Retry

[thepurpleone]

WHO: Donnie and you...ie
WHERE: Temba
WHAT: R&R (Rest and Recuperation)
WHEN: Latter half of April
WARNINGS: N/A
NOTES: Will match tag prefs!



It's like he's missing a whole chunk of time. It's an unsettling thing, only remembering last being on the Agrii ship, and then more or less finding yourself back on Temba. What did he miss? How long had he been out? Everything in between was fuzzy or non-existent. He vaguely remembers waking up in a strange bed and medical monitors beeping around him, but before he could fully panic, he'd found Leo there beside him. Snippets of things like that, of faces and voices that he can't even say for certain he hadn't just dreamed it all.

He's not sure how he'd gotten back, he doesn't remember the trip, or making the trek out to the farther end of the city where he and Sonic had staked claim to one of the warehouses. It's annoying and perhaps more than a little frightening, but the only reason he hasn't freaked out has been because Leo's always been nearby. Feeling weirdly weak and exhausted as he's been, Donnie was relieved enough to just leave things at that.

And that's how it's been for the first few days back. He can't remember the last time he'd felt so awful, but then this was largely different from recovering from a cold or (*shudder*) a case of rat flu. But eventually he gets to the point where he's tired of being stuck in bed and tries to actually do things.


I. Out of Alignment
Tired and still kind of weirdly detached from things as he's feeling, it doesn't keep Donnie away from trying to get back to work around the warehouse. He can't help but feel like something's missing though, and even though it should be blindingly obvious, that one detail just seems to be evading him, and thinking too hard starts to make his head hurt.

He doesn't seem terribly inclined to go out, and mostly he's relegated any activities to indoors, interspersed with periods where he just feels like sitting or zoning out somewhere. His main communicator's still a mess and its consistent inconsistency with notifications have started to give him a headache enough that he's opted to mute it and leave it to scream in silence on a countertop somewhere. At least he's programmed his new primary tablet to get forwarded actual correspondences from the main network, but Donnie hasn't been terribly inclined to check it of late.

There seems to be a lot that needs to be sorted through when it comes to acquisitions from the spaceport. Crates of salvage and boxes of tech-related purchases, and no small amount of clothes. At any other time Donnie would have been eager to dive into it all but right now every time he looks at it, it just seems incredibly overwhelming, so he ends up backing off. Everything feels that way, if he's being honest with himself. He feels like he's fallen behind somehow but he's not sure where to apply himself first to get things back into gear.

Maybe he just needs a breath of fresh air.


II. Plant Matters
In hindsight he's thankful he'd put some effort into setting up an automatic system for watering plants. Long before their space-venture, Donnie had converted an end of the lower level of the warehouse into a private greenhouse, knocking out the wall and installing large panes of glass in its place. It had all definitely been a process but ultimately worth it, and the natural light it let in during the lengthy daylight hours was a nice bonus. Inspecting the progress of the plants there is a relaxing enough duty, and plotting out where to add his new acquisitions isn't all too difficult. He hadn't gone overboard with those at the spaceport, not when he was already aware that many of the plants around Temba were already considered some sort of invasive species.

The plants he'd established outside of the warehouse are another matter. There are a few shelves with a variety of potted plants, and the ones that have weathered the winter climate have started to show their springtime colors. ...and then there are the suspiciously spiked, scarlet vines that have started to wind their way up a couple corners of the outside of the warehouse. But that had been Donnie's intention, a natural sort of security measure, and in the case of an E.V.E. (Extreme Vampire Emergency), a potential alternative for any new bloodsucking residents that might appear. (He wouldn't go so far as to say he was paranoid so much as that he just likes to be prepared.)

Donnie's outside doing some careful trimming just to make sure they don't get too out of hand. He remembers how the train station in Sh'Ka had looked, so he's keeping the vines to very concentrated lines instead of having too many branching out. Bloody walls are not a thing he wants to end up having to clean up, but thankfully the vines haven't spread too much and no berries have developed just yet.


III. Un-Forge-ttable (for Tony)
Eventually Donnie gets back into his projects. He can't not work on things for long, so he's finally tackled sorting through some of the things he'd gotten at the spaceport. A lot of the salvage he'd dug up hadn't been for specific ideas but there had been plenty of parts in decent shape, wiring and computer components, fuses and gears aside from a variety of other things. He'd taken things apart until his hand decided it didn't want to hold tools any longer, so now he's packed up the parts into a box to bring over to the Forge.

Tony's not the only one who builds things, true, but he's the first who naturally comes to mind, and it seems like it's been far too long since Donnie'd last interacted with the man. They'd worked on fixing things on the ship, hadn't they? But he can't be sure as to just how long ago that had been. Well, he's got parts that can likely find use by the man, and if he's not in then Donnie will just leave it there with a note.


IV. Re-what
Recovery sucks. Go figure after you've been stuck in bed for a couple of weeks (? who knows anymore), your body just doesn't feel the same way it used to. Is this how dad feels? Gross.

Donnie had never figured he'd ever catch up with sleep for the abnormal hours he'd been used to keeping, but he feels like recently he's made a pretty good effort in trying, and not at all intentional on his part. He just finds himself getting tired quicker, napping a lot more in between doing things. He hates it, so naturally he tries to push himself to get back to some normal levels of activity.

At least the weather's nice. He doesn't mind the random showers, but perhaps that's to be expected from a turtle. Now if only he didn't feel so winded heading out to the ruins where he'd set up one of his plant experiments. Or, you know, walking everywhere else. Maybe he should've brought his rocket boots, but his tech-bō comes in handy as a walking staff.

Comments

I

[faceguy]

Donnie's better, according to the doctors, but he's been weirdly sluggish and out of it since they made it back to the planet. It's completely different from his normally active, always hard at work brother that it makes Leo feel uneasy.

Who is he kidding, even if Donnie were acting normal he would probably still feel uneasy. He's had a knotted ball of anxiety in his stomach since the moment Donnie slumped over next to that pod that absolutely nothing has been able to ease. Much as he tries to act normal, that had really scared him. And not having any of the rest of the family to lean on has left him feeling lonelier than he ever has.

But Donnie is starting to have longer periods of awareness, doing little things around the warehouse (and this is the first time Leo's really gotten a good look at the place). So Leo feels okay to leave him, though never for long, only to grab things they need from other parts of the city.

That's where he's been the last hour or so. Now he's back, carrying a bowl and a bag with some shelf-safe foods inside. He perks up when he sees Donnie is awake, though he's yet to see if Donnie is paying attention or zoning out again.

"Heeey. Brought you some lunch!"

He's working very hard to sound normal.

[thepurpleone]

There's still a lot to be done with the warehouse, but the makings of a couple of a new ramp has been outlined and from the blueprints lying around seems to be trying to work out a loop-de-loop. A much simpler one has been worked out, set over half of the stairs going up, with the lower half curving up at the end.

Of course much of Donnie's efforts had been put into setting up his workshop space aside from the greenhouse area, but at the very least he and Sonic had set up some beds, joined by one more ever since Leo had arrived. There hadn't been much progress for fixing things up otherwise, save for a table and chairs for general usage.

He sits there now, thumbing through pictures on his phone, but at Leo's arrival he looks up, smiling a little. "Nice. You eat already?" he asks. It seems a fair question since he'd just woken up not too long ago, but he guesses it's probably already pretty late in the day and the extra daylight hours don't help any.

[faceguy]

Donnie's up and awake and aware. Leo feels relief, even if it doesn't entirely undo the knot inside him.

"Yep." It's not technically a lie - he has eaten already today. It was just awhile ago. But doesn't feel like eating anything right now, so it's easy enough to avoid the spirit of that question for the letter.

He sets the soup in front of Donnie, then slides into one of the empty chairs. "Apparently this is... baconroom and silverleaf? That Tommy guy made it, so don't blame me if it sucks."

[thepurpleone]

"Ooh, I love baconrooms! Definitely one of the better things that grow around here that you can eat. Next to the Encumbered Marinara." That's not what the entry is but he still refuses to call it a 'cumato.'

Donnie stirs the soup around, giving it a sniff. "Not sure what the silverleaf is though, guess I'll find out. Baconrooms though? That's like two pizza toppings in one." He'll stop babbling though, because now that there's food here, he realizes he is kind of hungry, so he takes a careful sip.

[faceguy]

“Encumbered Marinara?” He has no idea what that is, but at least Donnie seems happy about the soup choice.

“Man, sounds good though. Can’t wait to try it on pizza.” He scowls. “That guy said he’d make pizza for you and not me, though.”

Tommy rescinded that, but Leo is still salty about it.

IV

[work_wife]

The weather is nice, and the roads aren't as bad without the snow on them. All the more reason for Robin to get back on her bike to build up her strength again. It was not enough to just, you know, do the running that the Steve Rogers guy tried to encourage her on.

And then there she is, heading over a clear area, and catching sight of someone green. Not wearing green, but green.

"Hey Leo, on your left," she calls forward. Doesn't want to run the turtle down.

[thepurpleone]

His reaction time is a little slow, not to mention hearing the name 'Leo' throws him off completely. Either way, Donnie still feels like he's taking longer to process it than he should, and that frustration only mucks up his response even more.

He at least spins around in the right direction that he can step back and out of the path of the approaching- a bike? Oh, that bit of movement shouldn't have made him feel nearly so dizzy.

[work_wife]

Oh man, the guy looks like he's going to fall over so Robin slows down, stops, and gets off of the bike. That's not a good thing. And now that she's closer, she's realizing that it's not Leo. No stripes, different body shape and color. The purple...

Huh. Weird.

"Sorry. I thought you were Leo. Are you okay?"

[thepurpleone]

Donnie runs a hand over his face once he's sure his feet are at least planted, but even so, he still leans against his tech-bō in case he sways.

"-fine, it's fine, see one mutant turtle you see them all," his tone's usually sarcastic but this time it's intentional. "Yeah, just give me a sec." Maybe it's a really good thing he hadn't opted to make use of the rocket boots. He'd probably end up crashed into a wall or getting sick on someone's head.

[work_wife]

"I've seen two," she counters. "One was a cute little kid. I was basically his babysitter for a while. But he was a lot younger than you."

She frowns and stops, looking at him. Nah, this can't be little Donnie. Even if Leo had been confused by him being a kid.

"You need help?"

[in_extremis]

It had been approximately eighty years since Tony had last seen Donnie, and at his most generous, Tony thought that meant a strong showing of restraint despite watching him anxiously as he went too slowly by one of Tony's many watchful cameras. More often, it was important that Tony kept himself manically busy, because after lingering for about forty of those years trying to keep his hands to himself and not do anything else awful, he thought he might climb out of his own skin. Luckily, despite his doubts about just about everything, he did know at least one thing he was very good at.

In the forge, DATA appeared at the crevasse of the door, two pointed legs curled around the wall to peer up at Donnie intently. The light spilling into the space had Tony growling from the workbench, "We're closed!", prompting the little robot to carefully close the door after Donnie, then look up at him expectantly for the next closing task. Maybe finding a place to put that box he was holding, although DATA's upstretched arms didn't look terribly up to the task.

[thepurpleone]

Donnie jumped at the words, the faint smile he'd been directing down at DATA skittering off his face like a startled cat. He squinted into the dimness of the forge, really, how Tony could work in here with this kind of lighting had always been a mystery to him, but while his eyes adjusted, he looked back down at the little spherical bot before holding a hand out to him, a compromise. Climb aboard and they could find a spot to set this thing down together.

"Well that was an unexpectedly harsh greeting," he commented dryly as he stepped further away from the door. He half-feared things to have drastically changed around the place, that inherent anxiety of just not being in the loop, but then everything could have been accepted as a dream if not for the physical evidence of souvenirs and the photos on his phone, supplementing vivid memories of the spaceport venture. After that, things got...fuzzy.

[in_extremis]

The place, physically, didn't look all that different from how Donnie had left it. There was a fine layer of dust that had settled in their time away, making Tony's paths through the forge obvious where the grime had been disturbed or impatiently swept aside to be managed at some more convenient time, like never. A new robot stood by the workbench dutifully, though it wasn't entirely unfamiliar, either; it had delivered gifts while they had been confined to the snowy planet, and had delivered cumbersome supplies while Tony and Donnie had worked on the ship's terrorized systems. It didn't have the curiosity that DATA did, who gladly climbed up and right into the box to start poking what he could find.

Tony looked up at the voice and pursed his lips, then around at the spread of his work before he was pushing up his glasses and muttering, "I'll get out of your way, just a minute..." The AGRII started to gather the heavier shell of the missile while Tony carefully sorted through the parts that he could take with him back to the workshop.

[thepurpleone]

DATA had definitely worked his way up from being an annoyance, and Donnie was more than fine with the little guy exploring the parts he'd brought. The AGRII was considerably less personable, more function than friend, but seeing it here at least suggested that no one had objected to its being claimed and repurposed.

"What? No, you don't have to-" the turtle grimaced, not in the mood for jumping these sorts of mental hurdles. "I just came to drop off some parts in case... well, just in case. I'll be out of your hair..."

He looked for a place to set down the box, even as he made a note to figure out something to clean the place up, this dust build-up was not acceptable.

[in_extremis]

For too long, the only answer was the crackle of the fire at Tony's back while he slowed then came to a tense stillness, watching Donnie and how he handled the box intently. He only glanced away briefly, toward the door again, expecting it to open, then wondering if Leonardo even knew his brother was here. After Tony had been dealt a much less significant jolt, barely a scratch, really, he had been miserably pathetic for weeks and he knew no one should have been leaving Donnie to carry around anything. He should have hardly been on his own. That was the kind of thinking that got Tony in this position, though, so after carefully clearing his throat, he ventured reluctantly, "Need some help?"

IV

[cactusy]

"You look like crap," is how Shaw chooses to greet him, so it's probably a good thing that Donnie has experience with her being... well. The way she is. He's heading towards the ruins, and she's leaving, at a much quicker pace and with a livelier step (the big-ass energy gun strapped to her back may or may not have something to do with what is, for her, a pretty good mood). "You looking for an escort? Back-up? Someone to haul stuff?"

Please, please give her a job.

[thepurpleone]

It's so unexpected if the harsh truth that Donnie has to laugh. At least some things don't change.

"Hi yourself," he says, a dry smirk leveled in Shaw's direction. "I was just going to check out some plants but I may have overestimated my current ability to do anything." He arches a brow at her. "What've you been up to?"

[cactusy]

"Trying to assess the structural stability of buildings even though I have no training in it," she says. "It's involved falling through a few floors. You wanna stop and take a rest here?"

[thepurpleone]

Donnie winces at that. "That can't have been fun. You okay?" The woman at least looks okay. He's pretty sure she could brush off any falls like that though, Shaw's always struck him as a tough sort. Like April, just in a different way.

"At least you've been productive. Yeah, let's take five. Ugh."

He sinks down onto a broken wall with a sigh, rolling his shoulders back. "I know it'd be easier to fly out but I figured I should get used to moving around again."

[cactusy]

And sure enough, she shrugs, as if falling through the floor is an everyday occurrence. "I'm still walking." She hoists herself up onto the wall too, a couple feet down from him. "Not sure I'd call it productive if no one's gonna either rebuild or demolish the buildings, though. Plant stuff sounds more immediately useful."

She pauses.

"'Get used to moving around again'? You get hurt or something?"

IV. Re-what

[madginger]

Luckily, Max has already run into Donnie's brother, and talked to Donnie over the network, or she might have stared a whole lot more when she first sees a turtle walking about. Instead, she's able to focus her curiosity on his "walking stick." She comes up - even through the ruins, because it makes a fantastic obstacle course, sometimes - on her skateboard.

She stops short and slows down to glide by him.

"Hey! So...what is that? It doesn't really look like a stick," and at least she doesn't point. Max really is trying to be, somewhat, polite, today. Especially since Donnie made such a good impression on her. Anyone who promises her future video games, and bonds with her over the complications of siblings dynamics? Immediate friend.

[thepurpleone]

Skateboarding would have made this whole venture a lot faster if Donnie felt he could keep his balance long enough. It's very hard for a skateboard to be quiet on such a terrain as it is, so at least he isn't startled to find himself with company though he finds himself pleasantly surprised. Note to self: Invite Max over to the warehouse to use the ramps.

It takes him a second to put a name to the voice and therefore the face, but he smiles easily enough as he comes to a stop. "Hey. Max, right?" He straightens up, picking the titanium staff's end up from the ground. It really is a lot fancier than a stick, silver and purple, with its head looking more like a spear. "This is my tech-bō," he explains, and even if he is a little tired, it'd never dampen his pride when it comes to his tech.

[madginger]

It's definitely not the best terrain for skateboarding, but as long as Max can pull it off, she will. She will absolutely love the ramps, though.

"That's right!" Max grins - he remembers! "And you're...Donnie, right?"

While Max isn't technologically inclined, she can still be curious.

"What did you put in it? Or what does it do?" Either way, it's way prettier to look at than some stick, for sure. She inspects it with her eyes.

[thepurpleone]

His brain got a little fried but at least his recall is still pretty good! Donnie nods in confirmation. "In the flesh!"

That grin of his turns up at one end, sort of a mischievous expression. Those are certainly excellent questions, kudos to Max for asking the right ones. "I have packed as many modes and extras into this as I possibly could, but those can always change, depending on if I think of anything else that might come in handy. It has a mallet mode, a rocket-powered mode, a laser rifle, flame thrower, buzzsaw, tank tracking system- which...admittedly is moot point without the tank around, uum..."

[madginger]

"In the flesh is how I prefer to talk to people," Max admits, actually not sarcastic. Donnie's made an impression. And even if he's too nerdy for her, he reminds her of her friends back home, and it's a strange balm to have him explain things she barely understands.

Modes?

"Flame thrower? Buzzsaw.... You made the Swiss Army Knife of staffs," that's not even a question at this point. Max looks at Donnie with a half-smile and an eyebrow raised. That's both scary and cool.

"Wait. What tank?"