revivalproject | Maybe I've Been Partly Cloudy

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Maybe I've Been Partly Cloudy

WHO: Donnie and you?
WHERE: Agrii Ship
WHAT: Just trying to keep up with things and question gift choices
WHEN: During the New Tick stuff
WARNINGS: N/A

I. No Rainchecks Allowed
The party seems poorly timed for all that he and Leo had been talking about throwing one once they were out of the depths. Donnie's hardly in the mood for a celebration, much less being surrounded by moist, fuzzy pink, clingy aliens. It says a lot when all he wants to do is lie in bed and sleep.

If this was the universe's way of telling him to get more rest, Donnie felt that it could have taken less extreme measures.

But even with the lingering brain fog, the details of the color gangs that have become more prominent around the Agrii ship are not lost on him. That's not something he looks forward to having to deal with. He tries to avoid Agrii contact in general (there's only one whose company he'd welcome, really), trying not to come off as too irritable but he's still recovering from being trapped in a burning building. Too many overeager Agrii is still too much when he's still prone to shortness of breath, and he's always been picky about his personal space.

Maybe you catch a strange spark of fuchsia light, crackling noiselessly in the air, or maybe you notice a small throng of Agrii swarming the poor purple turtle who looks on the verge of a panic attack. Save him?

II. Party of Two (For Leo)
Leave it to ninja to find somewhere secluded and out of the way to hide. They hadn't lingered long once the gifts had been passed out, neither turtle feeling up to socializing very much. Considering the bulk of some of the gifts, slipping away had been an interesting challenge. In a way it reminded Donnie of when they were younger and trying to avoid being caught by their father after poking about sewer tunnels that were farther than they were allowed to explore. ...not that it seemed to matter much as Splinter never questioned where Donnie'd come up with some of the appliances or parts used to fix things around their home.

It's funny how much more comfortable a sewer can be to a large alien ship. Ensconced behind a few large crates in the hangar, the boys have made do, sitting on the floor with a few plates of food for their own little private party. They're teenagers, they're not turning down food- and that it doesn't taste like peanut butter is an absolute plus!

Donnie sighs, leaning against a crate, feeling better having something solid at his back with the absence of his battle shell, but he hasn't been able to repair the shoulder clasp on it yet, not to mention his own shoulder is still sore. A hoodie and jacket suffices for the time being.

He chews on a decidedly vegetarian pizza as he eyes their strangely shaped packages. "Well...it definitely can't be another phone," he finally puts forth. The orange-wrapped one definitely looks much too obvious for what it should be, and yet Donnie could see no reason why it should.

III. Work-a-Holic
Once the main festivities begin to settle some, Donnie feels a little better about wandering. He knows better than to waste an opportunity, and the times they've been able to come aboard the Agrii ship are too far and few. He has diagnostics to run, data to check, new things to contemplate. Maybe he can get another tablet from the Agrii while he's at it.

Of course, things would be easier if he were operating at 100%. Staring at screens starts to give him a headache after a while, forcing him to note where he's left off so he can rub at his eyes and stare at a wall until the pain recedes. Lather, rinse, repeat.

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Dealing, huh? That sounds like a bit of a problem. Because if he's mentioning frequency and paring down... That could well imply being in something like an email chain where everyone is just replying all all the time. HOrrible.

"Alright, would you mind if I start with the storm tracking data? I did enough weather monitoring in my work that that sort of stuff I'll have an easier time sniffing out with your help. It will give us some time where I've got higher competence to better determine how to communicate while we work."

And they'll have privacy for it as well, given Reeve's got Mini outside of the door discouraging Agrii from entering. It's useful to have a second half to your soul.

It is the worst.

Donnie flicks a hand again, leaving Reeve to do as he pleases. That makes better sense anyway, and it'd either way give him a chance to take something of a break as he watches.

It's also kind of refreshing working with someone on the same page as him. It's why Donnie likes working with Tony.

"Let's see what it all has to say then."

Oh, Tony would no doubt be far better for these tasks than Reeve, but at least Reeve was semicompetent in this, and happy to help.

"Alright then."

For a while he is silent, taking only a bit of guidance here and there to get deeper and ultimately pull up weather patterns. From there he's intent and studying a bit.

"From what it looks like here, and forgive me meteorology was never my specialization but more a necessary hobby... It seems like the storm is weakening. There are more tears in the front of it than appear in previous records. Like it is breaking up into clumps rather than being a continuous stormfront. I don't think we could rightly make a projection yet on how long until they are fully stopped, but whatever was done underground is helping I think."

"Yeah, wasn't exactly my area of focus either."

With nothing much else to do, Donnie rests his head in his arms as he watches the screen while Reeve navigates through. It doesn't particularly help him ignore his being tired when he's got less to actively do.

"Mm. I heard it was weakening. They'd already been scattered before and proved to have lesser effects for it, so if they're truly dissipating in the same manner, that's definitely better than nothing..." he murmurs.

"Definitely," Reeve agrees with a nod. "I can't project how long we might have to be concerned about them. But if this really does continue..."

They could potentially be free of the energy storms that brought them here. Perhaps that will be enough to let most of them go home.

Most. Clearly the tension Reeve feels boiling under the surface might need more work.

If only Donnie believed things would be so simple. The Agrii hadn't really mentioned too much about the storm changes when they'd come up to join them all, but then they probably had all their eyes focused on the closer storms that have developed within their own ranks.

His fingers tighten into the folds of his sleeve. What if they never get home?

Adults could get so distracted by politics like that, forgetting the bigger picture in the process. Reeve had seen it more than a few times in his life.

"Hey," Reeve says, his voice soft as he turns to look at the turtle. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Not really, no. But then...

Donnie sighs.

"We might have finally taken care of one problem, but there's still more that have come up since. Are we going to be expected to fix those too?" Normally he was all for fixing problems but things like this are out of his area of expertise. He's the tech guy, not a peacemaker. Usually that involved use of a mallet, which, Oh right! He no longer has!

It makes him scrunch more tightly into himself.

"...I just want to be able to go home. To get my brother home."

"I fear I cannot begin to figure out the answer to that. But the way I always saw it, our orders were to deal with the storms. Check, even if it will take some time to dissipate if we're right that the forward team and explorers managed that. We're supposed to teach Agrii how to function as a society. We're unfortunately teaching them the wrong parts, but we're working there. And we're supposed to get them home."

THere, on that last one, his voice drops off. Because he's honestly not certain on what to do about that one. There was evidence now that this place might not be their original home. What were they to do then.

"So I think we're making progress," he says instead of pointing that part out. Because he wants the kid to be braver. Wants him to feel stronger.

"We've come further in the last two years than in my early time here. So I think we're doing good. Soon. Soon we'll get you home."

Hope. He can offer hope.

"Teaching them how to function as a society wasn't part of the opening data point," Donnie says, even though he knows they couldn't just leave them to deal. "Of course it wasn't going to be so simple. It's so much more complicated than just getting rid of some stupid storms that were meant to keep an aggressive species in check! And for all the promises of sending us back, if they can't even control who all comes here then how do we know for sure they'd know to return us?"

His arms ache but he keeps them tightly around himself. He's been here for two years and he doesn't want to think that he and Leo might be stuck for another two, far from home and the rest of their family...

"It wasn't? It was something mentioned rather early when I arrived," Reeve noted, thoughtful. Apparently it hadn't been passed down to the others. What a shame.

Still, he has at least one thing to say to Donnie's concern.

"They tried, before. The method they were going to use to do it was stolen from them at the last moment. I think that intention is genuine."

Donnie tries to hold back the coughs he's triggered from getting worked up, letting himself sink against the side of the console again to bury his head in his arms until he can get them to stop.

"...convenient that it was stolen at that point," he mumbles, but he starts to lift his head again, eyes wide as that information sinks in.

"So are you saying they've been lying all this time about being able to send us back? How's that going to be possible if it was stolen?!" he manages to get out between coughs. Uuuuugh this is all such a paaaain.

Poor kid. He's clearly stressed out, and Reeve can understand that.

"They said they would try and figure out how to get us home. I genuinely believe they have been trying," Reeve says. But maybe he's just an idealist. "And it was not convenient. The Agrii were scared. We were unnerved."

"And now they've got all this to figure out, so that's probably on hold," Donnie mutters, dropping his head back into his arms.

"With the storms starting to die down, can't we help on that front? What do we need to look for?" They did what was asked them, they should be able to also start looking into trying to help themselves get home if that's an option, it wasn't fair otherwise!

"That, I fear, I do not know. Travel over long distances even on my own planet was not the easiest thing. We only sent our first man into space within my own living memory."

So all of this space stuff and teleportation and so many other things made no sense to him.

"I mean...fair. We've only ever landed on the moon and have people going back and forth between a space station but it's not all that far from Earth. Sadly all our space traveling dreams have been realized mostly in media," Donnie sighs.

"But here's different! They clearly have the technology and the means, and yet they haven't given us complete access to it." It's maddening, really.

Landed on their moon? Reeve laughs in delight. Cid would love that story.

"I know people who would delight in those stories. And I admit, I'm intrigued by the idea of a station in space. How would one power it? Perhaps those 'solar cells' Tony told me about..."

What a glorious idea.

Though he can't see why Donnie would want to travel that much. Not like this.

"They've only sent us out to do their bidding. I wonder if they have much more realization of the wonders you seek than that."

"It doesn't seem like they've been doing much. They're so fixated on coming back to a home that isn't even really theirs..." Donnie sighs.

"Why they never thought of looking for somewhere more inhabitable is beyond me. It makes no sense. I talked to them once about it, and they believe home is home. The ones aboard this ship haven't even ever lived on Agra Ten. ...how would they respond if they found out that it actually isn't the case here? "

"But do they know that part," Reeve points out. "Home is... It's where the heart is they say. And their hearts have known nothing but this ship and the stories of the place it now circles."

And for all they knew, the ship had been working a long time to get here. He never even bothered to ask. But they sure found it rather far away from the planet when they had last gone to rescue the Agrii.

"I suppose we really should raise the question with them. Find a place that will serve them better. I don't think the city is even well placed for them. They seem to like the water, but the flooded area was a mistake. There isn't a lot of water in the city, and who knows if they can handle the salinity of the ocean."

God, they hadn't even thought of that themselves, had they? Though he'd heard there was a way to flood the animal nursery, though he had never seen it done. So where did they get the moisture they needed?

"Not to mention how bad it dries out during the summer. That might be worse than random storms- at least those didn't come around all the time and you could avoid them if you just weren't in the area."

Donnie groans as he buries his face against his sleeves again. Everything is always connected to something else. There's no such thing as quick fixes here, but that's something he'd slowly come to realize as he relentlessly pursued trying to unravel the problem of the storms.

"...there's so much that has to be done..." It's....overwhelming to think about. Normally he's all about a consistent workload but this... It doesn't seem like there's a foreseeable end, at least in any sort of near future that he could hope for.

"There is always so much to be done," Reeve agrees. No matter you goal, there are always a wealth of steps between you and them.

"We will face that the same way one faces any problem. One step at a time."

And the way Reeve says it, with confidence and conviction, suggests that he might truly believe it himself. In fact, he reaches out to gently pat the youth on the shoulder.

"We'll figure out that path together. It's beyond time that our great minds started working as one, correct?"

"I guess..."

It still doesn't guarantee a set timeframe for how much longer they'd be here. Away from home... That's the part that weighs on him the heaviest.

There could never be guarantees in that field unfortunately. But Reeve hoped they could ensure the youth had a far shorter stay than he did.

"It's hard to see the path now. But we'll find it."

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Maybe I've Been Partly Cloudy

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