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?

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Leo frowns in disapproval of the idea. But he keeps his tongue, he's not about to speak up against Splinter. Depending on others, mostly strangers to defend them. This was bound to only lead to trouble in his mind. Since this could also lead to complacency. He planned to stick to the shadows, the protection it gives.

"It doesn't matter, we secure the house. She's not the only threat in this place. Whether you've had trouble before or not."

Splinter did not particularly like the idea himself, but the logical side won over his emotional side. There were no sewers they knew like the back of their hands, and there weren't more than a few sources to find food or supplies. No dumpsters, no garbage dumps. Only stores. Luceti was too small, practically a fishbowl. The buildings were too spread apart to truly remain hidden on top of everything else.

Running into her again was inevitable. All they could do was make sure that they weren't alone when it happened. They were lucky in that she was just one person and could only do so much without her Foot Ninja. Avoiding nighttime, when few are out and an ambush point easily established, would help avoid some of her potential attempts to harm them. If their home was secure, then that would be another deterrent.

"We must also not be seen entering, leaving, or within our home," Splinter added to Leonardo's statement. "She cannot plan any sort of attack if she has no knowledge of where we live."

More tactics. Boring. Mike had been doing that instinctively anyway. Family meetings never did hold his attention for long, especially when things seemed to be going mostly his way. So he's rather pleased when Klunk wanders in the room, bumping his head against his leg. But what's this? There's a newcomer here. Klunk saunters over to Robert, in the way of cats, looking up at him when he reaches him as though he'd just noticed he was there. He stretches his neck out, clearly asking for fingers to be presented for sniffing.

Mike watches intently. You better not do anything weird to his cat, Robert.

Edited 2011-04-02 18:37 (UTC)

Robert actually looks surprised as Klunk approaches, mostly because he's never seen a domestic cat before.

"Felis catus? You have a companionship with one?" He can't help but smile, despite his weak state, and he offers his fingers carefully for a sniff.

Cat whiskers are ticklish... Robert murmurs softly, "I have never seen a domestic cat before... They are rather a good deal rarer on Terra."

"Be nice," Don murmurs to Klunk, because the kitten is not always good at judging whether or not a playmate would be amused by the sensation of his claws in their flesh. To the more intelligent occupants of the room, he says, "The security measures would have to be invisible - anything else would just advertise where we are." He taps his chin thoughtfully. "I think what we really want is a way to prevent her from seeing through the windows, without her knowing that she can't see through the windows... but the technology for that just doesn't exist here."

"What about that guy Helios? He did that spell for the playground, right? Can't see why he couldn't do it for here too."

That's right. Raph just suggested they use magic. It's just another thing that's changed during his year here. If you told him he'd be saying this a year ago, he wouldn't believe you. He hated everything to do with magic. But here, he can see it's capable of doing some good.

"Can this Helios guy be trusted?" But if he made something for a playground, he can't be that bad. He could hope. Leo's reluctant about using magic, but if it helped to keep the house and them safe, he'd be willing to go along with it. "If it would keep her from finding our home. Then we can look into seeing if he'll do it." If the guy would want to. Especially for people he barely knows.

It was less the magic and more the stranger part that was the problem for Splinter. He did not know Helios, and therefore, Helios could not be trusted by Splinter's opinion. Before they decided to rely on this Helios, Splinter would demand to meet him. Having helped with the playground did win him some points, but the playground was for human children, not turtles and a rat. Things changed between species.

For now, there was nothing that Splinter could add to the debate. He did not know Helios's abilities, and therefore decided to listen to this debate first. If they decided not to use him, then voicing his concerns now would be a waste of time.

All Splinter could do was frown slightly.

"Hmm..." Mike puts his hand under his chin in an exaggerated gesture of thought. "A way to not let her see through the windows... without making her think there's something to see... I believe these are called... curr-tains."

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?"