[The lack of response is enough for him to drop to all fours, more comfortable this way as he moves forward.
Donnie gets no real warning before something turtle shaped and heavily scarred ends up sitting down heavily on his other work table his side projects are laid out on. He points at what Donnie is working on with interest and a louder squeak.
Even in his current state, some part of him remembers giving Donnie's projects space.]
[One would think that having a feral brother around one would be ready for such things.
Donatello was not ready for a sudden turtle on his other work table, so when Leo squeaks? Donnie practically leaps out of his chair, bringing both his hands up in an almost offensive manner... That is until he fully registers just who it is, brings his hands down and lets out a sigh.
[When Donnie startles, the feral turtle startles in turn, but goes very still where he's seated. He relaxes as Donnie re-settles and audibly says the word sigh.
He chirrups back, brightening a little as Donnie looks at him. His attention shifts again, back to Donnie's work table.
He goes back to pointing at the project, an unspoken question hanging between them.]
[Oh, okay. Leo is pointing at his project. That's... Does he want Donnie to talk about it? That's not something he expected, so hopefully Leo doesn't mind the skeptical look on his face.]
You don't want to listen to me, you never did before.
[Then again, if Leo doesn't want to listen he can always leave. So Donnie will talk about what he's working on, mostly starting with the easy-to-understand parts. Like how he's rerouting the electronics to be more efficient since the wiring wasn't exactly how he wanted it so now that he has time he's just redoing the whole thing.]
[He clearly doesn't quite understand everything being said, but his attention is focused on Donnie. He tilts his head to the side, clicking occasionally.
Affection swells under his plastron. A warm content feeling as he just listens. He hadn't heard Purple talk about any of this in years. He shifts a little to fold himself up smaller on the table he's seated on.]
Purr-Purple.
[He speaks, for the first time since his arrival home. His voice is reedy, thin, disused. He can't get the word out perfectly. He is smiling at Donnie.]
[That one word makes Donnie stop dead in his tracks, mid-sentence even, as he turns his full attention to Leo now. He gets up a little and brings his hands up to take a hold of Leo by the shoulders, probably not a smart idea considering, but he feels he has to.]
What... What did you just say?
[He wants to be sure he heard that right, that thin reedy voice had to have come from his brother.]
[Donnie stopping in his tracks leaves the red-eared slider a little confused. He blinks up at Donnie.
His smile wanes slightly at being boxed in. It's sign enough he's comfortable again with Donnie that he doesn't default to biting. He had bitten almost everyone at least once upon arrival.
He chirrups a little, the sound confused.]
Purrple? [He repeats himself, a little less confident. His response more of a breathy question.]
[He totally expected to get bitten, but he was willing to risk it for this. He blinks a little, tears starting to form in his eyes that he's unaware of.]
Yeah, that's me. I'm Purple.
[His voice is a little shaky as he says it, but he's also trying to be encouraging. If he can get Leo to talk more? Even just calling them by colors is a start.]
[The feral turtle's smile wanes completely, shifting into a frown. He raises a hand to mimic a gesture he saw the others do. A pat on the arm. ]
Purrple? Purble. [The third attempt isn't great, but he's not sure how to vocalize his concern. He tries to keep vocalizing.]
O- o- [His breath shakes, thick and heavy before he raises an arm to cough as quietly as he can. The instinct to stay quiet as he can still ingrained into him. His attempt to ask Donnie if he's okay stays lodged in his throat for the moment.]
[The crying makes the red-eared slider more than a little distressed. He clicks worriedly, chattering. Sounds Donnie is likely more used to now since his return. He presses his hand against his mouth, on the verge of biting at his knuckles. A bad habit the others had nearly broken him from. Most of the scarring on his hands are his own doing from stress.
His breathing is still rough sounding thanks to the coughing. He wheezes just a little, but manages to bring himself back to something calmer.]
Ttrreasure. [He clicks his beak close, opening again.]
Treasure.[He manages that word after a moment. Struggling with all the letters. They all feel strange in his mouth. Large and unwieldy. He still wants to make sure Donnie knows he cares.] Purrple, treasure.
Hey. [Yeah when Leo brings his hand to his mouth that gets Donnie's attention, although when he's not biting it? Donnie doesn't try to stop him, even as his tears are flowing.
The fact that Leo says more words just. Hits him right in the heart, as he brings a hand up to wipe at his face. Finally noticing that he's crying.]
I... Don't get what you mean, but I'm fine. This is happy crying, Leo.
[The feral turtle still looks concerned, but draws his hand away from his mouth to produce something he's kept hidden on himself. Even now he can't quite give it up. His Treasures have given him things to wear and he's at least worn something to keep his treasure close by.
He holds the tattered paper up to Donnie to show him.
It's the picture Casey had first given them. The edges are frayed and worn from being handled, but the contents of the picture are still clear. The rest of their family are fine, but it's clear the older turtle ripped himself out of the image at some point.]
Treasure. Purpble. [He smiles back, as if that makes perfect sense. He wants to convey how much he cares and how he just wants to help. He doesn't have he words anymore.]
[The fact that Leo has something that none of them was aware of certainly gets Donnie's attention.
He moves to take the paper, but stops himself when Leo says Treasure. Instead just going to lean in and notice that yeah, it's the picture of them that Casey had when he first showed up. And he totally notices the removal of Leo from the picture, that fact makes him frown.]
You're a treasure too, Leo. [He may not get what Leo is trying to convey, but he's getting bad vibes from the state of that photo.]
[The red-eared slider frowned a little in turn. Shaking his head, clicking audibly. Not sure how to convey what he wants to say. He doesn't particularly notice the implication the tear has, focused on wanting to say something. He wants purple to know he cares.]
Mn- no, purrple- treasure. Red, Orange, Green, Grey all treasure- [He points at each of them as he names them. He ends up coughing again, tucking his face into the crook of his elbow, shaking with the effort.
Breathing real fresher air again, even if its sewer air still is making his lungs feel strange. He closes his eyes as he ends up bringing the photo back to his plastron. He's pushing himself a little harder than he probably should. The fact he's managing fuller sentences is a good sign.]
[The fact Donnie seems to understand his very scattered line of thought eases the feral turtle to some extent. Some distant part of himself is aware he's making very little sense. Everything is still overwhelming in so many ways.
He nods a little accepting Donnie's word. Gingerly tucking the photo out of sight. His handling of it careful and tentative even now.
He chirrups, accepting the fact readily. He points at the project again, imploringly asking Donnie to talk.
Apparently, he wants to just hear Donnie talk today.]
[Hey as long as Leo is happy, Donnie is happy. As he goes to sit back down, he'll look at his project when Leo points at it and he can't help but smile a little.]
I'm going to work on it some more, but sure... I can tell you what I'm doing while I do it?
[At least he has a hunch that Leo just wants him to talk, which is nice. Even though he's sure that what he'll be talking about will probably go over his twin's head, it's nice to have someone actually listen to him.
So as he gets back to work, he'll explain in detail every little step of the procedure as he does it. Not stopping unless prompted by Leo to do so, of course.]
[He nods a little, settling back a bit more on the table.
The older turtle for his part is listening raptly. Not a lot of it clicks for him, but he is listening. He chitters and chirrups occasionally in places that seem open to response. Listening to conversations has given him a rough idea of how to interject to some extent.
With time, he does start to droop slightly. He yawns, but is trying to stay awake to just stay close to Donnie.
[Donnie is fine with just talking, going "Oh yes" and "You're right" when Leo interjects with clicks, as if he's saying something that would contribute. This is most definitely not what would happen normally, but let a turtle dream okay.
He does notice the yawn and the drooping, so he stops talking and working to get up and grab something he keeps stashed in his lab just in case.]
You can sleep, Leo. I know what I do isn't as interesting to the rest of you guys. [He says this as he comes over with a blanket, just going to drape it over his brother before going back to his work. And he'll easily slip back into what he was doing, and talking about it.]
[The older turtle huffs a little, miming the time with his fingers. It is a bit more personality than he's had in weeks. He doesn't argue much beyond that, curling up on the table. A vast improvement to his tendency to curl up on the floor or in strange corners out of sight.
By the time morning comes around, Donnie will wake up to his lab being down a turtle. The sound of everyone moving around in the kitchen is easy enough to hear.
Raph's voice carries as it always does when he's working in the kitchen. The red-eared slider is sitting on the fringes of the kitchen, watching alongside Mikey. Unsurprisingly Mikey looks put out that he still can't cook. Their dad is tutting a little, half back seat instructing Raph on how to cook eggs. The two are teasing each other in a fond enough manner.
Once Donnie makes an appearance, the feral turtle's attention shifts to him. He squeaks a greeting. Followed shortly by a friendly call.]
Purrrble!
[Raph drops the pan he's holding back onto the stove top, whipping around to stare at Leo. Mikey chokes on his drink as Splinter goes very still. The feral turtle startles a little at the sound, jolting out of his chair and looking at them openly confused.]
[His lab being down a turtle was a bit of concern until he hears the hustle in the kitchen, which he headed towards. Just assuming that Leo is probably with everyone else, after all.
So once he's in the kitchen, planning on getting himself a tasteless juice for breakfast, and he's about to say good morning when Leo speaks up. Everyone else's reaction is kind of expected, but Donnie just takes it in stride. He got to have this shock last night after all.]
Morning, Leo... Everyone else.
[Y'know just casually not minding that their feral brother just spoke.]
Wait, wait, wait, did Leo talk? Donnie how are you not freaking out!? [Raph interjects, before turning back to the stove with a bit of a panicked sound when he realizes he left the eggs on a little too long.
Mikey winces at the disaster of eggs, but quickly reaches out to Leo.] It's okay, Leo, nothing is wrong!
[Leo still looks a little alarmed due to the reaction, but starts to sit back down. He chirrups a bit uncertainly, but bumps Mikey's shoulder with his snout in a friendly gesture.
Their father walks towards them, his expression gentle and fond. He glances at Donnie, getting a rough idea something happened last night. The question is aimed at Donnie as Splinter pats at Leo's shell soothingly.] Did he start speaking last night-?
purrrble. [Leo offers, gesturing loosely at Donnie.]
[Just going to wait for everyone to say what they want to say before answering anything. Starting with Splinter since that kind of also answers Raph's question too.]
Yeah, he came into my lab [He stops himself from saying "to bug me" because it wasn't that, that would have been the old Leo.] I guess to just be around someone? And I was explaining what I was doing when he said that, Purple.
[Which is why he's not freaking out, he got to do that enough already.]
Well, we definitely know who the favorite is. [Raph half jokes, trying to pay attention and salvage the eggs. Mikey breathes out a laugh as Splinter snorts slightly, mumbling something about twins.
The feral turtle's attention shifts between everyone curiously. Splinter just seems openly overjoyed. Raph manages to plate some of the eggs, nudging the plate over to the older turtle. The red-eared slider manages to clumsily pick up a fork, still trying to figure out how to use it again. There are a lot of clanks and clunks as he jabs at the plate a bit too forcefully.]
This is wonderful, with time he should be able to speak again fully. [Splinter goes to get a glass of water, well aware his more feral child might choke on the food.]
Did he say anything else, Donnie? [Mikey asks, genuinely curious.]
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Donnie gets no real warning before something turtle shaped and heavily scarred ends up sitting down heavily on his other work table his side projects are laid out on. He points at what Donnie is working on with interest and a louder squeak.
Even in his current state, some part of him remembers giving Donnie's projects space.]
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Donatello was not ready for a sudden turtle on his other work table, so when Leo squeaks? Donnie practically leaps out of his chair, bringing both his hands up in an almost offensive manner... That is until he fully registers just who it is, brings his hands down and lets out a sigh.
Which he does by saying sigh.]
Leo, you shouldn't do that.
[As to which that he means? Yes.]
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He chirrups back, brightening a little as Donnie looks at him. His attention shifts again, back to Donnie's work table.
He goes back to pointing at the project, an unspoken question hanging between them.]
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You don't want to listen to me, you never did before.
[Then again, if Leo doesn't want to listen he can always leave. So Donnie will talk about what he's working on, mostly starting with the easy-to-understand parts. Like how he's rerouting the electronics to be more efficient since the wiring wasn't exactly how he wanted it so now that he has time he's just redoing the whole thing.]
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Affection swells under his plastron. A warm content feeling as he just listens. He hadn't heard Purple talk about any of this in years. He shifts a little to fold himself up smaller on the table he's seated on.]
Purr-Purple.
[He speaks, for the first time since his arrival home. His voice is reedy, thin, disused. He can't get the word out perfectly. He is smiling at Donnie.]
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What... What did you just say?
[He wants to be sure he heard that right, that thin reedy voice had to have come from his brother.]
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His smile wanes slightly at being boxed in. It's sign enough he's comfortable again with Donnie that he doesn't default to biting. He had bitten almost everyone at least once upon arrival.
He chirrups a little, the sound confused.]
Purrple? [He repeats himself, a little less confident. His response more of a breathy question.]
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Yeah, that's me. I'm Purple.
[His voice is a little shaky as he says it, but he's also trying to be encouraging. If he can get Leo to talk more? Even just calling them by colors is a start.]
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Purrple? Purble. [The third attempt isn't great, but he's not sure how to vocalize his concern. He tries to keep vocalizing.]
O- o- [His breath shakes, thick and heavy before he raises an arm to cough as quietly as he can. The instinct to stay quiet as he can still ingrained into him. His attempt to ask Donnie if he's okay stays lodged in his throat for the moment.]
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He can't help but feel some hope at this. Although when Leo coughs, he gives his twin's shoulders a squeeze in an attempt to be comforting.]
Hey, hey. It's okay, Leo. Only say as much as you want to, okay?
[As much as he actually misses the other turtle's chattering, he doesn't want to push him too much.]
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His breathing is still rough sounding thanks to the coughing. He wheezes just a little, but manages to bring himself back to something calmer.]
Ttrreasure. [He clicks his beak close, opening again.]
Treasure.[He manages that word after a moment. Struggling with all the letters. They all feel strange in his mouth. Large and unwieldy. He still wants to make sure Donnie knows he cares.] Purrple, treasure.
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The fact that Leo says more words just. Hits him right in the heart, as he brings a hand up to wipe at his face. Finally noticing that he's crying.]
I... Don't get what you mean, but I'm fine. This is happy crying, Leo.
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He holds the tattered paper up to Donnie to show him.
It's the picture Casey had first given them. The edges are frayed and worn from being handled, but the contents of the picture are still clear. The rest of their family are fine, but it's clear the older turtle ripped himself out of the image at some point.]
Treasure. Purpble. [He smiles back, as if that makes perfect sense. He wants to convey how much he cares and how he just wants to help. He doesn't have he words anymore.]
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He moves to take the paper, but stops himself when Leo says Treasure. Instead just going to lean in and notice that yeah, it's the picture of them that Casey had when he first showed up. And he totally notices the removal of Leo from the picture, that fact makes him frown.]
You're a treasure too, Leo. [He may not get what Leo is trying to convey, but he's getting bad vibes from the state of that photo.]
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Mn- no, purrple- treasure. Red, Orange, Green, Grey all treasure- [He points at each of them as he names them. He ends up coughing again, tucking his face into the crook of his elbow, shaking with the effort.
Breathing real fresher air again, even if its sewer air still is making his lungs feel strange. He closes his eyes as he ends up bringing the photo back to his plastron. He's pushing himself a little harder than he probably should. The fact he's managing fuller sentences is a good sign.]
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Although his frown deepens at Leo coughing, maybe he shouldn't be talking so much.]
Okay, okay, okay. I get what you're saying but... To us [He points to himself as he says this.] you're our treasure, and that's a good thing, Leo.
... Also don't push yourself, you just started to talk so take your time.
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He nods a little accepting Donnie's word. Gingerly tucking the photo out of sight. His handling of it careful and tentative even now.
He chirrups, accepting the fact readily. He points at the project again, imploringly asking Donnie to talk.
Apparently, he wants to just hear Donnie talk today.]
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I'm going to work on it some more, but sure... I can tell you what I'm doing while I do it?
[At least he has a hunch that Leo just wants him to talk, which is nice. Even though he's sure that what he'll be talking about will probably go over his twin's head, it's nice to have someone actually listen to him.
So as he gets back to work, he'll explain in detail every little step of the procedure as he does it. Not stopping unless prompted by Leo to do so, of course.]
in my next tag I'll bump us ahead
The older turtle for his part is listening raptly. Not a lot of it clicks for him, but he is listening. He chitters and chirrups occasionally in places that seem open to response. Listening to conversations has given him a rough idea of how to interject to some extent.
With time, he does start to droop slightly. He yawns, but is trying to stay awake to just stay close to Donnie.
/thumbs up
He does notice the yawn and the drooping, so he stops talking and working to get up and grab something he keeps stashed in his lab just in case.]
You can sleep, Leo. I know what I do isn't as interesting to the rest of you guys. [He says this as he comes over with a blanket, just going to drape it over his brother before going back to his work. And he'll easily slip back into what he was doing, and talking about it.]
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By the time morning comes around, Donnie will wake up to his lab being down a turtle. The sound of everyone moving around in the kitchen is easy enough to hear.
Raph's voice carries as it always does when he's working in the kitchen. The red-eared slider is sitting on the fringes of the kitchen, watching alongside Mikey. Unsurprisingly Mikey looks put out that he still can't cook. Their dad is tutting a little, half back seat instructing Raph on how to cook eggs. The two are teasing each other in a fond enough manner.
Once Donnie makes an appearance, the feral turtle's attention shifts to him. He squeaks a greeting. Followed shortly by a friendly call.]
Purrrble!
[Raph drops the pan he's holding back onto the stove top, whipping around to stare at Leo. Mikey chokes on his drink as Splinter goes very still. The feral turtle startles a little at the sound, jolting out of his chair and looking at them openly confused.]
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So once he's in the kitchen, planning on getting himself a tasteless juice for breakfast, and he's about to say good morning when Leo speaks up. Everyone else's reaction is kind of expected, but Donnie just takes it in stride. He got to have this shock last night after all.]
Morning, Leo... Everyone else.
[Y'know just casually not minding that their feral brother just spoke.]
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Mikey winces at the disaster of eggs, but quickly reaches out to Leo.] It's okay, Leo, nothing is wrong!
[Leo still looks a little alarmed due to the reaction, but starts to sit back down. He chirrups a bit uncertainly, but bumps Mikey's shoulder with his snout in a friendly gesture.
Their father walks towards them, his expression gentle and fond. He glances at Donnie, getting a rough idea something happened last night. The question is aimed at Donnie as Splinter pats at Leo's shell soothingly.] Did he start speaking last night-?
purrrble. [Leo offers, gesturing loosely at Donnie.]
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Yeah, he came into my lab [He stops himself from saying "to bug me" because it wasn't that, that would have been the old Leo.] I guess to just be around someone? And I was explaining what I was doing when he said that, Purple.
[Which is why he's not freaking out, he got to do that enough already.]
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The feral turtle's attention shifts between everyone curiously. Splinter just seems openly overjoyed. Raph manages to plate some of the eggs, nudging the plate over to the older turtle. The red-eared slider manages to clumsily pick up a fork, still trying to figure out how to use it again. There are a lot of clanks and clunks as he jabs at the plate a bit too forcefully.]
This is wonderful, with time he should be able to speak again fully. [Splinter goes to get a glass of water, well aware his more feral child might choke on the food.]
Did he say anything else, Donnie? [Mikey asks, genuinely curious.]
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gently bumps us ahead once again
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