Work Text:
Casey’s rambling trailed off, his head falling onto Donnie’s plastron. The other boy started gently snoring after a moment, curling closer to Donnie.
He had fallen asleep. Right on top of his rival.
Strange.
Donnie frowned, but took it as an opportunity to get a better look at Casey’s face. He hadn’t really seen him this close before.
Casey’s hair was washed, for once, and stuck out around his bandanna in a halo of flyaways.
He had longer lashes than Donnie expected. And freckles, too, ones that dotted across his face like stars. Did he always have those?
One of Casey’s hands had come to rest on Donnie’s plastron. It was warm.
Casey was warm. So warm. It felt nice to have a personal heater, even if it was the most irritating person Donnie had ever met.
The turtle blinked, then focused his gaze back on Casey’s face.
It was odd, really, how the annoyance looked up close.
He was almost…
Almost… pretty, in a way.
If he took off that ugly bandanna for once, he’d probably be quite handsome.
Donnie wondered…
what Casey looked like…
without it.
Donnie’s hand moved on its own, pulling the bandanna off of Casey’s head. The other boy stirred a bit, but didn’t wake up. Tufts of dark hair tumbled down his face, framing it nicely.
He had never seen Casey like this before. He said the bandanna was his signature look, even when April told him he looked like a douchebag.
Donnie was right, as per usual.
Without the tough-guy accessories, Casey looked kind of handsome.
Wait.
Donnie tensed, snatching his hand away from Casey’s face.
What the hell was he thinking?
This was Casey Jones he was thinking about.
Casey wasn’t pretty or handsome. He was a cave-mouthed, arrogant maniac who only showered when April said he stank. He wasn’t pretty.
April was pretty.
Not Casey.
And yet…
Donnie had always preferred dark hair and eyes as opposed to the lighter colors April had.
Red hair was nice, yes, but there was something about inky black that drew Donnie in.
It might have been the fact that, had Donnie been born a human, he would probably have hair like that. Master Splinter did, back before his mutation.
Donnie might be grieving what could have been.
Or maybe he just thought it was pretty.
Pretty like…
Wait, no. Stop.
Donnie was going back to Casey being pretty again.
Correction: he wasn’t.
Of course, the absence of the bandana made him significantly easier on the eyes, but that was because Casey was just objectively good-looking.
Due to societal standards, of course, not Donnie’s personal opinion.
Obviously.
He was just making astute observations, like any good scientist.
Donnie didn’t want Casey to open his eyes so he could see how they looked up close in the soft lighting of the lair. He didn’t want Casey to move even closer than he already was and press his warm, warm body up against the turtle. He didn’t want Casey to smile, showing his stupid missing teeth.
He didn’t want Casey to do any of those things, because Donnie liked April. He always had and always would. Casey liked April too, which made them romantic rivals. Rivals didn’t think the other was prettier than the girl they were fighting over, so Donnie didn’t, either.
Even if taking off that damn bandanna was a strong contender for the best decision Donnie had ever made.