aloneindarknes7 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
aloneindarknes7) wrote2010-06-05 11:38 pm
aloneindarknes7) wrote2010-06-05 11:38 pm
Day 5 out of 7
Title: This Is Not a Better Place, Brother
Author: Jordan Herbert
Warnings: Slash
Pairing: Leon/Michael implied
Fandom: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Rating: Pg-13
Word Count: 3,615
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters and that makes me sad sometimes until I realize I can still write using them. Yay!
Author's Note: This one takes place after Trip Through the Park and during the episode DNA is Thicker Than Water. Also, this was written for my![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
tmnt_100 table #20: Brothers, which can be seen here. Even though it's mostly about Michael, Rafieo is mentioned in it enough to be considered a completed prompt.
“Why do I have to lose my room?” Michael whined as he looked up at his three brothers.
“Because Dunn demands his own room while he has to stay in hiding here.” Donald responded, crossing his arms over his plastron as his tail moved behind him.
“And you’re the weakest.” Leon commented as he motioned to Michael’s twisted ankle that he had received only the day before. “So if any of us has to lose our rooms, it’s going to be you.”
Michael frowned and rubbed at his ankle. “But where am I going to sleep at night?” He looked at Leon and grinned, his tongue slipping out of his mouth.
Leon scoffed. “Not in my room. You drool.” He looked pointedly to Donald.
“He will not be staying with me.” Donald growled and turned to Michael accusingly. “He’ll break all of my experiments.”
All eyes turned to Rafieo. He sighed and rubbed at his neck. “Fine, he can stay with me.”
Michael frowned. “Great, I get to spend my nights listening to you snore.”
Michael’s eyes widened as he was suddenly gripped around his neck by one large, red hand. “If that’s the thanks I’m gonna get then you can find somewhere else to sleep.” Rafieo snarled.
Smiling even though he was having problems breathing, Michael quickly reassured his brother. “I meant to say that I’m honored to share a bedroom with you. You’re the greatest brother ever.” He gasped out around the hand cutting off his air supply.
Rafieo rolled his eyes and dropped Michael. “Whatever. I’ll go grab some blankets or something.” He wandered off and Michael pouted as he turned to his remaining brothers.
“I have to sleep on the floor with nothing more than a few blankets? This is not fair,” he frowned, his lower lip sticking out.
“Life’s not fair, get over it.” Donald dismissed himself as he returned to his lab.
Michael batted his big orange eyes up at Leon. “Why can’t I sleep with you?” He asked in a quiet voice, trying to sound pathetically cute.
“I told you already, you drool.” Leon replied as he started to head towards his bedroom.
“Yeah, but we’re boyfriends.” Michael reminded with a little smile as he hobbled after him.
Leon froze with his hand on the doorknob. He slowly looked over his shoulder at Michael and scowled. “We’re not boyfriends. That’s disgusting.” He stated curtly and quickly entered his room, slamming the door closed behind him.
Michael stared at the door, his mouth wide open in shock. He had been trying to talk to Leon the entire day about their little discussion the day before and when he finally gets a few words with him, those were the words he got. Michael scowled and limped to the door, mindful of his ankle, and banged against it. “I told you I’d just smother you more with my love if you tried to avoid me. So open this door this instant so I can rub my love all over you and--” Michael was cut off as the door opened.
Leon snarled at Michael, “Shut the hell up.” He shoved Michael backwards, out of his doorway. Michael stumbled and stepped on his bad foot, screaming out in pain as he fell over to land roughly on his butt. Michael frowned and looked up at Leon’s looming figure. “You are loud and annoying and if you shout such disgusting things at my door again I will twist your other ankle.” Leon threatened as he slammed the door once again.
Michael blinked back the tears he felt growing in his eyes. He curled his hands into fists as determination rose inside him. Michael had a crush on Leon since the fourth day after they were made. He finally found out that Leon returned his feelings, at least a little, and he was not going to lose that ground without a fight.
Standing up, Michael narrowed his eyes and stepped towards Leon’s room. His determination had blinded his mind from the fact that his ankle was still twisted. He had moved forward and shifted his weight right onto his injured leg and, even blinded, his mind couldn’t ignore the pain jolting straight up from his leg.
Michael screamed as he staggered backwards and leaned against the wall. He grimaced as his leg throbbed.
“Hey,” Michael’s eyes widened and he looked down the hallway where Rafieo stood with an armful of blankets. “Um, I was thinking we could switch off the bed each night.” He offered. “So, um, you can go ahead and get it tonight. I’ll sleep on the floor.” Rafieo moved past him and into his room.
Michael frowned as he limped into Rafieo’s room after him. Rafieo had one blanket spread out on his floor, another one balled up to work as a pillow, and then the last one sat on the side. “I’ll be right back,” Rafieo side stepped around Michael and left him alone.
Shuffling forward, Michael made his way to Rafieo’s bed and sat down on the edge of it. It was more worn out than his own ratty excuse of a mattress but it was obviously better than sleeping on the floor.
Rafieo reentered his room with a plastic grocery bag filled with ice. He dropped it onto Michael’s lap and then sat down on the single blanket, grabbing the last blanket to pull over himself. Michael frowned as he tied the plastic bag, turning it into a makeshift icepack and looked over at his brother as he settled onto his plastron.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” Michael asked. Rafieo had his hands folded under the balled up blanket and his head pillowed on top. He opened one eye to lazily stare at Michael.
“You were having a rough day,” Rafieo stated simply. “I wanted to make it a little better.” Michael smiled a little and placed the ice bag onto his swollen ankle. “We live a shitty life as it is, we don’t need to make it worse for ourselves by being dicks to each other.” Rafieo muttered and then closed his eyes again.
Michael lied down on the bed and continued to smile. “You actually sounded intelligent just then, Rafieo.”
“Shut up,” Rafieo growled with little anger, knowing that Michael was just teasing him.
“Good night to you too, brother,” Michael yawned and followed Rafieo’s example by closing his eyes. He was soon drifting off to sleep, dreams of a simpler world where he ruled everything and Leon was his slave boy ran through his mind.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Leon avoided him the next day, all day. He barely came out of his room at all. Leon only showed up to grab something to eat and when Dunn demanded that they all do some heavy lifting in the large warehouse where he currently stored the illegal products and prototypes the Peace Keepers hadn’t confiscated. The “heavy lifting” really meant that they needed to move the crates filled with illegal goods to a better hiding spot.
Michael had tried to accidentally bump into him while limping around with his over packed box, but Leon had dodged the touch. Scowling, Michael had dropped his box clumsily onto the floor and had been scolded by Dunn, in a physical way.
His brothers had all looked angrily at Dunn but no one tried to aid Michael in picking himself back up off the ground.
The four returned from the warehouse and Michael instantly plopped down on the couch. Rafieo sat next to him and the two silently watched television for a few hours together. It was nice up until Rafieo quickly left the room in a rush. Michael frowned, his brow creasing with confusion until a loud meow noise made him turn back to the television to see a cat litter commercial finishing.
Michael frowned as he understood then why Rafieo left so quickly. David, Rafieo’s pet cat for a week, had died five days ago. Rafieo was still sensitive about it since he had accidentally killed the little stray by hitting him too hard. Even though the cat had only lived with them for a week, Rafieo had deeply loved and cared for the little critter.
With a groan, Michael stood from the couch and hobbled to Rafieo’s room. He opened it a crack and knocked to announce his presence. Rafieo sat in the middle of the floor, fingering a broken cat toy sadly. “Hey, Rafieo,” Michael smiled as Rafieo looked up at. “You know, I bet David’s in a better place.”
“He is,” Rafieo stated matter-of-factly. “But I ain’t with him there.” Rafieo stared at the toy again and softly admitted, “I miss him.”
Michael frowned. “It’s fine to miss him, Rafieo. I bet he misses you too, wherever he is. You gave him a better life.”
“I ended his life.” Rafieo pouted and sniffled.
Michael’s eyes widened and he backed up. “Don’t get upset now, Rafieo. Please, I so wouldn’t be able to run away.”
Rafieo glared and turned his wet, but still yellow, eyes to Michael. “I’m upset in the sad way, not the mad way; I only lose control when I get mad.”
“Oh,” Michael sighed, relieved as he pressed a hand to his plastron. “Well, that’s good at least. I mean, could you see me trying to limp away from danger? It would not end up good on my part.” Michael grinned, his long tongue drooping out of his mouth. He sat down next to Rafieo and elbowed him. “Hello in there, you okay?”
Rafieo looked at Michael and smiled a little. “You’d fall right on your face if you tried to run like that. You fall over walking now.”
Michael feigned hurt. “Thanks for agreeing with me that I’d be doomed.”
“Truth hurts,” Rafieo chuckled. He rubbed at his neck and looked back at the cat toy in his hand. “Um, hey, Michael?” he timidly asked.
“Yeah?” Michael replied staring at Rafieo with a smile.
Rafieo shook his head and stood. “You drooled all over my bed last night; you’re sleeping there again tonight.”
Michael blinked. “Oh, um, okay. I mean, you don’t mind taking the floor again?”
“Of course I mind,” Rafieo protested. “I’m not doing this to be nice; I just don’t wanna sleep on your drool.” Rafieo dismissed the conversation with a wave of his hand. “I’m heading out again; don’t wait up for me or nothing.”
“Right,” Michael nodded and watched as his brother left him sitting on the floor.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Rafieo snuck in late in the night. He tried to be quiet but stealth was his biggest weakness; he didn’t quite know how to be sneaky in his large body.
Cursing under his breath after he stumbled over some junk, Rafieo finally managed to find his bed area on the floor. He groped around for his blanket blindly in the dark and made himself comfortable as he settled on his plastron.
“Rafieo,” Michael spoke in the dark, alerting his brother that he was awake.
“Go back to sleep, Michael. I didn’t mean to wake you.” Rafieo grumbled.
Michael was silent for a few seconds before he cleared his throat and asked, “Where do you go?” More silence followed after his question.
“I’m not trying to pry,” Michael explained. “I’m just curious as to where you always disappear to during the day and then all night.”
“I visit the spot where I buried David,” Rafieo muttered. “Sometimes I just wander around in the park or other places. But I normally just go there.”
“The park?” Michael frowned even though his brother couldn’t see his confused expression in the dark room. “What do you do there?”
“Just walk around,” Rafieo grunted. “It’s kinda nice and stuff. Plus, our originals are there sometimes.”
“What?” Michael sat up quickly and looked at where he guessed Rafieo to be. “You don’t try to fight them on your own do you?”
“Course not,” Rafieo scoffed. “I don’t wanna end up getting my ass kicked. I just, I watch them, from far, far away. They seem to like the park.”
“It’s probably because they don’t get to walk around in the sunlight a lot in their time.” Michael explained. “I have Mikey’s memories of that.”
“Oh,” Rafieo murmured quietly. Michael shifted and lied back down as he closed his eyes, believing the conversation to be over. “Michael?”
“Yeah, Rafieo?” Michael questioned.
“Do you got all a Mikey’s memories?” Rafieo asked, his voice quieter than usual.
“Most of them, I think,” Michael frowned, “Why?”
“Did he, does he got someone special waiting for him back in his time?” Rafieo asked.
“Someone special?” Michael’s frown increased. “Like what exactly do you mean?”
“Never mind,” Rafieo sighed. “Night.”
Michael shifted again, “Goodnight, Rafieo.” He closed his eyes and pondered over his brother for a while.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Michael was glad that he was cloned from fast healing mutants since he was finally able to place some weight on his twisted ankle without feeling like screaming down the sewer. Unfortunately, Donald saw the improvement and took it as a chance to get Michael into the lab for more tests.
“Michael, my lab, now.” Donald repeated the order, his tail angrily swaying behind him.
Gulping, Michael slowly stood. “Aren’t I injured enough?” He asked pitifully.
“If you make me repeat myself one more time, I will take out your ankle bone so that you’re permanently injured.” Donald snapped and stormed into his lab, expecting Michael to follow him like a good, frightened animal.
Michael shivered as he pushed the lab door open, casting one last look behind him. He froze in the doorway as he saw Leon emerge from his bedroom. Leon’s gaze met his and his eye widened to see Michael in Donald’s doorway.
Michael’s eyes were pleading as he mouthed out the word “help.”
Leon lowered his gaze and turned right around to retreat back into his room.
“Shut the door and get on the examination table.” Donald growled dangerously.
Michael wondered if Donald would actually do him a favor and remove his heart.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
“This hasn’t been a very good week for you, huh?” Rafieo asked casually from his spot on the floor as he watched Michael pace around the room.
“What makes you say that? Because I twisted my ankle, got kicked out of my room, lost my boyfriend, got experimented on some more, and then--” Michael stopped himself too late as he realized what he had accidently let slip in his rant. He turned his wide eyes to Rafieo, hoping that his brother hadn’t caught onto his words. Rafieo wasn’t the smartest, it was possible.
But Rafieo was staring at him with his head tilted to the side with that confused expression on his face. And then he uttered, “You lost your boyfriend? Does Leon know that you had a boyfriend?”
Michael didn’t know what to say. He was pretty sure his jaw was going to be staying on the floor for the rest of his life. Luckily, with their lifestyle, that probably wouldn’t be too long. Still, the realization that he was so obvious that even Rafieo had caught onto his feelings for Leon had him stunned.
“Ah,” Michael licked at his beak and shifted from one foot to the other without any pain, aside from his mortification.
“I’m kinda sure Leon wouldn’t like us having boyfriends, ‘cause it could be bad for the team and he wants us all to focus on defeating our originals.” Rafieo continued.
Michael sighed. Rafieo didn’t know that he had a major crush on Leon, good, that meant there was still a chance of Donald not knowing as well.
“Unless you meant you were dating Leon or somethin’. I could see Leon being okay with that.” Rafieo murmured, watching Michael carefully.
“You don’t think there’s anything wrong with me and Leon dating?” Michael asked.
“Why would there be?” Rafieo frowned, puzzled that there would be something wrong with that. “That way you don’t have any outside distractions from the team, right? In fact, that would only make you more, uh determined to the team, right?”
“I think the word you were looking for was dedicated but yeah.” Michael nodded as a large smile broke over his face. “Rafieo, I have never ever felt like hugging you and I doubt I ever will again. So I’m going to take this opportunity and hug you.” Michael warned before he tackled his brother with a hug.
Rafieo blinked as he suddenly had an armful of brother. He didn’t know how to react to this. They weren’t exactly a physical family besides when they punched each other or whatnot. This kind of contact felt nice.
Donald appeared in the doorway and Rafieo’s eyes widened as he watched Donald’s eyes narrow at the scene before him. “Get offa me,” Rafieo growled and shoved Michael away. “If you ever hug me again, I’ll pound you.” Rafieo threatened. He turned his attention to Donald. “What the hell do you want?”
“Fearless Leader wants to discuss his newest plan with us.” Donald announced as he crossed his arms over his plastron.
“Okay,” Michael stood up and stumbled a step before he caught his balance. He proceeded to walk to their living room area.
Rafieo was stopped in his doorway by Donald turning to take up as much space as his smaller body could.
Luckily, his presence was larger than his physical form and Rafieo actually took a step back from him. Donald smirked at the demonstration of fear. “Rafieo, my dear brother, you should know better than to cuddle up with Michael.”
“I like Michael, sometimes.” Rafieo frowned. “’Sides, he hugged me.” He protested.
“Be that as it may,” Donald rested one hand on his hip as he motioned with his other hand to the pile of cat supplies in Rafieo’s room. “Do you remember what happened the last time you liked something? You killed it.”
Rafieo was visibly upset at being reminded for what had happened with David, his pet cat. “That’s different than liking Michael. I’m allowed to like people.”
“No you aren’t,” Donald argued. “You’re a weapon, Rafieo, a killing machine, and that’s all you’ll ever be good for. Even if you don’t want to kill people, you’re programmed to and you can’t fight against your programming. So unless you want to accidentally kill Michael, just like you did Dillian--”
“David,” Rafieo corrected with a growl.
“David,” Donald rolled his eyes, “I’d stay away from Michael if I was you.”
“But,” Rafieo frowned, “I wanna like Michael. And he has to share my room.”
“Kick him out. He can sleep on the couch. Also,” Donald moved forward and pat Rafieo on the head, “you’re not allowed to like people.”
“Why not?” Rafieo pouted.
“You simpleton, I already explained this to you!” Donald sighed and rubbed at his temples. “Listen, you are the equivalence of a large gun, okay? You equal a big gun, a weapon only to be used. Guns don’t like people, guns don’t cuddle people; guns only kill, okay? So keep in mind, little gun, that if you cuddle with Michael again, you might accidentally go off and kill him.” Donald watched as Rafieo’s eyes went wide with the thought. “I’m only telling you this because I don’t want you to have to experience another close death.” Donald waited until Rafieo nodded, assuring him that his little lesson had sunken in. “Good. Now come on, Fearless is waiting for us.”
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
“So Leon’s gonna be gone for a while now, right?” Rafieo asked as he sat next to Michael on his bed. The mattress creaked in protest at all the weight.
“Yeah,” Michael stared blankly at the far wall, almost non-respondent.
“Is,” Rafieo rubbed at the back of his neck, “is he gonna come back?”
“I don’t know,” Michael turned to actually look at Rafieo. “Would you come back, if you were given the chance?”
Rafieo frowned and took the opportunity to look around his dull room, filled with only broken items that he was able to scavenge. He then looked at his brother, the only one that seemed to like him a little bit, and he was, apparently, not allowed to like him back.
Rafieo slowly shook his head. “I wouldn’t.” He stood up just as Michael’s eyes filled with tears. “But we should be happy that he can be somewhere happier, right?”
Michael stopped Rafieo in the doorway by whispering. “I want him to be somewhere happier with me though.” Rafieo shrugged his large shoulders and continued out the door.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
“Do you think the originals bought that?” Michael asked Rafieo as he nursed his wounds on the couch.
“You heard what Donald said, if the originals don’t heal him, then Leon would die.” Rafieo repeated.
Michael frowned at his brother. “You know, for knowing that I’m in love with Leon, you’re kinda being really bad at reassuring me that my love is going to turn out alright.”
Rafieo shrugged. “Deal with it. Also, I want you out of my room from now on.”
Michael’s eyes widened. “What? But where am I supposed to sleep then?”
“Couch,” Rafieo suggested. “Or why don’t you take Leon’s room?”
“Fine,” Michael crossed his arms over his plastron. “And here I thought that you actually meant it when you said our lives were shitty enough without all of us being jerks to each other. Thanks for proving me wrong, jerk.” He frowned as he watched Rafieo simply head towards his bedroom without another word to him.
Rafieo closed his bedroom door behind him and sighed heavily. “It’s for your own good.”
Author: Jordan Herbert
Warnings: Slash
Pairing: Leon/Michael implied
Fandom: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Rating: Pg-13
Word Count: 3,615
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters and that makes me sad sometimes until I realize I can still write using them. Yay!
Author's Note: This one takes place after Trip Through the Park and during the episode DNA is Thicker Than Water. Also, this was written for my
tmnt_100 table #20: Brothers, which can be seen here. Even though it's mostly about Michael, Rafieo is mentioned in it enough to be considered a completed prompt. “Why do I have to lose my room?” Michael whined as he looked up at his three brothers.
“Because Dunn demands his own room while he has to stay in hiding here.” Donald responded, crossing his arms over his plastron as his tail moved behind him.
“And you’re the weakest.” Leon commented as he motioned to Michael’s twisted ankle that he had received only the day before. “So if any of us has to lose our rooms, it’s going to be you.”
Michael frowned and rubbed at his ankle. “But where am I going to sleep at night?” He looked at Leon and grinned, his tongue slipping out of his mouth.
Leon scoffed. “Not in my room. You drool.” He looked pointedly to Donald.
“He will not be staying with me.” Donald growled and turned to Michael accusingly. “He’ll break all of my experiments.”
All eyes turned to Rafieo. He sighed and rubbed at his neck. “Fine, he can stay with me.”
Michael frowned. “Great, I get to spend my nights listening to you snore.”
Michael’s eyes widened as he was suddenly gripped around his neck by one large, red hand. “If that’s the thanks I’m gonna get then you can find somewhere else to sleep.” Rafieo snarled.
Smiling even though he was having problems breathing, Michael quickly reassured his brother. “I meant to say that I’m honored to share a bedroom with you. You’re the greatest brother ever.” He gasped out around the hand cutting off his air supply.
Rafieo rolled his eyes and dropped Michael. “Whatever. I’ll go grab some blankets or something.” He wandered off and Michael pouted as he turned to his remaining brothers.
“I have to sleep on the floor with nothing more than a few blankets? This is not fair,” he frowned, his lower lip sticking out.
“Life’s not fair, get over it.” Donald dismissed himself as he returned to his lab.
Michael batted his big orange eyes up at Leon. “Why can’t I sleep with you?” He asked in a quiet voice, trying to sound pathetically cute.
“I told you already, you drool.” Leon replied as he started to head towards his bedroom.
“Yeah, but we’re boyfriends.” Michael reminded with a little smile as he hobbled after him.
Leon froze with his hand on the doorknob. He slowly looked over his shoulder at Michael and scowled. “We’re not boyfriends. That’s disgusting.” He stated curtly and quickly entered his room, slamming the door closed behind him.
Michael stared at the door, his mouth wide open in shock. He had been trying to talk to Leon the entire day about their little discussion the day before and when he finally gets a few words with him, those were the words he got. Michael scowled and limped to the door, mindful of his ankle, and banged against it. “I told you I’d just smother you more with my love if you tried to avoid me. So open this door this instant so I can rub my love all over you and--” Michael was cut off as the door opened.
Leon snarled at Michael, “Shut the hell up.” He shoved Michael backwards, out of his doorway. Michael stumbled and stepped on his bad foot, screaming out in pain as he fell over to land roughly on his butt. Michael frowned and looked up at Leon’s looming figure. “You are loud and annoying and if you shout such disgusting things at my door again I will twist your other ankle.” Leon threatened as he slammed the door once again.
Michael blinked back the tears he felt growing in his eyes. He curled his hands into fists as determination rose inside him. Michael had a crush on Leon since the fourth day after they were made. He finally found out that Leon returned his feelings, at least a little, and he was not going to lose that ground without a fight.
Standing up, Michael narrowed his eyes and stepped towards Leon’s room. His determination had blinded his mind from the fact that his ankle was still twisted. He had moved forward and shifted his weight right onto his injured leg and, even blinded, his mind couldn’t ignore the pain jolting straight up from his leg.
Michael screamed as he staggered backwards and leaned against the wall. He grimaced as his leg throbbed.
“Hey,” Michael’s eyes widened and he looked down the hallway where Rafieo stood with an armful of blankets. “Um, I was thinking we could switch off the bed each night.” He offered. “So, um, you can go ahead and get it tonight. I’ll sleep on the floor.” Rafieo moved past him and into his room.
Michael frowned as he limped into Rafieo’s room after him. Rafieo had one blanket spread out on his floor, another one balled up to work as a pillow, and then the last one sat on the side. “I’ll be right back,” Rafieo side stepped around Michael and left him alone.
Shuffling forward, Michael made his way to Rafieo’s bed and sat down on the edge of it. It was more worn out than his own ratty excuse of a mattress but it was obviously better than sleeping on the floor.
Rafieo reentered his room with a plastic grocery bag filled with ice. He dropped it onto Michael’s lap and then sat down on the single blanket, grabbing the last blanket to pull over himself. Michael frowned as he tied the plastic bag, turning it into a makeshift icepack and looked over at his brother as he settled onto his plastron.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” Michael asked. Rafieo had his hands folded under the balled up blanket and his head pillowed on top. He opened one eye to lazily stare at Michael.
“You were having a rough day,” Rafieo stated simply. “I wanted to make it a little better.” Michael smiled a little and placed the ice bag onto his swollen ankle. “We live a shitty life as it is, we don’t need to make it worse for ourselves by being dicks to each other.” Rafieo muttered and then closed his eyes again.
Michael lied down on the bed and continued to smile. “You actually sounded intelligent just then, Rafieo.”
“Shut up,” Rafieo growled with little anger, knowing that Michael was just teasing him.
“Good night to you too, brother,” Michael yawned and followed Rafieo’s example by closing his eyes. He was soon drifting off to sleep, dreams of a simpler world where he ruled everything and Leon was his slave boy ran through his mind.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Leon avoided him the next day, all day. He barely came out of his room at all. Leon only showed up to grab something to eat and when Dunn demanded that they all do some heavy lifting in the large warehouse where he currently stored the illegal products and prototypes the Peace Keepers hadn’t confiscated. The “heavy lifting” really meant that they needed to move the crates filled with illegal goods to a better hiding spot.
Michael had tried to accidentally bump into him while limping around with his over packed box, but Leon had dodged the touch. Scowling, Michael had dropped his box clumsily onto the floor and had been scolded by Dunn, in a physical way.
His brothers had all looked angrily at Dunn but no one tried to aid Michael in picking himself back up off the ground.
The four returned from the warehouse and Michael instantly plopped down on the couch. Rafieo sat next to him and the two silently watched television for a few hours together. It was nice up until Rafieo quickly left the room in a rush. Michael frowned, his brow creasing with confusion until a loud meow noise made him turn back to the television to see a cat litter commercial finishing.
Michael frowned as he understood then why Rafieo left so quickly. David, Rafieo’s pet cat for a week, had died five days ago. Rafieo was still sensitive about it since he had accidentally killed the little stray by hitting him too hard. Even though the cat had only lived with them for a week, Rafieo had deeply loved and cared for the little critter.
With a groan, Michael stood from the couch and hobbled to Rafieo’s room. He opened it a crack and knocked to announce his presence. Rafieo sat in the middle of the floor, fingering a broken cat toy sadly. “Hey, Rafieo,” Michael smiled as Rafieo looked up at. “You know, I bet David’s in a better place.”
“He is,” Rafieo stated matter-of-factly. “But I ain’t with him there.” Rafieo stared at the toy again and softly admitted, “I miss him.”
Michael frowned. “It’s fine to miss him, Rafieo. I bet he misses you too, wherever he is. You gave him a better life.”
“I ended his life.” Rafieo pouted and sniffled.
Michael’s eyes widened and he backed up. “Don’t get upset now, Rafieo. Please, I so wouldn’t be able to run away.”
Rafieo glared and turned his wet, but still yellow, eyes to Michael. “I’m upset in the sad way, not the mad way; I only lose control when I get mad.”
“Oh,” Michael sighed, relieved as he pressed a hand to his plastron. “Well, that’s good at least. I mean, could you see me trying to limp away from danger? It would not end up good on my part.” Michael grinned, his long tongue drooping out of his mouth. He sat down next to Rafieo and elbowed him. “Hello in there, you okay?”
Rafieo looked at Michael and smiled a little. “You’d fall right on your face if you tried to run like that. You fall over walking now.”
Michael feigned hurt. “Thanks for agreeing with me that I’d be doomed.”
“Truth hurts,” Rafieo chuckled. He rubbed at his neck and looked back at the cat toy in his hand. “Um, hey, Michael?” he timidly asked.
“Yeah?” Michael replied staring at Rafieo with a smile.
Rafieo shook his head and stood. “You drooled all over my bed last night; you’re sleeping there again tonight.”
Michael blinked. “Oh, um, okay. I mean, you don’t mind taking the floor again?”
“Of course I mind,” Rafieo protested. “I’m not doing this to be nice; I just don’t wanna sleep on your drool.” Rafieo dismissed the conversation with a wave of his hand. “I’m heading out again; don’t wait up for me or nothing.”
“Right,” Michael nodded and watched as his brother left him sitting on the floor.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Rafieo snuck in late in the night. He tried to be quiet but stealth was his biggest weakness; he didn’t quite know how to be sneaky in his large body.
Cursing under his breath after he stumbled over some junk, Rafieo finally managed to find his bed area on the floor. He groped around for his blanket blindly in the dark and made himself comfortable as he settled on his plastron.
“Rafieo,” Michael spoke in the dark, alerting his brother that he was awake.
“Go back to sleep, Michael. I didn’t mean to wake you.” Rafieo grumbled.
Michael was silent for a few seconds before he cleared his throat and asked, “Where do you go?” More silence followed after his question.
“I’m not trying to pry,” Michael explained. “I’m just curious as to where you always disappear to during the day and then all night.”
“I visit the spot where I buried David,” Rafieo muttered. “Sometimes I just wander around in the park or other places. But I normally just go there.”
“The park?” Michael frowned even though his brother couldn’t see his confused expression in the dark room. “What do you do there?”
“Just walk around,” Rafieo grunted. “It’s kinda nice and stuff. Plus, our originals are there sometimes.”
“What?” Michael sat up quickly and looked at where he guessed Rafieo to be. “You don’t try to fight them on your own do you?”
“Course not,” Rafieo scoffed. “I don’t wanna end up getting my ass kicked. I just, I watch them, from far, far away. They seem to like the park.”
“It’s probably because they don’t get to walk around in the sunlight a lot in their time.” Michael explained. “I have Mikey’s memories of that.”
“Oh,” Rafieo murmured quietly. Michael shifted and lied back down as he closed his eyes, believing the conversation to be over. “Michael?”
“Yeah, Rafieo?” Michael questioned.
“Do you got all a Mikey’s memories?” Rafieo asked, his voice quieter than usual.
“Most of them, I think,” Michael frowned, “Why?”
“Did he, does he got someone special waiting for him back in his time?” Rafieo asked.
“Someone special?” Michael’s frown increased. “Like what exactly do you mean?”
“Never mind,” Rafieo sighed. “Night.”
Michael shifted again, “Goodnight, Rafieo.” He closed his eyes and pondered over his brother for a while.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Michael was glad that he was cloned from fast healing mutants since he was finally able to place some weight on his twisted ankle without feeling like screaming down the sewer. Unfortunately, Donald saw the improvement and took it as a chance to get Michael into the lab for more tests.
“Michael, my lab, now.” Donald repeated the order, his tail angrily swaying behind him.
Gulping, Michael slowly stood. “Aren’t I injured enough?” He asked pitifully.
“If you make me repeat myself one more time, I will take out your ankle bone so that you’re permanently injured.” Donald snapped and stormed into his lab, expecting Michael to follow him like a good, frightened animal.
Michael shivered as he pushed the lab door open, casting one last look behind him. He froze in the doorway as he saw Leon emerge from his bedroom. Leon’s gaze met his and his eye widened to see Michael in Donald’s doorway.
Michael’s eyes were pleading as he mouthed out the word “help.”
Leon lowered his gaze and turned right around to retreat back into his room.
“Shut the door and get on the examination table.” Donald growled dangerously.
Michael wondered if Donald would actually do him a favor and remove his heart.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
“This hasn’t been a very good week for you, huh?” Rafieo asked casually from his spot on the floor as he watched Michael pace around the room.
“What makes you say that? Because I twisted my ankle, got kicked out of my room, lost my boyfriend, got experimented on some more, and then--” Michael stopped himself too late as he realized what he had accidently let slip in his rant. He turned his wide eyes to Rafieo, hoping that his brother hadn’t caught onto his words. Rafieo wasn’t the smartest, it was possible.
But Rafieo was staring at him with his head tilted to the side with that confused expression on his face. And then he uttered, “You lost your boyfriend? Does Leon know that you had a boyfriend?”
Michael didn’t know what to say. He was pretty sure his jaw was going to be staying on the floor for the rest of his life. Luckily, with their lifestyle, that probably wouldn’t be too long. Still, the realization that he was so obvious that even Rafieo had caught onto his feelings for Leon had him stunned.
“Ah,” Michael licked at his beak and shifted from one foot to the other without any pain, aside from his mortification.
“I’m kinda sure Leon wouldn’t like us having boyfriends, ‘cause it could be bad for the team and he wants us all to focus on defeating our originals.” Rafieo continued.
Michael sighed. Rafieo didn’t know that he had a major crush on Leon, good, that meant there was still a chance of Donald not knowing as well.
“Unless you meant you were dating Leon or somethin’. I could see Leon being okay with that.” Rafieo murmured, watching Michael carefully.
“You don’t think there’s anything wrong with me and Leon dating?” Michael asked.
“Why would there be?” Rafieo frowned, puzzled that there would be something wrong with that. “That way you don’t have any outside distractions from the team, right? In fact, that would only make you more, uh determined to the team, right?”
“I think the word you were looking for was dedicated but yeah.” Michael nodded as a large smile broke over his face. “Rafieo, I have never ever felt like hugging you and I doubt I ever will again. So I’m going to take this opportunity and hug you.” Michael warned before he tackled his brother with a hug.
Rafieo blinked as he suddenly had an armful of brother. He didn’t know how to react to this. They weren’t exactly a physical family besides when they punched each other or whatnot. This kind of contact felt nice.
Donald appeared in the doorway and Rafieo’s eyes widened as he watched Donald’s eyes narrow at the scene before him. “Get offa me,” Rafieo growled and shoved Michael away. “If you ever hug me again, I’ll pound you.” Rafieo threatened. He turned his attention to Donald. “What the hell do you want?”
“Fearless Leader wants to discuss his newest plan with us.” Donald announced as he crossed his arms over his plastron.
“Okay,” Michael stood up and stumbled a step before he caught his balance. He proceeded to walk to their living room area.
Rafieo was stopped in his doorway by Donald turning to take up as much space as his smaller body could.
Luckily, his presence was larger than his physical form and Rafieo actually took a step back from him. Donald smirked at the demonstration of fear. “Rafieo, my dear brother, you should know better than to cuddle up with Michael.”
“I like Michael, sometimes.” Rafieo frowned. “’Sides, he hugged me.” He protested.
“Be that as it may,” Donald rested one hand on his hip as he motioned with his other hand to the pile of cat supplies in Rafieo’s room. “Do you remember what happened the last time you liked something? You killed it.”
Rafieo was visibly upset at being reminded for what had happened with David, his pet cat. “That’s different than liking Michael. I’m allowed to like people.”
“No you aren’t,” Donald argued. “You’re a weapon, Rafieo, a killing machine, and that’s all you’ll ever be good for. Even if you don’t want to kill people, you’re programmed to and you can’t fight against your programming. So unless you want to accidentally kill Michael, just like you did Dillian--”
“David,” Rafieo corrected with a growl.
“David,” Donald rolled his eyes, “I’d stay away from Michael if I was you.”
“But,” Rafieo frowned, “I wanna like Michael. And he has to share my room.”
“Kick him out. He can sleep on the couch. Also,” Donald moved forward and pat Rafieo on the head, “you’re not allowed to like people.”
“Why not?” Rafieo pouted.
“You simpleton, I already explained this to you!” Donald sighed and rubbed at his temples. “Listen, you are the equivalence of a large gun, okay? You equal a big gun, a weapon only to be used. Guns don’t like people, guns don’t cuddle people; guns only kill, okay? So keep in mind, little gun, that if you cuddle with Michael again, you might accidentally go off and kill him.” Donald watched as Rafieo’s eyes went wide with the thought. “I’m only telling you this because I don’t want you to have to experience another close death.” Donald waited until Rafieo nodded, assuring him that his little lesson had sunken in. “Good. Now come on, Fearless is waiting for us.”
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
“So Leon’s gonna be gone for a while now, right?” Rafieo asked as he sat next to Michael on his bed. The mattress creaked in protest at all the weight.
“Yeah,” Michael stared blankly at the far wall, almost non-respondent.
“Is,” Rafieo rubbed at the back of his neck, “is he gonna come back?”
“I don’t know,” Michael turned to actually look at Rafieo. “Would you come back, if you were given the chance?”
Rafieo frowned and took the opportunity to look around his dull room, filled with only broken items that he was able to scavenge. He then looked at his brother, the only one that seemed to like him a little bit, and he was, apparently, not allowed to like him back.
Rafieo slowly shook his head. “I wouldn’t.” He stood up just as Michael’s eyes filled with tears. “But we should be happy that he can be somewhere happier, right?”
Michael stopped Rafieo in the doorway by whispering. “I want him to be somewhere happier with me though.” Rafieo shrugged his large shoulders and continued out the door.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
“Do you think the originals bought that?” Michael asked Rafieo as he nursed his wounds on the couch.
“You heard what Donald said, if the originals don’t heal him, then Leon would die.” Rafieo repeated.
Michael frowned at his brother. “You know, for knowing that I’m in love with Leon, you’re kinda being really bad at reassuring me that my love is going to turn out alright.”
Rafieo shrugged. “Deal with it. Also, I want you out of my room from now on.”
Michael’s eyes widened. “What? But where am I supposed to sleep then?”
“Couch,” Rafieo suggested. “Or why don’t you take Leon’s room?”
“Fine,” Michael crossed his arms over his plastron. “And here I thought that you actually meant it when you said our lives were shitty enough without all of us being jerks to each other. Thanks for proving me wrong, jerk.” He frowned as he watched Rafieo simply head towards his bedroom without another word to him.
Rafieo closed his bedroom door behind him and sighed heavily. “It’s for your own good.”
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No. Seriously. I'm crying. Oh, owowowow....I...but...ow.
Even knowing it gets better.... ;_;
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