For a week, Fuchsia remained topside and oblivious to the Penguin HQ just below her feet. She point-blank refused for Private, Rico and/or Kowalski to look after the egg so she could get a good night's sleep or just five minutes rest. Kowalski even offered to make her an incubator- which led her to believe there was a mad scientist's lab somewhere in the habitat- but she politely declined. Wherever that lab was, there were many explosions. She had quickly cottoned on that Kowalski's inventions often backfired.
"Skipper?"
"Yes, Private?" The younger penguin wrung his flippers, anxiously glancing at the ceiling. "What is it, Private? I'm in the middle of winning." Skipper was in a high-stakes chess game with Kowalski- if he lost, he had to agree to trial run one of Kowalski's gizmos.
"It gets cold at night, sir, and Fuchsia is up there."
"Penguins like the cold, Private." Skipper reminded him, moving his rook three to the left and taking Kowalski's knight.
"But eggs are supposed to stay warm." Private countered.
"Ugh, fine. But if she causes any trouble, it's on your head." Private smiled gratefully, saluting and thanking him. He darted up the ladder and popped out of the ground, startling Fuchsia from her slumber.
"Penguin-mole hybrids. I've seen everything."
"What?"
"Nevermind. Can I help you?"
"No, but I can help you." She sighed and started to speak, but Private cut across. "Skipper says you can come down here and keep your egg warm." She eyed him suspiciously.
"Well, what's down there?"
"You'll see. Come on!" Fuchsia regarded him through narrowed eyes. "I assure you it is perfectly safe."
"Kaboom!"
"Ricoooo!"
"And that's the fifth microwave this week." Kowalski sighed.
"Sounds it." Fuchsia smirked.
"Please! If you're cold, your egg's cold too!"
"You've got a point there, bud. And I want to see that explosion; it sounded awesome." She shuffled forward, keeping her egg in place. She allowed Private to take it and put it safely inside and then dropped down. "Whoa, Penguin Central." The door swung open as Fuchsia secured her egg and Marlene strolled in.
"Hi guys!" She called. "Oh, and girl and egg." She smiled at Fuchsia. "They finally let you down here then?"
"Not what I imagined."
"You told her about our secret HQ?" Private asked.
"I hinted that you guys were a bit… extreme. But it's cool, she knew nothing of your little 'missions'."
"Hey!" Kowalski protested. "No air-quoting!" Marlene shrugged good-naturedly.
Marlene had visited Fuchsia over the past week, having initially bought a Hello-neighbour gift of fresh sardines and flowers. They had quickly become good friends and the otter had recounted some of the more interesting stories surrounding the Penguins.
Skipper returned, Rico in tow.
"Drop and give me fifty!" The commanding officer ordered. Rico grumbled, but obliged, starting his fifty push-ups.
"Fifty? Pfft! If that was the fifth microwave this week, make it a hundred." Rico groaned and garbled complaints. Fuchsia's eyes glinted cheekily as she folded her flippers expectantly. Skipper looked from her to his soldier and back again.
"That's hardly necessary."
"Oh, you're right! Two hundred sounds much better!" Rico collapsed, exhausted at the mere thought of it. "I thought you said your men were in tip-top physical condition." Marlene sniggered at the crude Skipper impersonation, stifling her giggles under Skipper's stink eye.
"I give the orders around here so I'll decide how many push-ups they'll do. Rico- that was four not fifty! Start again!"
"Why don't you just tell him that if he destroys another microwave, he'll be doing two hundred?" Rico shook his head.
"She has a point, Skipper. Rico doesn't want to do two hundred, so I doubt he'll risk another microwave kaboom." Marlene intervened, smiling approvingly at Fuchsia.
"Alright, fine." He turned back to Rico. "Rico, one more microwave incident and you'll do the two hundred, as the girls said."
"You got something against girls?" Fuchsia demanded, light-hearted teasing aside. Skipper half-turned to stare her out, not backing down.
Neither did she.
It became one of the most intense staring matches known to penguin and otter kind. Neither backed down, neither blinked and neither were going to. "I asked you a question." Fuchsia said slowly. "Have. You. Got. Something. Against. Girls?"
"I don't need a girl telling me how to do my job!"
"Well, clearly you do!"
"This is a well-oiled commando penguin force!" Skipper stood up straighter, prouder. "I do know how to run it."
"Oooh, shocker." They glowered at each other in silence for another minute before both had to turn away and blink, rubbing at their eyes and calling the other all sorts of names. Kowalski covered Private's ears to block out the worst of it.
Rico jabbed at them and gargled something.
"I've no idea who won." Kowalski replied. "It'll probably be best to keep these two apart though."
"Oh, don't do that!" Marlene whined. "If anyone's going to keep Skipper on his toes, it's Fuchsia."