Chapter Two. Planning, Planning, And More Planning
"Dude, I can't believe you didn't realize what day it was." Teased Mikey as he lay on his shell on the couch, munching a slice of pizza and watching Donatello with only half interest.
Donnie was on the floor, resting his head on his hands, with his elbows propped up on the table. He'd just finished repeatedly smashing his face into the table to see if that made this nightmare go away. "This is bad. So, so bad. How did I get myself into this!?" He fretted, his eyes wide and his face pale.
"Drama turtle." Scoffed Raph who was standing behind the couch, looking down at his lankier brother as well. "What's the big deal, so your little 'date' is on Valentine's Day. I thought you liked her?"
"I do like her! That's the problem Raph!" Snapped Donnie, before he hung his head again. "I'm not ready for this. I don't have anything prepared. This should be like...a third date, or something, something big. And this isn't even really an official date in the first place. Oh man..." He slumped over onto the table, stretching his arms out before him as he laid his cheek on the cool table surface.
"Maybe it won't be so bad." Leo said, crouching down beside Don to pat his shell. "I mean, you said yourself that this wasn't an official 'date', so I doubt April's expecting anything too big."
"Yeah..." Donnie sighed, closing his eyes. "I really want it to be something big though." He said wistfully.
"Well, do something big then." Leo suggested, pointing to the TV. "If Captain Ryan were in this situation, he'd do something really amazing to win the girl."
"Except his girls are usually blue, or green, or yellow, and usually end up trying to kill him." Sniped Raph, as he rolled his eyes at Leo's fiftieth Space Heroes reference of the day.
"That's beside the point." Leo said, brushing his temperamental brother's comment aside. "The point is that you could do something special for her if you really thought about it right? You've got a whole day." Leo said, reaching out and poking the side of Donnie's temple. "Use your head."
"Yeah..." Donnie sighed again. Then, his eyes widened, and he jumped upright. "Yeah! Use my head! You're a genius Leonardo! I could make something for her!" Donnie shook his fists before him in triumph, it had been so obvious what he had to do, that he couldn't even see it. "I'm going to get to work right now!"
As Donnie ran out of the room, Raph called after him. "Hey, just make sure you don't get too fresh with her! I don't wanna have to come up there and clean the mess after she pummels you if you do." He teased.
"Hey guys, you know what I don't get about Space Heroes?" Mikey piped in again, a few steps behind in the conversation as usual.
"What's that?" Leo asked, surprised that Mikey would actually have a question about the show. He watched it, but not as much as Leo did – or as much as Raph, though Leonardo didn't know about that.
"Why does it always like, fade to black, after that Captain guy and one of the alien girls start kissing? Then when it cuts back, his bed's all messed up and he's lost his shirt." Mikey posed, sitting up and looking back and forth between Leo and Raph. "I don't get it. Did they wrestle or something?"
Both Leo and Raph's eyes bugged out and their jaws dropped. A short moment passed as they recovered, and looked to each other. Leo shrugged, and turned back to the show as it returned from commercial break. "I'll let you handle this one Raph."
Raph sighed, grabbing Mikey by the back of his bandana and dragging him off of the couch, prompting an 'Ow!' to come from his younger brother. "C'mon Mikey. I think it's time we had a little talk about the birds and the bees."
As Mikey was dragged to another part of the lair, his voice could be heard echoing back into the living room. "What do they have to do with anything?"
True to his word, Donatello had went straight for his room/laboratory, and had launched into work building something for April. He had no time to waste, so he had looked around the room for inspiration of some sort, and when his eyes had fallen across an abandoned project from a few months back, an idea struck him, and he grabbed it and began to re-tinker it into something else.
It was slow work however, and eventually, Mikey got bored some time after Raph's explanation, and dropped in.
"If you're planning anything like what Raph was telling me about with April, I don't think I can look you in the eye anymore bro." Mikey said with wide eyes as he slumped into a bean bag chair in the corner.
"Mm-hmm." Donnie responded, giving a non-answer as he focused on welding the next part into place.
"Seriously, that's just messed up." Mikey shook his head, feeling like he was traumatized for life now. This was worse than that nightmare he'd had about what all the smelly stuff coming down the drains really was. "So what are you making anyway?"
"Right." Donnie said, again giving Mikey only the bare minimum of a response rather than any real answer.
Standing up, Mikey walked over to Donnie's work table and looked at it. "C'mon, just tell me. I can't tell what it is. C'mon, tell me!" He pouted.
"Mm-hmm." Donnie's 'answers' seemed to have made their way back to the start of the list of apparently two responses, and Mikey frowned.
"Hmph." Mikey started to walk away, and then a smirk came over his face. "All right. I'll just be over here playing with your..." He looked over to an opposite corner to see what Donnie kept there. ...He had no idea what it was. "...Your thingie." He slowly crept on tip-toes towards the whatever-it-was.
"Sure." Donnie said, then his head snapped up, and he laid down his tools and ran towards his little brother. "Wait, no, don't touch that!"
"Ha ha, knew that'd get your attention." Mikey smirked, turning away from the device to face Donnie. "And hey, I don't break stuff." He scowled, as he leaned against the thingamabob, using it as an armrest – until part of it promptly broke off and hit the floor, Mikey almost falling with it out of shock. "...I don't break stuff so bad that you can't fix it." He supplemented, as if that was better.
Donnie facepalmed. "Look, Mikey, I know you're bored, but can you please just...contain yourself? Go do something else, I really need to work on this." He pleaded with his younger brother.
"All right, all right, fiiiiinneee. You're no fun anyway." Mikey said as he started to head out.
"Thank you." Donnie said, then something else clicked in his head. "Wait, can you bring me your MP3 player?"
"Why?" Mikey asked, stopping and looking back over his shoulder.
"I want to see what that one song April put on there was."
"No, I mean, why should I help you. I just break stuff." Mikey said with a pout.
Donnie sighed. "Okay, I'm sorry I yelled at you. Can you just bring me the player?" Mikey didn't respond to him right away. "...You do remember that I made that thing for you in the first place, right?"
"...I'll go get it." Mikey said, removing the frown from his face and heading for his bedroom.
After Michelangelo had brought him the player, Donnie made a copy of the song he'd wanted to his computer, and then sent his mollified brother on his way. He'd gotten back to work on tinkering with the 'gift'. A short time later however, Leonardo popped in as well.
"How's it coming?" He asked, walking into the room to look over Donnie's shoulder.
"Pretty good, I guess. I should be able to finish it just in time by tomorrow night, if I pull an all nighter tonight. Then I can rest before we meet up." He turned to face his brother with a curious look. "I thought you were watching your show?"
"That went off hours ago Donnie. Did you lose track of time?" Leo asked, pointing to a clock on the wall.
Donnie turned to face it and gasped. "Oh shell, I did. I missed the late-night sparring session. Splinter's gonna kill me."
"Don't worry about it." Leo smirked, resting a hand on his hips. "I told sensei that you weren't feeling very well and had already gone to bed. Of course, then he wanted to go check up on you, and I said you were already in bed." He idly scratched the top of his head then. "Not sure he believed me after that, but he let it slide because of how good you did this morning I think."
"Phew, thanks Leo. You're a life-saver." Donnie sighed in relief, and set down his tools again. "I'll apologize to him once I get this done."
"What're you making her anyway?" Leo queried, looking the device over again.
"Oh, well, it's...kinda a couple of things, actually." Donnie cleared his throat, not really wanting to describe what it was. Even Leo would tease him if he knew, so he quickly thought of a way to change the subject. "I'm just worried she won't like it. Or...you know. Me."
"You've just got to give it your best. Cheer up." Leo offered, then raised an eyebrow. "Can I ask you a question though? Why are you so hung up on her anyway though?"
"What do you mean?" Donnie asked defensively.
"I mean, April's great and all, but we didn't really get to know her until after you started going on and on about her. So what was it that made you like her in the first place?"
"O-Oh." Donnie blushed slightly, looking away. "I don't know. I just...when we were on the roof, and I saw her, she just...I don't even know how to describe it. She was just...perfect." He sighed, losing himself in the memory temporarily. As his eyes stared out dreamily into space, he eventually saw Leo looking at him with a bizarre expression, so he shook himself back out of it. "I guess it was just love at first sight."
"I'm not sure I really believe in that though." Leo commented, crossing his arms slightly.
"Well, how would you describe what happened with you and Karai?" Donnie asked pointedly, giving an accusing glare at his brother, still a little miffed about that one.
"T-That was different." Leo stuttered out, standing a little more rigidly now. "We met, and got to talking, and it wasn't until after I got to know her – well, thought I knew her, considering – a-anyway, it wasn't until then that I thought she was ho-" Leo stopped mid-sentence then, his eyes wide and he shook his head wildly. "Anyway, that's in the past!" His voice cracked in the middle of that reply, while Donnie just watched on with a bemused smirk.
Leo headed for the door then, and with one hand on it, he stopped. "Hey, Donnie?" He said, without looking back.
"Yeah?" Donnie said, turning around slightly in his work chair to face Leonardo's back.
"Things between me and Karai didn't really work out, but I hope things work out differently for you and April. ...Don't give up, Donnie." Leo said, and left.
Donnie stared at the empty spot for a moment, then frowned weakly, and turned back to his work. "...Thanks Leo." He'd have to apologize for that Karai crack later too.
The next day, Donnie had to stop working on his project to attend the early morning sparring session, on almost no sleep. Because of this, and because Splinter was cracking the whip on him harder after the day before, Donnie got his butt handed to him pretty badly. It was with sore muscles that he returned to his desk and sat down in his chair slowly. "Ow, ow, ow..." He groaned as his butt met the seat. "I definitely heard something crack that time."
"Oh, quit your whining." Came Raphael's voice from the doorway, as he walked in behind his brother, carrying a bottle of water that he'd been sipping on. "It's your own fault you know. You wouldn't have gotten kicked around so much if you weren't half-asleep out there."
"Oh clam it. I've been busy." Donnie retorted, picking up his tools again. He was just about done with the gift now, he just had to weld a few more pieces into place, and then put the finishing touches on it and let that cool down. The process would still take most of the rest of the day however, especially with another sparring session to try and survive.
"Right, right. Making something to 'woo' April with." Raph smirked, looking at it now. It was pretty recognizable by this point, to the point that even he could tell what it was. "Nice." He chuckled. "What're you gonna do if she already has one of those though?"
Donnie's head snapped upward slightly and he stared forward at the wall for a moment. "...Hadn't thought of that." He groaned, but then shook it off, and went back to work. "I'll just have to hope she doesn't. Besides, it wouldn't be able to do what this one can."
"Okay? Please tell me it's not going to summon Metalhead when she's in trouble or something." Raph really hoped they'd seen the last of that thing.
"No, it's not going to do that!" Donnie sniped, and continued his tinkering. He'd considered that briefly though, of course.
"Whatever. Just make sure it doesn't do anything creepy. Girls don't do creepy." Raph pulled up a chair from an opposite table and rolled it to Donnie's side, sitting in it backwards. "Course, that means you're already fighting a losing battle, since...well, you know." He smirked evilly.
Donnie gave him a stink eye, but then tried to ignore him and not give him the benefit of a reply. Eventually though, Raph's continuing watching and smirking would break him. "Oh, what do you know about girls anyway!"
"Lots of stuff. More than you do anyway." Raph chided, faking a yawn.
"And how's that?" Donnie asked doubtingly.
"I read magazines. There's some pretty telling articles in there, in-between the TV listings." Raph said, wiggling the chair slightly, causing it to squeak. "So yeah, just don't try to come on too strong like you usually do, and who knows? Maybe she'll be able to overlook the whole geeky...Turtle...thing."
"Hmph." Donnie grumped and turned back to his table again. "What do you care anyway, you just tease me anyway."
Raph frowned and stood up, moving behind Donnie and lightly whacked him on the back of the head as he started to leave. "Hey, I may tease you, but I do want you to be happy. I mean that." He said more earnestly than Raph usually spoke. "Besides, then we won't have to hear you swooning over her all the time. Gag me why don't you." He added, sounding much more like his usual self. And then, he left.
"...Jerk." Donnie said, and then started up the blowtorch again. He mentally thanked Raph as well though.
Late that night, Donnie quietly went into the kitchen, stifling a yawn behind one hand. He opened the fridge to see if there was any water left to have as he finally turned in for the night.
"And what are you doing up so late, my son?"
"Gah!" Donnie jumped, almost dropping the bottle he'd just grabbed, as he turned wide-eyed to see Splinter at the entrance coming from his bedroom, holding a small candle before setting it on the kitchen table. "O-Oh, sensei, it's you. I was just getting a drink of water."
"I see." Splinter said, sitting at the table and watching Donatello with interest. Donnie felt nervous from his gaze, and it was only then that he realized he'd never apologized to Splinter for ducking out of the previous night's sparring session.
"Sorry about the other night, sensei, the sparring session I mean." He said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
"The one you had to skip because you were not feeling well." Splinter said, though it was clear he didn't believe that.
"Yeah, that one. I...Leo lied for me. I'm sorry." He sighed, moving to sit at the table opposite of Splinter. "I was actua-"
"Do not speak ill of your brother. Leonardo did not lie." Splinter said somberly, making Donnie look up at him. Then, Splinter smiled. "I can tell you were ill, and still are. You are experiencing love-sickness."
Donnie's face burned bright red, and he stared at the table, his voice cracking in response. "Y-Yeah, I guess so. I just...I really like her sensei." He sighed, clasping his hands together on the table. "But I know it's probably all wasted effort."
"What makes you think so?" Splinter asked, watching his son's despair.
"I know how unlikely it is that she'd like me as it is." He admitted, shaking his head slowly. "I'm a nerd, a geek. We're not even the same species. ...We're from two completely different worlds." He finished, hanging his head.
Splinter remained silent for a moment, before he lightly touched his son's shoulder. "Let me tell you a story, Donatello." Donnie looked up to him and nodded, though he didn't really have much choice in the matter anyway. "Back when I was a young man, much like yourself, I fell in love with a girl. Her name was Hikari." That part caught Donnie's attention. This wasn't the same woman his master always talked about, his wife from before Shredder's attack.
"She was beautiful, radiant. Just by being in it, she seemed to light up an entire room with her smile." Splinter continued on. "I was, I believe the term is...head over heels, in love with her. She came from an upper class family however, and I was but a mere genin, a ninja-in-training. We were from entirely different worlds too." He looked into Donatello's eyes to make sure he was getting the point. "One day, after months of watching Hikari from afar, I asked her to meet me alone, much as you have done with April, so we could speak more privately. And I confessed my feelings to her."
"What happened then?" Donnie asked with interest, curious because he knew things must not have worked out in the end even if they had gotten together.
"She turned me down flat." Splinter chuckled. "She had her eyes on another as well, a young man named Masashi."
"I see." Donnie hung his head again. "So it really isn't possible. Maybe I should just call the whole thing off."
"That was not the point of my story, Donatello." Splinter chided. "I did not tell you this story so that you would become depressed. The point was that I confessed my feelings, and even though I was turned down, I felt relieved to at least know the answer to which I had been burning to know. Sometimes, even that is enough." Splinter said as he stood up. "Even the asking, or the telling, is very important, because feelings are not sent just by being felt."
Donatello mulled that over briefly before smiling. "Thanks sensei. I do feel a little better now. ...I'll do my best." He said, waving good night to his father as he went back to his bedroom.
As he watched his son leave, Splinter smiled, and picked back up the candle. "Good luck, my son."
Advanced Author Notes
As a fan of a lot of different authors and entertainment mediums, I always enjoy when the creators take the time to de-construct their work and show what went into various parts of it's creation, as well as listing any references someone might have missed. As such, I like to do the same myself, as a service to any readers out there.
- For some reason, every time I started to write Mikey's dialogue, a 'Dude' would try to creep into the sentence...I had to try and fight to keep that as under control as possible.
- Raph's comment about how Captain Ryan's women usually turned on him was a reference to a scene from episode...14, 'New Girl in Town', I think, of the Nick cartoon.
- It didn't end up working out, but originally I wanted it to be something Raph said that would spur Donnie into his lab, so that Raph could then say something along the lines of 'And we call HIM the brains'. Ah well, maybe another time.
- The comment about Raph watching Space Heroes as well is something I kind of came up with based on him being able to quote something about it back at Leo in an episode that's escaping me at the moment. It just seems likely to me that he probably actually likes the show too, but Leo's over-the-top love for it annoys him more.
- Reference #3) The 'fade to black' joke during Mikey's questioning is a reference to that sensation in the 'Pesona' video games, where when your character gets closer to a member of the opposite sex, and a rather questionable 'fade to black' occurs. Yeah...
- The idea of Mikey being completely out of the loop about sex just seemed to perfect not to do. And it provided another great 'big brother Raph' moment.
- Reference #4) Mikey's 'nightmare' about the truth about sewers is indeed a callback joke to his realization (and forgetting) in episode 13, 'I, Monster'.
- I really, really, really wanted to have a 'sassy Black chick' (for lack of a more appropriate term) for Mikey in this chapter, since he's been getting them in episodes lately, but alas, I couldn't come up with a good one that fit. More missed opportunities.
- Technically Mikey's MP3 player hasn't shown up again since episode 5, 'I Think His Name is Baxter Stockman', but it's not to unlikely that Donnie made him another one really.
- The song that Donnie gets off of the player is meant to be the first small hint as to what Donnie is making, kinda. You can't really use what's there to figure out what he's making I don't think, but I did at least attempt to leave some bread crumbs anyway.
- The second hint to what Donnie's making is Leo pointing to the clock on the wall.
- Donnie's use of 'shell' as a pseudo-swear is a deliberate callback to that happening a lot in the 2003 series by 4Kids.
- I really wanted all three of Donnie's brothers to have a moment with him that helped him out. Mikey's was pretty superficial admittedly, Leo can bond with him because of his own situation with Karai, and Raph got his own 'hook' that I'll talk about next. Oh, and the order in which Donnie gets advice is going from least helpful to most.
- The idea of Raph being the most knowledgeable about girls came to me out of about three places I think. 1) He's always reading magazines, so who knows what he's read on that subject...maybe he reads Cosmo or something. 2) Him having to give 'the talk' to Mikey earlier in the story. And 3) the idea is just too funny to me. So I went with it.
- Raphael's hint (of a sort) about what Donnie is making comes from him noticing what it is that Donnie's making, and hoping that she doesn't have one already. 'The gift' is something that most people would already have. Hmm...
- My original intention for Splinter's story was to have it be about his actual wife, Tang Shen (though I forget if they've used that name in this show yet or not), but we only know very little about what happened there so far...so I decided in the end to just do my own thing here so that it could conceivably still fit regardless of whatever Nick does on this subject.
- The girl's name of 'Hikari' was an intentional choice, meant to tie in with Splinter's comment about her lighting up the room. Hikari either means or just has some relation to 'light' in Japanese.
- I'm not entirely sure if genin is an actual term for in-training ninja, but it seems to fit. I got it from Naruto, but it's not specifically a reference. However...
- Reference #5) Naming the young man that Hikari liked 'Masashi' was a deliberate reference to Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of 'Naruto', on my part. I contemplated naming him 'Akira' or 'Toriyama' in reference to Akira Toriyama of 'Dragon Ball' fame briefly, but in the end opted for Kishimoto instead due to my use of 'genin', and Toriyama being too recognizable a name. 'Kishimoto' may have been to, so I opted for his first name instead.
- Reference #6) Splinter's line, "Even the asking, or the telling, is very important, because feelings are not sent just by being felt.", is a line I pulled almost verbatim from the manga/anime 'Midori Days'. It's a line with a lot of truth to it, that had quite an impact on me the first time I heard it, and I relished the chance to pay it tribute here.