"You coming or what?" Leo's fingers impatiently tapped against the door frame while he waited for Donatello's answer.
"What," came the dry reply.
"What you mean 'what'?" Confused, Leonardo scratched his head, looking at Donatello with raised eye ridges.
"I chose 'what' because it is the only alternative you gave me to coming," Donatello elaborated in that patronizing tone that never failed to annoy Leonardo.
"Sooo..."
"For the love of Galileo... I am not coming, Leo."
"Why not? The weather is perfect and we've planned to visit the zoo for a week now," Leonardo said. "Come on, the sun is already setting. We want to make good use of night time."
"You."
"What?"
"Not 'we', 'you'," Donatello explained. "You three planned going to the zoo, even though I said I was busy on Saturday. And so – implied – it is you who want to make good use of night time in following that plan, not 'we'."
Approaching footsteps told Donatello that Leonardo was not going to leave him alone, but to use his incredible powers of obnoxiousness to have things his way. Leonardo swirled Donatello’s chair around, not even checking if there were explosives in his brother's hands, and grinned.
"Come on, D., whatever you are so 'busy' with, can wait. Your nerd stuff won't run away."
Whether it was the air quotes at 'busy' or the use of the term 'nerd stuff', Donatello was not sure. But his former feeling of annoyance faded, making room for anger. He jumped from his chair – causing Leonardo to stumble backwards - and theatrically threw his arms in the air.
"Of course! Oh, stupid fool that is me!" Donatello exclaimed, sarcasm dropping from his tongue. "My nerd stuff won't run away while zoos make a habit of switching location within the fracture of a second."
"Way to twist my words, bro!" Leonardo growled. "I meant..."
"For your information, brother dear," Donatello cut Leonardo off, not caring for his explanations. "This 'nerd stuff' are my notes and former experiments for an antidote or even a vaccination against Draxum's ooze. You know, the guy who uses the ooze to change people's bodies against their will, risking their health and ruining their lives."
"Yeah, I know, Donnie!" Leonardo bit back. "I was there. I fought him, too. We always fight him. We deserve a break. And three out of four wanted to go to the zoo."
"Yes, yes, that is reasonable," Donatello agreed sarcastically. "If three people decide that relaxing at the zoo is more important than stopping genocide by forced transformation, it immediately becomes objectively true!"
"Just because you know some smart-assy big words doesn't mean that you are always in the right!"
"No, that comes with being smarter than you!"
"What is that ruckus?" suddenly thundered through Donatello's laboratory.
Both turtles turned their attention towards the door at once. There he stood: Splinter - small, round and hairy and yet wielding authority.
Leonardo recovered first. His dark eyes started to shine with mischief.
"Oh, nothing, Dad," he waved dismissively. "I just asked Donnie to accompany us to the zoo. But he wants to stay here and try this experiment again. You know, the one that so far always ended with tiny explosions."
Donatello’s face snapped to Leonardo, a murderous expression on his face. But Leonardo only smiled smugly, winking at Don.
As expected, Splinter did not like the thought of his movie night being interrupted by noise and/or destruction and he decided, "No! Purple, you go with your brothers, for... erm... bonding. Yes, that's good. I mean, that's important. Family bonding."
His voice and facial expression left no room for resistance and Donatello was beaten. His Saturday night schedule decided by another. Frustrated, he watched his father leave.
"This could have been much easier, bro," Leonardo said smugly. "I really didn't want to... rat you out !"
Donatello did not react. The terrible pun was nothing he would grace with a comment and he would not give Leonardo the satisfaction of whining over his defeat. So he silently followed Leonardo to the lair's center.
Staring at the back of his brother's head, he could not help wondering how it had come to this. That aversion, the distance, the lack of empathy between them. As younger kids, Leonardo and he had been so close. Sharing the middle child's burden of never being in charge like the oldest and never being pampered as the youngest, they had confided in each other. Together they'd at night explore the museum that Donatello had been curious about but on his own would have lacked the courage to enter. Together they'd sneak out to see the Lou Jitsu night at the movie theater, something Leonardo on his own could not have planned. A lot of Donatello’s second thoughts had been chased away by Leonardo just pushing the button. Leonardo’s nightmares had stopped thanks to Don's rational explanation of nightly noises and scary shadows. Complementing each other, trusting each other and getting each other through.
But something was broken.
Donatello could not say when it had happened. It was not sudden. Their strong bond had crumbled slowly over time.
Leo attacks his shell during training. It hurts badly, but not as badly as his casual tone as he later explains, "An enemy will exploit your weaknesses and use them in a real fight, too. Sorry, bro, but I won, fair or not."
A little fissure.
"Okay, okay, she saw us. But she did not totally lose it. There is a chance she will not call the police, the FBI or channel 6 if we make her see that we are good guys. I will talk to her and..."
Laughter interrupts him.
"Sorry, dude! But I'll talk to her. Your definition of 'charming' might turn her suicidal!"
A small crack.
"Good idea, that artificial shell. Let's hope it does not explode while in use like your other stuff. You'd be...wait for it...shell-shocked."
Another tiny scratch.
And today? After all this little ripping, tearing and cracking, there was not much left and it rarely showed. Probably just nostalgia mimicking affection.
When they arrived at the center of the lair, Michelangelo and Raphael smiled at them and Leonardo put an arm around Donatello.
"Look who decided to come along after all." The intonation of Leonardo's words was teasing and undoubtedly meant to remind Donatello of his unsuccessful attempt to escape this excursion.
Inwardly Donatello sighed, carefully glancing at Leonardo.
The cool rebel and the nerdy scientist. Too different in character and in priorities. Most likely their bond had run on borrowed time all along.
But he still missed it.