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.

[i_speak_softly]

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.

[semper_cogitans]

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.

[fearless_leader]

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.

[semper_cogitans]

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.

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

[fearless_leader]

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.

[i_speak_softly]

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?

[semper_cogitans]

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.

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.

[i_speak_softly]

Sort of yes, but Don shakes his head no anyway.

"What are you doing?"

[semper_cogitans]

"I am shaving." He doesn't know if Don really knows much about this arcane human hygiene practise - there probably weren't many opportunities to learn about it, and it hasn't been something he's talked much about.

Robert holds up the electric razor so Don can scrutinize it.

[i_speak_softly]

Don is familiar with this, at least from a theoretical perspective, though he's never caught Robert doing it before. He studies the razor curiously, then examines the effect it's had on one quarter of Robert's face. What a strange thing to have to do to yourself...

[semper_cogitans]

The alternative is obscene itchiness and frustrated agonizing over stray hairs, at least in Robert's case. He'd rather this than that.

"Human body hair can sometimes be... irritating," he admits, before flicking the razor on again and precisely dragging the blade along his chin, methodically removing another strip. Even Robert's slow, precise method isn't perfect, though, and there might be straggly, silly-looking bits.