The Words That Hurt Me

Forty-Nine: Work to do

"Mom-No! I told you: their car broke down, and I'm not spending a fortune on a plane ticket!"

Mikey was too scared to move, having only come to ask Goo if they wanted dinner, catching them in a tense phone call instead.

"Ma, I got a job working under the table, I'm fine! Besides, I'm having a lot of fun up here! Yes, I have time. Okay, yeah, I will, bye,"

Goo hung up their phone, letting out a long, exasperated sigh. They ran a hand over their face, readjusting their mask and turning around. Both Mikey and Goo jumped, staring silently at each other.

"Uh," Mikey said smartly, "Sorry?"

"Um." Goo responded intelligently, "I-It's alright,"

The two stood in silence for a bit, awkwardly shuffling from foot to foot.

"...Are you okay?" Mikey asked after a moment. Goo looked down for a moment, letting out a sigh.

"Yeah, my Mom's just frustrated that I ran away to New York without notice," They sighed, "And that I'm not back yet. She's been calling me, like, every day,"

They made their way to the stairs, stopping next to Mikey.

"Did you need something?"

"Oh! Dinner's ready,"

"Oh sweet!" Goo gently clapped. "What we eatin'?"

Mikey walked them to the kitchen, describing the new concoction he made, Goo nodding along.

The past two days went by uneventfully, the group patrolling around New York, this time with Goo easily able to keep up. The Donnys, however, were on crunch time. No one was allowed in the lab, not even to force food or rest on them. That is, except for Casey, who was allowed to enter with the caveat that he didn't interfere while they worked.

Casey took his new role as the sole food and caffeine provider very seriously, and surprisingly, followed all the rules both Donnys set. Mike sent him in at least two times an hour if Casey wasn't already making a run.

Mikey thought that Goo would be happy, or at least relieved, to hear they were working hard on a retro-mutagen, but they seemed more resigned. They just gave a small smile and nonchalant 'Good!' or 'That's great!' It was confusing to Mikey.

However, when he watched them leap from building to building, happily flipping about, they looked...free. Compared to how they were at first, it looked like they were flying across the night sky, little sparks of excited electricity following as they flitted about. They basked in the cool night breeze, enjoying the lights of the city.

As for everything else, things were fantastic!

Of course, due to the circumstances, there was only so much they could talk about before they needed to focus on business. However, they did manage to set up basic boundaries. 

For Mikey, he asked that they stop treating him like a toddler, which means keeping the 'dumb' jokes to a minimum (unless a really good one can be made), not assuming that he can't do a task (Mikey will be the judge of his capabilities), and only having one 'check in' call each (unless there is an emergency).

Donny informed the group that he felt a lot of pressure when they relied on him for answers. He didn't always have them and while he doesn't want to disappoint them, he can't fix everything. So he asked that they give him more space and solve things on their own when they can.

Raph, while red-faced, told them he was trying to be more emotionally vulnerable, instead of expressing himself with only anger, so he asked that they don't call attention to moments when he's being 'soft', so he can comfortably be emotional around them.