tushanshu_logs | [Open] Catch All for January

Not to worry, Aya. Mike gets that a lot, what with the puppy paws he's got for mitts.

"Nice to meet you. I...um...here I'm just going to...you might want to back up a bit."

Mike begins to maneuver himself so as to kip up back to his feet.

Though she did not immediately recognize what he was up to, Aya obliged without question. Taking several steps back, she eyed the anthropomorphic turtle with great curiosity, waiting to see what he would do.

It's an oddity, to be sure. How someone with a fixed spine can be as agile as Mike appears to be. He easily rolls and then kicks back into a standing position, his bare feet landing silently on the floor.

"There right, so okay. This is um, this is the dojo. Welcome. I kind of work here, sort of. I'm new. At working here, not at the work I'll be doing here. Well, I'm kind of new to that too, as I've never really taught anyone anything before. But I've been training my whole life.

...

I should stop talking now.

He should see the way Aya moves. For being mostly made of metal and residing in a body she built entirely on her own.

"...why?" There was a pause in which she blinked. An instinctive habit she picked up, although it was not actually necessary, simply by observing her peers. "You were in the process of explaining your work and training, correct? Please. Continue."

Mike follows her lead and also blinks.
Several times in fact, though...mostly in confusion.
Did she just...ask him to keep babbling? That never happens. Ever. He almost asks her to put it into writing so he can show The Bookends later as proof that it actually happened.

"Oh. Okay. Yeah, sure. Right. Well...I've studied Ninjitsu with my brothers since...forever. But I'm not going to teach that here. Mostly I'm going hoping to do basic self defense and like...tumbling and stuff. For kids, mostly. That's if I can get any actual students, you know? I mean...it's not like I've ever really ever had a job before."

Yes, Mike. That just happened.

No, you're not dreaming.

Probably.

Aya listened with an inhuman degree of patience (which fit, given that she wasn't even close to human). Her eyes followed his facial expressions, paying close attention to his tone as he mentioned brothers, and simultaneously accessing any and all records she possessed on the art of ninjutsu. There wasn't much, but it was enough to give her a basic foundation to work with.

"I would not object to learning whatever it is you seek to teach. Although, I confess, in my experience, rolling along the ground has proven to be a less than beneficial experience, particularly in the heat of attack."

"That's one of the reasons to practice it though, to make it more, er...beneficial. A lot of times people don't expect a drop to the ground during combat, because most people aren't trained to get back up quickly.

But...we don't have to do bodyfalls if you don't want. Er...is there something you would like to do?"

Her head lightly tilted to one side. The whole purpose of this meeting was moreso (in her mind) for him to introduce activities that he considered fun, so that she may expand in her experiential memories.

"If you find it beneficial...would it be possible to view a demonstration?"

"You mean aside from the one I just gave you?" his smile is rueful, as he gestures towards the place on the floor that he just so recently faceplanted on.

"Yes. Aside from that." Hers, meanwhile, is friendly and with no ill will or anything less than genuine sincerity. "I am under the impression that was not how you intended to demonstrate the full of your abilities. It would be interesting to compare the movement to one you were better prepared for."

"Hmmm," he says, his brow ridges furrowing in thought. Slowly a smile begins to creep its way across his face.

"Okay, I think I've got this."

To say that Mike strongly bonded with April O'Neil in the past year would be an understatement akin to saying the Atlantic Ocean was damp. Most nights at April's involved one classic movie or another, with Mike's particular favorites being Singing in the Rain and Some Like It Hot. It's because of this that the very first thing to cross his mind when asked to give a demonstration on the right way to fall, is the dance sequence from the end of "Make'em Laugh" number.

Complete with pratfalls, running up walls, and even the very end sequence where instead of breaking through a wall...Mike dives feet first out of a window he opened especially for this demonstration.

Aya, on the other hand, had never seen a single Earth movie, and did not recognize the routine. It was all new to her. New and exciting.

She didn't laugh. She had never once laughed in her entire existence. But a smile was not uncommon these days, and for the joy and thrill of watching Mike do...whatever it was he was doing...hers was as bright as if she were actually literally glowing. Until he disappeared out the window. Deliberately. Then, she was just surprised.

A moment's pause, waiting to see if he would return. When he did not, she quietly approached the window and peeked her head out.

"Hello? Why did you abruptly leave?"

"Because it's funny," he says from just below the window sill. He too is smiling, clearly proud of himself for his antics.

"...it is?"

Oh.

"My apologies. I was not aware I was supposed to laugh. Would you like to repeat the demonstration so I may properly react this time?"

Very, very slowly, his eyes widen. She wants him to do all that...again.
But...did she not see how intense what he just did was?

"I...but...maybe, maybe later? Here, why don't I just come back inside."

He gestures for her to stand back, and when she does he flips back inside the room.

She did. And, momentary confusion aside, she rather enjoyed it.

"I have no objections." Standing back, she waited until he was back in the room before raising her hands and...applauding. "You skills are most impressive. The agility you demonstrate does not appear physically possible, and yet, your muscular skeleton has somehow been uniquely conditioned to overcome any and all obstacles you may encounter."

He just sort of blinks at that, because...that compliment took the long way around.

"Uh...thanks!"

Crap. Where was Donnie when you needed him?

"I've trained a really long time."

Fortunately for him, Aya was fairly used to that look by now.

"You are most welcome." And then, in all fairness: "Would you prefer I offer a demonstration in return? There are many abilities I am capable of performing in this form."

His eyes go wide.

"Yes!" he says far more enthusiastically than he'd intended. For one he's excited those are words he understands, and for another GREEN LANTERN STUFF!

"I mean, yes please?"

"Very well."

Her eyes began to glow softly, and a few seconds later, her whole body lifted off the ground. Slow. Steady. She had completely control.

"Tactical flight maneuverability--" One hand rose up, also glowing green, as if in preparation to fire. "--target practice, or construct demonstration?"

There's seeing this sort of thing in movies, or in comics, or on Saturday morning cartoons, and a wholly different thing to see it in person.

In person it's amazing.
Just utterly amazing.

"Target...no...construct demonstration."

A single nod, and a concentrated beam of Green Energy shot out from her arm, expanding in the center of the room until it formed a particular shape:

"What you are seeing is a colleague of mine known as Sergeant Kilowog."

"Woah."

Mike approaches the construct.

"This is so cool. Can I...can I touch it?"

"You may. It is just a construct, so I can assure you, he will not attack unless I instruct him to do so."

Mike was half way towards reaching out to touch the construct.

"You mean you can make it do things?"

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