((Forgive me yet again for the time between updates. In my defense chicken pox has declared war on our house. So far it has left one of the twins and myself untouched. I am not hopeful of it remaining that way tho. Oh well. Beware of partial nudity ;). If you consider a gearless turtle nude…Thanks as always to Cyn for her understanding, writing talents and gentle and kindproddings.))
Donatello silently seethed the entire way to the bathroom. He had tried to speak twice only to be silenced by his father with a warning gesture.
For his part, Splinter also remained silent. He could understand Donatello's frustration and anger. Indeed, he had hoped to frustrate his young son enough for him to voice his opinion. He had hopes that once Donatello learned to speak in defense of himself, his sons would not so easily manipulate or take advantage of him.
He nudged Don into the bathroom and turned on the shower himself.
"Sensei…" This time Donatello's voice held none of the anger or frustration. Instead it had been replaced with something akin to embarrassment or horrification. "I can shower myself."
Splinter smiled slightly to himself. Without even looking, he could imagine the reddish hue that had now taken control of Don's face. "I have no intention of bathing you, My Son," Splinter said calmly hiding his amusement. "Only to ensure you get this sewage from you. We know from experience that it can cause great illness." He left Don for a few moments and returned with a plastic bag. "You can put the soiled gear in here."
He set the bag on the sink. "I will get you a robe. You look a bit chilled." He disappeared from the bathroom and would have closed the door if his sons had managed to fix it earlier. As it was, Donatello could only be thankful that there were only males living in the lair.
Don stared at the doorway for a moment before stripping off his gear and jumping into the shower. He allowed the warm water to run down over his head. It helped to soothe his anger which again began bubbling to the surface of his mind. He grabbed a washcloth to scrub the nastiness.
"Your towel and robe are hanging on the rack, Donatello." Splinter's voice cut through the soothing water and caused Don to jump a couple of feet in the air and yelp in surprise. He vowed to fix the door first chance he got.
"Thanks, Sensei," he said turning his face into the water. It ran down his shell hopefully washing away more residual ick as well as the residual anger. By nature, Donatello was too even tempered to stay angry. Even with all the injustices he had been suffering, he couldn't bring himself to continue arguing with his father.
He exhaled shaking his head after standing in silence for a few minutes. He cringed slightly remembering the way he spoke to Splinter. "Surprised he didn't lecture me while I was trapped in here," Don mused allowing himself a small smile.
"It seems as though Raphael will not be fixing this door today," Splinter said causing Don to once again jump in surprise.
The sensei raised an eyebrow at his son when Don's head poked out from behind the shower curtain.
Don smiled sheepishly. "Yeh, yeh. I'll fix it first thing tomorrow." He pulled his head back into the shower and banged it against the wall. He wished for a moment that he could summon the anger and frustration from earlier. It had been so much easier to stand up to his father when he was pissed. No wonder Raph had such an easy time of it.
"Your brothers are no doubt missing your expertise. It is a good thing the video equipment is not broken. Michelangelo insisted you spend a whole day fixing it last time."
"I don't mind," Donatello shrugged. In truth, he had had better things to do that day, but a bored Mike was never a good thing, so he gave in.
"And the week it took you to repair Raphael's motorcycle. It was ruined from him racing Mr Jones was it not?"
Don blinked in surprise. How did Splinter know about that? Raphael swore Donatello to secrecy and he never told. Don valued his head far too much. He considered silence to be the best thing in this case so he said nothing.
"They demand a great deal from you." After a brief hesitation. "Indeed, I myself have taken advantage of your talents at times. You must have better things to do than to fix the television….or do Raphael's chores."
Don froze in the shower for a moment and then turned off the water. The towel was tossed over the curtain rod and Don wrapped it around himself before opening the curtain. "What?"
Splinter studied his son for a moment. "It is alright every now and again to say no Donatello. Especially when you feel you are being taken advantage of, or being treated unfairly. You are no one's slave or servant."
Don frowned slightly. "If you knew it was unfair, then why did you let Raphael put his chores on my list of things to do?"
"While speaking with Raphael last night, I had first refused the ploy. But after a few moments, I realized I could teach you a very valuable lesson. I explained to Raphael that he may include them, but if you refused then that would be that."
Don stepped out of the shower and grabbed his robe. "A lesson?" He could feel the anger bubbling again and he welcomed it.
Unaware or unfazed by his son's potential explosion, Splinter continued. "That is the purpose of this exercise."
Don pulled on his robe frowning, "So, all I have to do is say no?"
Splinter smiled slightly. "It is as simple as that, My Son. And if there is ever a time you feel put upon by your family, then it is alright to say no in those instances as well."
"Then I refuse to participate in this stupid exercise anymore," Don said stubbornly crossing his arms across his plastron. He adopted Raphael's "teenager" stance and expression.
Again his father merely smiled. "As in all things, My son, you must learn balance and which battles are worth fighting. That is one you will surely lose. I suggest you concede."
Don fell silent for a second. Raphael wouldn't concede so easily. Raphael wouldn't admit defeat. Raphael would carry this until the bitter end. Raphael…Raphael was also an idiot. He dropped his arms and bowed slightly. "Hai, Sensei."
---------------------------------------------
"OW! Shit!" Raphael dropped the screwdriver as Mike's radio once again shocked him. He picked it up to toss it across the room.
"You can do that," Leonardo said. "But then Mike will have something to hold over your head."
Raphael glared at him for a moment before putting the radio back on Don's worktable and setting to work again. "A loose wire," he muttered. "You know how many wires this thing has?"
Leo looked over Raph's shoulder to count them but his brother elbowed him back. "Don't act like Mike here, Leo," he warned. "You don't have his…whatever it is. I'll just kick your ass and not care."
Leo smirked and sat down on Don's bed. "All in all, I have to admit, this day hasn't been too terrible. The lair's still standing. Everyone is still alive. And I get the day off."
Raphael grumbled angrily and yelped when he got shocked again.
"I think Mikey is even realizing that being leader isn't all it's cracked up to be." Leo was fully expecting his little brother to have a better appreciation for him once this thing was over. "He may even start taking his studies a little more seriously."
Raph ignored him, letting Leo ramble. It was a trick he used often with Mike and as long as he could pretend Leo was Mike, he wouldn't kill him.
Mike peeked into the room. "Hey, one of Don's alarm thingy's is going off. M'gonna go check it out."
Leo got to his feet. "I'll go with you."
Mike waved him off. "Nah, I got it. S'probably a rat or something like usual. You got lessons with Splinter….and dinner to fix."
Leo looked worried and shook his head. "You shouldn't go out by yourself, Mikey. I'll go…"
"I got it Leo. I am the leader after all. Brave and sure and all that. Be back soon." He ducked out of the room.
Leo frowned a little. No way was he letting his little brother go by himself. Leader or no leader, he still had a responsibility.
"Think we can follow him without him knowing?" Raph looked up reading Leo's mind.
Leo smiled slightly. "Not a problem."
