Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

"I have no idea what you're so upset about. If something was wrong, then I'm pretty sure we would've known about it, by now. You need to learn to relax, more!"

Yeah, maybe that was true.

"Donnie! Bro! Quit looking at yourself! I can't carry all these books by myself!"

But how could he not?

"You were special before, Don, but NOW? Now you're fire!"

"No matter what your eyes look like, or how much you push us away sometimes, we'll always love you, Dee!"

"I called it! Dad didn't make fun of you. Would you quit being so overly self-conscious, now?"

Donnie let out a shaky sigh as he stared back at himself in his bedroom mirror. He'd had to put up with encouragements like that and more for nearly the entire day. As much as he hated it, the words wouldn't stop swirling around his head. They jumbled up his thoughts and made things so much more- confusing than they ought to be.

Though, if he was any less of, well, himself, he supposed he would've easily let his family just calm his nerves and move on as quickly as they all had.

They were trying to be supportive. He knew that. It wasn't their fault that they were kinda making things worse on his end by the minute. After the whole, well, lab fiasco, he hadn't been able to have even a SECOND of alone time. His brothers had been everywhere, trying to do anything they could to help him out.

They cleared out the clutter, HE disposed of the failed experiment, and he even saw Mikey dusting the nooks and corners that he seldom ever thought about. Although, of course, that last one was partially his fault. He had made Mikey do a considerable portion of the clean up work as punishment. A part of him was pretty sure that Mikey would've taken it upon himself to do most of the work, anyway, though.

And Donnie couldn't lie- it was.. nice. It was so nice of his brothers to be so willingly involved like that.

But he knew it was only because they didn't trust him to be alone. Not after an outburst on that level. They were probably afraid he'd go all 'mad scientist' on them if he was left to his own devices. Probably worried he'd gouge his own eyes out for the sake of science, haha...

Yeah. That was funny and also definitely a joke. He wished that had been a joke and that that hadn't been a thought that genuinely occurred to him, even if it was only for a split second and not at all a serious one. That was the exact opposite of helpful or smart.

Donnie felt a rock settle into his stomach. The longer he continued to stare into the mirror, the longer he felt like he was going to be sick.

He clearly remembered yelling at Raph. Mikey. Doing a bit more than yelling when it came to Leo (he never did apologize for that). It felt like a blur, now, but no, that pure blinding rage was- was something else. Sure, he'd been- pissed. Just recalling the moment he realized everything went up in flames made him feel-

I-It made him feel...

Guilt.

He glanced away for only a moment to shoot a glance at his tech-gauntlet, bitterly remembering the notes he'd been religiously taking since the jarring discovery.

If he didn't monitor everything, something was telling him that it'd bite him in the ass later. There was nothing wrong with wanting to know if something bad was going on with your own body. Nothing.

A-And besides! He wasn't being self-conscious! He was being PERFECTLY wary of the potential possibly lethal, possibly debilitating- THING!

He leaned forward to get a better view in the dim lighting, eyes wide as he did a double check for only the hundredth time that evening. Try as he may, some part of him just did not want to accept the facts.

But they were there. Oh, were they there. His left eye was clearly a dull blue, and his right was unmistakably a muddy red.

Completely unprecedented, and yet wholly a reality. It was driving him up the wall.

Donnie drew back, blinking roughly and rubbing his eyes to soothe the irritated skin. Poking and prodding anywhere near your eyes felt terrible by itself, so imagine his dismay with having to literally take samples of the surrounding tissue earlier in the day.

God, he shuddered just recalling the various experiments. If he could just close his eyes and not have to use them again for the next twenty hours, that'd be great.

He knew it all had been, mandatory, though.

How would something like this even happen? Was the color change just a coincidence? Was it-

Well, no. He had a sinking feeling that he knew exactly what the color change was, but he'd already ran countless tests on himself JUST to make sure, and-

"Knock knock," a voice said, startling him out of his wits and making him yelp. He nearly fell as he stumbled backwards, but caught himself at the last minute.

A flash of indignation coursed through him as he turned to see Leo poke his head past the curtain to his room.

Oh, of course. Of course it was the last person he wanted to see right now. Him, right along with any other sentient being on the planet.

"Wh- Why would you-" Relax. Think about your words before you say them, dumbass. "Why would you knock on a CURTAIN, Leo?!"

"Why do you have a curtain?" Leo shot back, unamused.

To that, Donnie's answer was a firm arm cross.

Despite ABSOLUTELY NOT being invited in, Leo sighed and stepped inside anyway. He was wearing his typical nighttime getup and holding a steaming mug of something, which told Donnie that he was likely not awake at this hour by choice. Go figure.

"What do you even want? I'm very busy right now, if you couldn't tell."

Leo glanced at the mirror and nodded his head knowingly. "Ah, right. Of course, my bad. Terribly sorry for interrupting your nightly stress out sesh. I know how much you love croaking at the ripe age of thirty."

Donnie brought a hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do you enjoy tormenting me? Is that what this is?"

"Nope," Leo reassured, popping the 'p' in a way that irritated him beyond belief.

Donnie was just about to forget common decency and shove his brother out of his room. Leo wasn't helping, and he REALLY chose LITERALLY THE WORST TIME to show up. He needs peace and quiet! Not-

"Is-" He paused to take a deep breath.

"Is that my coffee?"

Leo snorted like it was a ridiculous question to ask. "You know I don't drink that crap."

"Tea?" he tried again. Leo smirked.

"Chamomile. Want a sip?"

"If you think that backwash is going anywhere near my mouth, you've got another thing coming."

Leo shrugged at that. "Suit yourself. More for me, then. But, hey, let's not change the subject, alright?"

Donnie surprised himself by letting out an incredulous laugh. It was moreso a scoff than anything.

"What subject? The- The subject of you annoying me in the middle of the night??" He shook his head and turned back around to his mirror. "Yeah, sure, Leo. Let's get back to that, shall we?"

"C'mon, Don," Leo chided, almost. "You're smart. You can figure out why I'm here."

Donnie scrutinized his reflection, disregarding the sharp sting in his eyes as he forced them to focus yet again on the pieces of him that were horribly out of place. Reaching up to pull down the eyelid on his right eye, he had to blink and look away before long when the burn became too much.

"Yeah, well, apparently NOT, because to me, it just sounds like you're being vague to get on my nerves."

"Don," Leo said again, but then became exasperated as he added, "would you quit messing with your eyes and look at me?"

Donnie pointedly turned to face the wall to the right of his mirror; exactly the opposite of where his brother was standing.

"BRO! What the heck!?"

He turned again and crossed his arms. He was now facing the wall behind his mirror. Leo grumpily waved a hand in his face, which he knocked to the side without a second thought.

"WHAT?" he relented. "What do you want?!"

"To stop- this!" Leo emphatically gestured to Donnie's person, the tea in his mug nearly sloshing out from the harsh movement. "You!"

He quirked a brow. "To stop me? From doing what, exactly? Running my research in the comfort of my own room and lab? Oh, the horror!"

He made a face as he annexed, "And if you get even a single drop of that on this floor, no one will ever find your body."

Leo's irritated expression stayed on his face, and for a moment, Donnie thought his brother was actually going to yell at him. Not like he didn't deserve it right now, but still, a REAL real-talk with LEO? Who died and made him Raph?

But, then, of course, Leo was grinning again, and Donnie tensed up.

"Oh.. Oh no.. I'm shaking..."

"Stop."

"I'm shaking and quaking in my custom baby seal leather boots..."

"Stop."

"Oh... Oh no, Mistew Pwesident-"

"YOU ARE NOT UTTERING THAT GOD-FORSAKEN MEME WHILE IN MY PRESENCE."

Leo's guffaws that followed were nearly the straw that broke the camel's back. Just how Donnie restrained himself from committing murder in that moment will forever remain a mystery.

Leave it to his brother to be oddly serious one moment, then be spouting absolute jackshit the next. He feels like he's going insane.

"I'm sorry," Leo managed to get out long after Donnie had zoned himself out of the situation. His brother had the nerve to throw an arm over his shoulders and act like he hadn't just casually said the most cursed thing on the planet.

Everything seems to be in order, then.

"Why must you turn my room into a house of lies, Leon?"

"Your face," he snickered back, "is ALWAYS priceless!"

"Oh, okay. Yeah. I see. Alright. You have five seconds to get out before I activate Shelldon."

That had Leo rethinking his actions. Oh, not by much, but the sliver of fear he could see flash through his sibling gave him more satisfaction than making good on his threat would have.

"Okay!" Leo relented, removing himself from Donnie's person and taking a couple steps away. "Alright! I'll stop! No need to call the cavalry on me, geeze."

"I wouldn't need the cavalry if my family wasn't just a bunch of wild animals out for blood."

"I," Leo began, actively thinking his words through as he spoke, "cannot argue with 'ya, there."

"Oh- OH. So you admit it, do you??"

"I admit it. You caught me red-handed."

A beat of silence. A vile little upwards twitch of Leo's lips.

"Or, well, should I say..."

Oh dear God no.

"... Red-eared...?"

"That was weak, especially for you, Leo."

"Oh, so what you're saying is you want me to try harder? Is that it? That what you want?"

"I wish dad never found you."

Leo's smirk became impish as he reached over to set his mug on a nearby table. They meaningfully locked eyes as Leo slowly but surely raised his arms.

"I'm gonna do it," he whispered.

"Leo, I will get Shelldon in here."

"It's already in motion, though, bro. You can't stop it when it's in motion."

"I'll tell dad. I WILL tell dad that you're bothering me."

Leo stilled for a minute. And then he quickly ducked his head into his elbow and dabbed.

"Booyakasha."

Donnie reacted really the only way you could, and should, react when your sibling has the nerve, the gall, the audacity to dab while within twenty-five miles of you: he made a dive-bomb for a switch on the floor in the corner of his room.

Within seconds, a previously dull neon sign lit up just above his bed; reserved only for Leo or Mikey-related occasions. They both knew their crimes, and yet they still thought that they were untouchable gods. Well, guess what?

They walk into his domain, they get the "No Dabbing" sign.

Yes. He made a sign.

Yanking Leo back by the collar of his shirt, Donnie grabbed the sides of his brother's face and forced him to acknowledge the written laws of this land.

"What does it say, Leo?"

Leo made a sound like a mix between a sob and a laugh.

"O-Oh, so you installed it?"

"Yes, I installed it. Tell me what it says, you filthy cur."

"I-I can't- g-gimme a sec-"

"IT SAYS 'NO DABBING', LEO."

Leo pushed against Donnie's grip on him, but it was a halfhearted effort. Fortunately for him, his laughter made it impossible for Donnie to even want to keep holding onto him.

Completely and utterly disgusted, he shoved Leo away from his person, sending his brother bowling into his bed.

"As soon as you quit dying over your own poor excuse of a "joke", you can get out."

"No!" he assured, quickly raising a hand before he could be dismissed. "No, no! I-I'm cool- I'm good! I can be serious, just- give me a minute!"

Donnie rolled his eyes and checked the time. "You have twelve seconds."

"Oh! Feeling generous today, are we?"

"Five seconds."

"Oh, great!" Leo stood and cracked his knuckles- a classic move for when he was trying to act composed, but clearly was not. Donnie could still see his shoulders shaking. The loser couldn't keep a straight face right now if he was being held at gunpoint.

"I can work with that, no problem."

"Incorrect, you have less than two secoNDS-" Before he could have a chance to react, Leo shot out an arm and grabbed hold him in much the same way he had done to Leo not three minutes ago.

He was served some just karma, with them switching places as he fell stomach first onto his own bed.

Struggling only briefly to get himself back into a more flattering position, Donnie sharply turned and glared at his curse of a brother. There were a million things he wanted to say in that one instant, but unfortunately, it all just kinda came out as,

"HHHHHHH..!"

Very eloquently put, Donatello. You are going places for sure.

"Hhhhh?," Leo mimicked, kneeling down to get on better eye level even though it was NOT necessary. "Qué? Habla usted Inglés?"

"I AM. SO ANGRY WITH YOU RIGHT NOW."

"Ah. Alright. I was worried you bumped your head or something on the wall for a second, there. Thought you spontaneously forgot how to speak English."

"So you thought I'd understand SPANISH?!"

"Don't you?"

"IRRELEVANT!"

Leo snickered and shook his head. His face was looking EXTRA punchable tonight, now that Donnie thought about it. Yes, very very punchable. He knows he's been considering it since the moment Leo decided to intrude on his privacy, but he was being deathly serious this time around when he meant that he will commit assault and battery tonight if this continues.

"Y'know," Leo said again after a second or two of tense silence and anger between them. "It's kinda funny how you can say that right now."

Donnie's eye twitched. " Elaborate. "

"Oh, well, I mean, it's not like "haha" funny. More like sad funny, because, like, you can say that you understanding Spanish to a basic degree is irrelevant..."

He paused and tilted his head to the side as if making some kind of profound point.

"... but then I come in here, and what's the first thing I see you doing?"

Donnie didn't know how to answer that.

"I see you," Leo replied for him, "picking yourself apart and doing the classic "Donnie Overthink"."

He glanced at the floor at once. Leo went on.

"And when I try to bring it up, because, and let's be clear on this, it is a problem, what do you do, Don? What happened when I tried to get you to be the serious one, here?"

He scowled. "Nothing."

"'Nothing'? You- You sure that's the answer you wanna go with?"

"Yeah. Yes, actually," he shot back, getting the nerve to glance back up at his brother. "Because nothing DID happen. All you did was goof around and make jokes while I-"

"Shhh," Leo quieted, bringing a finger up to his own lips as a warning. "Those jokes weren't for nothing, Don. I know you. I know how you get."

Donnie shifted uncomfortably on his bed, not liking the look Leo was giving him right now.

He hated this. He hated how Leo could somehow miraculously flip a switch and go from terrible memelord to child psychologist in the blink of an eye (haha, "eye". Because of his- haha yeah, he's not funny).

It didn't help that Donnie could see that Leo was exhausted. The guy's been having a bad streak lately when it came to not sleeping, and it showed. It made him kinda wish he'd been a bit nicer from the start.

Kinda.

"If I didn't loosen things up and just jumped right into the conversation, we'd never get anywhere. Been there, done that."

"Leo, I-"

"No, no," Leo waved away. "You don't have to apologize. It's not your fault you think how you're feeling about something is irrelevant and stupid when there's a "bigger picture"."

"I don't-!"

"We're twins, Donnie. Twins know twins. 'Ya can't hide from me, even though you wish you could."

Donnie opened his mouth, SO ready to fire back. SO ready to say that, "We're not twins" and "We aren't blood related, Leo. Quit calling us that."

It would have been so easy to just let his mind go blank and let his body do the talking for him.

But then he remembered how he's been acting lately. He remembered exactly why he'd been working on that latest failed experiment. He remembered everything he didn't want to.

And it hurt. And it felt like he was being choked.

He eyed Leo's neck in the dim lighting, and he didn't say a word.

Leo stayed crouched there, contemplating for a good moment. Donnie knew that his brother had seen the flash of regret that forced itself along his body. He knew he'd been caught, and he tried not to feel self-conscious about it.

It wasn't until Leo broke the eye contact to reach back for his mug of tea that Donnie actually blinked and relaxed muscles he didn't know were tensed. God, if his eyes didn't sting before...

The tea was being pushed into his hands before he knew it. The mug was still warm.

Donnie swallowed, not wanting his voice to come out as shaky as he felt.

"Leo, I..." He sighed. "I told you that I'm not drinking it, already."

"I made it for you," Leo clarified gently, "not for me. Never even sipped it."

He closed his eyes. Of course he would do something like that.

"Y-You're," stuttering really wasn't helping his case right now, "you're tired."

"And you aren't?" Acting a heck of a lot like Raph, Leo wasn't having any excuses Donnie could come up with to reject the blatant affection.

His sibling carefully cupped the end of the mug and tried to tilt it up towards his mouth. "Down the hatch, c'mon. Just one drink and I won't keep bothering you about it. Promise."

Donnie reluctantly opened his eyes again to stare down at the pale amber liquid. It took everything in him to not just glower like a cranky seven year old being berated by an adult. He knew that was basically what was happening, regardless of how nice Leo was being about all of this.

AND not to mention that as much as Leo wants to act like he isn't, if Mikey didn't exist, he'd be the baby of the family. They both knew that. Leo was well aware of that, he was certain.

"I can't believe you, sometimes."

"Heh. Yeah. I bet you can't."

Even so, he didn't say any of that out loud. He simply did what was requested of him; the tea almost instantly warming him up from head to toe.

Although he visibly shuddered from the satisfaction the soothing beverage gave him, he'd never admit that he was actually pretty thirsty. He'd reserve chugging the rest for when Leo finally leaves.

"How is it?"

"It's good," he assented, allowing a tiny smile to show. "And I'm not just saying that or being sarcastic, for once."

"The power of good tea," Leo nodded. "Who knew dad could be right about something once in a while?"

"Woah, hey now. I don't think you can go that far."

Rather than throwing another quip right back, Leo chuckled in response. Leo had been laughing an awful lot tonight, sure, but it had mostly been at Donnie's expense.

But now, knowing that it all had been a ploy for a heart to heart..?

Well, he wanted to puke from the sappiness of it all, but even he had to admit that it felt good.

His eyes still hurt like hell and he wanted to crash for the next several centuries, but everything felt alright all of a sudden. He had to laugh along with his brother.

And it felt so nice.

Leo fell into place beside him, wrapping an arm around his waist and resting his head on his shoulder. For once, Donnie couldn't bring himself to mind it. He practically owed Leo this much, anyway, he supposed.

He'd been about to take another drink when he heard Leo open his mouth to say something again.

"I'm.. sorry."

"Huh?"

"About your resin. Or, whatever you said it was."

Donnie's heart skipped a beat. "Oh." He lowered the mug and let it sit back on his lap.

"Yeah. You got, uh. Pretty peeved, so I figured it was really important to you."

He did. He did do that.

"O-Oh, uh." He tried his best to brush it all off, shrugging his shoulders.

"Nah. Honestly? I knew it- wasn't going to work... I-I messed up the formula long before Mikey interrupted me. It- wasn't actually anyone's fault but mine. Don't tell Mikey that."

"Still," Leo persisted, "I was acting like a real dick back there. You guys know I make jokes when I'm nervous, but I'm man enough to admit that I went overboard."

"Sure," he'd wanted to say, "but I'M the one who needs to be apologizing right now. Not you."

He didn't.

"Don't sweat the small stuff. It's over, now, so..."

"...so you wanna forget about it?" he finished for him.

"Why dwell on the past? We all said plenty of things we didn't mean. What's new?"

"Huh," Leo contemplated. "Y'know what? You might just be right about that."

Donnie blinked. "Oh, wow. Did you seriously just tell me I was right about something? You?"

Leo reached up and flicked the side of his head. "Ey, don't let it go to that big head of yours. I'm trying to be nice, here."

He grinned and attempted to shake his brother off, trying not to act like he appreciated the moment they were having.

"Ow! Don't do that; I've still got that migraine, y'know!"

"Oops~ My bad, brother. C'mere, lemme make it up to you."

"Get away from me!"

Donnie had to scramble away as Leo moved in to give him a kiss on the forehead. He absolutely REFUSED to be subjected to such overly affectionate drivel. Not on that level, not today. Not if he had any say about it.

"Leo, you're gonna make me spill the tea!"

"Then stop moving around so much and let me love you!"

"HELP! ASSAULT! ASSAULT!!"

Despite actively pushing against Leo's chest, it was no use. Even he could not have any hopes of escaping the promise of tender care and brotherly attachment. Leo won the fight with a quick peck, but he had yet to win the war.

"There!" Leo triumphed, smiling over him.

"ACK! IT BURNS!"

"Oh, quit being such a drama queen!"

"IT BUUUURRRRRNSS..! I'LL NEVER BE CLEAN, AGAIN!"

"Oh, yeah. 'Clean'. Sure."

"Get off of me, you vile heathen!" he cried, lolling his head to the side in an appropriate display of his dismay. "You got what you wanted... What more can you take..?"

Donnie felt himself smirk as Leo let out a fit of giggles. No, no he would never tell his brother how much he treasured moments like these; even if they tended to irritate him beyond belief sometimes. Leo had a big enough ego as is.

But he felt no shame in acknowledging how much he appreciated the guy. Honestly, he needed this. He needed a break from all the drama that he'd, admittedly, been nearly the sole creator of.

Say what he would about Leo, but he was people smart, while he, himself, was book smart. That had to count for something, right?

It was only when Donnie heard his brother give a yawn that he opened an eye to peak up in curiosity. Right. He'd nearly forgotten that Leo was in some dire need of sleep.

And he was in some dire need of quiet research time. They should both be going their separate ways, soon, huh.

Apparently Leo had the same idea, as he sat back, rubbing his eyes in what seemed to be an effort to keep them open. Donnie took the opportunity fully sit back up, carefully setting the mug on the ground so as to not drop or spill it.

"Welp," Leo sighed after a minute. "I.. I guess I got kinda derailed there at the last minute, but the point I was trying to make is: I love you, bitch."

"Leo," he groaned.

Leo smiled. "And I ain't ever gonna stop lovin' you, biiiitch~!"

"Leo, I'm telling dad you swore."

"If you do that, then you're gonna have to catch these hands, buddy. Stitches get snitches."

They both stilled at that. Donnie could see the exact moment Leo regretted existing.

"Wait, crap, I-I meant-"

"Aaaand this is about the time where Leonardo heads to Sleepy Time Junction. C'mon, bud, we're going to the station."

"Oh, hardy har, Donnie. Don't use your baby voice on me; I'm NOT Mikey."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"If you don't get your butt in gear, I will drag you there. That train ride is long overdue. You're lucky I saved your ticket for you."

Leo rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue, but he ultimately complied; standing up and giving a good stretch. Donnie could have sworn he heard him mutter something along the lines of, "I'm the older twin, I can't believe you've done this".

Yeah, sure. Keep telling yourself that, Leo.

Donnie stayed where he was on his bed, watching as his brother folded his arms behind his head and began to make his way out. Although he knew that Leo needed to leave, and that he wanted him to leave, something just wasn't sitting right with him about the entire situation.

He felt like he was forgetting something. Something important.

And it wasn't until Leo adjusted the collar of his PJs that Donnie remembered it.

"Tell him", his mind berated. "You're really just going to let him leave without being honest with him? Without being honest to ALL OF THEM after what you did?"

"Fine, I'm going. Are you happy now, mom?"

Donnie's smile gradually fell the longer he thought it over. All at once, he decided that, no, he wasn't okay with this.

He had to do something.

"Wait!" he practically shouted, jumping from his bed without thinking it all through first.

Leo jolted, quickly turning around to face him again. Locking eyes with his sibling, Donnie's brain immediately emptied itself of anything useful or coherent.

Leo stared at him for a moment, obviously expecting him to say something, anything, after an outburst like that. The most Donnie could say for himself to start off was a whole lot of nothing.

"Yeah...?" he pushed. "Is- Did- Did something happen, or...?"

"I," Donnie started, mouth unreasonably agape. "I-I just.. wanted to say.. um..."

"Tell him before this all possibly gets out of hand. It's the right thing to do, you brilliant moron."

"I-I wanted to say.. sorry."

He swallowed.

"For, uh. The- For choking you, earlier."

"There's a special place in Hell for people like you."

Leo blinked, taken back by the abrupt apology. He tilted his head to the side and glanced off, looking almost bashful. If he hadn't have tugged his shirt, Donnie would have thought his brother genuinely was nervous of the limelight.

"O-Oh! Oh, that!" he breathed. "Dude, did you even have to say that? I knew you didn't mean it."

"I-I know," he answered too quickly. "I know that, I just.. I shouldn't have done it in the first place. I-I feel.. bad. about it."

"You dropped me after not even five seconds!"

"Just shut up and accept my apology, Leo!"

"Okay! Okay, sheesh! I accept your apology, Donnie. I love you, too, man."

Donnie looked down at his feet. "Yeah. Ditto."

Now with that semi-awkward exchange over, Leo slowly turned back around the way he came. The amount of chagrin that washed over him in that moment was staggering. If it was truly what self-loathing felt like, he wouldn't stand for it.

There had to be something more he could do if he couldn't tell the truth. Think, Donnie, think!

"UH-" He stopped before whatever he was about to say happened. Clearing his throat, he tried again, opening his arms this time around.

"Leo?? Bro, don't you think you're- forgetting something..?"

Glancing over his shoulder, Leo all but rolled his eyes at the behavior that Donnie knew was ridiculous; especially for him.

"Make up your mind, Donnie! Do you want me to leave, or do you want me to stay?"

"Oh, I want you to leave," he reassured. "I just want a quick hug before you do."

"You're like a cat, I swear. Touchy one minute, then wanting to claw my face off, the next."

"Are you gonna give me a hug, or are you gonna keep complaining all night?"

Luckily, that was all he needed to say to get his sibling to come trudging back on over. He really didn't want to have to keep standing there coming up for reasons as to why he deserves to be hugged. Outright asking for one had been uncomfortable enough as is.

The moment Leo's arms wrapped around him, however, was the moment he turned them both back towards his bed and shoved his brother back onto it for the second time.

Leo landed with a harsh 'pomf', his eyes wide as his half-awake mind visibly tried to put two and two together.

He strolled over and placed his hands on his hips, proudly gazing down on the walking disaster he called family.

"I sense," Leo said with a raised brow, "that that was plotted."

"You would be sensing correctly."

"Don. Donnie. Don Tron. No offense, Donathan, but your mattress sucks. How do you even SLEEP on-"

Donnie took that as his cue to reach over and flip on a small switch on the underside of the 'roof' that went over his bed. In seconds, the top was illuminating; a gentle blue glow filling the softly lit room.

"-this..."

"Pretty easily, I think you'll find. Pretty darn easily."

He watched as Leo relaxed pretty much instantaneously. Leaning down much the same as his brother had done before, he didn't bother to hide the self-assured smile that crept along his face.

"How's it feel to be on the receiving end, 'ya big ol' dork?"

"Surprisingly? Very comfortable..."

"Yeah, that's what papa likes to hear."

"Could you- not describe yourself as 'papa' while we're in this setting-"

"No. I had to listen to you be an insufferable sack of garbage for the past half hour. Daddy'll say whatever he wants."

"Donnie. No. NO. WE TALKED ABOUT THIS."

Donnie raised a hand and playfully dragged it across Leo's face. "Go to sleep and you won't have to worry about what comes out of my mouth."

He learned that that move had been a mistake almost as soon as he did it; pulling his hand back and wiping it on his leg.

"Why do you feel the need to lick everything? Why are you like this?"

Leo gave a soft little chuckle, eyes not even open at this point. "We're both cursed."

All Donnie could really do in response to that was nod. They were, in fact, both highly cursed individuals.

"If I may be so bold, I do believe that one of us is far more cursed than the other."

"Heh. Yeah. I guess the evil twin would naturally be more cursed, huh?"

Donnie stood up as soon as Leo got done saying that. "Shut up with that, would 'ya? You can't keep introducing me to every mutant we fight as 'the evil one'! It is not factual, and it gets really annoying when we have to pause a battle with Meat Sweats or someone else, who already knows exactly who we are and what we're about."

Leo lazily raised a hand and pointed a finger in his general direction. "That's the point. They hate it. The point is to make them hate us more than they already do. Mission complete."

"Yep, okay. You have reached delirium. I'm outtie five thousand."

"Wait," Leo demanded, a hand latching onto his arm as he turned to leave, stopping him mid-step. "If I'm taking your bed, where are you gonna sleep?"

"Oh, I'll find- something." It'd probably be best if he lied in this situation. He did NOT need a barely conscious sibling getting on him about the hypocrisy of the ever controversial topic. "There are two perfectly good beanbags in the family room."

"Hhhh," Leo moaned.

"Who knows? I might just steal your hammock."

"Hhh.. nnnooo... you'll touch my stuff if you go in there... you filthy thief.."

"Um? Hey, excuse me? Exactly WHEN was the last time I was the one stealing from you and not the other way around?"

Leo didn't give him a response. His hand fell away before long, dangling just enough for his knuckles to touch the floor.

Donnie let out a huff, bending down to properly place Leo's arm over his waist. Better.

"G'night, Neon Leon."

"Mmm..."

"You're still awake?"

"Take it off.."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Your baaaack..."

"Oh." Right. He was still wearing the battle-shell, wasn't he?

Tilting his head back in barely restrained exasperation, Donnie did as he was told, pressing the button on the strap to unlatch the gear. The heavy protector fell against the floor with a very evident clang, so Leo wouldn't have to open his eyes again to get confirmation.

He let out a long sigh, hardly containing his reluctant internal joy at having that blasted thing off. He always forgets that it's even still on his person until the last minute, and he ends up suffering for it immensely.

Back problems at the young age of fourteen. Leo was right. He is going to die young.

"There. Satisfied?"

Leo's soft snores were already filling the small space. Donnie hung his head a bit, choosing to just shrug off the last portions of their conversation and move on. At least Leo was finally getting what he needed.

At least, that's what it seemed. He reached forward and gave his brother a firm pat on the chest. No reaction.

"Sleep tight, buddy. I'll see 'ya in the morning."

And then there was one.

The tension returned to his body like a swarm of moths drawn to a lamppost. Distractions could only do so much in the end, really. He knew he'd have to get back to business sooner or later.

He'd just really been hoping it would have been later rather than sooner.

Pulling up a screen on his tech-gauntlet, he hurriedly skimmed over what notes he'd managed to scrounge up in the self observation department before Leo barged in and messed up his research.

Back to monitoring. Back to stressing. Back to facing possibly the biggest mistake he's ever made.

Eyeing his fallen battle-shell, Donnie allowed his gaze to flicker from Leo, to it, then back to Leo. He certainly thought his brother had conked out, but, then again, you could never be too sure when it came to Leo.

He just needed to make sure... Better safe than sorry.

"Psst," he whispered. "Hey. Hey, Leo. Buddy."

All was quiet. He slowly, carefully, bent down to grab onto his piece of gear.

"Leo. Hey, you know those taquitos you have in the freezer that you're saving for a special occasion?" His fingers closed around the latch. Leo didn't stir.

"Yeah, I'm gonna eat them. All of them. All thirty. Every last one."

Nothing.

Good. He wasn't faking it.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Donnie went about reattaching his equipment (with great dread), and picking the mug of forgotten tea back up. He sure as heck wasn't about to let perfectly good tea go to waste.

Tip-toeing for no real good reason, he couldn't stop himself from peering into the mirror as he passed it on his way out. Two unnatural menaces of society peered right back at him.

He was going to fix this. It would all be okay, and he was going to fix what he'd started before it even had a chance to start.

They'd see. They'd all see. He could clean up one of his mistakes without it turning into some kind of fight for all of their lives.

And yes. He was fully capable of owning up and calling these little fiascos mistakes. He'd like to think he's learned his lesson, by now.

Donnie turned off the main overhead lights on his way out, casting one last glance over his shoulder to make sure all was well with Leo.

Not seeing anything out of the ordinary, he nodded and made his way back towards the lab.

He'd fix this, and then things could go back to being ordinary for all of them.

He'd fix it all by himself. Whatever it takes.