If it weren't for the meeting, tonight is quite a sight to behold.
A cloudless night sky, with sparse almost autumn winds shuffling within the trees and grass. The moon, crescent yet bright, softly shone down on Central Park.
It's a wonderful evening to stargaze in the park, to watch the stars twinkle above the earth's atmosphere.
And for once… Bridget pays mind to it. With the penguin outfit in the trash can, she lies down on the grass. Peering to the sky as her eyes have stars to fixate on, while her mind races with puzzling thoughts.
How can an activity so calming be so stressful at the same time?
She'd notice then the sound of one flat-headed penguin approaching.
"Hey, you doing okay?"
There's a quiet pause from her, as her eyes don't acknowledge him. "I'm alright."
Skipper nods and looks at her. "Light-headed?"
"… A lil, but I'll live," Bridget rubs her forehead, biting her lips as she sits up. "I'll take the dizziness over that lemur's feet on me."
"Yeah, Ringtail has no sense of personal space..." He shook his head. "There have been a few times he's tried to replace my pillow with himself. Some days I wish we had shipped him back to Madagascar."
"Sounds like a lot happened in Madagascar."
"Eh, we were kinda stuck there for over a year." He nods.
"Mm. A long unplanned vacation." She gives him a tired small chuckle.
"Pretty much." He glances at her. "So... You coming back by the HQ tonight or you going to go on to your apartment?"
"… I guess I should go ta my apartment…" Her expression reads uncertainty.
Skipper nods. "It's up to you. I know that meeting went sideways and I know that you might want a tactical retreat for the night so you can regroup."
A part of Bridget thought it was unique to see this side of him. Not strange, as she's seen glimpses of this in him before. But to fully see it felt… interesting. Curious even.
But those thoughts are put to rest. She's not exactly in a critical-thinking mood about someone's behavior.
"Sounds about right," The caretaker nods, but then bites her lip. "But I should check on the others, especially Kowalski… he wanted ta fix my tail." Was her excuse.
"The tail is something you should get checked, yeah. Especially with all the falling you've done today. Wouldn't want to mess up the nerves in it."
She nods at him… and kinda goes silent.
"... But it probably would be til tomorrow if you're careful with it." He shrugs.
"...When you're human, do ya still feel... penguin?" She abruptly asks out of the blue.
"... It's... Kind of a mix." He looks at her. "I can't really put it into words."
A mutual nod came from her, a moment of her thinking her words before she began to ramble. She couldn't believe she was about to vent to Captain Paranoid of all people...yet here she was.
"... Lately I haven't felt like I'm… human." Bridget bites her lips, averting her eyes from the leader.
Skipper glances at her, thinking for a moment. He leans back against the tree. "Well, what do you feel like you are?"
Black eyes subsequently study its owner's hands, observing them pensively. "… Well like ya said, it's hard ta put it into words,"
Her hands run through her hair a bit, making contact with the patch of feathers that poke out. "… Einstein said my DNA is stable… yet every day I find somethin that wasn't there before… and I can't help to think…"
Biting her lip, she internally fights herself, keeping her boiling emotions in control.
"What if I'm still changin?"
Skipper nods as he listens. "Kowalski might be a genius, but he doesn't know everything. He could be wrong. You might be becoming more penguin because he's wrong pretty often." He shrugs. "But I'd think with you both working on the machine again, you'll be back to normal before anything gets worse."
Slowly, her eyes shift to him in a disoriented manner.
'This is him givin comfort?'
"K, but he's not often wrong," Bridget shakes her head before huffing.
"Once we fix the machine, everythin will be fixed and… well, we'll go separate ways."
"... You don't have to go afterwards."
"You know I still wanna sail," Bridget sighs, rubbing her forehead.
"Who said you couldn't sail for a few weeks and then come back? Like a vacation?"
The redhead gives him a look.
"What? You made friends here, have a job... Heck, you even have someone trying to be a new parent figure for you. What exactly are you wanting to leave all that behind for?" After a stretch, he gets up from his spot to waddle next to her.
Her body shifts uncomfortably at that question.
"… K, let's say I did stay. I live in this nosy dirty dump of a city and I'm your permanent zookeeper ally. What's the next few years gonna look like?"
But to her surprise, he answers rather quickly.
"Kowalski builds a doohickey so that you can understand us again, then it's up to you." He shrugs. "If you wanted, there's some missions I'm sure we could use you on… If not… well," He rubs the back of his head, glancing away.
"Let's just say it'd be nice having someone around who actually gets us for once."
Bridget fell silent as she bit her lip. His words ring in his head, she can feel the genuine tone in his voice. He doesn't even care if she's a part of the team.
He just wants her around.
"… As I said before I'll… I'll think about it," She sighs, rubbing her head. "I'm just… there's risks too. If North Wind finds out about me they'll—"
"They'll have to get through me before they do anything." He rolls his eyes. "A bunch of pencil-pushing bureaucrats. They don't know nothing."
Bridget snorts, glancing down at him. "Oh yeah?"
"Trust me, they ain't anything to worry about." Skipper nods cockily, crossing his flippers.
Amusingly, she shakes her head at his confident attitude. It didn't exactly ease the intuition of getting caught… but somehow he was able to make her smile. "Thank you for the offer… but I need more time."
"Yeah, I know… Just adding a few tacks to the board." He nods.
Bridget then nudges him a bit almost to say 'thanks for coming to check on me'.
Skipper smiles slightly back. "Well, I'm going back to the HQ. Up to you what you do."
Nodding, she stands up. "I'll follow." The penguin nods and leads the way to the HQ.
0000000
Kowalski took a long sip from a beaker as he looked at the mess of broken glassware he had made just moments ago. He would have to eventually sweep that up and order some replacements, but that could wait until later. After all, it isn't like he's expecting anyone to visit his lab this evening, he'll get it up before morning.
He took another sip with a sigh. It is selfish of them to want Bridget to stay, isn't it? She wants to go and just is dealing with them until she's back to normal. And well, it's not like he can blame her for that.
Calming himself, he finished the beaker off and moved over to his workbench and the parts of the machine. "I need to get this done already and stop prolonging the evitable." He picked up his screwdriver and bit his tongue.
It was his fault Bridget fainted. Why did he offer a hot, stuffy costume and have her sit where everyone could see her? He screwed up as a father, as a lieutenant—
Kowalski wiped at his eyes with the back of his flipper roughly.
Might as well list him failing previously as a boyfriend. Maybe he's been failing as a brother too and that's why he and Skipper are often at ends. Maybe he just fails at life, the walking screw-up. Bridget will be better off and safer if they let her go... Maybe she'll even be happier.
He nods a little to himself and tries to focus on the invention in his flippers.
Despite him not expecting any visitors, there's a soft knock on the other door, the one that leads to the hallway. Like salt on a wound, those knocks have once more proven him to be wrong.
Kowalski sighs and glances at the door. "Come in."
The door opens.
"…Padre?" Bridget glances around the lab and penguin in concern, almost as if a hurricane came in and stormed the place.
That's not how much of a mess he made, but the broken shards of glass scattered around the floor and the aroma of vodka is still very worrying.
"Oh hi! I thought you went home." He smiles a little and turns to see her.
His eyes gave it away. His periwinkle blues are filled with regret, bitterness, yet sadness and guilt. She could tell he even cried a little, the red around his eyes being a dead giveaway. Her eyebrows furrow with a frown.
"…I uh, came ta check in before I left…are you okay?"
"Oh yeah yeah, I'm fine!" He nods and clears his throat. "Just was starting to work on the LIC again."
She nods at him, her nose wrinkling slightly at the nail polish smell when she gets closer to him.
"Ya need help on it? I could stay over if ya fellas don't mind."
"Oh you don't have to. You need your sleep. You have work tomorrow and all." He shakes his head. "I just thought while it was on my mind that I'd try working on it some."
"Aren't we suppose ta be partners?" Bridget raises a brow.
"Partners don't have to always work on the project at the same time." He shrugs. "It'll be faster if I continue working on it over the nights, too."
"Well with the glass shattered on the ground and you drinkin, you're workin in an unsafe environment," The caretaker frowns at him.
"So either we're workin on this together, meanin we'll clean up and talk about what's on your mind, or your head ta bed and I'll head home for the night."
"... Oh… You noticed that?"
"I'm not that blind."
Kowalski smiles sheepishly. "I mean, if you weren't paying attention, I'm sure it could be easy to overlook it among the usual mess of my lab."
"Padre." Now it was her turn to be stern with him.
"I was going to sweep everything up before the morning." He sighs. "I just had a little moment earlier, that's all."
Bridget's gaze softens up, sighing as she rolls over and sits next to him. She doesn't say anything, but you can tell by the look in her dark-brown eyes that she waited for him to vent.
However, instead of venting, he just shakes his head and looks away. "I'm sorry about earlier. We should not have put you in a low-oxygen costume."
"It's fine, I didn't know I would suffocate til mid-way in the meetin. None of us even thought about it." She bites her lip.
Kowalski nods a little and sighs. "And I'm sorry you're still caught up in our chaos. I shouldn't have let girl problems keep me from working on this." He gestures to the invention. "Maybe if I had stayed focused you'd be back to normal by now."
Bridget shakes her head. "Gettin sick, havin bad days, getting dumped, and dealin with an old man maniac are not 'girl problems'."
She continues. "We got sidetracked and busy with other things, but it's fine. Fixin LIC will take a while."
"...But maybe it won't have to if I actually get focused on it for once." He nods a little. "I know you have plans you want to get on with, and I hate that currently my screw-ups and I are what's holding you back."
"Kowalski, it's fine—"
"NO! It's not fine!" He looks at her. "We put—No, I put you in constant danger with you around us. I'm a walking disaster! Everything I touch, it goes wrong! Just, everything! I don't know what I was thinking. I was incredibly selfish and not considering the real risks I was putting you in adopting you. You deserve far, far better than having to put up with me." He wipes his eyes.
"You all do."
Taken aback by the outburst, Bridget stares at him, not knowing what to do.
Her mouth opens to speak comfort, but her voice goes silent as well as her mind goes blank. Biting her lip, her body then bends down to her knees, eyes him...
And hugs him.
Kowalski hugs her back and cries. She pulls him in closer, patting his back. Calmly, she hums a little to soothe him. He continues to cry for a few minutes before he starts to calm down again. At which point, he's mostly just sniffling unobtrusively. Waiting for him to finish his moment, her fingers ruffle his feathers gently.
Kowalski quietly whispers. "Sorry..."
"No need ta say 'sorry'. We have our moments."
Kowalski nods and wipes his eyes with a small sniff.
"...You're not a screw-up. Failin a couple of times sucks, and not havin the greatest of days can brin ya down, but that doesn't make ya a screw-up,"
"I've failed more than a couple times." He sighs. "Ask anyone in the zoo, they'll tell you about my inventions that always fail. It might be contagious, then you'll start failing too."
"I don't care what the others think of you and your inventions," Bridget firmly states, her eyes blazing down at him.
"You've created advanced technology professional human architects dreamed of buildin, and you made most of them outta junk-yard materials. That's impressive as hell," The caretaker gives him a smile.
Kowalski looks at her. "... You think so?"
"I know so," Her hands softly scratch the back of his neck. "I think with more safety precautions, failin will feel less embarrassin and more another way of tryin again."
Kowalski nods a little and takes a deep breath. "Okay." Nodding, her hand pulls away. With a small pout, he reaches back for her hand and puts it back on his head.
'…Ah'
Awkwardly, she goes back to patting his head. He smiles a little. "I wasn't planning on sleeping tonight, but I guess I need to let you go at some point so you can sleep." He then sighs.
"I'm free tomorrow, but let's put Lunar away for tonight,"
"Okay..." He nods and gets up to put it back in a cabinet under the workbench.
As he does that, Bridget gets up to grab her backpack from the corner of the lab, since that's where she placed her stuff before 'playing' dress up.
She unzips the bag to check if she has everything…before noticing how some of her blueprint doodles were in her bag.
'OH! I was lookin for these…Wait, what are these doin here? I don't remember… did I accidentally grab them? Shit how long have they been in here?'
She grabs a few out to make sure they're not crumpled up from all the other items in her bag. Hearing the rustling, he glances over from where he's getting his broom. "What's that?"
"Oh, uh, just some… drawins." The ginger tries to hide them back in her bag.
He slides over to her. "Can I see?"
With the blueprints back in her pack, she clears her throat. "T-They're… unfinished."
"... Ah." He nods a little and backs off.
Bridget glances back at him…. and sighs, grabbing out her blueprints to show him. "They're… just ideas I've been thinkin for awhile."
Tail wagging, he looks them over. "Oh Bridget, these are nice! Unfinished or not, these are fantastic!"
Shyly a hand rubs the back of her neck, while she bites her lips.
Kowalski smiles and hands them back. "I'll be interested in seeing them when you're finished."
"… Uhhh… well uh… they're just… drawins."
"Currently, but they are feasible to be invented." He smiles. "And if you need help getting parts, I can see what I can scrounge up." Kowalski smiles more.
Bridget averts her eyes away. "I… don't know."
Kowalski gently pats her. "Perhaps they could be side projects we could work on together? Could be fun, getting back in the saddle again."
Glancing at her blueprints, a thoughtful look creeps upon her face. "… K, I guess we can invent them," Black eyes then sharpened their gaze at Kowalski.
"But only if ya don't quit bein an inventor."
Kowalski opens his beak and then looks hesitant. "... I could prolong my quitting a little longer I guess." Kowalski smiles. "By then I'll have you back confident in it."
"Mm, maybe."
"Mmhmm, and then if you wanted, I could let you have my old unfinished projects." He smiles more. "Because if I stop inventing, they'll just collect dust. You're my only daughter which means they'd go to you to work on since none of my brothers really have an interest in it." He smiles.
Bridget frowns. "Padre, I can invent them with ya, but I'm not gonna take your ideas as my own just cause you quit. What did we just talk about earlier?"
Kowalski sighs a bit with a nod. "I know. I was just thinking it'd be nice if someone at least finished them if I quit. Maybe you'd have better luck." He shrugs.
"Well, I hope ya don't quit. There's not a lot of inventors out there." She sighs.
"Well, there's Timo, but he's off in Madagascar... Technically Blowhole too but he's evil." He rubs the back of his neck.
Bridget shrugs in a 'yeah see?' way.
Kowalski nods a little and sighs. "Well, there might be more of us if people actually made them feel wanted."
"And ta not give up," She nods.
Kowalski sighs and nods. "I'm just getting tired of not succeeding in anything, that's all."
Biting her lip, the ginger thinks again for comfort words. "… Well, ya know who else kept considerin themselves a failure?"
Kowalski looks at her.
"Leonardo Da Vinci."
Oh, now she has his interest.
She then shrugs, pondering. "But, I don't think ya would call one of the Renaissance fathers a failure?"
"Not Da Vinci." He shakes his head. "He was a genius."
"Aye, yet he didn't think he was," Bridget shakes her head too. "It's kinda a shame. The most brilliant of them all don't see it in themselves."
Kowalski frowns and considers this. "... I guess you have a point." As a reward for understanding, he gets a gentle head pat.
He smiles at that, leaning into the pat. "Okay, maybe I don't need to quit inventing. Maybe I've just been in a slump the past few years."
Bridget nods at that, scooping up the penguin into her arms to give him another comforting hug.
He gasps, not expecting another hug from his daughter, but he couldn't argue. He relaxes with a tired sigh, hugging her back with a smile.
Perhaps… for her sake. He won't give up after all.