Work Text:
It was shockingly quiet in the Lair today.
Almost disturbingly quiet.
But Donnie wasn't complaining. At least he could work on stuff while wearing headphones and blasting music (the Ride The Cyclone soundtrack, of course) at a volume that probably wasn't doing his hearing any favors. Right now, Donnie was waterproofing their prosthetic arm. They luckily hadn't had any water-related incidents since they'd originally built it, but they lived in a sewer with flooded bits so it was bound to become an issue sooner or later.
It took a long time for Donnie to notice the quiet seemed abnormal. Not just because he was listening to music, he could usually hear his siblings going about their days, but not at the moment. Maybe they were out on patrol. Hopefully they were out on patrol. This was the most peace and quiet Donnie had gotten in a while.
Then it was of course interrupted by the full clank-clank-clank of running footsteps and the door to the old subway car Donnie called home being forced open. Mikey stomped in, hands literally in flames. That was pretty normal though, considering their mystic fire powers were getting stronger every day.
"Thanks for knocking." Donnie deadpanned. "It's a relief to know you respect my privacy."
"Well, sorry to interrupt, but we need your help." Mikey looked down towards the fireball in their hands.
"You're the mystic dude. I just do machines." Donnie shrugged. Then they squinted. Mikey wasn't holding a ball of fire, they were holding something on fire. "Wait. What is that?"
"Does it really matter? Where's the fire extinguisher?" Mikey started walking further into the lab, but Donnie stopped them.
"Stay. There." Donnie pointed to a spot on the ground just inside the door. "I'll get it." He grabbed the fire extinguisher off the wall with his one remaining arm, wishing he'd had time to reattach the prosthetic left one, and gestured for Mikey to put the fireball down. As soon as they did so, Donnie placed the fire extinguisher on the floor, aimed the nozzle, and sprayed.
They had to have emptied half the can before the flaming whatever was finally put out and absolutely buried in a mound of fire extinguisher foam. Donnie poked at the pile with his foot, exposing the unmistakable form of yet another utterly decimated toaster.
"You're kidding me. What the hell happened?" Donnie hissed, staring at Mikey. What was with this family and toasters? It felt like they went through at least one every month.
Mikey shrugged. "It wasn't me."
"Then who-"
Mikey shifted slightly, turning so Donnie could now see Leo clinging to the back of their giant spiky shell. Leo let out a nervous laugh, waving at Donnie. "H-hey, Don..."
Donnie squinted at his little sister. "How aren't you banned from the kitchen yet?"
"Oh, believe me, I've tried." Mikey gestured towards Leo. "She's really talented, particularly in making culinary horrors that could kill a god."
"And I'm guessing that's what happened to the toaster." Donnie sighed. "Let's see here." They crouched on the ground beside the toaster and flipped their goggles on, setting the mode to scan. "Damn. Everything's fried. Fellas, we're holding another toaster funeral tonight." Then he got another reading. "Leo, you didn't even take the food out? Come o-" Donnie upended the toaster, shaking it, and was instantly silenced when blackened pebbles, nearly unidentifiable as food, fell out. "...Are these Cheerios?"
Mikey snapped their head around to glare at Leo, who slowly pulled her head into her shell. "Raph dared me to." She mumbled, voice partially muffled.
"Well, you're way smarter than Raph, so I'd think you'd maybe realize not to do that." Donnie removed their goggles and stood up, shaking charred Cheerio off of their hand. "Once I get my other arm back on, we can go look for a new toaster." It seemed the waterproof upgrade would have to wait.
Leo's T-Phone began to ring and she dropped off Mikey's shell and answered it. "Shello?"
"Dude, where are you?" Raph's voice crackled through the speaker.
"Oh, I'm in Donnie's lab." Leo replied.
"Cool. I found the gummy worms you wanted to melt next."
Mikey and Donnie turned to stare dumbfounded at Leo, who looked absolutely mortified.
"Uh. I'llcallyouback." Leo hung up so fast Raph barely got a cut-off "Wh-" in.
"Leo." Mikey's voice was eerily calm. "You said that Raph dared you to put the cereal in the toaster."
"Well, we were both curious-"
"GET OVER HERE!" Mikey lunged to grab Leo, who shrieked and ran out the door with her very angry elder sibling hot on her tail.
Donnie sighed, collapsing into his desk chair and staring at his half-finished prosthetic arm.
Maybe they weren't gonna get their peace and quiet after all.