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[steepwithdead]

"Oh, hey."

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[grabaslice]

c'est la vie, tragic for me. [He finds it easier to joke, shrugging a little.]

I'll have you know, this is me resting. I'm resting so hard. [He's managing a smile, at least for now. Trying to not dwell on the earlier conversation.]

[steepwithdead]

[C'est la what now?? That's not on his language list.]

You could try a little harder.

[grabaslice]

[Another language to learn!!]

I'm working on it. [He's seated again, so he's not getting up for a while. Leo genuinely does kind of hate having to just... stay put. He's also aware an accident could break the resin very easily.] I'm not really a rest kind of guy I guess.

[steepwithdead]

If you don't learn how to be, you'll only prolong your healing, and make it worse for yourself. [And since he's clocked how protective parents work quite well by now-] And you'll worry your son.

[grabaslice]

[He opens his mouth and closes it.] Damn, okay, read me like a book, why don't you? What's your favorite chapter so far?

[steepwithdead]

The comedy section was a highlight.

[grabaslice]

I'm glad, I was meant to entertain, but, I never achieved it. [Damn it, why is this man funny and hot.]

[steepwithdead]

Perhaps that'll be your calling, here. I've heard there's performance art in Tides.

[grabaslice]

[He chuckles a little at that.] Do my one-man show, where people probably throw tomatoes at me by the end.

[steepwithdead]

I've always thought that terribly wasteful. Tomatoes are such versatile food. There's nothing wrong with a shameful booing off the stage.

[grabaslice]

I dunno why people do that, but, you just see it on TV or hear about it.

Consider this, I'll catch the tomatoes, we use them. We trick people out of their produce. [He lobs back easily with a smile.] I guess wasting food is the ultimate insult.

[steepwithdead]

How many tomatoes can you catch and carry at once?

[grabaslice]

When I'm two armed, probably, like, many. [That is not a number.] Twenty.

[steepwithdead]

Twenty! That would need a full house to feed.

[He laughs, though. Wouldn't that be nice... a full house.]

[grabaslice]

Simple, we invite the teens over, make something tomato based. No leftovers in sight.

[steepwithdead]

If it's the teenagers, then... pizza, yes?

[What other meal would be suitable? Not that he's had it, but he knows there's tomato sauce.

Chicken goes in the oven to broil and melt the cheese, pasta is stirred and bubbling; he can step away from the stove for a moment to chat.]

[grabaslice]

Definitely pizza. Always pizza. [He agrees with a brief chuckle.] I dunno how my brothers and I lived off pizza so regularly.

[The turtle reaches out to tug the other chair slightly out for Caduceus. Apparently incapable of just being still.]

[steepwithdead]

[Caduceus happily accepts the chair offered, angling it so he can split his focus between the stove and Leonardo. He's too experienced (and a little proud) as a cook to risk burning food, especially since he's making it for someone else.]

Better pizza than some of the other things I've heard about your diet.

[A little bit the grilled cheese... but also the rats.]

[grabaslice]

In our defense- [Rats and leaves were not his preference, thank you-] we had rations and real food for a few years during the war. It didn't really last.

Before the war, we ate a lot of pizza. Mikey was the family cook though, made sure our diets were alright enough. As much as a thirteen year old can anyway.

[steepwithdead]

Seems to have worked out alright for you, regardless.

[Sizing him up. Leo's a big man, poor eating habits sure didn't stop that from happening.]

[grabaslice]

[He chuckles a little at that.]

You can pin that on Drax. He wanted ultimate soldiers to wipe out humanity, so, we ended up big. Meant to last the odds, yadda, yadda. [He waves a hand to go alongside his various yadda's.] Except Mikey, he never got much bigger, but he did grow hair for a while.

[steepwithdead]

Must've been quite the shock for him, considering the whole world-saving business you keep getting yourselves into.

[He'd only met the post-redemption (or at least, redemption-in-progress, considering the amount of work still required) Draxum, so he didn't see the supervillainy.]

[grabaslice]

Oh, he was pissed initially. Kept trying to convince us to join him. Since we were annoying teenagers, we kept thwarting him at every turn. [He chuckles a little at the memory.] By the time the war happened, he was already part of the family and was pretty intent on helping too.

[He lets his eyes close for a moment, mulling something over. He rubs at his cheek absently.] There is something kind of funny in it, you know? How love, no matter how flawed, can change everything.

[steepwithdead]

Mm... it is funny, but it's wonderful, too. Love can change the trajectory of a person in the most integral of ways. It saves them from being unmade, from being sculpted into architects of hate. To be loved is to never be alone.

[Even when you're physically alone, even in an empty house or an empty apartment or a world away from everything and everyone you've ever wanted or needed. Even then. Love is saving him, every day. Knowing he's loved where he belongs, and they're waiting for him.]

I'm very glad you found each other. That you saved him, and that he was able to accept the love he didn't know that he needed.

[grabaslice]

You are not alone. あなたは一人じゃない. [He offers back with a little laugh. His Japanese has been better, it has been much worse. The family motto still comes easily enough.

Saying the phrase does make his markings glow, be it very briefly. Not that the turtle notices. He's comfortable, his heart feels full. He loves his family, he would do anything for them.

He isn't sure if love fits what he is feeling for Caduceus, but... there is a warmth there too. A joy in new-found friendships. Something gentle and delicate blooming between them. It just needs care, and a gentle hand.] You're right. No matter how far, love won't burn out easily.

Yeah, me too. Life is funny that way. You need someone, and they need you just as badly back.