Later On We'll Conspire

[thepurpleone]

WHO: Donatello and open
WHERE: Around central Temba
WHAT: Trying to keep warm while exploring
WHEN: Late Feb
WARNINGS: N/A



Donatello had many questions as to how the Replicator worked and no forthcoming answers as to its operation. It's rather irksome to him that the thing can spit out objects without any obvious source of input, and as of yet he's not quite convinced that it isn't just transferring it from somewhere else. This would call for some more specialized requests, but his own had been expended for the month in favor of trying to stay warm. The winter coat is just a shade off his preferred purple hue but not terrible, and he supposes he hardly has any reason to complain when he doesn't have to worry about frostbite. Yes, perhaps there are better things one can Replicate but the turtle teen has figured if he's going to not freeze then there's no reason not to make it fashionable.

Blissfully oblivious to the Storm-shaped bullet he's missed and inwardly still preoccupied with slight separation anxiety, the obvious solution has been to explore, and now that he's more suitably equipped, there is nothing to stop him! Well, short of some deep patches of snow that nearly swallow him.

The Library serves as his usual go-to for any and all questions, and if anyone knew him then they wouldn't be surprised at all that this is one of the first places he decides to check out. He doesn't get much further than the foyer as he sees the horrifyingly empty state of the place. "Wh... Why?" he not quite wails as he drops to his knees in needless the theatrics. This seems an extremely cruel trick for an avid fan of libraries and learning! An alien library potentially promising an unknown wealth of information never before conceived and after scouring its empty shelves all he finds are...

Are these comics? And two books? "Unbelievable, I get abducted into an alien planet and the only available literature is from Earth."

His tone oozes with seething disappointment.


At least the Agricultural Building does not disappoint. He hadn't been entirely kidding when he'd thought to weather the winter season in here. It's welcoming and warm, a contained natural setting in a controlled environment not at all like camping in the wilderness, just what he prefers.

Given he's accidentally absorbed the agricultural data point's offerings for knowledge, Donnie's decided to make the most of it. It's something to occupy his time as he goes through the plants and observes strangely familiar-looking species that otherwise aren't anything like what he'd expect otherwise. At some point he sets up a makeshift hammock by using sheets filched from the hotel, testing out how how comfortable it would be as opposed to an actual bed. One might catch him napping.


While he's a seasoned scavenger, this would be a rare opportunity in which he can actually go through unused things. Although Donnie imagines that most of the Department Store's goods have been picked through by now, it doesn't stop him from combing through things himself. One man's trash is another turtle's potential furnishings.

Okay, so scrapyards tend to have way more useful stuff so far as he's concerned. He'll just have to go scrap scavenging when it's not all snow-coated. In the meantime, there are some practical things to be had. He really wishes all the clothes didn't have extra appendage though, and while he's slim he's not terribly tall so he's going to absolutely be swimming in these things. Dishware, mmmaybe. A thermos will definitely be useful, maybe he can fill it with coffee or something, because someone like him totally needs caffeine.

Comments

[catchable]

Salem's dark secrets were not up for grabs, not after being haunted by them enough in the snow, so he was already tense and prepared to spring when there was suddenly exclaiming as well. He did not want to stick around to find out just what anything was, and went about straight up to clamber back up onto the shelf from whence he had recently escaped, back feet lagging behind and scrabbling at the air in his rush to flee the What. "What, what? I don't wanna die," he sobbed, voice already strained as he dragged his heavy butt up onto the shelf.

[thepurpleone]

"Uh..."

Donatello pushed his goggles back up, watching as the cat sadly scrambled up the shelf. Well, that kind of explained some things about this talking feline and why he seemed to be so bad at being a cat. Maybe. ...okay no, not really, but there was definitely more to the cat than met the eye.

"I...don't actually know," he admitted slowly, hating to even say those words. "You're not really a cat, are you?"

[catchable]

Whatever it was must not have been as pressing as the dragon first made it seem, because by the time Salem had himself up on his safe (arguable) perch, the danger appeared to have passed. Salem peered down at the beast and his goggles, still crouched down anxiously, but without anything coming out to eat him he felt it important enough to mock, "What tipped you off?"

[thepurpleone]

"Well, you're...non-catlike aura for one. I don't know if that's even the right term, normally magic things come out more clearly but you're just kinda..."

Donatello makes a face, unsure even where to start with trying to describe what he'd seen. "Kinda like this," he says after a moment of critical thinking, wiggling his hands about in front of him in an entirely unhelpful way.

[catchable]

No one had ever assessed Salem's aura before. At least, not in any way that wasn't overly flattering and purely intended to get into his wallet and/or pants. It was usually effective. This version was definitely the worse one. He frowned, ears turning back in displeasure at that wiggling that was supposed to emulate his spiritual essence, and tried to rationalize, "Maybe because I don't have my magic." If he did, surely his aura would be impeccable. "Is that a dragon thing, you can see auras?"

[thepurpleone]

"Uh, no, it's a science thing, actually. Well, science boosted with a magic-revealing crystal but still mostly science." .... "Wait, did you say dragon? That... is a new one. -those aren't real, by the way."

Again Donnie eyed the cat, frowning as he took in this...well, admittedly mostly unhelpful bit of information, even as he lowered his goggles once more just to check. "No magic? But there's still something magical going on with...this whole situation," he says, gesturing at Salem as a whole. "Or is it some kind of...I don't know, an anti-magic effect?"

[catchable]

Very little could get Salem to lose interest faster, and he looked mildly peeved to have been tricked into being interested in a science thing in the first place. So he was happy to interpret, "What, science? You're right, the only real thing there is a real waste of time."

The goggles were back, and now Salem was on edge, ready to creep back further onto the shelf if things got alarming again, but the shouting didn't return. "Have you never seen a familiar before?" he asked, sounding agitated. They didn't have to harp on it--'anti-magic effect'--the cat body was a humiliating enough punishment, thank you.

[thepurpleone]

"Well no," Donatello replied, like that should have been obvious. Frowning, he pushed his goggles back up again. "And science is not a waste of time." Huff.

He shoved himself to his feet, grabbing his bag and his thus far scant findings, eyes skimming the other things the cat had knocked over to see if there was anything else worth pocketing.

[catchable]

The dreaded nerd combo. This dragon had never left the nest, obviously, too busy with his...science. "You've got to get out more," Salem admonished, picking himself up to do the dance he needed to convince himself to leap from the shelf again. It involved a lot of tapping at the ledge, back and forth on his front feet, and butt wiggling to get his takeoff just right, before throwing himself bodily with his eyes fully closed. That explained why the fallout had been so explosive before, as he splashed back down onto the table and send what was left on it clattering off.

[thepurpleone]

"How dare you, I go out all the time!" Donnie pouted, swinging a Look back at the cat. He wasn't going to be insulted by some weird cat that wasn't a cat who couldn't...

"...."

The green teen in purple looked down at Salem after that spectacular landing, folding his arms.

"Wow. Okay, that was just sad."

[catchable]

The dragon's empty social calendar was not important enough to Salem to argue about, but his pride was. "It's a much bigger jump at this size, you couldn't have done it either!" he defended, sounding very adamant only to devolved into pathetic sniffling as he added, "I could have died. I don't have a lot of lives left."

[thepurpleone]

"Scoff, I jump across rooftops in New York all the time, this is what, three feet?" Donatello pointed out. "Anyway, you're a cat. Or at least cat-shaped. Agility and flexibility should come with the package." He paused. "...I'd recommend jumping with your eyes open next time so you can actually see where you're aiming for."

[catchable]

That was a big ask for someone who was afraid of heights, and Salem was not prepared to admit as much. Nor was he about to admit that he might have been an agile and flexible cat-shape, if he hadn't spent the last decade sitting on his butt eating canned tuna. No, it was much more important that he get himself up on the edge of the table again, where he could stand up to plant his feet on the dragon and look him in the eye to ask, "Did you just say 'scoff' out loud?"

[thepurpleone]

Being questioned by a cat that couldn't cat was the last thing Donnie was about to allow. Brow arching high to further emphasize the critical look he was giving Salem, he at least didn't try brushing the cat off even though he deigned to put his little paws on him again.

"Yes, yes I did. What of it?" he challenged.

[catchable]

When he wasn't talking, Salem could look incredibly innocent and round-eyed, so for a moment he stared back at this unsociable posturing with one flicking ear like he was being very unfairly treated. Then he asked, "Is it because you don't have a nose?"

[thepurpleone]

Donnie continued to eye the cat flatly before abruptly pulling his arm away and stepping back from the table. He didn't have to take this!

"I have a nose, thank you very much. Aren't familiars supposed to have someone to be...familiar with? Where's yours?"

[catchable]

At least Salem wasn't so uncatlike that this threw him off-balance, only left him sinking down to gather his tail around his feet for that very generous setup. "With your mom," he announced, and threw his head back to cackle. Only to stop abruptly with a miserable, "Oh," because that was kind of a mean question to ask someone who was very lost. He should have agreed to let them chip him.

[thepurpleone]

"Hah, joke's on you, I don't have a mom!" Donatello snorted, not seeming particularly offended either way. He blinked as the cat stopped laughing.

Oh, right. Technically they were both alone in unknown alien territory so maybe that was kind of a low blow- not that it had immediately occurred to him that the feline hadn't been brought with someone. Yet that effectively left them in the same position, without anyone familiar to them. The turtle looked away awkwardly as he scratched his head.

[catchable]

Well, that really brought the mood down. One of them was going to have to be the mature one and talk them through the problem, and Salem did have a few centuries of talking practice. And a mom to have taught him better. What he went with was, "Both of us may have said some things that we regret. In my defence, you started it."

[thepurpleone]

That just brought about the flat-eyed look again.

"How dare you! You started it when you insulted science!" Donnie claimed, pointing a finger at the cat.

[catchable]

As though he was in no way in control of his actions, Salem argued, "You brought it up!" This may have been at least close to true, because he did also react to the pointing finger with an impulsive batting at it with a delicate paw.

[thepurpleone]

The turtle wrinkled his non-visible nose, pulling back his hand although he didn't draw his arm back entirely. "Well excuse me for being curious! And anyway, just because I brought it up didn't mean you had to say such things," he huffed.

[catchable]

"I did, actually," Salem claimed, sitting pretty again to look very fastidious and trustworthy as he explained, "That's a familiar's first role, to tell difficult truths to those reluctant to hear them. You'd know that, if you ever came down from the rooftops." The performance might have fallen apart as he couldn't help but pronounce it 'ruff-teeawps'.

[thepurpleone]

"How am I supposed to take anything seriously from a cat who doesn't know how to cat?" Donnie shot back, looking briefly smug. "Look pal, I've come across plenty of magic and weirdness but they're usually all yokai and none of them have familiars. Unless you count Baron Draxum's shoulder gargoyles.... Would they be familiars? I'm not really sure how this whole category works."

[catchable]

"A Japanese dragon from New York hasn't seen anything weirder than a familiar, and he's trying to pretend he ever goes outside. There are rats that have been there since before Columbus, one of them is probably your landlord, get your head out of the beakers for five minutes," Salem replied. "No one gets turned into a gargoyle, that would be inhumane. If you know gargoyles, you know the kind of witches that should probably be familiars already."