Thanks for the reviews! Here's what happened on Skipper and Marlene's date! WARNING: FLUFFY, LOVIE-DOVIE, GOOINESS AHEAD! This is for all ya'll Skilene fans!(:

Chapter 7

The Date

Skipper drove to Marlene's habitat, his flippers were getting sweaty and his heart pounded. Why am I so nervous? He though, I've destroyed fling piranhas! I've fought a walrus with only a wing and a prayer! I can take a girl out on a date! I've done it before! But, something inside told him that she was different from the others he had been with.

Marlene was strong, sweet, smart, kind, funny, beautiful, independent...he stopped fantasizing about her when he nearly ran into a light post. This snapped him back into the real world. He pulled up in front of her habitat and got out. He checked to make sure his tie was straight and ran his flipper through his hair to make sure it was still slicked back. Once he felt he looked alright he went to the front door an did something he had never done before.

He knocked.

Marlene answered the door, Skipper's jaw hit the floor. Her hazel eyes sparkled, her eyelashes we thick and framed them perfectly, and her fur was positioned so it looked windswept. Her newly acquired beauty his him like a ton of bricks.

"See something you like?" She asked him with a giggle, Beth sure knew how to work her magic. Skipper straightened himself back up.

"Marlene, you look..." He struggled to find the right word, "Stunning..."

"Aww, thanks Skipper! You clean up nice, too." She said, motioning to his tie and his slick hair.

"Thank you, I like to clean up for the ladies." Marlene giggled at that.

"Well, shall we?" He asked, extending his flipper.

"We shall!" Marlene said as she wrapped her arm around his. They walked to the car and Skipper opened Marlene's door for her.

"Such a gentleman!" Giggled Marlene.

Skipper just smiled as he hopped in and started driving.

"So, where're we going?" She asked.

"To the flower garden for a picnic, sound good?" He replied.

"It sounds so romantic!" Squeaked Marlene.

They quickly arrived at the garden. There, was a blanket on the grass with a basket full of food and a radio that was playing soft, romantic music. The entire sight was surrounded by bushes of all different types of flowers. They went and sat down and Skipper pulled out some different types of food, mostly fish, like sushi, and shellfish, like oysters, but there was also Chinese.

"This looks delicious!" Exclaimed Marlene. They both started eating. There was almost an awkward silence for several minutes.

"This is really great Skipper! It's nice to have some time where it's just the two of us." Marlene finally said as she moved closer to him. Skipper's heart sped up as he wrapped his flipper around her shoulders, noticing that she was rather cold.

"Are you okay Marlene? You feel cold." He asked.

"A little bit, it is getting dark and after all, it is November." She replied. November...Thanksgiving would be in about a week. Hmm...He thought, Maybe if Beth stays long enough she'll cook dinner for us. The sky was turning a beautiful shade of dark reddish purple as the sun was almost finished setting.

"Well...do you need a blanket doll face?" He asked. She just snuggled closer.

"No, your down feathers are toasty warm." She said as she nuzzled his muscular chest. Skipper smiled.

Skipper reached behind him and pulled a big, red rose off of the bush, and after making sure that all the thorns were gone he put it behind Marlene's ear.

"Beautiful..." He murmured as he inhaled, she smelled so good.

"Really?" Marlene asked. She had never been called that before, let alone cute or pretty.

"Affirmative." He replied. Marlene smiled, she loved his military talk.

There was a moment of silence where neither of them spoke and just enjoyed the other's company. It was dark now and they could see the stars.

"Gorges..." Murmured Marlene.

"I guess, but compared to you they're dull and unattractive." Skipper replied. They stayed there for a while softly chatting, in the distance you could hear the city but the zoo was silent. They reached a point where they could think of no new topics to talk about.

"Well, we are already close friends...so we already know a lot about each other." Marlene said.

"Very true." Skipper said as he looked deeply into her eyes.

Marlene looked into his eyes, she had one question she wanted to ask but was afraid that she night not get an answer. "What is it Marlene?" Skipper asked her noticing her expression.

"Well, I just sorta wondered...Skipper isn't your real name, is it?" She blushed, she knew it wasn't a question you usually asked on your first date it had been bothering her for a while.

Skipper sighed, "No, it's a nickname. My real name is Thomas...Thomas Wilson." He said softly, thinking of his name brought him back to the good old days at the Penguin Academy.

"Thomas...I like that name." Marlene said, he did somewhat look like a Thomas.

"I hate it." Skipper said bluntly, "Just like how Beth absolutely hates it when someone thinks Beth is short for Bethany."

"Is that why she went a physco on Julien?"

"Exactly."

Marlene nodded, "Now tell me about the Penguin Academy." She said.

Skipper sighed, "Did Beth let something slip about that place?"

"Yes, but she said it was classified, but you can tell me." She cooed.

Skipper sighed again, thinking of it made him nauseous...it brought back memories of Manfredi, Johnson, and Jessica. Jessica. She was not a good person to be thinking about at this time. "Marlene, I like you a lot but I'd rather not talk about my past with someone I want to spend the future with." He said calmly.

Marlene pouted, "Fine."

There was silence for a few moments. Skipper finally spoke. "Well, it's getting late, I should be taking you you home."

Marlene yawned and nodded. She was starting to fall asleep on Skipper's shoulder. She went to stand up but tripped, her legs were sore from sitting for so long so Skipper picked her up bridal style and brought her to the car, he buckled her in and drove her home.

Once they arrived at Marlene's habitat, Skipper opened her door and they walked hand in hand, or more of flipper and paw to the front door. Marlene gave Skipper a hug and felt his heart beating incredibly fast.

"Are you alright? Our date was a complete success, there's no reason to be nervous." She said.

"I'm not nervous about how well our date went, I'm nervous about this part." He murdered as he leaned in and pressed his beak to her lips.

Marlene was shocked, but in a good way. It was like a shock of electricity went through her veins. She wrapped her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. Once they were done she smiled.

"That was nice."

"Damn straight." Skipper replied, "I'll talk to you tomorrow about date numero two."

"Sounds great!" Marlene said as Skipper walked back to his car, his head still spinning from the kiss. I still got it! He though as he drove home. Once he reached the HQ he saw Kowalski and Beth snuggled on the couch together. Their position seemed harmless enough so he left them. He climbed into his bunk and fell asleep.

Well...that was my first try at fluff, how was it? Hey, I tried! Well please review, next chapter will be posted soon!(: