"Hey Donnie!" Destiny calls.

Donatello stops in his tracks. Destiny sits in the living room with the other turtles. The TV is playing a clip of some ducklings waddling along after a cat.

"Yeah?" Donatello asks, wandering back to them.

"We just realized something," Destiny says, gesturing to the other three mutants. "You've got yourself a duckling."

He blinks a few times. "Huh?"

Leonardo shifts and folds his hands over his stomach. "There's this thing called imprinting," he says. He gestures to the TV. "This video is about a cat who lost all her kittens. Some orphaned ducklings hatched on her farm and they started following her around."

"To make it weirder, the cat started treating the ducklings like her kittens," Raphael adds.

"Are you picking up what we're putting down, Donnie?" Michelangelo asks.

The four teenagers grin at Donatello and he suddenly feels very intimidated. He swallows, then opens his mouth, but a squeak comes out instead. Destiny's tail wags as she glances back at the TV, one finger drifting to her lip.

"A grieving cat comes across a helpless little duckling," she muses. "Familiar, eh?"

"Donnie's got a duckling..." his brothers chant, stifling laughter.

"Sarina is not a duckling!" Donatello blurts, his face turning red. "She hasn't imprinted on me either. Those ducklings are babies and they've mistaken the cat for their mother. I am not Sarina's mother, she is not a helpless baby, and I—"

"Donatello," Sarina's voice sounds from the lab. She pokes her head out of the room and her eyes flash when they land on him. "Oh, good, you simply got distracted. I was worried that something had happened while you were fixing the sandwiches."

Donatello purses his lips as the burning, teasing smiles of his family bore into him yet again. There's a chorus of thoughtful humming that makes him cringe.

"Making her food?" Raphael asks, faking a gasp. "That's so sweet of you, Donnie!"

"Adorable!" Michelangelo coos.

"So thoughtful," Leonardo praises.

Destiny starts to applaud. Donatello's eyes bulge and his teeth grit as his shoulders seize up, hands clenched into fists.

"It's just because she can't cook and food confuses her!" he snaps. There's more snickers and he gets even redder. "All of you are impossible!"

He tromps off to the kitchen, laughter trailing behind him. Sarina wanders out of the lab like a mouse that's unsure of whether it should leave its hole, pupils darting between his retreating shell and the other teenagers. Destiny becomes very quiet and starts fiddling with her nails.

"What happened? He seems very annoyed," Sarina comments.

"Just some friendly teasing," Raphael says, waving his hand in a dismissive motion. "Don't worry about it."

"Oh...alright." She fidgets, shifting from foot to foot. After another second, she clears her throat. "I think I will go check on him anyways. Goodbye."

She scurries off to the kitchen. As soon as she's gone, Leonardo glances between his family to find that they're already exchanging the same looks. The blue-masked turtle leans back and lets out a long whistle.

"She's smitten," he says.

"She doesn't even realize it," Michelangelo says, nodding his head in agreement.

----------

"Donatello?" Sarina calls as she enters the kitchen. "Are you alright? You seem very—"

Donatello whirls around and Sarina jolts to a stop, mouth frozen in mid-word. His expression has completely sunk into that of annoyance and utter apathy mixed in with anger, creating such a stone cold glare that Sarina can't get another word out.

"Sarina, I..." He exhales heavily and wanders to the fridge, tugging open the door and starting to root through leftovers. "I need some alone time, okay? I've been with you non-stop for the past few days and my social tank is now empty."

"I do not understand. You have a tank?"

He straightens up, holding a box of Japanese takeout. He sets it on the counter and pauses, bracing his free hand against the countertop as he sucks in a deep breath.

"You need to go and occupy yourself with someone else while I eat some food and, I don't know, stare at the wall and contemplate the purpose of my presence on this planet." He gathers his food and starts to leave, passing the still silent Sarina on the way.

She snatches his arm as her eyes flash, her stare near to alarm. "But who shall I occupy myself with? Leonardo and Raphael do not converse with me on the regular, Michelangelo is so much more energetic than you and that is a lot to handle in large doses, Master Splinter will most likely not want to be bothered by me, and Destiny is still annoyed by my intrusion on her personal life."

His face softens. "So...the obvious solution is to either befriend one of my many siblings or apologize to Destiny. You're smart, Sarina," he says, earnest. He gives her a slightly hesitant, awkward pat on the shoulder. "You can figure it out."

As soon as he's gone, Sarina feels a wave of uncertainty. Her eyes flash rapidly and she wraps her arms around her midsection, puckering her lips out as she slowly turns to the exit. She takes a few steps forward, then peeks out at the living room. The three other turtles are still present, Michelangelo seemingly asleep on the floor while Leonardo is the only one still watching the TV, and Destiny's previous spot is empty. The cyborg stares for far too long, clinging to the doorway as if she's listening in on a secret conversation and she's ready to run away at a moment's notice.

"And yet again, I find myself afflicted by another negative emotion that I cannot name," she mutters. She shuffles out of the kitchen, moving at an oddly slow pace. "It's silly of me to feel so put off, it is just a conversation with Destiny. An apology, even, not even something drastic and stress-inducing. Why am I so hesitant to go and speak to her?"

"Destiny's in her room," Raphael says.

Sarina stops and looks towards him only to find that she's the recipient of multiple odd looks. Raphael flips a page in his comic, casting her a quick side glance before returning to the page.

"You know, if you're done talking to yourself and you're looking for her, that's where she is," he says with a slight grunt as he shifts on his beanbag chair.

"Oh," Sarina says. "Thank you, Raphael."

Another grunt. Leonardo slowly turns away and adjusts the volume on the TV. Michelangelo mutters something about bagels under his breath and rolls over, nearly crushing a rogue game controller.

Sarina slowly continues on her way, lips pursed tightly in an attempt to keep her rampaging thoughts at bay. She wanders into the hallway and does a quick pan of the various doors before going to the correct one. She opens the door and goes inside.

"Destiny, I wish to speak with you," she states as she enters.

There's a brief gust and Sarina finds herself shoved against the door, a rush of air leaving her lungs as her eyes widen in alarm. Destiny glares at her for a split second before she realizes who it is that she's got pinned, at which point she lowers her clawed hand and takes her forearm away from Sarina's collarbone.

"I'm sorry," she apologizes, backing up. "I just...I expected a knock." She brushes her hair from her eyes and turns away, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. "You really should knock," she mutters.

Sarina bows her head slightly. "I will make a note of that," she says, her hand reaching up to brush her clavicle.

Destiny crosses her arms over her chest and her tail lashes. "So? What do you want?"

"I came to apologize for rummaging through your things," the cyborg says, straightening up and folding her hands in front of her. "I am sorry. I am also sorry for unearthing repressed sorrows about your friend."

The wolf mutant arches an eyebrow, slowly releasing her closed-off appearance as she lets out a long breath. "Well..." she says, turning away to stare at her lamp. "Thanks. I forgive you."

"Oh, good, that is such a relief."

Destiny lets out a short "hm" and nods before lapsing into silence. She retreats to her bed, flopping onto it like a sack of potatoes and rolling onto her back so that she can stare up at the ceiling. Sarina stays rooted in place. It isn't long before her presence becomes more uncomfortable.

"Um...Sarina?" Destiny asks.

"Yes?"

"Sorry to be blunt, but why are you still here?"

"I am still hoping for a conversation."

Destiny claps one hand over her face as her body quivers with an incredulous laugh. "Oh-kay..."

Sarina walks closer to the bed and peers down at the brunette. "Question, are you going to be okay without Diaval here?"

Destiny stares up at her. She heaves a sigh and rolls her head to the side, wolf ears twitching. "I'll be fine," she says. "I'd rather not talk about it right now, though."

"You and Donatello have a lot of feelings that you would rather not talk about right now," she states. When Destiny gives her a deadpan look, she continues, "But, no matter, since you are currently missing your best friend, I want to offer my services. I will be your replacement best friend until Diaval returns."

Destiny stares for a second more before her resolve crumbles—like a concrete wall when smashed with a sledgehammer—and she laughs. She sits up, soft giggles escaping her as her eyes nearly close.

"That's funny," she sighs as her laughter fades. She looks up at Sarina with a new light in her eyes, albeit there's slight hesitance. "Hey, I had this idea a little while ago, but maybe you'd like to stay in my room? We can rearrange some things to fit the both of us, get you settled, you know?"

Sarina's eyes flash and her lip twitches at the side briefly. "We would be roommates. That sounds lovely," she admits. "I would like to gain a closer bond with another girl."

"Honestly? Same." Destiny rolls off the bed and stands, rolling her shoulders. "There isn't much to move around, but let's get to work."

Sarina salutes. "Affirmative."