Discovering Light in a Box

A/N: This is based off part of the PoM episode "A Kipper for Skipper" (Season 3)

Disclaimer: I don't own Penguins of Madagascar. I hope that's clear.

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Just when Rico thought he had the kipper captured, Private tackled him from behind and the fight commenced! Rico tried to toss a box at Private, but dropped it when Private punched him in the gut. The box fell on top of them, and soon they were tussling inside the box. Neither noticed when Kowalski slipped by to go get the fish for Skipper, which is unfortunate, because had they heard him and jumped out of that box they wouldn't  have been caught by surprise when a human unknowingly taped the box shut as they wrestled inside.

Private stopped when the box was taped shut. "Rico?" Rico froze with his flipper inchs from Private's face. "Why did it suddenly get dark?" Rico pulled his flipper away and looked around at the pitch black inside the tiny box. It wasn't big enough for them to sit up in, or even move from the position they were stuck in. He felt his face grow slightly warmer as he realized the awkward position he was in with the young Private. "Rico?" Private spoke softly, and the elder penguin could hear the slight panic laced in his voice. Rico grumbled out something, and pushed at the box walls. Just flimsy cardboard. He could get them out of there easy if he had enough space to hurk up something, but if he tried it would just land on top of Private, possibly hurting the younger, or get stuck in his own throat. Better be safe and not do that now.

"Humans..." Rico grumbled. In his own way, he was trying to comfort and explain the situation to Private. "Too small..." He pushed again at the box.

"The humans trapped us in here, and it's too small of a space for you to use your up-chucking abilities to get us out?" Private asked, and Rico nodded before he realized Private can't see that.

"Uh-huh."

"Could you atleast be able to get us some light?" Private asked in such a quiet and adorable tone. Rico thought for a moment. Did he have anything small enough that would fit in there and give them some light? Yes, he did! Not a moment later something tiny, and a tad slobber, fell on top of Private's chest. It began to glow a moment after. "Is that...Is that my old night light?" The Private questioned as he gazed at the purple lunacorn nightlight.

"...Uh-huh." Rico averted his gaze, because now Private could see what the other penguin's expression was with the small light.

Private shifted a tiny bit, and managed to squeeze his flipper up between them to grasp the light. "I got rid of this years ago. Why do you have it?" Rico shrugged the best he could in the small space. The truth was that Rico had found that light when Private was younger, and even more wimpy than now, so when the young penguin didn't want the nightlight anymore he snuck it away to keep as a memory. He was brought back to reality when he saw a smile slip onto Private's face. "You kept it all these years..."

Rico kept his face as hidden from the light as possible. He didn't want Private to see the awkward look on his face, and feel offended by accident. "Yup." That was all he could manage to say. The older penguin was down right shocked though, when Private leaned up the short distance and nuzzled his beak against the side of Rico's face. His face began to burn a little more at the contact, but instead of being nauseated as usual he felt a somewhat pressure in his stomach. Like a restless feeling, or something squeezing his insides. It felt strangely familiar.

When Private pulled away from the nuzzling he had a sad frown on his face. "What have we been doing today?" Rico was about to respond when Private continued. "This whole time, all we've been doing is fighting for that silly fish, so that we could have a day off. The week was supposed to called Team week, but we haven't been acting like a very good team have we?"

"Nu-uh." Rico shook his head.

"Kowalski probably has the kipper already, and is bringing it to Skippah right now. While we're trapped here for who knows how long..." Rico began to panic when he saw tiny tear drops forming in the Private's eyes. He knew the young penguin was sensitive, and cried over many things, but he still hated seeing him cry. Especially when this mess was both of their faults.

"No..." Rico grumbled as he shifted his weight onto only one of his flippers. Private looked confused, but tears were still growing bigger in his baby blue orbs. "...No cry." He got his flipper by Private's beak right as a tear managed to escape those big blue eyes. Rico silently wiped the couple of tears from Private's face, and the young penguin had a small smile on his beak.

"I'm sorry... I don't mean to be so mushy. You must be feeling quite nauseated right now, because of me." Private spoke as he blinked away the rest of the lingering tears.

Rico shook his head. "Nu-uh."  Private looked at him in confusion. He struggled to find the right words to explain the different feeling he had in his belly. "...Squeeze feeling." The young penguin took a minute to try at figure out what that meant. "Here." He pointed at his belly to help Private understand.

"You have a squeezing feeling in your belly?" Private guessed, and Rico nodded. "Does it hurt?"

Rico shook his head. "Nu-uh...Nice."

"A nice, squeezing feeling in your belly...hmmm." A moment later Private's face started to burn a little from a thought that he had. Rico couldn't possibly...No, it's Rico. Besides, he only has eyes for Ms. Perky. "Rico... Is it the same feeling you get when you're...Around Ms. Perky?" Private asked hesitantly.

Ms. Perky! Of course, that's why it felt familiar. Rico always felt all mushy, and light when he was with her. He also felt the same squeezing in his stomach when he was with his pretty doll. "Uh-huh." Now, he just wondered what that meant. If he has the same feelings for Private that he has for Ms. Perky... Rico blinked wide eyes as he recalled what that meant. He loved Ms. Perky, that's why he felt the way he did about her, so did that mean that he loved Private in the same way?

Private was stuttering, and babbling like a fool at the time. This news was a complete shock to him. He had always known he was a bit different from his fellow penguins in the sense of love choices, and admitted to himself that he might have a slight fancy for the older penguin with him now, but never did he believe that Rico would end up the same way. Even if Rico had no idea what the feeling meant, or so Private thought. The young penguin wished he knew what to do at that moment, but it seemed Rico was taking care of that.  "Rico? What're you doing?"

"Shhh..." Rico just shushed Private as he leaned closer to the bird. He had to try something, anything, just to see if it was true, so he gently nuzzled Private in the same manner that Private had done earlier. When the squeezing feeling got stronger, and Private didn't protest, he softly stroked the younger bird's feathers. A small sound came from Private, like a coo, and it encouraged Rico to take the finally leap to discovering if he really did love the penguin in front of him. Private's eyes went wide when Rico connected their beaks in a soft, slow kiss. Rico made sure to draw it out, to get the full effect of the kiss, and the longer he held it, the more he knew that his assumption was right.

When Rico pulled away, Private opened his eyes and stared up at him. "R...Rico?" Rico nuzzled him again gently, and gave Private a kind smile. Private smiled. "I love you, too."

It was at that moment that the tiny box was ripped open from the top. Rico and Private shut their eyes at the bright sunlight, but when vision returned they found Skipper and Kowalski looking over the edge of the box. "Come on, boys. Break time's over for you three. We've got some serious training to do!"

When all four were safe on solid ground, Private turned to Skipper. "But Skippah, how did you know we were trapped?"

Skipper smirked. "I know everything about my boys, Private. Where they are, what they're doing, who they're seeing... Everything!" Private flushed, and Rico shifted awkwardly. "That and Kowalski guilt tripped himself after he left you two there."

Kowalski slapped his forehead with his flipper. "I should've just taken the fish instead of getting caught up with Officer X."

"You mean Fish Monger X." Skipper smirked. He saw Private and Rico's confused looks, and laughed. "That's a story for the next Team week. Now, come on, soliders. Let's move!" Skipper took off sliding down the street, and Kowalski was soon to follow. Rico and Private exchanged small smiles before joining them. Things were going to be much different around HQ now, but those two didn't care. It'd be worth it.