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"And Mikey said 'you know, like how you don't have rhythm.’ What did he mean? I totally have rhythm!" You swayed a little in demonstration.
Donnie watched on.
Quiet.
Too quiet.
"Donatello." You warned.
"You move with the rhythm of your heart." He spoke with faux sweetness and moved to grab your hand.
You let him lead you in a swaying circle, but you didn't feel the least bit whisked away.
"You give me quite the dance partner." He tried again.
He meant that.
When you found out he loved to dance, you had broken out of your shell to join him. It wasn’t like you hadn’t danced before, but you weren’t versed in anything specific. Donnie moved with both his body and an acrobatic style that came with his martial arts training. To match him meant learning far more steps then some mediocre school dances had ever offered. He'd been patient in trying to teach you and you tried your hardest to learn them. There was a struggle between your skill levels that often frustrated him, but he still tried and the two of you spent long hours working on steps. As the saying went, your hard work paid off and was all the sweeter when you finally executed a maneuver.
You thought you had improved.
"A charitable partner all around." He snapped your waist to his and leaned down to steal a kiss.
That helped the most and you returned it.
He pulled away and smiled satisfactorily at his job well done.
"But I don't have rhythm…" You persisted
His success disappeared in an instant. "Dearest..."
"No, no. Just..." You pushed on him lightly. "I’m not upset with you… I’m annoyed in general.”
"Understood." He allowed himself to be moved.
"Give it to me straight."
He nodded his compliance.
"If Mikey noticed and you noticed..."
He waited patiently.
"How obvious is it to everyone else?"
His cheeks whined with the size of his grimace.
"No way!" You had to walk an angry circle. "Seriously?! Everyone!?"
"It's... been mentioned once or twice…"
"They talk about it all the time!" You bemoaned your translation.
"We dance! We go out! The others see and well... You know how my family is."
"I'm a blight." You hunched in horror. "Oh! Oh!! At Leo's birthday last year! In that club, when I went to meet him on the dance floor. When you were getting us drinks! He sent me straight back to our table! He didn't want to be seen with me! Oh no!!"
"That...!" Donnie had never been the best liar and, in light of your years together, he fessed up. "Yes. That was his concern, but Leo is obsessed with image and-"
"How long!?"
"Pardon?"
"How long have they all known!?" You lurched toward him. "That I can’t dance! How long have they been embarrassed to be seen with me!?"
"They aren't embarrassed exactly. Maybe something more like... They would rather it not be obvious that they were associated with you when a groove is involved."
You waited a beat.
Donnie seemed hopeful that you liked his response.
"That's not better!" You squawked.
"Oh, well-!" He sought for another.
"No!" You thought for a moment before you wilted against him and traced the lines of his plastron to soothe yourself. "No… I don’t know what I’m doing. This sucks. I'm more upset that I didn’t know about it for, I don't know, ever and everyone’s been avoiding me while I had no idea. Do you know how humiliating that is? It's…!”
You sighed.
“I guess I should be happy that I know now… I can do something about it… Hide away and never dance again…”
"I want to keep dancing with you." He covered your hands loosely so you could keep following lines.
You almost smiled for it. "How have you endured? You're a literal Bootyyyshaker."
He exhaled affection. "You’re a giving dance partner. You may struggle on your own, but together we are a force. You are fantastic at mirroring my moves. I believe you might also remember a particular night at the roller disco?"
He sought your gaze and when you met, it triggered the memory.
Colored lights and a disco ball set the scene.
You had driven pretty far for the rink and getting your legs to stay above your skates was a struggle, but there had been a moment, at the height of one song, where each Hamato fell in line and you glided together in a choreographed state that was straight out of a movie.
You returned to Donnie and finally felt a little better. "I was good then?"
"Fantastic. Not a beat missed. You do best with a proper lead. Your attention to detail when accompanying another is unparalleled. Your tenacity to learn is impeccable."
You leaned into him. "Okay, okay..."
"Better?" He kissed your forehead.
It reminded you of something. "Yeah, I guess we all have that one thing ."
"We certainly do not all suffer from the same dance deficient affliction." Donnie was happy to soothe your faults, but insulting his dancing skills was off limits.
You bumped him lightly with your hip. "I meant we all have that thing we don’t realize; a little flaw that we’re oblivious too until someone points it out."
" Right ." Donnie's lids lowered with some long known irritation. "My penchant for correction. Stubbornness or the like."
"Well, no. It's not usually something like that." Your head tilted. "It's not really a big flaw. Not something that requires growth. It's more like something you do that's an annoying habit, but it only bugs others. It’s not actually a big deal."
"I can't think of-"
"Like with you. You can’t help yours. There’s nothing you can do about having a huge forehead."
Donnie's mouth snapped shut.
"And I have no control over my rhythm! See, it’s things that we can’t really fix… and oh! Wait, I know you know this concept! You made those gifts once! I can't remember the other two, but Leo's had to do with puns! I'm so glad I wasn't around when you made those. Who knows what kind of contraption you would have made to make me move on beat?!"
Your partner's lips flapped.
"Leo might be able to help himself with the puns though… What’s something one of them couldn’t…?"
He brushed your arms.
"When Mikey got those holographic stickers? They were really stuck to him and it was so annoying when they caught the light! You’d be blinded!" You searched your partner to see if he had more examples.
Donnie was staring at you with a quivering lip and a gaze that was about to cry.
Your own features immediately dropped. "Donnie?! Oh no, what's wrong?"
"My forehead's big?"
You stared.
His brows bunched in distress.
The fact that he had the room on his mask to draw them as large as he did should have been clue enough.
You checked over him again.
He was steadfast in his desperation.
He really didn't know.
"Oh... Oh, Donnie..." You tried to touch him.
He turned in a dramatic twirl that let tears flick from his face. "I'm hideous!"
"You are not!" You gave chase.
He stormed out of his room and around the hallways that led to his lab. "Don't look at me!"
"Donnie, wait!!"
He stumbled right before the lab entrance.
It allowed you to catch up with him and that must have been his goal because he immediately collapsed in your arms and you tried not to laugh. "You're being silly!"
"This is nothing compared to your dancing!" He moped.
"Donnie!" You tried to hold him up, but he refused.
You failed to gather the puddle of him before he snapped upright out of your grip and gasped with a haunted revelation.
"What?"
" Tic-tac-toe !" He pulled you with him to his computer.
You watched as he pulled up footage of him demanding that his brother explain why there were smudges on his mask after he woke up from a nap. They all babbled on with obvious ;ies, but they never gave a proper response. The video ended and Donnie typed at the speed of light. Another video popped up and this one must have been from earlier that day. You watched the brother sneak around with giggles and markers. They got to a feed where Donnie was sleeping, but with one slight adjustment to the couch he was snoozing on, they moved him and their antics into a camera’s blindspot so whatever they did wasn’t recorded.
"I thought the markings looked suspiciously familiar, but I never placed them! They were playing tic-tac-toe-" He turned horror on you. "-on my head!!"
You forced your lips into a line.
He noticed immediately. "You'd laugh!? You'd laugh at my shame?!"
"No!" You blurted out.
"You would!"
He had been honest with you and the guilt of not doing the same consumed you.
You had to ball your fists to steel yourself.
"It's... It's a funny idea! At least they didn't draw a you-know-what!"
Donnie paled. "They might have!! They clearly tried to rid the evidence!"
He returned to his computer and blindly searched through footage.
You watched on as his brow creased.
Each wrinkle was a marker of his years.
Like rings on the trunk of a tree.
Notches of all he knew.
His intelligence.
His wisdom.
He was undeniably handsome.
His forehead never seemed out of proportion to you, but the others joked about it.
You thought he knew.
Others probably thought the same of you and your dancing.
Oblivious to the obvious until pointed out.
"Donnie..." You fanned your fingers over his bicep.
"In a moment, I think I remember an incriminating night. It was after we celebrated the 19th year of Pizza Fest."
"Just for a second..."
"I'm close, the date was...? Oh, what year was it!?"
"Please." You squeezed his arm.
He heard your tone.
A clear and concise request had been laid out.
It was part of an agreement you both had made.
One that vastly improved your communication.
If one of you asked, just like this, then the other would take a moment to listen.
It helped so the important things wouldn’t fall by the wayside.
Though it wounded him, he slowed and looked to you with a weepiness clinging to him.
"Donnie, I love you." You took his cheeks.
"Even with my big brow, my titanic temple, my fat frons!?"
You pulled him down.
His brows knit a sad pair.
You kissed them first.
They didn't budge.
You kissed down the middle.
His brow was still wrinkled.
You kissed each ridge.
His expression loosened.
You kissed with more fervor.
You kissed faster.
You kissed all over his head and with a tenacity that knocked his goggles off.
He had no choice, but to laugh. "Stop, stop!"
"I love you. I love all of you. If you have a big forehead, I love that too because there's more of you to love."
He waited out a stubborn tic that had his foot bouncing.
You gave him one last peck on the side of his head.
He scooped you up in a hug. "You'd swear on it? On my life which is yours and thus precious?"
"Obviously!" You giggled.
"Alright..."
You settled against him and felt the faint tightness in his body. "You still want to find that clip though?"
"Yes! I will repay their doodles a thousand fold!! Let us reveal all the things they do not know about themselves! Aid me in my quest for revenge!"
You laughed. "Okay, okay, but only for you."
"Who's first? It must be Leo!"
"He doesn’t have a butt."
"We'll humiliate him! Do you know he adds cushions to his chairs?! We shall switch them for one’s with less padding! He'll be uncomfortable until he’s confronted with his deformity!"
You scolded him about his phrasing, but helped him plan his pranks nonetheless.