Seeing Double (TMNT)

Chapter 6

When Mikey made his way to the surface after a mental breakdown, he wasn't expecting his brother to be flirting with an overgrown rabbit within the next 3 hours. Honestly, the man had literally been on his death bed a matter of days ago, and now he was shamelessly trying to woo the rabbit Yokai. Gays. He had migrated back to Murakami's with Leonardo, Donnie, Karai, Michelangelo and Leo, plus his new friend, Usagi, after they found the two of them exchanging phone numbers in the alleyway.

They were all sat at various tables across the restaurant; Raph, Raphael and Mona on one near the kitchen, Leo and Usagi were sitting comfortably in a secluded corner, and Leonardo, Donnie and Michelangelo were sat with him near the centre of the restaurant. It was nice having gourmet food that he didn't have to cook. Other than pizza from Run of the Mill, Mikeys cooking is his families main source of food. Was, their main source of food. At this rate his tremors would prevent him from cooking for a while. With that thought, he glanced down at his shaking hands bitterly. He didn't regret what he did, saving Leo, not at all. But all of the activities he enjoyed most involved using his hands; spray-painting, cooking, drawing. They would serve as a constant reminder of what he sacrificed, and what he couldn't do anymore.

Mikey turned his attention to the interior of Murakami's, absorbing the intricacies of the restaurants design. The walls were a deep, burgundy red, with golden dragons delicately painted on as a feature wall. Booths lined the wall, with the farthest one being taken up by Leo and Usagi, who were chatting away animatedly. A kitchen filled the centre of the restaurant, with stools and benches surrounding it, forming a square. Traditional lights hung from the ceiling, red lanterns decorated the roof above the kitchen and bamboo plants sat in any empty corners and bare spaces throughout the restaurant.

The smell of food lured Mikey's eyes to the kitchen; Mr. Murakami was cooking up a storm! He watched the chef slice through various vegetables and meats, then wrapping them dumpling-style and steaming them. He watched with baited breath, completely absorbed with the techniques in display. Before he knew it, Pizza Gyoza was being plated in front of him, with more plates for Leonardo, Donnie, Karai and Michelangelo. He began eating slowly. Precariously holding chopsticks with his twitching hands, challenging himself to see what his limits were. He managed three Gyoza's before his wrists and fingers started to ache, then he grumpily switched to picking up his food with his hands. He noticed his tablemates sharing sympathetic glances in his direction, but he chose to ignore them. He explored the texture of the meat and vegetables, and the taste of the cheeze, onion and pepperoni mixing with the dumpling wrap, relishing in the mixture of flavours. Once his hands recovered, Mikey vowed to make this for him and his brothers back home.

Mikey quickly finished his plate, announcing very loudly that he was 'SO FULL' to his brothers and other tablemates. Leo and Usagi were still talking away. They sat awfully close to each other, giving sneaky glances then flushing and scooting away ever so slightly if their eyes met, just to be pulled back by the other with and arm around each others shoulders. Mikey thought he could see Usagi's hand on Leos thigh, but he could force the information out of a dazed Leo afterwards, rather than spy on them. Donnie obviously wasn't following the same train of thought as Mikey, though. He was visibly staring in the lovebirds direction, glaring daggers at an oblivious Usagi, while Leo would spare his twin a frustrated glance every now-and-then. Thank goodness Raph couldn't see them, otherwise he would have gone full 'Mumma-Raph' mode on Leo and dragged his ass back to the Lair, leaving Usagi in the dust.

Other-Donnie, who he hasn't properly met yet, was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Other-Casey. Other-April had headed back to the Lair, after being properly ABANDONNED by the purple turtle and the black-haired human. Mikey couldn't wait to have a group conversation with everyone- he missed socialising! They had been stuck underground for so long that he thought he would go insane! Besides, they needed to come up with nicknames for everyone; putting 'other' in front of peoples names was getting REALLY annoying. He slouched into the stool he was sat on, sparing more glances across the restaurant, and thinking about the differences between this world and his own.