"What was that?" asked private from his seat on the couch, Skipper's eyes turning skyward when a loud thump could be heard from upstairs, then a girlish scream that was undoubtedly Kowalski.

"I don't know soldier, why don't we find out?" Skipper turned his face away so private couldn't see his grin. It was always hilarious when Rico and Kowalski fought. The two were so mismatched it was like watching a human take on a bear.

That and the last time was over the TV remote when Rico's favourite gun was confiscated, and Kowalski tried to switch over the channel from monster trucks to Brian Cox.

Rico had gotten Kowalski in a headlock and screamed at him that Brian Cox was a dumb pansey and he better say so or he wouldn't let go.

Kowalski even then wouldn't say so, calling Rico a dumb Neanderthal with the IQ of a goat and holding on to the remote. In the end Skipper had reluctantly intervened when Rico looked like he was about to snap him like a toothpick, then cry...they were both as stubborn as each other.

Several muffled sounds could be heard from the bathroom, running feet and then a loud thud. Skipper opened the door with relish, finally something was going on in this boring place!... and was met with pandemonium.

Ricos hair was a mass of baby pink locks and messy tin foil strips, eyes tearful and was currently grasping Kowalski by the scruff of his lab coat and dragging him across the floor of the bathroom. Kowalski was laughing at him"gaah! Rico! What are you…hahaha!?" One of Kowalski's arms was trapped up in the twisted sleeves of his lab coat, the other flailing madly in the air as he tried desperately to dislodge Ricos iron grip.

"Sto' laughin'! Why did ooh do It' !? WHY?" Rico sceemed. Kowalski tried to explain but one look up at Rico's crazy hair and his whole body was wracked with tremors of laughter.

Skipper let out a loud booming laugh, slapping his thighs with both hands and grabbing his belly as deep chuckles escaped him. PINK. Rico's hair was PINK. And he was dragging a snorting Kowalski across the floor like a mop!

The joke was on the scientist though, because unbeknownst to Kowalski Rico was currently turning on the shower. Pulling him up with a Yelp Rico opened the shower door tossing him inside.

The water coated him in seconds. This and only this stopped Kowalski from laughing. The scientist becoming frantic and banging on the glass door that was wedged firmly shut with Rico's foot.

"Rico!Rico! You don't understand! My I PHONE!"

Kowalski cried, fumbling frantically in his pockets for his phone and holding it out of the spray. But it was too late, the phone was sopping wet. "Why did you do it?why"he sobbed.

Rico seemed somewhat satisfied with this reaction, putting his hands on his hips and smirking slyly."you mess with the bull you're gonna get the horns Kowalski!" Said Skipper "although I admire your moxie and originality,- PINK!" Choked skipper "Fantastic!"

Kowalski frowned from under the cold torrent of water, grimacing at his sodden I phone, "yeah, fantastic"

"Soldier, stand down" said folded his arms over his chest grumpily, but nevertheless removed his foot, allowing a shivering Kowalski to leap out of the shower. "Argh!" He complained

"Now I'm going to have to put this in rice!"

Kowalski then squelched out of the room, leaving a wet trail of water in his wake.

Rico meanwhile was left to an annoyed skipper "look, I know Kowalski's a little know it all and that, and I know he dyed your hair into candy floss" Rico's eyes became dangerous for a moment.

"but man, you can't go around wreaking his gadgets! You know then whatever little feud you seem to have going on here will only get worse"

Rico looked up at Skipper through his pink floppy fringe " I jus' don know why he done it"he said brokenly.

"Are you sure Kowalski dyed your hair pink on purpose Rico?" Asked private.

Rico thought back to the careful way Kowalski washed and dried his hair, and the effort he had clearly put in to stay awake throughout the long process.

A guilty look coloured his face, arms unfolding and one hand clasping the other for comfort "no" said Rico, looking down dejectedly.

"I'll go check on him, see what's going on, I'll try to find out what happened" volunteered private, opening the door and disappearing out the other side.

Downstairs Kowalski switched off his phone,dropping it into a ziplock bag full of rice with a crunch. He would have to leave the phone there for 48 hrs. It was going to be hard without his phone, he had lots of equations and prototypes saved on it on his notes.

And he wasn't going to be able to use his Terra Genesis game for ages, a game he played where you make planets habitable, with an array of complex controls and variables. His planet was just able to support life, and would probably be barren again by the time he turned on his phone once more.

Wonderful. Kowalski shuddered, the cold air in the kitchen permeating his wet clothes and making him shiver. Oh well, at least he was properly awake now.

The kitchen door swung open to reveal private, smiling with sympathy at the sodden scientist.

"Hey Kowalski" he said,taking a seat opposite the scientist at the wooden table and getting comfortable " Kowalski…" Private began nervously " you didn't...dye Rico's hair pink on purpose did you?"

Kowalski paused in his task, frowning down at the bag of rice and making sure it was zipped shut securely. Finally he looked up, into a pair of intent young blue eyes "don't be absurd" scoffed Kowalski, "why on earth would I do that?"

" I don't know, you do know you could have probably bought the right shade at another store instead of messing about with pastelizer?"

Kowalski felt foolish " well…" Kowalski hated admitting he didn't know something, taking a stabilising breath before speaking "no, but I've had a bad night last night, didn't get a wink of sleep, I figured I could mix the solution correctly...but I beleive it required three parts dye and only one part pastelizer…I got it mixed up"

Private smiled with relief " skippers going to be happy, it means you two aren't fighting… But I think he'll be a little disappointed too, what did he say?" Thought Private,eyes raising skyward and brow furrowing in thought. Then he put on his best American accent in an excellent imitation of skipper " I admire your moxie and originality"

The two burst into fits of giggles, Kowalski wiping away a few tears and leaning on the kitchen table for support.

"Rico's upset with me isn't he?" Asked Kowalski, even though he already knew the answer.

" yes" replied private. " but we can still go up and you can apologise… I think I have something that will cheer him up" Kowalski's brows raised in appreciation. "I captured the moment he trapped you in the shower on my phone, and the moment your heart broke when your I phone got wet"

Kowalski grimaced, but smiled tightly "oh" he said

" well I suppose I owe him that much" he decided. Besides, his phone wasn't completely lost yet, in 48 hours he could switch it on and assess the damage, then open it up in the lab to drain the rest of the water and make repairs. It was Rico that mattered most at the moment.

Kowalski hated Rico being upset, it made his stomach twist strangely, like there was a knot there, and it hurt, a strange tightness in his chest he couldn't identify.

"Er, Kowalski?" asked private, staring at the scientist , who was deep in thought as usual, hand resting beneath his chin and wet clothes making a small pool beneath his feet.

"don't you think you should get out of those wet clothes?"

Kowalski started, jerking out of his revere violently. He was a little embarrassed he had to be reminded of something so simple.

"Oh-yes of course private, I was just thinking which towel I was going to select…" Lied the scientist awkwardly.

Privates brow furrowed in confusion before flattening. His face taking on a bemused expression which clearly showed he hadn't a clue why the genius would spend his time thinking of something so silly, but it wasn't his place to judge Kowalski's Kowalski ways.

After all, if kowalski had a planet it would be marz.

"I'll be upstairs if you need me, but knock twice if you do, I'll be changing" said Kowalski, ruffling privates hair on the way out, who smiled happily at the show of affection.

Kowalski squelched up the stairs, heading left at the hall and opening the door with the periodic table stuck to it. This was Kowalski's room.

The room consisted of a bed, with a patterned duvet and matching pillows on top covered with quadratic equations.

A dresser organised into different types of clothing. A wardrobe with both a star trek poster on one door and a sherlock poster on the other, and two huge ikea shelves lined with flasks, science equipment, science journals, and the occasional valued item. Like the snow globe private had bought him from their trip to antarctica, jokingly their short homecoming.

There was also a shelf dedicated solely to DvD's, David Attenborough and science vid's,Brian Cox interviews,Mensa meetings, but the further to the right you went, the more shows like doctor who, breaking bad, james bond, Batman,Avengers,Iron man,Sherlock,and Star trek showed up.

These were the shows Kowalski had gotten since living with the Penguins. Skipper although encouraging Kowalski's scientific endeavours (as they helped the team greatly) straight away had insisted Kowalski "find some chill", and took him to the store in the pickup they had then owned but now had been scrapped because of a colli- ehhem Rico,to buy a selection of films to help him switch off and find the "chill".

There were a few other items dotted about the room, and even a space by the window that seemed too empty, with a telescope right in the middle.

This was because there used to be a computer there, but skipper finding out that kowalski was spending his nights "messing about on that doo dad" had Rico remove it. It was now in the lab where Skipper thought he couldn't get to it, when in fact he could as he'd created a passcode override for himself.

Kowalski squelched around the room, grabbing a clean dry towel from the bottom of his wardrobe and peeling away the wet lab coat and clothing. Kowalski frowned at his sodden T shirt, before dumping the items in the basket at the end of his bed intended for washing.

Through the window he could see the burn yard. A place designed for Rico to test his weapons and let out his frustrations, and the night sky. It was getting late.

Kowalski dried himself thoroughly. dropping that too in the basket he opened his dresser drawer entitled pyjamas, and got out his NASA hoodie. It wasn't really a pyjama top but it was so warm and soft with wear he used it as one. He also grabbed a pair of grey sleep pants. Looking out the window Kowalski was thankful he didn't see Rico out there burning something. That skipper had calmed him down enough that he didn't need to destroy another mannequin.

He could hear the sounds of popcorn popping, and smell pizza in the oven. The group must have scheduled an impromptu movie night in his absence. Thoughts of what he was goiing to say to Rico whirred through his mind. How was he going to express how sorry he was about his mistake? Would Rico forgive him? Kowalski knew Rico would, but some part of him felt that he wouldn't, that Kowalski was a horrible person that didn't deserve to be took a deep breath, and headed downstairs.