"Smiling and waving...And smiling….still smiliiing...And there we go!"
Skipper, the leader of the penguin troops, dropped his flippers with a sigh after the last of the children finally left their little habitat. Undercover work, while the easiest part of their job, tended to leave the commander a bit fidgety from the hours of doing nothing but crowd pleasing. Skipper was a bird of action, a soldier to his very core! And….well, there was nothing very actiony or soldierlike about schmoozing it up with all the human civilians! Every couple hours or so he would get a break inside the base, as the group tended to do shifts in order to keep the little bit of the sanity they all had left. During those times Skipper preferred to either do some small warm-ups in the sub-levels of the lair, or plan for future exercises for his team. It wasn't a lot...but it was enough to shake off at least some of his mental and physical energy.
The bell over the zoo's entrance rang, signalling the beginning and end of yet another hour. It was 5.P.M: time for the doors to close and lock down for the day. Alice- the main menagerie keeper- would still be around for a few more hours, cleaning up after and feeding the animals before she could retire for the evening. However, this wasn't hard to work around, seeing as all the zoo civilians had easily learned how to avoid her.
This meant free time was now a-go.
You would have been under the impression the three soldiers were made of plush and beans, the way they suddenly slumped with exhaustion. They sighed with weary relief now that the day was, for the most part, over. Skipper looked at his tired men, and smirked.
"What's this? Resting already? At attention, boys! We still have one more mission to accomplish."
Years ago, Private, Rico, and Kowalski may have attempted to keep back their groans of disappointment, but not today. They did just that, but stood "at attention" nevertheless- lined up in front of their commanding officer.
Skipper gestured toward a currently abandoned cart, with a nod of his head in that general direction. "Snow cones!"
Rico and Private brightened instantly, but Kowalski only seemed to slump more. Oh wonderful. More frivolous "fun".
The snow cone vendor scratched his head. He had gone a whole day without any of his flavored ice being stolen, which was rare, and yet now that the day was over, it was time for him to pack up and head home; the park was EMPTY, and he could have sworn there were more missing than he had sold. Just then, Alice stomped past with a scowl... ah. That solved that mystery. The vendor grumbled something under his breath about some people assuming they're entitled to whatever they want, and pushed his cart away to be locked up for the night.
The four penguins sitting on the nearby bench, slurping on snow cones, went completely unnoticed. No one saw anything, as it should be. Rico was on the far left end, followed by Kowalski, with Skipper next to him, leaving Private at the other end. The youngest member happily consumed his treat, as the leader smiled down at him.
"Enjoying yourself there, lad?"
"Oh, yes! I've always been partial to the cherry snow cones, Skipper. They're the right amount of sweet and tart and...oh," Private sighed contently as he closed his eyes, looking beyond delighted, " and it's like the cherries are giving my tongue lots of glittery hugs!"
Skipper chuckled to himself over the boy's phrasing. He might not have been one to openly express sentimentality, but he actually found himself quite pleased whenever he could bring a little joy to the youth of the team. It was a dark scary world out there, and while Private's niavity and girly interests could be a little too much sometimes, it was better to keep him sheltered. At least for a little while longer, until his fledgling of sorts was more of a man and able to handle it all. Why, if he exposed the kid to the bitterness of the world too soon…
Skipper shuddered as he thought of thick framed glasses, little goatees, and fedoras. Gah! HIPSTERS! The THIRD on the list of scums of the earth! You know, following supervillains and lemurs, and preceding hippies. (Hey, he might not agree with their lifestyle...but at least the hippies actually DID something with their lives. Activism garbage, and other mother earth phooey….but it was more than just being useless and listless and just complaining about life. Sheesh.)
No, as long as the arctic commander was around, his little private would NOT befall the sinister clutches of….THEM.
"Er, yeah," Skipper said awkwardly, as he tried to bring himself back to reality and into the presence of the sweet, innocent soldier, " tongue hugs...Couldn't have said it better myself. And how 'bout you two? Like it was sent from above and just what the doctor order, amiright?"
Kowalski raised a brow as he looked over his blue snow cone.
"Well, " he began slowly, giving it a lick as he thought over the treat, " besides the fact I still can't comprehend how something this shade of ultramarine can be coconut flavored- I mean, come on, who has ever even SEEN blue coconuts!- I also don't know many medical professionals who would recommend flavored ice for medicational purposes."
The analyst of the team noted the annoyed expression on the commander's face, before quickly switching gears with his train of thought.
"Buuut, that said, it IS quite delicious!"
The skipper nodded, satisfied, and leaned forward to look at Rico. "Rico? Thoughts? Preferably on snow cones, and how delicious they are?"
Rico smiled wide, but the smile didn't stick, as he studied his deep red frozen treat. Was he supposed to say something deep and meaningful like the other two had? "Um." This was going to take some thinking.
"Yup! Pre' guh'."
And with that, the fruity snack disappeared down the hatch, paper cone and all. The cone didn't stay down, however; it shot back out as Rico let out a loud belch, and he caught it with an outstretched flipper. "Ta-dah!"
Skipper returned to a more comfortable sitting position, and got back to his own icy wonder. "And there we have it! Satisfaction across the board."
It didn't take long for the rest of the team to finish their snow cones, and when the leader was done he rolled up the paper before throwing it over his shoulder- it instantly landed into the nearest garbage can as he jumped off the bench and looked up at his crew.
"Alright, men, enough of that," Skipper waved a flipper, navigating his soldiers back to the zoo, " let's head home. I got things to do, and I'm sure you boys are looking forward to a lil' R n' R after earlier field training."
Private waddled over to the rubbish bin, before plopping down on the ground with the others following suit. The youngest member of the team tilted his head in confusion, as he questioned his superior officer.
"'Things to do'? Oh! Would you be needing some company? I'd be glad to help you, Skipper!"
"Negative! This is a solo mission. As in, I'll be swimming alone for this one. But I admire your enthusiasm!"
Kowalski stood tall, flippers to his sides as he stood at ease. He remained emotionless as he inquired more about the said mission.
"What sort of assignment is this? I don't remember anything about a mission being in the last weekly report."
"That's because it's confidential. High clearance stuff. Level Z clearance, Kowalski."
"Drat! Curse the dreaded Z clearance! You got to be one of the highest ranks to even get to HEAR about it, let alone participate!"
"Exactly," Skipper said smugly, " highest of the high...Or in this case- me. Now forward ho, boys, forward ho!"
Private, Kowalski, and Rico watched as their leader disappeared up the ladder and out, already headed toward his top-secret solo mission. Having accomplished Operation: Get The Troops Back to HQ, he had no reason to hang around and waste any more time.
As the hatch closed, the three remaining penguins stood there in silence for awhile. It was Kowalski who was the first to break the silence.
"Well! Science won't do itself!" his eagerness was evident in his tone, as was the fact he was trying and failing to mask it. The lab door clanged shut and he was gone.
Private brightened and waddled to his bunk, grabbed his Lunacorn doll, and gave it a squeeze. "I wonder if Roy and Bing would fancy a top-secret Lunacorns meeting? Skipper shouldn't be the only one who gets to do super-secret... things!"
Little Private was the next to disappear, out the hatch with giddy excitement.
Rico stood alone in the silence for a short while longer, before smoothly sidestepping over to the corner where he'd left Mrs. Perky. He threw a flipper around her, pulled her close, and gave her his most charming smile.
"A'gus i'jus you'n meh...babeh."
With his free flipper, he jingled the keys to the car and wiggled his "eyebrows" at the forever-grinning doll. Soon they too had disappeared, and the rev of the car's powerful engine and squealing of tires could be heard.
Adrenalin purred through Rico's entire being just as strongly as the motor through the vehicle, as he rounded yet another corner on two wheels. The smell of burning rubber and oil, the electric feel of the raw speed and the car itself, the sound of it tearing up the pavement as he tore around the zoo... all of these things brought the crazed maniac behind the wheel more satisfaction than much else ever could. His tongue flapping in the wind and his maniacal cackling was evidence enough of that. Mrs. Perky seemed to be enjoying herself as much as a doll possibly could, strapped in tightly in the seat next to him.
It was the "low fuel" light that finally forced Rico to give it up for the day. He put the car to bed, and returned to their habitat. His webbed feet had no sooner hit the concrete slab, that an explosion from below shook the ground beneath him. In a flash, Rico was below, the familiar scent of burnt chemicals leading him to Kowalski's lab. Throwing open the door, wearing a frighteningly wide grin, he called out, "KA-BOOM?" a bit too enthusiastically.
Rico was greeted by hacking and coughing, as his gaze landed upon the burnt feathers of the scientist. Kowalski's goggles were covered in ash as he took them off, as another flipper fanned away the smoke. He wheezed, as he tried to respond as his friend at the door.
"R-Rico!- cough cough- Can -hack wheeze-...can you maybe help with this?"
The hefty bird tilted his head in bewilderment, not sure what was wanted of him. But as he saw his egghead companion continue to wave his flippers, the pieces clicked into place. OH, smoke! Yeah, that needed to go. It was then that he had an idea, as he quickly upchucked a hand-held fan and turned it on. Rico ran around the room as he cleared away the dark cloud, making it breathable in mere minutes.
Kowalski took in a deep breath, before sighing contently. Oh momma, air! Beautiful, wonderful oxygen atoms, how he loved thee!
"Thank you, Rico. I was afraid I'd suffocate for a moment, there. It seems that the resonance transformers I made were slightly off with their frequencies, whiiiich resulted in the mess you walked into. I was trying to test them out before presenting it to Skipper, as I was going to propose using it as an alternative power source. In order to cut down on the zoo's power lines, and also just being really really cool!"
Kowalski continued energetically: "Just IMAGINE it! Being able to power anything in the base...without even plugging it in! This baby will end up transporting energy THROUGH the air, in a non-harmful fashion, and allowing us to shed our need for a million power cords overstuffing outlets and causing potential fires! Oh, baby, just the mere thought sends such delicious shivers down my spine!"
Shivers down his spine? That spread a wide, interested grin across Rico's beak, and lifted his brow. He let out a low "Oooo..."
The expression melted into a look of slight nausea soon after, however. Well, that had been weird. "Whoa, way', hah?" Rico was rarely one to bother questioning his own thoughts or actions, but...
The garbled question was taken to mean he hadn't understood a word Kowalski had said, however. It was true that he really hadn't understood most of it, anyway. The mad genius shook his head, and flapped a dismissive flipper in his direction.
"Pffft, yeah, I know, big science-y words, what? Oh, I don't expect you to understand, no, NO one understands! I was... I was THIS close, Rico, THIS CLOSE!"
Kowalski's flipper tips were an inch apart and an inch away from Rico's beak, signifying just HOW close he'd been to not exploding his lab, causing the deranged penguin's eyes to cross. Oh yes, that was very close. Uncomfortably close. Why was he uncomfortable? Was he uncomfortable about being uncomfortable?
The scientist was, thankfully, gone just as quickly as he'd been there, and Rico tried to swallow the lump in his throat. There was an unhappy gurgle in his stomach, pushing up a sickly belch that tasted of bile. His tongue flopped out of his frowning beak, as if trying to escape the unpleasant flavor. Oh, he was going to be sick.
There must have been some kind of science-chemicals, likely one with names he'd never be able to pronounce, wafting through the air in the lab, making him feel ill. He had to get out of there, if he didn't want to waste a perfectly good snow cone.
Kowalski was currently preoccupied with hanging his head and muttering to himself dramatically, on the other side of the room. Rico attempted to ask if he'd like to leave with him, but only a few garbled grunts made it out before his stomach lurched, and he slapped both flippers across his beak to stop the spew, his cheeks expanding with the upchuck.
The scientist stopped his own ramblings as he happened to notice the slight green coloring of his comrade's face. He hesitantly stepped a little closer, as he tried to inquire what the problem was.
"Um...Rico? Are you...all right?"
The explosive's expert shook his head somewhat violently, before finally being able to swallow back down his chunks of digested meals and other miscellaneous items. He still felt a bit queasy as he mumbled out a reply.
"Oh man, 'ick."
"Sick?" Kowalski became concern for his teammate as he came closer and placed a flipper on his forehead to test his temperature. "You feel normal, not hotter than usual. Though, your feather do appear to have the slightest green tinge to them, as well as the fact you look slightly flushed. There's the possibility you might be reacting to the lingering smoke in the air, or even possibly the remaining fumes from the nitrohydrochloric acids spilt last night. I was meaning to do another hose down on the area earlier, actually…"
The scientist paused his wordy musings as he looked over his friend again.
"But that will have to wait. Right now it might be for the best to get you out of the lab and into the fresh air." Kowalski put his flippers on Rico's chest as he began to try and herd him towards the door. "C'mon, Rico, out we go!"
The shoving really only succeeded in pushing up another foul-smelling burp, causing Kowalski to grimace as he was in close enough proximity to be witness to the stench. But Rico apologized, and then left of his own volition, the scientist following close by to see him outside.
The fresh air cleared Rico's mind, his sinuses, settled his stomach, and he instantly felt better, like his old self. He breathed in deeply, and let it out in a relieved sigh.
Suddenly his head was grabbed, a light shone into his left eyeball, as Kowalski gave a quick examination.
"Retinas are clear, pupils dilating sufficiently, aaand you've lost your unsettling green hue! Just a minor case of chemical and or smoke-induced nausea, AS I suspected. Well, you're fine now, I'll leave you to do... um, Rico-things, I suppose. " and just like that, the taller bird spun around and headed back towards the hatch, no doubt to return to his lab.
The scowl given by his shorter teammate went unseen, as Rico watched him go. Back to the lab? With all of those icky, urpy-inducing chemicals? He didn't remember signing up for making sure this idiotic genius didn't get himself into trouble, but he did remember his abidance to the "No Penguin Gets Left Behind" credo, and looking out for one another just kind of went along with that. His eyes darted around, trying to find an excuse, anything at all that would distract Kowalski from his goal, before he disappeared down the hatch.
Suddenly, an idea. Not a great idea, but hey, what are you going to do. "'Ey, 'Walski!"
An annoyed expression flashed across the scientist's features, but didn't linger. He stopped and looked back. "Yes?"
The storage unit hacked up a bowling ball... no, that wasn't right. He tossed it away. A typewriter? Nope. Ah! A picnic basket, there it was. He held it up and pointed at it, smiling encouragingly.
"Feesh?"
"Fish?" Kowalski raised a brow, eyes going from the basket to Rico once more. "I'm not sure I'm following."
The hefty penguin slapped his face from frustration, before mumbling under his breath. His flippers pointed at Kowalski, as he tried to explain himself.
"Oo, ee, 'ark, feesh!"
"...Oh, a picnic. I don't know, Rico, I really want to get back to my electrodynamic induction project that I'm currently working on. And with it presently being all...you know, explodey, I really need to figure out what's causing the frequencies to not sync up properly. But-"
The scientist was interrupted by a sigh as he looked up from the concrete to see a small glare that began to soften into what looked like...hurt? Er, emotions- the awkward foreign cousin of analytical thinking that science was forced to meet during family reunions. Kowalski would readily admit that he didn't get them very well. Not that he didn't FEEL them, mind you- because he sure as heck knew he was feeling a small case of guilt eating at him right now- the tallest member of the team just had trouble knowing what to DO with them. And right at that moment this confusion led him to falter with his personal preferences as he waddled closer. His mouth was speaking before his brain could even stop and analyze what he was even saying.
"But...I suppose a small break wouldn't hurt. Just as long as it remained...you know, small. So what sort of fish are we having, hmm? And just where in the park will we be partaking?"
Rico danced happily and with excitement, as he grabbed onto his taller friend's flipper, as he began to babble noises of elation that didn't mean much of anything. The living storage weapon dragged the egghead, as he began to run towards the zoo's exit.
"Um on, 'Walski! 'Ollo ee!"
Kowalski yelped in panic as he nearly hit the bars of their habitat. Oh sweet mother of mercy, something told the scientist maybe he should have thought a little more before giving in. Because his gut- as he had learned to listen to from trial, error, and desperation- told him that this was going to end in nothing but disaster…
Maybe it wasn't too late to try and still back out? Right?
….Right?
Exactly two minutes ahead of schedule, the skipper slid from behind a park bench, to a nearby bush, silently. The earlier escapades in the park had served as a convenient way of mapping out the territory for the secret mission he was scheduled for that afternoon.
A pile of dead, dry leaves skittered suspiciously across the lawn, stopping a mere eight yards from an unsuspecting citizen, somehow unnoticed. a pair of binoculars poked out from the crunchy pile, and swept the general area.
"Skipper's log... target spotted, with no other personnel in sight. It looks like the coast is clear, I'm moving i- what the deuce?"
Skipper searched around himself, and noticed something missing.
"Skipper's log... I forgot the audio recorder. Without it, there is no Skipper's log. It's just... me talking to myself, really. Not that there's anything wrong with that."
"Yeah, except for it being a liiittle bit creepy."
The penguin commander let out a short yell and nearly flipper-chopped his date into unconsciousness. "How! But you! Over there, and I... being sneaky, and all that. Skipper's log... my cover has been blown. The target knows I've been spying on her."
Marlene gaped at Skipper. "You've been SPYING on me? Since when?"
"... Skipper's log; NOW my cover has been blown."
The otter groaned in frustration. "Would you QUIT it with the Skipper's log thing already? Look, look- let's just get ooout of the pile of dead leaves..." Marlene guided the penguin over to the blanket that had been stretched out on the ground. "Sit down, and relax. Okay? Sound good?"
The avian commander eyed the checkered blanket a little suspiciously, as he quickly bent down and grabbed the stick nearest to his webbed feet. He first poked the outer edge of the fabric, testing to see if it was as solid as it looked- and not just covering a trench- before throwing the stick in the middle and dodging for cover. Skipper, on the ground with his flippers covering his head, waited a few seconds for some sort of explosion or vibrations to indicate some sort of trap. When he heard nothing, he looked up in bewilderment.
"Well...huh."
"You quite finished there," Marlene asked impatiently, as she had her arms crossed against her chest, " Or did you want to see if I rigged the blanket to catch on fire if you stepped on any square that isn't red?"
"...Is that recommended? Or just some sort of crazy otter reverse psychology in order to lure me into a false sense of security?"
The female mammal threw her arms in the air from frustration, before walking onto the cover and sitting down. She picked up the basket she had packed for the occasion, as she began to take out the meal she had prepared for the two of them. Oysters came out of the woven container, followed by fizzy grape sodas, and a couple cans of sardines. After she was finished she looked over at her date, and addressed him once more.
"You do whatever you like, Skipper. Because I plan on having a picnic in the park, whether you actually join me or not." She paused, as she looked away a little shyly. "But, uh, ya know...I would rather enjoy your company. Just sayin'."
The penguin found his defenses slipping as he let out a sigh. Curse his sentimentality! He waddled his way onto the blanket, before plopping down next to his flame. He rubbed his neck sheepishly as he tried to explain himself.
"Yeah...sorry 'bout all that, Marlene. I know you're a good egg n' all, and I know you would never betray me or my men. But...hard habits are just hard to let down, ya know? Years of training, years of having to anticipate every tiniest attack imaginable...makes a guy kinda antsy."
Skipper finally let his guard down enough to sit opposite Marlene, who gave him a rather adorable smile. "Yeah, I know. It must be hard for you to... y'know, do normal stuff. What with all the, super-secret commando training, and... things."
Conversation between the two tapered off here. Both fell into a silence... this was awkward for both of them. Skipper would not admit to being nervous, not even to himself. But, the truth was, he'd stared down enemies ten times his size and never felt as intimidated as he did now.
Skipper was not a shy penguin, when it came to love, or anything else. He'd dated before, he was not a stranger to falling head-over-tail feathers for an alluring lady. But there was more than love between him and the otter. He'd known Marlene for a long time, he knew everything about her, she was very likely his closest friend, which only seemed to make their love connection stronger. Marlene was not the first in Skipper's life to hold his heart, but she was the first to capture his trust. And quite frankly, on some level, that terrified him.
The penguin jumped a little when Marlene interrupted his silent musings.
"So! Look at us, being all... romantic, and, and dating! Isn't it crazy? I mean, you and me, who woulda' thought, am I right?"
It was evident in the way the otter laughed that she was pretty nervous about the whole situation, too. Skipper offered a smile.
"You're telling me, sister. It is weird, I mean, me, dating a mammal, crazy indeed."
"Yeah I'm going to ignore that- soooo, whatcha been up to lately, hmmm? Anything interesting? Action-y? Stuff like that?"
"Classified."
Marlene stared holes through her date. "Skipper! What happened to the whole, trusting me, thing?"
Skipper tossed the sardine he was about to eat back into the can and stared back at Marlene, expression stern. "Of COURSE I trust you, Marlene! I thought we covered this. But you don't seem to comprehend how dangerous our little situation is!"
"Our, 'situation'?" the tone in the otter's voice hinted at frustration bordering on anger.
"Yes, our situation! Our dating situation! The whole idea is bad news wrapped in disaster, and then rolled around in some kind of powdery chaos!"
The look Marlene was giving him now made his heart ache, but it could have been indigestion.
"Skipper... how could you SAY that?"
"Easy, Marlene; with my beak, now read it: This. Is. A bad. Idea!"
The otter stood up abruptly, glaring through brimming, unshed tears.
"Oh, so there it is, the truth finally comes out, I see how it-"
She didn't have time to finish her sentence and storm off, before his date was up, his flippers on her shoulders, holding her in place.
"Marlene, you are by far the best bad idea I've ever gone through with."
The otter sniffed, the first tears spilling over, as she gazed into those deep blue eyes.
" If anyone found out about us, they could exploit my feelings for you as a weakness. Hurt you to get to me, you know, things like that. Evil things, it's what they do."
The skipper leaned in to nuzzle his beak against her nose, causing her to smile.
"But I am not going to let that happen, understood? We'll just be careful. You know, undercover lovers."
"'Undercover lovers', huh?" Marlene found a paw walking up the flightless bird's flipper, as she continued to talk. "Ya know, I DO kinda like the sound of that. Dark, kind of mysterious too. Alright, that's how we'll do this then. On ONE condition!"
Skipper raised a brow, though his amusement overpowered his confusion.
"Oh yeah? Quid pro quo, and all that jazz, huh? Fine,you name it."
Marlene twisted her body away, partially removing herself from her paramour's arms as she tried to retrieve something she had hidden in the pile of leaves behind their blanket. The otter smirked as she shoved a certain stringed instrument into the penguin's flippers.
"I'll agree only if you play me some of your Spanish guitar that you know I'm OH so fond of."
Skipper found himself chuckling before gripping the neck and resting the guitar against his stomach. A flipper teased the strings before he leaned in and gave a seductive purr.
"You drive a hard bargain, mi hermosa nutria, but I think that's more than doable."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the park, Rico was still dragging a stumbling Kowalski as he tried to find the perfect spot for lunch. It had to be hidden enough so that the humans wouldn't see them, but then also open enough so they'd have room to fly kites...that is, if he could convince the scientist to stay out with him long enough. Eh, guess it didn't matter too much really. But man was his stomach growling something fierce! He could smell the fish already, and he felt his mouth watering over the thought of how close he was to eating all the fishies. Oh man. After giving a quick look around at their current location, Rico shrugged as he decided it was good enough.
He was too hungry to even care anymore.
The abrupt stop sent Kowalski plowing into the back of the penguin- who had been dragging him- and he bounced off the wall of meat and blubber, landing a few feet away on his rump with an 'Oof'. Rico didn't seem to notice, already sitting on the grass, and digging into the basket.
The first fish was about to disappear down the hatch, when Rico noticed he was sitting alone. He put the fish down and looked around.
"'Walski? Whereu go? 'Elloh?"
Kowalski stood and came around in front of him, looking mildly annoyed, but coolly so.
"Oh 'ey!"
"Doesn't picnic protocol call for a blanket? Can't really... have a picnic without one, darn our luck!"
Rico looked up at the scientist blankly for awhile. Oh yeah, a blanket.
"Oh, okay. Gimma' minute."
It took him three tries, but he finally managed to drag the rolled-up blanket out of his gut, standing up and spreading it out, before plopping back down.
Kowalski sighed and sat down... well, his first plan had failed. They did indeed have a blanket now, even if it was a bit on the damp side. He silently wondered if he'd ever learn not to underestimate the crazy penguin, and what he would or wouldn't swallow.
Rico was in his glory. The day was nice, he had fish, Kowalski wasn't suffocating to death in his lab, there was fish, and the faint sound of someone strumming a Spanish guitar in the far distance-
Wait, what?
The weapons expert cocked his head and slapped at his earhole with a flipper. Hearing explosions when there were none was fine, but not this mushy noise pollution. He tipped the basket towards Kowalski, with his free flipper.
"Feesh!"
"Ah, yes….Thank you, Rico." The taller penguin dragged the basket closer to himself, as he lifted up the lid to see all that the other flightless bird had stored in there. Sardines, anchovies- not bad, fine choices, no matter what your mood was- silversides...Kowalski dug deeper into the woven container, when his flipper touched something a lot larger than the other fish. Ever curious, the scientist pulls it out to examine it. His eyes lit up with joy as he gazed upon it.
"Oncorhynchus mykiss, FOR THE WIN!" Kowalski gave a little squeal of pleasure as he held out the colorful fish to study it. He coughed, bringing himself down to a more reasonable level of excitement before continuing. " Or, as more commonly called by most people: rainbow trout! Rico, WHERE did you get your flippers on THIS beauty?"
Rico was in the middle of eating another sardine as he eyed the fish in the other penguin's clutches. He went cross-eyed as the explosion's expert tried to recall just where it had come from. All that came to mind was visions of late night partying with his cockroach companions, guzzling down lots of root beer through a funnel, and then running around town as he threw bombs left and right. Somewhere along the way he also recalled deli fish on ice as he did the backstroke through the frozen cubes.
Back in the present, Rico shook his head as he expelled the fuzzy thoughts from his mind, as he looked back at Kowalski. He merely shrugged as he swallowed down the rest of the fish.
"I 'unno', feesh 'airy?"
"Pfft, PLEASE, you already KNOW I disproved the existence of the Fish Fairy AGES ago...Some dreams die at such an early tender age." Kowalski's frown went back to a happy smile as he went back to eyeing the fish jovially. "Well, in any case, this DOES look positively exquisite! Almost a shame to actually devours this beautiful morsel….Almost."
The tallest penguin was in the middle of opening his beak, as he brought the trout closer to his mouth, when Rico grabbed the fish from his flippers. Kowalski gave a startled cry, before glaring.
"ExCUSE you? What was THAT for?!"
"'Aht eadi 'et!"
The living storage unit spewed out a bandana and two titanium knives, before wrapping the bandana around his head and maniacally hacking away at the colorful fish. Chunks of tails and miscellaneous body parts flew about, as Rico cut the rainbow trout into smaller pieces. Once he was finished, the heftier bird kissed the air as he admired his creation. Beautiful and masterly prepared sushi was waiting to be eaten and enjoyed.
Kowalski merely raised a brow.
"...Where did the rice even COME from? I was watching you the whole time!"
"Rye' fairy!" answered Rico, with a mischievous grin. Kowalski gave an unimpressed stare from beneath a furrowed brow.
"Oh come on, now you're just being ridicu-MPH!" The rest of Kowalski's sentence was muffled behind a beak full of sushi that had been shoved in there by his picnic partner. While the gesture was rude, the taste of the succulent fish didn't really leave room for complaints. Not even muffled ones.
Rico skewered two pieces on one of the knives, and stuck the whole knife in his beak, pulling it out bare of sushi. "Goo' feesh, aw righ'!"
"Mmm, yes!" Kowalski stuffed another piece into his mouth as he greedily ate more. "Oh sweet salty seductress of the sea, it's like...it's like my taste buds were just kissed by an angel! Thank you, Rico, this is absolutely delicious!"
The explosives expert felt a strange flutter in his chest over the analyst's words, as he actually stopped his own gluttony to watch his friend eat. The taller penguin tended to get excited easily, but usually it was from some gizmo or from a weapon he made causing destruction...not that he had anything to say against the last bit, being a weapon crazed lunatic himself. But while Rico enjoyed things like loud noises and fast cars that sped down roads fast enough to make one's ears pop, he also found himself enjoying much simpler things. Like fish. ESPECIALLY fish. So to see Kowalski take part in not only something that made the heftier penguin happy...but the fact he had also thanked him for it was enough to make him want to smile and never stop.
...Except for the fact it was starting to make himself feel uncomfortable again. Rico looked away as he tried to eat more of the trout in order to have something else to distract him. Fish. Yummy fish. Fish that was being devoured and had nothing to do with egghead penguins or their happiness.
It didn't take long for the two to finish off the remaining bit of rainbow trout, and before Kowalski was stuffed. He patted his belly once finished, as Rico was still wolfing down the remaining food from the picnic basket.
"Well THAT certainly hit the spot. Thank you for the short break, this was actually quite...enjoyable." The scientist began to get up, as he continued. " However, I do believe I have spent enough time away from the lab. Again, thank you; but, if you'll excuse me, I have resonant inductive coupling to finish the kinks out of."
There was an agitated grunt from the other penguin. He was trying to run back to his lab again, typical. While the chemicals and smoke in the lab had likely dissipated by then, Rico found himself unreasonably upset that he was so eager to go back to it. So it was then that the psycho penguin decided they were playing a game; 'Keep the Kowalski away from his lab for as long as possible'.
Rico chuckled darkly to himself. This could be fun.
Kowalski was soon back on the ground, as the blanket was yanked out from under his feet. "And what was THAT all about?!"
Rico shrugged with a half-smile, already rolling the blanket back up for storage. "Ups, sorreh."
The taller penguin was up again soon enough, brushing himself off. "Well, never mind. I guess I'll, see you later, then."
He only took four steps, before his path was blocked by the same wall of meat and blubber he had collided with earlier. He scowled down at him. "Now what?"
A kite was shoved into his flippers, or rather his chest, roughly, winding him a bit. Rico let out a chain of gibberish that Kowalski translated to mean something along the lines of "we're going to do this now".
"Kite flying? Really? Pfft! As if! I barely had time for a picnic; I CERTAINLY don't have time for something as childish as kite flying!"
The kite was taken back. "Ih okay, jus' wah'me 'en."
"I don't have time for watching ei-"
And there was that face again. CURSE his weakness to all things even remotely resembling cuteness! The scientist sighed in defeat.
"Fine. I'm watching. But only for a second, and then I really need to get back to..."
"Whoo-hoo!" Rico was already off running with the kite, which was quickly gaining altitude.
Kowalski watched as he said he would; we watched the kite dip and dive, do loop-de-loops, barrel rolls, and things he wasn't even sure there was a name for. He noticed Rico grinning at him, pointing up at it. "Ah? Ahhh?"
The genius rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Please! I could pull maneuvers like that in my sleep!" he called.
"Nuh-ah!"
"Pfft, uh, yeah-HUH!"
"Proo' it!"
'Prove it'? Prove that he could do something as simple as let a piece of nylon catch wind? Please, simple child's play! Kowalski felt confident in his ability as he snatched the rope from his companion. He looked to the sky with a smug expression, as he gave the kite a tiny tug, as he prepared the toy to do an amazing stunt that would blow all of Rico's out of the metaphorical water!
He wasn't, however, prepared for the red and yellow kite to instantly nose dive itself straight into the ground- crashing rather violently. Kowalski threw down the spool of rope in frustration.
"Oh COME ON! What was THAT?!"
"SPEEEEW- CRASH!"
The taller penguin glared down at his teammate, as Rico began to laugh. He picked up the spool once more, before rolling it in so that the kite made its way back towards him. Kowalski grasped the trinket in his flippers tightly, before talking once more.
"Oh, would you quit that? It was merely a fluke! I merely forgot to factor in wind resistance and pulled one way harder than I should have. Mistakes happen, no big deal. Now watch as THIS time I get this bad boy up and flying and doing some sick tricks!"
Kowalski began to run; he let go of the kite, as it picked up air and went higher into the atmosphere. He grinned happily as he finally got it high enough.
"Ooooh yeaaah! Check THIS out!"
The scientist gave the smallest of pulls once more, this time it stayed up in the air. His smile grew wider as he tested it out and gave it another. Kowalski was able to get it to zigzag back and forth, when he turned towards Rico ecstatically.
"Woooah momma! Look at that baby go! See, I told you I could do it! Nothing to it. I mean, all you got to know is how to adjust yourself for the wind speed, and calculate how much of a resisting force you'd need to create to get it going. And YOU thought I couldn't do it! Look at you now! Just see how wrong you wer-"
Kowalski had been so focused on his gloating that he accidentally zigzagged the kite straight into a tree, where it became stuck in the branches. The scientist's right eye began to twitch as he felt his annoyance levels hit to an all time high. It was at that moment he went into berserk mode and started screeching loudly as he ran in circles, waving his flippers. Rico merely watched as he went back and forth, throwing a tantrum as he kicked rocks and broke twigs before running up to the tree where the toy was taken prisoner. The mad scientist tried shaking the trunk with all his strength.
"STUPID USELESS TREE! WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE?! WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE?! WHO NEEDS YOU? WE HAVE ENOUGH OXYGEN TO SURVIVE WITHOUT YOUR KITE STEALING FREELOADING!"
Suddenly the tree was vibrating and humming under the penguin's flippers, and he stared at it in wide-eyed bewilderment for a second, his previous rants suddenly forgotten. Thankfully, he realized what it was in time, and jumped back just as the tree slid; and it then toppled over with a crackling sound, revealing Rico and his chainsaw grinning manically on the other side.
"Tree's gone, goo' job 'Walski, yeeah!"
Kowalski couldn't tell if he was being mocked, or if Rico was genuinely attempting to make him feel better... or, alternatively, if he'd just been used as an excuse to destroy something.
"Ah, yes…That tree sure had it coming; dastardly douglas firs are the blight of the earth." The scientist smiled, if a little awkwardly, as he waddled away and went to go pick up the nylon trinket that had dislodged itself from the fallen timber. The space separating himself from his lunatic friend gave him enough of an edge to feel comfortable once more. "And I DO suppose it disentangled the kite,even if your methods were a tad on the extreme side. But, nevertheless, mission accomplished! Now I can REALLY show you up. This time. For real!"
The bulkier bird's eagerness grew from the challenge as he snatched the colorful toy from Kowalski's flippers. Rico liked challenges. He liked having people try to outdo him, and he especially liked when smug smartypants penguins were crushed into the ground by just how wrong they were. But, most of all…
He loved that annoyed and whining tone that he could emit from his eggheaded teammate. And his ears were graced by the wonderful sound as he began to run away- laughing- as Kowalski chased him.
"Rico! You can't just- get BACK here! Don't you fly that, I said I wanna to do it! Ricoooo!"
It was fair to say the two enjoyed themselves, as they continued to best each other. Sometimes the taller avian would actually accomplish a stunt he had set out to do, and other times the weapon's expert would just nose-dive the kite just to see it crash destructively as he gave it appropriate sound effects. Hours went by, and the sun began to set into dusk, as the two continued to laugh and just enjoy each other's company. Not once did Kowalski's mind drift back to the solitary confinements of his laboratory or his experiments. And when the two climbed into his bunk, worn out and exhausted from their evening about, both drifted straight to sleep.
Insomnia had been beaten.