The sun was setting over the land; New York Central Park Zoo was already navigating the happy children and tourists out of its doors. The Fall winds pick up, sending a chill through Alice as she locked the gates. Oh, it was going to be one of those nights, she knew it. One of those sucky nights where the cold would keep her indoors and stuck in her apartment, rather than out and about. Which meant it would be another night alone, probably sitting in front of the TV and crying into ice-cream as she watched the same re-runs of Golden Girls for the umpteenth time. Alice glared as she stomped away from the gates, and past the penguin habitat as she went to go to her locker and began to pack up for the evening. It was one of those nights, after all, might as well get an early start.
The penguins had watched their keeper walk by, all cute and cuddly as flightless antarctic birds were supposed to be. They smiled their beaky smiles as the redhead stomped onward, not even passing them a glance. The moment she was far away enough, however, their grins disappeared and their vacant expressions gleamed with light and intelligence as the middle penguin, their leader, turned to the rest of his gang.
"Alright boys, enough of that. Good job. Especially nice form from you, Private. Extra cute and double the cuddly, twice as much as usual. I highly approve. Keeps the rest of us on our toes."
The young Private beamed at the compliment, and perhaps blushed a tad, not that you could tell through feathers.
"Thank you, Skipper! I was pushing the cuddly extra tonight, actually."
The team's walking weapons storage unit, Rico, smiled and cast a glance over to their scientist, Kowalski, fully intent on complimenting him on his "cute and cuddly" antics... but he wasn't looking in his particular direction. "Oh."
Instead he gently slapped Private on the back. "Ya man, goo' job."
Unfortunately, "gently" wasn't very gentle at all for Rico, and sent the smaller penguin sprawling.
"Oops. Sorry."
"Not so HARD, Rico," Skipper reprimanded with a chuckle, "don't want to murder the lad. We'll need him to survive to do the whole shindig again tomorrow." He looked over at Kowalski, his smile slipping from his face. "Problem, Kowalski?"
No reply.
"Kowalski?"
Again, no reply as the scientist was apparently lost to his own thoughts. Something that had seemingly been happening more and more as of late. Skipper sighed, before glaring and shouting at the oblivious penguin.
"Kowalski! Mr. Obtuse! YOU OVER THERE, WITH THE FLIPPERS!"
That seemed to be enough to startle the flightless bird from his thoughts, as he saluted his leader, looking onward apologetically.
"Ah, I apologize, Skipper. Is the zoo closed already?"
"'Closed already?' Geez, man! Where have you been? What's on your mind, soldier?"
"Oh, er, nothing of extreme importance." An obvious lie, and one that the rest of the team easily picked up on. "I suppose I'm just tired from the long day, is all. Must have been from trying to keep up with Private's cute and cuddliness...Which was flawless, by the way."
Skipper rolled his eyes. "Yes, we covered THAT already, too. Geez, Kowalski, try and keep up!"
The short team captain made his way to the hatch that lead to their lair, stopping to look back over his shoulder. "I hope you're not TOO tired; after all, you wouldn't want to miss tonight's mission!"
Rico brightened and hacked up a flamethrower.
"No, no, stand down, Rico, no need to heavy artillery for... waaiit for it... Operation: Movie night!"
"Ah man." Well, even if he wasn't going to get to burn anything or blow anything up, movies were cool, too. He put the flame thrower away and followed Skipper down the hatch, followed by Private, who was now sporting a black eye.
"Movie night? Oh, goody! Could I pick the movie? ... Guys?"
The tallest of the penguins sighed a bit melancholically, as he waddled his way towards the entrance to follow suit. A part of him wasn't lying when he mentioned being on the tired side of things. Poor Kowalski had been up all night and all day, his busy mind had kept him up during the late hours of the night- his notes and tinkerings overpowering the need to sleep. Dawn's light had come in from his underwater window, before he had even realized he had worked away his free hours and that his leader would be waking up at any moment to start their early morning drilling. Needless to say, he wasn't quite in the mood for any team bonding- let alone to sit about and do something as useless as watching cinematography. Especially when the sweet siren's call of science was bewitching him to head straight to his lab.
However...he knew Skipper would have none of that. Maybe, just maybe...he could make it through the required two hours and some odd minutes of further establishing their factional unity, in order to sneak away and finish his latest project. Yes...that was a plan, and nobody would be harmed as he casually waited for his fellow teammates to fall into slumber, before going back to his sweet, sweet laboratory.
But those were thoughts for later, to be stored away so he wouldn't be driven to pure madness from anticipation. And with that, he plopped down onto the hard concrete of their home, as he made his way to the rest of the group.
"Movie you say? And what, may I ask, are we partaking in this evening? Action? Scifi? Comedy? Romance?" The last bit made him smile as Kowalski recalled walking in, one time, to see his fellow team members sobbing over one of the most feminine amorous chick flicks of the century. He chuckled silently to himself before going on. "Or are we treating Private and allowing him to watch one of those animated films he is so fond of?"
Before Skipper could respond, Private piped up, suddenly holding a DVD case, which sported an overly colorful teenaged girl on the cover.
"Oh, the last one, pick the last one! We could watch "Lunacorn Ladies", it's new! It's not so bad, when you get over the idea of lunacorns being humans..."
Skipper plucked the DVD from his flippers and tossed it away. Private frowned.
"Well, that seemed a bit unnecessary..."
"Sorry Private, tonight's all about suspense! Drama! Romance." he punctuated the last word by raising the eyebrows he didn't have.
Rico decided to add to the notion, turning to Kowalski and waggling his non-existent eyebrows at him. He never meant anything by it... probably... but he did enjoy watching Kowalski's disturbed reaction whenever he did it. In fact, that was the only thing that had ever made Kowalski make that face. He guessed the scientist had seen enough weird things in his life to make him immune to most oddities. "Ooooh, roma- hey! Romance? ..." his stomach gave a gurgle of protest.
"The Titanic? That doesn't sound too bad! It even has a big boat on the cover!" Private chirped from across the room, inspecting the DVD case as Skipper fed it into the player.
"The Titanic?" Kowalski gave Skipper a look, as he had a flipper lazily pointed towards Private's general direction. "Are you sure that's the wisest idea, sir? I mean...it gets pretty intense."
"Intense-shmence! It'll be good for him! Now stop your worrying and plop your kiester down, man. Time to get our movie-going on."
The tallest penguin rolled his eyes as he trekked over to the others, trying to locate the perfect spot to carry out his leader's orders. The only place that seemed marginally free was the end next to Rico. Merely shrugging, the scientific analyst sat himself down, as the head penguin jumped up and popped the disk into the DVD-player. Kowalski actually managed a smile as his companion lifted the corner of the cover he was under, asking if his friend wished to get warm as well.
"Well…" It wasn't an especially cold night. And even if it was, it wouldn't have been enough to effect a bird that was used to surviving much harsher climates than that of New York. However, after seeing the look on his companion's face, he couldn't help but smile a little as he gave into that almost puppy-dog expression. "Alright. Why not? No harm in a little comfort and warmth. Thank you, Rico, for the offer."
Skipper had been right; it sure was suspenseful! The explosives expert was in such suspense, wanting to know when something was actually going to happen in the movie. So far, nothing had blown up, no cars had been overturned, and no one had been maimed or brutally beaten. At least the "romance" had been kept at a tolerable level. Still, Rico couldn't help but let out a yawn, followed by guttural mumbling to himself, something about a "sissy movie".
Private seemed enthralled by the picture, however, and Skipper seemed to be enjoying it well enough. Stealing a glance at Kowalski, he seemed to be focused on it pretty intently... or on something, anyway.
Fine. So he was the only one unimpressed with the night's movie choice. He glared at the TV screen, hoping something would explode soon.
Rico, admittedly, couldn't help but snicker at the scene where the female lead human was completely naked, while the main male lead….He wanted to say his name was "Fabio". He looked like a Fabio- though admittedly he hadn't been paying too much attention to names one way or the other. Still, he laughed as Fabio sketched the nude woman, as he saw Skipper shield the young Private with a flipper.
"Woah! Not meant for young eyes!"
"What is it, Skipper? Why can't I see?"
"Not until you are older, lad! This is on a need to know bases, and I say you don't need to know!"
Sadly the scene didn't last too long, and the humor was yet again zapped and drained from the movie as Rico was, yet again, bored out of his mind. He did jerk his head to the side as he suddenly heard Kowalski mumbling something or another under his breath. He tried to block out the boring movie as he tried to focus on the taller penguin's words.
"Mumble mumble mumble, particle acceleration. Mumble mumble mumble, maybe with a few additional tweaks…"
Rico smirked; he knew he couldn't have been the only one bored to manly tears over the movie. It was soon replaced by an irritated frown, however. He glared, thankfully, metaphorical, daggers at his teammate, not that it did any good while Kowalski was taking another trip to science-y la-la land. Not that he was annoyed at the movie being interrupted, oh no, anything was better than this garbage, even nonsensical science babble. It was the fact that science was the ONLY thing his fellow flightless companion could ever think about, often forgetting to do other, necessary, things, as well. Such as eating, occasionally bathing (although Rico had to admit the mixture of fish, various chemicals, and from time to time, slightly burnt feathers wasn't a BAD scent...),
and sleeping.
It was wise that Kowalski always waited until Skipper was sleeping to sneak off to his lab; if their leader had known how little shuteye the guy was getting... well, Rico didn't know what, but he was sure it would involve a lot of yelling.
But both Rico and Private had noticed him sneaking off, more than once. Private asked him once, as he was tiptoeing away to his lab one night, where exactly he was going, even though he most likely knew. The voice had startled the scientist, who had let out a cry, immediately slapping both flippers over his own beak to stifle the sound, eyes darting over to Skipper, who thankfully just rolled over, mumbling something about otters in his sleep. He then hushed Private, spewed off some explanation of what he needed to do, most words unknown to Rico, and likely the private, also.
They'd both just gone back to sleep and let him go. Fish gotta swim (and be eaten, man he could really go for some fish right about now), bombs gotta boom, and Kowalski's gotta... um... do whatever it is Kowalski does in that lab. But enough was enough, and it was beginning to become evident the toll it was taking on the tallest member of the team. He seemed to be finding it more and more difficult to focus on anything else, most notably their daily missions and training exercises. Not paying attention in serious situations could get them all seriously injured, failure to uphold his duties could cost them their missions, if he wasn't paying attention, Kowalski could be-
The last thought fanned the flicker of annoyance into a full-out flame of anger. His brow lowered into a dangerous looking glare, the frown deepening into a scowl, and a low grunt escaped his throat. He flicked Kowalski upside his head with the tip of his flipper.
" 'Ay!" he was trying to be quiet, but that was something else in which Rico tended to suck. Skipper threw a half-hearted glance over and shushed him.
Okay, so he'd have to try harder at the 'quiet' thing. But now he had Kowalski's attention, anyway.
"What?" the scientist hissed, rubbing the side of his head where he'd been smacked, returning a decidedly less-dangerous glare.
"You gon' 'tay up 'gain? Aw nigh?"
"Er," Kowalski felt like a deer caught in front of headlights of a moving vehicle. Rico was the muscle on the team for a reason, and it slightly concerned him to see the explosives expert give him that fiery glare. Using the blanket for comfort, he wrapped it around him tighter as he found the will to look away. He muttered low enough so Skipper couldn't overhear, as he replied to the other penguin's question. "Oh...I hadn't quite realized you noticed my nocturnal absences. Apologies if I'm causing concern or worry. But I assure you, my little bout of insomnia isn't anything to fuss about."
The shorter penguin's expression softened, and he sighed loudly, earning another sharp look from Skipper. He hadn't meant to scare him... alright, maybe a little. But not like that.
So he couldn't scare the guy to sleep. Rico, options? No, no, that wasn't his schtick. He was just the explosives guy. Maybe he could blow up Kowalski's lab? Then he'd HAVE to sleep, right? Kaboom! Kapow!
"Muhahaha..."
...No. His lab had blown up three times last week, and it hadn't changed anything. Rico deflated. If he couldn't fix a problem with explosives or guns, he was out of ideas.
"N'aww..."
Rico yawned again. The weight of the day, the boring movie, and the strain of actually trying to think of a plan on his own, had really caught up with him. He leaned over up against Kowalski, who had most of the covers after wrapping himself up tighter, anyway, and tried watching the movie again, from behind sleep-heavy eyelids.
"Okay, 'oo win."
Let him mess up a mission! LET him get yelled at and punished by Skipper! See if HE cared!
... Why did he care?
Kowalski stiffened in alarm from the sudden contact, not quite used to having his personal bubble popped. Thankfully, years of being on a team had helped to calm the anxiety as he felt his muscles relaxing and allowing himself to lean back against the weight as well. The scientist looked down at Rico from the corner of his eyes as his mind began to race with systematic ponderings once more. Heat, like the heat felt between the two warm bodies of the penguins was an energy of its own. And it seemed this train of thought was just the sudden inspiration he needed. What if instead of speeding up the lithium particles, which he had intended to do in one of his current alloy experiments to see how the change in speed of an atomic structure would change the state of the element, what if he used the melting point of six hundred degrees Celsius to carry out electrolysis? Why, think of all the uses he could...use, you know...for…
Kowalski looked down at Rico once more, who's heat had been the sudden inspiration, was becoming a double edge sword as the warmth kept drawing the scientist away from his thoughts. Rico, who was pretty much a wall of muscle compared to the others, was really quite...soft. Kowalski shook his head as he tried to focus, and have his mind stay on track before he lost the breakthrough.
Right...So melting points of lithium, blah blah blah, six hundred degrees Celsius...Though, that would be for lithium chloride, wouldn't it? Which was actually a completely different element altogether, though that in itself had many different uses! The salt like quality was actually absorbent and could be used to absorb ammonia- which had quite a high toxicity and might actually be useful in the field if they were up against a gas bomb using the substance. It could even be used to neutralize the gas...Now THERE was a thought! And something he was sure even Skipper would encourage the taller penguin into completing the task! And then he wouldn't have to worry about upsetting the team with his obsession with his lab, since he would be applying his science to a greater good! Something that would help out the team! And...and…
And WOW was Rico really really soft. Kowalski felt his eyes droop in the slightest as he felt his mind calm down, something he hadn't felt for many many days now. The scientist shook his head, trying to keep himself awake. NO. He mustn't sleep! Not now! Not when he was OH so close to his breakthrough! He merely had to stay up and wait for the others to sleep so he could work on it!
Kowalski's rhythmic breathing and warmth was enough to end the battle with his eyelids, as they finally became too heavy to keep open. He could still hear the movie in the background... and oh, Skipper saying something. Probably about the movie.
Rico's own breathing evened out and he snuggled in closer, not awake enough to contemplate which personal bubble rules would be broken in doing so. The voices on the TV became the droning of a fighter jet, the soft heartbeat from his companion, the wonderful sound of a time bomb ticking down the seconds to destruction.
Thud-thud-thud-tick-tick-tick-tick...
A genuine smile stole across the beak of the slumbering storage unit, as he stood on the threshold between dreamland, and reality.
The snuggling was enough to jolt some life into the scientist, as his head snapped down to look at Rico nestled closely to his side. Kowalski raised a brow as he looked at his companion quizzically, still not quite sure why the explosives expert had chosen him for his makeshift pillow. Yet...as the alarm of his personal space being interrupted faded once again, Kowalski couldn't help but give a soft smile. While the penguins were trained in the art of cute and cuddly, a skill highly needed to help them keep their cover from the humans, it was actually rare for the team to initiate anything close to the act in their off-time. And while this wasn't exactly the conventional definition of charming...The way Rico's tongue poked out from the corner of his beak, as his tired eyes fought to stay open...Dear Theodosius Dobzhansky , Rico was...downright adorable.
Kowalski, despite his better judgment, found himself wrapping a flipper around his tired friend, soothing him in his semi-state of slumber. He leaned down, some humor in his voice, as he whispered to the other penguin. "You know Rico, you are allowed to fall asleep. If it helps you relax in the slightest, I can keep you updated on when the film starts to become more exciting. You still have about thirty more minutes until the, ah...'action' picks up anyway. And I don't blame you for finding the human mating habits to be quite...well, for lack of a better word, 'tedious'. Much too overly complicated, like most mammalian copulation rituals."
Kowalski chuckled to himself as he realized he was getting off topic. He decided to get to the point. "Yes, but I'm rambling. The point being...I'll wake you up when people start meeting their demise. I know you find immense satisfaction in it, after all."
The shadows of dreamland vanished as Kowalski's whispering startled him back into the real world, and he shot up straight.
"HAH?! I'm 'wake!... Oh."
What had he said? Something about human mating and demise? Was that going to be in the movie?
"Yeah okay. Way' me uh' when it geh' good."
He didn't remember his friend complaining about being a pillow, so he became one again, as Rico relaxed again, slumping up against him once more, a peaceful half-sleep quickly fogging his mind again.
Kowalski, keeping his promise, looked up at the screen to gage just where they were at in the film. With some quick estimation, he figured out just how long he would allow his friend to slumber before anything close to historically accurate began to happen. Though, if the explosives expert was that exhausted and required an early bedtime, maybe it was for the best that he broke his agreement. The stout penguin had certainly entertained the crowd by swimming multiple laps around the base earlier that evening, and even received a few laughs as he drenched a child that had been making faces at him. The scientist smiled as he recalled the scene- Rico's insane giggles were infectious, as he looked so pleased to see the young human's whole upper body dripping and humiliated.
The taller penguin looked down at the head practically nuzzled under his beak, from the corner of his eye. No...as much as he felt his friend deserved his rest, he knew he couldn't break his promise. Rico would have been disappointed to find out he had slept through the large dense mammals all running around in a panic, as their ship plunged most of them to their early natatory demise. While not quiiite his preference of facetiousness...Kowalski did know it was his destructive friend's comedic palate. And the poor guy, he did just suffer through two hours of vapid narrative- it would be a shame to deny him of such a reward for his patience.
Kowalski looked back up at the screen in time to see more of the romantic plot between the leading male and female humans. Ah, l'amour…In all honesty, the subject of love left a bit of a bitter taste in his beak-and an ache in his chest- as he recalled his own failed affairs. While he was, undoubtedly, a bird of science...he would admit, though never aloud, that he was prone to having extreme bouts of irrational emotions. From panicking when a situation didn't go his way to yelling at the top of his lungs, in anger, as other animals pushed him over the metaphorical edge...The taller penguin was indubitably a lot more excitable and less composed than he would have preferred being. And when it came to his love life...Who was he kidding when he knew he was just as bad, if not worse. Why, he had lost count of the times he had unwittingly found himself made stupid and inane over his feelings for a certain aquatic mammal...with the most beautiful of gray rubbery flesh, the utmost angelic voice that sung with every syllable uttered, and perfect flippers that showcased her strength and swimming abilities. Oh, and how could one forget about those eyes! Sapphires that gleamed in the light and always put the scientist's brilliant mind in a hypnotic trance just by looking at him…
Those same eyes that constantly showed pity and regret as she insisted that friendship was all that could ever occur between them both.
Kowalski shook his head lightly, bringing himself back to reality. Yes, there was no need to go over how much his affection for Doris had plagued him with a roller coaster of emotions. How he had not only spent hours, if not days or weeks, blubbering like an idiotic fool into his pillow- not much use to anyone, let alone himself. Nor could one forget how his love had made him mad and desperate, as he had even gone far enough to break his morality and taint his precious science to use it to create devices that altered someone's amorous inclinations. No, the scientist need not be reminded of Doris and what she turned him into. Even outside of her….Kowalski shuddered as he realized his last kiss was with a disturbed- if admittedly ingenious- hen, after he had wooed her under false pretenses. And while he wouldn't say the kiss was bad, per say… the tallest penguin was romantic just as much as he was an analyst. Even if he had to admit her brains were practically radioactive- oh baby, was a smart woman HOT- he could never be with someone who used their gifted mind for nefarious intentions.
The flightless bird sighed, sometimes having a brain that loved to analyze and create connections was the biggest of downfalls. Kowalski's gaze returned to the screen with a small glare, as he bitterly watched the two happy humans in love. Luckily their love wasn't going to last too much longer, he recalled with a smile, as the taller penguin remembered that their romance didn't end as picturesque as they had hoped, either. Yes, no fictional morons deserved to be happy when he- so suddenly- felt beyond miserable.
Meanwhile-while asleep and in the throws of his dream- Rico's jet came in low, pulling up at the last second, dodging enemy missiles by mere inches, as they made contact with the ground below instead, exploding in a shower of dirt and gravel. The psycho bird grinned manically as the sky came back into view, and made a sharp turn, spinning around- intent on charging the enemy planes head on. His foes in sight- his own missiles locked on target- he was on a collision course with destiny.
A low cackle, weapons fired, oh no! He pulled out too late! His aircraft began to shake, he was hit, he-
Was being shaken awake. Oh.
"Ah man, I a'mos ha'um..."
"Sorry to disturb you, Rico," the said bird looked up to meet the voice that was whispering loud enough for only him to hear, "but I did reassure you that I would alert you once the people were about to find themselves in extreme peril at the hands of fate's cruel sense of ironic injustice."
"...wha?"
The explosives expert saw the taller penguin roll his eyes, as he pointed a flipper at the screen. Kowalski tried to look as deadpan as possible, as he muttered to his companion next to him.
"To simply put it: 'they dead.' Or nearly, as the case technically is."
Rico's sleep-foggy gaze followed the flipper to the television screen. Oh, yeah, movie. But now it was getting better; he could tell because there was screaming. His eyes widened as people began plummeting over the sides of the gigantic sinking vessel, some bouncing off of other things before hitting the water, and holy codfish that was funny!
"Ohohoh, heh heh heh! Boing! Splat! Hahaha!"
The wait had definitely been worth it.
"You see, boys, that is exactly why you never underestimate a threat, no matter how small and insignificant they may seem at the time." Skipper commented. Private peeled his horrified gaze from the screen long enough to reply,
"Because their unsuspecting tininess might actually be hiding something very large and dangerous just beneath the surface?"
"What? No! Because you might get distracted and hit an iceberg. Come on, were you even PAYING attention to the movie?"
"I'll admit I started paying less when the screaming started..." mumbled Private, peeking around his flippers at the gruesome scene. " S-Skipper, all of those people were alright, weren't they? You know, in the end..."
"Haha! Of course not, Private! Ooof course not." their leader chuckled, patting the youngest recruit on the back. The youthful penguin looked like he was going to start crying, when Skipper sighed. "Oh, none of that blubbering, soldier. It's only a movie. I'm sure all the people were fiiiiine."
Private sniffed, already starting to smile once again.
"Truly, Skipper?"
"Well, " Kowalski interjected as he rubbed his chin with a flipper, "technically the Titanic WAS a real cruise ship that had only one voyage, after it met its annihilation at the - figuratively speaking, that is- hands of the iceberg. So, while these ARE actors, there really were people who-"
"Lived to be perfectly all right! All the glitterati went home, clanked their sissy champagne bottles together, and then rode their pretty ponies around their big fancy-shmancy mansions." The leader gave the analyst a warning look, daring him to challenge his words. "Isn't that RIGHT, Kowalski?"
"Er...Yes. Of course. That is precisely how the events occurred, sir."
Private looked between his two friends with a smile. It didn't seem likely that guy was okay and went home to ride his pony, after ricocheting off of the hull like that, but Skipper wouldn't lie to him. He nuzzled his Lunacorn close and whispered, "It's alright, Self Respectra, this really is a happy-ever-after story! Even if that guy is going to have quite the lump on his noggin in the morning after that one..."
Rico gave an unimpressed side glance to the little penguin. Skipper really coddled that kid sometimes. "Oh gimmuh break..." he mumbled, with a roll of his eyes.
An hour of people dying would have grown old for anyone other than the psychotic penguin, who was bouncing slightly in excitement after all of that action, a wide grin on his face. Some people got away, which was good, he guessed, or at least he felt he should want that to be the case, being a "good guy", and all. He caught the Skipper giving a salute, as the ship's captain went down with his vessel, and he could have sworn he saw a tear roll down his cheek. Not that he'd ever mention seeing it.
Things were slowing down now, the excitement high he'd been on ebbing away. Oh look, there was the happy couple, this was the part where they float away into the sunset to do whatever it was human mates did, how romantic, how boring. Except mister man didn't look so good, and now he was... sinking. He was...
"Ohh...Way, wha?!" Humans could die from a little bit of cold water? Well, that was unexpectedly sad. Rico found himself reaching for his doll and holding her close, eyes sorrowful, his beak drooped in a pathetic frown.
The sorrowful expression remained throughout the rest of the movie, when the floodgates opened as the lovers were reunited on the other side. He quickly upchucked a handkerchief and blew his nose holes and wiped his eyes, before offering it to his girl, who politely declined it with a plastic smile.
Kowalski felt like he was emotionally disturbed from the satisfaction he felt from the final scene, rather than the sadness or sense of poetic beauty from the portrayal of death that the film was trying to provoke. The tallest penguin was pleased with the credits started to roll-finally! He looked over at the clock, noting the time. Oh dear Einstein! No wonder it had felt like the longest movie in existence- the darn picture was over three hours long! That was...that was a hundred and ninety-five minutes wasted when he could have been developing his latest project! Oh, the shame of it all! Oh the-
...Wait, was that the sound of sobbing uncontrollably?
Kowalski whipped his body to the right, nearly hurting his back in the process. That was when he noted his team was in a bit of tears.
"Er...are you all okay?"
"Have you no heart, man?!" The leader bellowed, even as he tried to cover up his sadness by turning the tables on the scientist. "You just witnessed the destruction of thousands of innocent civilians, and you aren't even phased in the slightest!"
Private frowned.
"But Skipper, I thought you said they were all going to be all right?"
"They are. Peachy keen." Skipper pointed a flipper over at the tallest penguin. "That doesn't change the fact it was still sad to see, nor the fact Kowalski here has a heart of stone.'
Kowalski merely rolled his eyes as he looked at his friend next to him, still sobbing. He sighed as he slowly wrapped a comforting flipper around the explosives expert. However, Kowalski was startled when Rico turned towards him and tightly hugged the scientist as he continued to cry.
"Er, " the penguin began, feeling beyond awkward, "there there, Rico. It's quite all right. It's merely a movie. No real humans were harmed in the making of it, and the main male mammal walked away perfectly unscratched and unharmed. I assure you."
Although logic and reasoning rarely did much to comfort a penguin like Rico, sheer exhaustion seemed to do the trick. Or perhaps it was the warmth and comforting flipper that had been offered, but either way, he gave one last, decidedly disgusting snort, the waterworks finally letting up. A part of him wanted to keep his hold on Kowalski, calmed but unwilling to give up the warmth and comfort just yet. The faint sense of unease given off by the scientist made him let go, however, quickly scooping up his doll, who had previously been forgotten on the floor beside him, and hugging her instead.
" Yuh, 'mokay now."
Skipper seemed better now, too, as he was shutting down the television, and Private was already heading towards his bed, his lunacorn doll snug in his flippers. Rico stood and decided to take his lead.
But first he set Mrs. Perky down in the corner, giving her a smooch good night. Maybe some day she'd share his bed, but not until she was ready.
En route to his sleeping quarters, Rico stopped as he noticed Kowalski was standing, looking antsy, agitated, impatient, not one bit like he was planning on going to bed. The storage unit sighed and grumbled something that sounded like they meant to be words, but just didn't make it.
"Ay! Bed?" he asked, pointing to Kowalski's empty bed.
The scientist flinched; so lost in his own world, that the loud and sudden demand for him to head towards his sleeping quarters caused the tallest penguin to jump and squeal from fright. Kowalski, after calming his racing heart, looked over at the explosive's expert as he tried to talk his way out of the order.
"'Bed'?" Kowalski repeated, fumbling his flippers as he felt slightly nervous from the glare of the other penguin, " Ah, er, you see...I'm not exactly tired yet. Brain is much too active, as of right now, and I do believe I require some time to wind down on my own before I can even think about heading to sleep. You know how it is. BUT- and I must stress this- I do plan on going to bed really soon. Promise! ...For the most part, anyway."
Rico frowned and gave him a tired, unimpressed stare. After a moment he waved a flipper at him dismissively and grumbled.
"Ah 'right, ah 'right." before trudging over to his own bed, out like a light and snoring seconds after hitting the bunk.
Kowalski, meanwhile, didn't have to wait much longer before Private and Skipper turned in for the night, also. "Finally!" he whispered to himself, slipping into the comforting recesses of his lab, shutting the door quietly behind him.
Hours later, on the brink of early morning, there was a garbled cry of fear and Rico tumbled from his sleeping place, landing on the floor with a dull thud. Still panting, heart still racing, the startled penguin sat up and listened intently to the sounds of the night. He could still hear the clinking and whirring noises his plane had been making in the dream that had awaken him.
"Hah? Weird..."
Eventually the sleep fog lifted enough for Rico to realize the sounds were coming from Kowalski's lab, and growled. Getting up and stomping over to the lab door, he wrapped a flipper around the handle and yanked the door open, surprised it hadn't been locked. He glared into the chemical-scented gloom.
"K'WALSKI!"
Said genius had been hard at work- goggles covering his eyes as he mixed chemicals and wrote down the results- and had not noticed that Rico had been standing in the door, or opened it at all, really. However, the moment the brutish penguin squawked out his name, Kowalski gave a shrill cry of alarm, as he fumbled and dropped his beaker onto the concrete floor. The flightless bird jumped back in surprise as the bright red liquid ate away at the solid surface. Kowalski whipped his head to the side to see just who had disturbed him from his precious science.
"Rico?! What...what in name of Marie Curie were you doing startling me like that?!" He waddled closer, glaring as he waved his flippers wildly. "Do you have any idea what that was? Nitrohydrochloric acid! Aqua regia, Rico! That...Look at it! Look at what it can do! I am operating with highly hazardous synthetical compounds, here. Just one slip, one splash...and I could have been a pile of melted penguin goo!"
Kowalski finally came beak to beak with his muscular teammate, as his poked a flipper on Rico's chest. "You. Have. No. Idea!" The tallest penguin sighed as he realized he was getting out of hand with his anger. He sighed before taking off his goggles as he looked down at his friend with regret. "I'm sorry, I suppose I got a bit out of control there. Do forgive me, long night. Now, tell me Rico, what was so important that you felt the need to nearly give me a heart attack and turn me into slime in the process, hmm?"
The shorter penguin stood there staring, wide-eyed, beak open but frozen into a stunned silence. He certainly hadn't been expecting that, although he probably should have. Disturbing Kowalski in his lab was never known for being a good idea.
"Uh... peh'gin goo? Eww."
Rico eyed the hole in the floor instead of looking at his fuming teammate, as his mind argued with itself about what to do now. His original plan was to burst in here and DRAG the scientist to bed, and part of his brain was still intent on doing just that. And yet the other part of his unhinged mind kept him frozen to the spot; he'd been yelled at. He felt guilty and he didn't know why.
But his original plan won out this night, as he shook his head to clear away all traces of guilt and wanting to cry like a little hatchling. Tuff Dude mode, activated!
"Nuh-ah! 'Oo nee't-go 'ah bed!" and with that, Rico lunged at Kowalski, scooped him up off the floor, and above his head, and spun around to exit the lab with his captive.
Kowalski screamed like a little girl as he was tackled to the ground, and he writhed and thrashed as he was thrown over the aggressive avian's back. Rico barely seemed phased as he traversed out of the lab, heading towards the bunks. The closer they came to the rest of the team, the quieter the scientist became as he whispered his protest in a harsh tone.
"Rico, put me down! Look, I appreciate what you are trying to accomplish here- truly- but I can't sleep yet! I finally made a breakthrough! Rico? Are you even listening? Rico! My...My lab!" The tallest penguin began to whine, " Ricoooo. Seriously! Don't you hear it? That maddening hum in the very air? It's my baby! Oh, my sacchariferous inamorata of science just beckons me with her seductive calls. I don't wanna leeeeeave!"
The weapons guru actually paused and tilted an ear hole and listened for a moment. Nope. He didn't hear anything.
"Nope."
He hoisted the tall penguin up into his bunk, and stood there glaring, his flippers crossed over his chest, as if DARING him to leave.
Kowalski would admit he dared pushing the laws of physics, he dared testing how the world functioned and turning it upside down as he manipulated science to do his bidding. However, as crazed as the scientist could be… He did not dare to challenge just what Rico would do in order to keep him from his laboratory.
Kowalski sulked as he sighed heavily. He looked away from those deep determined blue eyes, as the analyst tried reasoning with the explosives expert once more.
"I...don't think I can possibly relax my mind enough to actually sleep, Rico." He found the courage to look back at his companion, as he felt a melancholic wave hit him as he explained his problem. " Sometimes...no matter what I try, I can't get my illustrious brain to stop thinking. Every second, every single moment...there is an equation that needs to be solved, an invention that begs for me to breath life into it. Ideas constantly flowing into the next one and into the next one and then the one after that. I...enjoy the constant drone and purr of activity. That is...during the hours of the day."
Kowalski twiddled his flippers as he felt nervous sharing something as personal as his problematic lifestyle. "Night, however, is quite a different story. There are times when my insomnia gets so bad that I'll go days without sleeping. And i know it's awful for me. What sane man….or penguin, as this case may be, WANTS to go on and on until his body shuts down on him? And I can't deny my own obsession doesn't help the case any either. But I've tried everything I can think of. I've tried a warm glass of milk, boring myself to tears...Why, once i even concocted a sleeping serum of my very own….Unfortunately it worked too well and I didn't wake up until a week later.
"You see, Rico, " the scientist paused as he mulled over his worriment; he shook his head as he smiled bitterly, " you may take me from my lab…But I won't be able to fall asleep. All that will occur is me spending the next few hours staring into the dark. At least in my lab I can remain productive with my insomnia."
Rico frowned and slumped. Yeah, he'd remembered the sleep serum incident. A week without the ideas guy on the team had been disastrous.
Not all of Kowalski's words registered to Rico, but he understood enough to know what he was talking about, and he felt genuine concern for his teammate. He looked toward the lab again and considered just giving up and allowing him to return to his - or he could just hork up a mallet and-
No, Kowalski might not wake up at all from that one.
Well this was frustrating. Rico was not the ideas guy, he never was, he never wanted to be. He let his frustration known with a low growl, followed by inane babbling that meant nothing to anyone but Rico himself, flippers on his temples and eyes tightly shut.
Why was sleeping so hard for him? Kowalski was the smartest animal Rico had ever known, and yet he couldn't do something as simple as sleep? Sure, he himself had been known to stay out all night with friends, but that was because he'd WANTED to! Sleeping was easy. All he needed was a place to sleep, any place would do, his teddy, and...
Rico's eyes shot open, he grinned, idea! Of course, Kowalski just needed a teddy. He eagerly reached into his own bunk and pulled out his bear, and held it out to his friend... who just gave him a quizzical look... and he frowned. Not from the look he received, but... if he gave up his teddy, then HE might not be able to sleep.
So they'd just have to share it, then.
Shoving the stuffed toy into Kowalski's flippers, perhaps a bit too roughly, Rico climbed in, half on top of the mad genius, due to the limited space, without a second thought. Wrapping a flipper around both the penguin and the teddy, he whispered, "'night."
Kowalski gave a shrill yelp of surprise as his teammate suddenly climbed up on him and into his space, he placed a flipper over his beak to silence himself- last thing he wanted was for Skipper to awaken and see the both of them in a compromising situation. It took a moment for the scientist to find his voice- every part of his body frozen up and would not relax. When the taller penguin could finally articulate, he flinched again as he hated how piercing his voice was on his ears.
"Rico," Kowalski cleared his throat, allowing his normal deeper tones to return to him, " what...what are we doing?"
Beside him, Rico opened his eyes and gave him a questioning look. What were they doing? Wasn't it obvious?
"Ah... s'eeping?"
He lifted the teddy, making it hop up and down a few times on the scientist's chest, before having it fall over, providing loud, exaggerated snoring sounds to complete the mime.
The shorter penguin peered up at his friend with a hopeful smile.
"'Sleeping?'" Kowalski echoed in confusion, letting the thought wash over him with a frown. The analyst felt like all his senses were heightened as he felt his companion's body pulse against him. He blushed as he realized Rico had a leg over him and in-between his thighs. Oh dear lord. The scientist looked away as he tried his best not to notice the weight against him.
"We...Rico, ah...I don't think this is going to work out." Kowalski's gaze landed on the other penguin just in time to see the smile slip off his friend's beak, as a somewhat pitiful expression replaced it. Oh no...not those big droopy eyes-for a living weapon, Rico had the uncanny ability to work the cute factor. Really, it shouldn't have been impossible for a creature of that much brute force and mania to be able to skillfully hone in on the ability-and all by accident! If Rico were to discover just what sort of weapon he had on his hands...Oh, Kowalski shuddered from horror at the mere thought of the things this penguin next to him could possibly get away with! Really, he needed to formulate some sort of way to counterbalance this phenomenon…
Meanwhile, there was the current situation to deal with.
"Ah, th-that is," Kowalski stuttered, trying to find some way to get out of this delicately. On one hand, sweet mother of plutonium, was this beyond awkward! Why, the scientist couldn't believe Rico would see nothing wrong with this! Personal space! PERSONAL SPACE! But, on the other hand...the explosives expert was merely trying to help. And look at that face! He is genuinely worried about him, and in his crazed mind he is only trying to help. Kowalski sighed in resignation, as his own sense of guilt over-powered his urge to try and push his companion away from him. He looked away again as he reached out to grab the offered stuffed animal.
"All right. While I'm not quite sure this will work with my insomnolence… I'm at least willing, i suppose, to give it a shot. No harm in testing it out- trial and error IS the scientific way, after all."
The other flightless bird was grinning again. "Yay, aw right!" was his victory cheer, albeit more of a whisper in their current situation, but even whispers came out gruff and not all that quiet for Rico.
A flipper tightened around Kowalski as Rico cuddled in closer, thinking nothing of it and either completely ignoring or not noticing his new teddy bear's squeak or protest, the strong sense on unease practically radiating from his being. His new teddy was a lot softer, warmer, and comfortable than his other one.
And kind of smelled like fish.
Rico liked fish.
"Okay, goo' nigh'."
"Oh, um, yes," Kowalski uttered quietly, "good night, Rico."
The scientist remained motionless and quiet as he stared at the roof of his bunk. The base hummed with the clicking and beeping of miscellaneous doodads, as well as the sounds of soft breathing as the rest of his team continued to rest. It didn't take long before Kowalski felt Rico relax his hold on him, as he lost all consciousness to the waking world. Even with the grip lessened, the taller bird still couldn't quite find comfort as he was hyper-aware of his surroundings. Even the wind blowing outside their home was deafening on the scientist's audio senses. Not to mention the odd sensation of having another warm living body covering the scientist's whole left side was enough to jar him. Kowalski blushed as he felt Rico shift next to him, the leg between his thighs shifting along with the hefty bird as it sent a shiver up the scientist's spine. Sweet George Levick on the Antarctica planes, how was he supposed to sleep like this?!
'Okay, Kowalski,' the said analyst brooded to himself, ' calm down. Nothing is going on, there is nothing wrong with this...sure, your personal bubble has been popped into a million tiny pieces, and sure, you can feel every little moment and hot air against your feathers and this is beyond awkward by three thousand and seventy-one percent… But consider the plus side! You'll be warm tonight...and if- for whatever paranoid reason that someone like Skipper would devise- an enemy would attack the base in the dead of night...I have a living weapon locked and loaded and ready to fire anything at them. Why, it's like having a bodyguard!'
Thinking with this logic was surprisingly calming, as Kowalski felt his muscles ease and release some of his tension. He smiled as he looked down as Rico's teddy bear, the yellow felt creature stared into the night blissfully unaware of anything and everything. Kowalski ran a flipper over the soft material as he let himself focus on the rhythmic breathing of the much stronger avian. In and out. In and out. Every inhale and exhale was an interval of four seconds in length. And then with every 20th cycle of respiratory exchange, Rico would snuggle closer to his body. It was during that time that he would mutter or laugh in his slumber, his dream- if Kowalski was to make an educated guess- must have been a pleasant one. The scientist looked over at his companion's sleeping face, noting how...peaceful the shorter penguin was in his sleep. His beak was curved in a slight smile, his scar stretching along with it. Whether it was from his sleep deprivation, or his boredom, Kowalski found himself letting go of the stuffed animal as he stretched his flipper out to lightly trace the red line etched into Rico's feathers and flesh. He was taken aback by how...velvety the area was. He didn't know why he was so surprised, it was natural for damaged tissue to have a soft texture.
And yet… Kowalski had a vision of the penguin next to him. He was so used to seeing him as coarse and rough in his manners, that he had assumed Rico would feel chapped and unpleasant to the touch. But even the feathers around the area was pleasing to caress.
"Fascinating," the scientist mumbled to himself.
Rico shifted in his sleep again, causing the analyst to flinch away as he felt embarrassed from his behavior. Oh, right. In most cultures it was considered creepy to touch others while they were unaware and vulnerable in their sleep. This was not a thing two friends did. Kowalski's heart beat faster in his chest as Rico's own flippers traveled down his body, before stopping on his hip. The scientist shuddered as a tingle went up his spine.
'Okay, calm down' Kowalski reprimanded himself again, 'this is nothing. Poor Rico isn't even aware of what he's doing. And you're only getting...um, excited? No, not the right word...Upset? Worked up? Yes! There you go! You're only getting worked up because you aren't used to being this close to anyone. It's nothing to worry about.'
The scientist closed his eyes, trying to see if mimicking the act of sleep would help. Yet again he tried concentrating on Rico, this time the warmth. He imagined the warmth like a red sheet of fabric. First it was only covering the heftier penguin, but as the minutes passed he swore he felt the red warmth creep up his arm and sides. And then it draped itself over his stomach, just like the muscular flipper holding onto him. In no time at all, the red was covering his whole body, as he became one with it. In his mind's eye, he, Rico, and the red were blending and he couldn't tell where one began and the other ended. Kowalski yawned as he felt the internal clockwork of his mind begin to slow down as it was replaced with the orchestra of his own breathing synchronizing up with other penguin. He found himself nuzzling closer himself, as he rested his chin above Rico's head. Kowalski, at last and after many days of going and going and going...finally found peace as he slipped away into the darkness of the night and finally getting the sleep he had oh so needed.
For the first time in ages, Kowalski was mentally and physically at rest.