lucetilogs | There shall be no more secrets between us

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There shall be no more secrets between us

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.

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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.

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.

Don has the decency to look embarrassed, though if no one pays much attention to his lack of teaching skills, that will be fine with him. Go on, Leo, and tell a part of the story that makes the Hamato brothers look competent.

By contrast, Robert is only thinking of how surprising it is that they have come so far. Though, by that token, it's a little worrisome that such a thing happened when they were children...

"Ah, I see... One hopes that the child in question was... a-alright eventually, of course." Though Robert is wondering something...

"How were you received, when you... were seen by this child? I know most people of your world... fear you." He frowns as he says it.

Leo looks a little embarrassed too for a moment, before he clears his throat. Actually they still are the 'I know everything' kids sometimes.

"We never encountered the kid again. Master Splinter found out about it." Yes, they snuck above ground to do it. "And that was pretty much it for above ground trips for a while." Mostly because Splinter got better at keeping them underground. "I would hope so though." At the question, though, Leo shakes his head.

"The kid never saw how we looked. We wore a disguise." They were at least that competent back then. Splinter was angry enough at them about them sneaking above ground. They didn't need to add the being seen to the mix.

That sends a pang of sadness through Robert. Having to be hidden away even when they were aboveground, as though their species was something to be ashamed or afraid of... it makes him a little sick.

But he wants Leonardo to continue. Their voices drown out the disturbing snapping noises from the fire, anyway.

"When did you next venture outside? And what about the time spent in the interim? I presume you spent much of that training..." It's hard to miss the melancholy note in Robert's voice, of course. Never being able to go to a proper school... what kind of childhood would that be? A sad one.

Leo does note the melancholy note in Robert's voice.

It wasn't that they were ashamed of what they are. Just like now. It was that Splinter believed humans wouldn't accept them. Which turned out to be mostly true.

"After that it would be years before we went above ground again. In that time we learned ninjutsu. Learned how to navigate the sewer tunnels. In case we ever got separated. Plus looking for supplies." It may have been sad, but for them it was normal, it's all that they knew for some time. "Splinter schooled us in...things kids learn in school. Best he could from books he scavenged. Though we learned a lot from TV too."

"But even down there, we didn't stay out of trouble. Like that time I had to rescue Donny after he, and that toy car he had, got swept away in one of the tunnel flows after it rained." He's tactfully not mentioning that Don could've drowned then. "Then that time Raph and I encountered that albino croc." Dull childhood? Hardly.

"But, as we got older. Master Splinter eventually let us go above ground again, with him as escort." Most of the time anyway. "We learned to stick to the shadows and the roofs up there. Where manholes were located. Streets by landmarks from the rooftops. Where to find the dumpsters most likely to have food." Mostly it was for convenience and a way to travel safely if the sewer tunnels were no good. Not to mention for survival.

Edited 2012-09-07 08:03 (UTC)

An unpleasant feeling crawls over Don's skin when Leo mentions that incident, and he shifts uncomfortably in the sand. Aren't there any happier stories? Were their lives back home really so dismal?

Don's not the only one disturbed to hear that. Considering the way Don died? Robert's not exactly taking that well either.

He shifts his gaze purple-bandana'd-Turtle-ward, more to see how Don is than to give some kind of purposeful look.

"Your lives seem so... dangerous..."

There's an unspoken second layer to that. You would be safer if you had lived with me.

Safer, sure. But they'd be boring, they wouldn't be them. At least from what Leo knows of Robert's world. He does give his brother an apologetic look though.

Nice story. Nice story...aha.

"Well, not all the time. We have had our fun times too." He looks at Don again. "Remember that time Splinter took us to see that circus? We had to sneak in and stay out of sight, of course, but it was fun." It didn't have animals like some circuses, but it had the other acts.

Don perks up a little at this, and he nods. He remembers seeing the acrobats, and thinking that some day he would like to be able to pull off the ninja equivalent of those moves. How long ago that was...

Circus... this is a word that sounds foreign and old to Robert. Does the concept even exist where he's from? He knows he's seen it before, but...

He imagines the family, hidden out of sight as they do and peering in on some celebration that he's never seen before, and enjoying themselves. A little bright spot in their lives, perhaps.

"What about as you grew older?"

Yes, the acrobats, the high wire walkers. Trapeze swingers. That was so much fun. His smile fades though, as he thinks as they got older.

"Well, we wouldn't have another real meeting with a human until we were sixteen. It didn't start well though. We met April after our first lair was destroyed by these robots called mousers." Does he need to tell what they were made for? The name is a huge hint.

"Turns out her former boss, Stockman, was the creator of the robots. We rescued her after he sicced the robots on her after she learned too much and threatened to turn him in." Yes, Stockman was the best boss ever. Not. "With our help, and her help, we took Stockman down and closed his business."Even if that wasn't the last they'd see of him.

"A month later, we met Casey, or rather Raph did, who became another ally. Even though he has times when he's a little...crazy." Like running around in a hockey mask and beating people with a baseball bat.

Don makes a subtle gesture to skip ahead - trying to explain Casey to Robert would probably result in confusion and horror. Why were you ever friends with a barbarian like that?

Hey, give Robert more credit than that, Don. He's definitely shifted his perspective on people since being in Luceti - and though Casey would certainly be very strange and somewhat frightening, it might be easier to understand now.

Maybe.

At any rate, Robert can't tell what Don is trying to communicate. He's just listening right now.

Leo will keep going.

"Not all of encounters, and fights, have been with humans. Even if there were humans involved." Hey let's throw out stuff that might actually interest Robert.

"Like the times we encountered Nano." He says, and holds up his hand, holding his thumb and middle finger apart small as possible. "He was made up of millions of these tiny robots." Don't look at Leo for the technical side, that's Don's job. "But what they did. They'd take anything metal and turn it into a human like shape. But, they could also could be manipulated." So much for them being smart. "They saw this thief as their father, who used them for break-ins." Great dad wasn't he? "They even broke him out of prison and kidnapped the woman who invented them once."

Leo, your lack of technical understanding is an embarrassment. Don will definitely have to give a more scientifically accurate explanation of Nano at a later date.

And Robert thought the Turtles' world was technologically backward...

... Okay, it still is in some ways, but... really? Nanoscopic sapient self-assembling AI? They have that and they still use combustion engines?

"Is Nano... an example of typical technology of... of your world...? Because... that was hardly the impression I received before..."

Hey hey hey, he tries Don. Give him a break. His smarts is more toward fighting, you're the tech turtle. He gives Don a look, before he looks back to Robert.

"Huh? Not that I know of, in fact we haven't seen any other nano bots since then. Most really high tech stuff I've seen though? Have been by aliens, or from the government." So it's not common to the public. "Most people seem to have computers in their homes though." Sorry you're getting this from Leo, Robert. You'll have to bug Don when he doesn't have his penalty.

"Some of it was owned by Shredder and the Foot. Like the time we caught foot soldiers breaking into a museum during a black out. They were stealing this sword that was on display. The sword of Tengu. Rather plain looking. But as we found out the hard way, this thing could send a blast that could knock someone clear across a room." That was quite painful. "And yet when we got it from them, they were using it to dredge something from the river."

Don lets the subject of technology go for now, and listens to the story. The river-dredging incident was the first time he used his hang-glider. Now that's a pleasant memory.

Is it weird that Robert is more bothered by the fact they're dredging things from a river with some kind of energy device than by the fact it was the Foot Clan? Not that the other part doesn't bother him either.

"... I suppose this fact was, er, less than known by the curators of the museum?" Because surely they wouldn't keep a lethal weapon on display on purpose, right? Right. Surely not. ~~He's not sure anymore.~~

"Oh yeah, that was also the first time Don used his glider." He gives his brother a smile. He then looks back to Robert at the question.

"I have my doubts that the museum even knew it could do that." Seems like they would have more security if they did.

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There shall be no more secrets between us

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Guys, if I ever put too much in these, let me know.

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/makes up crap.

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