Offer Free to good Ficcer's
Donatello emptied his bag onto the table in front of his door. He was rather satisfied with his haul
from the illegal dumpsite he'd found nestled against the ruins of an old tenement. The only thing he hadn't found yet was a body and that kind of find was why he was branching out from his usual dump to scavenge. The results were a cornucopia of techno goodness: an old ATM held some interesting gears and interface parts, the Harley's engine would need him to return with Raphael and decide how bad the bullet damage really was, he kept the Sega Lynx carefully wrapped in the heavy fabric he could use to recover the couch- both a good start on Christmas presents for Mikey, a reprogrammable TV remote- never enough of those around, some real and stage jewelry to pass to April- she could see if she could find the owners before deciding what to do with the items, the last small treasure was a decorative box freed from the soggy cardboard jungle of someone's hastily emptied apartment. He rather hoped it would turn out to be a good box for Splinter to store tea or incense.
"Wow, you really did find a good place to look." Leonardo's voice was mild but Don still jumped twenty-eight inches into the air and turned with the pretty box clutched to his chest. Leo pretended to be examining the items on the table innocently while Don regained his breath.
He used the box to smack the hand away from the fabric wrapped surprise. "Seriously, Leo, do NOT ninja up to me and expect me to share fun goodies. I don't need my lifespan shortened that way." Leo tried to hide a small, smug smirk as he shrugged apologetically. He hustled the fabric to a far corner and stuffed it next to similar finds. Michelangelo knew not to mess with the fabric for recovering Raphael's precious bike. "Mikey doesn't get into this any time soon, got that?" Leo smiled still rubbing his hand from the box edge.
"Mike doesn't get into what?" The orange mask peered around the edge of the doorway perched atop a devilish smile. Figures! The one time he needed the pest to be distracted with a table full of stuff he finds him clutching a box with a broken lid and his hand in the jackpot. Wait… "I just bet Leo you couldn't get into this box that I want intact for Sensei to use. You may be a sneak but you haven't the ability to be subtle with a broken latch." He planned to leave the item with some WD-40 overnight and maybe try the old lock in the morning.
At Mike's look of peaked interest, he waved the box out to the side and moved his other arm away from the thick bolts of fabric. Michelangelo was already looking hard enough to follow his hand motion and rubbing his chin as he considered the idea. He was infamous for breaking into locks on journals so they had given up on those long ago. Worse, you never knew he had gotten into the things until he brought up something written in them the next day.
Don applied the a small squirt of the penetrating oil then gingerly placed the box with its glass and colored stone inlay on the table. Michelangelo was at the edge of the table and examining the stuck lock from two inches away, seconds later. Donatello was smirking at the ease of the distraction when Leo stuck the sore hand under his beak with a mild glare. He guiltily inspected the small welt.
"Don's probably gonna use that fabric to fix the worn spot on the couch, Leo. Don't touch it… he'll want to be able to waterproof it or something first." Michelangelo casually ruined Don's hopes for the distraction working without dragging his eyes from the hole on the side of the box. Donatello dropped his forehead onto the sore knuckle groaning in despair and Leo pulled it away with a small grunt of irritation. "Hey, Donnie? Ya got a thin thingy?" The two older turtles ended up looking at each other mouthing the last two words silently. There was no hope for it.
"How thin do you think you need, Mike?" Leo was all helpful older brother as Donatello winced in anticipation of the coming discussion. Leo started looking around and patting his obi to see if he had anything that might work under the specifics of 'thin thingy' according to Mikey. Thinking quickly, the blue-masked turtle grabbed a metal file and thin stiff filament off two different work benches in offering.
Don snagged the file back just as fast, fiercely glaring, "He doesn't need to ruin both of them at the same time." He returned the difficult to replace tool to its proper drawer to keep temptation to a minimum. "I'm mad as it is that I can't count on my usual dump because of the crime scene there. But, the body was reported very quickly so I don't think that murderer will try that dump again." By the time he turned around, Mikey had picked up the box and was probing inside the locking mechanism opening. He gritted his teeth as a small something fell out of the lock at Mike's continued probing.
"Okay, that's what it was," Mikey managed to locate the small item on the table and held it up to the light for Leo. "It's this little stone piece. When it fell into the hole, it jammed the lock. Actually…" Much to Donatello's surprise Mikey pressed the piece against the box and a small click crossed the room to him. "Ah-hah! Gotcha!" Michelangelo twisted his finger against the stone and the lid on the decorative box popped open blocking Donatello's view of the contents. Leonardo's hand darted out as if he expected the contents to come tumbling out so Don rushed over to intercept them.
"Don't break anything! It, huh," his voice trailed off as Mike peered into the box and shook the container while completely upside down. For a second, Donatello was sure the box contained nothing, then Leo reached inside and a small chink happened when his hand twisted suddenly. Suddenly, Leo was holding a large crystal of some kind with an occluded center in the stronger light from the main room.
Mike grinned and pulled out a matching crystal, "Neat! The bottom is metal so they must be magnetic to hold in place…
from the illegal dumpsite he'd found nestled against the ruins of an old tenement. The only thing he hadn't found yet was a body and that kind of find was why he was branching out from his usual dump to scavenge. The results were a cornucopia of techno goodness: an old ATM held some interesting gears and interface parts, the Harley's engine would need him to return with Raphael and decide how bad the bullet damage really was, he kept the Sega Lynx carefully wrapped in the heavy fabric he could use to recover the couch- both a good start on Christmas presents for Mikey, a reprogrammable TV remote- never enough of those around, some real and stage jewelry to pass to April- she could see if she could find the owners before deciding what to do with the items, the last small treasure was a decorative box freed from the soggy cardboard jungle of someone's hastily emptied apartment. He rather hoped it would turn out to be a good box for Splinter to store tea or incense.
"Wow, you really did find a good place to look." Leonardo's voice was mild but Don still jumped twenty-eight inches into the air and turned with the pretty box clutched to his chest. Leo pretended to be examining the items on the table innocently while Don regained his breath.
He used the box to smack the hand away from the fabric wrapped surprise. "Seriously, Leo, do NOT ninja up to me and expect me to share fun goodies. I don't need my lifespan shortened that way." Leo tried to hide a small, smug smirk as he shrugged apologetically. He hustled the fabric to a far corner and stuffed it next to similar finds. Michelangelo knew not to mess with the fabric for recovering Raphael's precious bike. "Mikey doesn't get into this any time soon, got that?" Leo smiled still rubbing his hand from the box edge.
"Mike doesn't get into what?" The orange mask peered around the edge of the doorway perched atop a devilish smile. Figures! The one time he needed the pest to be distracted with a table full of stuff he finds him clutching a box with a broken lid and his hand in the jackpot. Wait… "I just bet Leo you couldn't get into this box that I want intact for Sensei to use. You may be a sneak but you haven't the ability to be subtle with a broken latch." He planned to leave the item with some WD-40 overnight and maybe try the old lock in the morning.
At Mike's look of peaked interest, he waved the box out to the side and moved his other arm away from the thick bolts of fabric. Michelangelo was already looking hard enough to follow his hand motion and rubbing his chin as he considered the idea. He was infamous for breaking into locks on journals so they had given up on those long ago. Worse, you never knew he had gotten into the things until he brought up something written in them the next day.
Don applied the a small squirt of the penetrating oil then gingerly placed the box with its glass and colored stone inlay on the table. Michelangelo was at the edge of the table and examining the stuck lock from two inches away, seconds later. Donatello was smirking at the ease of the distraction when Leo stuck the sore hand under his beak with a mild glare. He guiltily inspected the small welt.
"Don's probably gonna use that fabric to fix the worn spot on the couch, Leo. Don't touch it… he'll want to be able to waterproof it or something first." Michelangelo casually ruined Don's hopes for the distraction working without dragging his eyes from the hole on the side of the box. Donatello dropped his forehead onto the sore knuckle groaning in despair and Leo pulled it away with a small grunt of irritation. "Hey, Donnie? Ya got a thin thingy?" The two older turtles ended up looking at each other mouthing the last two words silently. There was no hope for it.
"How thin do you think you need, Mike?" Leo was all helpful older brother as Donatello winced in anticipation of the coming discussion. Leo started looking around and patting his obi to see if he had anything that might work under the specifics of 'thin thingy' according to Mikey. Thinking quickly, the blue-masked turtle grabbed a metal file and thin stiff filament off two different work benches in offering.
Don snagged the file back just as fast, fiercely glaring, "He doesn't need to ruin both of them at the same time." He returned the difficult to replace tool to its proper drawer to keep temptation to a minimum. "I'm mad as it is that I can't count on my usual dump because of the crime scene there. But, the body was reported very quickly so I don't think that murderer will try that dump again." By the time he turned around, Mikey had picked up the box and was probing inside the locking mechanism opening. He gritted his teeth as a small something fell out of the lock at Mike's continued probing.
"Okay, that's what it was," Mikey managed to locate the small item on the table and held it up to the light for Leo. "It's this little stone piece. When it fell into the hole, it jammed the lock. Actually…" Much to Donatello's surprise Mikey pressed the piece against the box and a small click crossed the room to him. "Ah-hah! Gotcha!" Michelangelo twisted his finger against the stone and the lid on the decorative box popped open blocking Donatello's view of the contents. Leonardo's hand darted out as if he expected the contents to come tumbling out so Don rushed over to intercept them.
"Don't break anything! It, huh," his voice trailed off as Mike peered into the box and shook the container while completely upside down. For a second, Donatello was sure the box contained nothing, then Leo reached inside and a small chink happened when his hand twisted suddenly. Suddenly, Leo was holding a large crystal of some kind with an occluded center in the stronger light from the main room.
Mike grinned and pulled out a matching crystal, "Neat! The bottom is metal so they must be magnetic to hold in place…