Entwined

Chapter 4: Coffee

Reni looked over the two hammocks. She knew the guys had been training and were probably tired out. Smirking, she went over to one of the trees opposite the hammocks and climbed up. Good thing my work built up my muscles, or I'd have never made this without falling on my ass. Reni settled on a large branch with a gentle crook, letting the tree practically cradle her among the leaves. A few moments after she settled, Mikey came bursting back into the clearing.

"I brought Donnie, and he promised to not tell the others~!" Mikey sang loudly before looking around. "Hey, where'd she go?"

"Up here, Mikey," Came a feminine voice from above them.

Mikey pouted. "Up where, dudette? I can't see you."

A shifting sound came from a nearby tree, setting Donnie on edge and making him reach unconciously for his staff. What kind of creature had Mikey befriended? The shifting seemed to notice and paused.

"Don't be afraid of me, Donnie. I won't hurt you or your brothers in any way. I've held your secret faithfully for many years, after all."

Curiosity ignited in Donnie's mind, but he didn't take his hand off his Bo staff until he noticed Mikey giving him a dirty look. Sheepishly, Donnie put his hand back at his side. A moment later, a foot emerged from the foliage above them. Turning his head upwards, Donnie stared at Reni as she lay on the tree branch with her head resting on her arms. She smiled gently down at him.

"Hello, Donatello. I'm pleased to finally meet you."

"Yeah, bro, Reni knows all about us! She got dragged here from another world where we're comic book heros and action figures! She's totally cool with us being giant turtle mutants!"

Donnie's expression turned calculating. "Another world? What is he talking about, Miss Flaire?"

Reni laughed. "I assume you've already tried researching me, huh? It'd be a lot easier to show you, if you'll indulge me in a short walk to my house?"

Donnie hesitated. It could be a trap. But Reni had already hopped out of the tree into Mikey's waiting arms and the pair were walking down a hidden path, chatting merrily. Reluctantly, Donnie followed.

A little later had Donatello seated on a soft couch, staring at the contents of the box Reni had shown him. Mikey had sprawled out on the floor with a soda and a comic, making the woman smile from the doorway of her kitchen.

"Donnie, would you like something to drink?"

"Oh, um, yes please."

Reni giggled and returned a moment later with two cups, handing one to Donnie. "Iced coffee. I hope vanilla is ok. I got hooked on it by my coworkers."

"It's fine, thank you."

Reni sipped her drink as she watched Donnie piece together everything she had in the box - her old action figures, TMNT comics, a few movies, and under that her photo album from her other life. She stopped him from opening the album.

"Those are my memories, Donnie. Please leave them be."

Donnie could see the ache in her eyes, and he felt badly. He hadn't meant to intrude upon her privacy, not since she had been so open with everything else. He gently placed the album back in the box, and neatly re-stacked her comics on top of it. He them picked up one of the action figures, studying it.

"They're very cartoon-ish."

Reni shrugged. "Nobody from my world had actually SEEN any of you guys, so the artists did the best they could. The most realistic renditions were from the live-action movie, but a lot of it was computer graphics."

Mikey's eyes lit up at the mention of a movie. "Cool! Do you have the movie?"

OoO

Leo frowned, checking the time. Donnie and Mikey had been outside for a while. It wasn't unusual for Mikey to spend all of his spare time in the water, they were turtles after all, but his genius brother was often the first one out and tinkering again with whatever he had going.

"Hey Raph, have you seen Donnie in the past couple hours?"

OoO

Knock knock, you're about to get shell shocked!

As the ending credits played, Reni couldn't help but laugh a little at Mikey's face. Both turtles had enjoyed the movie, but Mikey took special pleasure in the ending credits where it showed himself and Raphael pretending to be a bra on a billboard. Reni had seated herself between the two turtles, and at first Mikey had hugged her to his side. However, she extracted herself from him halfway through the movie. He just got too excited and the jostling around didn't feel good to her semi-sore muscles. His bouncing around had forced her to lean even farther away, which had her practically cuddled up to Donnie. The other turtle had blushed a bit, but understood that she was just trying to not get knocked around. A cheery jingle sounded from both turtles belts, catching the trio's attention. Donnie looked at his phone, and typed a quick response before turning to Reni and Mikey.

"That was Leo, he wants us to get home so we can make plans. Reni, thank you for the coffee - it was delicious."

"You're welcome. Come back any time guys. Just remember it's our secret, ok? Last thing I want is a full-blown freak-out from the other two."