semilethal | voicemail

[Leonardo looks at that hand on his arm. Donnie doesn't do touch, not without purpose and meaning. So what was the purpose behind this?

Oh.

He looks up to meet Donatello's eyes for a moment before settling somewhere easier, those drawn on sharpie eyebrows.]

And this is better? A place we don't know surrounded by a bunch of strangers? You'd rather have that? [Nevermind that Leo needs the familiar. Nevermind his thinking if the others show up and they somehow miss each other, the most logical first placed they'll look is the sewer.] I mean, sure it's all we've got, but-

[But. Donnie seems... fine. He'll, he'd initially told Leo to stay at his own faction housing. He raises one hand to squeeze Donnie's still holding his forearm. Just gentle, affirming. More than anything, more than the familiar, more than feeling comfortable, he wants his brother close by. He doesn't think he could be alone for very long right now.]

Fine. If this is what you're okay with, then we'll make it sure. Just gotta find some way to signal Raph and Mikey where we are when they show up.

[Because they will. He's sure of it. He has to be.]

[hahahahahahahaha 'fine' yes, of course he is fine.

leo's responding well to the closeness though, so donnie summons his inner Mikey (Dr. Feelings Version) and sits down next to him, close enough so their knees touch.]

I'm working on that too. [taps at his wrist computer, which lights up pale blue and displays...nothing. and then lots of nonsensical-looking text.] I'm not getting a signal to any of my missing tech or the lair, but I checked and the trackers are still enabled, just either not sending or I'm not receiving the signal. Once I fix this, I'll make multiple receivers so we can all keep track of each other. [not invasive at all and 100% safe and appreciated and leo will like it probably]

[Leo leans into Don's space to look at it the screen, despite knowing full well he won't understand any of it. But it's good to know Donnie's working on it, on something. Not that he thought his brother wasn't, but the confirmation and seeing it in front of him helps.

He takes a deep breath and shifts so he can drape one arm over Donnie's shoulders, leaning into him a little.]

So that takes care of that problem, once you can figure it out. And in the meantime, just us.

[Because this'll go so well. He's already almost made a mess of it.]

[bingo. leo's moving closer. either leo was trying to be stoic "big"-brother-kind-of-leader-now, or he was being overly conscious of donnie's very vocal preference to not be touched. either way, donnie's both annoyed by it and worried about it; but quietly, and to himself. another thing to take into consideration.]

That we know of. [closes out of his tracking program but doesn't move away, even as the closeness seeps just a bit under his skin. he's fine. he can do this for a few more minutes; and now that he knows it's something to be conscious of, he can make plans. today's just- yeah, it's just not a good day. leo's going to feel the lack of closeness way more than donnie will, of course. donnie can schedule accordingly to make sure leo isn't by himself too often, and pace his own interactions to make sure leo gets that attention he needs. sure. there's spreadsheets for that.]

-anyway. [and they're talking, too. this is also good; even if they're just a duo right now, that's still a team, and they should be talking things out. of course, he should let leo know what's going on. it'll make him feel better. maybe he should set another reminder to give leo updates, he likes updates and leo doesn't always remember so sometimes he'll need repeat updates. yeah, sure, add that to his computer, just make sure to check in for that also.] -anyway. Options for escape. We should discuss that, too. Most obvious is to fulfill these "contracts" or whatever.

[Oh but can't it have been both, dear brother? Trying to be stoic leader and being overly conscious of his brother's needs? It's what Leonardo's trying to tell himself anyway. That leaning he's doing does get heavier as he tries to make sense of Donnie's screen before he gives up and leans a very normal brother amount instead of overbearing.]

Yeah, that'd be the most straightforward way. [Which means he's not overly interested. Where's the twists, the turns, the drama?] We know there're native youkai and 'Lost Souls', who mostly look human, but then there's us so...

[He looks at Donnie. He remembers ...something from that big red string board. The word isn't coming to him though.] Like... Do you remember, Jupiter Jim and the Dark Side of the Moon 15? His, his his what was it, what'd they call it, it was like a backwards version of everything?

Wha- alternate universe? [gives leo an Unsure look, because like look, jupiter jim is obviously the pinnacle of sci-fi entertainment, but the actual science? involved? ...surprisingly solid depending on the writer!] So you think what, this is some multiverse rendition of the Hidden City?

YEAH! Yeah, yeahyeah that.

Why couldn't this be that? It looks and works like Hidden City.

So why can't it be some other mystic city somewhere on Earth? New York can't possibly be the only one. [then again, this one uses yen but everybody is speaking english instead of japanese. weeb city?]

A weeb city, sure. It doesn't really feel right, though.

[He needs more information really. Too little already to make a confident guess.

With whatever between them sorted out seemingly, Leo lets Donnie go and ceremoniously flops onto his back, arms behind his head. Now he's curious about other potential Hidden Cities, and are they all connected, could they see them all? Could it be a way-too-convenient-way for them to travel outside NYC? Probably. Too much to hope for.]

One day, you guys have got to tell me about those sewers in Tahiti. [Just thinking out loud, the way that ADHD brain of his goes.]

[donnie relaxes just a fraction and gets out his phone, scrolling through the lost souls feed. autistic brain answers questions because why talk if no want information? input equals output and vice versa.] It was cleaner. Had that hint of ocean spray without all the rotting fish and dock garbage. Not as roomy, but beautiful vacation spot.

You need to figure out how to get us back there next summer so we can take April.

[He hadn't really expected Donnie to answer him this second. But man. That sounds awesome. Leonardo stretches his arms and legs out side on the floor.]

Definitely no fair you guys got to see it without me! I'll make my portals work by then.

[Short range portals he'd all but mastered. But longer range, anything more than ten or twenty feet was a challenge he still struggled with.]

Or, here's an idea. I build us plane. [more reliable and more likely to work, besides.

-ah, the kettle. donnie glares at it like someone else put the kettle on the stove and made it make that horrible sound, but he's up and pouring water into their mugs all the same.]

Wait, you can do that?

[They could travel so much if they had their own plane and didn't have to worry about like. IDs and security. Tahiti! Toronto! Anywhere!]

Have you been holding out on us?

Leonardo, please, at any given moment I am holding out on all of you. [if u knew everything he was working on at all times ur lil triangle head would explode]

But regarding the plane, no. It's logistics. [brings the mugs over and holds one out for his brother to sit up and take.] Building a plane is easy. Storing it and sourcing the room for a runway is not. I thought about doing some sick disappearing runway thing under Central Park, but there are so many utilities. [so many.]

Oh. But how cool would it be, right?

[SO COOL. He's practically beaming as he sits up to take the mug.]

Okay okay okay, what's the coolest thing you've been holding out? I gotta know.

Oooh, the coolest? Oh man. Uh... [so like, he's mad bc all his work and facilities and everything isn't here, but leo? ASKING about his work??? ASKING FOR DETAILS? like donnie is going to pass up this opportunity] Well, for some reason that drill really hit it big with you guys, so I was trying to think of something to top it ever since. So I was thinking- air strikes. Unmanned short-range fleets are a lot easier to launch than passenger, and they could use rotary flight so I wouldn't need a runway for any of them, but even if they did I could probably make it near vertical? And not just for combat but also if we needed some stuff then just BAM, I tap a few buttons, we get an air drop of supplies or weapons or food or whatever.

[He was genuinely asking.

The problem, unforeseen because it has never happened before, is that he has nothing to occupy his hands with. And without that, he's left to sip tea and listen. And listen.

And listen.

And oh my goddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd does he ever stop.

He's almost dozed off by the time Donnie finished, having gathered that Donnie was wanting to make something to transport their weapons like the drill. That's it, that's all he had to saaaaaaaaaaaaaay why does he take so many words to say so little.]

Uh huh.... Right.

-but Donatello, you might ask, what about the assembly? Not of the drones themselves obviously, that's child's play, [yeah he's not stopping]

Donnie! Donnie, okay so.

[Just gonna cut him off, save himself the brain exhaustion here.]

So you said this stuff [He gestures to the poor lonely espresso machines on the floor] you said is a job you're doing?

All right, so I'll check out the arena and what weapons they have there. Find out what cost we're looking at and let you know, yeah?

[And if he fights to earn a little himself in the arena, who's to say.]

[SCOWL. don't ask questions if you don't want a 30 minute ted talk!! how rude. he even let you lean on him ever so briefly, the least you could do is feign interest in his work for four to five business days]

Yes, fine. Jobs like these aren't exactly going to get us far, but I think I need a little more time before using- uh, other methods.

[Sorry, bro, but he does not have the mental real estate to hear your two hour long ted talk four days a week. He's putting together planning.

As he sips his tea.]

Uh huh. Other methods that I'm sure our father and brothers would all agree to if they were here but they're not so we make do and do whatever we have to even if that means I won't say anything as long as we get what we need.

[See he can talk long sentences too. Another sip.]

Do you want me to look at a bo for you or do you wanna try to rebuild tech-bo here?

Nyyyeeeauuugggh. if you would look into it. [hATES IT. he wants to have flame throwers and buzz saws and various weaponry god damn it!! an entire battalion's worth of projectiles!!! god he's so mad] I'm not going to have the resources for anything decent for a while.

[ooooh Donnie hates it, he can tell. No flamethrowers or buzz saws or even the big hammers to put on.

Another sip of tea.]

Good because I already asked about that too. I'll see what they have.

Uh. I guess... [Good big brother? Hizen had joked that he was a 'good' brother, but Leo is trying to take that seriously.] Metal if they have one?

[Not likely, but never hurts to think about. And if Donnie can use the metal for something else, why not?]

Natch. [wooden? with no mystic powers? what is this, the stone ages? or the...the wood ages, he'll workshop that joke first] Whole paycheck, huh...? [looks over at the espresso machines and sighs.]

[Sip sip.]

I can earn some money in the arena, too. [He's helping, shut up.]

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