[ Raph believes that much easy. The heart of it, where the priorities land when things are real. He'd be lying if he said he always noticed Leo doing it or got how he went at things.
He guesses that means he knows from both ends how much general herding either gets taken for granted or ignored outright. Leo always loving them and wanting them safe, at least, that's that's never been in question. A lot of his fear and growing frustration came from him not getting Leo's angle.
A wave of gratitude, sheepishness, a little apology. He had a hard time dialing back down, after Shredder. Even with all the good stuff that came out of it. Even though it would've helped everything if he had. He's been trying to get better at that.
Snail's lucky to have his little brother on deck, in any case.
He snorts, flicking some water Leo's way. ]
Yeah, once I get my phone from home you can copy off my notes. [ Yes he has phone notes for days. How many are comprehensible to anyone that's not late-night Raph remains to be seen. ] When in doubt, just throw around some experimental adhesives.
[ Local turtle still not aware that his brothers re-engaged baller mode that mission solely to humor him after his moment of vulnerability. Leo... u were a real one for that. ]
Okay, I'm gonna say 'no' to the experimental adhesives because we don't have a wya to undo that here, but - You had notes?
[He sounds absolutely delighted by that. Of course his big brother had notes. It makes sense after all the charts and calendar schedules for training.]
If you got 'em I'll look at 'em when we get your phone. [He's hesitant for Raph and Don to get any more of their home things here. Too much like them settling in this place like Leo started to.] If Snail wins another token, I'll grab it for you.
[ Boo thinking ahead to the fact that there would be no way to undo the teamwork ball, boooooo. ]
'course I had notes. Was I supposed to read stuff and remember it? [ Like some kind of NERD? Absolutely not. ] You don't gotta go outta your way, alright? Half of it's probably stuff you figured out already.
[ Raph is starting to feel like, perhaps, Leo theoretically already knows or figured out plenty of stuff and just never felt like he needed to say it. Or did say it but Raph was busy basing plans off of children's books he never finished or what have you.
And some of it's leadership stuff that he's not sure if it would gel with Leo's style if Leo wanted leader notes? Raph... doesn't know a ton about Leo's style when he's really trying for it. Looking back. But he doesn't think there'd be all that much good in teams picking leaders here anyway. There's no knowing who'll even end up in a game to start with, never mind what the scenario is gonna need. General bonding and teambuilding is a bigger deal, in his humble onion.
Egg still needs to work on that. They do fine when they all need to work together during crunchtime, at least. ]
Psh, it's not going out of my way. I already got everything I want from home, so better it gets some use for you guys.
[If he were being honest? Leo is thrilled to not be leader of Snail. That they not only all agreed to not do that, but Gojo telling him if push came to shove, they would never force that on him. Maybe it's a little juvenile being relieved to not have that responsibility... but he's seen what happens. Even if he was acting up on purpose, it still got ahead of him in the worst possible ways.]
[ Raph very maturely blows a raspberry about Leo being super nice and considerate. Which is probably undercut by the sincere gratitude that's coming through the ninpo, but he can't let that stop him. Big brother rights.
Now the what else. That is the question. Raph knows the answer because it's "other thing he said he wanted to show Leo" and "Leo said he had a thing to share but it's a good one."
A little uncertainty. It settles in the absent way that someone might notice they were bouncing their leg and then stop doing it. ]
My second thing's kinda a downer. So maybe we do that one first and then hit your, uh. Non-bad surprise?
[He won't bring attention to that, instead just soothing it with his own. It's calm. They're fine. Whatever Raph has to show him? Must be important but he knows it'll be all right. Leo smiles at him, encouraging in that way he has and also Very Knowing.
It's the perfect 'wanna punch little brother's shoulder' combo Leo is so good at.]
Oh, it'll be great. You'll love it. After uh. The other thing.
[ Leo is the guy ever... he's never done anything wrong ever in his life, until some future point where Raph is annoyed at him and decides he's committed every crime ever like a menace. Brother stuff.
It helps, though. Leo being Leo about stuff. He's probably the best out of all of them at making weird stuff feel less weird? Like being a baseline. Raph's no good at words, he wouldn't know how to explain what that even means if he tried.
It'll be all right. It's not like this is a world-ender or anything. Or technically even fresh news. It just--
Kinda feels bad to sit on. And it's in the rare intersection of stuff Donnie saw because of dumb memory shenanigans and stuff that Raph doesn't plan to simply actively keep Leo from knowing about forever. So. ]
Right. I can get behind some incentive.
[ This is all a brain heart space... setup. Thing. Right? Dreamscape thing. So he can probably just kinda.
Raph leans over a little, sticks his hand into the water. Tries to harness some very Grounded Energy until some of the surface area goes still, smooths out. (It takes a minute.)
He doesn't want a whole setting change, a whole relive-the-moment. Showing is fine.
[Oooh movie theater, all right. Using the space for their own needs! Leo smiles proudly at Raph for getting that and leans in to watch.
And the smile slowly fades. That's... He wasn't there for that. They were fighting Big Lou Jitsu at the time and missed this entirely....
Dad.
It's obvious when the connection hits. Not just the clear throughline of what he's watching, but also what it meant, what dad must have been feeling watching Leo do... exactly the same thing. Apologies, however sincere, feel empty in the face of watching his father sob like that. It explains a lot in a way Raph simply telling him wouldn't have gotten across.
Leo watches the water clear again when the memory fades before looking up at Raph.]
[ He's glad Leo gets it right off. That it clicks, and he doesn't have to try to scrape around for good enough words, only to end up frustrating himself when he can't find them.
Not that Raph wouldn't have brute forced the trying anyway, but.
Sometimes it really does just help to have a little brother be the exact kind of smart to know what the point was. ]
It stinks to know. [ It's not a disagreement. These sentiments aren't mutually exclusive, after all. He crosses his arms. Only because he's cool and not because he has any complicated muddled emotions. Raph doesn't really-- he doesn't want Leo or Donnie to have his weird issue, his dumb hard time separating Pop from this when they think about him, but. ] But yeah. I think it maybe helps. Or might help later? Somethin'.
[ See, he's already not good at the wording of it.
There's an impulse, an urge to say take it easy on him, when you check in with your OG timeline. Raph doesn't say it. Leo's probably the last person he'd actually worry about being too hard on their dad when it counts. ]
[It's good Raph doesn't say it. Leo manages to keep his feelings on that closed off; no point reminding him there's a chance he won't check in with his OG timeline. Or maybe not. Who knows, he's just going to go with his plan and figure it out from there.
He rubs at the back of his neck just sliding all this information into place with what he knows about their dad and his history. And a lot of things make way, way more sense now.]
I think it helps, yeah. Good to know all the pieces. ...Thanks for telling me. Showing. Whtever.
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Re: Day ~90 probably
He guesses that means he knows from both ends how much general herding either gets taken for granted or ignored outright. Leo always loving them and wanting them safe, at least, that's that's never been in question. A lot of his fear and growing frustration came from him not getting Leo's angle.
A wave of gratitude, sheepishness, a little apology. He had a hard time dialing back down, after Shredder. Even with all the good stuff that came out of it. Even though it would've helped everything if he had. He's been trying to get better at that.
Snail's lucky to have his little brother on deck, in any case.
He snorts, flicking some water Leo's way. ]
Yeah, once I get my phone from home you can copy off my notes. [ Yes he has phone notes for days. How many are comprehensible to anyone that's not late-night Raph remains to be seen. ] When in doubt, just throw around some experimental adhesives.
[ Local turtle still not aware that his brothers re-engaged baller mode that mission solely to humor him after his moment of vulnerability. Leo... u were a real one for that. ]
Re: Day ~90 probably
[He sounds absolutely delighted by that. Of course his big brother had notes. It makes sense after all the charts and calendar schedules for training.]
If you got 'em I'll look at 'em when we get your phone. [He's hesitant for Raph and Don to get any more of their home things here. Too much like them settling in this place like Leo started to.] If Snail wins another token, I'll grab it for you.
Re: Day ~90 probably
'course I had notes. Was I supposed to read stuff and remember it? [ Like some kind of NERD? Absolutely not. ] You don't gotta go outta your way, alright? Half of it's probably stuff you figured out already.
[ Raph is starting to feel like, perhaps, Leo theoretically already knows or figured out plenty of stuff and just never felt like he needed to say it. Or did say it but Raph was busy basing plans off of children's books he never finished or what have you.
And some of it's leadership stuff that he's not sure if it would gel with Leo's style if Leo wanted leader notes? Raph... doesn't know a ton about Leo's style when he's really trying for it. Looking back. But he doesn't think there'd be all that much good in teams picking leaders here anyway. There's no knowing who'll even end up in a game to start with, never mind what the scenario is gonna need. General bonding and teambuilding is a bigger deal, in his humble onion.
Egg still needs to work on that. They do fine when they all need to work together during crunchtime, at least. ]
Re: Day ~90 probably
[If he were being honest? Leo is thrilled to not be leader of Snail. That they not only all agreed to not do that, but Gojo telling him if push came to shove, they would never force that on him. Maybe it's a little juvenile being relieved to not have that responsibility... but he's seen what happens. Even if he was acting up on purpose, it still got ahead of him in the worst possible ways.]
What else've we got here?
Re: Day ~90 probably
Now the what else. That is the question. Raph knows the answer because it's "other thing he said he wanted to show Leo" and "Leo said he had a thing to share but it's a good one."
A little uncertainty. It settles in the absent way that someone might notice they were bouncing their leg and then stop doing it. ]
My second thing's kinda a downer. So maybe we do that one first and then hit your, uh. Non-bad surprise?
Re: Day ~90 probably
[He won't bring attention to that, instead just soothing it with his own. It's calm. They're fine. Whatever Raph has to show him? Must be important but he knows it'll be all right. Leo smiles at him, encouraging in that way he has and also Very Knowing.
It's the perfect 'wanna punch little brother's shoulder' combo Leo is so good at.]
Oh, it'll be great. You'll love it. After uh. The other thing.
Re: Day ~90 probably
It helps, though. Leo being Leo about stuff. He's probably the best out of all of them at making weird stuff feel less weird? Like being a baseline. Raph's no good at words, he wouldn't know how to explain what that even means if he tried.
It'll be all right. It's not like this is a world-ender or anything. Or technically even fresh news. It just--
Kinda feels bad to sit on. And it's in the rare intersection of stuff Donnie saw because of dumb memory shenanigans and stuff that Raph doesn't plan to simply actively keep Leo from knowing about forever. So. ]
Right. I can get behind some incentive.
[ This is all a brain heart space... setup. Thing. Right? Dreamscape thing. So he can probably just kinda.
Raph leans over a little, sticks his hand into the water. Tries to harness some very Grounded Energy until some of the surface area goes still, smooths out. (It takes a minute.)
He doesn't want a whole setting change, a whole relive-the-moment. Showing is fine.
He likes this place.
Call that a plus one generational trauma event to Leo's inventory. ]
Re: Day ~90 probably
And the smile slowly fades. That's... He wasn't there for that. They were fighting Big Lou Jitsu at the time and missed this entirely....
Dad.
It's obvious when the connection hits. Not just the clear throughline of what he's watching, but also what it meant, what dad must have been feeling watching Leo do... exactly the same thing. Apologies, however sincere, feel empty in the face of watching his father sob like that. It explains a lot in a way Raph simply telling him wouldn't have gotten across.
Leo watches the water clear again when the memory fades before looking up at Raph.]
That, uh. That's... Good to. Know.
Re: Day ~90 probably
Not that Raph wouldn't have brute forced the trying anyway, but.
Sometimes it really does just help to have a little brother be the exact kind of smart to know what the point was. ]
It stinks to know. [ It's not a disagreement. These sentiments aren't mutually exclusive, after all. He crosses his arms. Only because he's cool and not because he has any complicated muddled emotions. Raph doesn't really-- he doesn't want Leo or Donnie to have his weird issue, his dumb hard time separating Pop from this when they think about him, but. ] But yeah. I think it maybe helps. Or might help later? Somethin'.
[ See, he's already not good at the wording of it.
There's an impulse, an urge to say take it easy on him, when you check in with your OG timeline. Raph doesn't say it. Leo's probably the last person he'd actually worry about being too hard on their dad when it counts. ]
Re: Day ~90 probably
He rubs at the back of his neck just sliding all this information into place with what he knows about their dad and his history. And a lot of things make way, way more sense now.]
I think it helps, yeah. Good to know all the pieces. ...Thanks for telling me. Showing. Whtever.