Behind This Mask

7 - bonding time WOO

  Donnie filled his glass, shaking it barely whilst stuck in his thoughts before drinking it. He set the cup on the counter, choking on the fluid for a second. The softshell sputtered, after a minute getting over the incident. His head ached and his body felt good to be stretched after sitting in his lab for hours with Mikey, making whatever invention they were making. They decided to try make one of Mikey's little concepts that he'd slipped under the door on paper on several occasions, and even though they usually had a few key features missing, it was nothing Donnie couldn't fix. In fact, he had a few of his little brothers inventions already made and in weekly use. And whenever Mikey found out about one of these, he would be overjoyed. It made Donnie feel a bit more proud of himself.
  The turtle still hadn't gotten back to his usual eating habits. Or, well, other peoples usual eating habits. He never really cared to eat too much before, when he was so busy making things or beating up evil Yokai or mutants. This was kinda his norm. Not that it wasn't ever a little worrying, of course. Donnie winced as he leant against the counter, the wounds under his shorts stinging. He realized he probably should bandage them, disinfect them, do something like that but really? He didn't care. And then he reminded himself about how his family knew about them. They saw his cuts. And the boxcutter. Yeah, probably too late to blame it on cat scratches.

  Donatello pushed himself off the counter, realizing a he took steps how those wounds were now really making him feel weak. If they bled again, or too much, he'd probably pass out. Hopefully not in a really awkward position or location, though. He wondered if he could ask one of his brothers or even April for help, but he didn't want to risk anything... okay, sigh, let's just go to the bathroom and find something.
  Donnie slunk through the halls, hoping to not bump into any of his brothers. He knew Leo and Raph were probably hanging out in the arcade trying to best each others high scores. Donnie would probably just hack the machine to ensure his score remained, but we aren't gonna tell anyone that. He does it for Mikey, too. Though, his brother would definitely be upset if he found out. April wasn't at the lair right now, probably trying to get another job or something, and Splinter was out getting groceries. For once. But anywho.
  The softshell reached the bathroom quickly, locking the door behind him. He reached into drawers and looked through cabinets, searching for bandages opened things to fix up his wounds. Did he even want to roll up his shorts again?

  Donnie found what he was looking for and set it on the counter. Holding his breath, he slowly and gently rolled up his shorts and released a relieved sigh when he saw they weren't too bad. But still. Some bandages would do him good.
  Donnie worked on fixing up his wounds, trying to be a little quick as to not worry Mikey. Mostly so he wouldn't be bombarded with questions- heck, if anything, having a break might be nice. He'll talk about that with Mikey in a minute, if he could just... get these stupid bandages sorted...
  At last, he managed his bandages and finished patching himself up, getting off the floor and putting everything away once more. He thought to himself as he left the bathroom and wandered the lair, thinking about... things. God, it felt so weird to walk around. It felt weird to know how his brothers... knew... everything. Not "everything" everything, right? Hopefully not...
  Donnie stopped in the hall, taking a deep breath as he leant against a wall. He pressed his hands to his temples, struggling to soothe his headache. Water hadn't helped too much and all this thinking definitely wasn't. But whatever.

  "Donnie? Everything alright?" Raph's voice came through and shattered his thoughts, making the softshell open his eyes.

"Hm?"

  "Is everything alright? You're looking kinda... not good." His older brother walked over to him, standing in front of him with folded arms. Donnie grit his teeth, straightening.

"I'm fine. Just... got a headache, is all."

"You sure? You know you can talk to me right?" Raph had an empathetic look on his face and it sickened Donnie. He didn't quite feel so safe talking about what happened, even knowing that his brothers knew. Even knowing they do care. It just... he felt uncomfortable to think or talk about it. He felt guilty.
  Really guilty.
Donnie felt a hand on his shoulder and realized he had zoned out, tears had risen in his eyes. He quickly wiped them away, stepping away from his brother. "I'm just gonna go back to Mikey..."