Ch 6.

At seven that evening, Leo, once again dressed in a suit and tie, made his way toward central park, his eyes warily keeping a lookout for his new 'date'. As he made his way, in the distance he could see another turtle dressed in black pants and blue dress shirt with a tie and jacket. Leo smiled as they came upon each other.

"Leo?" The new turtle stuck his hand out.

"Yes," Leo responded as he shook the other turtle's hand, "Grayson?"

"Yeah, finally nice to meet you," Grayson nodded and the two walked through the park.

"Same," Leo responded.

"So, did you have anything special you were hoping to do?" Grayson asked as they made their way to the other side.

"I haven't had dinner yet," Leo told him, "Interested in going for a bite to eat?"

"Sure," Grayson sounded excited, "I'm new to this city and if you have a favorite place, I'm willing to try it."

Leo nodded, "I know of this great Italian place not too far from here," They hurried across the street. "It's mostly known for its pizza but it has other great Italian food too."

"I love pizza," Grayson responded, "I'm pretty much open to eating anything."

Leo nodded and led Grayson a few more feet before stopping in front of a door. "Here we are," Leo told him as he held the door open for him.

Grayson stepped in and the two walked over to where a tall thin human, dressed in black suit and tie stood in front of a brown podium. As the two turtles approached, he smiled at them and took out two menus.

"A table for two?" He asked as they walked up to him.

"Yes please," Leo responded.

"Please follow me," They did as instructed and the host seated them at a booth in the corner. "Your server will be right with you," He told them as he placed the menus in front of them before walking away.

A moment later, a young dark haired waitress dressed in black pants and a white shirt with a red bow tie walked over, she wore a name tag with the name Maria on it, "Good evening sirs," She said with a smile, "My name is Maria, may I start you off with a drink?" She smiled cordially at them, "Perhaps some wine?"

Leo looked at Grayson curiously, "I do like red wine," Grayson responded, "May we have your wine menu?"

"It's on the inside but if you like I can suggest one," The two turtles nodded, "We have a lovely Pinot Noir that goes wonderfully with many of our Italian dishes," She looked at Leo and smiled, "Including our famous pizza dishes."

"Sounds good," Leo nodded, "We'll take that."

Maria turned away and a few moments later, came back with two wine glasses and a bottle of the red wine. "Are you ready to order or do you still need a few minutes?" She asked as she poured the wine into their glasses.

Grayson looked at Leo, "You say you come here often, do you have a favorite?"

"I like to try something different every time I come here," Leo told him. He looked at Maria, "May we have a few more minutes?"

"Of course," She nodded and started toward another table. A few minutes later, the two turtles agreed on having a Chicken and Caesar Pizza.

"This is awesome," Grayson stated as he took his first bite, "I'll definitely have to come back here," He looked at Leo intently, "Maybe for a second date?"

Leo blushed and looked away for a moment as he finished his first bite. He looked back at Grayson who was looking at him curiously. "Possibly," Leo told him with a smile and took another bite, "So you said you're new here? Where are you from?"

"I'm actually from New Hampshire," Grayson stated, "But I moved down here with my brother and our adopted father," Grayson suddenly turned away and Leo could see him turning a bright shade of red, "You would probably never have thought this of me but I'm…well, I'm a wrestler."

"You're a wrestler?" Leo's eyes widened in surprise, "Wow, I love wrestlers…I mean uh, wrestling," He blushed bright red then looked the other turtle up and down as Grayson chuckled lightly at him, "But you're right, I never would have thought that of you."

Grayson smiled, "My dad figured my career would do better here in New York City so we're looking into joining a new wrestling gym here in town, meanwhile, I'm working on a new stage name."

"A stage name?" Leo looked at him curiously, "Like what?"

"Well I was thinking of either Captain Gravity or Graviturtle."

"Gravity?" Leo hummed thoughtfully, "Why?"

"Well, you see my brother who is a total genius is also my partner in wrestling…."

"Really?" Leo smiled, "And what's his stage name, Sheldon?" He quipped.

"Close," Grayson said with a chuckle, "It's actually Shellectro and he found a way to manipulate electricity and he, through his genius, created this device, an electric whip, that helps me with manipulating gravity," Leo stared at Grayson in amazement as he talked excitedly, "So that's why I thought something with the name gravity in it would be cool sounding."

Leo nodded, "I do like the name Graviturtle," He told him, "It's got a nice ring to it."

"Okay then," Grayson nodded, "I'll see what my dad says, but I actually prefer that one too."

Leo nodded and took another bite, "So, any idea when you may have your first match?"

"Not yet," Grayson responded, "But as soon as I find a gym to sponsor me and my brother, you'll be the first to know."

"Sounds great," Leo said and took another bite of his pizza. As he did his eyes wandered up and down Grayson's frame in curiosity and for a moment the conversation he had earlier with Mikey came back to him. He shook his head as if to clear his mind of any unwanted thoughts and looked down at his plate. "So is Shellectro your brother's stage name or actual name?" He queried in an attempt to focus on something else.

Leo raised an eye ridge as Grayson began laughing, "When I said you were close I meant it," He told him as he wiped his mouth, "His actual name is Sheldon."

"Oh, and how did he come up with Shellectro as his stage name?"

"Well, you see my bro is a whiz with electricity and managed to come up with these really cool handheld devices that act almost like lightning rods or tasers," Leo nodded in understanding as Grayson continued, "At first he was thinking of going with the name 'Electroboy' but I told him it sounded too immature so he came up with Shellectro and Dad loved it!"

"And your dad is okay with his sons using stage names instead of their real ones?"

Grayson nodded enthusiastically, "Sure, he's practically pushing us to do it." Leo watched as he gently picked up his napkin and wiped his hands and mouth then place it on his plate along with his fork and knife, "I just hope he doesn't get carried away like last time."

"Last time?" Leo finished his slice then also wiped his hands and mouth and also placed his napkin, fork and knife on his plate, "What happened?"

"When my brother and I began to show an interest in wrestling, he practically went insane with getting us into a gym, then over seeing everything we did," Grayson sighed heavily and picked up his glass of wine, "He had us practicing every day, getting angry if we didn't take things seriously, yell and scream and make us work out to the point where we were almost collapsing from exhaustion."

Leo looked at Grayson in shock, "Wow, he sounds like a bit of a tyrant," He took his own glass and finished his wine, "And he's still your manager?"

"We were almost ready to desert him, so we told him if he didn't knock it off, we would walk out on him and find someone else to manage us," Grayson signaled the waitress for the check, "But he calmed down and we agreed to start over by moving to New York City."

Leo nodded as they both pulled out their wallets, "This will be my treat," Leo told him, "You can treat me to your first wrestling match."

"You got it," Grayson looked at him curiously, "So you're big into wrestling, huh?"

With a heavy sigh, Leo nodded at him, "More than even I realized." Grayson cocked his head at him but Leo only smiled at him, "But I'm really big into martial arts."

"That's cool," Grayson responded as the two turtles stood and prepared to leave the restaurant, "Do you practice with weapons or just do hand to hand combat?"

"Both," Leo told him, "My preferred weapon is the twin katana but my sensei requires me to know several weapons." He said looking at his watch, "You know it's still early and there's a movie theater across the street, interested?"

Grayson nodded, "Sure, and I'll pay for the movie," He told him as the two turtles walked out of the restaurant, "And I will still send you tickets for my first match."

Leo smiled at him, "Sweet," He said as they crossed the street and over to the theater.