lucetilogs | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

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?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Robert continues gently allowing Klunk to inspect his hand as he listens to the flow of the conversation. He immediately perks up when Helios is mentioned.

"Mr. Sprenso - er, Helios - is a close friend of mine." Someone might notice the minute waver around 'close friend' - though it doesn't really betray whatever remnants of attraction Robert has, it may show just how strange it is for him to actually say that about anybody - "I am c-certain he would be more than willing to assist you, especially since... he already has something of a rapport with Donatello, and he has never been anything but kind and gentle to anybody, non-human sapients i-included, to my knowledge." Robert offers something of an uncertain smile.

"However, if none of you mind... I would suggest attempting something less... obvious first. I have no r-real knowledge about magic, but I would presume that it would be d-detectable in some manner, and such a... disturbance would draw more attention than another, less-obvious method - such as the c-curtains proposed by Michelangelo."

His voice is finally starting to waver a little less... and he probably looks less pathetic than when he was initially dumped on the couch. He's almost okay enough to sit up on his own by this point, and inspecting the cute cat nearby is a reason to do so.

Don immediately latches on to this idea, and wonders why he didn't think of it sooner.

"The point, Mike, is that most houses don't have their curtains drawn all the time. Any house that did would look suspicious - like it was hiding something. But Helios' barrier..." His fingers begin twitching rapidly, as he works out the logistics. "It's invisible, and I don't think Karai can detect magic. Even if she did find the barrier, and realized we were inside it... she still couldn't get through." He looks up, smiling. "Helios would do that for me. All we'd have to do is write our names down." Another tick of the fingers. "And the names of anyone we would want to be able to visit us."

He turns to Master Splinter with an earnest expression. "Sensei, Helios is a teacher. He runs a school for non-humans. I think you would like him a lot..."

"Don's right. All of the curtains closed, even during the day would draw too much suspicion." Leo says, still a little reluctant about the whole magic thing though. But they didn't need anyone, especially Karai, being suspicious of them. He looks at Robert, listening to him and then to Don as well. So the man wasn't a stranger. Not to Don anyway, he'd obviously met him.

"I believe you when you say you know him and trust him, but I think it would best if we met him first." He's not throwing out the idea yet. It sounds like it has it's benefits. But if they were going to count on this guy to protect their house, they shouldn't just do it without getting to know him first. He looks to Splinter though to see what he says.

At Mike's reply, Splinter whacks his head with his staff. Again. This time, it's a bit harder of a hit than before. This conversation is for adults only.

Disregarding Michelangelo, it is good to hear his sons come to the same conclusion that he already knows: keeping the curtains pulled would draw too much attention. Splinter is proud of them. They really are maturing into fine young ninja.

And, interestingly enough, Robert seems to be meshing into the conversation decently. Hmm. Splinter will have to ponder on that later.

"As Leonardo says, he must be introduced to the family if we are to entrust him with our lives."

Edited 2011-04-03 05:07 (UTC)

Mike rubs his head sullenly. It was just a joke.

He has no idea who Helios is, and frankly doesn't care. He's getting antsy. Time to find some entertainment.

Klunk, you like playing with his bandanna tails, right?

Robert continues to pet the furry little orange-and-white creature at his feet. It's therapeutic. No wonder people used to keep companion animals...

Klunk takes a few practise swings at Robert's cuff as he nudges his head against the human's palm. Robert responds by tenderly stroking behind his silky ears.

Then there's the louder whack of the cane glancing off Mike's cranium, and Robert looks up, momentarily frightened. Klunk, having seen and heard that sort of noise for most of his life, simply trots off to play with the suspended bandanna tails as soon as Mike recovers. But Robert's a bit unnerved by that... It takes a lot of self-control not to demand an explanation for that strike from Splinter. He practically has to sit on his conscience.

But his expression can probably be read as some combination of disbelief and mild horror for a moment, before he takes it away and focuses steadfastly on something else. Like the conversation. Perhaps I can ask Splinter about that later... maybe there's some explanation for that sort of barbaric behaviour.

... Keeping the curtains drawn all the time would get peoples' attention? Huh. Who knew. That was something Robert did all the time - well, with his equivalent of curtains - and he was never aware of it getting any strange looks.

Or maybe he just hadn't understood them when he got them.

Don turns to Robert, not particularly noticing the whack or the pacifist's reaction to it. "Have you heard from him lately? I haven't seen him since he was kidnapped..." Some part of him does notice how odd it is to be talking to a friend about a mutual friend whom none of his family members particularly know, but that's not important right now.

"I saw him back on February 22 - when he was returned by the Malnosso." Robert's expression is grave, and his vision dips to the floor. "He... was in terrible shape at the time... B-Bleeding all over and blinded in one eye." Robert shakes his head, shuddering at the recollection. "His magic had... also been temporarily crippled somehow, so it backfired against him...

I managed to get him medical treatment and then get him home safely, but... I haven't spoken to him since then. I should have checked in on him, but... There was so much occurring at the time..." So many things happening. And... so much awkwardness between he and I.

"... He might be feeling better by this point, at least. I'm not sure... how long it generally takes the Malnossian experiment effects to wear off."

Leo ignores the whack. It's not anything new, Splinter's used it for discipline for years. Considering he's had to keep control of four teenage boys on his own, it's worked well.

"Don. You or Robert get a hold of Helios and find out when he can meet us." The 'keep it from Karai' goes unsaid, but it's there. "The sooner we can meet with him, the sooner we can work something out." One way or another.

Edited 2011-04-03 20:10 (UTC)

Sooner would be best. Splinter watched Leonardo as he spoke, and nodded his agreement. Yes. The sooner they were hidden, the sooner they could all breath a sigh of relief.

"If he can be trusted, this would be the simplest solution," Splinter reluctantly agrees; he still doesn't know this Helios. "And the most discreet."

Donatello always quoted that the simplest solution was often the best, and it is something that Splinter has taken to heart. It does not always work, but it works more often than not. Sometimes he felt like he learned as much from his children as they learned from him.

Don looks alarmed at this, but says, "It usually only lasts a week. It would be just our kind of luck if he had lost his magic, though..." He glances at his family members. "I'll talk to him later and find out."

"Then you must do so at the earliest convenience," Splinter concludes; there is really nothing more to be done for now.

But since Robert is already here....

"You may use our bathroom to wash up," he states, turning to look at the human. "And then I wish to speak to you and my son."

He already got a chance to meet his family. Now Splinter wants to speak to him in person.

"You can use my towel..." Don murmurs to Robert. He won't be needing it now himself.

Robert nods at both of them. "Thank you kindly, Master Splinter, sir..." With a still-unsteady, but significantly less weak, gait, he picks his way over to the abandoned bathroom and closes the door.

Once he's inside he stares at himself in the large mirror set over the sink. He looks like a complete and utter mess - entirely unprofessional. While there's little he can do about his clothes - though he takes some time to at least rinse the majority of the mud and grime out of them - he gives himself a thorough washing. Not as meticulous as he'd usually be able to be, since it's somebody else's house and he doesn't want to seem rude, it's good enough.

Maybe.

He probably won't take too horrendously long, due to perfectionism. Hopefully.

~~Let's hope Don's brothers don't harass him too much while his boyfriend's in the shower?~~

Mike looks over at Donnie uneasily. This seems like his cue to tell them to leave. Not that he's going to, unless Splinter makes him. But still. His stomach is churning. He doesn't want to watch Don tear more holes in this family than he already has.

Klunk leaps into his lap and purrs. Mike smiles.

Don, already halfway off the couch, catches Mike's look and returns it from an awkward semi-standing position.

"... What?"

For the record, Mike's not the only one staring. Raph's practically glowering at him from his spot leaning against the far wall.

"Whaddya mean 'What?'"

Leo's over there, arms crossed and looking thoughtful. He's not leaving either unless Splinter tells him to. He looks up at Don's 'what?'.

"You know what, Donny." His voice is even, gaze giving away little. Especially not the turmoil. He's not glaring, but he's watching carefully.

Don sighs and sits back down. "I had thought we might take a short intermission from the glaring." But since that seems to not be the case, he resigns himself to putting up with whatever his brothers are about to subject him to.

Splinter can feel the tension noticeably rise after Robert left the room. Things have come to a head, and the next few moments of conversation are crucial. His family has gone through much in his absence, enough that it is threatening to part their closeness. But Splinter does not believe this will come to pass--they have survived through too much for something as simple as a--a boyfriend to split them apart.

For now, he says nothing, and watches them all equally. If they can mend their relationships themselves, he will not interfere. But if they cannot, he will do everything in his power to bring this family back together again. The cracks are on the surface, and despite what it may seem, the foundation is still strong. It's merely their family settling to a new equilibrium.

"I'm not glaring. Who's glaring? Well, besides Raph, but you should know by now his face is frozen that way."

He'll let Raph and Leo do the glaring.

Edited 2011-04-06 02:58 (UTC)

"Cute," Raph snorts, but doesn't make an effort to change his expression. He's mad at Don. There's no doubt about that.

"So you gonna kick us out or what?"

"There's not really much point now."

So you may as well just say whatever you've been waiting to say.

"Is the lack of Chi why you wanted to keep us from meeting him?" He'll ask point blank. For his sake and maybe for Mikey's. Outside of the chi, Robert wasn't that bad. He lacked that threatening aura that could label someone as an enemy at first sight.

So far, this conversation has not exploded in their faces. Splinter looks to each of his sons in turn as they speak. There isn't much for him to do, other than wait, listen, and stop them if it gets out of hand.