Chapter Text
Dinner was unusually quiet, much quieter than usual which no one thought much of considering it had been a very, very long week. Each of the six individuals at the kitchen table seemed lost in their own thoughts… what happened in the recent past, where they were at in this present moment, and the unknown future ahead of them.
April looked around, suddenly realizing that with all the banter between the brothers she couldn’t remember the last time Casey spoke up during meal time. Granted, she rarely got a word in edgewise and wondered how in the world Splinter had put up with such raucous boys. When she had asked about seeing them again after the nice night they had hanging out, she never imagined that they’d soon be all crammed together under one roof for an entire week!
A very, very long week.
If she could, she’d thank her parents for being an only child. Or at least a child without four teenage brothers. Which, her sights going back to the only other human at the table, Casey wasn’t too far from despite being an adult. It wasn’t that he was necessarily immature, but he didn’t talk much about himself if it wasn’t hockey-related. Then again, things had been so stressful it wasn’t as if they really had the mental fortitude for deep discussions. Perhaps when the turtles found their father and went back home, the two of them could go out and have more meaningful moments to converse about like actual adults and not feeling like a babysitter. Then again, it had been so long since she’d been on a date she wasn’t sure if she could make conversation without sounding like she was doing an interview. A sigh escaped her as she stared down at her plate.
“Everything tasting okay?” Michelangelo piped up.
“Huh? Oh yeah, thanks, Mikey.”
“Are you feeling okay?” Donatello asked with concern.
“Yeah. Just a bit tired, Donnie.”
“Must be going around, even Casey ain’t said much since I woke up.”
“Just letting ya rest up after nearly getting your shell knocked off, pal.” The human looked up at his friend with a half-hearted grin.
“We really appreciate being able to stay here while Raphael recovered. I’m sorry you have to do so much shopping and all,” Leonardo apologized.
“Ya kidding?” Casey chewed. “I ain’t had so many home-cooked meals probably ever in my life, plus someone else has been doing all the dishes. Can’t complain.” Speaking the last two words, he glanced down at his plate causing them to almost come out as a mumble.
“Just call me Mikey Shellart!” the orange turtle grinned.
“Call you what?” the purple turtle asked.
“You know… like Martha Stewart? But Mikey Shell—“ His explanation was interrupted by a collective groan from his brothers.
“Yeesh, lame jokes like that almost make me wish I was still in a coma!” the red one joked.
“Guys, be serious for a moment!” the blue one reprimanded before bowing his head towards the two humans. “We really do appreciate what gracious hosts you both have been and apologize for how much of an inconvenience we’ve been. I know I’ve been the least helpful and I’m sorry about that.”
“Oh! No, Leo, it’s okay. Really!” April reassured.
“Naw, guy—ya been doing the boring work waiting for your brother to wake up.”
“They’re right, Leo,” Donnie nodded. “None of us would have wanted Raph to wake up somewhere unfamiliar and disorientated, but the rest of us got to distract ourselves by taking a lot more breaks from being worried. In a way, you could almost say you had the most important job.”
“I don’t know about that,” Mikey teased. “We do have to eat, you know. Not like we can get pizza delivery out here!”
“Honestly, this old place has been so neglected it’s been great to have so much help with fixing it up. I just got so caught up with work after my parents passed, I should have never—”
“Hey, don’t beat yourself up!” Casey interrupted. “Place is still standing and we got a roof over our heads. What more can ya want than that?” The woman squinted at him.
“You asked if they used this place to film ‘The Grapes of Wrath’,” she pointed out.
“I was just messing with ya! It’s a great house, tucked away all peaceful and quiet.”
“Speaking of tucked away,” Donatello stood up as he started collecting empty plates. “I’ll take care of the dishes later, I’ve just got something to attend to beforehand.” He flashed a large smile at everyone before walking over to set the stack of dishes in the sink.
“Need any help?” Michelangelo piped up enthusiastically. “I mean, least I can do since you do the dishes when I cook!” he added innocently.
“Sure,” the older of the two shrugged. “Many hands make light work!”
“That’s a good saying,” the oldest of the four turtles nodded.
“That’s a lame saying,” the brawler waved off the younger two as he turned to his only older brother. “Ya gonna go help them too or ya wanna watch a movie with me?”
“Maybe when they’re done we can all watch a movie together? I, uh,” the leader rubbed the back of his head. “Kinda need to go for a run and stretch. Gotta stay in shape and all. Figure—”
“No one cares, Leo.” Raph shook his head. “Come on, I’ll race ya. Bet ya got slow just sitting around this past week like a dumbass instead of training.”
“Slow?” Leo exclaimed as he stood up and pushed his chair in, ignoring the other two turtles giggling as they walked past. “And how am I dumb for making sure you’re okay?”
“’Cause yer our great leader and can’t be getting soft on us on account of me. Now let’s go, smartass.” Raph slapped Leo on the shoulder and turned away, leaving the oldest to throw his hands up in the air.
“Make up your mind already!”
The two humans watched the four turtles leave the kitchen, all shuffling through the front door while somehow rough housing at the same time and making them worry they will have to fix the screen again. That’s when they heard Mike yelp as Raph shoved him, Don exclaim that was just great, and Leo sighed so loudly that they knew it was already in need of repair.
“Ya know… technically they’re animals. We could just set them up in the barn, I’m sure they’ll be fine.” April smiled with a huff as slapped Casey on the arm.
“They’re still kids.”
“Psh,” the man scoffed, causing her to raise an eyebrow.
“What’s that about?”
“They’re teens, maybe… they ain’t kids.”
“Well, they’re boys who have lost their father after their home was invaded. Even if they were adults, anyone would be scared and upset.”
“They carry around sharp weapons and could ninja kick a man dead!”
“You’re still alive aren’t you? Didn’t you get into a fight with one of them the first time you met?” she smirked.
“That’s because I have great fighting skills and can hold my own! I’m talking about normal people,” he smirked back.
“You’re expecting giant walking talking turtles to be normal?” She shrugged, “or maybe this is their normal.”
“Ya sure you’re okay? You were quieter than usual during dinner.”
“I mean, it’s hard to get a word in edgewise with four loud teenagers. Besides, what about you?”
“What about me?”
“You’ve been quiet lately too. At least, during meals and stuff.”
“So I prefer to have adult conversations and there’s only one adult around for miles.” He offered an awkward smile to show he was teasing. Well, mostly teasing. He then noticed as she ran a hand through her hair, tugging when her fingers got caught up in a tangle of curls.
“Okay, something’s up! You’re doing the thing,” he pointed.
“Nothing’s u—I’m not doing—what thing?” she asked.
“Yeah, we need to talk.” He reached into the fridge and, after moving some items around, withdrew two bottles—one beer and another a wine cooler. Holding both beverages in one hand, he guided her to the couch. As soon as she sat down, he grabbed her legs and stretched them across before taking a seat on the coffee table and handing her a drink. She shook her head but smiled as she lifted her bottle to his raised one, laughing at the ‘clink’ sound the glass made.
“Fine, I guess… I should probably tell you. But, it’s weird,” she pleaded. “I don’t know how to talk about it.”
“Well,” he pursed his lips after taking a drag of his beer. “First, you enjoy some of that liquid courage ya got right there in your hand. The, uh,” he turned the bottle to read the label. “Bahama Mama. Oh yeah, that sounds good. Ain’t never been to the Bahamas though.”
“Maybe when this is all over we should go,” she laughed taking another drink.
“A vacation after a vacation?” he chuckled.
“Oh, believe me, this is no vacation! Although it has helped to just pretend I am taking time off work as opposed to, you know, getting fired and all.” She exhaled a heavy breath. “I’m going to have such a headache dealing with insurance when I get back, they’re going to think it’s weird there’s no phone here or any way to contact me…”
“Hey, we already established the weird thing is giant walking talking turtles. It ain’t weird to up and leave town to get away after losing your job. It’s a stressful thing.”
“On the same day your home burns down? I literally got fired and caught fire within minutes!”
“They don’t know that. The story is ya lost your job—unfairly I might add,” he pointed his bottle towards her. “Been thinking about it, pretty sure that’s illegal. But whatever, for now the story is ya got fired and was so upset ya took off for your family home for a week or so to figure out what to do only to come home and find out, well, ya got fired again I guess…” He trailed off before shrugging and taking another long drink.
“That actually makes sense,” she nodded.
“Told ya, been thinking about it.” He got up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Gonna get us another round, stay right there.”
“Yes, sir.” She took a large swig, swishing the flavor in her mouth before swallowing. “Actually, Casey—”
“Nope, ya can’t refuse! Two rounds it is!”
“I was going to say… bring two more, this is going to be a three rounds drink at least.” She paused. “You know what, go ahead and bring the entire—” She looked up to see him with the rest of the bottles in their respective cardboard carrying boxes.
“Way ahead of ya, babe.”
“I’m going to let it slide this time.”
“Figured ya were at least that drunk ya would,” he laughed.
“I am not drunk!”
“No but by the end of this conversation, you might wish you were.”
“Casey Jones…” April sat up and looked at him. “Did you bring me here under the guise of listening to me only because you need to talk?”
“Actually,” he grabbed her legs and threw them back on the couch only for her to tuck them underneath herself. So he sat down besides her and popped open two more bottles, one for each of them. “This one is… Jamaican Me Crazy. Boy,” he chuckled. “Ain’t that right.” Seeing the way she was looking at him, he lifted his hands in defense. “Seriously, you seem upset and it’s been a long week. Besides, I asked ya first. So talk.”
“I, uh,” she leaned forward and glanced at the table in front of them. Finishing off her first drink, she took the second one and took a sip. “I’ve seen some things.”
“Me too. Like punk kids and ninjas in black pajamas…”
“Casey!”
“I know! Just, trying to lighten the mood.” She sighed, not realizing she again ran her hand through her hair until she needed to tug her fingers out of tangled curls.
“You know how I went to go find Raphael and Leonardo for dinner?”
“Yeah? Weren’t they outside sparring or whatever they call it?”
“That’s what I thought. Or maybe Leo was meditating and Raph was, I dunno, walking around.”
“So…” he drawled out, suddenly suspecting something. “Ya found them? Or they just found their way to dinner on their own?”
“I found them.” She answered, taking another long drink. He did so as well.
“Were… they kissing or something?” He looked at her uncomfortably.
“No. Not kissing. But why would you—wait, what makes you ask that?” She turned to him as he took yet another drag from his bottle.
“Walked in on the other two doing just that. It was weird. I mean, weird even for—well, ya know the drill, mutant ninjas and all that.”
“When did this happen?” she exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me before now?”
“Right before Raph woke up. And what do ya want me to say? ‘Hey, April, did ya know two of the turtles are an item?’”
“Yes! Actually, yes I would have appreciated some warning on the matter!”
“Sorry, was still wrapping my brain around it! Like it’s awkward walking in on any two dudes, never thought about them, ya know, having feelings like that.”
“At least they were just kissing,” she stated as she tipped her head back to drain the second drink. Glancing out of the side of her eye, she watched his jaw drop.
“Are ya saying…”
“They were cuddled a bit too close for brotherly affection considering I now realize there’s a lot I don’t know about turtle anatomy.” Casey set his bottle down.
“So… they ain’t, ya know, normal?”
“Casey! We’ve established NOTHING about giant walking talking teenage mutant ninja turtles is normal!”
“Yeah yeah I know, I was just… thinking, they kinda look human-ish so I thought maybe… well no, I actually never thought anything about it to be honest… They got shells and stuff, not like anything is hanging out. Wait, so how—no! Nope, on second thought I don’t even want to know!” He picked his beer back up and took another drink, finishing off the third bottle.
“You really don’t,” she nodded.
“Wait, didn’t ya go to college or something? Shouldn’t you have learned more stuff after high school?” he asked with a note of confusion.
“For journalism! Not marine biology or whatever it is someone studies to learn about reptiles and amphibians or whatever.”
“Great. So bad enough we got four loud kids running around, they’re also horny teenage boys too!”
The two human adults sighed as they glanced at each other, clinking their glass bottles against each one once again before polishing off their third drink.
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