anything_it_takes: ceiling leo is watchin u (Ninja: ceiling leo)
Leonardo ([personal profile] anything_it_takes) wrote in [community profile] tushanshu2013-04-14 01:07 pm

[TEXT] Leo to Team, COME IN TEAM

[The cart ride into Keeliai is long, exhausting and stressful. Leo presses himself into the furthest corner to hide (which still leaves him painfully visible) even as his sharp blue eyes peer through the slats, taking in as much of the alien city as possible.

On one hand, this is the most amazing thing Leo's ever experienced, an exhilarating adventure straight out of Space Heroes. On the other, he's never felt so alone, out of control and exposed in his life. Sure, he always wanted adventure, but not without the guys - and not hauled down a city road in broad daylight, surrounded by people turning their heads in curiosity.

At least the few kedan on the street who take a close enough look into the open-backed cart to spy him out don't scream or run. But there are some stares, and he can feel the undercurrent of hostility like a flame inches from his skin. There's a tension in the air in some parts of the city they go through, a hard look to some of the kedan when they see someone not like them...

Leo slips into his appointed building like - well, like a ninja, or as close as possible while lacking the cover of darkness. When he gets to his temporary quarters he leans his shell against the door and sighs wearily; alien robots and plant monsters are one thing, but this? This is an entirely new level of crazy.

Water had seemed a natural choice when the kedan gave him options. He's glad of his choice now as he splashes some from the room's small fountain over his head, then winces as he does the same to the burn mark forming on his shoulder. It's not serious, but Leo's entire arm aches and tingles from channeling Justin's electrical shock through his katana. He's certainly pulled smarter moves.

Hopefully whatever jerked him "sideways" during that explosion also took his brothers through in slightly different places, and he can link up with them again once they all get their bearings. He knows the team can handle this situation, but first? They have to be together.

He'll start canvassing the city come dusk, one Sector at a time if he has to. But until nightfall, Leonardo has time to kill, and he isn’t about to sit around doing nothing.

Settling in at the console, Leo sets it up for a text message - and pauses, considering his options. This is a public network; he has to get a message out that his brothers will understand if they're listening, but that won't arouse too much civilian curiosity or alert any enemies.

There is one thing... He'd batted around an idea for a code word with Donnie. The problem being, it was never official - Leo just hadn't anticipated a realistic situation where it would be useful. The idea was just idle talk.

He hopes that if Mikey or Raph are alone out there, they'll recognize his reference. Donnie will catch on at least, if he's listening. One way or the other it's the best Leo's got until he can search the rooftops.]



ANy New Yorkers out here? if you know the 2nd Time About shop on Bleeker, contact me ASAP

[Ryan to Dauntless, come in Dauntless...]

Aalso. Look, I got the story from the kidan ans I know i can;t be the first person to ask. But Im looking for any leads on how t get back to my own world... stories, rumuors, anything.

Thankyou.



[Please don't let him be alone out here. Leo presses Return.]



[ tl;dr Enter one cagey ninja turtle boy with delusions of being a Great Hero! Leo v.2012 is here and super worried about his bros ;A; ]
duelkatana: (you don't have)

[voice]

[personal profile] duelkatana 2013-04-15 03:53 am (UTC)(link)
Right on both accounts. [LUCKILY Leo has an ice-breaker of his own and the perfect opportunity to use it. Sorry, other-Raph. This is for the good of improved relations across the turtleverse. Also it's still kind of funny.] And I'd heard the same about you.

[His tone should clearly indicate that he knows very well now they're not eighteen, but it's good-humored. And he's admittedly a bit curious about how this other Leonardo will react.]
duelkatana: (life could come quicker)

[voice]

[personal profile] duelkatana 2013-04-15 05:17 am (UTC)(link)
[YEP definitely still funny. But now that's two of Raph's brothers Leo's ratted him out to just for the sake of breaking the ice, so maybe he'll give him a break from here on. Besides, he wouldn't want the joke to get old. Ah well. It was fun while it lasted.]

We've set the record straight since then.
duelkatana: (while we fight)

[voice]

[personal profile] duelkatana 2013-04-15 05:59 am (UTC)(link)
[He tries (and fails) to stunt a huff.]

No offense, but you guys don't exactly...look the part. [At least Raph and Don don't. He hasn't seen you quite yet.]
duelkatana: (close to the line)

[voice]

[personal profile] duelkatana 2013-04-16 11:43 pm (UTC)(link)
[UNCOMFORTABLE PAUSE]

We, uh...met face-to-face. [By which he means, he almost drowned your brother in a fishing net. And then the two Raphs met and tried to kill each other. Twice. And then your Raph ditched them.]

[fun times.]
duelkatana: (we are all lost)

Re: [voice]

[personal profile] duelkatana 2013-04-17 04:57 am (UTC)(link)
[It's a bit embarrassing to hear that note of laughter in the other Leonardo's voice, but it's more amicable than mean-spirited, which takes the edge off. Let it never be said that Leo can't be a good sport.]

[The offer, however, catches him slightly off-guard, which is probably communicated in the long stretch of radio silence following it. Things were still incredibly tentative between their universes, and though he feels as though they're making gradual progress, it's been a constant source of worry for Leonardo. To be extended such a frank invitation is...unexpected.]

[There's a slow, cautionary voice in his head, warning him against the foolishness of meeting an unknown person alone. It's two parts wisdom, three parts experience, and one part bitterness.]

[There's another voice, too; and this one sounds more like his own. It reminds him of the other Don's quiet intelligence, the other Mikey's sly grin, and a bag of scavenged food left at their front door by the other Raphael.]

[Carefully, Leo hits the reply button, attempting to moderate the tentative (if somewhat puzzled) excitement in his tone. One of these two voices has always been louder than the other, after all.]


If...your brothers aren't against it, sure. That would be great.
duelkatana: (what we need is time)

Re: [voice]

[personal profile] duelkatana 2013-04-18 04:52 am (UTC)(link)
[Faintly, he wonders what Raphael will have to say about this. His brother has been fighting against the concept of alternate versions of themselves from the very first moment the other Raphael showed up.]

[Leo almost thinks he understands where he's coming from, now - it's been easy to push it away thus far, but now there's no ignoring this other soul with whom he shares an entire identity. For them, their identities are practically sacred, the only things that truly belonged to them. They were unique, and an accident, and alone. There were no other beings like them in the world.]

[until now.]

[But unlike Raphael, Leonardo has talked with them, divulged personal history to them, extended his olive branch to them one fragile leaf at a time. And it's not at all hard to see that while they're the same in many ways, they're distinct from one another in many more. He hesitates to compare them to a family. But it's something close.]

[And even still, he finds himself smiling at his alternate self's response. Crafty little bugger after all, aren't you?]


Ask your Donatello about our fateful meeting. I'm sure he can point you to the right place.

[A random alleyway isn't exactly the most sophisticated meeting grounds, but it seems like a fair one - everyone knows where it is, and just as importantly, it's a symbol of their first step towards cooperation. He isn't quite sure how much the other Leo plans to tell his brothers, and he won't ask, but if worse comes to worst he'd like to leave a clue for Don to puzzle out. Being included in this encryption at all is still a sign of trust between them that he isn't willing to test.]
duelkatana: (walking through the night)

[perma-action]

[personal profile] duelkatana 2013-04-18 06:28 am (UTC)(link)
[He'd told Raph he was going alone. Where to find him, when the meeting was, and how long to wait before coming to look for him. He didn't expect anything to happen, exactly - and even if things did go wrong, he honestly doubted it would get so bad as to end in him crossing weapons with his alternate self - but to err on the side of caution comes as natural as breathing. Reason, location, time. Don't come looking before then.]

[Two hours before midnight, Leo sets off for the place he first met the alternate Donatello. The streets are deadly quiet as he travels, thick with an old, lingering trepidation brought about by the curfew that had been enacted by Evandau's police force. The kedan are terrified to lose their meager supplies even after the threat has passed. And it's a terrible thing to fine them for. But tonight, that particular injustice isn't on his mind. Not by a long shot.]

[Finally, hidden in the shadow of a taller building stretched across the rooftops, Leonardo arrives at the meeting place and slinks to the edge in order to peer down into the alley. It's empty, as he'd suspected it would be; it was chance that brought Donatello to him that day, and unprepared, Leonardo had been in the disadvantageous position at the time. No ninja worth his salt would put himself in a place like that with the foreknowledge to warn him otherwise.]

[He drops soundlessly into a fire escape on the side of the building, still cloaked by the zig-zagging shadows that reach into the alley like long, spindly fingers. His eyes scan the far wall of the building opposite. It isn't midnight quite yet, but if he's here early...well.]

[He very nearly passes over the roundish figure settled in the balcony, but something about its slightly off shape draws his eyes back to it. It's almost impossible to make out in the dark, and the shadow is still as the night itself. He finds himself studying it long after what would typically be appropriate; perhaps because he's steeling himself, because after this, there really is no turning back. Final curtain call.]

[Eventually, Leonardo finds his nerve. He isn't sure whether he's been spotted himself yet; all the same, he slowly brings himself into a standing position, stepping out of the shadows and halting just behind the moonlight-bathed railing. Carefully, he quirks what he hopes is a disarming grin.]


You're early.

[He also vaguely hopes he isn't talking to a bush. Though he's fairly certain he isn't.]
duelkatana: (i don't want t compromise)

[personal profile] duelkatana 2013-04-20 02:42 am (UTC)(link)
[The first thing Leonardo notices are the eyes, peering out at him from the balcony like dark drops of colored glass. (Blue; how fitting.) Once again, he surrenders himself to that alien, deliberate vulnerability; to the discomfort of standing stark in the one place he has never lingered: the light. His limbs itch for the cool touch of shadows against his skin.]

[In a single heartbeat, he's been evaluated. But the blue gaze lingers a pulse too long, and then from the dark balcony comes a soft, almost inaudible intake of breath. Confusion strikes against Leo's mind for only a moment; in the next, he's fighting off the old, self-conscious habit of reaching for his left shoulder. Of course, surrounded by the scars of his brothers, it's sometimes easy to forget how ugly his own wound is. He's seen and wondered at the chips in the younger Raphael's shell and plastron. How many signs of battle do these younger versions carry, at only fifteen?]

[Maybe not all that many. It may be breach of etiquette on his alternate self's side, but Leonardo can't find it in himself to be offended. They're young; in time, they'll build their own collection of scars, and each one will have a memory of honor or of shame attached. History that doesn't belong anywhere but in the rough stories carved into tissue. For now, inexperience is never a crime.]

[He watches the other Leonardo as he finally inches into visibility, balancing cautiously on the balcony's edge. His eyes are brighter and younger-looking in the dim light of the sky, framed by a strip of blue cloth and a sleek, almost serpentine head. His body shape is much like that of his brothers'; large, thick limbs, with a torso roughly ovaloid in shape. He's not quite as slim as his Donatello, nor as built as his Raphael. And his katana are slung differently.]

[Leo isn't sure what he had been expecting. But with all the differences, subtle and blatant alike, it almost surprises him to think that this other Leonardo looks like him. Just...younger. He can see something in his counterpart's face that feels dangerously close to his core. Like a fragment of his soul, split off and now belonging to someone else.]

[It leaves a confusing taste in his mouth, one that he can't trust himself to define until he's had time and distance from it. So he shoves it far back, and instead adopts the cautious openness he's used for every one of these alternate turtles, hoping this time won't be any more difficult.]


You know what they say about the early bird. [He accepts your verbal banter, young one. Then, a little more thoughtfully, he steps purposefully into the full illumination of the night sky and dips into a bow. It's polite, but perhaps just a bit less ceremonious than what might be considered normal between complete strangers, and there's a friendly edge to his voice when he speaks again.] I've heard a lot about you.

[He's joking, somewhat. All he really knows is that you like a show about guys in space who slap people.]
duelkatana: (but how could i blame you)

[personal profile] duelkatana 2013-04-20 07:49 am (UTC)(link)
[When the greeting is returned, Leonardo feels a thousand unspoken things move between them; all undefinable, stories without words, shards of themselves passed across hands and held up to the sunlight. Where there were dubious comparisons and an aching for home at his brothers' counterparts, his own reflection instead brings a memory of younger, softer eyes and easier smiles. Something deep and indescribable fastens to another in a place where Leonardo can't quite reach.]

[He's looking at himself, he realizes as though for the first time, studying the genuine, uncomplicated smile stretched across the other Leo's face. Years ago, when his shoulders were lighter, flesh less puckered by scars, when there were fewer lines in the skin around his eyes. It's a foggy memory, like something dreamed too long ago - he hasn't thought about that part of his life in years.]

[But there's an honest sort of maturity to this Leonardo, too - rough and unpolished, like it's still trying to find its place in the set of his shoulders, but brimming with a life that speaks more of sincerity than it does of world-weary bitterness. Something to face the world with; not because there's no other choice, but because there's people within it worth protecting.]

[Himself, and yet not. His soul, fragmented and split off...but completely belonging to another life, in heart, spirit, and body. And belonging to the souls of his brothers. All connected. Completely individual.]

[For the first time since dragging a red-banded stranger from the depths of the canal, Leonardo thinks that this might just work.]

[The younger Leo sails across the gap between their buildings in what seems like an effortless maneuver, nimbly positioning himself on the railing of the fire escape with impressive grace. Leonardo spots the bandages running up his bicep and finds himself grinning - was that a Donatello-approved maneuver, young man? - but doesn't move to greet him, instead hanging back in relaxed curiosity to see if the other Leo will come any closer. That he's migrated to this side at all, surely he doesn't intend to speak to him from ten feet away.]

[What he hadn't been expecting was for the younger Leo to step right up to him and extend his hand in a Western-style greeting. He stares at the proffered limb in surprise for a heartbeat, eyes widened slightly.]

[Then, he laughs. Completely individual.]

[Leonardo claps his hand into his counterpart's, giving it a firm but affable grip.]


I've heard worse.
duelkatana: (to be strong)

[personal profile] duelkatana 2013-04-22 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[His younger self's enthusiasm is contagious; the unabashed excitement in his expression is somehow humbling in a way that makes Leo feel both put on the spot and flattered at the same time. It's an odd sort of feeling, one that Leonardo has experienced only briefly before - the praise of a daimyo for a duel won, the thanks of a friend for his land saved. He's tried hard never to take too much pride in himself, but...it's a nice feeling. He won't deny it.]

[When their hands separate and the offer is made, Leo makes a sweeping gesture towards the roof, smirking good-naturedly.]


Lead the way.

[And then the younger Leonardo is scaling up the fire escape level by level, his motions smooth and flowing like a waterfall in reverse. There's an energy to it that Leo can't help but admire; one that makes him feel slightly old in comparison, even. It reminds him of his Mikey's limitless ability to slide across the rooftops as though he has wings on his feet.]

[But he can't let himself be outdone by...himself. Leonardo waits a moment, then springs over the front railing, launching from one bar to the next with fluid, cat-like leaps. On the final row of bars before the rooftops, he twists his body into a flip and launches himself straight up, toes pointed into the air as he flies over the edge; and then tilting his body again coming down, landing him crouched in front of his counterpart.]

[There's no hiding the slight satisfaction in his face as he straightens up and grins. Okay, he might like to take a bit of pride in himself once in a while. But he hasn't done a simple, whimsical maneuver in...pretty much ever since he arrived here, and he's finding that he's missed the simple pleasure of showing off his skills during rooftop running.]

[Anyhow. Leo sweeps his hands together, shaking a bit of rust loose from them, and glances out towards the midnight skyline. There's still some of the youthful easiness in his face, but it sobers up considerably at his next statement.]


I take it you have a few questions for me?

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np np! <33

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seriouslytwisted: (got it.)

[voice]

[personal profile] seriouslytwisted 2013-04-15 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
We're gonna have a problem, you and me.

[And after he was so nice to you the other day.]
duelkatana: (it's a box full of kittens)

[voice]

[personal profile] duelkatana 2013-04-15 05:50 am (UTC)(link)
I give up. [You can't see it, but he's totally holding his arms up in mock surrender. Leo has decided he's hilarious today.]
seriouslytwisted: (wait lemme think about that)

[voice]

[personal profile] seriouslytwisted 2013-04-15 06:00 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah no, not gonna cut it.

[Raph will remember this. He keeps grudges.]
duelkatana: (and we live fast)

[voice]

[personal profile] duelkatana 2013-04-15 06:17 am (UTC)(link)
Last time. I promise.

[He's still teasing to an extent, but there's a more serious note to his voice this time; he hasn't forgotten what you did for him and his brother. If not for that, well...he'd probably be a lot more anxious about this right now.]
seriouslytwisted: (RIGHT AMIRIGHT)

[voice]

[personal profile] seriouslytwisted 2013-04-15 06:22 am (UTC)(link)
If you even think about mentioning this to my Mike if he shows up...

[Serious, serious problem, man. Like, Raphael will throw shit at you the next time he sees you. If Mikey gets ahold of this, Raph'll never hear the end of it; he's already pushing it with his Leo knowing.]
duelkatana: (to be screwed)

[voice]

[personal profile] duelkatana 2013-04-15 07:39 am (UTC)(link)
My lips are sealed, Raph; scout's honor.

[you should've kept being a dick, man. now he's halfway relaxed around you.]
Edited 2013-04-15 07:40 (UTC)