Together As Mutants (Book Six)

Chapter 14: I Love You

Sometimes, "I love you" comes in silence, in gentle touches and gestures that let that special someone know just how much they mean to you.

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Leonardo invited Destiny out for a walk with the express purpose of just spending time together. It's nice training with her, watching cartoons and movies with her, and going on patrol with her, but every now and then Leonardo just wants to have some alone time, outside of the lair.

So, they walk along the rooftops, hand in hand, and Destiny flies them across the gaps that they can't jump. They talk about what's been going on, what they think of life now, and what they want to do.

"Did you sleep alright last night?" Leonardo asks.

Her tail sways a little. "Mhm, yeah, it was okay."

"Nightmares?"

"Just one. I can't really remember it now, but...I was running, and it was stormy out."

He nods absentmindedly, squeezing her hand just a little, and she returns the pressure. Below them, the streets are nearly empty and if they weren't so wary of being seen, they could move freely down the sidewalk.

Leonardo's phone beeps. He doesn't move to check it, but then Destiny nudges him.

"You gonna answer?" she asks.

"It can wait."

She smiles a little. "What if it's important? Donnie could've blown something up again."

Leonardo ponders the idea and, deciding that it can't hurt to check, he grabs his phone. They stop walking as he checks the screen. His eyes widen a little. Destiny's ears perk when she hears his heartbeat pick up.

"Leo, what's wrong?" she asks, tail puffing a little. "Did something happen?"

"What? No, no," he insists. He looks up at her as a tiny smile falls across his face. "It's...Karai."

Destiny's eyebrows arch, then furrow. "She's still in Japan, right?"

"No, she's visiting Diaval. Look."

He turns the phone towards Destiny, revealing a selfie of Karai, Diaval, and a woman Destiny doesn't recognize. She has long, black hair with purple highlights and wears dark makeup and clothes. It's a goth, witchy aesthetic that Destiny can appreciate.

"That's Shinigami, Karai's friend," Leonardo says, answering Destiny's unvoiced question. He brings the phone back, texts a reply, and slips the phone back into his belt.

They don't move quite yet. Destiny notices his downcast expression, the slight twinge of sorrow on his face, and she steps closer, wrapping her arms around his. Her head falls to his shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He shakes his head. "No. I just...I miss her."

She nods. The wind blows past them and she looks up at him again. "How about I make something when we get home?"

"Ramen?"

"Anything you want."

He turns and presses a kiss to her forehead, making her tail wag. "I'd like that."

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Taylor and Raphael sit in her bedroom; she's listening to music and working on homework, he's reading a novel she recommended to him.

Science really isn't her strong suit, and the more she tries to understand the equations, the more she chews her lip and tugs at her hair. This is so stupid, she thinks. Why does she need to know this crap?

As she goes to yank at her hair again, she finds Raphael's hand instead. He hasn't looked up from his book, but now he's propped it against his legs, leaving one hand free to hold hers. He flicks a page over. She smiles a little, holds his hand a little tighter, and keeps working.

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Sarina stares with wide eyes at her shelf, perfectly arranged and labelled. She was going to do that later, but she kept getting caught up in other things.

"Donatello?" she asks. "Did you do this?"

Donatello nods, looking up from his microscope. "I know you need things organized. I just thought I'd take care of it." He smiles a little. "I hope that's okay."

Her eyes flash and she starts to smile. Donatello, who finds things better when he just leaves them lying around, took the time to tidy and label her area of the lab. She hurries over to him, hugging his head before planting a kiss to his cheek, and he grins.

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When Annalise comes home from her shift, she finds a small vase of flowers sitting on her desk. She checks the card to find a crude drawing of her and Michelangelo beneath the words "Keep working hard, baby!"

She bites her lip, hands clasping her flushed cheeks. What a dork.