A King With No Crown

The point about Karai’s death is interesting. I’ve always interpreted early movie Leo as just, not trying to lead. That boy has never taking his dad seriously once and he’s not gonna start now that he wants to change their working system. He doesn’t wanna so he doesn’t, he’s stubborn. Nobody doubles down more than Leo when he’s made his mind up about something. You gotta rattle the kid big time for him to realize he is, in fact, not handling this correctly

He spends the rest of the finale showboating. He just. needs to pretend that didn’t happen. Needs to pretend they didn’t lose someone. That can’t happen again, won’t happen again, because Shredder is gone so they’re just goofy kids again and it doesn’t matter

In the movie it’s all a joke! Raph and I are arguing again no biggie. He’ll chillax! Who cares? Dad made me the leader?? Pffft, since when does Dad make the decisions for us? Apocalyptic future? Hey, this guy thinks he’s so cool when the worlds ending. And the Foot Clan stuff is so boring who cares if they’re about to summon aliens? (He cares. In that fight he’s trying, he’s looking to Raph to listen to CJ and not retreat. He’ll get the key—) Lol nerds

And then he freezes the moment there’s nothing to joke about, and he can’t pretend what happened to Raph didn’t. The poor kid could barely move, Oh—but what he can do? Deflect, place blame, pretend he has his shit together, knows how to lead. He’s so got this guys. It’s fine. It’s fine

And then he doesn’t and he can’t crack a joke, and he can’t hide from the future CJ threw at him. So he sits, for a moment, then moves and has some genuine character development (aforementioned double down rattle cycle). But then it’s right back to jokes, so glad you guys didn’t die hahahh I totally didn’t almost get you killed lol we good—omg Raph, he freezes again.

The moment he has to confront his family’s mortality he just. can’t. Ever. Any time. This time he stays in shock until he realizes he can do something. He doesn’t have the answers, but he can face man, he can inspire his team who do have the skills (and for the record, I do think Leo genuinely had hope here. I believe in the duality of this guys got bad coping mechanisms but also is just a chill and happy dude). He doesn’t even entertain the idea of not being able to bring Raph back. He has no idea how, but he gambles his life before he allows that to be an option. At this point and for the rest of the movie he’s, rightfully, scared. But he’s trying. He might crack a joke here or there but he’s not hiding anymore—he has to step up this time. And yeah, Leo gets the immature allegation a lot. Because, yeah, he’s a kid who’s trying to hide from the big scary world thats suddenly on his shoulders. They were just supposed to stop paper thieves.

I feel like this is partly why he has these insecurities. He’s gone so long thinking other people will fix things he doesn’t even think he’s capable (and he spent S1 struggling with his portals when Raph and Mikey picked things up fast). He admitted to feeling useless in the maze of death, even if it was one off, I think there were genuine insecurities behind that. And they didn’t think he could do things (S1 finale), and then he had a complex of things Raph didn’t like how he did things, how carefree he was; Leo wasn’t ready to confront the danger, any time he did it was too much. It’s scary to know your family is in danger, especially when you’re 14-16 years old and suddenly responsible for them when your self-confidence in moments that count isn’t always there.

The internal narratives this guy makes up gotta be crazy. I feel like he’d get so far removed from what’s actually going on sometimes. I could see him being really clinical about his feelings and just. not feeling them. Kinda mirroring Donnie, who’s feelings are overwhelming.

The door slid open with a hiss, revealing the usual disaster of wires, screens, half-built inventions, and at least three things that looked mildly explosive. Donnie sat hunched over a workbench while he tightened something tiny with a screwdriver. Shelldon rolled past your feet carrying what looked suspiciously like a melted toaster.

Donnie glanced up briefly. “Oh. It’s you.”

“Nice to see you too.”

“You’re interrupting a critical calibration.”

“You say that every time I come here.”

“Because every time you come here I’m doing critical calibrations.”

Fair enough. You crossed your arms. “Okay, serious question. Is Leo mad at me?”

That finally got his attention. Donnie stopped working. Not dramatically. Just enough to tell you the question mattered.

“…No,” he answered slowly.

“Then why’s he avoiding me?”

Donnie looked weirdly uncomfortable immediately after that. Which, honestly, was more alarming than if he’d just said Leo got trapped in another dimension.

He adjusted the googles of his forehead unnecessarily. “He’s not avoiding you specifically.”

“That is not comforting.”

“He’s just…” Donnie grimaced. “…going through something.”

You stared at him. “Wow. Mysterious. Helpful. Incredible work.”

“I’m serious.” Donnie sighed and leaned back against the table. “Look, this is gonna sound fake, but it’s not fake.”

Now you were concerned. “What happened?”

Donnie rubbed the back of his neck like he already regretted this conversation. “Okay, so, technically speaking, certain turtle species experience periods of heightened territorial and domestic instincts.”

You blinked once. “…What?”

“Nesting season.”

Silence. Then: “I’m sorry— nesting season?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

You actually laughed at first because there was no way. No actual way. But Donnie wasn’t laughing. In fact, he looked deeply annoyed to even be explaining this.

“He gets like this every year,” Donnie muttered. “Usually we can manage it before it gets too bad, but this time…” He waved vaguely toward the ceiling. “Well. You exist now.”

Your face warmed immediately. “…Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.”

You sat down slowly on a nearby stool, trying to process that information without combusting from embarrassment. “So what does that even mean?”

Donnie pointed the screwdriver at you lazily. “Means Leo’s instincts are currently screaming at him twenty-four seven. He gets overprotective, territorial, clingy, emotional— honestly kind of unbearable. Usually he hides in his room because he hates feeling out of control.”

“And he doesn’t want me seeing that.”

“Bingo.”

Something in your chest softened immediately after that. Because suddenly all those awkward texts made sense. Leo wasn’t ignoring you because he was tired of you. He was hiding because he was embarrassed.

Which honestly sounded exactly like him.

“So he’s okay?”

“Physically? Yes. Mentally?” Donnie tilted his hand uncertainly. “Debatable. Yesterday he hissed at Raph for touching a blanket.” you snorted and Donnie deadpanned, “I wish I were joking.”

“And you guys just… let him hide?”

“What else are we supposed to do?” Donnie said. “Every time Mikey tries to cuddle him, Leo wraps himself in blankets like a defensive burrito.”

That image nearly killed you. Still, despite the amusement, worry lingered in your chest. “Should I text him?”

Donnie considered that. “You can. Just don’t push him. He’ll come out when he’s ready.”

So that’s what you did. You gave him space. Even though it sucked. You stopped visiting the lair for a while because you knew if Leo really needed distance, the last thing he needed was guilt on top of whatever instinctive nightmare he was already dealing with. You still texted him occasionally — stupid little things, updates about your day, photos of things that reminded you of him — but you kept it light. No pressure. No asking when you could see him again.

Sometimes he answered immediately. Sometimes hours later. But every response felt strangely emotional underneath the jokes.

miss ur face :(

Donnie stole my good pillow btw. betrayal.

u still using that hoodie i left there??

The last one especially stuck with you. Because yes, you were. And somehow Leo replying with just “good” afterward made your stomach flip.

Then, nearly a week after this whole thing started, your phone buzzed at almost midnight. You were half asleep when you checked it.

Leon 🐢💙

u awake?

You immediately sat up.

You

yeah. everything okay?

The typing bubble appeared instantly, then disappeared and then came back.

Leon 🐢💙

Please come over.

Your eyebrows lifted.

You

Now?

Leon 🐢💙

please

The message after that came so quickly it almost felt frantic.

Leon 🐢💙

And uh

can u bring something that smells like you???

You stared at the screen.

You

“…What?”

Another message arrived immediately after.

Leon 🐢💙

NOT IN A WEIRD WAY

well maybe a little weird

just PLEASE

Your heartbeat sped up despite yourself. Because beneath the jokes, beneath the awkwardness, you could practically feel how badly he needed you right now. So you didn’t question it. You just grabbed the hoodie you wore constantly — the one he always stole whenever he visited — pulled on your shoes, and headed for the lair.

The lair is quieter than usual when you arrive. Not silent — never silent — but quieter. Somewhere deeper in the tunnels you can hear distant arguing, metal clanging, Mikey laughing loud enough to probably shake concrete loose, but the energy feels strangely subdued tonight. Like everyone collectively agreed to keep things calm around one specific turtle.

You barely make it down the fire escape ladder before Raph spots you from the kitchen area. “Oh thank god,” he says immediately.

You blink. “That bad?”

Raph points toward the hallway leading to the bedrooms with the exhausted expression of a man who has seen horrors. “He bit me over a blanket yesterday.”

“…Actually bit you?”

“Like a raccoon.”

“IT WAS INSTINCTIVE!” Leo’s voice immediately shouts from somewhere down the hall.

Raph cups his hands around his mouth. “YOU GROWLED AT ME.”

“I SAID I WAS SORRY.”

“You hissed after apologizing!”

There’s a pause. Then Leo yells, deeply offended, “Okay, wow, way to bring up my lowest moments in front of my partner.”

You can’t help laughing at that, the tension in your chest easing for the first time in days. Raph points at you again as he walks past carrying a mug.

“Please go deal with him. Donnie says if Leo steals one more pillow from his lab chair he’s gonna lose it.”

“THE CHAIR DOESN’T EVEN NEED SIX PILLOWS!”

“THEY WERE MEMORY FOAM, LEO.”

You shake your head, smiling despite yourself, and continue down the hallway. The closer you get to Leo’s room, the warmer it feels. Not temperature-wise exactly — though that too — but softer somehow. The harsh industrial feeling of the lair slowly disappears under layers of blankets spilling out from beneath his door, dim yellow lighting leaking through the crack underneath.

And you hesitate for a second before knocking. Not because you’re scared. Just… nervous. Because Leo asking for you like that had done something strange to your chest. Because you still remembered the frantic speed of those texts. Because despite all the joking, you knew he must’ve been miserable to finally cave and ask you to come.

Your hand tightens around the hoodie you brought. Then you knock softly. Immediately, there’s movement inside. Rapid movement. Something crashes. A muffled curse.

“COME IN.”

The second you open the door, you understand why Donnie called it nesting.

“Oh my god,” you whisper.

Leo’s room looks insane. Blankets everywhere. Pillows piled into walls. Hoodies, sheets, soft clothes, random cushions stolen from who-knows-where. His mattress is barely visible beneath what genuinely looks like a giant nest built by a touch-starved cryptid with access to several department stores.

There are fairy lights hanging crookedly along the walls. At least four plushies shoved into corners. One of Mikey’s giant beanbags somehow incorporated into the structure like structural support. And right in the middle of all of it—

Leo. Curled under three blankets, shoulders tense, eyes locked directly onto you the second you step inside.

For a moment neither of you says anything. And then his entire expression changes. Relief crashes over his face so fast it’s almost painful to witness. Not embarrassment. Not joking. Just pure, overwhelming relief.

“You came,” he breathes.

The words hit harder than they should.

“Yeah,” you say softly, lifting the hoodie a little. “I brought the—”

You don’t even finish the sentence. Because Leo moves. Fast. One second he’s across the room tangled in blankets, and the next he launches at you with absolutely zero dignity left intact.

“Leo—!”

He grabs you around the waist immediately, practically hauling you off your feet before you can react properly. You barely manage to laugh before he’s carrying you backward like you weigh nothing, dramatic as always, and then both of you crash directly into the mountain of blankets behind him.

The nest swallows you instantly. Soft pillows everywhere. Warmth surrounding you from every direction. The mattress dips hard beneath the combined weight as Leo practically drags you into the center of it with desperate urgency.

“Okay— wow—” you wheeze between laughs. “Little warning next time?”

“No.”

Leo buries his face directly into your shoulder before you can say anything else. And just stays there. You feel the shudder leave him slowly. Like he’d been holding tension in his body for days and finally let it collapse the second you touched him.

“Oh my god,” he mumbles against you, voice muffled. “You smell right.”

You blink once. “…That is the creepiest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“I know.” He sounds completely unashamed. “I can’t help it right now.”

The honesty of it almost catches you off guard. Because usually Leo would joke his way around vulnerability. He’d turn this into flirting or sarcasm or some dramatic bit to avoid actually admitting how strongly he felt.

But now? Now he just clings to you tighter. Completely serious.

“I missed you so bad,” he admits quietly.

Something in your chest twists painfully at that. You lift a hand automatically, rubbing slowly over the back of his shell. “You could’ve told me.”

“I tried not to.”

“Why?”

He groans dramatically into your hoodie. “Because this is humiliating.”

You snort softly. “The blanket cave isn’t helping your case.”

“It’s not a cave,” he mutters defensively. “It’s a highly advanced emotional support structure.”

“Built from stolen pillows?”

“Those pillows chose me.”

You laugh again, quieter this time, and Leo visibly relaxes at the sound. Actually relaxes. You can feel it happening little by little where he’s practically draped over you now, one arm around your waist while he shamelessly steals the hoodie from your hands and immediately stuffs it into the nest beside him like treasure.

The whole thing should feel ridiculous. And it does, a little. But mostly it feels strangely intimate. Because Leo isn’t performing right now. There’s no cocky grin. No dramatic posing. No teasing little smirk after every sentence.

Just him. Needy, exhausted, touch-starved him.

After a moment, he finally lifts his head enough to look at you properly. His markings look darker in the low lighting. His eyes tired.

“You’re not weirded out, right?” he asks suddenly, quieter now. “By… this whole thing?”

The vulnerability in his voice nearly breaks your heart. You stare at him for a second before reaching up and smoothing a thumb gently beneath one of his markings.

“Leo,” you say softly, “you literally tackled me into a pillow nest within five seconds of seeing me.”

“…Yeah?”

“I still came in willingly.”

That finally gets a grin out of him. Small at first. Then bigger. Then suddenly he’s pulling you impossibly closer again with dramatic intensity.

We also have to consider that they are half-human mutants, and humans have a life expectancy of 70–73 years. So I would say that our protagonists lifespan would be something like this:

Raph: 86 years

Leo: 56 years

Donnie: 61 years

Mikey: 56 years

Since they are mutants (and I would say that being mutants makes them more resilient, although it could also cause more genetic instability or something like that, but I’m going to say it makes them more resilient), I’m going to add 20 to each of them. And I’m also going to add 10 to Donnie and Raph because the data I found didn’t include a maximum (all this just because I say so).

Raph: 116 years

Leo: 76 years

Donnie: 91 years

Mikey: 76 years

But I’m not done yet! We also have to consider that using mystic powers ages you, depending on how much you use them. We can assume that Donnie is the one who uses mystic powers the least, because he combines them with his technology, so we’re only going to subtract 5 years from him. For Leo and Raph, we’ll assume they use them about the same amount, so let’s subtract 10 years. And Mikey… yeah, I really think we’d have to subtract at least 20 years from him.

So their life expectancy, according to my not-at-all precise reasoning and just because I say so, would be like this:

Raph: 106 years

Leo: 66 years

Donnie: 86 years

Mikey: 56 years

So… yeah, they’re definitely not going to die at the same time.