Skipper groaned as he turned over in his bunk. Kowalski had come back that evening with the monthly update of Alice's e-mail info and he'd found out that the Hoboken Zoo had closed from an e-mail asking if they could home a few animals. He briefly flitted through the inhabitants in his mind. "Lulu, whatever, she's not actually evil and Phil had taken a liking to her. Savio, ok, he's very evil, but we can organize something for him to be re-shipped away, and the same goes for Rhonda and Clemson." The real reason his mind was panicking was because of the last animal. "The puffin." Skipper hissed, curling up tighter in his bed. He wasn't sure if he could be able to contain himself after that Denmark incident...He just had to hope they wouldn't ship him here.
"I'm not sure if we can exactly be considered friends here, but I'll miss you all anyways." Clemson sniffed from his cage. "Thanks, Clemson. Who knows, maybe someone will end up in the same zoo as another?" Lulu tried to lift the spirits, but not exactly succeeding. Hans was anxious. He could see the zookeeper arrive with their forms. "Bronx Zoo. Hmm...I've heard many rodents live there." Savio commented with a grin as he read his form. "YAY! I'm going to Central Park! That's where Phil is!" Lulu exclaimed reading hers. "No places free? Shipment back to Madagascar?" Clemson read, shocked, but suddenly grinned wildly. "YES! I'M FREE!" He bounced up and down happily, while waiting to hear where the rest of his "friends" went. "I'm going to Bronx too, but the aquarium! See ya there, snake!" Rhonda smiled, looking at Savio. Hans looked around, panicked. Everyone seemed happy with their destinations, but he had a feeling he'd be sent to the worst one yet; at least, for him. "Oh no...Oh no no no no NO!" Hans stumbled back into the cage as he looked at his own leaflet. "Wazzup, Hans? Sent to the puffin sausage factory?" Lulu joked, waiting for his answer. "No, no, no...I'm going to...Central Park too." He looked around, horrified, to see the others' puzzled faces. "What's the problem, dude? You even get to stick around with Lulu here!" Rhonda asked, confused. "The problem is not where I'm going to...It's who lives there."
"Talk to me Kowalski." Skipper ordered, pointing at the crate in front of them. "Well, it appears it comes from...Hoboken." Kowalski hid behind his clipboard, waiting for the explosion. Instead, Skipper stood frozen to the ground in shock. Trying to keep alive a last glimmer of hope, he continued. "And what animal is in there?" He asked meekly. "Hans the Puffin, yours truly." Hans announced, kicking down the front of the crate. "Hans!" Skipper exclaimed, falling into battle stance. "Skipper..." Taking out a mackerel, Skipper did the same, sparring until Kowalski cleared his throat loudly. "Ermh...yeah. Can we, like, try to avoid rivalry?" He suggested, one eyebrow raised. "Put a stone on it! Forgive and forget!" Private skipped in between them, smiling dandily. "I know where I'd like to shove a stone…" Skipper hissed. Ignoring Skipper, Hans turned to Private. "Who's the sugar puff?" Hans asked, puzzled, pointing at Private. Last time he'd seen Skipper they had only been in three. "None of your business." Skipper snarled, pushing Private behind his back protectively. "Oh, ok, act like an overprotective parent..." Hans sighed, lifting his flippers in defeat, but knowing he'd pushed just the right buttons to make Skipper fume. "Grrrrrrr..." Kowalski stepped between them. "Why don't we go inside and try to relax, shall we?" He proposed, with a fake grin on his face. "What? Are you suggesting we bring Hans the Puffin, my arch-enemy since I was a hatchling, into our secret HQ, Lieutenant?!" Skipper asked, voice full of disbelief. "No reason to act so distrustful..." Hans muttered. "No...Reason, Hans? DID YOU FORGET WHAT HAPPENED IN DENMARK ALREADY?! I THOUGHT I HIT YOUR HEAD HARD ENOUGH ON THAT DYNAMITE BARREL TO SCAR YOU FOR LIFE!" Skipper exploded, shoving Private into the base and following suit. "BOTH MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY!" He continued his tantrum from below, slamming the bowl shut behind him. "Excuse him, it's just..." Kowalski sighed, exasperated. "No, I understand. It's... difficult. I'll just stay out here." Hans sighed and sat down. In a small corner of his heart, he wanted the penguin's forgiveness. He watched Kowalski and Rico head back in glumly, and the fishbowl was just about to close when he jumped up as another crate slammed down next to him. Kowalski poked his head back up and disappeared inside to call the others. They watched intently as Alice walked back out of the habitat on a plank. Hans cautiously approached the crate, oblivious of the fact of the penguins observing him. Their attention was drawn back to Alice, who was speaking into a walkie-talkie. "Yes, the female puffin just arrived, and thank God she did. You know how male puffins get if they don't have at least one female around. I wonder how he coped back in Hoboken..." The four penguins stared on, slack-jawed, as Alice shut off the device and walked away. "Ermh...Hello?" Hans tentatively called out, not having heard what Alice had said. Kowalski sighed. "Hans does not know what he's getting into. By nature, female puffins are very-" Kowalski was interrupted as the crate lid flew off and a female puffin pinned Hans to the ground, hissing. "...Aggressive." He finished meekly. "Who are you?" She snarled, hostile. "Not someone with bad intentions, let's put it that way…" Hans cowered a little. "What is this place?" She questioned, getting up and looking around. "You mean, you've never seen a zoo?" Hans asked, incredulous. "Why? Should I have?" The female puffin quietened down, confused. "So you were not born in captivity?" Hans asked, more like a statement though. "I don't know what you mean. All I know is that I'd injured my wing and was sitting on my cliff top peacefully tending to it when this human caged me and started blabbering about "Protection" and "Zoo"." Hans thought for a second before answering. "They thought you needed help because you were injured, so they captured you and put you here, where you'll be taken care of. They'd thought that you'd have died out there because of that injury." He briefly explained, pointing at her bandaged wing. "Oh. So I'm living here now?" She asked, taking in her surroundings once again. Meanwhile, Hans was taking in her. She was about as tall as him, obviously curvier, her beak a bit smaller, maybe feathers a bit sleeker, but other than that no big difference. He froze, looking at her head again. She had hair. A neat cut, short and about the same colour as her beak (I mean the orange part). Her eyes were a very dark aquamarine. The penguins facepalmed as they saw Hans turn all buttery. "Ermh. ERMH." Skipper cleared his throat loudly as he and his team jumped out of the hatch. "Intruders!" The puffin yelled, quickly knocking them all out cold. "Wha-wha-wha..." Hans stuttered, seeing the team defeated in a couple of mere seconds. "What, you knew them? Oops. Sorry, instincts." The female ducked her head, a little embarrassed. "Where...Where did you learn all that?" Hans asked, shocked. "I just learned to defend myself, that's all." The puffin shrugged, considering it totally normal to have just defeated a whole commando team with Skipper at its head in a couple of deft moves. "You know, I still don't know your name." Hans observed, tilting his head to the side. "Nives." She stated. "What's your name?" She asked, curious. "Hans." He replied, a small smile on his face. "Well, nice meeting you, Hans." She stepped forwards and nuzzled his beak with hers. Hans froze for a second, but then memories of his childhood came back slowly and he remembered that was how puffins usually greeted each other (I don't care if it's not true but it's to set a base on the romance!). "I am becoming too human..." He thought crossly, nuzzling back affectionately. "Did we...Did we interrupt something?" Kowalski's awkward voice piped up. Springing away, Hans blushed, but Nives stood her ground, puzzled. "Ermh...No, you see, that's just how puffins greet each other, like you would wave, or hug if it's a close friend." Hans explained awkwardly, blushing violently. "What's the big deal?" Nives asked, thoroughly puzzled. "Well, in almost all other animals, including penguins, nuzzling each other with beaks or muzzles or whatever you have is considered to be done only between mates..." Hans explained further, even more embarrassed. "Oh. I see." Nives stated, colour rising up in her face. The six birds just stood there, awkward. "Well...Shall we go indoors? I've got tea ready!" Private suggested, trying to lighten up the mood a bit. Skipper didn't protest but filed in after the three penguins and two puffins.