Universes Apart || Rise Leonardo x Reader

⚅Ten⚃

I asked Shelldon to play some music and he turned on Donnie's 80s playlist. I half expected the sleeping turtle to start bopping to the beat but he stayed asleep throughout the night. Lying there, relaxed like he wasn't in pain, I would've been fooled into thinking nothing happened if I hadn't seen him physically hit the concrete. I rested my hand on his head to check his temperature, and while he was definitely warmer than normal, it wasn't worrisome yet. I trailed my hand across his cheek, over his shoulder, down his arm, then onto his wrist to feel his pulse. I counted the beats as I examined him.

He was smaller than his brothers when it came to muscle mass, likely due to his reliance on tech whereas they had no such support. With his mask off, I noticed he had a bigger forehead than the others, likely due to the elongation of the head of a softshell turtle compared to the other species. His breaths were steady and slow, and I hoped the fan I had pointed at him would help keep him cool but not too cold. I wasn't sure if they even had cold blooded qualities anymore (seeing as they were just fine out in the snow one episode) but I didn't want to find out while Donnie was already dealing with my fall.

As I expected, I didn't get much sleep, so I filled my time browsing Donnie's phone for turtle care. I learned way more than I needed to know—like how box turtles and red-ears mate in early spring while softshells and alligator snapping turtles mate late spring—but useful information too—like how to best treat their injuries. I learned some information I wasn't exactly prepared for (like how they do the do), but they were part human so maybe they didn't really have a mating season. A thought sprang to me then about Hypno talking about his own mating season in his debut episode, and suddenly I wasn't so confident mutants didn't have them.

I did a brief check over Donnie to make sure he was ok for me to run to get some coffee quick, then headed out to the kitchen. My eyes were half closed as I yawned and looked around for the coffee machine I knew they had. After I set it to brew with the beans I found in the cupboard, I checked Donnie's phone for the time: 6 a.m. It had been a very long night.

"You're still awake?" The voice startled me, and I turned to see Raph looking at me with concern. He had on his customary red and black shorts and red bandana, but his knuckles were wrapped up and his sai were on his belt. I rubbed my arm and shrugged.

"I needed to watch over Donnie."

He nodded then headed to a cupboard, reaching into the far back to grab something. "Would you like some flavorless juice?" His tone was innocent as he poured some into a cup.

"Not really my thing," I said, watching him while I leaned against the counter. He grabbed something out of the fridge and poured it into the cup.

"How about grape juice?"

"Sure." I grabbed the offered glass and took a swig as he smiled warmly. He walked towards a punching bag set up next to the skate ramp and started swinging at it, and I sipped my juice as I followed.

"Do you do this every day?" I ran a hand down my face, wondering how he had the discipline to wake up so early every day. "Even after you stay up at night protecting New York?"

"I try to," he grunted, keeping his fists close to his body before he swung. The force put into each punch almost knocked me off of my feet; he was insanely strong.

"You really do hold back on your brothers," I mumbled, fascinated. He just sent me a silent grin before sending the bag swinging up into the air. Maybe I wasn't up to my full brain power because of my exhaustion, but I really wanted to see how strong he was. "Hit me." The shock made him freeze, allowing the punching bag to swing back and get its revenge. He let out a grunt and stumbled out of his stupor, glaring at it before turning to me.