"Why am I doing this again?" Skipper fought with the black band wrapped around his throat. Kowalski lent a flipper to hold it still.

"Because you can't be said to be dating Marlene until you actually go on a date. That's logic." Skipper finally got the bowtie fixed.

"Alright." He turned to face the others. "How do I look?"

"Great Skipper," Private enthused.

"Very debonair," Kowalski agreed. Rico whistled. Skipper looked at them sceptically before pulling off the bowtie.

"You're right. I look ridiculous."

"Not ridiculous…" Kowalski hedged.

"Different," Private suggested. Rico cocked his head to one side and simply agreed.

"Uh huh."

*

Over in Marlene's quarters, she'd already spent an hour trying on ribbons and trinkets. The ribbons all made her look like a baby and the trinkets seemed awkward and tacky. Eventually she'd settled on a simple chain that glittered prettily, though the weight of it was getting hard to ignore.

Now she was having doubts about the atmosphere she'd spent the rest of the day creating. Was it too much?

She'd convinced Julien to lend her his stereo for the evening and she'd 'borrowed' a CD from the zoovenir shop. It had had a picture of waves on the cover. She'd also snaffled stuff from the food court. She wasn't really familiar with plates and spoons and things and looking at the collection now she wondered if she'd overdone it. How many utensils did the people use for fish?

Her eye fell on the old bottle with the candle stuck in the top. When she'd scavenged it she thought it was perfect. Now… she wasn't so sure.

Just as she was about to throw the lot out and start again there was a loud knocking. For a moment she had no idea what it was, she was so used to the penguins simply bursting in. She almost fell over herself as she realised it was Skipper, knocking to come in.

"Oh! Skipper. Right on time." She smiled. His eye fell on her necklace.

"Ah. That's very pretty. I didn't…"

"Oh this. It's just something I found lying around." They stood awkwardly for another moment until Marlene remembered herself. "Oh! Come in." She led the way shyly back into her quarters. Why hadn't she listened to her sisters when they'd prattled on about their dates? What was she meant to do?

Skipper glanced round in surprise. The otter had clearly spent a long time preparing this. He suddenly felt he was out of his depth and wanted to call in back up. He mentally shook himself. He was being foolish. He'd spent nights on the town with girls before. As he turned he saw Marlene looking anxiously at him. A little voice in his head pointed out he'd never spent a night on the town with Marlene.

"This looks great." She visibly relaxed. He struggled to think of something else to say. What did Rico usually say to Lola? 'Rrrr'. That wouldn't work.

"Why don't we eat?" She gestured towards the table. He seated himself while she fetched the plates. "I saved these specially for tonight." He nodded as he surveyed the fish on his plate.

"Looks good." She sat opposite him and rather self-consciously picked up the fish to take a bite. Skipper glanced at the selection of spoons laid out on the table then back at the fish. Marlene watched anxiously.

"Go ahead and eat," she prompted. Skipper glanced up at her then back to the fish. In one movement he flipped the fish up and swallowed it down.

"Huh." Marlene stared. "I forgot you penguins did that." She looked again at her own fish, barely started.

"Don't mind me," Skipper assured her. Hesitantly she picked up the fish again while he scanned the room. After a few minutes silence he spoke again.

"These pictures are good. Is that your old zoo?" Marlene tried to swallow quickly and began choking. Skipper made to move but she gestured for him to sit still. Several deep coughs later she managed to choke out.

"Yes." He nodded and sat again in silence. She was about to pick up the fish again when she had an idea.

"Why don't you tell me about your travels? What was Antarctica like?"

"Cold." He thought desperately for something more to say and gave up. The repetitive sound of waves crashing was putting him on edge.

"This is ridiculous," he suddenly declared, making Marlene jump. "Nothing's changed between us. Why should we have to act differently? I mean, you feel the same about me, right?" Marlene smiled. The first genuine smile he'd seen on her all evening.

"You're still the same military minded, paranoid penguin you always were."

"And you're still a rebellious, forthright otter," he replied.

"And you wouldn't want me any other way."

"No," he smiled. "I wouldn't. This romantic malarkey doesn't suit either of us."

"I'm so glad you said that because this thing is killing me." She pulled off the chain from round her neck.

"Why don't we go for a spin instead?" Skipper gave her the kind of suggestive look she loved.

"Well that depends. Can I drive?"

"Marlene. It's a delicate procedure that requires a sensitive touch."

"I'll take that as a yes," she replied as she hurried past him.

"Wha… hey! Wait up!"

Moments later in the lemur habitat, Julien was awoken by a delighted squeal from Marlene as she and Skipper raced past.

"What in the world is that being?" he muttered as he saw the car swerve away round the corner.

I decided to name Rico's girlfriend for convenience sake. The name suggested itself after repeatedly listening to Copacabana on the soundtrack. Doesn't really fit with the song, but seemed to suit her.