Teenage Mutant Ninja Fail 2: Hellectric Boogaloo.

[hellfire_empath]

Here we go. Round two! Brooke Wyngarde stood outside Pete Eastman's room, dressed in something decidedly more casual than last time. Well, as casual as Brooke could get, anyway. There was also an entire tray of nachos, tacos, and burritos in her hands, and a cooler bag filled with soda.

Best way to a teenage boy's personality...

Carefully balancing the tray, Brooke knocked on the door.

This time? This time she was going to wear the turtles down and get through to Pete Eastman, no matter what.

She grinned brightly as the door opened.

Comments

[fourshelled]

Aramis felt nothing from Pete. He was his own separate entity as far as he was concerned.

"A distant heart creates a wilderness around it," he noted. He might not have been able to sense Pete, but Aramis more than the others could make guesses at what the young man was doing.

He stopped swirling the water and set the bottle on a small non-trayed spot of the table. He grabbed one of the burritos. "Many hands will lighten the work, but familiar faces bring about ease. What can I help you with along this path?"

[hellfire_empath]

"Get to know me," Brooke replied. "Let's become friends." She smiled wryly, then. "I know. The biggest bitch Xavier's has known in the past five years, asking for friendship. But this is important." Pause. "And last time, I genuinely enjoyed getting to know D'Artagnan."

[fourshelled]

"Often give, often receive," he agreed. He took a bite of burrito because all this being wise was making him hungry.

Then a thought hit him. He swallowed his mouthful and leaned a little closer. He gestured for her to lean a little closer. Even if she didn't, he was still going to ask:

"Is this the right shade of purple for me?"

[hellfire_empath]

She leaned in. Of course she did. Turtles...had terrified her. Very much so.

But after D'Artagnan...well.

She was changing, a little bit. Being pulled in two different directions. One day, Brooke was fully aware how confusing that was going to get. How difficult.

But today was not that day.

She smiled. "If there was any more blue in that shade of purple and it'd wash your skin tone the wrong way, Aramis."

[fourshelled]

"Hmm." He nodded as straightened up. He plucked at the sleeve that did not have an arm in it.

"Take heed of good clothing, and then respect the man." He took another bite of the burrito and chewed contemplatively. If that were possible with a turtle mouth.

"Have some food," he suggested after he swallowed. "Watching a turtle eat is only fun for a scant time."

[hellfire_empath]

Brooke blinked. These foods were not her kind of thing. Her sort of Mexican cuisine was something generally less apt to spill onto her designer skirt.

Then again, in the name of friendship and all that.

Gingerly, she unwrapped a soft taco filled with roasted calabaza, grilled portobello mushrooms, charred brussels sprouts, and ancho-marinated chicken breast strips and took a bite. It was delicious, of course. Brooke only catered from the best.

She chewed thoughtfully for a moment before directing her attention back to Aramis. "So you're the wise one." Which wasn't to say that the others were stupid, but they each had their strengths. "What do you make of your situation?"

[fourshelled]

The turtle carefully set what was left of his burrito down. He tried to make sure it did not touch any of the other food and infect it with turtle germs. He held up a finger before reaching inside the sleeve of his robe.

He pulled out what looked like a freshly laundered and folded piece of cloth. Aramis unfolded it and carefully and trying not to invade Brooke's space too much set the cloth over her designer skirt. He hoped that would protect her clothing enough.

Once he was sure she could eat without sartorial damage, the turtle settled back and picked up his burrito.

"One tree does not make a forest." He nibbled on his burrito. "I am tied to the whims of his feelings. As are the others, I assume. But five distant pieces in a whirlpool do not make a whole."

[hellfire_empath]

A warm, genuine smile spread across Brooke's face. "I...thank you, Aramis. That was wonderfully chivalrous of you." She gingerly set aside her taco and nodded. "So you all feel disjointed?"

[fourshelled]

"The cautious seldom err." He finished up his burrito. He rubbed his hands together as he looked over the other food. "Your posture and cautious motions mean your clothing is important to you. It is better for digestion to be at ease."

He reached for some nachos. "I personally do not. But there is a... unwholeness lurking in the background. I do not know if the others feel it. The ninja and samurai most likely do not. One can never tell with the monk."

[hellfire_empath]

"Thank you," she said again. The skirt, after all, was almost five thousand dollars. Certainly not the most expensive thing on her - that would be the pentagonal diamond ring she was wearing - but expensive nonetheless. Brooke finished off the rest of her taco in small, dainty bites before taking a sip of the sparkling water. "I see," Brooke then said. "What sort of unwholesomeness?" There was a joke there, with monks not monkeying around, but Brooke wisely avoided that joke.

[fourshelled]

The priest would have choked on his nachos had he known the price of the skirt. However, he didn't and just knew that her clothing seemed to be important to her.

"He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know." He ate a few nachos. "Not unwholesome. Unwhole. Like pieces scattered after a storm."

[hellfire_empath]

"So the one who knows isn't saying anything. And that's one of the three of you I have yet to meet." Brooke nodded. She was understanding this turtle pretty well. That was good, right? Progress!

"Do you...do any of you feel the need to be brought together? As one whole piece? Each of you in control without vying for control?"

[fourshelled]

"You can lead a cow to water, but you cannot make it drink." He finished up the portion of nachos he had picked out for himself. He grabbed his sparkling water and took a long drink.

He was obviously not a cow.

[hellfire_empath]

"I can bring the topic up, but I can't force one of the others to give me the answers I'm looking for," Brooke nodded. "I get it."