Under the Shining Lights

Midnight Stars

"...And then he has the gall to imply that I'm an incompetent coder!" Donny huffed, "So obviously, I hacked into his system and completely bricked it,"

Leo nodded along as Mikey and Raph asked a few concerned questions, not quite paying attention. They were all leisurely strolling down a street in The Mystic City, sipping on smoothies or milkshakes. Leo didn't exactly know where, but he wasn't too concerned. His head was still reeling from Madam Christel's proposal.

Him? A stripper? He's joked about it before when things got a little complicated, but actually doing it? Madam Christel did say that they didn't 'strip', though...so what do they do? Dance? There's no way Leo could be that good of a dancer, could he? To be on stage, dancing his heart out, people watching and cheering him on...

"Leo!"

"Huh!? What?" Leo blurted, jumping at the call of name.

"We were talking about where to eat," Donny said, crossing his arms, "You'd know that if you were listening,"

"Right, sorry," Leo mumbled, "Um, there's a really good place a few streets over,"

His brothers didn't respond, which was when Leo noticed them all looking at him. He felt sweat drip down the side of his face as the silence continued, his brothers staring holes through his body.

"I-It's not pizza, but-"

"Leo," Mikey said, "You've been spacy the whole time we've been here. Is everything okay?"

"Y-yeah!" Leo blurted, pushing past his brothers, "I'm just really hungry! I was thinking about what to get for lunch,"

"You were thinking so hard about what to eat, that you missed us talking about where to go for lunch?" Donny asked, following closely behind Leo.

"Yeah, it happens like that sometimes," Leo huffed, leading his brothers down the street, "Can't a guy get lost in his thoughts?"

"People don't think that hard about food, Leo," Raph sighed, stomping after him, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine!" Leo blurted, feeling his face heat up, "I was thinking about something stupid, that's it!"

"That's it?" Mikey asked, getting too close to Leo.

"Yes! Don't think too hard about it!" Leo huffed, pushing his brother away, "Seriously, you freak out over the littlest things. Anyway, we're here,"

Leo entered the restaurant before his brothers could continue, glancing around for an empty table. 

"Oh! Hey Leo!" A familiar voice called out, the turtle flinching. Of course, he was introduced to this by his friends.

"H-hey guys!" Leo stuttered, giving them his best 'I messed up and I need you to play it cool' smile. His brothers looked between them all in confusion, his friends immediately understanding the situation.

"Funny seeing you here!" Duru grinned, giving him her best 'I've got you' look, "Are the brothers you've told us about?"

"Uh, yeah!" Leo responded, giving Duru a relieved look, "This is Raph, Donny and Mikey,"

The brothers perked up as Leo introduced them, awkwardly waving at the three sitting at their table.

"Nice to meet ya!" Otto said, moving to another seat, "Why don't you join us? I'm Otto!"

"Signey," Signey grinned, also moving to another seat. The boys sat down, settling around the table.

"I'm Duru, nice to meet you," The lizard greeted, tail hitting Leo's knee under the table.