“We made pizza-puffs, pizza-tots, and all we need now is—duck à l’orange PIZZA!!!”

Mikey shouted with the kind of joy that could only come from someone who once deep-fried a burrito just to see if it would explode. He raised his arms triumphantly, a streak of sauce across his bandana, and turned toward you like he was unveiling a masterpiece.

You stood beside him, already laughing, dough stuck to your hands and flour in you're eyes. You were in too deep, and loving every second of it.

Across the room, Leo and Donnie were talking, Leo was yapping away with his crush: Usagi, and then there's Raph sat on an upside-down crate, arms crossed, watching the two of you with narrowed eyes and the energy of someone who had been through this before—and knew exactly where it was going.

“Last time you two made pizza,” he grumbled, “you burned the milk. I didn’t even know that was possible.”

You grinned, tossing a handful of cheese toward Mikey, who dramatically tried to catch it in his mouth and missed completely.

“Ok soooo we need cheese, pepperonis, dough, uh tch tch...” Mikey muttered, pacing in front of the open fridge like a game show contestant under pressure. His hands fluttered over containers like he was searching for buried treasure.

“OLIVES!” Leo shouted out of nowhere.

He gasped, pointing at Leo like he'd just cracked a secret code. “YES. Genius. Pure genius!”

Behind you, Donnie muttered from his workspace without looking up, “No pineapple. It’s incompatible.”

You giggled, nodding solemnly. “It’s science.”

Raph just sighed louder and muttered under his breath, “You two are gonna destroy the kitchen again, I swear...”

You and Mikey shared a glance. You both knew he was right. But were you going to stop? Absolutely not. With a proud toss, Mikey flung the dough into the air. It stuck to the ceiling. Neither of you acknowledged it.

“Let’s do this,” he said with a determined smile. “Let’s make a pizza so powerful... it makes April cry tears of joy.”

You bumped fists and dove into the chaos again, toppings flying, laughter echoing through the room. It was messy. Ridiculous. A disaster waiting to happen. And it felt exactly like home.