Morning Routine - The turtles take a needed trip to the farmhouse. Leo faces his old enemy, Mikey gets into trouble doing the simplest of things, Raph is on time for once and Donnie... well Donnie isn't a morning turtle.

Leonardo looked at his enemy with annoyed anticipation. His blue eyes, restless like ocean waves, glared at the mocking image of his opponent. They'd met before, many a-time and it always resulted in the same situation, a lack of trust. So as the scent of burning reached his senses, he frowned and lunged forth in a charge of energy. The blue banded brother crossed the room in a few strides, flipped over the countertop, rattling the perfectly placed plates ever so slightly and landing perfectly before jutting out his hand… and pressing the stop button on the toaster. Foul thing.

The slices of evenly cut toast were released for collection and Leonardo grinned, then his grin faltered as he seen the singed edges were brown bread had crisped into black flakes. He groaned, then twirled on the spot and muttered a string of terse Japanese before begrudgingly plucking his prize from the toaster.

"So close yet so far" An amused voice sounded from the entrance to the kitchen, a shake of a head threaded through it before a snort of laughter. "Don't worry bro, I'm sure you'll catch on to modern day equipment in no time. Just ask Donnie for some tutoring and…" Mikey clicked his tongue off the roof of his mouth and pointed at his brother with both hands and a wink.

"Oh please, I'm great with technology" Leo rolled his eyes as he placed the toast onto the various plates. Mikey muttered a 'Yeah right' quietly before Leo pointed to the toaster. "That is not technology, it's out to get me I swear" He declared as he eyed the metallic contraption with mistrust laced into his eyes. Mikey snorted back a chuckle and went to fetch the butter from the fridge. He plopped it into the oak table next to the salt and pepper that lay permanently in that spot, before throwing a 'Be right back' over his shoulder and heading for the door.

"Where you going, it better not be…" The warning in his voice was cut shot as Mikey waved him off with a chuckle, opening the cupboard and plucking out the chicken feed.

"Relax, I can't keep the ladies waiting bruh. It's rude" He saluted with a wink and headed out into the cold November morning. Leo had mentally face-palmed at that time, he'd forgotten about the chores that they had all taken up upon his absence the last time they were here. His job had mainly just been generally keeping everything in order at the house, Mikey handled the chickens, Donnie tended to the farm equipment, Raph handled the firewood and April and Casey pretty much kept tabs on the groceries.

This time however was a holiday, a much needed one. Literally a needed one. Although they indeed had human DNA, they were still developed from reptiles, cold-blooded creatures which needed heat all around them to survive. In the years before, Splinter had kept them warm, but that was before the endless floods in the sewers, the heating going shells-up and The blankets developing a thick layer of mould from their place stashed in one of the old, dark maintenance rooms. So they made a call, Splinter would remain in the lair, he wasn't as affected by the cold as his sons were, Rockwell was staying to help him repair the heating systems as were April and Casey, who had bought them enough supplies to last the week they spent here. The house after they would leave would be maintained by a groundsman, as would the animals. So win-win.

He glanced out the window toward the frosted morning landscape, each blade of grass was defined even further by the lair of sparkling white coating its every fibre. Leo wished they could see central park this way. His thoughts were rattled as a loud 'thud' echoed from up-stairs. Donnie was awake. He'd better get the coffee started.

"Better hurry with that kettle, oh-fearless one" Raphael rolled his shoulder with a wince as he headed down the hallway towards him. He also knew the routine with Donatello in the morning.

"You sleep on your side again?" Leo acknowledged him by handing him his plate of toast.

"Yeah" Raph replied with a shrug. "I'll get Donnie to take a look as soon as he's outta' his cave-turtle routine" Raph rolled his eyes. It had become a well-known fact that Raph's left shoulder, the side he often slept on in his hammock back home, had a slight fault which was only amplified if it bore the weight of him, it once even dislocated, resulting in a lot of embarrassment for the 'toughest' turtle in the team. It had also become a well-known fact that Donatello should be regarded very carefully in the morning. He was not a morning turtle.

Raph glanced at the singed edges of his toast and grumbled. "At least ya' didn't burn the whole lot"

"I tried and therefor I should not be judged" Leonardo replied haughtily as he put the kettle onto boil. Raph rolled his eyes as he munched loudly on his toast. A moment later and a pot of coffee was laid on the table, it wasn't a moment too soon because a grumbling Donatello was dragging himself into the room. His tired, brown eyes were squinting at the light. Raphael smirked and handed him a mug of coffee which he took groggily and downed all in one with a tilt back of his which he shook afterwards to clear.

"Morning sunshine" Raph teased, nudging his brothers arm.

"Get'off" Donatello slurred, gently shoving him away as he sat down. Leo handed him his plate and rubbed the top of his head fondly. "Where's Mike" He glanced around sleepily.

"Out feeding 'his ladies'" Leo rolled his eyes. While turning, he looked out of the window, although steamed up from the kettle, he could clearly see Mikey kneeling next to…

Leo suddenly had to look again, his face full of disgust before he was jogging out of the front door shouting "Mikey that is not a mole hill!" in a shriek.

Donnie grumbled and looked in the direction the shout came from, rubbing the side of his head. Raph jumped up from his seat to look out the window in time to see Leo skidding to a stop and yelling at Mikey who suddenly let out a disgusted shriek.

"It's gonna be one of those days, isn't it?" Donnie grumbled, taking a bite out of his toast. In the background, beyond the heat-preserving walls he could hear Leo and Mikey trudging back to the porch.

"Yep" Raph replied with an evil smirk and a shake of his head.