Disclaimer: I do not own PoM or the characters. Not even as a pet. If Inventor's Digest exists, I do not own it.

Rating: This lingers somewhere between K+ and T. If you can watch iCarly, you can read this.

***

"Darn microwave!" groaned Marlene, stuffing the screwdriver in it. The microwave was now smoking like a fire. "Well, better take it to the penguins."

She tucked the microwave under one paw and walked out. The summer sun glinted perfectly in the bright blue sky. Her green eyes seemed to shimmer with an inner light. She slipped on her sunhat.

I bet Skipper wouldn't notice how beautiful I look. she thought. He barely acts like I exist.

Ever since last month when she admitted her feelings to Skipper, the two hadn't talked.

"Well, Kowalski, can you fix it?" asked Marlene, paws clicking together nervously.

"I could undo a few wires and make it into some sort of ray." muttered the tall penguin, fiddling with it.

"Can you fix it? I mean, like make it cook stuff?"

"Oh, of course. Might take a couple days…" Kowalski said, trailing off into his thoughts.

Marlene glanced at Skipper. Was it just her, or did he look at her when she talked to Kowalski? She decided to try a little experiment.

She ran over to Rico.

"Hey," she said. "Do you know how to fix my microwave?"

"Huh?" grunted Rico.

She glanced at Skipper. Skipper wasn't watching her.

She went back to Kowalski. "That sounds great."

Skipper looked at her again.

If talking to Kowalski gets him too notice me… Imagine if I dated Kowalski! Then when Skipper likes me, I'll tell Kowalski and go and date Skipper.

"Hey, Kowalski, wanna go on a date tonight?" she asked plain out of the blue.

"What?" exclaimed the tall penguin. "Well, I hardly think-"

"Then it's a date! Come to my house at eight." She shook his flipper and ran out of the habitat.

"Okay…" said Kowalski.

"And she ruined a perfectly good conversation about a microwave." Kowalski finished telling Skipper.

"Well, today's Friday, so there's no training. I guess you can go." the lead penguin agreed, his eyes slightly narrowed. "But be careful. The mind of a female is powerful. They can make you do anything. Do not fall for the-"

Kowalski had already gone.

"Why do I even bother…" muttered Skipper.

Marlene heard a knock at her door. Knowing who it was, she walked to it and opened it.

Kowalski was standing there, wearing a blue bowtie and holding a wilted dandelion.

"Hello, little girl. Is your mother home? There's a 79 percent chance she is."

"Your so sweet, Walksi. Come on in." Marlene cracked a smile.

Marlene had set up a little picnic table in her backyard, making sure it was in view of Skipper's periscope. She imagined him looking through and had to sigh. He'd be hers soon.

"And that's why I'm strategist. Of course, it took them about a day too untangle that walrus."

"Interesting." Marlene lied. Kowalski was boring her out of her mind.

He looked at her with his cocked, as if expecting something.

"Um… what do mammals do on dates?" he asked.

"Well, what do birds do?" Marlene asked.

"Um… we don't date. We mate."

"Oh. Well, humans do this thing called kissing…" Marlene said awkwardly.

"Is that like preening?" Kowalski asked.

"Here… I'll show you." Marlene leaned forward. Her penguin date looked confused. She pulled his face forward and their mouths met. When she pulled away, Kowalski's face took on a goofy look.

"I can see why humans like it." he sighed.

They ate in silence for a while, Kowalski chomping on his fish. Finally, it was time to go.

Thank God. thought Marlene.

She followed him to the penguin habitat.

"So… there's a 92 percent chance I'll see you tomorrow." Kowalski said.

"Yeah, I guess. Uh, bye." Marlene said awkwardly.

"Wait," she heard Kowalski's voice again and turned around. "Could we do that again? The keesing?"

"Okay." The two kissed, this time longer. They were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Um, K'walski? Why are you chewing on Marlene's face?"

Kowalski looked up to see Private. Marlene saw his cheeks turn a light pink.

"Uh… It's a science experiment."

"Oh." Private said, twiddling his feet awkwardly.

"Well, I'm going now." Marlene walked out. Had Skipper watched their date? She wished so.

When Kowalski got into the penguin HQ, Skipper was drinking some fish coffee and sorting weapons, while Rico was snoring in the corner. Kowalski hadn't noticed it when he was at Marlene's, but King Julien's music was blaring. Oh well.

He sat down at his usual work area, deciding to work on Marlene's microwave. Skipper didn't even notice he'd came in. That didn't bother Kowalski. Nothing bothered him tonight.

He tinkered with the microwave, unscrewing some stuff here and there. He replaced the heater with one of his own, hoping that would solve the problem.

Around midnight he got tired and fell asleep at his workbench, head on the table.

"Kowalski! On your feet, soldier!" barked Skipper.

"Huh?" Kowalski looked up. He leaped to his feet clumsily and raised his flipper in a salute.

"Come on, K'walski. We're doing training." Private said.

"Okay." Kowalski got up and walked out into the outside. He couldn't help looking over at Marlene's habitat. She was probably asleep.

Marlene+Kowalski+Dating+Inventor's Digest=Happy Kowalski

***

Okay, that's it. See what happens in Chapter Two!