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A fun day at the beach. This was meant to be a fun day at the beach. A moment for the team to get away from the hustle of New York and enjoy a nice day out on a secluded beach where the turtles didn’t have to worry about any stray humans spotting them.
April, Cass, and Sunita were teaching Casey Jr the ropes of volleyball. Mikey was busy burying Raph in the sand and making him a mermaid tail. And Leo was heading out to catch some waves with an abandoned surfboard he found.
Donnie spent a good chunk of the time sitting in the umbrella shade. But the sand is now kicking onto his towel and just…ugh. Donnie is not a fan of sand. It gets everywhere and is a pain in the ass to get rid of. Besides, he’s supposed to be hanging out with his brothers, he promised them that much. The softshell spent the majority of his time in his lab, working endlessly day in and day out. He tried to say no to a beach day but his brothers weren’t having it. So… sigh …
The water seems nice. It is pretty hot out. And being an aquatic turtle, Donnie has no dispute about it. Plus it’d be funny to go underwater and prank Leo by knocking him off his surfboard.
Alright, swimming it is , Donnie thought. He got up from his towel and headed down to the shores. He winces at the loud screech of April’s cheering, looking over to see that Casey Jr had punted the volleyball way out of bounds. The teen looks nervous and apologetic as the ball disappears into the aether, never to be seen again. But the girls all swarm him with hugs and cheers. They are being quite loud about it though.
Crunch .
Donnie stumbles back as he notices the strip of seashells lining the shores. He’s stepping on a few and it pokes the bare soles of his feet, eugh. The softshell carefully tries to maneuver around them—
“HEY DEE!!!”, Mikey bellows from down the shore, carrying a plastic red pail full of shells. “Can you grab me that white shell next to you?”
White shell? Sure. White shell, white shell… Donnie glances down and around him.
There are several white shells…
“W-Which one?!”, Donnie hollers back.
“Right next to your foot!”
His foot? Where?? Which foot?!?!?!
“...What????”
Mikey huffs a sigh. “Nevermind, I got it.”, he calls out, bounding his way over to his purple-clad brother. Mikey reaches behind Donnie and picks up the large white spiraling shell he almost stepped on. “I was talking about this one.”
“O-Oh, I see. My bad, I didn’t—”
“No, no, you’re good! I should’ve been more specific. Plus it was behind you.”, Mikey wavers his hand and offers a reassuring smile. “You having fun so far?”
“Uhh…yup!”, it’s not a total lie. But Donnie hasn’t done dick diddly since they got here.
“Cool! Wanna help me decorate Raph’s mermaid tail?”
Help decorate…but Don’s plan was to go in the water with Leo. But. Mikey’s asking for him and Donnie really doesn’t want to let his brothers down so…
“Okay.”, he nods. He could go swimming later anyways. This is okay. Just a little change. Not a big deal.
Don’t make it a big deal. It’s not. It’s literally just a change of plans.
Donnie follows Mikey over to where Raph is patiently waiting with his legs buried under a mound of sand that’s been sculpted into a rather impressive looking mermaid tail. Always leave it to the artist of the group to wow the others with his craftsmanship.
“I’m back! And I brought some help!”, Mikey beams, placing the now heavy bucket of shells down beside the snapper.
“Awesome! I’m going to be the coolest mermaid out there!”, Raph flashes a toothy grin at his brothers.
Donnie sits himself on Raph’s other side and simply follows Mikey’s direction in sorting all the shells into groups based on size, color, and general pattern. Bit by bit, they press the shells into the sand sculpture. While Mikey works the scales, Donnie presses large shell flakes into the fins. But he ends up pressing a bit too hard and the sand begins to topple over. The corner of the fin breaks apart, causing Raph’s foot to stick out.
“Oh crap! My bad, Raph, I didn’t mean to!”, Donnie winces at his mistake before snapping his head at the snapper.
Raph lets out a dramatic gasp, “My mermaid tail!! Oh no, the spell is wearing off! I’m turning back into a human—err…—turtle…”, Raph cries out. “My life is simply ruined ! How could you betray me like this? My dearest brother?!” The alligator snapping turtle presses the back of his hand against his forehead as he flops back on his shell.
Oh shit . Shit! Raph’s mad at him. Of course he would be. How could Donnie make such a mistake? Sand is delicate and now Raph is—
Mikey’s laugh breaks through. “Alright, alright. Quit joking around, Raph. I’ll fix it. Just hold still again, would ya?”
Raph was…joking? He was joking. Oh. Right. Of course he was joking. Duh. How could Donnie think Raph was mad? It’s just sand. It’s an easy fix too. Raph was just having fun with him. Why couldn’t Donnie see that??
Mikey hums to himself as he scoops up the sand and pats it back in place again. Donnie wants to try and help some more but now he’s worried that he’ll just fuck it all up again. He clenches and unclenches his hands, hesitant to make a choice.
“Boys! Lunch time!”, April calls out to them.
“What?! Now?! But my mermaid tail!”, Raph whines.
“We can camp next to you then, Raph.”, April rolls her eyes fondly.
“Phew.”, Raph sighs, wiping his brow. He glances up ahead at Leo on his board. “Hey, Donnie, could you go grab Leo and tell him it’s time for lunch?”
“Yes!”, Donnie answers immediately, quickly standing up and a bit too eager to finally be helpful again. “U-uhm I mean, yeah. Sure thing. No probbles.”
Donnie hurries his way down to the shore, now mindful of the shells. He brisks the waterline to get in earshot of the slider before cupping his hands around his mouth.
“LEO! LUNCH!”, he shouts.
Leo can’t seem to hear him. Laughing to himself as he ducks under a wave, grazing the water with his palm. He looks so…joyful. At ease. It’s been a while since Donnie’s seen that. But…a growing turtle needs his food. Donnie huffs in annoyance and begins padding into the water, going deeper and deeper as the cold ocean water soaks the rims of his board shorts.
“Leo!”, Donnie tries again. “LEO!!!”
Still nothing. Guess Donnie finally gets to swim after all. He lurches forward before diving in. The refreshing cold water washes over him as the softshell blinks through the murky ocean and begins to swim after his twin. He sees where the water surface bobs and waves up ahead, where Leo is surfing. He just needs to get close enough for Leo to hear him.
He swims, no worry for his breath which he can hold for a good couple of hours if he wants. The water was hard to see through, unlike a swimming pool, but as long as Donnie focuses on the reflective rays of sunlight above, he could pinpoint where—
Something grabs his leg.
Something slimy, grainy, enrapturing around his leg. Tugging, pulling, yanking . Donnie yelps a muffled scream which takes all the air out with it, trying to kick away but it grabs hold of his other leg. Tugging and tugging and Donnie is kicking and kicking trying to break free but he can’t because the Kraangisyankinghimoutoftheslimyickyviolatingcontrolpanelsofthespaceship —
Suddenly, arms are pulling Donnie out of the water and he desperately gasps for air.
“You’re good, you’re good. I gotcha, Dontron.”, Leo assures as he pulls Donne up close for him to latch on to the surfboard. “What were you even doing down there?”
Donnie holds onto the back end of the board for dear life as he catches his breath. He blinks. Twice. Glancing around and registering that the slimy icky seaweed vines are no longer there. Because of course it was just seaweed. He knew that. He did.
“...What?”, Donnie asks dumbfoundedly, not registering Leo’s question.
“I said what were you doing?”, Leo raises a brow.
Donnie huffs in annoyance once again. “I was coming to get you for lunch time but then some seaweed grabbed me and…and I thought it was…something else.”
“Ugh! I hate that feeling!”, Leo scoffs, reeling his head back. “Every time that happens, I think it’s a stingray and I get all worked up about it.” The slider then scoots forward and pats the back of his surfboard. “Well come on then, let’s head back. I’m starving.”
Donnie graciously obliges, climbing up on the board and balancing himself on the center line. Leo glances behind him really quick but takes note of Donnie’s hands.
“Uhh…you might wanna grab on.”, he suggests.
Oh right, of course. Donne nods, scooting forward and gripping the edges of the surfboard but careful to not get too close to Leo. He’s still reeling from the icky seaweed just now. Leo cocks a brow before slowly turning his head back around.
“Oookay, that works. Let’s go.”
Leo paddles the two towards the shore, aiming for the wave that’s starting to form. Donnie fears for it to be a big one but the wave is simply tugged a bit out of the water, giving the board a gentle push that glides them back to the shore. Thank pizza supreme. He quickly gets off the second the ground is within leg range and pads out of the water with Leo to join up with the others.
The rest of the fam is setting up their picnic spot but the glorious snapper-mermaid as they start distributing sandwiches out from the cooler they brought. Leo and Donnie take a seat beside them all and that’s when Donnie is reminded of… sand .
The sand sticks to him like glue after his impromptu swim and near-drowning experience, getting stuck between his toes and grinding up against his scaly skin and—
“Here ya go, Donnie!”, April grins, passing him his sandwich.
Donnie accepts the offering, now distracted by just how hungry he is. He is most grateful that April and Mikey have packed sandwiches and chip bags for everyone. He opens up the plastic baggie and from the smell alone, he could tell it is a tuna salad sandwich. It sounds delightful. Donnie feels his tongue begin to salivate as he takes a big bite. Ah, finally, something nice. He chews on the bite, reminiscing in the delicious homemade flavors of the sandwich that Mikey made. He starts to feel a bit better too. He must’ve just been hangry this whole time—
CRONCH .
Donnie bit into something hard, hard like a rock. The texture is a startling difference from the softness of the sandwich and it throws the softshell off balance. Not wanting to spit it out in front of everyone, he crunches through the odd texture and gulps the bite down. He peaks into his sandwich to find a culprit but nothing is seen. He’s lost his appetite anyway, putting the rest back into the baggie and opting to thrive off of the potato chips for the time being.
The others are engaged in a lively conversation about how much of a fast learner Casey Jr is at volleyball. Donnie knows he should join in, they all urged him to come along on their beach day so he should be participating. But—
“Not eating your sandwich, Dee?”, Leo asks, though not unkindly.
Suddenly, eyes are on him. Donnie tries to glance up but the stares bore into him like heat lasers and he can’t bring himself to look back. Donnie shrugs through the embarrassment.
“Had a funny texture.”, he mumbles. “I-It tastes great though, Angelo. Really.”
“I believe ya, Don.”, Mikey smiles. At least…Donnie could hear the smile. “Sorry the texture’s off.”
“Well here, you still need something…”, Leo adds. He peels away at his sandwich, separating the bread from everything else and holding the tuna salad parts in his other hand. He hands the bread to his twin. “Here, you can have this. Bread is good, right?”
“O-oh, no. You don’t have to do that.”, Donnie shakes his hand at the offering.
“It’s fine, I prefer the salad straight up anyways.”, Leo assures. “Come on, don’t let this bread go to waste.”
“I…okay.”
Donnie takes the bread slides, munching away at them as the conversation picks up where it left off. The bread has the delicious tuna flavor to it though so at least that’s good. But Donnie still feels bad for being so picky about things. He doesn’t mind tuna. So why is this bothering him now ?
“It is settled then!”, Cass’s loud voice breaks through the conversation. “All of us shall compete in a game of volleyball!”
“Aw, yeah! I’m in!”, April nods.
“Sounds great!”, Mikey beams.
“But…my mermaid tail…”, Raph whines.
“FUCK YOUR MERMAID TAIL!”, Cass shouts as she stands up and kicks over the beautifully and carefully crafted mermaid tail that Mikey put his blood, sweat, and tears into. “EVERYONE TO THE NET!”
The rest of the gang bound for the net as Raph mourns the tragic loss of his beloved mermaid tail before catching up with the rest of them. They split into two teams. Leo, Donnie, April, and Sunita on one team. And Raph, Mikey, Casey Jr, and Cass on the other team. Donnie opts to be the back end guy, away from the action where people could crash into each other and start screaming their heads off.
The game begins, April serves (and slays) the ball into the air and the tension begins. A point to Donnie’s team, then a point to the other team. The ball aims at Donnie’s direction a few times, but he stammers to hit back whenever Leo steps in a bit. He’s doing it to be ready to help but knowing Leo’s “No, no, I got this one.” attitude that almost cost them an entire apocalypse, Donnie is rendered hesitant. After a couple serves, Leo catches on and instead sends Donnie a reassuring nod when the ball comes his way again. The softshell does pretty well for the most part. Not too much action but enough that he’s helpful. He likes to be helpful.
The ball is served again, a tie breaker now, and it hits into the other team’s side. Casey Jr quickly steps into the ball's line of flight, jumping high up in the air and smacking the ball across the net with such force that it slams into Donnie’s team’s side in an easy point hit. But the ball quickly rebounds and bounces up towards Donnie at lightning speed and before Donnie could even register it’s trajectory—
WHAM!
Donnie is knocked off his feet as the ball hits him square in the chin and makes the softshell bite his own tongue. He falls back against the grainy sand. And suddenly everything Donnie’s been trying to keep down all day suddenly snaps . He quickly sits up, tucking his head down as he is suddenly made aware of every little thing around him. The sun is too bright, everyone’s concerned shouting is too loud, his jaw and chin hurt, he’s still hungry because bread and chips is not a lunch meal, there’s fucking sand everywhere and it’s all just… too much .
A high-pitched whine escapes his throat through clenched teeth before Donnie is sucking in a large breath. He clutches his hands against his forehead and rocks himself in place. The sounds he’s making are not of his own volition but at least it has thankfully stopped the shouting. Donnie barely registers what everyone is saying but it doesn’t matter because they’re all focusing on him. Staring and boring their eyes into him so much that it hurts like heat vision rays determined to melt the flesh off his bones and all Donnie wants right now is to get away and maintain some of his fucking dignity.
“Deep breath, Tello. It’s just me right now. Just you and me. You and me.”, Leo’s voice hushes close by. “Deep breath. With me. In…and out. In…and out.”
Donnie tries to follow but his breathing comes in desperate gasps. He manages though. He tries.
“That’s good. You got it. You so got it.”
Donnie begs to fucking differ.
“Come here. You up for a hug?”
Donnie doesn’t even answer yet and there’s arms wrapped around him. They feel icky at first until they tighten, harder and harder. And now Donnie latches onto his twin like a lifeline. He doesn’t dare open his eyes, he can’t. Everything is just too much. But he holds on. It’s all he can do right now.
“There we go. You’re good. I got you.”
Leo shushes him calmly, still holding on as tightly as he dares until Donnie’s panicked rocking slows down. Donnie curls up as much as he can, wrecked with uncontrollable whines and sobs.
“There, there, mellizo. I’m here.”, Leo murmurs. “You wanna go home? Hm?”
A gentle suggestion. And honestly, Donnie would love nothing more than to get the fuck outta here. But…his brothers wanted him to be here. And if he leaves, they’ll want to leave too. He doesn’t want that.
“...I don’t want to ruin the fun.”, he whispers, barely audible, but Leo is holding him so close that he doesn’t have to be loud to be heard.
“You’re not ruining anything, I promise.”, Leo whispers back.
“I’d feel bad if they all want to leave too.”
“Hm…yeah, I get you. We can ask them to stay here, if you want. We could head back together, just you and me.
“...Just you and me…”
“You got it.” Leo shifts, craning his neck up at the others. “We’re gonna head back to base, you guys carry on though!”
Raph hums in concern. “Are ya sure? Raph don’t mind—”
“Yes, we’re sure. Go on. Continue the game without us. Mikey, switch with our team. Avenge our honor.”
“Uhm…sure!”, Mikey replies. “If that’s what Donnie wants.”
A pause, and Donnie realizes they want him to say something. But he could only muster a subtle nod.
“Dee would be honored to have you take his spot.”, Leo assures. “We’ll take my portals back so just give me a call when you’re done and I can teleport you all back.”
“You be sure to give us a call too if you need anything, okay?”, April insists.
“Absolutely!”
Leo shifts to get up but Donnie still grabs onto him tightly. The slider makes no fuss though, hoisting Donnie up with him and guiding the two back to the shade where a blue shimmering light forms. Donnie is guided through the light until everything feels a comforting familiar. The softshell blinks his eyes open to see the dimly lit lair before them. It almost looks completely dark but that’s simply Donnie’s eyes adjusting to being out in the bright sunlight all day. Leo sets his swords aside and gives his twin a patient smile.
“Hey bud, how’s your chin? Does it hurt?”, he asks softly. And thank fuck for it, Donnie doesn’t think he can handle much more stimuli.
His chin doesn’t hurt anymore now though. So Donnie just shakes his head, not wanting to engage in eye contact right now.
“Hm…how about all that sand, huh?”
Now Leo’s speaking his language. Donnie subtly nods which prompts Leo to gently grab his hand and guide him down the hall.
“Let’s head to the bathroom then before we get sand everywhere.”
They head into the bathroom where Leo grabs some towels from the rack. He passes one to Donnie before shaking off his own sandy skin in turn. The sand, now drying off, flakes away with ease which Donnie is most grateful for. He takes extra care to pick away the sand stuck between his toes and fingers before yanking off his bandana when he discovers how much sand got stuck up in it. Once the twins are sand-free, Leo ushers him out of the bathroom.
“Come on, it’s hoodie time.”
They head down to their rooms where Donnie is more than agreeing to dress out into something more comfortable and dry. He puts on his usual shorts and his large oversized purple hoodie before stepping out and sees that Leo has done the same in a blue hoodie.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Are you kidding? I don’t want to keep wearing those damp sandy clothes anymore.”, Leo chuckles. “Come on, let’s pop on a movie. You pick. I’ll grab some snacks. Something more filling than bread, I bet.”
Call it twin instinct, but Donnie is glad that Leo is able to read his mind. He heads down to the TV room and shuffles through a few options before opting for his go-to Jupiter Jim comfort movie. Something mindless he can just focus on. As he settles on the couch, Leo comes back with a couple juice boxes and instant noodle cups. Donnie soaks up the minimal warmth of his ramen cup as Leo snuggles up next to him. Together, the two just sit in peaceful silence, enjoying their noodles and the movie. But something still stirs in Donnie’s gut.
“...I’m sorry.”, he murmurs.
“For what?”
“For not being as participating as I should’ve been today. You guys have been insisting I come along and I owe it to you after locking myself up in the lab for a long while. I tried to be more sociable but…it was all just too much.”
“Hey. We wanted you to tag along because you’re our brother and we wanted you to feel included.”, Leo presses. “You didn’t have to come with if you didn’t want to and even if you wanted, you still didn’t have to push yourself beyond your comfort zone. We would never want you to make yourself uncomfortable for us, Dee.”
“...Yeah…you’re right.”
“Well of course I am.”, Leo flaunts. “Who would you be without your genius twin?”
“Excuse you, that’s my line.”, Donnie smirks. “...I still like going to the beach. Just…not now. I guess.”
Leo wraps his arm around his brother. “Then we’ll head out again some other time. Just you and me.”
“Yeah…
“Just you and me.”