.
"Please, don't drink coffee at three in the morning," Leo says, catching the glance his brother shoots towards the coffee maker. "It won't do you any favors with your sleep problems."
"Scoff, as if you're any better," Donnie replies and walks past Leo to do exactly what he was adviced not to.
"At least I don't actively try to make it worse," Leo grumbles, to which Donnie opens his mouth, ready to bite back but the quiet start of the kettle whistle interrupts him. The slider quickly reacts by turning the stove off to avoid waking any other family members and pours the boiling liquid into a cup with a previously prepared teabag in it. The subtle smell of chamomile spreads around the room before it's brutally killed by the bitter stench of coffee, upon which Leo scrunches his face in disgust. He's never been a fan of coffee.
"Goodnight, DonTron, don't kill yourself with all your tech work and copious amounts of caffeine," Leo says, grabbing his mug and turns to leave the kitchen.
"You're telling me you decided not to spend the rest of the night bothering me while I work?" Donnie asks surprised. "You amaze me, brother."
"I need to be alone with my thoughts tonight," Leo replies and immediately regrets it, knowing that he'd already said too much. He tries his best to cover it all up with a nonchalant expression as he leans against the doorframe.
"Uh-huh, and when has that ever worked out well?" Donnie takes a sip of the black coffee in his mug and Leo doesn't miss the way his mouth twitches because the drink is still way too hot to consume.
"Donnie, if you miss me so much that you insist I sleep over, you can just say it," Leo advises and lets his usual smug grin settle on his lips.
"How can I miss you? You never go away," Donnie replies, "except for right now apparently, which, mind you, is weird. Really weird. Dare I say peculiar."
"Jesus, fine, I might as well tell you," Leo grumbles defeated, putting the tea away, and takes a deep breath to prepare himself for what's to come, before he completely loses his composure. "Nope, nevermind, I can't."
Donnie gives the slider a worried look. "Man, what did you do?"
Leo shakes his head and looks down, suddenly finding his own feet fascinating. He stays like that for what feels like hours but in reality is less then a minute, fully convinced he's going to drill a hole in the floor with how intense he's staring at it. Leo really wants to tell him, he wants him to know, Donnie deserves to know, they're brothers, they should be able to tell each other things like this, right? Right, but yet again Leo can't. It's the same paralyzing fear he felt every single time he'd tried to do this before. Leo sighs. There's a war in his mind and he's losing.
"Leo?" Donnie calls softly, bringing his self-appointed twin back to reality.
Now or never, is the last thing he thinks before croaking out, "I'm gay."
He immediately regrets it. He can't see Donnie's face and his reaction, since he's still facing the floor but he doesn't really want to know. No, what he wants to do is once again grab his sword and teleport to some deserted island in the middle of nowhere, where none of his brothers could find him. He even tries to reach for the weapon, only to remember he's in pajamas and completely unarmed.
"That's what the big issue is? Seriously?" Donnie's voice cuts through the silence, grounding Leo enough for him to finally look at the softshell. "I thought everyone knew that."
"What?!" Leo's eyes double in size. "What do you mean everyone? Do Mikey and Raph know?"
Donnie shrugs and takes a sip of coffee before he replies, "Go and ask them."
"It's 3 AM."
"Well, obviously not now, dumbass." The softshell rolls his eyes and there's a beat of silence before one of them speaks again, Leo grabbing his cup of tea once again, no longer feeling like he's going to drop it any second, and they just sip their drinks together for a while. It's nice, a little weird, considering that Leo almost never shuts up and now he's being uncharacteristically quiet, but nice nonetheless.
"You were scared to tell me," Donnie points out suddenly, nearly causing Leo to choke on his tea. "Why?"
Now it's the slider's turn to shrug. "It's not like I thought you were homophobic but I honestly couldn't stand the possibility of any of you not taking it well, so I just avoided it all together."
Donnie nods in understanding. "Do you wanna tell Raph and Mikey? I could help since now I'm in on it."
Leo looks away and that's all Donnie needs to know. "No pressure. But I can assure you they won't have anything against it."
"And you deduced that from...?" Leo asks, not fully convinced.
"They love you, 'Nardo," Donnie says matter-of-factly and then quietly adds, "I do too. Don't you dare forget that."
Leo doesn't reply, just looks at his brother in a very specific way. It's one of those looks that Donnie recognizes immediately, despite not being the best nor even average at reading facial expressions, so he puts the coffee on the table and opens his arms for Leo.
"Bring it in," Donnie says with a smile, granting his brother permission for physical touch, and Leo gladly uses it by enveloping the softshell in a tight, much needed hug, previously plopping his cup down right next to Donnie's. They stay like that for a while, neither of them saying anything, until Donnie decides he's had enough closeness for tonight and clears his throat, to which Leo unwraps his arms from around Donnie.
"Thanks, Dee," Leo says with a genuine smile that Donnie gladly returns before he reaches for his coffee to drink it while it's still warm. Leo follows in his footsteps and retrieves the herbal tea he brewed to calm his nerves. It's no longer of use to him but he doesn't want it to go to waste so he decides to finish it anyway.
"Come on," Donnie says and takes a step towards the door, "I'm not gonna let you wallow in your internalized homophobia all night."
"Pardon?" Leo stops in his tracks, mug brought halfway up to his mouth. "I don't have no internalized homophobia, thank you very much."
"Right, just like you never cheated in the Lair Games," Donnie replies and walks out of the room, not checking if his brother is following him. He knows Leo doesn't want to be alone right now and soon he can hear his footsteps behind him. Donnie smiles to himself.
"I didn't cheat," Leo mumbles grumpily but Donnie doesn't dignify him with an answer, fully aware that not even Leo himself is very confident in his defense. Let's be honest, he couldn't do anything to make anyone, especially Donnie, believe his innocence. Not after the "Salisbury witch trials".
Once they arrive at the lab Donnie goes back to whatever he was working on before the late night coffee break and Leo observes, occasionally asking his brother questions about the invention to which he gets short and somewhat vague replies. Donnie uses difficult words that the slider has never heard before and he gets tired of asking for explanation every single time so he soon stops trying to understand and continues questioning his twin purely to annoy him. It's more fun like this anyway.
After a while Leo finds himself surprised at the weight appearing on his eyelids that he recognizes is sleepiness. He halfheartedly fights it at first but gives up pretty quickly, shifting in Donnie's chair to get more comfortable and a few minutes later soft snores fill the room, gaining the softshell's attention. He looks over to his brother and feels relief washing over him as he watches his chest raise and fall with a steady rhythm. He's glad to see Leo calm enough to actually rest. Donnie knows that the slider can go a few nights without sleeping and be more or less fine but that doesn't make it healthy. He's not one to talk because he isn't much better himself but at least he doesn't spend most of his sleepless nights in mental anguish like Leo. So, yeah, for once in his life he is actually happy to hear the sound of someone snoring and with that newfound joy he goes back to his work.
***
It's a few days later and the boys are all rewatching Cars for the nth time while Splinter is out, doing grocery "shopping". They used to love the movie growing up and they still enjoy it now, although ever since Donnie turned six they can't get through it without him complaining about the lack of logic in the movie's universe. And as they got older they really started to see what the softshell was talking about. Still, it remained a guilty pleasure for them.
Right now, most of Donnie's complaints are aimed at Leo sitting next to him and munching on some potato chips way louder than necessary, which is seriously starting to drive him crazy.
"Please, for the love of all things holy, close your mouth while chewing," Donnie says through gritted teeth but Leo doesn't pay him any mind and shoves another handful of chips in his mouth. "Leo, I'm so serious, I'm going to-"
"Shh, stop talking, I'm trying to hear the voice of my one true love," the slider interrupts him and points to Doc Hudson on screen. "He's my lord and savior."
Donnie makes a face but immediately gets what's going on. Him and Leo talked about the best way to go about the whole gay thing and they settled on "just randomly mention something about liking men and I'll play along". He can't say he's particularly surprised Leo chose a talking car of all the possible characters to openly swoon over but that doesn't mean he's not disappointed.
"That's a car," he deadpans, deciding he can play along in a minute, having to voice his discontent first.
"Yeah, a very hot one," Leo argues and Donnie can't stop the whispered "oh my god" that escapes his lips. It seems to have a similarly strong effect on their brothers because they both turn their heads towards the slider with puzzled looks on their faces.
"Man, we need to get you a boyfriend," here comes the 'play along' part. Then there comes Mikey's loud gasp and Donnie doesn't miss how Leo's confident smile falters for a split second when he swallows nervously. He puts a hand on his twin's shoulder in an attempt at reassuring him. It seems to have worked because Leo's muscles relax upon the contact.
"Wait, so Leo is gay?" Mikey asks and doesn't wait for an answer, turning back to Raph with a smug grin. "Ha! Told ya!"
Leo's jaw drops at that. "You guys bet on whether I was gay or not?!"
"No!" Raph denies instantly but looks to the side right after. "Well, not with money."
Leo blinks a few times, still not quite believing his ears. He shouldn't be this shocked since he really wasn't trying to act straight but he didn't expect that.
"I've got a better question," Donnie says, hand still on his brother's shoulder, "Raph, did you seriously think he was straight?"
"I didn't want to assume anything!" the snapper defends himself, putting his hands up. "I ain't actively thinking about any of yours sexualities."
"Oh, don't lie to me, Raphael, he's a walking fruitcake!" Donnie points at Leo with both of his hands, the slider still somewhat in a state of disbelief.
"Guess you could say he's the Fruit Ninja," Mikey jokes, earning a giggle from Raph and a furrowed brow from Leo.
"I'm right here, guys?" the terrapin chimes in, catching everyone's attention again.
"We're aware," Donnie replies and seems ready to continue bickering with Raph but is stopped by Leo who gets up and stands right in front of the TV, blocking the view of the long forgotten movie.
"Okay, so, since everybody seems to have known without me ever mentioning anything," he pauses to accusingly look each of his brothers in the eye before continuing, "does any of you, by chance, know if dad's aware of it too?"
The three turtles exchange a few looks. Mikey scratches his head, trying to remember if Splinter has mentioned anything like that before and Donnie simply shrugs, deeming it a good enough response.
Raph is the only one to actually speak up. "I don't think so."
Leo groans in disappointment. "Great, you know what that means?" He pauses as if he's expecting an answer but he really isn't so he continues before any of his brothers can open their mouth. "I'm actually gonna have to tell him."
"It'll be fine, Leo!" Mikey assures, ever so optimistic and Leo truly envies him right now. He wishes he could be as happy about the near-future coming out. Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, he can't have the same mindset as his little brother so he shoots him a very unconvinced look.
"I don't know, Mikey, you heard the man, yeah?" Leo answers, much more stressed out by the thought of telling his dad than when he was actually telling his brothers. It was admittedly much easier to call a talking car attractive than it is to walk up to Splinter and have a serious conversation about this with him.
"I heard what exactly?" Mikey asks, not really understanding what the slider meant.
Leo clears his throat and mimicks Splinter's voice, " 'I'll never be able to marry you off to any nice ladies if you keep acting like this.' " He fake gags before he keeps going. "And let's not forget about 'See, boys? This is how you treat your woman!' "
"Leo, you do realize that this doesn't instantly mean he hates the gays, right?" Donnie cuts him off before he can do any more bad Splinter impressions.
"It doesn't really rule it out either, does it, Donathan?" Leo reasons, earning an eye roll from Donnie, both at the nickname and the slider's stubbornness.
"What rules it out is that we flushed his pet goldfish and replaced it with a rock and he still loves us," Raph said matter-of-factly, hoping to put an end to Leo's anxiety. "I don't think you liking guys would be enough to change his mind, man."
Leo stays quiet for a bit, which again makes Donnie weirdly uncomfortable. He really needs to stop with the prolonged silences. And the looking down at his feet. It doesn't feel right to see Leo like this and judging by his brothers' faces, they don't really like it either. Finally Leo sighs and looks back up.
"Fine, I'll talk to him," he decides, only to quickly regret it upon hearing the heavy manhole cover drop, indicating that Splinter came home. He winces and takes a quick glance at the TV behind him. "After the movie?"
His brothers nod in agreement, all having a different brand of a warm smile on their faces. "After the movie."
***
Leo is terrified. This is the fourth time this week that he has to stand face to face with coming out as gay and that's like four times more than he's ever thought he'd have the displeasure of experiencing. It's also equal parts surprising and annoying to find out that it doesn't get any easier as the time goes on. Actually, Leo is pretty sure the hill of homosexuality was getting more and more steep the longer he was climbing it. He's seriously tempted to turn back and get off the metaphorical hill all together but the three turtles standing a few feet away, silently signalling for him to finally knock on the door to their dad's room are successfully stopping him from turning heel and running. In defeat he gathers all the courage left in his body to curl his hand into a fist and gently hit the door with his knuckles three times. Surprisingly he doesn't just hear "come in" as he usually would, instead being met with the creaking of the door hinges as his father appears in the doorframe.
"You know it's time for my beauty nap so whatever it is you better get it over with quickly," Splinter says upon seeing his second oldest, to which Leo bites back the urge to comment on the effectiveness of said beauty naps, or rather the lack thereof.
"Yeah, sorry, pops, but I kinda need to talk to you. Though I guess it can wait until-" he doesn't get to finish his sentence because someone makes an impressively accurate throw with a penny, hitting Leo on his right shoulder. "Ow!"
Splinter looks at the slider rubbing his arm and the coin on the ground a bit weird but doesn't ask, opening the door wider instead. "Come in, Blue."
Leo does as he's told, entering the room and decides to awkwardly stand in the middle of it, while his dad closes the door behind them and sits down on the bed. He shoots his son a confused look when he doesn't follow, staying still in the same spot, and notices how pale the terrapin is. He also sees the slight tremble of his hands and the absent stare locked on one of the bedroom corners. He unfreezes when Splinter pats the spot beside him, asking the slider to sit down but the look on his face doesn't falter and it's starting to really worry him.
"What did you want to talk about?" the rat prods, trying to figure out the cause of his son's state. That seems to snap Leo out of it because he looks at his father and gives him a small smile. It's definitely a nervous one but a smile nonetheless.
"Right," Leo starts and clears his throat, suddenly craving a glass of water, "you know those jokes about marrying us to some girls?"
"Yes?" Splinter replies slowly, trying not to let his confusion show too much.
"Well, about that-"
"You got a girlfriend?" he interrupts and by the look on Leo's face he gathers it's not the case.
"What? No," the slider denies, cringing at the thought of having a girlfriend, "no, I was just thinking what if, and I mean this completely hypothetically, what if one of us didn't want to marry a girl?"
Splinter raises his eyebrows. "I was just joking, Blue, don't worry. You boys are way too young to marry anyone anyway."
Leo groans in frustration. Why was their father so oblivious sometimes?
He hops off the bed, feeling the need to pace around to blow some of the steam off. "No, look, what I mean is, what if one of us, definitely not me, would, in theory, want to marry, you know, a boy..?"
There's a beat of silence after his question and it's enough to send Leo's heart racing and then drop to his stomach at the sight of his father's squinted eyes and furrowed brows. He's doomed. He ruined everything and now his family will be broken because of him and his stupid feelings. Leo wants to fall to his knees and start sobbing but he keeps his cool and waits for something to happen. Something to set his fate in stone, something to let it all sink in, something to unambiguously confirm his worst fears and tell him he disappointed his dad once again and that there's no coming back from it this time.
Nothing of the sorts happens.
In reality Splinter lets out a low hum, putting a finger to his chin, before he simply says, "Well, that depends."
It's not a definite answer and it doesn't disperse Leo's anxieties but it does give him a glimmer of hope. So he weakly asks, "Depends on what?"
"Are they a nice boy?" Splinter answers with a question and a huge weight is lifted off of Leo's shoulders, forcing him to take a deep, relieved breath.
"Oh my god, are you serious?" Leo mutters in disbelief, "You could've told me you're on board with the gays, dad! I almost passed out here!"
Splinter's face grows serious at that and he reaches for the turtle's shoulder. "Leonardo, I would never judge you based on who you decide to date. Unless they're a bad influence, of course."
Leo raises a brow at that and removes Splinter's hand from his shoulder. "You dated a murderous spider woman, dad, you're in no position to judge my partner choices."
"No, Blue," the rat shakes his head, "that's exactly what makes me qualified to judge."
"We're gonna have to agree to disagree on this one," Leo says, smiling at his father who returns it immediately.
"So, any boyfriends I need to know about?"
"No! Oh my god, no. Enough talking for today, go get your beauty sleep or something," Leo babbles on in embarrassment, taking a few steps towards the exit. "Good talk, dad, bye!"
Splinter laughs in a warmhearted manner and calls after Leo when he slips out the door, "I love you too, son!"
Leo shuts the door and leans against it, huffing out a sigh, then looks to his brothers who are clearly doing their best impression of someone that hasn't heard a single word, even though they probably spent the entire time glued to the door, trying to eavesdrop.
"Drop it, I know you heard everything."
They stop their act all at once and Mikey immediately comments, "Dad was asking real questions there. Leo, do you have a secret boyfriend?"
"Really? You too?" Leo asks disappointed with no intentions of answering the question but the box turtle keeps staring at him expectantly. "Geez, no, Mikey, I don't have a boyfriend."
"I told you no one would fall for his dumbass-"
"Language, Donnie!" Raph cuts the softshell off with a smack to the back of his head.
"Language? Raph, he just called me a loser who can't get a boyfriend!" Leo says reproachingly with a look of utter betrayal on his face, to which Raph looks to the side.
"Well," he starts and scratches his neck.
"Forget it, I actually hate all of you, you're the worst," Leo groans and turns to leave, when Mikey pulls him into a hug.
"Oh, come on, Leon, we all know you love us!" he claims, squeezing Leo tighter and while he won't admit it out loud now out of pettiness, he knows it's true. He loves his family more than anything in this world and would do absolutely anything for them, the same way they would for him. He's truly grateful to have them in his life.
"Oh mi gosh, guys, we need to update April!" Mikey says, releasing Leo from his grip and the brothers all agree to meet her tomorrow at Run of the Mill.
It turns out April was sure Leo was gay the entire time and is more surprised that he thought it needed to be said than at the actual announcement. So it really becomes a regular pizza afternoon, maybe with the exception for Hueso who is surprisingly nice to Leo when greeting him and who later sends him a thumbs up and a wink across the dining room. To which the slider smiles widely and mouths "thank you" in his direction. And when they later lie down on the floor in a big pile of pillows, trying to settle a debate on which Jupiter Jim comic is the best, Leo thinks he couldn't have asked for a better life.
Well, actually, he supposes he wouldn't mind getting a secret boyfriend.