The Lady in Blue, Ch 2: Courting a Princess

(Skipper x Julien. Pre-slash)

Skipper arrived at Marlene's place the following evening with a large bouquet of blue-tinged roses. The otter answered his knock and smiled as she caught sight of his red bow-tie and gleaming feathers. The penguin was really going all out for his date.

'Juliet, there's a special someone here to see you,' Marlene called over her shoulder.

Skipper perked to attention as the pretty lemur slipped out of the opening and into the golden light of the sunset. He was startled to find himself composing poetry in his mind at the sight of her delicate beauty. {Roses are red, violets are blue... "It was enchanting to meet you"...}

'These are for you,' the penguin held out the flowers and gave a (manly) giggle as the lemur took them, breathing in their exquisite scent.

'Why don't I put those in water for you while you two go on your date,' Marlene suggested, taking the bouquet from Juliet's arms and slipping back into her home before she gave in to the urge to giggle uncontrollably.

'Shall we?' Skipper offered his flipper to the lemur. Juliet stepped closer, her blue dress flowing around her legs softly as she took his flipper and gave him a sparkling smile. The penguin felt his heart melt into a puddle as he helped the lovely lady over the fence and out onto the walkway.

Skipper felt like the luckiest penguin in the world as he pointed out the various sights along the way and introduced the pretty lemur to the other animals. The evening just couldn't get any better than this.

The sun's light was tapering off in the distance when they finally approached the penguin habitat. Helping her across a plank to ensure she stayed safe and dry, the bird led her to the food-dish covered opening.

'And this is my base. Would you like to come inside for drink?' Skipper offered. Judith nodded, slipping down the ladder gracefully. The penguin followed, smiling as he watched the lemur gaze around his home quietly.

'Oh Juliet, you have no idea how special you are to me,' Skipper admitted aloud. At his words, the ring-tailed lemur turned to blink at him, clearly startled.

'I mean it. Ever since I met you, I haven't been able to think of anything else but you. You fill this soldier's heart of mine with a joy I have never before felt,' the penguin sighed, stepping closer to the female lemur. Their eyes met and Skipper gave into the temptation to sing her praises.

'You are the most enchanting person I have ever met. I want nothing more than to see you smile every single day of my life. When I am with you, my heart wants to explode with happiness. Oh Juliet...'

Suddenly, the lab door swung open and a loud 'Eurika!' echoed the room.

'Kowalski,' Skipper glared at the tall penguin standing in the doorway with a tube of green liquid. The scientist blinked at the pair and quickly tucked away the vial.

'I just remembered I have somewhere to be,' Kowalski muttered, racing out of the base and leaving the two alone once more.

'Now where were we..? Oh yes. Your fur is like the softest silk. Your lips are sweet, sun-kissed buttercups. Your eyes are like... er, like...' Skipper laughed awkwardly as his brain refused to function properly.

Watching the lemur give a silent, lady-like giggle, the penguin leader leaned forward, tilting his head up. His flippers took hold of her soft hands and she sighed, leaning down toward him. Beak and lips so close to touching when...

BOOM!

'Now what?' Skipper glared over Juliet's shoulder at the smoking hole that appeared in the wall. Out of the smoke rolled a familiar scooter.

'I have returned for my revenge!' the dolphin announced, smirking down at them.

'Blowhole!' Skipper pulled the female lemur behind him and stood protectively in front of her.

'Ah, a lady friend. My apologies, miss, but I have business with the pen-gu-in,' Blowhole commented smoothly, eyeing the beautiful lemur standing behind his arch-nemesis.

'Stop making eyes at my lady, mammal!' the penguin leader ordered.

'Maybe she'd rather date a more sophisticated animal,' Blowhole challenged, winking at the female.

'Yeah? Well, maybe she'd like to see you get your butt whooped by yours' truly,' Skipper growled.

'Clearly, she is far too cultured for a soldier like you, pen-gu-in. I, on the other flipper, am capable of giving her everything her little heart desires,' the dolphin announced, pressing a button on his scooter. Pulling an oyster shell from one of the hidden compartments, the evil genius forced it open and held it out.

'A single pearl? Lame. Everyone knows ladies prefer flowers to jewellery,' the penguin scoffed.

The penguin and dolphin continued to bicker back and forth. The bickering led to fighting and soon the pair were tussling on the ground. Neither noticed the look of agitation building on the lemur's face until she finally stood up and shrieked, 'ENOUGH!'

Skipper and Blowhole came to an abrupt stop, staring directly at the lemur in shock.

'I am not to be being a prize to be fought over. I can be making my own decisions,' Julien announced, storming out of the base. Silence echoed the room until the dolphin coughed.

'Why was Julien wearing a dress?' Blowhole blinked up at the penguin still staring wide-eyed at the open hole in the ceiling.

'I have no idea...' Skipper replied honestly, slipping off the dolphin's belly and waddling closer to the exit.

Blowhole rubbed his neck and finally commented, 'Look... help me back on my scooter and we'll pretend this never happened.'

Skipper nodded, his brain still filled with images of the adorable lemur who had stolen his heart, then smashed it to pieces on the floor.

'I cannot to be believing the nerve of those two,' Julien paced his habitat with his blue dress still billowing around his legs. The penguins and lemurs had paused their card game the minute the king had dropped over the fence and begun his rant.

'Which two?' Private finally asked, curious.

'The bossy penguin and that Blow-Joe guy,' Julien waved an arm dismissively, before resuming his pacing.

'Blowhole is in our base?' Kowalski looked about ready to faint at the news.

'Yeah. He came booming into the room and fighting with the bossy penguin over me,' the lemur king growled.

'Fifing ofeh ou?' Rico gave his teammates a shrug.

'You are not to be believing me? Here is the proof,' Julien held out the oyster the dolphin had pushed into his hands right before his fight with the bossy penguin.

'Oooh, is that an Abernathy Pearl?' Kowalski grabbed the oyster and examined the shiny pearl.

'Which one gave that to you?' Maurice asked, clearly amused.

'The dolphin-guy. The bossy penguin was wanting to be giving me flowers. But then they started with the fighting and the tussling and the trying to claim my royal booty for their own. NO! My royal booty belongs only to me! I am not some prize to be winning... actually, I am a prize, yes. But I am a King and should be courted properly,' Julien flung his tail over his arm and stormed off to "sulk" on his throne.

'Maybe we should go make sure Skipper is okay,' Kowalski decided, handing the oyster to Maurice.

The penguin trio dropped down into the base, one by one. Skipper sat dejectedly in the middle of the room, completely ignoring the giant hole in the wall.

'Skipper... are you alright?' Private ventured closer, touching his leader on the shoulder.

'Did you know?' Skipper whispered, staring at the ground.

'Know what?' Private asked.

'Did you know that Juliet was actually RING-TAIL!' Skipper leapt to his feet, screaming into Private's startled face.

'Um, well, uh...' the trio waddled awkwardly on their feet, searching for an answer that wouldn't anger their leader.

'So, it was all a set up,' Skipper dropped his head into his flippers and let out an unexpected sob.

'Oh Skipper. We weren't trying to hurt you. It's just that Julien was so upset that you'd been ignoring him lately and wanted to get your attention,' Private explained.

'I swear the cross-dressing thing was NOT our idea,' Kowalski added.

'How could I have been so blind? So fooled? So taken in by his disguise? I'm a failure as a commando,' Skipper threw himself over the table top and beat his wings onto it's hard surface.

'So... did Blowhole actually storm into our base and try to seduce Julien?' the scientist asked, examining the giant hole with interest.

'What? Oh yeah, he was here, but then he left. WHY? WHY did she have to be HIM? Cupid, you vindictive, winged human Why did you give me feelings for HIM?' Skipper shouted to the ceiling before breaking into sobs again.

'Skipper... love isn't something you can control. As Shakespeare said, "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind," Private commented, watching his commander's body slump over the table, all the fight gone from his limbs.

'Cupid certainly is a blind little maniac. Good trick, little winged one, but I'm not going to be swayed by golden eyes or delicate fur again. I swear that I shall never, NEVER love again,' Skipper jolted to his feet and stormed over to his bunk, hopping into it without another word and turning his back to the world.

'Shouldn't we repair the damage to the wall, Skipper?' Kowalski suddenly broke the silence.

'Do whatever you want. I'm getting some shut-eye,' Skipper groaned, refusing to turn around.

'All right then. Let's get to work, Rico,' the scientist ordered.

'Oh dear,' Private whispered under his breath, before slipping out of the base.

'So, you are saying that the bossy penguin is being heartbroken over my magnificent self?' Julien asked, turning onto his belly so he could watch the bird from the comfort of his throne.

'Skipper really liked Juliet. I just don't think it's right to play with someone's emotions like that,' Private exclaimed, ignoring the nervousness in his stomach.

'So, Skipper... the bossy penguin, has fallen in love with me,' Julien appeared to be thinking hard about that.

'I'm not actually sure if he still likes you, likes you. But... Oh, come on, Julien! You can't just break his heart like that. Don't you have any feelings at all?' Private stomped his foot and pouted.

'Feelings... for the bossy penguin... I will have to be thinking about that. You may go now, little penguin. Your king is thanking you for your information,' Julien shifted in his seat so he could stare up at the stars.

'Oh fine...' Private waddled off, grumbling under his breath.

{Hmmm... feelings for the bossy-penguin. He was being quite the gentleman when he was being with me. He treated me like a delicate flower and I have to admit that I was enjoying it quite a lot, at least until that Blow-Joe guy showed up and ruined the moment.

Well, it has been a while since I have courted a male... and he does have the prettiest of blue eyes}

Skipper was woken by the sound of soft music. Rolling over in his bunk, he was startled to find the lemur king standing in the middle of his base with a warm cup of joe held out to him, a fish tail sticking out of the dark liquid.

'Ring-tail? Who let you into our base at this unholy hour?' Skipper eyed the open hatch and noted that the music was coming from above.

'Ah hem... You begun the courtship ritual, so I have decided to be returning it,' Julien announced, pressing the cup into the penguin's startled flippers.

'Courtship ritual?' Skipper stared wide-eyed at the lemur.

'Yes. Even if you did not know that Princess Juliet was actually me, King Julien, you still proceeded to court her... me, I mean. This is very confusing, but no matter. I am still to be courting you now,' the lemur stated, grinning at the bird.

'Courting... what? Ring-tail, I was not courting you. I barely even like you,' Skipper growled, taking a sip from his cup.

'Ah, but you are admitting to liking me a little bit. And you were very interested in Princess Juliet,' golden eyes gleamed as the lemur made a show of flicking his tail around his shoulders like a boa.

'That was before I knew she was you. I still can't believe you pulled that prank off,' Skipper grumbled, glaring up at the mammal.

'Ah, but it was no prank. I was just wanting to be getting your attention and to be spending some time with you,' Julien leaned back against the table and continued to smile.

'Fine, you have my attention. But I'm not courting you and that's final,' the penguin leader announced, slamming his half-empty cup down on the table.

'Of course not. I have already said that I am to be courting you now,' Julien slipped closer, trailing a finger up the penguin's chest.

'And why should I allow you to court me, ring-tail?' Skipper glared into the lemur's eyes, refusing to back down.

'Because I am the King, so you do not have a choice in the matter. Also, I think you will enjoy being courted, my pretty-eyed penguin,' Julien winked, pressing a quick kiss to the bird's cheek.

Skipper felt his face heat up in an unwanted blush, before he pushed the lemur away.

'So, I will to be picking you up tonight for a stroll. Then perhaps dinner under the moonlight?' Julien smirked, giving the penguin one last glance before slipping out of the base.

Skipper was left staring at the open entrance-way in shock. {What the hell did I just agree to? Fine. One date, just one. And I refuse to fall for any of his lemur tricks. No way is Cupid getting his arrows into me again}

...the end...

Note: I just felt like writing a little Skipper x Julien slash. Actually, it's more pre-slash then full-on slash. (Julien and soft music? Maurice's idea since Skipper can barely stand their normal music) Sorry, not planning to continue it. Hope you enjoyed it!

Song suggestion: Enchanted (Owl Moon)