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Who: Leo and Donnie
What: after fighting off the pirates, Leo experiences a bad day, and gets Donnie to help.
When: Day 75
Where: Leo's room
After everything that happened, Leo isn't even really that surprised when he feels the telltale pain and exhaustion creeping into his bones. After all, it was a really taxing day, both physically and emotionally.
Not that he's happy about it, or anything. He was hoping this wouldn't happen for awhile longer. But he supposes his body was due for a crashout any day now; the pirate attack just helped it along.
He rolls over in his bed, and even that's hard. It's like all the energy has been completely sapped out of him. Every movement feels like a massive chore, and he knows he isn't going to be able to do much today. Hopefully nothing else attacks.
At the very least, he doesn't feel the dark depression that sometimes comes along with days like this. He does feel a sort of nostalgic wistfulness, though unbeknownst to him, it's the ship (or the nebula they're passing through?) making him feel that way. Otherwise, there's just the general resignation that his body can only do so much, and sometimes he has to take his lumps and rest.
And usually this is the point where he'd call in reinforcements, but...
It strikes him for the first time how truly alone he is. His family is so far away, and they can't come help him if he needs it. He's totally on his own, for the first time ever.
Except, not really. There's one member of his family here with him... even if he has no idea the extent to which Leo needs his help.
Still, there's no one on this ship Leo feels comfortable turning to. It has to be the one and only.
So with whatever small energy reserves he has left, he pulls his hand closer and sluggishly taps at the bangle until he can send a message to Donnie.
come to my room
What: after fighting off the pirates, Leo experiences a bad day, and gets Donnie to help.
When: Day 75
Where: Leo's room
After everything that happened, Leo isn't even really that surprised when he feels the telltale pain and exhaustion creeping into his bones. After all, it was a really taxing day, both physically and emotionally.
Not that he's happy about it, or anything. He was hoping this wouldn't happen for awhile longer. But he supposes his body was due for a crashout any day now; the pirate attack just helped it along.
He rolls over in his bed, and even that's hard. It's like all the energy has been completely sapped out of him. Every movement feels like a massive chore, and he knows he isn't going to be able to do much today. Hopefully nothing else attacks.
At the very least, he doesn't feel the dark depression that sometimes comes along with days like this. He does feel a sort of nostalgic wistfulness, though unbeknownst to him, it's the ship (or the nebula they're passing through?) making him feel that way. Otherwise, there's just the general resignation that his body can only do so much, and sometimes he has to take his lumps and rest.
And usually this is the point where he'd call in reinforcements, but...
It strikes him for the first time how truly alone he is. His family is so far away, and they can't come help him if he needs it. He's totally on his own, for the first time ever.
Except, not really. There's one member of his family here with him... even if he has no idea the extent to which Leo needs his help.
Still, there's no one on this ship Leo feels comfortable turning to. It has to be the one and only.
So with whatever small energy reserves he has left, he pulls his hand closer and sluggishly taps at the bangle until he can send a message to Donnie.
come to my room
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There's a sound from Donnie, but otherwise, it seems not even a squirmy mimic is going to wake him up. It does make Illex pause, what seems to be the creature's head tilting back in the soft-shell's direction before settling back into place.
The quiet lasts for a few minutes, perhaps just as Leo starts to drift back to sleep again. The murmurings are unintelligible at first, but they start to sound more and more distressed. Donnie tenses, face pinching.
It's wrong, something's wrong. His legs aren't working again, he can't feel them.
"N-no...."
He hates to disappoint them. Even though Father assures he's fine. A gentle hand to wipe away those frustrated tears. A whisper, an encouragement and a warning. He has to be stronger, has to be prepared...
"...the m....sters..." They'll take him away, they'll tear their family apart-
Donnie shakes his head in his sleep, fingers grasping at the blankets he'd fallen asleep on top of.
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His eyes have closed and he's about to go back to sleep, when he hears Donnie's voice growing louder. Leo pulls his eyes back open and leans up enough to look at his brother, read the pinched expression he has in his sleep.
A nightmare...?
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His breath catches in a choked sob. "-'m sorry," he says. He made them sad again, he almost hurt them, the faces blur behind his tears. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorryI'm sorry..."
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Leo pushes himself further up, wincing at the twinge in his hips and legs. He has to stop for a second and take a few deep breaths, all the movement making him a little lightheaded.
Donnie's crying. That, too, makes him feel lightheaded.
"Dee!?" he calls out, voice a little high pitched. He's never been on this side of the panic, and he tries frantically to think about what his brothers do. "Donnie, i-it's okay, you're safe!"
He reaches forward, then hesitates, not sure if he should touch him or not. Donnie isn't a huge fan of being touched, so maybe he should wait...
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He hears his brother. Not a blue monster, his brother. Safe, is he really safe? Vaguely he starts to become aware of the familiar vibrations, something comforting in it. The faces stubbornly try to come into focus, but the only one that surfaces is a strange, grinning mask that doesn't quite match the sad, disappointed eyes above it. They start to fade into mist, supplanted by green and blue...
"...Father, no.... I'm..."
Donnie feebly lifts a hand, but there's nothing there-
Mist, the clouds of lightning fades away, wisps past his fingertips
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Leo watches Illex's response, then moves closer himself, reaching out for Donnie's lifted hand. He tries to grab onto it, gently (not like he has much of a grip right now anyway).
"Donnie, hey! Wake up, okay? I'm here and so is your weird pillow."
Sorry Illex.
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There's a brief jolt of surprise as Donnie's hand makes contact, his sleep-addled mind struggling with this new input. For a brief moment he starts to pull back, but a part of him remembers, knows this feeling, this hand around his. Fingers twitch and close around Leo's, eyes flickering open.
"...mmm? L...eo..?"
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Leo tries to give Donnie a smile, though it's a little strained. He doesn't know what's going on, and it's scaring him a little.
"Back with us?"
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Donnie can't tell very well, smiling back tiredly. His brain's still trying to wake up.
Back..? He blinks, confused as he rubs at his gummy eyes, pausing at the dampness of his mask. He grimaces, shoving it up and off with his goggles, groaning.
"...did... Was I saying something again..?"
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"Uh... yeah." Leo gives his hand the best squeeze he can, which isn't much. "You were... talking about monsters, and you called out for..."
He trails off, not sure what to say. He'd say Donnie was calling out for Splinter, but wouldn't he say "dad" or "papa"?
"...You said "father"."
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"....."
It looks for a moment like he wants to pull away, but he doesn't want to, he doesn't want to break contact. His fingers curl around Leo's, like hanging on any tighter will make the memories go away.
His eyes burn with frustrated tears that don't quite fall, and he draws in a ragged breath before rolling onto his side, curling towards Leo. At least Illex doesn't seem unused to being squished like this, but the mimic wriggles out from between them with only the mildest of disgruntled noises.
"...they're not father. They're not, they're not, they're not...!" Donnie mashes his free hand against his face, sounding like he's trying to convince himself. "I-it's so stupid, I know they're not but..." He shakes his head. "....thought I was over this..."
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"No, they're not," he agrees. He has no idea who they are, but they made Donnie cry, and... well, it's not like their dad is perfect himself, but he wouldn't make Donnie cry on purpose!
"But you're clearly not over it, so... tell me what's going on, so I don't feel useless?"
Yes, he's using Donnie's words against him.
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He sighs.
"...the Fae Rock and I 'stole' from. They thought it'd be more fun to have us try killing our own siblings than kill us outright themselves. Put fake memories in our heads, made us believe they were our father, we were a family....that...monsters would come and try to tear that away from us."
Ah, now he realizes why he'd reacted so strongly when Agatha had spoken about them being monsters so casually. Donnie squeezes his eyes shut.
"But they weren't monsters. They were you and Mikey...and Rock's brother and sister, and our friends."
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Leo growls the admonition under his breath, holding on as tight as he can to Donnie. They tried to make Donnie kill Mikey and the other Leo? Turned him against his own family? Made him try to replace them?
Whoever this person is, he hates them.
“I’m… sorry, Dee. I’m so sorry.”
He sighs, leaning in to bump his forehead against Donnie’s, the way Raph does to him sometimes.
“I’ll wake you up, if you have more dreams like that.”
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"The fake memories are gone...but the in-betweens, while they were trying to rewrite my actual ones and... A-anyway those are still there, those are real. Them being nice, pretending to care. Wish I could just forget them too..."
He opens his eyes, heads still touching, smile tight as he gives a tiny nod.
"...okay."
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If Leo ever met them, he thinks he would kill them.
"Well, we'll keep giving you better memories," he promises. "I bet your other brothers would agree to that, too."
Even if he can't magically forget those memories, they can give him other things to think about.
He pulls himself back, and offers his fist to Donnie to bump. It's a promise that way.
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His smile is less tight as he says it, but he means it. Maybe it's too easy to simplify things like that, simultaneously complicating a family tree that stretched across multiverses, but it's...nice, to think that no matter how shuffled around a timeline could get, they could still connect so naturally. Here in a universe where there might not be a version of them, they'd hang onto their family ties, and nothing would change that fact.
Donnie lifts his own fist, bumping Leo's back, his smile quirking slightly.
"Thanks, Leo."
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He smiles as Donnie bumps his fist, happy that he seems to have calmed down. Leo wasn't kidding that he'll wake him up if he has any more bad dreams, but he's hoping that Donnie gets a good sleep instead.
"Yeah, I know," he promises, settling back down on his pillows. "And I'm not letting any more faeries make you forget it."
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"Mmhm..." he nods, eyelids already drooping again. Illex worms his way over, melting between them with a low rumble of a purr.