"You know?"

Leo shared a glance with Raph, but the red-banded turtle looked just as confused, shocked even.

"W-What do you mean 'you know'?"

Splinter took his time responding. Both boys stared at him, watched his every move as he calmly took a sip from his new cup of tea without glancing at them once until he had quenched his thirst. They were trying to find a hiccup in his movements, a bit of hesitation or pause, a shift of his eyes, a twitch of his whiskers, anything that might indicate he was at all anxious or bothered by this news his sons had just shared with him. But he did no such thing. In fact, he acted as though this didn't surprise him in the least.

"I have been aware of your feelings for each other for a long time," he said finally, folding his paws in his lap and looking up at them with those intuitive amber eyes.

"You have?" Raph said, leaning fully forward. His eyes were wide, and he had gone back to blushing—for completely different reasons this time.

Leo was just as baffled. "But … How long have you known? When did this happen?"

It was funny. They had decided to start a romantic relationship and tell their father about it, and yet they were the ones demanding answers as their father took in their questions calmly, and even smiled about it.

"Ido no naka no hitori-goto mo san'nen tateba shireru: Even a lone mutter in a well is known after three years."

Leo blinked. The crease on his brow deepened with confusion. Raph's mouth hung slightly agape.

Splinter pulled on his beard and directed his gaze toward his eldest son. "I heard you and Donatello talking about it."

Raph made a noise, exhaling as Leo inversely inhaled and dropped his head with embarrassment. If he had a normal skin color, his face would be entirely red right now.

"Nice going, Fearless."

"I thought you were meditating," Leo said, looking back to his father, his eyes pleading as though he could somehow hope that Splinter wasn't exactly telling the truth.

Splinter's smile grew. "I was. And I can assure you I was doing my utmost not to eavesdrop. But it is challenging, when you are a master of all five senses, not to hear a conversation going on in the next room."

Raph punched Leo in the arm.

"To be fair," Splinter continued. "It did nothing more than confirm my suspicions."

"Suspicions?" the boys chorused, both with tentative questioning, as though they didn't quite want to know what their father meant.

"It is also challenging," Splinter said, "not to notice certain manners in my sons after many years of experience observing the behaviors and patterns of people in both social and intimate spaces. The two of you have always had a peculiar relationship, even when you were young boys; you were attached to each other in a way that reached beyond mere brotherhood. And as you grew older and your emotions became more complicated, I realized your relationship resembled specific qualities I had only ever experienced in my relationship with my wife."

Raph hiccuped, and Leo could swear he caught the undertones of a gag beneath it. He had to admit, he didn't want to hear that either.

"While it concerned me at first," Splinter continued. "It quickly became obvious that neither of you were initially aware of these things, and so I thought I would allow it to take its course and see if it might end up where my suspicions thought it might and …" He spread his arms out toward them. "I was right."

Leo's head tilted to the side. "And you're okay with that?"

Splinter raised a brow as though he didn't understand. "Are you not?"

"W-Well, yeah but …"

"I'm sorry," Raph said loudly, shooting his hand up into the air. "I'm just a little confused. So you're saying you knew about everything that was going on over the past few months?"

"Yes."

"And nobody told you anything?"

"No."

Raph's hand fell back into his lap. He paused, biting on his bottom lip as he thought. "Even when you were talking to me after I picked a fight with Karai?"

"Yes."

The turtle sat back on his heels. His green eyes met Leo's and he shrugged. "Well, I have nothing more to say."

Leo looked back at his father, still unsure. "And you're okay with this?" he asked again. He felt like a worm was wiggling around in his stomach and eating at his insides. This was about the weirdest conversation he'd ever had with his sensei.

Splinter gazed back at him patiently and folded his fingers together. "I was under the impression you came to notify me of this new step in your relationship so that I would not be in the dark. But it seems to me as though you are seeking my permission to be a part of something that is more intricate than your bond as brothers."

Leo faltered. "Well I …"

"No?" Raph said, though it was more of a question than a statement.

They glanced at each other. But whatever silent bit of communication they had didn't seem to end anywhere cognizant so they looked back to their father.

"Would you like my permission?" Splinter asked.

Raph twitched as though the very question was an insult to his being. Leo, on the other hand, found himself nodding.

"It might make me feel better," he admitted, "about this conversation."

Splinter again smiled and bowed his head once. "My only wish is for you to be happy, my sons. If being together is what makes you happy, then I am more than willing to give you my blessing on that. But you must promise me something first."

Both boys stiffened.

"All this fighting had best be behind us now."

They exhaled. Raph held up his hand in salute. Leo sighed a "Hai, Sensei."

"Good," Splinter said over a chuckle. He leaned forward a little to place a hand on each of their heads.

Leo watched his amber eyes glance between them and noticed a glimmer of emotion he wasn't sure he quite understood. It looked like sadness of some kind, but he was still smiling, and it was genuine, a smile that fully reached his eyes and left no part of his expression empty. But beneath his fur, hiding in the center of his forehead was the smallest of creases, a crease of concern maybe? Of pain?

He didn't have to wonder about it very long because his father's hand slid gently down his face and tilted up his chin. He did the same with Raph and said, "Sometimes I wish you would stay young forever."

He didn't go on, but Leo heard an unspoken "so that you could stay with me" in his tone, and he knew Raph heard it too. He met his father's smile with one of his own.

"We're not going anywhere, Sensei. I promise."

Splinter pulled in a long breath, gazing down at his oldest in admiration. Then, without saying anything else, he pulled his sons into his embrace and held them tightly. Leo allowed the left side of his face to sink into his father's chest so that he could inhale the familiar blend of incense and tea and smile at Raph, who grinned back at him and, for a brief moment, closed his eyes and let his body relax, allowing himself to absorb the comfort of being held by their father.

Leo wasn't sure how long they knelt there shrouded in Splinter's hug, but it didn't really bother him. He didn't mind it at all. In fact, he loved this side of his father. And he had missed it.

Eventually though, the old rat did let them go and then shooed them away with his hands. "Now, for the last time, get some sleep, both of you."

The boys bowed in unison and left the dojo after bidding their sensei a goodnight.

As soon as Raph's foot crossed the threshold into the common room, a sloppy breath fell out of his mouth. "That was way easier than I thought it was going to be." He glanced at Leo with a glint of fear to his eyes. "Should we be worried?"

Leo chuckled. "No. I don't think so."

"Okay." Raph sniffed then rolled his shoulders timidly and mumbled, "Do you wanna sleep in my room?"

The corners of Leo's lips pulled up and he gave Raph a side-glance without responding. He reached out and found his brother's hand, lacing their fingers together, and pulled him closer to his side as he guided them both toward his own room.

"Your room is filthy."

The red turtle scoffed. "Is not."

"The sweat rags, Raph? First off, gross. Second, they're all over the place. I mean do you ever add anything to the laundry?"

"We don't wear clothes!"

"April brings a basket down here every week so she can wash our sheets and towels and stuff. Did you even know that?"

Raph rolled his eyes away.

"Also, the drum set."

"What about it?"

"It takes up way too much space. You don't even play. Why do you have it?"

Raph sniffed indignantly. "I have my reasons. What's it to you?"

"Well if you want me to be comfortable in your room—"

"I wasn't asking you to move in with me!"

Leo intentionally ignored him. "Oh, and that collection of shuriken on your ceiling? That needs to go."

Raph huffed through his nose, looking Leo up and down with those invigorating green eyes of his. "Am I gonna regret this?"

Leo laughed. "Hell yeah."