The Words That Hurt Me

Thirty-six: Big Mama

What could you do when the world gives you the exact lemons that you need? Make some sweet lemonade.

After the incident, no one brought up Dimension X again, Leon or Raphie supposedly informing their other brothers of his reaction. Michael even came up to apologize to him and asked for triggers. He gave the best answer he could.

The sign language lessons lined up pretty well with the experiments the Donnys are completing. They needed living material from them anyhow, so prick a finger and they're good to go. Mikey shadowed the lessons, out of interest and for convenience.

And use it they did.

While Mikey wasn't familiar with the grammar of ASL (all be it modified, the turtles only had so many fingers), Goo was and picked it up rather quickly. Goo and Tello slowed down to ensure he learned everything, which Mikey was grateful for (Tello ripped Donny a new one when he commented about how slow he was learning it, which was a big surprise for him). 

Once that was done, all the two had to do was memorize signs. The best way to do that, Mikey found out, was to put those signs to use. Goo constantly used signs, describing if they were hungry or tired. [I] [HUNGRY] [I]. [YOU] [HUNGRY] [?] [WANT] [CHICKEN].

The Other Turtles all knew ASL, as well as their father and April. They made it known that Tello occasionally had silent spells where he didn't speak, just like how Goo was now, so they all learned ASL to accommodate him. Mikey was touched hearing that.

Signing also put Goo into a much better mood, being able to be understood. There was no longer that frustration of having to write something down or pull out their phone.

However, it wasn't always nice.

Goo was trying their best, Mikey could tell. They refused to let themselves become stagnant, forcing themself out of bed, to eat, and to participate. They were doing everything right, trying to keep from slipping. 

Mikey wished he could help, but there wasn't much that he could do besides be there. It hurt as he watched them struggle to interact with everyone else, physically unable to keep up with the conversation, even just listening. Mikey often sat with them when they needed a break.

In those quiet moments, Goo would sometimes start to squirm, opening and closing their mouth, lifting their hands as if they wanted to say something. However, they would let out a deep sigh and say nothing. 

Mikey wanted to press, but he also wanted to wait for Goo to feel comfortable enough to talk to him first. Maybe it was selfish, but he longed to pry the words out of them, to tear away what was making them hesitate so they opened up. He wanted to fix what was wrong.

Instead, he just nodded back and waited. 

His brothers were as awkward as ever, still unsure around Goo, obviously not helped by their current silence. Anything they had to say had to go through Mikey, which was an annoyance at best. Mikey was trying his best to convince them to learn, but he just got brushed off.

This ticked Mikey off, so he only talked to them during training or dinner. So it was just him and Goo. Sitting in quiet moments, Goo appears more comfortable to show just how exhausted they are. Often during their time together, they simply lay down and stared into space. Sometimes they nap. Sometimes they watch videos. 

Leon visited the two as well, calling it 'Trauma Team' meetings. He brought a cherry mood that was desperately needed. He went on long tangents that led into other tangents about the adventures he'd gone on with his family. 

There was a great respect that they had for each other, not to say that they didn't tease one another, they just had incredibly strong bonds. And apparently, Leon wasn't the leader at first. It had been Raphie, the oldest, who had naturally taken the lead and maybe partially raised them due to the unintentional absence of their father.