Behind This Mask

4 - communication

// SH

  Donnie and April strolled along a quiet street, overlooking the flowing water beside them. The sun was low in the sky, and Donnie realized he really hadn't left the lair much at all in the past... 2 days? 3? Seems he'd also lost track of time. He dragged out a sigh, April eyeing him.
  "So, Don," she started, "anything on your mind? You seem pretty distracted..."

"I'm fine." Donnie quickly shut her question down, really not wanting to talk about anything. The turtle acknowledged his aching stomach at last after around a day or so, deciding it wouldn't hurt to get something to snack on quickly. "Do you wanna get pizza?" He asked, voice void of emotion as per usual. He wasn't even hungry. But yet he asked and his stomache ached and begged for food. He didn't want food.

April smiled at him. 
  "Sure. Which pizza place?" she asked.
The turtle thought for a moment. Donnie would usually go to Sir Hueso's with his brothers, but that place was mainly for mutants. April would probably stick out like a sore thumb unless they borrowed some of Sunita's green goo. Yuck. The thought made Donnie shiver uncomfortably.

"Donnie?" April's voice broke into his thoughts and he looked down at her. 

"uh... just whatever one we find first I guess." the softshell looked down, concrete beneath his feet rough and warm. Warm from the sun. The sun was casting a soft gold across the cityscape, water reflecting it's blinding light and bouncing it off other reflective surfaces. When Donnie looked up, the sky was a gradient of colors. On the opposite half of the sky far from the sun, it was growing darker by the second. It shifted from a dark navy to a lighter blue, to a lighter pastel yellow to a more honey gold. The sun was a white ball above the horizon and the visible clouds painted soft pink and violet hues. Donnie got lost in his skygazing and wasn't watching where he was going. It was too late to pay attention when he ran himself into a pole.
  The softshell startled and fell back, landing with a thud. Thankfully he hadn't removed his battleshell, probably why the hoodie was a bit uncomfortable, but at least he didn't land on his actual softshell. God, that thought made him unbelievably uncomfortable.

  "Donnie! Geez, are you okay?" April asked, helping the turtle back up. Donnie rubbed his neck uncomfortably.

"I'm fine."

  She frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."
April didn't quite believe her turtle friend, but didn't want to argue. The boys had informed her of what had been going on with their brother and assigned her the task of breaking open his shell. That's what she was going to do, no matter how much effort it took.
They continued to walk for a while until they found what they were looking for.

The two stumbled upon a pizza place in a relatively short amount of time, taking their seats at a booth. April seemed to relax into her seat, calm and cool whilst Donnie remained stiff and on guard. April frowned at this and opened up a menu places on their table. "What do you want, Don?"
Donnie glanced at her. "Oh, uh, anything that isn't Hawaiian is fine." He said, mostly muttering the sentence. April shrugged and ordered their food as a waiter stopped by.
  Nobody really questioned his hatred of Hawaiian pizza except Leo. For some reason the guy really seemed to enjoy annoying Donnie. April didn't really care much for the others' opinions on pizza toppings, she mostly just ate what she felt like. Though she could kind of agree with Don on the pineapple on pizza thing. She had mixed feelings about it, but didn't mind overall.
  Whilst the two waited their pizza, mostly in silence, April got a ping on her phone. It got Donnie's attention, but she assured him it was nothing and checked for herself. It was a message from Raph asking how everything was going.

❤Raph💪

TODAY

Hey April, how's everything going with Don??
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