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No matter how many times Donnie’s told his brothers to knock before they come barging into his lab, they never listen. It seems they either blatantly ignored his requests or simply weren’t able to retain the information. So, when Raph came barreling into the room, Donnie was simultaneously startled and not surprised, having danced this tango many times before.
He sighed, pushing up his goggles and putting down the micro tweezers he had been using. He swiveled his chair to face his currently over-eager older brother, quirking a single unamused eyebrow. “Yes, Raph? To what do I owe you the pleasure?”
Raph was bouncing on the balls of his feet. His phone-- looking absolutely tiny by comparison-- was gripped in both of his hands, held right up to his face. His expression screamed excitement. “So! I was scrolling through So-Shell, right?”
“Uh-huh?”
“And I was thinking, ‘Man, So-Shell sure is boring today. There’s like, nothing on my feed.’”
Donnie rolled his eyes, already swiveling his chair back. “If you’re about to ask me to somehow hack your feed to get you more posts— which is impossible, by the way— the answer is no.” He picked up his tweezers. “I’ve got a lot of work to do, and you interrupted me right in the middle of rewiring the circuitry from my-”
“What?” Raph cut him off, and Donnie looked back over to him. “No, no that’s not what I was gonna say.”
Donnie, intrigued, slowly turned back around. “Then what is it?”
Raph stared. “Uh…” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, barking out a nervous laugh. “Maybe I should just get to the point.”
A phone was jammed right in front of Donnie’s face, and he had to blink rapidly to get his eyes to focus on the bright screen— why Raph still insisted on using day mode, he will never know— in order to even see the picture let alone read the caption. What he saw confused him.
“It’s...an informational post? About snapping turtles?” Donnie poked his head around the phone to look at Raph. “What am I missing here?”
Raph’s grin widened. “It has a tail!” he exclaimed, pointing at the screen. As if those four words would magically make Donnie understand his amazement.
Donnie frowned. “Raph, did you not know turtles have tails? I thought this was common knowledge.”
“I knew that!” Raph said a little too quickly, but he was moving on before Donnie could call him out on the obvious lie. “I just- we don’t have tails! And that tail is long— like really long— and just! Think about how cool I’d be if I had a tail like that!”
Donnie paused. “Well, I don’t know if ‘cool’ would be the right word.” He said, already taking on a more monotonous tone as he began to think. “In actuality, it might serve as more of a hindrance than anything. A big tail like that, assuming it follows the proportions that of a normal snapping turtle, can’t be good for combat. You’d probably be tripping over it. Or worse, getting it caught on something.”
When the softshell turtle looked up, the last thing he expected was to see Raph’s mood deflating. Donnie faltered, plans to continue info-dumping forgotten. “Uh...Raph?”
Raph frowned a bit, and his arms lowered slightly. The phone went with it. “Right, yeah. It would just get in the way. It was stupid, sorry.” He sounded almost dejected, and Donnie felt a twinge of guilt.
However before Donnie could apologize, take something back and reassure Raph that yes having a tail would be cool, Raph was already slinking out of his lab.
Donnie stared after him before groaning, leaning back in his chair and staring at the ceiling. He brought his hands up to cover his face. “Good going, Donald.” he muttered. “Way to read social cues.”
Why did he think it would be a good idea to just...blather on like that? Raph was clearly excited about the whole potentially-having-a-tail-thing, and Donnie just had to rain on his parade. Donnie’s hands slid down his face, and he gripped the arms of his chairs. He swung his leg to turn it, getting it to face his desk again. He rested his arms on the surface.
He had to make it up to Raph.
Donnie peeked over his arms, spotting the blueprints for the project currently on his desk, It had been a concept for a thicker and sturdier version of the arms in his spidershell. There wasn’t anything wrong with the current ones, but he had always wanted to reinforce them a bit. Just for safety reasons.
Though, now that Donnie was looking at it...
Donnie swept away his current project to get a better look at the blueprints. He brought his hand up to his chin, stroking it thoughtfully as he glanced over the design and notes.
In theory, if he changed just a few key components, this could work.
Donnie reached for his red pen, uncapping it with his teeth. He immediately began to cross out his own writing, sketching extensions on top of the pre-existing design and adding new notes.
This could be repurposed.
He had to get to work.
————————————
Donnie had absolutely no clue how long he had been working on this. Hours? Days, perhaps? His mind had been buzzing with the idea so much, he hardly had any time to sleep. He would be fine, it wasn’t like he hadn't done this before. Besides, it was all worth it.
Because right there, sitting on his desk in front of him, was a fully coated and finished artificial turtle tail for one big brother.
Donnie smiled with pride as he lifted the tail in his hands. It was pretty heavy given its size, as donnie tried to make it as accurately proportionate as possible, but he wouldn’t have to carry it for long. If he planned this right, then Raph should be at the skate ramp right now, which meant he just had to carry the big device out of his lab and call raph over.
He lugged the tail fully into his arms, grunting with the effort as he got out of his chair and made his way out of his lab, careful not to trip lest he damage the gift.
He stumbled out of the lab, moving the curtains with his leg, and stepped out into the main area. Below him, he could hear Mikey and Leo whooping, the sound of skateboards rolling against wood filling the air. Donnie squinted, spotting Raph standing off to the side and watching.
“Hey uh, Raph!” He called, and if he made his voice sound a bit more strained than it should’ve then that was for him to know and him to know only. “Can I get a little help lifting this?”
Raph looked up, startled to see Donnie, before he put his skateboard down and raced to one of the ladder’s they had attached to each floor. “On my way!”
Donnie watched as Raph pulled the ladder down, climbing a few rungs before hauling himself the rest of the way upward. He jogged over to where Donnie was, but slowed down once he caught a glimpse of what was in Donnie’s arms.
“Uhhh…” the snapping turtle blanked. “What’s that?”
Donnie’s muscles burned with the effort of continuing to hold this thing up, and he gritted his teeth. “Hold it for a minute so I can think clearly enough to explain.” This time, the strain in Donnie’s voice wasn’t exaggerated at all. He honestly felt like his legs would give out at any moment.
Raph spluttered. “Right! Er, let me get that.” Raph reached forward and lifted the tail with relative ease, leaving donnie to sigh in relief. The purple-clad turtle raised his arms over his head in a stretch, that kind of lifting not doing wonders for his spine.
“So… you gonna tell me what this is now?”
“Right, right.” Donnie rolled his head, cracking his stiff neck. “That right there is your new tail, dear Raphael.”
“...What?”
Donnie waved his hand. “It’s just something I whipped up in the lab. It should mimic the feel and balance of an actual tail for a turtle of your size, and it anchors easily to your shell.” Donnie looked up to meet Raph’s expression, which was...unreadable.
That couldn’t be good.
Donnie raced to cover up any mistake he might’ve made. He looked off at the far wall. “I wasn’t able to install any sort of mock nervous system in time, I was already stretching it for too long. No real motor functions either so unfortunately it’s more similar to a heavy limp metallic noodle than a tail. But! I hoped you would appreciate it regardless.” Donnie’s eyes widened a hair as he continued rambling. “Not that you don’t deserve the real deal, you do but-”
“Donnie.”
“Making a tail from scratch itself is difficult enough, even more so when you have to make it feel real, I’ve never built something like that before-”
“Donnie.”
Donnie returned his eyes to meet Raph’s, his words dying on his lips. Were those...tears?
Raph sniffed harshly, tilting his head to wipe his eyes with the mask tails draped over his shoulder. A wide, genuine smile stretched across his face. “It’s amazing, Donnie. Really.”
Donnie hesitated, then exhaled. He was in the clear, mission complete and apology successful.
Well, halfway successful. He still had to do the verbal part.
“Raph, I,” he began, wringing his hands together. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make your fantasies about having a tail seem illogical. I can’t act like I’ll always understand why you get excited over the things you do. Why any of you get excited over the things you do, for that matter. But, as your...brother, I don’t want to hold you back just because I don’t get it.”
Donnie clenched his hands into fists to get them to stop fiddling with each other. “I want to be there for you. I hope this tail is a good enough start.”
A loud clang sounded, and Donnie barely had time to register what was happening before big arms were pulling him into a bone-crushing hug.
“That means a lot to me.” Raph whispered. “Thank you.”
Donnie smiled, and he returned the embrace as best as he could, arms wrapping around his big brother’s neck. “Anytime, bro.”
They stayed like that for a while, before Donnie tapped Raph’s shoulder twice. His breath came out in a wheeze. “Alright bud, you’re gonna have to let me go now. Starting to not be able to breathe.”
Raph laughed. “Sorry, sorry.”
He placed Donnie back on the ground, and Donnie looked to the tail now at his feet.
“So, we gonna put this on you or what?” he asked, nudging it lightly.
Raph grinned big and wide.
The clang of ladder rungs sounded to their left, and they turned to see Leo and Mikey climbing up.
The slider was the first to make it up, and thus the first one to speak. “What are you guys doing up heeEERE WOAH IS THAT A TAIL?!”
Mikey scrambled up after him to get a look. “Ohmigosh!” He ran over immediately, staring wide eyed at the tail in question. “That’s so cool!”
Raph lifted the tail again, holding it in his arms so Leo and Mikey could get a better look. “Wanna help me and Donnie put it on?”
Watching the two youngest fight over who got to hold it was answer enough.
————————————
Raph kept that tail on for about a week, and Donnie was right about one thing: the tripping hazard was very great.
Raph couldn’t count on one hand how many times his bros face planted trying to maneuver behind him, either landing on a solid floor or landing in something less desirable. Their masks were almost perpetually soaked with sewer water, and Raph would be lying if he didn’t laugh almost every time.
Alas, nothing lasts forever, and his beloved tail went out during a mission. One blow was all it took for the metal to crumble, not meant for combative purposes, and although they resented the trouble it caused his brothers joined him in mourning their fallen friend.
But, at the end of the day, Raph didn’t really care about the tail. At least, not completely.
No, he was reminded of what really mattered everytime Donnie was careful about his offhanded comments, everytime he implored Raph or the others to ramble about whatever was on their minds.
What mattered the most was the effort Donnie made to make sure his brothers knew he cared, and Raph hoped Donnie knew just how much they cared about him right back.