What Happens in the Coop, Stays in the Coop.

...

Summary: Casey and Raph get handsy in the chicken coop. This one takes it a little further than just a plain bromance, methinks. Rasey shipping. 2k12.

Disclaimer: No owny.

Notes: Fineeeeeeeee. At the request, I decided to do another bromance shot. There is a severe lack of them out there, which I think I can blame on the lack of bromance screentime as they've chosen to focus on Casey/Donnie rivalry instead. I do hope they can finish with that and get back to classic Raph/Casey.

If anyone wants to build on these fics to make them multi-chaptered, I would be much honored. This could be the start of something seriously shippy. But otherwise, enjoy!

"Dammit Casey!" Raph grumbled as his friend haphazardly elbowed him in the side as they squeezed inside the chicken coop together. It was not big enough for one person, let alone two big scary vigilantes but that didn't seem to be fazing Casey Jones.

"Shhh," Casey put a finger to his lips, elbowing Raph yet again.

"Are you gonna tell me why you're forcing us in the chicken house or am I gonna have to force you to spill it?"

"We're ambushing Mikey," Casey whispered back. "Neat idea huh?" He gave Raph one of his best gap tooth smiles, proud of his own genius.

"And you couldn't think of a less cramped, uncomfortable place to ambush him from?" To Raph it was Casey's stupidity, not genius. There were hundreds of trees all around the place, and he picks the chicken coop? Casey Jones was clearly not the smartest chicken in the barn.

"Uhhh, no. Mikey comes to feed the chickens every day. This is the perfect place."

"Yeah, if you want to lose all feeling in your spine."

Casey tried to stretch out his spine at that, arms going up as much as he could manage it and Raph shrunk back in case another one of those bony elbows ended up colliding with him. When Casey started putting his arm back again Raph started feeling super awkward, like it was some movie first date and Casey was putting the moves on him. He prayed that Casey wouldn't lay his arm down on his shoulder and make things even more awkward and uncomfortable. Raph was one second away from bolting out of there, as soon as he could find the space to move, that was.

But Casey didn't put the arm down on top of him, his arm came back down on his own leg and Raph breathed out in relief.

"So how are we supposed to even get out of here once Mikey comes?"

"We bust out of here! All ninja style!" Casey replied enthusiastically, as if he'd thought it all out.

"You know, I never agreed with Donnie before when he said you might just be an idiot... but now I'm thinking he might've been right."

"Shut up man," Casey said pushing Raph in the side, which there really wasn't space enough to do. Raph's shoulder barely left Casey's one and Raph was tempted to point out that he really hadn't been joking.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, with Raph continuing to debate leaving his friend in the lurch and going to find someone else that didn't think hiding out in cramped spaces was a good idea.

"I miss New York," Casey broke the silence suddenly, speaking in the same hushed whisper.

"Yeah. Me too."

"I miss, you know, cracking skulls, hitting the streets, watching your sorry ass as we take on the scum of the city."

"Wow. Didn't know I was neglecting you." There was humor in Raph's voice. He got it, Casey Jones missed their time together. And things had just been too abnormal out here, and Raph had been worried about Leo for too long that they didn't really get that time anymore to just be themselves and hang out.

"Nuuughhhh," Casey let out a moan. "It just gets boring out here. Nothing to do-"

"Except for making stupid plans to get us stuck in chicken coops."

"Yeah, except for that. But you get how it is. We've gotta do... stuff. Y'know. Get the blood pumping. Get the heart racing. I mean sure being attacked by that mutagen weed thing was pretty cool, and Bigfoot... but..."

Raph turned his head a slight amount and met Casey's eye. Heart racing. Blood pumping. Suddenly he found it hard to swallow. Okay, this place was going to drive them all insane. They had to get out here. Donnie and April getting together and now he was here stuck shoulder to shoulder with Casey who's innocent banter was taking on strange innuendos in Raph's mind because they were just touching too much right now!

Casey was his friend, and just because April and Donnie had decided to succumb to boredom or whatever was driving them together, it didn't mean the same thing was going to happen here. That would just be too weird. For everyone!

"I get it," Raph replied quietly.

"I knew you would," Casey said with a grin that made Raph think that maybe the paranoia wasn't all in Raph's head and the innuendos had been intended after all.

Neither of them dared to move.

"Sooooo..." Raph started tapping his finger on his knee pad to get some energy out, and to make sure his body still had the ability to move after being stuck like this for way too long.

"Sooooo..."

"I'm sure there's something else to do on this crazy farmhouse besides this." Raph gestured helplessly to their positions, practically on top of one another.

"Yeah," Casey returned and then hesitated for a moment, clearly holding back from something. His hand started inching toward Raph's leg to brush at the thigh just the slightest amount.

Raph had to keep his breathing steady so he didn't black out or something. This was just weird. What was going on? It was something in the water here right? There was no way that Casey would think of easing their boredom like this? If he'd ever been curious about them being turtles, he'd never shown his curiosity like this before.

Casey flattened out his palm for a second and Raph's eyes squeezed shut. This was it. Casey Jones was going to touch him, purposely, out of some sort of weird curiosity or boredom or whatever... but Raph felt his skin go tingly with anticipation, even with the dread that was filling his stomach. And then...

"Boo!"

Raph could have jumped a mile high, if it wasn't for this stupid chicken house roof in the way. "OW!"

Mikey had stuck his head in the chicken coop and now was laughing uproariously at the two of them. "Your faces!" He laughed again and looked more closely at the stricken pair stuck in the constricted space together. "Wait. Is Casey's hand on your leg?"

Raph felt his eyes squeeze closed again, and thought he might die on the spot.

Casey retracted his hand so fast that it banged on the wall of the coop. "Ouch! No! Was not!" Casey looked shiftily at Raph and then back at Mikey again.

"Dudes, I was just kidding when I said I'd leave you guys alone together, you know that right?" Mikey asked with a serious expression. "I didn't expect you two to go and get handsy in the chicken coop together."

"Not. Another. Word. Mikey," Raph told him through clenched teeth. "Now get the hell out of my way, I'm coming out."

"Out of the closet or out of the chicken coop?" Mikey asked with mock innocence.

Raph sneered at him with renewed ferocity.

"It's okay Raph, I've got your back," Casey encouraged him with a slap on his shell.

Raph just closed his eyes again. "Casey, it'd be a hell of a lot easier if you didn't talk right now."

"Oh, okay got it."

At least Casey was smart enough to realize that being affectionate in any sort of platonic way right now wasn't going to do either one of them any favors.

They squeezed out of the coop and Mikey took off running from the two of them. "Leoooo helllllpppp!"

"No one can help you now Mikey," Raph called to him.

Now their blood was pumping again, but that queasy feeling of dread and anticipation still stuck with Raph as he hunted his younger brother down. What on earth had changed between him and Casey could be revisited later. Much, much later.

I need help. No, no more Rasey fics for me... otherwise it'll just start escalating. ;)