revivalproject | We Be Shipping (Not like that)

Entry tags:

We Be Shipping (Not like that)

WHO: Donnie and you?
WHERE: Agrii Ship, Glitter Party
WHAT: Fixing things and making it better. ...okay he's trying.
WHEN: Mid-late this month
WARNINGS: N/A

I. Not the Most Agrii-able
This still isn't quite the space adventure that Donnie nor any of his brothers have envisioned, but it's almost one step closer. At least in going back and forth on the shuttles, he can almost pretend for a moment that they might be traveling to distant galaxies. Just...really slowly.

He hadn't taken much convincing by Leo to come to the decision to stay aboard the main ship, and both of them felt some responsibility in helping out the Blues, especially with Te Mi stretching himself thin.

One would think that with all the things going on in Agrii town, being aboard the ship is the last place anyone would want to be. But that's where the problems are, that's the next thing that has to be fixed, and at least with a majority of the Agrii secluding themselves to one part of the ship, it at least means there's less of a chance to be swarmed, and maybe Donnie can get some actual work done, especially if it keeps the Oranges from attempting to be destructive.

II. All That Glitters
The only thing that Donnie objects to aboard the Agrii ship is the attempted enforced naptimes. But while it would be more convenient figuring out if and where the Agrii had a forge or something similar to make use of, he at least knows he won't get interrupted from some good solid work if he does so aboard the He Row ship he's been assigned.

There's been a pile of neatly stacked titanium ingots within the room the forge is contained, an assignment Scuttle had taken to with the utmost responsibility. Forge all fired up, Donnie's been working his way through hammering out some plating for a new battle shell. Something sleeker and lighter that won't take up so much room under his clothes, but still hold up when he needs the protection.

The one he'd been using still needs the shoulder piece repaired, badly dented in as it had been, but Donnie's still trying to figure out the best way to go about it. There really isn't a simple solution when everything's been designed to be fitted perfectly. Either way, the state around the forge room is either the near incessant clanging paired with the heavy thump of dubstep or an upbeat techno tune, or simply the latter as lack of enforced naptimes means impromptu pass-out times, nestled on the floor under a blanket.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Leo has no interest in sleeping under a blanket on the floor, so he's commandeered Donnie's room on the Glitter Food. Besides, he knows Donnie is anxious about the state of his battleshell and wants to try and replace his tech-bo, so he's letting him nerd out on his own and trying not to be a nag about it. He's mostly kept his intrusions to reminding Donnie to stand up and eat something every six hours or so.

It's just... so quiet, when he's in the room alone, is all.

Not that he spends much time in there, when he isn't sleeping (or trying to sleep). He spends most of his time on the Agrii ship, trying to help, like Te Mi asked him to. He knows a lot of the Blues now, and he's friendly with them, but it's not really friendship. They still treat him as something Else - someone they're supposed to respect and admire, and maybe Leo would like that if he weren't desperate for something that felt deeper than reverence.

But he promised he'd help, so he does. He reminds Donnie to stand up and eat some breakfast, then he goes to the Agrii ship, then he comes back and reminds Donnie to stand up and eat some lunch, then back to the Agrii ship, then back to Donnie, and then to the Agrii ship a little longer until it's time to lay in a dark room staring at the ceiling.

Man. He doesn't even have his phone so he can't listen to music.

After about an hour of tossing and turning he gives up, flipping the lights back on and grabbing his comics. He's read them through multiple times by now, but a few more times can't hurt.

The only problem is, it's still too quiet.

He grabs the stack and tosses his eye mask on the bed, then pulls on the cloak that Cayde gave him. Then he makes his way to the forge and opens the door.

If Donnie is awake, it's probably confusing that Leo is here considerably earlier than his normal morning checkins. It's probably even more confusing when Leo doesn't actually say anything - just sits down against the wall and opens a comic book.

Considering Donnie's usual activities back home, leaving such a line open to Leo, letting him know where he is and what he's doing, is a telling thing in itself. Things aboard the Agrii ship have shifted focus, finally giving him a chance to work on things so he can feel less of a liability to Leo.

At least easing back into such work is comforting; this is his place, this is where he thrives. It's exhausting but he knows the satisfaction of a finished, working piece. The ache in his arms and hands, and maybe his back from hunching over too long, is a familiar one rather than those from bruises and burns.

It's during one such pause to flex his fingers and stretch out his back that Leo comes in. Surely it hasn't been that late? Not that Donnie is the greatest at keeping track of the time when he's in his creative moods, so he has to blink at his brother, rubbing at his eyes to make sure he's not simply hallucinating before checking the time on his bracer.

"...everything cool..?" he asks as he reclaims his welding torch.

For once, no, it isn't that late. Well, still pretty late by normal people standards, but they didn't always keep a strict schedule back home, either.

"Yeah," Leo says, not looking up from his book. He doesn't know what else to say to that that won't sound pathetic, so yeah it is.

It's a very loaded 'yeah' if ever there was one. Donnie looks a bit awkward as he tries to figure out what the next response is supposed to be, but he's never been particularly good at this sort of thing.

"...okay..." he says slowly as he turns the torch on, still looking over at Leo. Pulling his goggles down, he applies the flame to the pieces of metal in front of him.

"Want something else on?" he asks in afterthought, knowing that his taste in music and his brother's taste in music don't quite align, although he also figures his brother's not here to sleep.

Leo’s a little surprised at that - offering to change the music in his lab (even if this isn’t quite that) is not something Donnie does for most people. At least, not for most Leo-shaped people.

Maybe he is not being Cool and Nonchalant enough. He tries to slouch, but it’s hard with his shell when he’s against the wall like this.

“Uh… got any eighties jams?”

It’s closer to glam rock than whatever Donnie is listening to now. Leo thinks it’s a pretty good compromise.

It's strange having anyone hanging out in his workspace that isn't Mikey. Donnie doesn't know the exact reasons that have brought Leo here, but he thinks he can formulate a guess or two.

"Can hydrochloric acid dissolve magnesium?" he smirks as he pulls up his playlist. "-That's a yes, by the way."

The thumping beat of whatever was playing stops, replaced by a guitar riff that launches into something with a lighter beat.

As Donnie's entering the Hangar Bay from his shuttle, there's a large bulk just inside the Hangar door. Gladio stands there, yawning, waiting for that exact shuttle to return. This isn't the first time he's passed Donnie in something of a 'shift change', and it probably won't be the last.

"Hey," he greets with a small wave followed by a poorly concealed yawn. "Just saw your brother in the halls going toward the Mess. You coming on for Blue-ty?"

Listen, he would portmanteau whatever he wanted and you couldn't stop him.

Augh, don't- Donnie mashes a hand over his own mouth as a yawn is triggered. He scowls, perhaps more so at 'blue-ty', which took him way too long to work out.

"Notes. And yeah, more or less. How's it been?"

It's strange for him to want to be here, but usually he would have somewhere else to go. Someone else to bother. He can hang out with Donnie when he isn't working, except he's never not working right now.

Though no amount of lonely stops Leo from rolling his eyes at that answer. Could Donnie think of a more lame way to say it?

But soon good tunes are playing, and Leo smiles as he settles in. "Thanks," he says, going back to his comic.

There is nothing wrong about making an opportunity to learn something!

That's what makes things difficult, not being able to hang out when there were things that needed to be done. And trying to do it when Leo's resting hasn't worked so well, because that just leaves Donnie struggling to be coherent when they do find a moment to hang out.

"No probbles," he says, grinning briefly at Leo before he works at that weld again. He's actually a bit excited to do this part because finally, it's really taking shape.

"Let me just finish this part up and I'll be able to sleep happy," he finds himself saying. It's an important part, the one that rests right against his shell. That has to be just right otherwise he'll be miserable!

Leo snorts at that. "That'll be a miracle."

Though that actually gets him to look up again. He can't see what Donnie is working on very well from here.

"What part is it?"

Is he going to regret asking this question?

Of course...not..!

"Scoff!" Donnie snorts, carefully setting the pieces of metal. He doesn't answer the question immediately while he concentrates. Maybe Leo's lucked out and it will go without a response!

Fat chance!

With a cackle Donnie shuts the welder off, setting it aside with a triumphant "Haha!" He carefully picks up the thing, which vaguely resembles a shell, although it's made up of segments joined together by some sort of interlocking hinge design.

"The inner scutes of my battle shell. Note the flexibility, whereas my previous designs have been mostly rigid," he says, letting the metal curve as he moves it about between his hands. "This part is what will be directly against my shell. Since it'll mainly be for protection that I can wear under clothing, it's not going to house too much by way of tech, but it's not like that'll do much good anyway if it's under my hoodie or something, right?"

Oh no, wait, is it too late to-

Ah, here it comes: Speech Mode. Though this particular infodump isn't as bad as some of the others. At least Leo understands what this is and what it's for.

"Uh, I guess not. And I mean, you have your mystic tech now, anyway."

Donnie can just manifest whatever weapons he wants.

"But making it more flexible is cool." Leo straightens up, then lets his own shell clunk against the wall again. "Sometimes I wish I was more flexible. Like, when humans stretch their whole back? Best I can do is my arms."

Though he may be lucky enough to escape the back pain humans get in return. Then again, he has hips, so who knows!

Maybe he just wanted to bait someone into getting a bad rebound trying to attack his vulnerabilities.

"Yes, that too. I have to admit, mystic tech sure comes in handy, especially in a fix." He still hasn't figured out how to actually change a physical thing into another form like Leo does with his swords, but mystic tech stuff looks way cooler.

"Back stretching is pretty nice, I'll admit," Donnie says, barely refraining from doing so because he doesn't want to seem like he's rubbing it in. Things he hasn't really thought about otherwise because it's just normal for him.

"Here, can you lend me a hand? I just want to check if it follows the shape of my shell the right way." He can't really see it himself, even if he can feel how it might conform. But having an extra pair of hands to hold things in position won't hurt in this case either.

Leo can't help but chuckle. "So you admit it: magic is cool."

He said it, and Leo heard it, so there's no taking it back!

He's surprised, again, at the request, though; Donnie doesn't usually ask him for tech help, and even since they've been here, he's only helped with coding. But it's not like holding something in place takes a rocket scientist.

"Yeah, fine," he says, getting up and setting his comics carefully to the side. Then he comes over and looks over the shell. "What do I do?"

"I-"

His brows angle downwards in a magnificent scowl.

"A-anyways," Donnie says, holding the metal piece up. "It's just like with clothing patterns. I just want to make sure the fit's right, but I can only hold the top portion, so you'll have to help hold down the rest and make sure it hits all the right curves- shut up-" he adds preemptively before resuming.

"-since it's not attached to a frame to hold it in place. That make sense?"

Heh heh heh!

Leo opens his mouth to say something to that, but gets told to shut up, and decides to just grin instead. He nods though, to show he was listening!

“Hold down the shell. Got it. Let’s do it, hermano!”

Donnie fixes Leo with a knowing look at that grin, but he turns his back towards his brother, pulling the metal around to drape across his shell.

"Let's see. So...it should sit right above the edge here," he says as he tries to adjust where to hold the top of it. He glances over his shoulder, not that he can really tell, which is why he asks, "Is that centered?"

Not like he can control the yawns, Donnie. Sorry. He's just tired.

"Getting consistently quieter, just like it seemed to be before. The oldest Agrii continue to do some sort of 'preparing food for others' thing, and some of the older Blues seem itchy to get to the spawnlings or whatever when they hatch. I've heard talk of it."

And of course the greens who resisted are still in the underbelly, but where else would they be?

"Doc's still in her medical place, monitoring the status of Ny Ak."

“Hmmm…”

Despite his manner earlier, Leo takes the task seriously. This is for Donnie’s protection, after all, and if Leo can’t be there to cover him from zombies or burning buildings, it needs to be good.

He adjusts the shell with a few quick tugs, then leans back to get a good look.

“There you go.”

Keeping his arms loose so Leo can make the proper adjustments, Donnie leaves it to his brother. Once it seems like he's got it positioned right, Donnie nods.

"Cool. Now, I need you to hold the segments in where my shell curves in. Should be about the fifth or sixth one down."

“Okay… uhhh…”

Hold a moment while he finds the right segments, then pushes in on them with his fingers.

“Feel right?”

"Food prep, huh. More peanut butter?"

Donnie frowns at the mention of Ny Ak. "Still no improvement..?" he asks, brow furrowing.

With those points held in, the remaining lengths follow the rest of his shell's shape. "Yeah, that feels about right. Great! Now let me just..."

Donnie grabs a marker from the worktable, holding it over his shoulder to Leo. "Can you mark beside the edges where the curve starts? Where you were holding it."

"Can do."

He takes the marker and makes marks where he's told to. But he makes them in the shape of an L. Of course.

"Done."

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 4

We Be Shipping (Not like that)

II

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

I

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

tagging during a sidebar lol

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject