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Irma rushed to her living room on Friday evening to answer the polite knocking on her apartment door. Donatello stood in the hallway, dressed for the season in a dark blue parka, grey pants, and black winter boots that also served to hide his shell and green skin. A purple knit cap was pulled low over his brow and when he raised his hand to wave at her, she saw he had on a matching pair of purple mittens.
“Hey Irma,” he said. “Ready to go?”
“Almost! C’mon in while I go grab my coat,” she said, taking a step back to give him room to enter the apartment.
Donatello closed the door softly behind him and went over to perch on the arm of the couch while Irma rummaged in the hall closet. “Thanks for agreeing to come with me to the show tonight. The other guys just weren’t interested and, well, I knew April was going to be anchoring the late news all weekend, so I didn’t bother asking her.”
“Aw those guys don’t know what they’re going to be missing,” Irma said as she wrapped a blue and white scarf around her neck and pulled her long black coat off its hanger. “This thing sounds like a lot of fun! And hey, since it’s just the two of us, it’ll be like a date!”
“It’s not a date,” Donatello scoffed. “It’s just . . . Two close friends enjoying a night out together.”
Irma paused after putting an arm through her coat sleeve to look over her shoulder at him. “Have you ever even been on a date?” she asked curiously.
“Ah . . . well, no,” he admitted. “But I remember that romance movie we watched with you a little bit ago — so many rules to follow! Plus, all the trouble April went through back when she was dating a bunch . . .” He made a face. “To be honest, dating kinda just seems like a lot of work. Wonder why people even bother.”
“Hm.” Irma studied him thoughtfully for another moment, then finished putting on her coat, did up the buttons on the front, and grabbed a white knit hat with a big fuzzy pom-pom off the shelf. “‘Kay,” she said as she closed the closet. “Ready.”
“Here, let me.” Donatello jumped up and opened the apartment door. Irma flashed him a grateful smile as she stepped past him out into the hall.
She pulled her hat onto her head and slipped her hands into the gloves in her coat pocket while they waited for the elevator. As soon as they reached the lobby, Donatello hurried over to the building’s main entrance to open that door for her as well. Irma was so charmed by his show of chivalry she didn’t notice the patch of ice on the front steps. A startled scream escaped her as her foot slid out from underneath her and she started falling backwards. Donatello yelled her name in alarm and lunged forward to catch her before she landed on the hard stone.
“Thanks,” she gasped.
“I, uh, came up through the basement so didn’t know the steps were icy,” he said meekly.
“Well, sure the super’ll get around to salting them at some point,” Irma said. Now that the initial shock was over, her heart had started to settle back into its normal rhythm. Donatello still had his arms wrapped around her, hugging her tight to his chest. “Um. Think you can let me up now.”
“Huh? Oh!” He spluttered. “Right.”
Donatello helped her back to her feet and clung close to her side as they descended the rest of the way to the sidewalk – all of three steps. Irma felt her cheeks redden in embarrassment. She wanted to be annoyed at him for hovering, but at the same time there was something so endearing about his concern that it was hard to be mad. Maybe being a klutz had its benefits after all. Fortunately, the City was much better at maintaining the sidewalks than her super had been about the stairs and their walk to the waterfront was free of any additional unplanned attempts at acrobatics.
The City Institute of Contemporary Art had recently announced it was partnering with the City Science and Research Society to design a brand-new multimedia exhibit celebrating the vital role of art in the field of scientific discovery. Named Science x Art, the installation was described in all promotional materials as, An exploration of art through the medium of science. The Society’s president had been quoted in a press release about today’s grand opening as saying the exhibit was a love letter to art from the scientific community, and noted how fitting it was they were holding their opening on Valentine’s Day. That same release detailed the special events planned as part of the opening, including a drone light show over City Harbor billed as grand finale.
The Institute was a compact, glass-fronted building situated right at the water’s edge in the City Seaport District. A wide wooden patio extended out into the harbor behind it that during the warmer months was used to host a free sunset concert series highlighting local musicians. It was also a popular venue for weddings and other special events thanks to its spectacular view of the harbor. Tonight, the space was serving as the viewing area for the drone show.
There was already a good-sized group of people milling about when Irma and Donatello arrived, though there was still another half hour at least before the show was due to begin. Soft music drifted down from the tiny speakers mounted on the portion of the museum’s upper floors that jutted out over the patio. A cluster of food vendors had set up stalls at the end of the wide pathway along one side that allowed access to the patio from the street. Tucked up against the building on the other side was a bar where a young woman with long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail and white fuzzy earmuffs over her ears was serving beer and wine to guests while they waited. A chill breeze blew steadily off the water. Irma shivered and snuggled deeper into her coat.
“Uh, yeah,” Donatello laughed nervously, hunkering into his own jacket and rubbing his hands together. “I uh. Wasn’t expecting it to be so cold here tonight.”
“Well, it is February,” she pointed out, shrugging a shoulder. “Y’know. Winter. Kinda goes hand-in-hand.”
Donatello made a sound of agreement and swept his gaze over the patio. “I’ll be right back.” He hurried over to the food stands and came back a short time later with a pair of paper plates, each bearing two extra-large slices of pizza. “Here,” he said, holding one of the plates out to Irma. “I remembered you like hamburger and peppers, but they didn’t have any. Hope plain cheese is okay.”
“Cheese is great,” she said, flashing him a big smile as she took the plate. “Thanks!” Donatello covered his own small smile by taking a large bite out of one of his pieces of pizza.
The patio continued to fill as they ate. Irma wasn’t sure if it was the warm pizza or the extra bodies around them, but the wind coming in from the harbor didn’t feel quite as biting anymore. When they were both done, Donatello took her empty plate and disappeared among the crowd to throw out their trash. He’d just made it back to her when the music coming through the speakers overhead stopped. An expectant hush settled over the patio, the only sounds the quiet murmuring from the audience and the water lapping against the pilings under their feet.
A recording of a cheery voice that introduced itself as the Director of the Institute for Contemporary Art began playing, welcoming everyone to the grand opening of Science x Art and expressing her gratitude to the donor organizations that made the exhibit possible. She ended her remarks by again thanking everyone for coming and encouraging them all to enjoy the show. There was another beat of silence, then vibrant music began pouring from the patio’s speakers at the same time rows of lights flared to life in the sky out over the harbor. The audience gasped in awe as the lights swirled around each other in hypnotic patterns of shifting colors, all perfectly timed to the music. They went dark as soon as the song ended, and the audience erupted into loud applause that tapered off as the first notes of the next piece began to play.
A few lights flickered to life again, flittering and darting about like large winter-time fireflies. More of the drones lit up and started chasing after them, then more and more still until the sky was again lit with a dazzling array. They flowed through a rainbow of colors as they traced simple shapes through the air – triangles and circles and stars. As the song neared its end, the drones came together to form a bouquet of red roses wrapped in pink paper that then morphed into a pink heart with a large yellow bow.
The show continued in this way, the drones breaking apart and coming together again to paint brilliant images on the black canvas of the night sky. A space shuttle transformed into an astronaut floating in space; a dinosaur threw its head back in a silent roar; a great phoenix fanned its flaming tail; a flurry of snowflakes in shimmering shades of blue, purple, green, and white twirled and spun as they drifted down to the dark water of the harbor. Irma cheered and clapped with the rest of the crowd, a delighted grin stretched across her face the entire time. When it was over, she and Donatello went into the museum and wandered through the galleries for a bit — partly to see some of the pieces in the exhibit but mostly to thaw out. Both had been so enraptured by the display they’d hardly noticed their cheeks and noses had gone numb from being so long out in the cold.
“Thanks for walking me home,” Irma said later as they were leaving the waterfront.
“Well, you shouldn’t be walking alone late at night,” Donatello said.
Irma hid her grin. It wasn’t that late but still, she was glad to have someone to walk with. “Especially with all the aliens, mutants, and other weird things this city seems to attract lurking about?” she teased.
“Oh gosh, don’t say that too loudly,” he said with a grimace. “Last thing we need right now is for Shredder’s goons to jump out at us.”
“Aw, you could take ‘em,” Irma said, nudging him with her elbow.
Donatello ducked his head sheepishly. “Well yeah, I know I can. Doesn’t mean I necessarily want to. Can’t think of a worse way to end a pleasant evening than having to deal with Bebop and Rocksteady.”
Irma laughed, though her stomach fluttered imagining Donatello stepping in to protect her from the two henchmutants. Maybe even thwarting their plans to kidnap her! She found herself glancing eagerly down every alley they passed, hoping for a glimpse of the minions or even their fearsome boss — and felt a tiny pang of disappointment when they made it back to her building without running into any of the villains.
The super must have gotten a few complaints about the slippery steps while they were out because they were now coated with a layer of vivid blue ice melt.
“Thanks again for coming out with me tonight, Irma,” Donatello said while she dug in her purse for her keys. He stuffed his hands deep in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “I um. Hope you had a good time.”
“I did,” she said, casting him a warm smile. “It was a lot of fun.”
A shy smile spread across Donatello’s face. “Ah well, I’m gonna head out from here.” He tipped his head toward the alley across the street. “Can get into the sewers through that manhole over there.”
“Sure, sounds good.” With a sudden flash of inspiration, Irma leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Donatello blinked at her, his face turning a deeper shade of green. It was the first time Irma had ever seen him blush; she had a passing thought that he looked even more adorable. “G’night,” she said brightly, then hurried up the steps to her building and slipped inside.