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Mikey - Quality Time
Everyone could tell when Mikey was feeling down. His usual excitement and jokes were replaced by quiet and fidgeting. So, Raph took things into his own hands.
"Mikey!"
The youngest looked up from his hands, eyes wide like he was expecting to get yelled at. Raph silently cursed his inability to control his tone.
Raph walked over, leaning against the couch.
"Hey," he started, trying to phrase things carefully. "Uh...Are you...okay?"
God this was awkward. But he asked anyway, because after everything they'd been through Raph could deal with checking on his brother.
For some reason, the question made Mikey look away as he shrugged. It was an obvious answer, and thankfully Raph could help in a way that meant more to his brother than any verbal check in would.
"Hey, you got plans today?"
Mikey blinked.
"Uhm...no?"
"Good, get up. We're goin' out."
"W- huh?"
Raph huffed.
"C'mon, the city needs some new graffiti."
He watched as Mikey lit up at the suggestion.
"Wait really?"
"Well not if you keep sitting around. Go get your spray paint."
Mikey jumped up and bolted, coming back with his bag of stolen spray paint and a bright grin on his face.
"I got it!"
"Good, let's go."
So, Raph let Mikey drag him around the city and helped re-decorate New York's alleyways. By the time they finally packed up to go back home, Mikey had the bounce back in his step and was chattering excitedly. Good.
"Hey, Raph?"
Raph paused, one foot on the steps to the lair as he turned around.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks. I really needed that today."
Raph's face softened, and he ruffled Mikey's non-existent hair.
"Don't mention it. The lair's too quiet when you're upset."
Mikey chuckled and hugged him, then ran off to show their brothers the photos of his art.
Raph - Physical Touch
Raph woke up agitated. His brothers didn't know why, but any attempt to talk to Raph was met with a gruff dismissal and their shortest brother walking away.
Donnie recognized the signs immediately. He'd noticed specifically after visiting the Aeon planet that Raph had started to isolate himself when he was upset. He theorized it was because of the scare that happened with Mikey, but he wasn't sure. Either way, seeing his most tactile brother hiding away bothered him in a quiet sort of way.
"Hey, Raph?"
Raph didn't look up from his punching bag, still swinging hard and fast.
"Raph?" Donnie stepped closer.
"...Go away."
Donnie sighed.
"Raph stop, you're beating your hands bloody."
Raph paused long enough to see the red pinpricks on his knuckles, then scowled and kept going.
"Doesn' matter. Leave me alone."
"Raph-"
Donnie reached out to touch Raph's shoulder and swiftly caught the punch that was thrown his way as a result. He knew his brother by now.
Raph froze, eyes widening as he started at Donnie's hand wrapped around his fist. He pulled away, his breathing fast and shallow.
"I-I didn't..." He looked up at Donnie, panicked. "I-"
"I know Raph," Donnie said gently. "I'm fine. Now let me bandage your hands before you get infected."
Raph hesitated, eyes void of any of the anger they previously held.
"...Fine."
Good. It wasn't a serious bad day then. This could be fixed.
He walked Raph into his lab, sitting him down in a chair before going to gather his first aid supplies. He didn't say anything, and didn't pressure Raph to either. Just got what he needed and sat down in front of his immediate older brother.
He took Raph's hand, looking it over before dabbing disinfectant over his knuckles. Raph's breath hitched, so Donnie kept his head down. Raph wouldn't let himself break down if someone was watching. Which meant Donnie kept his head down as he wrapped Raph's hand and moved to the second one. When he was done, he let Raph's hand rest on his and gently rubbed his thumb over the back of his brother's hand.
Raph's other hand lifted to his face and Donnie finally looked up to see Raph rubbing at his eyes.
"Raph..."
Donnie didn't ask - because he knew Raph's stubbornness would deny it - He just leaned in and pulled Raph into a tight hug.
Raph leaned into it, clinging to him and hiding his tears against Donnie's shoulder. Mentally, Donnie thought back to other situations in an attempt to figure out what had set Raph off bad enough to cry.
"Did you have a nightmare again?" He asked gently. Raph gave a single nod, tightening his grip. Donnie did the same, pulling his big brother closer.
"That's okay. Do you want to talk about it?"
At the immediate shake of Raph's head, Donnie tightened his grip.
They stayed like that for a while, Donnie just holding the other as Raph slowly calmed himself back down. After several minutes, the shorter turtle pulled away and rubbed at his eyes.
"...Thanks Don," He mumbled. "Today is just...shit."
Donnie nodded, keeping a hand on Raph's arm.
"It's okay, we all have bad days sometimes. It would be more concerning if we didn't."
Raph sniffled and nodded.
"Yeah, guess it would."
"Exactly. So quit beating yourself up and learn to ask for help when you need it."
Raph sighed, then just leaned against him.
"Could you..."
Donnie was proud of him for starting the question, and decided to give Raph a break on trying to fight his pride and finish it.
"Yeah, I need a break anyways."
Raph smiled, and Donnie wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
Raph may be older, but sometimes the older brothers needed to be taken care of too.
Donnie - Acts of Service
Donnie's giveaways were much more subtle than Raph and Mikey. But, as the oldest, Leo could read him like a book anyways. So when the genius started spacing out at breakfast, Leo kept an eye on him. And when Donnie immediately went to lock himself in his lab even after being excited last night about finishing all his work - well, that was kind of what sent Leo into action.
He slipped out of the lair and up to the city, jumping rooftops until he found the place he was looking for.
Leo dove through an open window, landing silently on the floor of the bookstore. It was Donnie's favorite, and the younger always made a point to check for any discarded books by the dumpsters when they passed it.
He crept through the shelves until he got to the section he was looking for. He pulled out a college textbook on engineering and one on chemistry, then moved to the science fiction. As much as Donnie pretended to hate it, Leo had noticed the stack of sci-fi novels hidden in his younger brother's desk. So he grabbed a few that'd he'd had in mind as potential christmas presents and figured he could save one or two of them until then.
Looking around one more time, he dropped several bills on the counter and left.
When he got back, Leo only stopped to stash two of the books in his room for later before heading to the kitchen. He may be banned from the toaster, stove, oven, and microwave, but he hadn't broken the coffee pot yet.
Carefully, triple-checking every instruction before doing anything, Leo made it through the slow process of making coffee. Thankfully the technology overlords took pity on him, because he made it through without lighting anything on fire this time.
He picked up the books and fresh mug of coffee and made his way to Donnie's lab, nudging the door open with his foot.
"Donnie?"
Said brother was sitting at his desk, mindlessly fidgeting with an empty test tube. He set it down quickly and looked up at Leo's voice.
"Huh?"
"Hey." Leo walked over. "Doing okay?"
Donnie shrugged.
"I don't know. I feel like I should be doing something but..."
"I get it. None of us know what to do with ourselves now that everything's calmed down. But, maybe this can help cheer you up a bit."
He set down the mug and smiled. Donnie stared at it for a long moment.
"Did...did you make this?" He asked.
"Yep! And nothing bad happened this time!"
Donnie raised an eyebrow, then took a cautious sip. Leo watched as he relaxed.
"It's surprisingly good, thanks Leo."
"That's not all." He held out the books. "I got these too."
Now Donnie sat up straight, taking the books from Leo like they were precious jewels and looking over the titles.
"I...wow Leo you...You got them for me?" He looked up and Leo smiled.
"Well, you seemed down today... And you've been mentioning you wanted new books, so I thought I'd save you the trip."
Donnie stared at him before setting the books down and pulling Leo into a hug.
"Thank you Leo. It means a lot."
Leo patted his arm.
"It's nothing. Just remember to enjoy the downtime while we have it, okay?"
His younger brother nodded before picking up one of the sci-fi novels, smiling. Leo watched him for a moment, just enjoying seeing his busiest brother finally relax for once.
Leo - Words of Affirmation
Leo was the hardest to read. He had been for as long as any of them could remember. So the younger two counted on Raph to recognize the signs, because Raph was the one who looked out for the oldest.
The day started out normal enough. Leo woke up hours before everyone else and was in the dojo meditating when the rest of them woke up. Mikey started on breakfast while Donnie made coffee and Raph went off to drag Leo out to eat.
Nothing seemed wrong until Raph gave both of them a look as he brought Leo into the kitchen. Leo seemed fine, but the other two trusted the signal Raph was giving them and moved into action.
Donnie put the teapot on while Mikey switched from grabbing pancake ingredients to gathering eggs, bacon, and sausage. Leo preferred the healthy breakfasts, so the rest of them would take a day off from the usual delights Mikey usually made.
They all had their jobs on days like these. Mikey's was to focus on the little things; things that don't seem like a big deal to anyone else, but may make a big difference to Leo. With all they'd been through, sometimes the smallest things were what "broke the camel's back", so to speak.
Donnie focused on triggers. With his knowledge of psychology, his job was to keep everything from sending Leo into a spiral. He had an ongoing journal that he kept of anything and everything that might trigger any of his brothers, or himself. He was the one who told Raph the weather so he could talk Leo out of patrol that night, because snow wasn't good even on the oldest's best days.
Raph's focus was on Leo directly. He was closest to their leader despite all the fights they've had over the years, and he was the one who reminded Leo to take care of himself. The one who stopped Leo from training when his knee was flaring, the one who dragged Leo out of the dojo so he would take a break already and eat, the one who broke Leo out of his spirals when one inevitably happened.
The one who reminded Leo he was loved.
Breakfast went like normal, with Leo not even noticing how his brothers kept pulling him back into the conversations. Both Donnie and Mikey, while helping keep Leo from getting too deep into his own head, were watching to try and find whatever it was Raph was always able to.
This time, Donnie was actually able to pick up on the ever-so-slight limp as Leo carried his plate to the sink. So he had both jobs today.
Really, Donnie swapped between his two roles depending on what kind of bad day it was for Leo. And along with his expected role, today he was also sharing with Raph in that Leo's leg was acting up.
While Raph handled Leo directly, Donnie worked behind the scenes. He'd stay near Leo today, and intercept Leo walking as much as he could. That meant grabbing things if Leo mentioned needing something, taking over a chores if Leo was trying to do it, and overall just quietly keeping Leo off his leg.
So he stood up quickly and started clearing Mikey's cooking mess, knowing Leo would try to go for those next. And sure enough, Leo turned only to pause when he saw Donnie already doing it.
"Hey Leo!" Mikey said, jumping in to take Leo's attention. "You won't believe what I found last night!"
Leo turned away from Donnie.
Good job Mikey.
"I found, a super special ultra-rare collectible edition of Space Heroes season one!"
All three of them to stopped to watch as Leo's face lit up with a childish joy they hadn't seen since before the surface. Raph had to cover his mouth to hide his smile and Donnie grinned so wide his mask wrinkled.
"Really?"
"Yeah! It's got a bunch of deleted scenes and like seven extra episodes!" Mikey said excitedly. "I thought maybe we could watch it today?"
Leo paused, his excitement visibly warring against his need to be responsible.
Mikey had done his part, now it was on Raph to bring it home.
"C'mon Fearless, it won't hurt. Donnie and I will still train, right Don?"
"Yeah, sure," Donnie responded immediately.
Leo looked between them, then let his shoulders relax.
"Alright...sounds good Mikey."
"Awesome! I'll go get it started!"
He wooped and left the kitchen. Raph, already prepared for the next step, grabbed Leo and tossed the older turtle over his shoulder.
"W-Hey! Raph put me down!"
"Nope. Knowing you, you're gonna try and clean everything first and Mikey's gonna end up watching alone. Off to the couch with you Fearless."
Excellent. Keep Leo off his feet and explain it away as being for Mikey, because they all knew Leo didn't give a damn about his own well-being.
The rest of the day went about the same way. Mikey brought out Ice-Cream Kitty at some point and casually set her bowl on Leo's knee, which was laying across Mikey's lap so they could share the couch. Leo had even fallen asleep for awhile, only waking up when Mikey got up to make dinner. Still, the final step was yet to come.
It always ended the same way. Regardless of whether it was Leo's head or his knee, the brothers always ended the day the same way.
"Hey Leo," Donnie said, sitting down next to him. Raph was right behind him, dropping into the chair beside Leo. "Can we talk for a minute?"
And, as always, this was when Leo finally caught on.
"What? No- guys I'm fine," He said quickly. "You don't need to-"
"Shut up for once," Raph said. "Let us do the talking tonight. You need a break."
"Raph I'm-"
"Leo," Donnie interupted. "You know we care about you."
"I- of course I do."
"And y'know if anything happened to you, we'd all go nuts and murder whoever did it, right?"
Leo let out a huff of a laugh at Raph's completely serious tone.
"Do you have to say it like that every time?"
"Answer the question Leo."
His older brother sighed.
"Yeah Raph, I know."
"Good. Then you also know that when I give you a hard time, to not take it seriously."
Leo's response was just slightly delayed this time. Good. That meant this wouldn't take long today.
"And you know we appreciate everything you do for us," Donnie chimed in. "Because you do a lot and we aren't always great at saying how much it means to us."
This time Leo just nodded, swallowing hard. They were almost there.
"Aaaaand," Mikey said, draping himself over Leo's shoulders from behind as he came in, "You know we'd all be crazy lost without you."
"Guys..."
"And," Raph poked Leo's chest, bringing in the final blow. "You know we love you."
And, just like always, that's when Leo finally broke. The tears fell down his face as he smiled, rubbing at his eyes. Donnie moved over to wrap an arm around his older brother and Raph shoved Leo over to hug his other side. All three of them held Leo, a tangle of warmth and love. Because for everything they could do with or for Leo, the thing that always got through to him were words. Words they don't speak often, and don't speak lightly.
Leo sniffled, leaning into their embrace.
"I love you guys too," He said softly, voice cracking at the end. "So much..."
"Not as much as we love you Leo," Donnie said. "You have no idea what we would do without you."
"I don't know," Leo chuckled. "Raph's given me some idea."
"Yeah well, I wasn't wrong." Raph tightened his hug. "Nobody gets to hurt my big brother and live to see the sun rise."
And somehow, Raph calling Leo his 'big brother' sent their leader into a fresh round of tears.
They all had bad days. It was unpreventable. But when one of them was down, the others would always be there to help him get back on his feet.