9459/Turtle Trip 1

Turtle Trip 1
Date of Scene:	06 October 2019
Location:	April's Farm, Northampton, MA
Synopsis:	Leo and Donnie start to settle in on the first day of the vacation, but they can't escape some heavier topics quite yet.
Cast of Characters:	Leonardo, Donatello

---

Leonardo has posed:
Day One of the vacation to April's farm in Northampton. They arrived with the onset of dawn after leaving in the middle of the night to avoid any real notice. A lot of food was packed, some of it consumed on the way. Weapons and other personal effects were added in, plus some extra cans of gas just in case there was a need to prevent eyes on anyone filling up the tank. For a trip meant to get everyone away from the norm and recharge a bit, there was still a lot of planning to go into making the logistics work out. But, once there, it was supposed to be open season for rest and relaxation.

After getting everything put away that needed to be inside the main house, the barn was given a quick check along with the tool shed behind it, and there was a four-wheeler inside the barn as well. It's what Leonardo is currently riding as he roams around the property, checking some of the perimeter to get a feel for what's where. Lots of trees are around, much of their foliage colorful with the changeover to autumn in full swing. Another week or so and it will be even more pronounced. There are streams and a few ponds, as well. Seeing the mutant turtle riding the ATV would be quite a sight elsewhere.

Donatello has posed:
    Donnie is going nuts. No tech. But he wasn't told he couldn't tinker. So where is he? The roof of the house... and he's refreshing it from one end to the other. Humming as he goes, nail gun strapped to his wrist, a sash carry satchel holding materials while old ones are tossed to slide down where they can be picked up and thrown away properly later. He's even humming... BOC by the sound of it!

Leonardo has posed:
Just how far from other people this property is, Leonardo doesn't have the exact distance. But, there is nobody else around. It gives everyone free reign to roam with no real limits aside from simply being careful. There's so much more room than the Lair provides, and fresh air over the alternative is something to be savored.

The sound of the ATV engine can be heard before it and its rider come back into view, and Leo squints in the direction of the roof, watching Donatello keeping himself busy. Cutting the engine, he calls up, "I'm sure April will appreciate the spot repairs, but how much longer are you gonna be up there, bro? Others might start mistaking you for me!" Already, the time up here is helping him feel less stressed, especially if he's cracking jokes at his own expense.

Donatello has posed:
    "I can only fix the TV so much dude! There's no cable, and Casey isn't here for Alphabet Insults!" the Purp Turb sighs, finishing up the current section before sitting back and looking up at the sky. He feels naked. No tablet, no AR lenses, no goggles, nothing... Just the belt, bandolier, mask, pads and bo. It's a nightmare. Especially when Raph caught him trying to turn an old gameboy and a radio into a mobile hotspot.
    With a twist he rolls and flips to the ground, bounding off of an outcropping and a window sill to land in a roll to disburse weight and momentum before coming up to his feet.
    "There's no -RAID- night Leo! I'm in a guild with Red Robin dude! Who else in the Bat-Family could I be raiding with man?"

Leonardo has posed:
"All of that stuff will be there when we get back, man. With everyone telling me I need to stop putting so much on just my shoulders and let them help out for once, you can stand to unplug for a week or so. It'll be good for you," Leonardo claims, hands resting at his hips as he looks up from the seat of the four-wheeler before Donatello comes down to join him. "You /do/ look a little twitchy, though..." he adds, whether it's the truth or not. "Withdrawal's definitely a thing."

He steps off the ATV to check the gas, heading over to get a can to pour a little more back in. "Did I hear you guys actually met?" Leo wonders, raising a brow. They've had some minor dealings with Gotham-related people in general already.

Donatello has posed:
    Letting himself fall backwards to land on the grass and relax, if he can, "Yeah dude. I was scrap running in Gotham's 'bad' district... he knew the Shellraiser was there somehow. They've got a sensor net that'd make Norad nervous - I swear." Donnie sighs and stares at the sky. "At least it doesn't smell like feet out here."

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo says, "I think just about anyone tied to Batman has that kind of stuff. It's one reason I don't like the idea of going over there a whole lot for much. Too easy for someone to notice us and best to assume it's going to get back to him one way or another." He finishes up a spot check of the wheels next, just to make sure he didn't run over anything that could cause a flat. "It does smell cleaner out here. By the way, leave this the way we found it, hmm?"

Donatello has posed:
    "Leo, I'm going to clean up. I wouldn't leave April's place a mess. It's probably going to be cleaner than when we came anyway... I already managed to get paint." Donnie remains there, laid out in the grass, plucking a stalk to tuck in the corner of his mouth.
    "There's still rough memories out here you know. Where we had that fire - when we saw Splinter that first time. When we thought he was..." trailing off and furrowing his brow.

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo shakes his head, waving it off. "No, no. I meant this," as he pats the seat of the ATV. "I know how you like to tinker. Let's not have April coming up here finding you've turned this into some souped-up racer or something." He /knows/ his brother. "But I do like the idea of us all pitching in to do some fixing up around here. That'll be some good bonding and teamwork we can be proud of." He grows quiet at the last bit, merely nodding slowly.

Donatello has posed:
    "You can't orchestrate bonding, Bro. You said this was vacation. You're not organizing a thing. We bubble around, bumping into one another... That's the idea of relaxing. Doing what we want... at least as far as these rules allow eh?"
    Donatello's head comes up again, studying Leo for a moment. "We both know, you'll pick up a hammer to fix something, and I'll gently take it away. Raph will have something set up to punch and run around... Mikey as got at least one gaming system setup..." he trails off, but he has a grin on his features.
    "So you're going to have to sit down, on your shell, and relax... Do a whole lot of what you didn't last time."

Leonardo has posed:
"Fine," Leonardo says, spreading his hands out wide for a moment. "I brought books to read. There's going to be relaxing. But if that goes for me, that goes for you and everyone else, too. No more projects. If we didn't come up here to work on anything, then we didn't come up here to work on anything. If you get bored out of your shell, that just means you need to expand your horizons."

He flashes a toothy grin, showing he's not taking this badly when he could have. "I can show you how to meditate better, so you can clear your thoughts of your addictions. I /can/ relax and if you don't believe me, I'll prove it." He adds, "By the way, we're having a cookout tonight after sundown."

Donatello has posed:
    "Painting the house is a kindness paid to April or letting her use her house." Donatello returns the grin, "After all, we have the strength and the stamina to do what she can't do on her own. If you opt to help me repay her by relaxing in a meditative motion of careful side to side stroke of a paintbrush in order to give our friend a nice looking home, you're free to join."

    Did he just Miyagi this?!

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo squints at Donatello for a few long moments. Then he handwaves and says, "It sounds to me like /you're/ going to be busy after all. Me, I've got things to not be doing." Enough of the folks around the Lair chided him for all the stress he self-imposes, which was a large part of what led to this excursion. At least he's left the katanas back in the room he's claimed to sleep in. "Now what should I not do first...?" he muses.

Donatello has posed:
"Lay in the grass and see what shapes the clouds take dude... It's pretty relaxing... I can't remember the first daylight sky I last saw you know?" Hands tucking behind his head, Donnie sighs, chewing his grass stalk while staring off into space, eyes half lidded... He even pulls his mask off and tucks it into his belt, bare face to the breeze and the sun.

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo nods off in one direction, where some of the leaves are starting to turn especially red and orange. "I was going to go sit down and watch the water in the pond. Maybe I'll just take a nap while I'm over there. I even saw a few turtles earlier when I was scouting out the area." Because of course that was one of the first things he did after settling in. That part of him might never fully shut down.

Donatello has posed:
    "All alone, with your lonesome, no brother to talk to and point at clouds with? That sucks dude." Donnie notes, still staring skyward, the grin on his face still. "I mean, How often do we just lay about doing funk all, Leo?" hands folding on his chest "How often do you even talk to us outside of orders and instruction?"

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo points out, "I never said nobody else could hang out there, did I?" Ahh! He's not going to be caught in a logic trap! "And the clouds are still visible over there, too. All the same ones, even." However, he pauses to glance back over a shoulder at the last question. With the mask down around his neck after he'd just finished shifting it around, his eyes squint and narrow, as if trying to determine if Donnie is messing around or serious. Is Leo really that bad about it? "What?" he asks, somewhat quietly, caught off-guard.

Donatello has posed:
    "Most of the time, you're tellin' us stuff based on lessons that Splinter gives. Instructing. Giving orders... Even when I was makin' the slurpee machine, working with Pip..." Donatello kicks up to his feet in a motion so often used it's pure muscle memory. Striding towards Leo now. "I know we're part of dad's army... his war against Saki... But that's dad bro. You're the one he put in charge. The serious one." Donatello's face falls some. "But we're brothers Leo. We were brothers before we fell down a sewer. Brothers before we got found by him in the sewer... We fight enough to prove it, if anyone just heard us. But we're getting older and we're pulling apart. I don't want The Mission to be why we stick around one another."

Leonardo has posed:
"Because I'm trying to make sure everyone remembers to be careful and not end up hurt," Leonardo puts out there, sounding on the defensive initially. Big brother doing big brother things, looking after the rest because someone has to hold it all together. That's how he's always treated it, more or less, but it may have also left others seeing him as too much of a Splinter-follower and not enough of an individual thinker.

Which is why the next part might come as a shock.

"But..sometimes I'm not so sure we're doing the right thing, with this whole war he's got us getting ready for." He holds up a hand. Quiet. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying Shredder isn't a bad guy, or he isn't evil, or that he doesn't need to be stopped. He's the worst, but I think Father's been up to some things he doesn't want us seeing or knowing about. I've heard a few things on the street about a mob family or two, and a mutant rat. He's trained us to know how to kill, but that doesn't mean we're killers. I can't say the same about him. That's part of why I wanted to get us away from the Lair for a few days or so. I'm worried."

This is what has him truly looking concerned.

Donatello has posed:
    "That's just the thing, Leo. It's a war. It's Saki. It's all his crew, his machinations. We strike and fade, from the shadows. Why? Because we're outnumbered, outgunned. It's a guerilla war and all we can do is stem the tide." Donatello steps right up to Leonardo, resting a hand on on his shoulder.
    "Its their war. War means people get hurt. We're going to get hurt. We -have- gotten hurt. A lot. Look your own damned shell and the places we've had to staple it together so it'd heal! Look at mine! Look at the bullet ricochets chips in Raph's! We can't not get hurt. We just have to try and get home alive..." the logical side of the tall turtle suddenly coming to bear, serious as he may have ever been, expression turning to stone before he steps in to hug his shorter big brother.
    "Unless we hang up the belts and go find some place where we can float around snappin' flies out of the air... We might have to. Because Shredder is trying to do it to us. To Splinter, April. Everyone we know and love." there's a rasp in Donnie's already gravely voice now. "We're not killers... but we may have to be so other people live."

    Logic. Brutal and truthful logic.

Leonardo has posed:
Frowning, with the mask down there's vulnerability in Leonardo's facial expression that the mask usually helps hide. "I know, but..we can be better than that. I know it. We don't have to be killers to defeat him." This is something he's always believed, and he still does. "And I'm not going to kill someone just to send a message. Whatever anyone else does, that's where I draw the line. You have to have a point you refuse to go past or it makes you just another soldier who doesn't think, and we're better than that."

So much for this being no more than a relaxation trip, but maybe once they've got this out of their system for the time being they can move on.

"I know how war works. I know how Saki works. April thinks he's stretching himself too thin, and I think she might be right. He can't keep on top of everything all the time. We can hit some of his supply sources, damage his credibility. He's got those people in Mutant Town, the Family, eating out of his hand because they've bought what he's sold them. I tried to tell them that when we got Pippi back but they just looked at me like I was crazy. I don't think they're bad people, though. They have good intentions, but they're following the wrong person."

He tries not to think too much about all the cuts, scrapes, nicks, and other damage they've taken. Shells are super useful for some of that stuff, but they can only take so much abuse. "I know, man. It's hard when you don't know if that scrap run or patrol is going to be the last time you see your brothers and family again. That's why I try to be so careful, why I try to get the rest of you to be too. I don't want to lose any of you, but we can be better than Shredder. Father's the one who wants Saki's head. We can't stop him from going after it if that's what it takes to end this, but we don't have to be blind followers." It still may be a surprise to hear him, of the four of them, being the one to question their Sensei, but there it is. The hug is accepted, returned, a firm embrace. Strength, not weakness. "We can always find a way."

Donatello has posed:
    "We can be better, will be better." Donnie admits, letting the embrace last there, reconnecting with his brother. Strength from strength. "But if it came down to any of the three of you, or dad, or April, or Casey..." Donatello finally steps back, hand back on Leo's shoulder... "I wouldn't hesitate... You might be better than me. Better than the rest of us... But I'll break Saki's damn neck with my bare hands and become just another soldier if it can keep any of you from dyin'... or Raph from finally falling into shadow."
    He's dead serious, meeting Leo's eyes unwavering, a long breath taken.
    "That's my point Leo, where I'd be willing to step past, and will step past at a sprint if I have to." there's a chuff of a chuckle, forced maybe, "Who knows... Maybe I'm the one who could actually come back from it eh? It's all math. Ex plus why, subtract Es equals Tee-Four plus R... amirite?"

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo reminds, "Family is everything to me. You, Mikey, Raph, Father, April..even Casey and the others we have around us now. They're all part of this. I protect my family. I know I can seem like a distant..jerk sometimes, or whatever you probably think, but everything I do is to keep you all safe. I can take that on, as long as we can do stuff like this sometimes to break it up a little." He steps back out of the embrace, gesturing around them. "It helps me stay centered, balanced. If Father is doing what I think he's doing, I know why. It's not that different from what I'd do too." Except for any blatant killing that may be going on, is what he leaves out. That's also left out of him talking about what he'd do to protect family. He can't even answer what he would or wouldn't do in a live-or-die situation.

The 'math' Donnie gets into is lost on him, but not the overall point. "Yeah, sure. Are you ready to try looking at clouds now, or did I just ruin the whole trip before we even had our first full meal?" he asks, the twist to his lips indicating an attempt at wry humor.

Donatello has posed:
    "Nah, bro. Nothin' ruined there... S'go find those cousins of ours you managed to track down." attempting to playfully buff the top of Leo's head with his palm. "Show the way, Fearless Leader..." Purp Turp moving to take up pace where Leo chooses to go, hands resting folded behind his shell. There's moment before he has to speak again.
    "Full honesty - I brought my MP3 player... Otherwise I was going to modify that stone-age radio in the kitchen... I'm not going to tell you where I stowed it. But I'll let you have a turn borrowing it tomorrow - I downloaded all your music on it before we left... There's actually all of our music on it..." there's a little chuckle, "Bring enough gum for the whole class."

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo ducks the hand, but not completely enough to fully avoid the contact. He sends a padded elbow, lightly, into Dontatello's side. "Yeah, you can go tell them all about your favorite toys that are back home right now." He can jab verbally as well. The taller turtle gets a little side-eye at the mention of the music device. "To be honest, that's less than I expected you to smuggle out here, so thanks for mostly respecting the main idea of coming out here." He doesn't say whether or not he'll actually use it. For now, it's off to the pond.