9446/Road Jitters

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Road Jitters
Date of Scene: 05 October 2019
Location: Turtle Lair, Williamsburg
Synopsis: Planning for vacation, Leo, Alopex and Pippi cover some basics, talk a little shop.
Cast of Characters: Pippi, Leonardo, Alopex




Pippi has posed:
    There was one thing about you life being turned completely upside down and encountering a bunch of people who made your life about a thousand times easier and less lonely.

    There was an entire other thing about the possibility that you might be seen, and it might all be taken away.

    Pippi was occupying the 'wait for pizza' bench nearby the lair, below a grate peering up at 122 and 1/8th, her eyes half closed as she peered up into the evening. Her own little room -- consisting of a discarded and hastily-patched futon scrounged from somewhere near Little Tokyo, a stuffed bear and a smattering of clothes was neatened before the trip. Her fingers drummed anxiously against her knees, her head leaning back against the stone and concrete wall of the sewer passage.

Leonardo has posed:
There is some activity around the Lair, mostly packing. Leonardo's got a few books in hand as he walks along from one area to another. Yes, there is a spot for books and magazines to be kept, and he's bringing some stuff with him for the trip, tucking them into a suitcase they scavenged from one place or another. It's actually a nice one, too. Someone must have got a fancier one and decided to get rid of what they had. There's a wobbly wheel, but that's about it.

In passing, he pauses and spots one of the guests that has become family. "Pippi," he begins. "We'll be leaving pretty soon. Are you all set?" the turtle wonders, a curious expression seen.

Pippi has posed:
    "Mm?" Pippi questions, her ears pricking up as she trns back to Leo, and she rubs the back of her head. "Ah, yeah. I've got a sleeping roll and some clothes in my pack, I should be good to go for the week." she replies, rubbing the back of her head. She's continued to let the curly, fuzzy 'hair' on top grow out, keeping everything else shorn close. It's clear to see where the 'poodle' in Pitboodle came from. She glances back and forth, and gives a helpless shrug "I could pack Gutters?"

Alopex has posed:
    Meanwhile, one member of the Lair that wasn't packing very much was Alopex. The reason for this was that she lived rather spartan already. While the Shard was her prized possession, there wasn't a lot beyond that. Her gear, her phone... and that was it. She had managed to scrounge up a sleeping bag and, as promised, was now arriving with all the frozen pizzas... for Mikey. The food for everyone else was in another stack. "I'm back!"

Leonardo has posed:
"Good. It might be a week. Might be a little more or a little less depending on how everyone's feeling. I don't want to rush things," Leonardo starts to explain, gesturing toward her with a palm facing up. "You haven't been there, and neither has Alopex..though she's familiar with being out in the wild. Nemean..Cody..I don't know if he ever went camping or to a farm as a kid. This should be good for all of us."

As the snow fox turns up right around that point with a bunch of frozen pizzas, he squints her way. "Hey. That might last him for a couple days or so. We might want a few more." Was that a smile? Just the idea of getting out of town for a little while has him looking like he's got an extra spring in his step, then he peers back at Pippi. "Gutters?"

Pippi has posed:
    As Leo turns to Alopex, Pippi actually gives him a smile behind his back, her ears pricking up as he addresses Alopex. She also gives a wave to the fox, though her eyes go back to the shelled leader, even cracking a little grin at the spring in his step. He was excited, and happy about this. That was good. Very good.

    Then he turns back to her, and questions the name. She looks suddenly surprised, and her ears turn pink in embarrassment a sshe rubs the back of her head.

    "Ah... bear I found when I came outta the river. He was thrown away, like me, so... I kinda kept him?"

Alopex has posed:
    The bags are dropped on a table with a loud thump along with rustling of the bags. "If he needs more than this he can get them himself!" the fox barks back, not at all being serious about it. She made sure to get double what she thought would be enough. "And if he doesn't want to do that he can eat something that isn't a pie with sauce." Hmph!

    Waves are likely traded between Alopex and Pippi as she sets to putting the bags in any available freezing area until everyone is ready to go. At the mention of the bear, "Ah, they have a name? I remember seeing it at Winterfall a few times. . . I cleaned it up at one point." It -needed- it. Even if the pup may or may not have approved of it. "Well, we found you and them, and you both are valuable to us."

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo listens to the exchanges quietly, giving him the chance to tuck away a couple more books. There could be a /lot/ of relaxed reading going on at the place. "I think we'll be fine on food, actually. It's better to have more than we need than not enough, and we can bring back leftovers. I figured we can do some cookouts with a campfire, too. There will be the barn and the main house, but there's no reason we can't spend a lot of time outside."

The explanation of what Gutters is draws a silent 'ohhh' from him based on his expression, and he says, "Of course you can bring Gutters if you want. That's special to you." And she probably doesn't have some hidden tech built into it thanks to Donnie, either.

Pippi has posed:
    "... Alopex, I'm not a little kid!" Pippi protests, rubbing the back of her head. "It's just... other than clothes and the sleeping thing, that's kinda all I really own. The backpack, my clothes, and Gutters." she gives asoft huff of breath.

    "Just a bit nervous I guess. What if someone sees us on the road?"

Alopex has posed:
    Blink. "I never said you were?" Alopex muses before motioning Leo toward the fridge, "I have a lot of cookout stuff in there. It'll be brought along. I did a little research on it before I went shopping." Beat. "The first time," she explains as the remaining frozen pizzas are stuffed somewhere and the fridge gets shut. then again, then a third time when it finally stays in place.

    As for the road trip, "You'd be surprised what people don't pay attention to on the road. And even if they do? It's unlikely they will do anything about it. That or we can go rather early in the morning. Outside the city there's no lights along the road. It makes it hard to see into other vehicles."

Leonardo has posed:
"We'll be going at night," Leonardo answers. "Less chance of being noticed, and if anyone does have a reason to question anything we'll come up with a story, like we're costumers or actors filming a movie or..something." He handwaves that away. "Most people aren't going to think too hard about that, even if it doesn't make a lot of sense. But where we're going, we shouldn't run into anyone else at all once we're there."

Heading over to the fridge, he gives it a brief inspection. Hot dogs, hamburgers, steaks, chicken, lots of veggies, condiments...he licks his lips. "I might not even touch any of that pizza the whole time we're there. We could roast s'mores, too." He squints toward them. "..do either of you have problems with chocolate?"

Pippi has posed:
    "Eeeg... sorry, Pex. Nervous." Pippi states quietly, her ears folding back as her tail curls. She rubs the back of her head as she follows Leo aimlessly into the kitchen, and sits on the edge of the table, hopping up onto it.

    "I shouldn't have it, I think, just in case. Last thing we need is to try and find a veterinarian for REALLY exotic animals?" she offers as a half joke, giving a helpless shrug. "Donnie hasn't gotten around to trying it... mostly because getting sick would involve an awful lot of 'ick'."

Alopex has posed:
    "I tried it without knowing what it was a while back and had no issue. Didn't even realize it was a possible problem until Sensei Winter asked me about it when I was snacking one day. I told him it never bothered me, and he explained why he was concerned. I wondered about Pippi's reaction to it too but I never wanted to risk it," Alopex muses as she takes a seat at the table near Pippi and offers a little pat, if allowed.

    "No need to apologize. This vacation will be good for all of us. Hopefully get us out of being on edge all the time. A nice and relaxing venture with no one but us around except wildlife, and I'm not overly concerned about that."

    Except bears. Seriously. Screw bears.

    Except Gutter. Gutter is ok.

Leonardo has posed:
"Mmm. Maybe we can find out up there. Nothing major, just a little bite to see if it causes you any trouble. That is, if you're up for trying. Chocolate is, uh, pretty tasty," Leonardo says, giving the idea. It's for science! But, no. Nothing before the ride. Having something go bad on the way up would not be a good way to start their vacation.

He adds, "You both have all the stuff you want to bring along in case we do any practicing? /Optional/ practicing, yes. I know." He gets that out of the way before either of them can admonish him. "There's a nice lake there with some rocks that are perfect for resting on. It's getting cooler, but it shouldn't be bad. It might not even rain much."

Pippi has posed:
    "Well... I don't have anything yet. Haven't roughed out designs. Pex thinks gauntlets would be a good choice, since I could protect my knuckles and use 'em to catch blows on my forearms. I'm thinking maybe shoulder and knee pads too, but I'm not sure. I'd kinda like smooth knee pads so I can slide on 'em since I'm --" she trails off a moment, her ears pricking up as she purses her lips.

    Pippi then holds up her hands. "Nope. Not talking training. Not before vacation, because then Leo will think training and not vacation!"

Alopex has posed:
    There's a narrow gaze set upon the brother of blue as he mentions the chocolate, "No getting people sick on vacation, Leo," she insists. "I'd rather us get to enjoy the entire thing rather than.. well, not." She'd argue about the training, but seeing as Leo got ahead of being lectured for that, well, fine, she'll let that slide. FOR NOW.

    "I think they'd suit her well, and she'd be able to still pick up and throw Very Big Things (tm) if needed. Good for offense, defense, and will certainly add oumph to her blows."

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo holds his hands up. "Okay, forget I brought it up!" he exclaims, sounding a cross between appropriately scolded and, even, joking about it. Of course being sick is no laughing matter, but he says, "We'll have other snacks. Chips, crackers, cookies that don't have chocolate, popcorn." He lists off a few, covering the basics. They're really going to have enough food to feed a small army. That van better be able to hold the extra weight.

"How far are you thinking of with the gauntlets? Show me," he both asks and suggests, holding out one of his own arms for them to demonstrate on. Easier for him to get a sense of it that way, through touch and feel. "And what are you looking to have them made out of?"

Pippi has posed:
    Pippi's ears prick forward as Leo reacts to being scolded, and she rubs the back of her head embarrassedly "I don't think Leo'd /try/ to hurt me, Pex." she jokes in his defense, "Donnie wanted me to eat a bunch of chocolate, but he got distracted... thank goodness." she adds quietly, and holds her own arm up -- as her arm is shorter than Leo's!

    And she's also trying to hide the pink shade of embarrassment in her ears.

    "I was thinking tooo about here, " she points down nearly to her elbow, "to give really good coverage and defense. And then a hinge or some kinda stretch at the wrist, and then a mit to cover the knuckles, at least. 'Cause I might be pretty tough, but my skin sometimes can't keep up with everything else."

Alopex has posed:
    The question on the gauntlets gets a shrug from the fox. "I was leaving that up to Don, to be honest. With Pippi's strength, they'd have to be durable and i'm not sure what materials would be needed. I'm, in no way, a weaponmaker either, so I decided it would best be left up to Pippi and him about how to go about making them." She'll admit when she doesn't know something, and this is one of those times.

    When the pup starts describing her thoughts on her new weapons, Alopex settles in to just listen, at least after saying, "I don't think he would, I just would prefer such a little 'experiment' to wait until later."

Pippi has posed:
    Pippi wrinkles her nose slightly. "I'd would prefer to not be sick everywhere if I can help it." she interjects.

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo says no more of the chocolate. Not for now. Instead, he focuses on the gauntlets. "Probably something that isn't going to break easily, depending on how they're used. Reinforced, but not limiting motion. More protective, but could be built for strikes as well. Enough to hold up to a sword or blunt weapon, at least." He's doing it again, thinking, overthinking, trying to plan something out in his head even if it's just a design for some gear Donnie may have already figured out.

Pippi has posed:
    "And with some padding to absorb the shock of getting hit. I'm thinking of makin' them green, maybe like adopting it as a signature color or something." Pippi tries to sound casual about the idea from her perch on the table, her legs swinging slightly back and forth. "If that's okay, I mean... I don't wanna tread on anyone's toes if someone else wants it."

Alopex has posed:
    "Well, I don't object. I say bring it up around the campfire when we're all up at this farm. It may be a nice thing for everyone to put a little input in, if you like. It's not every day I imagine that someone gets to choose and then work on a new weapon for use in this group." After all, Mikey is the only one that ever changed for some reason. . . . right?"

Leonardo has posed:
"We've all practiced with each other's weapons, just so we know how to use them," Leonardo answers without fully answering. "Even if we all have one we mainly use. That doesn't mean that's all we know. It's always good to be well-rounded, but I guess we have our favorites, the ones we're best with."

Pippi has posed:
    "... I just kinda assumed everyone knew how to use everyone else's weapons because ninjas." Pippi gives a momentary shrug, "I'm just scared of breaking things by accident -- but I've been working really hard on control. I've hardly broken /anything/ this week." she points out, her ears drawing up as she glances between the two 'leaders' -- and then rubs the back of her head.

    "Other than that sewer grate last week."

Alopex has posed:
    "Ah, well, yes, but that was before. I mean someone that's getting something for the first time..?" Bleh. That isn't exactly what she meant but, oh well. "And that is why I decided to start considering your weapon, Pippi, you're progress has been going well."

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo waves it off. "We'll get it all worked out. I thought we were supposed to be thinking vacation right now, not planning too much out," he says, giving them another thin, brief smile. He's trying. Really, he is. "So let's finish things up. I'll go see how everyone else is doing, but I want to be on the road within a couple hours." It'll be good for them. All of them.