"Skipper?"
"Yes, Private?" Skipper replied, turning to face the youngest who stood in the HQ with him and the others.
"Why are you always so worried about Marlene?" Private asked, innocently, looking at his toes.
Skipper paused for a second, then narrowed his eyes at his team's youngest member. "What are you getting at, soldier?" He asked, slowly and suspiciously, although he had a small idea of what Private was going on about.
"Well, you just seem so protective over her and you seem to worry for her well being more than anybody else's. Well, not counting us." Private continued on, his gaze never leaving his leader's.
Skipper threw his flippers in the air, not higher than his shoulders and exclaimed, "Well, it is my job to worry about every zooanimal's well-being. It's my zoo A.K.A. my responsibility."
"Actually, Skipper, you do seem to care for her well being more than any other zoo inhabitant's." Kowalski had heard the conversation and felt the need to take part.
"I have no idea what you're all blabbing on about." Skipper stated stubbornly, folding his flippers over his chest, although the cracking of his voice made it clear that he knew exactly what his team was hinting at.
Kowalski pulled his clipboard out of nowhere, checking some of his previous pages. "Well, I have got some evidence, that prove Private's statement to be true." He noticed Skipper slightly stiffen from the corner of his eye. Kowalski smirked at that, oh, this is going to be easy, he thought.
"For starters, remember that time Phil was supposed to be sent to the moon?" Kowalski looked up from his notepad, continuing when he saw Skipper nod. "Yea, and after you had done freaking out about the needle that scientist in Phil's habitat had, we headed to Alice's office, to find more information."
The leader shifted awkwardly in one place at the mentioning of his needle phobia. Note to self; Get over fear of needles, he thought.
"Yea, and after that, you gripped your head with a worried expression and said, and I quote "Is this a start of a needle free-for-all? First the chimps, the who? Roger? Marlene?" And when you said her name, you looked very concerned."
"Well, I just remembered the time Marlene and I met Roger." Skipper said.
"And why were you thinking of the time you two got stuck in the sewer?" Kowalski interrogated.
Skipper slightly blushed, "I, well-"
"We still don't know what happened in those sewers," interrupted Private, who had been intensely listening to the conversation between his leader and the lieutenant.
What happened was I fell in love, was what Skipper's heart was telling him to say, but he chose to listen to his brain, and answered, "nothing happened in the sewers. We fell down, met Roger, found out that he was afraid of Marlene's snoring and then you boys showed up, end of story."
"We all know that's not all that happene-"
Kowalski was cut off, by his leader."End. Of. Story." He said, irritation sounding from his voice.
Silence filled the HQ, Private was awkwardly shifting in one place, and as he shot a glance at Kowalski, he saw the scientist was uncomfortable as well under Skipper's steel-hard gaze.
"Skipper, we just-" Kowalski started carefully, "we just wanted you to admit your feelings for Marlene." Skipper's expression didn't change, but Kowalski noted that his blush was deepening.
"I DO NOT have any sort of feelings for that otter." Skipper said through gritted teeth,( or well, he would have, if he had any teeth,) trying to end this conversation, but Kowalski didn't give in. This show has gone on for far too long and it's time to end it. It was true love from the start, but neither of the two has admitted their feelings in all these years.
"Oh, come now, Skipper. Just, lock your stubbornness away for a mere minute and listen to your heart." Kowalski had gripped his leader by the shoulders, looking him straight in the eye. "What does your heart say?"
"My heart says you're intruding my personal place, soldier!" Skipper gently pushed Kowalski a few inches away from him. Skipper couldn't help, but think of love as a weakness. It made him so vulnerable and he hated it, yet, he couldn't stop loving her. "And its also saying that all of you have gone bonkers. I'm supposed to be the nutter here!" He said, his voice gaining volume.
Kowalski's frown furrowed, as he took a step closer to his leader. "Skipper, you're both in denial! Don't you see how she beams every time she sees you? How her eyes seem to light up every time you talk to her? And how lonely she feels every time you leave her side?" Kowalski yelled as he pulled down the periscope, right in front of Skipper's eyes so he saw right into Marlene's habitat. "Skipper, she needs you." The sight before his eyes broke his cold icy heart. Marlene was sitting on the grass at the highest point of her habitat, hugging her knees with the saddest expression he has ever seen on her beautiful face. She had her gaze locked on the penguin's habitat while paying no attention to the wind that ruffled her fur. Skipper saw her eyes tearing up slightly, but she was too tough and stubborn to let a single tear fall down her cheek. She saw crying as a sign of weakness. That's my girl, Skipper thought, but couldn't help but feel the need to scoop her up in a tight hug and tell her everything would be alright.
Kowalski studied Skipper's facial expressions and knew he couldn't stand it much longer. His leader was cracking.
"Skipper, you know we don't think any less of you for loving someone." Private decided to drop a word or two into the conversation as well.
"Yup!" Rico agreed, who had been listening to all of the commotion from behind the TV. He had muted his show a few minutes back to better hear the conversation or rather, the argument between the other three penguins.
Skipper sighed, "Well, I do. I've always seen love, or deep feelings in general as a weakness, a vulnerability."
"Actually, Skipper, it's a scientifically proven fact, that such deep emotions, especially love are strengthening. Love is the strongest emotion of all, meaning when a loved one is in danger, you'll stop at nothing to help him/her. Love gives you strength." Kowalski said, flipping through pages on his notebook.
"Well, thank you Mr. Smartypants." Skipper said. "I feel better already." A slight smirk formed on his face. He took a deep breath and stepped towards the ladder. "Now, if you boys will excuse me, I have something to take care of." And with that, he was off.
Skipper arrived at the otter habitat and started sneaking towards Marlene. He was a feet or two away from her, when he stopped and took in the sight before him. She looked so sad and he knew he was the one to cheer her up. Well, here goes nothing, he though.
"Hey, Marlene."
Marlene's head perked up, desperate to find the source of that amazing voice. "S- Skipper?" She asked quietly, finally spotting the penguin next to her. She quickly wiped her eyes, hoping Skipper wouldn't notice her watery eyes, and turned to him with a smile. "What are you doing here? And have you ever heard of a little thing called, oh, I don't know, knocking?" She asked with a playful grin. Skipper only smiled and sat down next to her.
"Sorry, Marlene, that word isn't in my vocabulary." He put a flipper around her shoulder and pulled her an inch closer.
She was slightly surprised at the action, but wasn't complaining, it felt nice. "But seriously, though, what are you doing here?" She asked, looking at his charming smile.
"You looked like you needed some company."
"You were spying on me!?" She asked, putting her paws on his chest and pushing herself away, but not enough to be out of Skipper's grip.
"No." He said, and smiled as he heard a sigh escape her lips. "Kowalski was."
"WHAT?" Her look was one of annoyance and embarrassment. "You guys! Haven't you heard of a thing called personal space?" She felt her cheeks burn a little.
"Well, you don't seem to mind me intruding your personal space right now." Skipper replied calmly, looking at her and then at his flipper, still around her shoulder. She blushed, massively.
"Well, th-this, uh, this is different?"
"That sounded more like a question than a legitimate answer." He teased.
Marlene shot him an angry glance, her white cheeks turning scarlet. She turned her head away, hoping to hide her blush a little bit. Thank god she had fur that helped cover it, but when her cheeks burned too fiercely, it started to show. Marlene let out a small shocked gasp when Skipper put his flipper under her chin and gently turned her head, so he could look her in the eyes.
"Marlene, I can see something's bothering you." He said, in a soft tone that was rarely heard from him. "And I can't stand seeing you sad."
Marlene was completely lost in the moment. His flipper was still under her chin, lifting it up a little bit, so her muzzle was a mere inch away from his beak. She looked him in the eyes which were full of concern and understanding, but there was a hint of something else. Could it have been nervousness? Anticipation? She let her eyes drift to his beak, which was slightly parted and she couldn't hold herself back anymore. In less than a second she closed the distance in between them and felt him tense up when her lips met his beak, but he felt himself melt like butter soon after. The kiss lasted what felt like an eternity, but to Skipper and Marlene, it was still too little.
Little did they know, they were being watched. Kowalski chuckled to himself as he put away the periscope and muttered, "Mission accomplished."