Experiments in Love & Stink (Preview) (Patreon)

(Names currently not being used for reasons. Will be in the full release)

Stepping inside, things were immediately off. The entire place was much bigger on the outside. It was like two whole stories bigger and half a football field in length. There was lab equipment, beakers, experiments, computers, and the works that looked like they came out of the sixties or seventies lying around.

Then his eyes fell on the most sights in the center of the room. Two desks were there. One was incredibly neat and tidy, almost like it had never been touched. The other was covered in files, paperwork, and office supplies.

And at that desk was a toon. A black lab rat toon wearing a wrinkled, worn lab coat was snoozing away with his feet up on the desk. He slumped back in his office chair, snoring loudly. R inched closer and squinted. The nametag on the rat’s coat read, “D”.
Never seen a toon up so close before. Toons were not an uncommon thing in the world, yet always strange to see. R liked them, but also found them a bit unpredictable. Hmm, probably let him rest. I should ju-

“Hey!” The tent flap opened and M stepped in, calling to R. “What do you see in.. whoa! This place is huge!”

The lab rat’s eyes shot open, followed by him comically falling right out of his chair. He rolled briefly into a ball before bouncing back up and onto his feet.

The black rat’s head jerked all over in a blur before falling on R. His eyes creaked as they narrowed. “HEY!” He poked R in the stomach. “Whatcha think you're doin’?! Don’t ya go tryin’ to wake a sleepin’-”

M rushed to R and poked the rat right back on the nose. “Hey! You watch it!”

D looked at his booper, rubbing his snoot. His expression softened as he looked back at R and then back at M and then back and forth. “Wait a minute!” He lit up with a bright smile. “Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!”

He pulled out a megaphone and bellowed into it, “HEY W! We gots a couple here! Get your nerdy butt on over here!”

“Hmmmm?” From behind a computer terminal, a white, fuzzy head poked out. It was another toon, another lab rat. This one had bright white fur, his fur looking much more groomed and his coat in better shape.

The rat looked at his co-worker and then at the couple. He smiled warmly and approached, pulling out a clipboard and #2 Pencil from his coat pockets. “Ah, yes yes!” he declared, soon upon R and M and looking them up, “You are the couple my less motivated partner indicated, correct?”

“Ah… yes?” M replied, looking at his boyfriend. R could only shrug. He had no idea what was going on exactly. “What’s going on?”

“Just sum nerd project W wants to do,” D remarked, letting out a big yawn. He rolled his shoulders and pulled out a coffee mug and donut from behind him.

“What my unkempt colleague said is correct to a degree,” Watt spoke, his voice much more official sounding. He patted his friend on his head, the black rat snorting at him. “We are in the midst of very important research that is imperative for toons and humans alike!”

“And… that requires couples?” R spoke with the most incredulous look on his mug.

“Indeed!” W exclaimed, writing something down. “It is quite nice to have a couple as yourselves show up now! We have not run our tests on this particular setup before, so the results shall be most intriguing!”

He turned to his counterpart. “Mr. D, the fragrance if you would please!”

“Yeah, yeah.” D downed his coffee and tossed the mug away. “Right on it.” He swallowed the rest of his donut and hurried over to the side of the room.

However, at this point, M wasn’t interested. “Wait! We didn’t agree to anything here. We’re not interested in any experiments or tests!”

“Awww shucks, thanks for volunteerin’!” D spoke with a little smirk, hurrying back over to them. He carried what appeared to be a large water jug with a spray bottle top. Written in sharpie across it was “Love Enhancement.”

SQUUUUIRT! The dark rat happily squeezed the trigger and sprayed pinkish blue liquid from its nozzle. It splattered M across the face, the man quickly coughing up a storm.