Chapter 1: Infrared Herring Toaster

"Pssssst. Francis." Kowalski poked his head around the corner. "Fraaaancis." He waddled in and over to the bed. "Fraaaanciiiiiis."

Dr. Blowhole lifted his head slightly and glanced towards him. "Whaaaat? I'm sleeping."

Kowalski stepped closer. "I finished it."

"Finished...Wha-That thing you were working on last night?" He yawned, stretching as he sat up.

"Yeah! It's ready to test!" He grinned. "I have it set up in the kitchen."

Blowhole nodded slowly. "Alright, meet you there."

Kowalski nodded and slid back out for the kitchen. There he waddled over to a small invention on the table. This device strongly resembled a toaster. He preemptively plopped two herrings into the device and then waited patiently.

Soon enough, Blowhole rolled in. He acknowledged Kowalski's existence with a slight nod but veered over to the coffee machine first. He plopped a pod in, popped it down, then rolled over to Kowalski while it did its thing.

"Alright, let's see this new doohikey."

Kowalski waved his flipper before it with his best Vanna White impression. "The Infrared Herring Toaster 2.0!"

"A herring toaster."

"An infrared herring toaster." He pushed down the lever and two herring disappeared into the toaster. "As you see, the herring will be evenly toasted unlike when using a conventional bread toaster."

Blowhole glanced over as he heard the coffee maker ping. He rolled back just enough to reach his mug and returned, taking a sip. "And I'm assuming you considered having multiple setting options?"

"Of course I made sure it had different heating options." He rolled his eyes as the herring popped up after a couple minutes. He picked up a pair of nearby tongs to fish the herring out and sat them on a plate. "See? Nicely toasted."

The dolphin leaned in closer to inspect it. "Yep. Nice and burnt."

"What?!" Kowalski looked at the herring himself again. "No! That's not burnt. That is sufficiently toasted."

"Sufficiently overdone perhaps."

"Alright, alright, so I'll cook yours at a lower setting." He turned the dial down.

Blowhole then reached over and turned the dial down even further. "That should be about right right there."

Kowalski squinted at this but nevertheless dropped two herrings into the toaster again and pressed them down. "While this cooks I'm going to-" He then is interrupted by the herring popping right back up. "Great cod that was barely in there!" He fished them out and looked at them. "These don't even look toasted!"

Blowhole looked down at them and nodded. "Looks right to me."

"It's barely even warm, Francis!"

"That's properly toasted herring."

"That's not toasted. I could have just sat the plate of herring by the toaster while the other batch toasted to get this warm."

"I can't help that you like your herring burnt. I like mine to still taste like fish, not char." He rolled his eye, getting the plate. "However, thank you for breakfast. Interesting invention. Nice to see it didn't catch fire this time." He took another sip of his coffee.

Kowalski grumbled something incomprehensible under his breath as he stepped over to pour himself another cup of tea. "You're welcome for your lightly warmed herring, Francis."

Blowhole glanced over at him. "Hope you enjoy your dry, flavorless herring crisp, Mittens." He swallowed one of herring. "Because my herring is fantastic."

"Mmmhmm." He rolled his eyes, moving the toaster from the table and then hopping up into a chair with his tea. "Glad to hear it."

"Anyway. Aren't you peng-u-ins going on some mission today?"

Kowalski sipped his tea and nodded. "Yeah. We'll be gone a few days at least."

"Can I get a few more substantial details?"

"Skipper would want me to say no, howerever-" He took a bite of herring and swallowed it. "I know you hate Dave too, so I have no problem sharing these details with you."

"The details being?"

"North Wind contacted us about a possible new lair of Dave's out in the Atlantic Ocean. We're going to sail out to the coordinates they think it is near and investigate."

"And I'm assuming if you find something that Skipper is having you guys infiltrate and destroy it?"

"Probably yeah." He nodded, sipping his tea. "There is no way he's just going to hand the mission back to North Wind if we find something. We may be on the same side, but we don't really get along."

"You don't say?" Blowhole tapped his rostrum thoughtfully. "Is that the team your ex is a member of?"

Kowalski sighed, nodding again. "Yeah. She was who sent me the mission details."

"Well have fun with that." He chuckled, shaking his head. "But be careful, alright?"

"I doubt we'll see anything, Francis. They have a horrible track-record of sending sucky coordinate estimations."

"Still. Be careful and come back alive. If you get yourself killed, I will kill you."

Kowalski squinted at him with a slight smile. "And how will that work exactly?"

"I'll figure it out if I must. But don't you make me have to, understand?"

"Alright, alright. I swear I'll be careful and come back alive and in one piece." He raised a flipper as he gave his oath. "Penguin's honor."

"Good." He finished his herring and coffee before getting both his and Kowalski's plates. "Now, shouldn't you take a nap or something before you need to go?"

Kowalski shook his head, stretching. "No, I'm fine. I'm not even tired."

"Did you sleep at all last night?"

"I took a ten minute nap around 0400."

Blowhole frowned at that. "And you're sure you're fine navigating an aquatic mission on such little sleep?"

"Oh yeah." He nodded, a serious but friendly smile on his beak. "It's not the first mission I've been a part of on little sleep and it won't be the last I'm sure."

"Fine..." He eyed him carefully. "So when do you need to go?"

"I was thinking of going after breakfast actually. It's going to take at least an hour to get back to the zoo and I need to double-check the sailboat to make sure she's still shipshape." He finished his tea and got his and Francis's cups, following the dolphin over to the dishwasher.

"Makes sense." He nodded, getting the cups from Kowalski and putting them in along with the plates.

"I'm going to go grab my things. You need anything before I do?" He looked up at him.

"Nah, go get your stuff. I'll see you at the door."

Kowalski nodded before sliding off to Francis's bedroom. He waddled over to the bedside table on the far side of the bed and pulled open a drawer. He took out his clipboard and pencil before closing the drawer and unplugging his phone charger and grabbing his phone. He puts these items on his feet, in his egg pouch, like usual and slid out of the room.

Blowhole was waiting by the door, flippers crossed, staring into space as he was thinking. However, he glanced over as he heard Kowalski's approach. "You got everything?"

"Phone, charger, notes, and pencil are all accounted for." He nodded.

"Alright, then I'll see you in a few days."

"I'll text you as soon as we're back in New York." He smiled.

"Okay." He nodded, leaning down closer to Kowalski's level.

The two exchanged a quick kiss before Kowalski stepped out the door. "Bye, Francis." He waved, then slid off to his car.