"Could you pass me the wrench?"
April rooted around in the toolbox, and frowned at what she saw. "Open-end or socket?"
"Open-ended would be best," Donatello said from under a tangle of pipes and wires. The guts of the furnace were spread out across his legs and feet, along with little boxes and components that April didn't recognize, and she was beginning to wonder if he would ever be able to put it back where it was supposed to be.
She handed him the wrench. "I feel bad about you doing this," she said.
"I don't mind," Don said, smiling at her.
Somehow the fact that he was telling the truth made April feel even more guilty. He looked at her with the same warm, soft eyes that she had always seen in him — well, when he wasn't locked in combat with someone. He always lifted her spirits, and his earnest, quiet friendliness towards her never seemed to wane or waver, no matter how inconvenient she sometimes was.
"It's just that you have so many projects of your own to work on," April said, drawing her knees up to her chin and watching as he deftly twisted the wires into an unidentifiable part, his three-fingered hands moving swiftly and smoothly despite his attention being on her. "It feels wrong of me to have you playing handyman just because my furnace is broken."
"It's not a problem," Don said, his hands not slowing in their motion. "I like some simple work sometimes. Besides, I do most of the handyman work in the lair, so this is nothing new for me."
"You don't get enough appreciation for what you do, Don," April said.
He shrugged, as if it were something that he didn't mind one way or the other. More than any other person April had ever met, Don was the one who seemed to crave recognition the least — he appreciated being thanked or praised for his works of genius, but he never seemed motivated by it. April wished that she could be motivated entirely by the joy of her scientific prowess, without ever considering what others thought.
Don bowed back over the pipes and began fitting them back together. The tails of his purple mask slipped forward, over one green shoulder, as he lost himself in the task he was working on. "Screwdriver, please," he said, holding out his hand without looking up.
"Phillips or regular?" April asked.
"Phillips."
She placed the screwdriver in his hand, noticing that his face had scrunched slightly in concentration as he worked — a stark contrast to the breezy casualness he had displayed a few minutes ago. His dark eyes roamed over the pieces of the furnace like a detective searching for clues, and his hands followed, dancing over the pieces in search of something to answer his questions.
"I think I found it," he said abruptly, his hands darting among the wires connected to a large circuit board. "Yes, it's this one."
"It looks all right to me," April said.
"Trust me, this is the culprit," Don said confidently. "I have something that should replace it easily, though you should probably get a professional to look it over, just in case."
April nodded, though she knew she probably wouldn't. Donatello was the smartest person she had ever known, and she doubted anyone would ever take that distinction from him. She didn't know how to tell him, but she was always amazed by the things that he was able to whip together. He lived in sewers and got by on the technology he was able to scavenge from the world above, yet he consistently churned out devices that astounded her. From his own cell network to floating vehicles, technological marvels seemed to spring whole from his hands whenever he chose.
And all this learning, all this knowledge was self-taught. He had never spent a single day in a classroom, which for most people would indicate severe ignorance. But he had not only educated himself beyond whatever basics Splinter had taught his sons, he had surpassed most of the scientists she had ever met, becoming adept in different fields of study through his own efforts and his boundless curiosity.
At times she wondered if his brothers realized just how lucky they were to have Don. Not just his technical skills, but the humble generosity that led him to make things like the Turtle Tunneler, the Sewer Slider or the Shell Cells without expectation of praise or reward.
"Pass me the green wire, please — the long one on top," Don said.
April did as he said, feeling a burst of relief that Don didn't know what she had just been thinking. It probably would have embarrassed him — and it certainly would have embarrassed her.
The basement door swung open with a squeak. "April!" Mikey sang out. "I think the pizza guy is pulling up out front."
April sprang to her feet. "Coming!" she called up the stairs. Then she swung around towards Don. "Should I bring some down for you?"
"Don't worry about it," Don said. "I'll be done in just a few minutes. I'll join you then."
The pizza guy was ringing the doorbell as April emerged from the basement, a pimply weedy teenager who blushed when she tipped him. As she emerged from the stairs into her apartment, she found three very hungry teenage mutant Turtles waiting for her there — Raphael and Michelangelo sprawled on her couch, Leonardo leaning against the wall and trying not to look as hungry as he did.
"Time to eat, boys," she said, placing the four pizza boxes on the table.
Don appeared just then, almost as if he had popped out of the basement at the scent of pizza. He was wiping grease stains from his fingers, and his eyes were wide.
"Great timing, Don," Mikey said, diving into the nearest pizza box. "You got here just in time for pizza and the movie."
"Speaking of the movie, we'd better start it," April said, picking up the green box sitting beside her DVD player.
Raphael was almost done with his first slice of pizza when a thought seemed to strike him. "Hey, April. When's Casey coming by? He's gonna miss the movie."
A shadow passed over April's eyes, and she quickly turned her attention back to the meat-lovers' pizza that Donnie was extracting a slice from. "Casey… he's not coming by tonight," she said, keeping a chipper tone in her voice. "Anyone want parmesan?"
"I do!" Mikey spoke up.
"Huh?" Raph's brow crinkled as he sat up straighter. "Why not? He loves movie night."
"I… we thought it might be a little awkward."
"Awkward? How come?"
April sighed, and brushed a strand of red hair out of her eyes. Raph had an ability to fixate on a target that a hunting dog would have envied, and his blunt manner of speech tended to make it even more uncomfortable for whomever was the unwilling focus of his questions. She had been hoping that he wouldn't have noticed his best friend's absence, but perhaps it was too much to ask for.
She looked up uncomfortably, her eyes skimming from one Turtle's face to the next. Raph was staring at her intently, clearly not planning to drop this until he got an answer.
"Casey and I… we've broken up," she said at last.
Silence fell over the room, even from Mikey. Leo twisted around in his seat, looking startled. When April turned back to the pizza to get herself a slice, she found that even Don was staring at her with a peculiar expression, almost as if he had a stomachache.
"Broken up?" Raph said at last. "Why?"
"It wasn't — it's not a nasty breakup, or even necessarily a permanent one," April said, squirming a little as she felt their eyes focused on her. "We just decided we needed some time apart to think about things."
"Like?" Raph pushed.
"Raph, April doesn't need to justify her decisions to us," Leo interjected. "If she broke up with Casey, there must be a good reason."
"But Casey is—" Raph began to protest.
"It's okay, Leo," April said quickly. "I don't mind. We just… it wasn't anything in particular. We didn't have a fight or anything like that. We just… don't have a lot in common, and I started wondering if we had enough to sustain a relationship. There are huge parts of my interests — science and technology — that I just can't talk to him about because they mean nothing to him. And there are… things he's passionate about that don't strike a chord with me, like hockey."
Raph started to answer her, but Leo quickly said, "And we should respect April's reasons, especially since none of us have experience in that area and thus don't have any authority to criticize."
April felt a burst of gratitude to the blue-masked Turtle's intervention, heading Raph off before he blurted out something he would regret later. This, she reflected, was why she hadn't wanted to mention Casey to them — she was worried that Raph would be upset by the absence of his friend. He would cool down later, she knew, but she hated the idea of the movie night being ruined for him and his brothers because of her breakup.
"The furnace should be working fine now," Don said, diplomatically breaking through the quiet. "I replaced the defective wire and tightened up some of the parts. You'll need to replace that air filter soon, though."
"Thanks, Don," April said, smiling. "You're a lifesaver."
She leaned towards him and gently pressed her lips against his cheek, a warm breath escaping her as she did so. She didn't see his eyes widen slightly at the touch.
"Can we get to the movie already?" Mikey called out.