Author's Note:
*Cough* you'll have to excuse the spelling and grammar errors… fresh off the press everyone! I tried to catch them my best though. :D
Marlene smiled up at the ceiling of her habitat as she woke up from her evening nap. It was nice to get a little snooze time in, especially in a zoo like New York's Central Park Zoo.
With the constant restraining from beating Julien to a black and white pulp as well as listening to his 'boomy-box' at night, a goodnight sleep and quiet time were rare occasions.
She stretched and yawned, having to force herself to get out of her delirious sleepiness. After all, she didn't want to mess up her schedule of the day, as well as to avoid falling asleep in front of the zoo's visitors tomorrow. A true fact was the longer you sleep, the more tired you became. At least, that's what Skipper had told her.
Her stomach clenched at the thoughts of Skipper entering her mind. She pictured him, bold and strong, standing in front of his military refined group. His usual smirk, confident posture and the way his deep sapphire eyes sparkled against the sunlit water…
She shook her head violently to clear her thoughts of the psychotic penguin next door. Well, at least everyone else called the quartet psychotic and sometimes she had to agree with them. But, after all, they were fun to be around… when they're not in operation mode and undercover, of course.
She stood and made her way to the entrance of her home, smiling wider as the sunlight began to stream down her brown and white fur to the tips of her toes. She lifted her arms to the sky as she felt the sun continue to warm her coat.
She scanned the zoo until her gaze fell upon the penguin's habitat. She peered closer to see that they weren't outside. She had expected them to be out practicing karate or some other form of martial arts but the site of the apparently empty penguin habitat proved her wrong.
She was just about to look away but the entrance to their HQ popped open, the fish bowl coming off so fast and with such force that it rocketed into the water with a splash.
Marlene craned her neck to attempt to see which one of the four penguins it was. He was too short to be Kowalski or Rico… and the way the dramatic exit of the underground quarters was performed, it couldn't be Private. There was only one option left, and that was Skipper.
A soft smile appeared on her lips. She had to admit that she did have some feelings for the penguin and she had first realized her feelings the time when they got stuck in the sewer together. The way he stroked her cheek in front of that alligator was simply… intoxicating.
She just loved the feel of his body against hers when she hugged him. If only the gesture wasn't out of fear and it was simply out of affection. She just wanted to hold him tight and never let go. Of course, Skipper would never allow her to do that.
He couldn't have feelings for her. He was a military trained penguin! He probably didn't even know the definition of the word love or romance. Her emotions for him were just simply a crush, a middle school crush that would soon pass.
A wave of sadness swept over her as she watched him begin to pace about the makeshift floe. The thought of Skipper never loving her brought prickling tears to her eyes but she just swatted them away with the back of her paw.
Who knew a penguin could have such a hold on the way she felt from day to day?
As she slowly became more aware of her surroundings and escaped out of her mushy and pitiful thoughts she realized how angry Skipper appeared. She frowned as she continued to watch him, observing his usual scornful scowl but today it wasn't the same. It was an angry look that gave her chills. God she hated that look! What could he be angry about?
She went over the possibilities in her head. Did Julien do something? No, he couldn't have. Otherwise she would have heard shouting from Skipper for she knew that he was long fed up with that spoiled lemur.
Did one of the boys do something? Did they end up on a topic that Skipper didn't like? Perhaps it was about… what was her name? Lola?
Jealousy immediately brewed inside her. She knew that Skipper had once been with another woman but she didn't know the details. Was she a penguin or another species? How long were they together and what had happened between the two that made them separate? How did they meet? Was she once in the zoo herself?
She had so many questions for Skipper but she knew she couldn't ask them all because of the team. They had warned her about Lola and bringing her up to him. Whatever happened between the couple, it sounded harsh. She knew she could take the heat of Skipper as long as it didn't reach his boiling point, but Kowalski, Rico and Private made it sound like they had a war. A war over what, she didn't know and probably never would.
She surveyed him carefully until she became bored and decided to do something… more exciting.
She hopped down to the water and went for a quick swim before hopping up over the railing to make her way over to Julien's habitat. She wanted to pay him a little visit to give her life some zing.
She bounded up onto the lemur king's Bouncy Bounce before hiking up to his throne. "Hey you guys!" she called to them as she came to a stop next to the bar.
Julien looked down to see the Marlene waving up to him. "Ah, Marlene, you are just in time!" His head zipped back up over the edge; beckoning her to come up to the highest level with him.
She climbed up to see him posing for something. "What are you doing?" She looked over to see Maurice with a black beret, a pallet and a paint brush which was sweeping over a canvas.
"Maurice is painting me a royal painting of your king, which is me," he replied with a cocky grin.
She rolled her eyes. "Ah, another royal painting of yourself, huh?" She walked around to peek over Maurice's shoulder.
It was a human shaped Julien with over sized muscles and abs with mountains in the background. Her eyes swept further down to see him riding a magnificent pure white stallion. It was very similar to the one he gave the chameleons over in the reptile habitat as a welcome-to-the-zoo gift, but this time it was for him to keep and, to more than likely, admire.
"It's very… artistic," Marlene commented meekly, knowing Julien wanted her to say something.
"Oh please, say something about me! Not the artisticness of it!" Julien pouted, not wanting the attention to be on Maurice's skill.
"Well, your muscle mass is so very similar to your own that Maurice and Mort would probably mistake the painting for you! I know I would." She grinned, knowing he was enjoying the attention.
She hopped up onto the side of his kingly throne to continue to pacify him. "I mean, look at those biceps!" She squeezed the upper part of his arm that virtually held no muscle whatsoever.
"Yes, I am pretty muscular," he muttered as he flexed for them, but mostly for her.
"Oh, be careful you don't poke someone's eye out!" Marlene laughed as she backed away from him. She had been lying through her teeth, but that's what happens when you want some zing in your life.
She looked back over to see Skipper gone off of the platform. She sighed out of relief. I wonder how he would react if he actually saw me flirting with Julien? She shuddered at the thought of her actually trying to get to Julien that way. What a sick mind she had!
***
Skipper gasped at the sight before him. Marlene? Actually flirting with Julien?! She couldn't possibly like him! Could she?
He had decided to do some recon on Julien and Marlene and what he came up with was devastating. He watched Marlene closely from his perch in Julien's tree as she felt up his arm. He felt stomach acid rise to his throat, burning him thoroughly along with the hole he had already developed in his sinking heart, which was very much so starting to resemble the Titanic.
He closed his eyes, feeling stinging tears building up. Private and Kowalski were right.
They weren't even right for each other anyway! He was a penguin and she was an otter, which already made Julien the correct choice for her. Sure he had married a bobble head doll but… that was different. He had been desperate and Marlene definitely wasn't the choice for someone desperate.
She was smart, beautiful and quick-witted. How could she be interested in someone like him? He was rough edged, a military commander and just not romantic. He could never love her and she would never have any feelings for him and that was that. There wasn't anything he could do about it.
He flipped out of the tree and landed swiftly on the area between the lemur's habitat and the penguin's. He looked back sadly at the exhibit, picturing Marlene ogling over that prissy self-absorbed lemur king.
He finally realizes that he's head over heels for that otter and he ends up getting heartbroken? It was official: love sucked.
It was like he was going through Lola all over again! He ends up falling for someone and they end up running into someone else's arms. He just had to face the music, he just wasn't meant for love.
Author's Note:
Ta da! Well, there ya have it. The… fourth… chapter! Poor Skippy, he's going through torture. Mwhahahaha!! Don't forget to give me some reviews! The reviews keep me happy and movin' people!