The Words That Hurt Me

Fifth Time

He's running as fast as he can.

He feels the hot, sticky breath on his back, the humidity making everything wet around him.

He slips, but before he can fall, the slimy tongue of Oroku Saki wraps around him, pulling him into the humid cave that is his mouth.

He squirmed, trying to escape. He cried out in frustration, tears slipping down his face.

He drew in a final breath, holding it as he's forced down the monster's slimy gullet.

.

Mikey was curious.

A number of developmental studies had been conducted on children in typical human households, two parents, plenty of entertainment, the usual amount of social enrichment, e.t.c. These studies didn't account for mutation and isolation from other people for a majority of childhood, however.

The turtle started to become interested in the differences between that. How much of his behavior was effected by his mutation? What part was human? Do his turtle parts affect his human parts? Is it simply a mix of the two? Probably.

The more he thought, though, the more he looked at the differences between him and his brothers. They were each very different from each other, and often approached things in differing ways. Does this mean they behave differently because of that? Or is it the other way around?

CLANG!

Mikey flinched and covered his ears. Dropping a metal pan in a quiet kitchen was good way frighten yourself back into reality. He picked up the pan and placed it on the stove, turning on the heat below it.

He chewed his lip.

Stuff like that happens a lot too. He gets distracted by his thoughts and forgets about reality. Why?

"Everything alright?"

The turtle glanced at his red clad brother, and cracked an egg into the pan.

"Yeah, I just dropped the pan." He turned to grab some spices.

"Well don't do that." He paused, "Can you make me some? Over-easy?"

Mikey chuckled.

"Sure thing bro!"

With that, his brother left. Mikey gazed at the egg bubbling in the pan. He was surprised that Raph heard that. The kitchen wasn't exactly sound-proof, but it was certainly muffled. He'd have to be straining his ears or standing outside the door to hear it.

He was sure that Raph wasn't doing either of those things.

He peppered and salted the egg.

Raph seemed to be sensitive to sounds like that. He also has a lot of sounds he hates. When it comes to sound tolerance, Raph had almost none.

He flipped the egg.

If he hears a sound he doesn't like, he gets angry and aggressive. He'll do anything in his power to stop the sound. Like smacking the back of Mikey's head, for instance. Though, they were all weird like that.

He removes the egg and cracks open another.

Othertimes, Mikey will catch Leo staring at a wall, rocking ever so slightly. Or he'd be doing something with his hands, like he's on autopilot.

Mikey also noticed that Donny hardly ever left his lab, only to show the latest invention or train and the likes. He's constantly making sure the lair's defenses are up to par.