metalogs | [Closed] Re-Acquaintance

He wants to sigh, but inwardly he's also feeling that knot of worry build up again. Leo doesn't want to tell him something and that alone is concerning. What was it? What did he want to keep Donnie from knowing?

Leo's answer to his question sounds plausible, although Donnie still finds reasons to arch a brow at him, but his face settles into a more neutral expression as he internally reasons things out. If people are monitoring the Confluences then it's no surprise Leo might get literally caught by them, especially since unlike his battle shell-equipped brother, Leo can't really fly. -not that it could have stopped him from saving himself...

"I didn't even know there was a 'free ride' until later. Soon as I landed I made for the sewers and just tried to get information while I tried to figure out what I was going to do," Donnie admits. He'd been committed to going that alternate route that Leo had managed to avoid whether he wanted to or not. It had been easy to convince himself that it wouldn't be so hard, that they'd been doing so basically their whole life. But then it was also too easy to get potentially overwhelmed by the whole situation if he didn't force himself to focus simply on putting one foot in front of the other.

But this wasn't about him and they were both for the most part clear of that whole problem. So Donnie rounds back to that stray thought from earlier.

"Surprised you didn't just portal your way out early on though. Actually, I haven't seen you pop one once since you found me, and there's been more than enough opportunity. You've used it for more minor things so why hold back now?"

Living like that is what they've been doing their whole life, but starting from scratch wouldn't have been easy for either of them, though for different reasons. Either way, it's true they don't have to now.

"Hey, it's not like it was a bad plan." Donnie couldn't have known at the start what this world was like, so it was completely understandable that he decided to bolt. "I'm just glad I found you."

But ah, Donnie has hit the nail on the head now.

"Thaaat's... what I was about to tell you." He shrugs a shoulder. "One of my swords is back in our New York, and our neat little party trick to summon a new one... hasn't been working for some reason."

He has plenty of theories about why that is...

"So my portals are... outta commish." He grins, sheepish. "So I won't be able to help you with your lab as much as you were maybe hoping... Sorry!"

That's a sentiment he shares, and Donnie allows it to show, if briefly. Even Leo's current stubbornness isn't going to make him think twice about being able to be with his brother at all.

And then comes his response, which saves Donnie having to ask about the mismatched swords, but it still leaves for some explanations but there's more pressing concerns. "Was wondering about that..." he does say, but his frown is more out of concern for Leo's admission, even as the slider tries to play it off. Typical Leo.

"That...doesn't make much sense though. It's not like the weapons are the source. Those came from us through our ninpo, not like...with your ōdachi, which I'd say was more like an early focus for your natural ability. -wait, have you tried recently? If it's a matter of not being connected with...well, us, technically it might work now? I'm not...sure if that's how things go? But then I can still use mine so...."

Donnie was wondering about that, which means he noticed. Of course he did; not a lot gets past him. Not when it comes to physical facts, anyway.

Leo knows it’s not really a sword problem but rather a him problem. The swords being split up is just a symptom. So none of that is anything Leo didn’t know already, except when Donnie asks him that he realizes no, he hasn’t, actually.

“It’s not like they’re gone completely, I just have a harder time getting them to work. Kind of like how it was back when I first started.” He hates being bad at things, but he has to admit (to himself, and never out loud) that Mikey and Raph took to their new powers more quickly than he did.

“But no… I haven’t tried it since you’ve been here.” He rubs his chin. “So maybe it’s stabilized since we met back up.”

Their connection is what got their powers back after the Krang locked them away, so maybe…

“It’s worth a shot, right?”

The watch has for the moment been completely forgotten. Here's a new problem presented and Donnie's clearly in the 'how do I fix this' mindset.

"Might just be the whole...dimensional shift," he suggests as he studies Leo. "You've still got the ability to do so, so at least it doesn't mean you've been completely cut off. You should try it again. I hadn't even really thought about it when I was using my mystic-tech, what the implications could be."

He manages a grin. "Of course it is! You can consider this your first opportunity here to volunteer for science, no questionable inventions involved."

At least if he's focused on this he can't ask any harder questions. And Leo would really like his portals to work properly again, so for these reasons, he's all in on this now.

"Wow, an actually safe science experiment for once." He steps back so he has plenty of room, glancing around to make sure no one is watching them, before unsheathing his normal katana. "Alright, I'll commence with the guinea turtling!"

He says it confidently, but he has no idea how well this is going to work. When he's tried before, he's gotten portals to open, but usually they're too small to fit much, or they fizzle out before he can try. And when he tries to teleport directly he typically falls out before he completes the jump.

But maybe this time he can do it. He just has to focus and reach for that fire he knows is down inside himself.

He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes for a second, then raises his sword and slashes down and-

...well. It's bigger than he managed before, but still not big enough to step through. Maybe if he crawled... and really squished. Having a flexible spine would help.

(It's improvement, but to Leo it only feels like failure.)

Donnie refrains from commenting on that, only because he's well aware his experiments more often than not have been...questionably safe. He steps back and gives a sweeping gesture like a ringmaster introducing the next performer.

He's gotten so used to Leo being able to open portals without a second thought that he finds it hard to believe his brother's having trouble with it now. And if there is a problem then it should be remedied now that he's not alone and doesn't have that crushing his confidence. An unconfident Leo is just unheard of.

The familiar light appears with his brother's enthusiastic motion, but the hole that's opened is pretty lackluster in comparison. Donnie frowns, eyeing it like it's the portal's fault for not opening any bigger. But he's not about to be discouraged by it. Mmmmaybe Leo wanted to make a mediocre-sized portal...!

"Does it connect?" he prompts, looking to Leo then.

"Of course it connects," he says flatly, because he's the portal guy of course it's going to connect-

Out of a show of defiance at the universe for doing this to him, Leo shoves his arm through the portal, and his hand comes out the other side, up in the air above them, startling a passing pigeon.

He only holds it there a few moments before pulling it back. He can already feel it getting ready to close and he doesn't want his arm to be portal-chopped. The portal snaps shut shortly after.

"...So, that's what it's been like."

It still works. That means it's not completely out of commission like Leo had made it out to be. But Donnie can see how it's more of a problem. Portals that can't be wide enough or stay open longer than several seconds don't do anyone any good, and they're nothing like what he knows Leo can do. Even when Leo was still feeling his way around his new power, the portals still stayed open relatively long.

"Open another one," he says, flipping his goggles down.

It might as well be for all the good it does. Though Leo doesn't say that.

Donnie flips his goggles down, and Leo raises the katana again, taking another breath. Tries to find his ninpo, pull it out, channel it into a portal that goes exactly where he wants it to. Just a few months ago this was as easy as breathing.

He slices his katana through the air, and another portal flares to life, about the same size as the last one.

If Donnie's goggles can catch it, Leo's ninpo flares, too, but it's... dimming. Flickering, low on energy. Like something inside him is just very, very tired, and too uncertain to find his full strength.

Leo doesn't know it looks like this, of course. He's primarily frustrated that it's not doing what he wants right now. Geez, so lame...

He'd be fascinated if it didn't feel like these readings are just entirely wrong. Donnie's loathe to admit he has nothing to really compare them to, he's never really studied how his own brothers' ninpo appeared through magic-eye goggles. But maybe that's kind of it. They've all taken it for granted and now go figure, it's causing one of them problems now.

For all he sees, quick as it is, Donnie's not so sure how to even describe it. He frowns, if only to hide his actual concern even as he hides behind his goggles, continuing to observe.

It makes no sense to him. Leo's power is there, but...not? It's sobering to see, the complete opposite of what his twin ever shows himself to be.

Leo does not like that Donnie is not saying anything. He wonders what he sees through those. Probably nothing good, if he's not going into a full science mumbo jumbo rant yet.

He lets the portal drop after a moment, unable to keep it up much longer anyway, and looks at him.

"So what's the verdict?" His voice is cheery to belie any of the anxiety he feels about what the answer will be.

"Honestly? I'm not really sure," Donnie replies, at least not letting Leo's question hang any longer than it has to. He pushes his goggles back up, studying Leo without them.

"You're not disconnected from anything, but that much is obvious from the fact that you're able to open portals still. The output isn't anywhere it should be though, I can tell that much even without having actually seen what the usual would be through my goggles' readouts."

Some of that concern does show then as he tilts his head at Leo. "Have you been able to get enough rest lately? I know you said you were having trouble before..." Somehow he doubts rest is really the problem but it's somewhere to start.

Not enough output… Hm. Leo turns that over in his head. It’s a bit like when the Krang sealed their powers, but they got them back so it shouldn’t be messed up now. Except it is. Because… he doesn’t know why.

The question and the concern push them back to the things he doesn’t really want to talk about, but at least he can still stay vague about it.

“I’m getting enough sleep.” It’s not as much as might be recommended, sure, but when has he ever gotten that? “I… haven’t had as much trouble lately.”

Which is true, but he still has plenty of nights when he can’t sleep. Not that Donnie needs to know… or maybe he does, given what they’re trying to do now.

“I mean sometimes I still can’t sleep but it’s not like that never happened before. And I could use my portals just fine then.”

Edited (accidentally hit post lol) 2023-04-16 07:41 (UTC)

Donnie doesn't look particularly convinced but the concern doesn't really leave his face either.

"Well...yeah, but there can be other things that affect you that can also be affecting your sleep patterns or lack thereof." There's a heavy implication of 'what else are you not telling me' although he chooses not to outright voice it this time.

"Anyway, being rested and getting enough sleep can be two different things. Stress could be a likely cause for things- the whole displacement issue and everything that's come with it is a pretty acceptable reason."

He doesn't have to say it for Leo to hear it. He's not going to get away easy, is he?

"Stressed? Me? I'm too pretty for that."

He has to hit the inevitable "play it off for a joke" bit, but it is true that Donnie has presented him with a perfectly acceptable reason for why this may not be working that has nothing to do with the missing day between them, so maybe he should just grab onto that.

"But I guess it cooouuuld be that I've just felt off since the whole "interdimensional kidnapping" business. Three months is a long time, but not really long enough to get used to a whole new world, right?"

Except Donnie can use his powers without issue so it's definitely some kind of Leo problem. He's probably right that it's stress, just not stress from this world.

...He's going to have to tell him, isn't he? At least the broad strokes.

Oh the speed at which he raises a hand, and even though he doesn't go through with it the intent is hard to miss, especially when paired with that particular face. Donnie gives an exasperated sigh, letting his hand drop.

He should be satisfied that Leo's admitting to the whole stress issue, but the delivery is what makes it hard to accept. Leo always plays things off when he can, but it makes no sense to Donnie that he's doing so now when they've already clearly established a problem and Donnie is very much trying to help him solve this.

All at once that frown takes on a different feel. It's all in the brows. He has very telling brows and they make all the difference between angry and...well, that abnormally hurt look that's been making way too many appearances here. Clearly this world is ruining his image.

"Leo, I can't help you if you won't let me."

Yikes, he almost got slapped. Why does Donnie always have to jump straight to violence? It's not like Leo provokes it or anything!

Though in some ways the frown is worse than any slap he could have given him, because Leo can handle an angry Donnie or an aggravated Donnie but a hurt Donnie is a whole different beast. Leo doesn't like hurting his brothers, even though lately it seems like he's astonishingly good at it.

His normal jokester persona falters, and Leo sighs and leans against the wall again.

"Don't give me that look." He folds his arms defensively. "It's not that I don't want your help, it's just... I don't think it's this place. I think it's because of something that happened during the day you're missing."

So there it is, the Thing He Is Not Telling Him.

"Stop making me feel useless and maybe my face will start cooperating with me," Donnie counters, a spark of anger there although it's debatable as to whether it makes things easier to handle. It's at least enough for him to rein in everything else, somehow helping him to reset a bit. Emotions are not his strong point and it's clear he's not the only one being made uncomfortable by them here. He folds his own arms, unintentionally mirroring Leo's stance.

There it is, the mention of that ominous, almost impossibly nebulous span of a day that he's unaware of.

Inwardly he realizes he's anticipated this. The cues he'd taken from Leo the night they'd managed to run into each other haven't been lost on him. Something Happened. And he can totally press the issue now, ask for the details to be spilled. Part of him doesn't want to know, contrary as that is to anything he ever stands for, but clearly it's no simple matter, not for Leo to be going to such lengths to hide it from him. Leo's trying to protect him from something, but it's already doing damage in other ways, and Donnie doesn't like the situation one bit.

He hugs his arms a little tighter around himself, finally breaking his gaze away from his brother, contemplating his next words.

"...and it's something that's been bad enough that it's still hanging over your head even though you're nowhere back home right now," he says carefully. There are hardly any facts he can come up with that can help him craft theories as to what might have happened. The day had started off as normal as any other. Whatever had happened must have been drastic, which, to be fair, is in its own way normal. But in this case it simply doesn't help. But what he does know is that Leo does not get shaken so easily, and he only really has one reference point that he can compare it to, and it's not one he'd ever hope to revisit in any sort of shape or form.

Oh, and there's the anger. And Leo would like to rise to meet that and maybe avoid talking about uncomfortable topics, but he doesn't really feel like fighting right now. Goading his brothers into fighting him to avoid serious discussions was part of what got him into the mess they had before in the first place.

And sometimes Leo can actually learn.

At Donnie's deduction he nods. What's the point in hiding that much?

"Yeah. It was bad."

He can't even muster a joking tone for that. It sucked and it's going to suck talking about it and Leo would love to brush it off but this one is too hard for him to shake off that easily. Like how he can't joke about Gram-Gram.

"...Are you sure you want to hear about it, though? I'd think you'd be telling me that we could break the space-time continuum or something."

And he doesn't really mean that as a joke, either. If he tells Donnie everything, if they find a way to send him back home through the confluence then theoretically he could change the course of how things happened. He could stop Raph from getting captured and maybe even find a way to save the day without Leo trapping himself in the Prison Dimension.

But that wouldn't really fix his own situation. It would just save some other Leo in some other branched off timeline. And then what happens to him? Is he just... separated from this Donnie?

Then again, if their separation is an inevitable fact then at least he could give another Leo a chance.

The internal war that is raging in Leo manifests in him hunching even further into the wall, holding himself even tighter. He should do this. He doesn't want to do this.

"...We could end up creating a... bi... bifer... a split time branch."

Yeah he's never going to remember that word.

"One would say that this place is already breaking all sorts of space-time continuums," Donnie mutters. He doesn't want to hear it. But he feels like he needs to. It's that one wall that he hasn't breached between them and he has a feeling it's the worse one somehow. They're toeing it now. Retreating from it wouldn't make it disappear. If anything, it'd probably make it become more solid, and that thought just scares him.

"Bifurcated-" he corrects out of reflex before the notion that Leo's even vaguely familiar with the word jabs at him. Broken space-time continuums, bifurcated timelines? His eyes slowly trail back towards his brother as though he's revealed himself to be some sort of alien.

"...you didn't hear that term in school, did you." Times like this he wishes he could pull into his shell as easily as Mikey tends to. But that wouldn't solve anything either. Donnie inhales, practically deflating against the wall once he lets it out.

"...technically this could be its own bifurcation. I don't know how the Confluence works exactly to say for sure, but if it's brought you from the future, so to speak, and I've still been there, then this is already an alternate reality because when I'm coming from is before whatever went down happened for you. ...which...makes it potentially more than just two separate timelines we're dealing with, because now we've also got this other timeline where potentially I've just vanished, and then this other one where you disappeared, and then-"

"Whooooaaaa, okay. I didn't mean to trigger Speech Mode."

He only kept up with about half of that, but what he thinks Donnie is trying to say is that it's possible the timeline is already so messed up that just talking about it probably wouldn't do anything, because it's already done? Or something? Yeesh, his head hurts.

He holds up a hand to get Donnie to at least take a breath. They don't both need to be panicking about this. Or maybe they do? He doesn't know what the consequences of this are. Is the universe going to implode in on itself due to all the contradictions like in a sci-fi movie?

No, no, if he goes down that rabbit hole then they'll never get anywhere, and it's not really the point, anyway.

"Let's... back up a second." He takes a deep breath, then lets it out. "You're right. I didn't hear that word in school. I learned it from you, from the last time we had a discussion about whether it's possible to change the future, which, by the way, I was totally right about."

It's easy for him to get caught up in talking his thoughts aloud, but it's probably for the best that Leo interupts him, not that it really quells his own building anxiety about whether or not everything is totally screwed up. He's watched all the same movies as Leo has, after all, and knowing the scientific side to things doesn't really help sometimes.

Not that this is something he will ever admit.

Donnie winces, hunching up a bit as though he can take refuge in his hoodie as Leo tries to get them back on track. At least having Leo claim he was right about something helps disperse some of whatever tension was there. He straightens up a little, inserting a frown as he feels is expected of him.

"Okay, so we're already messing around with time back home? Good to know," he says dryly.

At least he's not full on ranting, but Leo doesn't think he's fully calmed down. Not that he can expect him to, given what he's telling him right now.

"Well not us, technically. Future versions of us. Specifically a future version of Mikey?" He shrugs at that. "Apparently our little brother has the potential to be a full-on wizard, believe it or not."

At least that's what he took from Casey saying he's the "greatest mystic warrior the world has ever seen" and literally sent him back through time. That's definitely some wizard behavior.

And he apparently died in the attempt but maybe that information is not necessary to these proceedings.

"They used time travel to send someone back. Not one of us, a guy named Casey Jones. They wanted to give us a warning, and..."

Wait, sorry, Leo stops right there because he's had over three months to think about this and it's only just now hit him-

"Wait. Casey Jones. Oooh, I'm so stupid." He drags a hand down his face. "Of course she would name her own kid after herself."

First things first: "...Mikey as a wizard, huh. I don't know what's weirder, hearing that or the fact that I don't think I am actually all that surprised. Seriously though, what-"

Donnie looks personally affronted by this other fact Leo's dropping on him. "So there's already been a potential time diversion in your timeline that's eventually going to be my timeline..."

He's mapping this all out in his head as he speaks, one can practically see it. "This is already a huge headache. Honestly, if nothing's already imploded by now then we're not giving time stream stability enough credit." This is his way of reassuring himself that things are okay, somehow. Maybe.

And then Leo interrupts himself, which gives Donnie time to run those sentences over in his head again. "Whoa, whoa, wait. Casey Jones as in Cassandra? And she has a kid???" Is that important? Well, maybe in the grand scheme of things but no, what Leo said before that-

Donnie brings his own hands in front of him as he pretends to physically set their conversation back in order. "Okay so back to the point- something happened in the future so they sent...Cassandra's kid to the past to warn us- about what?" he asks, looking to Leo as he hangs on this point.

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just bullshitting what this looks like lol

aren't we all

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