[open] Having fun isn't hard

[faceguy]

Who: Leo faceguy, Donnie purplexing, Accelerator levelshift, Huvrye effiomsfavorite and anyone who might want to run into them there!
What: Three nerds drag Leo to the library against his will
When: Just before the Central City quarantine
Where: Central City library
Content Warnings: none currently

It's another rainy day in Central City, and what are rainy days good for? That's right: reading a book!

Leo isn't really sure how he ended up friends with two nerds whose main hobby is reading on top of his giant nerd of a brother, but he did, and it's really not surprising that this has happened now. Especially because Donnie has been on him non-stop about getting a library card.

So here they are now, having walked over from the apartment and met up with Accelerator. Is he happy about it? Not really. Is he going to bug Huvrye about getting food after this? Yes.

It's a big library, with multiple floors and rooms for community meetings or classes. It's also not very busy, thanks to the rain and the city being weirdly quiet these days. Looks like they more or less have the run of the place...

Comments

feel free to mix and match or whatever idk

[purplexing]

It is highly likely that no one knew just how excited a person could possibly get about going to the library until they met Donatello Hamato.

The boy is practically vibrating with eagerness as they all head over- finally head out to a library after what seems like a needless forever. He is going to get his library card and check out so. Many. Books.

It's almost embarrassing, but Donnie is not the embarrassed one here. Once they set foot inside the library proper, he inhales deeply, breathing out a blissful sigh.

"Smell that, gents? Ah, the scent of knowledge." Who is he.

***

He is not at all breathing down Leo's neck as he awaits being blessed with official library status in the form of a card. Actually he's not sure if he'll be able to get one himself or if he's going to be borrowing Leo's, but at the moment, he is not picky because they are here and nothing is ruining that for him.

But once that's over with, Donnie gleefully slips off to go peruse the stacks like a kid in a candy store. Please pay no attention to the green teenager practically hugging the bookshelves.

***

As thrilling (???) as it is to just wander and browse the sections, there are better ways to locate subjects of interest.

Donnie has no idea how long he's already spent poking around and reading things here and there, but he is still riding off this library high as he finally emerges from some row or another and gravitates towards the computers, plunking himself down in front of one of the consoles.

They probably couldn't have picked a better day for this, seeing as how it's relatively empty here...

[faceguy]

Leo lost track of Donnie pretty quickly, and honestly he hasn't been trying too hard to find him. Let him get some enrichment! He's clearly excited about being back in his natural habitat and Leo isn't going to try to slow him down.

(Plus it means he can look at comics without being bothered.)

But now he's wandering around again and happens to come by the computers, just in time to see the back of a familiar figure sat down at one of them.

Without saying or doing anything else to announce his presence, he saunters up from behind him and smacks his hands down on the chair, bucking it backward a few inches.

A perfectly normal greeting.

[purplexing]

If that sharp intake of a gasp hasn't awoken the library gods, Donnie's not sure what will.

His chair's suddenly tipping backwards and his natural reflex is to grasp at the armrests as he thrusts his feet outwards. And then he catches a glimpse of green and blue just past the edge of his hood and all at once the inner corner of his eyebrows leap downwards in disapproval as he glares upside-down at his brother.

[faceguy]

“Heeheehee~” Leo can’t help but snicker, though he makes an effort to keep it down, given where they are. “Nearly scared you out of your seat, huh?”

He grabs the chair from the next computer station over and plops down into it.

“Bored of books so now you’re back to screens?”

[purplexing]

With a light huff, Donnie folds his arms once he's able to relax against the chair again. "How dare you suggest something so blasphemous. Who could ever get bored here?"

He is quick to adopt his 'I know more than you' aka default air as he gestures towards the computers.

"Unlike mystic libraries, standard ones have computers to assist in searches for specific books and subjects. Previously, in ancient times, they used things called card catalogues which would be physical cards you thumbed through, contained in alphabetized drawers, each one pertaining to a book and although helpful, not nearly as convenient for the specific way they'd be categorized."

[faceguy]

Ew, he's explaining stuff now. Leo's eyes are glazing over already. Cards, thumbs, inconvenient... sure, got it.

"Sooo you're using the computer to search for specific books?"

He thinks that's what Donnie is using way too many words to tell him.

[levelshift]

Accelerator has no strong opinions on libraries. They're useful, sure, but they don't usually have the newest light novels he reads, so he doesn't visit them too often for fun. It's easier to just go to the corner store and pick something up when he's bored.

So it's absolutely wild to see Donnie be such an enormous nerd about something so simple. He supposes it makes sense - he couldn't exactly walk into a normal library in New York without drawing attention to the whole turtle thing. Still... this is nerdy. This is so nerdy.

He's going to be making his way towards nonfiction, though he stops to just watch Donnie. Those poor bookshelves, he doubted they were expecting a hug today. "You look like you'd live here, if that was possible."

[purplexing]

They deserve some attention for all the work they do.

Donnie looks up from where he'd been running his hands along the spines on a shelf of physics books, easing himself back like he hadn't just been practically plastering himself to the shelves a moment ago.

"It's always been a thought. I mean, who wouldn't want to be surrounded by books??" He gestures before throwing an arm across his forehead.

"Alas, my lifestyle isn't suited to the domain of a library. The production of technology and application of engineering are unfortunately not quiet practices and would ruin its precious sanctity." Not to mention his love of pumping techno while he's working.

[levelshift]

Wow, Accelerator was underestimating the level of drama in that reply. He raises an eyebrow at Donnie, his voice deadpan. "How tragic. Guess you'll just have to keep coming back here instead."

Which clearly will be a huge pain for Donnie. Clearly.

He sighs a little, looking around. "It could be a lot worse. It's a lot more low-tech than anything in Academy City, though."

[purplexing]

"I know, right? An absolute pain," Donnie says with a smile that clearly suggests the opposite. He won't have to sneak so much to access libraries here. It's almost weird to think about! "-although I guess that means I actually have to heed operating hours for a change."

He turns to skim the titles, pulling a book out here and there to flip through before he replaces it.

"Oh yeah? How's the library there? I know I'm a big tech guy but there's just something satisfying about physical books, you know?"

[levelshift]

Okay, that raises a few questions. Accelerator puts them on pause as he shrugs and proceeds to launch into an explanation that literally no one except Donnie and actual librarians would find interesting.

"The entire city's a hotbed for testing new technology, so they had a lot of weird, shit experiments going on. One of the more normal ones was testing the effectiveness of a high density library in an urban centre," he says. "It was more like a giant goddamn vending machine. You'd browse their collections on a screen using categories and keywords and other metadata, and when you found a title you wanted to look at you could preview it. If you wanted to check it out robots would retrieve it from a shelving system meant to maximize density that patrons didn't have access to. It was meant to maximize knowledge transfer rather than be a community hub for socialization and learning."

With that said, he looks over at Donnie. "... Were you breaking into libraries after hours in New York?"

Science Section

[acroodawakening]

[Guy still, after all this time, has no sense whatsoever of what is considered polite in modern society. This is because the last society he was in was so buckwild weird (and pretty awful) that he kind of stopped caring about what was polite by their standards. (Apparently, implying you saw someone's dress in a store last season instead of the current one? Gauche, rude, unforgiveable! Discussing death matches and how great they are? A-Okay!)]

[So Guy has all but taken over a huge portion of the science section with books spread all over the floor around him, in a way most would consider rude. He at least plans to check a bunch of them out and at least is smart enough to have memorized the places where the others are supposed to go back. That doesn't really help anyone walking through, though.]

[He's speaking to himself in a voice that is not quite a library voice but at least isn't an outside voice.]

Whoa! I didn't realize it was so big! It looks so small up in the sky.

[He holds a hand up in a tiny circle in emulation of the size of the sun from Earth, just thinking about the distance it'd take to make something that big look so small.]

[Right now he's got an astronomy book, one of the ones with illustrations and space photography, open to a map of the solar system. It has the sun sized to scale with Earth. He at least can solidly guess what he's looking at without being able to read because of his audiobooks and how an old friend had described the solar system to him.]

[(And how he also explained that the Earth wasn't flat.)]

[Right now, he's not dressed the way he would at home. He's wearing modern clothes with lots of colorful patterns, definitely not matching, but not quite clashing. And neon socks and sneakers]

[The only things that a are bit out of the ordinary are the accessories that would make him the most stylin' dude in prehistory back home: a beaded tie for his topknot; a beaded shell necklace; wraps for his hands and forearms made of cloth, faux leather, and beaded leather cord; and a belt around his waist, over his pants, made of feathers, faux leather, and faux fur.]

[He went a little crazy at the craft store, okay? You usually have to work for this kind of flair back home, by scouring a beach for the right shells or carefully carving down bone, wood, or shell into beads. Of course he took advantage of his magic money card and bought things to handmake the most happening accessories this side of 40,000 BC.]

[The only problem right now is the mess he's made means he's kind of in the way of the books Donnie wants. Like...all of them. He's pretty spread out. Sorry Donnie.]

[He flips to a page that shows the sun and Earth to scale with bigger known stars.]

Are those other stars?! They're even bigger?

[purplexing]

[While not an impossibility, Donnie still finds himself somewhat startled to come across someone who dares dress as chaotically as Leo does for a fashion jaunt. Compounded with the fact that a good number of books from these stacks are all over the floor, well, it's like someone personally is attempting to disrupt his library experience.

Okay, he can get over the fashion choices, but the books! The books!

The turtle in the purple hoodie frowns, clutching the books he already has managed to find, tighter in his arms as though afraid they'll share a similar fate as he looks down at the whirlwind before him. Aside from just being scattered everywhere, it makes it impossible to get through the rest of the aisle.]

COUGH.

[He says as he brings a fist to his mouth. Donnie, can't you just clear your throat like normal people.]

[acroodawakening]

[What a strange way to cough. Guy completely misses that it's an indirect way of saying he's being rude. He's used to direct aggression. Back home Phil and Hope were his first exposure to passive aggression, and it's still not a language he entirely understands.]

[He's about as perceptive as someone can be when they were an involuntary hermit for most of their life. And when their immediate adoptive family is extremely direct.]

[Guy doesn't look up from his book at first. Vaguely, he remembers that there's a thing you do in the future when people cough. A manners thing. (He's wrong about this, mis-remembering that people say things when someone sneezes.)]

[He doesn't usually mind his future manners if he can help it out of a stubbornness in the face of people previously trying to force him to. Buuut illness is no joke. People die of it all the time back home.]

[It's one future people courtesy he's willing to extend. Without looking up from his book, he says:]

Blue shoe.

[Not only does he not realize it's supposed to be for sneezes, not coughs, he also doesn't realize it's supposed to be "bless you." The English implanted in his head in the last world doesn't always cover every turn of phrase and idiom.]

[purplexing]

[The lack of immediate response is a little off-putting. The actual response that comes is downright puzzling as Donnie looks down at his feet. Not that he'd ever wear blue shoes.]

Wha?

[It's slightly exasperated, although mostly because he's being otherwise ignored. Fine then. So the subtle approach won't work. Fine. Donnie can do direct.]

Hey. You're blocking the aisle.

-also, if you really are intent on looking through all those books at the same time？ I'd recommend taking them to the reading tables.

pick what you want or wildcard it; prose or brackets all good

[faceguy]

A

After getting Donnie his library card and letting him loose, Leo isn't really sure where to go or what to do. The only time he's ever been in a library was when they went to the Mystic Library, and that had been a mess for completely different reasons.

So at first Leo just... wanders. He doesn't really know what he's supposed to look at or for. He doesn't really read things that aren't comics. He knows he doesn't want to touch anything non-fiction (yuck), but he doesn't know if he wants anything fiction either...

However, it doesn't take him too long to find out...

"Ooooh, they do have comics here!"

He's found his section, goodbye everyone.

B

Later, after he's grabbed some comics he wants to take with him, he ends up back in the Young Adult section. He's currently got a book in his hand and is staring it down like it has offended him somehow.

It hasn't actually offended him. It's a book a classmate was reading during free time awhile back, and when they had told Leo about the plot it hadn't sounded half bad, actually...

It's just... he feels like his reputation will take a serious hit if he actually checks out a book. A real, honest book that has over three hundred pages!

Also if Donnie catches him reading he'll be expected to read more.

But he is curious...

He's so absorbed in his decision making he doesn't hear someone walking up on him.

C

[[Wildcard option! Leo will be walking around the library as long as the others are here so feel free to hit me with whatever.

Also he is in turtle mode for all of this.]]

B. I'm not sorry for this

[levelshift]

Accelerator wasn't lying about there being comics at the library, but that's where he was expecting to find Leo after the whole conversation over Discord. Donnie had made it sound like he was allergic to books, so to find him holding one, looking surprisingly engrossed in it....

Well. It's a little strange.

He's got a few books under his arm (ones on turtles, obviously), and for a split second he considers approaching, but another idea comes to mind.

Can regular people sneak up on ninjas? He isn't sure, he's only ever read about them, and both Leo and Donnie had seemed pretty on the ball when they were practicing for the mission at the recycling facility. Right now, though....

Reaching up to hit the switch on his choker, a moment later a spear of air is suddenly hitting the underside of the book Leo is holding, knocking it out of his hands and slamming it straight into his face.

good you shouldn't be

[faceguy]

"Gah!"

The noise Leo makes at suddenly being hit in the face by the very book he was considering checking out is definitely too loud for a library. If this were the Mystic Library he would have already been dragged away to the kiddie room. Luckily this is a normal library, though, so he doesn't receive much reprimand since no librarian is nearby.

He looks around for how that could have happened (since last he checked books don't just jump) and locks eyes with Accelerator.

"Hahaha, real funny." Said entirely sarcastically.

[levelshift]

Hah, revenge is nice. Accelerator looks pretty amused as he reaches up to switch his choker back to normal mode. It ate up a few seconds of battery, but it was totally worth it.

(For all his maturity, he is still a dumb teenager at the end of the day.)

"What? I thought ninjas were supposed to be aware of their surroundings," he says mockingly, walking over to see what the book actually is. "Not my fault you let your guard down."

[faceguy]

The book is the first in a series of YA sci-fi novels, but Leo seems to be interested in hiding that fact, maneuvering the book so it's harder for Accelerator to catch sight of the title.

He rolls his eyes. "Oh, sure, talk big because you caught me off guard once. Maybe you should be aware of-"

He reaches up quick and flicks Accelerator in the middle of the forehead.

"-this!"

a

[acroodawakening]

[Last time Guy had been in the library, he'd been anxious about asking for help finding things. But it had helped meeting Jay and getting his assistance judgement-free.]

[This time he asked for help and the librarian even explained how the little numbers on the spines worked. Numbers were one of the only things he came into this world knowing a little bit about. He knows enough to be able to tell when they're increasing or decreasing. She handed him a piece of paper with all the little numbers and letters to look for and pointed out the sections. Some are things he asked about, some are things she was kind enough to suggest.]

[He likes the idea of comics so far, but a lot of them still have word bubbles. The one the librarian suggested is great though - lots of comics with no words at all. She said the name of the artist was Sergio Aragonés.]

[That's when he hears a familiar voice and looks over.]

Ooh! Turtle-boy! It's you!

[He closes the book and temporarily puts it back on the shelf.]

[Guy looks like an entirely different person than the paranoid, near-feral, and deeply sad individual in the park. For one thing, the dumb makeup is gone. Without it, he has skin that looks a lot more weathered and freckled. It has a bit more character than the plastic-ey contoured look dictated by Capitol fashion. He's also let his hair run wild other than still keeping it in a topknot.]

[For another, he has gone crazy with what he's wearing. Harem pants with a wild Boho print; a Hawaiian shirt with wild, multi-colored designs; a lime green tank top, bright blue socks, and sneakers in neon colors.]

[He also hit the craft store and made a lot of what would be considered the height of prehistoric fashion. A beaded tie for his topknot, beaded wraps on his wrists and forearms made of faux suede and leather cord, sea shells he drilled little holes in so he could thread them on his shoelaces, and around his waist a belt made of a mat of feathers braided together with leather cord, over layers of faux fur and faux leather sewn together. He's carrying a rainbow messenger bag that he sewed even more beads and shells onto.]

[This is the first time in nine months he's been allowed to control his own clothing, so naturally he's run wild with it. It is absolutely A Look, and it's one that sometimes turns heads. It would make everyone back home think he was absolutely slaying.]

[Most importantly of all: he's smiling. It's a nice smile. It looks natural on his face, like he used to smile more often than being sad.]

I was hoping to run into you again. I didn't know how to find you on the phone things. I made something for you.

[He starts digging around in his bag. It looks like he has most of his important belongings in there, including more shiny beads and shells, like his brain went right to the idea of it being normal and natural to just cart your treasures around with you everywhere as long as you have something to hold them in.]

[faceguy]

[Leo startles a bit when he hears someone call him turtle-boy, since that is not something he gets called often. He's actually got enough clothing on that his green skin isn't immediately noticeable, but there's still no one else they could mean (unless Donnie snuck up on him).

But when he turns, he gets the greeting, and his face lights up in a big grin. The comic he was reading is set aside as well.]

Caveman! [If they're doing this kind of nickname.] How you been? Love the fit, I gotta say.

[It may be loud and flashy and over the top, but Leo himself loves camp and that means he absolutely can't hate this.

He comes closer at that declaration, curious.]

You made something for me? You didn't have to do that.

[acroodawakening]

[The nickname doesn't bother him. After all, he's a caveman by sort-of-marriage. And Leo's not saying it the way others used to, where they just didn't care about the subtleties at all. It's just a nickname like the one Guy used. It's genuinely friendly.]

Thanks! Future clothes are so colorful! We have to really dig to find bright dyes back home and they're never as bright as this.

[Even as he digs in his bag, he does a goofy little hop to move his feet at angles to show off his neon shoes and the shells on his laces. They'd never let him get away with this look in the Capitol. They wouldn't know cool if it bit them on the overly ruffled butt.]

And I'm doing a lot better. Apparently, the Alliance thinks they can send me home for visits so that's... well, it's not as good as going home for good. But it's better than I've had for the last nine months.

[It's better than starting to accept he probably would never go home again. Or be entirely changed by the time he did. Broken and unrecognizable to those he loved.]

This world has problems but it's really not as bad. [He finds what he was looking for and pulls out something wrapped in newspaper to keep it from getting tangled up in there.] But I didn't know that, the day you saw me. It helped me a lot. That the first few people I met were kind.

So I made something for you. Just on the off chance I managed to find you all again. [He holds out the gift.] Here.

[Loosely wrapped inside is a necklace on a leather cord, in a slightly masculine style, mostly made of brown beads, blue glass beads, and ivory-colored bone beads. They're carefully knotted in place so that the knots give the necklace more shape. There's a snail shell at the very center that's much brighter, an iridescent blue.]

[There are also small wooden beads that look like turtles spaced out on the string, two on each side of the seashell. They're very well carved, better than a lot of modern artists can manage, etched with very tiny details in their eyes, scales, and the patterns on their shells. He's used to making things look very good with even cruder tools. With the better, finer tools he picked up at the craft store they look incredibly detailed.]

I made the wooden ones myself. I don't know how big your family is but I figured I'd just put a few of them to represent all of you.

[And he accidentally got it right. Four beads for four brothers. All it's missing is a rat.]

[faceguy]

[Going home for visits... Leo isn't sure how he feels about that idea. He's not sure if having some kind of dimensional split custody would be nice or too heartbreaking to deal with.

Well, it's not like he has much choice, though - if he tries to go back right now, he may just end up stuck in a way worse situation. Better to just wait it out until they have a more permanent solution, at least for now.

He won't bring the mood down by talking about that, though!]

Hey, that's great! I told you there were some cool people around.

[He takes the gift, unwrapping it with gusto. But his motions get more subdued when he sees it. It's very thoughtful, complete with his color and the ridiculously detailed turtle beads.

(There's even four of them. Wow.)

He turns it over in his hand for a moment, just admiring it. It's kind of insane that Guy made this for him after just one conversation.]

Uh, yeah, you got it right - at least, I have three brothers, so you were pretty much right on the nose there.

[It's not his whole family, but it's so close. Leo really appreciates it.]

This is definitely one of the coolest things anyone's ever made for me. Thanks.

[He means it sincerely, and he starts to put it on.

This is about to get a little too mushy for his tastes, though, so he changes the subject a bit.]

One of my brothers is actually here - like, here in the library. [No sense hiding it, since if Guy sees him the family ties will be obvious.] But, uh... do me a favor and don't mention it to anyone in the guilds, okay?

[Leo gives him a conspiratorial wink as he finishes getting the necklace on.]

Also open to wildcard etc. etc.

[levelshift]

A.

Central City's main library branch is a place Accelerator has been to a few times since arriving in this world. It's decent enough, and it's a good source of general information on this world. Being here with other people is new for him, but it is what it is. Donnie was really intent on seeing the place, it seems like Leo could use a field trip to somewhere intellectual, and Huvrye he knows nothing about, so why not.

Shortly after the group arrives he's wandering off to the nonfiction section to pick up a few books on turtles. He's deliberately avoiding any pet care books because that would be weird, instead focusing on whatever kinds of biology books a public library has. The selection isn't great, but he's grabbing a couple, flipping one open in the middle of the stacks to skim through it.

B.

Once he's found a few turtle-centric books that look worthwhile, Accelerator is moving on to the young adult section. It isn't quite the same as grabbing whatever newest light novel has been published at the corner store, but it's close enough and he's bored. Despite everything, and as much as he dislikes acknowledging it, he is still just a kid, and his tastes as about what you'd expect from a teenage boy.

Namely, he's zeroing in on one or two YA novels that seems to be sci-fi based and part of a series. He's got one in hand whose cover looks kind of steampunk-ish, and he's reading the back cover summary over curiously.