"Come on," he said as he swung his sword around. "Make a portal!"
He had been practicing in his room all day, and the whole time he was having no luck with his sword. He normally didn't have that much of a problem with it before, but sometimes he had off days and his sword sometimes didn't want to cooperate. He swung his sword in different directions, hoping that it would help him with his portaling dilemma. He grunted and stood still with his sword in his hands.
"Stupid sword..." he said as he threw it to the ground. He walked over to his bed and laid down, staring at his ceiling. He had needed something to do, so he wanted to test his skills on his sword, hoping that he would make a portal. But the sword had only lowered his happiness. He looked over to the door just as his younger brother passed by with his sketchbook. Mikey looked over to his brother and smiled, Leo doing the same. Mikey began to walk into the room, and Leo sat up on his bed to let his box turtle bro sit beside him.
"Hey Leo," Mikey greeted. "What you doing?"
Leo tried to hide his frustration. "Oh, you know me..." he said. "Stuff."
Mikey looked at his brother confused. He knew that something was bothering him, but he knew that Leo wasn't gonna tell him. So that means he was going to have to find out by himself. Mikey began to draw again, and Leo started a conversation with him. Mikey didn't know how to ask Leo what was wrong when his eyes began to wander around the room. He saw that Leo's sword was on the floor instead of it being in its usual spot.
He must have been having trouble with his sword again... the box turtle thought to himself. Mikey then knew how to talk to Leo.
"You know," he began. "This drawing isn't turning out too great..."
Leo looked up from his phone and stared at his brother's drawing. "I think it looks fine," he told him.
Ok, I got him to listen. Mikey thought as he tried not to smile. Now it's time for a little razzmatazz!
"No, it's pretty bad," he said dramatically. He wanted to sound as sad as possible so that Leo didn't realize he was lying. "I think I might throw it away. Maybe I'll quit art in general..."
That really got the slider's attention. He began to look at Mikey.
"Miguel," he said. "You shouldn't give up art just because of one drawing."
"But it's not good enough," Mikey replied. He couldn't believe that this was actually working, but he couldn't stop now. "I don't think I'll make it in the art world..."
"Just because of one drawing?" Leo asked him. "That's not something you should say. Sure, it can be tough, but you can do better. All it takes is a bit of patience."
The brothers sat in silence. Mikey looked up from his drawing and smiled at Leo.
"Like you should do with your sword, right?" he said to the slider. Leo looked at Mikey, first shocked, then he also started to smile.
"Ok," he said. "You were lying weren't you?"
"Yeah, I just wanted you to listen to your own advise." the box turtle replied. "You have potential too, Leo. You just have to be patient with yourself, even if your sword is a little stubborn at times."
Leo nodded in response. He stood up from his bed and grabbed his sword, Mikey grinning in response.
"Alright sword," he said as he stood in his fight stance. "Let's see what potential you really have."
