tushanshu_logs | [open catch-all]

Entry tags:

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Characters: Leonardo (

duelkatana) and OPEN
Date: throughout the month of May
Location: various
Situation: various
Warnings/Rating: none yet; subject to change

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{ooc; If you'd like me to write up a header for you or otherwise plot, feel more than free to PM me or catch me at

throesofangels. Or you can tag in with your own starter! This month Leo will spend much of his time rooftop-hopping in the Fire Sector, lingering as near to Tu Vishan's head as he can get away with, and keeping a self-imposed vigil near damage control spots throughout the city. Brackets or prose both welcome!}

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The moment someone new entered the room, Mike knew. Who it was had yet to be determined, but that there was another living, breathing, presence in the kitchen was not in doubt. This, however, didn't stop Mike from continuing right along with what he was doing.

If they needed something, chances are good they'd get it themselves.
If they couldn't, they'd ask.
He figured that whoever it wasn't didn't want to talk, because no one just stops to talk to him in the kitchen. They either bellow for him from somewhere within earshot, or throw something at him to get his attention.

But they don't. The presence just stays right where it is.

Okay, correction: Raph would just bellow or throw something.
If Don needed him for something he might knock on the doorframe to get his attention, or clear his throat.

Since neither of these things has occurred, this can only mean that it's Leo standing by the door for reasons yet to be known.

That can't possibly be good.

He hazards a glance to his periphery.

Yup. Leo.
Just standing there.
Saying nothing.
Just watching.
Yup.
That's totally a thing that's happening.

When Mike runs out of lyrics, which isn't doesn't take all that long given the relative brevity of the song itself, he whistles for a bit.

Then he checks his 9 o'clock.
Yup. Still there.
Damn it.

"Hiya Leo," he chirps finally. "Can I get you anything?"
Leo, not Leonardo. Because by this point that's just who he is to Mike.

The fact that Mike actually acknowledges Leo's presence, twice, and goes right on doing his thing is somehow reassuring to Leo. They've long past moved the point of being uncomfortable in each other's presence; hard not to, after living together for so long. Wherever they stand... they do have that certain, casual tolerance of one another that only a family can keep.

When his cousin finally turns to verbally greet him, Leo pushes away from the threshold, stepping forward to rest a hand on the back of the kitchen chair.

"Feel like going for a run?"

He tries hard not to make it sound like an order, because it's not meant to be one.

His expression says, not particularly, but instead he merely asks in kind:

"Do you?"

Mike's never really been one to just run...for running's sake. Make it a race and not only is he there, but he's there with bells on. And if you're Raph...he's there running backwards with bells on so as to trash talk you more effectively.

In addition to that, Leo's just getting over, well...what ever it was that they had to get over. Is going for a run right now the best of all possible things for you, big blue?

He actually thinks that over for a moment, his fingers drumming lightly over the back of the chair. He's fine now, he has been for a while; mostly, he's just going stir crazy.

"A walk, then."

Not quite the answer Mike was gunning for, but a walk is certainly better than a run. Runs mean rooftops and oftentimes shadows, where as walks are just taking in the world around them.

Mike is all for taking in the world around him.

Besides, did Leo just...fidget?

"I think I can manage a walk," he says as he sets the sink to drain and turns to grab a kitchen towel to dry his hands. "Do we have a sector preference?"

Fidget? Leonardo? Never. But it should say quite a bit about the full extent of his boredom that he seems to brighten a little even at that. He lifts his hand from the chair and crosses them back over his chest, turning to look out the window.

"We haven't gotten a good look at Water since the initial attacks. I'd like to see the state of things around here."

Yep, this is Leo, bright and cheery.

"Oooh, so a turn about the neighborhood, eh? All right, yeah. Sure."

He's already taking off his apron and hanging it on the hook designated for such a thing.

"Do I need pants?"

Leo flashes him an exasperated look that's just a little ruined by a touch of wryness.

"Not this time. Come on." He waves a hand towards the exit and moves, clearly ready to get this show on the road.

"Well that's promising and foreboding." Speaking of wry...

He flips off the lights in the kitchen as he leaves the room, following a few steps behind Leonardo.

He sets the pace right from the beginning: a brisk walk, faster than a stroll, but hardly taxing on their fit bodies. Leo would love nothing more than to sprint away this heavy, deadset weight in his lungs, but he has the inkling that pushing himself too far too fast will have the exact opposite effect. Not from experience or anything.

After all this time, open roads still aren't what he's used to - even in the dusk, Leo sticks mainly to the back roads, passing through the darker shadows and alleys of Water. Their path leads them in a wide circle around the marketplace where they became infected. He's not going near the explosion points for a good while, no matter how safe they seem now.

Throughout the short trip, Leo says nothing, watching the pale-faced, exhausted kedan bustle quietly around them. Don't let his silent treatment schtick fool you, though. He's multitasking. In fact, once or twice when Mike isn't looking (or at least when Leo thinks he isn't), he studiously watches the way their now-youngest conducts himself - taking in every mannerism that's become second nature to see.

It's an interesting thing, watching Mike move about the world. To the untrained eye it would appear that he's just affably meandering through the landscape, letting his attention span dictate where his feet fall. There's forward progression for certain, but for Mike that forward progression seldom comes with a straight line. Think: Billy's Adventures in "The Family Circus" and you've got the general gist of things. Even the speed at which he walks is variable, sometimes he's a couple of steps ahead of Leo, sometimes falling a few steps behind.

This would all change in a heartbeat were Leo attempting to encourage some form of conversation, but in lieu of chatter Mike explores the world around him.

But to someone who knows him? All this extraneous movement looks far different. Mike isn't just exploring, though let's be honest...there is some of that going on too, he's taking point. He knows Leo isn't at his full strength, and so he's playing the pawn and protecting the King. What he's also doing is casing the joint, preparing new lesson plans for the kids in his class, and all with a lazy, disarming smile upon his face.

Raphael has always been known for the brutality in his fighting style.
Leonardo for his efficiency.
Donatello has his precision.
Mike? For Mike fighting is a game, and up until the very end, he'll make you think you have a snoball's chance in hell of winning.

Edited 2014-06-07 23:47 (UTC)

Had Leonardo not known his brother, he might not know his cousin as well as he does. Here's the truth: Every time you think a Mikey isn't paying attention, he'll surprise you three hours or weeks or even years later, relaying information and wisdom to you with perfect clarity.

More than anything, that might be the biggest difference between Michaelangelo and Michelangelo: Mike looks like he's always living in his own head, while Mikey seems to be living everywhere but, and either way, they manage to view the world with a hidden clarity their brothers could only dream of.

It's that clarity that drives Leonardo's silence. How does Mike look at their patchwork family - including his own place in it?

They're approaching the hour mark when Leo pulls away from the back roads, instead leading them to the trees and shrubbery that line Water's numerous canals. As much as he hates to admit it, he's getting a little winded - and, more importantly, tired of stalling this conversation.

Leo diverts from the road, moving beneath the shade of a tall tree that overshadows a nearby pond, and turns to lean his shell against the trunk. He glances sideways out into the water, arms crossing over his plastron.

"Mike..."

His tone isn't the warning 'you're-in-trouble' tone, nor is it the 'I-have-bad-news' tone. If anything, it sounds hesitant, as though he's afraid his next words may cause offense.

The gradual slowing of Leo's gait does not go unnoticed in spite of the fact that it does go unremarked upon.

Mike is just about to jump to reach for a low branch when Leo's tone catches his attention.

That...can't be good.

"I know what you're going to say..."

Leo shoots his level gaze over to Mike, holding it there. He somehow doubts that... but he waits anyway.

Mike chances a look at his cousin, sees that patented Level Gaze, and holds it...for a good long while. Far longer than even he thought he'd manage.

But eventually, he breaks.

"Okay, I really have no idea, but I figured that was probably my only ever chance to say that, and I took it." He holds up a finger. "Plus, tension breaker. Had to be done."

It's about then that Leo realizes he might be coming across as a bit intense right now, and that he should probably ease up some if he doesn't want this to become an interrogation. He duly gives a soft snort, letting his tense muscles relax as he looks straight out in front of him.

"I've been meaning to ask for a while now... what are your brothers like?"

No one knows better than Leo how loaded a question that is, but he leaves it at that.

His brow furrows, and then adopts the universal animal stance for "I'm going to figure this out," ie: he tilts his head to one side.

"How do you mean?"

"You've met my brothers... and the Little Ninja's," he replies without missing a beat. "But we don't know a single thing about your family."

He knows he's like Mike's Leonardo. He knows Raph must be like Mike's Raph - his handling of his wayward cousin is too perfect, too practiced. But all Leonardo has ever known about that world is that it has a Michaelangelo more left of right than any other counterpart he's met.

"I'm asking you to tell me."

"Ah," he says turning away, deciding that now would probably be the best point to refocus his attention to that lower hanging bough just overhead.

"Well..." the sentence starts, but doesn't continue until Mike has lept from the ground into the foliage.

"...for starters, we all wear red." There's an even longer pause after that. Mike plays it off like he's trying to get comfortable in his new roost, but in truth he's not entirely sure what to say next.

"I don't know, they're shorter than you guys are. Voices are different. Leo's all like. But then Don's all like. And don't get me started on Raph. He switches from voice to voice with the practiced easy of little brothers' everywhere.

Leo's eyes catch a leaf shaken free by Mike's rustling in the branches; he watches it flutter down slowly, nearly touching the ground before being swept up by a gust of wind. As it flits over the pond, he leans his head back into the trunk to peer at his cousin through the leaves.

There's probably a bit more amusement and fondness in his look than he'd been planning to exercise today, but to hell with it.

He senses that Mike is grasping, though - so while he hadn't meant to breach this specific topic quite so soon, he finds himself asking before he can stop himself.

"And me?" His head tilts in curiosity. "What am I like?"

"You mean my Leo."

It's not a question, but a the slow realization that maybe this is what the whole walk was all about in the first place. He considers his words carefully, Leo deserves nothing less.

"Leo's solid. Always. Never a missed step, or makes a gesture out of place. His form is flawless and his execution damn near perfect. Always."

There's an adoration in his tone that's more than just filial love, it's something more akin to hero worship.

"Of course," a slow smile creeps into his voice. "You can't be all hospital corners without being a little stiff, you know? I think maybe he forgets that we're still kids sometimes."

Kids...

His eyes narrow, almost sadly, but he lets the silence float in the evening air. Kids, huh? It's easy to forget that Michaelangelo and his brothers are a few years younger than Leo's family. Sixteen years old... for Leonardo, that just a couple years ago, and it feels like thirty for all of the things he's been through since then.

What can he say? Even if their lives aren't carbon copies of one another, Leonardo knows in his core that Mike and his family have so much to live through. Maybe they're kids now, but they won't get to be for much longer. He isn't sure whether to admire his counterpart for his steadfast realization of that fact, or wish he'd just enjoy it while it lasted.

Even the way Mike talks about him - heh. That's some hero worship, all right. Leo doesn't think his own Mikey would ever be that starry-eyed over him. If anything, it adds another layer to his mixed emotions: it's likely that Mike just hasn't seen the worst in his brother yet. He will, one day. Of that, Leonardo has no doubt.

He snorts softly. "Sounds like a running trait."

Even the Little Ninja was far more serious than his fifteen years should have let him be.

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