A/N: And here we have the penguin story! But that's not the only thing these two got involved with... as you will soon see!
Please enjoy, review if you can, and I'll see you all later!
(Matt P.O.V)
"Matt! Come on, L will worry!" Mello badgered me.
I wasn't listening though. I was too interested in the penguins to care.
I don't know what it was about penguins but I loved them with all my heart! Just looking at them put a smile on my face, and the moment I caught sight of them when we came here I was instantly hooked.
I turned to the blonde behind me. "But Mello, I love penguins! You know they're my favourite animal!" I then turned back. "I totally want one as a pet!"
"Are you insane!?" The blonde exclaimed. "Penguins are not pets, Matt! They're wildlife, and I detest zoos with every fibre of my being! No animal should be caged and locked behind a fence, never being able to taste freedom or know what it's like to be an actual, living being! I can't believe L dragged me here! What an incredible waste of my time!"
I never understood Mello's anger towards zoos and other wildlife parks. He's always go on and on about how zoos were bad and how animals shouldn't be caged, but he never explained why. And I wouldn't know the truth until much later in my life.
I sighed heavily before getting an idea in my head. It was a long shot with Mello, but I'm too sure that my best friend would do anything to help me.
"Hey Mel… if you really think these animals should be free from their cages, then why should we not help them?"
He cocked an eyebrow at me. "Explain."
I pointed to one of the chicks in the penguin enclosure. "Why not take that little guy for ourselves? He'd be free, I'd get a penguin, all is right with the world! What do you think!?"
He didn't tell me. He just walked away, not even thinking about my idea.
"WAIT!" I stopped him, taking his hand. "Please Mello! I just want to keep it for a week or two and then we'll take it to an animal rescue centre! They'll take it to Antarctica or something, and we'll have a pet for a while!"
"No way, Matt!" The blonde put his foot down. "L said if we bring one more animal into the Wammy house, then we're grounded for a full year! I'm not taking the chance!"
"Please Mello!" I tried again, falling to my knees and hugging his legs. "For me? For your best-est best friend! I'll buy you chocolate! I'll buy you a whole BOX of chocolate! And… and I'll do my homework, and compliment you more! And I'll even let you play my games! All I want is the penguin for a few weeks! Please! Please, please, please, please, please, please!"
The boy merely blinked. "You're pathetic, you know that?"
I blinked back. "Uh… I love you?"
His eyes merely rolled. "Fine. Let's get you a stupid penguin."
I nearly squealed when he agreed and hugged him tightly for it. "THANK YOU, MELS!"
"Don't thank me yet. We still have to grab the bird and get out with it." He then looked about the park before grabbing my hand. "Come on!"
Right as he began dragging me I asked him where we were going.
"The penguin enclosure has two entrances. The balcony where people can throw fish to them, and the emergency exit in case there's any trouble. This exit is also an entrance for the employees to introduce new penguins to the habitat. Almost all of the enclosures have this, so it's our best bet to getting to the penguins."
"Okay, but they won't just let two kids into the enclosure…"
"Exactly," he interrupted, "but it's almost closing time, meaning that most of the employees are shooing out the visitors. I suspect this to take ten minutes at best, so we have to hurry."
He dragged me over to the employee's only section and soon we made our way down a tunnel and into the coldest part of the area. This was almost certainly the penguin enclosure. The only problem we faced was the heavily locked door with three locks on the bottom and one way up at the top. I was good at picking a lock, but I was still only about three and a half feet tall. I couldn't reach the lock at the top…
…unless…
"Give me a boost!" I told Mello.
The blonde sighed heavily before hunching over enough for me to climb onto his back. Since he was a little bit stronger than me he had no issues with standing to his full height, me on his shoulders, and waiting for me to finish the job.
However, it's not like he was too pleased with his position.
"Jesus, Matt!" He exclaimed. "Do you ever wash your feet!?"
"Shut up! I washed them last time I took a bath!"
I heard him gag. "That was two weeks ago! You're so nasty!"
"Hey, my musk brings in the ladies!" I joked.
"…to the hospital ward maybe."
I deftly picked the lock and it clicked open. "One down!"
I suddenly felt him push me off of his shoulders and I fell to the floor with a thump.
Mello only chuckled. "One down." He repeated.
I growled as I got back up. "You know, it's that attitude of yours that stops people from being your friend!"
He squeezed my nose, pulling me in. "And it's your stench that stops people from talking to you. Now," he let go of my nose, "pick the other locks and let's grab this bird before we get caught. We barely have another five minutes before the employees have everyone out."
I did as he said, but not without rolling my eyes at him. Sometimes Mello was so pushy I questioned my friendship with him.
I felt sorry for the sap that married him in the future. Poor bugger.
The locks were just as easy as the first one and the door opened immediately for us. Within moments we'd gotten into the enclosure and found all the baby penguins in their little play group. It was amazing to see them up close!
And it'd be more amazing to have one as a pet.
Mello brought out his knapsack. "Grab the smallest one and stuff him in here. We have to get out right away."
I did so right away, already knowing which one I wanted. He was the smallest and fluffiest one there, and it worked out even better since he'd practically walked up to me.
I gently lifted him up, placed him in the pack, and we ran like hell to get out of the enclosure, making sure all the locks were back in place, that no one saw us, and that we didn't looked suspicious. Mello didn't look like he cared, but the moment we got on the bus he was more than surprised that we'd gotten away with it. Especially since L hounded us about where we'd run off to, leaving him worried. I felt a little bad about that… but at least I got a souvenir!
The bus ride home was filled with talk among the other kids, but Mello and I just whispered to each other.
"What are you gonna name it?" Mello whispered.
"Jimmy!" I whispered back. "Jimmy the penguin!"
The blonde rolled his eyes. "I'll never understand you, will I?"
I merely shrugged. I then smiled at him warmly. "Thank you, by the way. I don't know many people who are willing to steal a penguin for another."
He leaned his head against my shoulder. "I'd do anything for my best friend, Matt. But don't expect me to steal another animal in the future."
I hugged him tightly. "You're the best, Mello!"
The blonde hugged me back, but before he could say anything the knapsack gave a small, but loud, chirp that alerted almost everyone on the bus.
With all eyes looking at us Mello defended with, "Err… I sneezed?"
Well… he did have an adorable sneeze. Not that he'd ever admit it.
Another chirp and Mello followed suit begrudgingly. It was even more infuriating for him since people on the bus started giggling about his sneeze. Yes, it was rude to be giggling about someone's… flaws? Is a sneeze a flaw? Well, either way, I couldn't help but laugh as well because of how close to the truth it was to find Mello sneeze like a little bird.
The blonde promptly hit my stomach and turned away from me. "I regret everything now."
I laid my head on his shoulder. "You know you love me!"
Taking care of that penguin had been hard work too. I barely had it a week before L found it in his room eating his candy. I'd wanted it a bit longer than that, but I didn't think we'd be found out so soon. Mello took most of the blame for me though, saying it was his idea, that he'd helped, and that he'd been the one to stow it away in his pack. For this, Mello got a month of detention, his chocolate intake was cut in half, and he'd have to work part time at the zoo to repay them for the issues he caused them.
I felt bad about this because I knew how much Mello hated zoos, and I tried my best to get L to get him out of it, but the blonde took his punishment anyway.
By the end of his punishment, I did everything I could to make up for everything I'd caused him. He never brought it up though, and he never held it against me. He only told me that he was happy to have made me happy.
So, from that day onward, I made a promise to myself that I'd always try to make him as happy as he did for me. Like I'd told him…
I don't know many people willing to steal a penguin for me.
