Oh, this is absolutely dealing with Sarge. It's not hard to read between those lines, and he doesn't comment on the actual meaning, raising an eyebrow. "Wait, is that a metaphor or were you actually a book?" It could honestly be either.

The loud exclamation definitely gets his attention, and he turns to see...penguins. With peg legs. Making plans, and...failing at rock paper scissors. (Whether it's because they're bad at rock paper scissors or because they haven't noticed having flippers means they automatically throw paper is honestly a coin toss, as far as he can tell.) "Sooooo. Are the, uh...penguins yours?"