A few days had passed since Ellie and Brooke had last seen their new friends. Ellie had spent her weekend helping Carol, Ivy and Harper organise the gallery for the upcoming showcase. However, her free evenings had been used to plan out what she may paint on the Lair wall.

It was still hard for her to believe that she had agreed to paint a mural inside of the turtles' home thanks to Mikey's persistence. And while she was honoured to do it for him and his brothers, who didn't seem all that fussed when she agreed to Mikey's request, she also knew that if she fucked it up they would be stuck with it forever.

But Brooke had encouraged her to push aside her doubts the best she could, so she had been at work during her peaceful evenings, coming up with different ideas. She also viewed the video she had of Casey being thrown to the ground by Splinter, mainly to help her figure out an idea that would fit nicely within the overall aesthetic of the Lair.

She had a vague idea of what she wanted to do, something that obviously featured the turtles, something that wasn't too dark or blindingly bright and, most importantly, something they wouldn't hate having to see daily.

Monday morning seemed to come within the blink of an eye for Ellie, with it being her day off she allowed herself to sleep in, a luxury she wasn't used to. When she did decide to rise from her covers, she read the time on her phone, quarter past ten. She figured Brooke would have already been gone for her first day back as an officer, and she was proven right when she saw her sister's bedroom door left wide open.

Ellie pushed apart the curtains and glanced out the large glass windows in the living room that gave a proper view of the streets below, it was the first time in the mornings that she could usually check the weather.

Immediately sunlight began to shine into the apartment through the large windows, Ellie could feel the heat through her thin pyjamas and turned back to her room to change. She came back out in a white floral print dress and her hair twisted into a braided bun, a few loose strands picturesquely framed her face.

Flopping onto the couch she began flipping through some of the designs she had come up with in her sketchpad, she decided to try and combine different elements of each sketch. Pencil brushing the paper lightly, she erased anything she felt didn't fit or just plainly didn't like.

Following a half hour of sketching, she came up with something she actually liked. It had each of the turtles, in all their green glory, with half of their faces showing, the right side to be exact. She had tried her best to include every scar, spot and any other detail they had on their face or body, relying heavily on her memory considering she didn't have any pictures of the four brothers to see if she had in fact nailed every last aspect.

Grabbing a canvas tote she carefully threw in several of her paints, brushes and a few palettes inside, along with her sketchbook and pencil. She had a range of many shades of different colours in her bag, although she wasn't sure if they were all needed. Tossing her earphones in as well, she began her walk out of the apartment and down to the Lair.

Needing to make one stop before she headed for the Lair, she walked inside the Starbucks that was just down the street for her Iced Latte.

Sipping away at the cold drink she continued her walk to the Lair, having managed to remember the route from the last time she had walked it. She sauntered down the lonely alleyway and lifted the manhole cover up and popped down into sewers. Careful not to step into the puddles of sewage water, the sound of her sneakers squeaking echoed quietly through the tunnel.

As she approached the entrance she could hear Mikey loudly saying something to whoever else was there with him, stopping just before the entrance to collect herself, Ellie took a few breaths before walking in.

Instantly she was noticed by Mikey, who was hovering around the Lair using his rocket skateboard.

"Ellie! You're back" He enthusiastically jumped off his board and went over to greet her. Mikey's loud and exuberant voice drew the others' attention to Ellie.

Donnie briefly looked up from whatever he was working on in his Lab to pass a quick nod to her before returning to his work. Leo turned from the training circle placed in the centre of the Lair, stepping off he followed his youngest brother and went to greet her.

Mikey's loud exclamation had even caught Raph's attention from the workout room, turning his head, he saw the small brunette currently being tightly embraced by Mikey. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth before he turned his attention back to the punching bag.

"So what brings you here Ellie?" The blue-clad terrapin asked as Mikey released her from his almost bone-crushing hug.

Reaching into her tote bag she pulled out her sketchbook, flipping to the drawing she had done earlier. "Well, remember how Mikey was super persistent about wanting me to paint a mural in the Lair?" 

The two turtles in front of her nodded. "Well, over the last couple of days, I've come up with a few sketches of what, I'm hoping, you guys might like" She finally got to the page with her final design on it.

Flipping the book around so Leo and Mikey could see it, her hand holding it at the top of the page. The two of them gazed at the drawing in amazement, the attention to detail in the sketch was impeccable.

The brothers had obviously seen her talent for art when she had tossed Mikey her phone the last time they had seen each other, but what they were seeing now only appeared to further enhance their amazement with her artistic skills.

Ellie meanwhile felt like she was one second away from having a panic attack, from how shot her nerves were. While she liked the sketch she had done, the boys ultimately had the final say on what she'd be painting. So all she could do was pray that they somewhat liked her design.

"Woah, that's amazing"

She let out a tiny breath of relief. "Really? I-I wasn't too sure about it, so if you want any changes to be made to it-" She stammered before Mikey interrupted her nervous ramble.

"No way, Angelcakes, your art skills are next level" He retorted. Leo nodded his head in agreement with his younger brother.

At those words, Ellie's lips broke out into a grin. Mikey then directed her to the part of the Lair that he wanted her to paint. It was a blank area of concrete wall near one of the Lair's exits.

After some more encouragement and wishes of good luck from the youngest turtle, he left her to map out how she would adapt her sketch into a portrait and how she would cover the unevenness and roughness of the concrete wall with her paints that were meant to be used on canvases.

Slipping her earphones in, Ellie clicked on her painting playlist. Calm, soothing music filled her ears. It was almost impossible for her to paint without having her music playing either through her headphones or speakers in the apartment.

And she prepared to start her piece.

Squeezing out all of her tubes of green onto one of the palettes she had brought down with her, she grabbed one of her bigger brushes she had and slowly began to copy the outlines of the four brothers that she made within her sketchbook onto the rough sewer wall, painting in the dark green colour of their skin.

It was a new experience for her to illustrate her design on a rough texture. Being so used to painting on smooth walls and canvases. But Ellie was never going to shy away from trying something new, so she did her best to adjust her techniques to work on the concrete wall.

An hour in, Ellie had finished painting the four brothers' green scaly skin and was just about ready to move on to painting in the minuscule details when she saw a figure standing just to the left of where she was painting in her peripheral vision. Turning slightly, she found Leonardo standing off to the left admiring her work.

"Oh, hey Leo" Ellie chirped up at him, pulling out one of her earphones, slightly startled at the fact that he was standing just there watching her work.

"Hey, it's looking good so far" He nodded to the painting.

Ellie looked back at her work. "You think so?" She asked, wanting to make sure it was somewhat acceptable.

"I know so, I mean I'm looking right at it" He gushed.

She blushed at his words of praise, chewing on her bottom lip. It was a bad habit that she had to clam up at any sort of praise or attention, not knowing how to accept it.

Seeing her fluster after his comment of praise, Leo chuckled. He couldn't help but find her little actions adorable, the way that someone could be so talented yet not believe that she was even remotely good at her craft.

Changing the topic away from her artistic skills, Ellie decided to question Leo on his sudden appearance an hour into her painting project. "So what's up?" She subtly raised one of her brows at the blue terrapin.

Leo shifted his posture slightly following her question. "I wasn't sure if you were hungry, but I just made some Yakisoba if you want some?" He cited as the reason behind his abrupt interruption of her work.

Flattered by his generous offer, she accepted. Setting down her brush and palette, Ellie and Leo made their way over to the kitchen. The blue-branded terrapin quickly dished out their portions, giving Ellie her serving first.

Ellie wasn't too familiar with Japanese dishes. She liked them, but she just didn't have them regularly. Mainly because all the places near her apartment that offered Japanese cuisine cost much more than what she could justify spending on a single meal.

Having both learned and been taught to live frugally, by her parents. It was advice that she and Brooke still followed now that they lived on their own.

Pulling out one of the chairs at the red racetrack, Ellie sat down at the dining table. Leo quickly joined her after he had dished out his own bowl.

Ellie was pleasantly surprised by the warm noodle stir-fry. Every mouthful of vegetables, meat and noodles with a sweet and savoury sauce pleased her tastebuds.

A conversation between them quickly picked up about Ellie's job. Since the last time they had seen one another she had briskly mentioned that she worked at an art gallery, Leo asked her questions about her job and her love for art in general.

"So how'd you end up working there?" He asked politely.

"Oh, it's a pretty boring story. I basically walked into the gallery one day and asked if they were hiring, to which Carol said yes. Two days later I had an interview and by the end of the week I had a job" She summarised how she ended up working at the gallery.

She personally found it a pretty boring story, there wasn't anything special about it which is why she so heavily condensed the story. Nevertheless, Leo seemed intrigued by her retelling as he subtly encouraged her to go more in-depth.

Conversation flowed seamlessly between the two, surprising Ellie. She often found it difficult to hold a conversation with anyone given her quieter nature. Her timid self usually turned people away from attempting to interact with her, thinking they wouldn't get more than a one-word reply.

Leo, along with his brothers, had easily picked up on her more reserved personality by simply watching her interactions with her sister. They were clearly very different, Brooke was like a firework whereas Ellie could've been compared to a mouse.

As Leo took another bite of the Yakisoba in front of him, Ellie focused on him. Her dark brown eyes paid close attention to the blue-masked turtle. It was the first chance she had to really see the minuscule details that she would be painting after she finished eating, so Ellie was going to take advantage of the opportunity to ensure that his portrait was close to perfection.

Her eyes then flickered down, catching a glimpse of black ink that was etched into Leonardo's scaly skin. There were two from what she could see, one on his left bicep and one on his right shoulder. Each of the designs was elaborate and masterly done.

Seeing her gaze focusing on his body, Leo called out to her. "Everything okay, Ellie?"

Ellie removed her gaze from his tattoos and returned it to his eyes. She knew it was wrong to stare at anyone and worried that she had quickly come across as rude to the blue-clad terrapin.

"Y-Yeah, sorry I don't mean to stare" She began, immediately apologising for her previous actions. "It's just... I never noticed you had tattoos" She admitted the reason behind her staring.

Her admission took Leo aback. He was no stranger to having people stare at him, especially after the whole incident with the NYPD. The only difference was that Ellie wasn't staring out of fear and distaste, instead, she was staring out of pure, innocent, curiosity.

Subconsciously, Ellie reached one of her hands out. She halted her movements before being able to complete them. "S-Sorry" She again apologised. "May I?" She quietly asked, not wanting to push any boundaries considering they were still becoming familiar with one another.

Seeing the spark of genuine interest in her dark eyes, Leo nodded.

At his approval, her dainty hands began to trace over the tattoo that was inscribed on his right shoulder. It was unique that was for sure, Ellie wasn't exactly sure what the design was but it appeared to be some sort of take on a tribal tattoo.

As Ellie's fingers outlined his tattoo, Leo watched her closely. Observing every movement her face made, whether it was voluntary or not. His blue eyes watched her fascinated wide dark brown eyes peak with inquisitiveness.

Finally, after a few minutes of peaceful silence, while Ellie had extensively looked over Leonardo's tattoo, she pulled her eyes back up to meet his. Which were still tentatively surveying her.

"Incredible" Ellie admitted to the blue-clad terrapin. "If you don't mind my asking, how did you get your tattoo?" She mustered up the courage to ask.

A smile played on Leo's lips as Ellie kept her fingers on the outline of his shoulder tattoo. "Well, when we were fourteen," He referred to himself and his brothers. "We found a discarded tattoo gun near a water drain" He explained.

Leo continued, reciting the memory of the brothers finding the pen and tattooing each other. As he finished sharing, he looked at the petite artist, who sat completely captivated by the explanation.

He had to hold back a laugh after seeing the bewitched expression that she wore. Wide dark brown eyes and slightly parted lips. She mindlessly twirled the fork she had been using to eat in her hand. The utensil would occasionally hit the edge of the bowl and ding against the ceramic material.

Seeing that they were both finished eating, Leo took both of the bowls and washed them off in the sink.

The two of them continued to chat as they walked back to the corner of the Lair where Ellie's unfinished mural and art supplies remained. Instead of leaving to allow Ellie to continue her work alone, Leo stood off to the side and carried on conversing with her.

Ellie normally felt uncomfortable with people watching her paint, but strangely she didn't mind having Leo keep her company while she completed her piece. Despite the fact that they were still new to each other, Ellie felt incredibly comfortable around the large blue terrapin. He radiated an innate warmth, creating a soothing and secure atmosphere around him.

And as an introvert, Ellie appreciated the sense of calm that allowed her anxieties to fade away. Especially in the relatively new environment of the Lair.