A/N: Due to the fact that some of these ideas wouldn't leave me until I wrote them down, and add in the encouragement I received to share those ideas, I decided to start up a little side project to the Fog Catchers story. My disclaimer here is that these are just snapshots of the guys in this au, so this is not a story with a set timeline. I do have more written so there will be at least one more chapter added to this, and then possibly future chapters as ideas come to me.
Now, for the fun part of the author's note – since I definitely felt like I got the better end of the deal on my Fog Catchers work trade with Sakycchan, I asked Ninjazure to help me surprise her with a little gift. Included in this chapter (on the archives site) is another amazing piece of artwork from Ninjazure, dedicated to Sakycchan and this series. I showed Ninjazure exactly what a "touristy" Space Needle picture looked like and asked if she could create the one Leo and Raph had taken. And although I said she didn't have to add in all the background – because good Lord it's a lot of background – she went ahead and painted ALL OF IT anyway. And the end result is amazing. Raph and Leo are adorable (and their expressions in that moment – PERFECT). And we also get a visual of the space needle, downtown Seattle, and Mt. Rainier. Thank you, Ninjazure, for your hard work. And I hope you love your sur-prize, Saky!
Go follow Ninjazure on Tumblr (or find her under Aleksosaurus on the DeviantArt site). Seriously, find her if only to see the visual she made for what would really happen if you stuck a turtle in front of a green screen.
The first time he noticed it was the day he and his brothers moved into Raphael's house.
Raph had had the majority of their belongings, including some furniture like Donnie's and Mikey's beds, packed into a small moving crate, which would be delivered in about a week. This left Mikey, at least, excited about sleeping on an air mattress until then. Leo wasn't sure Donnie shared Mikey's enthusiasm about the air beds, but at least he wasn't complaining about them. Most of Donnie's complaints had centered around how his experiments were being packed, how long it was going to be until he saw them again, and exactly where he was going to set up shop in Raph's house.
But they'd each packed a few boxes of essentials, minus Donnie's precious experiments, that had traveled with them in Raph's rental car up to Blake Island. Leo's wrist was still in a cast and between that and his sore shoulder, he wasn't allowed to lift much, leaving Raph and Donnie to move the majority of their belongings inside. So he went to the room that Mikey and Donnie would be sharing in order to help Mikey unpack. His brothers were taking over what was technically the second bedroom in Raph's house, although it had been used more for storage, evidenced by the dusty home brew piping and the lack of a bed. Raph had assured them it was no big deal to move his stuff out of there. And the speed at which he'd emptied the room upon their arrival had Leo feeling reassured that Raphael truly wanted all three of them there. Invading his space.
Leo pulled another toy from one of Mikey's two boxes of essentials and realized that his youngest brother had packed only action figures and comics. Not exactly what Leo would call essentials, especially when he couldn't find Mikey's bookbag in either of the boxes, but he kept his mouth shut since he wanted Mikey to be comfortable in their new home.
When Mikey seemed settled, he moved onto Raph's room and found one of his own boxes, his essentials mainly included clothes, sitting on the bed. He opened the box and found his two favorite photos right on top, both frames wrapped in clothes to protect them during the move. The first was the last family photo he had that included his father. He stared down at the four of them for a moment and hoped that his father would be pleased with their new living situation, even though it meant that Leo was officially giving up the bookstore. He'd kept this photo in his bedroom before, but decided he'd ask Raph if he'd mind it sitting out in the main room where his brothers could also see it.
Then he lifted out his other favorite photo, the one he and Raph had taken at the Space Needle just a few short weeks ago. He stared fondly down at the photo as he thought about what a turn his life had taken since that moment. He smiled as Raph came up behind him and set down two more boxes before wrapping an arm around his middle and peering over his shoulder to see what he was looking at.
"Do you still have your copy?"
Raph pulled his phone from his pocket in response and swiped it open before handing it to Leo. Leo saw a small grin on Raph's face before Raph turned away in order to cut open one of the other boxes in the room. Leo turned his attention to Raph's phone and grinned again when he saw the same photo being used as Raph's background.
He moved his own framed photo to one of the bedside tables and was about to go back to unpacking when he stopped and took a moment to look around Raph's bedroom.
"Did you rearrange the furniture?"
Leo's eyes narrowed as he watched Raph freeze. And for a split second, Leo read sadness and fear in those bright green eyes Raph had before Raph turned his shell to him and picked up another box to cut open.
"Just moved a couple things around," Raph finally said a moment later. "You can move the furniture any way you want, though. Well, I mean, you can't." Raph glanced at Leo's casted wrist. "Just have me or Donnie move stuff if you want something in a different spot." Now that all the boxes were cut open, making it easier for Leo to unpack, he turned to leave the room with his eyes cast down towards the floor as he began to walk past Leo to exit.
The freedom to grab Raph and kiss him was still fairly new and Leo felt a small thrill as he did so now. Thankfully, Raphael seemed to relax against him immediately as their lips repeatedly pressed against each other. And when Leo pulled back, he was satisfied to see those former shadows gone from Raph's green eyes.
"You know, when you mentioned a movie theater, this isn't what I had a mind."
"No?" Raphael did his best to keep his smile off his face.
Leo edged one of their blanket's corners back down with his foot. They, and most of the other islanders, were set up on blankets and chairs in the grass behind the bowling alley, waiting for the projector to be set up so a movie could be screened against the building's back wall. He turned his head to watch Mikey and Woody chase each other around in the grass behind them and nodded a greeting to a few of his students when they said hello.
"We brought pizza!" Casey said as he and April reached the turtles and began setting up their own blanket. He turned to hand a box to Raph but Mikey appeared out of nowhere, intercepted it, and then ran off laughing.
"I'll get him." Donnie tried to sound put out, but he was grinning as he jumped up to chase after their little brother.
April smiled and handed Leo the next pizza box before she dropped the bags of popcorn they'd also brought.
Leo returned his attention to Raphael and lifted the lid of the pizza box to offer Raph a slice. "No. This is much better than what I was expecting."
"I'm glad you like it," Raph said. "They show em in a back room in the bowling alley during the cold months, though. And uh, there is indoor plumbing available in both the warm and cold months."
Leo huffed out a laugh and couldn't resist leaning over to kiss Raph quickly.
Donnie dropped to his seat again on the other side of Leo, triumphantly holding a pizza box.
"Leo!" Mikey whined as he came up behind Leo and looped his arms around Leo's neck. "Donnie stole my pizza!"
"You're six. You don't get a whole pizza to yourself," Donnie said.
"You can't eat it while you're running around anyway," Leo said, patting Mikey's hands. "The movie is going to start soon. Just come sit and I'll give you a slice."
Mikey sighed dramatically as he did his best to send big sad eyes to Donnie.
"That's not going to work," Donnie said without glancing at him.
"Come on squirt," Raph said, nudging Mikey's shell. "You can sit by me."
"Or me," April called, sending Mikey a big smile. "I have plenty of pizza over here."
Mikey fell off Leo's shell and rolled into Raph's lap with a laugh before finally moving over to April's side and accepting a slice of pizza.
April wrapped an arm around Mikey's little shoulders and gave him a squeeze. "He's even cuter than you were at this age, Raphie."
"Raphie?" Mikey immediately perked up.
"Uh oh," Donnie murmured around a bite of pizza.
Raph glanced at Donnie first and then noticed that Leo was sending him an apologetic look, while also trying to keep his lips from pulling up into a smile.
"Raphie!" Mikey jumped up, eyes lit up with excitement. "Best nickname ever!"
Raphael groaned and then turned to glare at his sister who was suddenly too busy talking to Casey to even look in his direction. He pointed a finger towards Mikey, "No way Mikey, or I'm going to start calling you Michelangelo full time."
Mikey was practically bouncing he was so excited. "Go for it, Raphie. That's a long name and you'll get tired of saying it way before I get tired of how cute Raphie is!"
"That's 100% true," Donnie said.
"Don't help, Donnie," Leo said.
Suddenly the outside lights were flipped off and the projector flipped on, which sent anyone still standing around quickly to their spot to sit. Even Mikey moved over to settle in between Donnie and Leo. Raph leaned back on the cushions they'd brought and tucked one arm around the back of his head. He watched Leo tilt his head to whisper something to Mikey, and when it looked like Leo was finished talking to Mikey, Raph used his free hand to slide his fingers down the back of Leo's arm. He watched Leo visibly shiver and smiled at the blue eyes that sparked in his direction, always pleased that he could have such an effect on the other turtle. Leo got the hint and leaned back to settle himself against the cushions as well. His fingers looped in with Raphael's and a moment later he released a small sigh.
Raph smiled towards the screen when he heard the contented sound from his new partner. He side-eyed the other two turtles and found Donnie offering Mikey another slice of pizza from the box he'd captured from the little one earlier. In turn, Mikey offered a Donnie a relatively quiet high three, something Raphael had never heard of until the other three turtles had come into his life. The two little brothers then turned their attention to the screen and Raph was relieved that Mikey seemed distracted with pizza and the promise of a new movie to remember his unfortunate nickname.
At least, Raph thought he was distracted, until he heard the little turtle start to whisper during the opening credits, "Raphie Raphie bo-baffie, banana-fana fo-faffy, fee-fy-mo-maphie, Raphie."
Leo squeezed Raph's fingers as he heard a deep sigh from Raphael.
The truth was, he just liked the way Raphael looked at him. That's why he stayed in bed every morning and waited for the other turtle to wake up. There was happiness and desire in Raph's green eyes that always made Leo wish they could stay in bed all day together. One glance from Raph evoked feelings that he'd never experienced with anyone before, and Leo liked being able to start his day in such a way.
Although, while Raph was clearly happy to see him every morning, there was also a small amount of relief in his expression, enough to give Leo a daily dose of guilt as he was forced to think about why Raph would be relieved to see him in bed. But Leo wasn't going to complain about the guilt. Instead, he was going to be there every morning in Raph's bed so that one day Raph would wake up without the need to feel relief.
Plus, Leo enjoyed staying in bed because Raphael and Raphael's bed were extremely warm. And this island had been extremely cold the past few days, to the point where Leo was dreading the walk to the high school each morning. He snuggled himself closer to Raphael now and watched as Raph's eyes slid open to look at him.
Raphael smirked. "I can turn the heat up in the house."
"Won't help on the walk to work."
"Well, I might have something that will help with that."
"Really?" Leo's voice was coy as his hand slid down Raph's plastron. "I'm not sure how this will help, but I'm willing to give it a try."
Raphael chuckled loudly as he caught Leo's hand before Leo could stir up something that would distract him from what he'd had planned for that morning. He pinned Leo down into the mattress and kissed him before quickly leaving the bed to head across the bedroom. Leo sat up and leaned his shell against the headboard as he bunched the covers up around himself to try to keep warm in Raph's absence.
"I do appreciate yer enthusiasm for tryin things." Raph turned to shoot Leo what was meant to be a heated look, but ended up pausing just to take in what a nice sight it was to see Leo tucked into what was now their shared bed. Then he turned back to his dresser and pulled out a small gift box before quickly returning to sit beside Leo. "So I have something else for ya to try."
Leo couldn't hide the surprise from his face as he gingerly took the box from Raphael. He lifted the lid and then huffed out a surprised laugh as he quickly slid his hands into three-fingered gloves. He flexed his fingers a few times in wonder at the perfect fit.
"Where did these come from?" While they'd had plenty of clothes tailored for their shells before, he'd never had anything for his hands.
Raph attempted a nonchalant shrug. "I made em."
"You – you made them? You know how to sew?" He glanced at Raph's similar hands and immediately pictured Raph using his own hands as models to size the gloves.
"No." Raph frowned as if the very thought was absurd. "They're knitted. I knit em for ya."
"The fact that you're correcting me makes the image of you creating this way more adorable."
Raph huffed out a breath. "It's not adorable. It's practical."
There was another knitted creation in the box and Leo went to pick up what he assumed was a hat, but quickly realized it had extra material that would also protect his neck from the impressive winds that crossed over the island. He slid it over his head and looked over to Raph with a grin.
Raph's own eyes lit up when he saw how well those blue eyes matched the blue of the knitted hood. He leaned over and captured Leo's mouth before pushing forward further to press his weight against Leo.
"Yer gonna be late to work today."
The next time he noticed it, he and Mikey had come home late.
Mikey had been extra bouncy when they arrived home after school. The island was too small for organized sports teams, which meant Mikey didn't have the usual after school outlets he'd had in their old home. And since he'd always been impressed with Michelangelo's ability to keep up with him on a run, the two of them changed clothes and took off for some exercise.
His intention was to be out for an hour, maybe less. But then Leo had let Mikey pick which direction to head, and Mikey made so many turns that they got lost. Ridiculously lost, especially considering the size of the island.
When they finally began walking up the front lawn of Raph's house, it was actually dark outside. But Leo immediately noticed that every single light inside the house was turned on. And they didn't even make it to the door before it swung open and Raphael filled the doorway.
Leo shook his head, since he was already dreading having to tell Raph that he apparently had a horrible sense of direction. Mikey sprinted ahead and quickly greeted Raph as he entered the house. But Leo stopped the second he glanced up and saw the look in Raph's wider than normal green eyes.
Sadness and fear.
Leo approached Raphael, but kept his mouth shut about where he and Mikey had been. Raph didn't need the story right then. He and Mikey were clearly in running clothes, anyway. Instead, Leo leaned in to press his lips to Raph's lips. Hands tugged on his shell until he was pressed up against Raph's plastron as Raph enthusiastically kissed him back. Leo's fingers wrapped tight around Raph's neck and he was content to remain in that spot for as long as Raphael wanted to kiss him. Or he was until Donnie's voice interrupted them.
"This isn't a new toll to get into the house, right?"
Leo turned to grin at his younger brother as Donnie came up the front walk. He kept his hands on Raph but shifted the two of them to the side so they were no longer blocking the doorway.
"Will you keep an eye on Mikey for a second?" he called in after Donnie.
He didn't wait for an answer before he pulled Raph to the side of the house, where they could hide in the shadows, and then kissed him with a new urgency that Raph quickly returned. Fingers wandered over each other, Leo letting his own fingers pay close attention to the grooves in Raph's shell, as he'd noticed in the past that it always earned him a reaction from Raphael. Leo had a feeling that Raph's past partners hadn't appreciated his shell the way Leo did. Although, it could also be that feeling up Raph's shell usually led to groping Raph's tail, and Leo let his fingers slide down the back of Raph's pants now to play with the cute little appendage. Raphael churred at the tail grab and Leo pressed himself harder against Raphael as Raph's scent wafted up his nose.
"Smell good," Leo murmured as he freed Raph's mouth so that he could slide his tongue down Raph's neck.
"Dammit, Leo." Raph couldn't help but remember that Leo's brothers were inside waiting on them. But Leo's appreciation for his scent quickly knocked those thoughts away. Just as quickly as he had Leo's running shorts off and hoisted the other turtle up against the side of the house.
Leo wasn't worried about his brothers right now. What mattered to him most at this moment was the turtle he was currently wrapping his legs around. He grinned at Raph's ability to pick him up so easily, but his real pleasure came from the sheer look of adoration Raph's green eyes held for him. Raphael appeared happy, so Leo held onto him and let himself be happy too.
Leo took a moment to stretch in his classroom before he flipped off the lights and headed out to the main hallway. He said goodbyes to some of the other teachers who were also finally packing it up for the day. They'd had parent teacher conferences all afternoon and into the evening and it was always more work than teaching a classroom full of students.
Some of the parents seemed to actually want to know how their student was doing. However, most had just seemed curious about not only the new turtle on the island, but also what his intentions were for their Raphael. The islanders clearly felt a certain amount of protectiveness for Raph, and Leo sort of found it endearing. To a point, anyway. He certainly didn't enjoy having to redirect conversations that tried to dive too far into his private life. Or his financial status. He frowned as he thought about the one parent who made a point of mentioning that Leo had snagged the wealthiest bachelor on the island.
All Leo really wanted right now from the wealthiest bachelor on the island was a hug. And maybe some dinner before he took Donnie and Mikey back to Raph's house so his little brothers could get to bed on time. And once Raphael helped get the restaurant to bed, Leo would be home waiting for him, with full intentions of getting Raph into bed.
These were his thoughts as he walked towards the restaurant, only to be stopped suddenly in his tracks as he watched the last being he'd ever expect to see on this island actually exit Raphael's restaurant.
"What are you doing here?"
Usagi's ears popped up when he heard Leonardo's voice and he offered a small smile when he spotted the turtle.
"I heard you were attacked," Usagi said, closing the distance between them as he looked over his former lover. "I wanted to check in on you."
Leo frowned back at the rabbit. "Why?"
"I was concerned for your well-being."
Leo crossed his arms.
"I was worried about you," Usagi insisted as he met Leonardo's eyes and was reminded how much he'd always admired the blue color.
Leo glanced towards the restaurant before he turned his attention back to Usagi. "Take a walk with me."
Usagi's ears perked up and he fell in step with Leonardo, letting the turtle lead the way.
"So the attack," Usagi began after a few moments of silence, "I read in the paper that it was your dad's old business partner?"
"Yes."
"And the court date is coming up soon? You'll have to go back to your hometown for that?"
"Yes."
"I still can't believe you sold your dad's bookstore and moved away from your hometown and -,"
"What are you really doing here, Usagi?" Leo asked, cutting him off.
Usagi frowned at him. "I told you." He watched as Leo continued to frown back at him. "Come on L. Someone -,"
"Don't call me L."
"Someone tried to kill you. And then you disappeared to this tiny island in the middle of nowhere with someone you just met. I needed to know you were alright."
"I find it hard to believe you're here to check on me." After all, Usagi hadn't been all that concerned for him when he'd dumped him right after his father had died. He realized that being abandoned during a time when he could've really used a friend had stung more than Usagi's actual absence.
"I asked you to sell the bookstore and move in with me. The exact thing you've now done with this turtle!" Usagi's eyes flashed with anger as he continued to frown at Leonardo. "Don't blame me for walking away when you refused to come with me."
"You wanted me to sell the bookstore and move in with you without my brothers," Leo said in a slow, dark voice. "There's a huge difference between what you wanted and what Raphael offered."
"What was I going to do with two little turtles?" Usagi muttered as he turned away from Leo to stare out over the water they were passing. He was silent for another moment as they continued to walk. "So you're saying you got a better offer here? With the bartender?"
"If you want to be concerned for my well-being, then be happy for me that I not only found someone I love and who loves me, but who was more than happy to take in my little brothers as part of the deal." Leo listened as Usagi released an aggravated huff. He stopped walking and faced the rabbit. "So if you were really worrying about me, you can stop. I'm perfectly happy here." Leo lifted an arm and pointed towards the small marina he'd been walking Usagi to. "And if you hurry, you can make the next ferry back to Seattle."
The next time he saw it, he'd come to shore after a solo swim.
Leo had actually had a few hours to himself today. Raphael was working in the brewery, Mikey had gone home with Woody after school, and Donnie had somehow talked his chemistry teacher into letting him use the chem lab after school for some of his own private experiments. So Leo sent Raph a text and headed towards the water.
He wasn't in the same shape he'd been in back in college, when every weekend was filled with a swim meet. But he was still an excellent swimmer and he'd been underwater exploring for a long time before he finally returned to shore. The shore where a very worried turtle stood scanning the waves.
"Raph?" Leo panted out as he sucked in air. "Everything okay?"
"How fuckin long can you hold yer breath?"
Leo paused at Raph's angry tone. But then he rubbed a hand down his face to get the water out of his eyes and began wading back to the shore again. And when he got closer to Raphael, those green eyes showed him the most likely reason for Raph's anger. Sadness and Fear.
Leo zeroed his focus in on Raphael and watched as Raph realized only too late that he was charging him. Raphael landed on his shell with a grunt with Leo on top of him. Leo's mouth immediately captured Raph's mouth and he let one hand slide down Raph's side until he could start tugging at Raph's pants.
Whatever thoughts Raph had been having before about Leo missing beneath the waves disappeared as Raph's arms wrapped around the naked turtle on top of him. Leonardo's skin was slightly cool from the water and with Leo's current insistence that he lose his pants, Raph decided to take advantage of the fact that Leo was soaking wet. He rolled them to their sides so that he could help push his own pants off and hungrily met Leo's mouth again. A churr rolled up Leo's throat as he pushed him to his shell and climbed on top of him.
"Ya look good sprawled out in the sand like this," Raph murmured. Leo's hands tugged on his arms and as he pushed his way into Leo's body, he drank up the take me look that he liked so much in Leo's blue eyes. He leaned down to kiss Leo again while he began stroking Leo in time with his own thrusts, determined to warm Leo up.
Leo wrapped one leg tight around Raphael and churred again as his shell was pressed further into the wet sand. It was all he could to hold onto Raphael as Raph churred in response and took care of both of them until they lay panting against each other.
"We don't normally get a lot of privacy during the day," Leo murmured after a few moments with a small grin. He massaged the back of Raph's neck, a silent request that Raphael stay exactly where he was. "I'm glad you came out here."
Raphael nuzzled his face further into Leo's neck. "Well, I'd like to say this wouldn't be as much fun if we got to do it out here all the time, but -,"
"But it wouldn't be the truth." Leo watched as Raph lifted his head to smile at him. And he grinned back at the warm and relaxed Raphael above him. "I love you, Raph."
"Love ya, too." Raph dipped his head and kissed Leo slowly before finally pushing off of him and then pulling Leo up with him to stand.
"You know I'm really happy here with you, right?" Leo asked as he watched Raph pull his own t-shirt off and toss it into the sand.
"Yeah, I do," he said without hesitation before pulling Leo into the water to help get the clumps of wet sand out of the grooves of Leo's shell.
