[open catchall]

[i_speak_softly]

Characters: Donatello (i_speak_softly) and OPEN
Date: throughout the month of July
Location: mostly around the Metal and Water sectors
Situation: various
Warnings/Rating: none yet; subject to change

((The story so far: Donatello was having a reasonably nice life, then he was forced to move again and was given the "gift" of telepathy. For the past few weeks, he's been getting settled with these changes. Now things have quieted down to a new normal, so Don is out and about, taking care of lingering business and looking for new adventures, though preferably of the not-too-adventurous variety. PM me for plotting, or just tag in!))

Comments

[i_speak_softly]

"No," he says. "Only things you want me to hear." He scrubs a hand over his head. "I'm the only one who can't keep his thoughts to himself."

[alphatar]

That was a relief, to some extent anyway. Korra tilted her head and looked at him quizzically. Wondering just how hard it would be, Korra focused on a thought she wanted to relay to Don, just to see if it really did work both ways.

Michelangelo is not a turtle spirit.

[i_speak_softly]

A momentary pause, then the response:

Just a spirited turtle.

[alphatar]

Even though she's expecting it, Korra was still surprised when it happened and she managed to stifle most of the yelp in her throat at the answer to her unspoken question.

[alphatar]

"Okay, that was weird. But...it worked." Whys she's even stunned is beyond her, Don told her as much; but he was the first psychic she'd met. Knowingly anwyay.

"You can't hurt anyone with it, can you?"

[i_speak_softly]

Don shifts uneasily, thinking back to what he had tried with Leo.

"I don't want to hurt anyone with it."

[alphatar]

That answer definitely concerned her. Psychics on her world was always paired with bending, and it usually led to bad things.

"I don't want you to either. But you've been able to not do that so far, right?" She was already trying to think of someone who might know more about this kind of thing.

[i_speak_softly]

He looks at his feet.

"No."

[alphatar]

The bad answers were getting worse.

"...who?"

[i_speak_softly]

And there's still more worse to get to.

Don bites his lip before answering. He wouldn't normally give away this kind of information, but Korra seems to know so much about his family already...

"Raph," he admits. "His mind is... There's something different about it. Psychic contact hurts him. I - hadn't known that." He looks up, worry in his eyes. "Please don't let him know I told you this."

[alphatar]

Korra had hurt Raph before, sure, and she knows he can take it like a champ; but that's only on a physical level during their sparring matches. His request put her in a tough spot, Korra was pretty free flowing when it came to Raph since they had a lot in common.

"O-kay." She tried to not sound unsure, but it wasn't really in her. "What happens when you accidentally think around him, I mean, what's different?"

[i_speak_softly]

"He hates it," Don says bluntly. "He just... can't have anybody else in his head."

That's the best he can explain it. Raph either can't, or won't, tell him what it really feels like.

[alphatar]

"Sounds like how Raph treats normal company." Sorry not sorry, Raph. "I don't know if it would help a lot or not, but meditation might make things easier for you." She shrugged, it wasn't exactly her place to give any advice on the subject by any means. "If you're able to anyway. I know some people aren't the greatest at it."

Like her.

[i_speak_softly]

"Leo's been making me do it all the time. I think it's helping a little." He looks at Korra thoughtfully. "I wouldn't have guessed you for a meditator."

[alphatar]

That was definitely Leonardo, he was so much more collected than Korra could hope to be.

“I’m not. I mean I know how to and I can, but it’s not my thing. Things being quiet and still for too long kind of drive me up the wall. Especially when I’m the one being like that.”

[i_speak_softly]

"Kind of the same for me. I mean, I like sitting still. But not that still." In the interest of fairness, he adds, "I do usually feel better after."

[alphatar]

"Yeeeah, I do too." Admitting it was a little bit of a pain, but Korra wasn't fond of lying. "Hey, do you remember what the dream was about? Maybe that could shed some light on how to help you control it."

[i_speak_softly]

Don half-smiles at what they grudgingly have in common, then concentrates on recalling his dream.

"A boy - a teenager - came to me and said he would grant one request. He said no to sending my family home, letting us live together, securing the consoles, and... maybe some other things. Then I asked to be psychic, though I really don't remember why. He said yes, and then I woke up."

[alphatar]

Korra leaned onto the back of the couch in the shared living area and let her mind shape up what he described, only to find that it was exactly like the dream she had with-

"Asti!" She quickly cleared her throat and scaled back her enthusiasm after understanding just what went on. "Sometimes he talks to us in our dreams."

[i_speak_softly]

"Asti." Don snaps his fingers. "That is what he called himself. Who is he?"

[alphatar]

The irony of the question made her chuckle.

"That boy is Tu Vishan. It's the only way he can talk to us. Looks like he was giving out gifts to everyone." One of her favorite subjects, she had a soft spot for the biggest turtle she'd ever met.

[i_speak_softly]

"He's -" Cue baffled look. The boy in the dream was the same Asti who is the father of the hatchlings? The same Asti whose shell they're all living on? "Then why did he look like a human?"

[alphatar]

"I think he likes looking like that. But probably because it's what most people will recognize and understand. When I first met him like that, he called me little sister and we raced on the Yue Bay from back home." Korra's smile stayed even though she scratched the back of her head. "I think I had a dream with him too, but I don't remember it as well as the first one."

[i_speak_softly]

Don looks disappointed - even betrayed - by this suggestion.

"Sometimes I have dreams where I'm human, but they're almost always bad dreams. And in this one, it was like he didn't even know me."

[alphatar]

"Well, it was kind of your first dream with him." She can't but sound a little sardonic, though she did kind of understand what he meant. Asti knew exactly who Korra was and what bending is. Giving a small gesture with her hand, Korra offered: "If they're all bad, that means your due for a good onr, right?"