Andrew Bryniarski As Leatherface/thomas Hewitt THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING 2006 | Dir.

The Red String of Fate: Ch. 3

Pair: Donatello x Reader

Word Count: 3.9k

Rating: T?? (Characters depicted are adults)

Content/Trigger Warnings: Uuuh... I wish tumblr had a "mark as spoiler" option like discord, but depiction of physical assault.

Authors Notes: I'm sorry this took me so long to get out, but I hope you like it! ;w; The fourth chapter should be the final one (which I have not started yet, lol).

||Chapter 1|| ||Chapter 2|| ||Chapter 3|| ||Chapter 4||

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CHAPTER 3: GUIDING LIGHT

To say you were disappointed when the magical red string hadn’t reappeared on your ring finger when you awoke in the morning was putting it lightly… 

You had tried to convince yourself the night before that it wouldn’t have been a big deal if it hadn’t returned, but really, you were devastated. You canceled all the plans you had for the day and relinquished your responsibilities for the time being. Feeling numb to your mental and physical needs, it was easy to stay in bed for the majority of the day. You just couldn’t be bothered to do anything after taking such a substantial blow like that. 

Somehow, you had squandered a seemingly foolproof opportunity at finding your one true love. Although the myth did insinuate that you were ‘soulmates’; perhaps it meant you would get another chance in another lifetime but you couldn’t be certain. Even if that was the case, it didn’t make you feel any better about losing your shot in this timeline. 

It just wasn’t fair… There was no guide on how to approach this situation. No fairy godmother had presented herself and instructed you on what to do. You didn’t suddenly receive clairvoyant insight along with the mythical thread. How were you possibly supposed to know how to go about it? Yeah, now that you had time to reflect, the string did give you a small indicator of direction, but it had been the middle of the night and you lived in New York. Any sane person knew better to go out after dark, alone, in the crime ridden state. 

And it wasn’t like the string had GPS. You had no clue how far away your soulmate had been last night. They might’ve been somewhere you physically couldn’t have commuted to, hell, they could’ve been outside of New York for all you knew! It was rational to be cautious about going out and finding them right away… At least, that’s what you were telling yourself just to ease your mind. You did your best to fill your head with reasonable excuses to keep the demeaning thoughts out. 

It was difficult to not be hard on yourself, but there was nothing that could be done about it now… Nothing other than to let your sadness flow, which you had been successful with as your pillow was thoroughly wet with tears. Still, as much as you wanted to let the magical occurrence go, there was still the smallest spark of hope within you that it would show itself once more. If it were to give you one more chance to find your soulmate, you wouldn’t hesitate. It wouldn’t matter how far you’d have to travel or what obstacles you would have to overcome, you’d find them. —————————————————– It was a small relief not having to worry about hiding the red string of fate from his other two brothers when Donatello returned to the lair, but it didn’t outweigh the worry he had for it not reappearing. Normally, he’d run multiple tests when he was trying to validate the credibility of something, but he hadn’t wanted to alarm anyone by returning late to his home. He could trust his cool colored brother to not be overbearing about his predicament, but the other two warm colored brothers?…Raphael probably wouldn’t bother him too much about it, but Mikey would surely be insistent. 

He’d tell them soon enough, but after he had scouted you out on his own. Because even if you were his soulmate, there were many things to take into account, for both your sake and his families. The main factor being that you were more than likely human. It was easy for him to grow and maintain an interest in humans, especially when his father had appointed him and his brothers as protectors of the species. But most humans did not share the same interest for them. Sure, they eventually came across a handful of humans who liked and trusted them, but it was still a very small handful. After all–

They only had six fingers as opposed to the human ten. 

Having been accustomed to life at night, the daylit hours were generally spent sleeping, however Donatello knew the task would be pointless. There was no way he could shut off his mind and fall into the rem cycle of sleep when this kind of phenomenon had happened to him. He couldn’t stop thinking about when the red string had first appeared to him tonight. All the articles he had read about the urban legend. You…

Were you man or woman? Or did you prefer to not identify as such? What was your current occupation? He supposed you shared the same or similar interest considering that you were soulmates. He could also assume that you lived relatively close by the information he had learned and how the string tried to direct him to your location, but he wondered if you had always been a New Yorker? Perhaps you had been born and raised elsewhere and recently moved to the Big Apple. 

Were you thinking about him right now like he was thinking about you?... The idea stirred butterflies in his stomach and he felt silly. But also– happy. There was someone out there in the world for him. A seven-foot tall, genetically mutated box turtle who practiced ninjutsu and loved pizza. Being what he was, he never thought he’d have the chance at a relationship, and when his father had said he was destined, he figured it was only to serve the human race. Not to be loved.  —————————————————– You would think that with all the crying you had done you wouldn’t have any fluids left in your body to have to use the restroom, and yet your bladder had been nagging at you for the past thirty minutes to go. It was easy to ignore your appetite and thirst as you napped the day away, but you weren’t depressed enough to self-inflict a kidney infection. Begrudgingly, you got your ass out of bed and did your business. 

Not-so-surprisingly, getting up had motivated you to tend to other needs. After having stretched your back and limbs, you made way to your kitchen. Downing a full cup of water in a matter of seconds before finding something in your pantry to nibble on for a snack while you placed an order on a delivery app for food. Pizza had always been a great comfort to you every other time your problems came crashing down. Surely it would be able to lift your spirits in this scenario as well, at least a little bit.

You had instructed your delivery driver to leave your order at your front door, but when the application informed you that they were dropping off your food a message followed shortly after. 

[Can’t find your door. Can you meet me outside?] 8:58 PM

A low frustrated sigh hissed out of your nostrils. How hard was it to fucking read? You grumbled internally but walked off to the front of your residence. There you had realized you hadn’t flipped on the switch for the outside light after putting in your order and you winced at your passive-aggressive remark. At least you hadn’t said it out loud, so no real harm done. However, opening your door and finding the delivery driver standing right outside it made the corner of your lip twitch in annoyance. 

Couldn’t find the door, huh?

“Sorry about that.” They held out a pizza box for you to take. 

“No problem,” you lied and took the cardboard container into your hands only to feel a tug of resistance from the other end. Confused, you arched an eyebrow at the delivery driver, but their gaze didn’t meet yours. 

Their attention had been pulled below. “What’s that?” They pointed to your hand with a single digit.

You declined your head, following their direction until you found the source of their curiosity and your heart jumped in your chest. 

Red shimmered brightly in the reflection of your glossy eyes. You lifted your ring finger hand, bringing it closer to your body for inspection. You held your breath as you carefully wiggled the digit, testing the authenticity of the apparition as to not get your hopes up. Your chest seized anxiously when the crimson lace around your finger didn’t waver and seconds later you wheezed out a shaky breath. 

It had returned.

“Are you okay?” The delivery driver leaned into your view, snapping you out of your thoughts. 

Your other hand let go of the pizza box, and it slipped out of their hands, falling to the ground with a loud thud. They flinched in surprise and startled again when you slammed your front door shut behind you.

“Uh–” Was all they were able to get out before you thanked them for their service and pushed past them. 

Within a few steps, your bare feet met the cold hard cement of New York’s’ sidewalks but you barely noticed it. Your pounding heart overpowered all sensations at the moment. There had been a very small voice in your head telling you to turn back. Not to give up, but to be rational about the situation. You were going out into New York, barefooted, in your lounging clothes, you hadn’t locked your door, you didn’t have your phone, and it was nine o’clock at night!! But there was no way you were turning back now. 

It didn’t matter if your feet hurt, if you weren’t properly dressed for the occasion, if someone broke into your home and stole your stuff, or if there was little light to guide you in search. You were not going to miss your chance at meeting your soulmate again.

You felt your heart skip a beat when the tail end of your string changed in directions and your breath caught in your throat. Turning sharply on your feet, you began to pick up pace. The sounds of your steps growing louder and louder as your stride changed from walking briskly to full on running. You weaved between the few bystanders still out at this time at night. Each and every one of them breaking their necks to stare you down as you passed them by. You probably looked like a crazy person, running bare foot through the streets with your arm extended out in front of you, but so what? 

Crazier things had gone on in New York. 

It wasn’t long before your lungs began to burn and exhaustion forcibly slowed your pace, but you kept moving. As long as the crimson string existed and led the way, you had no plans of stopping. However, when the thread began to change in hue your stride slowed naturally due to intrigue. The color faded to an orangish-yellow and eventually shined a bright gold. The spectacle brought you to a full-on stop, to which you realized was very much needed by the hard breaths you were swallowing. 

Suddenly, your red string of fate was now golden. Not only that, but the string itself was shining brighter than it ever had before and the tether of the tail seemed to be getting… thinner. As if you were coming to the end of the stra– Taking a deep breath you lifted your head and looked around you. At some point of your search, you had ended up moving from the public streets of New York to a backstreet alleyway. From what you could see, there was no one around, but your string of fate was still pointing off in the distance. Sucking in another breath through your nose, you continued onward. —————————————————– While he was confined underneath New York during the daylit hours, Donatello spent his time putting a trajectory of possible coordinates of your location using the knowledge he already had. Frankly, it wasn’t much to go off of but with his intellect he was able to narrow down his search to three possible locations you resided at. As long as the string returned to his finger when he resurfaced, he would be able to pinpoint your exact location. 

Fortunately for him, the crimson thread returned before he even breached the ground level of New York. A small smile of content crossed his face seeing its reappearance. You were close, and that filled his chest with tingles of excitement. 

Following the tail end of the lace, he recorded his steps into the multitool on his right arm along the way. In the event that he was unable to meet with you personally; say, you were in the company of others, he wanted to make sure he knew the way back to you for when the time was right. A twinge of concern scratched his mind at the thought of you not being alone. He had risked his chance of not finding you by waiting all day before going out on his search. The possibility of not having a moment to himself with you annoyed him.

However, that worry deepened when he considered the opposing angle. What if you were out at this time by yourself? Even with his prowess and size, he generally did not go out on patrol alone. As much as he loved New York, the city just wasn’t safe after dark. Although, he assumed you had managed to be safe up until this point, that fact didn’t stop him from subconsciously picking up his pace. 

He did as he would any other outing on the surface and traveled by rooftop. It was the safest and stealthiest option for someone like him, even in the later hours of the night. Jumping down from one building to a shorter one, the top of his mask pushed upwards behind his glasses as he noticed a change to the string. The stark red of the magical lace had begun to dull into an orangish-yellow hue. 

Immediately, he stopped in his tracks to record the findings into his multitool and consider what had caused the change. There had been no mention of the string changing colors in all the information he had gathered on the phenomenon, and the two times it had shown itself to him before, it was red. Naturally, he wondered if the shift in color was a good or bad thing. From a scientific standpoint, yellow was often a representation of happiness, hope and spontaneity. Which was certainly the case at this point. 

Having to use the fire escape of the building he was currently on to cross to another, the string flared in vibrance as he descended the stairs. The sudden change in brightness caught him by surprise and he recoiled from the light, shielding his eyes with his other hand. Narrowing his eyes to help them adjust to new source of light, an epiphany came to him. He turned his body to look back at the building he was just on and then to the ground below him in silent thought before moving. 

He traveled downwards until he met the bottom of the stairs and then jumped off of them from there. The bottom of his boots making a loud thud when they planted firmly against the concrete ground of the alleyway. Slowly, he rose to standing straight, and his gaze immediately went to the string on his ring finger. 

Still, yellow. No… Gold actually.

It didn’t make any sense. The night before he had been on the surface it was red, and down in the sewers it was red as well. The sudden change in altitude shouldn’t have had any effect on its hue in theory. 

Turning over his hand for further inspection he noticed the thread seemed to be… thinning? Concern prodded at his mind at the idea of the string vanishing again, but the feeling quickly turned into confused curiosity when he realized only the tail end of the string was slimming out. The band around the base of his finger looked as if it was becoming denser and he swore he could feel a subtle hint of weight where it resided. 

Without thought, he raised his other hand and pinched his thumb and pointer together to touch the apparition, but his test was cut short by the sound of hard breaths and padded footsteps approaching. His eyes grew at the sounds, his glasses amplifying the surprised expression. It was then that he realized that all the current changes in the string wasn’t due to change in elevation. It was because he was getting close… To you. 

How could he be so stupid? Of course, that was it! But by the volume of your approach, there wasn’t time to reprimand himself on his ignorance. You were coming, and fast! 

The excitement he had initially felt going out tonight to find you turned into all out panic realizing that it was actually going to come to fruition within a few seconds. What was going to happen when you came down a dark alleyway and suddenly found a giant mutant beast standing within the middle of it? Surely, the only response you would have would be one of fear. Even if you two were soulmates, it would be a reasonable reaction. Hell, he’d be a little thrown off if you didn’t react that way upon first seeing him, but he didn’t want you to flee entirely. 

Your introduction needed to be taken slow. Carefully and with caution. So, he did what him and his family did best. Hid. 

Not having time to climb back up a building, and not wanting to make any noise with the ascension, he opted for a familiar practice and went underground. Fortunately, a manhole cover was nearby for him to escape into, however in hindsight, he realized it wasn’t the best option. The enclosed space quickly became a beacon of light due to the luminance of the now golden string but luckily, real word physics applied to magical construct and he was able to smother the light with the use of his other hand. 

He silenced his breath but his heart sounded off loudly in his ears as it pounded against his plated chest. The seconds waiting for you to arrive felt like hours, and when he finally heard you come into the alleyway his whole body went rigid. Afraid that the slightest moment would give away his location and you would find him. Which was ironic considering that, that was exactly what he wanted to do tonight except in reverse… This would’ve been much easier to deal with if he had been able to come to you, instead of you to him, but within the flood of panic he felt there was a drop of fondness.

You came out all this way in search of him.

Before he could enjoy the feeling, you were on top of him. Out of instinct, he drew in a silent breath and clamped his lips shut. He didn’t dare to peer through the small holes that had been drilled into the cast-ironed lid, and he desperately hoped you had no inkling to look down either. While it was endearing that you were looking for him, he figured you wouldn’t think it was so cute to find him holed up in a passageway to the city’s sewer systems. 

He tensed hearing your feet shuffle on the covering of the hole and he came to the conclusion that the damn string had led you to his exact location, but you were unable to make sense of it due to his lack of appearance. His suspicions were confirmed when you let out an exhausted huff of air, and he prayed that you would step away from the manhole quickly. He wasn’t religious; his existence kind of went against most laws of religion, but he needed some supernatural force to step in and persuade you to move on. 

Seconds of silence went by as he waited for you to do… anything. But it still caught him off guard when you spoke into the empty alleyway. 

“I’m sorry.” You breathed.

Donatello blinked in confusion not expecting at all to receive an apology. You had done nothing wrong, but as if you were reading his thoughts, you were quick to explain.

“I probably look crazy right now and… you’re probably scared. I get it. I’m kind of scared too, but–” He heard the tone of your voice waver as you spoke. “I’m more afraid of losing the chance to meet you more than anything. So, please. If you could… Just tell me that you’re here?” 

The grip on his ring-finger hand tightened as he considered your plea. You sounded so…lovely, and sweet. 

He hadn’t even seen your face, and yet he was falling head over heels at the sound of your voice. For a second he considered that you might actually be otherworldly the way your words had captivated him. As if you were a siren or something of the sort. Whatever mysticism you possessed nearly compelled him to speak, but his own body prevented him from doing so. A massive lump had formed within his throat, choking back any words from coming out as he parted his lips. 

And then he felt something. Something wet. 

He now realized it was his heart that had inched its way up his throat, because it plummeted into his gut when he heard the soft sound of cries emit from your being. Sniffles and hiccups followed the quiet sobs and his mouth gaped at the realization but he was still unable to speak. He hadn’t even known you for longer than ten minutes and he already made you cry. He was supposed to be your soulmate! Shame weighed on him, pulling his head and features downwards to his feet, but he quickly perked to attention when he heard you move off the iron lid. 

The universe had heard his prayer but now he prayed for you to stay. He had to make up for his cowardice! Just as he opened his mouth once more to try and speak again, a different voice came out. One that wasn’t yours…

“You know it’s dangerous to be out at a time like this?” 

Donatello’s chest tightened at the low spoken words knowing the exact implication this unknown voice was getting at with their tone. By the sound of your own, you were aware of it too.

“Yeah, I was just… Taking out some trash. Gonna be heading back inside now.” You lied, but the stranger didn’t even care to call you out on it.

“That’s a bright little thing on your finger. I’ve never seen gold glisten like that.”

Donatello’s blood ran cold at the observation. His gaze dropped to his hands and he uncovered his ring fingered one to take a peek at the magical apparition, only to instantly regret his hesitancy. 

“Stay back!!” You screamed, and he flinched. 

Throwing all caution to the wind, he grabbed the metal ladder to ascend the unground tunnel but he didn’t move quick enough. Something made of glass shattered and echoed in the alleyway, followed by a loud thud of something– someone– collapsing to the ground. 

Despite the bright gold color that lit the space around him; all he was able to see was red. —————————————————–

Tag: @eveandtheturtles

Donnie sirena mi patron

Donnie x fem! Reader The little merturtle 3

Summary: Prince Donatello was the third of four brothers, the prince of an underwater yokai city, but he has always been searching for something else far more interesting than the mystic arts he is used to, he wants to know everything about the human world, their traditions, their creations... But when he finds himself entranced by a human princess it might just be the last push he needs to make his dream of exploring the land a reality.

"You started stirring slightly, your eyes fluttering open while you reached up to hold the scaly hand on your face, Donnie knew he had to leave immediately, he knew he should be back in the water, he couldn’t let you see him! But maybe…he wanted you to see him."

Warnings: Angst with a happy ending, tooth-rotting fluff

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The alchemist and the queen

A pair of eyes stared at Donnie as he sobbed at the bottom of his treasure cove, now only filled with piles of dust and burnt memories, the gargoyles slowly came out of hiding, swimming in circles around him.

“Oh, poor guy” Huginn said “That was really tough, don’t you think?”

His companion nodded sympathetically while Donnie raised his head to see them, a glare prominent between his brow “Oh, yes it was, I didn’t expect king Splinter to treat one of his children like that! It was so unfair.”

“Yes! So unfair!”

“What do you want?” Donnie snarked “That was private, don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong” He growled.

“Man, sorry! We’re being rude Huginn” Muninn said, and Donnie heard Huginn apologize “We don’t have any ill will, we were just passing and hear the whole thing, it sounded like someone was in trouble.”

“Yeah, and after what we watched we just wanted to see if you were okay” Huginn finished, Donnie loosened his guard slightly, he was way too tired to fight them now, the crying had taken away all his energy and he just wanted a long nap.

Before he could tell them to leave again Huginn spoke once more “The collection you had was incredible, oh I love human stuff”

“Yeah! Master Draxum has a lot of their things lying around” Muninn said happily, grabbing Donnie’s attention.

“Draxum?” The turtle asked.

Hook.

“Oh yeah, you’ve heard of Draxum right?” At Donnie’s deadpan look that said he absolutely didn’t or he wouldn’t have asked Muninn continued “He’s a great warrior alchemist! He has been experimenting with human DNA since forever, he and Big Mama used to work together but that was, well, it was when Big Mama was still queen.”

Donnie raised an eyebrow, he had heard about Big Mama, at least briefly, but she had been long since dethroned by his father when Donnie was just a guppy, the only thing he knew about her was that she was dangerous and had been exiled because of that.

But of course, he thought bitterly, his father didn’t tell him many things it seemed.

“Why would he experiment with human DNA?” Donnie asked.

Line.

“Well usually Big Mama would give favors to her most valued subjects and a couple of times the requests were for them to be able to walk on land with the humans, with her magical powers as an energy source and Draxum’s alchemy they managed to find a way to give yokai the ability to live up top and vice versa, it was a time when both humans and yokai coexisted!”

Donnie’s eyes widened and he could have gotten whiplash with how fast he looked back at the gargoyle; the words that had just been spoken to him seemed like an impossible fairytale, it couldn’t be true, could it? A time when humans and yokai interacted together.

His mind went into overdrive, piecing all the puzzle pieces together, the mandate for yokai to not get in contact with humans was only put in place when his father acquired the throne, maybe that was how he himself had learned of yokai while being a human?

Donnie gulped loudly, his father had said he was ‘turned into this’, maybe the two of them had done that? And maybe that was why Big Mama had been exiled.

His eyes shifted between the gargoyles “So Draxum could help yokai walk on land?”

Huginn nodded “Definitely, why? Are you curious? It’s only natural, humans make so many cool things, it just makes sense.”

Donnie hesitated for a moment, he looked down at the pieces of debris covering the floor of his cove when he found it, his eyes paused wide on a piece of rock that had been separated from the rest, your statue had broken mostly in tiny pieces, except for your face, it lay there right in front of him sending a pang through his chest again, of both sadness and anger.

It pushed him to make a choice.

“Guide me to them” He ordered.

Sinker.

Huginn and Muninn smiled at him “Sure buddy, come on! Follow us.”

Swimming around in circles somewhere still in the reef were Raph and his two brothers.

“I didn’t mean to tell” He swore, “It was an accident!”

“We know, big guy” Leo said, kicking a pebble with his tail.

“We just need to give Donnie some space, what happened was…” Mikey cringed “Devastating to him, to say the least” He muttered, it didn’t make Raph feel much better.

He was about to say something else when they both heard Shelldon calling out to them, they turned to see the little turtle hurrying their way.

“Dudes! It’s Donnie! He’s going with some gargoyles far away from the limits!” He explained rapidly.

The guys all looked at each other worried “Which way was he going?” Leo asked.

They soon caught up to their brother who was swimming along the gargoyles, Raph recognized those gargoyles, he’d heard tales from the castle’s servants when he was little, of a banished alchemist and his subjects, it made him hurry as his mind alerted him of danger.

“Donnie!” Raph called swimming close to his brother “Where are you going?!”

“I’m going to see Big Mama and Draxum,” Donnie said in a monotone, a firm frown still set on his face that told his brothers he didn’t plan on changing his mind or listening.

Raph still tried “What?! Donnie no! Draxum is dangerous, he’s a demon!”

“Why don’t you go tell father Raphael?” Donnie bit back, looking at his brother for just a moment before continuing on his way “You’re good at that.”

Raph faltered slightly but Mikey gave him a reassuring look and the three all followed their brother into the lair of the exiled queen and warrior.

“Wow” Donnie winced once they reached the entrance “Stunning choice of décor,” He said sarcastically, looking at the dry algae laying around the unkempt place, he saw then something that petrified him, in between the algae there was something else, something alive and looking dry, many of them shriveling where they stood stuck to the walls of the cave, some beings with eyes, staring straight at him.

Donnie shivered and swam faster, wanting to get to the end quickly, maybe this was a bad idea.

One of those things took grasp of his arm and he gasped, pulling rapidly, grossed out by the thing, and feeling nauseous, he managed to unlatch it from his wrist, and without looking back he reached the end of the tunnel as fast as he could.

“Come in, come in~” A feminine voice called out to him, Donnie breathed heavily after the experience but turned to see a yokai with pink skin and white hair looking back at him with a sweet smile. “Oh my, you look so white! Such worry is not good for your emerald complexion, here, sit, sit, I’ll get you something to drink.”

The woman guided him to a seat and Donnie by reflex sat, now holding a flower in his hands as a cup, he recovered from his panic and looked attentively at the woman with skepticism “Are you Big Mama?” He asked.

“That I am turtley-boo, oh look, your brothers are here” She said smiling at the other three turtles that swam in with caution. “come, come, I do not bite, oh it’s been so long since we’ve had guests” The woman hummed, her attitude and his brother’s presence –Though he’d deny it— calming Donnie slightly and apparently his brothers too who while still weary sat down next to him.

Before Donnie could get to the point of his visit she spoke again “Now, you’re here because you have a thing for this human, a human princess at that! You certainly know how to choose them, darling, she is quite a catch.” Big Mama said nodding her head approvingly but making Donnie tense up once again.

“How do you know that,” He asked with his eyebrows furrowed, Mikey was surprised he didn’t deny it.

“Oh dear turtley-boos it used to be my job, as you might know, to know everything about my subjects, to help the hidden city prosper! And of course, you do not remember me, but I was right there the day you were all created” She hummed knowingly making them all look at her questioningly “Oh you were such adorable little turtles just before Draxy made you into what you are, better, stronger! So powerful and intelligent!”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, that’s nice and all, uh? Auntie? I guess, can I call you auntie? But I’m sorry, you just said we were ‘created’? As in, you know, do you mean born? “Ok, no, I’m confused about whatever you’re going on about” Leo blabbed looking for an explanation for this whole entire messy affair.

Big Mama hummed “You’re right, that’s so rude of me, perhaps Draxy can help me explain, Oh Draxy~!” She called out and from another room inside the cave a goat yokai walked out, firm in every step he took, way more serious than the old queen attending to them.

He didn’t have a friendly look to him, Raph thought, no wonder Big Mama was the one greeting guests with that attitude.

Draxum greeted them all as if he knew them personally to their shock, the two gargoyles hanging from his shoulders “It has been too long, my warriors.”

“Thank you, yes hi, this only raises more questions” Leo groaned loudly.

It wasn’t for long, the two exiled yokai used a magical orb to show them the day of their ‘mutation’ is what they called it, or bits of it at least, not that the boys would know.

It was explained to them how with Splinter turned into a merman they were mutated from mere turtles to merturtles and how Splinter was accidentally mutated into a rat afterward, what was left clear was that Draxum had created them, to Mikey that essentially made him their second dad and Big Mama had been there that day, working as the power source that helped in their creation.

“Your father and I had our disagreements” Big Mama looked sad, only Leo wasn’t buying it “After he was rejected by the human world he started going against all of our work in uniting both worlds, Draxum and I were exiled out here because we were the last connection between both” Big Mama lamented but then smiled softly at Donnie “Poor turtley-boo, longing to be understood, for a world he cannot have, humans are so full of curiosity aren’t they? Just like you, is that why you crave it so much? But thankfully, you found us, and what could be better for the relations between humans and yokai to thrive again than an alliance between the royalty of both worlds? Oh darling, wouldn’t it be beautiful?”

Donnie’s heart was beating hard in his chest with those suggestions, was it possible? Or was it dumb for him to believe? But his mind kept telling him that everything was right there in front of him! Draxum and Big Mama had just placed all of their cards on the table, while his own father had hidden the truth from them for their whole life!

His chest filled with hope when he saw how Raph and Mikey were much less tense, processing the situation with softer eyes, he could even see Mikey smile slightly.

Leo though wasn’t buying it at all, he could tell something wasn’t right.

“Donatello” Draxum spoke this time taking Donnie’s attention “Follow me for a moment will you?”

Donnie looked from the yokai who stood up to walk through one of the halls to his brothers, Leo was about to stop him but Mikey spoke first “Go! We’ll be right here!” He said cheerily and Raph agreed hesitantly, they were right there after all.

Donnie followed the yokai and they walked silently for a moment “Child, your curiosity is not a fault, in fact, without people like you our world would never get anywhere” The yokai assured finally looking back at the merturtle who was giving him his complete attention, his words reassured Donnie, no one had ever truly understood his fascination with the human world but this yokai had been working with humans before he was born, and Donnie, well Donnie craved the approval, he started smiling smugly at the older yokai’s words.

Draxum continued speaking “It is the intelligence you were blessed with that would make the world you seek a reality, do not let anyone fool you, here” Draxum stopped in front of a table filled to the brim with colorful potions, shining bright with unnatural colors, he took a fuchsia-colored one that reflected its light on his skin.

 “This is the potion that you need, the only way to get what you want is to become human yourself, it requires a strong energy source which Big Mama will help you with, after finishing the correct ritual you will be fully transformed.”

“A human?” Donnie was hesitant before questioning “I heard you helped yokai walk along humans.”

“Well that is true” Draxum agreed, Big Mama and the rest of Donnie’s brothers entered the room then, listening by the door “However I fear humans have not seen yokai for decades, it might be dangerous if you kept your form, looking like a human would help you socialize with them,”

Donnie nodded his head and his father’s words from before were back in his mind.

“That human you saved may have been grateful the moment she breathed, but once she realizes who saved her, she won’t look at you as a hero but a monster.”

It pained him slightly to think it might be true, a new insecurity had made its way into his mind, turbulent as it was already through so many events, but with that potion, he wouldn’t have to worry about that, if he could meet you as a human then –his heart beat a little faster— his chances with you might be much better, and eventually, he could tell you who he truly was, once he knew you’d be open to it.

Donnie nodded taking the bottle in his hands, Big Mama placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“Now, before anything you must know this first, every spell has to be extremely specific and it has a cost as you boys may know” She began explaining “The potion and my magic will make you human for one month! It is very important that you keep track of the time because before the sun sets on the last day you need to make the princess fall in love with you.”

“What?!” There was a chorus of the four turtles exclaiming at the same time.

“But why?” Donnie asked blushing wildly.

“Well, the terms and conditions settle with a true love kiss as many do, I’m sure you know, but don’t worry I am sure you can do that!” Big mama pinched his cheeks, and he batted her hands away “The reason for that is the cost of the wish, to keep the form and remain on land for more than a month would be too expensive, only the true love kiss may seal the magic then.”

Donnie grunted in acceptance, he knew how costly spells could be and this wasn’t a simple one, his request was huge.

“If she does kiss you before the end of the month you may remain human, permanently! But if she doesn’t, you’ll turn back into a merturtle.” Big Mama finished.

Raph looked like he was about to say something, to pull Donnie away and tell him he shouldn’t go through with it, Leo beat him to it.

“That’s it?” He asked doubtfully “He’ll just be back, no other consequences?”

“Oh Poseidon, no” Big Mama assured, “Just like that! The only thing I ask of you Donnie is that you reunite our worlds, after all, you wouldn’t want to leave your brothers behind surely, nothing would be more perfect than that.” She said, turning to Donnie.

He was excited, a moment ago all his dreams seemed to have shattered into a million pieces and now he had a chance to explore the human world and its wonders like he had wanted his whole life and he could meet you! Properly, like he had wanted, there was only one more thing he needed to ask, even if he just wanted to dive right in for the potion before his brothers decided to pull him away.

“What is the cost to transform in the first place?” He asked and the attention of his brothers went back to the exiled.

“Your voice” Big Mama answered easily.

Raph gasped “His voice?! How is he even supposed to make the princess fall in love with him in a month if he can’t even talk?”

Donnie winced, his brother did make a good point, of course, the situation couldn’t be so perfect.

“Oh don’t worry, there are so many other methods of communication my dear! I am sure you will figure one out, and if she truly is worth it, I’m sure she won’t mind! So, whenever you want turtley-boo! You only need half of the potion and I’ll make the contract.”

“Donnie” Leo spoke quietly close to his twin “I know you want this but I don’t trust Big Mama, there’s something they’re not telling us.”

Donnie rolled his eyes “Oh come on Leo, this is my chance! This is the only way I would ever get to see the human world!” Donnie’s voice made Leo deflate “If I tried anything else dad would chain me down to the castle’s floor, I’m ready.”

Without listening to Raph trying to stop him Donnie hurriedly gulped down the fuchsia liquid, it went down quickly to the dismay of his brothers, and he left half of it untouched.

Rays of golden color started enveloping him, coming out of Big Mama’s hands, her eyes now glowing white, and a piece of paper floated right in front of Donnie, he took the pen in front of him and quickly signed his name on the paper, he tried to read its contents while doing so but only got so far because once his name was fully signed in it disappeared, the golden light turned green and Donnie started feeling a scratch on his throat, he coughed loudly before feeling like the water left his body.

His brothers looked at him in panic and determined Leo took the bottle with potion out of his grasp, chugging a whole gulp of it in before reaching out towards Raph and forcing the drink on the eldest’s mouth who coughed wildly after that having been taken by surprise, Leo did the same with Mikey and pulled them both toward were Donnie’s transformation had just begun.

“Wait!” Draxum yelled but the three other turtles were engulfed in the light too.

Mikey watched in terror as Donnie yelled, his tail separating in an instant and suddenly there was a pair of feet where it used to be.

He himself started feeling weird, but on his upper body, before he could think about it though Mikey felt someone pulling him to Donnie and he realized then that his brother could not breathe under the water anymore.

Donnie’s lungs felt like they were on fire, he was clawing at his throat and realized his gills were gone, he tried to pull himself up, but thankfully he was dragged up out of the cave by some pairs of…fins?

They reached the surface and Donnie gasped, breathing heavily, the air was sweet salvation from all the pain he’d just endured, two bodies pushed their way under his arms, pulling his tired body toward the shore, belatedly, he realized the fish pulling him forwards were his own brothers, transformed into fish, or well, Mikey was a fish, an overly grown goldfish.

It made Donnie wonder if they were more related to Piebald than they’d originally thought.

Raph however, looked like a full-grown alligator snapping turtle, it must have been the effect of drinking just a bit of the potion without the contract Donnie had made with Big Mama.

Donnie was deep in his delirium, trying to make sense of what was happening to deviate his mind from the pain he had just experienced, so he looked for Leo, assuming surely that like his tail he’d become a sailfish after the spell.

They were about to reach the shore, but Donnie couldn’t stay conscious any longer, unable to find Leo to distract himself, he blacked out.

You were walking outside the castle, the building lifted from the sea but overlooking it by rocks and pillars, you rested your back against one of its walls while Mayhem played around close to the water, Mayhem had always seemed to love the sea as much as you did, sometimes it seemed like if you left him alone he would swim deep into the waters like they were home.

Your smile was soft but was soon eclipsed by your thoughts as they wandered back to a couple of days ago, your mind kept repeating the words of your savior over and over again, it made your heart flutter, what you remembered him saying about wanting to know your world and you, you wondered what he meant exactly.

You were snapped out of your daydreaming by a bark from Mayhem, sighing softly you pulled yourself away from the wall and started walking away from the castle.

“Do you think Casey is right?” You asked your companion with a small frown “Maybe a did drink too much seawater? I mean I swear I saw a tail disappear into the water” you chuckled humorlessly, worried that so many mermaid tales had just messed with you that day and you had just imagined an impossible romance.

Mayhem’s bark in response made you smile again “You’re right, I can’t just give out hope already, right? I know what I felt that day” your confidence returned, at least slightly, maybe you should go around town again. You weren’t able to see him properly that time but you were sure you’d recognize his voice anywhere.

Donnie felt the beginnings of a headache and groaned while recovering consciousness, he must have been laying on the beach because he could feel the sand beneath his…actually, his back felt weird over the sand.

His hand reached up to his head to get rid of the headache when he felt it, Donnie jumped up to sit up straight at the feeling of five fingers on his forehead instead of three; his eyes examined the foreign hand in front of him with fascination and his expression turned gleeful at the realization of what he was looking at, a five-fingered hand in golden brown that was his own.

His gaze went down quickly to where his purple tail would rest to find in its place a pair of legs the same color as his arm, he was human! He was truly human! He moved his feet in fascination, the fingers moving almost one by one while his hands were flapping rapidly; he was so excited he could scream!

No sound came out of his mouth, but he was too elated to care or notice at that moment.

Mikey gasped with sparkly eyes “Donnie! You’re human!” His little brother screamed like he hadn’t noticed already “Ohmigosh, you look so weird but so cool! But what will dad say?! Oh what if he finds out, wait of course he’s gonna find out, oh and I’m a fish now, he’s gonna be so pissed, maybe he’s worried already! What if he comes looking for us? What if he mobilizes everyone and—”

“Mikey!” Raph called out beside him “Calm down! We can’t panic now! No one panic!” He said, already panicked, his eyes barely leaving Donnie who still looked too excited to care about what was happening around him, he was trying to stand up on both legs, at first, he almost fell down, but he managed to hold himself up, even though his legs trembled under his body.

That was until he heard Raph’s next words.

“We need to go back and tell pops, I should have done that the moment you started swimming to Draxum” Raph’s words sent Donnie into a frenzy, he reached out to his now more of a turtle brother, shaking his head over and over to express his discontent “Don’t shake your head at me, young man! Look at what’s happening! Maybe we can get Big Mama and Draxum to turn you back and give you back your voice! We’d go home and back to normal, then you’d just be…”

Raphael’s rant stopped slowly while he stared into his brother’s eyes which were just the same despite his human appearance, Donnie looked pained and it sent guilt straight into the core of Raph’s being “Just be…miserable for the rest of your life” Raphael conceded looking down at the sand and sighing, yes, he was worried, but it wasn’t fair of him to take away his brother’s final chance at everything he had ever wanted. He sighed before looking back at Donnie “All right all right, we’ll find that princess and get you that kiss.”

Donnie grinned wildly, his legs unconsciously moving up and down under him, making him unstable for a moment before he steadied himself again, he only then noticed one of his brothers must have covered him up with an old boat sail while he was unconscious because it was tied around his figure, ignoring that, for now, he instead punched the air to show his excitement, his brothers chuckled at him looking much calmer now.

“All right! We’re getting Donnie his smooches and giving dad a vacation, let’s go!” They heard Leo’s voice call out and looked around but couldn’t see anything “Right here big guy, ugh it’s weird calling you that instead of Raph” The merturtle mumbled.

Instead of what Donnie thought he’d find his eyes stumbled into a tiny red-eared slider turtle looking at him from over a rock and the now man couldn’t stop himself from falling backward on the sand as he tried to recover his breath, laughing soundlessly but wildly at the appearance of his twin brother.

Raph’s and Mikey’s laughter was much louder, and Leo only rolled his eyes “Oh give it a rest, would you?! I do all of this so we can help Donnie out and all I get from you guys is mocking!”

“You turned us into turtles and a fish!” Raph exclaimed “We don’t even know how to get back to our bodies! And how is Mikey going to follow Donnie on land?”

“Well yeah, I didn’t know what exactly the effect would be on us” Leo mumbled almost in a whisper “But! We do know when we’re going to be back to normal! We didn’t make a contract and only took a small dose of the potion, in a month regardless of what happens the three of us will just be back to normal no worries! Right, Donnie?” Leo said confidently and Raph looked from him to Donnie with skepticism.

Donnie who’d just recovered his breath looked thoughtful, he considered what Draxum and Big Mama had said and it seemed about right, he nodded in reply and started looking around for his mask which was nowhere to be seen, while he marveled about it being gone and realized finally that there was hair where it usually rested on his head Raph sighed and Leo looked smug.

“All right fine, now, how do we find this princess?”

You were still walking close to the shore when Mayhem suddenly started jumping around you, barking and trying to pull you further away “Woah, what’s up Mayhem?” You asked the pet who kept making motions for you to follow, and you gave in with a chuckle, following Mayhem as they ran far away from you.

“All right Donnie, can you just tie that better? It’s gonna fall any moment now and I really don’t wanna see THAT” Leo groaned pointing at the cloth over Donnie’s body who was trying to hold it over his shoulder and waist.

A familiar bark took their attention, nearing them quickly.

Mayhem rushed over Donnie’s way and not knowing what to expect he hurried over to a rock, trying to hide from the creature behind it, Mayhem jumped close to Donnie who looked back in amazement before he heard your voice, repeating the scene back at the ship when he had seen you for the first time.

Donnie’s knees wobbled for a moment but he stabilized himself again quickly seeing you reunite with your pet before your eyes went up and clashed with his.

You seemed to pause in surprise and he wondered for a moment if you had recognized him somehow despite how different he looked now.

Mayhem went back to Donnie, jumping around and turning back to look at you like he was saying ‘Here! He’s right here!’, when you looked at this man you had the same feeling from before with your savior, you were confident Mayhem was right, this was him, it had to be, he looked shipwrecked, his hair drenched and he was covered in only a battered sail that had probably belonged to your own ship.

“Are you okay sir?” You asked as you neared him, Donnie’s eyes never leaving your face as he smiled and nodded rapidly at you, you smiled back before looking back at Mayhem and reaching out to hold them in your arms “I’m sorry if my, uh, dog, scared you, they’re harmless, just a bit hyperactive sometimes” You chuckled trying to avoid his gaze, it made you a bit nervous, you wanted to ask, you really wanted to ask if he was whom you thought, but if your eyes crossed with his again you were worried you’d stutter your question instead.

If you could only hear him speak it would confirm everything.

“Have I met you before?” You asked still petting Mayhem “You seem very familiar to me” That wasn’t true, you had never seen his face before but the feeling wouldn’t leave your body.

Donnie’s eyes seemed to sparkle when he heard you say that, he wanted to answer ‘Yes! That was me!’ but knew he couldn’t, if you just looked back up, he could nod in confirmation.

As if you had heard his thoughts you looked back up at him again allowing him the chance to nod in response, your smile seemed to widen impossibly and he could have swooned, feeling dizzy from your reaction “We HAVE met! I knew it!” You said letting go of Mayhem to get closer to him, forgetting how nervous you had just been a moment ago at the confirmation “You’re the man who saved me, I had been looking for you! What’s your name?”

Donnie faltered, realizing he couldn’t tell you his name.

Your smile dropped slowly “What’s wrong?” You asked worriedly and Donnie tapped his throat with his hand, trying to explain he couldn’t speak, you caught on “You can’t speak?” Donnie nodded and noticed you looked surprised then a bit disappointed “Oh, then you couldn’t be who I thought, I’m sorry for mixing you up” You smiled in apology and Donnie felt like smashing his face on the sand, no! He was! This was recent, his mutism happened just now! Oh, but how could he tell you so? How would you even believe that?

Donnie could hear the groans of his brothers coming from behind him and felt the need to groan too, instead, he leaned over the rock he had been standing behind and tried to make signs with his hands, there had to be a way for him to explain this!

You looked up at him curiously as he once again tapped his throat trying to communicate something, he waved his hands away from his throat in a leaving motion, trying to explain his voice had left, your head tilted to the side in confusion “Your breath?” he quickly made a dismissing motion, repeating the signal from before and then making a wave with his hand to simulate swimming “You need help?” you asked and his movements became wilder, in his frenzy he leaned over too much and almost fell, you gasped but managed to catch him quickly before he did.

Donnie was shocked at realizing he was now in your arms, his movements halting while you tried to lift him back to his feet “Woah careful!” You said worriedly but his cheeks felt really warm and if he could speak he would be completely unable to form a coherent sentence, for once he was relieved for his mutism if only for a moment, how were you so strong?! Despite lacking his tail he knew he couldn’t be too light.

“You really must have been through something” He tuned back into reality when you spoke, you looked worried about him but then smiled reassuringly “Don’t worry! I’ll help you” You said, with him standing up again you still laid one of his arms over your shoulders thinking he might need help walking since he seemed to have trembling legs.

Donnie was surprised but happy, you were taking him to the castle! He looked back over his shoulder towards his brothers with a grin, Mikey and Raph were making signs of approval and smiling back at him, but Leo was once again nowhere to be found.

Or so did Donnie think before realizing there was a weight on the sail covering him, he looked down to see Leo sitting on it, traveling along without doing anything and smiling lazily back at Donnie, Donnie rolled his eyes at his brother, secretly thankful that he was small enough to follow along.

He kept walking with you, his legs a bit wobbly but you helped him keep steady all the way to the castle.

Rae Klein’s “Waiting in the Field.”

Opening on December 11th, 2021 at The Valley Gallery in Taos, New Mexico is artist Rae Klein’s solo exhibition, “Waiting in the Field.”

Through painting, Klein explores where the line is when events cross from in to out of one’s control.  Subtle emotions from the realization that one is becoming powerless translate into visual detail.

-

SHOP | FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM!

observation haki

You know that friend of a friend that you fucking hate?

Also known as, That week-long fling on the way to Zou that you totally regret.

⛥ﾟ・。 pudding

SECRET BONUS/prequel to pocus -- on your first day back on the job after having Soda, everything that can go wrong does go wrong... luckily your darling husband is here to help.

cw: fluff, comfort, katakuri is katakuri, KATAKURI DON'T PLAY ABOUT YOU, he is twenty-four, you are twenty-three, kota is nineteen, reader is a sweetheart, poor kota

"No, no, I said almond extract for the glaze, not vanilla," you shook your head at the patissier, wiping off your tasting spoon before tucking it back in your chef's pocket. "Amande will be able to tell the difference."

Taking a step back, you moved to bend over, resting your hand securely over your baby carrier as Soda cooed happily, looking around with wonder as you grabbed another bowl.

The patissier hung his head, embarrassed that he had forgotten such a crucial detail.

But you were quick to flash him an encouraging smile, setting down the new bowl at his baking station.

"Hey, hey, it's all right. We can set that aside for later," you assured as Soda grabbed onto your pointer finger, his grip small but mighty as he fiddled with it. "Restart right away. She's expecting a half a dozen in thirty minutes."

"Yes, ma'am!" he saluted, standing up straight. "Almond extract! Got it!"

At the noise, Soda smiled, clapping his hands together as he babbled, pleased by the man's expression.

The patissier's heart nearly melted at the sight.

"You like his funny face, munchkin?" you cooed in a baby voice, tickling your son's feet. "You like his face? You like his funny face?"

Soda squealed, laughing brightly as he shied away from the assault, grabbing at your fingers.

"Just a few more minutes," you sighed, relieved, as you returned to your rounds, walking down the aisle of over fifty bakers. "A few more minutes... and we can have lunch with your auntie."

Making a kissy face, you pinched his cheeks, blowing raspberry into his neck.

"How's that sound? You hungry, too? Oh, yes you are! Yes you are!"

Once again, he squealed with delight, his chunky legs kicking at the ticklish sensation.

At the sight, your heart couldn't help but swell, your body just itching to squeeze and pepper kisses all over your baby boy's face.

If you didn't love baking so much, you'd have no problem becoming a full-time mother for the rest of your life.

With a son like yours, it would be like heaven on earth.

The moment your eyes landed on Soda for the first time, you knew your life would never be the same, your body suddenly overwhelmed with feelings too intense and profound to put into words.

It was like discovering a part of yourself you had never met before, a part of yourself that existed only as an embodiment of your maternal instincts.

As a person with no younger siblings—and barely any family in the first place—you were honestly terrified of motherhood, seeing as you had never had to truly interact with a young child for more than a few hours before.

In fact, at your wedding was the first time you'd ever even held a baby before—Raisin being the resident newborn at the time.

The fact often kept you up at night, along with the rather impossible expectations and crushing pressure you were piling upon yourself, so much so that when the day came for Soda to be born, you were shaking with fear.

But, of course, that all changed the instant he was born.

In the days following his birth, you were pleasantly surprised to find that motherhood actually came rather naturally to you, all the movements, motions, and to-dos as easy as breathing—though it did help that Soda was not a fussy baby.

Even still, seven months of loving and learning brought you right to this moment, baby sling and all.

Technically, you weren't supposed to be back at work for another five months, but you were itching to get back in the kitchen, and couldn't bear to leave Soda with a nanny.

Professionalism be damned, if people wanted your world-reknowned sweets, then they could deal with a little drool.

"My Lady! My Lady! We have a big problem!" Juliette—head of your Cookie Division—exclaimed, running toward you. "The chillers in Division C seemed to have malfunctioned to the highest setting! All of our eggs are have exploded! And all the milk has curdled!"

Your eyes widened, surprised and thoroughly worried.

Big Mom had ordered a particularly large batch of fresh chocolate-chip cookies to be delivered to the Chateau by the end of the day, and if they were going to be finished on time, then the dough had to be started as soon as possible.

It didn't matter that you were the wife of a Sweet General.

If you kept Mama waiting, especially when it came to sweets, then it would be your head.

'Relax... you've got other means...'

"Don't panic. Get Citron on the phone right away and see if she can provide us some eggs," you ordered, tone serious. "As for the milk, call up Cacao Island and see if they have some to spare—"

"My Lady! The mixers are down!" Elsa—another one of your bakers—exclaimed from her baking station. "How am I supposed to whip this lemon meringue?!"

"Time to roll up your sleeves!" you encouraged, pumping your fist. "It'll be hard, but do your best to whip it yourself!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"My Lady!" Fredrik called, quickly running up beside you, clipboard in hand. "We need you to sign off on the menu for next week's Mother's Day brunch!"

Carefully, you took it out his hands, examining the paper thoroughly.

"Crullers... Bavarian... Brioche... Apple Fritter?" you shook your head, crossing the last one out before signing your signature. "Change that to an eclair. Use my choux dough recipe and pair it with a pecan-espresso cream filling. It'll go well with the coffee."

"Genius!" he gasped, taking back the clipboard. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Got those flavor profiles you asked for, ma'am," Kota reported, taking up his spot by your side as he passed off your papers.

"Thanks, Ko," you nodded, tucking them under your arm. "I need you to call up some tech support. We've got malfunctioning fridges and broken mixers slowing the assembly line."

He winced, hand raising to scratch the back of his neck.

"That might have to be put on the back-burner... given Streusen is on his way to retrieve Mama's order from yesterday... which was being kept in the chillers."

Your eyes shot wide, hand clasping over your mouth as you finally remembered.

"The pudding samples!" you gasped, horrified. "They're probably boiling by now!"

Kota shook his head, just as devastated.

"And the tarts."

"And the tarts!"

Though, before you could truly go into a downward spiral, you pulled yourself together, taking in a sharp breath before putting on a brave face, quickly rolling up your sleeves.

"All right, people, stop what you're doing! We've got a Code Pink and require all hands on deck!"

Without missing a beat, you adjusted your baby sling, tucking Soda's arms inside so he didn't get in the way of your work.

"Someone get me a twenty quart saucepan with cornstarch, sugar, and salt! And see how the milk situation's going with Cacao Island! We're gonna have to make a fresh batch of chocolate and banana pudding!"

"But, ma'am," Kota piped up, brows furrowed in concern as he opened up your planner. "You were supposed to be at your luncheon with Amande and Efilée eight minutes ago..."

"Shit!" you spat, covering Soda's ears. "I completely forgot!"

Quickly, you turned to your assistant, hopeful.

"How much do you know about nuts?"

His brows flattened, unamused.

"Not a thing, ma'am."

"Damn it."

Unable to think, you let out a frustrated whine, pinching the bridge of your nose.

'At least it can't get any worse...'

"(y/n)," a deep voice suddenly chimed from behind, scaring the shit out of you and Kota.

The boy practically jumped out his skin, you clutching Soda tightly as you took a large step away, whipping around to see who it was.

Only to find your dear husband, as imposing and intimidating as ever.

"Dada!" Soda beamed, utterly ecstatic as he attempted to wriggle his hands free.

Katakuri smiled under his scarf at the sight, his large finger coming up to "coochy-coo" his son's chin.

"Hello, little one," he greeted, warmly, as he ruffled the boy's hair. "Having fun with your mother, I see."

"Oh, Kuri, you scared me," you sighed, resting your hand over you heart, relieved it wasn't some thug. "What are you doing here?"

Turning toward you, he raised a brow, realizing that it must have slipped your mind.

"I came to see if we were still on for our merienda," he answered, simply. "It's ten past two."

At that, you froze, your soul practically ascending out your body with horror.

You were supposed to have met up with him over half an hour ago.

"Oh, my God, I—!"

"Completely forgot," he and Kota finished for you.

Slightly embarrassed, your face burned, forcing you to hang your head.

"I'm sorry... I got so distracted with the baby and the malfunctions and Mama's orders that everything slipped my mind..."

Saddened, you practically deflated, Soda's expression turning concerned as he looked up at you.

"I just... I missed being in the kitchen so much... I didn't want to just sit around the house doing nothing, and I didn't want to leave Soda with anybody else."

Turning to your bakers, you rested your hands on your cheeks as you watched them scramble to make the two batches of pudding like it was their last.

"But now Streusen will be here any minute, Mama will be furious, and there will be no nuts for the nut-themed brunch next week."

Katakuri's heartstrings tugged at the sight of you looking so defeated, a certain pang of guilt shooting through his chest.

He knew how much you loved your job, and he knew how important your reputation was to you.

And while maybe you going back to work so soon wasn't the best idea, he knew that wasn't what you needed to hear right now.

Right now you needed assistance, and that was exactly what he was going to give.

Because goddamn it, if he had to look at your watery eyes and wobbly lip any longer, he was going to put someone through a wall.

"Go to the luncheon," he stated, calmly, reaching forward to slide Soda out of your sling. "Kota and I will handle things here."

Instantly, you perked up, eyes finding a glimmer of hope.

"Really?"

Kota's eyes widened, the boy forgetting himself for a moment and whipping his head toward the general.

"What?! We can't—?!"

Quickly, Katakuri leveled the young man with a harsh side eye, his brows furrowing in a look that screamed "You wanna finish that sentence?"

Thickly, Kota swallowed, plastering on an uneasy smile.

"I mean... yeah! We totally got things covered!"

"Oh, thank you so much!" you threw your arms around your husband's neck, placing a firm kiss on his cheek—not missing the way his ears flushed at your touch. "You're a life-saver, Kuri."

Stepping back, you pulled Kota into a hug, just as thankful.

"Thanks, too, Ko. Don't know what I'd do without ya."

The boy gulped as he glanced at your husband, thoroughly terrified by the intense look he was faced with.

"Yep... don't know what I'd do either..."

Finally, you moved on to your baby, cooing softly as you rubbed your noses together and peppered his face with kisses.

"My three favorite guys in the whole world," you smiled, smoothing out his wild hair. "I'll be back before you know it."

Without warning, you broke out into a sprint for the door, stumbling slightly in your heels.

"Don't run! You'll hurt yourself," Katakuri called, already seeing how that was going to go horribly wrong.

"Love you, too!" you smiled over your shoulder, the sight causing his heart to stutter.

He scoffed, averting his eyes as he felt his face rise in temperature.

'She's going to get herself killed one day...'

With you gone, that left the two men—plus baby—alone in awkward silence, Kota's shivers of fear practically audible in the still air.

"What's priority one?" Katakuri asked, flatly, as he shifted his grip to cradle Soda in one arm.

"Streusen," the boy answered, looking down at his watch. "He's gonna be here any second to pick up two, Mama-sized samples of chocolate and banana pudding."

The general nodded.

"Priority two?"

"The malfunctions. The bakers can't continue filling orders if our equipment's faulty. And we're losing perishables by the minute."

The general nodded again.

"Call the islands of whatever ingredients you need and give them my name. Say it is imperative that the delivery get here as soon as possible."

Glancing down at his son, the man offered up his finger, the baby jumping at the chance to toy and fiddle with it.

"I will handle Streusen. You just make sure the puddings are finished."

Firmly, Kota nodded, about to turn and get started.

"One more thing, Kota..." Katakuri stated, voice low and serious.

A cold chill ran down the boy's spine, but he turned around nonetheless, doing his best to fight the color draining from his face.

"My wife is under a lot of stress at the moment... and unless I'm mistaken, it's your job to prevent that?"

Slowly, he nodded, body going rigid and stiff with fear.

"I don't care what you have to do behind the scenes... you just make sure her days run as smooth as possible."

The general's glare sharpened, eyes a bright and menacing red.

"Do I make myself clear?"

Fervently, Kota nodded once again, an uneasy smile returning to his lips.

"Crystal."

Thirty Days - Rise Donatello x Reader Part Two

Jesus I did not expect this to blow up the way it did but here is the next part! This fic is heavily inspired by And I Can’t Be Without You by dancingdonatello over on AO3. I love that fic and kinda put my own twist on it. I highly suggest you read it, it is sooooo good.  Reminder! April is 21, Raph 20, Donnie, Reader, Leo 18, and Mikey is 16. And make sure you read the first part for context, it will make it much easier to understand!!! Also if you'd like to be in the taglist down below for the next part please leave a comment to let me know!

Taglist: @macncheese69420666 @dancingdonatello @death-web @imobssesedwithtoomanysheet

Other Parts are Here -> Part One --- Part Two --- Part Three

Donatello had a big problem. A very, very (that’s two verys) big problem. When he had given you that list a week ago he never expected you to actually do any of it. He just wanted to keep you busy, keep your strange and unusual feelings away from him. Feelings are way too complicated for this man of science to deal with, so the better option was to keep you and those emotions away from him. That was all he wanted, but when you came back with a big smile and a manilla file in hand, something changed. Donnie’s hands trembled as he marked off that first bullet in a purple Sharpie. As the purple ink slid onto the paper, Donnie realized just how deep of a pit he got himself into. 

The genius highly underestimated your crush on him, your desire to date him. Donnie that night was unable to focus on his projects, panicking over his mistake to start this list thing with you instead. He paced in his lab, trying to figure out how he was going to fix this, make you forget the list and just not have anything happen with the paper. 

He slid his hands over his face as he groaned loudly looking back to his computer. The file you had given him with all the Purple Dragon’s codes and secret files filled his screen. As he stared at the screen, soaking in the blue light from the monitors, he began to think. You gave him a direct way to sabotage the dragons, with your determination could you get him the cloaking brooch? The uranium? Donnie’s heart raced at the thoughts of what could be possible with you as his little errand-runner. “Maybe I can make this work…” the mutant mumbles as he runs his fingers over the folder, the list on the top of the cream file. 

Reader’s POV

When Donnie asked you to go on a trip to the Hidden City with him, your heart nearly jumped from your chest. He said in his text that he needed to get some more mystic crystals for his tech bo and goggles. Maybe this could be an opportunity for you to get another bullet or two off the list. Of course you reply with an eager yes, buzzing with excitement, all worries about Donnie using you flying out the window. You kick and giggle like a young middle school you all over again on your bed, blushing madly at the offer. Taking a deep breath, you try to calm down, this is definitely not a date, just a supply run for Donnie and your list. That is all this is. Yep, definitely all this is. 

You shake your fists by your chest, a stim of your overwhelming happiness as you can’t help but see this as a date. Although it wasn’t posed as a date, it felt like one. You text Donnie to meet  you at Hueso’s for lunch before you both head to the yokai city for the totally not date. 

You slip into a lilac T-shirt and ripped jeans, casual white sneakers on. You wanted to be  comfy for the trip, the run possibly lasting hours. With a bag and a smile you meet Donnie at the hidden entrance to Run of the Mill Pizza, the place close to your apartment. As you wait for the purple softshell to show up you chew on your thumb nail and pace, mind racing with excitement and a little anxiety. 

“You’re gonna fry your brain with all that thinking,” a voice says from below you. You snap your head to the manhole cover, the man of your enfatuation climbing to the surface.

You grin as you help Donatello by lifting the cover to let him get out all the way. The man was dressed in black cargo pants, and a loose white tank top over the sleek battle shell he always wore, a black hat over his mask, eyebrows perfectly drawn on, and bulky black boots on his feet. You bite your lip as you take in his exposed muscles, lean and so very hot. You look at his face, blushing as you find yourself caught in your staring. You look to the asphalt, clearing your throat at the nice sight of the softshell as you put the cover back over the manhole. “Hungry?” You ask as you look back to Donnie leaning on your tip toes as you gesture nervously to the Hidden City portal. 

“For pizza? Scoff, is that even a question?” He walks into the portal, you following behind a bright red flush to your skin. 

The smell of delicious, warm food fills your senses as you both walk in, yokai and mutants mingling in the diner. “Ah, Donatello welcome back,” A talking skeleton greets the two of you, a fond smile on his face. “No Pepino today?” Hueso quirks his eye ridge up as he leans against the host podium, causally talking with the softshell. 

Donnie shakes his head, “Nope just me and a friend.” Your heart pangs at the title as Hueso nods his head and leads the two of you to a table. “I’ll do a flavorless juice and,” the mutant looks to you a brow raised in question, “Just a pepperoni?” Donnie asks you.

You hum as you are brought back to reality. “Huh?” Donnie repeats his question with a roll of his coffee eyes. “Oh…uh yeah, pepperoni is fine,” You bite your lip, trying to hide your disappointment over the ‘just a friend’ title Donnie gave you earlier. You are just friends, so he wasn’t lying, but it still kinda hurt. “And a Dr. Pepper for a drink.” Hueso nods and finishes up the order, putting it into the kitchen shortly after. 

The silence at your table is awkward, your hands fiddling with one another below the table, bag next to you. “So, you wanted to get crystals, right?” You ask, unable to keep the silence and tension between the two of you. You look up at Donnie, seeing him just as fidgety as you. 

Donnie looks to the side, “Yeah, I need some, the current crystals in my bo and goggles are running low on power.” 

“O-okay cool,” You mumble looking back at your hands. “Anything else you wanna get while we’re down here?” You try not to sound nervous, failing miserably. 

Thankfully the gods are on your side as the pipping hot pizza is placed on the table, Donnie’s juice and your Dr. Pepper placed on the respective sides. You both drool at the sight of the pizza, stomachs growling hungrily. You hum as you pick up a piece, devouring the cheese and meat heaven. “I would like to do a few other things while we are here,” the turtle say after swallowing a bite. “-get a few of your things marked off?” Donnie says, finally answering your question. 

You choke on your soda, so shocked he even wanted to do that with you. He looks at you, puzzled at your reaction. You cough as you take a sip to calm the burn in your throat. “Oh, um yeah, I was planning on it anyway,” you managed to squeak out, rubbing your chest, the spot a little irritated from your coughing fit. Your face burned as you look off to the side, trying to settle yourself.

Donnie smiles, your heart fluttering at the expression. “Good,” he says as he takes your free hand, rubbing his thumb over your knuckles. “I kind of want this list to be completed.”

Your eyes grow comically large at the turtle’s words. “Y-you do?” Donnie nods to your question, as he eats another portion of his pizza. Your heart thuds against you rib cage, ears ringing, stomach rolling from Donnie’s confession. He wants this. He wants you to be successful with this list. Donnie, the emotionless bad boy, wants to get this list done so the two of you can date. You shake your head, an ear splitting grin on your face. You buzz in your seat, wanting to badly to kiss the mutant and check off your list. You can’t help it as you slap some cash on the table and bolt out of the diner, Donnie’s hand in yours. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In a few short weeks, everything changed between you and Donnie. Everything for once in your crazy life was going right. After that first totally not date, the two of you continued to do little runs like that, Donnie helping you get the items on the list occasionally. Your heart soared every single time he sent a text about a trip. You traveled to Donnie’s favorite junk yards, the Hidden City multiple times, New York and so many other places with him, each trip feeling more and more like a date. 

At twenty five days after marking off the first bullet on the list, you only had one item left. Uranium. Stupid uranium. 

You dreaded getting the item, knowing it was pretty damn close to impossible to get.  But you were determined. For once something was completely worth the risk, worth the pain and hours of stress put into each plan to check off another bullet. Donnie’s grin of excitement when you brought him the cloaking brooches, the scraps of precious metal, the crystals, it was all worth it. That look, the stims of joy, the oddly comforting evil laugh Donnie would make. The almost kiss that happened. 

You snuck into Donnie’s lab with a very rare piece of machinery, Big Mama had it for some reason, but with a few twists on both ends, you got it. Sure you have a debt to the mob boss now, but to see Donnie look at you like he cared about you was all worth it. 

“Donnie~” you call out to the mutant, pulling your bag off your shoulders. You unzip it as the purple softshell drops what he was doing and comes to you. You pull out the machinery with a smirk, watching as Donnie’s jaw drops, wide and definitely not drooling. 

“Holy truffle mac and cheese, you got it?” he stutters out looking at the metal in your hands. He carefully plucks it from your fingers, stars in his eyes as he looks it over, “How?”

You try to act cool about his reaction, the banging of your heart in your chest and blood rushing faster than Sonic the Hedgehog, leaving you a little dizzy. “Eh, I managed to make a deal with BM over it.” You try to relax your stance, wanting to look chill and definitely not ready to bounce around the room at the speed of light. 

Donnie’s eyes widen as he looks at you, “You made a deal with Big Mama? The mob queen of the Hidden City?” You nod, looking down to hide your blush, your left foot digging into the subway car floor. “God you are an absolute dumb dumb for doing that,” As you look up you see Donnie smiling at you, big and bright. 

You can’t help but get close to him, not close enough to touch since for the mutant that is a big no-no, and you were not going to cross that line. You raise to your tiptoes, nose mear inches from his snout, “But I got it!” You see Donnie’s eyes flick down to your lips as you speak, his chest rising and falling quickly. He bites his lip and for a moment you contemplate whether or not to close the gap. You really want to close the gap, you want to feel his lips against yours so badly. And for a tiny moment, you swear Donnie wanted it too. 

When the softshell clears his throat you snap out of it, faces flushed as you both take a step back from one another. “Uh thank you, Y/n,” the ninja swallows, returning to his desk to check off the list and to set down the metal. 

You timidly walk over to him, trying to push passed the awkwardness of the almost kiss. You look over his shoulder, counting the remaining bullets unmarked by purple ink. “Six left!” You whisper, fingers shaking as you touch the paper as Donnie caps the marker . He looks at you and then look back to the list. “Six items and then you’ll be my boyfriend.”

Donnie rubs the back of his neck, “Yeah, boyfriend.” 

Something about the way he sad that rubbed you wrong but you were too excited about finishing the list to care.

Now at one item, you stressed the next five days to get that stupid uranium. You scoured the internet to see if there was any news articles about big companies with your last item, unfortunately you couldn’t find any place that you could easily break into and get some. Hey, you may be desperate, but you were not breaking into tech genius billionaire, John Bishop’s business. He has more security than Big Mama does, and she was difficult as is. 

You decided to turn to the turtle’s contacts, only one making you cry when they answered yes to having uranium on the second to last day of the thirty-day promise you made to Donatello. Of course, the Baron Draxum, when he lived in the Hidden City, had access to uranium. You thanked the goat man over and over again for letting you access his old lab. He asked you to grab a few things alongside the uranium while you were down there, because of course he would, and sent you on your way to the location. 

Once you were down in the Hidden City you wandered to the location, cringing when you see the decrepit building, vines, and trash littering the place, clearly not having been touched in the years of Barry’s absence. Using a dagger you had gotten as a defense weapon from the turtles one Christmas, you thrash into the overgrowth that covered the door, gagging at the sound the vines made and the horrid scent that entered your nose as soon as you busted open the doors. You used the flashlight on your phone as you warily walk into the old lab, avoiding the crumbly walls, vines, and sciencey-type stuff. It was even worse looking inside than the out, but with all the sciencey botany stuff inside you figured Donnie would like to come here. 

‘Maybe once we officially start dating I can take him here,’  you think to yourself as you look at all the books covered in dust and grime. ‘If it gets a good cleaning first.’ 

It took over an hour for you to find the box of uranium that Draxum had tucked away in his lab. You grinned as you pulled it out, seeing the glistening element under your phone’s flashlight. You pick up the box placing the other items you grabbed for the goat man inside before leaving the lab, closing the creaking doors behind you. You nearly trip over the steps as you leave, twisting your ankle in the process. You hiss at the pain in your foot, not too thrilled about having to limp back to a portal to get home. But you do it anyway, picking up a few pizzas for the boys at Hueso’s as you take a small rest for your aching limb at the pizza place. 

Your ankle screams at you as you drop off the items requested by Barry to him, getting a small thanks from the yokai. You lift the nearest manhole from Draxum’s home and sit on the asphalt for a moment. This was so surreal for you. After months of pinning, you finally get Donnie’s heart after you willingly gave him yours. You look at your ankle, the joint swollen and bruising. You wince, “I might’ve rolled it more than I thought.” You shake your head, figuring Leo can take care of it once you give your soon-to-be boyfriend the uranium. 

With your heart racing, you slip into the sewers to your fate, pizza and your last bullet on your list in hand. 

Donatello POV

Donnie paces in the kitchen, brothers surrounding him to help him with his current dilemma. “I don’t know what to do, this is all too,” the mutant rubs his hands over his face, looking helplessly at his brothers, “-too complicated.”

“Dontron, my dear twin,” Leo purrs, earning a glare from Donnie at the mention of the ‘twin’ thing. “You clearly love Y/n too.” Donnie rolls his eyes, looking away from the slider in clear annoyance. 

“Yeah it’s kinda obvious, why would you do the list anyway?” Mikey chirps as Raph nods his head beside him. 

The purple clad ninja glares at his brothers, a growl rumbling from his chest. They didn’t understand. This list was not to prove that Y/n liked Donnie enough to get the stuff, it was to keep them away. And how dare his siblings assume the softshell liked that mess of a human. Yeah their presence over the last few weeks became a comfort and maybe he enjoyed seeing the glint of pride and joy in their eyes every time they brought in an item, but that does not mean he had a crush. His dumb dumb brothers didn’t understand. “Scoff, I didn’t think that they would actually do any of it-” Donnie huffs, crossing his arms over his plastron as he leans against the back kitchen counter, his siblings, more like accusers in this moment, against the other counter, skeptical looks on their faces. “What I just wanted to keep them and all their complicated,” Donnie cringes, “-feelings away from me.”

“So you just wanted to push them away and instead made the two of you even closer?” Raph asks elbows leaning against the counter as he wears a sly grin on his face, snaggle tooth poking into his bottom lip at the action. Donnie hisses at his older brother, confirming his suspicion. 

“Then why did you go on dates with them?” Mikey adds, tilting his head, a puzzled look on his round face. 

Donnie throws his head back, his mask tails brushing his battle shell. “They were not dates Micheal,” the softshell looks at his brothers again, clearly frustrated and, dare they say, looking a little scared. “I just used the outings as a distraction so they wouldn’t find out I was using them for all the items on the list!” His siblings gawk at his reply, eyes wide as they stare the purple genius down. Donnie shrugs his shoulders, “What?”

Mikey pinches what would be his nose bridge if he had one, “Donnie you realize the problem here right?” Yes, yes he did, and frankly he didn’t care. It was Y/n’s stupid crush that caused this whole problem in the first place. It’s their fault all of this has happened. Don’t blame him. 

Leo wraps and arm around his shoulder, one he quickly backs away from. “Dude, they have it down bad for you and you decide to use their crush on you as an opportunity to get shit for you?” Leo looks disappointed as Donnie pulls away from his arm. The softshell looks at his older and youngest brother, similar looks on their faces. 

“Not cool Don,” Raph whispers, voice full of big brother shame. Donnie cringes hating the fact he disappointed his siblings, each turtle’s expression burning into his mind. 

Donnie shakes his head, trying to stay strong and justify his choices, “Okay, and what if I am?” His brothers stare at Donnie, and he can’t help but shudder under their stares. “ I’ve been using them to get stuff for my projects. Once I realized they were crazy enough to actually do that kind of thing for me I decided I could make it all work out and I-”

A loud crash is heard right at the entrance of the kitchen. The beacon of the problem standing in the doorway with wide eyes. “What?” Donnie and his brothers freeze at the sight of you, boxes crushed against the floor in a messy heap. 

“Oh...uh hello Y/n,” Donnie swallows the thick lump in his throat as he sees you. Of course, this would happen, classic romance kinda thing. The snapper, slider and box turtle leave the kitchen, and Donnie almost begs them to stay. Almost. 

“You’ve been using me?” Donnie rolls his eyes, not understanding why this was such a shocker of a thing for him to do. He looks at you and- oh. Oh.

Oh.

The expression on your face erases his brother’s disappointed looks from minutes ago. Yours is burned, no, carved into his mind. Your eyes are owlishly wide, body trembling as tears bead in the corners of your eyes Donnie grew to like watch crinkle with a smile on the chapped lips you bit so often. Your face was pale and not the healthy pink it glowed with normally.

Donnie looks down to the ground before stepping towards you and when you immediately step back, something inside him breaks. He didn’t like this reaction one bit, all of it rubbed him wrong. “L-look,” the softshell stutters eyes to the kitchen tiles once again. “I-”

“No.” 

“What?” Donnie looks up to you, seeing your cheeks glistening with fresh tears. 

You swallow thickly, shaking your head as you back up. “No, I-I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear fake excuse from you.” You try to wipe your eyes and it takes everything he has to not grab your face to wipe them from your cheeks because dammit he did not like that. “I can’t believe I believed your little list was to date you!” You scoff and cover your face in one hand. 

“I didn’t think you would do it,” Donnie whispers as he tries to step towards you again, really wanting to explain everything and get that stupid look off your face. 

Your head snaps up from your hands, “Yeah and I didn’t think you would use me.” You bark and it sends a shiver down Donnie’s spine, feeling it in his shell from the bitter tone you speak in. “Why did you do it anyway?” You ask folding your arms over your chest, all your weight placed on one foot 

Donnie swallows the worsening lump in his throat. He focuses on the floor instead of your body, trying to ignore the pit of despair forming in his gut. “Feelings are complicated,” He hears you scoff at that but continues, “Your feelings are complicated, a-and I didn’t like that,” the softshell wets his lips, digging for the right words in his mind. “I wanted to keep you busy by giving you crazy tasks, and by Newton’s law you did it.” Donnie finally gets the courage to look at you again, only to regret it by seeing your face full of hurt and anger. “A-and I decided to, to use your blind devotion to get all that stuff for experiments and projects.”

You are silent for a while and Donnie almost sighs with relief to have it over, but of course, you reply to his statement in the worst way possible. “So none of this was because you liked me back?” Donnie looks away again and nods. You huff, a broken sound Donnie never wants to hear again. “This entire time I thought maybe I had a chance. I thought the one guy I have ever loved this hard actually wanted me. Those dates, or do you even want to call them that?” Donnie cringes, realizing how it looked from your point now. You suck in a deep breath, taking his silence as the answer to your question. “Those were dates to me, and I loved every single one. Every. One.” You throw your arms into the air, “I thought you loved me, I guess I was wrong.” Donnie hears you begin to move away and fights himself on whether or not to stop you. He almost does until you speak again, voice low and full of venom. “Enjoy your uranium, asshole.” 

The turtle looks down at the fallen boxes, remembering their presence. He sees pizza scattered on the ground from Run of the Mill, boxes crumpled under another, much bigger box. He crouches to the ground and his heart stops as he sees the precious item he’s been wanting for so long. His breath hitches in his throat as he looks up to try and stop you from leaving but you are already gone. Donnie’s vision swims as he shakily grabs a clump of the element, staring at it with disdain. He drops it in the box and curls in on himself, feeling incredibly guilty, remembering all the ‘dates’ the two of you had, the smile that made his heart pound against his plastron, your voice making his soft shell shiver. He closes his eyes trying to block out how overwhelmed he felt, only to see your broken expression in the darkness of his eyelids. 

Donnie sobs, as he realizes what he just did, and that he did in fact feel the same way you do about him. Fuck. 

Nice and slow

- Love and lust. What a wonderful combination.

Pairing: Bartolomeo x Straw Hat g/n reader

Genre: fluff, smut

Word count: 2323

Warnings/Tags: nsfw, dry humping, fingering, first time, penetrative sex, unprotected sex, tender sex.

Summary: Barto and you have been together for a while now, and you wonder if his overexcited self could handle a little more... Fire.

A/N: This is nothing but a self-indulgent work of filth.

Help! I've fallen for Barto and I can't get up.

Read it on AO3

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Bartolomeo was shaking underneath you, barely keeping his overwhelming emotions under control. You were straddling him, wearing nothing but your underwear. Your hand grazing over his well-defined abs, and his clothed erection pressing delightfully against your crotch.

"You know we can stop whenever you want, right?" You reassured with a soft smile, afraid that he was gonna pass out from joy like the last time you tried to be more intimate... and the one before that... And the one before that too.

"I... I'm fine, babe," Bartolomeo said and his blush deepened. His eyes avoided yours for a few moments. The feared captain of the Barto Club was nothing, but a shy mess and you simply loved it.

"You are so beautiful, Barto," you said cupping his cheek in your hand, caressing it with your thumb, and leaning down to place a soft kiss on his lips. The cannibal sighed and melted under your touch. The time stopped around him and a single happy tear ran down his face.

The warmth of your skin against his and the mixture of tenderness and lust in your kisses were making him harder by the second, but his strong feelings for you restrained him, making it almost impossible to touch you or even move.

Your own arousal was testing your patience and gradually clouding your mind, but for the sake of your poor boyfriend's heart, you had to be gentle. This was his first time and you needed to help him overcome his nervousness before you could bring things a step further.

You reckon he’s made a lot of progress in the time you’ve been together: he was now able to look you in the eye for more than a minute without turning into a mumbling mess or touch you and kiss you without crying -too much- or hyperventilating. But all of this was a whole other level and you needed to be extra careful.

With your lips still on his, and your thumbs stroking his face, you began to slowly roll your hips against him; chuckling at the desperate whine Barto let out. Feeling his growing bulge rubbing against your own arousal.

"Oh, babe~" Barto moaned, before hiding his flushed face under his hand. His entire body was trembling like jelly.

"Everything alright, love?" You whispered in his ear, and he shuddered.

"Y... Y... Yes~" He replied between heavy breaths, and you continued grinding your hips against him, all the while peppering soft kisses on his face.

"Good boy," you cooed tenderly stroking his hair, and the pirate squealed inside.

"Ooh... that feels... so good~" Bartolomeo moaned softly as your mouth traveled to his neck, lightly nibbling, and licking at his sensitive skin. The tip of your fingers began massaging his scalp to the pace of your hips and Barto purred your name.

"You're doing a great job, baby," you praised between kisses, noticing he was more relaxed now and responding quite well to your ministrations.

Hesitant hands moved to the small of your back and trembling fingers began drawing circles on your skin. The sudden sensation drew out a faint moan from you, and you arched your back seeking more of that delicious electric feel. Luckily, your boyfriend got the hint, and his hands began stroking gently up and down your back, matching the tempo of your hips.

Your mouth met his again, and you sucked on his lower lip before sliding your tongue inside Barto’s mouth, feeling his sharp teeth brushing against it. His taste was intoxicating; better than the sweetest sake you had ever drunk. It made you feel dizzy with passion.

The room was quiet except for the sweet sounds of pleasure coming from both of you and it felt like the universe itself had stopped moving just to give you some privacy. Nothing else mattered now, problems and worries were long forgotten, buried under thick layers of affection and pleasure.

Bartolomeo’s hands became eager as if he didn’t want to let a single millimeter of your skin unexplored; kneading and squeezing while he whispered your name with devotion. His long fingers ran down your sides and grasped at your hips as you pressed harder against him.

"Would you let me try something else, my love?" You asked, emphasizing your words with another agonizing roll of your hips.

"Y... Yeah~" Bartolomeo managed to say before letting out a long groan. My love. The words echoed in his mind like a choir of angels.

After earning his allowance, you began kissing your way down his chest, trailing the outline of his tattoo with your tongue, savoring the saltiness of his skin. Bartolomeo's eyes were shut, his eyebrows curved in a tight frown, and his lower lip trapped between his teeth; his fingers tangled in your hair as he began bucking his hips to meet yours.

Leaving a peck on his sternum, you sat up straight, adjusting your position to have better access to Barto's pants; carefully studying his reaction as your fingers teased at the buckle of his belt. The cannibal flushed and stared at you with a mixture of devotion and lust in his heavy-lidded eyes. He was completely surrendered at your mercy.

"May I?" you asked and waited patiently for his answer. A few seconds later Bartolomeo nodded, and you unbuttoned his trousers; slowly pulling them down to reveal his hard member already coated with precum.

"Damn, Barto," you said biting your lower lip, resisting the urge to take him in your mouth… but it had to wait for some other day; you didn't want to give the poor man a heart attack.

After helping him get rid of his pants, you straddle his lap again and took in the view. Bartolomeo’s lips were parted, white fangs lightly peeking out; his hard member was the same color as his blushed cheeks and it contrasted perfectly with his tanned skin.

As light as a feather, the tip of your index finger traced the veins on Bartolomeo's shaft, and he let out a shaky whine. Your thumb joined soon, brushing the underside of his member from the base to the head, before circling on its tip, spreading precum all over its velvety skin. The desperate sounds he was making were like music to your ears.

"Barto, I need you inside of me," you confessed after your patience had reached its limit. "Would you let me...?" You let the question hang in the air.

Bartolomeo gasped at your sudden petition and his eyes snapped open. His breathing became shallower, his pulse was racing and for a long second, he felt like he was about to explode from excitement.

"Itwouldbeanhonor~" Barto mumbled wiping the tears already pooling in his eyes.

"Sorry, baby. I didn't hear you," you said, giving his lower belly a gentle stroke.

"I said that..." Bartolomeo talked, taking a deep breath. His eyes focused on the ceiling, unable to look you in the eye. "It would be... an honor." He concluded and you swore you had never seen his face so red before.

"The honor will be all mine, my love," you said, blowing him a tender kiss.

Reaching to your night table you took out a bottle of lube from the drawer, rubbing the container between your palms, to heat up the transparent liquid. The pirate was following your every move with curiosity and impatience. After applying a generous amount of lube to your palm, your mischievous gaze moved to his, and your warm hand wrapped firmly around his shaft.

"Hnnng~" Barto grunted as you began to slowly stroke his throbbing member. His hands tugged at the sheets and his muscles tensed following the enticing movement of your hand. Touching himself had always been enjoyable, but your hands on him brought a new level of pleasure he had never imagined possible; he was gradually losing his mind.

"My beautiful Barto," you praised, admiring the exquisite sight before you: your boyfriend captured between your legs, sweat glistening on his chiseled torso, and a pink flush on his cheeks; his fangs on full display as he moaned your name again and again.

"...so good... babe~” Bartolomeo let out in a long grunt, as you continued with the delicious torture.

A few moments later, you withdrew your hand from Barto's member. The piece of fabric still covering your arousal was starting to upset you and you got rid of it in the blink of an eye. The pirate whined like struck by lightning when he saw you completely exposed to him. He wondered how you would feel wrapped around him; what noises you would make when he pounded inside of you. A deep primitive urge invaded him.

Noticing Bartolomeo’s lascivious gaze on your body, you began touching yourself. Your fingers played with your nipples while your other hand wandered over your sex. Barto’s focused his entire attention on the show you were pulling off for him.

For a moment, you teased your entrance with two fringes dripping with lube and Barto's precum, before pushing inside; stretching your walls, and preparing your body to take him.

"You're so beautiful, babe~" The cannibal sighed while tenderly stroking your thighs. His hips moved involuntary, seeking some friction.

Once you were ready, you placed a hand on his chest, adjusting your position before guiding him to your entrance. Your gazes locked as you slowly sank down onto his length, moaning each other’s names all the while.

“Don’t move… Please ~" He panted when you took him whole, afraid that he wasn’t going to last long. You felt amazing wrapped around him, and the fact that you, of all people, were his first, was sending him over the edge.

“Barto, shall we stop?” You asked softly, unable to hide the bit of concern in your voice.

“No,” He rushed. “Just… Do it slowly, please.” Bartolomeo added and you gave him a sweet smile.

“Alright,” you cooed and began rolling your hips at an agonizingly slow pace; sliding all the way up until only his tip remained inside, then back down again. The texture of his cock felt wonderful against your walls, and it took all the willpower you got to keep you from riding him harder.

"Fuck... Barto," You moaned throwing your head back. Your eyes were unable to focus anymore as delicious waves of pleasure hit you with every passing second.

"Faster… please~" Bartolomeo groaned a few moments after. His fingers digging in your hips and his mouth pronouncing your name like a mantra.

You began moving faster, circling your hips as your hands ran over his abs up to his chest. Your thumbs brushed his nipples and the sound that came from his mouth made your walls twitch. He looked so sexy like that, completely undone and aroused.

"Barto... Fuck me... Please," you begged between moans. Your self-control was long forgotten.

Something feral took over Bartolomeo when he heard your pledge. His raw lust finally won the battle over his emotions, and he obliged, rolling you both on the bed until you were beneath him. The wild look he gave you sent shivers all over your body.

You wrapped your legs around Bartolomeo's waist, and he began rocking his hips against you. His pace was rather erratic at first, and you could tell there was still a pinch of nervousness gnawing at his mind. Lucky for you, Bartolomeo was a quick learner. Soon he got used to the position and began pounding inside you with an incredibly sensual rhythm. Barto’s mouth met yours in a passionate kiss and you felt the world crumble around you. He felt so good.

"Please do it~" you whimpered when you felt his fangs teasing the crook of your neck. Barto obeyed and his sharp teeth sank gently into your skin, making your toes curl.

Grabbing a handful of his green hair, you pulled at it gently, compelling him to look you in the eye.

"Barto... Fuck me harder," you commanded, allowing him to use your body as he pleased.

Still holding your gaze, Bartolomeo began pounding mercilessly into you; the look of ecstasy in your face burning into his brain. His teeth returned to your skin and your eyes rolled back into your head. The shy fanboy who would collapse if you stole a kiss from him had finally let out his darker side.

"Oh, baby... Please don't stop," you whined as the tingling sensation in your lower belly grew exponentially. Your hands kneaded the muscles on his back as he hit that magical spot over and over again.

"Oooh Barto," you finally cried out, closing your eyes, and holding on to him for dear life as bliss hit you in powerful warm waves, making your muscles spasm. For a moment, it seemed you had abandoned your body and were floating in space with his arms preventing you from drifting away.

"Fuck, babe~" Bartolomeo let out a low grunt when your walls clenched around him. A couple more desperate thrusts were all it took for him to reach his own climax, and he emptied himself inside of you with your name on his lips.

The two of you remained still for a while, relishing the aftermath, feeling tired, but incredibly peaceful. Bartolomeo placed a chaste kiss on your forehead and surrounded you with his arms, holding you tightly as if you were going to vanish into thin air. Everything felt so right and perfect that, for a moment, he feared it had been nothing but a dream.

You placed your arms around him as well, letting yourself get lost in his embrace, while tenderly running your fingers through his soft green hair. Bartolomeo purred at your caresses, and you let out a loving sigh.

“Oh, my beautiful, Barto,” You cooed, and he held you closer. Shortly after, both of you drifted off to sleep, wearing a pleased smile and the reassuring confidence of knowing that you belonged to each other.

------------ >> * << -------------

marriage of inconvenience, portgas d ace

one shot

summary: you, a well known marine, are apparently married to an infamous pirate, small warning: contains drinking/alcohol mentions

reblogs and interactions are appreciated!

wc: 1531

You couldn’t believe your eyes.

Commodore Y/N of the Marines and ‘Fire Fist’ Ace, Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates Spotted Together in Arctic Chapel! Unity between prominent figures in the Marine and Pirate worlds?

You crumpled the newspaper in your hands, tossing it into the trash can beside your desk. You pinched the bridge of your nose. A headache began to form due to the mess of the article and all you wanted was to forget about it.

A knock interrupted your thoughts and you let out an exasperated sigh. “Come in.”

“Good morning, Commodore Y/N,” an officer stepped into your office, back straight and hand in a salute.

On his free hand was a paper— the newspaper. Resting your head on your hand, you gestured towards the newspaper, the front page article practically taunting you. “What is it?”

“It’s just that… this article. Everyone saw it, and we were wondering…” The officer held the newspaper in both hands and you had the urge to gouge out your eyes seeing the article again. “Is this true?”

“As a Marine, do you really think it’s important to be wasting your time on an article clearly facetious?” He shook his head, though he was clearly nervous as you rested your hands on your desk and sat straight. “And more than that— why would I, a Commodore of the Marines, even be near a pirate such as ‘Fire Fist’ Ace, and especially in a well known wedding chapel?” Without even realizing, you were standing, your hands slamming your desk and shaking the papers on it.

The officer was practically shaking now. He bowed as low as possible before speaking, “With all due respect! I, and the rest of the ship, were just concerned as we were recently on Monkey Island…where Arctic Chapel is…and ‘Fire Fist’ Ace was spotted there…” His voice trailed out when he saw how your anger seemed to grow.

You placed your hands on your temples, closing your eyes. “Whatever. The article is a lie, now get out.”

He was surprised with your sudden change of tone, “Commodore, I—”

“Get out! And close the door.”

Without another word, the officer followed your orders. Even though the day just started, you wanted to be alone for the rest of it.

Of course your wishes would not be granted as your Transponder Snail began to ring.

And the next three hours were spent clarifying to everybody you knew—coworkers and friends and family and even higher-ups—that no, you were not married to ‘Fire Fist’ Ace and you were definitely not changing your name to Portgas Y/N.

The calls eventually died down, and you were able to rest. Though it was only for a few minutes as your Snail began to ring once again. You rolled your eyes, but picked it up nonetheless.

“For the last time, I am not married to ‘Fire Fist’ Ace!”

“Is that what you’ve been telling everyone? I thought you’d be more proud of being married to me.” You glared at your snail as it let out an obnoxious laugh.

“‘Fire Fist’ Ace. What is with that fabricated article?!”

“C’mon, we’re married, drop the title and just call me ‘Ace.’ You don’t see me calling you ‘Commodore Y/N.’”

“Answer the question!”

“I’ve no idea either. I woke up and saw the article, same as you. Though…”

“Though what?!” You didn’t realize you were yelling until there was a knock at your door from an officer asking if you were okay. You dismissed the officer, telling him there was no issue.

“Don’t you remember, last week? I don’t blame you for forgetting a bit since we were both drunk, but we did get married.”

“We did not! I—” You stopped, suddenly remembering the events of last week.

—

Your ship docked on Monkey Island, and you could finally indulge yourself in a rare, well-needed break. With the sun setting and the officers you lead staying onboard the ship, you decided the first thing you’d do was head to a bar.

“One Negroni, please!” You smiled at the bartender, ready to drink to your heart’s content.

A man’s voice came behind you, “Make it two.” You heard the man move the stool beside you to take a seat. “Didn’t expect to see you here, Commodore Y/N.”

“It seems my reputation precedes me—” you turned to your side, shocked to see ‘Fire Fist’ Ace grinning in front of you. He was a well known pirate, though this wasn’t the first time you had the displeasure of seeing him. “What are you doing here, ‘Fire Fist?’”

His grin didn’t seem to falter when he saw you receive your drink and take a small sip from it. “You’re not gonna chase me around or even try to arrest me?”

“I’m off duty, I have no reason to do more than what is needed right now.”

“Really? Not even a sense of justice?”

“Not when I’m off the clock.”

“Fair enough,” Ace paused, taking a huge swig of his own drink. “Y’know, you’re always chasing me around, I see you more than some of my own crewmates. And yet, I barely know anything about you.” He raised his drink, waiting for you to do the same. “Tell me about yourself.”

As soon as you finished your drink, you were asking for another. “Even if I’m off the clock, I won’t fraternize with a pirate like you.”

You really need to control your drinking habits.

“You mean to tell me your grandfather is Garp the Fist, Hero of the Marines, yet you and your brothers dreamt of becoming pirates?” You hiccuped, downing another shot you couldn’t even be bothered to count anymore.

“What’s wrong with that? Being a pirate is way cooler than being a marine!”

“It’s ironic ‘s all—and being a marine is wayyy cooler!”

“Nuh uh.”

“Uh huh!”

“Nuh uh!”

“Uh huh!”

“Whatever.” Ace attempted to pour more into his cup, emptying the contents of the bottle. “Ah, Y/NNN, let’s go now. ‘M bored here.”

“Wait! One more!” You held your cup in the air. Ace mirrored your actions until your cups collided together. The both of you pulled your cups away and drank the last bits of alcohol.

You tossed a bit of berri onto the counter, waving the bartender goodbye as you pulled Ace out of the bar. The city was full of lights, enough to blind the both of you in your drunken stupor.

“Did I ever tell you,” Ace slurred. “How pretty you look whenever you chase me?”

“You tell me all the time. Did I ever tell youuu how you would totally be my type if you weren’t a pirate? I always thought you would look soo good in a marine uniform.” You giggled.

“I would never be anything but a pirate!”

Your eyes caught sight of a building whose lights seemed to shine brighter than any other place. You tugged Ace’s arm and pointed to it. “Let’s go there.”

He squinted his eyes, looking in the direction you were pointing at. “Arctic…Chapel…You wanna get married?”

You didn’t bother to understand his question as your face began to feel warm. “Ace you can’t ask me like that!” You pulled him towards the building’s direction, “Let’s goo!”

Ace didn’t protest, even more excited than you.

——

As you recalled the events, you groaned. “Oh my god. We were drunk and went into that stupid chapel. We walked into that stupid chapel and now everyone thinks we’re married!” You started laughing in a way that almost scared Ace.

“But…we did get married.”

“No we didn’t.”

“We did. Hang on a second.” There were sounds of shuffling from Ace’s line on the snail. You heard the sound of a Cameko snail clicking. “Do you have a Proko snail with you?”

“I do…”

“Great, turn it on.”

You did as he said and turned your Proko snail on. As soon as it was on, it projected a marriage certificate. A marriage certificate with both yours and Ace’s names on it. Your eyes widened at the sight. There were official documents of you and Ace being married.

“Let’s get divorced.”

“Wha– why? I don’t wanna get divorced!”

“We were drunk, and I can’t be married to a pirate! I could lose my job over this!” You were screaming into the snail at this point.

“You could be a pirate and join the Whitebeard crew!”

“No way! I like being a marine. Why don’t you join the marines and you could work under my command!”

“C’mon, bein’ a pirate is way better than bein’ a marine!”

You were growing annoyed with Ace. Just as you were about to respond back, a knock interrupted your conversation with Ace. “C-commodore Y/N?”

“What is it? I’m busy.”

“You see, uh—”

Suddenly the door slammed open. Once you saw who opened the door, you ended your conversation with Ace and stood straight into a salute. “Vice Admiral Garp, sir.”

“No need to be so formal with me. We’re family now, aren’t we?” Garp walked into your office, dismissing the officer who led him there. “So, what’s this about your union with my grandson?