2627/Talents

Talents
Date of Scene:	26 July 2020
Location:	Brooklyn
Synopsis:	Kainashi and Raphael meet by coincidence on a rooftop. The two talk music, Alopex, The Foot, and Birthday parties.
Cast of Characters:	Kainashi, Raphael

---

Kainashi has posed:
    BROOKLYN ROOFTOPS

    Night has fallen over Brooklyn, and though she's a little out of her normal territory for patrol, Kainashi doesn't think Alopex would mind entirely.

    So, the power pup was on her own, in Brooklyn, distracted. She was crouched to the side of a building, well hidden from the gathering of people below as they celebrated some occurance. She didn't understand humans very much, that much is true, but she did understand happiness.

    So, she had a slightly ripped up sketchpad (it looks like it had gotten very wet at one point, and gets carried in a mouth), and a couple of pencils with a pencil sharpener. There are little thumbnail sketches along the side, along with very, very clumsy letters sketched. H-A-P-P-Y-B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y.

Raphael has posed:
Rooftops are a preferred method of getting from point A to B for more than just the dog-based mutant. Turtles often use them as well, along with a number of others. In fact, it may be one of the best ways for ones such as them to meet.

Quietly, a red-banded mutant turtle, who happens to be a teenage ninja as well, leaps across a gap between two structures of similar height, landing in a forward somersault roll he comes back out of at a run, repeating with another ahead of him. Where he's coming from and going is anyone's guess, but unimportant right now.

After all, he's approaching /her/ rooftop.

Kainashi has posed:
    Her ears prick up, her nose twitching as she registers the sound of someone comming at a run. Her head tilts a moment, and she draws up to a stand, partially hidden behind an air conditioner unit. Her left ear - tattooed with the cruel moniker that had become her name -- lifts up a bit higher, and she hops up on the A/C, the metallic thud of her weight hitting it not going too much further than the rooftop. She's tucked her sketchbook under her arm, wondering just who was making their way accross the roof.

Raphael has posed:
Raphael doesn't miss too much, thanks to the training he's had. He's less likely to miss much when the other occupant of the rooftop moves atop the unit with enough sound to carry over. On instinct, a hand pauses over one of his sai, the right side this time, though it could have just as easily been the left.

Then he snorts. "Some cat drag you all the way up here or what?" he asks, his way of offering a greeting, maybe. Yet, there is a wariness to his stance.

Kainashi has posed:
    "Why does it have to be the cat?" Kai wonders outloud, "can't it be myself since it's easy to get around up here?" she asks, looking amusedly to Raphael before she sits down on the A/C.

    She sets her sketchpad and her pencils to the side.

    "Besides, I like having the air in my ears. Helps cool me down." she explains with a little bit of a shrug. The canine seems nunpulsed about Raphael's lack of greeting. She also is lacking a dumpster to hit him with.

Raphael has posed:
Raphael's hand shifts away from the sai enough to show he doesn't consider Kainashi a danger, or at least not a danger he needs to keep weapons in hand for.

And, as noted, there are no dumpsters up here.

"Because cats.." he begins, then he abruptly shuts down enough to change what he was about to say. "You know what? It doesn't matter. Forget cats." She may be amused. So far, he's typically gruff and distant, even if he raises a brow behind the eye mask at what she seems to be toting with her. A dog that draws? Probably paws a mess on the pages.

Crossing his arms, he says, "Guess you don't like the heat, yeah."

Kainashi has posed:
    "Well, it gets hot. An' I can only pant, but it makes me tired. Pex has it worse though. All the fuuuurrr." she laments. and then she picks up a pencil, carefully, and leeeeeans back to look over the party going on below.

    "Oh! It's a cake party!" she exclaims, quietly, and she flips her sketchbook open.

    "... I don't think I asked -- do you do cake parties? For your brothers, I mean? I've never had a party with cake."

Raphael has posed:
"Sucks to be you two," Raphael remarks, as close to a show of sympathy as he may be capable of. When he's putting up a front and acting this way, at least. "But you're probably glad you got it in the winter."

Eyes narrow between the holes in the mask, then he moves over for a look down of his own at the party, squinting her way again. "What, a birthday party?" He's not at the right place to see what's in the sketchbook, unless she makes to show him, but he shifts a shoulder to shrug.

"Yeah, or we just get a bunch of pizzas and shove a candle in one of them. We ain't real picky about food," the turtle explains.

Kainashi has posed:
    It is, indeed, a birthday party, being held in the apartment accross the street. There's bright streamers, a banner that says HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Brightly colored presents. Someone surrounded by family wearing ridiculous hats as they pass out slices of some cake with the brightest, most ridiculous pink frosting that's ever been made from sugar.

    "Still hafta wear a jacket in the winter. My fur's not that thick, though it gets a bit more wiry, I think." she replies, and she shrugs her shoulders. She turns the page, looking over to Raphael a moment, then she turns back to her sketchbook.

    "Pex says I have to be really careful, 'cause there's stuff that will make me really sick if I eat it. Chocolate. Grapes. Green tomatoes--" she glances to Raphael again, then goes back to sketching.

Raphael has posed:
A gust of wind tugs at the back of Raphael's mask, sending it fluttering for a few seconds as he stands at the edge of the rooftop, looking down into the room the party's being held in.

What is it like for the people there to live normal lives, not worrying about being seen as different, as freaks, as mutants? One might wonder.

"It all looks stupid if you ask me," he grumbles, gesturing toward the colorful decorations before turning away, back toward the other one up there. "Yeah, I heard chocolate does some nasty stuff to dogs. What else does she say?" The fox.

Kainashi has posed:
    What *does* the Fox Say?

    RING DING DING DIN--

    "I dunno, it must be nice to have a family that cares enough about you to bring gifts.. or, you know..." Kai states, pausing for a moment to touch her face, over the myriad scars that marr it up, but she forces a happy sound "Really just to have people around you who care!" her tail giving a bit of a wag, "And they sing to you when you get a cake party. The Foot didn't sing. Well. Not to me, anyway." she replies with a shrug. The gust of wind makes the bandana go dramatically ruffling in the wind, so she purses her lips a moment, watching as it curls, then continues sketching away.

    "Alopex says a lot of stuff. She's a better talker than me. She's *also* my teacher."

Raphael has posed:
"Family's good," Raphael admits. "Usually. When they aren't being annoying nerds and stuff."

This is the only thing he says for a long while, looking away from Kainashi with a frown set in, no matter her happy sound, no matter her tail shifting around visibly. It might last long enough for her to think he's done talking completely for now, only for that to change at just the right moment.

He asks, "So you two were Foot but you left, and she's teaching you..whatever. Stuff. What are you trying to do? What are you aiming for?"

Kainashi has posed:
    "Well. What do you learn from *your* teacher?" she questions, the patches on her face rising up as her brows do, and she gives a slight smile to Raphael. "Misdirection is one of them. I pretended I couldn't talk for a long time. She's teaching me to take care of myself. Why humans do what they do. Why ratatouille is not actually made with rats or tattoos." she shrugs. "She says it's OK to trust you guys as far as I can throw you."

Raphael has posed:
Raphael's answer is a simple one. "Everything."

His expression shifts, more toward one of some thought. "Or enough for us to know and find out more by ourselves."

He doesn't get into the misdirection part, aside from a slight narrowing of his eyes before he shrugs. "We ain't human, so I don't spend a whole lot of time trying to figure them out. We got friends like April and Casey, but we ain't exactly gonna blend in with people."

The bit about rats or tattoos flies over his head, mainly because of the last thing she says. "I'm just gonna assume that's a lot. We ain't gotta test how far."

Kainashi has posed:
    "... I used to live with a human. Before things changed. Humans didn't seem so bad then, I think. But now..." Kainashi states quietly, then she gives a soft sigh through her nose. "Well, I'mg lad that Alopex and I have people like you and your brothers around. It makes things not quite as lonely, doesn't it?" she smiles, turning her scarred face to Raph, "Knowing that there are other people who are like you?"

Raphael has posed:
Raphael emits a low sound, back of the throat. "Listen, pup. I ain't the best guy to be talking to about things like this. Leo or Donnie are the thoughtful ones, but I get it. It helps to have family, or friends you can trust. And mostly all we've had is us. My brothers. Our sensei. We knew there was more up here, and then we started seeing others who were different, but I dunno how we fit in with all that. Ninja are known for working in the shadows."

How do you balance a curiosity in the bigger world, or an interest in being more a part of it, against all reasons to remain secret, hidden?

"You and the fox don't seem that bad. Even the lioness. But that dumb dino can bite me." Not in the literal sense, presumably.

Kainashi has posed:
R    "You're fine. I'm not the smart or deep one either. Like I said, it's nice knowing there's someone like me!" Kai replies, and then she turns her sketchbook around, holding it up to Raph to see that she's sketched him, leaning over the side of the building, looking down, bandana flying DRAMATICALLY in the wind. It looks somewhat heroic, even, for a sketch. There's even a couple roughed-in shapes of buildings behind him.

    "Ballista, I think, has some stuff she needs to work out.' she agrees, "... but her bites hurt. So do her kicks."

Raphael has posed:
"You were smart enough to hide the way you can talk, to throw people off the truth," Raphael reminds. Whether it was suggested to her or not, she had the capability to do it and see the sense in it. As for them being similar, that isn't a comparison he can really speak to at this point, so he goes back to playing dark and brooding turtle.

Then the sketch is revealed. He reacts with surprise in his expression, even some confusion over it. "That's..pretty good," he admits, only taking him a few seconds to add, "You've been /drawing/ us?" It's enough that the raptor is soon forgotten again, whatever she's trying to work through.

Kainashi has posed:
    "... when stuff's botherin' me, or my head hurts, I draw. I can't do the meditation thing; my brain gets too loud." the canine explains, and she shyly begins to flip back through the water-stained sketchbook. The party down below, with streamers. Back a page to a sketch of Donatello, the tails of his bandana over one shoulder, one hand in the air, mouth open -- explaining something. Thumbnail sketches of Mikey and Leo, and even one of Casey wearing his mask. A few sketches of Food Network hosts in characature.

    "When I draw, my brain's quiet again, 'cause I'm concentrating on the lines. I like it, so I draw it."

Raphael has posed:
Raphael sniffs. "I ain't too good at the meditating thing either. Relaxing don't work all that much for me." Another little thing they appear to share in common.

In spite of himself, he ends up a few steps closer to peer at some of the other things Kainashi has drawn, leaving him to glance from the pages toward her, then to the book again.

"Huh.." is all he manages to say to this. Impressed? Perhaps. Still confused? Likely. At a loss for what to say about it? Absolutely.

Kainashi has posed:
    "... Pex says it's also really good practice with my strength control, because if I push too hard I break the pencil before I break the book. An' I need to really be able to pull my punches before I can fight unsupervised." the canine admits, embarrassedly, her ears flicking back as she gives a soft huff through her nose, and looks to Raphael.

    "Oh, I can relax. I just fall asleep on the beanbag. But I can't do the focusing thing, because... brain gets loud." she explains again, searching for a better way to say it, but finding none she shrugs, and decides Raph might not want to pursue that.

    The sketchbook is left on some earlier sketches -- Alopex in nature. The vulpine ninja in repose (meditating, it looks like, her tail curled about her). Others with 'Pex looking over the city. Pex with swords, kusari-gama, a pair of kama. A thumbnail sketch of Alopex flopped over what looks like a beanbag with a book in her hands.

Raphael has posed:
Raphael's attention sharpens as more of the sketches are revealed, confusion giving way to some curiosity. "Doesn't look like you've broken too many pencils or put a bunch of holes in the book," he remarks, reaching to rub the back of his head at something. "Yeah, I got a lot of noise in my head sometimes, too. Feels like the only time I'm in the zone at times is when I'm working out or in a fight."

All the sketches of Alopex lead to another round of silence on his part as he stares at them, the weaponry, the various poses. Clearing his throat, he glances elsewhere. "You, uh, must look up to her a lot."

Kainashi has posed:
    "Me too! One of the reasons I do a lot of training and a lot of running is because it's not as loud when I'm moving. Sometimes when I listen to music, but Alopex doesn't like the music I do." Kai replies with a soft humm. "And when I'm fighting, it's super clear, and the less talking I do the more I'm focused on the fight." The canine pops back up, and she has her backpack. The party accross the way has ended, lights are turning off.


Then, at the question of if she looks up to Alopex, Kainashi's face softens. She looks almost tired, her ears drawing down.

    "She could have escaped the Foot Clan, and never returned. She sat at the side of The Master of the Foot. She could defeat any of their number. She left the Foot Clan." she states quietly, her hands opening her backpack. Like all their other belongings, it's worn nearly to threads in some places.

    "... Alopex came back, knowing that I wasn't as good as she was, and made sure I was free. So... I'm very loyal to her."

Raphael has posed:
"What kind of music?" Raphael's curiosity gets the best of him, so he raises the question since she brought it up. They might have more in common than he suspected, if the fighting for him is anything like it is for her. He often runs so red-hot, white-knuckle, though...

Told more of the way it was with Alopex and the Foot, he paces, notes the party coming to a close, eyes Kainashi again. "We'd fought her before, but we never saw you until all this." An observation on the surface, though suggesting at wondering what the deeper story is while not directly saying so outright. "You feel like you owe her."

Kainashi has posed:
    "Uh... I like rock music? Some of it goes 'thurrathurrathuddthudd WHERRR WHERRR' and some of it goes 'bah dah de dah de dah dah--'... Offspring? Sometimes some of the ones that have women singing?" she begins, and she rubs the back of her head. "I don't know the names of the songs..." she admits quietly, "but they get my heart going, and then when I'm in a fight or practicing or doing agility runs it's just like I can have a clear brain, 'cause that's how my brain works." she states, and shrugs. "I don't get into a lot of fights unsupervised, though... 'cause I don't want to hurt anyone any more than to stop them from being jerks."

    She pauses a moment, then rubs the back of her head. "... I wasn't let out of my cage except with the Trainer. He's the one who named me Kainashi." Garbage. Discarded. Useless, but she begins to look uncomfortable.

    "I don't owe her. I am loyal to her. You don't feel like you 'owe' your Master, do you?"

Raphael has posed:
Raphael waves a hand, as if to say rock is all right. "Give me some hip-hop and I'm good to go," he says, adding with a grin, "but not when I'm fighting someone. I want to hear if I cracked someone's bones or not." Serious? Maybe. He also doesn't have the issue of being too strong for everyone else's safety.

"I guess it's different sides of the same thing. I mean, you'd do just about anything for her, I'm guessing. And that name...why do you keep it if it only reminds you of bad stuff? Why don't you pick a new one?" He asks this, coming to face her again.

Kainashi has posed:
    "Eeeeehh..." Kainashi holds her hand up doing the back-and-forth thing, "Some of it's OK. It's not my thing." she replies with a slight shrug, and she gives a wiggle of her ears, and she points to them.

    "I can hear heartbeats if you're close enough and it's quiet enough. I don't have aaaannny issue hearing bones breaking." she gives a cheery grin, over a rather morbid topic!

    Then the topic of her name comes up, and her tail curls slightly. Her ears pin back, and she glances down.

    "I was called a lot of things. 'Kainashi' is about the nicest thing I was called. When I met Alopex, I didn't even have a name." she lies slightly, and rubs the back of her head. Her left ear droops, then twitches. "So... people can call me 'Kai' if they want. Donnie doesn't call me Kainashi. Neither does Pex."

Raphael has posed:
"We all got our different tastes, dawg," Raphael says, looking all too amused with himself for the play on words, more emphasis placed on the last one. Question is, will Kainashi get it or will he have to explain it?

"And I bet you don't, with those ears of yours," comes an addition.

What her name is becomes more of his main focus. He may not catch the lie - he wouldn't really know unless she gave it away - but he says, "Sensei named us after Renaissance dudes, and that's kind of cool. All I'm saying is you get to pick what you want to be called now, if that's Kai or whatever else. You aren't someone's attack dog any more."

Kainashi has posed:
    "I know we got different tastes! I taste like a dawg, you taste like a sewer!" Kai claps back, and gives a laugh.

    "Speaking of not being an attack dawg, I oughta get home. If I hang out too long after patrol, Alopex worries." she explains, her tail giving a little wag before regarding Raphael, and then her hand forms a fist. She holds the fist out to Raphael.

    "... we're cool, right?"

Raphael has posed:
Raphael's eyes narrow. "We don't taste like..wait, have you licked Donnie?" Then he waves his hands in front of him, shaking his head to go along with it. "Nevermind. Forget that. Don't wanna know."

He casts one more glance toward the sketchbook as she's explaining her need to be on her way, nodding a couple times as a gust tugs at the mask's 'tails' again. "Yeah. Do what you gotta do," he says, another wave of the hand following before, after a couple seconds, it reshapes into a loose fist and taps hers. "Uh, sure, yeah. As long as you leave the dumpsters alone when I'm around. And I guess you can keep drawing all of us if you want. Just be careful out there."

Once departures are made, it might be time for a pizza run.

Kainashi has posed:
    "You too." Kai gives a grin, and with that, she's off, turning tail, lifting her hood over her head and dashing accross the rooftop, to leap over a street -- roll, crash into an AC unit, give a hissed "I'm okay!" -- and then keep running.