A/N: Hi, there. If you're new here, I'd read "Muted Victory" before reading this.
And I'll be honest – I'm not sure how far I'll go with this - but thought I'd go ahead and share what I'd written and edited so far.
Donnie typed a few more things into his computer, essentially locking it, mainly so Mikey couldn't break into it, and turned off the lights in the lab. Casey and April had been over earlier for dinner, but both had left shortly after. April had an exam to study for and Casey had early hockey practice. Donnie realized, as he watched the two of them leave together, that the jealousy he'd once felt at Casey's ability to freely walk April home was gone.
The kisses he'd received from both of them when they left probably had something to do with it.
Although the kisses had been swift and in the privacy of his lab. Leo said their father was already dealing with enough right now including the freedoms that came with Shredder's death and Karai's full return to them. Their leader thought it was best that they not share the many changes that had come about for all four of them recently. Donnie wasn't sure keeping it from him was the best idea, but since he was still trying to figure this thing out with Casey and April, he had quickly agreed. Raph had grumbled, but Donnie was leaving him to Leo to deal with. He smiled as he realized he could mostly leave Raph to Leo to deal with from now on and not feel guilty.
Mikey had agreed to the secrecy as well, although without complaint. Donnie still remembered his shock at seeing his little brother kissing a strange human in the farmhouse front lawn when he and Casey had driven the stranded four-wheeler back to the house. He had called Leo and Raph out to the front yard, despite Mikey's protests that those two should be left alone. And the other brothers' aggravation at being interrupted from whatever they'd been doing, Donnie hadn't asked, had quickly disappeared as they spotted the strange newcomer who was nervously smiling at them while Mikey kept an arm looped around his shoulders.
April joined the group, after hearing the loud arguing going on between Leo and Mikey, and once she was there, Mikey introduced them all to Woody. Woody had apparently been Mikey's boyfriend for practically a whole year. Ninja or not, Donnie, Raph, and Leo had had no idea Mikey could actually keep a secret like that.
Woody had stayed with them the rest of the week and although Donnie was pretty busy spending time with his own humans, from what he did see, he noted that Woody was not obnoxious, could cook delicious pizza, and made Mikey laugh. Donnie even suggested to Leo that he stop giving Mikey the silent treatment, not that he'd listened yet, because Donnie liked the way Mikey's face lit up when he looked at Woody.
But he'd worry about Leo and Mikey later. Or maybe let Raphael handle that one, another bonus to those two being together, and for now, he smiled as he walked into his room. He quickly froze, though, as he realized there was someone sleeping in his bed. For a moment he thought maybe Mikey had given up on ever finding his own bed again in the middle of his landfill of a room. But even without turning on the light, he could see that the lump in his bed wasn't big enough to be Mikey. Whoever it was, was without a shell.
Donnie moved silently across the room and stared down at a sleeping Casey Jones sprawled out across his bed. Two weeks ago this would've seemed strange. Two weeks ago he probably would've grabbed Casey by the ankle and dragged him out of there. But now – Donnie paused his thoughts and used one finger to slide some black hair off Casey's forehead.
Casey's eyes immediately opened and he smiled when he saw Donnie leaning over him.
"You did leave with April earlier, right?"
Casey nodded and stretched his arms over his head. Donnie tried not to focus on the feeling he got when he heard the satisfied groan the stretch produced.
"Yeah," Casey finally said, his voice full of sleep. "Walked her home. Then came back."
"Why?" Donnie asked as he sat on the edge of his bed and began pulling his gear off. He heard a shift behind him and knew that Casey was moving himself closer to the wall. He glanced behind him to confirm and found Casey's dark eyes pinned on his hands as he undid the wrappings around his ankles.
Casey's eyes moved up to Donnie's face, aware that Donnie had asked him something but he'd completely missed it. He watched Donnie shake his head at him with a smile.
"Why'd you come back?" Donnie repeated. "Thought you needed a good night's rest before your morning practice?"
"I do," Casey said, letting his eyes lower again to watch Donnie's hands work. He hadn't had a good night's sleep since they'd returned from the farmhouse. They may not have been doing much more than kissing since they'd started this thing, but they'd all slept in the same bed for the remainder of their farmhouse stay. They'd even swapped out who acted as the middle pillow, although it didn't really matter to Casey. He'd slept peacefully as long as he knew both Donnie and April were near. And he wanted that again.
Donnie nodded in understanding back to Casey. He pushed off the last of his gear and settled himself down on the mattress with a yawn. Casey grinned and scooted closer to him, allowing Donnie to curl up along his side. In response, Casey threw one of his legs over Donnie's legs and let out a happy sigh as his hands landed on the arm Donnie had wrapped around his waist.
"What about April?" Donnie asked. They were still trying to figure out how a relationship of three would work best. He wasn't sure if he should feel okay being cuddled up with just Casey, or if he should feel worried about April's reaction to being left out.
"I offered," Casey murmured back. He let his fingers move slowly over Donnie's forearm. "She said she was gonna study all night. Told me it was fine if I wanted to come back and see if this would be okay with ya."
"This is weird."
"Me bein here?" Casey asked, tensing as he reopened his eyes to meet Donnie's eyes.
"Well that too," Donnie teased, although he wrapped his arm tighter around Casey's waist so the hockey player couldn't move.
Casey squirmed anyway when Donnie's fingers hit a ticklish spot on his side and the momentary upset that Donnie didn't really want him there without April immediately vanished.
"What then?" Casey asked.
"Well, how would you feel if it was just me and April here like this?"
"Oh," Casey said, realizing finally where Don's brain was going. He tightened his hands around Donnie and even let one slide up Donnie's arm to rub over his shoulder. "Guess we got some stuff to work out."
Donnie nodded, although his attention was quickly centering on Casey's fingers moving over his skin. Casey's hand left his shoulder and moved to slide down his plastron.
"Why is tomorrow's practice so important?" Donnie asked, doing his best not to stutter while also distracting himself from those warm fingers.
"Coach is gonna decide who starts the next game," Casey murmured in response. He pressed his fingers harder against Donnie's plastron and looked up to meet his eyes. "Can you feel that?"
Donnie nodded and wondered if Casey could tell that his breathing had quickened. "The plastron is laced with nerve endings, so – mmph."
Casey cut off Donnie's educational speech with a kiss before he pressed his fingers into the cartilage between the plates. He pulled away and grinned when he finally earned a soft noise from Donatello. "There's the yes I was looking for."
Donnie ignored the smirk and pressed forward to cover Casey's mouth for another kiss. He let his fingers brush over the ticklish spot he'd found earlier on Casey's side. Casey immediately flinched, not that Donnie's arms were allowing much movement.
"Can you feel that?" Donnie mimicked and was rewarded with a real laugh from Casey.
Casey scooted himself impossibly closer to Donatello and let his head tilt against Donnie's. He smiled to himself, proud of the accomplishment that was seeing Donnie loosen up and play with him.
"Goodnight, Jones," Donnie murmured, letting his own eyes close. It was late and worrying about how he was going to sneak Casey out in the morning would have to wait.
"Night, nerd."