Chapter Text
How does one manage to catch a cold in the middle of the summer?
Donatello would’ve really liked the answer to that hypothetical. He sniffed, holding his aching head as he leaned over his desk.
As much as he wanted to crumple to the floor and fall asleep on the cold concrete, he just needed to figure out the protein sequence for the retro-mutagen. April needed him to figure it out.
He squinted down at his notes, the chicken scratch from the past half hour blurring into a smear in his vision. He closed his eyes, feeling dizzy.
Donnie groaned, dragging his hand down his face, grimacing as he felt it slick with sweat.
God this was awful.
He stretched with a yawn, almost knocking over the canister of mutagen in front of him. Luckily, even in his sleep deprived and disheveled state, his reflexes were intact enough to catch it.
He heaved a sigh of relief as he put it back in its place
Coffee.
Coffee would help.
Legs feeling like tungsten, he trudged out of his chair.
The moment he opened the door to his lab, the usual light and noise of the lair hit him like an eighteen wheeler on a highway.
Donnie had to lean against the doorway for a minute as he adjusted to the tv blasting Space Heroes along with Leo’s constant commentary on the show, the sounds of Raph absolutely demolishing yet another training dummy, and the fluorescent overhead lights making his brain swim.
Dragging his feet against the floor with every step, he staggered into the kitchen. He had to immediately lean against the counter once he made it to the coffee machine.
Too bright. Too loud.
“Yeesh dude! You look awful!”
Mikey was too close.
“ Thank you, Mikey.”
He grabbed the pot and a mug, pouring himself a cupful of liquid caffeine.
“Mikey’s right, Donnie. You don’t look too good.”
Donnie nearly dropped his coffee. When did April get there? What time was it?!
He whirled around to face the girl, hoping he didn’t look as awful as he felt.
“Wha- oh! I uh, I didn’t know you were here, April!
He put on a smile despite how much his body ached. Oh.
Ugh.
Casey was here too.
Just great.
The vigilante wasn’t really doing anything at the moment to tick him off- Wait, no. Casey was using Donnie’s mug. Yeah, that ticked him off.
“Really, Donnie. I think you should get some rest. The retro-mutagen can wait.”
As much as he liked April’s gentle touch on his arm trying to lead him out of the kitchen, Donnie had only planned on a short break.
“Science waits for no one! I have to get back and- an- ah choo!”
Complying with disease and virus control recommendations, Donnie raised an elbow and sneezed into it.
A thunk was heard from behind and Donnie turned to see Casey put down the (his) mug.
Amazing. He left a smear of face paint on it that Donnie was going to have to wash off later.
“Dude… was that your sneeze?”
Donnie looked from left to right. April shrugged and so he looked the boy dead in the eyes.
“Um. yes? ”
Casey’s mouth opened, first in shock, then in absolute hysteria.
“AHAHAHAH! OH MY GOD!! YOU SOUND LIKE- LIKE A KITTEN!”
He slapped his palm against his forehead and continued to crack up. His head was tilted back and his mouth was wide open in full laughter.
There was nothing attractive in that many missing teeth.
Gross.
Donnie rolled his eyes, tiredly leaning against the counter again.
“Oh hoh- big, bad, stickmaster Donatello has an adorable tiny sneeze! That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all week!”
Casey barely squeezed the words out in between his breaths.
“Please, it’s not that funny.”
April crossed her arms and popped a hip to the side with a smirk.
“Well, it was kinda funny. Adorable lil kitten sneeze.”
“Raph and Leo make fun of your sneeze all the time behind your back!”
Mikey chimed in and Donnie punched him in the arm.
“Enough, guys. It’s really not tha- a- ah choo.”
He sneezed into his elbow again, it finally registering how high pitched the sound was.
Casey absolutely lost it.
He gripped onto the table for support with one hand and wrapped his other arm around his stomach, unable to even look up long enough for Donnie to give him a proper glare.
His entire body wracked with full laughter, stomping his heel into the ground.
Donnie just rolled his eyes a final time, grabbed his coffee, and left the kitchen.
Trudging back to his lab, he could still hear Casey’s laughter, now wheezy and scratchy from running out of breath.
He muttered to himself under his breath once he was out of earshot of everybody.
“Stupid Casey…”
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽☾ ”Time does not change us, it only unfolds us” -Max Frisch ☽☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
Casey jumped the turnstiles quieter and more carefully than he usually did. It was more of a climb than a jump, actually. Casey always did the sickest turnstile jumps whenever he entered the lair.
His bag swung around a bit, but he steadied it gently with a hand.
Quiet. Careful. Gentle.
Those were not word’s that normally went in the same sentence as “Casey”.
That was the first warning flag in Raph’s mind. He put down the slice of pizza halfway to his mouth.
“Casey? What are you doing here? It’s like- midnight, man.”
Casey startled in surprise, whirling around to face Raph. His bag almost crashed into the metal turnstile behind him, but he grabbed it in the nick of time.
“Wh- what are you doin’ here?!”
A second warning flag went up.
“I… Live here?”
“Oh- right right right…”
The two stood in uncomfortable silence, more and more flags going up as Raph looked his friend over.
For one thing, his posture was curled inwards, almost nervous. Very un-Casey Jones.
The hoodie he wore looked new and was several sizes way too big on him. Like, more than usual. It even had a NASA logo on it. Raph bet Casey didn’t even know what ‘NASA’ stood for.
And his hair was washed.
Raph sighed, pinching between his eyes. All he wanted was a midnight pizza while his brothers were asleep to make up for all the stress earlier that day. Was that really too much to ask for?
“Why’re ya here, man? It’s the freezing middle of winter and the dead of night.”
“Alright, alright. You got me. I heard Donnie wasn’t feeling too good so I thought I’d stop by.”
Casey held his hands up in mock surrender. Apparently the heart attack from getting caught was wearing off because his cocky attitude was starting to creep back.
Raph let out a bigger sigh, fresh memories of the day resurfacing in his mind. Damn , he needed that pizza.
“Listen dude, Donnie’s really not feeling good. I don’t think he’s the mood for whatev-”
“What? No! I’m not gonna make fun of him for being sick! What kinda guy do you think I am?”
Uh… A guy that takes cheap shots at his rival whenever possible? Raph thought in his mind. Because that was exactly the kind of guy Casey Jones was.
“I made him soup!”
He what.
True to his word, Casey walked over to the kitchen table, plopped down his bag, and pulled out a tupperware full of soup.
Raph’s jaw dropped slightly at the sight.
“Hold on. Lemme get this straight. You- you, ‘mister I-burned-a-pop-tart-please-come-help-me’ actually cooked something? Is it edible?”
He took the plastic container. It was still warm and the smell coming off it was delicious.
“Hey! That was years ago! And I thought we all agreed there was something wrong with that toaster! I can follow a simple recipe…”
Raph raised a brow.
“ And… my sister helped… a little… ”
Maybe Raph should’ve questioned further. Like, ‘ why in the middle of the night? What’s up with the mega hoodie? Why are you sneaking around?’
But truth be told, his pizza was getting cold.
“Whatever. He’s supposed to be in his room sleeping. But, yaknow, Donnie.”
He handed back the soup, mentally calling dibs on any leftovers.
“Right, lab . Thanks bro!”
Soup under an arm, Casey made a beeline for Donnie’s lab, fully ignoring the many vibrant yellow DO NOT DISTURB signs.
Raph watched his friend go, wondering why Casey had a grin on his face when he was going to be seeing a sick man.
But those thoughts dissipated the moment he took that perfect first bite of lukewarm day-old microwaved pizza.