Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Peso hasn't been able to sleep well lately. He doesn't know why but it doesn't matter right now as he is currently researching a parasitic roundworm called Trichinella. Peso's eyelids began to feel heavy. "Five more minutes." He told himself. But he didn't even make it another two minutes before his head fell onto his desk and he fell into a deep sleep.

Peso was asleep and dreaming of swimming around the ocean with his little brother Pinto. When he heard one of the vegimals yelling in their little vegimal language. He pulled off the blanket and turned to his clock, it was six in the morning what the hell was he doing getting woken up by Tunip. He sat up and rubbed the sleep off of his eyes 

"Whats up Tunip?" Peso asked politely as he didn't want to come off as rude towards Tunip.

Tunip continued to babble in his little Vegimal language. After about a minute or two Peso gave up on trying to figure out what he was saying and let Tunip lead him off to whatever it was that was more important than Peso getting himself some rest.

That's when Peso heard it, some horrid screeching noise that kind of sounded like Kwazii. Peso had completely forgotten about Tunip as he ran full speed towards thew noise. 

"I hope that Kwazii is okay." Peso thought as he ran.

When Peso finally arrived at Kwazii's room he almost started crying. There was a small pool of blood on the floor. Peso knew that this amount of blood isn't bad but he couldn't stand the thought of Kwazii being hurt. Peso finally looked up at Kwazii to see that he had blood dripping from his hand and a knife in the other. 

Peso ran over to Kwazii and picked him up and ran him to the hospital section of the octopod.

"Kwazii, how did this happen?"Peso puffed out as he ran.

"Well you see matey I was trying to open a coconut with a knife but you see the thing is the knife slipped and cut open my hand."

After a couple of minutes of Peso full speed running through the octopod the two finally arrived at the hospital room. Peso put Kwazii down on the hospital bed and grabbed some supplies to clean and wrap the wound. Peso gently grabbed Kwazii's hand and began to disinfect it as he didn't want Kwazii's hand to get infected, after that peso carefully wrapped Kwazii's hand in white bandages.

"Kwazii, you need to be more careful next time." 

Kwazii looked up at Peso who had tears in his eyes. 

"Peso, whats wrong why are you crying?" Kwazii asked with a slight bit of panic in his voice, he had never seen peso cry before. Peso had always seemed so put together and strong seeing him like this hurt Kwazii in a way he couldn't describe. 

"I-, Kwazii you're hurt i don't like it when you're hurt. It makes me sad that my friend is hurt." 

Friend. Kwazii didn't understand why that hurt so much. I mean that exactly what they are. Friends. That's all they would ever be, Kwazii knew that. Peso was always too busy helping creatures and the other octonauts  to have time for him. Kwazii was okay with that.

The two sat in silence for a minute or two. 

"Kwazii... can I please lay down with you?" 

Kwazii looked up at Peso the poor penguin looked like he could use a nap. 

"Sure Peso."

Kwazii laid down and made some room for Peso.

Peso laid down next to Kwazii and pulled the blanket over himself. he began to think about earlier more specifically a word he said friend. Peso thought about what life would be like if him and Kwazii were more than just simply friends. He decided not to think about it too much as he knew Kwazii was too focused on his pirate work. Peso knew he would never be an important part of Kwazii's life. After all he was just Peso Penguin nothing more. He was just the Medic. All he did was help the others. It was the only reason they kept him. Because they didn't have anyone else to replace him. Peso went to sleep with thoughts running through his head. But at least Kwazii was keeping him warm. 

Peso woke up only to find that Kwazii was gone and that is 2:38pm. "God damn it" Peso thought. He had important work he had to do earlier. Captain barnacles had asked for Peso to submit a report about their last mission and he was supposed to give it to him hours ago. Peso got up and ran to his room and opened his draw to get out his draft for the report only to find it not in there. What he did find though was a small note with a little pirate chest drawn at the bottom of it. It was probably from Kwazii. Peso unfolded the note and read it 

'Dear Peso,

You looked very tired this morning so I let you sleep for as long as you could. You need all the rest you can get. Cause you know you never know when you might be needed for an important mission. So i wrote out the report for you. Don't worry though i didn't change much stuff that you wrote in the draft cause ya know you're smart and all that so I trusted what you had written. Sorry if I messed it up and Captain Barnacles gets mad at you or something. I mean I did tell him I wrote some of it so he shouldn't get too mad at you. 

Also thanks for fixing my hand up I'll be sure to be more careful when opening coconuts next time. 

Also please make sure you get enough sleep tonight Peso. I wonder why you've been looking so tired I mean being a medic can be pretty stressful so.

From Kwazii ⚓' 

Peso finished reading the letter and folded it back up and put it in his draw. To say this was quite out of character would be accurate. Peso knew Kwazii would never do this for the others so why was he doing it for Peso. Maybe he just felt bad for making him wake up so early. ïll just ask him about it later." Peso thought to himself.

WORDS-1067 

Chapter Text

Captain Barnacles was a very simple man. He would do his missions and then help around the octopod then go to bed. There wasn't really anything else to him. He put work before everything else or at least that's what everyone thought.

When Barnacles found out about Kwazii doing the report for Peso he was enraged. Why you may ask, well it's quite simple actually he thought that Peso and Kwazii were dating, together , a thing whatever you want to call it. In fact he was so mad he did something he swore he would never do, he completely disregarded Kwazii and Peso's privacy. He logged on to the computer in his bedroom and looked through the security cameras for the Hospital room. To say Captain Barnacles was not happy with what he saw would be a massive understatement. He was infuriated.

Kwazii. And. Peso. Were. Sharing. A. Bed.

What kind of nonsense was this. Why was he not informed?

"You know what I'll go ask Kwazii about this." 

Captain Barnacles quickly walked to Kwazii's room. He needed answers, he always had a suspicion that Kwazii liked Peso but he didn't know that they were actually a thing.

When Captain Barnacles finally arrived at Kwazii's room he stood at the door. "Should I really go in?" He thought to himself. He eventually decided that he would. I mean he is the captain of the octopod he has every right to know what's going on.

Barnacles brought his fist up to the door and knocked a couple of times . He stood there awkwardly waiting for Kwazii to come to the door. Finally after what felt like years Kwazii opened the door and let Captain Barnacles in.

“What’s up Captain Barnacles.” Kwazii asked with a mouth full of the cookies the vegimals made earlier. 

“Well Kwazii, I have reason to believe that you and Peso may be romantically involved. As your Captain I have the right to know if any of my workers are seeing each other,” Captain Barnacles replied with a hint of seriousness in his voice. “Also Kwazii might I add that you are too immature for a relationship. You'll just end up hurting Peso.”

“Alrighty Barnacles, I’m just going to inform you that whoever told you this is incorrect. Peso and I are just friends, honestly captain I think you might need to talk to your source and let them know that the information they're giving you is false matey.” Kwazii said as he shoved yet another cookie into his mouth.

“Well you see after you told me about how you did the report for Peso I took it upon myself to check the security footage to make sure that nothing odd had happened because as you know I have to be sure all of the octonauts are safe, and I saw you and Peso sleeping in the same bed so I simply assumed that you two were together. I’m sorry if my assumptions were wrong.”

“Listen, me and Peso aren't a thing there isn't much more to say, now can you please leave my room I’m trying to do top secret pirate stuff.”Kwazii quickly replied.

Captain Barnacles quickly left Kwazii’s room as he knew how important Kwazii’s pirate work was. Kwazii walked over to his bed and sat down, he thought about what Captain Barnacles just said. Was he really that immature? He didn't think he was, had he been annoying the other octonauts and not realised it. He didn't understand what Barnacles meant and it upset him. The other octonauts never said anything about him being annoying or immature. Maybe they were just being nice and not saying anything because they didn't want to hurt his feelings.

Kwazii felt his eyes start to water which made him feel even worse. He hated crying. It made him feel weak, like he was less than everyone else. He wiped the very few tears that were rolling down his face and quickly made his way to the bathroom to clean his face. 

When he got to the bathroom he picked up a face washer and wiped his face. He grabbed a cup and filled it with water and went back to his room as he didn't want anyone to see him. He decided that he wouldn't leave his room from now on. He wondered how long it would take for the others to notice. Maybe a day or a week. I mean he didn’t contribute to the team he was just there.

☆  ☆  ☆

Peso was getting ready for bed when he realised he hadn't seen Kwazii since this morning. He decided he would go say goodnight to Kwazii and let him know that he had read the note. When he got to Kwazii's room he had noticed that the door was locked. Peso was confused as Kwazii never locked his door. Maybe he was doing some top secret pirate stuff. Peso was just about to leave but for some reason he just couldn't. He brought his fist up to the door and knocked a couple of times.

“Kwazii are you in there, I just wanted to let you know that I saw the note you left in my drawer. Thanks, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't handed the report in for me.” Peso stood there waiting for a reply. He felt kind of sad when he didn't get a reply. He knew Peso was in there because if he wasn’t how else would the door be locked. 

“Maybe he’s already asleep.” Peso thought to himself. HE turned around and headed back to his room. He tucked himself into bed and closed his eyes but once again he couldn't sleep. This time he knew why. He was worried about Kwazii. He knew that he probably didn't answer him because he was sleeping but Peso couldn't help but feel like there was something up with Kwazii.

First off Kwazii never locks his door unless he really has to. Secondly he usually doesn't go to bed this early most nights he waits until everyone else is either asleep or in bed and goes and makes himself some food. Peso only knew this because he caught Kwazii making himself toast one time. 

Peso started to feel tired so he decided to go check on Kwazii in the morning. He hoped he was okay.

1067 words  

I tried to get this chapter out earlier but i kept getting distracted. 

I'll try and get the next chapter out in the next few days. :)

Chapter Text

Peso woke up and changed out of his pajamas and made his way to Kwazii’s room. When he got there the door was still locked. Peso once again brought his fist up to Kwazii’s door. He knocked once, twice, and just as he went to knock for the third time he heard a voice reply.

“What do you want?”

Peso was almost afraid to answer him, he sounded upset and Peso wasn't good at handling emotions.

“Hey Kwazii, it’s Peso. I just wanted to see if you were okay. I came over to say thank you for doing the report for me yesterday but your door was locked and you didn’t answer me so I assumed you were asleep.”

Kwazii walked over to his door. Thoughts started running through his head. Do I open the door? How do I know he isn't just doing this because he feels bad? Does he actually care? What would he do if I just didn’t say anything? Would he be sad if I left the Octopod?

“Hey Peso I’m fine, do you wanna come in?”

Peso let out a sigh of relief. He didn’t understand why he was so worried about Kwazii.

“Yeah, are you gonna open the door?” Peso replied.

Kwazii unlocked the door and let Peso in. They both made their way over to the bed and sat down next to each other. Peso didn’t really know what to say so he let his eyes wander around Kwazii’s room. Peso often picked up on little things most people wouldn't notice unless they were purposely looking. So of course he was a little concerned when he saw that Kwazii had covered up the camera in his room and pulled out the small microphone that was attached to the camera, he also noticed the tissues in Kwazii’s bin and how messy his desk was.

“Kwazii, are you sure you’re okay? Your camera is covered up, the microphone is pulled out and your room is kinda messy.”

Kwazii didn’t think Peso would notice. I mean he didn’t try to hide it and he honestly didn't care that Peso noticed but now Peso probably thinks he's crazy or something.

“Listen matey, you gotta promise that no matter what I say you’ll believe me and you won’t think i’m crazy.” Kwazii quickly whispered.

Peso was confused why would he think Kwazii was crazy. Sure sometimes Kwazii’s stories were scary and gave Peso nightmares but he would never think Kwazii was crazy.

“Yeah, I promise.”

Kwazii didn’t know how to start, what would his reaction be. Kwazii was starting to regret letting Peso in his room, but Kwazii knew he couldn’t say nothing now. He took a deep breath and then he started from the start.

“Alrighty. So basically you know about the cameras that are literally everywhere, and how Barnacles says they are in case anyone like breaks in or something right. That’s a lie. He’s using it to watch us for no reason. I swear. Like yesterday he came into my room and asked if we were dating because we slept in the same bed. He openly admitted that he checked the footage for no reason at all. Plus even if we were dating he doesn’t need to know. Maybe he has a thing for you or something Peso. “

Peso looked over to Kwazii. Was he being serious. Peso started to worry does this mean Captain Barnacles has been watching all of them.

“Kwazii, are you being serious with me right now. Has he really been watching us. Plus why would he even like me? I'm just Peso. Maybe you’re overthinking this. You know what I’ll ask him about it. I mean he is our Captain he wouldn’t just do that. Maybe it will be better if I ask Tweak about it I mean she is the one in charge of all the technology stuff right?”

Kwazii stared at Peso for a minute. He was right, they should go ask Tweak about it. She would know what to do, Plus Kwazii should probably tell her about what he did to the camera before she finds out herself.

The two headed off to find Tweak, but on the way they ran into one of the vegimals who handed them a note letting them know that the others had gone on a mission. The two were confused as to why they didn't get informed that there was a mission. What if a creature was hurt and they needed Peso to help. Peso always has to be there because if he gets left at the octopod and there is a creature that really needs help Peso might not be able to reach them in time and they could end up getting really badly hurt.

“Kwazii why didn’t anyone come tell us?” Peso whispered with a hint of sadness in his voice. Did the others not trust him, or did they finally decide they don't need him anymore? Did they find someone to replace him?

Peso felt a tear roll down his cheek, maybe he was right, maybe they didn't really need him at all. He suddenly felt the sadness hit, he had been pushing his emotion away for so long that something as simple as not being told about a mission has made him feel like the world is over, like he will never feel happy again.

Kwazii looked over to Peso who looked ready to fall on the ground and cry until he turned into a raisin. Peso’s face had gone pale and honestly Kwazii was afraid he was going to throw up or something. He looked like he was ready to pass out. Kwazii was terrified he wasn’t a doctor. What would he do if Peso passed out and didn't wake up. He doubted that could happen but still he was scared.

“Peso, are you okay?”

Peso didn't even realise that tears had begun to fall from his eyes.

“Huh. Oh yeah I’m alright. I Wonder where the others are. Maybe the mission wasn’t that important so they didn’t come get us. Maybe they don’t need us anymore” Peso had realised that maybe he had gone too far this time. He often had a bad habit of not knowing when to shut his mouth.

He looked over to Kwazii and he honestly wished he just could have kept his mouth shut this time because Kwazii looked like his entire world had just fallen apart.

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Chapter Text

Peso couldn’t help but feel like a horrible person as he watched Kwazii begin to shake. He knew he should have just kept his mouth shut. Why does he always have to ruin things.

“Peso I have something I need to do, I’ll talk to you later I guess.”

Peso knew he shouldn’t have let Kwazii walk away. He knew he should have tried to call out to him, maybe ask him to stay. Or apologise. Maybe he should have explained that the comment he made was more directed at himself than Kwazii.

But he didn’t.

He stood there watching Kwazii walk away.

- -

Kwazii felt bad for leaving Peso all alone but what he said hurt him. Kwazii knew what Peso said wasn’t true. Captain Barnacles was just being petty. Kwazii wished he would just leave, clearly he wasn't a good captain if he was letting something that wasn’t even happening bother him. It made Kwazii’s blood boil.

Kwazii was sick of the captain, he wanted him gone and quickly. He wasn’t even holding the team together anymore. He was just spying on them and trying to control what the team was doing.

Kwazii arrived at his room. He stared at the door for a moment before opening it, and then he stood there. He started thinking over every choice he had ever made. Maybe he shouldn’t have joined the octonauts. Sure he wouldn’t have net Peso and all the other team members but he wouldn’t be having to deal with the captain.

That’s when he decided he would leave.

Kwazii would be just fine on his own and if he wasn’t, well that’s a problem for future Kwazii. He couldn’t stay here with the captain any longer. Even if it means leaving Peso behind. Peso was a strong person; he would be just fine on his own.

And then Kwazii walked into his room, closed the door and began to pack everything he needed.

- -

Captain Barnacles knew he shouldn’t let his feelings get in the way of the team doing their work. He knew he shouldn’t have left without telling Kwazii or Peso. It didn’t hit him until he had to pick up a poor little fish who had gotten a hook stuck in him. He was currently sitting in the back of the Gup-A with a dying fish in his arms.

“Hold on little one we’re gonna get you some help I promise.”

The small fishes heartbeat was starting to drop lower and lower.

“HURRY UP GUYS OR HE'S NOT GONNA MAKE IT!” Barnacles yelled at whoever was driving. He was too preoccupied to even bother paying attention to who was driving.

“Captain, I don’t think we’re going to make it to the Octopod in time.” Shellington calmly stated.

Barnacles heard what Shellington said but he refused to listen. They were going to make it in time he just knew it.

They would get there and he would hit the octo alert button and Peso would come running and help the little fish.

He couldn’t let the little fish die. He promised they would get him help and he would be okay. It’s the only way the mother fish would let them take the small fish.

The heart monitor began to beep.

Barnacles knew it was too late to save him.

“Captain, I-“

“Shellington, I'm going to have to ask you to please be quiet just for a moment.”

“Sorry Captain.” Shellington quietly responded.

Tweak turned the Gup around. Barnacles didn’t have to ask to know she was taking them back to the mother.

Barnacles was regretting not telling Peso they had a mission more than he was before. If he had just gotten over himself the fish would have been okay by now. If he had told Peso Barnacles wouldn’t be on his way to tell a mother her son just died.

Barnacles knew what he was going to do when he got back to the octopod.

He was going to leave.

He wasn’t fit to be the team's captain anymore.
After all, captains don’t let silly emotions get in the way of people doing their jobs

Chapter Text

Barnacles arrived back at the Octopod. None of the others had spoken to him on the trip back, in fact no one said anything, to anyone. Barnacles knew he had let the team down; he knew there was no point trying to justify his selfish reasons for not informing Peso that there was a mission. Barnacles was no medic, he knew that. He should've just gotten over himself. He should've been more responsible. When he took on the job of captain he swore to himself he wouldn't let his feelings get in the way of any of his captain duties. After he got out of the Gup he could feel something was wrong, the Gup-B was missing and Barnacles knew that he had not approved any use of the Gup-B. He first ran to find Peso if anyone knew anything about the Gup missing it would be him, he was always more aware of his surroundings than the other octonauts. He pushed open the door to the medic bay where he found Peso calmly restocking the shelves.

“Peso, do you know why the Gup-B is missing? I know I didn’t approve of it being used today.”

Peso flinched. “Captain! I didn’t see you there. As far as I know it should be there. It got repaired the other day so Tweak shouldn’t have it but maybe she forgot about something and took it back to her workshop? I’ll come with you to ask her about it.”

The two walked in silence, Peso knew something was up. The octopod has been weirdly quiet today, but he chose to ignore the silence and be glad he had time to himself to restock. When they arrived at Tweaks workshop they found her sleeping on her stretcher bed she kept in her workshop for late nights. “Tweak!” Peso said loudly enough to wake her up. “You wouldn't happen to have the Gup-B in here would you?” Tweak sat up and looked at Peso. “Peso I told you I finished working on it yesterday, I was talking about it at dinner last night.”

Peso turned to the captain waiting for him to say something. The three of them stood in silence for an agonizingly long time until the captain spoke up. “Well I guess Kwazii just took it for a ride to check that everything was working right. I’ll let him know to tell someone next time.” And with that he turned and left, not bothering to thank Tweak. Peso opened his mouth to say something and decided not to bother. Tweak got off her stretcher bed and started working on her newest gizmo. “Thank you Tweak, sorry for bothering you.” Peso stood silently for a second before deciding that he was just bothering people again and left to go back to his room.

He walked past Kwazii’s room and decided to peer in. His stomach sank. It was empty. Everything was gone. Everything. Peso started to tear up. His legs gave out from underneath him. This couldn't be real. Kwazii wouldn't leave. This was his home. Peso’s brain was overridden with anxious thoughts. Maybe he had been kidnapped. Maybe Peso had been too much again and scared Kwazii away. Peso closed his eyes hoping that when he opened them again that Kwazii would be standing in front of him talking about how he had to replace his furniture or something stupid. After a few minutes of silently crying he opened his eyes to find that nothing had changed. The room was still empty and Kwazii was gone.

Peso stood up and walked into Kwazii’s room just to make sure that everything really was gone. That's when he found a sticky note laying on the floor. ‘I’m sorry. I had to go. I’ll miss you all. I don’t think I’ll be back. Sorry.’ No. No this isn’t real. No this must be some fucked up dream. Just Peso’s brain playing some elaborate prank on him, but Peso knew the truth. This was all real and it was all his fault. He ran into his room and locked the door. He slid down the wall and sobbed harder than he ever had before. His best friend was gone. Never to be seen again. He should’ve told him how he felt, because now he’ll never have the chance too. Even if Kwazii didn't feel the same, just telling him would be better than him never knowing. Peso had begun hyperventilating at this point. The only man he had ever loved was gone, never to be seen again. Peso thought that maybe he found someone. Someone who was better than Peso. Someone who didn't annoy all his friends. Someone who wasn't so much of a coward that they’d tell Kwazii how they felt and not keep it hidden for years.

Peso had cried so hard and for so long he had nothing left in him. No more tears. No more emotions. He laid for hours an empty shell of the person he was just hours ago. Peso was nothing without Kwazii. Kwazii would put up with Peso's constant coddling and his fear of everyone he loved getting horrifically injured. The thought sparked an army of fears. What if Kwazii got hurt and he’s alone and there’s no one that can help him.

Peso had drifted off into an uneventful slumber. He woke up just three hours later, it was still daytime so he went to the bathroom and washed the tear stains off his face. He walked past the main computer in the gathering room when he remembers, the Gups all have tracking devices in them just in case it breaks down and it needs to be recovered. Hope filled up his chest, only to be torn back out when he found that the tracking device had been deactivated.

Peso looked back on the conversation that the two had not long ago, maybe he shouldn't have planted the seed that he and Kwazii weren’t needed anymore.

“Why do I have to ruin everything good in my life?” Peso whispered to himself before turning around and locking himself in his room to rot away.

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