The Words That Hurt Me

Fifty-Eight: Hey Dad

Mikey had barely made it in time for training because he triple-checked for hickeys before he left. He only had himself to blame.

"Hey, Mikey," Goo grunted, slumped against the dojo wall wearing sunglasses and sipping what looked like a cup full of cough medicine, "Have a fun night?"

"Yeah," Mikey flushed, sitting beside them, "What are you drinking?"

"Pedialyte with two scoops of protein powder and an antidiuretic mixed in," They sighed, taking another forlorn sip, "It tastes like shit,"

"I'll bet," Mikey agreed, "Did they catch you up?"

"Yup," Goo said, popping the 'p', "I'm still about four percent turtle, so my ribs are about fifteen millimeters wider than before, my temp is ten degrees too low, and I can still make turtle noises,"

"You can still churr?"

Instead of responding, Goo churred miserably, impressing Mikey and making him pity them. He patted their shoulder, Goo just grumbling unhappily next to him. Leo called them all to attention before they could keep talking, and the group started training as usual. Mikey noticed that Arron and Sarah watching them practice, either impressed or bewildered by what they saw. 

Anyway, Goo was feeling better after training, describing the pain as going from 'My brain trying to rip its way out of my skull' to 'A light but relentless ache in every part of my body,' which Mikey would have to assume was a good thing. Mikey pulled Leon and Goo into his room to hang out. He was glad he got Donny to put those fairy lights up, made it easier to keep the lights off in his room.

"Okay, so, Space Heroes isn't anything Jupiter Jim!" Leon said, scrolling on his phone, "And this Captain Ryan guy is suuuuper lame! He's so predictable! He's like if eighties hero stereotypes were a person!"

"Mmm, I don't think they're that different?" Goo replied, "I mean, they're both really cliche and lame,"

"You dare!?" Leon gasped, "Jupiter Jim is a work of art! It encapsulates all that is great and wonderful in this world!"

"Yeah, I watched those with you," Goo sighed, poking at the turtle, "They aged like milk, my guy. Every single woman falls for the guy! He had a friggen harem!"

"Well, yeah! It's a product of it's time!" Leon huffed, "But that doesn't mean it isn't great!"

Mikey watched the two bicker about the greatness of Jupiter Jim, chuckling at them. He went back to his drawing, trying to get the colors just right. It was a skyline of the city, the sky glowing pink, purple, and blue. He used a white pen to dot white stars all over the sky and add highlights to the buildings, really making them pop against the background.

"Whatcha makin' Mikey?" Leon asked, trying to get a view of his work. Mikey instinctually pulled the piece away, which didn't seem to bother Leon.

"I-I was just making something I saw in a dream," Mikey said, laying the piece back down for the two to look at, "Everyone was there and the sky was really pretty,"

"Ooo, it's like a sunset, but vertical," Goo complimented, "Looks really good!"

"Yeah, I'm always impressed when Mike makes things like this," Leon agreed, "You got anything else?"

"Uh, yeah," Mikey mumbled, digging around for his old sketchbooks, "I haven't shown these to anyone before,"

"Mmm, you should show more people," Goo said absently, flipping through the pages, "Could post online even, get lots of internet points,"

At that moment, a knock thudded against the door, scaring the three out of the moment. Mikey went to answer the door, surprised to see Arron standing there.