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"We can't keep her," Calum says, feeling like the worst kind of monster. Luke doesn't even look at him, hunched over in a black fuzzy blanket that nearly covers him and the fluffy grey baby cuddled in his lap. Luke won't take his eyes off of her, his big hands stroking her little body. Luke's got his penguin hat on, the ties in a loose bow at his chin, "So she doesn't get scared," Luke had said, holding her close as they rushed back to the house.
She was pretty calm for a baby penguin, had been since the fan had found them on their way back in from dinner. "Her name's Isabella, she's for you," the girl had said, and kissed Luke on the cheek when he was still trying to understand that he really had an actual live baby penguin in his arms, wrapped up in a blanket. She'd handed over a note along with the baby, suggestions for what to feed it and a plea for them all to follow her on Twitter. Then she'd run to catch her train.
"Like, you can't just buy a penguin at a pet shop," Calum says, sits carefully down next to Luke on the couch, trying not to disturb them. He thinks Isabella is sleeping. He laughs a little. "She's probably been stolen from somewhere. That's probably a contraband penguin you've got."
"I know," Luke says quietly. "What do you think we should do?" She makes a little whistley noise in her sleep, like a snore. When Luke finally looks at Calum, his eyes are huge, and sad, and Calum wishes badly that they could figure something else out. Buy a place with a big freezer. Pick up a lot of raw fish. Figure out some way to get that huge smile back on Luke's face that they'd got when he first held her, felt the little nudge of her beak into his chest as she'd searched for warmth.
Calum rubs Luke's back, "I don't know, maybe call animal control or something? There are probably only so many penguins in London."
Luke nods, agrees. "Maybe we could get all my stuffed penguins in the meantime so she doesn't get lonely," he says, and Calum squeezes his shoulder, gets up to go through Luke's room.
They've got the couch set up looking like a penguin colony with Luke's collection by the time Michael and Ashton get back, clattering in, Michael calling out, "Hey, did you guys hear about the baby penguin that went missing at the zoo? Knew you wore that big coat for a reason today, Luke," he says, laughing, and then stops short once he sees the scene on the couch, Ashton crashing into him.
"I'll look up the number for the zoo," Calum sighs.
"Stealing a penguin is pretty punk rock," Michael says.
"I knew it was a good idea to get takeaway sushi tonight," says Ashton.