2254/Calling Allies

Calling Allies
Date of Scene:	27 June 2020
Location:	April's Apartment
Synopsis:	Michelangelo and April talk about Mutant Town, before settling into some episodes of Dawson's Creek.
Cast of Characters:	Michelangelo, April O'Neil

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Michelangelo has posed:
It's Saturday afternoon in New York City. Had it not been for the fact that ALL of Mutant Town vanished - literally vanished - some might classify it as a nice day today. The temperature is warm, the sun is out and the sky is blue without much cloud. A perfect day to go out and hang out with friends, maybe do some shopping, or just chat the afternoon away at the local diner. Instead, given the circumstances, many locals are making the decision to just stay home where they feel save. And who can blame them? It feels as if a veil of danger has cloaked itself over the five boroughs. First it was Mutant Town. What next? The Statue of Liberty? Manhattan? Certainly it was something that ran through Michelangelo's head as he made his way from the lair to April's apartment in Brooklyn.

Fortunately for the Turtle family, who happen to, you know, live in Mutant Town (or at least underneath it), the great spherical crevice that had been carved out of the earth fell just short of taking their home away. It fell short by just a couple of meters, ensuring that their safety had remained. Yet the entire experience was a bit 'too close for comfort', and the brothers were all reacting to it a bit differently. Mikey just wanted //out// of the damned place. Feeling cooped up enough as it was, the knowledge that he was only a meter or so away from being teleported to some unknown place is enough to send shivers up his spine.

So here he is! Wearing his sweatpants with token orange strip running down the side, a grey hoodie tied about his waist, his long orange bandana and some other various straps across his arms, the turtle lands on the fire escape grating just outside. Leering in through the window, the blue eyed turtle tries to see if April is home, before he digs into his pocket to pull out his phone. Tuning up something on his playlist, he presses the phone to the glass so that the lyrics can be heard through the interior:

"I don't want to wait,
For our lives to be over,
I want to know right now,
What will it be,
I don't want to wait,
For our lives to be over,
Will it be yes or will it be sorry?"

That's right. It's Paula Cole's 1996 hit 'I Don't Want To Wait' pumping through April's apartment! Normally he'd pump out tunes with a big stereo, but that thing is tough to haul around. And phones have good audio these days.

April O'Neil has posed:
As it just so happens, April is home. She'd gotten home about an hour ago after covering the latest developments around the crater that was where Mutant Town had been. She was currently on her sofa in the living room with a laptop on her lap, the television on and her eyes down on the laptop's screen. She also.... has her cell phone up to her ear as she's talking to someone from work on it. "Uh huh." She's saying. "No, I didn't tell him that. He did that on his own. I told him to gas it up before he took it back and he didn't do that either, so don't get me involved in this." She bickers with the person on the other end of the line.

Eventually, the auburn haired 23 year old comes to hear the music outside of her window over her right shoulder and she glances back to suddenly see the orange-bandana'd turned himself out there on the fire escape. Leaning forward, April sets her laptop down on the coffee table's corner, then starts to stand up and walk over to the window. Wearing a loose fit baseball t-shirt with the sleeves pushed up, a pair of yellow shorts and socks on her feet - she's in pure casual mode as she relaxes for the rest of the evening.

April reaches the window, while still on the phone. She unlocks it and pushes it up to let Mikey inside. "I didn't do /that/ either!" She says to whomever is on the phone with her. "Look, Erica. I've gotta go, the neighbors are hitting each other with brooms out in the alleyway again and I have to break it up before the stray dog gangs show up and attack them, again." She huffs and lowers her phone, disconnects the call and then looks to Mikey with a smile.

"Hey..." She says in that soft way of hers. "Everything okay?" She asks, knowing full well how close the Aliens came to taking the Turtle Lair with them!

Michelangelo has posed:
"Hey April." The tone is certainly a little different than usual from Michelangelo, who would normally be a bit more boisterous. Pocketing the phone and turning off his tunes, he moves to start entering the building. "You got nasty neighbours too, huh? I'd like to see you try and break up a scuffle. You'd kick some serious butt. Ah heh heh." His cheeky smile does make a return there as he slides into the apartment proper. Despite being the smallest of the turtles, he's still a mutant humanoid! As such he comes through the windows as gently as he can, relaxing on the sofa that's on the other side. "You heard of Dawson's Creek?" Naturally that's where the song came from. "I only just discovered it the other day online. I've been binging it like crazy. Raph is totally into it too." The beaming smile widens moreso, perhaps joking about his brother.

"I just wanted to swing by and see how you were holdin' up, I guess. Sorta sucks being in the lair right now." Pausing as he sits on the couch, the turtle leans back. "You okay? I know it's not home and it's not really... maybe in the safest spot, but you can totally stay with us if you want. Father said it's totally fine. We got a bunk. Or... well, at least a partially wrecked couch that smells a bit." Pause. "I mean, it doesn't smell TOO bad. It's like a five out of ten smell."

April O'Neil has posed:
It would be well known knowledge for Mikey that Harley Quinn, clown princess of Gotham, had moved in to April's apartment about 3 or 4 months ago. Several of the Turtles have already run in to her here and elsewhere since then. She's reformed, and trying to turn over a new leaf. In fact, April's former office has been converted into Harley's bedroom. But she's not here right now.

So as Mikey moves to take a seat on the sofa, April moves to sit down on the arm of one of the sofa chairs beside said sofa. She glances to the television - which is on Channel Six News - and then looks back to Mikey to smile at him and his offer. "I've been swamped with work lately. I've never done so many shifts at the station in the past year of working there. It's been a lot to handle. But I'm doing okay. I've wanted to come down and see you all, but yeah, work work work!" She smirks. "In faaaact. I was wanting to see if you guys would be up for skipping town for awhile and getting out to the farm for safety's sake? I know it's a long way away from the action though, so Leo and Raph are likely to say no... But yeah. Are they okay?" She then asks.

She stands up from the sofa and turns to the kitchen to walk in its direction. "You want a drink? I got your orange soda resupplied, I think I got some snack foods too. You're welcome to stay /here/ too, ya know?" She grins then from the kitchen doorway. "And yes, I love Dawson's Creek. My mother used to watch it down in the Antique Shop when she was doing inventory and cleaning up. Said it reminded her of her childhood."

Michelangelo has posed:
The orange themed turtle shifts his gaze to the news, baby blue eyes taking in the scene as it runs in the background. Looking back to April as she reveals how swamped she's been with work, a slow nod is made in understanding. "Hey dude, they just want the best of the best getting them coverage of all this stuff going on, know what I'm sayin'? Heh." At the notion of joining the farm, the turtle sits up straight - clearly interested by such an idea. "Hell yeah, April! I'm down for that for sure. A road trip sounds like a really good idea to clear our heads, to be honest. I think Leo and Raph wouldn't be SO against it... maybe. I dunno. Those guys are super hard to read." Falling into some thought at that notion, he considers the idea, leaning back to look at the ceiling. The offer of a drink snaps him out of his daze, jolting forward. "You know it. You can just leave me with the bottle of Orange Crush, April. I don't mind. Heh heh heh." His rolling, light-hearted chuckle continues as she confirms she likes the same Teen Drama he does. "Sweet. Maybe we can binge some of it? I'm up to season three. You think Harley likes it too?"

"Leo and Raph are okay though, yeah." The answer to April's question is made with a bit of honest thought. "Donnie too. He's building this SWEET van at the moment, April. //I// gave it a sick paint job, too." Yep, that's right. Mikey did. "It's straight fire. I can't wait until you see it. Everyone is trying to keep the same routine, I think. Keep it normal. But... I dunno. Should we be doing that? This is pretty NOT normal, know what I'm sayin'? I'll ask them about the farm when I get back. Leo said we might be going to Japan soon to fight the Foot, actually. Sorta related." Mikey shifts at that. "Dunno where that sits on the list of important stuff right now though."

"Hey, uh," Michelangelo shifts a bit in the seat. "Can I ask you something?"

April O'Neil has posed:
While Mikey is talking from the living room, April is gathering a few things up from the kitchen. The sound of the fridge door opening and closing, a few plates being moved around and when it's all said and done she comes back out into the living room quietly padding across the hardwood floor toward the rug that the living room furniture is organized upon. She joins him on the sofa and sits down beside him, she offers him a plate of pizza rolls, and a bit 2-liter of his Orange Crush soda. AND she offers a smile up at the Turtle - who is much taller than her when sitting down like this.

"You're gonna have to try and convince them to get out of town for awhile then. If I do it, I think they'll just brush me off cause they think I'm trying to protect them. If you do it, I think they'll think it's more of a team idea. Maybe, I dunno. It's hard to predict."

April got herself a bottle of vitamin water and a bowl of fresh vegetables that she's treat like finger food. She picks up the remote on the sofa beside her then brings up one of the many streaming services. "I think Harley would like Dawson's Creek, I'm not sure. She's at work right now, I think, though the Hyenas are gone - so maybe she went to Gotham for the day. That girl... she kinda gets around, ya know?" April smirks over at him. "And you can ask me anything, you know that!"

Michelangelo has posed:
Licking his lips in anticipation as April delivers the pizza rolls and two litre bottle of his favourite soda, Michelangelo throws his hands up in the air in dramatic fashion. "April! How did you KNOW?" With a snickering laugh he opens the bottle and takes a swig, before chewing on the pizza rolls with near reckless abandon. He does eye the plate of healthy food that April has for herself, head tilting in a bit of curiosity before he looks back at his junk food. "You, uh, you wanna bite?" The half-chewed roll is offered forth. Not too saliva-y, at least. Just a bit.

"Yeah, she has that vibe." Michelangelo notes about Harley. "Seems like good people though. It's cool you've got such interesting roommates. And I'll try to convince the bros, but I suck at that sort of stuff. Maybe I should try and convince Father. He might even like to get us out and clear of the immediate danger. It's out near Boston, right? The farm? What sort of stuff have you got to do out there?"

"So, uh, I was thinking of going to this Mutant Rights Rally in a few days. It's happening on the outer edges of Mutant Town. I don't really think it's something Leo, Raph or Donnie would be interested in going to. But I don't wana go by myself. Are you free? If you are, it'd be cool to have you along. Just do I'm not some lame-wad rallying along on my own. Know what I mean?"

April O'Neil has posed:
April is munching on the crunchy vegetals in the bowl and navigating the television display toward the streaming shows on demand. She starts a search for Dawson's Creek, slowly typing it out one letter at a time when the pizza roll is offered over to her making her own blue eyes go crossed as she stares at it for a second. She smirks and looks over and up at him to shake her head. "I'm good, thanks though." She says with a sly grin before her eyes go back to the television.

"The Farm's in a bit of disrepair since we were there last." She explains. "But there's plenty to do. Tractors to ride, a barn filled with mice and old farm equipment. There's a pond that has a bunch of your tinier cousins hanging out around it." She shows him a grin for a second before she looks back to the tv and selects it. "Lots of stuff!"

When she chooses the show she sets the tv remote down beside her and then looks back over at him. "A mutant rights rally? Yeah, I've been going to those all week. I'd probably be going to this one you're talking about anyway. So just say when and we can go, or meetup there. But how are you going to stay incognito?"

Michelangelo has posed:
"Dunno." Mikey answers honestly with a shrug, secretary happy that April declined his invitation to have some pizza rolls. Just means more for him! "The family is really keen about staying secretive. Not really because of how we look I think, but because the Foot clan is everywhere. Then if they see us they'll be able to track us down and... it's a whole big thing that Leo and Raph keeps ranting about." With a dramatic sigh he drinks some of the soda. "Maybe it'll depend on how many people are there. Do you reckon helps will turn out?" Asking the question as April cues up Dawson's creek, Michelangelo begins to settle in, wiggling into the couch a bit more. "I don't wana be incognito at a mutant rally. Sort of sucks away from the vibe. But hey, thanks for coming with me."

Leaning back into the couch, the turtle relaxes. "And thanks for the farm invite, too. I'm amped. It'll be really good to get out of the city for a while." The turtle lifts a fist to April in a friendly gesture. Fist bumps for the win!

As the Teen Drama begins, Mikey's eyes settle by the show as it starts. "I don't like this new Eve character," He starts, gossiping about the latest storyline. "When Dawson turned Joey down last episode I was all 'whaaaaaaaaat!' I'd beat Dawson down if he were bros with me." A hard chomp on the pizza roll is made to emphasise the point. Somehow he seems more relaxed than when he arrived - more settled. His energy is certainly back to what it normally is.

April O'Neil has posed:
"Oh, I get it." April says about the incognito bit. "They're still out there, licking their wounds from when we gave them a beating. But I've run across elements of them still in operation. As recently as when the dinosaur stuff was going on." Which was about 2 months ago now? Random people being turned into dinosaurs. It was a thing. "So yeah, I'll be there at the rally." She grins over at him. "I'll keep ya safe, don't worry." She pops one of the radishes into her mouth and crunches on it quite happily. "See what they say about the Farm, I don't know how long they'd stay but I'd be happy to hang out there too as much as I'm able to at least."

When the show comes on, her eyes are on it as it gives a rundown that Mikey comments on from the previous episodes. She shakes her head softly. "Joey is wasting her time with Dawson." She says. "Dawson doesn't know what he wants, but he's one of those guys' who'll always choose his career over his homelife. She wants a guy who'll choose her over his work." She glances to Mikey and grins at him.

When the theme song comes on, they both no doubt sit together on the sofa and quietly sing along with it.