Chapter Text
Leo has never seen anything like this- or to be more specific, he has never seen anyone like this. It looked like a tiny human, about three inches tall and he was able to hold them in the palm of his hand. He had no idea what to do or if any of this was real. For all he knew he could have just been imagining this whole situation like his brothers kept saying he was. Of course anything was possible, but when he gently squeezed them with his thumb, it felt completely real.
For the past few weeks he had seen this small creature running through the kitchen and sometimes living room, grabbing whatever they could before quickly disappearing. Every time He brought it up to his family, they would wave it off as some weird prank he was trying to set up. He was unfortunately used to not being taken seriously and decided that he needed to take matters into his own hands as he began to plot out his scheme. Leo had spent a long time looking around the lair, every now and then seeing small holes in the wall that, even though they were there years ago already, seemed to have new meaning. Living in the sewers it was obvious that nothing was going to be clean and seeing walls being run down and broken in parts was pretty common. But the more he looked at these holes and crevices, the more he realized how there was more to it than he initially thought. Sometimes he saw random objects that were once lost but now were behind the wall. Other times it looked like he saw string or tacks being fashioned into a ladder formation. It was clear that there was much more going on and he was going to find out.
So it happened that one day he hid himself in the kitchen when everyone else was asleep and waited patiently for the small visitor. And sure enough, after seeing some movement in one of Mikey’s spice racks, he took the chance and managed to snag something. Judging by the size and movement he initially thought it was a rat, which wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. But the moment he slowly opened his hands to look, he quickly shut them closed again before he decided to run to his room for more privacy.
Now here he was with a tiny human in his hands that looked absolutely terrified. He felt bad the more he looked at them. Originally he was gonna shove this discovery into everyone’s faces (especially Donnie’s) but now he was feeling like the bad guy. “Hey hey it’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt ya.” He whispered, not wanting to freak the person out more as well as not wanting to disturb his sleeping brothers.
Leo sat down on his bed as he carefully held the tiny human in his open hands, doing what he could to ensure they were safe but also not wanting to let them go just yet. He had plenty of questions that needed to be answered and he wasn’t going to give up so easily. The small person slowly seemed to calmed down a little bit but continued to stare right back at Leo, seemingly afraid of what would happen if they looked away. Eventually, after an awkward silence between the two of them, they adjusted themselves so they were sitting more comfortably. “...what do you want with me?”
Their voice, just like their body was small. But Leo was still able to hear it as he nervously smiled. “I was just curious, I swear. I kept seeing you running around the place and I wanted to know more. I didn’t mean to freak you out.”
They did a little huff as they crossed their arms. “You could have asked.”
Leo couldn’t help but blush a little as he watched them. That was super cute. He grinned as he poked him gently on his cheek with a finger. “Yoouuuuu kept running away every time I even got a glimpse of you so how could I?”
The tiny human nearly fell backwards from the poke but he grabbed his finger, which was giant compared to him, to hold himself upright. Still, knowing that even if they did fall back that they would be safe was comforting to think about. He was so used to being scared and careful of everything that this was a nice change of pace. “Fair enough. But how was I supposed to know you weren’t going to hurt me?”
Seeing and feeling their little hands on his finger made him want to just hold them and protect them. He couldn’t really explain this sensation as his face turned red. “Do I really look like I would hurt you?”
The other blushed as well as they saw Leo’s face soften and look very genuine. Perhaps hecould trust him. This was the first time he had ever encountered any big people and though they looked a lot different from what he imagined, he felt at ease. Smiling, he leaned his head against Leo’s finger. “No, you don’t.”
Leo eventually had to look away as he felt embarrassed by how much he appreciated that gesture. He laughed quietly before looking back at them. “So, what’s your name? I’m Leo, or Neon Leon as my brothers call me.”
“Neon Leon huh?” They laughed. “I’m Avery.”
“So, Avery, do you really live in the walls?”
They leaned back into Leo’s palm while humming in thought. “The walls, the floor… wherever I can stay that’s safe really.”
“Safe?”
Avery chuckled a little. “The world isn’t exactly friendly to someone my size as you can tell.”
Leo frowned a little before he got an idea. “Well if you need a place to stay that’s safe you can stay here in my room.”
He blinked and looked at Leo confused. Once again his expression and tone were genuine but they didn’t know how to feel about this. “Why?”
Leo shrugged. “Why not? You were in the kitchen to get food right? I can easily get some for you instead of having to risk your life for it.”
Avery felt conflicted. How can they be so nice?! “That’s nice of you but I don’t feel right accepting that. I have nothing to offer you in return. Look I’ll just go back and-.” He tried to stand up but felt a sharp pain go through his leg that forced him to fall backwards.
“Woah- hey!” Leo was shocked to see them suddenly fall like that as he cupped his hands together to make sure Avery didn’t have a rough landing. “What’s wrong?”
He groaned as he tried to sit back up and looked at his leg, suddenly noticing that it was not as straight as it was before. “I think I broke it? I don’t know how though.”
Leo felt a wave of guilt go through him as he thought about it. Maybe when he went to grab Avery initially he was too rough? “I uh… think I might have done that…”
Avery thought about it for a moment and realized that he was probably right. They sighed as they laid down in his hands. “Well this sucks.”
“Don’t worry! I can have my brother, Dee, look at it for you. He always helped us out whenever one of us broke some bones.”
Avery hesitated, not sure if this was a good idea. Still with how his leg was there was no way he would be able to get around like before. Not without some sort of help. “Alright. I guess I’m not going anywhere for awhile anyway.”
Leo grinned as he held Avery up to his cheek as he nuzzled the little guy. “This is great! I get to prove my brothers wrong AND I get a new roommate.”
Avery was blushing really hard as the giant turtle nuzzled him. He had no idea what he just signed up for. “Okay okay enough!” He tried to push himself away but could only manage so much. “Look, can it at least wait until morning? I’m sleepy and in pain.” That wasn’t entirely true, he wasn’t that tired but he was definitely feeling his leg act up the more he was being moved.
“Right-“ Leo chuckled sheepishly as he put down Avery on the open spot of his bed that was next to his pillow. The little guy was like a doll. It was hard not to want to just hug and squeeze him with how cute he was. Still, he did his best to refrain as he laid down beside Avery, pulling the blanket over them. He couldn’t get over how small he looked on the bed with the big blanket over him now. “If you need anything let me know.”
Avery huffed again as he turned away from Leo, trying to ignore all the pain that action caused him. “I’m not a baby.”
Leo couldn’t help it as he placed one of his hands on top of Avery, using his thumb to gently rub his head. “No, but as you said you’re not going anywhere for awhile. Not with that leg anyway.”
Avery’s face was completely red as he felt the gentle rubbing on the back of his head and the comfort of being held like this. Why is he being so nice to me? He’s probably looking down on me. As soon as I can I’ll leave. I don’t want to be babied like this and I don’t want him to worry about me. He closed his eyes as he tried to get comfy. Despite his mental attempts to ignore all of the physical affection, he unconsciously wrapped his arm around Leo’s finger as if to pull it closer. He couldn’t deny how comfortable this was.
The turtle smiled as he felt Avery’s tiny arm on his finger as he also closed his eyes, ready to drift to sleep.