Before anyone could blink, the rain clouds above had given way to a beautiful night, when the stars twinkled and danced across the velvet sky and the soft honking of car horns sounded from down-town. The moon was in hiding on such a peaceful, beautiful, and rare occasion. Then again, it was the only way the stars could twinkle and shine in the City that Never Sleeps... or turns its lights off, in this case.
Marlene poked her head out from the HQ's doorway to find Skipper, Rico, and Kowalski sitting at the table, being served by Private a strange-looking food with such a delicious scent that it made her mouth begin to water.
A smile graced her lips as she saw there was a fifth plate. Skipper really HAD been expecting her to come! Then again... she really wouldn't have missed coming for the world...
"Knock, knock." the otter chimed, leaning against the doorway with her brows arched casually. "Guess who?"
All four penguins leapt up in suprise, until their eyes came to rest on their female companion. They all flopped back into their seats at this point and continued eating and talking about some incident that happened the other day. Something about Skipper and Kowalski having an argument over leadership strategies? Funny. She thought they were friends, and therefore, never really had any problems... Oh, well; Never say never.
"Oh, Marlene...!" Private sighed in relief. "Oh, it's just you!"
Marlene only smiled. Well of course it was her!
"Heh, who'd you THINK it was? Julien? With THIS body? ...Then again, I wouldn't doubt it at times..."
"Well don't just stand there, you! Have a seat!"
The young penguin laughed, his eyes shining happily. He then took his own seat beside Skipper and began to eat.
Marlene greeted Kowalski and Rico, and they happily returned it with simple, "Hi, Marlene!"s. Skipper only gave her a smile, in which she could only consider herself lucky he even gave her. She then assumed her seat beside Rico as Kowalski started boasting about his new invention.
"...Yes, at first, I planned on making it another love-obtaining device that simply acted as a GINORMOUS Cupid's Arrow. However, I've managed to convert its purpose into one that erases memory; short-term, long-term, you name it! Blah! All you have to blah do is set the blah knob to the blah desired blah and blah blah blah! This will surely come in handy for blah blah enemy blahs and suppossed spy blah blah! There are, blah, however, a few blah kinks in the blah energy-siphoning blah blah blah part of the blah machine that blah drains the body off all vital blah fluids, causing paralysis in blah blah sixty minutes blah, and it also blah causes the brain to blah release blah the victim's deepest, darkest blah blah secrets in the simple blah fact that that person's blah memory has to blah blah go somewhere."
The scientist explained. Marlene found her mind wandering off as he did so, but she came to, with amusment, when he remembered one tiny, important detail...
"Oh, I forgot! In men, it uh... also causes impetance."
Skipper quickly covered Private's ears, his blue eyes stretched wide.
"Kowalski! Not in front of the private! You know better than that!"
Poor private was already lost with the whole conversation. What was impetence anyways? It sounded dangerous... And paralysis? Kowalski wanted to use THAT on poor Marlene? The nerve! And what about his Cupid? What did SHE have to do with ANY of this?
Kowalski gave a guilty grin and hurridly stuffed his beak with food to avoid further discussion, whilst Skipper only shook his head. Scientists... Ugh.
That aside, his gaze fell upon Marlene, and he could easily tell how she was, if anything, partially forcing a smile. That... actually... made him hurt on the inside. Maybe... Maybe Kowalski had sent him to an alternate dimension again. Yeah, that must be it! Because... this can't have been Marlene. Right? She was always smiling and having a good time. This Marlene wasn't... She was acting rather... Oh, what did the kids call it? Nemo? No, no, no... That was a captain- and a fish.... Emo? Yes, that was it. Very, very unhappy... And he just couldn't stand it.
Another part of him yanked his attention away from her and down to his plate of cassorole, his heart hardening. Pft! What the hell was he thinking? She was just being an emotional brat again. He didn't need this. He didn't have to DEAL with this. So he decided he wouldn't. There. It was that simple.
But... NO!... But... She was his... He couldn't let her... GAH!! Why?! Skipper was just about to pull his feathers out in frustration when Marlene spoke up.
"Um... so, I've really got to get going, you guys. I've got an early start tomorrow..." she said, trailing off into thought. She managed to shake herself out of her trance a few seconds later, and stood up.
"So soon?" Skipper accidentilly let escape from his mouth.
He could have sworn she'd only been there five minutes, and yet, her bowl was nearly polished off. Did it really take that long for him to think?
"Yeah, sorry. Thanks for inviting me, though, Captain Peanut Butter! And Private, the dinner was great. I wish I had the chance to get the recipe from you..."
With that, she forced yet another smile, and walked up onto the floe. Oh... That hadn't at all been eventful in any way. But it was still nice to get to spend one more night with them...
***
The four penguins hurridly huddled into a circle together.
"So what's up with her?" Skipper asked his team, though it sounded more like a demand. That, and, he tried convincing himself, that it was also a test of their interrogation and investigation skills. But mostly, he just wanted to know if he was the only one who was missing something here.
"She keeps on saying stuff about, "Oh, I'll get used to it. Oh, you've been a good friend. Oh, I have an early morning tomorrow. She's acted out of terms in very melodramatic fashions here lately, and she refuses to look us in the eye for long periods of time. What do you boys suspect?"
"Um..." Kowalski started.
"She's... uh... Lost her marbles and has gone completely nutzo?"
Skipper could only face-palm himself. Where'd Kowalski pull that one out of anyways? Well, maybe he was right, but he just couldn't believe in that theory so much. Or so easily. Or in any way, actually. Marlene was a very down-to-eart girl; it took a lot to drive her into total insanity.
"Private? Rico? What do you think?"
The pair glanced at each other with unimpressed expressions, and began to push Skipper towards the ladder forcefully. It wasn't at all an easy task considering their leader was "all muscle". Not that they doubted that for a second. That, and he was probably the most stubborn being they had ever met.
"What the hell are you doing?!" the captain screeched in protest, glaring at his subordinates. They ignored him.
"YOU go talk to her before she leaves! You know her better than any of us; If anyone can find out what's making her like this, it's you! You or Julien-" Private cut himself off at the lemur's name, with a somewhat devious look on his face.
He'd known for quite some time how jealous Skipper was of Julien's power over all the animals in the zoo; how the ring-tail could just persuade them with the temptations of fun and play and nonsense, while Skipper repelled them with semi-logical reason and safety and discipline. Especially when it came to Marlene, who seemed impressed with the way the lemur lived life to the fullest, completely oblivious to what the word, "danger" even meant. And the private knew Skipper thought that it wasn't fair at all. This was HIS zoo long before it was Julien's. These were HIS civilians... Marlene... was his friend... Wasn't she?
Skipper didn't have to think about it for a second before he snarled,
"FINE, I'll do it. Will ya stop with the Julien thing already? I think my ears are starting to bleed!"
"Well then get up there! Now, soldier!" Private nearly giggled, only to have Skipper turn around and glare at him again.
Private held his flippers up in mock surrender. "Kidding, sir, kidding!"
Skipper merely let out a groan and hopped onto the ladder, climbing his way up onto the floe as fast as he could manage. A part of him deep down inside was hoping Marlene wouldn't be gone just yet.
As he stepped onto the cold rock surface of the floe, he immediately began searching around for Marlene. It only took a second for him to realize that she was still on the floe, sitting at its edge, kicking her legs and dipping her toes in the salty water. What in the world could she still be doing here?
"Marlene?" he asked. The otter spun around to face him, a terrified look on her face.
"What are you still doing here? I thought you said you had an early morning?"
"Skipper? ...I-I do... I just..."
"You've "just" got to stop this, is what you've got to do!" Skipper snapped angrily, taking his place beside her.
"You're driving us all insane with these impossible antics and the mood swings and the riddles!! We may be a professionally trained elite strike force, Marlene, skilled in investigation and intuition, but that doesn't mean we can figure everything out. We're not so smart sometimes, in case YOU haven't already figured that out. And, Private excluded, we all pretty much suck with emotions. We can't decipher your el grande problemo with just the snap of a flipper. Doesn't work that way, niña."
Marlene stared at him wide-eyed. Partially because she didn't expect him to tease her like this... in Spanish, either. Her expression then softened and she cocked her head at the penguin before her.
"Skipper..." Her voice rang like a bell in his ears.
She buried her face in her knees, her tail curled around her feet, her voice trembling as she spoke again.
"I'm just so confused, is all... I never meant to cause you the same feeling. Well, I guess I did really. But... I'm just... scared... of tel-" She caught herself before the next word escaped her mouth, and changed subject.
"You were right, you know."
"Right?" Skipper echoed, cocking one non-existant brow. What did she mean?
"Right about what?"
Marlene looked up at him with those big, hazel eyes of hers, and as he looked into them, he couldn't tell if the stars reflected were dancing around in them, or if she was on the verge of tears. An uncomfortable chill surged down his spine at that very thought. No. Not Marlene... Not in front of him, anyways.
"I-I am cute and naive... Just like you said... I'm ignorant and young and foolish and incompetent and stupid and..." she choked out.
Skipper stared out her in confusion. Never before had she been so emotional in front of him. She had never shown weakness in front of him. She had never admitted to being any of the things he had called her, all the things he had only teased her about... at least in front of him. Didn't she know how smart he thought she was? How he and everyone else looked up to her? How they ran to her when all they needed was a good friend and some reassurance? How... how much of an amazing person she was in general? Who ever told her that being cute and naive was a bad thing?
Oh, something was terribly, horribly, utterly wrong.
"Marlene." He firmly grabbed the otter by the shoulders and made her look him in the eyes. She had to understand.
"Listen to me: You are none of those things, I was just teasing, but God knows how wron-"
"Yes, I am! And you know it!"
"Shush. That's enough. But you'd better listen to me, understood? You are gonna tell me what's wrong right here, right now, or so help me, I will tie you to a chair with chains and use Kowalski's machine on you. Do you understand?"
There was a long silence before Marlene yanked herself out of Skipper's grip in hot irritation.
"Don't touch me... Because, yes, I do understand. But I know you wouldn't. I'm scared Skipper... Haven't you figured that out yet? I mean, I feel like it's just the wrongest thing to get you caught up in this, and I'm not sure if it's for better or for worse here!" she cried, her paws pressed to her temples and her claws unsheathed.
God, maybe Kowalski was right. Maybe she WAS losing it... And he couldn't decide who was really the dellusional one in this Whacko Triangle.
Skipper removed his flipper from her shoulder and sat up straight, watching and listening intently to her every move and word. He then spoke up.
"What could you possibly be scared of? The boys and I are here to protect you."
"Who said I needed protection?!" she snapped.
Skipper flinched away from her. This was getting ridiculous... Ridiculously dramatic, too. He felt as if he was living in a Spanish Novella...
"Uh, last time I checked, YOU did, when you just admitted how very vunerable you are." He frowned at her. Women and their mood swings! Good Lord! Was she in heat or something?!
Marlene's fur prickled angrily, and she fluffed out her tail. Oh, she could have just slapped him! Didn't he understand a thing after all the hints she had dropped on him and the team like atomic bombs? How hard was it to comprehend?
The air was overly tense as the two glared into each others' eyes. This was getting them no where at all... Not that either one of them was taking this into account.
"It's too late to fix this anyways. So just give it up." Marlene spat. She knew that Skipper, however, would never back down without a fight, but her chances of winning were still fifty-fifty.
As she expected, he hissed back, "No! Marlene, I don't see what could be such a big deal. Are you pregnant or something what with all these mood swings?!"
That was Marlene's last straw. Pregnant?! Idiot!
She lunged at him and pinned him to the ground, and he could have sworn her blood-shot eyes looked almost the same as they did the last time she had been outside the zoo's walls, where she had gone completely wild. It wasn't a pleasant sight, and that very day still haunted him.
Of course, he found some pride in the fact that he was the only animal in existance who could make her this angry.
The otter ran her sharp claws across his cheek, gentle enough so as not to injure him, though she wished with all her might that she could...
She inhaled deeply, and finally admitted,
"Not yet."
Marlene poked her head out from the HQ's doorway to find Skipper, Rico, and Kowalski sitting at the table, being served by Private a strange-looking food with such a delicious scent that it made her mouth begin to water.
A smile graced her lips as she saw there was a fifth plate. Skipper really HAD been expecting her to come! Then again... she really wouldn't have missed coming for the world...
"Knock, knock." the otter chimed, leaning against the doorway with her brows arched casually. "Guess who?"
All four penguins leapt up in suprise, until their eyes came to rest on their female companion. They all flopped back into their seats at this point and continued eating and talking about some incident that happened the other day. Something about Skipper and Kowalski having an argument over leadership strategies? Funny. She thought they were friends, and therefore, never really had any problems... Oh, well; Never say never.
"Oh, Marlene...!" Private sighed in relief. "Oh, it's just you!"
Marlene only smiled. Well of course it was her!
"Heh, who'd you THINK it was? Julien? With THIS body? ...Then again, I wouldn't doubt it at times..."
"Well don't just stand there, you! Have a seat!"
The young penguin laughed, his eyes shining happily. He then took his own seat beside Skipper and began to eat.
Marlene greeted Kowalski and Rico, and they happily returned it with simple, "Hi, Marlene!"s. Skipper only gave her a smile, in which she could only consider herself lucky he even gave her. She then assumed her seat beside Rico as Kowalski started boasting about his new invention.
"...Yes, at first, I planned on making it another love-obtaining device that simply acted as a GINORMOUS Cupid's Arrow. However, I've managed to convert its purpose into one that erases memory; short-term, long-term, you name it! Blah! All you have to blah do is set the blah knob to the blah desired blah and blah blah blah! This will surely come in handy for blah blah enemy blahs and suppossed spy blah blah! There are, blah, however, a few blah kinks in the blah energy-siphoning blah blah blah part of the blah machine that blah drains the body off all vital blah fluids, causing paralysis in blah blah sixty minutes blah, and it also blah causes the brain to blah release blah the victim's deepest, darkest blah blah secrets in the simple blah fact that that person's blah memory has to blah blah go somewhere."
The scientist explained. Marlene found her mind wandering off as he did so, but she came to, with amusment, when he remembered one tiny, important detail...
"Oh, I forgot! In men, it uh... also causes impetance."
Skipper quickly covered Private's ears, his blue eyes stretched wide.
"Kowalski! Not in front of the private! You know better than that!"
Poor private was already lost with the whole conversation. What was impetence anyways? It sounded dangerous... And paralysis? Kowalski wanted to use THAT on poor Marlene? The nerve! And what about his Cupid? What did SHE have to do with ANY of this?
Kowalski gave a guilty grin and hurridly stuffed his beak with food to avoid further discussion, whilst Skipper only shook his head. Scientists... Ugh.
That aside, his gaze fell upon Marlene, and he could easily tell how she was, if anything, partially forcing a smile. That... actually... made him hurt on the inside. Maybe... Maybe Kowalski had sent him to an alternate dimension again. Yeah, that must be it! Because... this can't have been Marlene. Right? She was always smiling and having a good time. This Marlene wasn't... She was acting rather... Oh, what did the kids call it? Nemo? No, no, no... That was a captain- and a fish.... Emo? Yes, that was it. Very, very unhappy... And he just couldn't stand it.
Another part of him yanked his attention away from her and down to his plate of cassorole, his heart hardening. Pft! What the hell was he thinking? She was just being an emotional brat again. He didn't need this. He didn't have to DEAL with this. So he decided he wouldn't. There. It was that simple.
But... NO!... But... She was his... He couldn't let her... GAH!! Why?! Skipper was just about to pull his feathers out in frustration when Marlene spoke up.
"Um... so, I've really got to get going, you guys. I've got an early start tomorrow..." she said, trailing off into thought. She managed to shake herself out of her trance a few seconds later, and stood up.
"So soon?" Skipper accidentilly let escape from his mouth.
He could have sworn she'd only been there five minutes, and yet, her bowl was nearly polished off. Did it really take that long for him to think?
"Yeah, sorry. Thanks for inviting me, though, Captain Peanut Butter! And Private, the dinner was great. I wish I had the chance to get the recipe from you..."
With that, she forced yet another smile, and walked up onto the floe. Oh... That hadn't at all been eventful in any way. But it was still nice to get to spend one more night with them...
***
The four penguins hurridly huddled into a circle together.
"So what's up with her?" Skipper asked his team, though it sounded more like a demand. That, and, he tried convincing himself, that it was also a test of their interrogation and investigation skills. But mostly, he just wanted to know if he was the only one who was missing something here.
"She keeps on saying stuff about, "Oh, I'll get used to it. Oh, you've been a good friend. Oh, I have an early morning tomorrow. She's acted out of terms in very melodramatic fashions here lately, and she refuses to look us in the eye for long periods of time. What do you boys suspect?"
"Um..." Kowalski started.
"She's... uh... Lost her marbles and has gone completely nutzo?"
Skipper could only face-palm himself. Where'd Kowalski pull that one out of anyways? Well, maybe he was right, but he just couldn't believe in that theory so much. Or so easily. Or in any way, actually. Marlene was a very down-to-eart girl; it took a lot to drive her into total insanity.
"Private? Rico? What do you think?"
The pair glanced at each other with unimpressed expressions, and began to push Skipper towards the ladder forcefully. It wasn't at all an easy task considering their leader was "all muscle". Not that they doubted that for a second. That, and he was probably the most stubborn being they had ever met.
"What the hell are you doing?!" the captain screeched in protest, glaring at his subordinates. They ignored him.
"YOU go talk to her before she leaves! You know her better than any of us; If anyone can find out what's making her like this, it's you! You or Julien-" Private cut himself off at the lemur's name, with a somewhat devious look on his face.
He'd known for quite some time how jealous Skipper was of Julien's power over all the animals in the zoo; how the ring-tail could just persuade them with the temptations of fun and play and nonsense, while Skipper repelled them with semi-logical reason and safety and discipline. Especially when it came to Marlene, who seemed impressed with the way the lemur lived life to the fullest, completely oblivious to what the word, "danger" even meant. And the private knew Skipper thought that it wasn't fair at all. This was HIS zoo long before it was Julien's. These were HIS civilians... Marlene... was his friend... Wasn't she?
Skipper didn't have to think about it for a second before he snarled,
"FINE, I'll do it. Will ya stop with the Julien thing already? I think my ears are starting to bleed!"
"Well then get up there! Now, soldier!" Private nearly giggled, only to have Skipper turn around and glare at him again.
Private held his flippers up in mock surrender. "Kidding, sir, kidding!"
Skipper merely let out a groan and hopped onto the ladder, climbing his way up onto the floe as fast as he could manage. A part of him deep down inside was hoping Marlene wouldn't be gone just yet.
As he stepped onto the cold rock surface of the floe, he immediately began searching around for Marlene. It only took a second for him to realize that she was still on the floe, sitting at its edge, kicking her legs and dipping her toes in the salty water. What in the world could she still be doing here?
"Marlene?" he asked. The otter spun around to face him, a terrified look on her face.
"What are you still doing here? I thought you said you had an early morning?"
"Skipper? ...I-I do... I just..."
"You've "just" got to stop this, is what you've got to do!" Skipper snapped angrily, taking his place beside her.
"You're driving us all insane with these impossible antics and the mood swings and the riddles!! We may be a professionally trained elite strike force, Marlene, skilled in investigation and intuition, but that doesn't mean we can figure everything out. We're not so smart sometimes, in case YOU haven't already figured that out. And, Private excluded, we all pretty much suck with emotions. We can't decipher your el grande problemo with just the snap of a flipper. Doesn't work that way, niña."
Marlene stared at him wide-eyed. Partially because she didn't expect him to tease her like this... in Spanish, either. Her expression then softened and she cocked her head at the penguin before her.
"Skipper..." Her voice rang like a bell in his ears.
She buried her face in her knees, her tail curled around her feet, her voice trembling as she spoke again.
"I'm just so confused, is all... I never meant to cause you the same feeling. Well, I guess I did really. But... I'm just... scared... of tel-" She caught herself before the next word escaped her mouth, and changed subject.
"You were right, you know."
"Right?" Skipper echoed, cocking one non-existant brow. What did she mean?
"Right about what?"
Marlene looked up at him with those big, hazel eyes of hers, and as he looked into them, he couldn't tell if the stars reflected were dancing around in them, or if she was on the verge of tears. An uncomfortable chill surged down his spine at that very thought. No. Not Marlene... Not in front of him, anyways.
"I-I am cute and naive... Just like you said... I'm ignorant and young and foolish and incompetent and stupid and..." she choked out.
Skipper stared out her in confusion. Never before had she been so emotional in front of him. She had never shown weakness in front of him. She had never admitted to being any of the things he had called her, all the things he had only teased her about... at least in front of him. Didn't she know how smart he thought she was? How he and everyone else looked up to her? How they ran to her when all they needed was a good friend and some reassurance? How... how much of an amazing person she was in general? Who ever told her that being cute and naive was a bad thing?
Oh, something was terribly, horribly, utterly wrong.
"Marlene." He firmly grabbed the otter by the shoulders and made her look him in the eyes. She had to understand.
"Listen to me: You are none of those things, I was just teasing, but God knows how wron-"
"Yes, I am! And you know it!"
"Shush. That's enough. But you'd better listen to me, understood? You are gonna tell me what's wrong right here, right now, or so help me, I will tie you to a chair with chains and use Kowalski's machine on you. Do you understand?"
There was a long silence before Marlene yanked herself out of Skipper's grip in hot irritation.
"Don't touch me... Because, yes, I do understand. But I know you wouldn't. I'm scared Skipper... Haven't you figured that out yet? I mean, I feel like it's just the wrongest thing to get you caught up in this, and I'm not sure if it's for better or for worse here!" she cried, her paws pressed to her temples and her claws unsheathed.
God, maybe Kowalski was right. Maybe she WAS losing it... And he couldn't decide who was really the dellusional one in this Whacko Triangle.
Skipper removed his flipper from her shoulder and sat up straight, watching and listening intently to her every move and word. He then spoke up.
"What could you possibly be scared of? The boys and I are here to protect you."
"Who said I needed protection?!" she snapped.
Skipper flinched away from her. This was getting ridiculous... Ridiculously dramatic, too. He felt as if he was living in a Spanish Novella...
"Uh, last time I checked, YOU did, when you just admitted how very vunerable you are." He frowned at her. Women and their mood swings! Good Lord! Was she in heat or something?!
Marlene's fur prickled angrily, and she fluffed out her tail. Oh, she could have just slapped him! Didn't he understand a thing after all the hints she had dropped on him and the team like atomic bombs? How hard was it to comprehend?
The air was overly tense as the two glared into each others' eyes. This was getting them no where at all... Not that either one of them was taking this into account.
"It's too late to fix this anyways. So just give it up." Marlene spat. She knew that Skipper, however, would never back down without a fight, but her chances of winning were still fifty-fifty.
As she expected, he hissed back, "No! Marlene, I don't see what could be such a big deal. Are you pregnant or something what with all these mood swings?!"
That was Marlene's last straw. Pregnant?! Idiot!
She lunged at him and pinned him to the ground, and he could have sworn her blood-shot eyes looked almost the same as they did the last time she had been outside the zoo's walls, where she had gone completely wild. It wasn't a pleasant sight, and that very day still haunted him.
Of course, he found some pride in the fact that he was the only animal in existance who could make her this angry.
The otter ran her sharp claws across his cheek, gentle enough so as not to injure him, though she wished with all her might that she could...
She inhaled deeply, and finally admitted,
"Not yet."