Chapter Text
“Thanks for takin’ them on such short notice…” Raphael remarks in a low whisper to the Tortoise mutant beside him.
“Of course! You know I love these goobers… It'll be fine, Raph.” The large mutant says in a reassuring tone. Raph merely grunts in agreement.
The kids run around in the back garden- sniffing plants and squealing as they chase each other under sculptures and leafy bushes. Raphael can only stay for one drink before he has to get back- a long mission lies ahead.
He gives Sedan, their sitter, a list of short instructions for the coming week.
Food rations have been delivered; no treats after 7PM and don't believe them if they insist that “Ma let's us” at home.
In bed by 9- their internal clocks may be a little laggy from the travel.
Emergency contacts are the same as last time.
Continue to send updates to Donatello's number- even if there's no response.
Delilah is grounded from television. (Shouldn't be a problem all the way out here- he's got very few channels anyway.)
Hana needs a little extra care being woken up- if she naps after breakfast, her whole sleep schedule goes down the drain.
Ivory has started testing out her new claws on things… But thank goodness she isn't teething anymore.
Mari and Kenji have recently begun having arguments- Sedan has been given martial permission to administer punishment if they misbehave, but he really hopes he won't need to.
Darling is in hot water for trying to make wine by letting grapes rot in a jar in their room- so he is not to be allowed near the agave plants that Sedan uses to make Tequila.
Sedan chuckles at the notes on the list. Yeah, Leonardo wrote this for sure.
Raph rises to his feet and goes over to give the kids some last-minute hugs and kisses. The red turtle's smile is wide and his words are boisterous; the kids are as young as 4 and old as 8, and they return his affections in their own ways.
They think they're visiting their fun Dunkle so their parents can go on a traveling mission- they don't know what's really at stake.
Sedan's universe is quiet; the Foot Clan died out with Oroku Saki, the Triceratons are 37 billion light years farther away than usual, John Bishop is a name on the civil war casualties list, Baxter Stockman died rich, and the last known mutation was Sedan, a sulcata tortoise in the Sonoran desert.
The Ninja Turtles of this world? Long gone. Saved their city and retired to the countryside with friends.
Sedan is now the savviest testudine mutant on the block. He made contact with some multiversally knowledgeable turtles a while back, and the rest is history.
“Alright ya ankle-biters, be good for Mr. Dan here…”
“Aw Raph-! I told you not to call me that… Now Delilah is gonna call me that all week.” Sedan huffs with a dramatic dropping of his shoulders. From behind him, he can hear Delilah giggling and screaming “Mr. Dan! Mr. Dan!”
Raph grins. “Ain't my fault your nickname is stupid- yer named after a car.”
Sedan chuckles and shrugs. He has a point!
As Raph and Sedan walk through the back door and down into the earthen home, they pass by skylights and hanging plants that distract from the pitter patter of a pair of feet following them out to the front of the earth ship compound.
“I'll call you when everything is over. We've got lots of allies for this one…”
Sedan knows that Raph is trying to reassure him that he won't have to be the one to tell these babies that their parents got in over their head fighting the bad guys.
“I know. I'll see you guys when the-”
Before Sedan could finish, Mari ran out from the doorway and into the dust to cling to his fathers hand. He was quiet, but Sedan could tell the boy was crying.
“Ngh… Nooo… . Papa- don't- *hic* leave…”
“Mari…” Raph says with a low and comforting tone. “Come here big man.”
The two embrace for a moment while Sedan checks to make sure no other children are going to conspire to keep Raph from leaving. This was always the hardest part. He knows that Raph was trying to stay strong when they were in the garden, but now? He sees how much Raph wants to break.
“I'll be back before you know it.”
“I wanna go with you-! I c'n fight… Pease…”
“I need you here, Mari. Your brothers and sisters need you. And when I get back… I expect them to have all their fingers and toes, ain't that right?” Raph says with a light tone as he rustles Mari into a hug, tickling the young turtle and making him laugh.
“Hehehehe! Yeah- all 12 of them!” Mari giggles.
“We love bein turtles, don't we?” Raph asks, giving his firstborn a kiss on the head.
“Yeah… We're the best.” Mari agrees.
The little turtle is hup'd into Raphael's arms, given one last squeeze, before being handed over to Sedan's bulky embrace.
Sedan doesn't stick around to let Mari watch when Raph gets picked up by the transporter. He walks back through the tunnels of his home, rubbing the tot’s shell and humming a soothing tone. Mari’s shoulders shake and his tears shed anew. By the time they reach the back garden again, Mari is whining and holding back his cries.
“Shhh ch ch chh… It's okay, sweet Mari. Papa's never broken a promise to you, now has he?”
At the mention of his papa, Mari wails and ducks his head into Sedan's plastron. His siblings look upon them with concern. Darling takes heed to distract Delilah and Hana some more in the plants, while Kenji and Ivory make their way over to their big brother.
“What you do to him?” Kenji asks in a demanding way, brow line furrowed.
The big tortoise ignored the accusatory tone from the second oldest tot. “He's just homesick, Kenji. What do you think we could do to make him feel better?” He prompts.
Kenji watches his brother cry with a serious expression, before blurting out- “Stop bein’ a baby, Mari!!!”
Mari’s head pops up off Sedan's chest. “I'm not a baby! Kenji! ugh, you're a- a meaner!” Mari exclaims between sniffles before turning his back to his brother.
“I'm not a meaner, you baby!”
Sedan chuckles. “Well, you certainly aren't a ‘nicer’, Kenji…”
The second oldest drops his jaw in bewilderment at Sedan's comment. How dare-!
“You take that back!”
“Ah ah, I'll take it back when you answer my question! What can we do to make your brother feel better - not make him feel sadder.”
Kenji fumes at the obvious rebuff of his irritation, but considers the question anyway. His stare nearly burns a hole into his brothers shell before he asks;
“Mari… Do you want a ‘nanner?”
The tot in the tortoises arms stirs and turns his head out to his brother. “... Sure Ken'i…”
“You know where I keep them- and bring the whole bunch, okay? That is so ‘nicer’ of you, Kenji! Thank you.” Sedan affirms to the tot. Kenji nods, cheeks blushed and lips pursed, he goes inside to retrieve the bananas.
Ivory decides to make herself known by jumping up onto Sedan's scaly arm and grabbing at her big brother's shell. She shoves her beak into the crux of his shell at the back of his neck and sniffs. Mari giggles and hunches his shoulders to escape the tickling breath of his youngest sibling.
Ivory is undeterred as she shuffles her beak over Mari's face and shoulder, scenting him and licking away the salt lines from his tears.
“Ivy, sweetie, Mari isn't hurt, I promise.” Sedan smiles at the rambunctious tot as she does her best to smother Mari with her kisses.
“Alright Ivy-! Hehehe… I'm okay…” Mari rubs his eyes and takes a deep breath.
Sedan lets the tot re-position himself in his lap before turning Mari's face to his own. Sedan runs his dull claws up and down Mari's arms and head while blowing a gentle stream of air onto Mari's flushed face.
Mari sighs and closes his eyes. One hand on Sedan and the other on his sister's shell.
“That our strong boy… Now. After we've all had a snack- how about I bend one of the rules a bit? Hm?”
Mari and Ivory look up at him, intrigued. Delilah climbs down off a statue to make her way over, while Darling and Hana emerge from nearby brush with flushed, guilty faces and nervous hands. They still run over to see what Sedan's plan for the evening will be.
“I know that Delilah is grounded from cable, but all I really have here is DVDs anyway- and I just gotttt….. Jurassic Park!”
The kids yell, flap their hands, and run around in excitement.
“Let’s work on getting cleaned up so we can have a movie night! Popcorn is on me.” Sedan says with a wink, before leading the children inside.
The television set that Sedan has in his communal area is definitely on the obsolete end. He was recently gifted a DVD player, so at least he gets a more reliable picture. All the while, his vintage VHS collection gathers dust.
“This way you guys won’t have to worry about rewinding the tapes… Not like you ever did, but still.”
As the movie plays, the sun begins to set over the horizon, throwing shadows across the burrow. The desert land is cooling down from the searing heat of the day, and a chill creeps in through the cracks and crevices. Sedan walks around and closes each window shutter. Carefully lighting some candles, Sedan then begins to prepare a classic babysitter dinner: Mac N’ Cheese.
As he plates each bowl with cheesy goodness, the sound of children chattering and giggling begins to fade into quiet, until only the sounds of the movie can be heard.
The kids are huddled underneath a large plush comforter; sharing the warm blanket as a means of separating themselves from the Velociraptors on screen. His good tidings of Macaroni seem to distract the tots for a moment- readily accepting their meals and digging in with eyes still glued to the tense scene in front of them. Mari pushes the comforter back over his feet to create an opening for Sedan.
The tortoise works on arranging himself on the couch without crushing any little turtles- but before he can relax, something jumps on the screen and the kids shriek and hide in equal measure. Now Sedan is surrounded by tots clinging to his shell and arms.
“Are you guys sure this isn’t too scary of a movie? I can put on Spy Kids again if you want…”
Kenji vehemently shakes his head; his expression calm, but his grip on the blanket wrinkles the fabric from his strength.
Delilah says “No!” but keeps her head tucked firmly against Sedan’s shoulder.
Darling has his sunglasses on- again- but Sedan suspects his eyes are closed.
Ivory has thoroughly buried herself in the comforter; she doesn't even seem to be watching the movie anymore, but she’s making some pretty accurate dinosaur noises underneath the soft fabric.
Hana and Mari focus on their Mac N’ Cheese as a way of escaping the tension of the film.
Sedan pats their shells and comforts them between mouthfuls of his own pasta.
“S’dan? Are those dinosaurs mutants?” Delilah asks.
This feels like a line of questioning that could land him in weird territory if he’s not careful.
“Not exactly, sweetie. Those are clones! They were made to be copies of Dinos that lived a long time ago.”
“So we aren’t going to lay eggs with velelocirwaptors inside ‘em?”
“Not exactly? Ya know who would have the answer to that question? Your mama!” Sedan chuckles at his own joke. The addition of Delilah asking Donatello about eggs and clones later is just a bonus.
Just then, a blur crashed out from the bottom of the blanket and into the nearly empty bowl of popcorn, sending kernels flying.
“AAAA-! IVY!!!”
The young turtle tot growls and skrees over the crowd of tots- baring her teeth and brandishing her claws like a t-rex.
“Oh boy…”