Chapter Text
Leo’s got a new friend.
And if you were wondering, yes. He’s just as stupid as Leo is.
Dumb, impulsive, loud. It pissed Donnie off to the very max.
Donnie’s not really one to hate a friend of his family’s, but something about this guy just really boiled his blood. And he can’t explain why.
He hated it when he couldn't calculate or get reasonable answers to things. Emotions, mystic powers, seems like Donnie could never get a grip. And, hey! He didn’t mind it when this guy was his waiter, where conversations weren’t that necessary beyond the usual, “I’m your waiter! You ask me for things!” But now, it was nearly unbearable.
And since this guy was his waiter a couple of times, especially when Donnie went to Run of the Mill on his own, the turtle usually gave a nice tip for the troubles of his specific orders. The waiter never got it wrong, and somehow even managed to memorise it all, even when there was a specific one on certain days. Pepperoni pizza and mango milkshake on Thursdays and Mondays, cheese pizza and coke any other day. Just fries and water every two weeks, for his and Leo’s ‘Twin Bonding Day’.
Of course, Leo had to open his big mouth and invite the waiter to hang out. And again, the week after. They exchanged numbers. And there they all were, two weeks later and they hang out nearly every day.
But for some reason, the bunny always avoided Donnie. Perhaps it was Usagi’s behaviour or shyness outside of his customer service at the restaurant. Not that it ever rubbed Donnie the wrong way; he couldn’t give two shits, honestly. It was just odd for someone to avoid their best friend’s brother, let alone his twin. Donnie was starting to think Leo’s brainwashing him to go against science and facts, and actually agreed they might be twins despite their obvious differences.
“Hey, team! I know we all know this guy right here,” Leo shook Usagi by the shoulders, the two facing the dining table. “But this is a new friend of mine, and I was wondering if he could have dinner with us?”
The slider looked at Mikey with a hopeful look, the little brother never failing to make the room brighter with his smile. “Of course! I actually made more than I should’ve, so this works perfectly!”
“I’m Usagi Yuichi! Nice to meet you all!” Usagi bowed, smiling wide.
“...Doesn’t Usagi mean ‘rabbit’?” Donnie blurted, earning a solid punch to his shoulder from April “Uh, ow!? It was just a question!”
“A rude one!” April scolded, before turning back, “Sorry for my brother, he’s pretty blunt.”
“Oh! I’ve gotten to know Donnie, it’s no biggie. And yeah, it actually does mean ‘rabbit’!”
“Gotten to know Donnie”? Are you serious? Usagi didn’t know squat, all he knew were Donnie’s food preferences. Psh. Usagi knowing Donnie? He wasn’t even close to scratching the surface.
–
It had been nearly two months since the ‘Blueberry’ duo had become best friends. (A great name, is it not? Donnie thinks so.) Leo and Usagi had been running around for hours now, Donnie unable to do absolutely anything during their shenanigans, as per usual. “Could you two…not?” Donnie grumbled, looking at the two. “I’m trying to win a Twitter argument, and you two being idiots is infecting me.”
“You’re doing what? I thought we told you you’re not allowed to fight people online,” Leo let out a chuckle, making his way to Donnie. Usagi seemed reluctant, but the softshell didn’t notice, nor care. What he did notice was the slight thumping noise behind the couch. What was that? Was he intimidated? Good, if he was.
He needed to be able to fend anyone off and protect his family as well. If someone like Usagi felt nervous to be around Donnie, that means he’d done well to potentially scare off any threats.
…
Why was Usagi scared again?
It wasn’t like Donnie did anything in particular. The only reason why this behaviour would be an outcome is from his tone, but that shouldn’t invoke this type of fear. What was it? Could it be instincts? Some sort of… what does Mikey call it, the “vibe” he gave off? Fuck, Donnie was stumped once again. He couldn’t figure out his weird dislike of Usagi, and now the bunny himself was just confusing Donnie with the posture and the shake in his voice. Was he possibly looking for approval? Or some sort of reassurance that he was close enough to be associated with his family?
…He must have romantic feelings for Leo.
That explained it! Donnie must’ve been feeling some sort of protectiveness over his brother, and Usagi’s nervous to make the wrong move and upset his family. Now that Donnie had an idea of what this all meant, he could proceed with a plan.
“Donnieee? Dontron. Donathan. Dan the Machine Man!”
“Stop with the names.”
“You spaced out for like… three minutes. Are you good?” Leo let out a huff and crossed his arms. “Is someone on your mind?”
“Yeah, someone very specific.” Donnie sighed, getting up to go to his lab, turning around and giving Usagi a glare. The rabbit’s ears lifted straight up. This is good; he knows that Donnie knows. “I will be in my lab. Don’t bother me unless you’ve consumed sustenance that had no label in the first place. Or if you’re on fire.” Donnie looked at Usagi one more time, before pointing two of his fingers to his own eyes, then toward Usagi.
“I’m watching you, rabbit.”
–
As time went on, Usagi generally avoided Donnie, allowing them to have extremely awkward and tense small talk in the kitchen, or when they were left alone together. Although, it seemed Leo would send Usagi his way if the slider needed something.
“Donnie…?”
“What can I do for you, Usagi?”
There was a pause, and Donnie could hear the slight shuffling of the rabbit’s hands. He was hesitating, seemingly reluctant to step any further into the lab. “I asked, what can I do for you, Usagi?”
“I’m trying to remember what Leo asked me to get from you.”
Okay, that was a little funny. Donnie let out a huff of amusement, and continued sketching a new idea for a gadget. “Well, you let me know once you remember.”
Usagi nodded, even though Donnie wasn’t looking at him. He finally mustered up the courage to step forward, before stopping at Donnie’s right, fidgeting with his hands. “What’s that for..?”
“It’s for Shelldon. The bot is good with orders but seems to forget to keep up with his own charging periods. The purpose of this device is to, quote-unquote, ‘command’ Shelldon to clean his systems, clear data, etcetera etcetera. Those types of self-reminder things. He’s still settling into his new form, so he's walking around more than flying.”
“That’s… interesting.”
The softshell paused. It was? His brothers typically ignored him or gave him a look of confusion. Leo usually calls him a nerd or a geek. This was new. Donnie couldn’t tell the tone of Usagi’s voice, so he turned his chair around to fully look at Usagi, the rabbit smiling down at him.
“I’m being honest, really! I don’t think I could figure out long division if I wanted to.” Usagi awkwardly chuckled, trying to fill the silence as Donnie observed him.
This was definitely something new. Usagi had been able to reassure Donnie he wasn’t being sarcastic while maintaining eye contact. During the small ramble, Donnie was able to get a good examination of the bunny, he realised Usagi was pretty short. The softshell opened his drawer, and grabbed a measuring tape. He pulled at the metal tab, locking the dispenser to hold instead of retracting the line immediately. Holding it against Usagi, the rabbit landed at 4’7” without his ears and 5’1” with.
“You’re very short for a 16-year-old. You know that, right?”
“Sorry. A diet of carrots gives me good vision, not additional height.”
“...Do you actually have a diet of carrots?”
“No, I actually shouldn’t be eating huge amounts of carrots. But, I suppose not being an actual tiny rabbit means I can eat as many carrots as I want.. I won’t though, because I’ll get sick.”
“Huh. You’re… an interesting one.” Donnie squinted. “Do you shed?”
“During seasons, yeah. I actually have a thicker coat in the winter, and I shed it off during spring and autumn. I have some brown fur, actually. You just can’t see it because I haven’t fully finished my shedding cycle.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes, sir.”
Donnie nodded slowly, taking in this new information. He was curious, and glad Usagi answered with no suspicions.
“I’ve heard rabbits thump their legs, do you do that?”
“Yeah! But I’m not aware of it. I only ever realise I’m doing it when someone points it out.”
“Is it a sign of something? Like happiness or excitement?”
“The opposite, actually. It's when I feel threatened or annoyed.”
Shit, well. If Donnie ever heard the thumping, he supposed he’d look around to make sure there wasn’t, like, a bomb somewhere. For some reason, he’s actually enjoying this moment with Usagi. He looked at the rabbit's foot for a good 30 seconds before Usagi spoke up.
“I’m not going to thump my foot.”
“I didn't want you to. It’d be loud.”
“I know, but you staring at my foot kind of made me think you were waiting for it.”
“I’m making sure I wasn’t threatening you.”
“Why would you be?”
“Because I’m asking you an absurd amount of questions. Personal ones, too.”
“It’s not personal. You could literally search for all these questions if you wanted to. I actually like when people ask me questions. I like talking to you, you talk funny.”
“...Excuse me?”
“Wait, no! I meant it in a good way. Positive. Your voice is pitched nicely; it’s not too high to overwhelm me, but it’s not too low where I’m tired of hearing it. You talk very…” Usagi made a circle gesture with his hand as he thought, to which Donnie’s eyebrow quirked up. “Poetically.”
“Poetically?”
“Poetically.”
Donnie froze, staring straight into Usagi’s eyes.
He… never thought of it that way. This was new. Different. And for the first time, he actually liked it.
“Well… I like your voice too. Not for any pitch reasons, but because you don’t sound like Leo.”
Usagi then let out a laugh, and something in the left side of Donnie’s chest fluttered. Must be from the positive response he got from the joke. He doesn’t get those too often. Usagi smiled, before sighing. “Well, I got what I came here for.”
“What do you mean? Leo asked you for something, did he not?”
“Yeah, he did. He asked me to spend more than two minutes talking to you. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s been twenty.”
Holy shit, has it? Donnie whipped his head to his monitor, and to his surprise, it had been twenty minutes. He then looked at Usagi, as if the bunny had just solved all of Donnie’s mathematical problems.
“Well, I should get going now. We should do this more.”
“If you stop running away every time I enter a room.”
“I’m really sorry for that. I’m not sure why I do it.” Usagi ducked his head. The softshell just nodded in forgiveness, watching the other take his leave.
Donnie couldn’t help but notice how Usagi’s ears were tied to a bun, and the small brown patches littering his hands. He couldn’t help but notice that Usagi’s fur was floating around the air. He couldn’t help but realise he was thinking of the rabbit’s smile or the way he laughed.
Donnie noticed how he was excited for the next time they talked.
He should do some research if Usagi was romantically interested in his brother, in case he needed to use it when something goes wrong. No other reason.