[IC] [Snek] Continuations

[pyrighteous]

Comments

[othellovonryan]

No.

The contact has to be a certain way.

Or I start to panic or disassociate.

Or both.

[pyrighteous]

[ He nods, clasping his hands in his lap for now. ]

Is there a better way I could do that? Or do you not want anything right now.

[othellovonryan]

Lay down. Easier to show.

[pyrighteous]

[ Hunter carefully settles himself in his bed, then, face up. He is taut and attentive - unfortunately very experienced with watching someone for nonverbal signs that they're displeased with what you're doing. (But it's useful in this context.) ]

All right. I can do that.

[othellovonryan]

[At least he's not angry.]

[He was absolutely gripping the top of his battleshell in a death grip.]

[He takes a breath, let's it out, loosens his grip.]

[Then he moves over to the bed and moves next to him, grabbing an arm so he could move to tuck in against Hunter's side, pressing his back against his side and the bed.]

Needs...a lot of. Even pressure.

[pyrighteous]

[ Donnie's not angry. He's not Belos. Hunter is not at risk here. (But old instincts die hard, especially when they're actively useful ones.)

He lets Donnie grab his arm, following his lead. And just holds that position. ]

Yeah? Since it's not covered?

[othellovonryan]

[He nods.]

The Kraang wasn't even pressure. Different between the tendrils.

Large surface, even pressure is...

More grounding.

Raph has big arms and big hands so he always works, otherwise need...the right position.

[pyrighteous]

[ A slight nod from Hunter. ]

At least I'm tall.

[othellovonryan]

Being tall helps, yeah.

Warmth also helps.

They weren't very warm.

[pyrighteous]

They being ... the Kraang?

[othellovonryan]

[He nods.]

I think pressure helps because my battleshell kept me from bleeding out after.

Sometimes I can't take wearing it. The cold. But Raph is warmer so he helps when I can't.

[pyrighteous]

M-maybe I can figure out glyphs for that too. Like ... if we got a heavy blanket and worked some in some of the same glyphs we used for the crystals.

[othellovonryan]

Weighted blankets did use to do wonders. I haven't been using since then.

It was easier to go to one my brothers after the nightmares. Just....

To be sure they're okay.

[pyrighteous]

...

You - almost lost all of them. Right?

[othellovonryan]

[He nods.]

[He turns his head, face buried against Hunter's side.]

They all almost died. Or worse.

[pyrighteous]

[ Hunter shifts a bit to cuddle him more closely. ]

Or worse?

[othellovonryan]

[He relaxes. Slightly. But his tension is probably more the subject matter.]

There were only three Kraang originally.

Within six hours, they had hundreds in their forces.

They were capable of infecting and converting fauna and machines into more Kraang.

[Which isn't great implications for at least one brother.]

[Or himself jacking into that mess.]

[pyrighteous]

[ Wow! For some reason Hunter has a rather visceral reaction to the thought of being possessed or infected!

Which is to say - Hunter freezes for a moment, fighting back a small burst of panic. He’s fine. He’s here, he’s helping Donnie, so focus… ]

Did. Did they try to do that to you?

[othellovonryan]

[There's another long stretch of silence. He feels the tension, but he shared a horrifying thing. It makes sense to have that reaction.]

The conversion was usually violent. Forceful. It took fast to humans and machines. Slower with turtle biology, I think. Probably the mutation makes the conversion difficult without destabilizing the whole body.

But I wasn't a conversion target. I threw myself into their system.

Their.

Hivemind.

I never experienced a physiological change. At least nothing noticeable, they weren't going to risk me remaining attached.

Not when their system wasn't winning fast enough.

[pyrighteous]

[ Again, for SOME reason, Hunter is not remotely comforted by the fact this was mental only. He takes in a deep breath. ]

Why? What were you trying to do? Did it work?

[othellovonryan]

[It was mental only. Even if he had to burn Kraang bits out of his body, he hadn't found any changes.]

[But....]

[It's also his first admission that the Kraang were trying to get control of him.]

[And he wasn't winning.]

[He's started to shake.]

The Technodrone was too powerful. Too large, it had gravity to it and it was tearing apart the city.

We needed it and the Kraang back in the prison dimension. We couldn't win an outright fight. And I was the only one with a hope to pilot a spaceship, so that was my job.

We didn't know what it meant until Mikey and I were in front of the controls.

[pyrighteous]

…

[ just teenagers dealing with an apocalypse and horrific trauma way past their capabilities. Cool cool this is fine. He leans his forehead gently against Donnie’s shoulder. ]

And it meant… that? Having to connect? And keep them from taking over?

[othellovonryan]

[He nods.] There were no buttons or controls. The only way to interact with the ship at all was to physically connect to it. Directly. I tried with just my arms, but all I was getting was information, no control.

Mikey....Mikey didn't realize the real danger. Nor Leo.

Raph is the only one who picked it up.

He's the only one who knows what....what it was like....

What they do.

[pyrighteous]

[ Another soft shiver. ]

I’m sorry. Obviously I’ve never gone through that, but… I know what it’s like to be afraid of losing yourself. To have someone else controlling your body.

[othellovonryan]

You kind of did. From that scenario. The status effect.

[He wraps an arm around Hunter's middle.]

It's....terrible.