Owner	Pose
Pippi	Pippi has a hard sense of time. Without the sun and the regularity of coming and going from Winter's dojo, without Alopex's reminders, she's been a little lost.     So, she doesn't think anyone's home when she slinks out of the space designated 'hers' and wearing a T-shirt and cutoffs, she made her way towards the practice area as quietly as she could, peering around corners, her ears up, her tail stiff before she visibly relaxes. No one was using the area, which meant she was okay to use it.     On quiet feet she made her way across the room, to he open space, and she took a deep, shuddery breath.     "Okay. Okay, gotta get the practice in, an' then grab some food, an' then run a patrol but just the neighborhood above in case 'Pex comes back, right?" she states to herself, and she starts in on stretching her arms out, shaking out her shoulders, even stretching her feet, each toe parting and the dull claw at the end turning slightly before she sinks into doing katas.     They're among the most simple. Practice forms, stretching exersizes. Keeping her feet in the right way, checking her balance, moving her tail this way or that as she tried to commit it to memory.     It was her regular routine, sometimes two, three times a day. Training. Meal. Worry about doing a patrol, and then retreat back to hiding in one of the back rooms and staying out of everyone's way.
Leonardo	Nothing was going according to plan. At this point, it was questionable what the plan even was. At every turn, Shredder seemed to have the upper hand on the turtles and their allies, which were few. Now they'd lost one, changed into something new and turned to the other side. If Alopex was taking it poorly, and her absence from the Lair suggested that to be so, how was Leonardo handling it? What did he do that he could have done differently? What did he miss? What might have prevented this from happening? It was too late to go back and change anything, but suddenly that idea of trying to analyze the substance in the canister to see if an antidote could be found didn't seem so questionable. While he's been around his home much of the time when Pippi's been about, he's intentionally left her with room to try to figure things out on her own. Letting her be the one to make the approach seemed sensible, but there wasn't much he could see changing with that strategy in place. A more direct approach could be called for. He chose to wait until the next time she slipped into the training area. Some would call it a dojo and would not be off the mark. Even still, he does not yet announce his presence, merely filling in some space in the doorway as he leans against it, waiting for her to gain awareness. He is fully attired as if he was going to head topside, which means the pair of swords at his back along with other tools of the trade.
Pippi	The mutant dog is concentraiting on her movements, adjusting her hands even mid-way through a 'parting the horse's mane' movement, bringing her palm up and flat when she freezes. Her ears draw up, her tail curling downwards as she tried to finish the movement, but ended up drawing her arms back in, stiffly drawing herself up as her nose twitches, and her ears pin back.     She rubs the back of her head, and turns sheepishly to face Leonardo.     "Ah... am... am I in the way?" she questions quietly, regarding the turtle leader with nervousness. Her weight shifts visibly from foot to foot.
Leonardo	Leonardo's eyes have a more slitted appearance than not thanks to the mask tied around his brow, knotted in back. He takes her acknowledgement of him as reason to enter the room fully. "No, you aren't. It's large enough for multiple people." People, of course, being used in the loosest sense here, given their origins. "May I?" he adds, approaching to take up the same movement, going through a slow demonstration with the positioning of his legs and arms, then the angle of his palm during the motion, 45 degrees. It is...perfect. "Try it like that," he says, repeating the form.
Pippi	Pippi does take half a step backwards. Her ears were still pinned back, the left one showing blue ink from a tattoo, and she watches Leo with mixed emotions in those amber eyes.     Of course, when he takes up the same form she is, the line of her brows rise up, and she adjusts her right leg a bit, her tail drawing up to make up for the difference in balance, and she mimics the movement of his palm with hers.     "Like this?" she questions, and adjusts her palm a little bit more, her free arm coming down and echoing Leonardo's.
Leonardo	Leonardo moves with the grace of the ninja he is, and he steps into further repetition of the movement by alternating his feet and the direction of his arms. It might be considered showing off for someone to simply come in here and start performing it flawlessly, but he has the look of one merely trying to impart knowledge. "Mostly. It might be different for you with that back there," he says, gesturing to the tail, "But it's not that far off." Break though initial defenses by disarming. This can be done with just words, done by someone with ill intent, done by someone with sincerity as well. "We've done this one a lot," he points out, indicated by how naturally he slipped right into it once seeing what she was working on.
Pippi	Pippi mimics Leonardo's movmeents, her head tilting to check his feet versus her own. She has some grace to her -- she's certainly agile enough -- but the movements were new. Her muscles were still learning which ways to go.     "Yeah..." Pippi replies absent-mindedly, adjusting her stance a little. "I have to be careful an' adjust what 'Pex's teaching me, 'cause my tail's like, one-tenth floofiness of hers." Pippi replies, and then she looks embarrassed a moment.     "... Alopex says I have to learn the easy ones before I can go into the more complicated ones, an' they're good for control. She's really smart."
Leonardo	Watching him, it's clear that the level of control he has over his body is about as flawless as it gets. Leonardo cycles through further repetitions so she can follow along as much as she chooses, and contrary to the turmoil that's been going on around them, he almost looks peaceful right now. "Everyone teaches differently," he states. "And everyone learns differently as well." A brow slides upward as the floof factor of tails brought up, but he merely nods to that. "She isn't wrong. Nobody is ready for the most complicated things right away." Before much longer, he stops and stands more upright again, offering her a brief bow.
Pippi	Pippi, meanwhile, doesn't have nearly that level. She's constantly re-adjusting, unsure, even small movements require her hands to turn slightly as she watches Leo, but every time the mutant dog brings her hands up, there's a little tremble to them, like rubber bands wound too tight.     But she seemed eager to follow, her attention put on the turtle before he came to a finish, and as he bows, she follows the movement. She's familiar enough with that one that it's smooth-ish.     "Learning... learning's fun, it's good when you have a good teacher." Pippi gives a slight smile, and her tail gives just a little wag. "I've... just got a lot to learn."
Leonardo	Leonardo considers reaching out to correct the position of her hands a time or two, but he must have picked up on her body language, the tense nature, the bit of shaking, as if she's wound too tightly. "Yes, it can be, but I think that's enough for now," he suggests, adopting a more casual stance, or an attempt at one. It's difficult right now, and he still has a serious way about him. It's a sharp contrast to how Michelangelo often is, for example. "I can tell you're nervous about things. So am I, to be honest. You read Alopex's note?" he asks, moving to seat himself, not with his legs crossed, but rather by kneeling upon a padded area of the floor.
Pippi	Pippi stiffens, and her ears are back, her tail going limp as she mumbles something about 'never gets nervous'. She's a terrible liar, and she rubs the back of her neck as she gives a huff through her nose. "What do you have to be nervous about? You're like, an awesome ninja and know tons of stuff!" she tries to bypass the question, and as Leonardo sits down, Pippi doesn't, at first. She glances back towards the hallway where her space was, then she gives a sigh, and as she flops down, not quite a kneel -- more in a W-shape with her tail giving a 'thump!' against the floor.     "I... I didn't really pay much attention to it. I was there." she admits quietly. Her ears come forward again, then go limp. Her eyes half-close, and her head draws down.     "Cody... Nemean... whatever he calls himself now, he tried to shoot Alopex. He said she was responsible for him being like this now." she explains quietly. "An' he threw me into a wall. Cracked my head pretty good, but he and Alopex were crossin' blades when I snapped up. Ripping up the floor pretty badly... an' I just thought that I had to get him outta there before the whole place got wrecked... Alopex dropped her sword and called him 'Cody', and then I punched him most of the way down the block." Pippi admits, rubbing the back of her head as she looks up towards the ceiling of the red brick chamber, embarrassed. "... he didn't smell anything like Cody did. Didn't act like him, but... I remember how much it hurt."
Leonardo	Leonardo pays attention to all of this, no doubt making internal notes about the reactions stirred up in the canine mutant. These can be compared to Alopex's as well. "Nervous? Of course I'm nervous. I don't know how worse all of this is going to get before it gets better, and there are so many variables it's hard to plan for all of them. Shredder's gained a lot of power around here and it won't be easy to stop him without enough of us working together, and he took one of our allies, one of our...friends." He reaches up to lower his mask so it rests down by his neck, which creates a whole different look where his face is concerned. In a way, it's almost like removing a part of himself. "If you didn't read it," he goes on, unaware of her level of literacy, "She said what you found out, that he was brainwashed and blames us. She needed some time to clear her head but she'd come back. Were you worried she wouldn't?" he finishes by wondering, gently. Splinter has dealt with angst from the turtles before. By now, Leo's learned how to try handling others who are feeling stressed out. He continues. "I've been blaming myself ever since I read it. I'm sure I could have done something differently and Cody would still be Cody, but no matter what they've done to him and no matter what he told you, we'll help him. I didn't know you were that strong, though."
Pippi	Pippi's ears draw up as Leo lowers his mask down, and her head tilts slightly as she studies him a moment, and she feels her ears lower back down, her tail going limp.     "It wouldn't be the first time someone left me." she admits quietly, and her arms draw up, wrapping around herself as she lowers her gaze.     "You... you can't blame yourself. 'Cause sometimes you don't have control over what someone does. The only thing you can control is how hard you hit. An' some of us can't even do that real well." Pippi replies, trying to be helpful and encouraging.     And she pauses... and gives a physical wince.     "Yeah... I don't think Alopex wanted me to show that off so much, 'cause I don't think Cody knew how strong either."     She brings her gaze back up to Leonardo then. She looks at his unmasked face.     "... Alopex *is* coming back, right?"
Leonardo	"Hey.." Leonardo starts to extend a hand, but it's mainly a gesture as they aren't close enough to touch. "You can't think that way. I'm sure she just needs some time to figure things out, determine what she's going to do next. Maybe being here so soon after everything isn't the easiest thing for her. I'm going to try to respect that, even if I think she's leaving herself vulnerable right now." Frowning, the green mutant turtle shakes his head. "As the leader, I'm supposed to see these things coming so I can prevent them," he claims, whether that's true or not. Nobody is perfect, as much as he strives to be, and any sort of failure can be taken more personally than it ought to be. "That's why we're going to get him back one way or another, and even if we can't reverse what was done, we'll try to break him free of Shredder's influence. I can promise you that much." In seeing his face the way it is, it exposes something the mask keeps hidden. It's more raw, more real, more pure. "Alopex will be back. I don't have any doubt about that. I can tell you look up to her."
Pippi	The red and white dog keeps her eyes back on Leonardo, and she gives a slight frown.     "She can't blame herself either." Pippi replies quietly, and stakes an unsteady breath in. "And I'm trying hard to understand why she wants to be separate right now. I'm still learning a lot, and Alopex... she's been..." she wracks a moment, giving a frown, trying to pull a good word, "patient. And kind. Like you." she breathes out and raises a hand to swab at her eyes. Her ears draw back, her tail curls, and she hops up to a stand. "I... I should run a patrol. In case she needs help."
Leonardo	Nodding slowly, Leonardo still has the look of someone bouncing between brooding and trying to be less...moody. It's been difficult since the note. "There are times when being alone, without any distractions, is the best way to find the right path forward, or what you think is the right path. Stick around here long enough and you'll understand better." When Mikey gets going, when Leo and Raph argue, when Donnie goes all nerdy technobabble, she'll get it then. "Be careful, and call if you run into any trouble. It's dangerous to go alone now more than ever," he explains, even if he plans to ignore that warning himself soon. "Maybe we'll bump into each other later, because I still feel like I'm going to need some clear air myself." Any other questions he may have had of her will need to wait for another time, but this was a start, a beginning. It's something to think about.