Well it's TMNT ©. And ya know what everyone says: I don't own them… Pity.
About story: Lazy morning, bros, delicious food and... reading Donatello. Heh. Breakfast oneshot. Not completely suitable title, but I can't find any better idea... Sorry. ^_^
For You: I hope You'll enjoy this. Any tips and comments are welcome! It's important for me to know your opinion. Thank You for reading!!
All truths are not to be told
"Bon appétit!" Mikey smiled happily, reaching for the jar with jam.
Perhaps, these hours were his favorite – late morning, his bros and father near him and – that was very important part of delight – delicious aromas filling the air and different awesome stuff in front of his eyes. In other words – breakfast.
Maybe if Don wasn't so consumed by his book it would be even better, but Mikey decided not to concentrate on it. Even if olive green terrapin seemed to be almost charmed by it. Come on, everyone has right for little kinks as long as they don't harm anyone. After all Splinter was also consumed by newspaper.
"You burnt toasts again, knucklehead." Raphael rumbled, nevertheless grabbing three pieces of bread at once and pulling them onto his plate.
"You don't like it – you don't eat it." Michelangelo chuckled as he smeared his slice with thick layer of jam.
He liked toast! Come on, how could anyone not? They were crispy and hot and smelled awesome and butter melted on them and it was so cool! No, of course pizza was the most awesome food in the world, but it didn't mean he couldn't love something else.
Donatello turned a page in his book and shook his head slightly, eyes locked firmly on the lines.
"Burnt toasts..." He muttered slowly as if repeating mindlessly something he had just heard.
Not that word 'mindlessly' could have been ever used towards the genius of the family, but still…
"Just a bit." Mikey raised eyebrow ridge, smiling to his brother. "Big deal."
His smile went to nowhere. Rubbing his chin and not tearing away from fascinating reading, genius bit his lower lip.
"Acrylamide." He let out after a short pause.
Michelangelo kept silence for some time staring at olive green turtle and not receiving any attention in return then glanced at his other two brothers.
"Say…" The youngest muttered finally. "Did Don just said something that has some meaning or just insulted me and I don't even know about it?"
Leo just shrugged while Raph rolled his eyes slightly as he kept chewing his toast without showing much interest like he usually did. Donatello sighed turning page again and not raising his eyes.
"Acrylamide is a chemical that is used to make polyacrylamide materials." He said slowly, probably in the tempo that allowed him to read and explain at the same time. "Polyacrylamide is used in the treatment of drinking-water and waste water where it is used to remove particles and other impurities. It is also used to make glues, paper and cosmetics. Polyacrylamide materials contain very small amounts of acrylamide. Acrylamide is also used in the construction of dam foundations and tunnels."
They all knew that it was one of Don's most curious traits - he didn't even need to interrupt his reading to give lecture on any object he was familiar with, even if thing he was reading was absolutely different from the one he was explaining. The most fascinating part was that genius didn't even remember what he had been talking about after he finished it; it was just like he simply heard some word or sentence that suddenly triggered something inside of his head and he started letting out information, being completely obsessed by his reading in the same time.
"Tunnels… Yeah, that's… cool." Mikey tilted his head aside, noticing that his other two bros and even father were listening to Donatello now.
They tried to make impression that they didn't, but when genius talked like that it was hard not to listen. It just happened. Involuntarily.
"Acrylamide appears to be produced in some foods prepared at high temperatures." Don continued in the same lecture tone, turning a page in his book again. "Actually, it's hard to define acrylamide other than it is a compound that forms naturally when heat hits foods that contain sugars and certain amino acids. Hmmm… The main amino acid involved is asparagines."
"He's getting somewhere, isn't he?" Mikey asked silent auditory earning himself confused looks from Leo and Raph.
"Bread has only low levels, but if you burn your toast, the burnt area has significantly higher amounts. Ditto for French fries. The levels of acrylamide increase as the cooking time and temperature increase."
"It's probably horrible, dude…" Mikey mumbled looking at his toast cautiously. "But I kinda like when some of it has a burnt taste..."
"Acrylamide is known to cause cancer in animals." Donatello returned to the previous page for a second and then continued his reading. "Also, certain doses of acrylamide are toxic to the nervous system of both animals and humans."
Swallowing, Michelangelo slowly put his toast at the plate and pushed it away from himself. Frowning Leonardo attentively examined his own piece of bread from each angle as if expecting to see something unusual so he would be able to identify the enemy and destroy it. Raphael didn't make a sound, he just stared at his own empty plate full of crumbs – he had already eaten all his toasts.
"It's not completely definite, but several animal studies suggest it is harmful to reproductive and development processes in rats and mice." Donatello finished humming lowly as he found some especially interesting part in the book.
Splinter flinched and took his hand away from the third toast he had wanted to eat. Everyone just sat in complete silence not looking at each other, until Donatello finally shifted on his chair, marked a page, then closed the book, put it aside and raised his head, coming back to reality. They all watched as he grabbed toast, covered it with jam and bit off almost a half at once.
"Hey guys…" Genius asked, chewing with the expression of obvious delight on his face. "Why aren't you eating?"