Chapter 39: Lessons in Dance

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It's a quiet morning in the lair. Splinter makes tea in the kitchen while Michelangelo makes more pancakes, ready to serve up more breakfast to his half-awake brothers and sisters should they ask for seconds or thirds, but his jokes and perkiness are muddled. There is a cloud hanging over the family that rains hesitancy and wariness, soaking them to the bone. It won't be long before their lives will irrevocably change in one way or another.

Destiny sips at her tea, half-listening to the stunted conversation going on around her. They're talking about the battle again, big surprise. She bites back an obnoxious sigh and shuts her eyes for a second, hoping that soon they'll be able to talk about anything else. That'll be the day.

She finishes her drink and wanders away with a brief thank you to Splinter. The rat gathers her cup and brings it to the sink, his wise yet enervated gaze lingering back to the exit then panning across his children. Leonardo is stone-faced, Michelangelo is stuffing his face, Donatello and Raphael converse with stoic, serious expressions, and Sarina stares at her coffee mug as she stirs the contents with a spoon clutched daintily between her pointer finger and thumb.

Splinter purses his lips and seats himself back down, lifting his chopsticks and starting to eat his breakfast again. He longs for peace to come back to his household.

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Destiny had found solace in the dojo and to be honest, Leonardo is annoyed that he didn't think to look there first. As he heads up the steps into the training room, he can hear Destiny talking softly. He catches the tail-end of the conversation before she says goodbye and hangs up. He hesitates at the entrance, gauging whether or not he should go in when he hears the soft twanging of guitar strings.

He pokes his head in to see Destiny sitting with her back against the tree, phone in her hand and eyes vacant as they were this morning. Leonardo watches her stare at the screen for a few more moments before he clears his throat, making her jump.

"Knock knock," he says as she whirls around to face him, claws out.

She exhales and her shoulders slump. "Leo, hi," she says.

"What's up?" he asks, immediately feeling an internal cringe squeeze him. Her pupils dart away and he wanders closer, listening to the singing drifting from her phone. "This music is nice. New band?"

"Lonestar," Destiny mumbles, fumbling to turn the volume down as her expression folds between sheepish and pouty. "Just...just a thing I found." He opens his mouth, but she beats him to it. "I just called Diaval. He's going to try and get here really soon to, uh, help us out and stuff, y'know?"

Leonardo bobs his head. "Cool, that's good." She forces a wobbly smile and tucks her phone behind her leg, shielding it from view, and he inches closer. "Is that all that's up? You're acting...off."

Her smile crumbles and she slumps back against the tree, tucking her wings closer as she does it. She motions him closer and he obliges, settling down next to her as she angles her screen towards him and revealing something that looks like a social media page belonging to username "Penny_foryour_Thoughts".

 She motions him closer and he obliges, settling down next to her as she angles her screen towards him and revealing something that looks like a social media page belonging to username "Penny_foryour_Thoughts"

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