Valentines Day, Central Park Zoo, Penguin Exhibit
"Boys, front and center!" Skipper barked, pacing the room as his soldiers lined up. "I'm sure you all know what day it is today..." Skipper said, momentarily looking at Private's cheery grin.
"Of course we do Skippa, it's Valentines Day! My favourite holiday! Besides Christmas of course, teehee!" Private smiled, beginning to waddle in excitement. Rico groaned at the mention of the lovey holiday.
"Correct Private," Skipper rolled his eyes at the younger penguin's naivete, "But today we have a very very important mission." Skipper said. "To deliver these valentines to everyone in the zoo!" Skipper pulled out pink and ribbony heart shaped cards from behind their dining table. Private swooned, and Rico groaned again.
Kowalski stepped forward a little in hesitation. "Not to interrupt or anything but... why do you want to deliver these valentines? All this mushy stuff isn't like you Skipper." The smart penguin asked. Skipper rolled his eyes again and groaned.
"Of course I don't want to Kowalski! It's just everyone else in the zoo will be disappointed if they don't recieve a card on Valentines Day. Imagine it now, all the animals checking their mailboxes to find no girly decorated paper saying 'I wuv you' or 'be mine!' Their complete loneliness would send them all into a desperate heart-wrenching panic! It's just damage control, nothing more." Skipper explained. The three other penguins just looked at each other. Private put his flippers behind his back.
"Well I know I'd be sad if I didn't get a card..." Private said softly. Skipper blushed slightly.
"Exactly. Now each of you deliver these valentines. The recipient's name is on each one." Skipper sorted the cards into piles and handed a pile to his squad. Rico stuck out his tongue with a 'blegh' having to hold such mushy cards. Kowalski just looked at his solemnly. "Maybe I could make Doris a card..." "Alright, deliver the valentines and meet back here at 1300 hours. Go!" Skipper commanded, and his squad quickly climbed the ladder out of their HQ and slid off to deliver their valentines.
The penguins were all busy delivering their valentines. Skipper was in a hurry to finish so he could get it over and done with sooner. He frowned as he noticed the name on his last valentine. Of course. It had to be him. "Ringtail! Mail call!" Skipper yelled up at the lemur exhibit. King Julien's face appeared over the fence to see who was calling him. He smiled stupidly upon noticing his cranky neighbor beneath him.
"Ah! It is the bossy penguin! And he bears gifts!" King Julien smiled even wider. He leapt down the the pavement and reached for the pink paper. He snatched them from Skipper's flippers and examined them closely. "What is this?" he screamed suddenly, making Skipper step back a bit. "What am I supposed to be doing with a useless piece of paper?" Julien seemed angry that the cards weren't shiny or groovy enough for his taste.
"They're valentines, Ringtail. They're cards that humans give out to the people that they care about, or in this case, are obligated to be friendly to." Skipper sighed, smacking his head in frustration. This seemed to cheer Julien up considerably.
"Oh I see! You got me a valen-tine to remind me how awesomely great I am!" Julien smiled. "I didn't know you liked me so much!" Julien smirked, pretending to be enamored. Skipper scowled.
"Like I said, I'm just fulfilling my obligation as your neighbor. Now if you'll excuse me, I have model building to do." Skipper began to waddle off but Julien stopped him.
"So, did you get a valen-tine for the shorty-penguin?" Julien smirked, admiring the lace on his valentine. Skipper turned around furiously.
"What?" he gasped.
"You know, silly penguin! You said the valen-tines were for the peoples you care about." Julien wrapped his lemur arm around Skipper. "And I know you are caring for the round one yes?" Skipper blushed and slapped Julien's arm off of him.
"I do not! Private is my underling! I would never-" Skipper squawked angerily. Julien just smiled knowingly.
"Okay, whatever you say bossy-penguin. Be having a lonely valen-tines day!" Julien laughed as he returned to his 'kingdom' to give Mort and Maurice their valentines too. Skipper sighed in frustration and began to skulk back to HQ. Try as he might to ignore it, King Julien's words kept replaying in his mind. Skipper attempted to think about manly things, like monster trucks and kung-fu, but still, thoughts of Private swam back into his conscience. The cute, round, loveable yet naive Private. Skipper did acknowledge his fondness of the boy, but that was it. He was his teammate, and a younger one at that! He would never forgive himself if he compromised the team's dynamic by falling for his younger comrade. Skipper sighed loudly. Oh who was he kidding? He had thought about the possibility of dating Private for a long time. Every minute spent with him brought a smile to his beak. Skipper knew his feelings for the boy were more than platonic, that much he finally realized. It must be obvious too, if even a knucklehead like Julien could figure it out. That left only one question... what was he going to do about it? Skipper was deep in thought as he returned to HQ. He jumped through the fishbowl hatch and landed softly on the concrete floor. Kowalski and Rico were already back, Rico helping Kowalski with one of his latest experiments. The other penguins looked up from the workbench at their leader.
"Welcome back Skipper! The valentines were all delivered successfully!" Kowalski beamed, sliding his goggles onto his forehead. Rico smiled and added a "uh huh" in agreement. Skipper smiled.
"Good work men. Operation Valentine is a success." Skipper looked casually around the HQ and noticed one of his operatives was missing. "Hey, where's Private?" Skipper paced around the HQ trying to see if he was behind something. Kowalski slid out his notepad and flipped to the most recent page.
"He didn't come back yet. According to his mailing list, the last valentine he was supposed to deliver was to Marlene." Kowalski reported. "Should we go out and check up on him?" Kowalski asked. Skipper turned around to climb back out of HQ.
"No need. I'll get Private. You two can relax for the rest of the day." Skipper grinned. Rico gave an "aw yeah!" As Skipper left, Rico went back to contentedly helping Kowalski. Kowalski had been letting Rico help him more and more lately. Skipper was just glad they were getting along better. Skipper moved the fishbowl out of the way and returned to their concrete ice floe. He took out his binoculars and looked at the otter habitat, and sure enough he saw Private, drinking tea and chatting with Marlene. Skipper put away the binoculars and slid on his belly to the otter exhibit. He arrived to hear the last little bit of Private's sentence.
"...you're right! That would be a fun thing for us to do today! I can't wait!" Private giggled happily as he drank some more of his tea. Skipper eyed Marlene suspiciously, after hearing Private's conversation. Marlene was the first to notice Skipper in her habitat.
"Oh hello Skipper! Thank you for the valentine! It was really sweet of you!" Marlene smiled sheepishly, holding up her card. Skipper smiled back at one of his only female friends.
"Think nothing of it, Marlene. Happy Valentine's Day." Skipper then turned to Private, whose face was flushed. It looked like Skipper had interrupted something. "What's the matter Private?" Skipper asked, looking down happily at his adorable teammate. Private blushed again, clearly embarrassed at Skipper almost hearing his and Marlene's conversation.
"Oh, n-nothing's the matter Skippa! It's just, you startled us, that's all..." Private smiled adorably again. "We were just discussing some... plans." Skipper's face felt hot from Private's unintentional cuteness. Wait. Did he just say "us?" Us as in Private and Marlene? Suddenly Skipper felt a sad rumble in his gut.
"Are you sure nothing's the matter Private? Didn't I give you specific orders to return to HQ at 1300 hours?" Skipper's envy began to bubble through into his voice. Private's face fell slightly.
"I'm sorry Skippa... I just figured that since I had delivered all of my valentines, I could spare some time to talk to Marlene..." Private explained himself shyly. Skipper scratched the back of his head.
"Well I suppose so... let's go back to HQ alright?" Skipper said, turning away and beginning to walk. Private said goodbye to Marlene, who shot him back a 'good luck' wink. Private happily smiled beside his superior as they walked together through the zoo. "So, you said you were making plans with Marlene? Are you going to go on a date?" Skipper asked, inwardly shuddering at the thought. Private blushed again, nervously looking away from Skipper.
"Well actually... it's a secret." Private giggled. Skipper shuddered again. Ugh, why was his gut acting up so much? It's just a date Skipper, relax. Nothing to get your pants in a knot about! (Even though they don't wear pants.) Skipper quickly turned to face Private, catching him off guard. His face flushed again at his commander's stern face. "Skippa? Is something wrong?"
"We will not have secrets in this team, Private! I command you to tell me your plans!" Skipper pointed his flipper right at Privates' chest. Private looked dumbfounded as he looked at Skipper's flipper right in front of him. "Tell me! Are you going on a date with Marlene?" Skipper asked again, this time more insistant. Private just blinked his blue eyes in surprise. Skipper's face was red now, and he seemed to be breathing a bit heavier than before. His stomach rumbled again with the same anxiety as before. Private looked away for a second, and seemed to see right through Skipper's words. He stepped forward with a little smile.
"Skippa... are you... jealous?" Private asked. His words hit Skipper like a ton of bricks. Jealous? Jealous? Was that what he was feeling? As usual, Skipper just quickly thought of something to say to save face.
"What? Me? Jealous? Pfft, like I would be jealous of Marlene!" Skipper snickered, believing that his words had just defused the situation. Private gave him a knowing smile.
"I didn't say anything about being jealous of Marlene." he giggled again softly. Skipper blushed profusely again. Damn it! He was so close to being in the clear! Stupid mouth not saying what he wanted it to!
"L-look, Private, I-I can explain!" Skipper put his flippers on Private's shoulders and looked him right in the eyes. Private just smiled again, his usual cheery grin.
"No need Skippa! Tell you what, I'll tell you about my plans tonight... or rather... show you." Private shyly traced his foot in a circle as Skipper looked on. "Will you meet me by the clocktower around 1800 hours? I promise I'll tell you everything!" Private smiled. He gave Skipper a pleading look as he batted his baby blues. "Please?" Skipper sighed and looked away.
"Alright fine. But make it 1800 hours sharp. I don't like to be kept waiting." Skipper tried to keep himself sounding cool and macho, and began walking back to HQ.
"Yay! I'll see you then Skippa!" Private cheered as he ran off to prepare. Skipper's face was flushed as he re entered the headquarters. Kowalski and Rico were still hard at work on Kowalski's invention. Rico held a glowing tube in the air as Kowalski carefully attached it to a volatile looking machine. Was there ever any other kind of machine with Kowalski? Rico looked up at Skipper and smiled, causing his scar to curve upwards. He was careful not to move at all and greeted Skipper.
"Hay! Welcome back!" he grunted. Kowalski never looked up from his invention, but talked anyway.
"Is Private alright?" he asked, twisting a wire around an electrical circuit. Skipper sighed and sat down with a cup of fish coffee.
"Yeah he's fine. He was just chatting with Marlene." he sipped his coffee. "By the way boys, I'll be leaving for a while around 1800 hours. After then, the HQ is all yours." Kowalski just 'hmmed' in acknowledgement, and Rico tried his best to hold the tube steady while Kowalski worked. Skipper quietly thought to himself for the rest of the night. The butterflies in his stomach acted up again. "Ugh, shut up gut!"
~~~1800 hours~~~
Skipper looked at himself in the full length mirror Julien had installed on his last visit. He slicked back the feathers on his head and tried his best to look presentable without overdoing it. "At ease men!" Skipper saluted Kowalski and Rico. They waved goodbye as Skipper left. The sun was already down, being it was still winter. The air was chilly, but Skipper wasn't bothered at all. He waddled over to the clock tower, where he saw the little penguin sitting contentedly by himself. Skipper gulped back the lump in his throat and began to climb the clocktower. Private noticed Skipper's arrival and smiled. He patted the area beside him, and Skipper took a seat.
"I'm glad you came." Private smiled happily. Skipper's heart was going crazy. Just what was Private up to? Skipper looked around suspiciously.
"Where's Marlene? Did you get stood up?" Skipper asked, rather cynically. Private sighed with frustration.
"Don't you get it Skippa?" Private was now getting impatient, giving him a cute huffy face. Skipper tried to ignore the obvious.
"...Get what?"
"This was for you!" Private slid away to reveal a candle and a mackerel with a ribbon around it. Private lit the candle with some matches Rico had coughed up, causing a gentle warm glow around the small round penguin. Private turned around again to look at Skipper, who by now had a giant blush and his beak hung open. "My conversation with Marlene was to help me plan this for you!" Private sat down beside Skipper again.
"Wha... what is the meaning of this?" Skipper was more shocked than anything. Private held the ribboned mackerel to Skipper, who nervously took it into his flippers.
"Well... you're always doing so much good for everyone all year that today I thought I'd return the favour. You've really helped me a lot too..." Private explained. Skipper just eyed Private with a smirk on his face.
"And?" Skipper asked, knowing there was obviously more to it than that.
"...A-and? And what?" Private studdered quickly. Skipper leaned back on his flippers, looking up at the lovely candle behind Private. He liked how the glow seemed to envelop the younger penguin, making him seem innocent and angelic. Well, more so than usual.
"You're a sweet kid Private, and I know you like to do nice things for others," Skipper began, "but never once have I seen you set up a gift and a candlelit rendevous for anyone out of thanks." Skipper looked at Private, whose face was getting redder and redder by the second.
"Well... it's also because... I... would like you to be my valentine this year Skippa!" Private finally blurted out. Skipper's stomach butterflies were back, and he smiled down at the adorable Private.
Skipper paused. He took a moment to drink this all in. Private had planned for a lovely candlelit rendevous, complete with mackerel, just for the two of them. Skipper lightly chuckled at Private's hopeless romanticism. "Well... in that case, I accept your valentine. I will be your-" Skipper gulped at the cornyness of the line, "date..." Private grinned happily, a tear of relief coming to his eye. Private hugged Skipper, wrapping his flippers around the stout penguin. Skipper hugged him back, the moment had been a long time coming.
"I like you Skippa! More than anyone!" Private whispered.
"I... like you too Private." Skipper blushed. He knew for a fact he would never say such corny words or lines to anyone besides Private. Private was his, Private was special.
"Will you be my valentine next year too Skippa?"
"That can be arranged."
~FIN~