Unfortunate for the search to conclude in failure. Of course, one couldn’t complain when two of the three penguins that engaged the mission had been lacking in effort. The third penguin, Rico, had found something rather interesting. A gray crowbar partially stained with blood of seemingly unknown origin. Normally, the explosives expert tended to swallow any sort of object that sparked his interest, which, in this case, was so.

Now, at this point, Skipper and Kowalski really didn’t care for Private’s case, much to the small penguin’s delight. And then, typically, life went on as it had, previously. However, it didn’t go on as smoothly as Kowalski had hoped. In fact, nearly two hours after he, Skipper, and Rico returned from the search, the tall intellectual began to suffer from various thoughts that suddenly decided to flash in his mind. He was instantaneously feeling regret and anger for the way he had been treating Rico. He didn’t mean any harm, really. Rico simply caught him off guard…that was all.

What was he thinking?

Did this mean that Kowalski did, indeed, feel something for Rico? Had Rico presented his affection for the tall one in a more appropriate and stable manner, would Kowalski have returned the favor? This was all very confusing for him. He didn’t even possess evidence that Rico loved him in that manner. After all, there was also a possibility that Rico only wanted a close friend, as Kowalski had unintentionally mentioned, earlier.

It didn’t matter…

Whether or not Rico felt this way about Kowalski, Skipper didn’t want to see the two of them together. This also puzzled him. What harm was Rico possibly presenting with the showing of his strange affection for another teammate? Was Skipper trying to maintain some sort of image? This theory seemed believable. And with that, Kowalski chose to stick with it, simply in case Rico were to make another attempt at Kowalski.

During this moment of recollection, Rico had taken the time to make an unexpected appearance. Now, meanwhile, the tall penguin was sitting in front of the TV, watching some sort of science fiction film. The heavyset penguin had made his entrance from the left of Kowalski’s view and continued to slowly waddle along until he reached the midpoint between Kowalski and the television, where he stopped to turn towards the tense viewer. He appeared to have been blocking Kowalski’s view of the TV monitor, proving it very difficult to enjoy the film.

Sadly, just as Kowalski was going to ask him to step aside, Rico suddenly pounced forward, aiming to tackle Kowalski to the floor. In this case, he succeeded, pinning the tall one’s flippers in order to render him defenseless. Kowalski immediately began to struggle, finding it nearly impossible to compete against Rico’s crushing force. The strong penguin used this moment to his advantage and leaned closer to ruffle Kowalski’s feathers with the use of his beak. His beak started near Kowalski’s chest and ascended towards his neck…

Kowalski quickly shut his eyes at the sound of Rico’s chuckles, hoping that Skipper wouldn’t notice what was happening. It must have looked awful. It didn’t feel awful, though. Really, his only concern was whether or not their leader was witnessing the scene. Otherwise, Kowalski didn’t mind being victim to one of Rico’s loving embraces now and then. But…this wasn’t simply a loving embrace. It felt like much more.

Once again, Kowalski was near the brink of speaking when Rico smiled in a maniacal manner, leaning forward and nuzzling his beak with Kowalski’s. The shocked penguin made an attempt to verbally defend himself, only, Rico’s beak simply made everything so very difficult…and…comforting…

The tall penguin, now at the point of blushing, released a sigh of satisfaction and couldn’t help but smile from the soft noises that Rico was making. In response, Kowalski leaned forward as well, more than happy to return the favor. Following a restrained, nervous laugh, Kowalski brushed his beak with Rico’s. His mind was now a blur. He was no longer aware of his surroundings. He was longer certain if Skipper was watching or not. He no longer gave a shit about any of that…

Calculations?

Why bother with such nonsense in the first place? Why not leave the team for something better? Hell, why not leave the Zoo? New York City? Why not? It could have been for both he and Rico, anyway. Kowalski would finally leave his shell of pointless calculations and strategies. Why not?

Kowalski was nearly frightened by such thoughts that whirled in his mind. Why was he thinking this way? It wasn’t like him at all! He almost felt as though Rico was finally relieving him of his stress and frustration; his sexual frustration…

His sexual frustration!

His sexual frustration!

God, it felt good to finally loosen up and let go…

Kowalski, feeling like a new penguin, slid his once pinned flippers from underneath Rico’s and slowly allowed them to make their way to Rico’s sides. One of his flippers would then gently rub the back of the large penguin’s neck, while the other simply remained near Rico’s lower back.

Suddenly, Rico took things even further with a gentle thrust of his hips. This caused Kowalski to undergo strange sensations that he had never felt before. It almost felt like a drug. It certainly gave him a rush of adrenaline; he knew that much. Rico chuckled at Kowalski’s reaction and began to repeat the very same action again and again and once more and…

A flash of light…

Kowalski quickly opened his eyes and found himself sitting in front of the TV, just like before. The tall penguin was watching some sort of science fiction film. The heavyset penguin had made his entrance from the left of Kowalski’s view and continued to slowly waddle along. Only, this time, Rico didn’t stop. He didn’t tackle Kowalski in a loving embrace. Nor did he even glance at Kowalski. No, instead, Rico simply made his way in front of the TV and waddled away without stopping for anything. Kowalski sadly watched the heavyset penguin walk elsewhere, destroying his hopes of having a somewhat better experience in life.

After releasing a sigh, Kowalski’s eyes looked down at the notepad that he was holding the entire time.

Calculations…

The intellectual frowned and raised his brows, feeling his throat tighten; what usually happened when the penguin was near the brink of weeping.

“Kowalski! Get over here!” Skipper called from behind, causing Kowalski to shut his eyes in sadness. It felt so real. He was so close. He only wanted to experience it for himself.