Under the Shining Lights

Sparkle

The alarmed blared, the turtle it awoke groaning in annoyance. He blindly slapped at his device, successfully knocking his phone to the floor, but unsuccessfully turning off the alarm. Grumbling, the turtle got up to grab his phone, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. 

Tired was an understatement, Leo was exhausted. The night went by in a blur after Aries and Aurora told Muriel about his fifty-dollar tip, the turtle being swamped with stunned congratulations and advice for how to proceed, how to tilt his hips just so and bat his eyes this way. He was swept up in the excitement, adding a certain pep to his step for the rest of the night, while the other dancers on the floor tried to find this rabbit. 

At the end of the night, he finished his shift with the rest of the dancers, undressing in the dressing room and wiping off as much makeup as possible. Muriel altered the boots again, ordering Leo to practice wearing and dancing in them. She also marked him on the schedule before he even confirmed he was coming back. Not that he wasn't. After that night, it wasn't a hard decision. Not only because of the money but so long as he worked there, he could attend the lessons for free. And, well, maybe there was someone he wanted to see again.

He could hardly keep his eyes open when he got home, barely managing to stay awake long enough for a shower. It felt like he just closed his eyes when his alarm started going off. What's worse was that it was his just-in-case alarm, meaning it was later than usual for him. Great.

Turning off that damned alarm, Leo pushed himself up, nearly tripping on the boots he left lying on the floor. He quickly shoved them under his bed. Turning to his nightstand, he dug out his emergency energy drink, cracked it open, and stumbled out the door. 

The lair was up and arms this morning, the usual flustered conversation of the Mad Dogs echoing through the halls. He elected to ignore it, heading into the kitchen for some much-needed breakfast. His father was seated at the table already, sipping on some tea while Mikey made breakfast. Raph and Donny were nowhere to be found, presumably the reason why there was so much noise this time in the morning.

"Orange, have you been using glitter lately?" Splinter asked, Leo nearly choking on his drink.

"Hmm? Yeah, why?" Mikey answered, not really paying attention.

"Make sure you clean it up properly," Splinter said, sipping his tea, "The sink was sparkling this morning,"

"Mhm, I'll do that," Mikey absently agreed, expertly flipping a pancake. Leo sighed in relief, settling into his usual spot at the table. "Oh! Hey Leo! Want a pancake?"

"As long as I get some eggs too," Leo grinned, Mikey chirping happily. Everyone always seemed to be really happy when he ate. 

"Coming right up!"

"Blue, what are you drinking?" Splinter asked, gesturing to the turtle. Leo showed him the name on the can, his father grimacing, "I don't understand how you can drink that,"

"I don't understand how you can eat an entire cake by yourself," Leo muttered, narrowly dodging the tail whipped his way. At that moment, Raph and Donny walked in, plopping down at the table. 

"Morning!" Mikey cheered, setting down plates of food in front of everyone, making sure Leo had his eggs, over-easy, just how he liked them.

"Ahem, good morning," Donny said, side-eying Leo, "A can of two hundred milligrams caffeine, cotton candy flavored energy drink? This early in the morning?"

"How many pots of coffee have you had to drink?" Leo asked, really wanting to avoid judgment this early in the day.

"I-irrelevant," Donny muttered, "Anyway, is there anything interesting you had planned today?"