Burnout

Mockery

It was strange to think about how my brothers treated me, infantilizing me for a few laughs. Why did I feel so angry about it? They were like this all the time with one another and they seemed to never tire of it, there was always an air of amusement among them while they teased and taunted one another. Why was I the only one who was overly sensitive about it? It was late, I'd just woken up after sleeping to try to shake off that sickened feeling to realize I was the only one awake. Everyone else was sleeping since there was no mission tonight, they all had normal sleep schedules except for me. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a slice of pizza, wasting no time in eating it as quickly as possible while making my way into my lab. As I passed by a reflective surface, I noticed something odd about my appearance. I leaned forward to notice that fake glasses had been drawn on my face, as well as a few words along various parts of my shell and face such as "nerd" and "baby Donnie". I attempted to wash it off, but there was barely a difference. They must've used permanent marker. At least the fake nose they drew on to support the fake glasses didn't look ridiculously ugly. I grimaced at it, then noticed they'd drawn on my teeth too. Really? My teeth? 

They drew on it to make my tooth gap look even wider, which was just mean at this point, plus dangerous. Didn't they know that ink from any sort of marker is harmful unless specifically stated as nontoxic? I could scrub everything else off with rubbing alcohol and baby wipes combined with a bath, but I couldn't put any of those chemicals in my mouth. I quickly went to my computer and searched up my query, then let out a relieved chuckle as it said that most white toothpastes could remove it. I didn't have time to worry about my appearance since I needed to do something productive since I hadn't done it in the day, so I just pulled out a labcoat, some gloves, and a welding mask. I supposed I'd be making something a bit more high tech since I needed a ridiculous amount of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE for short), so that narrowed the choices I'd need to make. I suited up and looked at a damaged machine. I'd already written clear instructions on what to do, so it was relatively easy to repair it. Once it was fixed, I walked back into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. April was standing in the kitchen and looked like she'd been waiting for someone. Wait, April?! What was she doing here? It was late!

"O-oh! Hey, April! What's goin' on?" I leaned against a counter. She screamed before sighing. 

"Oh, it's just you, Donnie. I didn't recognize you in that ridiculous getup!" She laughed. I laughed along, but I wasn't smiling. I didn't have to with the welding mask. 

"Yeah, I was just welding something a bit ago. I'm just here for some water." I got my water quickly. "So, why are you here right now? It's really late, shouldn't you be asleep at home or something?"

"Well... I wanted to talk to someone about something important." Gosh, her eyes were dreamy. My heart was fluttering like crazy, I felt so stupid around her, which wasn't exactly a bad thing. At least I didn't have to think so much when we were together.

"Oh, really? What about?" I sounded somewhat dazed, I was making a fool out of myself. I cleared my throat. 

"I just needed to talk about my training with Splinter."

"Ah, makes sense. Well, just get me if you need me! I could show you some chemicals I picked up recently!"

"No thanks, I wouldn't want you dropping them on me or something." She smiled and went to Master Splinter. That hurt, but her smile made things somewhat better. I let out a breath and sagged over a bit, leaning ever so slightly into my daydreams. I heard slow clapping behind me and turned around. 

"Way to go, little bro, you definitely got her to fall for you this time!" Raph was standing right there. "How'd you like the makeover, by the way? Mikey and Leo thought you looks fabulous! Definitely boyfriend material!" If he had ears, he'd be grinning from one to the other.