"Lights out, men!" Skipper shouted at exactly nine o'clock. All three of the other penguins immediately dropped whatever they were doing. They all knew that Lights Out Protocols were supposed to be taken seriously.

"G'night!"

"Good night."

"Gooh naigh!"

"Sleep well, boys."

Skipper got into his bunk as the other penguins did. But as soon as he closed his eyes, instead of sleeping, he couldn't help but toss and turn. And his ears were focused on the rhythmic thump of his heart. On top of that, his body was beginning to sweat.

Get it together, soldier! It's a damn distraction!

He wanted to slap some sense into himself, but he also didn't want to wake up the boys. What was wrong with him? Something inside him was giving him an indescribably excited but at the same time nervous feeling. But why? This weird feeling was enhanced when he kept thinking about…him. Julien. How insane was the obnoxious lemur driving him? Part of him told him it was something else. Something completely different from hate. The exact opposite…

NO. No way. There is no possible way in all of the universe that I could…like…Ringtail! That's the most absurd thing! How did that even slip into my mind?

It was disturbing to think about, even embarrassing. But that one part of him was almost impossible to ignore.

I need to sleep. Probably stress getting to me.

But he knew that wasn't right. Stress never got to him. He was the most skilled of the penguins and was excellent under pressure. He however kept telling himself this and eventually managed to fall asleep.

The next morning, he woke up with a jump. He was a bit more on edge than usual.

Private was the first one to notice this. "Skipper? Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah uh-just a bad dream?"

"Oh. Alright. I'm sure you must be famished!"

Skipper smiled as he saw his fish on the table. But that smile vanished as soon as his gaze drifted.

Oh no…

The last person he wanted to see. Was sitting in front of him, smiling at him! But it was a sweet smile. He never realized how wholesome Julien could be, or at least appear. His heart began to flutter, but he was NOT going to allow himself to act head-over-heelishly over the animal he despised the most in this zoo. He wouldn't know what to do. He couldn't even imagine what the other penguins would think. His mind began to panic, and the other penguins could see it clearly.

"Skipper, you're acting quite nervous, which is highly unlike you," Kowalski quickly observed. Sometimes Kowalski's attentiveness wasn't always a good thing for Skipper.

"Nervous-no, no. Just, uh… hot?"

He immediately regretted using that word. He should've thought about Julien's understanding of words!

Just as he thought, the lemur took it in a flirty way, which definitely was not what he needed! "Hmm, now that you mention it…" Julien said, smirking. At the same time, he put an arm around the leader penguin's neck in a certain way that made him even more uncomfortable.

"Ehehe, very funny, Ringtail!" He said nervously as he pushed the lemur away. "Why are you even here?" he said through gritted teeth.

"He's here to enjoy a pleasant breakfast with us," Private said as winked at Skipper. Skipper instantly knew what that meant. The plan!

How could I have forgotten!? You NEED to get a hold of yourself, man!

"Riiight! Heh-"

Curse you, emotions!

"As we've got a couple hours to spare, we could waste, *AHEM* spend, some time with you before you get back to your habitat," Kowalski said.

"Pfft! What fun things could you silly penguins possibly have in mind?"

"Oh, I don't know… a little shopping, perhaps?" Private said in a cheerful tone. Out of all four penguins, he was the only one that actually wanted to make sure the lemur had a happy birthday.

"Sh-sh-SHOPPING!? You know what, nevermind! You penguins are the funnest people in the zoo!"

There it was. That almost hypnotizing grin. Skipper couldn't help but let a little smile of his own spread across his face. Something about that lemur's signature smile warmed up Skipper's heart. It actually felt…good.

"Shopping, yippee, so excited," Kowalski said in a sarcastic voice.

"Whoo-hoo," Rico added.

Julien had so much positive energy, though, that he completely ignored Kowalski and Rico's comments. Another thing about him that Skipper didn't realize he actually admired.

"Alright! Let's get this over with, men!" the leader penguin announced. And off they went towards downtown, New York to spend the rest of the morning.

Note: I know shopping is a weird plan, but it was the first thing that came to mind, so I'm gonna try my best to make it work.