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“Guys, I’m calling it. Y’all tied, okay?”
“Wha-what? N-no way! That is un-unacceptable!” Leo stated.
“For once, I agree with my infinitely inferior brother. You must acknowledge the superior team—namely Miquel and myself—as the winners of the snowball fight!”
“You t-two? Not after the way R-Raph pelted you with that,” he shivered, “monstrously hu-HUGE s-snowball! It was as b-big as M-Mikey!”
“In battle, it is quantity not quality that matters! With my additional appendages via robotic arms, I was able to rain frosty fury upon your dumb-dumb head!” The genius emphasized his point with a poke to the other’s head.
“GUYS! It’s cold and I’m going inside,” April snapped. “Deal with it yourself.”
“Wait-wait-wait-wait, April! We need a neutral party to determine the winner.”
“Donnie, get Splints to do it. Do you even see how much heavier the snow is starting to get?”
“Come on, fellas, April is right. Besides, Leo is freezing.”
“N-no, I’m n-not, Big Guy. I’ll be r-right as r-rain once I get s-some ha-hot—”
“Speaking of rain, it REALLY is starting to come down hard!” Mikey pointed out.
“Ya ain’t kidding, Little Man. Come on ya two, cut out the middle child nonsense and let’s get home!” As soon as the other three climbed down the ladder, Leo closed the manhole cover and launched one last snowball at the back of Donnie’s head with a loud laugh.
“Haha! Final s-strike—Team Raph wins! Leo! Leo! Leo!” Reaching up, the oldest yanked the red-ear slider down.
“Leo, knock it off!” He pulled him in closer and shivered. “Geesh, ya like an ice cube!”
“Ice cube indeed, he said with a heated glare! Mark my words, you will be haunted by a chill that will follow you for days!” Mikey patted the genius on the shoulder reassuringly, not understanding the gravity of the threat until later when he was messaged after the older two went to bed.
“Dee, what’s going on?”
“Phase 2 of our unfinished battle, my dear Angelo! We shall go topside and collect enough ammunition to ambush Nardo when he least expects it!”
“And Raph too?”
“Yeah yeah, him too if you wish. But mostly Leo, for it is he who deserves our wrath!”
“You mean, your wrath? I’m fine with calling it a tie like April said,” the youngest shrugged.
“In hindsight, I could have perhaps accepted those terms—that is, until Leo betrayed me with the blindsided attack!”
“Alright, Dee, but let’s make this quick…”
~*~*~*~*~
The next morning Leo exited his bedroom and was greeted by a snowball to the face. Raph stated that if this was going to continue there needed to be ground rules, one of which Mikey added that there was to be no storing snowballs in the kitchen freezer. Leo then began carrying around a mini-cooler full of snowballs that he restocked from a large cooler full of snowballs he was now keeping in his room, which still wasn’t as convenient as having SHELLDON equipped with a cooling unit to help Don launch random attacks.
Yes, they were mutant turtles who were cold blooded… but they were also teen ninjas who were sneaky.
For the most part Raphael and Michelangelo abstained from the tie-breaker the middle two brothers feuded over, except when a stray snowball hit them and then they retaliated. But the vendetta primarily remained between Leonardo and Donatello…
A few days into the fiasco Leo carried his trusty mini-cooler into the living room for movie night in which Don accused him of being up to no good and was planning to disrupt family time, only for the other to open the mini-cooler for Splinter to see the only snowballs inside were the kind of snacks that had coconut-marshmallow covering chocolate-cake with cream-filling.
“I don’t know what he’s talking about, Dad!” Leo plastered a perplexed look on his face. “This is my emotional support cooler, to remind me how I will always be cooler than Donnie!”
He laughed as their father grabbed a treat to enjoy before smirking smugly at how successful his setup was. The subtle jab was not lost on his rival.
“Know this, Nardo…” he fumed, raising an irate finger towards him. “This battle is no longer a mere prolonged snowball fight, oh no! No, this is WAR! Watch your shell, for revenge is a dish best served cold and yours, yours brother, will be ICE cold!”
“Okay, Don… You really need to chill out!” he laughed, causing the other to fume with his arms crossed as he pouted during the first movie.
Knowing everyone would be sleeping in due to the late night of binging films, Donatello woke Michelangelo up early. The youngest yawned before looking at his immediate older brother questioningly.
“At dawn, we ride!” he declared.
“Ride what?” the other asked, barely coherent.
“I’m saying, he explains with dramatic effect, that we shall launch a final and decisive attack while Leo sleeps. He will be unprepared as not only will we have the advantage but—pause for SHELLDON to appear—” He gestured towards his flying robotic assistant. “While he is under siege, his inventory will be depleted as it will be taken throughout the chaos thus leaving him defenseless so he will have no other choice but to surrender once his own weapons are used against him!” He rubbed his hands warmly in delight at imagining his victory.
“But Donnie, Raph said bedrooms are off-limits!” Mikey reminded.
“Michel, this is war and war has no rules and takes no prisoners!”
“Alright, Dee…” Satisfied, the purple ninja turned around to head towards his brother’s bedroom. He was too distracted entering commands on his wrist device to notice the youngest smirk.
Once they were both standing at the door, Donatello tried to discreetly turn the doorknob only to find it uncharacteristically locked. He frowned and turned to Michelangelo, whispering quietly.
“Seems he suspects the possibility of a surprise attack.”
“Hm, I suppose that’s possible…” the other replied indifferently as he watched a lock pick jiggle before they heard a soft click. Pressing a finger to his mouth, the taller terrapin silently opened the door with one hand closed in a fist, arm up to indicate a holding response.
Yet instead of giving the signal to act, the arm slowly lowered to his side as his fist relaxed subconsciously as the genius stared dumbfounded at the sight before him. Michelangelo watched sympathetically before gently leading him back out, closing the door as quietly as they entered. He ushered his brother to his own room, having him sit on his own bed and grabbing a flavorless juice from his mini-fridge. He briefly shook his head at the sight of snowballs in the freezer portion before closing the appliance and walking over to the other.
“Here, Dee… drink something.” He nodded without thinking and did as instructed before fully fixing his gaze on the other. Seeing his normally verbose brother at a loss for words, Mikey cleared his throat.
“You okay?” Clearing his throat and taking another sip, he spoke up.
“Finding Raphael curled up in Leonardo’s bed isn’t odd…” He spoke slowly, as if processing his thoughts in real time as the other nodded encouragingly. “But… doing so sans pajamas is… unexpectedly odd…”
“I suppose it is.” The older raised a drawn-eyebrow at the other.
“You are not surprised?”
“Oh, Donnie… You’re a genius, we all know it. But sometimes your intellect overshadows your insight, that’s all.”
“Elaborate please,” he requested as he took another drink.
“Look… Leo teases you, you tell him to go away, and he mostly does.”
“Yes, quite annoying when he persists in being a nuisance.”
“But when he teases Raph, he doesn’t let up. He hangs all over him, even when you can tell he’s pushing Raph’s patience.”
“You are also akin to climbing over our big brother…”
“No, it’s not the same!” Mikey waved his hands innocently. “That’s just, playing like when we’re wrestling around. Leo, it’s more like… attention-seeking type of behavior. Also, think about it this way: we all have nicknames for each other, but ever notice some of theirs?”
“I’m sure I could pull up a list in my database for the incessant variety Nardo addresses us by…”
“Don’t need to. Remember the minotaur maze and Raph called Leo ‘pretty boy’? Or when we were caught in that clothing montage and Leo called Raph ‘big daddy’?”
“The last one I remember as I was sitting right there. I was too busy critiquing their questionable fashion choices though to really question that though…”
“And mine?”
“Huh? Oh no, all of yours were attrac—er, acceptable. I mean, commendable!” He blushed as the other smiled.
“Aw, thanks, Dee!”
“You’re welcome, Michel.” He patted the other on the head affectionately, allowing his hand to linger a little longer than usual which did not go by unnoticed…
“Remember the last time we all got the flu? Leo was the first to catch it from Splinter so he had it pretty bad by the time Dad was in the seventh stage. He was really delirious…”
“Ugh, I know! My nuclear uranium, he laments,” with his empty hands clutching air.
“I still say a brick oven would be better for all of us,” he frowned with reproach. “Anyway… Leo was really delirious and kept babbling about hugging Raph so much it cost us our chance for the ‘must say yes’ stage!”
“Wait a second…” Donatello glanced accusingly at Michelangelo. “You asked Raph if you had ever told him how big and beautiful he was."
“It was just a question, I didn’t technically say it!” He threw his hands up in the air. “Besides, you saw he just doubled and was about to set a new high score! I was being encouraging since Leo was teasing him so much!” Crossing his arms, he jutted out his lips in a pout.
“You make many valid points,” he conceded.
“So…” Uncrossing his arms, Mikey looked at Donnie with uncertainty. “How do you feel about, you know, that whole situation?”
“Hm? Oh yes,” he seemed unconcerned about being pulled from his train of thought. “I suppose it is all well and good for them.”
“Really? You seemed so stunned I thought maybe you, you know, disapproved.”
“Disapprove for what reason? The facts are indisputable… Fact: we were raised together with the concept of brothers despite being biologically unrelated. Fact: normal turtles have no ethnical qualms about partnering with siblings hence the existence of littermate syndrome that pet shops have to avoid while conducting business. FACT,” he emphasized, “In general many animals have no regard for human concepts of morality especially as it concerns limited options of which, more facts upon facts, the quantity of four absolutely qualifies as limited options especially in consideration of only male specimens thus the lack of repercussions such as procreational mishaps due to limited DNA compatibility!”
“Wow…” Mikey replied, obviously impressed. “You’ve really thought a lot about this, huh?”
“There isn’t much to think about when you separate the scientific facts of turtle nature versus the emotional nuances of human nurture. Perhaps if we were humans mutated into turtle form, but yet that would still leave us only three options that are the least questionable in terms of scientific compatibility. No, the fact of the matter is that our dumb-dumb brothers are, for once, valid in acting upon their own instincts as it is only natural in this regard.”
“It is? Even though we do unnatural turtle things like, eat pizza?”
“There have to be some benefits to our mutation, he joked with amusement.”
“One in good taste at that!” the other grinned.
“Ah, I see what you did there!” Donatello sighed, gently poking at a dimple of Michelangelo’s smile. “You did not seem surprised, but your awareness does not necessitate acceptance. How do you feel about this,” he gestured, “whole situation?”
“Oh, you know,” he clasped his hands in his lap. “I’m just happy as long as they’re happy.”
“I see,” he nodded. “I am as well.”
“You are?” Mikey asked with surprise.
“Of course! That exponentially increases the statistical odds in my favor.” Seeing the confused look on the other’s face, he smiled softly. Using his fingertips to tilt the other’s chin up, Donnie softly pressed a kiss to his forehead. As he sat back, he watched his brother’s jaw drop as he uttered one word…
“Donnie?”
“As I said… your awareness does not necessitate acceptance. So please do not feel pressure—er!” Donatello’s words were interrupted by the firm pressure of Michelangelo’s mouth on his. He felt as if he opened Pandora’s Box as he realized he was inviting more physical touch than perhaps he was prepared for and yet, he also realized why he had always been the least touch-averse with the youngest as opposed to everyone else including their older brothers. Whereas an unintended brush of contact from someone else might trigger a sense of discomfort, he rarely felt such sensations whenever it was him. There was a feeling he had been unable to describe before now, but now as he felt a tongue that was not his own slip past his lips and trail along his teeth, the word materialized in his mind…
Complete.
From there the emotions continued to snowball and he certainly was not about to fight it.