A.N: Written for the Procest competition over on DeviantArt. Thank you for reading.

Freedom

"Hold still, will you?"

Raph rolled his eyes and did as told, letting out an irritated sigh. He couldn't help the smirk though, and he hid it by tucking his face into his arms. He was lying stretched out on his plastron on Leo's bed, and his shoulders were starting to get stiff and sore. How long had he been lying like this now? Two, maybe three hours?

Every stroke of the brush sent a shiver straight through his spine, permeating through every layer of his shell and down to his bones. Some areas were a lot more sensitive than the others and he had to squirm and flex his toes, causing his brother to grumble at him. But mostly, it was really relaxing. The sound of Leo's soft breathing as he concentrated, the gentle scratch of the brush and drip of paint was very soothing.

He'd been reluctant at first, when Leo asked if he could paint his shell, but now he was really glad he'd agreed. Leo had been strung so tight lately that they were worried he'd snap. And not a clean break that they could fix with a little love, either. No, he would shatter into thousands of tiny pieces like broken glass and it would take a miracle to put him back together again.

Mike had come up with the idea. He'd always found art enjoyable and relaxing, and he'd been trying to convince the others to join him in his hobby for a long time, specifically Leo, as the youngest remembered drawing with his big brother when they were little. When the colouring books and sketchbooks held no appeal for the leader, Mike had suggested body and shell painting.

Surprisingly enough, the idea had intrigued Leo and he first attempted it on Mike's round, smooth shell. The youngest turtle couldn't lie still for long, even if he lay with his Nintendo DS as Leo painted. After then minutes he was fidgeting and asking how Leo was getting on. Eventually though, Leo had managed to paint a bright, beautiful dragon on Mike's shell, and the youngest was thrilled to bits. It turned out Leo had a talent with a paintbrush.

Don was next. He held open a large engineering textbook before his nose to study as Leo created a masterpiece on his shell. He was the most patient one. He laid there for hours upon hours, never once uttering a word and all there was to listen to was the soft caress of the brush and the turning of a page. Five hours later, Donny had finished his book and Leo had finished a stunning ornate landscape of the valleys in Ancient Japan in full colour, using the natural dip and shade of Don's shell to create the rolling hills.

And now it was Raph's turn. He'd forgotten to bring something to occupy his time with, and had quickly grown bored of studying every inch of Leo's room that he could see from this angle. He could probably recite the title of every book on the little shelf by the door. He could definitely say how many cracks there were in the wall. And not being able to distract himself meant that every caress of the paintbrush was like torture.

He couldn't take it any more. He needed something to take his mind off the sensations before they travelled all the way to his groin and gave him a very awkward boner. He was already gripping the sheets so hard his knuckles were white.

"What're you paintin'?" He suddenly grunted, voice tight as he fought the sudden shiver.

"It's a surprise." Leo answered as if he was stupid. The tone made Raphael scoff, and he was half tempted to jerk his back so Leo would mess up, but he wasn't that mean.

"We've been here for hours." He griped, putting his head back down and pouting.

"I'm nearly finished." Leo promised, and the bed creaked as he shifted closer to carefully detail an intricate part of the design.

Raph pulled a face. He said that an hour ago. If he had to put up with this for another hour he was going to go insane. Leo owed him some seriously hot sex when all this was through. Raph muffled the groan and quickly tried to think of something else, definitely not wanting to fuel the arousal that threatened him.

"Why do you even like this?" He wanted to know, voice gruffer than he meant it to be. He didn't mind, not a bit, as it seemed to help Leo relax and clear his mind, something the older turtle definitely needed.

Leo didn't answer for a long moment, carefully thinking about his reply. Raph wished he could see his face.

"You know when you're fighting, how you just seem to block everything out, and move by instinct?" He finally murmured, his voice quiet and calm as he concentrated. Raph nodded, he knew the feeling well. "It's kind of like that. Each stroke of the brush is like a stroke of the sword, and your shell is whoever I'm attacking, and I can just tune everything out, so I don't have to deal with any thoughts whatsoever." Leo paused again and Raph shuddered, affected suddenly by his brother's gentle voice as much as his painting. "It's the one time I can just...completely be free."

So that was it. Freedom. Raph could understand. He felt the same thing when he rode his bike, with the wind whistling through his helmet and chilling him to his bones. It was easy to forget the outside world, when all he could hear was the roar of his bike and all he could see were the lights of New York City whizzing by him in a blur. It turned out Leo got the same feeling when he painted, and that was something Raph couldn't argue with.

"There."

With a last flick and a flourish of his wrist, Leo eventually sat back on his heels to admire his work. He hummed, only half satisfied. He could see areas where the curves weren't quite right, or they weren't symmetrical, but for his first time with that style, it wasn't too bad. He dunked his paintbrush into the jar of water and it turned an inky black.

"You can go look now."

Raph groaned in relief and sat up very carefully, not wanting to smudge the artwork. He stretched his arms first, popping out kinks and easing the stiffness. Then he stood and crossed the room to the mirror, turning his body to look at his shell as best he could.

"Holy shit."

He breathed out in surprise, eyes widening as he took in the image before him. Along his shell was an elegant tribal pattern, all in black, swirling and snaking its way along every groove and every plate. It was amazing, really. He couldn't stop staring at it.

"Do you like it?" Leo smiled, joining him and rotating his wrists to ease the soreness that had crept in.

"It's amazin', bro."

Raph finally tore his eyes away to grin at his older brother, snickering as Leo's cheeks went pink. He gently held onto his slim waist and pulled him close, dipping his head to press a soft, loving kiss to Leo's mouth. He hadn't seen Leo this relaxed and chilled out for a long time, and if this was the result every time he painted, then Raph would gladly model for him time and time again.

Within seconds, the kiss was deepened, spurred on by the residual arousal that still growled in Raph's chest. His grip on Leo's hips turned possessive, and he smoothly slid his tongue into his brother's mouth. Leo responded in kind, throwing his arms around Raph's neck very carefully so as not to ruin the paint on his shell.

Minutes later they broke apart, Raph slightly breathless and definitely a lot more aroused than he was five minutes ago. He smirked at Leo's shy grin and very cheekily pinched his ass, causing his older brother to squawk indignantly and swat him.

"You better hurry up and take a picture, because I am going to nail your perfect ass in exactly five minutes." He informed him conversationally, amber eyes twinkling.

Leo laughed and obeyed, reaching for the camera on his desk. He snapped pictures, first taking serious shots of the design and its details, but then Raph decided to start posing and flexing his muscles, causing Leo to go into a fit of giggles.

This, right here, the laughter and the silliness, and the adoring way that Raph looked at him, was enough to make him forget the outside world too. It was a freedom, but a different kind of freedom. Painting allowed him to clear his mind of everything, focus solely on the pattern that was emerging from his paintbrush. Being with Raph like this, and his brothers, made him focus on a lot of things, but mostly how much he loved them.

And that was a thought he didn't mind dealing with.