[Open]

[i_speak_softly]

Characters: Donatello and OPEN
Date: April 27, and some number of following days, depending how this goes
Location: All over the city, but starting at ME-3B and hopefully ending at WA-3B
Situation: Leo ordered Don to get off the networks, so the brainy Turtle sets out to find his brother the old-fashioned way.
Warnings/Rating: Probably nothing exciting.

It takes Don the rest of the night to pick over the components of his console, put them back together again, and boot the machine in his best approximation of safe mode. This still doesn't solve any of the issues - unsurprising, since Mike Weston had told him the problem was in the network - and he checks his messages as carefully as possible.

Leo has left him a cryptic instruction. Not daring to reply, he memorizes it, then shuts down the machine and hits the street.

Where the water meets the steel. A shipyard? Don heads toward the edge of the city, where one is likely to be, but inquiries direct him westward towards the Water Sector.

As he walks, Don wonders if the sector border is what Leo meant. But the border is a long one - it took Don an hour to get across the city by car, and he can tell he hadn't crossed nearly all of it - and he doesn't know which side of the line his brother is on.

Or wait! What if Leo meant a weapons forge? Submerging a steel blade in water is a critical step in the sword-making process, and that's just the kind of thing Leo would think of when giving coded orders on short notice. But a place like that would most likely be in the Fire Sector, and that's really a long way… Maybe he can hitch a ride?

Comments

[i_speak_softly]

Don gives Leo a good look too. During his conversation with Mike, he had begun to comprehend the true nature of the time anomaly he was told about when he arrived. Leo and Raph are a year older. The fight with the wooden soldiers was a year ago, for them. And since then they've been leading other lives, in another world, that he knows little about. That didn't include him.

"It's good to see you too," Don says, because it really is. A few days is too long to be separated from his family; an entire year is beyond imagining. "But you look awful."

And because Mike's comment didn't sound like a random number, he adds, "Six hours?"

[duelkatana]

A year hasn't changed Leonardo overly much, physically - he's a fraction taller, with a handful of new scars (most of them burns, of all things) dotting his arms and sides, but he's still quite the same as Don remembers him. The biggest change, in fact, is located not on his person, but the extension thereof: rather than the two blue-wrapped katana peeking up over his shell, there's only one, while the second has been replaced by a different sword with a brown braid.

At Don's words, Leo gives a laugh that tapers off into a few throaty coughs he turns his head away for. He gives his brother's arm a squeeze before letting go and backing up a few steps. As glad as he is to see Don again, he still isn't sure how contagious they all are, if at all... and Don getting sick again would be the very last thing they wanted.

"Mike and Raph have been looking for you while I held down the fort," he informs with a dash of his eyes towards his cousin. He only hopes that even half of the gratitude he feels towards Michaelangelo is reflected in his gaze. "I set a time limit so Raph wouldn't be running around out there all day."

[michaeljangelo]

Mike's smile softens for a moment in acknowledgement of Leo's gratitude.

"All of which is Leo-ese for: The knuckleheads were driving me crazy, so I sent them out to run around until someone turned the streetlights off," he drawls goodnaturedly.

Mike moves in the direction of the kitchen.

"I'm going to put some water on, and then I should probably go and find Raph, so he's not, you know...still running."

[i_speak_softly]

"I'll go after Raph," Don says to Mike's retreating shell. "After I get the two of you checked out." He turns back to Leo, anticipating his really-I'm-fine objections. "Fungal illnesses are no joke. Where's your medical kit?"

While Leo is being examined, he can also explain the real thought process behind sending Mike and Raph out. Don can't wait to hear that one.

[duelkatana]

"Don, it's okay." Leo raises his hands placatingly. "The first few days were rough, but we're all doing better now. We've had worse."

He remembers months ago when he and Raph had gotten sick from a similar contamination of the water and food supply. Now that had been something to worry over. This? Smooth sailing in comparison. Also, he still doesn't really want Don to come into contact with his spore-germs.

"Look. Without the network, we can't get in contact with Raph. I'm not banking on you getting lucky enough to run into two of us out there in the city. He'll -" Leo's voice abruptly cracks into a rasp, and he clears his throat before continuing, "- be back in under two hours. If he isn't, then we can send out the hounds."

[michaeljangelo]

From the kitchen come the sounds of tea being constructed. The running of water, the clanking of the kettle on the stove top, the hiss of the fire.

There might even be the rustling of a package of cookies Mike was saving for an extra special occasion. Who knows what lurks in the depths of that kitchen of his.

[i_speak_softly]

"It's a dormant phase," Don says. "I'm dealing with that first, and I'll get back to the network tonight. Someone might have a hack into the webserver."

He then drifts towards the kitchen, to see how he might be able to profit from those enticing sounds. "Please tell me there's coffee."

[duelkatana]

Leo tries very hard to hide his smile at Don's politely-worded demand for coffee. It's like he was never even gone.

"In Keeliai? Sure," he says as he trails behind his brother; the splitting headache between his eyes is creeping in again, but he's still buzzed on just enough adrenaline to successfully ignore it. The kitchen is where they keep the medical supplies anyway, so rather than collect any more of Don's medical-related ire, he drifts to the appropriate cupboard to dig them out. "But we weren't exactly expecting the company."

[michaeljangelo]

Mike moves about the kitchen, multi-tasking with the greatest of ease. On the kitchen table is a tea-tray mostly laid out with cloth napkins and everything. He's humming Escape under his breath, and using the song to help him keep time on the steeping tea.

"....if you're not into yoga. if you have half a brain. if you love makin' love at midnight, on the dunes of...the...Cape."

He stops in his tracks as his two cousins approach. He wasn't expecting them, honestly. If he were, he might have chosen a different song.

Then again, probably not.

"...would you have preferred coffee? Because I can make coffee. I'm sure there aren't some grounds or beans or something around here that Raph hasn't just up right eaten."

[i_speak_softly]

"Does your Donatello not drink coffee?" Don asks curiously, as he circles the kitchen looking for grounds. Along the way he scoops up anything else that looks edible. He may have largely forgotten to feed himself since arriving in Keeliai...

"Some welcome," Don says to Leo, though they both - or maybe all three - know he doesn't mean it at all. "Your apartment should be quarantined, the technology is subpar, and you didn't even start a pot."

[duelkatana]

"You should have called ahead," Leo chides dismissively as he drags the small wooden box of medical supplies down from the shelf. There's no fire in his response either - it's almost automatic, even, right down to the twist at the corner of his mouth that betrays the fully serious-sounding reply.

Don's hunt for food and coffee is noted, and Leo keeps his eye on his scavenging brother as he places the box on the table. He says nothing for the moment, letting Mike choose to intervene if he wishes - management of food resources had long since fallen to their cousin after moving in together, and he's good at making sure people eat. Exasperatingly good.

Instead, Leo busies himself with sitting and lining up a row of rudimentary medical items - some salves, vials of labeled medicine, surgical needles and thread, swabs, forceps, and a handful of more modern instruments pilfered from the Metal Sector. It would barely fall under acceptable standards for a home medical kit and has clearly seen some use over the past couple days, but it's something.

[michaeljangelo]

"On the rare occasion we managed to find some, both Raph and Donnie drank coffee. One of the few things they ever agreed on was that I make it too weak, so I leave them to it and get my caffeine the way nature intended: Jolt and Mountain Dew."

Any attempt to remove a single thing from the tea tray before it is 100% set and ready to go will be met with a swift smack across the knuckles. Mike may be little, but he's fast. Very fast.

He lifts the lid on the teapot, so as to remove the wire infuser and stop the steeping process, and in doing so floods the room with the aroma of the freshly brewed tea. This particular blend of leaves and spices is one Mike calls: Splinter's Blend. It's as close to the real thing as he's been able to cobble given the supplies available to him.

"Just as an aside, Leo? If Stick Boy here insults my kitchen the way he has the rest of our stuff, I am going to have throw a knife at him. You know that right?"

[i_speak_softly]

"I did," Don shoots back, referring to their brief conversation over the network. "Or should I have specifically announced my impending arrival before you made me yank the motherboard?"

Conversational requirements satisfied, Don turns his attention to the medical kit, which he rates as marginally adequate. Its current somewhat-depleted state does not escape his notice, and he directs a series of meaningful looks in Leo's direction, starting with What has been going on here?, advancing to Did you know Mike was even poorer than we are?, and finishing somewhere around Did he really just call me Stick Boy?

[duelkatana]

Touche, Don. So well-parried that Leo actually cringes before letting his silence stand as his admission of defeat. He leans back in his chair and stretches his sore muscles, just barely managing not to roll his eyes at Michaelangelo's threats. He has no sympathy for your new nickname. Better Stick Boy than Bookend, little brother.

Leonardo catches those meaningful looks Don throws him, and being as well-versed in "sane sibling" telepathic communication as he is, only shakes his head faintly. You don't want to know seems to be the all-encompassing answer, followed shortly by I'll explain everything later and several shades of You'll get used to it.

"Guys," is all he says, in his best Play Nice voice.

[michaeljangelo]

"What?" Mike starts, hands already going up in a mock surrender. Can't you see how blameless he is in all this? Totally blameless. In conclusion: Blameless.

All things that would be fare more believable were he not smirking just so.

Surrender quickly shifts to Game Show Prize Presenter as Mike indicates the existence of nigh-on perfectly prepared tea and biscuits.

"Tea is served. Now...drink up, especially you," he says giving Leo a rather pointed look.

[i_speak_softly]

Oh. Too pointed.

"Sorry," Don murmurs, and turns his attention to shoveling food into his face. Later he will demand his strategy-minded brother's take on the situation here in Keeliai, but for now he limits his inquiries to: "What do you need me to fix first?"

[duelkatana]

Leo actually pauses at the apology, blinking in mild surprise. Right. This is Don. If there's any of his brothers who can pinpoint his subtler moods from the smallest tics, it's him. Living with the emotional bulldozer that is Raphael for the past year must have made Leo complacent. Either way, he shrugs it off; no harm, no foul, especially when it's Donatello.

"The consoles would be a good place to start," he says, obediently taking the cup of tea from his cousin. They'd learned their lesson the first time - any water they put in their mouths since this chaos started has been distilled. "They've been dark since the attacks started. And since they're the only form of communication here..."

Well, you do the math.

[michaeljangelo]

Mike holds his position until he sees Leo take his cup of tea, then he returns to quietly futzing about the kitchen. This time, should any one be paying him any attention what so ever, it would appear as though he's making a couple of sandwiches. One with meat, one without.

In between stops to add things to the meal, he stops to sip at his own tea. He pulls a face with each sip.

Nope. Still not a fan of tea.

[i_speak_softly]

"The problem is not in the consoles," Don says, keeping half an eye on Mike while sharing his information with Leo. It won't take long for him to learn and adapt to his cousin's every habit. "It's in the network. I have contact with some other hackers and we're working on a debug port, but access is limited because the servers are using magic transfer protocols."

He raises a hopeful eyebrow in the direction of the sandwiches, then adds: "Tell me about these attacks." He's guessing Leo doesn't mean DDOS.

[duelkatana]

Leo's never felt so happy to understand so little of a sentence in his life. He understands the gist of the reply to be I'm working on it, so he leaves it at that. Don's sudden arrival to this world is timely in more ways than one.

He lifts the tea to take a sip, but Don's question gives him pause; slowly he sets the mug back down, leans forward, his brow line hardening as he steeples his hands.

"I wish I had more to tell you. About a week ago, the consoles went down, followed by a series of explosions that went off across Keeliai. Some caused major damage to structures, while others..." he grimaces and places a hand on his chest. "... released those spores Mike told you about. With all three of us down for the count, we haven't been able to keep tabs on the situation since."

So network or no network, they're scheduled for an intensive patrol of the city the moment it's physically plausible. Leonardo's fully planning to debrief Raph and Mike over what they've already seen out there as soon as the opportunity presents itself.

Which leads him to: "You've been searching the city for us. What's it look like out there?"

[michaeljangelo]

The sandwich containing meat gets wrapped in wax paper and placed in the icebox, while the vegetarian one is put down in front of Donatello. Mission complete he returns the left over ingredients back to the various storage containers.

Mike takes what's left of his tea, and moves away from the table, towards the kitchen window. He pulls back the shade and looks out the window, keeping his eyes peeled for Raph.

[i_speak_softly]

"Like the Battle Nexus and D'Hoonib both tried to move into Jersey City," Don replies, with a sideways smile. Then he gets serious. "I must have arrived just after the explosions. It explains why there are so many burnt-out-looking buildings."

Without thinking much about it, he shifts his chair to be out of the line of sight of anyone passing outside the window. Then he continues: "People seem... uneasy. I could tell something had happened."

While searching his memory for any other useful observations, Don picks up the sandwich and takes a bite. Realizing he got the vegetarian one, he turns to Mike, a lettuce leaf hanging forlornly from his beak, a What did I do to deserve this? expression on his face.

[duelkatana]

Ouch. That bad. All the better that Don's now here to expedite their recovery. Leo's gaze slides away to Mike as he tries to pummel his brain into getting started on formulating some plan of action. It's not much use; the throbbing in his skull is starting to get a good hold on him again. It's only a matter of time before his body demands more rest, despite him not having been the one running around outside for the better part of four hours. What a pain.

He turns to Don with a question about the kedan populace, but stops when he sees the... frankly comical look on his brother's face. And the lettuce. Whatever Mike put in that sandwich, Don was clearly not expecting it.

"Problem?" he asks with a glint of humor, his eye ridge lifting.

[michaeljangelo]

Mike's attention may be diverted by looking out the window, but that doesn't mean he's not listening. Proof of this can be found in his cringe at the mention of "Jersey City." He has no idea what or where the other two places are, but he's been to Jersey City.

He prefers the sewers to Jersey City, which really says all that needs saying, in his honest opinion.

The room then goes quiet enough for Leo to ask if there's a problem, and that...well that gets enough of Mike's attention that he let's the shade close and turns back to look towards the table.

Donatello's face is...hysterical, and Mike can't help but smirk at the other turtle's expense.

"You got a thing. Right here," he says gesturing to his own chin where if he were Don there'd be lettuce.

[i_speak_softly]

Don slurps up the lettuce, and knows he totally deserves the others' laughter. He's more bothered by the cruel sleight-of-hand that left him with the meatless meal.

"What happened to the other sandwich?" he asks plaintively.