i_speak_softly | Sixty-Fourth Theory [Action/Voice]

((First part is backdated to yesterday, November 10.))

[Would it really be so difficult for John's droids to just bring Don home?]

[Apparently, because they instead leave him in a side room of the barracks. On their way out, they drop his journal on the floor, just beyond his reach.]

[He can't feel his legs.]

[He woke up this way on John's table, and while part of his brain tried to assess the situation rationally and offer the mitigating factors that it's just for a week, thank goodness he didn't get this as his death loss, the rest of his brain was screaming too loudly to notice or care.]

[And now he's back in the village, half-paralyzed, still uncertain of his speech, and completely alone.]

[It takes a while, but he pulls himself together, drags himself a few feet across the floor, and painstakingly constructs a filter in the journal.]

Voice to Beast | Unhackable

Help. The barracks. Please...

[He closes the book when he's done. Beast won't get any reply from him through the journals, but will find him prone on the floor of the barracks, just wanting to go home.]

Voice for Everyone, November 11

[By the next day, Don has rediscovered his voice, and wants everyone else to hear it too. Being couchbound, he has nothing better to do than broadcast his every thought over the journal system.]

EVERYONE. Citizens, denizens, residents and inmates of our village of Luceti. Those of you who have just arrived, please find adequate shelter, because this is miserable weather to be out in. You're fortunate, though, to have missed our recent tornado. Also an infestation of ghosts and some messy business involving zombie viruses. Never a dull moment. I advise reading the guide, which can be found in your journal.

Those of you who are already jaded by such events, please entertain yourselves on this dreary day by suggesting a topic of interest: a fascinating subject, an intriguing project, or a hypothetical occurrence that you would find truly surprising. Jokes and stories are also welcome.

[He'll stop there. Finding words is still difficult and tiring, and like exercising any other faculty that hasn't been used in a while, he should take it slowly. Full recovery will come from patient practice, not from exhausting himself all at once.]

((Initial action is locked to Beast. Friends of Don are welcome to handwave hearing of his return and come visit, yesterday afternoon or any time during the week. Today's voice post is open to all.))

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[Aha.]

Then shouldn't you think of lots of things that would be surprising, so they won't be surprising if they really happen?

[At this, Robert goes for a response that he's learned from the long period of Don's penalty - a non-verbal one. He reaches over and squeezes Don's hand gently, and looks at him with a look that transcends words.

Only after a few moments does he say anything.]

Of course.

To be completely honest, I'm bored out of my mind.

[Or will be as soon as other people walk away from their journals. He's a little desperate to make these conversations last as long as possible.]

[WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HIS WINTER PREPARATIONS.]

Professor ...?

Erm... you use a microwave by putting food in it, and then pushing the number buttons to tell it how long to cook. Learning the times is kind of a trial-and-error thing.

Wait what? You just tell it how long with these "buttons?"

[MIND = BLOWN]

[Roy plays around with this and a series of beepings can be heard and the microwave stopping and starting repeatedly as he sets it for like five seconds then counts down the numbers. He comes from a world where even clocks don't exist yet you know.]

This is amazing.

[Again the microwave is going. Then it stops as he opens the door, then starts again when he closes it. This goes on a few more times. Roy may have just found his new favorite thing.]

Raining elephants.

I'm not sure imagining it makes it any less shocking if it did happen, however.

[Don just listens silently. He loves watching people discover the joys of technology.]

There was that time monsters fell from the sky.

[This is possibly the best answer Robert could have given. Don smiles weakly.]

Let me have those needles.

[Robert smiles back, a little uncertain as he hands the box of needles to Don. It's weird, to see so many needles around his partner, and fills him with strange and uncomfortable emotion.

Almost unconsciously, he fidgets with the sleeve of his lab coat as he watches.]

[Roy still has many more joys to discover too! But for now, the microwave will do.]

Thank you for your help. I do have one more question, and I hope you don't find me rude for asking but... What are you?

[Don lifts a needle from the box, and spends some time reading the label. He's already learned that his literacy skills are a little rusty - but since he's mostly interested in the numbers here, it shouldn't be too bad.]

[When he's satisfied he knows what he's injecting himself with, he pulls back the blanket, stretches the skin of his thigh between thumb and forefinger, and jabs the syringe into a vein. It's a somewhat more violent movement than Robert might be expecting, but Don looks unperturbed as he pushes the plunger down to a carefully calculated point.]

[It's a little rude, but he's used to it.]

[... Not in the mood to give a straight answer, though.]

I'm an engineer.

Pardon?

[Yeah, that's a word that's completely foreign to him. But had he known it was such a sensitive subject, Roy certainly wouldn't have asked.]

Edited (wrong icon :V) 2012-11-14 03:25 (UTC)

[Robert was, of course, watching intently the entire time, and he flinches just a little when that needle punctures Don's skin - both because of the aggression of the motion and because of the associated memories.

Still, he's glad for this. It means he won't have to worry as much about Don having any more permanent damage done to him.]

An engineer. I'm better at fixing stoves than cooking on them.

[When Don pulls back the needle, a little blood leaks out, but he ignores it. He carefully hands the now-uncapped syringe back to Robert, and continues the conversation as though nothing happened.]

The second thing I wanted to say is that I won't be eating much for the next few weeks, and I'm going to be in a bad mood because of it. It has nothing to do with you or anything you did.

I see.

[So an engineer refers to something he does. Not quite what he was going for, but he recognizes dodging a question when he sees it. Thus he'll leave it be out of respect.]

Again, thank you for your help, Donatello.

[Robert will worry only if that leak doesn't stop itself soon. He takes the syringe gingerly and places it on the side table after recapping it for the interim.]

... A-Alright. [He's learned by now that fussing too much will just be counterproductive. Maybe he can at least make Don's drinks interesting?]

[Don't worry; Turtles clot quickly.]

[That was less of a response than Don was expecting. It throws him off a little.]

Are your plants ready to move into the winter room?

[DON'T LEAVE HIM HE'S LONELY.]

Is there anything else I can help with?

[Hey, Robert can take a hint! After having it repeatedly drilled into his skull, anyway. And if it's something Don's doing to himself there isn't much he can (or wants to) do about it, even if it worries him.]

Yes. I would prefer to do so as soon as possible, particularly for... the seedlings. [The trees are still small and delicate; they won't do so well if they have to deal with a cooler house and short hours of sunlight. He's lucky to have kept them strong so far as it is.]

[... Um.]

I don't believe so? But if I think of something I'll be sure to contact you.

[...]

Is there something you need?

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