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

[semilethal]

[pauses for just a second.

then spins around, coming back over to the hovering cot.] Serious how? Describe how it feels.

[neonleon]

[He's a little caught off guard by the sudden intensity but-]

I dunno. Never felt like this before? Like... [Think, Leo, think through the groggy haze. He shifts a little before his jaw clenches and he remembers to breathe.] Uncomfortable like this, but... Earlier, sitting up hurt. Like my shell wasn't sitting right.

[And now that he's saying it out loud, putting words to the feeling, it's a creeping anxiety under his skin. He's never felt anything like that before.]

[semilethal]

[donnie chews on his lip for a second, glaring down at leo's shell as if he could see through it if he just stared hard enough. he should've studied more physiology. he should've been more careful with leo yesterday, and the day before. should've focused more on stabilizing him and keeping him immobile, shouldn't have let him walk around. rookie mistakes.]

Stay there, [donnie orders, taps his wrist computer. the shell-cot moves a bit, as if creating a cradle to allow leo to rest fully without putting as much pressure and weight on his shell, almost like a hammock instead of just a flat bed.] Don't move at all. All right? I'll be right back. [and then, without much more explanation, donnie disappears.]

...he was up all night, [sheldon offers, the wires snaking out again and gently re-attaching to leo's forehead and inner elbow. the clip searches for his fingertip again as well.] Don't worry Leo. Donnie'll fix you.

[neonleon]

Wha- Hey.

[He cranes his head to watch his brother leave, even as the bed is moving and he feels himself being shifted into a new position. It's- honestly a little easier? But still feels the weight moving weirdly between his back and shell. And a suspicion of what's happened starts to solidify in his exhaustion addled brain, something he doesn't want to put words to. It's never happened before, something Leo didn't know could happen, as his breath and heart start picking up quicker.

How many hits had it been? How many time had he gotten slammed and tossed around, bouncing like a ragdoll?

Casey, please!

It was supposed to have been quick, was supposed to have been like ripping a bandaid off. So why are the effects still lingering?

He slumps a bit watching the door.]

...I know he will.

[semilethal]

Hey, bro! Would you like to discuss your experience? [a little mechanical hand holding a notepad and a pencil (lmao) also pop out from underneath the cot, ready to scribble] Donnie installed a new 'empathy' patch and downloaded some shrink books into me! Said he didn't have time. Tell me how you feel, dude.

[neonleon]

[He all but growls under his breath, mostly irritation and exhaustion and pain-]

I feel like I want to talk to my brother.

[semilethal]

No sweat dude, I can do that too!

[and there's a brief trill of a phone ringing before donnie's breathless voice answers-]
(Sheldon, what happened?! Is Leo all right, did he get worse?!)

[neonleon]

[What Donatello hears is the dulcet tones of his brother calmly explaining himself to Shelldon.]

WHEN I SAID I WANTED TO TALK TO MY BROTHER, I DIDN'T MEAN CALL HIM!

[semilethal]

My b!

(Oh, you're fine.) [a huff, but the sounds of a distant new york still filter through the connection and donnie's breathing] (Don't- get over excited. What did you want to talk about?

[neonleon]

[Wait, his brother left? Why is he outside?

The realization deflates whatever he was going to say. Raph and Mikey are still out too. He wants dad. But if dad comes in here, Casey will too, and it'll be a whole thing that he doesn't want.

So Donnie it is.]

Look, just. I dunno, I'm a little freaked out right now?

[semilethal]

(Yeah. I'll call Dad, get him in there.) [leo adores their father, maybe the most of any of them. dad'll be able to make him feel better.]

[neonleon]

[The 'Don't bother' is on the tip of his tongue.

Maybe Dad would make him feel better. It's not the same as his brother, though.]

You get upset that I don't talk to you, and when I do wanna talk to you, you brush me off, sure. Fine.

[semilethal]

(What?) [there's a scuff, then donatello breathing a bit harder, but sounding less jostled.] (I'm not brushing you off, I'm doing something important! Besides, you honestly want to talk to me to feel better?)

[neonleon]

You know how Mikey and Raph are - they'll cry and blame themselves somehow. I don't really know Casey that well [for all his talking about being proud of Casey (and he was, that was genuine), he still doesn't really know a lot about the kid.] and Dad-

You're the one who'll take it seriously who also knows what's going on. So. Yeah. But you're doing something important, so go ahead. I'll just hang out with Dad and Shelldon.

[semilethal]

[there's a moment of silence from donnie, though not entirely of sound. cars honking, people shouting, and loud construction noise rings tinny through the call. closer, clearer, donnie panting as he takes a moment to catch his breath.

out in new york, donnie is standing at a building's edge, hands on his hips, not really seeing the rescue efforts he's gazing at down below. april is home with her parents. raph and mikey are at the pizza joint, helping out in exchange for some free food. dad and casey are both taking care of themselves and the home in their own ways.

and leo...is being honest. is reaching out to him, to donnie. it's not as if they're never close, it's not as if they're unsure with each other...they just tend not to be each other's first, or even second choice when it comes to reassurance and comfort. but it doesn't mean they can't. hell, more than the others, donnie and leo seem to sink into this weird near-identical mindset sometimes. it's the one thing donnie hasn't been able to figure out, and the biggest contributing factor to the on-and-off semi-serious joke/observation that leo and donnie are twins.]

(...I'm getting the contrast from April,) [donnie says finally, wiping at his forehead. mystic shell is still on the fritz, not working right. tech still smashed up or gone from their other fights, streets too clogged with debris and people for the turtle tank. running is the only option right now.] (I don't think you're in immediate danger, but I want to know what we're dealing with sooner rather than later. April doesn't know when her parents are gonna let her leave again.)

[neonleon]

[There initially isn't any response from Leonardo's side. Just the silence of the medbay and Leonardo's breathing a little heavier than he really probably should be.

It's something. It's more than he knew, and he didn't know that about April... Safer for her, even if he knows they'll all miss their friend (sis? she's effectively their sis at this point). He's grateful to just... Know what's happening. Not being able to walk around and inject himself into whatever he wants is killing him slowly.]

...Thanks, Dee.

[semilethal]

(People're already starting to clean up.) [gets moving again, the small hiccups and jolts in his voice for when he leaps and lands.] (Already equipment and crews all over the place. April's building is mostly whole, doesn't look like it saw a lot of action. One sec.)

[the CLANG of donnie landing on her fire escape, either not bothering or too tired to care about making noise. a one-sided conversation -"you have it? yeah. okay, i'll wait here. next week? probably not, i'll ask dad."- before he starts moving again.] (April says get better and stay in bed.)

[neonleon]

[It's... Good? It's good, hearing it all. Knowing what's going on topside, what's happening, how April and her family are doing. Feeling like he's still connected to what's going on. Having information is better in the long run, and getting it from Donnie ensures there's no weird onesidedness to it.

Leonardo feels better feeling connected.

Leonardo realizes the problem. He doesn't want to be alone, or feel alone. Disconnected from everyone at the same time. Just floating...]

Y-yeah. [If his voice sounds a little thick, don't mind him.] Will do.

[semilethal]

[leo only gets short like this when he's sinking too far into his own head. come on, a topic, look for something to-

...ugh. eugh.] (You haven't heard about how Mikey and I got control of the ship yet, right?)

[neonleon]

[He'd been about to let him go, just settle with Shelldon and dad, but-

Donnie had been cagey about whatever happened; Leo knew something happened, and the only logical time it could happened was when Don and Mikey were trying to hack into the ship. But considering the outburst, Leo hadn't wanted to badger him about it. But if he's offering...]

No, no one's said anything.

[semilethal]

(Well- oof.) [a rattling clang before donnie is off again, jumping from rooftop to rooftop] (That short Krang guy was in the main console, so Mikey and I had to figure out how to get him out. That mostly just involved us falling around, but Michael- Michael was brilliant. Tricked the bastard into whacking himself into the wall with his own tentacles. You should've seen him, Leo, he was marvelous.)

[neonleon]

[Leo glances up at Shelldon with half a smile. He's tired, he's in pain and aching, but that sounds like something he wished he could've seen. He would've loved to see one of the Krang assholes hit himself in the face.]

Sounds like Mikey. He's good at that, always that razmataz.

[semilethal]

(He really knocked it out of the park.) [setup]

[neonleon]

Home run, huh?

[A testament to how ...disoriented he is, he misses the setup entirely.]

So Mikey got the Krang guy out of the main console?

[semilethal]

(Mhm. After that, just a matter of interfacing correctly.) [compartmentalization is a wonderful thing.] (I know we were fighting for our lives and trying to save the world but Leo, the way that ship worked? It's like I was the ship.) [and donnie has to stop for just a second, has to stand and pant and look up at the sky, about maybe where the ship was. where he was.] (Felt like I was so much more than myself. ...felt like I could do anything.)