19619/April's Other Place

April's Other Place
Date of Scene:	06 December 2024
Location:	Truthseekers Studio
Synopsis:	Leo and April check out the podcast studio, to make sure everything is okay. April asks Leo to train her with a sword.
Cast of Characters:	April O'Neil, Leonardo

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April O'Neil has posed:
Following the fire at the antiques store, April had laid low inside the Turtle's home for several days. She had to touch in with a number of people though, from her boss at C6 News, to the Police too. She had been reluctant, because she thought it would bring the Foot down upon them again, but they hadn't shown up since that night. They were still laying low, likely themselves, to make it all look like 'Ninjas burned down my building!' to be the mad rantings of a woman who's job in investigative reporting has gone to her head.

Now, with a nip in the air, and a black hoodie on, blue jeans, gloves, and a backpack over her shoulders, April is making her way through the alleys at night, to the Truthseekers Podcast building. It was just a few blocks from the antique store, and so far it hadn't been hit by the Foot. For fear of that changing, April had to check in on it.

It was cold, very cold, but she had her hands swtuffed in her pockets, where she had some little heating pads that Donnie had made for cold nights. She was clutching them in her palms to keep her little fingers warm, as she reached a fence, and exhaled sharply. "God damnit." April hissed, as she moved toward the locked gate, and tried to tug it open, only to find the chain secured around it.

She sighed, and looked back over her shoulder, her auburn hair falling out of her hood down the right side of her chest, as she puffed out a steamy breath in to the night time chill.

Leonardo has posed:
The turtles have been accommodating, it certainly hasn't appeared to be much concern to have April, even Harley, stay in the lair while the pair were laying low. Leonardo keeps to himself, but he always does. In his meditations or conversing with Splinter about what they all should do. Their war with the Foot Clan had, once again, caused harm to befall those who aid them.

While the others may see the gravitas of that, Leo takes it to heart.

Which is why he's taken to following April when she goes out on her expeditions to the surface. He's exceptionally gifted where it pretains to stealth and stays out of her way. Never becoming an obstacle to whatever she's taken to the streets. At least not until it was clear for him to slip from the shadows just enough for her to catch sight of him. "Was that always there?" He asks with a nod of his head towards the chain securing the gate.

April O'Neil has posed:
April only had a thing of pepper spray on her, it was just beside the hand warmer in her right pocket. She was about to head out, and take the long way around the block, when Leo slipped out of the shadows, and April dropped an unlady-like F-bomb.

"You scared me!" She said afterward, before she huffed out a heavy breath, puffs of steam dispersing through the cold night air. She paced side to side, before she considered what he asked, and her blue eyes went to the fence. She kicked it with her trendy sneaker, causing the links to rattle against their bindings. "Yeah. They were wanting to cut down on people fleeing the cops through this route. I did a puff piece on it this past summer, but I forgot." She said, sighing again, before she looked back at him.

"Can you pick locks?" She asked him. "That is a ... Ninja thing, isn't it?" She wasn't sure, and it showed on her face from beneath her black hood, her pretty features a bit obscured by shadow blocking out the orange alley light shining down from the side of the building behind Leo.

Leonardo has posed:
Leo approached quietly and gave the lock a slap with the back of his two fingers, "Did it work?" Since the incident, he'd been even more serious than normal. Over protective. It had Raph damn near ready to bang his head against the wall, but he had a habit of sneaking off on his own anyways.

Which left the other brothers to bare the weight. The other brothers and, of course, April.

"I can." He gives her a shallow nod and slips a pair of thin metal tools from one of the pouches across the front of his tooled leather sheath that ran across his chest. It didn't even take him long. Donnie probably has a tool for this, make it even more easy, but Leo was old fashioned... as old fashioned as a turtle in his teens could be right?

"You heard from Vern?" The lock clicks. He gives it a tug and slides it out of the chain, slipping tool and padlock into his pouch to replace it once they'd left the studio. "Told him about the apartment, right? That he needs to be careful?"

April O'Neil has posed:
April was anxious, and her fidgeting was showing it quite evidently. She was rocking back and forth, the chill in the air likely making her nervousness look a bit more peaked too, as she saw him tap the lock. she huffed out a laugh, and shot him a smirk. "I'm gonna climb this thing, and get stuck at the top, and make you have to climb up and get me, if..."

He opened it up rather easily, and she widened her eyes. "You gotta show me how you did that some time." She said, before adding "Thanks."

When the gate was pulled open, she slipped through, and looked back at him. "I'm supposed to meet Vernon at the studio. Which is why I didn't wanna have to go around the whole block... He's nervous though, he's worried about becoming one of their targets too. He doesn't want Ninja showing up in his apartment breaking up him and his girlfriend. He said 'this is the one, Ape.'"

she smirked at this, as she waited for Leo to join her, and began to walk again.

"I wasn't gonna bother you guys about a milk run like this. I snuck out while Donnie was playing the Nintendo."

"I'm sick of being a burden on you guys... I ... I dunno. I'm a little crazy now, I think." She says, as she hears a noise off to her side, and sees a rather large rat scurrying out from behind a trash can, to run along the base of the building, and it doesn't even phase her at this point in her life, after all she's seen.

Leonardo has posed:
"It's not hard." Leo smiles, it's quick and slips away just as easily, "I'll show you later." A promise as he follows her through the open gate. It's pulled to behind them with chain dangling down the back so it still appears locked to the casual onlooker.

"Vernon. Right."

Leo knows Vernon's name, of course, but giving him crap is almost as effortless as picking a lock. Vern. "So she's blind and deaf?" Another smirk, this time from the turtle as they make their way towards the back of the studio while she explains that she was feeling a burden to them.

"You know it's not like that, April." Stern, but genuine. His hand rests on her shoulder to hold her up so he can slip past just long enough to peer in through the windows before she passes them. Blue eyes dark around to the corners, searching for the tell tale of someone hiding.

Once he's satisfied, he turns back to her. "None of us think you're a burden. It's good having you there with us... but I get it." He looks around, turning his head to indicate the street/alley and the world around them that is New York. "You're getting stir-crazy.. the subway life isn't for everyone."

He shakes her gently with the hand still resting on her shoulder. "You're definitely not crazy-crazy, though." The big rat doesn't phase Leo either!

THen again, he's a huge turtle who's father is a huge rat...

    So that probably doesn't count.

April O'Neil has posed:
they came up on the back of the podcast studio, with april pausing there to regard Leonardo on her right. She showed him a faint smile, and nodded her head softly toward him. "I guess I'm not cut out for it, no. I've never been great at sitting still for long, either." She added, before she saw him peer inside the building's windows.

"Come on, we'll go in the back door." She said, as she pulled some keys from her left jeans pocket. With a little jingle, the keys glinted in the alley light, as April stepped up to the back fenced-in area where Harley's hyenas tended to play while they were at the studio. She opened the lock up without the need of any picks, and pushed the gate door open. A small sidewalk lead up to a back loading area, with a door positioned beside it.

"Should we be worried about trip wires? Do the Foot do that? Like, rig the place to blow up if we don't see it in the doorway?"

She used her keyes to open the locks on the back door, and moved to pull it open with a click, and a little squeak of old hinges.

With the door open, the interior hallway was dark, and April reached inside to flick the lights on, causing the hall to light up. She stood just outside, and peered in. "Everything looks fine." She said.

The hallway had three doors in it, two on the right and one on the left. The door closest to them on the right lead in to the little garage area, and storage room, while the one just past it went in to a restroom. The door on the left lead in to her podcast area, while the hallway itself ended out in the lobby on the front of the building.

"Vernon?" April called out, to no answer.

Leonardo has posed:
"None of us are." Great at sitting still for long. Leo shared the faint smile and gave her a shallow nod when she's jiggling her keys. "That's why we came topside back then. Trying to raise four teenagers with an entire world above them that they couldn't interact with?" His brow perks as he's shaking his head. "Can't imagine it was easy for Father." A slow sigh.

Then a quiet laugh.

"Nah. Foot Clan are more theatric than that. If they were going to blow the place up, they'd want us to see it happen. If they're not in there, it's unlikely there's any explosions." He holds his hand out and slips inside, "Step high just in case though." That part, at least, is probably a joke?

Maybe.

Once they are inside, he's peering down the hallways with a turn of his head. Both hands rest with his thumb behind the thick leather belt around his shell where shurikens are hidden in small pockets... just to be sure. Especially when gets no answer from Vernon. "Could be running late? Popcorn and a movie with the one?"

April O'Neil has posed:
April watched him stride inside, while she did as he said and stepped high over the threshold. "Better to be safe than sorry..." She muttered, as her hands went up to her hood, and she pushed it back off of her head. "If he is late, then I'm gonna be..." She trailed off there, as she opened the door to the garage, and peered inside it. No car inside it, and the place looked just as they had left it. "Huh...."

She pulled the door shut again, before she looked back to Leo. "I told Casey I was going to move in here, and he said 'No way, Babe. They'd just make you a target again.'" She said, mocking casey's voice in a rather unflattering fashion, as she pushed the back door closed, to seal out the chill, and locked it with a dead bolt turned to the side.

"My second cell phone is here too, another reason I wanted to come by." She said, as she walked past Leo, and took a left. "Are you good? We got a lot of snacks in the kitchen still from Thanksgiving, I think." She said, motioning toward the area just inside the podcast room that was a kitchenette in the corner.

April went to her station at the multi-person desk, lined with all the high tech equipment for modern day internet broadcasting. She sat down at her chair, and pulled her backpack off her shoulders, before setting it on the ground. With a sigh, she reached for a phone in a drawer, and unplugged it from a charging cable.

"There should be some root beers in the fridge." She distractedly said as she perched on the edge of her chair, knees together, feet apart, and fingers rapidly texting Vernon.

Leonardo has posed:
There's a turtle head poking up over her shoulder to peer into the garage, "See? Everything's fine. Just cuddling with his lady on the couch, probably. That guy has always thought with his-" Leo trails off when she immitates Casey, bringing out a cackle from the blue bandana turtle, "Hah.. Yeah, him too."

At least he doesn't finish the thought?

Because there's mention of left over thanksgiving food.

Now, Leo loves pizza as much as his brothers, but he's developed a keen appetite for other foods as well. Sushi, ramen noodles, and definitely Thanksgiving food. It's negotiable if he knows the historical relevance of the celebration, but that's not going to stop him from eating his fill of leftover pumpkin pie.

"I could eat."

That's an understatement probably. Growing young turtles need tons of calories. Especially ninja growing young turtles. "I'll grab you a rootbeer." Off he goes, one part to fix himself a plate of food and one part to give her a minute to text Vernon and make sure he's okay. "We could swing by if he doesn't answer. Donnie keeps asking me to test out his new van anyways?"

April O'Neil has posed:
"Thanks...." April says in that distracted fashion someone speaks while they are actually focused on their phone. She was a good multi-tasker though, and after sending off her text, she fell back in her comfy chair, and slouched down, knees together, feet apart. She seemed lost in thought for a moment, before she looked over at Leo. "You guys got a new van?" She asked. "What happened to the old one? Did it crap out? I thought Donnie and Casey were working on it..."

Her phone beeped, and April sat up again, as Leo delivered the root beer with a thud on her desk. She ignored it for the moment, and went about reading the response. "He's on his way. He wants to know if we need anything from the store, food or supplies."

She looked over at him. "Do we?" She asked the leader of the Turtle team. "Trash bags?" She asks, then narrows her eyes. "why did I say trash bags...." She muttered, as she looked away, lost in thought on that. Her phone buzzed again, and she regarded it once more. "He said he saw some shady people hanging around the studio on the security cameras linked to his phone, which is why he was waiting for us to come in first... Such a hero."

Leonardo has posed:
Root beer held out for April, Leo sits on the edge of a sturdy table with a big plate of whatever he could find in the fridge. It didn't matter really, sweets mixed with mashed potatoes? Sure. After eating some of the crazy pizza creations Mikey comes up with, may as well be Gordon Ramsey Beef Wellington. Not that Leo has any idea what that tastes like...

Looks like a lot of work, though.

He uses his fork to shovel food in his mouth and shakes his head that he doesn't need anything. Not even trash bags. No idea what he would need them for, except maybe to help move some of her stuff? An indifferent shrug and a smirk, swallowing down his mouth full wiht a big gulp of root beer.

"He's always been heroic." He has not.

"Foot have been using kids, again. Like they did back then.. Possibly they've set up some lookouts." More food in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "I'll talk to Donnie, see if he can hack into the security feed so we can keep an eye on the place from the lair."

April O'Neil has posed:
April accepted the root beer, and set it down between her thighs. She nodded to Leo, "I'll just tell him I'll think about it, and maybe go with him to the store later." She said, as she fired off a text saying just that. She scrolled her device for a moment longer, as it was her work phone, but it had quite a few work related messages on it, because of that. She sat it down, though, and raised the can of soda up to pop it open. she lifted it up to her lips to take a sip, before she shook her head from side to side.

Her can was set down with a heavy thud on the desk, and she stood up. Stepping around the desk, April moved to a display stand where she had a set of leather amazon armor, and a sword strapped to it in a scabbard on the armor's back. She pulled the sword from the scabbard, with a near-silent gliding of Amazonium metal on leather, and held the blade up, point toward the ceiling.

"How fast could you teach me to use this right?" She asked Leo, the blade gleaming, silver blade and golden hand guarg above a leather wrapped grip. "For protection, of course."

Leonardo has posed:
Leo set his plate aside and rests his elbows on his thighs above the leather/metal knee pads. He watches her circle the desk and nods when she says she'll go with Vernon to the store later. He also watches her pull out the armor and weapons with his head tilting at the sword in particular. Before reaching out, he sucks the grease from his fingers and then turns his palm over so she can set the blade down in it. "This is a Xiphos." Provided she does hand him the weapon:

He whirls it around his hand, spinning the short silver blade in alternating swipes upwards as it circles around his thumb, fingers guiding the leather wrapped hilt to keep it from slicing him. Each revolution ends with him pointing it straight out, until the last, where he holds it with the handle pointing towards her, two fingers wrapped around the golden guard. "If you're serious, a couple weeks. You wont be winning any martial arts tournaments, but you'll be able to catch someone off guard easily enough."

He points to the armor with the handle, "Not as good with armor, though." He comes equipped with his own.

A half grin. "Probably wont be in the manner this weapon was intended.. I've read about Greeking fighting styles, but never really trained in it much."

April O'Neil has posed:
April stood back beside the set of leather armor on the headless black mannequin. She folded her arms over her stomach, rumpling the black fabric of her hoodie, as her eyes watched him flourish the weapon with a skillful grace. She had seen him do it before with his own swords, countless times now, but never with this one. She raised her chin a moment, and looked over at the gladiator style armor, which was basically Xena's outfit, if not with some alterations. "Yeah, well, I don't think the weather is quite right for that stuff...." She said of it, before she looked back to the large turtle man.

"Two weeks? that's it?" She asked. "Well, I'm on a month leave from C6, and I'm taking time off of this..." She motioned to her broadcast desk. "I'm still uploading stuff to my socials, soon anyway. But yeah, all I have is free time now. I mean... I can't carry that thing around with me wherever I go. But maybe I should start keeping it closer to me at all times?" She asked, as her mind was ever turning wheels within it.

"Or, I just get a gun." She dryly said, as she accepted it back from him, and raised it up to look at her face in the mirror finish of the blade's length. After a second, she let it sweep back down to point the tip down beside her right foot.

"They teach it at the Themysciran Arts Center, but... I've never had the free time to devote to going there. Besides, who better to learn the art of the sword from, than you?" She asked, as she walked toward him with a smile. She paused beside him, and pat his shoulder with her left hand. She paused, then motioned to his cheek. "You got some mashed potatoes there..." She indicated, a soft voice.