I'm trying to write things again cause i forgot how. this is inspired by me spending a whole few minutes trying to figure out why they would be talking about spaghetti for a school essay before I realised it was the name of the artist *sob*
In the dimly lit lair, the soft hum of the computer mingled with the faint rustle of papers as the four turtles gathered around a cluttered table. Sheets of notes lay scattered across the surface, some scribbled with frantic urgency, others crumpled in frustration. The Donatello of this universe who simply went by “Dee”, hunched over a textbook as his older counterpart brought two cups of tea inside.
“What even qualifies as history? I’m not writing about boring stuff like wars or politics,” Dee grumbled lightly, eyes flickering up to Don as he gave him a small smile, a pity smile. It was such bull that Dad made him finish his homework as everyone else got to hang out with their “extended family from another reality” as Mikey called them.
“You should have finished it yesterday Donatello” Dad had said not only ten minutes ago, but it wasn’t that simple. It would be easy, fine, whatever, a simple essay he could do in a minute because Donnie just had to finish a show in a binge once he started it. It wasn’t his fault April had got him hooked on the Ranking of Kings; it was so charming. And he had thought he would have had enough time at lunch to start and finish the essay, but Mikey needed emotional support help, and Leo was no-where to be found. It was a whole series of events really and Dad should be praising him for taking care of his only little brother. But no! Punishment!
He slumped deeper in his chair, a scowl plastered on his face as Don, leaned over to look at his paper. It had nothing but the question title on it. Dee felt a prickle of shame wash over him even though he knew that Don was far too kind to ever judge him. “How about something that interests you? It doesn’t have to be conventional. What about the history of something you enjoy?”
Dee sat back in their chair, fidgeting with their eraser, this was so embarrassing. Even if his brother’s had received help from all their counterparts in the past over homework, Dee hadn’t. They were apparently the smart one across the multiverse so of course they knew everything. Most of their conversations with their alternates were about something they were actually interested and knowledgeable in. They had never felt so stupid before, up against Don’s genius while they were struggling to even think of what to write. Why did they ever say they wanted to go to school!
“Like what? I can’t think of anything that’s not completely lame.”
Don, sat down on the chair next to him and leaned back, balancing a pencil on his beak. His calm demeanour did nothing but irk Dee just that little bit.
“The French Revolution!” Donnie – the lanker turtle of the lot of them, exclaimed from the doorway, grinning as he took the other seat next to Dee.
“I don’t care about some peasants storming a fortress and neither should he!” Othello Von Ryan – as he wished to be called – stated, marching into the room behind him.
“Actually, it’s kind of fascinating,” Donnie challenged, rocking his chair slightly with a cool tone to his voice. “It was a time of major social change! You should appreciate the uprising of the common people.”
Othello rolled their eyes dramatically. “Let them eat cake I say.”
“She never said that-“ Donnie started, but was swiftly cut off by Othello.
“I know, I was quoting the movie, audible scoff.”
“Don’t you “audible scoff” me,” Donnie snapped slightly, arms crossed all of a sudden and puffing up as he sometimes did when getting irritated.
Don’s expression shifted slightly, “okay guys, its just a history topic, it’s not that deep.”
(Dee had taught him that one! All Don’s siblings spoke like they were right off a Disney channel, so he had had to teach them some slang for their own sakes.)
Othello huffed, crossing their arms tighter. “Yeah, yeah, lets just get the essay over and done with so we can work on something worth working on.”
And all of a sudden Dee felt a little bit of indignation rise, “you don’t have to help me, just go have fun or whatever.”
“No, dumb-dumb, I- we, want to have fun with you, that’s the whole point of this trip.” Othello replied in a bland tone, but Dee knew them well enough by now that they meant it. He was a terrible liar after all.
“So, what do you want to write it on?” Don asked kindly, as Othello started to scroll on their phone plopping down on the seat opposite Dee.
“What about the history of anime? You like anime, don’t you?” Donnie asked, leaning forward.
“Eh, Mark is already doing that and Jason is doing the history of film so, like, I could but I don’t think it’ll go down too well, because Miss Harrord knows we’re friends.”
“How about spaghetti?” Othello had spoken up, looking away from their phone though they still kept scrolling.
Dee blinked, the idea clearly catching him off guard. “Spaghetti? Seriously?”
“Yeah! Think about it,” Othello said, their enthusiasm bubbling over as their arms gestured wildly. “It’s not just a dish; it has this amazing journey through different cultures. You could explore its origins, how it spread to Italy, and even how it became a staple in Italian-American cuisine!”
As the other three looked at them momentarily stunned they paused for a second before admitting; “my Mikey has been ranting about people breaking pasta recently, it’s at the forefront of my mind right now.”
“That’s not a half-bad suggestion Othello,” Don praised, sipping at his tea from where he was still lounging with the pencil balanced.
Dee tilted their head, considering the suggestion, they did love food... and they had an Italian name… “I guess that could be kind of cool. But what do I even start with?”
Donnie grinned, eager to help. “You could begin with the origins of pasta in ancient civilizations. Did you know that noodles were being made in China long before spaghetti even existed? Then you can transition to how it made its way to Italy, especially when tomatoes came into the picture.”
“Right, tomatoes,” Othello added, “They weren’t even popular when they were first introduced to Europe, and now look at pizza.”
“Exactly!” Donnie encouraged, hand’s gesturing like a true teacher. “You could write about how spaghetti transformed over the centuries, especially with the Italian immigrants bringing it to America.”
Dee leaned forward, a smile creeping onto their face. “Okay, this actually sounds decent, and you guys know more than me about these random subjects.”
Don smiled, enjoying the shift in Dee’s mood. “History and culinary creativity all in one.”
“Plus, it’ll be way better than writing about some boring battle or something,” Dee added, feeling more energized.
“Now don’t bash wars, they can teach us a lot of strategy for our… ahem, nightlife,” Donnie stated with a tone more indicative of his Leo than himself.
“You guys seriously don’t have to help,” Dee started before getting cut off by Don.
“Let’s just finish your homework younger-but-no-less-great me,” Othello said, stretching their arms above their head with a slight yawn, before having a cup of coffee deposited in their hands by their battle-shell from one of the many compartments and one of the many robot arms.
Dee huffed slightly, “I don’t want you guys like, doing my homework for me, I don’t know anything about spaghetti so I’ll have to research it, so you guys should just go and I’ll catch up.”
“It’s seriously fine Dee,” Donnie said softly. Dee had sometimes wondered if Donnie shared some of his own insecurities around the other two who seemed so put together all the time, superior even. Sometimes Donnie got too defensive whenever Othello knew more than him – or god-forbid corrected him – and Dee thought in this moment that maybe that defensiveness stemmed from the same small voice in the back of Dee’s own head that told him he was a bother.
Dee felt his previous anxiety fade, as Donnie continued, “you can write your work and we can help with the research part of it, it’s not that big a deal so let’s get started.”
@spaghettileg plz do let me know if u want me to take this down xx
