As they crawled out of the fishbowl, Skipper began explaining what the training would be about.
"So today, we are working on trust exercises." He began, looking at his team. "First, one person lets themselves fall, and trust the other to catch them, and vice versa. Secondly, one person gets a blind fold, and the other has to guide them though a series of hazards, which I'll set out in a bit." Skipper finished, looking thoughtful. "Now since there's 5 of us, one group will have to be in a three, so Rico, and Private, your with me, and Emma and Kowalski can be a pair." Skipper decided.
Emma and Kowalski glanced at each other shyly. They went over to a more spacious bit of the island.
"Ok, who should fall first?" Emma asked, looking up at the slightly taller penguin.
"I'll go first." Kowalski said, closing his eyes. Emma quickly got behind him. He let himself fall, and Emma caught him, blushing at the same time.
He's really warm. She thought, trying not to smile. Kowalski got up and smiled at her.
"Ok, your turn." Kowalski said looking cheerful. Emma nodded and closed her eyes. She let herself fall back, and she suddenly felt, an increasing warmth all around her, filling her body, making her feel safe and at home. She didn't want to move, but she didn't want to seem weird either, so she got up, and smiled at Kowalski.
"Hey Skips where are the hazards?" Emma called, just as Skipper was about to catch Rico. Skipper looked up, and Rico fell backwards and slammed on the floor.
"Watasthat?!?!?!" (What was that?!?!?!) Rico squawked at Skipper angrily.
Emma bit the inside of her mouth, trying to stop herself from laughing.
"Sorry Rico." Skipper apologised to his brother.
"Hmppfff." Rico grumbled.
Emma looked at Private, and saw that a smile was tugging at his mouth. She grinned at him.
"I'll set out the hazards now." Skipper eventually replied. He looked at Rico expectantly, who threw up loads of bits of equipment. Skipper made two little courses. Emma gazed at her and Kowlaksi's course curiously. First the had to walk through a rope ladder, then jump over a step. Then they had to crawl through a tunnel, and walk around lots of little poles. Then, at the end they had to get on one end of a see-saw and walk across it. Emma's eyes widened.
"And he expects us to do that blindfolded?" Emma asked Kowalski disbelievingly.
"Apparently so." Kowalski replied, looking at the course with a bit of wonder too. "But I'm sure we'll be able to get through easily, with each others help." Kowalski added, flashing a sweet smile at Emma, who tried not to go red.
"Ok, I'll go first this time." Emma decided, getting a blindfold off Rico, and walking to the start of the course. Se tied it around her eyes, and Kowalski took her flipper shyly, and a happy shiver went down Emma's spine and coursed through her whole body.
"So I'll help guide you through this, and tell you when something's coming up." Kowalski explained. Emma nodded quickly.
"Ok, so walk forward...... and stop." Kowalski said. "There's a ladder bit here, so just step over the rung. Emma stepped over the rung, and Kowalski guided her through the ladder.
"There's a step here Em." Kowalski warned, as they finished the ladder part. Emma jumped over the step carefully. "Ok we're up to the tunnel so crouch down, and keep crawling until I saw stop." Kowalski advised, letting go of her flipper a little reluctantly. Emma began crawling through, and Kowalski went to the other side to see her come out. He saw her crawl out of the other end. "Ok, stop crawling." He said, helping her up, and taking her flipper again. Emma smiled up at him, and he smiled back, even though she couldn't see him.
"We've only got the poles and the see-saw right?" Emma asked, walking up to the poles slowly.
"Yes." Kowalski answered, as he guided her through the poles, surprisingly quickly. As they approached the see-saw, Kowalski guided Emma onto it carefully. "Ok, so just take this slowly." He advised helping her walk along cautiously. Emma came down completely fine, ad took her blindfold off excitedly. Kowalski let go of her flipper.
"That was so much fun!" Emma exclaimed happily, looking back at the course. "It's your go now." Emma said to Kowalski handing him the blindfold.
"Thanks Em." Kowalski replied cheerfully, as they walked back to the start of the course, and began again.
Out of the corner of his eye, Private was watching jealously. Why couldn't Skipper pair me up with Emma, instead of with him and Rico? He thought darkly.
Meanwhile Emma and Kowalski had made it through most of the course and they were at the see-saw. Emma helped Kowalski onto the see-saw and walked him across carefully. But at the last minute, the see-saw jerked, and Kowalski fell off, landing right on top of Emma. It took both of them a few seconds to gather themselves before they realised what had just happened. There beaks were inches away from each other. They were that close, that Emma could see her reflection in Kowalski's deep blue eyes. Kowalski quickly got up, and helped Emma up. Emma's heart felt like it was beating at a million miles an hour, and she struggled to breathe. Kowalski went very red.
"So, we both got through the course ok, it was just the stupid see-saws fault at the end." Emma managed, pushing a bit of her hair back, and braving to look at Kowalski.
"Yeah, that went pretty well." Kowalski agreed, smiling at her, and acting like that last bit didn't happen. They walked over to Skipper, Rico and Private, who were just finishing.
"So how did yours go?" Skipper asked.
"Very well actually, we only slipped up on the see-saw at the end, because the it jerked." Emma explained.
"That's good then." Skipper remarked. Then they continued with various bits of training, and entertained the zoo visitors when they came. When they finished they had the whole day ahead of them. Private walked up to Emma shyly.
"Hey Emma do you want to meet the dog I was talking about yesterday?" Private asked, his light blue eyes shining with hope.
"Sure it sounds like fun. Let me just get my little bag." Emma replied cheerfully. She looked thoughtful, and the bag came whizzing out of the HQ and landed in her hand. She converted it into a backpack, and put it on her back. "Ok lets go." Emma said cheerfully.
"Yay." Private cheered.
"We'll see you three later." Emma called, smiling at them all. Then her and Private headed out to the park. Emma felt really excited, and her stomach filled with butterflies, and her heart started beating a little faster, as she strolled out of the zoo with Private.
"So today, we are working on trust exercises." He began, looking at his team. "First, one person lets themselves fall, and trust the other to catch them, and vice versa. Secondly, one person gets a blind fold, and the other has to guide them though a series of hazards, which I'll set out in a bit." Skipper finished, looking thoughtful. "Now since there's 5 of us, one group will have to be in a three, so Rico, and Private, your with me, and Emma and Kowalski can be a pair." Skipper decided.
Emma and Kowalski glanced at each other shyly. They went over to a more spacious bit of the island.
"Ok, who should fall first?" Emma asked, looking up at the slightly taller penguin.
"I'll go first." Kowalski said, closing his eyes. Emma quickly got behind him. He let himself fall, and Emma caught him, blushing at the same time.
He's really warm. She thought, trying not to smile. Kowalski got up and smiled at her.
"Ok, your turn." Kowalski said looking cheerful. Emma nodded and closed her eyes. She let herself fall back, and she suddenly felt, an increasing warmth all around her, filling her body, making her feel safe and at home. She didn't want to move, but she didn't want to seem weird either, so she got up, and smiled at Kowalski.
"Hey Skips where are the hazards?" Emma called, just as Skipper was about to catch Rico. Skipper looked up, and Rico fell backwards and slammed on the floor.
"Watasthat?!?!?!" (What was that?!?!?!) Rico squawked at Skipper angrily.
Emma bit the inside of her mouth, trying to stop herself from laughing.
"Sorry Rico." Skipper apologised to his brother.
"Hmppfff." Rico grumbled.
Emma looked at Private, and saw that a smile was tugging at his mouth. She grinned at him.
"I'll set out the hazards now." Skipper eventually replied. He looked at Rico expectantly, who threw up loads of bits of equipment. Skipper made two little courses. Emma gazed at her and Kowlaksi's course curiously. First the had to walk through a rope ladder, then jump over a step. Then they had to crawl through a tunnel, and walk around lots of little poles. Then, at the end they had to get on one end of a see-saw and walk across it. Emma's eyes widened.
"And he expects us to do that blindfolded?" Emma asked Kowalski disbelievingly.
"Apparently so." Kowalski replied, looking at the course with a bit of wonder too. "But I'm sure we'll be able to get through easily, with each others help." Kowalski added, flashing a sweet smile at Emma, who tried not to go red.
"Ok, I'll go first this time." Emma decided, getting a blindfold off Rico, and walking to the start of the course. Se tied it around her eyes, and Kowalski took her flipper shyly, and a happy shiver went down Emma's spine and coursed through her whole body.
"So I'll help guide you through this, and tell you when something's coming up." Kowalski explained. Emma nodded quickly.
"Ok, so walk forward...... and stop." Kowalski said. "There's a ladder bit here, so just step over the rung. Emma stepped over the rung, and Kowalski guided her through the ladder.
"There's a step here Em." Kowalski warned, as they finished the ladder part. Emma jumped over the step carefully. "Ok we're up to the tunnel so crouch down, and keep crawling until I saw stop." Kowalski advised, letting go of her flipper a little reluctantly. Emma began crawling through, and Kowalski went to the other side to see her come out. He saw her crawl out of the other end. "Ok, stop crawling." He said, helping her up, and taking her flipper again. Emma smiled up at him, and he smiled back, even though she couldn't see him.
"We've only got the poles and the see-saw right?" Emma asked, walking up to the poles slowly.
"Yes." Kowalski answered, as he guided her through the poles, surprisingly quickly. As they approached the see-saw, Kowalski guided Emma onto it carefully. "Ok, so just take this slowly." He advised helping her walk along cautiously. Emma came down completely fine, ad took her blindfold off excitedly. Kowalski let go of her flipper.
"That was so much fun!" Emma exclaimed happily, looking back at the course. "It's your go now." Emma said to Kowalski handing him the blindfold.
"Thanks Em." Kowalski replied cheerfully, as they walked back to the start of the course, and began again.
Out of the corner of his eye, Private was watching jealously. Why couldn't Skipper pair me up with Emma, instead of with him and Rico? He thought darkly.
Meanwhile Emma and Kowalski had made it through most of the course and they were at the see-saw. Emma helped Kowalski onto the see-saw and walked him across carefully. But at the last minute, the see-saw jerked, and Kowalski fell off, landing right on top of Emma. It took both of them a few seconds to gather themselves before they realised what had just happened. There beaks were inches away from each other. They were that close, that Emma could see her reflection in Kowalski's deep blue eyes. Kowalski quickly got up, and helped Emma up. Emma's heart felt like it was beating at a million miles an hour, and she struggled to breathe. Kowalski went very red.
"So, we both got through the course ok, it was just the stupid see-saws fault at the end." Emma managed, pushing a bit of her hair back, and braving to look at Kowalski.
"Yeah, that went pretty well." Kowalski agreed, smiling at her, and acting like that last bit didn't happen. They walked over to Skipper, Rico and Private, who were just finishing.
"So how did yours go?" Skipper asked.
"Very well actually, we only slipped up on the see-saw at the end, because the it jerked." Emma explained.
"That's good then." Skipper remarked. Then they continued with various bits of training, and entertained the zoo visitors when they came. When they finished they had the whole day ahead of them. Private walked up to Emma shyly.
"Hey Emma do you want to meet the dog I was talking about yesterday?" Private asked, his light blue eyes shining with hope.
"Sure it sounds like fun. Let me just get my little bag." Emma replied cheerfully. She looked thoughtful, and the bag came whizzing out of the HQ and landed in her hand. She converted it into a backpack, and put it on her back. "Ok lets go." Emma said cheerfully.
"Yay." Private cheered.
"We'll see you three later." Emma called, smiling at them all. Then her and Private headed out to the park. Emma felt really excited, and her stomach filled with butterflies, and her heart started beating a little faster, as she strolled out of the zoo with Private.
