[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]

"Ah... okay." He scratches his head. "We could equip them with bo-gliders and turn them into an aerial attack force. Or send them door-to-door to distribute Mike's patch. Or have them shapeshift into... well, anything, I guess."

[michaeljangelo]

"I like the sound of this aerial attack force thing. Tell me more about these bo-gliders..."

Mike's hands are already steepingly like a cartoon villain.

[i_speak_softly]

I'll show you.

As Don thinks it, he's already walking into the other room. In just a moment he comes back. He's carrying a bo staff, but it's clearly not one of his normal ones. Something is a little off about its shape and weight.

"Bo gliders," Don says, giving the staff a spin. "They're not just bos..."

He finishes the spin cleanly, and two pairs of wings snap out of the staff.

"... they're gliders."

He is at least as proud of this as Mike is of his kids' progress.

[michaeljangelo]

"Oh. My. God."

Mike holds his hand out for the staff, wanting to take a closer look at this ingenious invention of Don's. Donatello, his Don, was less of an inventor and more of a tinkerer.

"Does it work? Can this like...actually fly?"

[i_speak_softly]

Don shakes the staff, which has the effect of closing the wings, then flips it to Mike.

"I haven't tested them yet, but Korra promises me they can."

[michaeljangelo]

Mike easily catches the staff and gives it a few experimental spins. The wings stay put, which is kind of awesome, so he spins it faster.

"Okay, so what's the over/under on someone needing her abilities to not just fall out of the sky like a rock?"

[i_speak_softly]

"According to my calculations," Don starts, and then thinks better of where that sentence was going. "I plan to use them, and I don't have her abilities or her weight ratios."

[michaeljangelo]

"She is kind of way stronger than anyone her size, shape, and build should be, right?"

The staff stops moving with a click, and then the wings come out again...and Mike can't help but jump.

"I've got to admit, I kind of want to jump off the roof right now. Is...is that wrong?"

[i_speak_softly]

Don ignores the first question in favor of the second, a smile spreading across his beak.

"Do you really?"

[michaeljangelo]

It takes him two tries to get the wings to collapse, but once they do Mike just looks over at Don and smiles.

It's the kind of smile that would normally send someone scurrying to their room to see if their bed had been short-sheeted, or maybe check the toilet for cling wrap.

"Race you?"

His enthusiasm is damn near infectious, in more ways than one.

[i_speak_softly]

Don would not win that race in a fair competition, so he just breaks for the stairs, grabbing a second bo-glider along the way. Then it's on to his room and out the window, scrambling up to the roof and looking over the edge. As luck would have it, the weather is clear with a little wind - perfect for a slightly-reckless attempt to get airborne.

[michaeljangelo]

"Hey!" Mike shouts at Don's quick retreat. "No fair!" he says, but he's laughing as he says it and quickly follows after his cousin.

Then, before Mike knows it he's standing on the edge of the roof looking down. Mike isn't afraid of heights, actually...as a rule he's not afraid of much, but there's something wholly different about jumping with a landing calculated and jumping to...

"...throw ourselves to the ground and miss," he says quietly quoting Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

[i_speak_softly]

Don grins at his favorite cousin ever, then twirls the bo and jumps. The wings snap open in midair; a draft catches them, and with a whoop he's soaring away over the city.

[michaeljangelo]

"...this is nuts," he mutters before following Don's lead. "YOU'RE NUTS," he yells as he falls, but that all changes when the air catches the glider in just the right way. From there it's nothing but un-ninja-ly whoops and hollers of rapture.

[i_speak_softly]

"AREN'T YOU GLAD?" Don shouts back. The bo-gliders handle somewhat differently than the gliders he's used to, but after a little trial and error he learns to steer where he wants to go. He banks wide to the west, trying to get a sense of how fast he could get to Mike's place this way.

[michaeljangelo]

"NOT IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE SMUG ABOUT IT," he says between laughs.

Mike isn't going for speed or accuracy, but instead pushes the limits how high and wide he can bank.

[i_speak_softly]

Don considers possible responses, but: nope. He built some gliders, they work, and it is fantastic. On this occasion, he is going to dispense with humility and take all the credit he deserves.

[michaeljangelo]

Mike's jaw slowly slackens as the realization dawns that flying off to his side is a preening Donatello. It's a rare sight indeed. So rare that Mike doesn't close his mouth quick enough to keep himself from swallowing a bug.

Much hacking follows.