Skipper sighed. It was one of those slow days that just seemed to drag on forever without purpose or reason for doing so. The only thing that made it better was the fact that it was Saturday, so it wasn't like Skipper had anything else to do anyway other than wait for Marlene. Kowalski was inventing what he assumed would end up as more useless junk that would just explode and then clutter up his HQ until Kowalski found them again to fix. (It was a vicious cycle.) Private was watching his favorite tv show the lunacorns, Rico was sleeping, and Skipper was waiting to see Marlene.
The night before, the two had spent the evening together just having a normal conversation. They hadn't seen, but Julien had spied on them and then convinced everyone that they were in a serious relationship. Skipper was suspicious. There was no way Julien could've done all of that by himself. And for people to actually believe him? They must've already thought they were together in the first place.
The thought was horrifying to Skipper. He had to find a way to fix this.
Later That Day...
"I mean, who would've thought the otter and the penguin? Marlene is so nice, and Skipper is all bossy," Julien said. Skipper was ready to punch him. Kowalski, Rico and Private all had to hold him back in order to stop him from literally killing Julien.
"No, no! Please, let me at him! You know he deserves it!!! I'm gonna tear him limb from limb, then I'm going to put him back together, and do it all over again!!!" Skipper yelled. He struggled to free himself from the boys' grips. At one terrifying moment for all of them, Skipper actually got free. Fortunately for Julien, all Skipper managed to do before the boys got ahold of him again was push Julien to the ground. He didn't cause any major injuries.
"No, no!!!" Skipper kept struggling.
"It is kind of obvious when you think about it Skipper." Kowalski said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Skipper asked, suddenly horrified. What if it really was meant to be between him and Marlene?
Skipper suddenly felt like it was hard to breathe.
"I mean, you two are total opposites. Opposites attract. Sometimes. It makes sense." Kowalski said. "But I'm guessing that's not what you want to hear right now." Skipper glared at him.
The Next Day...
Skipper groaned. He dragged his flipper down his face - he was already getting a headache. Julien had been jumping on his bouncy castle all morning screaming: "Skipper and Marlene sittin' in a tree - k-I-s-s-I-n-g!" And it was driving him absolutely CRAZY. What was worse was that some of the other animals occasionally joined in in the mocking.
"We have to shut him up! We are not in a relationship!" Skipper snapped. He slammed his fist on the table. For a moment, he could see a hint of ... something, in Marlene's gaze, but it quickly vanished as she started speaking.
"I know," Marlene sighed. "I mean, I never would have even thought about dating you... we are just friends right?" Marlene glanced at Skipper.
"Of course," Skipper reassured her.
"Right..." Marlene sighed. Skipper thought she almost sounded ... depressed, at the thought of them being 'just friends.'
Nah. It was probably just his overactive imagination and wishful thinking.
"I just don't know how we could convince people we're not in love. I mean, Julien never shuts up, so that's going to be a whole new problem we have to deal with too. Once we make sure people know we aren't dating, we have to make sure Julien keeps his mouth shut." Marlene said.
"How are we even going to get the news out that we're not actually in a relationship in the first place? Also, how are we going to get it out of Julien's head? It's like you said, he just won't shut up about it." Skipper sighed. "And we need a plan fast - this mocking has already given me a migraine."
"I've got something, but it's challenging." Marlene said.
"I'm listening."
