i_speak_softly | Sixty-First Theory [Action]

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Sixty-First Theory [Action]

[People may have stopped scuba-diving and playing Whack-a-Mole around the fountain, but at least by some standards, it’s not entirely back to normal: now a giant turtle is sitting on the edge of it, staring intently at passersby.]

[Well, not just staring. Donatello is trying to establish psychic contact. He’s thinking a message as hard as he can at anyone who walks through the plaza, and while it isn’t exactly in words, the gist of it is: If you can hear this, help me.]

[Of course, to anyone who can’t hear it, he just looks like some kind of creeper. He’s sorry about that, really...]

((Death penalty reference.))

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[Don looks up too. He knows how you feel, and even after two and a half years he tries not to take the light for granted.]

Heh. Sorry, I---I sometimes get all poetic about stuff like this.

[He's actually rubbing at his eyes a little.]

It just means a lot more to me than to most of the people I know. So many people take nature, animals, water... hell, even bug bites... I mean, they think it'll always be there.

For me it's not. For me, this place is, even if temporary, a gift. I don't care what happens to me here so long as I can talk to people who remember my name the next time I see them.

[He sighs.] I might as well tell you since you want a distraction from this whole psychic thing, Donatello.

I died back home. Cracked my head on a tombstone during a fight with a bunch of gorillas. Ended up making a deal with a demi-god in order to live but the deal was that I fought for her in the Land of the Dead. Sounds whacked, I know... but it's the truth. She muted my heartbeat so I might as well have no pulse.

In the Land of the Dead I battle against Ghosts and Echoes as a Night Arrow. Hell, the outfit looks like something out of a comic book I'll tell you that right now but since I got here, my link with Lil'l, the demi-god who saved my life, has been severed. Any kind of ability she had to converse with me is gone, even if the link is still open. That's why I heard you.

[He looks at Donatello.]

The deal back home is that I get a month off every five years and during that month I get to go back to the light in the Land of the Living. Unfortunately, no one knows who I am and no one is to remember. After that month is up, I go back to the Land of the Dead and anyone I met won't remember having seen me at all. Every five years it repeats.

I can't tell you how... how amazing it is to be able to meet people here and talk to them day in, day out... and for them to say something as simple as, "Hey, Michael!" To know they remember me... It's pretty damned wonderful is all I can say.

[Don listens with rapt attention. While the details are different, the themes have a lot in common with his own life. He knows the pleasure of being greeted with "Hi, Don" instead of with screaming.]

[... How would you feel about a surrogate brother?]

[He would like that a lot, Don. You have no idea at all.]

You know... it's bad, but, the worst thing about this place to me right now is that apparently we won't remember it if and when we go back...

Because that doesn't make it much different than the vacation period during work for me.

[Stop getting so emotional, Michael. It's not going to help.]

It's dumb. I know. There are people here suffering and dying and coming back to life and all I can think is... just... even so, I prefer it... I prefer it to what my destiny is if I go back.

[Don puts a consoling hand on Michael's shoulder. He too has something unpleasant waiting for him when he goes back, and while he misses his home and his family, he's in no great hurry to leave Luceti.]

Look at me pouring my soul out to you. You've been through a lot, too, I'd imagine. I won't pry, but I will tell you if you're going to help me like this then I'll do the same for you if you ever need it. I mean that.

[He gives him a bit of a smile though there is sadness in it.]

[As delicately as possible, Don sends images conveying that he did die, and that this is the reason for his speech deficit and all the resulting problems.]

[He'll pause there, sticking to just the facts for now.]

[Michael flinches away from him, not understanding what he's trying to show.]

J-Jesus, what---hang on. Sorry. Try that again. That was a little off in my head.

[Don hesitates, then tries again, sending carefully cliche images representing death: gravestones, angels, and what he thinks a human funeral looks like. It's accompanied by an overarching sense that something like this happened to him.]

[Michael has this thing about death... but he very quickly understands what Donatello is trying to convey.]

...you died?

[Nod. Not a secret, just - awkward and embarrassing to explain.]

[Michael softens, looking to him.]

...it's okay. I've heard people here can die. The important thing is that you're alive, Donatello. I bet you had friends who missed you.

[He certainly did. Even though he'd been able to warn them beforehand, they still didn't take it well.]

[Changing the subject, he tries to ask mentally about the fictional version of himself, and what Michael had imagined meeting a ninja turtle might be like.]

[Michael chuckles.]

Well, considering I grew up with the comics and the tv show, I used to be pretty confused about meeting you guys. I'll admit, I watched a bit of another series and I liked it too, but then we didn't have cable anymore and I didn't get to see more of it. I guess, I always thought you guys would be strong, silent types who vanished without more than a raspy "Be safe, kid."

...or maybe one of you would whine about being hungry and get thwapped upside the head. Probably Mikey.

Ahaha, man I could just go on. I loved you guys when I was little.

["Strong and silent" describes Don pretty well lately.]

[While it hurts to hear a stranger talking about Mikey when he hasn't seen his brother in so long, it's good to share those memories with someone. Don smiles a little at the thought.]

...are you alone here, Don?

[Because yeah. He's a little more in tune with emotions than most thanks to Lil'l.]

[No, he has Leo. He sends images to that effect.]

[Michael's reaction is pretty much to almost wet himself. Leonardo. The Leader. The amazing.]

L-Leonardo? really?

[Because honestly, what boy didn't idolize the brave leader at times?]

[Geez, it's almost like you like Leo better or something. Don takes away the images, because he's passive-aggressive that way.]

[Michael actually begins to laugh at that, gleefully, as he can tell PA a mile away and the look on Donatello's face is priceless. He sighs, rubbing his eyes and getting a last few chuckles out before speaking.]

Easy, easy. Every boy I know growing up wanted to be a leader like Leonardo. That's all. He was always too serious for me though. I was always more drawn to Michelangelo and Raphael. It's not your fault, Don. Honest. The show just seemed to stump you for the important stuff from what I can remember.

[He smiles gently at him.]

Like you said: The show's not an accurate reflection. And hell, I'm honoured to actually know the real you way more than the cartoon you anyway. It's not playing favorites with real people in my case as I've never honestly met any of you.

In that regard, I like everyone equally.

[Don doesn't usually get laughed at when he uses his psychological tricks, so he isn't sure how to react to this. Or to the suggestion that his fictional self is written badly and everyone likes his brothers better.]

[... He'll just be silent a moment, his mind blank.]

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Sixty-First Theory [Action]

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