Late to the Party

There was nothing more satisfying than a job well done.

A fight that was won with few injuries was a great occasion, especially considering how harsh their battles have been lately. Between the Foot, the Triceratons, Bishop…well, it was a lot.

Though, if Leo was honest, this fight really wasn’t anything exciting like anything recent. Only a few Purple Dragons that were unfortunate enough to run into them on their jewellery store heist. Half an hour later, all the would-be thieves were tied up and waiting for the police to arrive, the sirens wailing in the distance.

A small victory, yet to the four of them, it couldn’t get any better than that.

They didn’t leave until they saw the Dragons being taken into custody, and even after, their pace was slow as they travelled from rooftop to rooftop. Leo trailed behind his brothers, a smile on his face as he watched them banter and mess around.

The weather was chilly, the rooftops covered in a thick layer of snow as more fell peacefully from the sky. He knew they would have to call their patrol off soon - there was no way he would risk getting any of them sick - but for now, it was nice to just hang out and exist together.

No bad guys, no stakes, no struggling for their lives. Only each other and the worn weapons on their backs.

“Guys!” Mikey exclaimed, throwing an arm over Donnie and Raph’s shoulders. The pause was enough for Leo to catch up to them, hands on his hips as he faced their youngest brother. “For tonight, I’m thinking celebratory pizzas and sci-fi movies!”

“Didn’t you choose sci-fi last time?” Raph raised an eye ridge.

“So?”

“So choose somethin' else.”

Leo raised a hand, giving a shy smile, “We could watch a Valentine movie.” Mikey pretended to gag, draping himself dramatically on the back of Raph’s shell.

“Why, Leonardo, you insult me!” he cried, a hand to his forehead. “We all know Christmas movies are the best for romance!”

Don snorted. “I don’t think I even saw you sit through an entire romance Christmas movie.”

Mikey ignored him, “Besides, some think that Valentine’s Day is a made up holiday to trick people into spending unnecessary amounts of money, especially when there are plenty of other fun and cheaper activities couples can partake in but deemed ‘less good’ ‘cause they spent less.”

His brothers blinked at him, a long silence that stretched on. Finally, Leo and Raph turned to Donnie, who smiled sheepishly.

“Um…would you believe me if I said we accidentally fell down a two am internet rabbit hole?”

Leo sighed, bringing a palm up to his forehead. He really did need to enforce his brothers a stricter bedtime if he was going to be given a new reason to be confused by humans every late night web search.

“Ok, well, if that applies to Valentine’s Day, can’t it apply to Christmas?” Raph countered. Mikey huffed.

“I didn’t say I agreed with it, I just thought it was interesting!”

“Yeah, but can’t that apply to every holiday then?”

“Well, it would depend on your own views-” Donnie tried to jump in. Mikey cut him off, crossing his arms.

“If you wanna be a bummer, then sure!”

Raph huffed, upper lip curling to show sharp fangs, “You callin’ me a bummer?”

Unfortunately, Mikey took the bait.

“Dude, you’re such a bummer,” he groaned, lightly shoving Raph’s shoulders. Raph clicked out an annoyed sound, shoving him back with his own snarky retort. Leo watched alongside his currently calmest brother, crossing his arms as they watched the show. All four of them knew it was overplayed, no one was truly angry, but that still didn’t stop the fond exasperation that Leo felt wash over him.

From the looks of it, Donnie was in a similar boat. “Guys-” Donnie sighed, immediately drowned out by their bickering brothers. Leo tilted his head thoughtfully, then gestured him over. His purple-banded brother shrugged before sliding up to him, watching him carefully as Leo bent down to grab two handfuls of snow beneath them. He pawned one off to Donnie, clumping his into an uneven ball. Donnie grinned evilly at the realization and followed suit.

“On my mark,” Leo whispered, to which Donnie nodded.

They aimed at the squabbling turtles, unnoticed in their heated debate. Donnie snickered, throwing back his arm, “Get set…”

“Go!” they cried at once, their snowballs hitting their marks. They laughed at their shocked brothers who squawked in collective surprise and sudden cold.

“What the heck!?” Raph called, rubbing the back of his head where he had been hit. “Unfair!”

Donnie snickered into his hands as Leo grinned, offering his hand in a high-three. His brother took it, an unusually smug look on his face.

“Rule one of being a ninja,” Leo chided playfully, already scooping down to make another ball. “Always be aware of your surroundings.”

Raph smirked viciously, “Oh yeah? Well, rule two-”

“Never underestimate your enemy!” Mikey cried, and before they knew it both he and Donnie were being attacked from behind, the explosion of cold cold cold making him shout, ducking as he ran to avoid Mikey’s merciless strikes. He threw the snowball in his hand towards Mikey, getting him in the plastron, already scrambling to grab another from the ground. In the corner of his eye, he saw Don leap behind a vent, just narrowly missing Raph’s shots.

A flash of orange to his right caused him to snap back into focus, laughing as he did his best to avoid Mikey’s attacks. He managed to get a hit on his shoulder, but Leo retaliated by catching him once on the leg and another on his upper carapace. Each hit caused Mikey to shout, yelling a mix of “cold, so cold!” and “I’ll get you for this!”

“Try harder, Mikey,” he teased, flipping over his youngest brother. He went to land in a crouch, but his foot slipped, causing him to slam chest first onto the roof. Mikey laughed at him from above, rushing over with a handful of snowballs before he slipped too, tumbling to the ground with a high-pitched scream.

“Good job, goofball!” Raph taunted, and Leo laughed when he looked over to see the red-banded turtle wrestling with Don. Both of their cheeks were flushed with laughter, eyes twinkling as they struggled to pin the other down.

“Come on, Don,” he called, “You can do it!”

Donnie nodded fiercely, and just as it seemed like Raph had the upper hand, grabbed a handful of snow and pushed it right into Raph’s face. Raph’s grip let go in surprise, and Leo couldn’t help but snicker as he managed to get Raph onto the ground.

“3, 2, 1!” Mikey cheered from his spot on the ground, not having stood up from his earlier fall, “Don wins!”

“Not bad,” Raph smirked, double tapping Don’s shoulder, who immediately let go, “Rematch?”

“Aw, Raphie, but what if I win again?”

“We’ll see about that!”

Leo was content to watch the two start their rematch until a certain turtle appeared in front of him, with a snowball in hand. “Break’s over!”

“Wait, Mikey, let me get up-!” His pleas were ignored, but he found he couldn’t mind too much as his little brother pelted him with snow as he slipped and stumbled to stand.

Leo lost track of time after a while, somewhere between when Mikey dumped a bucket of snow over his head (where he had even gotten the bucket, Leo still wasn’t sure) and when after the second wrestling match Raph eventually betrayed Mikey to join him and Donnie.

Mikey handled himself well, though. Despite the odds, he still managed to strike them more than they did him, taking advantage of his acrobatic skills as much as he could. However, no amount of ninja training could stop them from tiring, and soon they were laying in a heap on the rooftop, laughing and shivering together against the unrelenting cold.

“My hands are freezing,” Donnie wheezed, voice still tinged with humour as he rubbed them together. He was the first to stand, brushing as much snow as he could off himself. Mikey was next, pretty well bouncing over to him.

“I’ll make you some coffee when we get back,” Mikey assured, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. Donnie gave him a teasing nudge.

“You spoil me.”

“Hey, what can I say? You’re the best turtle here!”

“...You broke your console again, didn’t you?”

Mikey laughed nervously, “What? No, of course not!”

Donnie’s answer faded off as the two headed toward the nearest manhole. Raph tapped his shoulder, tilting his head in their younger brothers’ direction.

“C’mon, let’s go before Don starts his revenge arc on Mikey’s video games.”

“It would be a tragedy.”

“Truly, it would,” Raph drawled dryly, grinning at Mikey’s indignant shout.

“Hey, I heard that!”