[open] a haunted house with a picket fence

[faceguy]

Who: Leo and you!
What: sad turtle times
When: Late July, after this trainwreck
Where: the convoy and the skyscraper
Warnings: Leo is in a lot of emotional distress, though if he doesn't know your character well he'll try to pretend he isn't

A: There's No Place Like My Room (Dining Car)

The first thing Leo did after he got back to the convoy was get his things from the tank. He has a pretty pitiful collection of belongings; his mattress, his blanket, his pillow. He leaves behind Mikey's lasagna recipe, because he gave that to Donnie. And he leaves the picture, taped to the wall, because... he doesn't know. Maybe he hopes Donnie will see it and remember. Maybe he just doesn't feel like he deserves it anymore.

He's not sure where Donnie is during all this. Hopefully flying around, or up in his not-a-nest-nest in the taxi cab.

He moves his stuff back into the bunk car, one of the small bunks because he doesn't really need his own room. He likes the sound of people. Or at least he does when he doesn't feel like the world is ending.

And after all that is done he goes to the dining car, because it's still light outside and he's learning more and more that the light hurts his skin. He can't eat the food, so instead he just lounges in a chair off by himself, staring outside the window at the desolate city and wondering what he's going to do.

For people who know him, it's probably weird to see him so quiet. Usually he's at least chatting with the other people who come in, and he definitely should have cracked a few bad jokes by now.

B: Ended Up with a Pair of Cracked Lips (the skyscraper )

They're leaving soon, Leo is pretty sure.

He spent a few days moping before thinking he should do something before the convoy ambles its way out of the city limits. He knows the statue at the top of the tall, meat-filled building did this. He just has to find a way to reverse it.

He thinks Donnie wants that. Maybe.

The thing is, even if he makes it all the way up there (and it's way up there), he's not sure if he's going to be able to reverse this. But he can't just not try. He has to see if there's a way. If he doesn't do anything, he's failing his brother.

(Or is it all for himself that he wants this?)

So, right at the end of the month, Leo makes his way to the base of the skyscraper. He's climbed tall buildings before. Even if it's full of meat inside, he's certain he can make it.

Though maybe someone should stop him before he tries doing it alone.

[[OOC: feel free to use brackets if you prefer, I'll match formatting. Leo can also be found moping all around the city so feel free to wildcard me if you want!]]

Comments

a, time to befriend the other turtle he's heard so much about

[propatriamori]

After the adventures on the skyscraper, Edward has been taking things a little slower the last few days. He's found a piece of fabric that he wears like a cloak, and it covers his second pair of arms if he remembers to keep them folded behind his back. His vibration senses have done nothing but improve further, and he barely needs the fishing-reel-turned-cane that Donatello made him anymore.

He still uses it, though. It both lets other people know that he's blind, and it was also a gift from a friend.

He's ventured into the dining car and is tapping his way up to the counter when he pauses near one of the booths. That is... huh. Whoever is sitting there feels similar to Donatello, but also... isn't. It could be someone else who just vibrates in a similar fashion, but Edward doesn't think it is. They're too similar, when everyone else here is different shades of bizarre and patched together.

"Excuse me." His voice is soft and has an upper-class English accent. "You wouldn't happen to be Leonardo, would you?"

sorry it’s kind of a terrible time to meet him haha

[faceguy]

Leo is shaken out of his reverie at the sound of his full name, turning his head Edward’s direction. Back home, hearing Leonardo was almost never a good thing, but there are a few people here who seem allergic to nicknames.

He doesn’t really know this guy, though. He’s seen him around at most.

And apparently he’s blind, based on the… stick thing (Leo does not know what to call it), but somehow he knows it’s Leo sitting here anyway? Huh.

“Uhhhh, yeah.” He twists in his chair to be properly facing Edward now. “Most people call me Leo though… Uh, sorry, I don’t know your name. Catch me up?”

Edward's timing is immaculate

[propatriamori]

Edward is certainly one of those people who is psychologically incapable of using nicknames. It makes his proper Englishman skin crawl.

"My name is Edward Courtenay." He uses his cane to tap outward, searching for another chair to settle into. He'd honestly be more comfortable clinging to the ceiling, but that doesn't make the best first impression. "I know your brother. He speaks highly of you."

[faceguy]

"He does?" is Leo's immediate response, sounding a little befuddled. And maybe a little too honest.

This is normally when he'd realize what he just did and course correct with something arrogant (Of course he does! I'm the best!), but instead his brain goes in a different direction. Donnie told someone that they're brothers?

"Wait, how- how long ago was he talking about me?"

Leo sounds a little too desperate for the answer as he leans across the table towards Edward.

[propatriamori]

Edward tilts his head to the side, his brow furrowing ever so slightly. He picks up on the tone of Leo's voice, although he doesn't know him well enough to be sure what it means.

"May I join you?" He finds a chair across from the table and sinks into it.

"When we first met, you were one of the first things he brought up, along with your other brothers." That faint smile again. "I asked him if he was Italian."

[faceguy]

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

Leo sounds a little distracted, still waiting for the answer to his question - but when it comes back he sinks back in his chair again, disappointed. Well, it figures that Donnie's mysterious ailment wouldn't have gone away overnight. He still doesn't remember that they're brothers.

He quickly tries to buck up, sounding as normal as he can when he responds. It's fine, it's fine. He can move past this!

"Heh. Nope, just our names." It's a reasonable mistake to make, though, given their dad's weird affection for the Italian renaissance. "I'm named after the best one, though."

[propatriamori]

"Da Vinci was a true master. I personally have a soft spot for Bernini, but I'm told you would need a fifth brother for that name to have been used."

Yes, this is the exact conversation he and Donatello had when they first met, the absolute nerds.

"Did the two of you arrive here at the same time?"

A

[solitarysoul]

Levi noticed Leo moping in the dining car, but waits until he's finished his flavorless-whatever the convoy spits out automatically to approach.

"Hey. Um. Y-you okay?" The loud, sociable turtle does not seem to be himself.

[faceguy]

Leo jerks his head away from the window, uncharacteristically startled by the sudden address. It's just Levi, though, and he relaxes quickly.

"Oh, yeah. I'm... good." That was not said very convincingly, but he quickly tries to move on. "Just having a weird day. How've you been?"

He at least... doesn't look like a full dog right now?

[solitarysoul]

"I, um...yeah, weird is a good word for it. Went under the city and, well, weird stuff happened." He bites his lip. Leo doesn't look good, but he's not good at talking with people. He wants to help but he's not sure he can say anything that wouldn't fuck things up.

[faceguy]

“Yeah?” At this, Leo looks sympathetic. He also went down into the subway. “Did you get caught up by the warps too?”

Leo knows he turned pretty grisly down there.

[solitarysoul]

"Sort of...I think so. I felt kinda...itchy? Or something. It felt wrong staying human. Or, um, as close as I am now. There was some other shit, but by the time we got down far enough for that stone or whatever to do much there was too much else to worry about." Most of his cerebus traits are already active, so he doesn't have much left to surprise him. About that monster's traits, at least.

[faceguy]

"Itchy?" Leo's never thought of it that way. When he turned, it was more like getting swept away into something he couldn't control. Maybe it's because he wasn't human to begin with.

"So I guess that means you fought some of the monsters down there, too."

A

[wereperrito]

Still stuck as a six-tailed wolf, Jack can't actually make his own food like he's been accustomed to doing, so here he is, in the dining car, hoping someone has something he can eat without hands today.

He does spot Leo, off by himself, looking weirdly unanimated and not actually interacting with anyone, and pads over there first. "Everything all right?"

[faceguy]

Leo pulls his attention away from the window, at first looking above Jack's head, before finally readjusting his gaze to see him properly. Oops. So much for it wearing off...

What if none of the things that happened in this city wear off?

Leo sucks in a breath and gives his head a shake. He can't be thinking like that right now or he'll shut down, and that won't help anyone, least of all himself.

"Yeah," he says on the exhale, sounding winded as a result. "Just a weird day." He nods at Jack. "You're still a dog," he notes. Even if Jack is technically a wolf.

[wereperrito]

"I am really not sure if I am a dog or a wolf or a wolf-dog hybrid," Jack admits. He sits down at Leo's side, just close enough to lean over against his hip if he seems to want some physical contact. "But yes, I am. It's a bit annoying. I am hoping when we start moving beyond the city it will go away. I am very behind on my sewing work."

[faceguy]

"Ah yeah... Guess it'd be hard to sew without fingers."

Once again, he's happy for his mutation giving him opposable thumbs. Without it he couldn't do a lot of things, like text on his phone or play guitar (he actually can't do that with the thumbs, but let him dream).

"Maybe it will. We're probably going to leave soon, right?"

That seems to be how it goes. They stay in one area for about a month, then move on.

[wereperrito]

"Hopefully. I am ready for some actual nature again," Jack says. "Cities are all right, but they are better when there are actual people in them and not street wars between monsters and robots." He would rather go back to the sad-memories water, or the whispering thornbushes, to be honest.

[faceguy]

"I dunno. I've always been a city boy."

Leo looks out the window again. This place may be a city, but it's nothing like his beloved New York.

"But you're right that it's better with people."

b!

[hexrot]

[ something, someone, comes barreling down the final flight of stairs and nearly falls over through the doorway: a heaving, limping mess that trips on his own hooves, twists the ankle wrongly but still forces himself to move through a rush of static adrenaline, and the aid of his brace's support. he might run right into leo, or it might be the antlers first— hopefully, not enough to poke any eyes out.

jayce's head was low, contorted into a grimace as his face ran wet with tear stains, mouth and beard splotched fresh with purple like he's feasted. ]

[faceguy]

[Leo gasps in surprise as something bursts out of the building just before he can go in, nearly running him over - it's only Leo's quick reflexes that keep him from getting impaled on something for the third time this month, the antlers aimed at him this time. He winces as they graze past his shoulder, and he ducks to the side, grabbing for the hilt of his sword.

Only then does he get a good look at his "attacker" and realizes that it's not an enemy at all. It's...]

Jayce!?

[Leo lets go of the hilt again, without bringing his sword out, and reaches instead for Jayce's arms.]

Dude! What happened!?

[hexrot]

[ jayce can only gasp, reel back, try to gather footing in less than a few displacements of his hooves, but to no avail— he can't answer. his stained lips move, he wild eyes dart, he looks at leo for a moment but can't seem to register what to do with that information. only that the air he pulls in isn't enough. it's like it isn't rushing in at all, no matter how much he breathes.

he's panicking; right between the strain of sobs, he's panicking.

his arms raise instinctively, to shrug the attempted touch away, and he'll get more agitated if they insist. another rush comes, on top of the terrible heartbreak that is pulling him into different corners, splitting him apart until he's unrecognizable— it's shame, humiliation, right in front of someone younger that he should be, at the very least, a standard for. some fucking example he was. been made of. he is everything no one should be, even though he's spent so much time in his life objectified, put on a pedestal— depended on, whether that be looks or the golden principle of what a piltover man should be.

but now he has no one to confide in. not his mother, nor cait, nor mel, and definitely not viktor. he has nobody. jayce covers his face, over the grimace his features cannot contain in his choked sob, and breathes, frantic, trying to steady himself on a wall: ]

I— shit, Leo— Fuck, I can't—

[ funny how he hasn't breathed like this in so long and suddenly, now that he needs it— it burns to. was it mentioned that he's alive. ]

— Just get me out of here, anywhere. Please—

[ anywhere but here. ]

[faceguy]

[When Jayce evades Leo's touch, Leo drops his hands obediently. That seems to be happening a lot to him lately, but he doesn't have time to dwell on it. Jayce is having some kind of panic attack, and Leo doesn't know what he can do to help, until Jayce offers him the desired solution.

Except...

Leaving? He can't just leave. He has to get to the top of the tower! He has to find that statue, has to find a way to fix what happened to Donnie! If he leaves now, he might not have another chance to go up before the convoy moves on, and if that happens... If that happens...

But Jayce is begging him. It doesn't look like he should be alone right now. And the truth is, even if he goes up there, Leo doesn't know how to fix it.

He stands stock still for many long seconds, knowing what he has to do and not wanting to. He can feel his chance slipping through his fingers, and with it, his brother.

Then, with a hard swallow, he reaches for his sword and pulls it out.

The shimmering portal he opens will take them back to the edges of the convoy.]

Okay. [He's trying to keep his tone neutral, but there's a touch of dismay to it.] Let's get out of here.

[hexrot]

[ it's a shame that jayce can't quite tend to leo's own chagrin. at least not immediately. when given a way out, jayce takes it, nearly prancing through the portal and back at the mouth of the convoy. that's where, after a few steps, jayce's leg feel limp, gelatinous and weak, enough that he stumbles onto a parked vehicle and drags himself down to tires and dirt. and there is where he sits, not having the energy to go and find his truck. he hadn't planned to come back, especially not like this.

he takes a deep, shivering breath and burries his face into his hands in silent strain. the sobs come strangled, choking every single one of them in an occasional snort. he hand't planned to return and certainly not in the way he did. he can't think. he could barely formulate a frase. for a few more moments, the painful pounding of his heart only serves as a reminder that he is alive, and what hurt him the most was still right there with him, nestled in his chest like a parasite jayce could, or would, never expel.

it's only after the rapid breathing and terror hollows out into a void of grief that leaves jayce statue still in the same position: on the floor, hands now at his knees and allowing his hair to fall over the shadowed curvature of his face. he had two choices. he doesn't want to drown in the first. ]

What were you doing out there?

[ he manages, haggard— but looking for something else to engage with. ]

[faceguy]

[Leo follows, sitting down not to far away. He's not really sure what to do in this situation - if it was one of his brothers, or April, that was crying in front of him, he'd know how to handle it, but watching Jayce cry is more like watching his dad cry, and he never knows what to do about that.

So he just waits, playing with the sleeves of his cloak, until Jayce finally seems to wear himself out. He doesn't understand what all this is about, but something must have happened at the top of that tower. Maybe Jayce lost something, too...

At the question, Leo looks up, eyes sunken and tired as he observes Jayce. He wants to ask what happened, but he also understands the desire to not talk about it. Maybe later, when Jayce is more pulled together.

Now he just has to decide how much to tell him about his own situation. Leo hasn't enjoyed talking about it, but... Jayce and Donnie seem to be close, closer than Leo is with Jayce (even with the man offering to be his snack), so maybe this is one person he can let in the loop.]

I... wanted to go to the top. Where the statue is.

[He looks away at that, trying to keep his voice level, so it doesn't become emotional.]

The elixir Donnie gave you. [Jayce is clearly alive again, and Donnie had said he should have given it to Jayce, so Leo connects some dots.] When he got it, it... took something from him.

[Leo swallows hard.]

...He doesn't remember that I'm his brother.