Penguin Central

lotta iceboys 'round these parts

[pnguini]

gcdgetguy:

Gary sits in wait after Chief clapped his flippers, behind his spectacles eyes look around the room in confusion as nothing appeared to change. When mention of a door, he turns his head a little in its direction.  ❛ Ooh! Well, all right, then.  ❜   He stands up, about to head towards the door.   ❛ – It was nice to visit with you, and i appreciate the consolation.  ❜ He turns the doorknob in a smile at Chief before taking a step forward, with no floor to support him he free falls.

He falls out of the ceiling right onto Rookie’s desk, belly-flopping. Papers scatter everywhere, as he groans. 

“See-ya, G!” Chief waved as Gary exited the room, and soon was left with the realization that he would have to pick up all of the scattered cards off the floor. Again.  

In Rookie’s ‘office’, the papers that Gary had landed on looked as if they were made with a serious purpose, but it seems Rookie had just ended up doodling on them with crayon.  Rookie, in fact, happened to be doodling by the time Gary had fallen from the portal in the ceiling, which had appeared minutes prior. Most would’ve been curious to why it was there, but for Rookie, it was a relatively normal happening.

“Oh gosh, G! Are you okay? Usually it’s potted plants that fall from ceiling portals.”

[pnguini]

gcdgetguy:

With Gary’s logic, or even an average penguin with intelligence, to them this would make literally no sense – however, to Gary himself he thought this metaphor been extremely clever and thoughtful, enough that after Chief spoke these words he remained quiet for a few moments to reflect on them. ❛ – you’ve made an excellent point …i known they only tried to help, however, i was too caught up with how they did so. and … although i still don’t support the way they went about it … i should talk it out with them, at least. ❜  

Gary looks back over at Chief, with a genuine tone.  ❛ Thank you, for the advice. ❜ His beak forms into a light smile, before he then awkwardly glances around. ❛ – Well! This may be an irrelevant question but … do you know where the exit is? ❜

Those moments were spent with Chief continuing to play against himself. He had to pause midway through as he had forgotten what number came after six, and had to count in his head. Eventually, by the expression on Chief’s face and the lack of continued playing, it appeared that Chief had lost. To himself. When Gary brought up the question of where the exit was, Chief was once again re-shuffling the deck. He looked up and gave a smile. “Sure do!” Dropping the cards, he clapped his flippers together.  He was met with silence. “.... The door is over there.” He pointed over toward the flaps of the box room.

[pnguini]

gcdgetguy:

Gary’s spectacle brows furrow, his beak opens about to question him about what he meant until a sudden yodel in the background raises his eyebrows and cause him to turn his head, looking off in the distance. As they were in a cardboard platformed room, he could not see anything. He pauses this way for a good minute before turning back to Chief. ❛ Is someone calling for you– ?? … uhm, yes… anyways … let’s say that cookies are able to give you energy and boost you need throughout the day. you consume many cookies on a daily basis, as they have a decent amount of caffeine in them, eventually your friends become concerned with how much cookies you eat.

– SO!  they go behind your back and add a much healthier choice, raisins, slowly. once you found out, you become angered as no one said anything, also, you do not like raisins. afterwards, you feel like a tails end.   Chief, I am the that tails end.   i don’t know how to reach back out to my friends. ❜

“I dunno about you, but I like chocolate.” He raised a flipper, holding one of the yellow pawns, moving it eight spaces forward while making bouncing sound effects with his mouth. “--Wouldn’t eat it all day, though.” At drawing another card, he squinted his eyes at it confusedly, before raising the instruction pamphlet to read. “Thing is -- nestlings really like chocolate too. But it’s not healthy. So would you let ‘em eat it all day even if you didn’t want them to?” He shifted in his chair slightly, finally taking time off focusing on the board, and rather faced Gary directly. “--Nah, you’d take it away from ‘em. They’d get mad at ya. Probably yell. But they’d get over it. Come time, they’d realize it was the right thing.” Chief leaned forward slightly, elbow on the table and his cheek leaning into his flipper.  “Tell ‘em you want the cookies, G. But don’t take all the cookies from the cookie jar.”

[pnguini]

gcdgetguy:

Gary observes Chief’s mannerisms and speech in a bit of confusion, though he known his personality by now to not be as surprised. Upon being knocked lightly on his head it makes a bonking sound.  ❛ I don’t believe a plumber will do much good, Chief. ❜ he pauses for a moment, a flipper goes to his beak in thought as his suggestion sounded familiar but discontinues to ponder it. ❛ – It’s something I have to clean up on my own. besides, i do not have coins to hire one. ❜

right after he says this, an idea pops into his mind. He looks back up at the umbrella-headed penguin. ❛ … Say, you’re a pretty socially savvy penguin – can i ask your advice about something? ❜

“Doing your own plumbing is risky business, G.” He drew one card from the stack, looking at it with an irritated expression before he placed one of the pawns on the board back at start. The card was blank. “--That’s why the Box Dimension doesn’t have plumbs.”

At this point Chief seemed to be losing the game to himself. Of course all the pawns were colored yellow, so there was no way to differentiate what was actually going on, and Chief didn’t seem to have a clue either.  Outside the box room, a distant yodel was heard. Still staring at the board, Chief nodded. “Ask away, G!”

[pnguini]

gcdgetguy:

❛ Chief? ❜ He was astounded, yet thankful that another penguin been there, even if he didn’t quite feel up to socializing in the moment. When he stood up two meatballs fell out of his glasses, with assistance from Chief he settled into a chair. ❛ Thank you. ❜ Gary rubs the side of his head a bit, processing what he had asked. ❛ – huh? oh! uhm … i suppose i could, it may help clear my mind. ❜ He speaks a bit optimistically, then notices the fact these cards all match in color, which visually confuses him. ❛ … on second thought, i may not feel up to any games at the moment. but i appreciate the offer. ❜ A frown, he sinks himself into the chair a bit as it feels comfortable.

Chief didn’t appear to be a very good shuffler. At this point, he was literally just picking up certain cards and inserting them into a random place in the stack. It didn’t make sense why he would need to shuffle them, either, if they were scattered on the floor just prior.

“Why do ya need to clear your mind? Is it clogged?” At this, he leaned forward and gently knocked on Gary’s head, before sitting back once again. “You should call the plumber. There’s a popular Italian one in town.” He gestured behind him with a flipper, as if town was somehow that way. “Did you know I’m the Sorry world champion? No I’m not. I was kidding. Sorry.”

[pnguini]

gcdgetguy:

❛ i’m sure he will, dear. he just needs some space, i am almost certain he will speak to one of us by the end of today. ❜ Knowing the blue feathered inventor for as long as she has, he may sulk and isolate himself in his lab for a while before doing so. However, with Gary she could never tell anything for sure. Although she hadn’t shown it as much as the others, she too felt guilt and second guessing; she also feels she should kept doing so independently than involve other agents. 

Gary himself, meanwhile, is seen continually storming through the halls as he wishes to get to his lab and stay there. When he goes to step forward, suddenly a sinkhole appears and causes him to fall in. He is seen falling through the Box Dimension, crashing into multiple scenes like through the coffee shop where he knocks over Waffle ( accidentally dragging him along ), a robbery taken place at the pizza shop, through an ice burg, a mysterious forest, an IRL person lifting up a plate of spaghetti saying ‘ after all these years i FINALLY MADE THE PERFECT PASTA ’ to which Gary crashes beak-first in, before his final destination is falling right into a gameboard on a table. ❛ …….ouch. ❜

Gary crashing on the board caused several pieces and cards of the game to fly and roll off the table. A voice quickly exclaims ‘Sorry!’, but after the cards of the game settled onto the floor, it displayed the title of the game, which apparently was just Sorry.

Chief, the only other penguin currently occupying the room, helped Gary off the table and onto the nearest chair. He picked up the cards from the floor and shuffled them with his flippers, giving a friendly smile to Gary. “Wanna play?”

Even if Gary accepted, it would be difficult to play, as all the pieces of the game were the same color; yellow. 

[pnguini]

gcdgetguy:

He lifts himself up from the chair with both flippers on the stable, stood. An unhappy HUFF of smoke exhales out of his beak, as he then opens his mouth with a pointed index flipper about to say something directed at Rookie, however, backs down moments afterward as even in a bout of anger he hadn’t the heart to shout at him. Instead he takes a 180 toward Arctic & the others, which was not much better.   ❛ after all of the times iv’e fallen asleep in the middle of tasks, messing up projects and missions, that one time i got beaten up by the fax machine; and not one of you– ❜ His eyebrows furrow further in irritation the more he talks of it.

  ❛   – that is enough, i need to get out of this room. ❜ Gary storms out of the room, leaving behind his coffee and favorite donut.

It was almost as if Rookie could sense Gary was about to direct his anger towards him, as the agent seemed to back up a few inches. Not in fear, but rather shame. Guy was next seen patting Rookie’s shoulder in consolation. 

By the time Gary had left, the silence of the room was almost painful. Enough so that it was Dot that happened to be the first one to speak up. “He’ll -- probably cool off... right?” She turned her head towards Arctic, awaiting some sort of confirmation from her.

[pnguini]

gcdgetguy:

If he’d been in a better frame of mind, he would have acknowledged not only Rookie but the general situation and feelings of those around him. However, that was not the case in this moment. ❛ Neither is going behind my back and leaving me in the dark on the matter! ❜ His voice not as raised like previously but nonetheless still unhappy, though inside he KNOWN Guy made a logical point. ❛ Gary. ❜ Arctic intervenes, as she did not wish for him to yell something he may regret. ❛ They did not tell you because I told them not to. Every time anyone brought up concern, you would brush it off. ❜ ❛ that is completely RIDICULOUS. to this extent … I cant believe you all. ❜

It was sadly amazing how the demeanor of a room could shift so suddenly. Just moments ago there was an air of lightheartedness. Not just coworkers spending time together, but friends. Rookie was of course not to be blamed for this, but there were definitely mistakes made along the way, from all of them.

“We’re sorry, G.” He didn’t make eye contact, and instead continued to stare at the ground, fiddling with the buttons of his shirt. “We didn’t mean to make you angry.”

[pnguini]

gcdgetguy:

❛   A MONTH??   ❜   He shouts in reaction above room level, though retracts his tone quickly once Guy speaks up. His beak open in puzzlement and disbelief, as Arctic tries to pitch in for the others and explain things.  ❛ now gary … don’t overreact. it was an idea of mine, everyone else merely participated and did so in support of you. ❜

❛ – BEHIND MY BACK ?? are you telling me i’ve been going around as a zombie, at times failing important tasks or missions, sleeping on COPIERS and making a complete fool out of myself …  this entire time you’ve all known this? ❜

Rookie appeared to shrink into himself slightly when Gary raised his voice. Shamefaced, he stared at the ground, rubbing his arm up and down. Both at the fact that it was he who let the secret slip and that Gary was upset.

“G--” Guy began, “--Excessive consumption of caffeine is not a good thing.” They had all been more than a little worried what such exposure to so much caffeine would do to the inventor. And it didn’t help that Gary seemed to shrug off sleep so often.

[pnguini]

gcdgetguy:

Gary looks up toward Rookie, having caught the end of Dot’s actions his expression became taken back and somewhat confused.  ❛ …what? what’re you talking about? what is he talking about? ❜  His eyes scan the room, which stayed silent at that point. Arctic remains composed in reaction to Rookie’s … loose beak, taking a drawn out sip of tea before speaking up on behalf of the others.    ❛ – he means just as he’s said, decaf. that’s what you’re drinking. ❜

❛ that is ridiculous.  this is my usual blend. ❜ He lifts it up in protest, tilting it he takes a closer look. it did not look different, though comes to a realization.    ❛ HOLD ON… is this some kind of a joke? how long has this gone on for and … had you all known about it?? ❜

The demeanor of the room had seemed to entirely shift. Now that the truth was out and Gary confronting them about it, there was little reason to hide their feelings. “For -- about a month, I think?” Dot responded in a genuinely apologetic tone. Her flippers no longer running through her hair, and rather linked together in her lap, unmoving. 

“We --” He paused briefly, “--All had a flipper in this, G.” All in the squad, anyway. There was likely few people in the majority of the agency that knew what was going on.

[pnguini]

gcdgetguy:

For the room to react in silence initially to his suggestion, he set his coffee cup down slowly and thought to himself. He looks over at Guy who was about to comment on it, however his attention redirected back to Rookie again, who seemed to support the idea. Gary smiles lightly from his enthusiasm, and the unintentional dinosaur joke. ❛ thank you, rookie. ❜  

He remained silent for a moment, in thought to himself once more, probably about how ridiculous that suggestion may been. one flipper still gripped on the mugs handle, swishing around the liquid from inside.  ❛ I do understand I haven’t been as lively or productive as I normally am. not even caffeine seems to snap me out of things. ❜ His spectacles furrow. ❛ I am afraid … old age has finally caught up to me. ❜

Some faces in the room reacted with confusion, and others perhaps with a slight hint of shame. Out of the others, Rookie appeared completely normal, and his voice confirmed so when he spoke.

“--Oh that’s probably because of the decaf--ow! --” He was suddenly discreetly elbowed by Dot, who’s expression seemed to tell him to be quiet. Rookie still appeared confused for a short while, finally dissolving into realization “---oh--OH.” He then remained silent.

[pnguini]

gcdgetguy:

Gary holds up the coffee cup by his beak in a pause, a confused expression by Rookie’s response but he goes ahead to take a sip of coffee while Dot speaks. His beak tsks a bit afterwards, taking note yet again of a different flavoring it’s had recently. It looks as if he’d been about to comment on it, but instead responds to Dot.   ❛ yes, indeed !! i am very glad you asked, as you all may have found out Herbert is at it again – this time, however, i must say his techs are advancing. he has stolen a handful of puffles out area 501 and is using their telekinetic abilities to move objects and read minds. quite a major deal. now i have figure a solution before chaos erupts. the answer? dinosaurs. honestly, an all-out battle. i spoke to Darwin on the matter, he does agree and believe he can take them down. I have high confidence in him and the prehistoric army. ❜  He replies in the most serious manner possible, just as he does ALL missions; he continues to sip his coffee.

There was a silence in the room after Gary’s suggestion. For penguins that were in Rookie’s company quite so often, to be able to say something causing others to remain speechless was -- more or less -- an accomplishment.

Dot almost appeared as if she were about to snicker at the idea, before Guy’s voice conveniently butted in. “G, I’m not so sure that’s going to---” He was suddenly interrupted by Rookie throwing his arms into the air.

“That’s a great idea, G!” Rookie appeared absolutely ecstatic. Though that may just be because of the thought of another prehistoric party. “Herbert won’t know what hit him!” He paused, “--Or maybe he will, because dinosaurs are big.”

[pnguini]

gcdgetguy:

He listened to Rookie’s story word from word in the process, his attention drawn away close enough to over-pour his coffee but he caught it before it could happen. With a yawn he sets it down and joins the tablet closest to where his crew were gathered by, taking a seat. As a moment passed and few comments were said about it, Gary spoke up.  ❛ … WELL! That was a very colorful story, agent. ❜  He was unsure whether Rookie made this up for story purposes, however knowing the propeller-headed penguin, those events taking place were entirely possible. the fact he outright told Tall guy he been a secret agent puzzled him; though perhaps being a newly appointed cantaloupe king he’d have no time to ponder such a thing. (  he trusts Rookie with sensitive information.  )

He took a bite out of the blueberry donut before continuing to speak, his speech a bit muffled.  ❛ – That does explain where all those cantaloupes in your office appeared from. Did he give those to you as parting gifts? ❜ He reaches over to his coffee.

“Nah those cantaloupes were just because I was hungry.” He made no mention to the fact of how they got there. Nobody had seen Rookie carry them in, and nor were there any packages. The Box Dimension was the only explanation.

Dot distracted herself by readjusting the pins in her hair, additionally doing and undoing braids to keep her mind occupied. She turned her attention to Gary once he was done getting his coffee. “--So, G, have any new projects you’ve been working on?” That question alone likely already had an answer. Gary almost always had something new to be working on. However, because of the inventor’s... tired demeanor, perhaps that was not the case this time.

[pnguini]

gcdgetguy:

Upon entering the room Gary smiles toward all of his friends and their greetings, which definitely lifted his spirits.  ❛ Hello, everyone. And good evening, Rookie.  ❜ His attention is pulled away by Rookie, who brings up the box on the table. He approaches the box and pokes around, happily he sees one of his favorites there: blueberry.  Like a crane he lifts it out of the box with a napkin, going over to the coffee dispenser.

   While pouring the coffee, he listens in the background to whatever the squad may been discussing.

Rather than general discussion going on, it was Rookie practically taking the spotlight that day. Dot seemed to be confused at the story, whereas Arctic appeared as if nothing was out of the ordinary. 

“--ANYWAY so the guy was really, really tall. So tall that even as a nestling he could probably get into any of the Fair rides ever. In this really mystical voice he told me that I was the one destined to save his mom from falling down the stairs when she turned eighty, but apparently his mom was already dead. After that, he pointed to this crossroad that had a sign pointing both sides. One side said ‘Moresville’ and the other said ‘Cranky Cantaloupe’. I was hungry, so I walked down the road that said cantaloupe. It took me a really long time to even get halfway there, and by that time I wasn’t hungry anymore! When I decided to turn back, I found out that the tall guy was following me! He told me that he was really lonely and wanted to go on a big adventure with me. I didn’t know if I had enough time in my schedule, but I just couldn’t turn him down! He looked so sad! So I said yes. We decided we’d go to Cranky Cantaloupe together, so he placed me on his shoulder and in just a second we were suddenly there! He gave me a mace and together we took down the Cantaloupe king, who wasn’t actually a king but he was a cantaloupe. Tall guy said I should be the new king, and I was really, really tempted, but I had to tell him that I already was a secret agent. In the end, the cantaloupes crowned Tall guy as king, and I went home. I tried to get his phone number but he said that I was too young to know it, so I never talked to him again.”

[pnguini]

gcdgetguy:

Gary’s expression goes from discouraged to hopeful with mention he hadn’t missed it yet. When brought up about needing a break, he turns his head to look toward the papers he needed to copy. A feeling nagged at him to do so  now,  however, donuts sounded good to him at the moment. 

❛ … I do suppose they’ll still be there when we get back. All right! ❜ He agrees to go with Guy, joining by his side to walk with him out toward the lunch room.

❛ I could have sworn I already copied them, but may be not. Maybe a donut will give me the boost I need. Oh, I hope there is vanilla-frosted or blueberry! ❜

There were a few different break rooms around the agency. While this one wasn’t specifically for the squad, it had practically become known as such. There were a few tables scattered around, though often times only two were ever used at once. As expected, the whole team was there. They halted their conversations and raised their flippers in greeting when Gary and Guy walked in.

“Hi, G!” Just like the others, Rookie waved in greeting. Though quite a bit faster. “--You’re just in time!” There was a box sitting on the table. Donuts likely baked fresh that day. 

[pnguini]

gcdgetguy:

While being shaken Gary’s glasses became sideways, he finally jolted awake. He snaps out of a sound sleep.  ❛ no hopper, the alien puffles are not allowed to be placed by the radioactive barrels !! huh ?? ❜ He blinks confused, readjusting his glasses to find Guy stood by his side.

 ❛ – Oh! I’m terribly sorry about that. ❜ He glanced down, remembering he was supposed to copy those important papers. Whether he did it or not, he cannot recall, but he did see that he had plenty of copies of … the side of his face. It takes him a moment to catch what Guy had told him, as he focuses back toward him. ❛ I missed lunch .. ?? OH DEAR, that means i… I missed Donut Day ?? ❜ His spectacles furrow with a disappointed tone.

Gary surely appeared to be the type that could sleep nearly anywhere. Either that, or the withdraw from caffeine had stronger effects than they thought it would. Perhaps it made it even worse with Gary not even knowing. Guy couldn’t lie; he felt guilty about that.

“I doubt it. They’re probably getting ready to crack into the box right now.” The squad was well aware Gary would occasionally pass up meals and social interaction to focus on his inventions. However, Donut Day was a special case. Nobody should miss out.

“We can head back there right now.” He took a short glance at the stack of papers Gary was likely supposed to copy, rather than his face. “--Dad -- you sure you don’t need to take a break?”

[pnguini]

gcdgetguy:

SLEEP ITSELF, something he normally wish to avoid at all cost ( at least until his projects were finished ); a concept which he could combat became something he yearns for as of recently. As time passed, Gary could slowly begin to feel worn down fairly easy toward general projects, unable to stay up past certain times and making multiple errors. he found even coffee was not able to provide the boost he needed throughout the day. For instance days ago, when his perception lacked he reached over for a towel to dab his head but instead grabbed Darwin.   Or perhaps, that one time when he gathered some of his friends in the office to show off an invention with eagerness – his presentation was nothing other than a teddy bear with miniature robotic arms, much too small for it’s body. When asked it’s purpose, he replied ‘ To battle against Herbert, of course’ as he pressed a button, the bear itself did punching motions and fell face-forward before short circuiting.

In present time he is seen fallen asleep on the scan machine, snoring as his face smooshed against the screen as it has appeared to copy about 20 pages of his face. Important papers are seen set upon a counter near the machine, hinting he may needed to copy those files before dozing off.

@pengtral !

Guy couldn’t necessarily admit that Arctic’s plan had been going well. It went about as they had expected at the start; Gary’s gradual drift into off and on drowsiness that eventually, and inevitably, became deprivation of rest. Arctic had insisted it was for his own good, and Guy had agreed something about Gary’s addiction needed to be done. Rookie didn’t need much convincing at all, besides perhaps being a bit confused for the reasoning at first, as he knew how attached Gary was to his coffee.

Off and on had members of the squad in particular been checking in on Gary. Not specifically because they were required, but also because they were genuinely worried for him. They had witnessed firsthand the effects that sleep deprivation could do to Gary after the incident that one night with Rockhopper.

Guy could already see Gary slumped over the copier before even entering the room, as the door had been opened. Perhaps hinting at Gary’s recent forgetfulness.  He placed a flipper over Gary’s shoulder, gently shaking the inventor awake. When this didn’t even seem to work, he shook harder.

“G? You need to wake up. You missed lunch hours.”