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Fall had been Donnie’s favorite season for as long as he could remember. It was like the calm before the storm, that first drop of rain. Never quite cold enough to break out the heat lamps (saddening, but better for the electrical bill. How they have one in the first place? One can only speculate), yet never hot enough that Donnie would have to worry about finally fixing the air conditioning.
So naturally when Splinter proposed taking a day trip to “see the colors of autumn,” Donnie was the first to agree.
Leo’s favorite season was Winter, something to do with Snow Day and birthdays.
Mikey, being who he was, was of course partial to Summer.
April liked Spring solely for her namesake, which Raph also liked, but that was more because of all the baby animals (EXCEPT rabbits, those cursed creatures.)
Now, Donnie is notoriously not one for emotions, but Fall reminded him of his siblings. Not for the obvious reasons, the red and orange leaves, the blue sky(of course the impersonation of Leo was the most..everywhere,) the bits of green that you could still see appearing occasionally, the dead tree branches that look like Splinter’s tail if it hasn’t been washed in a week.
Okay maybe the last one was stretching the meaning of obvious a little, but that’s not the point.
The whole thing looks like something straight out of one of Mikey’s paintings, the way the colors blend together so effortlessly, as if they belonged next to each other. Also, so much orange. But that falls under more of the obvious category..
Fluttering maple leaves reminded Donnie of Raph. The sharp points made the leaf appear intimidating in a sort of way, but they were so easily broken. Donnie might have had the soft shell, but as much as Raph denied it, he was softer personally wise.
It also made Donnie remember that terrible Halloween party Leo tried to throw that one year. Ugh. A story for another time.
Also, other than that one year Leo threw a Halloween party, Halloween was generally a great day for Donnie. One of the few days a year he could go outside without worrying about being hunted down and murdered. Yay!
Donnie was pulled out of his deep thoughts about his undying love for the season of fall by cows. Or were they horses? Oh, how Donnie wishes he could go back on his next thought, for the train of thoughts following was not a good one. Horse-cows. But that would mean..no that’s impossible. But they existed. And, oh wow, Donnie just realized how weird his existence must be. Turtle-man..
“Hey Don-tron, your casam is going to be bigger than Raph’s if you keep this up. What’re you thinking up in that big head of yours?” Donnie now realized all three of his brothers were standing in front of him now. Did he just-
“I do not have a big head.” Leo snorted before leaning back.
“There he is.”
Raph muttered something under his breath before speaking up. “We’re here, if you wanna get out.” Donnie felt his smile widen as he almost fell out of his chair in his excitement.
“I have never seen him so excited about going outside before.”
“I really wanted to know what he was thinking about.”
Normally, Donnie would never be so excited to go outside, so many bugs and so much dirt everywhere, but this wasn’t normal. For ‘twas the first time he saw a forest during fall. And he managed to get presents for his brothers, but that was only a minor detail. Presents don’t normally go well.
Donnie grabbed a few leaves from the ground before taking some off of a reachable tree and put them in different bags. He needed to see how leaves changed colors for himself, so he’s been collecting leaves. Very logical and not at all a bad idea.
Crunching leaving was heard behind him. Donnie spun around, already reaching for his bō. Oh. The scientist relaxed as he saw Mikey rolling around in a pile of leaves. They were safe. Donnie took a breath to steady his beating heart before going to get his gifts from the tank.
It had been months since the invasion, but the signs were still everywhere. New York, in all its capability, had not been fully rebuilt, the museums held artifacts now. The memories were still fresh. Sure, the psychical wounds have reduced to phantom pains now, but Donnie couldn’t help but remember..
Leo. His not twin twin, his world, had almost died. He was lost in another dimension entirely. Yet, as much as Donnie denies it, Leo was his favorite. They had always had a connection. It was indescribable. He always knew when something was wrong with Donnie, and Donnie always knew when something was wrong with Leo. He loved Raph and Mikey, of course, but it was different with Leo.
Leo tried to pretend he wasn’t affected, he tried to be the same arrogant asshole, but he was different now. He was less..Leo and more Leo because that made sense somehow. He had nightmares more often than not, so Donnie, being the genius he was, had made a dream catcher for him. It probably wouldn’t do much of anything, but it would hopefully be better than his last gift.
Raph. Raph was the protector of the group. Splinter was their dad, yet it had always felt as if Raph was the father of the group. Donnie was scared when he wasn’t there during the Kraang’s attack. He had thought his most prominent father figure was dead. He had almost died. Raph would always have a scar to remind him of where he went wrong now.
Raph had only grown more protective of his siblings after the invasion. It annoyed Donnie to no end, but if it made his brother feel better he would endure it. The purple one decided he would give Raph a key to his lab. Probably a bad idea, but, again, if it helped Raph feel calmer, whatever. Donnie could always change the locks.
Mikey. An actual ball of sunshine, probably the only reason everyone was still here together. Donnie had been talking to Casey about his timeline (for science, he swears) and had found out how Mikey had died. It was because his brothers weren’t there. What if Donnie and Raph hadn’t been with Mikey when he made the portal? Mikey could’ve, would’ve, died.
Mikey’s hands still frustrated him. Donnie wasn’t great with emotions, but even he could see his little brother’s pain. The red, puffy eyes. The dark eye bags. All the discarded art in the trash (Donnie saved all he could find.) Donnie had slaved away for months, wrecking his brain for ideas to help his brother. But none of the gloves ever seemed to work. So, naturally, he took to the internet. And, woah, digital art might be a lot easier for Mikey. Donnie spent the past month making an art tablet for Mikey, stylus included, of course.
So, this left Donnie in his current situation. Sitting on the top of the tank, presents placed delicately behind him, wrapped with his brother’s respective colors. He was supposed to save these for Christmas, but he was so excited! But, what if they didn’t like these either.. More reason to give them now so he could give better presents come Christmas. But he only has around two months to plan more presents.. and, ugh, why is caring so hard? Donnie groaned and put his head in his hands.
“Whatcha’ got, Don?” Donnie looked at Raph (where did he come from?) confused for a second, before realizing he was trying to peek around him. Donnie quickly tried to cover up the boxes.
“Just some silly science project, you wouldn’t be interested.”
Leo’s voice appears out of nowhere. “A project involving sparkly wrapping paper? Uh-huh.” Well, shit. What was Donnie supposed to do now?
“Indeed, my twin! Just studying..uh..the science of.. making paper..?” That sounded a lot like a question. Whoops. Oh no, Leo has his I can tell your lying face on.
“Okay, you willingly called me your twin. What’s going on?” Donnie groaned out loud, guess he’d have to find new Christmas presents after all.
“Groan. If you really must know, I have a collection of presents for you all,” Seeing Leo’s face twist to one of worry Donnie continued, “no shock collars this time!”
Mikey appeared out of absolutely nowhere. How do his brothers keep doing that? “Presents? For us? Me first!”
Donnie raised his definitely real eyebrows before handing Mikey his present. Mikey quickly unwrapped the gift, staring down at the tablet. Ah, yes that would be a look of confusion. “That, my dear ‘Angelo, would be a drawing tablet. Apparently they’re easier to draw details on, I noticed you struggle on little details the most, because you can zoom in on a section of the drawing. I will probably have to get you a printer before you can un-digitalize something..” Donnie trailed off to look at Mikey.
Why was he crying? “Hey, uh, if it’s that bad you can tell me, I won’t be offended.” Mikey cry-laughed before dragging Donnie off the top of the tank to hug him.
Mikey shook his head repeatedly, while chanting a chorus of thank you’s. Donnie smiled awkwardly, patting his little brother’s head. It wasn’t that big of a deal..
When Donnie was let out of that painfully long hug, Leo had already grabbed his present, beginning to tear it open. “Leo! What if that had been Raph’s present?” Mikey chided.
“It’s blue.” Leo deadpanned, causing Mikey to pout. Without further interpretation, Leo successfully opened his dream catcher.
“Awh, thanks, Dee! Now I can sleep peacefully knowing my twin loves me.” Donnie cringed inwardly at the usage of the word twin, but smiled nonetheless. “No really, thank you Donnie. This is a lot better than the shock collar.” Leo hugged Donnie quickly before stepping back with a smirk. Donnie released a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
“Okay, Raph’s turn!” The gentle giant shouted, before snatching his present off the tank. He opened it excitedly before a look of confusion and lightly masked disappointment flashed across his face.
“I love it!..What exactly is it?” Raph held the card up to his face.
“That, my friend, is a limited edition keycard to none other than yours truly’s one and only lab!” Donnie felt all of his siblings look at him with shock. A key. A key to Donnie’s lab. A key to Donnie’s lab for Raph. In hindsight, they should’ve been a little less shocked, but Donnie never let anyone into his lab, much less Raph.
“But..your privacy?”
“Well, you have been so worried about being locked up in my lab lately, so you get special permission to drag me out of it whenever you want. Of course I’m still able to change the locks if you abuse it too much, but-“ Donnie coughed as he was suddenly caught in one of
Ralph’s bear hugs. What was with all this hugging?
“Thank you for trusting me with this, little bro.” Raph choked out between tears. Oh, great, Mikey started crying again. It wasn’t even that big of a deal? As long as it made Raph happier.. Raph crying harder, now. Did Donnie say that out loud? Whoops.
Raph finally let Donnie go, wiping his eyes. “I love you guys.”
The drive back was peaceful, the tank was on autopilot so everyone was kind of doing their own thing. Raph was staring at his key, smiling stupidly. Leo was actually sleeping, dream catcher next to him, cuddled up between Donnie and Raph. Mikey stood up abruptly, running over with his tablet to show his brothers his latest piece of art. All of the turtles were sitting under a maple tree, the sun setting in the background. “Looking good, Mikey!” Raph applauded. Mikey’s grin widened. Donnie patted the empty seat beside him.
“Want to come show me the process?”
Sure, Donnie was short presents for Christmas, and sure he’d have to get new ones fast (he ended up getting that printer for Mikey, the new Jupiter Jim comic for Leo, and a teddy bear with a miniature pair of Donnie’s goggles on it for Raph), but at least his brothers were safe. Safe and happy with the autumn colors zooming by outside of the tank. Purple, orange, red, and blue. This day would become another reason fall was Donnie’s favorite season. For a great bonus, the Halloween party didn’t suck this year! And, as it turns out, those animals from earlier were, in fact, cows.