"How can you not like chocolate?" Renee's scandalized tone suggested that this was equivalent to either a serious moral defect or an appalling lack of life experience.
"I just don't like it, I don't know why. I tried milk, dark, white"
"There is no such thing as white chocolate," she interrupted flatly. "It is a heresy, nothing more"
Donatello chuckled. "You really take chocolate seriously, don't you"
"Chocolate," Renee replied somewhat stiffly, "is a very serious matter." She allowed the façade to drop long enough for a grin. "However, this is not the point. The point is that chocolate was just the tip of the iceberg—the entire town was way too uptight"
Leonardo, while not having a great deal of interest in the movie Chocolat, had at least found its portrayal of French Catholicism intriguing. Renee's presence over the last month and a half had begun to make him and his brothers aware that there was an entire world of film outside the action/thriller section of the video store.
"But what if they weren't?" he suggested. "Sure, the movie portrays it that way, but what if she really was leading them down the path of temptation? What's wrong with maintaining your traditional beliefs"
It was Donatello who responded. "But they did keep their traditions—they just got…less traditional," he finished noncommittally.
"Nothing wrong with temptation," Renee added slyly. Her eyes hardened slightly as she continued: "Besides, who gives a damn about right and wrong"
The two brothers stared at her in momentary shock. As they watched, her expression became more pleasant, flickering like an old black and white reel. "Anyway. Donny, shouldn't we get back to work"
Donatello, after an uncertain glance at his brother, nodded. "Yeah…sure." Renee's odd, split-personality moments were growing more and more frequent, with less and less warning. He was certain it had something to do with her odd condition, but since he still had no idea what that condition was, all he could do was keep testing, analyzing, and hoping.
As he followed her into the lab, he couldn't stop his eyes from sliding down. Renee had filled out since she arrived, and her figure…he quickly raised his eyes, feeling the blood rush to his face. He had, some time ago, done some discreet reading on human and reptilian anatomy, and was relatively certain that...intimate relations…between his brothers and female humans were possible. The odds that such a coupling would result in conception were incredibly low, of course, given the genetic oddities, but he wouldn't discount the possibility.
Renee stopped, glancing back at him over her shoulder. "You ok"
Donatello sighed, and nodded. Renee didn't look entirely convinced, but kept quiet as they stepped into the lab for what had essentially become a daily ritual of tests and analysis, interspersed with jokes, teasing, and occasional rough-housing.
As Renee stretched out unconcernedly, Donny grabbed what they'd be needing and brought it over. He was trying, with some difficulty, to focus on Renee as a friend in trouble rather than a damsel in distress. There was no reason to think of her any other way, came the bitter afterthought: she probably had little to no romantic interest in what she undoubtedly perceived as a half-breed mutant who hid in city sewers.
Something of his frustration came through as he attached some electrodes to her wrist a little more roughly than was necessary; she jerked and sat up, looking caught between surprise and concern.
"Donny..." he turned away, but she caught at his shoulder, pulling him back around to face her. "What the hell is wrong with you today"
He kept his gaze focused somewhere around her left ear, not trusting himself to make eye contact. "It's nothing." She started to speak, and he pulled away, cutting her off. "Just drop it, please, Renee"
Her forehead creased in exasperation. He closed his eyes; she was unbearably cute when she did. The tone of her voice when she spoke, though, surprised his eyes open.
"Donny...come here a minute." He stepped forward, reluctantly. She caught her lower lip between her teeth, looking uncertain. He was caught off guard as she leaned forward and, tentatively, kissed him.
"I just don't like it, I don't know why. I tried milk, dark, white"
"There is no such thing as white chocolate," she interrupted flatly. "It is a heresy, nothing more"
Donatello chuckled. "You really take chocolate seriously, don't you"
"Chocolate," Renee replied somewhat stiffly, "is a very serious matter." She allowed the façade to drop long enough for a grin. "However, this is not the point. The point is that chocolate was just the tip of the iceberg—the entire town was way too uptight"
Leonardo, while not having a great deal of interest in the movie Chocolat, had at least found its portrayal of French Catholicism intriguing. Renee's presence over the last month and a half had begun to make him and his brothers aware that there was an entire world of film outside the action/thriller section of the video store.
"But what if they weren't?" he suggested. "Sure, the movie portrays it that way, but what if she really was leading them down the path of temptation? What's wrong with maintaining your traditional beliefs"
It was Donatello who responded. "But they did keep their traditions—they just got…less traditional," he finished noncommittally.
"Nothing wrong with temptation," Renee added slyly. Her eyes hardened slightly as she continued: "Besides, who gives a damn about right and wrong"
The two brothers stared at her in momentary shock. As they watched, her expression became more pleasant, flickering like an old black and white reel. "Anyway. Donny, shouldn't we get back to work"
Donatello, after an uncertain glance at his brother, nodded. "Yeah…sure." Renee's odd, split-personality moments were growing more and more frequent, with less and less warning. He was certain it had something to do with her odd condition, but since he still had no idea what that condition was, all he could do was keep testing, analyzing, and hoping.
As he followed her into the lab, he couldn't stop his eyes from sliding down. Renee had filled out since she arrived, and her figure…he quickly raised his eyes, feeling the blood rush to his face. He had, some time ago, done some discreet reading on human and reptilian anatomy, and was relatively certain that...intimate relations…between his brothers and female humans were possible. The odds that such a coupling would result in conception were incredibly low, of course, given the genetic oddities, but he wouldn't discount the possibility.
Renee stopped, glancing back at him over her shoulder. "You ok"
Donatello sighed, and nodded. Renee didn't look entirely convinced, but kept quiet as they stepped into the lab for what had essentially become a daily ritual of tests and analysis, interspersed with jokes, teasing, and occasional rough-housing.
As Renee stretched out unconcernedly, Donny grabbed what they'd be needing and brought it over. He was trying, with some difficulty, to focus on Renee as a friend in trouble rather than a damsel in distress. There was no reason to think of her any other way, came the bitter afterthought: she probably had little to no romantic interest in what she undoubtedly perceived as a half-breed mutant who hid in city sewers.
Something of his frustration came through as he attached some electrodes to her wrist a little more roughly than was necessary; she jerked and sat up, looking caught between surprise and concern.
"Donny..." he turned away, but she caught at his shoulder, pulling him back around to face her. "What the hell is wrong with you today"
He kept his gaze focused somewhere around her left ear, not trusting himself to make eye contact. "It's nothing." She started to speak, and he pulled away, cutting her off. "Just drop it, please, Renee"
Her forehead creased in exasperation. He closed his eyes; she was unbearably cute when she did. The tone of her voice when she spoke, though, surprised his eyes open.
"Donny...come here a minute." He stepped forward, reluctantly. She caught her lower lip between her teeth, looking uncertain. He was caught off guard as she leaned forward and, tentatively, kissed him.