There shall be no more secrets between us

[fearless_leader]

Who: Hamato Donatello, Hamato Leonardo, Robert Hastings
What: CAMPING, with a side of story telling
When: September 4th until whenever they come back
Where: Western Lake
Summary: The turtles go camping and drag a reluctant scientist with them. Plus telling about lives and other shenanigans.
Rating: Uh, PG to possibly R? The TMNT verse is pretty rough.


It had taken quite a bit of convincing, and a lot of walking, they were at the campsite. Even Robert made it, helped along by use of the side-car bicycle that Don had. Carbon was left at home with plenty of food and water. They'd brought with them supplies they could carry, that they'd need. Including the tent and sleeping bags they'd be sleeping and staying in.

Comments

Beginning of storytelling (feel free to start other threads before or after)

[i_speak_softly]

It had been a long day, but by the time evening gathered, the residents of House 55 had a comfortable little camp by the side of the lake: tent pitched, dinner eaten and cleaned away, fire neatly banked.

Don reclines in the sand, feeling more or less at peace with the world. Robert, though, seems pretty uncomfortable with everything, so Don looks for some way to distract him.

"Hey, Leo. Tell us a book."

[fearless_leader]

It's been a day. Robert had done better on the hike than Leo expected him to. The sand holds the days heat and makes it easy to relax. In fact at the moment Leo is stretched out on his side, watching the fire. He has noticed Robert's lack of being comfortable though. But he had expected it. The man's never been camping before. There's a lot to take in.

Don's words break Leo out of his thoughts, and he pushes himself back into a sitting position.

"Good a time as any. Anything in particular you want to hear?"

[semper_cogitans]

Robert's discomfort is only partially caused by the exhaustion of the day - the most prominent issue at hand is the fire. The smell of wood smoke brings up cultural memories of horror and so he is trying his best to ignore it, facing half away and flinching whenever the tinder crackles or when a spark lances too high.

He's still not exactly sure how he even managed to make it this far. Though the bicycle sidecar helped, his legs are still a bit stiff, and it's not helping when he's hunched over protectively trying to process everything while simultaneously attempting to reassure himself that the forest is not going to burst into flames.

So Don's question helps to drag him out of his thoughts as well as Leo's, even though it takes him a while to piece it together. A story? He is instantly curious, albeit uncertain as to what exactly to push Leo into saying.

[i_speak_softly]

Don casts a careless glance at Robert - he's been mostly ignoring the man's twitchiness, on the hunch that babying him through this new experience will only make things worse - then looks back to his brother.

"Tell Ronald about us. At home."

[fearless_leader]

No, babying Robert won't help. For now the fact that he's not far away from the fire, seems like a huge step. Even if he is flinching.

At Don's request he's silent for a moment, before he nods.

"Very well." Is he giving in too easily? Possibly. But either way.. "I know Robert knows of our origins." He looks thoughtful, rubbing at his chin for a moment. "Well, we didn't exactly have a normal childhood. We spent years underground before we encountered our first human. Or, well, humans." Including the human that would eventually become Casey, though the turtles never put two and two together.

"There was that time we tried to teach this kid how to fight. Which was also our first time above ground." He chuckles. "Let's just say, I'm a better Sensei now, than I was back then."

[semper_cogitans]

As Leonardo begins to speak, Robert timidly turns to face him, propping his head up on his hands. He looks less anxious now; doesn't hunch over as far, doesn't hug his legs to his body with the same bowstring-taut panic. Having the Turtle's words to concentrate on is helping to ease his fears.

So is the thought of Leonardo as a small child. He remembers it from the event, the small curious Turtle who was his companion for those first few days in a world that was very strange to both of them. It's something that actually makes a small smile break out on his face, even as he considers more soberly the feeling of being outside, being able to show one's face when one has never been able to before...

"... I would... c-certainly hope so. Though surely you could not be so poor a sensei...?" To his understanding, they've been trained since they were very young. Even as children, they probably understood more about fighting than many adults.

[fearless_leader]

Oh Robert, you have too much faith in them.

"Actually, in the end? The poor kid wound up getting the shell beat out of him three times. Because of us." With us he means him, Don and their other two brothers. A lot has clearly changed since then. But yes, they were the typical 'I know everything' kids at one point.

Hygiene is difficult in substandard conditions (a.k.a. holy shit Robert grows facial hair?!)

[semper_cogitans]

By the end of a few days in the wilderness, Robert is starting to become genuinely distressed by his unkempt condition. Normally, he's able to keep himself clean and tidy on a consistent basis, and though he's trying his best to do that out in the wilderness of Luceti, even he can't keep all of the natural detritus of the world off of him. (It's one thing to study it from a distance, but it's quite another to have it smeared all over his hands without having a way to wash it.) Luckily he has a lot of soap and other cleaning supplies, but it doesn't always help.

Case in point - stubble. The fact he has to rely on a relatively-poor solar cell design to charge his electric razor is annoying. But now it's finally sufficiently charged and he's going to take advantage of the early morning's solitude to remove the irritating bristles from his face.

This isn't something he usually does around the Turtles, partially because his routines for it are so strange and partially because it's never seemed to be something they were interested in before. But the buzz of a razor in the otherwise-quiet camp will probably get their attention whether Robert wants it or not.

[i_speak_softly]

Sure enough, Don comes yawning out of the tent, looking around for what kind of insect is making all that noise. After scanning back and forth a few times, it dawns on him that the droning is coming from the device Robert is rubbing against his face.

Give him a minute to try to figure out what he's looking at...

[semper_cogitans]

It's probably not helped by the fact that Robert is a. faced away from Don and b. using said device in an arcane fashion. For one thing, he's shaving in incredibly precise motions across his face, attempting to clip the hair as short as humanly possible, and for another thing, he's stopping occasionally to use the small mirror he has with him to gauge the presence of stubble.

He hasn't noticed Don yet, though, because Don is actually quiet. But that'll probably change in a moment.

[i_speak_softly]

Don has a feeling this would be a bad time to startle Robert, but how to avoid surprising the twitchy Terran when he's concentrating so intently? Don hesitates, trying to think like someone who isn't a ninja.

[semper_cogitans]

The best thing to do, probably, is get his attention when he's only scrutinizing himself in the mirror.

Now that he's about a quarter of the way done, Robert picks up the mirror again to check how much of the stubble he's removed, meticulously checking himself over. This is probably the best moment to interrupt...

[i_speak_softly]

Don seizes the opportunity, moving up beside Robert and making sure to rustle the grass as he does so. Good morning, lover...

[semper_cogitans]

Good morning to you, Don.

"... Ah -" Robert turns his head at the rustling, a little wary, before he realizes it's Don and immediately relaxes.

"... Did I... wake you?"

He can't help but feel a little silly. Partially shaved and slightly rumpled from sleep in the outdoors is not exactly the sexiest he has ever been.

The torturing of Donny. Aka: Swim time!

[fearless_leader]

It's early morning, with the sun just coming over the horizon. It's that time of day Leo loves. The fresh air, not that it changes much in luceti. The quiet newness as the animals just start to wake up to the new day. Leo's slipped out of the tent to stretch the sleep out of his muscles, eyes peering at the water, before he looks back at the tent. They ought to be up to enjoy this too.

He'll slip back into the tent, moving to place a hand on Don's shoulder and give it a shake, if he's not up already.

"Come on, rise and shine." He'll do the same to Robert too, if needed.

[i_speak_softly]

Go away, Leo. Can't you see Don is sleeping? It's way too early for whatever you're trying to make him do.

[fearless_leader]

Yes he sees your sleeping. But you've been sleeping for hours. It's time to get up now. It's not the first time you've been up this early. He'll give your shoulder a harder shake.

"Don, up and at them."

[i_speak_softly]

Yes. Sleeping for several hours in a row is what people do. Give him one convincing reason why those hours should terminate now.

clearly we have to have a hiking thread too. This is on the way there \o/

[semper_cogitans]

How did Leonardo talk him into this, again?

It's only half an hour into the hike and already Robert is starting to feel like this was a bad idea. He's not necessarily exhausted yet, no, but he is definitely more tired than he's been in awhile and with little to show for it. He has the nagging feeling that his compatriots are slowing themselves to keep up with him, too, and that's discouraging.

In spite of everything though, he's trying to focus on the good parts of this trip. At least there's... um... a lot of nature! Which is really making him want to wash his hands. There is dirt everywhere and it's all over him... And a lot of things to potentially research... if he could stop, which he can't.

Yeah. This is difficult. How do these Turtles even manage it?

... Maybe somebody should distract Robert before he goes a little crazy picking at the various plant seeds trying to embed themselves in his clothing.

[i_speak_softly]

Don falls back a little, pacing himself to Robert, and swipes a seed off the hem of the scientist's lab coat. Instead of throwing it away, then, he holds it out to him. Look at the fascinating design of this seed that allowed it to hitch a ride on your clothes.

[semper_cogitans]

... Oh, it is actually an interesting seed, now that he looks at it. Is this a hybrid plant?

Of course, Robert is now going to stare very intently at its shape instead of concentrating on the path. Might have to steer him away from that rapidly-approaching tree branch...

[i_speak_softly]

Easily done. Don veers subtly to one side, taking the seed with him. Follow, scientist...

[semper_cogitans]

Like some weird kind of guided-missile system, Robert shifts his path as he concentrates on the seed's workings, entirely unaware he is being literally led around by the nose.

This is probably hilarious to any onlookers.

[fearless_leader]

Leo adjusts his own pace to keep with his brother and Robert. Might as well hang out with the group, rather than lose them. The 'follow the seed' game gets a blink and a bit of a chuckle.

"Good focus there, Robert."

[i_speak_softly]

Don flashes a grin at Leo, then pokes the seed into Robert's hand. It's good to have the people he cares about together and safe, to hike with him through the woods on a beautiful morning.