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[purplexing]

You're conversing with Donatello-

Juuuust not this exact second. Please rank your call by number of priority and I'll get back to you accordingly.

1 - A technical emergency

2 - General inquiry

3 - Miscellaneous

Comments

i'm up for action if you are (also good to wave it, of course!)

[phobulus]

you got it man, cya in an hour

and miss a chance to bother him in person?! perish the thought!

[purplexing]

[Donnie's where he's supposed to be once it comes closer to the hour. He's got his (new) favorite hoodie on, purple, of course, and a backpack slung over a shoulder.

He taps at his phone as he waits.]

[phobulus]

( beep beep who's got the keys to the jeep it's hardison and not a jeep and the brakes sound like a horror movie when he rolls up. )

Donnie!

( dee have you ever seen someone actually roll a window down with a crank well you're in for a treat this is what hardison is doing so he can yell out the window from the food poisoning express truck. )

Hang on! Driver's side gets jammed.

( once parked, hardison disappears for a moment and makes a ruckus inside before hopping out the back doors. it scares away the very hungry looking couple who were approaching but instead decide to be smart and not risk gastrointestinal distress this day. )

[purplexing]

[Ugh who's honking at- oh.

Donnie winces a little as his name's called, looking up from his phone. His brow may be twitching just a little as he takes in the vehicle that's pulled up, managing at the very least, a pained smile as a very familiar man has to roll the window down- oh wow, manual windows. That is. Something.

His expression flattens as Hardison disappears after his explanation of the door, looking more or less unimpressed before turning his attention to the rear of truck opens. Pff.

With a shake of his head, Donnie starts on over to the back, tucking his phone into his pocket.]

Wow dude. This thing holding together with ducttape on the inside or..?

[He grins, holding out a fist. Yeah he missed this guy but he's going to get in those jabs when he can.]

[phobulus]

What? No.

( a fingerless-gloved hand returns the bump eagerly. hardison's own grin undermines his insulted tone.

he flings the second door open wider to show that the inside is half food prep and half janky gadgets, but there in the galley of it all sits dee's brother's present. )

Hardy's delivery service runs on flex tape, thank you very much. Check it out.

[purplexing]

[Donnie gives the space a critical eye but it's all easily overshadowed by the bike sitting there. Aaaaw yesssss.]

Oooh, very nice. How'd you con this one?

[He waves a hand, not really needing the whole rundown unless Hardi' has a good story. It already looks promising and mentally Dee's already taking things apart and adding in bells and whistles as he steps in for closer inspection.]

[phobulus]

( it's exactly how hardison would have responded to a gift to tinker with, which is both gratifying and also slightly haunting. sheesh. )

I had some help from a friend. She grew up around cars.

( grew up boosting them, he means. )

This one's squeaky clean and I can get the registration, inspection, insurance and all that spoofed for you if you need. I wasn't sure how low you guys are laying these days.

[purplexing]

Cool. Never hurts to get professional help.

[He does flash a grin at Hardison there- he kids!!!]

Looks good overall- she still run?

[Poking at all the stufffff]

-technically it was only me lying low, but that was because of the whole government enforced registration requirement that I managed to somehow accidentally miss, and we figured maybe it was better they didn't know I existed.

[He shrugs.] Of course now the government's out of the picture for meta-business for now, but I'm still on the fence about sticking to it with a guild. My brother was with the Alliance before I came here- swapped for Society when things started going weird. Knowing him, he'll probably switch back again. So... I don't know. Might be better having vehicle reg and stuff taken care of though.

[phobulus]

( professi—oh hah-hah, says hardison's very mature face in response. his sassy yes follows, of course it runs, but he lets dee walk through his thought process out loud without anymore interruption. he nods agreement about guild suspicion, and also shrugs: staying off of the radar is not a bad choice to make. )

Let's grab a couple slices, go over options. I'm not a fan of governments or guilds, but that's just me. And you don't have to choose anything right now. You got time.

( he steps back, holding the door ready to shut once donnie comes back out again. )

Plus, you probably want to talk it over with your brother, right?

[purplexing]

Now that is a plan I can get behind.

[Donnie hops out.]

Too much people sticking their nose in your business, am I right?

[He nods though, in no particular hurry to make commitments. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he waits for Hardison before walking towards the pizza place.]

Mm there is that. Oooor I could just let him handle it when we get to that bridge.

Anyway! I hear a guy was looking for a super mint condition just like new, genuine Eighties watch.

[phobulus]

( amused and a little exasperated at what a ping pong ball dee is in this concrete room of a conversation, hardison's main response is a laugh of surprise. but then his big brown greedy eyes widen once he registers that— )

You got one? Where is it?

( too loud for the pizzeria and also the line, hardison hushes himself, yo-yo'ing between disbelief and desperation. )

No way, come on. Are you serious?

[purplexing]

[Donnie grins as they step inside, shifting his backpack in front of him to unzip before eyeing Hardison like he's trying to be secretive about it. He makes a show of rifling through it, quite clearly still stringing the guy along before he finally pulls out a little- well, actually he pulls out a Walkman and headphones, passing them over before resuming his digging.]

Here, hold those. Actually you can keep those too.

[phobulus]

( mhm. yep. mhm this is. yeah. this is about what he should have expected.

he's just gonna. hold it. and look up at the ceiling for strength. oh damn they're up— )

Oh hey hi yeah, can I have uhh—do you guys do like a ziti slice? Yeah, ziti. The pasta, yes—OK don't give me that look, don't act like you don't know... ( SIGH. ) Kay, how about uhh barbecue chicken, I guess? OK thank you. Two actually, yeah. You got garlic knots back there? Great. I'm getting my man's here too, if he doesn't fall into his backpack and disappear...

[purplexing]

[Golly dad, give him a break-]

Pepperoni, artichoke and mushroom- actually we'll just do the veggie supreme but with pepperoni, that cool?

[Said while he's still looking through that backpack.]

[phobulus]

( two can play the razz game, champ! hardison takes back over, getting them fountain drink cups and settling up the tab on a card that decidedly does not say his actual name etc, etc. )

You got a spoonful of sugar in there for me, Mary Poppins?

( while they wait he's just gonna hook those skinny old ass headphones around his neck. maybe he's savoring the way the cheap foam squishes between his thumb and finger, what of it? maybe he's clicking open the cassette player and snapping it shut again the way he did with the hand-me-down he got from one of the other foster kids back in the day.

yeah, he's definitely keeping it. )

[purplexing]

Hang on, I'll have to look up that reference-

[Totally not grinning.

But Donnie sits once Hardison's got them a table, finally pulling out a box and sliding it over.]

-ahah!

You didn't specify but that one had a calculator, which I figure was considered high-tech back in the day, and who doesn't want a calculator on their wrist?

[phobulus]

( all of the sass leaves him as hardison takes in the sight of a brand new vintage calculator watch. he's stolen a lot of things; stunning and staggering amounts of money; a court trial; technically an airplane while it was in the air, but this—

the walkman is all but forgotten (not really, he is putting it gently into a pocket) as hardison reaches to pull his own trinket toward himself. a soft smile on his face, he turns the box this way and that, hesitant to open it.

he smiles at dee, shaking his head in disbelief before entirely killing the moment: )

What is this? Man, I asked for a Game and Watch. ( a beat. he can't let it get too mushy, you know. yes he is excited to have a thing he begged his nana for as a kid and never got shut up that's not the point. ) You think I can't do math in my head?

( maybe he is simply embarrassed at how happy this casio is making him.... )

[purplexing]

[Donnie leans back in his seat, ceasing his pack-rifling to watch as Hardison looks over the goods. True, this isn't anything he's made with his own hands, but it's still a nice feeling, seeing the appreciation in that smile, even that headshake.

Of course they can't get all sentimental. This is a no-feelings, bad-boy zone.]

Yeah, I know, fumbled on the game, I will admit. Things got kind of busy all of a sudden- [You know how it goes, getting tangled up in some crime boss's business, having to lie low for a bit...] -but hey, now you can do the math on your wrist too.

[phobulus]

( hardison sobers for just a moment, worried that he's pushed the razzing too far. donnie saying something self-deprecating is kinda jarring, after all!

then he smirks again. muahaha... )

So, where's yours?

( you got them matching one, right dee? )

They're super customizable, we could make sure yours matches your fit, you know. Give it that purple glow.

[purplexing]

[Donnie grins- how could he have passed up his own calculator watch? He pauses a moment before pulling out another box. Maybe it's good he hadn't gotten around to unpacking things.]

That sounds amazing, I had not even thought about that yet, but clearly you know me too well.

[He sets the box down between them before looking over towards the counter when he hears their number. One sec, grabbing the food!]

[phobulus]

It was just a hunch...

( hardison's words chase donnie as he scurries away to schlep. meanwhile, hardison gets his new gadget settled on his wrist and takes a moment to admire it.

once dee returns, hardison falls into the relatively comfortable routine of getting everything settled, all domestic like. napkins go here, cups there, etc, etc. every so often, hardison waggles his wrist happily, like he's 10 again and just got a gameboy color. )

I still think it's crazy you actually dipped back in time, but I see the wisdom now.

[purplexing]

[Pizza's here! Donnie sets them down on the table, settling back into his seat. He can't help but smirk a little at the neat little setup that he comes back to, but seeing Hardison so giddy about his new toy keeps the turtle from loading any commentary. Although if the guy had went and got forks and knives for them to eat with then he'd have no choice.]

Heh! I mean, yeah. It was pretty crazy- still is kinda crazy to think about. Still would not want to live there.

[phobulus]

( oh yeah it's face-stuffing time. pardon hardison's poor manners as he scarfs away, everything smells good and he's disgustingly curious. )

To be honest when I got here it felt like time travel. ( monch, monch. ) So I'm glad you got to come back. You know, to modern comforts.

( and also at all. he is very glad dee made it back and everything is mostly status quo. he didn't pace a worry-hole in the floorboards at the theater at all, nope. )

[purplexing]

[Pff, like Donnie's one to come down on someone for manners. It is pizza time and that is totally meant for face-stuffing. Plus, his brothers probably are way worse than Hardison. Donnie chews in companionable silence for a moment. You never realize how hungry you are until you're eating, sometimes.]

Haha, yeah? I hadn't even thought about that- I was way too thrown off by finding out my brother had been here longer and was still from some point in the future like, a day ahead of me.

[He quickly moves along on that subject, not wanting to dwell, don't notice, don't notice- nothing awkward about that whole situation, NOPE]

Modern comforts though- Oh you have no idea. No internet or cellphone was a nightmare! It was like we were forced to go camping again but I still had my tech, it was just that everywhere was a deadzone.

[Dude don't tell him that he'd feel super bad about worrying someone so much and having no idea he was doing it. ...at least he hasn't told Hardison that he ended up fighting a god, it's fine.]

[phobulus]

( hardison does a big ol' nod—being here with but not in lockstep beside his people scrambled his brain a bit. thinking about it too hard is definitely asking for a spiral of unknown magnitude. )

Camping— ( a groan. misery, more like. ) Yeah, actually I was gonna ask, if you found any way to mash your hoodoo up with vintage tech.