He walked out, shutting the door behind him and walking to the kitchen. He boiled some water in his kettle, opening the cabinet and glancing at the contents. His eyes fell on a purple mug, which had a black PI symbol on it and the first three numbers in the probably endless sequence. He sighed, reaching for the mug beside it.

The mug he grabbed was a bright blue, with two red rhombuses on either side. He set the cup down, turning off the stove and grabbing his kettle after a few more minutes of waiting. He poured the hot water into the dish, steam rising from the top and dissipating into the far-too-empty air of the home. He turned to a small box sitting on the counter by the stove, and grabbed a tea bag from it. He dunked the bag into the water and let it soak.

He waited as his bitter drink steeped, letting out a quiet yawn. He glanced over towards the Lounge, seeing a dim light emit from the cracks of the door. He turned back to his tea, sighing and gently picking the mug up by the handle. He walked towards the door, slowly beginning to hear the low hum of the T.V. from the other end.

He twisted open the handle, walking in and shutting the door behind him with a quiet click. Donnie would have to remodel if- when, he got back. There's far too many doors in this place. . . Maybe if Leo learned, he could help too. Perhaps make it easier for his—admittedly favorite—brother. He walked over, turning to his Father's chair and expecting him to be passed out on the old piece of furniture. Geeze. . Maybe that would need to be fixed as well. . . Was this how Donnie analyzed things? Was this why he usually spent so long staring into empty rooms? Wow, man does his brother have an analytical eye. .

The slider's attention turned to the upper surrounding room, noticing all the pipes and wires that hadn't been maintained since the genius's departure. Oh man. . Donnie. . Donnie was the only thing holding this place together, from falling apart into a dripping mess of broken pipes and flooded floors. And he did it alone. Sure, he would have to have help with some of the heavier things at times, but that was rarely— Usually the turtle used his spider shell to hold things and carry the heavier stuff. Maybe. . Maybe Leo understands why he left, now. . .

He noticed that the rat wasn't in there, which startled him. So then why was the T.V. on? He looked around, only to see April and Raph sleeping on the floor by the couch. Raph had his arm around April as she slept with her head resting on his shoulder and the space between his arm and plastron.

Leo grinned slightly, sipping his tea and draping a large blanket that he had snagged from the couch over the two before leaving. He went to the Lab, sliding open the door carefully so as to make as little noise as possible. He noticed splinter asleep in the chair, the picture frame held in between his arms as if he had been hugging it earlier on in the night and the monitor turned to sleep mode. The red eared slider walked over, setting his tea down on the desk and carefully pulling the frame from The rat's grasp.

He looked down at the picture, smiling softly as he reminisced about the memory. Him and Donnie got into a wrestling match afterward since the slider took his phone, and obviously Leo won. He set the frame down with a somber sigh and went to grab a blanket for his dad, returning a short while later and draping it over the rat. He left yet again and went back into his room to check back up on the box turtle and maybe figure out what he was going to do when Donnie got back.

Giving him a massive hug (if he gave the approval, first) was going to be his first course of action. Then maybe taking him out to Dinner with the rest of the family—the ones that he's known his whole life, obviously. Then figure out how to apologize to him for all of this. . . Actually, maybe that's the first course of action—

∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆

Big Mama walked through the carpeted corridors of her hotel, every so often glancing at the decorations on the walls. She made her way into her bedroom, changing into her nightgown and removing her makeup inside of her bathroom before walking to the nightstand and setting her glasses down. She sighed as she climbed into bed, pulling the covers over her and closing her eyes.

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