"It'll be ok, Marlene," a black haired man comforted. He stroked a women's back, Marlene's, and his hands caressed soft, smooth skin. Her skin was tanned with her long mahogany hair falling past her shoulders, covering most of her face. Her brown eyes were shut closed with tears escaping and trailing down her tear stained cheeks.
"How do you know, Skipper?" Marlene asked, shuddering through her sobs as she pressed her head against his chest. Her tanned arms were wrapped around the pale skin of his. Skipper's hair was black in a messy tussle. His eyes were a deep, sharp blue, strong like his muscles. He was just at the same height as she was.
They tried to forget that they hadn't been turned into humans by Kowalski's latest disaster. They tried to pretend that they weren't hiding in the Zoovenier shop on the cold floor. They tried to block out the thundering sound of rain and thunder outside. They tried to avoid thinking of what would happen in the morning. They tried to comfort each other through words and comforting touches.
Minutes of silence stretched between them before he bothered to answer.
"I trust my men."
A crackle of thunder.
"When will be back to normal?" she asked, her voice muffled.
"I don't know." His eyes looked up at a window upon seeing a shape pass by. "But I think we will soon find out."
There was a click and the door opened, letting in cold night air. Marlene's head whipped up and she wiped an arm across her face. A flash of light from far away lightning lit up their curious faces. They drew into themselves as three small shapes entered the shop, closing the door behind them. Only their outlines were visible through the darkness, likewise to Skipper and Marlene. But Skipper didn't need light to know who they were.
"Boys," he breathed, seeing Kowalski's, Rico's and Private's silhouettes. His and Marlene's face fell upon only hearing clicks and squawks from the tallest form, Kowalski.
Marlene felt her heart break. "We can't understand you..."
The sounds stopped immediately, filled with thoughtful silence instead. There was a click and Kowalski came forward, making various gestures and sounds. It would have been nice to use a Speak 'N Spell but they couldn't read, much less write as well as the others. Though Skipper watched the movements closely, following the pattern of the clicks, which he quickly found out was Morse code.
When Kowalski finished, silence fell all over again. Although it was filled with emptiness and bitter sweet realization. The news was both good and bad, rolling more onto bad.
Skipper closed his eyes, his lips in a firm line. He spoke, "That long?"
A nod of confirmation was given by Kowalski. He looked just as crestfallen as Skipper and the other two flightless birds. Marlene, however, was confused.
"How long will it be?" she asked, not taking her eyes off Kowalski, Private and Rico.
Skipper responded stiffly, "At least over a month."
Marlene inhaled a shuddering breath. A month...being a human?
"Men, go back and start working on that machine," Skipper commanded. "Kowalski, you are temporarily in charge. Now go."
Hesitation. But with a squawk they reluctantly left the shop, closing the door behind them again.
Skipper wasted no time in taking control of the situation. "Since we are going to be humans for a while, we need to fall into society. Staying in the zoo isn't ideal."
"So we are going to need a place to stay," Marlene stated.
Skipper nodded but said, "First, we are going to need some clothes."
So they did just that. Taking two shirts from the store and sneaking out to steal some zoo worker pants from another room. Though they got damp in process but they quickly dried off. After hiding in a storage room, they started the task of dressing themselves. While putting the clothes on, they took caution in avoiding looking at each other. To be honest, they haven't actually looked at each other since the disaster. Too busy freaking out and hiding in the store and all. No way were they going to let the whole zoo see them like this, making them go into a state of panic and confusion. This would have to be a secret.
When dressed, they finally looked at each other. Their faces burned at the sight, both thankful that the darkness prevented the other from seeing.
"You look...pretty Marlene," Skipper complimented tentatively. He added quickly, "Not that you weren't before!"
A shy smile spread across Marlene's lips, and she ducked her head in flattered embarrassment.
Skipper rubbed the back of his head, grinning. He frowned again, his hand dropping back to his side, upon realizing that they needed a place to stay before the zoo opened in the morning. The rain and thunder wasn't in their favor, which would factor in on their attempts to get out of the zoo. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt an itching sensation all around his body.
The commando started to scratch at his stomach. He cringed. Human clothing rubbed up against him in all the wrong ways. He didn't like it. Looking up, he noticed Marlene was staring at him, though she was scratching her side as well. She was obviously in as much discomfort. "Uncomfortable," he stated, forcing a smile.
Marlene nodded in agreement. "I can't stand these. Can't we take them off?"
Skipper shook his head, narrowing his eyes. "We can't do that." He looked uncomfortable with his face flushing when he added, "It's...not what humans do."
Marlene went wide eyed. "So we have to keep them on?"
"Just at least when we're out in public."
"Then can't I take them off now?"
"I'd prefer if you didn't."
She huffed indigently. "Well then we might as well go find a place to sleep, a tree even, because I don't want to keep wearing these!" She turned away and took a few steps before pausing. "I'll look for an umbrella," she informed him and went off, shifting in discomfort.
The former penguin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He grumbled under his breath colorful adjectives. He liked Marlene but sometimes her attitude got him a bit annoyed. Though Skipper had his suspicions that other New York citizens had ignorant or irritable personalities. He was hoping other humans wouldn't provoke him. For their own sake.
Humans. The thing he had turned into. What a strange creature...
He contemplated on his features as he sat down on a crate. Flexing his hands, watching with memorization at his new fingers and thumb. He ran his hand through his hair, smoothing it out before it pricked back up again. Skipper inspected what was under his shirt and saw his muscles that he earned through his hard training, making him smirk at his build. Well at least something good came out of this.
Curiosity suddenly got the better of him.
Skipper snuck a look at what was hiding from the covers of the zookeeper pants. He raised a brow at what he saw.
Human anatomy was...odd.
A/N: Requested. Future rated M chapters. I'm aware they use the Speak N Spell perfectly fine but just roll with it. I enjoy this type of atmosphere, rain and thunder. I will reveal what happened before in the future. Till then, review.
