Work Text:
During a quiet night, Mikey is curled up on his hammock. He couldn’t sleep, not with a drawing unfinished. He has been practicing with his drawing tablet, but is still struggling to not pick up an actual eraser to wipe away the lines. Though, staring at the screen for five hours straight caused his eyes to burn more by the second.
‘’Hmm..’’ Mikey rubs his sore eyes. ‘’I guess this will have to do for now.’’ He moves his heavy finger to the saving button and presses it. Though, the tablet buzzes. A pop-up shows up with the text: ‘’Could not save file. Check connection.’’
‘’GAAH!’’ Mikey let out a groan filled with frustration, reeling his head backward.
‘’My progress..’’ He whimpers.
‘’Aaah!’’
Though, his second scream is overtaken by another voice.
‘’Wait,’’ Mikey perks his ears and listens carefully. The third desperate call makes it clear as day. ‘’Is that… Donnie?’’
The orange turtle jumps out of his hammock with his tablet tucked under his arm.
Nearing his brother’s lab, a purple hue gently illuminates the hallway. The distant aggravated mumbling intensifies as he gets closer to the source.
“Of course! Just when I was about to save the project of a lifetime the city got a power outage! Why must the technology I adore despise me so much?!”
Peeking around the corner of Donnie’s doorway, Mikey finds his brother stroking the side of his computer screen while hugging it with his face.
‘’Guess even the city wants you to go to sleep, D.’’ Mikey chuckles as he enters.
Donnie turns, one eyebrow raised as he sighs. ‘’Yeah, yeah, I don’t need your: ‘’You need sleep to be productive’’ talk, doc.’’ He whisks his hand in the air. Noticing his brother’s weary eyes and tablet, he sneers. ‘’Looks like someone needs to listen to their own advice.’’
Mikey jolts, hiding the tablet behind his back. ‘’I wasn’t awake for that long…’’ He pouts.
‘’Sure, Michael.’’ With that sarcastic jab, Donnie switches his attention back to his desk. It is messy as always, covered with blueprints, papers and many coffee mugs.
‘’So, what are you up to?’’ Mikey trots towards his brother.
‘’Apparently starting over from scratch since my blueprints didn’t save.’’ Donnie groans as the fifth attempt of connecting to the internet didn’t work. ‘’Why, universe?! Why must you hurt me like a video game with low frame rates?!’’ With a grumble, he let his head fall onto the desk.
‘’For once, I understand your struggle.’’ Mikey nods, petting the back of Donnie’s shell. As his eyes drift over Donnie’s organized mess, he spots a pencil and a piece of paper that has little words on it. ‘’Huh, how about you draw it?’’
Donnie lifts his face, clearly unimpressed. ‘’Michael, do you have any idea how intricate these blueprints are?’’
‘’Yes..?’’ Mikey shies away, taking hold of the pencil anyway. ‘’But, it doesn’t hurt to try, right?’’ He smiles, handing the pencil over to Donnie.
‘’I guess it’s worth the attempt..’’ Reluctantly, Donnie shoves the piece of paper in front of himself.
As minutes go by, Mikey keeps his brother company by doodling on a crumpled piece of paper from Donnie’s trash bin, or, more accurately, a pile of papers that became the trash bin.
Donnie’s whispering became talking and talking turned into growling.
‘’GRAAH!’’ As the tenth sheet of paper joins the pile on the ground, Donnie throws the pencil across the desk. ‘’It’s useless! A waste of time and effort! I need my computer! I need the sweet nectar called the internet!’’
‘’Wow, wow! D! Calm down!’’ Mikey rushes over, putting his hand over his brother’s. ‘’I know drawing stuff isn’t your thing, but maybe I can help?’’
‘’Michael, I appreciate the thought but-’’ His attention gets drawn by the paper Mikey placed in front of him. Donnie’s eyes widened. ‘’Is this..?’’
‘’A blueprint! I guess? I tried to make one based on the ones you threw away. I don’t really understand it, but it looks cool!’’ Mikey chuckles in a nervous tone, scratching the back of his head.
‘’No, this is.. and the amount of detail..’’ The purple turtle brings the paper closer to his face. ‘’And that for someone who doesn’t know the basics of mechanical engineering..’’ Donnie mumbles in thought.
‘’I’m going to take that as a compliment!’’ The orange turtle puffs his chest. ‘’Maybe you can explain more about this Turtle Tank of yours?’’
Donnie’s expression mellows, a smile cracking. ‘’It doesn’t hurt to try.’’
Mikey laughs, turning around a random blueprint on the table and retrieving the pencil from the desk. ‘’It sure don’t!’’