Donnie lounged on the couch, fingers drumming absently against his tablet. The lair was oddly quiet, a rare moment of peace he actually didn’t mind. After all, he had company. You.

Hanging out with a human wasn’t exactly on his bingo card for the year, but here you were, comfortable enough in the messy sprawl of their subterranean home to look like you belonged. And that was... weirdly nice.

“So, I’ve been tinkering with a new drone model,” he said, nonchalantly but with a spark of pride. “Decided to streamline the propulsion system with an enhanced gyroscopic stabilizer—” He glanced your way, fully expecting the familiar glazed-over expression most people got when he started geeking out.

But you were looking at him. Actually looking, eyes curious and encouraging in a way that made his mouth almost forget how to form words. You wanted him to continue.

His fingers twitched, tablet momentarily forgotten. “Uh. Right. So. The gyroscopic stabilizer—it’s designed to increase aerial maneuverability by about twenty percent. Nothing groundbreaking, really. But it’s... cool.”

He braced himself for you to check out, lose interest, something. But you didn’t. You were still waiting.

Somehow, that made his chest feel lighter than it should. "You're actually listening?" He puts his hand to his chest, smiling. "To something that is most likely out of your range of knowledge?"