Disclaimer: I do not own Penguins of Madagascar or any of its related characters or themes.
AN: Dedicated to sudordepelotadecuellorojoXD ... thanks for the idea ;)
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Chow Time
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"Zero Six-hundred hours, men... time to... AACCHHHAAA! ... get chow..." Skipper said, his voice raspy and not as 'authorative' as usual.
The sound of gagging came as a response from Rico, but they all slowly jumped out of their bunks and headed towards the ladder.
At this point the sneezing and coughing had really started to set in all four of them, and not one of them were particularly looking forward to moving from their bunks... but Alice still dropped all their chow in the bowl up top, and it meant all four of them had to go.
Even though Rico's symptoms showed up first, it looked like all three of them had effortlessly caught up to him in the symptoms-category. And it was not fun.
Once outside, a yawning crew slowly managed to drag each fish down to their hideout. By the time the last fish hit the dining table, Private was sure that if they all had a theme song, it would be playing in slow-mo right then. Skipper stayed behind to close the hatch while the rest set to work on their usual duties.
"Uh... Kowalski... four boxes of Kleenex... Stat..." Skipper motioned with his flipper before getting to work at brewing a fishy stew for all of them. "Rico... get those fish chopped up, soldier!"
The semi-psychotic penguin ripped out a butcher's knife, but ended up having to cut each fish individually instead of all at once... he didn't have the strength to handle two knives at the moment. And that just sucked.
"Skippa... are these alright?" Private asked and yawned. But, his yawn was cut short by a coughing fit that had him doubling over. He kept his cough suppressed as best he could until all the medicines that were balanced on his flippers were carefully dropped to the floor before he finally let it loose. By the time he straightened up he was red-flushed and still gasping.
"You alright, Private?" Skipper asked, rubbing the young penguin's back in comforting circles, all the while still keeping a watchful eye on their fish stew.
"Mm... " was all the small penguin muttered before clearing his throat to continue, "I got these from the Zoo Gift Shop and the nearby Pharmacy..." he said and indicated to the contents strewn on the floor. Menthol Throat lozenges, Vitamin C boosters and some aspirin.
"Come here, men!" Skipper commanded, his voice still sounding like grated swiss cheese.
He popped open the three packets and divided the appropriate medicine up for all four of them. "And if I see so much as one of these hidden somewhere because you refused to take your medicine... I will make sure you take it... by whatever means necessary... " he threatened, watching with an eagle eye as all three of his cadets downed the first round of aspirins. He took his after making sure they had finished their entire glass of water too.
"Um... Skipper... what do you mean by 'whatever means necessary?'," Private asked, with a slightly confused and worried face.
"That's classified information, soldier... NOW! Get back in that bunk, mister..." the Skipper said with a tired, but proud smile, "You got us the best healthcare out there... now it's your turn to get some rest...".
Private beamed as he waddled back to his bunk.
It took a few good minutes before Rico finally held the chopping board with all the chopped fish up to his commanding officer with a grin, "Bruaghulaa?" he asked, winching as he swallowed.
"I'll be alright to finish here by myself... you go on ahead," Skipper patted Rico on the shoulder before shoving the sickly penguin in the direction of the racks.
"Do you think this will last –aacchhhooooo- ... long, S-Skipper?" Kowalski asked, handing Skipper more of the veggies they had stocked in their small fridge. He paused for a moment, his face scrunching up to a twisted expression before Skipper realised what was about to happen. The squad leader quickly turned Kowalski's face away just in time to avoid –"WAHHHAACHHOOOO!"
"Gesundheit ... and don't sneeze on the stew... I don't want you boys to relapse... " Skipper snapped, relieving his first-in-command from the vegetables. "Besides, why aren't you getting some rack-time too?"
Kowalski looked with a bit of surprise at his commander before shrugging, "It'll be faster if two of us work together...?" he said awkwardly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. At least, for him it was... always the logical one in the group.
"Where's the Kleenex, Kowalski?" Skipper asked, sniffling idly.
"Private, Rico and my own boxes are all stashed in our bunks, sir... " Kowalski said and extended a flipper with a box of tissues in it, "I thought you might need these..."
"T-than- thank you..." the older penguin said and grabbed a flipper full before turning away to sneeze.
"Bless you..." Kowalski said and kept stirring the stew in his commander's place.
"Well..." Skipper said, sniffing the stew before turning away to sneeze involuntarily again, "It's done!". He balled up the tissues and threw them into the trashcan with a huff. Stupid flu.
Kowalski dug out four bowls and handed them one by one to Skipper, "Thank you, sir..." he said with a warm smile, "... for all of this...".
"No problem... now wake up the other two... it's chow time..." Skipper said dismissively and waited until Kowalski left before ducking his beak into his flipper to suppress the cough he'd been holding. 'At least the nausea's over...' he thought morbidly as he cleared his throat.
The sound of Private throwing up in their small bathroom suddenly had him sighing again, 'Well... mostly over...'
"Chow time, men," Skipper said and slowly waddled up to the bathroom as Rico and Kowalski waddled over to their 'kitchen'.
"Private...?" Skipper asked, knocking on the door.
"... I'm alright, Skippa... " came the hoarse reply from behind the door.
"Do you need anything?" Skipper asked, still concerned.
The door opened and a de-shelved –and a bit green- Private emerged from the bathroom rubbing his stomach, "I hate being sick...", the young penguin sneeze abruptly.
"Don't we all..." Skipper muttered and ushered them to the kitchen after closing the door again.
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Thanks for reading!
