saisdontmatter | (no subject)

(no subject)

[When sickness hit the Hamato household, it swept through like wildfire. And ever since Splinter found himself with two sick little turtles on his hands, he was determined to keep the other two as germ-free as possible. So as soon as they woke and they ate their meager breakfast, he shooed Raphael and Leonardo out of the den, hurriedly telling them to bring back anything they found of use before being pulled away by his sick ones' alarmed whimpers.

Raphie was more than happy to leave the den. It stank like throw up in there, and being hungry made it even worse. Ever since Donnie and Mikey got sick, Splinter hasn't been able to go topside for food, and splitting a can of tuna fish and a couple slices of stale bread with Leo left him feeling hollow inside. He'd been growing a lot lately, way more than his brothers, and it was making him feel hungry all the time. Maybe they'd be able to find some cool stuff while they were out, or even some more food.

The only problem is, he has no idea where to look. Splinter doesn't usually take him out on scavenge runs. It's because he's too noisy and doesn't listen, but his brothers tell him it's because he cries too much. But that's because they're stupid and Splinter doesn't take them either! No one gets to go except for Leo, because he's a daddy's boy and the favorite. And a stupid idiot, but that's besides the point.

So. That leaves two nine year old turtles and one mission. Raphie looks at his brother, shrugs, and starts shuffling off to wherever his feet take him. Because there's no way he's gonna let Leo tell him where to go. He'll just walk until he finds something.]

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[Leo is Worried. He's been worried kind of a lot lately, ever since Splinter started grooming him to become the leader of his brothers, but this is different from all of that stuff. He's used to this kind of worry - the sewers aren't a kind place to live, and he and his brothers have dealt with a lot of sickness in their lifetime. But just because he's used to this kind of anxiety doesn't make it any less hard to deal with, so when Master Splinter ushers them out of the lair, he's left feeling a little lost and a lot concerned.]

[But Master Splinter gave them something to do. Something helpful. All Leo really wants is for Donnie and Mikey to get better, and they may not be able to keep anything down right now, but he knows that they can't do that if the rest of the family gets sick, too. So they need food to keep their strength up. Got it.]

[Leo turns to tell Raph that they should do what Splinter said, but all his brother does is give him a shrug before shuffling away. Leo watches him go, blinking at his retreating shell. Then he follows after him, jogging slightly to catch up.]

Raph! Where are you going?

[He keeps walking without looking back.]

What does it look like? Going to find stuff.

Edited 2013-09-08 05:51 (UTC)

[Now that he's caught up, Leo just keeps pace with Raph, giving him a dubious look.]

Do you even know where to look? [Scavenging is serious business; it's easy to get turned around in all of the tunnels if you don't pay attention to where you're going. And Leo knows that Master doesn't take Raph out with him very often.]

[Try ever. Calling Raphael a problem child would be a terrible understatement, especially lately. Over the past month or so, his usual mercurial emotions have been on a hair trigger.

He doesn't respond, just keeps walking like he knows exactly where he's going.]

[Leo stops dead in his tracks, arms crossing as he raises an eye ridge at the back of his brother's head.]

You have no idea, do you?

Yeah, I do. Shut up.

[He just wants to do his own thing. Leo doesn't always get to be the one who knows and does everything first. He wants to find something and bring it back all by himself so Splinter likes him better.]

You're going to get lost, you know. [Usually he'd say this with a slight degree of neurotic concern, but Raph has been kind of annoying lately with his moodiness, so the warning comes out flat.]

[He reels around, hands balled into fists and teeth bared, stomping his foot on the wet ground.]

I'm not gonna get lost! Stop acting like a nuh-nuh-nuh-know it all!

[Then he clamps his mouth shut with an audible click, turning around and stalking in the direction he was headed, his face hot with embarrassment. He always stutters when he gets upset. Master Splinter's tried so hard to make him stop, and he has gotten a little better, but he hates when he stutters. And he hates when his brothers tease him for it even more.]

[Leo just frowns as he follows behind. Yeah, the stuttering used to be funny, but Leo himself hasn't made fun of Raph for it in a while. Especially not ever since Splinter caught him doing it, then took him to another room and talked to him for at least ten minutes about how bad it was to pick on Raph like that.]

[Leo still doesn't understand why Raph gets so upset about things like dumb teasing, but Splinter made him feel pretty bad about it. Besides, if he's going to be the leader one day, Leo guesses he should be a lot more sensitive to his brothers' feelings.]

I'm not! I'm just saying, we should stick together! [So stop speeding off, shell-for-brains!]

[He's more than relieved Leo doesn't take the chance to make fun of him. Maybe because Donnie and Mikey aren't with them. It doesn't really win Leo any points, but he does slow down enough for Leo to catch up again.]

Then come on!

[Finally! Leo takes the opportunity to catch up one more time, keeping pace side-by-side with his brother. He glances up and down the length of the tunnel as they walk, his expression caught somewhere between thoughtfulness and uncertainty. He may be the one to always go out scavenging, but he's never had to go without Master Splinter before - and definitely not alone with one of his brothers. He doesn't want to take Raph too deep into the tunnels, so...]

Uh... I guess we could check one of the runoff spots? Sometimes the rain washes down stuff we can use into the sewers. [Not food, usually, but there have turned up unused ketchup and mustard packets, half-eaten hot dogs wrapped in enough paper to keep them relatively dry, leaky cups of diluted soda... you learn not to be picky when you're starving.]

[His mood suddenly shifted to something more docile, Raph doesn't seem completely off-put by the suggestion. Mostly because runoff spots equals closer to the street, which equals closer to humans that both terrify him and excite him at the same time.]

Like what?

Most of it's just trash... bottles and wrappers and stuff. But remember the time we brought home that whole pretzel? Sometimes the humans just throw away their food when it's still in its container.

[He knows his brother is fascinated by humans - heck, so is Leo, even if they make him nervous too. But he's not too worried about Raph's sudden interest; they've all heard the shuffling feet and low murmurings overhead while playing near storm drains in the warmer months. Master Splinter doesn't like them being so close to topside, but this would hardly be the first time they've done so.]

Yeah, I remember that! You think we could find one?

[Just the idea makes his stomach grumble. In an instant, he takes off running down the tunnel out of pure excitement. Better keep up!]

C'mon!

H-hey! Wait up! [Leo takes off after his brother, following him down the tunnel as it twists and turns and, eventually, branches. They know where all the storm drains near the lair are, and he's guessing Raph is just heading for the nearest one.] Jeez, Raph, you sound like an elephant charging around in the sewers!

[Leo is clearly the more stealthy one, yelling as he is.]

[Raph just laughs and keeps running. He likes the sound his feet make pounding the mud-lined tunnels, splashing through puddles that turn to trickling streams of street water.

As they get closer to the first storm drain and the water gets deeper, he slows down, quieting his steps until he can see gray daylight light up ahead.

Cautiously, he waits for Leo to catch up again. His panting breath echoes hollowly off the wet tunnel walls.]

Oh, it's raining.

[He breathes it like they're witnessing some forbidden wonder of science, like they've just set foot in an ancient tomb. Up above he can hear engines and car tires slicing through the rainwater, smell the scent of cigarette smoke and exhaust fumes. It's like a whole 'nother world up there, both amazing and terrifying at the same time.

He stops just a dozen feet from under the grate, his heart pounding in his ears.]

[It takes Leo only a second or two to arrive after Raph, his feet splashing just as loudly in the murky water underfoot. He halts next to his brother, his breaths coming in quiet pants, and looks from Raphael to the gray expanse of light filtering through slits in the metal grate overhead.]

[Rain.]

[Leo likes the rain. He doesn't get to see much of it, living underground and all, but he likes the way it completely overtakes the seemingly never-ending sky. He likes the city-sounds, water splitting as it's parted by moving cars, and the tapping of raindrops on asphalt and metal. He likes the different smells, the different sounds. It makes the city seem like a whole different place.]

[Task temporarily forgotten, he looks back at Raph, sending him a small smile. As rarely as he gets to be near topside while it's raining, for his brother this must be like discovering a new country. Even when they used to play near the storm drains, Splinter always came to fetch them almost immediately when it began raining - the risk for flooding was too high.]

Pretty cool, huh?

Yeah.

[He creeps closer, trying hard to keep his footsteps silent in the ankle deep water. The floor of the drain is easily a foot deep with cigarette butts and old chewing gum, a waterlogged confetti of paper and dirty wrappers. Up above he can hear men's voices rumbling over the sound of traffic and smell... It's one of the most delicious smells he's ever smelled in his life. Though he can't see it from the grate, the smell of cooking oil and roasting meat from a nearby food truck is enough to make his stomach clench with hunger pains.]

I think I smell pretzels!

[He still whispers, but he can't keep the excitement out of his voice as he eagerly searches the ankle-deep slog for signs of something edible.]

You're not going to find anything there. Besides, it's too dirty. Look, come here for a sec.

[Leo wades through the water to peer up through the storm drain, his mouth tugging back down into a line. Very rarely, stuff got stuck in the treads without falling into the filthy slog below, and Master Splinter would risk getting right up close to the streets in order to wriggle it the rest of the way through. But Leo doesn't see anything caught in the grate other than the usual trash - looks like this one's a bust.]

[He hopes he didn't get Raph's hopes up too high; this is the usual deal. That pretzel had been a miracle. Probably some human had dropped it, threw it back into its little paper box, and tossed it into the gutter. It was a little moist when they found it, but it was still one of the best things any of them ever tasted.]

[Leo regrets ever bringing the stupid pretzel up, especially now that the smell of cooking food is wafting down from above. It makes his mouth water and his stomach clench painfully. He sighs, shaking his head.] I don't see anything.

[But Raph isn't ready to give up yet. That food smell is driving him crazy, and there just has to be something they can use in all this garbage!

He starts pawing at the waterlogged mess, already forgetting to stay quiet.]

There has to be something. Look at all this stuff!

Quiet, shell-head! [Leo hisses, glancing anxiously back up towards the streets. Luckily the bustle of the city seems to be quite capable of drowning out two small voices from the sewers, but still.] Even if something did get washed all the way down here, it'd be way too gross to eat! The rest of us would just get sick, too!

[He angrily kicks at the water.]

I'm not a shell-head! [He's just hungry and wants to find something to bring home to Splinter now so he'll be so impressed at how quick he found stuff before Leo ever could then decide to take him on all the scavenging trips instead of Leo forever.

Patience never was his strong point, and he's already frustrated enough to start throwing a tantrum.]

[The temptation to yell, "Yes you are! Shell-head!" is overwhelming, but Leo manages to stop himself. Even if Raph is being annoying, they're too close to the humans to have a loud fight right now.]

[Instead Leo picks his way closer to Raph, holding his hands out placatingly.] Shhh! Look, it was a long stretch anyway. Most of the humans are probably eating inside right now because of the rain. Maybe we should just look somewhere else.

[He stops stomping around, fists balled at his sides and yells as loud as he can manage. It's not a good idea. Even when he's doing it he knows it's not a good idea, but he does it anyways because he has to before he explodes for real.]

It's not f-fuh-fair!

[It's not fair that he can't find anything without the help of precious favorite son Leo. It's not fair the humans get to eat when they don't and he's hungry. It's not fair nothing ever goes right!]

[Leo visibly jumps at that ear-splitting screech. It echoes around them both, barreling down the length of the tunnels on both ends, rising far above the sounds of screeching tires and blaring horns.]

Raphael! Shut up! [He all but shouts back, lurching forward to grab his brother's arm and drag him away from the storm drain.] They'll hear you!