The Crescent’s Ascent

The Crescent’s Ascent

Chapter 1: Normal (not)

Leo stared at his reflection in the mirror, his eyes weary and tired.

Pathetic.

He offers himself a cocky grin and winks, firing off playful finger guns.

“How we doing, mi hermanos?” he practices softly. “Say, wanna drop by Hueso’s later?”

He holds the facade for another moment before groaning and letting his face fall. He grips the edges of the sink so tightly that his knuckles turn white.

“Get it together, Leo.” He chides himself. “You’re the face man, so fix your face!”

He straightens his shoulders and tries out another smirk, eyeing the tenseness in the rest of his body. Using the mirror as a guide he shifts his weight comfortably to the side, unclenching his jaw and cocking his head.

Better, definitely better.

A perfect facade if not for his guarded eyes.

He grumbles and leans closer to the mirror, bracing his trembling hands on the sink. When had his eyes lost their sparkle? When had his vibrant personality gone so… numb?

It didn’t matter anyways, he had plenty practice putting on a show. He would just shove away his emotions and portray whatever the situation called for:

Raph typically needed him to act a bit more chill, to be continually at ease and level-headed, a plan and a quip ready for any situation.

Sweet Mikey needed a playful big brother, someone he could goof off with and talk to without fear of judgement. Leo was always there for his little bro, whether it be admiring his art or comforting him while he cried, the tender-hearted little turtle (er, big turtle).

Donnie just needed someone to give him company and keep the mood lively. He didn’t really show emotions and would rather die than admit he needed affection, but on the inside he could get overwhelmed and panicky when left alone for too long. He was also quiet, which allowed him to be productive at times but also allowed him to get trapped in his head. Leo know how to fix that, and knew that although his excellent puns could occasionally annoy his twin they also helped him remain level-headed. A wall to bounce his ideas off of.

Mash all of those expectations together and you get one Hamato Leonardo, the witty and hilarious face-man of the Mad Dogs.

Not the weak and trembling turtle staring at him in the mirror.

“Come on!” He growls at his reflection, “Why is this so hard?”

“Leo?” A quick knock at the door made Leo jump. Mikey’s chipper voice came to him again from the other side: “You almost done, bro? We’re gonna go on patrol, then Raph said we could stop by Hueso’s for pizza!”

Leo took a deep breath, ignoring the tightness in his chest. Knowing his expression would affect his voice he forced a smile. “Yeah, sounds great Mike! Be out in a few!”

“You sure you’re good? You’ve already been in there for a bit.”

“You think looks this good come at the snap of your fingers?” He joked back, and he heard Mikey snort.

“Yeah, yeah. See you in a few, then.”

“Yep! See ya bro!” Leo’s whole body sagged with relief at the sound of Mikey’s footsteps fading. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself. It was just a quick patrol, then pizza. Normal Leo would be all over this. Well, maybe not patrol, but a jaunt through NYC with his brothers? Maybe a race with Mikey, some banter with Donnie and a pizza-eating challenge with Raph? He should be thrilled!

His chest tightened again. But it would only take one misstep, he thought. One little fumble and all hell might break loose. Or worse, a Prison Dimension…

All because of one little failed catch…

Leo hissed and covered his head with his hands, trying to steady his breathing. It was okay, everything was okay. He was okay too. He just needed to keep on his toes and be perfect or at least not the screw-up he knew he was…

He could do that, couldn’t he?

And even if he did slip up, his brothers were there to catch him.

Duh.

Always.

Then why did it feel like someone the Kraang had his lungs in a death grip?

He huffed and shook his head to clear it. Alright Leon, showtime, he told himself, getting up from the bathroom floor (when did he get on the floor?). He put a grin on his face and walked out of the bathroom with ease.

I’m cool, I'm cooler than a cucumber, he encouraged himself as he rested one of his odachi across his shoulders. “Sup, mi hermanos. Your Face Man has arrived.”

There was a general groan from his three brothers, causing him to smirk. Operation Set-The-Mood: success.

“You’re late, ‘Nardo.” Donnie grumbled, tapping on his wrist tech.

Leo switches position, bracing the tip of his odachi against the floor to lean on it. “Excuse me, but a king is never late. Everyone else is simply… early.”

“First off, you should give up on that ‘King Leo’ idea. Never gonna happen. Secondly, you stole that from Princess Diaries.” Donnie replied in his usual deadpan voice.

“Hey, if the shoe fits!” Leo shrugged at the jab to his movie-reference. “But anyways, are you gonna stare at your tech all day or are we all gonna go out and have some fun?”

Donnie started to retort on his Cinderella reference, but Raph cut in before he could.

“Patrol first, then fun.” The snapper reminded, standing up and stretching.

“Aw, who says patrol can’t be fun?” Leo whined playfully, stomach twisting into knots.

“Come on, Leo. We gotta focus. We’re heroes!”

“Yeah, I’m gonna have to do an IOU on that pizza bite.” Leo joked. “But in the meantime, vamanos hermanos!”

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Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of The Crescent’s Ascent! The fic on AO3 as well as more chapters can be found here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/63911992/chapters/163921498