Something rattled in the kitchen, and the sound made his smile broaden. Although he knew Leonardo thought he came up with it just to annoy him, really, the "slave" getting the cooking duties each day simply made sense. They both knew Raphael would probably be cooking tomorrow, but for now, Raphael took too much pleasure knowing that his brother hated cooking. Leonardo usually went to great pains to avoid his turn in the kitchen, willingly trading chores that everyone else hated like polishing and sharpening their weapons, taking extra patrols around the lair to check for intruders, the endless changing of Splinter's damn candles...

Raphael used to think that his brother changed the candles just to suck up to their sensei, but judging from the glare he'd gotten when he ordered Leonardo to prepare dinner, his big brother probably thought candles were preferable to pots and pans. Maybe he hated doing some of those chores and just kept his complaining to himself? Weird.

A thought struck him and he frowned, glancing at the closed kitchen door. He couldn't remember the last time Leonardo actually did something in the kitchen. Maybe Leo couldn't cook. Maybe he was in there charring their food supplies to a crisp. Maybe--

"Hey!" he shouted from the couch. "Everything all right in there?"

No reply. That never boded well when someone asked Raphael if something was all right.

"Leo, are you burning dinner?"

Silence.

"...no."

That didn't exactly inspire confidence. "Just so you know, I'm not exactly in the mood to go hungry to bed tonight."

A moment passed. All sound ceased from the kitchen.

"I won't mind if you quit whining and come do it yourself."

Raphael blinked. His brother didn't usually sound so restrained, his voice clipped as if he was holding his temper in check. Knowing Leonardo's rare moods, the water was probably boiling without any help from the stove.

"No no, that's okay. Whenever you're done." Raphael leaned back and breathed a sign of relief when he didn't hear a response.

Definitely losing tomorrow, he thought. There was no way his brother would let him win again so soon, not after this. Might even stop holding back so much during the fight. He made a mental note to make sure they fought without their weapons again.

With only a few channels to choose from, Raphael finally settled on a late night monster movie and tossed the remote aside. The tv provided the only light aside from the upstairs bathroom and the scant glow from under the kitchen door. The moonlight didn't penetrate the thick curtains covering the windows so the living room was comfortably dark. Used to living in a cramped lair with Donatello's noisy machines, Sensei's lectures, Leonardo's training and Michelangelo just being Michelangelo, he found the relative peace a welcome relief.

Soon after, his brother came out of the kitchen with a tray that he set down on the coffee table in front of Raphael. To his surprise, although dinner was simple steamed vegetables and chicken, it wasn't burned and it wasn't underdone, either. He glanced at his brother as Leonardo came around and sat beside him. Instead of the same, Leonardo had an even simpler bowl of rice and fish.

Raphael's mouth quirked but he didn't say anything. He didn't know everything about his sibling but he knew enough. Fish and rice were Leo's comfort food. It struck the rest of the family as odd, even Splinter sometimes, but no one teased him about it. It meant more ice cream, chocolate, beer and beef jerky for everyone else.

When he was finished, Raphael just pushed his plate away. He hadn't ordered his brother to do the dishes, but kitchen duty obviously included that and he liked foisting off extra work on his bossy sibling. Although he heard a low, almost imperceptible groan, Raphael grinned as his brother dutifully cleared the plates again, disappearing back into the hated kitchen.

Which was why Raphael kept a close eye on both the clock--ten thirty-five, an hour and twenty five minutes before his day was up--and the kitchen door, just in case his brother tried to sneak away and disappear. He doubted he would, but Leo sometimes turned unpredictable when he got pissed.

To his relief, he didn't have to hunt his brother down. Leonardo came back soon enough, turning off the kitchen lights as he returned to the couch, where he looked at the television, the windows, the floor, anywhere except Raphael.

For himself, Raphael didn't bother to hide his own look, his gaze sweeping over his brother's body. Leonardo had treated the burns on his wrists so they didn't look too painful anymore. The bites had long stopped bleeding, but since they were too small to consider bandaging, the marks and bruising stood out on his sibling's skin. He reached over and put his fingertips just under his brother's jaw, tilting his head back so he could better see one of the bites on his throat.

"C'mere," he said, grabbing the end of Leonardo's mask and pulling him closer, ultimately forcing him on his side with his head pillowed on Raphael's lap. He wrapped the mask ends around his hand a few times and leaned back, less interested in the movie and more interested in how his brother had to squirm and adjust himself, never really getting comfortable until he resigned himself to his position and relaxed. Leonardo stiffened once when Raphael stroked his throat, the bites on his arm, and his sore wrists, but a sharp tug on his mask reminded him to lie still.

Raphael had a whole month to do just about anything he wanted to his brother, more or less. Plenty of time to have fun. No need to rush. Besides, it was fun enough just taking the time on this first day to establish the ground rules and physically remind Leonardo that on days that he lost, he belonged to his brother.

Raphael breathed out. Definitely no swords or sais tomorrow.

tbc...