The Words That Hurt Me

40 Brother Talks: Donny

The differences between Tello's family from these other turtles were quite intriguing.

First and foremost, these turtles were Mystic Magic free. Not magic-free, as Tello's sensitive equipment had detected the electrical disturbances he's come to associate with magic use, albeit their 'magic' was much duller. It was more akin to the average citizens of the Under City, but Leo would usually have a spike when he meditated.

Fascinating!

They were all also the same species of turtle. That's a difference in origin, however, as they were originally meant to be pets and their mutation was an accident. Sorry, 'a fun surprise' as Mike would say. Seriously, why did he have to sugarcoat it? It happened almost two decades ago!

Which leads to the next difference: the brotherly dynamics. Leo was the oldest, not Raph. He was also the leader from the beginning, not just randomly chosen out of the blue (pun NOT intended, like shell he would give Leon that satisfaction). Leo was a competent leader who easily took control of a situation and guided his brothers and Casey with experienced speed and expertise. Well-disciplined and stoic, he was nothing like the Leon he knew.

Tello was still deciding if that was a good thing or not.

Their Raph was an incredibly reckless, mean, and sensitive person. It was almost funny, how easy it was to work him up (Raphie told him to stop starting fights >:-|). He begrudgingly followed Leo's order, like Raphie, but his decision was likely made from experience, probably the opposite of Raphie's experience. 

Tello didn't have much of an impression of Mikey, as he spent most of his time with his unfortunately mutated friend, Goody Burr. He was also avoiding his brothers, which didn't help. Tello could say for certain that he was picking up sign language fast!

It would be easier to list the similarities between himself and Donny than to try and explain their differences. They were both the smart ones, a tad bit reserved, lacked the emotional knowledge to have a competent conversion, and they both had terrible taste in men.

Perhaps it was the inherent stupidity of these 'bad boy' types, or maybe the danger that comes with someone who would drink Nyquil and Dayquil at the same time just to see what would happen. Their Casey actually did that, all the while Donny was fondly telling him how stupid he was. From what he could tell, they were still in the annoying 'we both clearly like each other, but still aren't sure if it's mutual, so we're just going to keep dancing around it and waste everyone's time' phase of the relationship, which is infuriating to listen to while he was trying to work.

And no, it was NOT because he was jealous!

He could hear the clanking in his lab, meaning Donny is in there, perhaps stress working like he has been known to do. Another similarity to put on the list. 

Stepping into the space, he spied Donny swirling some chemicals in a beaker, watching as it went from blue to dark orange. He hummed and took some notes, before swishing the liquid into another beaker. This time it went from red to blue. Huh.

While Tello would have loved to get to work, especially with the new inspiration the time limit gave him, but alas, he had something to get over with first. 

Tello stepped up to the desk and crossed his arms. Donny glanced up at him, before looking away and trying to ignore him. Tello tapped his foot.

"We need to talk," Tello said. Donny didn't look at him.

"Do we?" He asked, grabbing another beaker, "I mean, we only have so much time to make this retro-mutagen and-"

Tello's mechanical arms descended on him, setting aside the beakers, removing his goggles, and turning his chair toward Tello. Having asserted his dominance, Tello pulled up a chair of his own.