Cherries and Summer Rain
by KC
Summary: (Leo::Don) a quiet afternoon on the blanket at the farm
Warning: never stay outside in a thunderstorm. Sure, it's romantic, but you could get a lightning bolt.
Other Info: dedicated to the anticest crew
There was something calming about reading with Donatello. Comfortably spread out on a large picnic blanket, a bowl of cherries and strawberries between them with a couple of open sodas, they each devoured their chosen book. Lying on his stomach, Donatello had his copy of "Ingenious Mechanisms for Designers and Inventors" in front of him, idly turning pages he'd thumbed through a dozen times already.
Beside him, Leonardo yawned and shifted slightly, leafing through a Batman trade that was turning out to be drier than expected. With a sigh, he closed the book and set it aside, then pillowed his head in his arms and drowsed, staring across the farm through slitted eyes.
They lay in the shade at the edge of the treeline, just beside the field. The sunlight came through the leaves above them in mottled waves, golden, then dark, rustled by the warm breeze. Somewhere across the grass, a cicada droned endlessly, took a breath, then sang again.
They often passed long hours here together. Raphael and Michelangelo were somewhere inside, either watching tv or arguing about what to make for dinner. He frowned. Arguing beside the hot tea kettle and the knives...
No. He put that thought out of his head. They'd be fine. Raphael had cooled considerably over the last year or two, and Michelangelo knew not to push too hard. And they both worked fairly well in the kitchen together, taking hours to create something instead of practicing how to kill.
Hours that gave Leonardo time to read and rest. So many of their enemies were dead. And now that Splinter had passed...he sighed. He missed him terribly, and yet he found himself with more time to be himself, to develop hobbies, to simply live, now that life wasn't taken up with training and old vendettas. Splinter had sometimes been consumed with revenge and discipline. As much as Leonardo adhered to Splinter's wishes, he knew he would never be as swallowed up in clan feuding as his master had been.
"If you don't eat these," Donatello warned him, "I'm gonna finish them. And depending on what Mikey and Raph make, you might go hungry tonight."
Leonardo smiled and languidly reached out to the bowl, taking a handful of strawberries. His fingers brushed Donatello's, who'd gone for the cherries, and they lingered for a moment, just a quiet passing touch. Then the moment passed and Leonardo was relishing the subtly warming fruit, still damp from the refrigerator.
There was a low rumble from far away. Light gray clouds gathered above them, turning in the wind. A flock of birds wheeled down out of the sky and took shelter beneath the trees.
"I think it's gonna rain," Leonardo murmured, watching the sky.
"It will," Donatello nodded. "But not for long."
"Is it safe?" Leonardo wondered. "I thought it was dangerous to stay out in a storm."
"Not a storm," Donatello said. "It'll be light. We'll be dry before we go in."
Leonardo didn't reply. New York rain was usually heavy and cold, and it took an act of will to remember that the farm in summer was pleasant, even in a light drizzle.
Sure enough, the drops started slow, more like a mist than a real rain, pelting the leaves. Few drops made it down to them, but he pushed his book under himself anyway to protect it. Michelangelo would want to borrow it, even if it was boring.
He glanced aside at Donatello and smiled. His brother was still absorbed in his book, oblivious to the soft drops landing on his shell. He lay a little farther from the trunk, letting more and more rain mist along his skin, tiny droplets that glistened in the sunlight. Or not oblivious. Donatello reached up and undid his damp mask, pooling it on the blanket.
Leonardo realized he must have moved without knowing it when Donatello blinked and looked at him quickly, wide eyed as if startled. The vulnerability was too inviting-he pushed himself up on his elbows, leaned close and kissed the corner of Donatello's eye. As he pulled back, a drop gathered on his brother's cheek and slid down in a gleaming arc.
"I'm thinking..." Leonardo said slowly. "Maybe we could stay out until they call us?"
Donatello's smile slowly matched his own. "Mm. We do still have a huge bowl of cherries to finish."
Crawling up and over Donatello, who grinned as he lay back and let Leonardo straddle him, Leonardo took a brief moment to savor the cooling air on his skin, the way the breeze warmed them both, and the heat rising from his sibling. He glanced at the farm house across the field. Raphael and Michelangelo wouldn't be out in a long time, leaving them plenty of time to enjoy the rain, sunning themselves in the shaded sun, slowly devouring cherries and each other.
Across the field, the cicada droned endlessly, took a breath, and sang again.
end