Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Professor Inkling: 57

Captain Barnacles: 31

Tweek: 29

Shellington: 28

Dashi: 27

Kwasii: 26

Peso: 20

Vegimals: 7

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"Octonauts, to the HQ!" Captain Barnacles firmly stated, lifting his paw off of the glowing orange button.
Everyone had quickly streamed in, standing in front of their captain in a deliberate manner, the way they always had whenever they heard the alarm. 

The alarm filled excitement in the room, lifting out the boredom. And the Octonauts made sure not to arrive late whenever their captain called them, not that they had any intention to anyways. They always find these missions fun and interesting.

"There is a fellow sea creature that seems to be in trouble, looking for its eggs, and we need to help it."

"Of course, we'll go out there and assist them right now, that's what we always do!" Kwazii excitedly hopped up and down, doing a random backflip mid-air. It was just a normal Kwazii thing.

"Yes, we will. But there seems to be one problem."

"And what is that, Captain?" Tweak asked, nibbling on a few baby carrots.

"I don't exactly seem to know which animal it is. I haven't seen anything like it, though it does seem to be sort of octopus." Captain Barnacles remarked, remembering seeing the 8-legged creature frantically crawl around on the floor, rubbing itself against the corals, swimming over to other areas. 

'Please, have you seen my eggs anywhere!?' The octopus asked one of the fellow creatures below, to which the creature shook its head solemnly.

"Well, that's quite alright! I'm sure me matey Shellington here could easily recognize the- . . . Hey. Wait a scallywag ging second." Kwazii looked beside him confusingly, and then spun his head around, trying to spot the familiar tall otter, which usually stood close to the group, though he was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Shellington?" Asked Dashi, also looking around.

He wasn't anywhere in the HQ.

Captain Barnacles furrowed his eyebrows, and said, "Alright, I'll call Shellington on my watch,  and if he doesn't come, then Dashi can go and check if he's in his room. And all the others can check outside."

"He's probably looking at animals near the coral reef, I mean, that's where he regularly goes, right?" Peso asked, hoping his friend wasn't in any sort of trouble. If so, he kept his medkit by his side.

"Let's hope that's the reason. Octonauts, move out!" Captain Barnacles asserted, putting on his helmet and exiting the Octopod. The others also put on their helmets and departed, following the Captain.

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Dashi went through the tubes and chutes, reaching Shellington's door which leads to his laboratory. She politely knocked on the door twice, waiting for a response.

. . .

She knocked again and waited once more.

. . .

She began to worry, so she turned the doorknob, and entered, asking, ". . .Shellington? Are you in here-?" 

She then quietly gasped, seeing him on the bed, looking terribly miserable. He tried to put the covers completely over his head but was too weak to do so.

"Oh dear. ." Dashie hurried over to the side of his bed, sitting beside him on the ground. He seemed to be sleeping, though his face did not look right.

She put the back of her paw on his forehead and quickly retracted as she felt the immense thermal energy from it causing her hand to feel sore.

"Oh you poor thing, you're burning up! I better call Captain." Dashie shook her head and stood up looking down at him.

"Though. . . I should first get something to make you feel better. Hang on right here, Shellington!" She quickly walked out, and a few moments later, came back with a cool wet cloth folded in her palm.

She sat down beside him once again, carefully placing the moist cloth directly on his forehead, which seemed to be where most of the heat was radiating from. She pressed it a bit down to make sure he doesn't feel that hot afterward.

After a few moments of complete silence, and making sure that Shellington wouldn't overheat again by casually damping the water in a bowl full of cool water, she decided she better call Captain now.

Getting up once again, she was surprised to find her wrist being pulled back by something, though with not that much force. It was Shellington.

"S-Shellington-?" She asked, confused by this sudden act.

He wearily opened his eyes, letting out a soft cough as he said in a raspy voice, "I'm terribly sorry for grabbing you like that. . But- ehm, c-could I possibly have a glass of water. . Or any type of beverage?" He asked, coughing again. "My throat feels really sore. . ."

"Oh- O-oh, of course! I'll be right back" She gave a light-hearted smile to him, before exiting the room. She did as she was asked and brought him ice-cold lemonade, freshly squeezed.

"Alright, I brought you some fresh lemonade! I read that it helps you feel better when sick, and can improve your health! Now, can you sit up for me?" Dashie asked, watching as Shellington struggled to sit properly on the bed, though with a bit of her help, he was able to.

She handed him the glass, and he immediately started to drink thirstily. He had already finished half of the lemonade in one take and placed it next to his bed on the table where the bowl of cold water was.

"Are you feeling a bit now, Shell?" She asked, wringing out the wet cloth which was left in the bowl.

". .Y-yeah, I am. . . . .Thank you, Dashie." He smiled faintly at her, and she returned the smile.

"Alright, now you need to go back to bed to rest a bit more. I'll tell the captain about your condition, but before I do that, do you mind if I check your temperature once more?"

He shook his head, so she once again placed her hand on his forehead. Feeling it had significantly decreased, she felt relieved. As he lay down, she placed the slightly damp cloth on his forehead once again.

She now decided to leave him alone, so Dashie got up and just as about she was going to turn the doorknob, she heard Shellington's voice.

". .Dashie-? So sorry, this may seem super dense of me but. .could you maybe pass me one of my books? Please-?" 

Dashie let out a small chuckle, nodding. He couldn't let a single day go without his love for books. "Of course I could."

"Awe, thank you so much!- You helped me a lot today, and I just-- don't know how to repay you-!" Shellington smiled gratefully, as she handed him one of his favorite books which were laying on his desk.

"No need to repay me, Shell! I couldn't just leave you there, now could I?" She replied, glad she could help out her friend. 

Shellington loved her smile so much, it just made him feel like the happiest otter ever. Though, he didn't know why this thought suddenly popped into his mind. Dashie was a great friend, of course, but he just felt comfortable around her, more delighted to have her around whenever he can. 

Woah.

His stomach started kicking with what seemed to be- butterflies-?

". . And if there's anything else you need, then don't be afraid to reach out to me! Alright?" Dashie asked, nearly leaving the room as she stood in front of the open door.

"A-alright. ." Shellington nodded, feeling a light tint of blush appear on his face.

"Great! Well then- I hope you have a good rest!" She giggled, before exiting the room.

. . .

Jumping jellyfish-

Shellington seems to be lovestruck.

Chapter Text

"Is he feeling better, now?" Asked Captain Barnacles, after Dashi had just talked to him about Shellington being sick.

"Yes, luckily he is. I was able to get his temperature back to normal and made sure he drank something aswell since his throat was feeling dry." Dashi nodded. "And I also convinced him to take a nap, because he seemed really weak when he tried to sit up."

"Well Dashi, you seemed to do everything right! Whenever a person is sick, then it's best to aid them as much as you can! Starting with checking their temperature, making sure they are well rested, and keeping them hydrated!" Peso smiled, recalling everything he remembered from the beginner's guide on how to help sick creatures. He memorized everything in that small book, and it still helps him to this day with many creatures he aids and supports.

"You seem to learn really quickly!" 

"Thank you, Peso!" Replied Dashi in a sweet tone, a tint of blush appearing on her face from the kind words her friend had told her.

Professor Inkling rolled in with his chair, his tentacle grabbing a cup of coffee from the kitchen.

"Oh, and uh, Captain? Have you managed to figure out what species of octopus that creature was? And have they found their eggs yet?" Dashi asked, now feeling concerned for the poor mother who must still be worried sick.

Captain Barnacles crossed his arms, shaking his head. "No. . . unfortunately, I haven't. In fact, I haven't really been able to catch a glimpse of them while I and Peso were outside."

Peso shook his head aswell, adding to the conversation, "I sure haven't seen a lot of creatures while I was swimming around the coral either."

Professor Inkling listened to them talking about this creature, in confusion about what it might be. But as soon as Captain Barnacles mentioned the light orange color of the creature, and the 8 legs that seemed to be connected together with its own skin, then Inkling already knew what it was.

"Excuse me, if you don't mind me interrupting. ." Said the professor, rolling into the conversation as he held the cup of coffee with his tentacles wrapped around the mug. "But I think I know which creature you seem to be talking about!" He grinned.

"Oh?" Questioned Peso, tilting his head. "Then what is it, professor?"

Professor Inkling tilted his monocle up, replying with sheer confidence, "It's a Blanket Octopus."

"A. . . blanket octopus?" Dashi asked. "Oh. . wait a second, I- think I have actually heard of this creature before!" She exclaimed, quickly running to the computer station. She then quickly started typing up some stuff and pulled up pictures.

The others watched the screen curiously, standing beside her.

"This is a blanket octopus!" Dashi smiled, turning her chair around.

"Woah- they look very pretty! Lots of colors, very pretty colors!" Peso laughed, almost memorized.

"Well Peso, they can actually camouflage in color, as that's one of their attributes. And as you can see in the name, their legs are actually connected together by what people call their 'cape'. They are very rare, yes rare indeed. There are able to live anywhere and incline themselves with that place's temperature."

"That is very interesting, Dashi" Captain Barnacles nodded his head, looking at the pictures.

"Yes, but how do they escape any predators that come near them?" Asked Peso.

"Well, they just swim away to deeper places in the ocean, and sometimes pull their blanketed part into themselves to give themselves more speed and acceleration when running away from the predator." Professor Inkling stated as he had read books about this animal.

"It's a lucky thing you spotted them, Captain. Because as Dashi said, they are quite rare and have only been spotted a few times. And as you had mentioned the octopus looking for its eggs, then it might be difficult to do."

"Why is that, professor?" Peso questioned.

"Part of the reason is that the blanket octopus can lay more than 100,000 eggs, and another part is because the eggs are quite small to spot. The females are usually supposed to carry them, but something must have happened to her, so the eggs most definitely could've been carried away." 

"Oh no! Now I understand why she might've been so worried about all of her tiny little eggs, poor thing. ." Said Peso sadly, as he looked down.

"Don't worry, Octonauts! No matter what animal it is, no matter what size it is, we always help out our fellow creature friends. Now, Peso, I want you to go and get Tweak to get Gup-A up and running so we could help find the eggs. And Dashi, could you get Kwasii to help me spot the mother?" 
Peso nodded, saying, "Yes Captain!" He then quickly waddled away.

"Yes, of course, Captain" Dashi nodded, getting up from her chair as she went.

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