[open] The children yearn for the mines

[faceguy]

WHO: Leo and YOU
WHERE: inside the mines, and outside the maze doors
WHAT: pre-event open post
WHEN: after everyone is forced into the mines through the forward team entering the maze
WARNINGS: none atm

A: Before the Wanderkin comes

Leo is a cool guy. A cool guy who knows what he's doing and has things under control. Or that's what he'd like to believe, but even he isn't that good of a liar.

Right now he isn't feeling very cool, and nothing has felt under his control for months. It's not really a surprise that the current situation is following trends. When he'd come back from trying to find them food and water just for Donnie to be missing, he'd about had a heart attack.

Turns out his brother was infected. Turns out he was hurt, and sick, and Leo's so dumb he didn't notice. Donnie said he was okay and Leo didn't look into it any further. And now...

He's going to be okay. But Leo can't help but be on edge.

He's sitting against a wall, legs pulled up against his chest and arms curled around them. It's times like this that he wishes he could go into his shell as easily as Mikey, that he had a box hinge that would cover over and block the rest of the world out. But Leo is not lucky in anything, so he doesn't even have that.

At least he has the leather jacket, protecting him against the chill in this part of the mines. (It's Tony's jacket, actually, but he doesn't know that.) He plans to give it back to Donnie, though, as soon as Donnie is back up and on his feet. He's sick, so he needs it more. Leo can deal.

But for now, he sits tight against the wall and stews in his bad thoughts and tries not to be too much of a tripping hazard. Though, in the dark it's a bit hard to see him...

B: Break Time! (on the way to the Warrens)

Walking for a few hours nonstop is not difficult for Leo, with his young legs and his mutant biology. He's been much more worried about Donnie, who was so recently injured on his leg, so for most of the walk he's been hovering by his brother, ready to support if needed.

Now they're taking a break.

Leo wasn't here for the last time they did this, which means he doesn't know that last time there was a snack offered at this point in the journey. Which is probably for the best, because he's actually... really hungry, right now. Turns out sulking instead of eating for the last thirty or so hours was a bad decision! Put another one on the board for Leon.

He's standing a little off from the main group, one foot kicked up against the mine wall, arms folded over his chest. He looks like a classic scowling teenager, mad at the world, but he really just doesn't want anyone to hear his stomach growling. That's so embarrassing...

C: The Warrens (after the forward team has gone in)

So this is what's down here: a dead end. or maybe a not so dead end, since a group of people have gone through some kind of door that locked behind them (spooky!). Leo isn't too worried about that group, except Cayde. He hopes the cool robot guy is safe in there...

But until something on the surface changes or until those guys find something interesting, it seems the rest of them are stuck here. Wow, so fun and exciting. And if he sounded sarcastic there, that's because he is. How long are they going to have to wait before they get any news?

Man, Leo doesn't even have his phone or his comic books. What a drag.

Leo has settled down with the rest of the group to wait, but he can't help but grumble discontentedly under his breath. When someone looks his way, he shrugs.

"I don't guess anyone brought any cards, huh?"

Comments

a

[deal_me_in]

Being a robot certainly has things going for you. Technically Cayde doesn't need to sleep or eat, but habits, even if they belong to a person and body from centuries past, never seem to die. It's easier to push such things off when there are clearly others who need the attention more, and given he doesn't know how long they're all expected to be down here this time, the Exo's not going to impose on what limited supplies might be had, and take the opportunity to keep an eye on the entrance and keep it from getting breached when others need to rest.

At the moment, he's doing a headcount. He wants to make sure people are safe, that everyone's made it, and he's ready to head back out there if they're still missing some. It eases something in that metal chest of his when he sees the familiar shape sitting there, and he can only assume the turtle hadn't come alone because he doubts Leo would be in here otherwise, unless something bad had happened. But Cayde's not into thinking worst case scenarios.

"Glimmer for your thoughts?" he asks as he lowers himself to have a seat against the wall with a grunt.

[faceguy]

It startles Leo to have someone suddenly sit down next to him. Not so much because he didn't know people were there - he knew Cayde was there, vaguely - but because he's so wrapped up in his thoughts he wasn't ready for them to be interrupted.

He lifts his head to look at Cayde, blinking in the dim lighting while his thoughts catch up with the question. Normally he's better at shifting to social mode than this. He's off his game.

"...On my planet we say penny," he says instead of answering the question. "A penny for your thoughts."

[deal_me_in]

"Ah, pre-Golden Age currency," Cayde reflects, leaning back against the wall. "Copper, right? Don't seem like much for a thought. Glimmer's a better deal, trust me. Although I guess it'd help if you had the means to make use of it to make things. ...and I guess the glimmer, that'd probably be important too."

[faceguy]

Leo lets this ramble wash over him. It sounds a little like the kind of tangent Donnie would get caught up in, but less technical. He doesn't know what a glimmer is in comparison to a penny, but he'll take Cayde's word for it that it's better than a penny.

"It'd figure that thoughts cost more in the future," he says with a shrug. "That's just inflation."

[deal_me_in]

"Heh! Maybe. I'm pretty sure some hardcore collectors back home would pay for a pretty penny. -see what I did there?" At least he thinks there's some idiom about paying a pretty penny for something. Cayde wouldn't be able to say what book he'd picked it out of though.

He digs around in his belt pouch and produces a candy bar, only slightly bent in its wrapper, reaching over to balance it on the turtle teen's knee.

"Don't have any pennies or glimmer so that'll have to do. Anyway, good to see you got here. You find your brother?"

A.

[3wingedangel]

Sephiroth has very good eyesight, but somehow he still doesn't quite see Leo until he's very close. He spreads his wings for balance as he stumbles away from walking into him. "Excuse me."

[faceguy]

Wha- oh. This guy again.

Leo looks up at him, not sure if he should say anything - and if so, what. He feels awkward around Sephiroth, but Leo's pretty sure he's the one who got Donnie to the doctor when Leo was off doing whatever.

He grimaces, then just says, "Uh, yeah," and hesitates without saying more. Though the inflection made it sound like he was going to...

[3wingedangel]

Sephiroth also feels awkward, yet feels he needs to say something despite knowing he's not good with small talk.

"How are you?" It's an honest question; he knows Leo must be worried about his brother.

[faceguy]

"...I'm fine."

It's probably obvious that's not true, but Leo doesn't really want to talk about it with a near stranger. Sephiroth helped his brother, and went with him to see Mikey(?), but they aren't actually close.

"Thanks for, uh... taking my brother to Tae," he says, scratching his nose awkwardly.

[3wingedangel]

Sephiroth feels the same. But he hopes Leo has someone he's comfortable opening up to. Sephiroth does not.

He nods. "I was concerned when I saw him. I tried to find you afterwards to tell you what happened." And to make sure Leo was alright.

B-ish

[thepurpleone]

The last thing Donnie wants is to be a burden. He hates that he's slowing things down, he hates making Leo wait for him, and especially feels bad about making his brother worry.

Things could have been worse. He knows this, and he's glad that it hadn't gotten worse but he still feels it's his fault. His leg still hurts, but not as badly as it had been, and his fever had broken before they'd begun their venture down, a small relief. But he's still not at one hundred percent and doesn't look forward to the long trek ahead.

The sigh in relief for the break is louder than he'd meant it to be, making Donnie hunch up his shoulders in slight embarrassment. He's too stubborn to admit he's tired and needs to rest, but that may as well have been an open declaration.

[faceguy]

Well look at them, the embarrassment brothers.

Leo definitely doesn't miss that sigh; it's no surprise that the trek was far more rough on Donnie than it was on him. He settles against the wall then, nudging Donnie very lightly with his fingers.

"We can sit here."

Even though he actually doesn't feel like sitting down at all. He's too restless - probably from being hungry and full of anxiety and adrenaline. But he knows Donnie needs to sit, so he makes the offer.

[thepurpleone]

Sitting means it'll be a pain getting up again, but Donnie knows he'll probably be better off doing so, and he's grateful for the suggestion even though he's well aware it was probably made for his sake. With a nod he slowly eases himself down along the wall until he can sit on the floor.

"...sorry." An apology long overdue, he feels.

[faceguy]

Leo taps his foot a few times, getting out some restless energy, before he sits, too, propping his chin on his knees.

He jerks his head up at the apology, though, looking over at Donnie like he just said something much more shocking than "sorry".

"A Donatello apology? In this economy?" Leo tilts his head. "What are you apologizing for?"

[thepurpleone]

"Ugh, you're going to make me elaborate?" Donnie groans. "I know my track record hasn't been the greatest these past months but come on..."

He tries to hide a wince as he pulls his own knees up, hugging them loosely. "I just... I keep messing up." There, he said it. He was hoping he'd feel better for it but it still feels pretty much the same.

C

[cactusy]

Shaw, self-appointed guard dog, is patrolling the perimeter of the space that people have gathered in: counting heads, scanning for injuries, and making note of who looks like they're doing okay versus who looks scared and overwhelmed. Leo's comment, when she overhears it, gets an amused snort.

"Or paper. We get desperate enough, we can make our own deck."

[faceguy]

Leo laughs at that. “Only if we have someone good enough to draw them.”

Sure, it’s not that important that they look pretty, but still. He has standards.

[cactusy]

"I was with a unit once that only had one deck, and it was missing a few cards," Shaw remarks. "We just used letters - '2C' for two of clubs, 'JH' for jack of hearts, that kinda thing."

[faceguy]

“Sure, but that’s not as fun.” Leo shrugs. “If someone can draw, we can make custom cards! Dibs on King of Diamonds.”

[cactusy]

Hmmmmmm.

"Okay. Queen of clubs."

Because, just like a club, she's a powerful blunt object.

C.

[thelastechidna]

"Probably not," Knuckles grunts. "I sure didn't."

He is restless, pacing about and frustrated that he isn't with the forward team. He gets why, asking people they were familiar with and all, but he hates being stuck. He remembers how long they were down here before and how restless he got without a task to accomplish.

At least he has the de-powered Master Emerald he can watch over, but incredibly, right now he's more concerned about everything else going on. No one's been interested in stealing the Master Emerald here anyway, which isn't really a surprise.

[faceguy]

Leo didn’t get asked, either, but pacing around and getting frustrated won’t help anything.

“Lame. Guess we could play another game.” Leo thinks. “Anyone here know Werewolf?”

[thelastechidna]

Knuckles would love to do something that would help something, if he just knew what.

He stops and blinks, giving Leo a strange look. "What kind of game is that?"

[faceguy]

Leo leans forward. “So there’s werewolves and humans. The werewolves are trying to kill the humans, and the humans have to hang them before they can.”

Simple!

[thelastechidna]

Knuckles blinks, surprised. "So some people play the humans and some play the werewolves? How do the werewolves get hanged?"

It's all play, so he supposes no one gets hurt. And hmm, if booby traps are needed, he could certainly get into that.