~A/N~ Hey guys! This is the first chapter to my first PoM chapter-story! So, please, be open-minded, because to be honest I'm still getting used to writing about penguins considering I haven't before. Haha, oh well. Reviews would be much apreciated, and ideas as well concerning events and what kind of scenarios they could all face. I have some ideas, but I definitely need more! Anyway, here it is, and I hope you'll enjoy. The second chapter shouldn't take too long to write. It will probably be posted here tomorrow. Thanks :)

When the four penguins returned to HQ, they received warm welcome from many of the zoo animals- especially Julien, who insisted on throwing them a welcome back party. Skipper tried to refuse, but of course, Julien threw one anyway, and the penguins felt obliged to show up.

Private left the party early and returned to HQ, where he flopped down on his bed with a sigh, staring up blankly. There had been far too many prodding questions about his pink feathers and newly sprouted antlers at the party.

Kowalski had tried to reassure him that in due time, Private's appearance would revert back to normal, but the young penguin wasn't so sure. He rolled onto his side -

crunch

He sighed. With no success, he tried to pull himself up off the bed, but his antlers were lodged firmly in the material of his bed, not wanting to come out. He gave up eventually and lay there angrily.

Finally, he closed his eyes and drifted off into a quiet sleep.

When he awoke, Skipper stood over him with a highly questioning look. Private's face flushed in embarrassment. "H-Hullo, Sk-Skipper," he stuttered, avoiding eye contact.

"What happened to you?" He asked incredulously. "Never mind, I don't want to know." Instead of prodding further, he firmly gripped Private's flipper and around his waist, yanking his body upwards in an attempt to dislodge him from the unfortunate position.

Private squealed in discomfort, and a ripping sound filled the room as his antler shredded through even more of the fabric. "Hang on there," Skipper grunted. "Let me just-"

With a crash, the two penguins toppled onto the ground, panting and staring at the bunk in apprehension.

Private giggled nervously and eyed Skipper out of the corner of his eye. Skipper smiled slowly and stood up, waddling over to the bed and examining the whole. "I'll just get one of the others to sew that back up," he murmured to himself, wedging a flipper inside of the hole to assess the damage.

Private followed him and asked, "Where are the other two?"

"Still at the party," Skipper confirmed before turning to face Private. "I see you left early too."

Private nodded. "Y-yes sir." Skipper raised his brow and nodded slowly, unsure of what to say.

"They should be back soon," he told Private. "I'm going to sleep." Private watched as Skipper retired to his bunk and huddled there, closing his tired eyes.

Although he too felt worn out from their mission, Private was too wide awake to want to go to bed, so he decided to go outside. But first, he grabbed his diary from underneath his pillow. As he sat down outside and opened up the small book, he felt a twinge of curiosity to see what his last entry had been before their mission.

Sure enough, by the end of the entry, his face was glowing pinker than it already was. He had forgotten about his crush on Kowalski...and he wasn't even sure if still had it. Maybe not, he told himself. After all, he had watched him swoon relentlessly over Eva, and it hadn't affected him in the slightest. However…

He looked up just in time to see the aforementioned penguin approaching him by the entrance to the HQ. "Oh- H-hullo Kowalski." Private stammered, his face becoming even more flushed.

Kowalski stopped in front of him and nodded. "Hello, Private," he greeted, his face blank.

"I-Is Eva here?" Private asked him, fidgeting with the diary in-between his flippers. Kowalski's face seemed to fall for a few moments.

"Uhm...no..she isn't. Why do you ask?" He said, blinking repeatedly at Private in confusion.

"Oh...Uh- no reason," Private responded hurriedly. "Just, just curious, that's all."

Kowalski nodded. "Alright. Well, don't stay out here too long. It's cold, and we don't know yet how your transformation will affect your immunities. Besides, I can't do testing on you while you're inflicted with illness. Goodnight." With that, he left Private's sight to go underground.

The small penguin sighed. Yup, he thought, Definitely still like him.

He didn't have anything with him to write with, so he closed up his book and decided to wait until morning to write in it again. He shuffled back into HQ and waddled over to his bed. Looks like I'll have to sleep on my back, he realized with slight disappointment. Reluctantly, he settled down to sleep before closing his eyes and drifting off.

When Private awoke the next morning, everybody else was already up. He carefully pulled himself up off the bed, trying to avoid damaging it further. It had been very awkward to sleep in that night, considering the huge hole near the pillows. He had needed to shift around a lot throughout the night, trying to achieve a somewhat comfortable position.

He yawned, stretching out his soft flippers behind him, and wandered over to the others, who were huddled in a circle examining something.

It turned out that something they were examining happened to be Rico. He was slumped over on the ground, completely passed out. Meanwhile, Skipper was giving Kowalski a terse lecture.

"I told you we can't leave Rico alone at a party," he criticized. "You know he gets like this! Especially at Julien's parties!" He turned around and stalked off with an angry huff.

Private waddled over to Kowalski and Rico; the former which had a guilty look plastered on his face as he stared down at the unconscious Rico.

"What happened, Kowalski?" Private asked curiously, still rubbing his eyes tiredly.

Kowalski sighed and shook his head. "Stupid me. I left him alone at the party last night...and well, he had a bit too much...if you know what I mean."

Private furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

Kowalski eyed him and replied. "I mean, he consumed too much alcoholic beverage."

Private nodded, although he still wasn't quite sure of what he meant. Skipper returned to the trio lugging a bucket of ice cold water, and motioned for Private and Kowalski to move. He released the bucket, and it toppled over to pour it's contents all over the sleeping penguin.

With a loud squawk, Rico shot up, eyes wide, and looked wildly around the room, a single cube of ice still sitting on top of his head. He blinked in confusion when he saw the others, and his eyes showed realization as his gaze landed on the now empty bucket, and he muttered something incomprehensible.

Private could already tell it was going to be a long day.