thepurpleone | Cyberformed [] Inbox

(OOC: Started here!)

"You mean brutally threatened," Donnie corrects from behind a welding mask before he finally ceases whatever he's doing. He inspects his work with a critical eye before shutting the panel and turning to face Mikey.

His brother is given an equally appraising look as he removes his equipment and sets things down. The glasses really don't go with anything at all. The wraps are the same as Leo, looks like they've all gone for a more unified scheme. He can't help but look down at his own equipment, much unchanged, everything still purple from battle shell to arm and kneepads. The most obvious difference is the pair of what look like evening gloves covering his fingers and going up to his elbows. Closer inspection reveals that they seem to reflect strange depths, like a window into space, looking at swirling galaxies and glimmering, distant stars.

Donnie sighs, moving to pull over his rolling chair before pausing. "...are you going to insist on standing?"

Mikey chooses to ignore the first snip. He scans the room before finding the most pointer-pole-stick looking thing he can find to help himself look and feel more "professional". The more he can appear in character, the better, this was important.

He's noticed the change in attire. The purple accents that were far more common when they were younger. They would talk about that, later. Baby steps.

"Who is the doctor here?" Mike asks, tapping Donnie's head with the stick and clearing his throat. "Now, unfortunately I was not able to create a slide show or any visual medium to accompany me for this Jam, so you will have to make due with my sultry voice."

He pauses a moment, both to assess Donnie and search for any signs of fleeing and for dramatic affect.

"First of all, while movie night was as fantastic as always, I couldn't help but notice something was a little off." He folds his hand behind his back and paces a little as he speaks before pausing to lean in close to his brother. "Does there happen to be something that you're keeping from me, dearest brother of mine?" He doesn't move his gaze, Donnie never was a great liar.

"Are we talking like, professionally and proven by degree or...?"

Sighing, Donnie sinks into the chair, letting it roll back. He brings one leg over the other as he leans back, brow arching, silently thankful for the lack of power point presentations. No, no running. He was more in 'let's get this over with' posture than the 'I'm going to sprint first chance I get' position.

Whatever he'd been expecting Mikey to open with, that hadn't been it. Donnie blinks, brows lifting before he frowns, glancing away.

"Not sure what you mean," he says evasively.

Edited 2023-10-11 23:35 (UTC)

Mikey leaned in a tad bit more, his eyes narrowing. Donnie may not be running, but he wasn't going without a fight. Mikey didn't want to admit to the pang he felt, knowing there really was something Donnie was hiding from him.

He stepped back and crossed his arms, looking over Donnie once more. Best to start small.

"Your gloves. Those are new. And you've gone back to purple." Clear, observational facts, no denying that one.

Donnie isn't even sure what he's trying to hide. Maybe it's not so much hiding as it is unwillingness to acknowledge truths.

His eyes slide back towards Mikey as his little (?) brother eyed him, and he slowly pulls himself to sit up straighter. Mention of his 'gloves' has him look down at his hands, mention of his current trappings making his brow tick down a degree.

"...I never went back," he says, a slight edge slipping into his tone, which he looks instantly regretful for. "And these, they're...not really gloves." His head still angled downward, he however glances back at Mikey before holding one of his hands out to him for inspection. As easily as his fingers and arm move, the black coating is rather stiff, like one were gripping stone. Which... it is, oddly enough.

The words hit in a way Mikey can't quite make sense of.

"What do you mean?" he asks quietly, the mood a little dampened by Donnie's snippishness. They aren't playing around.

He looks down as the arm is extended to him and reaches out to touch it, only to pull away as soon as his hands touch the strange material. "What is it? Does it hurt?" He knew something was off at the movie night, but everything had a logical explanation, had an easy reason. But now, things were starting to fall apart, to crack. Mikey rubs at his arms nervously.

The sudden shift in Mikey's questioning is almost painful. The last thing he wants is to be treated like he's made of glass.

Donnie keeps his hand out even when Mikey retracts from it, fingers flexing before curling into a fist as he draws it back towards him. "Some kind of magic stone substance? I'm...not really sure. But no, it doesn't hurt. It's just...part of my skin now."

He lets his arms drop across his lap then as he works out his words.

"...Michael, how old are you?"

Looking back up, Mikey has so many questions. Mainly how Donnie got the new strange layer. But before he can, the arm is back in Donnie's lap and he asks a question that shatters what's left of Mikey's carefully crafted reality.

Donnie knows how old he is. There is no reason why he wouldn't know. He has to know.

Mike's face crumples and he takes a step back.

"You know." he says, because for once, he wants Donnie to be able to lie.

That's an expression Donnie has absolutely no idea what to do with, and paired with those two words, it twists something in his gut. But why? It's not like Leo hasn't already been from the future, even more so now. And Raph had always been older so h-hey, what's a few extra inches and injuries? But Mikey...

Donnie pulls his feet up onto the edge of his chair, hugging his knees. What's he supposed to say to that? They're both skirting the answers like saying it outright will make it true, even though they probably both know it very well is by now. His words are muffled as he speaks against his kneepads.

"...not thirteen, right?"

Finally, Mikey sits down. His fingers tangle nervously together, tactile in some sort of distorted rhythm. He can't stand to look at Donnie, too much truth staring back at him, but he can't seem to look away for too long, instead he keeps him in the corner of his eye.

He doesn't want to answer.

"15. I'm 15. Almost 16..." he says, shaking his head.

Almost sixteen- that startles Donnie enough to look up again, over his knees and down where his brother is sitting.

"That's...great. Okay. It's fine. Everything's cool, Donnie, just play it cool," he starts to mutter as he tries convincing himself to not panic about being temporally left behind. He gets off his seat to pace, finding the sudden need for an outlet of anxious energy.

"It's just a thing that happens, the space bridge reaches beyond dimensions and worlds and time so of course this was bound to be a possibility what with everything else so there is absolutely no reason I should be freaking out about this- who's freaking out about it? Certainly not me, oh no..."

This wasn't good. Donnie was starting to panic and Mikey was all too familiar with the process at this point. He had to help but he was taking a moment to handle and process his own shock.

In a way, he had known what the space bridge could do, what it did do, it had been explained to him when he arrived, but he had never really connected... never considered the implications... the possibilities. His brothers were here, all of them, with him! That's all he ever wanted, especially after nearly loosing each of them only months ago.

And that's what was important wasn't it? It didn't matter where, or when, Donnie came from, he was here, and he was alive and he was still so very much Donnie, just how Mikey remembered, just... not the age Mikey left him.

It shouldn't matter, so why did it sit like a rock in his gut?

"What... where... I..." he started, trying again and again to parse out his own words. Finally he looked up at Donnie with shining eyes. "How old are you?"

His shoulders hunch up as he ceases his pacing, but he's also turned back around so he can clearly see Mikey's face and those threatening tears.

"I'm..." Is he even still? It's been months almost an entire year that he'd been in this universe, but thankfully not nearly as long that he'd been without any of his brothers. That had only been something over a month and he'd still been plenty distracted by everything to really let himself dwell on the fact that they weren't all together. It wasn't something so easily forgotten, of course, always hanging there over his shoulders, a strange, unfillable void where their oldest and youngest brothers had remained absent.

"...fourteen," he finally quietly supplies. "-more like fifteen by now, I'm sure." He's been here long enough for it, right?

15.. at most. Mikey was older then him and that truth more than any other hit him like a kraang tentacle to the gut. There was something so off-putting, so disconnecting by the idea that it set his whole reality on edge. Mikey was supposed to be the youngest, the baby, Donnie couldn't be younger, that just wasn't how anything worked.

He didn't know where to go from here so he asked what seemed the next logical question, as loaded as it was.

"Is anything the same?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

His own question comes entirely too fast, almost an accusation to a suggestion that maybe they're not even from a similar timeline. That's probably his ol' Donnie noggin overthinking things again, but now the thought's planted in his head and it is absolutely horrifying to think that maybe these aren't even-

No no, not going there, NOT going there.

He's thrown his hands over his face at that point, as though he can physically keep his thoughts on track.

"So far as I know, up to where I'm from..." Deep breath.

"When Leo first arrived...he already had replaced his ōdachi. He said we had to fight the Shredder, again." In other words, Donnie hadn't even gone the second round with a non-berserker Shredder.

"And then he came back again and...he was from even farther ahead and wasn't telling me a whole lot of things...but eventually he told me some of it. That there was an alien invasion and it was bad enough that someone came back in time to try to prevent it from happening in the first place. That it was kind of his fault..." Donnie shakes his head. "He didn't tell me everything but...I wasn't sure I wanted to know. It was a lot to process. It's still a lot to process."

Maybe it wasn't as bad as he thought. He was doing his best to take as many positives as he could from this situation. It was impossible to tell exactly how similar their timelines were unless they went over in excruciating detail. Which Mikey might do. Later. But for now, he was happy with close enough.

And Leo... he was so similar Mikey hasn't even considered cornering him for a feelings jam, only Donnie has seemed off. And now Mikey knew why. Leo was from the same time, or enough of a proximity to barely tell the difference.

"The Kraang," Mikey said softly, finally taking off the fake glasses that had been threatening to fall off his face the whole conversation. "Leo he..." he's never said it out loud. He's never had to, everyone already knew. Maybe he doesn't need to now. But he wants to, wants someone to hear the thing no one wanted to talk about.

"He sacrificed himself. He was trapped in that place and if I didn't... if we didn't bring him back." He scrubbed at his eyes, letting out a little sob.

That's a punch he never would have expected.

"Wha...?"

Donnie looks stunned. As though things hadn't been difficult enough to wrap his head around, hearing from Mikey that they potentially could have lost Leo is just too much.

His legs fold beneath him and he's at level with Mikey then, sitting on the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut. But they didn't lose him, he's still here, it's proof and even Mikey's saying as much but it still is terrifying to think that they'd come close to something like that why would Leo do something like that is it because of some responsibility he felt? but then of course he would, wouldn't any of us wait why is everything blurry

Tears stream down his cheeks and Donnie looks confused as to why they're even there. Stupid emotions!

There is so much more to be said but Mikey doesn't think either of them are really up for talking anymore. So instead, Mikey does what he has always done best.

As Donnie collapses in front of him, he scoots a little closer. He knows Donnie doesn't like being touched, but he also knows there are acceptions to the rule and Mikey has been one of them, more often then not. He wraps Donnie in a hug, letting his own tears slide down his face.

"You're still my brother." He said, his voice rough. "I still love you, Donatello."

This hasn't changed, even if Mikey's now somehow the older brother, but he's still Mikey and that's the important thing. And right now, that's all that matters.

Donnie doesn't resist as he feels Mikey pull his arms around him, and although he tenses a little, mostly reflex, mind you, he just as quickly throws his own arms around his brother in turn. It's fine that his brothers know he's not the most tactile person for affection but he's still been more open to it at this age than at sixteen, even if he'd never admit it. And right now? He really needs this.

Mikey's words set the flood gates off, and for a moment he doesn't trust himself to say anything because he refuses to be a complete sobbing mess. But he gives Mikey a squeeze, and once he can manage, he quietly speaks up.

"I missed you so much."

Edited 2023-10-12 05:13 (UTC)

Mikey relaxes a bit as Donnie fits into his arms and only now can Mikey really feel the difference. It was subtle, Subtle enough that Mikey didn't actually notice at first, but he's always been the most touchy of the brothers, he's very aware of size and over two years, he had obviously grown a little.

His breath shudders and he lets himself cry, unashamed and feeling wrung out with it all, but still somehow relieved to finally have an outlet for things he didn't realize were still pent up inside. He pulled Donnie a little closer and to his surprise his brother was the first to speak.

"I'm here now. I'm sorry it took me so long." That is a loaded statement. He says it like he ever had a choice. That being said, if he had been given one, to go or to stay. This Donnie or the one he left behind, what would he have chosen? If he had the choice to go back now, would be? Could he?

Donnie doesn't know how it works. He's not sure if the space bridge has just pulled them from places and caused some kind of fragmented timelines, but then Leo seemed to go back and forth without anything changing, and when he'd first come, he hadn't even known Donnie had vanished earlier on.

Were there timelines where one or the other or all of them were absent? He's not sure he wants to know how any of those would go. Not having a full set of them just seems wrong all across the board. But he also knows that even here, things aren't certain. They could be taken away just as abruptly as they'd been brought to the ship. It could have happened with Leo, and it was only when his brother had come back from a future point that the potential that he could have not come back at all had crossed Donnie's mind. He'd shied away from that thought and refused to think about it ever happening.

But instead of losing brothers, they gained an extra one. And then after that, Raph and Mikey had come. Things would be okay, at least he'd thought it would, but he knew right off the back that things weren't the same, not exactly. He hadn't wanted to say anything at their movie party, he'd just been so glad to see them all in one place, right where they should always be; together.

Donnie shakes his head, not even trying to pull away. Feelings are exhausting. But this is okay. This is a natural state of being, and he can pretend it's all Mikey being his usual clingy self even if he's returning the favor, even if Mikey's arms encircle him so much easier than they usually would but it's okay, it's fine, they're fine, they're both here.

It is very rare that Donnie would let Mikey hold him this long. Mikey, out of anyone, often had the most allowance for this kind of thing, but even on the best of days, Donnie often had a limit. It only made Mikey feel all the softer for it. He never wanted to let go. Banish all thoughts of leaving or staying or what is left behind or kept, this is what he had right now and if he was capable of anything, it was treasuring a moment.

It seems so silly now he had come at this with the stupid glasses and his ridiculous little persona, but maybe it was worth it in the end.

"Hey Donnie," he questioned softly. "Mind if I sleep with you tonight?" Having all four for a snuggle pile snooze fest would have been the most ideal, but for now, just this would do.

He's making up for lost time, that's it. Although Donnie supposes if that were the excuse, they'd be here for days.

He eventually loosens his arms from around Mikey's shell, shifting just slightly enough that he can rub away those things that were definitely not tears from his face. His brother's question coaxes a faint smile from him.

"...not at all," he says. The space he'd originally shared with Leo up on top of the Cybertronian-sized slab that made up a bed had been fine with one brother but several more had quickly proven more than he was willing to have around his workshop/lab. But for tonight, having one Mikey over is perfectly fine.

Mikey lights up as Donnie agrees. He is still a little run down with emotions and he hadn't really expected Donnie to say no. (Though, if he had, Mikey would have been crushed).

"I promise I won't be too clingy!" He says cheerfully. They both know it's a lie but the heart is there. At least he won't take up too much bed space, but that sure isn't the issue here.

"So, does this mean I can call you "little bro" now?" A phrase he absolutely will not use, he wasn't a fan of being called little by Raph and Donnie is still his big brother, no matter what. But c'mon, it is a little funny and he has to get Donnie's reaction at least once.

There, all painlessly settled. Donnie carefully extracts himself from Mikey, reaching up to pat him on the head, a familiar gesture.

All at once his expression sours.

"Oh. No. No, nonononono no, you are not 'little bro'-ing me, I absolutely draw the line at that!"

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orangerazzmatazz - 2023-10-14 04:33 (UTC) - Expand

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Backdated Feelings Session with Dr. Feelings

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