I'm nothing special, and I'm okay with that.
When Leo woke up he felt refreshed, like it had been the first time he actually slept in years, he couldn’t believe this. Getting up to his elbows, Leo yawned and looked around the room, the capybara that had been following him had actually managed to stay the night and was now staring at him… Again.
Leonardo got up and stretched his limbs, welcoming the popping sound that came with the pleasure.
The tall turtle picked up the capybara and turned it to face the exit of the cave so that he could get changed. When he was done the capybara was looking at him again, Leonardo sighed exasperatedly, it wasn’t his first time dealing with something that wouldn’t listen to him.
Leonardo picked up his katana and strapped them to his back. Last night was a bit cold so this time he was going to make a fire. Leonardo looked up at the sky ‘It’s probably going to rain’ he decided ‘So I should get started on that fire now.’
Looking around the forest all Leo saw was trees, sure there were things on the trees but they were just trees so they wouldn't mind if he took some of their wood. As soon as he started breaking branches, birds, bugs and maybe some monkeys lunged at him, they swarmed him until he backed off.
Leo retreated into his cave and knelt down in front of where the capybara had been waiting for him.
“I don’t get it!” Leo rasped out, he reached a hand to his throat, when was the last time he’d spoken?
When Leonardo spoke again it was slower, “Why would that happen? I thought after a couple of weeks here they would finally be, I don’t know, chill? Maybe? With me taking some branches, I mean it’s not like they belong to them or anything…” Leo huffed in frustration.
The capybara blinked and Leo blinked back.
The capybara strode over to Leo and put one of its weird little feet on Leo’s knee then it walked around in circles a couple of times before poking the ‘bed’ with the same foot.
“I have absolutely no idea what that’s supposed to mean.”
Leo could’ve sworn it rolled its eyes at him.
The capybara repeated the motion a couple more times before Leonardo spoke up again,
“Wait, I think I got it, so the animals sleep in the trees, like how I sleep in this cave.”
The capybara gave a small nod.
“And I just went ahead and ripped out the branches…”
The capybara nodded again.
“So you’re saying that… This… Is my… H-home…?”
The capybara nodded again.
Leonardo scoffed and rolled his eyes “How can this be my home when I already have one back in New York?”
His home in New York; the one that smells bad, that’s always noisy, chaotic… There’s more to the list but if Leonardo kept on going then he would be going on forever, even after all the shit he and his family goes through every day, he would much rather call New York his home. Flaws and all. “Besides I haven’t been here near long enough to even think about this place like that” Leo retorted but it was a clear lie.
Even with all the flaws and chaos, the jungle had become some sort of escape, a safe space, from all the chaos in New York, the Foot ninja, the cops, the concern of being seen by people in general all just washed away from him; as if the worries were never there to begin with.
And even now Leonardo’s shoulders are tense and his senses are still on high alert, as if he was still in New York, as if it was just another night on a rooftop fighting Foot ninja with his brothers at his side, he was stressed out but he had no reason to be; as if he was still fighting for every ounce of controle.
Just like his sensei told him to.
Leo didn’t realise he was crying until the capybara nudged its head against Leo’s leg “Thanks, but it’s not something that you can fix… I’m just like this, I guess. I was… Made wrong, I suppose.”
Leo’s hand petted the capybara’s head, not daring to look into its eyes. “My family is so amazing, they have these amazing qualities that I could only dream of having. They have it easy, they have the talent that I have to work for...” Leo sighed “But that’s just how the cookie crumbles I suppose, there’s not like I can actually do anything about it other than work harder. I’m my father’s ‘perfect student’ and ‘The leader’.... Without these blades… I might as well be a regular turtle, what a waste of mutagen…”
The capybara nudged him harder, it pushed his hand away and climbed into Leo’s lap, resting its head on top of Leo’s thigh. Leo sniffed “Thanks, y’know I was really creeped out by you at first but you’re really not that bad, sorry for dumping all of that onto you…”
“Anyways, so…. If I want the wood… I should be careful of the branches, right? Because it’s their home?” Leo could’ve sworn the capybara actually nodded in response “Hey, I think I’m gonna name you. How do you like -I don’t know-.... Draxum…?”
The capybara bit him.
“OW! Okay, so not Draxum, I don’t even know where that came from, I think it was in a show or something like that… Okay uhmmm, how about Lars? There was a guy in a show -the same one but in a different universe- he had this pet gecko named Lars but then he got turned into a gecko, like became his pet but humanoid-gecko, kind of? So anyways, do you like it?”
Leo rambled and the capybara, instead of saying he was annoying or telling him to shut up, the capybara snuggled closer to Leo. “Okay! So I’ll just call you Lars then! Y’know there’s this other show about a kid whose mom was this ethereal gem monarch that colonised the earth but she decided not to and then faked her death which caused this huge war and stuff but when her son was born she had to like die and stuff and his dad was human- But anyways, he had this friend named Lars and he was pretty cool!”
Lars just kept listening, until a shiver had his fur standing up on end. Leo noticed and got up, setting Lars down on his bed and went running to get discarded sticks and fallen branches to heat up the cave. From its place on the bed, Lars could hear Leo yelping in the distance, the occasional “OUCH!” and “CRUD!” even “FUDGENUCKLES” could be heard from a distance.
When Leo returned shortly after, his arms were full of wood but his walk was strange, “Don’t worry! I didn't rip’em off any trees, I found them on the ground” He reassured Lars with a pat on the head before setting up the fire.
The heat crackled and blazed, Lars looked over at Leo then glancing at his feet; they were stained red and oozing out small drops of blood. Lars chirped in alarm but Leo just calmly reached for his bag and pulled out a first aid kit, he disinfected wherever it was needed and wrapped his feet in gauze.
“Don’t worry, I patch myself up all the time. I’m used to it.”
Lars stared at him as he hissed through his teeth.
“Fu-reaking hell, that stings…” Leo glanced back over at Lars who was still staring at him unimpressed.
“Wait a minute… I’m in the jungle, my family’s in New York… I can swear as much as I want!” Leo said before starting to wrap his other foot.
Leo hissed again “Motherfu-”