Cherry

In true Mikey fashion, it hadn't taken him long. With just a short break for lunch he managed to finish it up before dinner, making sure his brothers were all present for the last touches.

He wipes away the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand, inadvertently leaving a smear of red paint in its wake, and watches his brothers expectantly.

Leo is the first to step up, immediately gushing over his baby brothers ‘mad skills’. But Raph and Donnie stay back, looking confused.

Raph tilts his head to the side and squints a little, but Donnie is the first to speak.

“I daresay I hate to be the bearer of bad news, ‘Angelo, but I'm afraid that's not how that’s spelled.”

“What?” Mikey squeaks, and he worriedly glances between Donnie and the mural. He can't see any spelling mistakes, but if Donnie says it's there…

“Yeah, what Mikey said.” Leo backs up his brother. “What are you talking about, 'Tello?”

Donnie opens his mouth to answer, but Raph speaks first. “Donnie's right guys. There's no ‘Z’ in Mad Dogs.”

“Just so.” Donnie nods. “It should be spelled with an ‘s’, as is proper.”

“Seriously?” Leo arches an eyebrow at his twin. “That's the problem?”

“Hey! It's a real problem! Our team name is serious stuff Leo, we gotta make sure we all get it right.” Raph huffs in Donnie's defense.

“I just thought it looked cooler…” Mikey whispers at the floor, dejected.

“And it does, little bro. It looks way cooler! Don't listen to those lame-o’s, I'm on your side here. Mad Dogz with a ‘Z’ for life, baby!” Leo throws a celebratory arm around Mikey's shoulders and grins at him.

Despite his sour mood, Mikey can't help but be caught up in Leo's exuberance and a small smile cracks his face.

“Wha-? We can't go having two spellings of our name!” Raph argues. “That'd be too confusing!”

Donnie ignores their big-brother showdown and tilts his head to one side, then the other, further studying the mural. “On second thought…” He muses, almost absently. “Mikey may have a point. From a linguist standpoint it makes no sense, but it’s true that from an aesthetic point of view it has a certain… je ne sais quoi.”

“Well get used to being confused then, because I ain't budging.” Leo pulls Mikey closer protectively and glares at his big brother.

Raph glares back, and the two of them end up trying to stare each other down.

“Donnie, I know you know I don't know what that means. Stop using big fancy words Raph doesn't understand!” Raph breaks eye contact with Leo to bark at Donnie.

“What it means, dearest brother, is that I, too, am siding with Mikey on this one. It does indeed ‘look cooler’.”

“What!? Not you too, Donnie!”

“It's just you now, big guy.” Leo says, smiling smugly as Donnie joins him to stand on Mikey's other side. “C'mon, are you really gonna say no to this face?” He grabs Mikey's chin and points it towards Raph like a weapon.

Mikey knows his role here all too well, and immediately he puts on the biggest, wettest, saddest puppy dog eyes he can manage. “Please, Raphie?” He begs in his sweetest baby brother voice. “I worked so hard…”

The act comes easy, considering he really did work hard and he is legitimately sad about Raph's dismissal of his totally very cool and awesome spelling. So it doesn't take much for him to dial those emotions up to 11.

It works like a charm, just like it does every time, and Raph visibly crumples like a wet tissue.