The last thing Donnie wants to do is cause his brother this kind of pain. To an extent his thoughts run parallel to Leo's. Who's messed up idea was it to bring his brother here, thinking everything else was hopeless? It jabs at him from the inside, a different sort of ache than what he feels in his arms and his shell. It's almost nauseating, and the worst part of it is that Donnie doesn't know what to do about it.

He doesn't mean for his tail to pull tighter, but it might, just a little bit. It's like some physical lifeline, the anchor being his unresponsive brother, not that Donnie can hardly fault him.