A/N: Just a short little blurb that popped into my head. And a nice break from those long stories I've been working on!
Disclaimer: I do not own the TMNT, not now and if things continue the way they have been going, I'd say that not ever is a rather likely scenario. I make no money from this and I mean no harm. Please do not sue!
"Don, are you done with this?" Leonardo asked as he gestured toward a couple of the items that surrounded the chair Donatello was working in. He had not seen his brother use them in some time, and given that Don was helping him out by doing this, it only seemed fair that he offer to clean up the mess a bit.
"I think so." Donatello responded absently as he continued his work.
Having received that response, Leo started to tidy up the mess and put the items in question away. He was rather surprised at his brother's strong reaction to this.
"NO!" Don shouted as he rounded on his brother and whipped the items back out of Leo's hands and returned them to their places on the floor and desk around him.
"Whoa! Don, what's up? You said you were done with them." Leo responded defensively.
"I did not. I said I think I'm done with them. There's a big difference."
"Doesn't sound like one." Leo countered with one eye ridge raised at his brother and his arms crossed over his chest.
"It is. You never tempt the gods."
Leonardo blinked. "What gods?" He asked. Last time he checked, Don had not been a big believer in multiple deities.
"Dude, don't you know better than to mess with Donnie's tools before he's done, Leo?" Mikey asked from the doorway behind his blue-masked brother. There was a bowl of popcorn in his hands. "He does this all the time, going on about the gods."
"Guys, you just never tempt the gods. That's all there is to it. Leave the tools alone, Leo. I'll take care of it when I'm done." Don said as he continued his work.
Leo was not exactly the most curious of turtles, but even he had his moments, and this was one of them.
"What do you mean, 'tempt the gods', Donnie?" He asked. When Don didn't say anything for a moment, Leo was about to tap his brother's shoulder to get his attention.
"Well, there are a several of ways to tempt the gods." Don finally replied. "The first is by putting away tools before you are absolutely sure that the job is done."
"There are other ways?" Mikey asked, now intrigued by the conversation. He walked into the room with his bowl of popcorn.
"Oh yeah." came Don's emphatic response. "Getting cocky is a big one; thinking that you know for sure what is wrong, that sort of thing. Forgetting a wrist strap around ESD sensitive equipment. Neglecting to have everything at a common ground." He glanced over his shoulder at where he could feel Mikey breathing behind him. It did not appear that Mikey had understood all of what he had just said, but if the orange-masked turtle failed to get the next one they were going to have a problem. "Having food close enough that it could spill on your work." He added pointedly with a strong look at his brother.
Mikey grinned sheepishly and, knowing that look, decided it would be wise to back away. Leo, however was still confused.
"But, Don?" He asked. "How is that 'temping the gods'?"
Donatello actually turned completely away from his work to face Leo and Mikey while he answer that one.
"Because, Leo. Any one of those things can come back and bite you in the shell. And the gods like to see you get bitten." Donatello once again turned away from his brothers and returned to his work. "They have a sense of humor like that."
Leo still did not understand and he and Mikey shared a confused shrug. Donatello could almost feel his brothers' confusion.
"Just leave the tools, Leo. I'll take care of it."
"I was only trying to help." The blue-masked turtle insisted.
"I know." Don responded, still looking at the object he was working on, rather than his brothers. "It's just that if you take the tools then the hardware gods will decide that it would be funny if I needed those tools. They're not good at resisting that sort of temptation."
Mikey and Leo shared another strange look before deciding to just let Don have his little quirk. Their lives would be much easier that way.