Morning Rituals

Each step felt like there was lead in Donatello's feet. Of course that wasn't the case, but despite what people expected of him, Donatello had a hard time waking up in the morning.

The bathroom he and his brothers shared came into view and the mutant smiled and yawned. He could already hear his brothers in the bathroom as they did their daily morning routine.

The tallest of the ninjas stepped in, feeling the cold tile on his bare feet. Raphael was busy applying an Avon product onto his arm as Michelangelo finished brushing his teeth and reached for some floss. Leonardo grabbed a green towel and prepared to take a shower.

Donatello sighed. Perhaps it was his OCD, but he enjoyed the routine. Waking up, greeting his brothers, getting ready for the day...it was a soothing process that eased Donatello's nerves and stresses that might come up throughout the day.

Soft pitter patter of feet could be heard heading towards the bathroom. A petite figure walked in and stood in front of the sink. Donatello stared, not really processing what had just happened until he felt Leo huddle to him in shock. Donatello blinked and took part of Leonardo's towel and held it to his chest as though to cover himself up.

Michelangelo had slunk closer to the ground, his big blue eyes widening as he stared up at the beautiful April O'Neil. He blinked in wonder as Raphael continued to apply the product onto his skin, a bored look now on his face.

Donatello couldn't help but blush at the female. And the white tank top and sagging pajama pants didn't help, either. She hummed and put some toothpaste onto her toothbrush, stuck that into her mouth, wrapped a towel around her neck and grabbed her hair brush.

The mutant stared and wondered how women could multitask like that. She brushed her hair with one hand and her teeth with the other, unaware of the odd looks she was getting from her male friends. Maybe it was a female super power or something.

When she was finished, she spit out the toothpaste, rinsed out her mouth and finished combing her hair. She turned to look at Leo and Donnie who proceeded to resemble even more like deer in the headlights. April smiled.

"Hey, are you two going to use the shower at all?"

Donatello and Leonardo slowly blinked and eyed each other before violently shaking their heads "no." April smiled, amused, but also gave them a confused look as though not understanding their behavior. She pushed past them and headed for the room where the shower was. When she was out of ear shot, Leonardo let go of his end of the towel and leaned in for his brothers to hear.

"She saw us in our skivvies!" He squeaked with a whisper.

Raphael let the washcloth drop, rolled his eyes and angrily looked at his brothers. "In case you haven't noticed, fellas...we're always naked. It's not like the masks cover much up."

He left before the boys could say anything else. Mikey stood up straighter, watched Raph leave, eyed his other older brothers and followed the angry ninja out. Donatello looked down at Leo who glanced over his shoulder to where the shower is.

"...I'll take a shower later." Leonardo didn't give Donnie a chance to say anything. He ran out, leaving the green towel to lay limp in Donatello's hand.

The mutant sighed and decided to proceed with his routine. He remembered April was staying with them, but it didn't register until that moment that April would be using their space. And last time he checked, that included the bathrooms.

Donnie placed some toothpaste onto his own brush and began to clean his teeth. It was only day one of April living with them, and so far it had been a pretty embarrassing morning. Although, Raph was right, it wasn't exactly like they were naked. Just without their masks. Which...really did mean they were naked.

The image of April in her pajamas made Donatello nearly drop the toothbrush, blushing in embarrassment. He reflected on how cool she had been, like she had shared a bathroom with them for years, not one morning.

It was different than the ritual he was used to...but thinking about April and how natural it had been for her to be there just now made the mutant happy in a weird way. Donnie smiled and went back to brushing his teeth, a blush on his face as a smile formed on his lips. He was looking forward to tomorrow morning.