Chapter Text
“There you are, little fishy”
Peso was testing a salmon that had previously injured its dorsal fin; he really hoped it was ready to be released back into the wild. All the boxes on his checklist got crossed off!
"Good news, Mr. Salmon, you are fully healed and ready to be released!"
Peso gently carried the bucket containing him down to the launch bay, passing by Kwazii playing ping pong with Tunip and somehow losing. When he arrived, Tweak was in her usual spot, under a gup fiddling with things Peso or anyone else doesn't understand.
"Peso!" Tweak slid out of the underside of the car and wiped her face with a rag, already grabbing a carrot to munch on.
"Heya, I'm releasing that salmon we found; he passed all his tests."
"That's great, Peso! Do you have any other plans for today?"
Peso opened the hatch and carefully let the salmon swim free into the ocean. He sighed and plopped down next to Tweak, dipping his toes(talons???) in the water.
"Not really. I mean I should clean the tank the salmon was in...oh and maybe clean the floors in there." Peso paused, face deep in thought before giggling, "Kwazii was playing ping pong with Tunip, so I might have to clean some scrapes"
"As fun as that all sounds, Peso...you should take a break. You have been working non-stop all week! Why don't you...go do something"
"Go do something? Very specific and helpful tweak"
"Oh, come on, I mean like go on a joy ride or just do anything other than work"
Peso raised an eyebrow. "Me? A joy ride? Really?"
Tweak poked Peso's side, "I could come with you if you are too scared "
After Tweak pestered and teased Peso past his limit, he agreed as long as it's no longer than 30 minutes. Then he would get back to work.
After Peso got settled into his seat, Tweak didn't even stop to ask if he was ready and went full throttle into the ocean. He may have screamed a bit. Maybe a little more than a bit. After he got used to the speed, he was able to relax somewhat. When Tweak wasn't doing flips and turns, for that matter. He thought back to Kwazii, playing ping pong; he is terrible, but he was so in the zone.
"If Kwazii knew I was doing this without him, he'd be so mad," Peso laughed.
"Why's that?"
"He tries to convince me to come on joy rides with him all the time, but I know how he drives"
"I bet he would be way more careful if you were there"
They went quiet, but it wasn't awkward silence; they just admired the sea life as Tweak slowed the Gup to a stop next to a school of fish. 'Why would he be more careful if I was there?' Peso thought. Because I'm watching him? Or because he doesn't want me to get hurt? Before he could ask, Tweak spoke first.
"You work so hard, Peso. I just want you to have some fun once in a while. And I'm sure Kwazii does too. As with the whole crew. We all see what you do and the time you sacrifice."
"Thanks, Tweak. Everyone on the ship works hard; I'm just doing my part"
"You are doing more than enough of your part"
She restarted the Gup and started driving back to the Octopod. "You know, Peso...I installed a button on all the gups to make them go extra fast"
"Tweeeaaak isn't that only for emergencies!?!"
"This is an emergency"
She pushed the button, and Peso nearly flew out of his chair.
"AAaEaEEeAAaHhhHHhhHHHhHhH!!!!" Peso yelled, while Tweak only maniacally giggled.
They got to the Octopod, and Peso hurried to get off, still panting from the ride. Tweak patted his back.
"See? Kwazii can't go faster than that, and you're fine, so maybe take him up on it next time."
Peso looked at the floor as Tweak left the room. He felt sort of guilty for always telling Kwazii no now, he probably just wanted Peso to have a break. He decided that the next time he asked, he would say yes. Even if he didn't entirely trust him not to crash.
When he walked back to the med bay, his clock's blaring red numbers told him it was 10:13 pm. He decided to finish up some paperwork and clean the medical equipment. By the time he was done, it was 12:52. He hadn't noticed how late it had gotten. He knew how bad it was to not sleep, of course, but he also knew that he was improving others' health by staying up. His talons tapped on the cold floor, and he walked to his room. The only thing he could hear was his walking, his breathing, and the hum of the Octopod's heaters. When he turned the corner, he heard murmuring. Who was talking at 1 am? He followed the sound to Kwazii's door, and the murmurs died down after a couple of minutes. He probably just talks in his sleep.
Peso flopped onto his bed and let himself sink into his mattress. It didn't take long for him to drift off to sleep.
The breakfast table was quiet, with the exception of Tweak and Dashi's occasional giggles. The lights were dimmed to make it seem like there was morning light filtering through the windows. Peso's coffee was nice and warm; he was glad Tweak managed to fix the coffee machine. Kwazii looked like he was about to fall back asleep, his head bobbing. Dashi and Tweak fell quiet when Captain Barnacles and Shellington walked through the door. They were talking about all the different types of poison in a platypus and what each one does. Well, Shellington was. Barnacles was listening. As they sat down at their normal spots, Captain Barnacles cleared his throat.
"Well. We don't have much on the agenda today, but I set a course for the Amazon because Calico Jack reported seeing low levels of giant otters lately."
Kwazii's ears perked up at hearing his granddad's name, and we all went back to our quiet morning. Until Tweak burst out laughing.
"WAIT GUYS YOU GOTTA SEE THIS BAHAHAHA"
She slid Dashi's camera to the center of the table and hit play on a video. It was Dashi sleeping on the bean bags, snoring VERY loudly. Everybody laughed, and Kwazii probably laughed the loudest.
"Mate, you are gonna wake up the whole Octopod with that," He snorted.
"Well, I'm not sure you can be talking, Kwazii, because of how loud you were talking in your sleep last night," I said
The whole table went quiet, and Tweak choked a little on her coffee but tried to hide it. I then realized how it sounded.
"I-i was just walking by your room, and I heard it through the door."
"Ah," he said, and everyone nodded.
I stood up and said I was going to go to work now, and hurriedly went to the med bay. 'That was so embarrassing. Why did I say that???' The next few hours were mostly just check-ups with patients and giving out the daily medications. I was washing my hands (flippers?) when I heard someone open the door from the check-up room.
"I will be with you in just a second," I called, but heard no reply.
When I walked out, I saw Kwazii sitting on the patient chair, his tail swirling.
"Hey, Peso"
"Hello, Kwazii, what brings you here this time?" I said, picking up my clipboard, ready to take notes.
"I just wanted to ask you something. Wanna…watch a movie?”
Silence.
“I was thinking maybe Indiana Jones."
"Oh, um." This was not what Peso was expecting. My stomach felt tight for some reason, but I remembered that I told Tweak I was saying yes next time. "Sure. What time should I go to...?"
"My room. Uh, at like 9 should be good."
"I'll be there," I said as I sat in front of my computer to log a new prescription for a crab. He hopped off the chair and walked off, probably to go play ping pong.
At dinner that night, everyone was energetic and laughing. The Vegimals had made lasagna, a crew favorite. Kwazii was joking with Captain about how he was going to swipe his plate. Peso watched him and really noticed for the first time how good he is at connecting with people. He saw the way his eyes darted around, making sure everyone was laughing and included. He saw the way his gaze rested on Peso for a beat too long before he looked back down at his plate. He saw the way his fur fluffed up slightly whenever he yelled or laughed. He saw Kwazii. And he saw himself in the reflection of the glass window. He was blushing.