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april knew that the turtles were having an offworld friend over, and she knew exactly which one, because at nine pm on a tuesday night, leo texted her in a panic asking for groceries.
she never minded picking up food for the turtles (she actually loved that they would let her take care of them; they might insist that they were grown up, but to her, they were still the fifteen year old boys she had met all those years ago). however, it was a little late for her, so she told him he was welcome to drop by her apartment and grab whatever he needed right then, and she would do a full run the following day.
he didn’t respond, and she fell asleep not long after, but when she woke up the next morning, the only thing missing from her kitchen was the nice loose leaf tea she kept around in case of guests.
'ah, they must have usagi coming over,' she thought as she got ready for the day.
she didn’t ponder much more on it that morning, nor for the rest of the day.
that is, until she and casey got down to the lair that night with the grocery bags and started heading towards the kitchen.
“i wouldn’t go in there if i was you,” raph told them, sitting with his brothers on the couch, watching a cartoon together.
“why not? these bags are starting to hurt my arms, man!” casey complained.
“usagi’s staying here for a couple weeks,” raph said with a look in his eyes not entirely unlike a soldiers thousand yard stare after a devasting battle.
“oh come on raph, they can’t be that bad,” april reasoned, leading the way into the kitchen down the hall with casey right behind her.
when she got there, she stopped in the doorway, suddenly seeing why the other brothers were keeping their distance.
leo was perched on the counter, his thigh brushing usagi’s upper arm as the rabbit prepared two mugs of steaming tea (april distantly registered that they were using her nice tea, just like she thought). they were chatting softly, leo gazing at his boyfriend with a soft reverence that most married couples never achieved, and every once in a while, usagi would look up at him to return the look.
after a second, when usagi was gently smiling back at him, leo leaned down to peck his cheek. usagi became visibly giddy, and followed the movement of leo’s body to kiss him properly on the lips.
all at once, april realized they had to leave them alone; those two rarely got any time to themselves, and april would be damned if she was the one to split them up for any moment they managed to find together.
(also, she kind of didn’t want to watch her pseudo-baby brother make out with his boyfriend on the kitchen counter.)
she grabbed casey’s arm and silently pulled him back in the direction they came from, grocery bags still in hand.
when they got back to the living room, the other turtles turned to them.
“i told you so,” raph said smugly. mikey snickered.
“don’t be so harsh on them, raph. they just don’t get to see each other that often,” april chastised. “...that being said, there’s no way i’m going back in there.”
mikey was frustrated.
he had hidden his favorite snack, a bag of salt and pepper kettle chips, in a cabinet in the kitchen, a random one where they don’t usually keep chips in, in the hopes that no one would find them and he would be able to have them later!
but when he had checked a day or so after he had hidden them, they weren’t there!
so now, he was looking around for whichever traitorous brother of his stole his favorite snack from him.
the search had yet to be fruitful, and he was running out of places to look, when he heard laughter coming from the railing above the atrium of the lair. he walked out into the middle of the large room and looked up, unfortunately not surprised by what he found.
leo was sitting up there with usagi, the bag of (mikey’s!) chips sitting between their legs, which were pressing together so much so that mikey briefly wondered if they were actually crushing the chips he had taken such pains to hide from this exact scenario.
“uh, excuse me! those are my chips you pilfered from the kitchen, you freaking thieves!” he called up to them. leo looked up, seeming disoriented by his return to the real world from the sanctuary of usagi’s eyes.
“oh. sorry mikey, they weren’t labeled, so i thought they were fair game. if it makes you feel any better, usagi has never had this flavor before, and he gives them his stamp of approval!”
“LITERALLY WHY WOULD THAT MAKE ME FEEL BETTER?! you’re eating my food right in front of me!”
“i’m sorry, michelangelo-san. we truly didn’t realize these belonged to anyone. would you like the rest of them?” usagi asked kindly, though there was a hint of amusement in his eyes.
“yes please!” mikey responded, irritated as all hell.
the lovebirds tossed the bag down to him, but when mikey opened the bag and peaked inside, there were only the measly crumbs actually left in it.
“UGH!” he yelled, stomping away from them. “god, it’s like having a fourth super annoying brother!”
donnie wandered out of his lab, trying to decide what to do with the rest of his evening. truthfully, he would have liked to continue working on the project he was close to finishing, but according to his family, the amount of time he spent hunched over spare parts in his lab was “concerning” and “unhealthy,” so they recently put an alarm in there for 5 pm everyday, and he couldn’t work any more after the alarm went off until 9 am the next morning.
it was currently 5:01 pm, which meant he had to find something else to fill his night with.
a snack before dinner doesn’t sound too bad, he thought, making his way towards the kitchen.
on his way, he ran into his oldest brother and his boyfriend cuddled up together on one of their loveseats in the den. their legs were tangled together, as if they were trying to sit as close as possible to each other, with a scrabble board balanced carefully between them. they were playfully arguing about whether or not the word leo played was actually a real word.
“no way, leonardo! i have never heard that word in my entire life, it’s not real! you can’t play it!”
“yes it is! i’ve spoken english longer than you, i think i know a real word when i play it!”
good grief.
before he could sneak past them, usagi spotted him and beckoned him over.
“donatello-san! you must come and settle this for us! your silly brother is trying to cheat!”
“no i’m not!” leo said, trying to come off as exasperated, but the effect was ruined by the completely smitten look on his face.
“yes you are! ‘friendlily’ is not a word, darling!” usagi replied. donnie saw the moment the pet name registered in his brother’s brian, because as soon as it did, his eyes both lit up and darkened at the same time, like he couldn’t decide if he should be elated or really really into his boyfriend calling him that.
and that’s when donnie decided he needed to get out of there before leo devoured the rabbit like his face implied he might.
“yeah, uhh… it’s got me stumped too, usagi, sorry. there should be a dictionary on the shelf over there if you want, but i gotta go now!” he said, already moving towards the hallway as he spoke.
usagi turned back to leo, insisting he get the dictionary since he was “so keen on being right about this one,” and donnie was glad he left when he did, because the last thing he saw was leo pushing forward and kissing the rabbit fiercely.
when he got to the kitchen, he found mikey making something that looked vaguely radioactive in the blender.
“mikey, whatever you do, do not go to the den any time soon.”
raph hadn’t been able to solo train in the dojo for a while. he had been helping traximus with something back on the triceratons’ planet that he didn’t quite understand, but the guy seemed to trust his judgement well enough, so he just went with it and tried his best.
whatever it was, it seemed to be resolved now, so he decided to take some time to himself and train how he had been wanting to for the past few days.
unfortunately, as soon as he got to the dojo, this plan was ruined by his stupid big brother and his stupid big brother’s boyfriend, who were sitting against the far wall of the room entirely too close to each other for raph’s comfort.
usagi was in the middle of telling leo all about the importance of taking care of his skin during the dry months and the dangers of letting his skin crack. he had a palm-sized pot sitting beside his, dipping his fingers into it every once in a while for more of what looked like an herbal balm to rub into leo’s scales.
and leo’s gentle girn as he looked at his boyfriend was enough to send raph over the edge.
“oh my GOD, are you guys serious?! you really can’t do this anywhere else? god FORBID a guy want some solo time in the dojo, oh no, he can’t have that, these two yahoos gotta use it for their weird foreplay! GOD, next time, just put a sign on the door so we all know not to hurt our eyes with this ridiculous show!” he promptly turned and stormed out of the room, deciding he would rather freeze his shell off on the rooftops overlooking the city than train in the room his brother was stinking up with his boyfriend and that stupid balm.
when he passed mikey and donnie on his way out of the lair, he told them, in no uncertain terms, that the two swordsmen were “occupying” the dojo, and not to bother them unless they wanted to bear witness to the most disgusting romantic display since “the freaking titanic.”
“what is wrong with raphael-san? he seems to be in an awful bad mood,” usagi said, looking back to leo who was still watching the doorway his brother just marched out of.
“i don’t know. i know he’s been busy with traximus lately, so it’s probably just that,” leo responded, looking back to his boyfriend.
his boyfriend. god, he would never tire of saying that.
“hm. well, i hope he feels better soon.” usagi’s hands resumed their soothing circles over the rough surface of leo’s scales, the balm making them slightly smoother than usual.
leo watched the rabbit’s paws caress his arm, then traced up the line of his arms to his shoulders, then his neck, then up to his face.
“have i ever told you that you’re exceptionally pretty? i could look at you forever,” leo told his boyfriend (!), and he could feel his face softening completely with the tone of his voice.
usagi glanced up at him with a coy grin. “and have i ever told you that you’re the most beautiful warrior i’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, and if i died looking at you, i wouldn’t be upset about it?”
leo flushed, then smiled, pleased. “not that i remember. but you know what they say about actions and words?”
usagi tilted his head back to laugh, then leaned forward and said, “yes, i believe i have heard what they say,” before kissing leo soundly on the mouth.
god, leo would never tire of this man.