[The answer to his warning is understood. Leonardo holds that decisive gaze for one heartbeat, picking it apart and reassembling it in his mind - and then it's gone. No further acknowledgement; no further controversion. The decision is made and will be reflected in where the conversation goes from here.]
[His arms cross again, and just like that, they're in business - two leaders of newly allied factions. Months of tip-toeing around each other are filed away, locked in a mental cabinet to reference if the need ever arises. But for now, the situation has been spun on its head. In less than an hour, the turtles of this dimension have shifted from cautiously tolerant of each other to allied against the world's forces.]
[...honestly? He's seen worse odds.]
[The younger Leo's response says it all: he knows the basics of this place. It's the largest, most tedious hurdle to jump, and he's glad that it's already out of the way. There are the more complicated issues - like the nebulous details of that cloning facility and what feels like an impending civil war between kedan and Foreigners - but they can wait. The former is near-indecipherable as information stands now, and the latter is...something to keep an eye on. Nothing more, for the moment.]
[Then he mentions the palace. Leonardo smiles wryly, his gaze flitting sideways to that black silhouette in the distance - the one that brushes the skyline, that hovers on the horizon like a lurking shadow; that dark, lingering presence, visible from the highest rooftop or the most dilapidated street, bearing down on them always. (With warm, glowing lanterns and beautiful cobbled-road gardens framed by lush green foliage, it's quite beautiful, up close.)]
[Leo ticks a slow, almost self-depreciating grin. His gaze slides back to his counterpart's in a silent invitation.]
no subject
[His arms cross again, and just like that, they're in business - two leaders of newly allied factions. Months of tip-toeing around each other are filed away, locked in a mental cabinet to reference if the need ever arises. But for now, the situation has been spun on its head. In less than an hour, the turtles of this dimension have shifted from cautiously tolerant of each other to allied against the world's forces.]
[...honestly? He's seen worse odds.]
[The younger Leo's response says it all: he knows the basics of this place. It's the largest, most tedious hurdle to jump, and he's glad that it's already out of the way. There are the more complicated issues - like the nebulous details of that cloning facility and what feels like an impending civil war between kedan and Foreigners - but they can wait. The former is near-indecipherable as information stands now, and the latter is...something to keep an eye on. Nothing more, for the moment.]
[Then he mentions the palace. Leonardo smiles wryly, his gaze flitting sideways to that black silhouette in the distance - the one that brushes the skyline, that hovers on the horizon like a lurking shadow; that dark, lingering presence, visible from the highest rooftop or the most dilapidated street, bearing down on them always. (With warm, glowing lanterns and beautiful cobbled-road gardens framed by lush green foliage, it's quite beautiful, up close.)]
[Leo ticks a slow, almost self-depreciating grin. His gaze slides back to his counterpart's in a silent invitation.]
You wouldn't.