The place was silent for the past few days, more silent than Five was used to. It was stressful, though Five found himself sometimes forgetting why he was even stressed out. Eventually he would remember and dreed on the feeling, the reason being that Three wasn't coming back to live with him or Draxum. He wanted to see Three everyday, from waking up to falling asleep, he could often feel that at some point they would pile together in the middle of Draxum's lab and sleep. Though it seems foreign to Five now, like the memory isn't real or at least fuzzy. Luckily, in the few days Five had of silence he tried to focus on training and meditation. Sometimes he would forget to eat and sleep but he didn't see a problem with it yet.
Five had two rooms to himself: his bedroom and his study. The dojo wasn't really his own room, nor a proper dojo. It was just like a double dojo and small library at best. Within Five's study, which he would usually meditate in, the walls were painted just like bamboo, with a wrap-around desk and matted floors. Five didn't mind sitting on the floor, as he would say: It's the best seat in the house, and it was no joke. The room was mainly decorated like Japanese culture, which Draxum had regularly told Five is weird and obsessive. The slider would usually ignore the comments, due to him having a feeling about the decor. He felt closer to someone he probably never met before, maybe family or a friend long ago? Five would often burn a white-pumpkin scented candle to relieve some sort of feelings he had stuffed away.
White-pumpkin was Three's favorite scent, at least that's what Five faintly recalled. Everytime he asked his turtle counterpart, Three would give an answer along the lines of I don't know or I don't care; Which the slider could never settle for an answer. He hoped that one day Three's answer would somehow change but it never does. Draxum had told Five that he had been getting better at fighting and keeping a steady stance, which made Five happy of course. He always loved positive reinforcement though he can't really remember the last time he did get a comment like that. Getting up Five, patted down his pant legs and turned off his alarm. It was time to go check in with Draxum to see how many stars he had!
When the slider got to the main lab entrance, he peered in to see the yokai reading a book in a focused state. It crossed his mind that interrupting may be a horrible idea until the sound of Draxum clearing his throat made Five go back on his decision fast. Draxum was not staring at Five, waiting for the slider to ask the question both of them knew. "Can I see how many stickers I got?" Five asked, basically bouncing up and down in happiness. With a small disappointed sigh, the yokai pulled out a sheet of paper with a line of ten stickers beside the week's date.
"You made enough to go see One... and get a special food on the way back. Keep up the good work Five." Draxum said, keeping his voice low as Five looked at the ten stickers. "The two extra stickers are for helping me and improving your technique." the yokai explained before Five could ask anything. The slider smiled widely, he had been enjoying the reward system so far. At the end of each week he can cash in the stars for a prize and Five loved it. It was something to look forward to every week; giving him some sort of help to keep going. Draxum walked away from the book he had, reaching into one of his desk drawers to pull out some money. "Are you going to go for ice cream again or something different?" the yokai questioned, counting the emerald plates in his hands.
"Hmmmmm... I think I'm gonna get this new thing the sandwich shop has down the street. It's like six ems, I believe." Five beamed, holding out his hand happily for the money. Letting out another tired sigh, the older yokai placed seven emerald plates into Five's hand before going back to his book.
"Be back before six and don't cause any problems. You know what happens if you do." Draxum warned. Five nodded furiously in a state of anxiety not to mess up and joy to see his siblings. Six can never go outside as often as One so Five loves it when he can visit the Battle Neux Hotel. Waving bye to the older yokai Five began his journey towards the hotel.
– ☁☁☁☁ –
To say the least both Raph and April were nervous to meet their younger brother. Pops had explained that they could be unpredictable at first and to be quiet and aware. For the first few days of the soft shell being awake, pops had refused to let Raph and April inside to visit. The soft shell, or newly named Donatello, was around thirteen. That's a number for: a year younger than Raph basically. The snapper was glad to be at least older than their new sibling, though he still had the others to rescue to see if he still kept his older brother status. The med bay doors opened quietly, displaying Donnatello laying on a cot playing with fidget spinner to pass time.
The soft shell was hooked up to a EtC02 machine along with a fluid bag, that Raph presumed to be there for nutritious purposes. Donnatello glanced over at the two new faces, a bit spooked by them and what they were going to do. Raph and April, following the guidelines that Splinter had given them, stood at a distance to calm him for the most part. When Donnatello noticed them keeping their distance he calmed down, though still on guard for now. "Hi... I'm Raph and this is April." the snapper introduced.
"Why are you here? You're mad aren't you?" Donnatello said. The soft shell's voice had a soft volume but a harsh tone, like he actually meant what he said. Both of them were taken aback by the soft shell's words, it made them question if he had just that consistent thoughts.
"You... Really think that?" Raph asked. All Donnatello did was nod, answering the snapper's question. "That's not true... If I were mad at you for trying to steal food, Raph would've left you on the streets or turned you into the cops." he said, looking the soft shell up and down. Donnatello made no movement in his expression, no shift in vibe, nothing... just plain and cold, which made Raph a bit anxious.
"Well, my name's April. Splint's said you like the name Donnatello, is that true?" April smiled, completely unfazed by the soft shell's freezing cold stare. Silence filled the room as Donnatello realized April wasn't intimidated by him, making him debate to answer the question.
"Beats have to be called Four or Lavy..." he muttered, letting out a small disappointed sigh. April nodded, knowing that she had at least cracked the barrier the soft shell had put up. The two names he gave made Raph question how he got those names, the snapper doubted that Donnatello gave himself those names.
"Who gave you those names?" Raph asked, getting a cold stare in response to his question. The snapper now knew that the soft shell wasn't going to warm up immediately to him, no matter how nice and sweet he was. April took a few minutes to look at the tension between both of them before smiling.
"Well, you don't have to tell us yet. It is your first day conscious here so I can't blame you for the trust issues... Do you want anything to eat or drink? You've been passed out for a few days." April asked, getting the soft shell's attention. Donnatello nodded slowly, not wanting to speak anymore as April looked at Raph for a moment.
"Raphie, can you go get some leftovers? I don't believe Splint's cooked today." April asked. For a moment the reasoning for April asking Raph didn't ping right away until Raph was actively going towards the fridge. April needed Raph to go out of the room for a few moments, that's why. With that thought Raph decided to take as much time as he could going to the kitchen, picking a Mac and Cheese leftover, heating it up, and doing nothing for a few minutes. He listened to the microwave beep for a few moments before opening the door and closing it without grabbing the bowl out just yet. He wanted to give both of them a few minutes and after that Raph could try to befriend Donnatello... That would be nice.
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Word Count: 1473
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High-Rise || SC!Rise Separated AU
FanfictionWhat if all the turtles didn't make it on the trip to the upside? What if there was six and not just four? Would it still end the same, would everyone still be okay? They say family is the strongest bond ever made... but how much can it bend and sep...
