(no subject)

[semper_cogitans]

Who: semper_cogitans and gaijin_ninja at first, with i_speak_softly , the_mikester , honorthecode and ninjacane probably joining in afterwards
What: Robert desperately needing his butt rescued
When: Backdated to yesterday (March 23), after the events of this thread
Where: Near the riverbank of the stretch of river between the bridges near Community Building Four. Will probably move to House 55 later
Summary: After an extremely short sprint away from Yuber (thanks to Litchi), Robert's pretty much passed out on the riverbank. Then he has a rather unlikely knight-in-shining-keratin come to rescue him. Shenanigans follow.
Rating: Gods, I have no idea. Tentatively saying R because Raphael is involved and things will likely get awkward later, but it'll most likely only be for language and/or violence - two things you can't really avoid with the TMNT

Robert is not doing well at all, by anybody’s standards of “well”.

Sprawled out on the ground with his forearms streaked with mud from where he’s collapsed on the sodden riverbank, shaking with utter exhaustion and terror; fear’s still coiling in his gut and driving him to get up – except he can’t, because he is so totally demolished physically from even the short sprint from the fountain’s perimeter to the riverbank. Adrenaline spikes through him even now, enough to make his hands tremble – but he still can’t will himself to get up. It’s useless. He’s useless. Litchi is there, in front of the angry Yuber – possibly even dying for his sake, dear gods - and he’d been too useless, he had needed to run...

He sobs softly, losing himself to the feeling of panic that threatens to overwhelm his rationality, even when it still sits there in his mind, quietly, coldly; surveying the situation, making notes. Yuber wasn’t attacking before I left. I sent out that message on the journals.

The question is... had anybody actually heard that message?

Comments

[meanandgreen.livejournal.com]

Footsteps approach, squelching in the soft river mud after days of spring rain. But spring brings other things to the reptilian mind, making them restless, and sparking the likes of Raphael with an almost incurable wanderlust. And today, he's indulging it with a run through the wet woods, paying no attention to the mud caked on his feet and splashed up on his legs. No, this's good stuff. Turtle heaven, if only it was warmer.

Running is almost mechanical, and he switches off his brain to everything but the rhythm of it. Which is exactly why he doesn't notice the struggling scientist at first. Not until a sob carries over his trudging and he has to double back, catching sight of a familiar lab coat on the ground a few meters away. Not good.

He moves closer, running faster when he sees it isn't just a coat, that's Robert lying there face-down in the mud. Shit.

Some deep, dark, spiteful part of him living somewhere in the pit of his stomach says Leave him there. He's the cause of all your troubles. No one will ever know.

But another, louder part says he can't just let the pathetic guy rot. Most of their troubles with Don probably have more to do with Don being a bastard than Robert himself.

When he approaches the heap of a man, he toes him gently in the ribs, looking for any sign of blood.

"Hey."

Are you still conscious?

[semper_cogitans]

Robert's too out of it, at first, to hear the soft sucking noises of broad reptilian feet parting the veritable ocean of mud near the riverbank. The combination of his own soft sobbing and the exhausted state both his body and mind are in are enough of a distraction to override the pounding beat of Raphael's footfalls. But being toed in the side? Not quite so much.

It takes a lot of effort - far too much effort - for Robert to half-raise his head enough to meet Raph's gaze. His eyes are bleary, blurry with tears, but it's still obvious whom it is.

"R-Raphael...?" Robert's voice is small, quiet, thinner than usual. He can't even muster up enough energy to sound terrified. He's nearly entirely gone, physically. It's evident by his posture and the obvious trail Robert left in the muddy ground that this is where he collapsed after running away.

After a moment, Robert continues speaking, every breath a laboured effort but needing to communicate it anyway. "... Nu... w-was attacked... I... t-tried to assist her, but... Y-Yuber showed up, and then D-Doctor Faye-Ling... pr-protected me, and..." He shakes, sobbing a bit. He can't help himself. Litchi's in trouble and largely due to me.

The scientist doesn't make any move to stand. He can't, right now.

[meanandgreen.livejournal.com]

Raph runs a hand over his sweat soaked face, barely listening to Robert's story. All he can think of is how he's never seen a human look this pathetic. It reminds him more of the sick cats and pigeons he used to find stranded in the sewers as a kid. There was just something that miserable that compelled him to sneak it home and try to secretly nurse back to health before Splinter could make him get rid of it.

It's that same sense of compassion for things weaker than he is that makes him stoop down and haul the quivering man over his shoulder, heading for home. The entire time he's questioning himself - Is it really worth it to help this guy? Would Don blame him for hurting Robert? - But the more he does, the more he doesn't seem to care.

Don better thank him for this. For now, he'll just try to keep the nerd conscious.

"The hell were you doin' messin' with Yuber?"

Maybe he really is retarded.

[semper_cogitans]

Robert lets out a soft questioning sound as Raphael picks him up and slings him over his powerful shoulder like Robert weighed about as much as a sack of feathers. But he doesn't protest - he doesn't have the energy or ability to. If Raphael is going to go throw him in a ditch or something, there isn't anything Robert can, or would try to, do to stop him. And, for whatever reason, he gets the impression that this isn't an aggressive act. Raphael isn't hurting him, anyway.

"I... c-certainly wasn't... doing so w-willingly..." Robert just barely shakes his head, gaze fixed on the ground. Where is Raphael taking me? "... He... simply showed up out of... nowhere... and... I-I didn't realize he was associated with Nu... Nu and I h-had... only spoken... once b-before then, and..." He hesitates to cough a bit, clearing his throat of some of the water that had gotten in it. "... She... was... a-attacked, by someone. I... c-could not simply... ignore that."

She was a sapient. Robert wasn't quite sure if she was a human or a non-human sapient, but that didn't matter. She had been attacked for no reason, and injured, and she'd deserved help.

He just... hadn't expected Yuber to be part of the bargain.

[meanandgreen.livejournal.com]

Raph just grunts and easily shifts Robert's weight. Luckily the journey isn't too far back to the house. As he keeps talking, he just focuses on getting there, playing through his mind everything that might happen when he walks through that door.

All he knows for certain is Don is going to freak.

About fifteen minutes later, he arrives at the house and lets himself in. He moves to deposit the stricken scientist on the couch, yelling at the top of his lungs.

"Don!"

Donnie better be home. This's his boyfriend. He can deal with it. But either way, that yell is sure to draw all sorts of curious company.

[the-mikester.livejournal.com]

Mike glances up at the door from where he's rolling out the dough for cinnamon rolls, and then does a double take when he sees who Raph's carrying.

"What the hell, Raph?" His voice is mainly curious, carrying tones of, What is that guy doing here? He grabs a towel to wipe his hands off with and comes into the living room.

Then he stops. Freezes. Eyes go wide.

"What. The. Hell."

Robert has no chi.

[semper_cogitans]

Robert, only barely fitting the definition of "conscious", looks up from where he was placed on the couch. ... The couch? He's on a couch? When did that happen? Was he really so out of it that Raphael could take him to a strange house - he wonders if it isn't the house the turtles live in, and the thought of Donatello is briefly enough to make him perk up and look around - without him noticing?

That shout rises Robert into a state where he's at least capable of discerning what's going on. Yes, this is where they live, if Raphael is calling for Donatello.

... Oh, and that other one - That's Michelangelo, isn't it? - who just arrived in the living room... ... Well. That wasn't the kind of reaction Robert was expecting.

He looks questioningly up at Michelangelo, glasses askew and still smudged with dirt and rainwater. "...?" That's really all he can manage, no words yet. Just a questioning little sound from the fuzzy half-consciousness he has at the moment.

[honorthecode.livejournal.com]

That yell is enough to draw Leo out of the work out room, where he'd been meditating.

"Raph? What's going on?" He asks as he comes out to the living room, though he stops when he sees the guy on the couch. That's that guy from the journals. Robert.

"Raph, what happened?" He asks his brother, since the scientist seems to be in no shape to answer.

[meanandgreen.livejournal.com]

"I found him like this."

At this point, Raph's looking almost frantically for Don. He's afraid to touch him before he knows what's going on.

"Out in the woods. Said he got in a tangle with Yuber. And if that's true, I got no idea why he survived."

[i_speak_softly]

A shout like that always gets Don's immediate attention - but on this occasion he was in the shower, and in the seconds it takes him to turn off the water and fling the door open, Mike and Leo have already beaten him to the scene.

It's not a scene that seems to merit that kind of shout, anyway. From where he's standing Robert isn't visible over the back of the couch, so all Don sees is Raphael covered in mud, Mike looking like he just saw a ghost, and Leo wearing an expression as baffled as the one Don is sure is creeping across his own face.

Clearly something is going on, but no obvious course of action presents itself.

A thin puddle of water collects at his feet, and he asks, "What's going on?"

[meanandgreen.livejournal.com]

All Raph does is point to the couch. "You dropped something."

[semper_cogitans]

Robert was about to clarify what Raphael said to Leonardo, and therefore answer Leonardo's question, when he hears the unmistakable voice of his purple-mask-wearing pseudo-boyfriend.

Okay, screw being passed out. Robert makes a move that is probably an attempt to pull himself up - oh, wait, he forgot how exhausted he was. That fails in short order, and he collapses backwards with a weak little noise of frustration. Still, he manages to call out softly, "D-Donatello...?"

All he can rationally think of is that this is the worst possible moment for him to meet Donatello's family.

[i_speak_softly]

Something is terribly wrong with that voice. He sounds like he's dying.

Better stay down, Robert, because Donatello is coming to you the quickest way he can. That is, by vaulting over the couch. He lands with a light pat of feet and a heavier thump of knees, and it should be immediately apparent that he is not wearing his purple mask, or anything else.

"Robert?" He reaches out, not touching yet but searching visually for the cause of this worrying state. "What happened?"

IN THE DOJO

[ninjacane]

Splinter takes up a position in front of them on the mats, sitting in a position similar to Donatello. He pays no heed to any of the objects in the room. His other sons dealt with for now, and with some of the tears in the familial fabric beginning to heal, they can now focus on the issue at hand.

The issue being Robert.

He glances to Donatello, awaiting a proper introduction. A do over, if you will. Considering the disaster in miniature the previous conversation with the family had been, Splinter considered that much necessary.

For his son, he would try to give Robert a chance. Even if he didn't trust him.

[i_speak_softly]

The objects in the room, if Robert chooses to notice them, include a bicycle, a motorcycle, a desk covered in odds and ends, a mattress under an odd-looking floorlamp, a weightbench, a punching bag, and an assortment of neatly-arrayed weaponry.

Don, for his part, focuses on Splinter. He'd had a plan for this conversation, but so much has been said already that now he doesn't know where to start. He also glances at Robert, then looks back to his father, waiting for a cue.

[semper_cogitans]

Robert looks around curiously in the dojo as he enters it, noting the objects in it. It seems like some kind of gymnasium, almost... Except for the strange devices that Robert may or may not recognize as weaponry.

Noticing the mats on the ground, and realizing that the other two are sitting in that special manner - and feeling strong enough to attempt it for awhile, he cautiously arranges himself into the extremely uncomfortable position. He definitely looks unbalanced and awkward and in some pain but he wants to at least make an effort.

Then he looks over at Don as well. Now who of us is supposed to speak first...?

[ninjacane]

Splinter looks surprised when Robert takes a position like both him and Donatello. It is obviously painful to him, and that he's not very good at it, but he is trying. It is the effort that matters, more than anything.

It makes a bit of Splinter's nerves settle about this matter. Robert had obviously been instructed by Donatello on how to sit this way. Knowing this is... comforting. It's a start.

They are both waiting for his cue, and Splinter gives it, looking to Robert intently. "Is it true that you have interest in my son?"

It's pretty obvious that he does, but Splinter wants to hear it for himself.

[semper_cogitans]

A familiar flush crawls across Robert's cheeks at this blunt question, but he answers just as bluntly - this is a characteristic that Splinter will learn to both love and hate, most likely.

"Yes, Master Splinter, sir. I am... very interested in your son. He is a wonderful person, and... he has never been anything but an incredible example of an intellectual..." He can't keep the note of sheer joy out of his voice, at the amazingness of Don. Only knowing him for such a comparitively brief time, and he's practically everything Robert would have ever wanted in a partner.

[ninjacane]

The Bluntness of the answer is both a bit jarring and a bit.. reassuring. It is easier to sense intent when people are not beating around the bush. He seems sincere enough.

"So it is his mind you are attracted to and not his body?"

An uncomfortable question, but a necessary one. Donatello's essence could not be separated from his body as it was a part of who he was. Any relationship at some time becomes physical, and if Robert cannot find attraction to all of his son, then the relationship would have no chance in succeeding. And if there was no chance, then Splinter would demand they end it immediately.

... ... Although asking that question made him feel just slightly like a dirty old man.

[semper_cogitans]

Uncomfortable, yes. But Robert is determined to answer every question Splinter has to the best of his ability and in as much detail as he needs to. If that includes embarrassing the hell out of himself, so be it.

"While his mind takes precedence to me, Master Splinter, sir, his body is attractive as well, to me. For many reasons. The primary one is that it's his... but it also is genuinely attractive, in my mind." Yes, this might be strange, but Robert has ceased to care how that sounds. Non-human sapient or not, Don is attractive and wonderful and Robert doesn't mind if Splinter knows this.

"... His species doesn't affect that, to me..."

[i_speak_softly]

Don curls his toes uncomfortably, both at the questions and at the answers. These are some things he hasn't even asked Robert yet, things he doesn't think they're ready to talk about.

And, well... no one has ever described him that way before, and he's not sure how he feels about it.

[ninjacane]

Splinter sits back a bit. The answer, he supposes, is satisfactory. It's also mercifully devoid of details. There are some things even Splinter never wishes to know about.

It seems that Robert genuinely does not understand why the species barrier would be an issue. Part of Splinter prefers it that way, as it means that he does not suffer from prejudice. But another part of Splinter knows that this could mean that he would not notice prejudice when they were faced with it, together, and Donatello would bare the brunt of dealing with it. If he saw it in the faces of others when Robert did not, he would likely not speak of it to his... partner. That was simply who Donatello was.

"Then if that is the case, I wish to know more about you," Splinter stares directly at Robert. "What is your world like? Why do you act so different than other humans?"

[semper_cogitans]

Robert would indeed not notice these prejudices as much as somebody else would, unless they were blatantly pointed out to him. Though he may learn, in time... Especially if he sees it often enough.

"My world, Terra, is a world whose disciplines are based on logic, rationality, science and pacifistic conduct. Equity and freedom are paramount. Terrans have turned their back on the dangerous environmental practises and violent, cruel, and unethical strategies for conflict solving that pre-Terran humans have used. Pollution has been greatly reduced since the Great Cleansing, a century-long technological revolution. And violence in general has been reduced almost to nothing... war, for example, no longer exists - it hasn't for around two centuries, I believe..." Robert pauses a moment to collect himself. "Non-human sapients are common knowledge, and have rights equal to human sapients - though they do not often directly visit Terra, but those who reside on Terra or come under Terran jurisdiction are treated with the utmost of equity and respect.

I myself am an astrobiologist, so I study non-Terran life-forms - not just sapients, but I have seen some sapients before I came to Luceti."

Robert looks up earnestly at Splinter. "Is there anything else you wished to know?"

[ninjacane]

An intellectual paradise, in other words. Splinter can now understand why his gentlest son was attracted to this man. Like any of his brother, Donatello will fight when necessary. However, he prefers to attempt to reason with his enemies first. Splinter wishes they only had better luck with it being successful--they always seemed to attract the trouble that would attack them first and ask questions later.

Seeing the reasoning behind Don's seemingly odd behavior settles Splinter a little. There is an explanation. Donatello never did anything without reason, and it was disturbing to think he had. One of Splinter's issues with the man is settled.

Another issue is settled as well. He seems sincere, although he cannot use his chi to back up this observation. There is simply too much information for a cover, for a false life. His lies would have been exposed by now.

The whole his-son-is-attracted-to-a-male-human thing will not settle truly for a while. Things will have to restructure in his mind first. Donatello had always liked women. And, suddenly, he was with a man. ... Splinter supposed that Robert was perhaps a bit girly.

There was one other thing that was bugging him more than a little, "If your world is a near utopia, then why do you have such obvious physical weakness?"

[semper_cogitans]

It's amusing to think that Robert's perception of his personality is that of masculinity, simply because of his identity. He doesn't ascribe or assign any particular femininity or masculinity to his actions, though... Which may be something incredibly foreign to a family of macho masculine young men.

Robert sobers a little at this next question. It's... an involved one. But... he'll answer it, even if his thighs are starting to hurt from the way he's sitting.

"I... have always been physically incompetent, to an extent. That, combined with my aversion to physical activity, and the fact that there are many technologies on Terra that reduce the necessity for exertion, means that I... am relatively undermuscled even for a Terran." This is actually more embarrassing to answer than the question about whether he's attracted to Don.

"... Walking across the village was... very difficult for me, for the first month or so... Don can provide independent evidence of that."

He steels himself a bit, and adds, almost pitifully, "I... I would be willing to try to... become less inept, if your family wishes... B-But, I will never be strong."