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Winter was never the best season to be living underground, the hard concrete walls from the sewers always made it feel colder and to make things worse, the turtles had a harder time dealing with cold temperatures, it made them feel tired and sluggish, which got annoying and hard to deal with when they went out on patrol, and cold is simply not a comfortable weather so they always did their best to keep themselves warm.
Today was a particularly cold day, the temperature was way below 0 and the heaters Donnie had installed around the lair for situations like this, weren’t working, leaving them with only blankets as a means for getting warm.
“Hurry up Donnie, it’s freezing in here!” Leo complained as he shivered in his blue winter jacket next to Raph in the living room while their purple brother worked on trying to fix the heaters in the lair. The red snapping turtle was making what could be described as a nest using all the blankets and pillows they had, signing “this should help keep us warm” once he was happy with the result, sitting down tapping the spot next to him for Leo to join him.
“I am very well aware of the temperature, thank you for reminding me dear brother of mine, sarcasm. I’m working as fast as I can, but this junk simply refuses to work-! Frustrated grunt!”
Donnie's replies were slightly muffled since their face was covered with a scarf, they were clearly getting very frustrated with their failed attempts at fixing the device. They drop the tools they were using in defeat and angrily join their other two brothers in their blanket nest in the middle of the room while muttering something to themselves under their breath, sitting next to Raph.
“Ugghhhhhhhhh come onnn Donnieeeeee, you made this thing how can you possibly not know how to fix it” Leo exclaims dramatically at the sight of his twin walking over to sit next to Raph, Donnie in response, says “I only modified some heaters we found in a dumpster last week! Like I already said, it’s junk, I would like to see you try and fix it yourself if you’re so desperate for warmth!”
Raph chirps loudly and places a hand on the twin’s shoulders as to grab their attention and pull them apart before they start fighting.
“Drop it you two the last thing we need is an argument right now, besides, Mikey is making hot chocolate! Once he joins us, we can get cozier and start a Jupiter Jim marathon!”
His intervention helps to avoid the argument to escalate any further, and almost as if on cue, Mikey walks into the living room holding 4 cups of hot chocolate.
“Heyyy who’s thirsty for some hot chocolate!”
Leo doesn’t even give Mikey a minute to sit down before he’s already snatched the blue mug from his hands, taking a long sip of the hot beverage, already looking in a better mood than a second ago.
“I made everyone’s favorite! Chocolate with mint and a shot of coffee for Don, white chocolate with matcha for Leo and for Raph chocolate with strawberry and maple syrup , all with extra marshmallows and whipped cream!“ He gives the other two their respective mugs before sitting down between Leo and Raph holding his own mug of chocolate with caramel and hazelnut. Raph chirps happily as he drinks, setting his mug down for a second to communicate.
“This is so good, thanks big man!” His pleased expression further confirming what he signed, Donnie nods in agreement as he drinks the hot chocolate.
“Aww I’m glad you guys like it, I made it with lots of love” Mikey says getting cozy under the blanket that covered the other 3 brothers.
“Stop the chatting and turn on the movies, I want to watch something while my drink is still hot!” Leo said, sounding rather enthusiastic to start the Jupiter Jim marathon, Donnie turns the projector on to watch the movies.
—
A few movies into the marathon, they were all getting rather sleepy. The blankets and hot drinks had done their job at keeping them warm and cozy, maybe a little bit too cozy since Mikey was already struggling to keep his eyes open, Raph kept yawning every five minutes, Donnie already had their eyes closed and Leo struggled to not collapse on the blankets. Eventually Leo gives up on trying to stay awake and moves closer to his siblings, resting comfortably on the big snapping turtle’s arm closing his eyes, they could all use some sleep right about now.
Noticing how equally tired the others are, Raph shuffles around a bit in the blanket nest making sure they’re all comfortable and covered with the bigger blanket before gently pulling his brothers into a warm hug, the smaller turtles huddling closer into the embrace really liking the comfort their older brother provides, being together like this made them feel safe and happy.
They quickly fall asleep on top of each other in what might be the warmest and most comfortable turtle pile of their lives. Maybe cold weather wasn’t so bad if it meant they got to be together like this more often.