Mystic Resonance

Attack of the Sick Rat (part 1)

It's the time of the season when dear ol' Dad is sick... it's the best day ever! Yeah, yeah. I know it's terrible to celebrate your sick relative, but hear me out! Splinter's mind isn't intact during his sickness, which means... we can get whatever we want!

"Want to fill in the blanks for me?" my boyfriend asked, casually leaning against the counter. I pulled Merrill to the kitchen, telling Raph we were making hot chocolate. Raph wanted to say something, but then Mikey reminded him of the deal, which made Raph shut up; he gave Merrill a sharp glare before letting us go (not without yelling "Don't do anything nasty!") "Cuz your dad is sick in bed and ya'll celebrating like you just won the lottery." In a way, we kind of did.

I set the pot on the stove, added the milk, and lowered the temperature to moderate. I took out some chocolate bars and began chopping them with a kitchen knife. "It kind of is", I repeated but aloud. "Whenever Dad gets sick, his mind gets a little... wonky."

Merrill fixed me with his usual raised-eyebrow look. "What do you mean by 'wonky'?" he asked.

I deposited the chopped chocolate bits into the pot with milk. "By wonky... I mean he gets a little weird."

Merrill snorted. "Weirder than normal or weirder than you guys?" I gave him my unamused glare. "What? You guys are weird but it's the good kind of weird."

I rolled my eyes. Coming from my boyfriend, it's a compliment; a backslap but still a compliment. I took out a wooden spoon and mixed the two ingredients thoroughly. "Yeah, Dad does get weirder whenever he gets sick. So weird to the point where he becomes somewhere else."

"Not seeing how it's worth celebrating other than actually becoming serious."

"Get the cups ready, babe", I softly ordered, repeatedly stirring the pot. I heard him rummaging through the cupboards. "Dad goes through seven stages of his sickness before his body heals. The final stage is the stage Dad gets to say yes to whatever we want. I record his symptoms in this notebook." I pulled out my light blue spiral notebook with unicorn and rainbow stickers on the cover. "...like a new TV or a new game station or – just throwing it out there – his blessing..."

I handed over my notebook to him as I pulled out a pack of mini marshmallows from the cupboards above me. "I love the fact that you named our unborn Kirby." I dropped the pack as I quickly snatched back my notebook. Did I give him the wrong one? Did I give him my journal instead? I hastly flipped through the pages. After searching through them, it dawned on me that Merrill, my asshole of a partner, was bullshitting again.

And I'm a sucker for falling for it. Again.

"Eh. Don't be so hard on yourself", he said, putting in a couple of mini marshmallows in each cup. I didn't notice him grabbing them until I watched him acting innocent. I slammed my book shut and threw a glare his way. "It's cute that you want to have kids with me. You give me mommy vibes. You'll be a great mom." My face grew hotter.

I pushed my notebook to his chest. "How many times did I call you an asshole?" I let him hold onto my book as I started pouring the hot chocolate into the mugs which were already on a serving tray.

"Too many to count", he quickly answered. "It's not like I'm stopping any time soon."

I rolled my eyes again. I can't really argue with that; it's part of his charm and his flaw. It's his way of showing affection. I grabbed the tray. "Back what we were talking about. Dad gets weirder than weird; so weird to the point that we get whatever we want with no questions asked. That book in your hands explains Splinter's symptoms", I explained, exiting the kitchen with my boyfriend following behind.

I heard Merrill flipping through the pages. He scoffed every now and then. Hey! I worked hard in writing those notes! "The more I read your notes the more I question your dad's sanity. I mean, how can you go from fever to feral rat to... Captain Cuddlehugs? Is he sick or demented?"