As Fate Would Have It

The Fated Encounter

Yet another day of relaxation, the four turtles are sprawled out in the lair's main room, each doing their own thing as their father watches his shows on the projector nearby. They may not be directly interacting with each other, but they are definitely enjoying each other's company nonetheless.

"Aaand done! I think my hands aren't as twitchy anymore. What do you guys think?" Michelangelo asks as he holds up his latest piece to his family; a simple portrait of fruit. It's his first drawing since he started having problems with his hands.

His brothers immediately drop their focus on their respective activities to inspect it. Splinter doesn't respond to this, due to him having fallen asleep in his chair – which was expected.

"Oh hey, that's actually really good, Angelo! I mean, you are the best at drawing, but really your physical therapy is paying off." His purple masked brother states approvingly. He does some gestures with his hands, as if making some calculations. "You should be back to normal very soon, dare I say in a week?"

"What Donnie said! I'm glad we were able to help you out lil bro." Raphael beams at him.

Michaelangelo's demeanor shifts a bit, still not enjoying reminders about him being the youngest. It seems he'll let it slide though, as this is a big moment for him.

Leonardo is the only one who doesn't say anything, stuck in thought. He isn't paying attention to the drawing at first, but rather how the grip his brother has on the paper isn't as tight as it was before his current condition.

"Uh...Leo? Do you not like it?"

Upon hearing his name being called, he snaps his attention to his little brother who's looking at him, waiting for his approval.

Right, he wants thoughts on the drawing.

He quickly glances at it, it's great. But not as great as his works previous to his tremors.

He won't bring that up though. Obviously...they're all trying to move on from the events that happened with the Krang. They need to focus on the brighter side of things.

"You're the best artist I know bro! It's a great drawing. I was just a bit confused. Why'd you draw a bowl of strawberries? Were you hungry or something?"

The excuse for his silence was hastily thought of, but it works. He didn't usually draw simplistic things like fruits or nature. Michelangelo typically drew his loved ones: his family. Those were always his main sources of inspiration. So it would make sense for him to be confused.

The switch up is not confusing to Leonardo though, he knows why he hasn't done them lately: Michelangelo wouldn't want to disappoint. With his drawing abilities impacted, he doesn't want to give anyone lesser quality works. Ever since he messed up drawing his beloved brothers once...he stopped and shifted to other subjects for his artwork.

He actually never told anyone about it, but Leonardo noticed the day he found the multiple crumpled up tear stained and shakily drawn pictures of him and his family in the trash.

The whole thing is a sensitive topic for his younger brother and he doesn't expect him to touch upon it.

And he doesn't.

"Tsk tsk, how dare you question an artist. We create whatever comes to us at the moment!" He eyes Leonardo. "Annnnd it uh so happens that in that moment I was thinking about how your face reminds me of strawberries."

A small pause.

"...and I guess I was starting to get hungry too?"

Leonardo rolls his eyes and smirks, time to play along.