thecapitol | After some uncertain time...

It wasn't the same room. Some was half sure of that. Nothing in it looked familiar or unfamiliar, but the view was wrong in some way. Lower. Better, he thought. Farther away from the sky. His sharp-toothed mentor told him, in a barrage of other details, that whatever he'd gotten up to in District Eight before, he was in Two now, and he had better get into shape. He stared out his window until she left, letting his breath fog up the tinted glass and hide details of the sharp-edged city outside. Nothing out there looked familiar, at all. How long had he been... elsewhere?

When he was sure she wasn't about to come back, he slipped out of his room himself, leaving everything he'd been given on arrival on his bed, to explore empty-handed and see just how far the fragments could take him. He followed voices and scents, looking for familiar faces. He was careful to make some noise, not wanting to sneak up on anybody. They were all here to kill each other. No sense in provoking that early.

[Some is slinking around, confused with some partial memory loss from his extended time away. He's starting on District Two's floor, since that's his new home, but he'll also be in the elevator, peering into any other floor, and investigating just generally the entire building. He's looking for anyone who rings a bell, but the thread is wide open for any and all. (Since it's been a while, he looks like this, and stands almost eight feet tall.)]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

There was one scent that probably stood out. Not because it was unique, but it was a scent that had been around, one that indicated that he, unlike Some, had not had the benefit of being taken away to a new place. Still in District 9, still a turtle. It lay in the Training Center as well, stronger than it had been before.

It was in the Training Center that Don was. His training was not quite as it had been before the previous Arena - not as angry or at least, not as explosive of an anger. Because Don was still angry, but it was like a blaze that exploded out of a barrel of explosives, doused by a downpour save for
a small flame in the corner. He still wasn't sure what he was going to do, but at the very least, the turtle Some was going to find had had a few sobering moments since they last passed one another.

He followed the scent from the elevator, caught by the hint of familiarity. Down on all eight, he gave most humans he passed a wide birth, crest half-raised, until he neared the source and heard the sounds of physical effort. He took a moment to puzzle out the door of the Training Room, and slunk inside, eyes narrowed against the light, looking for the turtle.

And there he was, practicing with swords. He was just finishing up, putting them away, and heading towards a bench where he could sit and stop for a moment.

He didn't see Some, or even realize someone else was in the room, caught up as he was in his own thoughts. At least, not yet.

Some was all too happy to wait until the blades were put away. But once they were, he stepped away from the side of the room with a cautious smile.

"Don? Donatello?" He was a little less certain about the whole name. Was he saying it right?

That voice. Don's head instantly came up, looking left, then right.

"Some?"

Some waved a little with one forefoot, all four arms folded nervously behind his back.

"Am I interrupting, or were you finished?"

"No, I'm finished." There's the ghost of a smile on Don's face. "I thought you were gone for good. You didn't seem to come back after the Arena."

Edited 2014-01-06 17:15 (UTC)

"I didn't. Just today." Something in his gut seems to ease, though, at the confirmation that something was, in fact, wrong. "And something's a little..." He waved fingers in front of his eyes; hazy. "Still. I hope I have some time before the next."

"...Still?"

The ghost of that smile left Don's face.

"What do you mean?" He slowly walked over to look at the grue closer. "Did they do something to you?"

Edited 2014-01-06 18:13 (UTC)

He shrugged, a complex gesture with his four shoulders. And a very human one, despite them. "I don't know. I don't. Just... I remember you, but I am having trouble... with the whole of it. I don't remember how we met," he admitted. "Or the last time we spoke. And everything is like that."

The last time they spoke. Thoughts of Lottie swirled in her head as that comment hit home.

"Then..." He trailed off for a moment, then looked down. "I see. It's fine, our last conversation...its not important. What's important is figuring out why your memories came out this way this time."

He was quite still for a moment, looking at Don, calling up fragments to fit them against each other.

"I think whatever I have lost... that's what's important. Not why."

Oh, Some. The why was important to Don. The why always had been. However, the mention of what sprang something in his mind.

"...Lottie. Please tell me you remember Lottie."

Edited 2014-01-09 15:39 (UTC)

The name... Some's face went carefully blank as he tried to fit the name against more fragments. There was almost... but no, that face fit another name, and 'Lottie' was left spinning off alone. Six of his eight eyes shut, and he frowned apologetically, with a little nervous gesture.

"... I am sorry."

I am sorry.

Try as he could, Don couldn't stop his emotion from showing as Some responded. His face crumbled as the words sunk in.

"...Oh...oh." His voice cracked. "I see."

Edited 2014-01-09 20:35 (UTC)

He couldn't help it, couldn't keep himself from reaching out to touch. In comfort, or seeking it, he couldn't know.

"I'm sorry," he said again, swallowing hard. "Who- who is it?"

He didn't stop it. He was too stunned to.

"...A friend. A good friend, to both of us."

Oh.

A chill took hold in Some's stomach, and his shoulders dropped. He didn't doubt Don, not for an instant.

"I... I am sure... sure the memories will come back. I only- woke, if that's what it is- today. I will have to remember them, won't I?"

"Yeah...yeah."

He could only hope. And fear that it wouldn't come to pass.

Some stepped closer, turning so that he could lean against Don, side to side, the way he would with another grue. Though he couldn't remember having ever done so before.

Don didn't protest, or move or shove Some away, though he felt rather wretched and was tempted to. He just looked down at the ground, before closing his eyes.

"Are they gone too?" he asked softly. They had to be, didn't they, or there would be no grief. "Maybe they'll come back, like me."

"Yes," Don said quietly. "They are."

He doesn't add anything to Some's hope. No nod, no word. He knew better than to hope in this place.

Edited 2014-01-16 23:14 (UTC)

"What- what about..." He clenched his eyes shut, canting his head as he tried to almost physically shake the memory back into place. "Rah... the woman, with the longest hair." He fingered his necklace, the strand with the twist of golden hair. "She... was gone. I think. Before I was too."

"...Rapunzel." Don quietly nodded. "Yeah...yeah, she's gone also."

(no subject)

gruesome - 2014-01-26 19:53 (UTC) - Expand

polyturtle - 2014-01-26 20:36 (UTC) - Expand