tushanshu_logs | Event | Satellite

Event | Satellite | Crash Landing

Characters: Any and all!
Date: May 21, 2013
Location: In and around the city of Keeliai
Situation: The early morning hour brings unexpected devastation to Keeliai and the outlying areas. Emergency response and damage control follows!
Warnings/Rating: Fires, minor violence; please put CW in your subject lines

Satellite Crash Event

Crash Landing | Salvage Party | Shocking Spectres

Questions | Fire Sector | Earth Sector | Metal Sector | Water Sector | Wood Sector | Outlying Areas

The early morning hours of May 21st are broken by the sound of a low lying explosion and a veritable rain of fiery bits and bobs such as molten hot metal and space debris. Those out and about in the very early morning (three hours before dawn) see a meteoric shape streaking overhead and leaving a debris trail. Those interested in following it may find themselves distracted by the debris raining down across Tu Vishan, starting fires and damaging buildings turtlewide. Tu Vishan certainly is, for the great turtle grinds to a halt amidst all this and a trace of concern for the little ones on his shell can be felt in the minds of many.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Yeah, it seems like Mikeys never do.]

It's fine. There's not a lot of people who don't wanna throw a knife at somebody when Leo gets like that. [Raphael hadn't really bolted because of the knife, anyway; he'd bolted because he'd realized his presence was more harmful than helpful, and because he was liable to break more of his suite if he stayed and they were bound to need at least some of the furniture in it.

And he was angry, at himself and at Leo -though mostly at himself- and he wanted to just. Be alone.]

[Mike snickers under his breath.]

The more things change...

[He lets the sentence drift, and for silence to fall once again, before changing the subject and addressing the elephant in the room, so to speak.]

You know this wasn't your fault, right?

[Raph flinches.]

Yeah it was.

[He's not even taking unnecessary blame here, it really was literally all his fault. If he'd just listened, if he hadn't been so proud- it's the same problem he's always had.]

Why do I get the distinct feeling that nothing I say will be able to convince you otherwise?

[Because that is the truth, bro.]

Look, you should just head back. Get some rest.

[Mike slowly shakes his head, before he makes a show of waving away at Raph's concern]

I'm fine.

[Not so much, no.]

Besides, Leo said you went to get something, and when I bolted I said I was going to get something. So if we don't both come back together with something there's going to be one mighty disappointed kid in orange. A kid in orange who, I might add, has one heck of a hangdog expression, and I for one do not want to be on the business end of that again anytime soon.

[are you blackmailing him with his own brother you son of a bitch]

...Leo'll handle it.

[Maybe a little...]

Leo? You don't mean the guy who's so out of it he tripped on his own foot wrappings, do you? That Leo?

[see but leo does that sort of shit all the time]

Mikey doesn't need to see me to get better.

[Mike pulls a face.]

He doesn't need you to heal, Korra's pretty much taking care of that. Or at very least the heavy lifting of that. But Mikey does need to see you to get better. And you know damn well if the tables were turned you'd need to see him too.

[SHUT UP AND STOP MAKING SENSE

Mike's stubbornness sets something off and Raphael begins his not-so-slow boil back up to anger. It's not difficult; even here, at Tu Vishan's head, he can't stifle everything and Raphael's anger is constantly just beneath the surface.]

Why d'you even care?

[Uh oh. No, words, don't- just get back in his mouth, don't-]

Nobody treats you like you're part of the team, you don't even want to be part of the team- why do you keep acting like it? Nobody asked you to be here or to come find me anyway!

[Even though Mike had been expecting some kind of push back from Raph, the younger turtle's words cut him to the quick.

What's worse is that Raph isn't wrong.
They don't.
He doesn't.

Mike's weary smile falls, and when he speaks his voice is quiet.]

someone had to. might as well be me.

[It's when Mike's voice comes out like that, soft and hurt, that Raphael feels like the biggest prick to ever have existed.

What had Mike done to earn something like that? Nothing. He came to find Raphael to bring him back, probably just because he was worried. He let Raph push him around, even though he wasn't his real brother. He didn't say a word when Raphael's contact dropped off the face of the Earth as soon as his real little brother showed up. Sure, he went his own way and did his own thing, but when has that ever bothered Raphael? Hell, when has Raphael ever done anything different?

Raphael's mouth snaps shut with an audible click of teeth and he wrenches his eyes away from that expression on Mike's face. He wants to say he's sorry, but the words jam up in his throat and won't come out.

He can't say anything.]

[The silence is too heavy for Mike to shoulder, so he fills it in an effort to make it lighter]

back home raph isn't just my brother, he's my best friend. until april he was my only friend. we never had heart to heart talks, because that's not how raph works. that's not how he operates. but i knew everything about him, and he knows everything about me.

[Mike takes a deep breath, and exhales with a sigh.]

my raph blamed himself for something that wasn't entirely his fault either, and leo made him leave to cool off. when he finally came back things weren't the same between us. they still aren't and that hurts me more than anything.

so you can hate me all you want, but i'm not going to let you push mikey away the same way raph pushed me.

you're not my brother, but that doesn't mean i don't know you.

[Raph's heart-to-hearts are few and far between, but they seem to be infinitely more frequent than any other Raphael from these other two dimensions, or that's what he's picking up. Maybe it's a good thing he's more expressive about his feelings, and maybe not, because it doesn't seem to be doing him any good.

Besides, saying 'compared to the other Raphaels' he's expressive isn't really saying much.

It takes a long time for Raphael to respond, and it's not because he's not listening; he heard Mike, heard every word he said, and he might not be the most obedient but Raphael isn't a terrible listener. Not this one, anyway. Sure, he doesn't always care, or he'll brush it off or be abrasive or be cruel, but outright ignoring? Yup. You'll know when you're being outright ignored, because Raphael will tell you to your face.

So he thinks, and most of it is internal struggle. Say something, don't say something, Mike will think less of him, who cares what he thinks? Expressing weakness isn't weak, Splinter's said as much to him more times than he can count, but allowing yourself to fall prey to weakness is weak. Overcoming it is true strength, but what's overcoming it mean? Talking about it despite how much he doesn't want to, or dealing with it alone, with his own power?

Five minutes. Not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but in a conversation -in this conversation- it's as good as a decade.]

I don't- [Raphael almost stops himself, almost pulls it back in, convinced he shouldn't say anything, but something that sounds like his father urges him on.] Sometimes I don't know why I do the stuff I do.

[As the silence persists Mike becomes increasingly more and more uncomfortable.

He's said too much.
He's said the wrong thing.
He's ruined it all.

It's just like before and there's no way to mend what's been broken.

But then, just as Mike opens his mouth to fill the silence as before, his cousin does something he doesn't expect: he speaks.
And not only does he speak, but he gives voice to something Mike has silently known all along.]

i know.

[He only says this after the shock of having something to respond to at all wears off]

it's like that for my brother too. sometimes it's like something else takes over.

No- well yeah, that's happened too, but-

[Raph clenches his fists on his knees, frustrated.] I know I'm doing something dumb, but I do it anyway because- because I'm so angry or- or because I just want to-!

[But he's not messed up, all right, he's fucking not. He's an angry guy and he's got a goddamn right to be, and Splinter might have warned him against it but he was just talking about keeping cool during battle so the enemy can't use his anger against him. It has no bearing in his day-to-day life.

Right?]

[Mike sees Raph's fists clench in his peripheral vision, and so he turns slightly in order to keep those hands in better view. It's not always easy to tell what Raph's going to do by looking at his eyes, but keep watch of his hands and you can always stay one punch ahead.]

I'm not here to judge, Raph. You don't have to defend yourself to me.

[Something in the air between them shifts and Raphael looks over at Mike, who...looks like he's gearing up a "fight-or-flight" response. Why?

He follows Mike's eyes down to his clenched fists and slowly, with effort, unclenches them.]

...what'd your Raphael do to make your Leo chase him out?

[Mike's posture shifts again. He shouldn't be talking about this. It's not right. It's like talking about Raph behind his back, and Mike always swore he wouldn't do that. Raph has enough problems, Mike shouldn't be adding himself to that list.]

It wasn't his fault. It was mine. I shouldn't have pushed him like I did. I should have known better. I do no better. It won't happen again.

Dude, [Raph says, his voice a little choked. He's getting this horrible, dark, ugly feeling that whatever happened between this Mike and his Raphael, it was bad and violent and scarring. Scarring in a way that Raphael hasn't experienced yet, not really, not entirely.]

[And now the spin.]

It's okay, really. Everything's fine.

Everything is the opposite of okay and fine, Mike. [Like, the polar opposite. The only way it could get more opposite is if someone he cared about had died tonight, and considering that nearly happened, Raphael isn't going to entertain the possibility any longer than he has to.]

What'd he do?

Nothing!

[If Raph thought he saw Mike uncomfortable before, he hasn't seen anything yet.]

I'm fine, can we just...can we just drop this.

No, we can't drop this. [Raphael can be pretty bullheaded, and so what if Mike and his Raph don't talk about shit? When things bother Raphael, really bother him, he talks about them. To Spike, to himself, sometimes to Leo; whoever's available and whoever Raph wants to talk to.] It you're gonna come out here and tell me you won't let me and Mikey turn into your Raph and you, you're gonna have to tell me what he did so I don't do it. Got that?

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