Work Text:
It was a usual day in the lab for Casey Jones. He was on his knees, elbow deep in the junk set in the corner of Donnie's lab, searching for a bulb. Grime and engine grease coated his skin and under his nails. His bandanna was tossed on a toolbox behind him. He had been in the lab for atleast two hours, having come just after his hockey practice. He tossed his gear at the corner of the lab, far enough for Donnie to not mind.
Donatello was seated on his lab chair, bent over a large signboard which said "Mystic Pizza", screwing on a bulb where the dot of the letter 'i' was placed in the word 'Mystic'. the turtle's hand worked smoothly as they tightened the bulb and checked the circuit behind the metal signboard. Casey could hear the clink of glass as he worked.
"What's taking you so long in there, we haven't got all day, Hairball!" Donnie's chair squeaked to face Casey. "How hard is it to find a bulb?"
"Well it would have been easier if you sorted out your trash once in a while..." the teenage boy huffed as he pulled out a crooked plastic gnome. "Seriously, what is this for, Idiotmuffin?" they were playing their little game, where they threw each other insults in alphabetical order while working. Just two bros bonding over mechanics and petty rivalry.
It wasn't often that Casey was invited over. Truthfully, he was never invited cuz' he always barged in the room anyway, but that fact could be blissfully ignored this once. He was actually called over to work on the motor of a battered truck. It was gotten from a Repo area and they intended to fix it up into a food truck for Mikey to sell pizza from.
"Mikey picked the gnome out." Donnie mused, "And Idiotmuffin? what sorta insult is that? Are you losing your touch, Jackass?"
"Kinda hard to insult you when I'm getting scarred by your trash." Casey supplied quickly, pulling out a tennis racket with no strings. Seriously, not a single string.
In reality, the main reason his insults were trash was that he felt his thoughts jumble under the turtle's attention. But he wasn't gonna admit it outloud. No sirree. He is as nonchalant as guys get. "You should stop taking Mikey on your junk-hunts..Killjoy"
"Who else should I take? You?? Loonyface Casey?" the turtle snarked, "I'd be surprised if you didn't find a way to destroy garbage somehow." The spark in the turtle's eyes made Casey pause for a bit. A half-baked idea popped in his gently-used brain and he decided to yap before thinking through.
"I'd behave for you, Mi Carino~" He winked at Donnie and finally FINALLY pulled out a small bulb with a flourish, brandishing it to him like a rose. The boy thought he was very smooth, sliding in a flirt through the wall of their usual insults. He mentally congratulated himself for being so suave. Now Donnie would startle and stop processing for a bit,before stuttering out a few words as he blushed. Just as the turtle acted when April praised him so long ago when they had a crush on her.
Atleast, that's what he imagined their reaction would be. He didn't really know. All he truely wanted was for Donnie to either give him a reaction, or ignore his awkward-ass if he was being embarrassing.
A moment passed. Then two. Casey watched as the resident genius kept processing. Oh no, did he not say it right?? His dead Abuela would be PISSED if he mispronounced such a simple word. His entire Latino heritage would quite frankly, disown him. His heart beat a little faster in his chest as his fingers became sweaty around the bulb.
Oh no, did he break them?! The rest of the guys would NOT be amused. Surviving without their local weapon engineer just because Casey broke him would not go well for the human.
"Did you..." Donnie's expression did NOT change to a charmed mess. It became critical, as if he was analyzing Casey like he was one of his complex sciency equations."Did you just call me a slur?" Donnie carefully finished.
Casey choked on sewer air. "What- no- you were supposed to- I mean- I don't- Thats not-" his mouth opened and closed like a blubbering fish."It's not a slur!!" He finally caught his voice. Oh his ears were definitely burning. April would laugh her ass off at his face right now. Great thing that she was home actually studying instead of failing at Flirting 101 like Casey.
"What does it mean?" Don leaned back in his chair, folding his arms on his plastron. His critical expression softened but not by much.
"It means." Casey's entire face felt warm. His attempts at flirting were definitely a bust. Should he tell him the truth and face even more embarrassment or lie and save face???Well, it was a No-brainer question. Casey Jones does NOT accept embarrassment."It means idiot in Spanish." He agreed.
"And... you never replied with an insult so I win this time!!!" He cracked a grin, hoping beyond hope that he wasn't visibly sweating.
"That's not fair! You can't switch languages!" Donnie argued.
"All's fair in love and war" he cackled. Then, deciding that the turtle wouldn't know the meaning of the word anyway, added, "Mi Carino~" oh his poor heart finally slowed down to a normal rate at that save. But not by much. Apparently calling someone a 'sweetheart' romantically isn't a very calming experience for the romantically-challenged like Casey.
"You can't do that! You have to teach me insults in Spanish so I can strike back!" The mutant's beak scrunched up in a scowl and his eyes flashed red as he glared at the boy.But his cheeks also puffed up a bit, making them look extremely adorable in Casey's eyes.
A brilliant idea struck the raven-haired boy's brain. If brilliance were highly subjective, of course.
"Alright, ya sore loser, I'll teach you stuff." he conceded. "But you gotta promise me to never google the words I tell ya OR let the others hear you say it." Who knows what Raph would do to him after listening to the words Casey taught his little brother.
He MIGHT have gotten his best friend into Spanish telanovelas.
"Then you can teach me bad stuff about me. I'm not stupid, Jones." the turtle rolled his eyes.
"I promise I won't"
"And why should I trust you."
"bee-cause you love me??" Cringe could be 'overthunk' about later, Casey decided. He batted his eyes at Don which earned him a long-suffering sigh in return. Oh hell yeah. He was gonna agree.
"To be clear, I only mildly tolerate you and I'm also curious what swearing in Spanish sounds like." He agreed. "But if you make a fool of me, you are a dead man, Casey Jones."
"Alright!" Casey's heartrate decided to speed up again at his next words. "You know what 'amor' means?"
"No." Was the blank reply.
Oh this was gonna be fun.
Eventually, they got back to work. It took an hour of teaching Donnie pronunciation and Casey giggling maniacally once in a while for them to finally settle down. But before they could finish fifteen minutes of work, Lee dipped in the lab.
"Guys, dinner's ready." She paused, staring at her brother and her friend leaning awfully close together over a glowing workbench, shoulders almost touching. A very older-sister type protective concern washed over her eyes. "Also keep the door open as you work. Ventilation can't possibly work without an exit for air."
"Yeah, yeah, we'll be out." Donnie pushed away Casey's shoulder and got up. Now that the door was open, he could smell cooking chicken and something spicy in the air. He stuck annoyingly close to the mutant all the way till the kitchen until he found Mikey labouring over a frying pot.
"Great stuff, Mikester." He patted the younger mutant's head. He tried stealing a bit cooling in a bowl but had his wrist snatched away by another hand.
"Since when did you show up?" Raph growled. "Haven't seen you all night." His acid green eyes flashed in mistrust at Casey, who became acutely aware that his bones were starting to crush under the grip.
"Jus chillin' in the lab, yo," He laughed, ignoring the worry at the back of his mind.
"Since when?" Raph held his wrist tighter, as if that was even possible.
"Uhhhh...three hours? Give or take?"
His eyes narrowed even more at Casey's sweating face. " Oneesan! Kono otoko wa nanika o takurande iru."
(Older sister! This guys is upto something.)
"Leave him alone, Raph." Lee smacked the back of his captor's head. "Just help me set the table."
His wrist was free. But the nasty look his best friend gave him wasn't very helpful in making him feel like a free man. He looked away to Mikey at the serrated look thrown his way.
"Just for your information, I was helping Don fix up Mikey's pizza truck." He informed helpfully.
"Cowabunga dude!!" Mikey cheered. "Does it have flame accents yet?"
"It can barely work its engine, Mike." Casey caught the fond smile on Donnie's face and felt his heart melt. Even if it wasn't directed his way.
A few more minutes of bickering later, they all sat around the table. Raph made a point to sit between Casey and Donnie. Lee sat at the head of the table, being the oldest and Raph sat at the other end. Mikey let Ice Cream Kitty lick some soya sauce on the chair beside Casey.
"This tastes amazing, otouto," The red banded turtle complimented.
Oh yes the chicken was amazing. And seasoned with sauces and sesame seeds. Casey had such a great time, he kicked out his legs and almost forgot the noodles on his plate. He barely registered his foot hitting something.
A pretty strong hit on his kneecap fuddled with his grip on a chicken bone. His hand guided the piece to smack too deep into the back of his mouth. Cue him hacking out a lung.
"What's got ya so worked up." Raph sighed and thumped his back. The brain shrunk from lack of usage in his head rattled in his skull.
"That-" Cough. "Is not helping" Cough "Dude!" He managed to stutter through watering eyes. Lee might have felt a twinge of pity for him and slid him a glass of water.
He coughed for a moment more, feeling Donatello's gaze on his pathetic form. It burned. Ain't no way he could let the sabotage go unnoticed. He knew damn well Donnie sat opposite to him, highlighted by the evil smirk they sent his way. The torment would not go without revenge.
The next time Donnie seemed particularly careful while drinking water, Casey hit him square in the plastron.
Donnie choked. And coughed out a storm rivalling his own. Casey cackled as loud as he could get.
"Casey!" Raph growled.
"Donnie!" Lee yelled.
"You guys can NOT be playing footsie under the table." Mickey sniffled dramatically. "That's disrespect to my chicken, bros."
"He did it to me first!" Donnie whined.
"Not on purpose! You're terrorizing me man!" Casey defended.
Lee just gave them a long suffering sigh as a way of mediating the argument. Not very effective, Casey would say if given the chance to speak. The chance that was so cruelly taken by Donatello.
"Why are you such a- Why do you act like this!! Mi Corazon!!!" They yelled out
That effectively shut down all essential neural processes in our favorite Latino boy's mind.
Not like all his actions went through those neural pathways but anyways.
All Casey would think of was how hot those words sounded coming out of the purple banded turtle's mouth. And they were effectively directed AT HIM. His face burned at the intense eye contact from those russet eyes. The annoyed quirk of their mouth. Their faint freckles shining under the pathetic sewer lighting. His muscles tensed to pounce. Pounce on Casey Jones of all people. Hopefully smack their tooth gaps together-
"WHAT THE fUCK DIDYA CALL HIM?!" Raph exploded. Casey winced. Yeah, the elephant in the room. Angry protective mutant ninja turtle who could kill him in this case. He should really have kept his telenovela obsession to himself.
"A swear word." Donnie calmly replied. Looking at his older brother, their anger seemed to dissapate. They calmly sat back down comfortably and gave Casey a dry look. "He taught me Spanish."
"WHAT THE HELL DIDYA TEACH HIM, JONES!" His wrath attacked the poor human.
"A...cuss word?" Casey giggled with the most innocent expression he could muster. Which probably wasn't very innocent to others. He did a crime.
"THAT AIN'T A CUSS WORD AND YA KNOW IT!"
Mikey gasped unhelpfully in the background.Lil shit was probably eating up the drama.
"I think we should all calm down and finish eating." Lee broke in. "We'll have the conversion about swearing in this household for AFTER."
The sharp look she sent Raph's way calmed him down. By a bit. He was clearly still fuming and glared at Casey the entire time. The raven-haired boy tried eating his food slower to avoid his gaze. He could feel his skin turn burn.
Oh Raph wouldn't even have the decency to bury his body.
Casey couldn't tell if that was a good thing or bad.
After dinner, Lee made the wise decision to leave Donnie and Casey to clean up the kitchen whilst dragging Raph and Mikey out for patrol. The nervous smile she sent his way made the human believe in humanity again. Or mutant generosity. She was giving him time to sort out the trouble before Raph kills him.
He didn't miss the way his best friend made a motion of slicing his neck before leaving though.
"What the hell did you teach me, Jones." Donnie sighed. The mutant went over to the sink and started rinsing the plates. Casey started putting away the ingredients to clean the counter.
"Cuss words!!" He defended.
"They aren't swear words." Donnie dryly answered. "Raph had an extreme reaction."
"That's cuz he watched some telenovela and thinks he's some pro in Spanish!"
"Amakute orokana shōnen" Donnie said. "Just tell me what it really was."
(sweet, stupid boy)
Something about the way the mutant's voice glided across Japanese made Casey pause in putting oregano wrappers in the trashcan. He was always so curious about the language, having watched some anime. He knew a few words. But he couldn't understand what the turtles said.They spoke too fast for him to reference anime from memory.
He craved to understand more of Donatello.
"How about...you teach me something in Japanese and I'll tell you what the real meaning of what I said." He smirked with what he hoped was rugged charm. It could be an impish grin, knowing his natural instinct of facial muscles.
Donnie stilled with his rinsing. "What do you wanna know." their voice went slightly airy, as if nervous. Did Casey make them nervous? The human sure did hope so. Having an effect on someone who seemed so untouched by anybody's antics but his was kinda addictive.
"Donno, a bad word?" Casey cackled evilly. "Maybe a quote on quote 'slur' " He mocked how Donnie thought his previous Spanish word was something unholy.
"Uh.. gimme a minute," He trailed off, staring at the wok in the sink. "Help me clean this first."
Guess only one person could make Casey Jones work. Only because of the enticement of learning swear words definitely!
A few minutes later, Casey dragged the mutant into the couch beside him and drilled him with his most impatient nagging voice.
"Okay okay, fine!" Donnie huffed and pushed the human's too-close face away. "Fine here's a phrase."
But the turtle didn't speak. They just stared at Jones with their big brown eyes. After moments, which were so comfortable that it didn't feel awkward, they spoke.
"say Koi shiteru " Donnie whispered. [ I like you (romantically)]
"Koi shit eru?" Casey asked. The mutant's face turned into a shade of red as he looked away.
"What didya teach me that is so bad man!!" Jones asked with an embarrassed chuckle. Donnie could be making a fool of him if the mutant blushed THAT bad in secondhand embarrassment.
"Hah, nah not telling." Don placed a hand on his shoulder. "Be sure to never utter that infront of my brothers or you risk getting skinned alive." He said brightly as he got up.
"No fair!! You gotta tell me what it means!!" Casey whines.
"You tell me what u taught ME means first?" Dee snapped.
"Uhh..." Jones felt his face burn. For probably the eight time that night, who knows? "No."
"Why ever not? Backing up from a challenge?" The eyebrow ridge rise was simply aggravating.
"You gotta punch it outta me, Gearhead!!!" Casey got up, dragging the mutant towards the dojo.
Maybe he could confess another night.