Ever since the situation on the island all those years ago, the Thornberrys have remained close to The Pickles, the Finsters and the DeVilles, often spending time with them when they needed a break from their wild adventures. Donnie would often play with the rest of the younger cast of the 'Rugrats' but it soon became clear he had a strange fascination for Chuckie. He would always steal his clothes and mess with his fiery red hair. Chuckie didn't know why and particularly didn't really like all the teasing, but Tommy had suggested that it was probably him trying to become friends with him. It was no secret that Donny didn't speak very well and not even the babies could understand him. Even so, they still managed to have a good time with him. Phil and Lil, mostly Phil, were fascinated by his wild tendencies as was Tommy, but Chuckie still found him a bit weird.
However as they grew older, Chuckie learned to get use to the way he acted. He wanted to say that they were growing close, but to be honest it was rather unclear. After all, he could never understand what he was saying.
When Chuckie turned eleven (All grown up) and learned that his foreign 'friend' was moving into the neighborhood with Eliza who was now attending college, he realized that he needed to figure out a way to understand him, and maybe even give him a way to communicate. So he brought multiple books on reading body language and on learning sign language. He studied hard, becoming dedicated to finding a way on helping the other out.
Then one day during summer vacation the Thornberrys came over for a visit. Everyone was there except for Darwin and Debbie. They were in a little summer home, one the Pickles, DeVilles and Finsters have pitched in one to use during the summer, so their children and them can spend time together without having to worry about work or school. When they heard the Thornberry's were in town they decided to invite them over, to catch up on old times. Eliza, who had been trying to tutor Donnie in basic subjects such as English, Math, Science and History, expressed the difficult time she was having to her parents. "Mom I don't know what to do. Every time I try to teach Donnie something he never listens." Eliza had expressed to her mother Marianne as they drove the summer house Diane, or 'DiDi' as they liked to call her, gave them directions to.
"I know Eliza, but Donnie just has a different way of understanding things. It isn't as easy as it would seem." Marianne commented.
Nigel snorted. "Yes, Donnie certainly is our own little special snowflake isn't he?" He said with a bright smile on his face. Donnie who was in the back seat with Eliza began to blabber on about something but none of them could really understand.
"I know but he has to at least learn English. It'll be difficult for him when he is older if he doesn't at least learn that. There is also his future at stake here. I suppose he could go on and be nature analyst with me, but what if that isn't what he wants to do? There are so many careers out there and he shouldn't have only one job opportunity to choose from-"
"Okay Okay we get it Eliza. Look, DiDi knows a lot about this stuff doesn't see? We'll talk to her about it when we get there." Eliza sighed and nodded, dropping the subject for now. Over the years she had become much more of a worry wart than she had before. Maybe Darwin was rubbing off on her. She still loved the wild and wanted to get back to it as soon as possible, however she was aware that it would be difficult to become a professional if she didn't at least go to college to study the important things. Her pigtails were gone, joined together to the back of her head in a tight curly ponytail. She had developed into a beautiful young lady as she grew older, no longer having braces and glasses not as big and obnoxious as before.
Donnie continued to squirm and move in his seat. He hated cars with a burning passion and would have gladly ran or walked instead of taking this stupid car. However, it was much faster than walking, and he was excited to see the friends he had made over the past few years. He was excited, for he knew now that he lived closer to them, he would get to see them all more often, especially the red haired boy. He had been intrigued by him ever since he first met him as a small child. Now eleven years of age, he still is interested in the boy. Mostly because of how different he is. The way he speaks is funny, always sounding like one of his family members when they become ill, and he looks much different than everyone else, especially his fiery red hair. It reminds him of his sister's and father's hair, which intrigued him greatly. Plus he has these spots on his face that he finds really cool, no one else he knows has those tiny circles on their faces. Yes, Chuckie was certainly a strange human being to the wild boy, and Donnie being strange himself, knew what he was talking about.
When they arrived out the house Donnie immediately released his pesky seatbelt and opened the door, not even waiting for his mother to come to a complete stop. "Donnie!" Marianne called as her adopted son practically barrel rolled out the car, perfectly if I may add, and ran towards the door. Marianne groaned. "Eliza please go get him as I park."
Eliza smiled slightly and nodded. "Don't be too mad mom, he's just excited. I guess it's been a while since he has seen the babies, well I guess they aren't really babies anymore." Eliza stated as she unbuckled her seatbelt and walked out the car quickly, grabbing Donnie by the back of his shirt before he could barge into the home. "Donnie what about the manners that I taught you? You need to knock first." Eliza said gently to her little brother as her parents went to park the car.
Donnie stuck her tongue out at her sister before spewing gibberish again causing Eliza to sigh. "Like this." Eliza said, demonstrating how to properly knock on a door. She knew that if she let Donnie do it he would have another one of his drum practices. Donnie bounced up and down seeming impatient.
Over the years Donnie had grown into a handsome boy. His wild and unkept brunette hair was now slightly more manageable and reached down to his shoulders. His buck teeth weren't as noticeable any more due to losing his baby teeth, but they could still be seen if one looked closely. He was forced to wear a shirt and shoes for this occasion, much to his dismay. He was dressed in a black t-shirt that seemed slightly too big, hanging off his shoulder slightly and blue denim shorts as well as red converse. Eliza had picked them out for him since it was difficult for her to go shopping with Donnie in public. He always got too excited over the video game section and it would take near hours to get him out of it, let along anything else that was bright and shiny.
When the door opened Donnie wanted to jump through it but Eliza stopped him. There standing before them was Diane 'DiDi' Pickles.
"Hello Mrs. Pickles, it's wonderful to see you again." Eliza said in a kind tone. DiDi seem happy to see her. "Why hello Eliza, you certainly have grown since the last time I saw you! I heard that you are in college now? We must discuss to school that you chose and how your education is doing later." She said in slight excitement. She looked next to the red haired girl and shock. "Is this Donnie? He is so big! Time certainly does fly doesn't it?" DiDi noticed how anxious Donnie was getting and laughed. "The kids should be in the last room down the hall and to the left. Would you like to go see them Donnie?"
Donnie made incoherent noises and ran past DiDi at inhuman speed, somehow getting rid of the shoes on his feet along the way. The two watched him in awe and Eliza gave DiDi an apologetic smile. "I am sorry Mrs. Pickles, he has been excited to see them here since I moved here for college." She said as she rubbed the pack of his head.
DiDi smiled. "Do not worry Eliza, it is completely understandable. Lipschitz says that at the age children often look to form bonds and become closer to individuals other than their family members. I am sure you went through it when you were a child as well Eliza."
'Yeah sure did. Except they weren't exactly human…' Eliza thought to herself but she simply decided to laugh. "I think I can understand."
DiDi nodded and looked around. "Where are your parents?" She asked.
"Oh they went to park the car." Eliza commented. DiDi nodded. "Well come in come in! Where are my manners? You can either relax with the kids or come as you say, 'hang out' with the adults, after all you are one now." DiDi said sweetly. Eliza grinned at this. "Thank you for your kindness Mrs. Pickles. I'll go see how the babie- I mean, kids are doing." She stated, still having a habit of calling them babies even after all this time.
Eliza entered the household and soon Nigel and Marianne entered as well, greeting DiDi and everyone else as they proceeded to talk about silly things such as things going on in their lives and such.
~Meanwhile~
When Donnie entered the room he was directed to, he was greeted with a very pleasing sight.
It was a very nice room, with a couch, TV, and those video game things that he became interested in. From what he could tell, it seemed as if Dil, Phil and Tommy were playing one of said video games while Kimi and Lil seemed to do each other's nails and talk about boys. Angelica and Susie were arguing over something, well, Angelica was arguing while Susie was brushing her off and showing Kimi and Lil something in a magazine that made them laugh. Donnie looked confused for the one person he was looking for, was not here.
He looked around again only to see bright red cross his vision. Oh there he was. He almost didn't see him. He was sitting on the couch going between reading a book and watching his friends play the video game they seemed so interested in, occasionally laughing at something Tommy and Phil said. Instantaneously, he hopped onto the couch in the blink of an eye, grabbing Chuckie's hair, gently enough so it wouldn't hurt too much, but with enough force to knock off his glasses. He made more gibberish noises. Chuckie, being shocked by this interaction screamed, which caused everyone to turn towards him worriedly.
"What the-" Phil yelled ready to punch whatever was making his friend so scared until he noticed what was going on. The room was silent except for Donnie's gibberish sounds as he played with Chuckie's hair innocently and Chuckie's small pleas for assistance.
Angelica was the first to break the silence. "Hey! Only I'm allowed to ruin Finster's day! Now get out of here before I get my mom in here to call the cops!" Angelica yelled but Tommy put up a hand to stop her.
"Is that Donnie?" He said suddenly which caused everyone to look at the stranger for a moment. Donnie grinned and gave some weird noises and a nod in confirmation and the tense atmosphere in the room collapsed.
"Yo Donnie my man!" Phil greeted with a grin as Chuckie's frightened expression turned to one of annoyance. "Donnie!?" He yelled slapping the other's hand away from his hair. "You scared the heck out of me! You need to learn to be more careful!" The red haired boy scolded earning a pout from the wild boy. As an apology Donnie picked up his glasses and put them on Chuckie's face for him, his hands gently brushing his cheek. Chuckie, feeling a tad embarrassed slapped it away again.
Tommy laughed at this. "Hey relax Chuckie, he's just happy to see you, right Donnie?" Tommy asked and Donnie grinned again and made a sound of what sounded like a yes. "See? No harm done."
Chuckie puffed out breath of air. "Yeah I guess…" He muttered to himself.
"If someone told me the wild boy was coming I would have bought some animals to make him more comfortable." Angelica said sarcastically earning an elbow to the ribs by Susie. "What she means to say is, it's good to see you again Donnie." She said in a kind tone making Donnie feel more comfortable.
Donnie stayed really close to Chuckie as he tried to look over his shoulder to see what he was reading. Donnie was able to read a few words, but overall he couldn't understand it. Donnie grew frustrated at this and took the book from Chuckie throwing it against the wall.
"Hey!" Chuckie stated as he turned to the brunette next to him. "Donnie! You just can't throw things! I was reading that!" Donnie made incoherent sounds and moved his hands. "Yeah well just because you can't read doesn't mean that I can't enjoy a book." Chuckie pointed out, earning a tongue being stuck in his face.
"Yo, you can understand him!?" Dil said seeming fascinated.
"Of course he can." Kimi said with a smile.
"What because he's a nerd?" Angelica asked rolling her eyes and earning another elbow from Susie. "Ow!"
"No Angelica." Kimi stated rolling her eyes at her. "It's because he has been studying body language recently, you know, so he can understand Donnie better."
"I have not!" Chuckie yelled at his sister, feeling embarrassed again.
Kimi, not taking the hint, blinked. "Yes you have, when you found out Donnie was moving here you began to read a lot about it remember? I even read some of it, it wasn't as boring as I thought it would be. Though it's not as easy for me to get what Donnie is saying as it is for Chuckie." She said allowed.
"Aw! That's so sweet!" Lil said in a sing song voice. "Is not!" Chuckie yelled. "Oh face it Chuckie. No matter what you say you like having Donnie around!" Lil stated pointing an accusing finger at her friend.
Chuckie gave a huff. "I never said I didn't like him, I just don't like him invading my personal space!" Chuckie shouted trying to shoo Donnie away, but being confirmed that he was liked only made him make a noise of what could be assumed as happiness as he moved even closer, if that was even possible. "Donnie!" the red haired boy yelled again showing off his shiny braces as his mouth opened.
Dil from his spot on the floor quickly paused the game before hopping on the couch next to Donnie. "Chuckie you must be my translator!"
Chuckie seemed confused. "What?"
"Donnie, what was it like being a toddler in the jungle, having to fight off lions and tigers and bears-"
"Dil there are no bears in the jungle…" Lil stated.
"Silence!"
Donnie made some hand movements and spoke quickly in response to Dil's question. Dil watched him in excitement and when he finished he turned to look at Chuckie. "Well? What did he say?"
Chuckie frowned. "Dil, this is ridiculous. I refuse to do this."
Dil whined. "But Chuckie this is my only chance fulfill my ultimate dream of being a wild man! Mom and Dad won't let me do it, but I can live my wild life indirectly through Donnie!"
At this Tommy raised an eyebrow. "Dil, your 'ultimate dream' changed every week." His older brother pointed out causing everyone in the room to laugh. Dil pouted and Phil snorted.
"Come on Dil, we need to finish this game." He stated and Dil returned to his seat. Phil looked at the wild boy on the couch next to Chuckie. "Donnie my man, you wanna get in on this? We need a fourth player to play super fighter mode and Chuckie doesn't like playing video games." He asked laughing when Chuckie stuck his tongue out at Phil.
Donnie had to debate this in his head for a bit. He really wanted to spend time with Chuckie, it was one of the main reasons he was excited to come here, but he was obsessed with video games, especially since Eliza refused to buy one. Something about 'we need enough money for the necessities'. Donnie didn't see what the big deal was, he could go without food for a few days.
Chuckie or video games? Chuckie? Video games? Chuckie? Video games?
. . .
Sorry Chuckie, video games are way more important.
Donnie made a sound in confirmation as he nodded his head, scrambling off the couch to grab the forth controller. Chuckie rolled his eyes a bit. "Thanks traitor." He was joking of course, but the fact that Donnie didn't give any acknowledge meant that he had been heard, or even cared, slightly annoyed the red haired boy. Oh well, he'd get over it. Chuckie got up and grabbed the book Donnie had thrown before, returning to his spot on the couch as he began to read.
Not long after everyone proceeded to get comfortable again, there was a soft knock on the door and Eliza came in. They all greeted her and when introductions were over she sat on the couch next to Chuckie. He seemed to enjoy her company as they talked about little things such as books, school, what Chuckie liked and disliked, how different school was for him, things like that. the two red head's were enjoying their time together. Before either of them knew it Donnie had ran over to them, forcing his way in between the two yelling something and sticking his tongue out at his sister, holding into Chuckie's head again. Eliza was slightly surprised by this notion.
"Donnie stop! You are going to knock off my glasses!" Chuckie whined causing Tommy to laugh, however Phil looked annoyed. "I can't believe Donnie beat us in this game man!"
"The power of the wild man!" Dil said jokingly.
"Shut up Dil." Phil said, though a smile had graced his face.
Tommy stretched up a bit. "I'm thirsty, how about we go get some milkshakes or something?"
"Yeah, now we're talking!" Phil yelled as he quickly stood up.
"I suppose a milkshake with you losers wouldn't be so bad." Angelica commented off hand, earning another elbow from Susie. At this rate she was going to have a bruise on her side.
Everyone began to mobilize to leave the room, including Eliza and Donnie. Well, everyone except for Chuckie. Tommy stopped when he realized his best friend wasn't following. "Aren't you coming Chuckie?" He asked. Chuckie shook his head. "Nah, you guys go ahead, I'll just wait here." He said as he stayed in his spot on the couch. Tommy nodded. "Alright, I'll bring you back a shake. Vanilla with chocolate swirl right?" The other asked just to make sure he remembered the other's favorite. Chuckie smiled and nodded. "Alright we'll see you soon." He said as he began to leave with the others. However when Donnie realized Chuckie was staying, he quickly made his way back over to the couch and sat next to him. It was now Eliza's turn to stop. "Donnie?" She questioned, however Donnie was once again fascinated with Chuckie's hair, causing the red head to complain. Eliza smiled a bit. "I'll bring you back a banana smoothie." She stated as she left with the others.
It was just Chuckie and Donnie in the room now, alone with each other. Donnie took this chance to mess with the other's body a little, grabbing his arms roughly and inspected them as if they were so much more interesting than his own. "Donnie! I don't like to be manhandled!" Donnie made some gibberish sounds. "I am flattered you are so interested in me but you can't just do whatever you want!" Chuckie scolded causing Donnie to pout again before letting go. Chuckie sighed for a moment and got up. "Stay here." He said sternly as he left the room to get something.
Donnie bounced up and down on the couch wondering where the other had gone. He wanted to follow him but he remembered how Eliza had told him it was important to listen to what other people had to say. He supposed if he had to start listening to people he wouldn't mind if it was Chuckie. He would never stop touching his hair though, it was just so messy and fun to pull.
When Chuckie came back Donnie seemed excited until he saw what was in his hands.
Books.
Donnie immediately gave sounds of protests.
"Oh don't give me that Donnie. It's important for you to start learning things that we learn in school. Starting with English and writing, those are very important if you want to go places in life! If you can't communicate than how will anyone understand you?"
Donnie was quiet before he remembered something. He began to speak more gibberish as a smile broke on his face.
"Oh haha very funny. I'll let you know right now you wouldn't be able to afford to have me as your translator because no one would hire you for a job." This caused Donnie to frown again. Hey, it was worth a try.
Chuckie got out a sign language book. "I figured that until you learn how to speak proper English, sign language will do. It may be difficult since not many people take the time to learn sign language these days, but at least more people will be able to understand you than they do now." Chuckie said giving the other a small smile. Donnie stared at him for a moment before grabbing onto his face and squishing his cheeks. "Donnie-" Donnie shouted more gibberish. "I find offense to that! Just because I don't smile often doesn't mean I don't have a soul!" Chuckie yelled pulling the other off of him. "And don't think you are going to distract me that easily! You may not be able to speak English, but I know you can understand it, so you are learning the four main subjects too!" Donnie gave an annoyed groan. "Don't sass me mister! Now let's start with the sign language books, then English, then some Math and Science, and then lastly History!"Chuckie said, actually seeming very happy to teach the other about these subjects.
Donnie gave Chuckie and annoyed look. He didn't come all this way to /learn/. He did it to spend time with his friends, and even more time with Chuckie. They might have been alone together but learning certainly didn't spell out a good time for him. Noticing his change in body language, Chuckie spoke up. "Don't give me that look. I understand you don't want to do this but it's important for your future-"
Donnie snapped at Chuckie as he began to yell words that he couldn't understand, though he could still tell what he was trying to say. "Don't yell at me! And you should care about your future! I am just trying to help you! I care about you, you know. It would be sad if you had to leave again because you couldn't live a proper life!"
It was silent after that. "I… That's not what I meant." Chuckie began but the shit eating grin on Donnie's face wouldn't go away. "Oh don't you look at me like that! It's not like I would miss you or anything…" Chuckie said stubbornly.
Donnie was quiet for once in his life. He simply took the sign language book that Chuckie was talking about and opened it to the first page. He couldn't read what it was saying, so he handed it to Chuckie and pointed to the page eagerly. Chuckie cleared his throat. "Glad you are seeing it my way." The ginger stated, satisfied. "Now you need to learn how to read as well so, follow along with your eyes as I read to you. We'll start you off with simple reading books later but right now this can help you start recognizing different words and the way they sound." Chuckie stated.
Donnie seemed excited by this as he grabbed the ginger and moved him so he was almost in his lap. Chuckie's ears tinted red at this as he snapped his head towards him. "What are you doing!?" He accused the other. Donnie spoke again, moving his body a bit. "Yes well, I suppose it would be easier for you to look at the book over my shoulder if you were behind me…" Chuckie muttered still feeling the embarrassment flowing through him. Donnie grinned at this as the other turned his head back to look at the book. Donnie rested his hands on Chuckie's legs and his head on his shoulder as his eyes scanned the page, listening to Chuckie as he spoke.
Donnie was a really fast learner, he just chose not to learn things. However if Chuckie was teaching him, he didn't really mind.
~few hours later~
"I don't know what to do DiDi. Ever since Eliza bought Donnie to the States he hasn't been adjusting to life as well as I had hoped. He refuses to learn anything. I wouldn't mind taking him back with Nigel and I but we work together for hours, even days at a time, I wouldn't want Donnie getting in to trouble or being alone for that long. Staying with Eliza is the only option and if he is going to do that he needs to adapt. He just refuses to do so." Marianne stressed her frustrations to Diane as the two went into the kitchen to prepare dinner for everyone.
DiDi was quiet in thought before she began to speak. "Well, Lipschitz says that children doing poorly in school, often need something to motivate them." DiDi commented. "Maybe include things that he likes into his learning process?" She suggested.
Marianne nodded. "That is a great idea, but what? I mean he loves nature, maybe teach him outside? Other than that I can't think of anything, and it's not like an animal can teach him." She said with sigh.
DiDi gave the other a sympathetic smile. "Yes It would be easier if animals could just talk to humans now wouldn't it?" They shared a laugh before Marianne sighed again.
Soon the kids came back from their walk and they disappeared back in the room. The two women began to cook before they heard a loud racket going on from the room the kids disappeared to. "What is going on in there?" DiDi muttered wiping her hands.
"We should check on them." Marianne suggested and DiDi nodded in agreement. "It's not like Betty or any of the guys will do it." They shared another laugh and walked towards the room. "Kids, what's going on? Is everything alright?" DiDi asked.
Tommy looked at his mother and then at Mrs. Thornberry. At the sight of her Tommy smiled. "Mom, Mrs. Thornberry, you have to see this!" Tommy exclaimed causing the two older women to drift even further into confusion. Tommy brought them over only to see Donnie making a bunch of hand signals. Marianne was confused as to what was so important about this until she realized he was using sign language. She seemed shocked to say the least. The only sign language Donnie seemed to know beforehand was 'family', as Nigel and herself had learned sign language in order to try to teach their son so they could communicate better. Still, it seemed that Donnie knew much more now. Sure the words he was signing seemed broken and fragmented, but it was something. When Donnie made a mistake, Chuckie quickly corrected him and Donnie fixed his error without a problem. Marianne was amazed.
"Donnie how-" She was at a loss for words.
Donnie grinned and pulled Chuckie's arm mumbling gibberish again. Marianne couldn't understand what he was saying, but it didn't take a genius to figure out what he meant. "Chuckie taught you?" Donnie nodded hard and then stopped, signing 'yes' with his hands instead. If he was going to be learning this stuff he was going to put it to good use.
Marianne looked at Chuckie and gave him a smile. "Thank you so much Chuckie, this will certainly help us understand him better." Chuckie look a bit embarrassed. "It is no problem Mrs. Thornberry. After all, communication is a very important aspect of life." The ginger commented causing Mrs. Thornberry to nod in agreement.
Still, what had motivated Donnie to try and learn… well, anything to be honest. What was his goal?
That's when Mrs. Thornberry had an idea. "Chuckie, I know it's a lot to ask, but would you mind tutoring Donnie on the weekends? I would be happy to pay you for your hard work."
Chuckie did not expect this at all. "I… no, I wouldn't mind."
"What about you Donnie?" Marianne asked.
Donnie spewed words of gibberish, but it was obvious that he seemed excited as he held onto the red head tightly. He then remembered about his sign language and began to furiously sign 'yes' at least 10 times.
"Wonderful. I still need to speak with Chaz and Kira, but other than that I think we have ourselves a deal." Marianne said as a smile spread across her face.
