10473/The Cold Road to Mastering Ninjitsu

The Cold Road to Mastering Ninjitsu
Date of Scene:	18 December 2019
Location:	Turtle Lair, Williamsburg
Synopsis:	It all started with a hunt, with a snowball... and ends with Leonardo experiencing what a 'headruffle' feels like from Pippi. It's just not the same when you ruffle your own head.
Cast of Characters:	Pippi, Leonardo

---

Pippi has posed:
    A Ninja is a master of all things -- himself, and his environment. Those were words that were spoken by a wise rat to all of his students -- both old, and new.

    Pippi was unorthodox at her interpretation of it sometimes, but then again... Splinter's students were very rarely orthodox with anything

    The 'youngest' ninja-in-training had taken a butter knife, and very carefully had scraped out some of the frost in the freezer, and formed it into a compacted ball. Her ears were up, listening for any passers-by that may inquire as to her doings -- no one has.

    Taking her frosty weapon, she slowly closes the freezer door, and on silent feet, her toes raised slightly to keep her nails from clicking on the floor as she moves -- zoning in on her prey for the evening as a test of her growing skill.

    Leonardo. AKA 'The Favored Son', AKA 'The Boyscout'.

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo, AKA 'The One Trying To Play A Video Game In Peace For Once Since Mikey Was Out Somewhere.'

Seemed Donnie and Raph were also occupied with their own things as well, and once some training and meditation had come to a close Leo was granted a rarity: a block of time to play his favorite RPG. Fighting games? Meh. Sometimes. What was the point in those when they fought enough for real? What was the point in those when Mikey usually won most of the in-game fights?

No, now it was quality time with the character he'd built from scratch, traversing the open worlds of space, known as 'The Final Frontier' to many. It was no coincidence that he'd styled his character off Captain Ryan in Space Heroes.

The mask is down around his neck, allowing him unrestricted focus as he pilots his ship from one destination to another. There's a little laugh at one of the lines the ship's AI provides.

Pippi has posed:
    Her quarry was distracted. Pippi was nearly silent was she moved through the room, her fingers growing cold from the snowball as she slips -- minding her reflection on the screen -- and then, from around the back of the couch, she launches her attack!

    A swift throw, and the 'deadly' sphere of icy doom sails towards its mark -- Leo's back!

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo gets into a space dogfight, leaning a bit left when he angles his ship left, then the other way before he straightens up again. "Come on, come on.." About that time...

*paf!*

"Hey! Who..?!"

The makeshift snowball, which really isn't much of one considering the way it was made, strikes the back of Leo's shell. Some of it sticks, but most of it just splatters around as he turns to level a raised brow in the direction of...

"Pippi? Is this your way of telling me you're bored and want more training?"

Pippi has posed:
    Pippi had tried to hide behind the back of the couch, but one ear was sticking up.

    Sheepishly, she raises her head above the couch arm, and rubs the back of her head as she looks at the slush, and gives a struggling grin to Leo.

    "Would you beleive if I said that totally was a training thing and not me trying to start a snowball fight?" she ventures, rubbing her hand againt the back of her head befoe her ears go limp.

    "Yeeaaah didn't think so."

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo cranes his neck, using a finger to wipe the remainder of the 'snow' free, flicking it down to the floor. "You know I can see you there," he says, tapping at the ear before she rises.

"And I don't think you'd make a very good liar, which is probably for the best," the turtle adds, beginning to turn back to his game with her lingering nearby.

Pippi has posed:
    Her ear flicks. It's the one with the ID tattoo in it.

    She siiighs, and rubs the back of her neck. "No, I'm a pretty horrible liar, that I know. Easier to remember the truth beause it happened than track a bunch of lies." she states, and as he turns back to his game, the canine's ears come up, listening to the game a bit.

    "Is this the space-people game about that show you like to quote sometimes?"

Leonardo has posed:
"It's better that way," Leonardo remarks. Already, some of that ice is beginning to melt upon contacting the floor. His character's ship pulls into a space port to dock, and upon exiting it can be seen the character is, indeed, the spitting image of Captain Ryan. Just how much time did he spend on creating it?

At the question, he explains, "No. It's just a game where you can fully customize your character to look like whatever you want." There's a pause before he adds, "As long as it's a human, I mean. That's the way the story is designed. I'm supposed to be trying to find a way to make the human race survive in a galaxy they're new to."

Pippi has posed:
    "Why just humans? I mean there's even aliens out there. I got asked if I was an alien. I got asked if *you* were aliens. It was a weird day." Pippi states as she looks at Captain Ryan walking out of the ship. Her head tilts, and she sits on the couch, watching the screen. 'Sit' is probably a slight misnomer. She 'perches, her hands between her feet, her legs bent, ready to spring back up.

    "Can't Donnie make it so you can be non-humans?" she questions, looking back at Leo.

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo shakes his head and shrugs. "Nah. Like I said, this game is meant to have you playing a human captain trying to make sure there's a place for humans in this new..you know, world." He gestures toward the screen with a hand, waving it back and forth. "And there's a lot Donnie can do, but this game doesn't take mods and they haven't done any DLC with other races."

As Captain Ryan stands idly by, Leo turns back in Pippi's direction. "We're mutants, not aliens, but to other people that might not matter with the way we look. Did that make you uncomfortable?"

Pippi has posed:
    "No. I remember being normal, but as far as I know I've only ever left New York /twice/" pause "/four-rice/ and I've never left the planet." Pip pipes up, her tail giving a wag. "He wasn't going to hurt me. He was different, he said he could see my dee-en-ay. Which is the spiral pasta stuff in the cells... I think."

Leonardo has posed:
The game is, for the moment, forgotten. Paused. "What do you mean someone said he could see your DNA?" Leonardo asks, a flash of something crossing his expression. Worry? Wonder? Concern? Curiosity? The first impression of hearing something like that is not necessarily a comforting one. "Who are you talking about?"

Pippi has posed:
    "He was a mutant boy. He had strange eyes, and said that he was a mutant like me." Pippi replies quietly, and she rubs the back of her head. "I only saw him once. He could see through the brick wall I was hiding behind. He said he was an autist, but I'm not real sure what that means." she replies, "He seemed like he was my age, maybe?"

Leonardo has posed:
"You didn't get a name?" Leonardo asks, a doubtful expression shaping up as he reaches down to tug the mask back into place, saving his progress in the game before shutting it off. "He may be a mutant but I doubt he's like us, the way we came to be."

Pippi has posed:
    "I might have, but this was... actually before I lived here. Alopex and I were still at Winter-sensei's." Pippi explains, her tail curling a bit around her. "I didn't think I would see him again. An' I know. There's human mutants who are just born that way. We were changed by the lab-stu-- mute-a-gen." Pippi pronounces each syllable, sounding the word out carefully as she looks to Leo. Mask's back on. Business time.

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo might have been thinking it was about time to go topside and look for someone, hence the mask going on, but..perhaps not. "Oh. I thought you meant you'd just come across this person. Well. I guess you could say there are two different types of mutants, as far as we're concerned. I've heard of some who are born with something different in their DNA, but we were created," he explains, arms resting across his thighs.

Pippi has posed:
    "No, this week I accidentally took a UPS truck to a different city and ended up helping to foil a bank robbery. I wasn't seen, I brought smoke pellets and borrowed a Pluto mask from one of the robbers." she gives a wry little smile, and Pippi's tail gives a wag.

    "And yeah, when I first met Alopex, I also met this guy named Red Robin, who offered to get me in touch with another mutant group. But they were all... human mutants. And I don't trust them." her ears droop slightly, and then she gives a small shrug.

    "I know, we were created. We were Changed." Pippi recalls quietly, and she grips her left ear, and she gives a huff out. "But in the end? We're together. And we're stronger together. I can't imagine a life where you're not in it."

Leonardo has posed:
Has Pippi noticed Leo hitching an occasional ride on a subway car? He remarks, "I don't think I want to know what you were doing in a UPS truck to begin with, let alone getting yourself in another city at a bank robbery." The mention of the Pluto mask leaves him with a brow sliding upward, but he sniffs in apparent amusement.

"I think I've heard of that one. He operates out of Gotham City, I believe. And just because someone is a human mutant doesn't mean they can't be trusted. You just have to be careful and be sure about them first."

The head turtle rises from the gaming couch, then pauses to look back at Pippi. "Yeah. Now that I think of it, it'd be hard to think of this place without the rest of you around, either."

Pippi has posed:
    "Oh, I got sent out for antipasto salad, but got the directions mixed up. Then I ripped the steering wheel out of a get away car." Pippi gives a wry grin, and gives a little shrug "Borrowed the pluto mask because no one would beleive there was a /dog/ under the /dog/, went in, helped stop the bank robbery with a well placed smoke pellet and then went out the fire escape and hit the underground. Followed the river back home. Man were my feet /tired/, Leo!" she grins, and she leans towards him a little bit.

    And slowly, she reaches up, very, very carefully...

    ... and she 'ruffles' Leo's dome. Then flicks the tails of his bandana over it.

    "Thanks, Leo. For everything."

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo admits, "Probably not the way I would have done it, but it sounds like it was effective. And you could have called. We'd have sent someone with the Shellraiser." That said, he does look at least somewhat impressed by the job it sounds like she did. Could have been a lot worse.

The lean has him squinting through the mask, head tilting. What is she up to..? Oh. There is a raised brow, a widening of the eyes at the 'paw' over the top of his bald head, then the back of the mask left to drape over, one crossing an eye. He reaches up to guide it back where it belongs, and he definitely looks as if he isn't sure how to react to that. Caught off-guard as he is, he says after a slow pause, "Ahh..you're welcome. It's good you're all here." He's going to need to figure out what that was for!

Pippi has posed:
    "Huh. Maybe should have tried to ruffle /your/ head instead of lob a snowball! Way less mess!" Pippi notes playfully, and then hops off the couch. "I'm gettin' a slurpee, you want one, Leo?"

Leonardo has posed:
When her back is to him, Leonardo reaches back up to touch the top of his head and try a self-ruffle. It doesn't feel the same. Huh. "Sure," he answers distractedly, shaking his head to try focusing again before moving over to the kitchen. "As long as you didn't waste it all on that snowball." That was odd!