A lot had happened during the past month, some involving screw ups in inventions, one being something similar to the Refreshinator, as the rats called it. Skipper had officially dropped the idea that the girls were spies after all that had gone on but still kept a paranoid eye on them. On a more personal level, Flora and Kowalski still couldn't get over the day in the lab and were constantly giving each other fleeting glances.
The flightless birds were all currently doing different things for the day, since it was rather uneventful. Amber and Flora were making small talk, Sara was trying to take a small nap but she kept waking up with explosions coming from the television. Kowalski was working in his lab while the rest of guys were watching TV with Madison.
"You ok Flora?" Amber asked with concern when she noticed Flora's lack of focus. It was up to her to make sure her team was in tip top shape, physically and mentally.
"Yes, I'm fine Amber," Flora responded with a weak grin.
Amber narrowed her eyes, not buying what she said at all. "Really? You've been out of it for a couple of weeks now," she pressed.
Flora sighed in defeat. She looked around, before taking Amber's flipper and going into a corner to talk in private. "It's just I have been thinking about…things..." she began.
"What kind of things?" Amber asked suspiciously but, before Flora could tell her what was on her mind, the royal pain came crashing into the underground HQ.
"Hello, silly billy penguins! The king, that is me, is inviting you to my party!" Julien announced. Honestly, he could care less if the penguins came but it was worth it to spread the word. That and there were hardly and girls in the Zoo, so he was hoping that at least the girls would come.
Madison growled at the intrusion. She got up and started making her way toward Julien.
"Stay down Madison!" Amber shouted. Madison froze but continued to glare at Julien. Kowalski peeked out of his lab to see what all the yelling was about.
"So, there's going to be a party?" Sara asked excitedly. She finally gave up on her nap minutes ago and was fully awake when she heard the word party.
"Yes! The biggest party of da year! Don't be missing it! It will be tonight!" King Julien hollered before jumping back outside to leave the penguins alone.
Sara ran up to Amber and dropped down on her knees dramatically, dilating her eyes to be irresistibly adorable. "Can we go? Please!" she begged.
"You actually want to go to the party?" Skipper asked disbelievingly.
"Of course! We love parties!" Sara exclaimed with a sparkle of truth in her friends eyes at the statement. Madison smiled; she did like parties.
"I actually wouldn't mind going," Flora admitted, coming out of the corner with Amber at her side.
"You want to go too?" Kowalski asked, now out in the open with the other penguins.
Flora muttered, "Well, it seems like fun."
"I must admit that I want to go to the party too," Amber confessed grudgingly. Madison nodded her head happily with approval.
"Party!" Rico shouted, thrusting his flippers upwards.
"So can we?" Sara pleaded.
Amber thought for a moment. She glanced at the other female penguins, who waited eagerly for an answer. What's the harm? The worse that could happen is lack of sleep. Flora is upset… maybe the party will perk her up. "Alright, we're going to the party," she announced; the girls all cheered.
"Well, we're not," Skipper growled.
Rico frowned and looked down sadly. "Aw…" he moaned. Madison went over to him and patted his back comfortingly.
"Don't be a let down Skipper." Amber smirked as he glared at her.
"We just don't have time for parities and such," Skipper grumbled.
"And you have time to watch TV?"
Skipper looked at the TV to see it was still on. He quickly turned it off. "That's not the point!" he shouted.
"Well it doesn't matter. We're going whether or not you guys come," Amber hissed. Skipper narrowed his eyes and walked back to the TV, grumbling profusely.
"Sorry you can't go, Private," Sara said, while waddling over to the depressed young penguin.
"It's ok, I guess," Private sighed.
"Maybe he'll come around. You never know!" Sara said hopefully.
Private smiled. Hopefully, he thought.
"Sara! Come over here, on the double!" Amber shouted from the table. Madison and Flora were already there, waiting. Madison was playing around with a plastic knife and was doing some sick, twisted knife game with it. Flora stared at Madison as if she grew a second head but Amber didn't seem to mind though.
"What is it?" Sara asked.
"We're going to discuss what we're going to do for the party," Flora explained. Madison nodded her head eagerly.
"So what will we do?" Amber asked. "I'm positive it's straight forward enough."
"We should just wait till it starts and do what we can with the party for maximum fun. Besides, we don't exactly know what's going to happen at the party," Flora rambled.
"I'm pretty sure they're be music and snacks," Sara added.
Madison licked her beak. Food. She was happy about the music and dancing too, of course. Madison then looked thoughtful. We'll be dancing in front of other animals, won't we? Madison smiled slightly at the thought. It'd be great to show off her moves!
"Is everything clear now?" Amber glanced at the others as they nodded their heads. "Good. Now go back to whatever you girls were doing," she dismissed.
Madison shrugged and walked back over to the TV with Amber and Flora not to far behind. Sara went back to her bunk to try and get a wink of sleep before the party started.
The rest of the day went uneventful. A couple of explosions came from the lab because of Kowalski and, occasionally, Flora, who joined him at one point. They also did training and watched TV but it was otherwise uneventful. Finally, when the day started to darken, the party began. At least, that's what everyone assumed, considering the blaring music and flashing lights coming from the lemur habitat
"You girls ready?" Amber asked, smirking with her flippers on her hips.
"Ready!" Flora and Sara chorused. Madison nodded excitedly.
"Then party central, here we come!" Amber jumped out with Madison and Flora behind her.
Sara, however, stayed behind. She climbed halfway up the ladder and paused on the bars. She turned around with a frown but a glint of hope in her eyes. "You guys sure you don't want to go? It wouldn't hurt," Sara reasoned. "It's just a party."
"Party!" Rico hooted.
"We have scheduled maintenance. You can't reschedule scheduled maintenance," Skipper argued.
Rico slumped again as well as Kowalski and Private. "Aw..."
"Oh, ok..." Sara sighed in disappointment. She continued up to the ladder and slid over to her friends.
Once they arrived at the lemur habitat, they were greeted with balloons, streamers, music and a bunch of animals for the party. Streamers and flowers hung from every corner of the habitat with balloons tied to any spot possible. There was DJ table that Julien was in control of while Maurice was making smoothies with Mort's help. It looked like everyone in the Zoo was there, even the large animals. It was a surprise to see Roy there too.
Madison let out an impressed whistle.
"King Julien really can throw a party," Flora whispered in awe. Madison nodded slightly, still stunned by the appearance of the habitat.
Sara was more then excited to start partying. "Well come on! We're burning party time!" Sara yanked them all into the habitat, letting them get dragged by her strong grip.
"Sara seriously! We know how to walk!" Amber protested.
Flora found the need to correct her commanding officer. "Technically we don't walk, we waddle."
"Really?" Amber growled.
"What?" Flora whined obliviously.
Sara finally stopped dragging them once they reached the dance floor of the habitat but she suddenly grew nervous. Madison immediately jumped up to listen to the music.
"Here comes the part animal." Amber laughed, knowing Madison well enough; she would be the life of the party. It was a known fact back in Antarctica.
Madison began to un-knowingly tap her foot to the beat as she listened to the music. Her eyes started to dilate as she felt the need to dance. It was a strong urge, one that she could not ignore. Finally, the mute bird couldn't take it anymore. She jumped into the crowd of dancing animals and began to move her body to the beat, which was fast and strong, just her style.
The female penguins grinned as they saw her dance like a pro, which she was.
"I wish I could dance like that," Sara murmured with a hint of envy.
"Now's the time to practice then!" Amber shouted. Now it was Sara's turn to be dragged. Amber pulled her into the crowd of animals but released her as she began to dance next to the mute bird. She wasn't as good as Madison, but she could still dance pretty well.
Sara tried to dance but was getting shy being alone animals she barely knew.
Flora, who noticed this, slid over toward her for comfort and support. "It's ok, just do what I do!" Flora had to shout over the music just to be heard. Sara nodded her head slowly, a bit wide-eyed. Flora began to twirl around and would move her body flowing with the beat. Sara soon followed, and they danced together, mixing in with all the other animals.
"Skippah, please?" Private pleaded.
"That's a negative, Private," Skipper said sternly.
Private had been begging ever since Sara left and it was getting more annoying by the minute. He sighed at his leader rejecting of the request, finally giving up. Kowalski and Rico also sighed in disappointment, slowing their movements with their cleaning sponges.
Skipper looked around to see all his men upset and slumped over. The commanding officer felt bad and sighed as he finally changed his mind. "I guess we can go to the party," he mumbled. Kowalski, Private and Rico brightened up and high-fived each other.
"Woo Hoo! Party!" Rico shouted.
Private looked up happily at Skipper. "You mean it?" he practically squealed.
"Yes Private, we're granted shore leave for today." Skipper patted his head. "Now how about we go to that party?"
The guys jumped out with excitement and started heading to the party, where the animals were beginning to surround two specific penguins.
By this time, Madison and Amber were starting to grab the animal's attention with their dancing. However, it was drawn away when Julien began to speak into the microphone near the DJ stand.
"This partying is being off the hook but now I'll be kicking it up a notch!" The self-proclaimed monarch hollered. "Will all the shufflers get down to my mad beats!" He put a new song on, a familiar one at that to the girls. "Let's boogie to the Party Rock Anthem!"
Madison glanced at Amber, and they gave each other knowing smiles. They've shuffled before, so they were used to doing it together like it was a routine. They also knew this song by the word and beat so it made it all the easier for them. Heck, they loved this song all together!
Flora and Sara looked up from the crowd as the song started to play. They saw the crowd disperse in one spot and knew immediately that Amber and Madison were making some room for their performance. They looked at each other and slowly grinned.
"Party rock! Yeah...woo! Let's go..."
They stomped their feet harshly against the ground and began to shuffle with the animals surrounding and cheering for them. They threw their flippers out and flipped backwards, landing in a split, but in one quick movement, they were up and shuffling again.
"Everybody just have a good time! Party rock in the house tonight, everybody just have a good time. And we make you lose your mind. We just want to see ya... shake that..."
Amber almost slipped up when she saw Skipper, Private, Kowalski and Rico come up out of surprise. The guys looked stunned at their dancing performance since they never saw them dance before. All except Rico, who was enjoying the dancing to the fullest extent. Madison wasn't fazed from the guys appearance and was actually glad they showed up, mostly Rico though. He knew what she was capable of.
The two girls slid past each other on their heels and forcefully kicked out to the side. They smirked at each other and shuffled their feet to the music's rhythm. Madison flipped out of the random spotlight and allowed Amber to take the floor. The silver bird literally shook her tail feathers to the next line of lyrics.
"-nonstop when we're on the spot, booty movin' weight like she own the block. Where's the drank? I got to know. Tight jeans, tattoo, 'cause I'm rock and roll. Half black, half white domino. Gang of money, oprah doe!"
Amber flipped out of the spotlight as Madison jumped into it.
The mute bird made some movements with her flippers before slamming them down upon the floor and using them to support her weight as she did a handstand. Smirking, she kicked out her feet to opposing sides before flipping back onto her feet.
"Yo, I'm runnin' through these hoes like drano. I got that devilish flow, rock and roll, no halo. We party rock!"
Madison twirled from side to side and then stomped her foot against the ground before doing a moonwalk. She winked and smirked at her audience, though it was subtly toward Rico. The weapons expert noticed this and grinned.
"Yeah, that's the crew that I'm reppin' on the rise to the top, there's no led in our zeppelin! Hey!"
Amber and Madison came side to side and grabbed each other's flippers. Madison grunted as she heaved Amber up, flinging her high into the air. The Zoo animals looked up as Amber posed in mid-air, winking at them before coming back down.
"We just wanna see ya..."
Amber landed next to Madison, unharmed, and they paused, seeming to stare at each other in the eyes. This was all part of their routine and Flora and Sara knew it like the back of their flippers.
"Shake that...everyday I'm shuffling..."
Looking back at the audience with serious expressions, they shuffled in place. Their movements were strong for sure as they slammed their webbed feet onto the ground. It didn't seem to hurt but it did make the animals flinch from it. This only encouraged the two females as they upped their speed and performance level. They were having the time of their lives!
"Get it up, get it down, push your hands up to the sound! Get it up, get it down, push your hands up to the sound! Get it up, get it down, push your hands up to the sound! Put your hands up to the sound! Put your hands up to the sound!"
The song kept repeating 'get up' nine times as Madison started to spin along the ground. Whether it was on her head or using her flippers to push her, it was still stunning. Her speed was immense and only got faster as the song did. All Amber did was clap and stomp her foot to the beat, grinning as she silently cheered her soldier on.
Colorful strobe lights appeared, courtesy of Julien, and made the dance all the more mesmerizing. Madison's figure moved like an outdated picture show as her movements seemed to skip from the strobe lights. She continued to spin on her head as the song got quicker before bouncing back onto her feet at the last 'get up!'
Madison and Amber then flipped backwards with their flippers and, once they got in the center of their 'stage', they dropped down and locked flippers, quickly pulling themselves back up to their feet as the song seemed to explode.
"Push your hands up!"
They made the crowd cheer, even Julien, who was still trying to keep up with the music and effects he was ordering Mort to put on. The strobe lights ended but bright beams came out from behind Julien's throne, lighting up the area.
"Party rock is in the house tonight! Everybody just have a good time and we're gunna make you lose your mind! Everyone just have good, good, good time!"
They shuffled once and again, crossing their webbed feet and putting on a show of moonwalks and flips. They side-stepped each other, pointing a flipper, and shuffled all over again.
Skipper and his men were cheering along with the girls and other Zoo animals. It was an amazing dance performance, one of the best they'd ever seen, besides Julien's own 'sick dancing skills.'
"Everyday I'm shuffling..."
The two avian females posed as the song finally came to an end. They bowed, panting from the performance, and chuckled at the applause they got. The song went to the next track and the animals seemed to forget about the girls and resumed the party. The two female penguins slid over toward the guys, shoving past animals just to get through.
"You made it after all." Amber sounded surprised when they finally got to them.
"Who's going to keep us from a party?" Skipper smirked. "Nice dancing by the way."
Amber took a mock bow. "Why thank you." She narrowed her eyes slightly in playfulness and grinned. "C'mon Skipper, show me what you got." She wanted to see Skipper dance and, truthfully, she wouldn't mind joining him if he wasn't horrible. Madison busted out laughing at Skipper's horrified look.
"Uh no! No way, no how! I'm not the dancing type." Skipper tried to back away, but Amber pulled him away to the dance floor. Madison snickered disappeared into the mass of dancing animals again.
"Guys?" Flora asked. The guys turned around to see Flora and Sara sliding toward them.
"You made it after all!" Sara jumped over to Private and hugged him. "I knew you would come," she said over the music to the private. Private smiled and hugged her back. "Now lets party!" Sara suddenly shouted once she pulled away and dragged the surprised bird away.
"Come on Kowalski!" Flora tugged his flipper encouragingly. "Follow me."
"O-ok F-Flora," Kowalski stuttered nervously.
Flora grinned and happily pulled him over to dance. Sara had wandered over to the snack bar, Private not to far behind, which left poor Rico alone.
Madison glanced over to see Rico looking at a lost with what to do. She frowned. Out of all of them, she expected him to be the wild party animal but, at the time, he seemed like he didn't know what to do. The mute bird slipped past the animals till she reached Rico. She put a comforting flipper on his shoulder, making him look up in surprise. He relaxed and grinned when he realized who it was. Madison smirked and pulled Rico over to the dance floor, dancing next to him coyly. She hasn't danced with him for a while and doing it in front of others made her slightly uncomfortable.
Rico began to get the rhythm and beat and started matching Madison's moves. They remembered the dance they had shared that one day and began to move in rhythm again, getting comfortable as they matched each other. Both started to loosen up and laughed as they flipped and twirled, occasionally locking flippers.
Amber stopped to see Madison and Rico dancing. She frowned disapprovingly, but she had to admit that they did look good dancing together. Maybe they were getting too attached. Skipper coughed to get her attention, since she seemed to be glaring at the mass of animals.
The silver bird blinked in surprise when she looked back at him, like she had forgotten he was there. "Sorry Skips."
"Don't call me that," Skipper said, agitated.
What was the harm in a little nickname?
"Loosen up a bit. Best you do, believe me," Amber advised and began to dance again, smirking.
Skipper narrowed his eyes, but he couldn't move his eyes away from Amber. He liked the way she could move, powerful, yet graceful at the same time. He then realized he had started dancing with her again and felt his face heat up a bit. What did he get himself into?
On the other side of the habitat stood the two youngest birds of the flock. Sara and Private were enjoying the tasty treats set out for the party as they sat on little tiki stools. Surprisingly, Julien had bothered to get fish. That or Maurice was considerate enough to take it upon himself to get some.
"This is really good fish, Private," Sara mumbled with her beak full of kipper. Private nodded in agreement as he tossed another fish in his beak. Sara glanced at the dance floor to see Madison and Rico dancing really well together. She shifted her gaze to Skipper and Amber, who seemed to be having fun. Skipper looked a bit awkward though. She looked over in a different direction to see Flora trying to dance with Kowalski, who seemed extremely nervous and shy, fumbling a lot with steps.
"Poor Kowalski," Sara murmured sympathetically. She turned back to Private. "Do you want to dance with me?" she asked shyly. Private felt hot beneath his feathers but found himself nodding with a smile. Sara tugged, or more like dragged him, to the dance floor. They danced slowly and did the best moves they could. For Private, he was doing really well, with Sara doing ok in comparison.
"You're really good at dancing Private," Sara complimented with admiration.
"Thanks Sara, you're good too," Private commented with another sweet, large smile.
"Not as good as you," Sara giggled. Private smiled wider and blushed slightly.
"Alright you two, come over here," Amber snorted as she brushed past them.
Sara and Private followed her, filled with some disappointment. They had only just started to dance!
Skipper was over at the snack bar as Amber made her way over there. "I suppose this is a…uh…decent party. I guess," he admitted grudgingly.
"Well, its fun since you guys are here," Amber said as she patted Skipper's back. He smirked at her.
"It would be even more fun if we could-" Sara was cut off as Julien made a rather loud announcement as he yelled into a microphone.
"My royal subjects! It is now to be doing karaoke! Who will be first victim...I mean volunteer!"
Sara gasped in delight. "We should do it! Please, oh please, pretty please Amber!" She begged, practically bringing Amber down as she held onto her snowy white chest feathers desperately. "It'd be so much fun, so please, please, please, with a smoked salmon on top!
"Ok! Ok! Just let go of me will ya?" Amber growled.
"Hehe, sorry Amber," Sara apologized.
The female commanding officer liked the idea but she wanted Madison and Flora to be with them as well. "Let's go find the other girls then." Amber slid off, with Sara at her tail.
"All of them are going to sing? I thought Madison couldn't talk?" Private asked generally confused to Skipper, who shrugged.
"Madison? Flora?" Amber shouted, trying to find her companions.
The two female penguins were currently looking for their friends through a giant crowd of partying animals. She felt a tap on her back and turned around to find Madison with a smile on her face. Rico, who was behind her, was staring at them with curiosity.
"Madison, have you seen Flora?" Amber asked. Madison looked up with a thoughtful expression and pointed towards the edge of the habitat. "Let's go!" Amber shouted; Madison and Sara followed, once more leaving poor Rico alone.
Flora and Kowalski were engaged in chat and seemed to be enjoying themselves when Amber, Sara and Madison showed up.
"I guess dancing isn't that bad," Kowalski admitted.
"See? It's a lot of fun! Especially if you're dancing with someone cool like you," Flora said while blushing.
Kowalski blushed a little at her comment. "Y-you...you think I'm cool?" he asked bashfully but with a hint of nervousness but, before she could answer, Amber tugged at her flipper.
Flora looked at them with faint irritation. "What?"
"Come on! We're doing karaoke!" Sara shouted, excited.
"Karaoke?" Flora asked; Madison nodded. The brown-feathered penguin broke into a large grin and jumped up from where she was sitting. "I'm so in!" she squealed. She may be shy and hate attention but nothing would stop her from singing karaoke! She loved singing!
Kowalski looked at her with a mixture of disappointment, surprise and excitement. He wanted to talk to Flora more, but he was surprised Flora would want to do karaoke, she always seemed so shy to him. He was excited to hear them all sing of course so that was something to look forward too. He ended up waddling away to the snack bar where the other boys were hanging out.
The girls quickly went back towards the center of the habitat to hear Marlene finish a song and, by the looks on the animal's faces, it was an interesting performance.
"Um, wow," was all Maurice could say.
"So who wants to go next? And if you sound like a banshee, don't bother!" Julien yelled.
Marlene growled as she jumped off to a different area. "Everybody's a critic..."
"We will!" Sara shouted excitedly. Everyone turned around to see the four female penguins standing there with confident smiles.
"But the growly penguin can't talk!" Julien yelled to the penguins. Madison growled at him, but her eyes betrayed her pain. "See!" Julien shouted even louder while pointing.
"Just let us up there," Amber growled. Julien, who was scared at this point, let them up. "You got the recorder?" Amber asked Madison. The mute bird nodded happily.
The recorder was a gift from Madison's family, her brothers to be exact, and had been improved by Flora. She had recorded a lot of music on there, and they would often sing to it, except herself, who would happily listen and dance to it. She never went anywhere without it. She grunted as she pulled it out of thin air.
The guys watched as Amber whispered something to the girls, and they all went to different spots. Madison was fiddling with the recorder as Flora plugged it into a stereo. Sara gave the three of them mikes so all the animals could hear them.
"We're going to sing, 'He's All That'," Sara announced to the audience of animals.
The four male penguins were intrigued by the choice. They waited in anticipation as the girls got into their places. Madison had her flipper ready to press the 'Play' button and boy did she look excited. Amber gave her a nod, and Madison smiled psychotically as she pushed the button. Amber then began to sing with a smooth voice into the microphone.
"I knew it from the start...from the first day that we met. I knew to take your hand was something I would not regret." She gestured to the crowd who were already awed by her singing. They were just getting started.
Flora and Sara then joined in with Amber's voice in a harmonic debut. "Since then I found the girl inside that I wanted to be. I slowly noticed what he means to me..."
The music got more upbeat and that's when Madison started dancing in the background. The other girls sang with gusto and tapped their feet to the rhythm.
"He's all that! He's all that I wanted, he's all that I needed, he is all that I have. My baby, he's all that. He gives me this feeling, he makes me believe it that my love never ends." The three of them winked as they sung, "Ohh baby, he's all that."
"He's all that I wanted, he's all that I needed, he is all that I have." Flora and Sara joined the song with Amber again. "My baby, he's all that." There were smiles everywhere from the audience at this display of singing and dancing, which was all in all very enjoyable. "He gives me this feeling, he makes me believe it that my love never ends...Ohh baby, he's all that."
They girls stopped singing for the music itself to go on. Madison started to dance around a bit less when she looked over and saw that animals weren't dancing, which made her frown. They were too intrigued by the girls singing to but she wanted them to dance as well as listen.
Madison smirked when she got an idea.
She jumped down toward the animals and started to make them dance along to the music. She took their arms, swung around and danced next to them in encouragement. They laughed with good humor and slowly joined in, then it became a party again. She stopped at the penguins and gestured for them to dance. They did it awkwardly, and she laughed at their expressions. She jumped back to her friends just as they began to sing again.
"Still hard for me to realize...that I am on my way..." they sang softly. "But since I've been your girl I'm getting stronger day by day."
Amber's foot was tapping to the beat with one flipper on her hip and another holding the microphone up to her beak. "For everything I've left behind..."
"None of it was true..." Flora sang quietly, the stares of the audience now getting to her. "Here's my reason, I belong to you..." she trailed off and couldn't bring herself to sing the next words. The stares were making her begin to hyperventilate.
Amber and Sara both tried to shield Flora as they both of sang, "He's all that!" Flora mumbled a quick apology to her friends but all they did was pat her back and continued the song.
"He's all that I wanted," the three sang with a certain passion in their voices. "He's all that I needed, he is all that I have. My baby, he's all that."
Sara patted her chest and looked at the audience with soft eyes as if she knew what she was singing about. "He gives me this feeling."
"He makes me believe in that my love never ends," Flora and Amber shared the line as they smirked at the dancing audience. "Ohh baby, he's all that."
"He's all that I wanted!" Amber sung loudly.
Flora got it with just the right pitch. "He's all that I needed!"
Sara blinked her teal eyes, getting the attention of the audience with her adorability. "He is all that I have!"
"My baby, he's all that," they sung together again. "He gives me this feeling, he makes me believe it that my love never ends...Ohh baby, he's all that."
Madison started to dance around again but this time with the other female penguins as they sung. They would sing little parts of the song as she spun them around enthusiastically. "He gives me this feeling, he makes me believe it that my love never ends. Ohh baby, he's all that...all that...all that..." With that, they concluded the song and took a bow.
The animals all cheered and applauded while the guys were dumbfounded by it. They stared at them with their beaks hanging open in shock. They could dance and sing?
"You know you'll catch fly's that way," Marlene teased as she walked past them to get some scallops.
They immediately snapped their beaks shut and felt heat on their faces out of embarrassment for gawking.
The girls jumped down and went straight for them.
"So how was it?" Sara asked eagerly.
"You all did a smashing good performance!" Private exclaimed.
"Outstanding," Kowalski said with an amazed grin on his face.
"I have to admit that I'm impressed," Skipper admitted.
Rico clapped his flippers together. "Uh huh! Good!"
"Thanks," the girls harmonized except for Madison who had, once again, wandered away.
"Where did she go to now?" Amber looked around furiously.
Sara pointed to the juice bar. "Oh, there she is."
"Where?"
"She's 'talking' to Maurice," Flora explained.
True enough, Madison was hanging out with Maurice. She would laugh if he said something funny, or mentioned a torture related thing happening to Julien. Despite it being pretty much a one-sided conversation, which it was, they appeared to be enjoying each others company. It looked like Maurice needed to relax and have some small chat, even if he was the one doing all the talking.
Rico waddled over to the smoothie bar, smiling slightly. Madison grinned broadly when he came over. She ushered him to come closer and held up a flipper. They shared a high-five and a laugh before Madison turned her attention back to Maurice.
The Aye-aye saw something between their exchange and already felt he knew more about their relationship then they did. "Well, I think I heard someone call my name over there," Maurice said and left with a knowing smile on his face.
Madison cocked her head in confusion. I didn't hear anybody call his name. She narrowed her eyes slightly in suspicion.
"Hi," Rico greeted awkwardly, making Madison turn her attention back to him. She smiled slightly and waved to him. "Good dancing," he grunted. Her smile got wider and she could have sworn she felt heat on her cheeks. Rico looked at the ground uncomfortably. It was hard to make a good conversation with a penguin that couldn't talk and one that could barely even talk in the first place. "Dance?" he asked.
She jumped up and off the tiki seat happily and grabbed his flipper. Her answer is yes, Rico assumed with amusement. She brought him over to the dance floor, and they both started dancing like a single body.
However, they stopped as a slower song came on. Rico could have sworn that Julien did it just because of them. He only thought that because of the look the ringtail sent their way but he didn't think Madison saw.
The mute female held out a flipper and grinned confidently. She still wanted to dance, even if it was slower then what she was used to.
Rico smirked slyly at her. He wasn't use to the female being the more impulsive and dominant one, so he was going to change that, whether she liked it or not. Actually, he was hoping for the latter. He grabbed her flipper and pulled her close to his chest, catching her off guard.
Obviously, she wasn't used to someone being dominant over her, besides Amber of course. This was different. Madison liked it.
Rico put a wing on her waist as she laid hers on top of his and slowly waltzed across the floor. There were no casualties and the dance went smoothly. He concluded that she was an expert on all forms of dance since it had gone from shuffling, hip hop and then to a calm waltz. He enjoyed her company and found himself staring at her face with everything else fading away. His body seemed to take over the dance when his mind left.
Madison was...confused. She never felt like this before. All her life, she only experienced a handful of emotions. Anger, sadness, excitement and indifference. Maybe some sort of friendliness or calmness but never this emotion. All her feelings confused her and she rarely knew what to do. She would have to make a split second decisions on how to feel before she would react but Rico...he did something to mess up her process. He was just so different and unique.
She liked different. Rico was different. He was...fun.
They were having a great time with the dance till they were interrupted by Amber cutting in.
"Alright, we're leaving now," Amber grumbled.
Madison turned around to face her leader with frustrated disappointment. Why the heck are we leaving? Madison looked to see a sleeping Sara in Amber's flippers. Madison chuckled and started heading for the penguin habitat, making a gesture for Rico to follow.
"Wait, Madison, you know where the others are?" Amber inquired, looking around with tired annoyance.
Madison didn't bother to check and just pointed toward the snack bar. She didn't turn her gaze away and kept waddling back to the habitat with Rico beside her.
Amber waddled over to the snack bar and they were there alright. Madison always seemed to know everybody better then they thought.
Madison and Rico were currently waddling back to the habitat. There was an awkward silence between the two penguins but it was affecting Rico much more then it was to Madison.
"Good party," Rico said, trying to make a little conversation. She nodded happily in agreement. Rico looked around, trying not to set his gaze on Madison. His focus was interrupted, when something tapped on his shoulder. He looked over to see Madison pointing at their habitat. So we're here already. He felt relieved and disappointed at the same time.
They jumped to the other side and were able avoid the water. Rico was about to go down the fishbowl entrance, but he looked up to see Madison looking at the ground, frowning.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
She looked up at him with her frown placed firmly on her beak.
He got closer to her, with a worried expression. "What's w-" he was cut off as Madison threw herself onto him and enveloped him into a big hug. He was completely stunned, but he hugged back. It felt like time stopped between them. Rico was enjoying the moment but then Madison broke away and jumped into the HQ. Rico was confused, but he went back down soon after.
"It was a pretty good party," Flora said with a smile. "We should do it again!"
"Yup," Amber agreed. "I just wish I didn't have to carry Sara." She looked down at the young bird in her flippers. Sara had fallen asleep from exhaustion, which forced Amber to carry her. She had a peaceful smile spread across her beak with her chest rising and falling slowly with each breath.
"You want me to take her?" Skipper offered.
Amber grunted as she shifted Sara's position so her grip would be more comfortable. "Nah, I'm good."
"Did you have fun, Kowalski?" Flora asked from behind the two commanding officers.
"Yes, it was a lot of fun hanging with you Flora," Kowalski responded. He felt himself blush and realized what he had said. "And you guys too," he added quickly.
Amber snorted and Flora was giggling slightly with a tiny blush visible on her feathers. Skipper rolled his eyes, while Private eyed Sara with care. He was transfixed by how pretty she looked when she was sleeping.
The six penguins arrived at the HQ with little to no trouble, considering Amber had to bring Sara over without waking her but with Skipper's help, she was able to do that successfully.
"Thanks Skips," Amber thanked.
"Don't call me that," Skipper growled. "But you're welcome," he mumbled. She held back a snicker and jumped into the HQ.
Madison was sleeping in her bunk, and Rico was watching TV. Flora was already getting into her bunk with Kowalski doing the same. Amber placed Sara gently into her bunk and gently placed the blanket over her. She made sure she was comfortable before lightly running her flipper over Sara's head in a motherly gesture. With a sigh, she also went into her own bunk to sleep.
"Night everybody," Amber's voice echoed in the HQ.
"Night," Kowalski and Flora mumbled.
She could have sworn she heard a grunt from Madison.
"Good night Amber." Skipper yawned, as he also went into his bunk. Rico was already awkwardly positioned in his.
"Night Skipper," Amber mumbled, "night everyone." She glanced at the girls bunks to make sure they were okay and comfortable. When everything looked ok, for her standards, she fell asleep.
The first song is Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO with little snippets of the song. Second song is He's All That by Cascada.
Sorry it took so long for the update and how it's not my best chapter. I got lazy, and I dunno if I should continue my story. I guess I'll try though. I'm determined! One of my good qualities.
Skipper: Probably your only quality.
Me: Did I ask for your opinion?
Skipper: Yes.
Me: No I didn't!
Skipper: In your mind maybe!
Me: *Growls* Please review while I beat the fudge out of Skipper. Oh Skipper... *Raises up a bat*
Skipper: Uh oh….
Me: *Starts chasing Skipper* Get back here!
Skipper: You think I want to get hit with a bat?
