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“Casey, your laugh is so loud and obnoxious you could wake Mikey with it.” It was a Wednesday night, and Casey had been spending his time tinkering with Donnie in the lab. He didn’t remember what they were creating, or what he had been working on, but he remembered that line, clear as day leaving Donnie’s lips.“Hah, not like yours is any better, Alien-Hands!” Casey snapped back without really thinking. His mind was lingering on the turtle’s comment. Donatello leaned back in his seat to meet Casey’s eyes. “Oh, you don’t want to start this, Balloon-Brain.” Casey turned away from Donnie’s gaze. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t feel like looking at him right now, instead choosing to return to his mindless work. “Oh yeah? And what if I do, Cup-Clinker?” Donnie gave Casey a confused, but amused look. “What does that even mean??”Later that night, Casey was lying in his bed, trying to fall asleep, but his mind refused to get off of that line from earlier. He didn’t know why it bothered him so much. It was just a joke… Right?Over the next few days, Casey didn’t go to the lair per usual. After school, he would go home and sit in front of the mirror, quietly laughing at nothing, tweaking the volume, tone, speed, or whatever he thought was wrong that time, and rinse-wash-repeating. He didn’t know why he was doing this. He knew it was a joke, but it kind of hurt when it came from Donnie. It stung like he had glass splinters in his chest, not bleeding, but constantly causing a tingling pain.Finally, once Casey had enough of the questions from his dad and sister on why he was home so early, or why he was sitting in front of his mirror, or why he didn’t seem to want to talk to them, he returned to his sewer routine.Walking into the lair felt good, but it was also nerve-wracking. Not because Casey Jones was anxious or anything! He knocked on the door to Raphael’s room first, and after receiving no response after 6 more times, he moved to the lab next. Donnie was there, sketching out blueprints for his next big addition to his ever-increasing work pile.“Hey D!” Casey spoke with a smile. Donatello put down his pencil and turned to face Casey. “Hey Casey, where were you? I thought your project was going to rust before you came back.” Donnie said it with a smile too, visibly glad that he was there. This gave Casey a pit in his stomach. What if he doesn’t like my new laugh? What if he thinks I’m weird for changing it? What if he thinks I give a damn about some stupid comment he made? What if- what if- what if- Casey felt a jolt run through his spine when he heard a loud snap in front of him.“Dude, are you ok? You completely spaced out. I thought you liked hearing about my “mechanical marvels”.” Donatello said the last part with a touch of obvious sarcasm, quoting Casey. The black-haired boy nodded quickly. “Yeah! I do like hearing about them, I just didn’t get much sleep last night…” Casey tried to brush off the interaction, and once he got his brain to shut up about the what if’s, he was starting to enjoy himself. At least, until Donnie told a joke.It was some dumb story about Leo when she was a kid, but Casey involuntarily laughed in the new way he had drilled into himself over the last few days. Donatello looked confused but continued on with his story. Casey tried to keep from reverting back to his old laugh, only coming close twice.“-That was until Raph came in and punched Leo right in the nose! Over rice!” Donnie exaggerated the actions, acting it out with his hands as he spoke. Casey started to crack. He really did try to keep his fake laugh, but the story was so entertaining that he let out a loud, wheezing laugh like he usually would.“There’s the Casey I know!” Donnie pointed and smiled at Casey, and began to laugh himself. Once they calmed down, Casey wiped a tear and began to question Donnie. “But I thought you didn’t like my laugh! You said it was too loud and obnoxious!” Donnie was confused. “I thought you knew it was a joke- I’m sorry. Your laugh is uh- nice…” The olive-skinned teen’s voice began to get quieter, as his head slowly lowered itself into his shell in slight embarrassment at this admittance.Casey gave a lopsided smile, slightly blushing out of affection embarrassment. “Thanks, D. That means a lot to me.” Casey stood up from his seat on the floor and walked behind Donnie, looming over his now-finished blueprints. “So what’s next on the agenda?”As they continued to work, Casey made a promise to himself that he would never try to change himself for anyone else again. Especially for Donnie, because Donnie loved who he was, and Casey loved who Donnie was. Even if neither of them would say so yet <3