Rasey One-Shots

A Visit from Raphael

Meant to have this done by last Christmas whoops. Hope y'all had a very gentle holiday, whatever you do or don't celebrate, and I hope 2025 treats you well! This is written to be read in the same way as A Visit From St. Nicholas ('Twas the Night Before Christmas) by Clement Clarke Moore. I hope it's ok! <3

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the city
Not a creature was stirring, sans Raphael and Casey;

Up the building Raph climbed, using his ninjitsu skills,
Where all Casey can think of is how insomnia kills;

Sooner than later came a soft rapping upon the human's bedroom window pane,
Then he cursed at his boyfriend's silhouette, still as a cane;

"What are you doing here?" he whispered and let him in, sounding more like a hiss;
"Merry Christmas to you, too," the turtle remarked, leaning in for a kiss.

"It's freezing out there," Casey replied after having accepted,
And this, Raph knew, is something he should have expected;

"Couldn't even tell," came the sarcastic reply,
While Casey shaked his head with a fond sigh;

"Why aren't you with your family?" the human corrected himself, guiding the other to his bed;
Then Raph grinned a grin he thinks he wants to wed;

"Well," the terrapin all but hummed,
"It's our first Christmas together, and if I didn't see you, I'd be pretty bummed."

As much as Casey agreed and is always happy to see him,
There is still something that makes his brain swim;

"What do you usually do on Christmas?" he inquired while lying down,
Which caused Raph to shrug with a casual frown;

"Nothing too special," he confessed,
Then followed suit, nuzzling his nose into his chest;

"Splinter usually talks about Japan," he continued, curling into a wad;
That's when Casey wrapped a blanket around his bod;

"He's always said that Christmas is a couples' holiday,
So it only makes sense that I'm here," he did say;

Casey couldn't help but process, feeling Raph's arms tighten,
Holding him closer, he feels his face brighten;

"A couples' holiday?" teased Casey,
"Wanna explain more of that to me?"

Not picking up on the tease, Raph relaxed further with sigh,
"Mostly matching clothes and a date," came the tired reply;

It was Casey's turn to sigh, staring distantly in yearn,
The things he wishes they could do together, and to have Raph learn;

Malls, movie theaters, an amusement or skate park,
All places he wanted to take him not in the dark;

"I'm sorry we're stuck here, then," he said in a wistful sigh,
For he knew if he thought too hard, he'd be trying not to cry;

A slight hum rose from the terrapin, who simultaneously shrugged,
"At least I'm with you. I'm not really bugged."

The hockey player smiled at that, then pulled back just a bit,
"I guess next year, we'll plan our matching 'fit."

The turtle turned bright red, then once again buried his face,
All the while, his mind started to race;

Casey, startled, couldn't help but wheeze a quiet laugh,
Which earned him a harsh glare from Raph;

With a kiss to his forehead, the human thought to see,
"You up for a Christmas movie?"

Really, he just wanted to go to bed, after facing the New York cold,
And still: "Sure," Casey was told;

Excitedly, he threw on a favorite in a cinch,
Which happened to be the 1960s special with the Grinch;

The light of the TV revealed Raph half asleep only part way in,
And the human couldn't help but kiss his head again;

After lying back down, he said softly, "I love you."
"I know," his boyfriend replied with a soft smirk. "I love you too."

ALAS. It is DONE. I know it's not phenomenal I'd just also like to point out how difficult it can be to find rhymes, and to get this out with a limit bc I tried to keep it the same amount of lines. That's also the separation between each rhyming pattern. To explain a little: Japan is much more reserved than the US and part of couples tradition is matching clothes bc that's just as intimate as a kiss over here. It's not covered much but Splinter didn't get much time in the US before being mutated so he wouldn't know much about US customs unless he did mad research but even then he'd know things in Japan he did with his wife. Christmas is also very not religious over there since the Christianity branch is an incredible minority, so it's more abt romance whereas it's been a lot of friends and family in the US in the non-religious Christmas celebrators. ANYway sorry for the rambling and for this surpassing Christmas in most time zones including my own. Again, whatever you do or don't celebrate, I hope life has been decently easy on y'all and thank you for putting up w this lol. Until next time!

Published: Dec. 26 1:36 a.m. EST