Taking Care of Business

[thepurpleone]

WHO: Donnie and you!
WHERE: NG-102
WHAT: Trying not to get too distracted from mission while most definitely getting too distracted
WHEN: Uh. Yes.
WARNINGS: N/A
NOTES: Will match tagging preference


This is more like it. This is how space adventures start- panning into the expanse of some kind of sprawling conglomeration of structures hanging against the darkness of a star-pocked backdrop. Yes, Donnie is fully aware that they are here for Reasons, but this is the first chance he's ever gotten to go anywhere that resembled some sort of active alien civilization. A spaceport like that is just screaming new and interesting sorts of technology and culture just waiting to be explored.

Eager as he is, Donnie's also practical. While waiting for things to be cleared for them to disembark, he pulls up any information he can on the station, a directory, a map. There has to be some equivalent of a space extranet or something, or at the very least a local network to patch into. He knows better than to dive into some place that big without doing some research!

He's also quite aware that paying for things is going to be an issue. It's tough starting out from scratch, but he's always been the enterprising sort, and he's not about to let such foreign circumstances stop him from getting down to business. It'll just take some work.


I. Research & Development
The turtle teen spends the first couple of days getting a feel for things and looking for business opportunities. He figures he shouldn't stand out too much amidst an alien crowd, but he also knows that certain people can pick up on Tourist vibes and he's not about to let himself be a target. Having swapped to Communications for the occasion, he makes note of places that might be interested in hiring someone for repairs or upgrades and places he might be able to sell to. Copies of rare cult classic Earth movies? Foreign plants? Small but functionally useful gadgetry? Ka-ching.

In the days that follow, he's out making deals. Hopefully people don't think him underdressed for doing business but he still carries himself about as professionally as one can when they're just dressed in a purple hoodie. He has a bag slung over his shoulder and a backpack awkwardly set over the bulk of his hidden battle shell. If he sees someone from the ships, he makes a beeline towards them.

"Hey, you busy? Okay cool-" not waiting for a response, he passes the backpack over. "-here, hold this and whatever you do don't drop it."


II. Deployment
The best part about having money is being able to spend it. With what he hopes to be a sufficient amount of starting funds, Donnie sets out with the intent to shop. He has several lists, one for parts needed to repair the Agrii mess, one for Leo because Donnie is a most benevolent brother, one for himself of course because what's the point of having money if you aren't going to buy yourself cool things? and another for general items that might prove useful for the inevitable return back to the isolated, ruined city.

...he doesn't want to really go back, not when they've been able to do all this.

Unfortunately it's difficult to haggle when there's a problem with communicating. Donnie's in a bit of a mood as he leaves one store, folding his arms tightly in front of him and his bag as he goes. He may not understand the language but he's pretty sure they were trying to overcharge him on his purchase, and so he'd left without it. Would it be weird if he switched data points and came back? Annoying, certainly. He sighs, starting down along towards where the repair shops are. Maybe putting in some hours fixing crap will make him feel better.


III. Roots
It's not stealing if it's junk, right? The spaceport may as well be its own city, and that has to mean it has its own salvage and trash lots. This is Donnie's normal means of acquiring most anything to tinker with back home, so it's second nature for him to track down where things are being dumped and go to scope things out.

The areas aren't the nicest places, but then that's no big surprise. Making sure to avoid security cameras, Donnie's elbow-deep in junk as soon as he finds a promising spot to dig through. Maybe you caught a glimpse of him sneaking out here. Maybe you were following the toughs that were meaning to have a nice secret exchange at an unsuspecting junk lot. Maybe you just got lost.

In any case, things might get hairy in a few minutes, and Donnie tends to get a little carried away with his scavenging.

Comments

[thepurpleone]

"Yeah? Do you work out a lot? Raph loves to work out. Of course, he also loves to smash things with his fist and occasionally his face."

Donnie leans back from the machinery, setting aside some of the parts he'd extracted. He digs a hand into his hoodie pocket to pull out his cellphone, skimming through things before he holds out his phone to show one of the better pictures he has of him and his brothers. "Here."

[pursuitofcappiness]

"Hmm," he says, "I do like to work out, but, then maybe with the second part he's more like my friend Bruce. But Bruce's color is definitely green." Now that was someone with a 'color.' Maybe that's what Donnie means - Raph sounds like he's angry all the time.

But then he sees the picture, and he smiles. Ah, okay. That makes much more sense. "That one's Leo, right? Who's the orange one?"

[thepurpleone]

"Does Bruce like cute fluffy animals too?" It's kind of interesting hearing about people they can possibly relate to.

Donnie nods as he's not at all surprised Steven's already become acquainted with Leo. His brother gets around, he wouldn't be surprised if he's spoken to or met everyone who's in Temba already. Which is kind of embarrassing given Donnie's pretty sure he hasn't put in that much effort and knows most of the roster only by the directory.

"Ah, that's Mikey," he says, smiling fondly. "He's our little brother. Also our resident artist. He'd probably get behind the stuff you're doing."

[pursuitofcappiness]

"You know, I'm not sure," he says. "I've never asked Bruce that." He imagines the answer is yes simply because he doesn't know who wouldn't, but, he doesn't speak for Bruce either.

"Mikey," he repeats. He'll remember that. He hasn't exactly gotten the clue yet that all of them are named after artists. "Well, I'll show him where all the supplies are if he ever shows up here."

[thepurpleone]

"Fair," Donnie concedes. It's not exactly a common question to ask anyone without reason.

He looks a little conflicted at the thought of having Mikey show up. "Heh, yeah. Cool," he says, not terribly enthusiastic as he ducks back into the machine's innards.

[pursuitofcappiness]

Steve can see that he's touched a bit of a nerve so he'll drop it. "I'll go look for more items," he says. "Anything else you want me to look for?" he asks. He might as well make himself useful while he's here. It's better than what he was doing before, anyway.

[thepurpleone]

It hadn't been Donnie's choice to have Leo arrive, and he's extremely grateful for it. He'd be happy to see any of his brothers here. But at the same time, it'd just mean they were all stuck here, and Leo hasn't yet experienced how bad things could get. As much as he misses the rest of his brothers, he wouldn't want any of them to be in any danger. It's a hypocritical thought and he knows it, given through those times all he'd ever wished for was his brothers to be there.

"I have a list but I'm not sure how useful that'd be unless you're familiar with the parts," Donnie says. "Maybe I can pull up some pictures." He sits back for a moment, tapping at the bracer on his left arm to pull up a holoscreen.

[pursuitofcappiness]

Oh, a holoscreen. Steve's seen those - he actually owns a shield made with holograms thanks to Tony - but he has no idea how they work. He's impressed that Donnie just has one, and that's even taking into account that they're literally on an alien planet.

"Got it." He nods. "I think I can work with this."

[thepurpleone]

Maybe he'll be even more impressed to know Donnie had made this one- with Tony's help, but it's certainly not the kid's first bracer computer. He smiles and gives Steve a thumbs-up. "Cool."

He'll let the guy have his scavenger hunt while he keeps picking at the innards of this other thing.

[pursuitofcappiness]

And he'll go do his scavenger hunt, only reporting back to Donnie when he's found something of import of anything he has a question on.

It's a good way to wile away the hours, and he's proud of the collection he's amassed. "Hey," he says, once it starts getting dark. "Thanks for letting me spend the day with you."

[thepurpleone]

By then it's a lot more than Donnie had been expecting. Steve doesn't get distracted or bored like his brothers. The turtle's made his own collection from things he's taken apart or decided something still salvageable with just some minor repairs. He's put aside things he'd thought the man might find useful as well, off the premise that maybe Mikey would have found them interesting.

It's always too easy for him to lose track of the time, so when Steve speaks up then, he shoves his goggles up, glancing around before he smiles genuinely at him. "It was pretty fun. I don't think I've ever spent this long with an adult-aged person at a junkyard ever."

[pursuitofcappiness]

That brings a laugh out of Steve. "Well to be honest, I've never spent time a a junkyard before this." But there's a first time for everything, and in all honesty, this wasn't so bad.

"This was fun. Maybe we'll get to do the next part together too. You building something, me making a statue." But that's a conversation for another time. Steve is starving.

[thepurpleone]

That's a proposition Donnie hadn't expected. He grins. "Yeah, let's do that. I'm down for it." Back home he was usually left to his own devices. Here, it's been strange having people interested in his work, in helping him out or making things with him. It's been...nice.

"I guess we should start packing all this up and heading back. You need anything for your sculpture creating? Tools or something?"

[pursuitofcappiness]

"Oh, sure, if you've got any," he answers, smiling. He had a few tools but they weren't exactly the best.

He helps to pack up, though, there's at least nothing to clean up because it's a junkyard, so that doesn't take too long.

[thepurpleone]

"I can hook you up," Donnie promises. He assumes at least some of the things used aren't too far from tools you'd use for machinery, at least to some extent. And if there's anything that might be more specialized, it'll be fun to work something out.

He puts as much as he can into the backpack before slinging it over his shoulder, putting anything else he can into a stripped casing that he's found makes a serviceable enough box. "We about ready?"

[pursuitofcappiness]

Steve has everything put together; he's just holding it in his arms. It's quite comical how much he can carry without it seeming to be a burden. "Sure thing, kid. Lead the way." He can't see over this easily.

[thepurpleone]

Donnie has to double-take at that. He also absolutely has to get a picture with his phone because he's a teenager.

"You sure you're not a mutant?" he asks with a laugh, turning to pick out the smoothest way down to more level ground. "This way."

[pursuitofcappiness]

"Oh, yeah, I definitely wasn't born like this," he answers, as he follows Donnie. He'll be happy to carry some of his things, too.

[thepurpleone]

He's not Cap-strong but he can manage his load well enough. "Haha, yeah? What, were you scientifically engineered to be some kind of super soldier too?" the turtle jokes.

[pursuitofcappiness]

"Actually, yeah," he answers. "Is that what happened to you?" He'd never asked. He just assumed Donnie was normal on his world.

[thepurpleone]

Oh, that's...kind of awkward. Donnie blinks as he glances at the man.

"Basically. -watch your step here," he says, putting a hand on Steve's arm to help navigate him around the uneven terrain.

"My brothers and I were all normal baby turtles that some warrior scientist or something figured we'd make great soldiers when mutated with the human DNA of a great fighter."

[pursuitofcappiness]

"Oh," he says, sighing. "I'm sorry. I - got a choice. I asked for this. Used to be a little guy, and then, there was a war. And I wanted to serve in it, to serve my country."

He shakes his head. "Don't think you should've been forced."

[thepurpleone]

Donnie shakes his head. "Nothing to be sorry about. I mean...yeah, it wasn't done with the greatest intentions but that fighter Draxum used to make us? He saved us so we didn't end up being used to destroy humanity and all that." He smiles. "He's our dad."

[pursuitofcappiness]

Oh, well. That's a nice happy ending. "He ended up adopting all you boys? That's a relief." Hopefully not too hard on him to suddenly have all these kids.

[thepurpleone]

"Yup, all four of us." No, it hadn't been a very easy thing to suddenly be homeless and with four children, but somehow, Splinter had pulled through.

"We learned how to fight from him- he's the most amazing martial arts action movie star ever! If you're interested, I have uploaded every movie I had on my phone into the theater aboard the Agrii ship- but I plan to put together a projector so we can watch stuff from my phone anywhere."