The cold is made for cuddles! - Reader x Rise!Leonardo
GN
Pairings: Leonardo/Reader
Characters included: Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, April
Warnings: n/a
Series: No
Summary: Leo knew that Y/N hated being touched, what he didn’t realize was that this was only a thing during the summer since the heat and sweat was just gross to them. So when they admitted that they did enjoy cuddles during the winter season, the freezing Leo had to test that assumption.
Word count: 4913
Authors Note: It’s a bit shorter than I would have liked but honestly I had fun writing the banter between Y/N and Leo haha
Request: I just tread your Rise!Leo x reader birthday fic and OH MY GOD 😚👌 beautiful. Your writing so edible (that is a compliment)
I have a request!
Rise!Leo (cuz you write him so well) x gn!reader who has recently moved to New York from somewhere south, where it gets especially icky from heat, like Arizona. Reader is somewhat touch-starved because they often overheat, but their favorite season is autumn/winter because it's cooler out.
So at some point Leo complains about it being too cold in the lair or how winter's coming, and reader enthusiastically says, "yea, that's the best time of the year!" When Leo questions then about it, they say it's the best time for cuddles!
And then after that, whenever Leo complains that he's cold, reader drags him to the couch or his bedroom to cuddle 🤗. It ends up being a sort of codeword for "I want cuddles"
Hope that's not too specific for you, friend, and feel free to ignore if you're not interested ~🌺👸
Y/N threw their front door of their apartment building open with a happy hum. Their lips turned up into a big smile as they slowly made their way along the pavement. The first snow of the winter had fallen and while the snow along the road was either melted or in a dark grey color, they couldn’t help themself but be content anyhow. There were still white spots all around the city that looked quite magical.
Though the beauty of snow wasn’t the only thing that made Y/N quite so happy. In fact, it wasn’t even necessarily the winter season. No, they frankly loved the cold! Winter and autumn were their favorite months. It brought along a special coziness with it that they just enjoyed so much. These months were made to cuddle up with someone beneath a blanket, drink something warm and watch really bad seasonal movies.
Y/N couldn’t help but chuckle to themself as they rounded yet another corner, a puff of warm air evaporating into a little cloud as they did so. If their friends knew what was going through their head right now, they would probably be mighty confused, seeing how they are usually so touch averse. To be fair that was mostly due to the weather! When everything is hot and sweaty you don’t really want to hug it out with others!
Ah, but yes. Their friends. A lovable and unique bunch. And with unique they meant the quite literal meaning. Their friend group mainly consisted of mutants and even one or two yokai, so yes, unique.
When Y/N moved to New York for college, they were so worried about finding new friends in this huge and new city. Moving across states was already a sobering thought but then there was the whole ordeal of knowing they would be all alone over there. Their family and old friends staying home or even moving further away themselves.
But luckily Y/N ended up having a few classes with the amazing and outgoing April O’Neil. For some reason April began chatting with Y/N whenever she got the chance. Talking about college, the city and the like. This soon turned into April inviting them to hang out at her apartment to study together which later evolved into them sitting in a park with some food and voicing the people who walked through. Y/N still remembers the improvisational argument they had with April when they saw a couple arguing on a park bench. Franklin, they named the couple, did not enjoy that David was constantly eating spinach with cheese and nothing else.
April and Y/N truly were the comedic duo.
It took only a month for the two to become inseparable college friends, which Y/N was thankful for every day. Sure, they might still get used to being in college and living in a new city but at least they had April at their side to work through all those hurdles and oh boy was April ever happy to help.
Now what the Y/N back then didn’t know was, that being friends with April meant that there was a chance that they would be standing face to face with mutants.
Not going to lie, the first meeting could have gone better. Y/N was hanging out with April and offered to walk to the nearest store to grab some snacks. When they came back, they were met with four mutant brothers that interrogated April as to why she was suddenly sending Mayhem, April’s teleporting yokai pet, so often to their place to be pet-sitted.
It took a while for Y/N to realize that they were in fact not dreaming and that this was real. They couldn’t help but poke and prod the brothers to make sure they were in fact standing in front of them.
Nowadays though, they were very good friends with the four turtle mutants. Most of the time after college classes they would immediately swing by the lair to relax and bring over some things for the turtles that they have problems getting on their own.
While they got along with everyone, even Splinter surprisingly, they got along with Leo the best. It wasn’t unusual for both to start talking in puns and sassing each other non-stop. Whenever this happened the others in the vicinity will groan in annoyance and make sure to get away from this.
As Y/N’s mind wandered back to these memories they finally reached their destination. A little coffee shop they found once when they were on a walk to clear their mind from all the college work. They loved this little place, it was comfy and it had the best drinks.
It’s the winter season so grabbing something warm was only natural and since they did announce to the Mad Dogs that they would swing by, they also grabbed some warm drinks for the family. They just hoped the drinks would still be warm enough when they arrived.
Once they received the drinks and paid, they got back out the shop and looked for the nearest sewer entrance. With their phone in hand, and an app that Donnie made for them so they could find their way around underground, they began their trek through the stinky sewers. Honestly, they were still not sure how the mutant family managed to keep the smell out of their home.
It didn’t take too long for them to reach the lair entrance. While Y/N was already in a happy mood and had a smile on their face, they couldn’t help themself as their grin grew even wider. They just felt at home here.
“Hello, guys! Delivery!”
The first to poke their head into the living space was Donnie. His eyes immediately landing on the tray with the cups in Y/N’s hands. His sour expression relaxed a tiny bit, but Y/N did notice the change.
He slinked his way towards them “Ah! Greetings, Y/N! You brought us drinks?”
Y/N nodded “Yep! It’s winter! Snow is out! Perfect weather for a nice warm cup of coffee, cocoa or tea.” They grabbed the coffee they specifically ordered for Donnie and placed it in his hands. As the warm cup made contact with his cold hand, he let out a satisfied sigh.
“Ugh, winter.” A voice spoke up next to the two. “Hate this season.”
It was Leo, Mikey and Raph stood next to him.
Y/N couldn’t help but roll their eyes at Leo’s statement, they knew Leo hated the cold, which made sense seeing how the guys were cold-blooded, but still. Not waiting for the others to ask about the drinks Y/N immediately moved to hand each their drinks.
Mikey immediately held the warm cup close to himself, taking a cautious sip while Raph was clearly just using the cup to warm up his fingers.
Leo moved the cup against his cheek, letting out a satisfied hum as he enjoyed the warmth.
“Don’t you guys have ways to heat up the lair? I figured Donnie would have already done something about it.”
Donnie took a big sip from his coffee “Well the lair is pretty open, so we opted mostly to heating up the closed rooms we got. So mainly the projector room, our rooms and of course my lab.”
Leo nodded “Yes, yes. Exactly.” He then used his free hand and placed it on top of Y/N’s shoulder, softly pushing them along “That’s why we chill in my room. I got some comics that I found and wanna show you and it’s way too cold here. Come on.”
As Leo continued to push them along, Y/N gave the other brothers an apologetic look, but they just shrugged their shoulders. That’s just how Leo was with Y/N. Loved hanging out with them and often kidnapping them to hang out alone. According to Leo it’s just because the two are just the bestest of friends. Something April loved to challenge seeing how the two spend a lot of time together in and outside of college.
Before Y/N and Leo could disappear, they could hear the rest yell out a quick “Thank you for the drinks!”
Once inside Leo’s room, he let the human go and immediately jumped into his bed, wrapping his blanket around his body with a sour expression. A floor heater was sitting in the middle of the room, but it was obvious it was only doing so much. It was alright for Y/N but they knew that Leo was more sensitive towards the cold than them.
“So, the comics?” they asked as they shrugged of their coat.
Leo just nodded towards his desk, refusing to move his arms out of the warm blankets.
Y/N couldn’t help but chuckle silently as they walked towards the desk, grabbing one of the comics. It was about a superhero detective, something they haven’t seen yet and as they skipped through the comics they could see why. The art was definitely interesting to say the least. They would love to get a breakdown from Mikey to see what he was thinking of it.
When Y/N looked back towards Leo, it somehow looked like he cuddled himself even deeper into the blankets. They let out a humorous snort “You really are turning into a Leo-Burrito.”
As a response Leo just stared blanky at them. His fingers were poking out of the blankets to hold the warm cup and move it to his lips so he could take sips. Probably trying to pace it a bit so he had more of the warmth.
“I should take a picture of this.”
And when Leo’s eyes widened, protests leaving his mouth, Y/N immediately grabbed their phone, snapping a picture of the blushing and bundled up turtle.
He sighed “You are more annoying than usual. You are so happy today.”
Y/N let out a bit of an evil laugh as they looked at the picture of the pouting Leo-Burrito, sending it along to April immediately “Well, it snowed! I love the snow!”
“I really don’t understand how you can love this time of the year! It’s so cold and annoying and oh yeah, cold.” He made sure to scowl, his brow ridge pulled as low as possible.
“Are you kidding? This is the best time of the year! It’s the year to get warm drinks, cuddle with people under a nice warm blanket and watch horrible movies!”
This seemed to surprise Leo. His scowl turned to an expression of confusion mixed with surprise, there was a slight blush on his face that Y/N attributed to him feeling cold.
Leo’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Y/N, only for his eyes suddenly to dart to his drink “Uh, you? And cuddles? Since when? You don’t even like it when we put our arm around your shoulders.”
“Well, when we met it was summer and all and during the warmer days it’s just … icky. I’m sweating and hating it. Getting hugged and all means more warmth and more sweat. It’s annoying but that’s the great thing about the colder months, I guess. I’m not entirely like... touch-averse, it just has never been the right moment?”
Somehow this became awkward, and Y/N could feel how an embarrassed blush made their way towards their face. To hide this, they turned back to the comic in their hands, still watching Leo from the corner of their eyes.
Leo was nervously biting down on his lip as he seemed to mull something over. It was funny how easy of a time Y/N had when it came to reading Leo. The number of times they surprised him by telling him exactly what was going through his mind and offering him to listen to his worries was more than they could count on their hands by now. Unbeknownst to them Leo appreciated this detail about them immensely.
He had problems to voice his thoughts to the others, especially his worries, after all he was the confident one! So, to have someone just straight up almost read his mind and offer a listening ear was a big help.
“W-Well, I don’t believe you.” He suddenly spoke up. Leo must have realized how stupid this sounded, at least when Y/N looked at him with a raised eyebrow because he couldn’t look at their face as he stared at the wall next to him. His lip jutted out into a bit of a pout as he acted like he was deep in thought.
“What? You want me to prove it to you?” they laughed “Or do you just wanna get a hug and use me for my body warmth?”
Aghast Leo finally looked back at Y/N. Hit the nail on the head, huh? The blush on his face definitely darkened, he opened his mouth to most definitely say something witty and sassy in return, but Y/N stopped him by putting the comic back down on the desk and moving over to the blue turtle.
Leo was just staring at them with a slightly open mouth, curious to see what they were up to. When Y/N stood in front of his bed and looked at him expectantly he asked “What?”
“Move, idiot. Let me into your burrito!”
But Leo didn’t dare to move, so Y/N forcefully pulled on the blanket to open it enough to let themselves in. He shrieked as the colder air hit him which made Y/N laugh again. He was such a baby when it came to the cold.
Y/N made sure to sit down next to the taller terrapin and wrap the blue blanket around the two. They could tell that Leo was tense as they made themself comfortable next to him. He was usually very much okay with being all touchy-feely with his family, including April, so this surprised Y/N.
Slowly Y/N grabbed the almost finished drink from Leo’s hands and placed it to the side. Leo let out a sad whine as the warmth left him. Instead, Y/N grabbed the turtle’s arms and laid them around their body, pulling their own arms around his shoulders, pulling him closer to themself. Surprisingly Leo didn’t object to it and just let himself be guided by them.
It took a second but as Y/N gave him a little squeeze to show that this was alright, he let out a soft sigh as he took the chance to bury himself deeper into the hug. He was now pressing his cold snout into the crook of their neck which sent a shiver along Y/N’s body at first contact.
Seeing how this was the proper first time Y/N hugged Leo, they were a bit surprised with how cold his body was. Of course, they knew that this was a thing and they have felt it every now and again when their hands brushed, or when he laid his hand on their shoulder and arms, but it was something different as he basically tried to bury himself inside their body.
His legs searched for contact with Y/N’s, which soon resulted in their legs being intertwined. Y/N slowly moved a hand on Leo’s shell, lazily tracing along the pattern while their other hand rested on the back of his head “See? All good, right?”
Leo nodded slowly, his face still pressed into their neck “Mhm, warm.” Was all he said.
“I knew it! You are just using me for my body heat! I can’t believe you!”
“ ‘m sure am.”
“The devious criminal even admits to it.”
“This devious criminal will keep you for himself. You can’t leave this place ever now. I officially ‘m kidnapping you.” His voice was still muffled by him pressing himself against Y/N. They could feel his mouth move against their collarbone which tickled them, but they managed to suppress a laugh that was threatening to leave their chest.
“I should yell for help then, I guess. I’m sure your brothers are nicer to me.”
In return Leo just nodded, letting out a very non-committal “Mhm” in affirmation.
Y/N could tell he was getting sleepy. They made sure to lay securely against the wall of the room and gave Leo another squeeze as a silent encouragement to fall asleep. If he understood that or not, it didn’t matter, since he was out cold a minute later.
With a smile on their face Y/N made sure to continue tracing his shell. It was a nice feeling with how his weight was laying on them, his arms securely wrapped around their body, their legs tangled together. It felt comfortable and safe. Almost intimate even.
Y/N definitely thought the plastron would probably be uncomfortable on their body but somehow it was fine. They knew it wasn’t as hard as the shell, since it bended and moved along as he did his acrobatics, but it was still way firmer than skin.
This was also the first time they got the chance to take a proper look at his shell and let their hands run along it. They had to admit that they were often curious about it and would have loved to take a closer look at it, but it wasn’t anything they just could ask him about. Not that he wouldn’t have let them, they were positive, but the teasing would have been horrible and frankly they didn’t want to give him this satisfaction.
They could only imagine him saying something stupid like “Oh? It only makes sense you wanna take a better look at my awesome bod!” Something that would have definitely ended up with them trying to punch Leo.
As Y/N slowly closed their eyes, sensing the drowsiness, they began humming a tune. It wasn’t any specific tune, just something that came up and felt calming to them. The tune died in their throat though as they finally succumbed to their sleepiness as well.
Y/N woke up first, Leo was still wrapped in their arms but he too woke up when Y/N had the horrific realization that it was actually pretty late and that there were still projects that had to be done. There were silent, incoherent protests from Leo as they untangled their limbs from his and moved out of his bed.
“The comics were great, Leo.” Y/N laughed.
Leo buried himself further into the blanket, probably enjoying the rest of the warmth that Y/N so graciously donated.
“They are. Gotta get over here again soon so you can take a better look at them.” He murmured still sleep drunk.
“Ah, yes, and not for another cuddle session so you can steal more of my precious body heat.”
“What can I say? ‘s cold.”
“I might as well ask for payment if that is how this will go.”
“Your hugs are great. The others will be jealous. After all I’m the first to get a proper hug from the Y/N.” A yawn ended Leo’s quip.
Y/N just gave him an affirmative hum as they moved to give him a little pat on his head. He moved his head up so their hand connected with his cheek. Leo’s smug expression didn’t go unnoticed.
“Alright, see ya bud. I’ll try to come over tomorrow.”
There was only a soft “Yay!” from Leo as Y/N finally tore themself away from him and made their way out of the lair. They would have said goodbye to the others but all of them were probably bunkered down in their rooms and Y/N really needed to get back to their apartment in order to do some work. These due dates won’t wait for no one. Well, they kind of do it’s just a thing of if you are prepared or not but this wasn’t the point right now.
Once home though Y/N spent a good amount of time to chat with April viaphone and joke about the Leo-Burrito picture before they finally sat down to study and work. Still, they couldn’t help but sometimes get the picture of Leo out. It was funny okay? Also he looked adorable. Let’s ignore the fact that this was also amazing blackmailing material.
If they could they would love to print and frame the picture. Just for teasing purposes of course.
The next day Y/N made sure to make their way to the lair again after doing some chores and work. This time April joined them since they met up for lunch. Both happily gossiping about some professors and supposed university mysteries that April was currently investigating.
“I don’t think they have the capabilities to create ‘new life’, April”
April just scowled “Well, I don’t mean anything like a full sentient six foot beings! Just something small. We both saw weirder hanging out with the turtles.”
Y/N rolled their eyes “Why would our university, that specializes particularly in creative writing and journalism and the like, create their own lifeform. It just doesn’t add up!”
“That’s why I’m investigating! The rumors must have come from somewhere and usually there is a kernel of truth in there!” she groaned as the two rounded the last corner before arriving at the lair.
“I’m gonna predict and say that people are trying to hatch some bird eggs.”
Before April could retort, the two students already stood in the lair hence why Y/N cupped their mouth and yelled out “Boys! Your superhero, super friends are here and we are dying for some entertainment!”
“Ya know, we can just walk in without announcing it every time.” But Y/N just shrugged at that, they started doing it when they got to know the family and at this point it was just the procedure they always did.
Raph was the first to appear but his brothers were close behind. Leo had one of his eyebrows up as he looked at his two friends “What? Are we your personal jesters now?”
Y/N nodded happily, stepping closer to Leo with their arms crossed in front of their chest “Yep! I thought that was clear ever since the start of our friendship? I mean you always act like a clown, so I just assumed…”
“Hardy-har-har. Keep talking, let’s see who will be the clown by the end of this.” Leo took a step closer as well.
Before the two could start their joke argument fully, April stepped in between the two “Okay, kids! No arguing! It’s movie time!”
“Yes, please! Let’s get into the warm projector room!” Mikey spoke up, pulling April along. Leo followed suit and laid his arm around Y/N. At first Y/N could tell he didn’t dare to put the weight of his arm fully on their shoulders but when they didn’t protest or shake him off, he finally did relax and forced them to move along to follow the others.
Leo really took advantage of the fact that Y/N told him that during the winter they didn’t mind body contact. They enjoyed the contact actually. It’s been a long while since they had a proper hug or even a cuddle session like yesterday. Okay, maybe they were also taking advantage of this whole situation. Yet, it surprised them that Leo didn’t tease them about it. Made some quips or any kind of witty remarks.
Then again if he did Y/N would definitely stop gracing him with their hugs and warmth so there might be that.
The projector room was definitely warmer than the open living space of the lair but the differently colored blankets did show that the turtles were still struggling. Being cold-blooded must be rough.
The turtles scrambled beneath their respectively colored blankets while April worked to get the projector running to get the movie started. Y/N on the other hand went into the kitchen to prepare some popcorn and maybe make just some simple hot cocoa for the freezing brothers. It might not reach Mikey’s level but it was mostly for warmth than anything. Also their own cocoa wasn’t that bad it just wasn’t Mikey good!
Y/N first brought the popcorn bowls into the room only to vanish again and bring everyone their warm cups.
“Lately you are spoiling us with warm drinks, Y/N.” Raph noted as he took a sip.
But Y/N just chuckled “I bought you some yesterday and made you guys some today. If that is spoiling you then I’m really sorry for you.”
“Still appreciated!” Surprisingly it was Donnie who said that. He might put on a bad boy persona but some warm drinks managed to break through his shell after all, huh?
“Okay, got it! Y/N is amazing! Now let’s put on the movie, I’ve been working my butt off the last few days I can really use this right now!” April said as she started the movie.
Y/N wanted to retort that her work was snooping around campus all day but they bit the comment back. Instead they took their coat and threw it on Leo as they made themself comfortable next to him. He just squawked in surprise as he shook the coat off his head.
“Since you are always so cold.” Y/N whispered, making sure to open their eyes wide and putting on a pout to show off some very sarcastic pity.
Leo just huffed but still moved their coat around his shoulders, his eyes now transfixed on the action movie that began.
Watching a movie with the family was always fun. Mikey loved gushing about the artistic choices, Donnie tended to explain some effects or why something didn’t make sense while Raph showed his appreciation for any kind of cool action sequences and Leo couldn’t help but throw in some possible one-liners for the hero of the movie that made everyone groan in the room.
April had a clear weakness for any journalist kind of characters that made sure to get themselves involved with the plot in order to find out more as to what was happening. Y/N on the other hand was in a similar boat like Leo. They couldn’t help themself as they made puns. They really felt smug and happy whenever they made a pun that resulted in the majority of the room to burst out into “boo!” and popcorn being thrown their way. At this point they could tell when it would happen and they always tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to catch some popcorn with their mouth. Sometimes this would result in Raph trying to throw popcorn into Y/N’s mouth as they darted across the room.
Right now though Y/N was leaning against a beanbag next to Leo with a few pieces of popcorn littering their body that they didn’t notice.
Leo placed his empty cup on the ground with a soft clink, his gaze tore off the movie to look at Y/N.
At first Y/N didn’t notice, to engrossed in the movie as the hero ran after some goons. Their own eyes following the action until they suddenly noticed that someone was very clearly staring at them from the corners of their eyes.
When Y/N turned their head to quizzically look at Leo, they noticed how close he really was. He looked shy, a question on his face but too scared to actually ask. There was an adorable blush on his face.
Not expecting this sudden closeness the human could feel their cheeks blush as well only for a thought to suddenly enter their mind which made them affectionately roll their eyes.
“What is it, Leonardo?”
“Y/N?”
“Uh-Huh?”
“I’m cold.”
Y/N’s eyes wandered over his form to indeed notice the small shivers that wrecked through his body but the way he sheepishly looked at them they knew he also just wanted another cuddle session. Once again, Y/N was actually pretty good at reading what was going through his mind.
With a soft grin they scooted closer to him “Well, let me in your little burrito then.”
“Yes!” he cheered quietly, not wanting that the others heard him.
He happily opened up his blanket and waited for Y/N to scoot closer. Once they were close enough he threw the blanket around them and practically pulled them into his lap. Wrapping his arms around them while simultaneously nuzzling his face against their collarbone. In return Y/N threw their one arm around Leo and slowly traced along his shoulder, their other hand rested on one of Leo’s arms that was wrapped around their body.
“Happy?” Y/N chuckled.
Once again Leo nodded against their body “Yes. Very warm. Very comfy.”
“The thief strikes again.” They sighed somberly.
Leo’s chuckle vibrated though his chest “I did tell you that I was kidnapping you but you still managed to flee. Still dumb enough to fall right back into my trap.”
“Sure, Leo. Believe what you want but we both know I just took pity on you.”
“I love your pity handouts.”
Okay, that was enough. Y/N pinched the skin on his arm as their only answer. Leo hissed in surprise and as he wanted to argue back, Y/N made a point of staring right at the movie. Ignoring him completely. Leo leaned back against the beanbag with an annoyed grumble.
He hated it when Y/N did things like that, even if they didn’t say anything it still felt like they had the last word in their argument. Instead he moved their body flush against his so he could lay his head on their shoulder to watch the movie.
“I swear to god Leo if you use this chance to sniff me-“
“Oh my god, Y/N! That’s weird!”
Y/N couldn’t help themself to laugh as they saw Leo’s horrified expression that was laced with a deep blush.













