Patient and still. Surrounded by darkness and cloaked in its shadows Leonardo waited. Silently.
They would think he was meditating. He had been meditating. It wasn't enough. Sometimes the physical needs overwhelmed the spiritual attempts to quiet them.
Rather than search for one of them, Leonardo chose to let one come to him. They would. Leonardo had planned it out with precision.
Donatello's favorite toolbox. Stolen from the garage and placed within striking range.
Michelangelo's latest comic, unread as yet. Removed from the couch when his brother's back was turned and now sitting just a few feet away.
Raphael's last six pack of beer, swiped from the refrigerator and resting in a nearby bucket of ice. He'd look for it when the televised wrestling match began.
Satisfied, Leonardo remained focused, his senses alert. A spider in a web. Someone would soon become enmeshed.
Light footfalls drew his attention. Watching through eyes narrowed down to slits, Leonardo saw Donatello enter the space surrounding the tide pool. He paused just out of Leonardo's range and surveyed the area through honey colored orbs.
When he spotted the toolbox and moved towards it, Leonardo tensed. The appearance of Master Splinter stopped Leonardo at the last second. It became apparent the genius was on a mission for their father.
The two left together and Leonardo relaxed into his soundless waiting mode again.
Ninjas trained to remain motionless for hours if necessary and Leonardo chose to treat this as a practice session, in spite of the need riding his body. He would not grow concerned over the passing of time. That he would be victorious was inevitable.
Music preceded Michelangelo's approach. His youngest brother drifted towards the ambush, headphones draped around his neck. For a ninja Michelangelo was loud.
Michelangelo grinned when he spotted his comic book, telegraphing his intent to reacquire his possession. Once more Leonardo prepared to act.
Before Leonardo could move, Michelangelo executed a sudden quick spring, a series of hops, followed by a twirl, and then some fancy footwork. The comic book was almost magically in his hands, Michelangelo humming along with his music and drifting far out of Leonardo's reach.
Leonardo huffed, allowing his frustration with himself to momentarily cloud the clarity of his thoughts. He should have anticipated that Michelangelo would succumb to a compulsion to dance. Michelangelo was abnormally swift.
Reminding himself that trying to anticipate anything that Michelangelo might do was what made him such a challenge, Leonardo settled his racing heartbeat. He still had one more chance to satisfy his cravings.
Concentrating all of his senses, Leonardo tracked the location of each of his family members with a single-minded purpose.
Donatello and Master Splinter were still together and stationary. Michelangelo was moving away from him, no doubt in search of a hidden place to read his comic.
It required nothing more than Leonardo's hearing to find his brother Raphael.
Shouting an obscenity that earned him a sharp rebuke from Master Splinter, Raphael stormed through the lair. From his verbal epithets it was clear that he had discovered the loss of his alcoholic libation.
Angry and incautious Raphael ventured into the area where Leonardo lay in wait. Another curse word ventured past his lips when he discovered the bucket of ice holding his beer. That should have set off warning signals, but Raphael had always been too impetuous.
Before Raphael could grab his beer, Leonardo scuttled from his hiding place and pounced.
"Shit!" Raph yelled as he was dragged backwards, across the ramp suspended over the tide pool and into the Shell Sub.
When his momentary surprise left him, Raphael tried to jerk out of Leonardo's hold. His older brother responded with a sweeping hip throw, putting Raphael flat on his carapace.
Landing atop him, Leonardo used his knowledge of pressure points to stop Raphael's struggles. Incapacitated, Raphael glared up at him.
"Ya' know I hate when ya' do this," Raph barked. "Why don't ya' just say ya' want to fuck?"
Leaning over him, Leonardo pressed his mouth to Raphael's neck, biting lightly and drawing a gasp from his prone brother.
"Setting the trap is half the fun," Leo whispered against Raphael's head, sending a shiver down the red banded turtle's spine. "The other half is playing with what I catch."
Leonardo smiled triumphantly when Raphael began to curse again, this time in a much more lustful manner.
End