The setting is already enough to make Donatello feel horribly out of place - fancy anything is pretty far down the list of things he has experience or interest in, and getting ready for the evening was a nightmare in figuring out appropriate formalwear that would fit over his shell without feeling ridiculously restricting. And unlike that time crashing the Science Expo, these are the kinds of people who'll lord up their more advanced technology without actually showing any appreciation for what got it for them in the first place.

You don't just tell a scientist that everything his world's been working on is quaint.

But flipping out and losing his temper over something minor would be so...so Raph, really. He can do better than that.

Logic.

"Well, sure, we've got a long way to go," he says, striving to keep his tone as light and conversational and free of the intense annoyance this guy's existence is causing him as possible. "But there's still a lot of hard work and innovation that went into just the level of technology there now. Seeing what you all have here, and knowing that's still ahead if we keep moving forward - knowing I could be part of getting us there...I mean, with so much room for improvement and so many possibilities still ahead...doesn't that make knowing how many people are going to keep innovating and improving to get here even more exciting?"

Crickets chirp.

"...no?"

Tough crowd, huh.

Maybe now's a good time to go scope out the refreshments for the ninth time tonight.