Chapter Text
Leo wasn’t stupid. He knew when he pushed himself over the threshold of what he could handle by working himself too much, and when he needed to take a few steps back to recollect himself. There was always some urge telling him to take a few days off, spend some time with his brothers. Some force was always there to tell him to stop.
He was just very very good at ignoring it.
He pushed this thought to the back of his mind as he rolled out of bed when his alarm went off at five on a Tuesday morning. Only Monday had passed, but he was already beyond tired, and in need of a break. Maybe he had been overworking himself lately…
He took a quick shower and changed into a fresh set of clothes (all without waking Donnie up, miraculously) before snatching his keys off the counter and driving to his morning job. He hadn’t had two jobs until recently, but it brought in more income, and introduced him to a wider variety of people, so he liked it. Plus, working constantly distracted him from other worries, so it was hard for him to see it as a bad thing
Rubbing the last bit of sleep from his eyes as he parked, he unlocked the door to the Starbucks he worked at and pushed it open.
Takeshi- also called Tigerclaw by his coworkers when he wasn’t around- was already behind the counter, warming up the machines. Leo bit back a sigh (he hated working morning shifts with Takeshi, but he didn’t have much of a choice) and walked over to the counter.
“Good morning, Hamato,” the taller man greeted, glancing at him. “I hope you’re in working condition today.”
“I won’t fall asleep on the job again,” Leo assured. “I can promise you that.”
“Hm. We’ll see.” And that was that.
The morning was as busy as it usually was, full of regulars and newcomers alike. The establishment was close to the college, so it was nearly constantly full of sleep deprived college kids looking for their morning caffeine hookup before some big test they’d spent the night cramming for (or ignoring by partying instead).
Takeshi was busy working the drive through with a couple other of their coworkers who had showed up, leaving Leo to work the register and fill orders in the front. He was working on putting together a drink when someone strode up to the register and stated, “the usual.”
“Sorry, we don’t keep track of-” He looked up to tell the customer they didn’t keep track of ‘usuals’, but froze, nearly dropping the drink he was holding. Karai leaned against the counter with a smirk, eyeing him almost hungrily.
He swallowed and looked down at the drink he was still preparing, mind having gone blank on where he was in the steps. “Right,” he murmured. “I’ll have that out for you…”
“I can wait, pretty boy.” She was quick to step away from the register, leaving Leo with his heart thudding in his chest. He quickly wrapped up the drink he was working on and set about making Karai’s (was it creepy he had her order memorized even though they weren’t dating? He hoped not…)
Her hand wrapped around the drink before he could set it down, and her fingers laced with his. He looked up at her, clenching his jaw nervously. She smirked as she slipped the drink out from between his fingers. “See you tonight, Hamato,” she purred before turning and leaving the establishment. Leo was left feeling hot and stunned.
“I hope you charged her for that drink,” Takeshi breathed against his neck, causing Leo to yelp.
“I- ah…” He rubbed the back of his neck, wiping the nervous sweat from it and wiping it on his apron.
He looked disappointed and Leo glanced away. “Better not happen again, Hamato.”
Leo watched Takeshi go with a slight scowl. “Roger that, Tigerclaw ,” he breathed before quickly stepping back over to the register to deal with the line that had built up.
His shift ended at nine that morning, giving him a half an hour before his first class of the day on the campus across the street. He sat in his car for a few minutes, gripping the steering wheel and staring out the window. Exhaustion was starting to settle into his nerves and it made him hard to focus on any thought too long, leaving his mind blank as he stared off into space. It took a text from Raph to jerk him out of his daze. He glanced down at his phone as he picked it up.
FeistyBoi: Are you picking up stuff for dinner
FeistyBoi: Or are we just gonna order pizza
Leo let out a heavy sigh. He’d forgotten they were out of groceries.
MotherHen: I can pick some stuff up
MotherHen: Do any of the others have a preference on what I should get
FeistyBoi: Doubt it
FeistyBoi: You know Mikey will make and eat whatever
MotherHen: Yeah
MotherHen: Hey shouldn’t you be in class right now
FeistyBoi: …
Leo got no other response and he threw his phone into the passenger seat of his car with an eye roll before putting the key into the ignition and pulling out of the parking lot, heading off towards the college campus. He hoped the parking lot in front of the building wasn’t too full. He hadn’t realized how much time he’d spent sitting in his car and was worried he couldn’t walk from the next nearest lot to the room and be on time.