10959/Train the body, Train the mind.

Train the body, Train the mind.
Date of Scene:	02 February 2020
Location:	Turtle Lair, Williamsburg
Synopsis:	FURRY MISSILE ATTACK! Oh, no, just Donatello and Pippi training.
Cast of Characters:	Pippi, Donatello

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Pippi has posed:
    It was a delicate transaction of movement. Easing up on one foot meant pressing down on another, meant shifting her tail, subtlely her shoulders, tilting her jaw just a little bit as Pippi waggles in mid-air, balanced precariously on a stack of chairs borrowed from the kitchen, off-balanced on the top of the back of the chair, the wood creaking around as she reached out with one hand, her other arm behind her, attempting to reach a rainbow-colored tennis ball that had gotten lodged up in one of the pipes.

Donatello has posed:
It'd be an easy thing to say something, disturb, but it would also risk a startle that could send Pip tumbling to the floor. Donnie is out of his work room, watching, keeping quiet while he ponders what will happen next. Should he intervene? He has a shuriken out, ready to use to dislodge the ball if he gets an opportunity. He is also looking at the step-ladder Pippi may not know how to use.

Pippi has posed:
    Pippi is short, the step ladder would have been too small! Besides, who doesn't like a challenge?

    "Just... a little... clo--" Pippi states, and then one ear picks up. Her nose twitches, and she turns to greet Donatello with a smile and a wave!

    "Hi Donnie! Don't mind m-eeeeeeeee!" she squeaks, the chairs tilt a little too much as she waves, and she tries to grab onto one of the pipes, misses, and as the chairs go to one side, Pippi goes to the other, arms flailing a bit!

Donatello has posed:
She's seen him! It'd be cruel to let her tumble, especially as their family. Donnie moves when she starts to fall, sliding up in a kneeling posture in order to pop up, a hand going to hook at her ribs to hold her up while a foot goes out to hold one of the chairs and steady it.

"Hey now! See! You shouldn't use chairs Pip, gonna get yourself hurt, or the lair!" not willing to move unless he knows for sure she's not going to fall.

Pippi has posed:
    Pippi has one leg still on a chair, Donatello holding her, ears up in alarm as she gives an embarrassed smile. "My hero?" she questions, and ubs the back of her head before she pushes off the chair, over Donnie's arm and nimbly summer-saults to a crouch.

    Where the tennis ball aforementioned dislodges itself, falls, and bounces off her head with a hollow sound, before rolling off.

    "I know I shouldn't use chairs after the lightbulb mishap, but the step ladder doesn't have enough steps!"

Donatello has posed:
"Then use boxes, they're more stable. We've got a few slat crates around here." Donnie watches the ball roll for a moment before his eyes are back on the Pup. "Gotta make sure you have a broad base. Or we're going to have to really work on your jumping, so that you don't muss up yourself on a balancing act!" He still laughs a little at the notion but also begins looking around the room, as if to discern how to set up a 'course'

Pippi has posed:
    "Donnie, I was an /agility dog/. I'm good at jumping!" Pippi protests as she plunks down to the floor, looking around the room herself. "I mean, you've seen me at that rooftop playground, right? All over the jungle gym, up and down the slide -- just gotta work on the whole 'light foot' thing." Pippi replies as she rubs her head a moment, "aanad maybe my balance. A little bit. Growing out my hair makes my head feel weird.

Donatello has posed:
"Yeah maybe, but this isn't long distance or the like. This is precision, right?" Donatello studies her a moment, lips in a line, "I mean, how good are you at jumping off a wall, running on a ceiling, then dropping down while grabbing something off of a post?" brow ridge raising, "Or moving between buildings to climb?"

Pippi has posed:
    "I use the stairs!" Pippi protests, "and I can wall-run, at least, for about ten feet... last time I tried to building-bounce I put myself to the wall so hard I saw stars." Pippi admits, rubbing the back of her head. "Pretty sure I left a dent in the bricks."

Donatello has posed:
"All the more reason to practice, Pip!" Donnie laughs. "You need to practice jumping and then pushing off about twelve feet, to land on the next building. Once you can gauge that distance right you can go further distances without trouble."

The purp turns and points at the far wall, the clear one for training. "I mean, give it a try, you've space in case you go to far." he walks over himself, marking out a line after using a tape to measure out the distance.

Pippi has posed:
    Pippi glances over to the wall, rubbing the back of her head a moment before she shifts her weight, and gives a shrug. "I've got no problem hopping alleyways, Donnie -- sticking the laaandings sometimes..." Pippi states, but she looks to the wall with an apologetic glance, shifts her footing, then attmempts to circle round, running at the wall, getting a good speed up before she attempts the wall-run, and ends up catching her claws on nsome brickwork and gets a good eight feet in before she has to tumble off.

Donatello has posed:
"I mean run on, and jump twelve feet towards me, Pip. Not a twelve foot run." Donatello grins and moves to stand at the line, watching her, "It's all about control, so you need to stick the landing when you jump off the wall, like you're going to be jumping up higher and higher - without smashing through the wall."

Pippi has posed:
    "Oooh. That makes more sense." Pippi states, and she shifts her weight, eyeballing the wall, and then she exhales, makes a run for the wall, runs up it a few feet and then with a snapped crouch she pushes off.

    And Donatello might find a red-and-white furry missile with bright pink hair coming his way!

Donatello has posed:
He was expecting it, so one foot shoots back to brace when Pippi is coming his way. Eyes scrunching in anticipation of the brutal whupping coming his way, the Purp Turp holds arms out to try and reduce the force.

"Slow-fall techniques, Pip!"

Pippi has posed:
    Pippi is, thankfully, light. So although Donnie gets a superstrong doggo to the shell, it's not as bad as it could have been, and Pip's turned so that her back is against Donatello's front -- that way poor Donnie doesn't get a muzzle to the face!

    OOF!"

Donatello has posed:
Shoved hard, feet skidding along the floor - Donatello leans into her to keep from being bowled over - but it's not an easy thing. Oof might be the most accurate word, he says it too when the air is forced out of his lungs.

"See... Finesse... " and bruised ribs!

Pippi has posed:
    "Finesse is not my strong suite. Strong is my strong suite." Pippi replies, having gotten the breath knocked out of her by landing against shell.

    "You gonna be all right there, Donnie? Hate to accidentally put the hurt on one of my brothers!"

Donatello has posed:
"No, I'll be fine. Don't worry. Finesse is a strength too, like we talked about with your punching and strength training, remember?" Donnatello pats her back, taking a few breaths and rolling his shoulders.

"Alright! Again!"

Pippi has posed:
    "Uuuurggh... whhyy... so eager to get another face full of fur?" Pippi asks as she straightens up, and gives a huff as she leans back. "Was it the butt? Bet it was the butt." she jokes.

    Yes, it always turns to butts between Donatello and Pippi. The butt of long running jokes.

Donatello has posed:
A short bark of a laugh at that, "Get to it, another run or I'm going to smack it!" Donnie shakes his head and points at the wall, "This is important Pippi as much as for you as the rest of us. To make sure you have all your tools in the field eh?"

He moves back to position, and prepares to brace again, expecting to get krumped into pretty hard.

Pippi has posed:
    "Whoa, whoa, hey! My butt is not for smacking!" Pippi protests, and she takes off running at the wall again, taking three steps up and then hopping off!

    This time she doesn't come flying at him as hard, and ends up mis-judging the other way. She tumbles, top-over-teakettle, and ends up in a heap a couple feet away from Donnie's feet before she flops out, belly-up.

    "Okay, so I need just a little bit more."

Donatello has posed:
His hand is out to her to take and be lifted with when she comes to a rest, and Donatello is still smiling, "A little more gets more progress than overdoing it eh?" happy to help her up, "Just try to jump a foot further than you intend to jump. Enough power to get there, not enough to bowl someone over, eh?" Donnie looks to the wall and back to her.

Pippi has posed:
    "All right, smarty-shell," Pippi states as she draws in a breath, stretching her lungs again. Hooboy.

    "Why don't you show me how it's done?"

Donatello has posed:
A chance to show off isn't always present, but when challenged there is a moment of geometry and base physics equations run through his head before Donatello suddenly surges forward, flipping over Pippi as he goes before he is up and along the wall. Not a sprint, but definitely an attempt for speed before leaps.

It's a careful, not the brash work of Raph, enthusiasm of Mikey, or the hard control of Leonardo. It's Math. It's all math. Force and positioning, where to put his feet for leverage and then the bending of knees before the leap to carry him across and land at that drawn line.

Pippi has posed:
    Calculated and conceise, just the way Donatello would have it, and Pippi gives a soft breath out, her shoulders sagging as her tail limps down. "Yeah, ask the expert, get the expert example." she states, and she looks at Donnie as she rubs the back of her head. "you guys all make it look easy!"

Donatello has posed:
"Maybe, but because we've been doing it for years, Pippi. You're learning, there are things we'll always be better at. But none of us can throw a truck into lunar orbit, can we?" Donatello steps up to throw an arm across her shoulders. "Don't cut yourself down, Pip."

Pippi has posed:
    "I can't throw a truck into lunar orbit! I can only throw it like, thirty feet!" Pippi protests, and rubs the back of her head.

    "Did you have difficulty learning all this stuff when you were starting out, Donnie?"

Donatello has posed:
"Yeah, and when we messed up Father would make us do flips, or run laps, or keep going until we were too tired." Donatello gives a small squeeze of his arm

"Pip, everything is difficult when you start out. But it gets easier. You know that, you've been improving on other things you're working on, aren't you? You didn't put us into the wall across the den, did you?"

Pippi has posed:
    "But the wall has more mass and would have pushed me into it!" Pippi states, mixing up mass and gravity and a couple other Newtonian laws, but she seems to realize this, and pauses.

    "Huh.... maaaybe not, I should leave the physics-i-nessing-ish-stuff to you." Pip gives a huff. "What did you have the hardest time with?"

Donatello has posed:
"So, what if it's a thin wall and you need to push less? Finesse, Pipi." his other arm reaching to boop her in the nose with one finger. "I have the hardest time with most people. I am ok with you, but most everyone else I'm horribly awkward."

Pippi has posed:
    BOOP. Pippi's muzzle wrinkles slight at the nose boop, her eyes closing a moment.

    "Well, how come? Just get nervous 'cause you're so much smarter than 'em? I mean, everyone knows you're smarter than me. Most everyone's smarter than me."

Donatello has posed:
Donatello frowns at that and bops her nose one more time. "Enough of that talk Pip, not a matter of smarts. Is a matter than I'm a big geek and people don't like geeks generally. We make them annoyed, we seem like we want to lord over we're smarter. So I overcompensate and I come off like a creep I bet."

Pippi has posed:
    "I wouldn't know. I don't know very many creeps, but I like you just the way you are? Smarts and everything!" Pippi states, her tail giving a wg. Good thing about Pip, he rfeelings are literally on her sleeve.

    "So you're a geek! You're also a turtle. I'm a dog. We're ninjas. They're humans, and Star Wars is better than Star Trek. With the swords and space wizards and whoooooom!" Pippi states, imitating the swing of a lightsaber.

    "Jus'.. be yourself. They either like you for you, or they don't."

Donatello has posed:
Donatello bows his head, "It's often easier said than done, to be yourself." lips in a hard line for a fraction of a second. "It's difficult when you get in your own way. Just like you do when you think you're good enough Pip."

Arm still around her, Donatello gives yet another squeeze, "But you learn very quick and understand a lot better than you do."

Pippi has posed:
    "I don't know how to be anything except myself, so I find it pretty easy... but who I am now, and even who I was when you first met me on the docks are different Pippi's. I used to be scared of a lot of things. I'm not as scared anymore..." she reaches up, and rubs her muzzle, where a wound she received from The Shredder's machinations has scarred over and causes the fur to follow the skin there.

    "And some of the lessons have been really hard! But I have good teachers, like Sensei, Leo, Alopex and you to help me along."

Donatello has posed:
Another nod, a consideration, the look to her muzzle where she rubs, "Well you're a pretty good teacher too, Pippi, you'll understand why later I expect, but just accept that you are right now eh?" Donnie's brows knit again.

Pippi has posed:
    "What? Me? A good teacher? No, no I don't think I am." Pippi gives a bt of a laugh, and gives Donnie a very soft thump on the shell. "But I'll accept that I'm right about something!" he winks, and her tail wags agian, thumping a bit against Donnie.

Donatello has posed:
He laughs at the thumping and shrugs. "Don't sell yourself short, I mean it. You teach us things, we teach you. It's a far better thing than you realize. And some of the lessons come later." he sighs and furrows his brow.

"I'm sure Leo could explain it better than me."

Pippi has posed:
    "Later? You mean like complicated ninjitsu abilities or az-tral projects or tea ceremony?" Pippi's ears perk up, "because I've bene working really hard on the fine motor control for tea ceremony but I don't think that translates well to anything else."

Donatello has posed:
"No, more just later when you take time to think about it, about all of us and see how you've influenced us, the same as we've influenced you." letting her thump his shell still if her tail is still wagging,
"And you'll get it down foe the tea stuff in time. Practice, practice practice ok? If it takes a long time, it's fine, you're super strong. It all comes to finesse, and you're better at that than you give yourself credit too."

Pippi has posed:
    "Uuugh" Pippi lets her shoulders sag. "Practice, practice, practice means patience and tiiiiime. I don't want to wait to be good at fine motor skills, I want them noooooooooow." Pipi whines loudly, obviously joking around before she stretches her shoulders a bit. "I didn't hurt you when I landed on you, did I?"

Donatello has posed:
Donatello shakes his head, "I mean you were still slamming into me a bit but it didn't crack my shell, maybe skidded my feet a little raw. That's fine. Good steps." Donnie laughs, "Before you'd have bashed me over and I'd be getting dragged to a couch to rest. So a good improvement."

Pippi has posed:
    "Good. I think people would get mad if I were to suddenly just start hurting you guys. You're my family!" she tates, tail wagging a moment before she reaches up, an ruffles her fingers accross Donatello's dome the same way some folks do to her hair, and then plops down on the training room floor.

    "Don't tell Leo or Alopex about the chair tower though, all right?"

Donatello has posed:
Donatello laughs at that and shrugs, "I mean I can't promise, it might come up some day." getting his snickers under control. "If we get a bit thumped up too in training it happens, believe me. Raph and Leo don't hold back often when they're sparring. I've a few scars... So do they."

Pippi has posed:
    Pippi's nose wrinkles.

    "Yeah, I got hit by Leo a couple weeks ago in the side. Kinda sensitive there..." Pip states, and she rubs at her left side a moment as she frowns, then rubs the back of her head.

    "So, what now, Brains?"

Donatello has posed:
"Keep going at it, or we go eat pizza and drink slurpees?" I mean... Slurpees. He's expanded the machine. The ice maker is hooked into city water, crushes, and such. So may syrup bags. Donnie is a sugar prepper, clearly.

Pippi has posed:
    "Hrrm, tough call, continue to launch myself at ninjas or slurpees..." Pippi states, and gives a grin.

    "Slurpees and pizza."