#ler!leon

“Yeesh…you have a deeper Raph chasm than Raph himself…” The red eared slider lightly joked as he caught a glimpse of his smaller counterpart. 

The younger counterpart in question didn’t even seem…remotely phased by the remark, looking over the city of NYC like it was going to be his last time doing so. 

But the smaller turtle felt like he was being slightly watched…(which, he in fact was) he then looked up and locked eyes with his older counterpart. “…Huh? W-Were you talking to me?”

“Nope. I was just talking to my imaginary friend Mr. Snoozle— of course I was talking to you.” Leon said sarcastically, raising an eye ridge at the other teen. 

Leo blushed slightly at the elder’s sarcasm, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, “Sorry…I-I was spacing out…I do that a lot.”

“Yeah…no kidding. I’ve been talking to you for the past ten minutes and all I’ve gotten from you were six 'mhm’s', three 'yup’s' and seven 'dang that’s crazy's'.” The older one snorted, “If I didn’t know any better, it seems like you don’t wanna talk to me.”

“No! I-It’s not that!” The smaller turtle immediately protested, fiddling nervously with his fingers as he gazed at the streets of NYC once more. 

Which…was really the only thing he could do right at this moment. 

Besides…the city always looked so…pretty in the evenings. 

Well, if there wasn’t crime happening…

…Which was, like, a good 40-50% of the time but still.

“So…what is it, then? Why did you take me to a random rooftop in the smack middle of NY? 'Cuz, no offense…but I was having a nice first place winning streak in Fashion Famous before all of this.” The taller turtle said.

The honey brown teen raised a doubtful brow, “…You play Fashion Famous?”

“Psh…who doesn’t?” Leon scoffed, “But that’s a question worth discussing for another day…” He said as he leaned his shell against the rooftop guardrail as he looked up at the afternoon soon to turn to evening sky, “So tell me..what’s going on, dude?”

“…I…I needed to talk to you…” Leo mumbled. 

“I…can see that.” The elder giggled, “But, what did you wanna talk about?”

The younger fiddled with his fingers nervously again, picking at his thumb’s hang nail slightly as he avoided the other’s gaze entirely now, “…How…H-How do I become a good leader…?” 

Leon blinked in confusion, darting his eyes around the rooftop looking for someone else before letting out a humorless laugh, “Uhuh…whahahat?”

“I-I said…how do I become a good leader…?” Leo repeated, a bit quieter this time.

“…You’re asking me that?” The slider asked incrediously.

“Yes…!” Leo emphasized, getting off of the rail to look at the taller turtle, “How do I—”

“U-Uh…this is…flattering and all, b-but I reheally think you should talk to my Raph about…that.” The red eared slider interrupted, rubbing his arm anxiously and tensing up a bit as the other mutant looked at him with confusion and distraught.

“What? Why!?” Leo asked, getting up from the ledge to look fully at his older counterpart.

“Well, I’m not the oldest turtle in the family like you. I’m the second youngest. Raphalla has more experience, more wisdom and aaaaall that good stuff.” The lime green eyed turtle said as he grimaced awkwardly, picking at a hangnail as well.

Great minds think alike, I suppose…

The honey brown eyed mutant blinked, “I…so? Your still the leader of your team—“

“Welp…this conversation has been fun but I gotta go—”

“But—”

“I have a toooooon of stuff to do now that I think about it…”

“B-But I—”

“And besides, I’m sure your leadership skills aren’t as bad as you think they are—”

“PLEASE!!” The younger shouted as the older tried to leave, making the other flinch slightly at the sudden and random yell, “…Please. J-Just a small piece of advice! A-A hint…! Anything!” 

The taller mutant sighed inwardly, turning around as he crossed his arms— not in a malicious way…but it was really the only form of body langauge he could do at the moment other than picking more at his skin…

…Which, he promised Donnie he would try to stop doing…

“…Why do you want my input so bad…?” The lime green eyed teen asked, mentally cringing at how weak and fragile he sounded.

“I…I don’t know.” The younger mumbled quietly as he sat down against the ledge on the building, hugging his knees to his chest, “I just…figured you would know some stuff…”

“Some…stuff?” The other pressed.

Leo rolled his eyes, “You know what I’m taking about; being a good leader and all that shit!” 

“Pfft— HAH! Trust me, dude…I’m just as lost as you are with this whole 'being a good leader' thing.” Leon chuckled, sitting down next to his counterpart.

“…What are you talking about?” 

“I just became a leader, like…two-ish weeks ago? I dunno…the past weeks have been a complete blur.” The red eared slider explained, holding in an amused snort as he saw how genuinely shocked the other turtle was by his new lore drop. 

“My Raph was originally the leader of the team but after my family defeated the Shredder…my Dad was just all like: 'Blue, you’re the new leader now' and the rest was history…” 

“…Just like that?” The honey brown eyed teenager asked in pure surprise. 

“Just like that.” Leon confirmed. 

“Well, fuck me, then…” The smaller teen grumbled in defeat, burying his face in his knees as the other let out the amused snort he’s been holding in, “I’m good, thanks.” 

“You know that’s not what I meant.” The younger grumbled at the older’s immaturity. 

…He needs to make a mental note to himself to never let his own Mikey and Leon be in the same room with one another…

“I personally think you have nothing to worry about, though. You seem like you’re doing a pretty good job—” Leon tried to say. 

“But I’m not!” Leo exclaimed as he interrupted the older, mentally punching himself for making a loud outburst again, “I-I’m…not…”

“My brother’s don’t listen to me.” The smaller teen explained, his voice either demonstrating frustration or self-depreciation…

…Leon couldn’t tell.

“They always assume I want to be bossy or I want to be controlling but in reality I just wanna protect them!” The honey brown eyed turtle seethed, “I-I just want to be there for them a-and help!!! I knowthat we’re all the same age and I guess it seems like I’m babying them but I kinda have to because they aren’t responsible! They wouldn’t know responsibility if it walked up to them and punched them straight in the face!!”

The lime green eyed mutant rubbed his arm, tapping his fingers on his knees to try and calm himself down; getting overwhelmed was not a good look on him. 

Plus, it clashed with his autumn shade. 

“…Just, uh…trust yourself…?” The elder tried. 

“But I don’t!” The younger shouted, “I’ve tried and tried and tried to lead but they just. don’t. listen! I-I can’t lead people who don’t want to be lead!” 

“…Your Dad picked you to be the leader for a reason—”

“Well I don’t even know what that damn reason is! ” Leo seethed, burying his face into his arms, “My brother’s want Raph to lead…they don’t want…me. They want someone collective and strong and dependent as their leader; someone who they can be relient on…s-someone who they can trust…”

The smaller mutant let out a wet scoff, looking to the side of himself, “…I’m none of those things…” 

Almost on cue to the emotional moment, Leon slapped his younger counterpart upside on the head…hard. 

Leo let out a small squawk, rubbing the back of his head as he glared at the other. 

“What the freaking hell was that for?!” Leo seethed. 

“For saying a bunch of dumb shit!” The older seethed back, “Y'know that’s my job, right?” He said as he crossed his arms, glancing straight ahead as he saw the sun peeking out from behind a building….

…It was honestly giving the Attack on Titan intro and Leo wasn’t complaining one bit.

“Look…I’m not going to lie to you; being the leader isn’t easy.” The lime green eyed teen exclaimed knowingly. 

“Gee, I wonder what gave you that idea.” The other grumbled under his breath. 

“Just let me cook!”

“Well, right now you’re burning.”

Leon just rolled his eyes at the smaller’s sassy remark, continuing, “I get it, okay…? Being the leader is…challenging. Especially when you know the people your supposed to be leading don’t…want your leadership— or at the very least aren’t used to it.”

The lime green eyed teenager got up, brushing his legs off as he looked over the building’s rail, seeming like he was…trying to remember something, “It’s…a lot. Your still a kid but you’re literally forced to manage all of these responsibilities and high expectations everyone has for you…”

The older sighed, playing with his mask tails as he glanced at the ground, wishing it had an answer to his and Leo’s predicament, “A-And you don’t…you don’t know what those expectations are…” 

The taller mutant sighed, looking back at his younger counterpart, “But you just…gotta keep going…y’know? Your Dad picked you to be leader for a reason, I’m sure.” Leon assured. 

“But my brother’s—”

“'Want Raph?'” The red eared slider said, “Wehell, you aren’t Raph, now are you?”

“…no.”

“Exactly. So stop trying to compare. You’re Leonardo. Lead how Leonardo would lead.” The elder smiled softly.

God, he sounded so freaking…wise right now!!!

“But…I don’t know how Leonardo leads…that’s why I’m asking you…!!” The younger said. 

Leon snorted, “You gotta figure it out, then! Only you can determine how Leonardo leads. Yes…we’re both Leo’s in a sense but we’re different people…you feel me?”

“I…I-I feel you.” The honey brown eyed teen nodded slightly, “I just…I just don’t wanna mess anything up, I guess…”

“Hate to break it to you…but you 100% will. That’s the great thing about being, well…you. I don’t need to be an alternate version of you to know you fuck things up constantly.” The older Leonardo joked lightly, his soft smile turning to a smug grin as he saw how appalled his younger self got at the comment. 

“And you’re going to fuck up a lot of things when you’re leading your brothers…I’d be lying if I said you wouldn’t. But…overtime you’ll get better…you won’t be perfect…but you’ll get better.” The elder announced, looking over his shoulder to lock eye’s with Leo, “And sooner or later your younger brother’s will learn to trust you to lead them…but you have to trust yourself first.” 

Leo’s eyes widened slightly, looking back at his older self with nothing but…respect and compassionnow. 

His advice actually made…sense. Which is an actual shock because all the things he usually says is just plain old gibberish. 

“So, you gonna pay me?” Leon asked as he sat back down. 

“Huh?” The younger said as he tilted his head in confusion. 

“I said: Are you gonna pay me?” The older asked again, “Advice doesn’t come for free, y'know.” And in a result to the random question and statement, Leo scratched the side of his head, glancing away nervously, “I mean…I have some Jolly Rancher wrappers in my pocket if you’d like that.” 

The older Leonardo raised an unamused brow, biting back a genuine smile at the younger’s attempted transaction. 

“…I’ll…take that as a maybe…?” The shorter mutant quietly guessed. 

“I’ll pass…but I appreciate the offer.” The red eared slider laughed, wrapping his younger counterpart in a hug as he rested his hand on his side, squeezing it comfortingly, “With you and me as our brother’s leaders…there’s absolutely nothing we can’t solve!” 

The older mutant faltered, scratching his chin in sudden realization, “Besides girls…I still haven’t decoded them yet.” 

Leo randomly let out a laugh at the joke, shaking his head as a couple snorts and squeals followed. 

The older Leo raised an amused brow, chuckling lightly at the other’s giggle fit, “Ohoookay…it was never that fuhunny.” 

“Ihi nehehever sahaid ihat— snrt! Yohour hahahand!!!” The younger Leonardo squeaked, holding the other’s wrists loosely. “Oh.” The lime green eyed teenager hummed, his amused eyeridge raise now becoming…smug, “You don’t happen to be…ticklish, do you?” 

The smaller mutant gulped as his counterpart muttered out…the word; and so casually too?!

“N-Noho! N-Nohoh I’m nohot!” The honey brown eyed turtle squeaked out despretley, letting out a city-wide squeal as Leon pinched his hips with his free hand whilst still trapping/wrapping him in a hug. “Really? Well, last I checked, people who 'aren’t ticklish' don’t usually squeal when their hips are squeezed, bud.”  

“Ihihat’s— snrt! Juhuhust stahap!!” 

“If my memory serves me correctly, you said you 'weren’t ticklish', right?” The elder said as he wiggled his free hand near the other’s stomach. 

Which, in fact, was enough to keep the other boy completely howling with laughter. 

Leo screamed, twisting and turning to try and steer away from the tortuous fingers, “N-NohO nohOHO snrt WAHAIT-!!!” 

“Soooo…you obviously don’t mind this, right?” Leon smirked as he used his left hand to scribble around the smaller turtle’s tummy while his right hand wrapped around his shell and tickled his underarm. “IHI MIHIHIND! IHI snrt MIHIHIND snrt AHA LAHAHAT!” The younger mutant squeaked out in panic, flailing and shouting about. 

“But why~? You’re obviously not ticklish.” The red eared slider shrugged casually. 

“IHI SNRT SNRT AHAM!!” The smaller mutant suddenly confessed, pushing on the taller’s chest, “IHI AHAM SNRT  IHIHI AHAM SNRT SNRT IHI SNRT AHAHAM!!” 

“Oh! So…you lied to me?” The older mutant questioned as he clamped Leo’s thigh repetitively.

The complete audacity of this kid…

It was impressive, honestly…

Leo hiccuped, burying his head in the elder’s shoulder, “NOHO! IHI— snrt! GYAHAHA PLEHEHEASE!!” 

“Noho! You lied to me, you little twerp! Ugh…the betrayal! And here I thought we were having a nice little bonding moment!” The red eared slider cried dramatically as he stuffed his hands in Leo’s underarms.

The younger Leonardo loudly squawked, snorting up a storm as the elder continued to relentlessly tickle him to pieces, “L-LEHEEEEEEEHEON!!”

“Hm~? Yeah~? What is it, bud?”

“PLEHEHEASE!! NAHAT SNRT SNRT THAHAT!!!” The honey brown eyed mutant squealed, his yell bouncing off the walls of the buildings of New York. “Why~? Is it your tickle spot~? Your tickle tickletickle spot~? 'Cuz your tickle tickle ticklish~?”

“SHUHUT UHUHUP!!” The smaller turtle howled as Leon scribbled his nails along the other’s plastron patterns, “OHO MY GAHASH YOHOUR SOOHOH MEAN!!!”

“Mean?” The lime green eyed teenager repeated innocently, “I’m not mean~! I’m just asking you a couple questions.” 

“I-IHIHI CAHANT SNRT SNRT SNRT BREATHE!!” 

“That sounds like a yohou problem, but hey! That’s just me…” 

“OKAHAY!!!” The younger wheezed, happy tears pricking out of his eyes; awaiting to fall, “STOHOP! STOHOHAP!!” 

“Stopping stopping…” The elder teenager giggled, doing as he promised and stopping. He wrapped his younger counterpart in a hug, letting the shorter turtle snort and snicker in his shoulder once more, “You got this…okay?” He assured. 

“W-Whahat…? Whahat snrt snrt doohoo I snrt hahahave??” Leo questioned through his giddy laughs which Leon couldn’t help but huff fondly to, “The…Thehe leading thing, dude. You got it, okay? Just remember what I said and you’ll be fine.” 

“I dohon’t eheheven remember whahat yohou said toohoo beehee honest..” 

“I can tickle you again to help you remember—“

“N-NONOHO IHIHI’M GOOD!” Leo emphasized, hugging his middles and burying his head into Leon’s shoulder deeper. The elder just hugged him tighter, resting his cheek on the top of the younger’s head.

The two didn’t know a thing when it came to leading…

But they were going to try…they were going to try leading…

…Because that’s really all anyone could ask for…

Their best. 

·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚𝙵𝙸𝙽˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙ 

Mateo's laughter consisted of squeal-like giggles and high pitched cackles, a far cry from the laughs he gave for his friends, or even his genuine laughter from humour. Frankly, this current version had Leon enamoured.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp snort from Mateo after pinching the soft area just below his belly button, catching both of them off guard. The younger boy's hands shot to cover his mouth in mortification. Leon couldn't help but chuckle at the sound.

"NOhOho youhuhu didn't hear thAHAHAt-" Mateo's face burned through his muffled hysterics.

"Mhm. I also certainly won't be taking note of this for future encounters either." Leon commented with a knowing smile, gradually slowing his pace to let his partner catch his breath. Mateo's cackles and shrines de-escalated into persistent giggles.

Mateo whined through his laughter. "Mehehehean..."

Leon took a moment to look at Mateo's face amidst the squirming. It was flushed. The way his mismatched eyes were squinted in mirth, the way he freckles accented the nose he scrunched when the tickles ventured to a particularly sensitive spot. He's known Mateo for long enough to see which smiles were brought on for the sake of others, which laughs were part of an act. Seeing him like this did produced unidentifiable anomalies in Leon's heart.

Eventually, the tickles came to a stop. Mateo looked up at Leon, out of breath and still giggling a bit.

"You.. are the wohorst, you know that?" He pointed an exhausted but accusatory finger in Leon's direction.

Leon's mouth twitched into a smile. "Oh, I'm well aware."

Mateo looked up at Leon and gave an exaggerated pout. It was short lived, however, when Leon began running his fingers through Mateo's curly hair.

Mateo's eyes fluttered, going half-lidded with a hum. "Mm, I suppose.. I'll forgive you, just this once."

He leaned into the touch, making Leon smile.

"Quite the switch up. Are you sure there's not some sort of off-button on your head?" Leon mused as he played with the locks fondly, gently stroking his scalp. It was a funny little quirk Mateo had: He melted every time you touched his hair.

The younger muttered something along the lines of "shut up" and shifted closer to Leon's body, turning on his side to snuggle into him further.

Leon bent down to place a kiss on Mateo's head. "That's what I thought."

“W-wait, Leon, c’mon, y-you’re not really mad, right?” Ethan stammered out, backing away from his admittedly much scarier boyfriend. He’d had the idea of spooking Leon with a quick tase to his sides, but had unfortunately forgotten to account for the cup of soda in his hands.

The soda that was now all over the front of Leon’s shirt.

“You made me make a mess of myself! And now…” Leon took a second to think, before a smirk crossed his face as he thought of a punishment that’s proven to work at least for a while at their house.

“Now I’m gonna turn you into a mess!”

Suddenly Ethan was on his back, squealing as Leon’s fingers dug into his sides, sending sparks of ticklish energy shooting through his body. Of course this was what he resorted to. Ethan should have known this was coming for a long time. In fact, he sort of got the feeling that Leon wasn’t just tickling him over the soda.

Or at least, he did until his brain was flooded with ‘ITTICKLESITTICKLESNOBADBUTYESGOOD??’ as Leon’s fingers climbed his ribs, his touch becoming lighter and lighter the higher he went, planning each move carefully, slowly turning Ethan’s brain to mush with a smirk.

“Leheheon plehehehease! Ihi’m sohohohorry!” he managed between laughs, squeaking and almost folding as he suddenly received a poke to his belly, which turned into Leon scribbling all over it, leaving his ribs tingling and the anticipation of Leon going after his worse spot left unchecked.

“Aww, you didn’t think I was gonna kill ya that fast did you? I said I was going to turn you into a mess, and I know how easily anticipation does that for you. You need your tickles to be quick and easy for you to keep any sort of brain function. And that usually leads to revenge. But if I’m gonna turn you into a mess the right way, I’m gonna need your brain to basically melt.”

“H-hohow do youhu knohohow ahall thihihis?!” Ethan questioned as Leon’s fingers began to drift to his sides again.

“Dude, please, we’ve been friends since high school. You think I wouldn’t have picked up on all this by now?” Leon answered, still smirking as though he felt like the smartest man in the world for figuring out what kind of tickles made his boyfriend tick. “But, do you wanna know something else?”

“Whahahahat?”

“A little birdie told me tickle games get to you really bad~”

I’m going to fucking kill Liv, Ethan thought, his giggles calming as Leon retracted his hands and began to think.

“What game should we play, Ethan? The claw game? Maybe we could play rib piano? Or arms up? I know how much you love that one~” Leon listed the games off, watching Ethan’s face get redder and redder as he mentioned each game. Still, Ethan could never resist the urge to be a little shit.

“Aha… ahas much as you love tummy raspberries?”

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say as he saw a blush cross Leon’s face before he narrowed his eyes and simply said “Arms up.”

“Ahaw shit…” Ethan mumbled as he slowly raised his arms, knowing he was in for it now. He squeaked softly as he felt Leon’s gentle fingers slowly touch down and begin to trace gentle patterns along his wrists, moving at an agonizingly slow pace down his forearms. Ethan fought a losing battle against a wobbly smile spreading like his own blush across his face, gripping onto a table leg that was just above him, causing it to scoot forward with a small, sudden scraping noise.

“Aww, what’s wrong? Can’t get through without something to help?” Leon cooed as he traced little swirls around Ethan’s inner elbows, watching in amusement as the goth struggled to hold back his giggles. “C’mon, Ethan, no cheating.~”

“Pff- i-it’s nohot- snrk- not cheating!” he squeaked out in response.

“Not not cheating? Wouldn’t that mean it is cheating? I dunno, double negatives are stupid… either way, it sounds to me like you are cheating! And you know what happens to cheaters, don’t you?~” he warned, his gentle fingers slowly traveling down Ethan’s arms and towards his underarms.

“N-nohoho, nonono, L-Leheon, wait!” he squeaked out before yelping as Leon suddenly moved to his sides, just above where his belt held his shirt tightly to his waist.

“God, dude, why do you wear these things so high? I can’t get to your hips like this!”

“Doho NOHOT tahake my behelts ohohoff!” Ethan warned with a light shove.

“I’m not, I’m not, but that can’t be comfortable, I’m just saying. They’re covering half of your sides! I might just have to tickle you again after you change out of this, just so I can do what I really wanted!”

“Gohod you’re soho mehehean!”

“Oh I’M mean? Mister Tickles Everyone Every Chance He Gets is calling ME mean? You could just admit you can’t handle the teasing, you don’t have to make shit up just to look big.”

“Nohow lohohook whoho’s beheing a hypohocrihihite!”

Leon didn’t say anything, but the look in his eyes told Ethan he’d sassed him for the last time. Before he knew it, there was suddenly an unbearably gentle tracing just between his ribs and underarms, making his arms snap down in response as an embarrassingly high squeal ripped from his throat, his giggles skipping straight to hysterics, filled with squeals and shrieks every couple of seconds as Leon went a little too fast for his brain to keep up with properly.

“Ohp, looks like you lost, guess I’ll just have to keep tickling here~” Leon purred, holding back an amused laugh as Ethan struggled to string sounds into words and words into sentences, knowing his brain was filled with nothing but fireworks of energy, listening to his boots stomping loudly onto the floor behind him. Something he failed to notice, much to Ethan’s embarrassment, was the sound of a door shutting behind him.

“What the hell is all the noise…?” he heard a tired voice, Liv’s, behind him and turned to look at her, not slowing his tickles in the slightest.

“I’m tickling Ethan to death,” he answered simply.

“Ah… What happened to your shirt?”

“This little fucker happened. Why did you think I was tickling him?”

“Because he makes you look like a big puppy almost daily?”

“... Listen, don’t make me come after you next!” he warned with a blush, prompting Liv to raise her hands in surrender.

“Ohokay, okay, whatever you say, big man.” She came over to the two and knelt down beside Ethan. “God, him being such a big, scary tickler all the time can make ya forget how cute of a lee he is. I mean, look at him, his face matches his shirt at this point! What have you been doing to the poor guy, Leon?”

“KIHIHIHILLING MEHEHEHEHE!!” Ethan somehow managed through his laughter, squealing as Leon softly drummed over his tiny death spot the best he could beneath his arms.

“Teaching him a lesson about being a brat and a hypocrite. Can you believe he had the audacity to call me mean AND try to tease his way out of this? He caused this himself,” Leon corrected. “Anyway, I think now he’s just mad he lost the Arms Up game so I’m just gonna keep doing this until he apologizes.”

“Ah, so that’s what woke me up…”

“Why were you asleep at 3:30 in the afternoon, ya weirdo?”

“Oh, fuck off, it’s not my fault Streber’s tummy is comfortable. I wanted to hang out, eventually we ended up snuggling, my head was on his tummy, and you know how fucken soft he is so you also probably know what came next.”

“Ah, yeah, I get it. Did he do that thing, too, where he like, messes with your hair?”

“He did, it was so nice! He said it helps him focus but I honestly just think he knows we like it at this point. Does he ever do that to you, Ethan?” She turned to the goth, who was still pinned under (and getting the absolute shit tickled out of him by) his boyfriend, who only responded by shakily flipping her off, still finding speaking difficult between his hysterics, prompting a quiet laugh from the redhead.

“You gonna let him up anytime soon? I think he’s dying,” she asked Leon, who rolled his eyes but let up anyway, stretching his arms as Ethan slowly calmed down.

“Yeahhh, I think he’s enough of a mess. Got anything smart to say now, Eth?”

“Aheheh… awashb… yuhu… grrehehe…” he mumbled out, not making one bit of sense to himself, much less either of them.

“Oho god you got him speaking a whole other language,” Liv giggled at Ethan’s state.

“Is that even a language? I don’t even understand what he’s trying to say!” Leon pointed out, scooping up the giggly goth in his arms.

“Gibberish is a language… sorta,” she tried to argue. “It’s sorta communication.”

Leon rolled his eyes as he chuckled softly.

“Well last time I checked, Ethan’s first language was English-”

“I thought it was Spanish?”

“No, no, he’s just really fluent in Spanish, that doesn’t make it his first language.”

“Ohhh, I always thought he spoke it so well because it was his first. I could never, honestly.”

“Yeah, I know, right? It’s actually really fucken impressive. Anyway, since English is his first language and he can’t even speak that properly, I think my work is almost done here.”

“Almost?”

“You think I’m just gonna tickle my boyfriend and not cuddle with him afterwards? Do I look like a monster to you?”

“Depends on the kinda monster. Tickle monster? Yeah, very much so, actually.”

“Pft- ok, fair. C’mon, the cuddle window is closing, and if he’s not in a fluff coma soon, he’s not gonna be the only one asked why he was being so loud. Wanna watch a movie?” he asked as he carried Ethan to the couch, followed closely by Liv, who nodded enthusiastically.

“Yeah yeah yeah! Let’s watch Pirates Of The Caribbean again!” she suggested, Leon rolling his eyes.

“You recommend that like, every time, why do I even ask anymore?” he teased, grabbing the remote and putting the movie on.

“The illusion of choice, my friend!”