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The lair had been quiet lately. Not that there wasn’t plenty to do - there were always Purple Dragon heads to smash, the Foot Tower to surveil, not to mention all the work needed to be done at home to keep the lair in good working condition for the winter. Donnie had begged off the last three patrols because he was so backlogged on all the repairs needed to keep their subterranean home running during the cold winter months, and Leo had easily agreed. They were in a rhythm that they had seen year after year - enemies were always there waiting, house repairs would never end, and the only bit of excitement was the odd sprain from morning training.
Raph was nursing a sore shoulder at the moment, but that wasn’t going to stop him from going after the punching bag all afternoon. It wasn’t like any of his brothers were going to sit and hang out with him - Mikey was puttering around in the kitchen, Donnie locked away in his lab, and Leo hiding away upstairs in his room. Outside of patrols and morning training, it has been a long while since the four brothers had spent any time together. They were like tiny islands in their own home, isolated and alone.
Raph was working his way up into a good rhythm on the bag, despite an occasional twinge from his shoulder, but Donnie had told him that exercise would help, so long as he iced it later, so Raph ignored it. He was getting lost in his own thoughts and the rhythm of his fists on the bag, when he heard Mikey shout something that sent a shot of fear straight through him.
“Leo! Come help me make dinner!”
Raph barely paused to grab his sweat towel from the hook by the door before pelting out of the dojo and down to the kitchen, determined to stop his older brother from blowing anything up, but Leo was already there at the counter chopping up potatoes for Mikey.
“Mikey!” Raph growled, out of breath. “What the hell, you know Donnie said Leo ain’t allowed in the kitchen anymore!”
Leo, super ninja that he was, could not be trusted in the kitchen. Outside of boiling water for tea, Leo had ruined no less than six kitchen appliances and the last time he had melted the microwave, Donnie had actually forcefully thrown Leo out of the Lair until Leo managed to come home with a new microwave. Leo said he had found it in the dump, but Raph was pretty sure April had taken pity on him and bought them a second hand one and told Leo to take it to Donnie as a peace offering. Raph treasured that memory deeply - it wasn’t often one got to see Donatello hand Leonardo his shell.
“Chill out, dude, I just need him to chop the veggies. If anyone can handle a knife, it’s Leo, right?” Mikey said with a wave of his hand, barely glancing up at Raph from where he was standing over the stove with about six different pots and pans all filled with food in front of him.
“I’m standing far away from anything that plugs into a wall,” Leo added. He gave the kitchen knife a fancy twirl and Raph a glare that said, ‘See? I can handle this.’
“Fine, I guess, but I’m sticking around. Leo in the kitchen, gotta be a good show,” said Raph. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and an ice pack for his shoulder and took a seat at the table. He had just kicked his feet up onto the chair next to him, when Donnie came in, laptop in hand and welding goggles on his head that looked like he had forgotten they were there hours ago.
“I better work in here until dinner’s ready,” Donnie said, plopping down in the chair next to Raph. “I want to see exactly how Leo ruins the kitchen this time since I’m going to have to fix it later anyway.”
“It’ll all be fine, I already said,” Mikey replied. He scooped a handful of the potatoes Leo had already chopped and dumped them in a pot. Raph had to admit, whatever his brothers were making smelled delicious. Mikey tossed a couple zucchini over his shoulder which Leo plucked out of the air and started chopping up next. Meanwhile, Donnie had settled back into work mode, but he seemed more relaxed, turning on a radio station on his laptop filled with some of Mikey’s favorite pop music. He kept the volume low, and Mikey sang along under his breath and danced a little as he moved around the kitchen, but not as totally obnoxious as he tended to prefer. Leo was smiling, albeit in that Leo way of his where you only really know he’s smiling if you’ve spent the last twenty odd years memorizing just three other people’s facial expressions.
Raph was leaning back in his chair, arms behind his head, just observing his brothers at work and smiling a little to himself, thinking how nice it was that all four of them were actually in the same room for once. They were still sort of off in their own little world, although quiet conversation between Mikey and Leo cut through the music occasionally as Mikey instructed Leo on how he wanted something chopped up or Leo asked how Mikey was making dinner tonight, but they were all four together and happy. Raph was quietly reveling in the experience, when he noticed Mikey giving them all a satisfied look when he thought no one else was looking. Raph would have thought nothing of it, but he noticed the look again during dinner when Donnie put away his laptop to actually engage in face to face conversation, when Leo let out an actual laugh at one of Mikey's jokes, and when Raph knuckled Leo gently in the shoulder instead of biting his head off when they started to bicker.
After dinner, which Mikey and Leo insisted they were off cleaning duty, Raph and Donnie washed the dishes shoulder to shoulder and discussed ideas about improving the Shell Cycle traction in the winter, before Donnie slipped off into the living room to pick out a movie to watch with Leo. Mikey was at the microwave getting the popcorn ready, and Raph walked over to him and slung an arm around his shoulder.
“You totally did that on purpose.”
“Well, yeah,” Mikey replied easily, denying nothing. “Leo was getting a drink of water at the time, so he gave me a weird look when I yelled in his face, but it got you and Donnie running, so I think he figured it out. But come on, dude: you barely leave the dojo, I haven’t seen Donnie in days because he’s been locked up in his lab so much, and Leo has said hardly three words in as many weeks.” He shrugged, careful not to dislodge Raph’s arm. “It felt like I was losing my brothers, so I just figured out a way to find them again.”
“You’re alright, kid,” Raph said, giving Mikey a gentle noogie. Mikey grinned up at his big brother, then popped the microwave door open a second before the beep would sound.
“Popcorn’s done!” Mikey shouted, darting into the living room. “What did you two nerds pick out?”
Raph followed Mikey into the living room at a slower pace, smiling as he watched Donnie and Leo defend the World War II miniseries they had queued up while Mikey darted around distributing the popcorn bowls, keeping the largest for himself, even as he plunked down in the middle of the sofa, within easy stealing range. Maybe the winter would still be long and tiring, but there were still four brothers ready to face it together.