LEO - POST MOVIE

[semilethal]

[ nobody asks where april found the van. some mild criminal activity feels irrelevant in light of the day they just had anyway, and they couldn't exactly walk all the way back to the lair.

not with leo like...this. not just leo either; raphael couldn't hardly hold his head up, hunched and clearly wearing his 'i'm the eldest and i won't complain' face as he cradles leo so carefully on their way to the van. mikey's hands and arms won't stop trembling, even when he twists them together and presses them to his plastron. donatello is sore all over and his skin and shell feel raw, like someone rubbed him down with sandpaper.

and leo's quiet. leo's too quiet.

so there they are in the cargo van, raph tucked toward the front with a leg stretched out for mikey to use as a pillow to doze upon. april and casey sit up front, throwing concerned glances over their shoulders as often as is safe while april slowly weaves the vehicle through the half-destroyed streets toward the nearest access point. splinter sits near the doors as their only other capable fighter, though he keeps his tail curled around leo's uninjured ankle.

and donatello, he's stripping off his gloves because he's going to have to touch his brother to get a better idea of his injuries, and his skin doesn't feel like his own and that'll interfere with his judgement. the fewer layers between he and his brother, the more accurate he can be. ]

Alrighty Leon. Look alive, let's...let's diagnose.

Comments

[neonleon]

[He still doesn't like it. He doesn't like any of this or that this decision is his to make.]

Before we go ripping a hole through the universe again, let's track down the sister.

[semilethal]

[FROWNY FACE......but he worked so hard on this little diagram....but ok that makes sense kind of] All right. Might as well confirm the brother's dead, too. Maybe she can tell us before we kill her.

[neonleon]

[And we're all very proud of the little diagram.

STILL WITH STRAIGHT TO KILLING THOUGH. If he didn't know better he'd almost think Donnie's mad.]

Then. Yeah, let's work on that. [Y'know, after he finishes healing up, who knows how long that could take right]

[semilethal]

[the murder is the most important part my guy] Rrgh, fine. I'll dig into some forums and see if any conspiracy theorists struck gold.

[neonleon]

Cool. Shouldn't b e too hard to track down considering how big an event all that was. I think.

How much cover up do you think they did?

[semilethal]

If they're smart? As little as possible. Otherwise they could Streisand-effect the Krang right into stardom. [Opens up a browser that looks very unsupported and starts typing. Brings up what appears to be a black chat window and runs a couple lines of code as well.] I'll start with conspiracy theory boards and black market hits for spaceship debris. Someone has evidence somewhere.

[neonleon]

Cool. I'll keep an ear out at Hueso's. [As if any of them will let him go out any time soon. He's aware, he just wants to say something to sound like he's helping here. If it means he doesn't have to make that decision right the fuck now...]

We'll find something.

[semilethal]

Mmm. [Dismissive, maybe. Preoccupied.

Though when it seems like Leo is about to escape back to non-sciencey land, Donnie turns in his swivel chair abruptly.] Nardo. Uh. A moment, first.

[neonleon]

[He was just gonna go back to laying down or something but stops halfway to the door.]

Buh- Yeah? What's up?

[semilethal]

[Taps fingers rapidly on armrests. Neurotic. Looks away from Leo's face, fixes on something...somewhere. Across the room. The bomb model, maybe.]

It was, mm. Brought to my attention that my handling of this whole...situation was perhaps not the most graceful. [Understatement. Michael "Dr. Feelings" Hamato specifically called his behavior a "dumpster fire with a PhD," which was a little flattering but also enlightening. "You did that thing where you turn off all emotions except anger, Donnie," Mikey had sighed in exasperation, hitting him on the head with his clipboard.

Donnie barrels onward without pausing to let Leo react, or even speak. Gotta get it out with the momentum, gotta complete the thought(s).] That I didn't accurately portray how I'd felt, or even understood how I'd felt. I wanted to clarify what I'd said to you, about you...giving up. I know that wasn't it. But the idea that we- I could have lost my brother so quickly, so easily, wasn't one with which I could come to terms, so I. Detonated, as it were. My anger at my helplessness was transposed onto you.

So I'm sorry. You didn't deserve the accusation.

[neonleon]

[Leo has learned one thing during this whole invasion and aftermath: how to listen. Listening is occasionally, sometimes, maybe even marginally important. So rather than brush it off or do that thing where he looks like he's listening but he's actually thinking about eight other things because he has nothing to do with his hands here to keep himself physically occupied through what sounds like it's going to be a very difficult conversation, he forces himself to stand there and focus.

'Giving up'? He... doesn't remember, not completely. He sort of vaguely remembers Donnie being mad and exploding a bit, but it was so wrapped up in delirium and pain that Leo couldn't remember the details of it. Was it that?]

...It's fine, Dee. Water under the bridge. [Still. It's good to hear at least. Like a balm on a burn he hadn't quite realized was there until it suddenly wasn't.]

[semilethal]

[Taps fingers again, restless. He was kind of hoping for a sudden release of his anxiety at the confession, but it's still kind of there. Maybe the relief is more gradual? Hm.]

Well. That's all I had to say.

[neonleon]

[Leo was also hoping for the release of his own anxiety at being fixed, we can't always get what we want he supposes. Not in this house anyway.]

...All right. Cool. Um. [Should he... say anything back?] Thanks. For- for fixing me up. [Leo you don't just say 'thanks' to your brother performing invasive surgery on your spine.]

[semilethal]

You're welcome. It was extremely difficult. [Oh, extremely.]

[neonleon]

....Yeah. So.

We'll figure out where the other two Krang are and go after those before we decide what to do with uh. Prison Dimension.

[semilethal]

[Raps his knuckles nervously against the desktop next to his keyboard before spinning in his chair to face Leo.]

What about Raph and Mikey?

[neonleon]

[Blinks twice at him.]

What about Raph and Mikey? Or...

[Light bulb going off.]

Do you not want them to know about this?

[semilethal]

They could have some...difficulties executing the finer points of our plans. [it's 'our' now]

[neonleon]

[Yeah, he picks up on that immediately. His expression is unreadable, even for someone not-Donnie before he nods.]

Got it. So we'll figure out what we're doing, get them either arguing about a movie or playing a competitive game together, boom we go do our thing while they're busy for a few hours.

[semilethal]

I could fake a robbery alert for them. [So long as he's not verbally lying to their faces, it would probably even work.] Small scale. I'll be busy rebuilding the lair defenses, and you'd still be benched. Knowing those two, they'd be distracted helping out with something else before they even get close enough to know it was a false alarm.

[neonleon]

Hm. Could.

Only works if you don't give them an update from what all you just told me. But it could work.

[semilethal]

Yes well, obviously any improv must rest on your shoulders.

[neonleon]

Yeah, we really should pick rehearsals back up after all this is over.

But all right, let's do that tomorrow.

[Please he is so tired and needs to get horizontal.]

Just shoot a message when you're ready and give me a head's up before the alarm goes off.