#leoraphweek

Following training the next morning, Donnie asked Leo if he could help him test some new equipment (read: hold up this here flashlight and touch nothing else) and then Mikey asked him if he could help him make lunch (read: set the table and touch absolutely nothing else). With lunch finished and seemingly no further requests, Leo happily headed to his room to rest before that night’s patrol.

But he stopped short one step into his bedroom. Because sitting neatly in the middle of his bed was a sword sharpening kit. A brand new sword sharpening kit complete with an unopened bottle of choji oil, a large uchiko pad, and an untouched whetstone. He gaped at the surprise before he let green fingers slide over the beautiful materials.

Then he eyed his door in thought, somehow knowing who it was that had left him such a present. His lips curled up into a smile. This was a game he could play.

When Raphael entered his room the following evening, he found Chompy already curled up in sleep in a soft new dog bed, a replacement for the last one Chompy had accidentally disintegrated.

After being teased by a certain delicious scent all of the next day, Leo finally found the source - about three pounds of dark chocolate shoved into various corners of his dresser drawers – he knew his nose wasn’t deceiving him!

They weren’t patrolling that night, giving them each a free night to do as they pleased, so Leo snuck out in the early afternoon and returned just as Raphael was leaving to go hang out with Casey.

And when Raphael arrived at Casey’s apartment to watch the game, he found Casey staring dumbfounded at a feast of Murakami’s and cheesecake spread out across his coffee table.

To which Casey had exclaimed, “It was just here when I got home from work!”

After Mikey sneezed and sniffled his way through their morning training, Leo sent him to bed to sleep off his cold and helped Donatello (read: just hold this tray and touch nothing I place on it) bring Mikey some tea, toast, and comics to help keep him in bed resting.

Patrol was cancelled that night, giving them each another free night to do as they wished. Leo was trying to decide how to spend his time when he found another surprise sitting in the middle of his meditation mat: the newest Star Wars movie, a box of microwavable popcorn, and another entire bag of dark chocolate.

All of his brothers joined him in the pit for movie night, with Mikey bundled in a sea of blankets.

And Leo did his best not to slide his eyes over to watch Raphael too often.

Leo had been out almost all day with Donnie helping Leatherhead clean up his place after a flash flood had scattered his belongings. He was sore and tired and headed straight to his room when he returned to the lair.

However, all thoughts of a nap flew from his mind when he spotted Raphael leaning against his doorframe with a secretly pleased look on his face. Raphael lifted the gift Leo had left for him earlier that morning in one hand.

“Where’d ya even find this?”

Leo leaned his shell against the opposite side of his doorframe and smiled as well. Raphael had been on a mission over the past few weeks to not only find a motorcycle helmet that was large enough to fit his head, but that also had a visor that provided adequate privacy for his face.

And Leo had found one. It was shiny and in perfect condition and a beautiful royal blue. He hoped Raph wouldn’t mind the color.

Raph’s eyes narrowed slightly, correctly suspicious that Leo wasn’t going to answer his question. But then his eyes softened as a small smile that heated Leo’s insides pulled at his lips. He took one step towards Leo and the fingers of his free hand slid under the strap that ran across Leo’s plastron, allowing him to tug Leo flush against him.

“My turn again,” he whispered. “Are ya ready for yer next gift?”

His eyes stayed locked on Leo’s blue eyes as he moved his face in closer, silently asking for permission that Leo was only to happy to grant by tilting his head slightly and slipping his eyes shut as Raph’s lips pressed against his own.

It began as a simple soft press of lips against lips. But as soon as Raphael began to move his mouth and deepen it, Leo responded by fitting himself even closer to Raph, letting his plastron scrape against Raphael’s golden plastron as his hands lifted to cup Raph’s face.

And when they both pulled back a few moments later, he was left thinking that it just wasn’t fair that Raphael looked so damn good panting and flushed against him.

“Didja like yer presents?” Raphael asked in a continued whisper.  

Leo nodded happily.

“What are ya gonna do about this one?”

Leo’s mouth quirked up at the sight of both Raph’s smirk and the teasing glint present in those bright green eyes.

And if someone asked where he was going, he’d just smile that tight smile that meant he was hiding something and respond with, “I’ll be back in a couple hours” before he was through the turnstiles and out of sight.

He’d tried to follow him once, but given that the turtle was a sneaky ninja master, Raphael probably should’ve known better. Raph lost all trace of him five steps out of their home. So he had swung himself back around, returned to the pit, and pretended to watch a movie with Mikey.

He was not pouting.

At all.

Admittedly, he had hoped that his second-in-command title could expand beyond their patrols. With their father gone, he was worried about Leo. Mikey and Donnie too, of course. But Leo had spent a lot of his free time with their sensei. And now that free time was being spent outside the lair. Away from his brothers. Away from Raphael.

And Raph had kind of hoped – at this point in their lives - that he could be the shoulder Leo needed. He didn’t believe there was any reason for Leo to shoulder all of his responsibilities alone.

And so he sat in the pit even after the movie was over and Mikey had left for his room. He waited until Leo came walking back into their home and wondered what it was Leo was doing that led to such relaxed shoulders on the normally tense leader turtle.

“Don’t stay up too late, Raph,” Leo said as he walked by, headed for his own room for the night.

Raph huffed out a breath and glared lightly at the back of Leo’s stubborn head. He was only up this late because he was waiting to make sure Leo made it home safely! And to see if there was anything Leo wanted to talk about upon his return. Like maybe share where he’d been going. Or how his day went. Or his hopes and dreams for the future.

Just stuff like that.

But then Leo’s shell was out of sight and Raph sighed and pushed himself to his feet to head to his own bed.

Raphael got smarter the next night. He ducked out of the end of their patrol with the excuse that he was going to meet up with Casey, leaving Leo, Mikey, and Donnie to head home alone. Although he still trailed after his brothers, keeping an eye on them from afar to secretly make sure they made it home safely. Then he double-backed in the tunnels, found a spot to hide, and waited.

 Since Leo usually got a head start, making it impossible for Raph to follow him every night, he’d decided he would just have to have the head start tonight. Ninja master or not, there was no way Leo was going to lose him this time. He’d grown up under the same damn sensei as Leo after all. He’d been taught the same skills.  

So he employed his stealth skills and followed Leo. And when Leo climbed a ladder and exited the tunnels through a manhole cover, Raphael waited a respectable amount of time before he followed suit. He climbed the first building he could reach once he was also topside and then stared out over the rooftops, looking for any sign of Leo. He frowned when there was none, and then began to consider the surrounding buildings, wondering if Leo had entered any of them. Every establishment in this row was currently closed, although the sun would be rising soon enough.

He stared for an extra long beat at the building directly across from where he was perched, and decided to follow his gut instinct that told him to check out the inside. The back door was unlocked, another good hint that he was going in the right direction. And when he finally found Leo, he said the first thing that came to mind.

“Yer such a dork.”

Leo had known Raph had been following him earlier, and had initially debated whether to continue to his usual secret place or lead Raph somewhere else – some rooftop maybe – and pretend he unwound by staring down into some dirty alley. In the end, the need to come here and actually unwind had won out. And he figured Raph knowing about this place wouldn’t be the end of the world.

Still, as he lifted his eyes to Raphael’s face, he expected to see an eye roll and hear a scoffing laugh at his position. He was, after all, propped back on his shell against a row of cages in the back of this cat shelter. He had one arm slung across his plastron, creating a safe place for the three kittens that were currently nestled there, purring even in their sleep.

But instead of a teasing expression from Raphael, he was instead faced with a fond smile and warm green eyes. Directed right at him.

He let a small smile pull at his own mouth and was immediately pleased to see Raph’s eyes light up at the gesture. Raph crouched down next to him and lifted the fourth kitten, the one who refused to nap with the others and was instead inspecting the floor outside his cage. Leo’s eyes stayed on those emerald hands and he watched how gentle they could be outside of battle. The little orange kitten purred and rubbed its small head against Raph’s fingers, insistent on some attention.

“They give their affection so freely,” Leo murmured.

“I dunno, this one seems kinda greedy to me,” Raph said with a grin as he was easily persuaded to continue petting the little one behind the ears. He finally relented and settled himself on the floor as well, perhaps sitting purposefully close enough so that his knee could touch Leo’s.

“You don’t seem too bothered.”

Raph chuckled at that and shook his head. He glanced back over at Leo and found Leo’s attention had returned to the three kittens asleep against his plastron. One of the little ones suddenly stretched out its front paws with a wide yawn, but its eyes never opened and it soon resettled in its original spot and was back to sleep.

“Is that why you come here?” Raph asked in a softer voice. “Easy affection?”

Leo began to softly lift the sleeping kittens with his free hand in order to place them back in their designated cage. “The shelter is going to open soon. We need to get moving.”

“I bet Mikey and Donnie, well - ,” Raph scratched the side of his face in thought, “maybe just Mikey, would enjoy having these guys around.”

Leo peered over at Raphael slowly. “You mean take them home?”

Raph nodded in return. He lifted himself back to his feet and set off towards the back of the shelter with the tiny fluffball still bundled in his arms.

Leo returned the final sleepy kitten to its cage before jumping up to follow. “Wh-what are you doing?”

“Here we go,” Raph murmured as he pulled a small carrier out of one of the storage closets. He handed it to Leo, deposited his own small kitten inside, and then began digging through the rest of the closet. He emerged a few moments later with arms full of kitty litter and kitten food.

“We can’t just take this!” Leo said when he finally spotted what Raph was collecting.

“Sure we can. I bet they hand this out to everyone who adopts.” Raph made his way back to the original cage. “Plus, we’re taking four kittens off their hands. Really, they owe us,” he called over his shoulder. “Now get over here and add these sleeping ones to the carrier so that fourth one will stop yowling like that.”

Leo couldn’t keep the small smile off his face as he returned to Raphael’s side and moved the three kittens he’d been holding earlier into the carrier, which did immediately silence the fourth.

“Big baby,” Raphael murmured in the direction of that fourth kitten. “Gonna give that one to Mikey.”

Leo chuckled and then watched as Raph’s face, the features of which had been softened ever since he’d snuck into the shelter, turned away from the side of the carrier in order to meet Leo’s eyes again. Leo opened his mouth to say something, maybe actually thank Raph for following him, but the moment was interrupted by the sound of a key in the front door. So he quickly locked the door on the carrier and silently swept out the back behind Raphael.

They didn’t speak again until they were underground, walking through a familiar subway tunnel towards their home. Leo offered to carry one of the bags Raph was holding, but Raph only shrugged him off, unintentionally flexing the muscles in his arms, displaying the reason why he had no trouble carrying the measly ten or so combined pounds of food and kitty litter.

The lair was quiet when they returned, and after checking to make sure Mikey and Donnie were safely sleeping in their beds, Leo helped Raph find a box that would be acceptable as a litter box before releasing the kittens from the carrier. They set out two small bowls of food and Leo watched as the kitten began to happily eat their breakfast.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Leo watched as Raph gently set down a water bowl in between the food bowls. “Especially four of them?”

“Of course,” Raph said, taking a seat next to him. “They belong together, right?”

Leo chewed on his lower lip briefly, thinking about the implications of such a simple statement, but nodded a moment later. He leaned his shell back against the back of the pit’s seating and exhaled a slow breath.

“Plus, if they can make ya look relaxed like that, then I think they’re good for everyone,” Raph murmured. He leaned back as well and spread his arms out to either side over the back of where they sat, letting one arm rest against the back of Leo’s shell. “Although, they’re not the only place you can get affection, ya know.”

Leo met Raph’s bright green eyes again. “I wasn’t sure,” he whispered and was thankful when the arm Raph had managed to place behind his shell suddenly tightened around him and pulled him close, meaning no further words were needed to explain what he meant. Leo went willingly into the hug and ducked his face into Raphael’s neck. One of his own arms lifted and squeezed around Raph’s plastron.

“I’m always gonna be right here for ya,” Raph whispered. He grinned as he glanced over Leo’s head and nodded towards the kittens. “And the kids.”