[Closed] Water, Water, Everywhere

[purplexing]

Who: Donnie purplexing and Leo faceguy
What: Two idiots skulking around the sewers during the torrential downpour
When: Eeearly May?
Where: Somewhere under Central City
Content Warnings: N/A


Donnie might be forced to admit that this is not one of his better ideas.

Rain's usually never a problem, but while even New York saw its share of storms, they'd never been anything compared to this.

The waterways below the city streets flowed like rivers, the sound of it trickling and at times pouring through grates. It masked anything else, which Donnie had figured to be both a boon and a liability. But so far he hadn't come across anyone else down in the sewers, and he doubted most would be inclined to roam them during a storm.

Things have more or less been within reasonable expectations, and for someone who had lived in the sewers all his life, he hasn't worried too much about a little extra rain.

There's this niggling feeling that maybe he should check in with Leo, or head back up, but Donnie's always been stubborn about things and when it comes to focus on a task at hand, then there's not much he allows to get in the way of its completion. Recent talks have only spurred him to spend longer scoping out possible spaces to set up a new lair and he doesn't want to put it off just because of a storm.

Comments

[purplexing]

"Leo!!"

Donnie's trying to pull himself back, but he freezes as he sees his brother vanish. He has half a mind to throw caution to the wind and go after him, and looks halfway to doing so.

Suddenly there's a flash, and there Leo is, right in front of him. He's pretty sure his heart hasn't yet made its way back down where it's supposed to be but it hasn't stopped his brain from kicking the rest of him into motion. Donnie throws a hand out towards Leo to grab a hold of whatever he can to help pull his brother in.

[faceguy]

Leo reaches for that hand and Donnie will end up grabbing his arm as a result, but it's enough that he gets pulled in and grabs onto the bar, holding tight as he can. He reaches his free hand out to grab the sword before it gets dropped, then holds on and tries to breathe.

"Well... let's take a second... to assess... the current situation."

Yep.

[purplexing]

Probably a good thing considering it's taking everything for Donnie to hang onto Leo and the bar, on top of trying to maintain said bar. He looks at his brother exasperatedly then, and the only reason no words are launched in immediate retaliation is because he's just trying to catch his breath. Oh, but that glare.

He's still got one hand around Leo's arm in a death grip, the other hanging on to his mystic-tech. That's about all he can do right now as he struggles to keep that bar solid.

"...not sure how long... I can keep this up."

[faceguy]

Hey, let him have his coping mechanisms.

“Okay, just… try as long as you can.” Leo looks around, trying to spot anything in the dark. “Leon will find us a way out.”

Easier said than done.

The purple glow from the mystic-tech helps just a bit. Leo looks around the dimly lit space, frantically looking for…

“Hey, there! Maintenance ladder.”

It’s about five yards from where they are, but it’s back upstream. Getting to it will be difficult… Leo looks around, trying to think of a plan.

[purplexing]

Donnie tries to look where Leo is. Getting there wouldn't have been a problem if his tech was working. Trying to fight against the currents had been exhausting, and it's taking everything just to hang on and make sure they don't get swept away again.

"Don't know if I can construct something else and still hold this one together," he admits as he tries to gauge the distance and work something out. It'd be a gamble to release it and make something new, especially if the water is rushing as it is.

His ability to generate his mystic-tech is what everything hinges on so far as he's concerned, as estimating the current's speed and the distance it could carry them closer towards the edge will be pointless if he can't pull it together in a timely manner.

[faceguy]

Yeah, that’s a problem. If Donnie can’t build something to get them closer then they’ll have to find a different way.

This would be so much easier if Leo could just…

“…I’m going to portal us back upstream.”

He says this like he’s confident he can accomplish it.

He’s not confident he can accomplish it, but stay positive, right?

“Don’t know… if I can get us right to the ladder, but if I get us close can you be ready to grab on?”

[purplexing]

It shouldn't be something that isn't certain. Donnie's hand tightens around Leo's arm, and not particularly out of fear. His brother's just managed to portal himself within reach, he can do it again.

He looks at Leo, meeting his brother's eye as he nods.

"You've got this." Because he's not doing this alone, right?

[faceguy]

He's not doing this alone, and Donnie's confidence in him helps build up his own. He did teleport earlier, so he can do it again. He just has to focus. He almost made one big enough to fit through easily before, so he just has to get a little bit bigger and they can both go through.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to tune out the sounds of the rushing water. He knows he needs to move fast before Donnie tires out, but he has to center himself just a bit first.

Then he opens his eyes and pulls up his sword, dangling from Donnie's mystic-tech bar while he pulls on his power to open a portal.

Just five yards away. Just big enough to get the two of them through. He's portaled the tank before, he can do this.

Leo draws a circle, and the shimmering blue portal opens - half in the water, but it's big enough. It's matching half opens up away from them, about four feet from the ladder they're trying to reach but close to the edge.

Leo pushes Donnie through first, and he'll be barreling through right behind him.

[purplexing]

Donnie's holding his breath in the meantime, as though doing so would minimize any further distractions while Leo prepared himself to open another portal.

As soon as he sees that familiar blue light flare to life he tenses, watching it expand into a size more expected of his brother's abilities. But there's no time to think about that, and already Leo's shoving him through.

Once he is, Donnie makes a lunge for the ladder, his fingers just barely snagging one of the rungs, but he clings long enough so he can hook his other arm around the ladder. Swinging to the side to give Leo space, he throws out his other hand to help pull his brother.

[faceguy]

This time Leo does catch his arm, the portal snapping closed just behind him. He grips Donnie back and throws out his free arm to wrap his hand around the bar of the ladder, wincing at the bite of the cold, wet metal on his skin.

But he has it. Finally.

“Go up!” he says to Donnie. He has no idea where this will come out at, but it has to be better than here.

[purplexing]

Nodding, Donnie starts to climb. It's a lot harder when you feel like your arms are ready to fall off, more so when you finally reach the top and need to get the cover open. Eventually it budges enough that he can slide it aside.

Normally he'd be more picky about where he collapses but the moment Donnie manages to clear the opening and haul himself out, he flops, only moving enough to give Leo some space to get out as well. Not the most ideal place to do so, especially when you have no idea where you are, but hopefully the rain's keeping places clear.

The ground here is wet but not flooded, the manhole access nestled between a couple of warehouse structures. Water dribbles steadily from the edge of the slanted, overhanging rooftops, but at least it provides some cover from the continuing rainfall.

[faceguy]

Leo climbs up as fast as he can behind Donnie, scrambling out of the manhole with the last of his adrenaline. Then he collapses right on the ground next to Donnie, panting from exertion.

“Well… that was… a wash.”

It’s a struggle to get that many words out right this second, but he had to.

He summons enough energy to give Donnie’s arm a light pat. It’s as much to reassure Leo that he’s there and okay as it is an attempt to comfort Donnie.

[purplexing]

The groan from the other at least helpfully confirms he's okay, more or less. Horrible puns aside, Donnie's relieved that Leo's there. He is not going to think about how much worse it could have been, let alone what might've happened if Leo hadn't come to find him when he did.

...so he fails in not thinking about it, but at least the present outcome is more than enough to focus on. It's cold and wet but he's just trying to catch his breath.

"Okay... Maybe scouting sewers... during a storm...not... the best idea."

[faceguy]

If Donnie is alive enough to groan at his jokes then he’ll be fine.

Leo rolls up into a sitting position, pulling one leg to his chest so he can lean on his knee. From here he can just see the water in the sewer through the open manhole.

“…I don’t remember a sewer flood like that back home,” he says between pants. “Do you… think that’s normal?”

The water is still raging down there.

[purplexing]

He might envy Leo slightly for even being able to get up at all. Excuse him while he just continues to lie there as he's convinced if he tried to get up now, he'd just end up falling flat on his face.

"...we've had our storms but nothing like that..." Donnie frowns as he tries to think of any instances but events like that would be easy to remember if anything of the sort had ever occurred back home.

"Normal? No idea... Has it ever rained this much in the time you've been here..?" Three months isn't enough to establish a solid idea of what to expect of this place's weather patterns, but maybe when it rained, it just really rained?

[faceguy]

Do more cardio, bro.

“It’s never rained like this, but… not long after I first got here, it got… super cold.” He shivers like the memory of it alone is chilling him, although it’s not like he’s very warm at the moment anyway. “I know New York winters can be tough but it was worse than that. Like, hurt to go outside worse.”

Their human DNA may regulate their temperature better than a normal turtle, but it still wasn’t pleasant for Leo to experience.

“Maybe they just get extreme weather like this…”

Man. He wants to take a nap.

[purplexing]

Eyew.

The thought of it getting even colder than what they've ever been used to is not a pleasant one. Being cold and wet right now only emphasizes that.

"Gross, does that mean we need to consider hibernation when it's wintertime?" Donnie's kidding, mostly. "If it gets that cold then I wonder what we'd be in for come summer..."

Equally unpleasant to think about. Being warmer is better sure, but turtles don't want to fry either.

[faceguy]

“Actually for me it would be brumation!”

See, he knows things sometimes! Though he mainly knows this because he read up after wanting to know why the cold makes him so sleepy.

“Ugh, you’re right… I bet summer will be bad, too.” He gives an exaggerated sigh, sinking even further down on his knee. “Maybe we can just run off to the beach or something…”

[purplexing]

The correction makes Donnie choke back a laugh. Leo knowing the differences between hibernation and brumation, horrifying!

He supposes he should try and get up though. "I probably need to drain my battle shell..." Groaning again, he plants his hands so he can shove himself up and pull his legs in to sit.

"I think the closest beaches would be by lakes here, right?" But it'd be by water, so if it's an option, he won't complain. "Or we can just take over a pool."

[faceguy]

Once Donnie sits up, Leo shifts a bit closer. He knows Donnie likes his personal space but he's cold and wet and instinctively driven to huddle.

"A lake day would be pretty cool, actually. We've never done that before."

Maybe they could even take a whole trip. Pitch a tent and swim in the lake and roast marshmallows over the fire and other camping things. That sounds fun, actually.

(Leo realizes he's thinking about summer plans here, but tries not to dwell on it too long.)

[purplexing]

The face Donnie makes as Leo scoots in is mostly just for the purpose of maintaining his image, but he isn't long in leaning, half to try warming up and the other half because he feels like he'll just fall over again otherwise.

"Yeah... We've never done anything outside of wilderness survival exercises, huh..." Not that it hadn't kiiind of been fun after a while, but it had still ultimately been training of a sort. But on their own terms, he wouldn't be forced to be away from his phone.

He holds up his left arm shaking it out before he sweeps his hand over it, breathing out a sigh of relief as the holo-interface comes up. "Where are we anyway..."

[faceguy]

As soon as Donnie leans, Leo throws an arm around his shoulder and settles in against him, watching through tired eyes as he pulls up his holo-screen.

He puts their normal, not survival related camping trip plans on hold and focuses on this new question.

“We got swept pretty far away… I don’t recognize these warehouses.”

[purplexing]

"Too dark to really tell if these places are still in use either. Of course, the rain's probably making extra problems there. Can't complain if it keeps people clear of us though..."

Donnie eventually pulls up a map on the magenta-lit screen, showing their two little face markers as he zooms it out bit by bit. "Anything look familiar..?"

He has no idea how far they might've gotten but he doubts either of them are up to making their way back at the moment, tired as they are.

[faceguy]

“That’s definitely a good thing. I don’t want to know who owns these warehouses.”

If it’s thugs with guns, he’s not up for that right now.

He takes a look at the map, searching for anything he recognizes… and… ah…

“I think we can get on the subway there,” he points to a spot a couple blocks down, “And ride it one stop… and then we’d be… close.”

He has no enthusiasm here.

[purplexing]

'Close' doesn't exactly sound close given how Leo's saying it. "What kind of useless subway track is that?" Donnie scowls. At least if it were a longer ride they could rest up a bit until they had to walk once they reached more familiar territory.

Sighing against Leo, he moves the map around to see if any alternatives might be spotted. He really doesn't want to move very far but Leo's got a point about the warehouses and potentially questionable owners.