Fight Dogz!

Splinter happily sat up in bed, turning the page of his newest romance novel. He was just getting to the part of the woman discovering she was deeply in love with the business man when a shadow came over him. His ear flicked in alarm of the sudden intruder until he looked up and saw Leonardo standing in his doorway. It was still very new to see the young boys standing on two feet, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out the wolves were still getting used to it from their awkward stature.

A lighthearted jab sat at the tip of the rat’s tongue until he fully took in Leonardo’s state; the boy stood in the doorway, his left leg trembling from the lasting injury of his last fight in the Battle Nexus. He wore one of the more well loved hoodies that Splinter knew mostly smelled like him, since he wore it all the time back when he was still acting. He held his portable DVD player that Splinter had gifted him a few years prior as a peace offering, a few movies sitting atop the technology. All of that was good and well, but the dried track of tears were what caught Splinter’s attention.

His boys all struggled with their mental health, but Leo always seemed to be the one most affected by the horrors that followed him from living with Big Mama. Of course he worried about them, but it was really only Michelangelo that had come to him to chase the monsters away.

“Can we uh… can we watch a movie?” Came Leonardo’s voice. His voice seemed to scratch from his throat, protesting its use.

Splinter smiled and moved farther towards the wall to allow the canine into his bed.

“Of course we can. Come, climb in.” He insisted, patting the mattress next to him. Leonardo smiled sheepishly and shuffled over to the bed, the sound of his paws dragging across the stone echoing through the room. He was careful climbing into the bed, mindful of his dvd player and the movies he held while being tentative about entering unfamiliar territory. Usually, if Splinter could hear him, the rat would come and stay in Leo’s room if he was having a bad night of night terrors or flashbacks. This was very new for both of them.

“I thought we could watch that movie, Dirty Dancing?” He muttered, clicking on the device and opening the disc console.

“Ah yes! One of my favorites. That movie had just come out before I was taken into the Hidden City. What an accomplishment that movie was!” Splinter agreed, his hand resting on his white beard. Leo smiled softly as the old rat regaled in his acting days; it was a nice distraction to the thoughts fighting for attention in his head.

Leo was no stranger to the clutches of depression and anxiety. His thoughts often got the best of him on a good day, and he would go to Donnie or Raph when that happened. He didn’t want to force any of his problems onto Mikey, the youngest of them already dealing with his own issues, but his older brothers were always willing to listen to him. Tonight, however, was one of the nights that were downright terrifying. His thoughts screamed at him, reminding him of everything he had done and regrets, the other dogs he had fought almost to their death (some he had fully killed all in the name of the stupid sport he was forced into), demanding he pay for what he had done. One of the first nights they had spent in their new home was one of the worst nights he had experienced, driving him to force his claws into his scars to remind himself of the pain he had caused all of those other dogs and their families (since then, he always kept his nails very short and blunt). There was even a point when he struggled with the motivation to stay alive, his brain demanding he pay for the death of all those others with his own. He had simply returned to his brothers’ sides and snuggled closer into their pile.

Tonight was another horrible night, almost mirroring that initial night in their home. He couldn’t take it, and finally mustered up the courage to look to his dad for help. Though, he couldn’t just talk about how he was feeling, so he had to bring in his favorite distraction.

“Leonardo? Is everything alright, my son?” Splinter’s gentle voice broke through his train of thought, startling him for a moment. He took a deep breath and nodded, beginning the movie.

“It was the summer of 1963, when everybody called me Baby, and it didn’t occur to me to mind.”

They sat in comfortable silence, watching the movie progress in its story. Leo swallowed his pride and snuggled up close to Splinter, maneuvering himself far enough down the bed to tuck his head under the rat’s chin and rest comfortably on his chest. Splinter smiled softly to himself and wrapped an arm around his son, his heart fluttering with pure happiness and pride when he felt Leo’s tail wag ever so slightly under the blanket.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Splinter whispered, turning his full attention to his son. Leo swallowed softly and shrugged, his uneven ears flattening ever so slightly. Splinter shifted gently and looked down at Leonardo, a frown adorning his face.

“What is going on, my son? You can tell me anything.” He muttered, his hand gently running through some tangles in his son’s fur. Leo’s ears flattened more and new tears sprang to his eyes; he didn’t know why, but hearing the genuine care and worry in his dad’s voice broke a hole in the dam.

“I-I… I’m just having a really bad night. My brain won’t shut up.” He whimpered, hiding his face in his sleeve. Splinter’s concern only grew; he understood bad mental health himself, and was well aware of how dangerous it could get when going unaddressed.

“Shut up how? Are you… are you having flashbacks? Nightmares?” He asked softly. Leonardo shook his head, tensing ever so slightly as Splinter’s hand stilled against the back of his neck.

“Are you safe with yourself?” The rat asked, and that forced Leo to look up at his father, tears finally falling at that question. After a few moments of looking at each other, he forced his face into his dad’s chest, shaking his head as he sobbed. Admitting that he didn’t feel safe alone was one of the hardest things for Leonardo to do. He always tried to put on a brave face and tough through it, but there were so many times when he couldn’t.

“Okay… okay…” Splinter whispered, gears turning impossibly fast in his head as he tried to devise the best course of action to help his son.

“I want you to spend the night in here, alright? We can keep watching movies. It looks like you brought quite a few of them!” He requested, offering a small smile as Leo peeked up at him from his sleep shirt, now decorated with small spots of red from the dark red dye that remained over Leonardo’s face markings. The wolf nodded, sniffling and rubbing his eye to dry it.

He gave Raph a big teddy bear because he noticed his draw to soft things. He adores it and refuses to leave its side

He gave Donnie Legos because he noticed his need for stimulation and create things. Donnie loves them so much and gets progressively more difficult sets. This is actually how he finds his passion for making machines and tech!

Splinter gave Mikey arts supplies because he saw him scratch patterns all over the walls of his new room. Not wanting him to hurt his paws further and not file his nails down, he bought a full paint set to let him be creative

Finally, Leo got a portable DVD player and half of Splinter’s film collection. Leo accepted the gift very slowly and hesitantly, always hiding away with it and basically isolating himself to watch them. He doesn’t want Splinter to know that he absolutely loves the gift and it’s his most prized possession.

Leo does have a muzzle on for a while because he is very snappy and tends to be quite aggressive at times, especially towards Splinter. Between flashbacks and nightmares, it was mutually decided that it would be best he would wear one until Leo could have the time to himself to work on himself.