Inside the Octopod (A Captain Barnacles x Professor Inkling Fanfic)

Explosions of Emotion

"Good morning, Professor." Captain Barnacles said, smiling at the tired old pink squid, who was reading a book on rare sea creatures. Professor Inkling lifted his eyes from his book to look at who had spoken to him, and he grinned.

"Good morning, Captain!" he responded, quite enthusiastically, and then went back to reading his book.

There was silence for a bit. Captain Barnacles was still in the room, just staring at him. Professor Inkling was aware of this, and after a while, he closed his book and looked back up at the strong, cheerful, helpful polar bear.

"Is something wrong?" He eventually ended up asking. Captain Barnacles chuckled, and then shook his head 'no'.

"No, no, everything is fine. It's just- well, today seems to be the first day off everyone here has had in quite a while." Captain Barnacles announced. Professor Inkling looked at him with a confused expression on his face.

"And?" He asked, urging Captain Barnacles to go ahead and spit out whatever he was planning on saying. It was odd. The captain never did anything without a reason, and that reason was almost always very clear, but, today, it seemed to be quite the opposite. He was just there, standing, and for an unknown reason; if there even was a reason to begin with.

The captain closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, then opened his eyes and exhaled even deeper.

"I was just wondering if we could spend it together." he finally confessed.

Professor Inkling was now even more confused. The captain had never seemed to care about spending time with him before, yet suddenly, on his one day off, it seemed as if that was the only thing he had wanted to do?

"Oh- alright, then. That would be fine, although; what would we even do? It's quite rare that I do anything other than study, you know." Professor Inkling replied, chuckling a little bit at the end.

   "Ah, um, well, what are you reading?" Captain Barnacles asked, suddenly seeming unsure of himself. Professor Inkling studied the captain; something was off about him today. He never acted like this, he never acted anything other than strong, kind, courageous, and confident. Yet, today he seemed softer, random, and a bit lost.

     "Just my regular research, nothing other than the usual." The professor answered. Now, it seemed that the captain was avoiding eye contact.

"Of course, of course." Captain Barnacles responded, moments after clearing his throat.

This all felt so... so awkward. A question kept nagging at the professor, a simple question that wouldn't offend anyone, yet, he was afraid to ask it. It was just simply "are you okay?", and yet, it seemed that asking said question would be impolite. But, eventually, that feeling of 'asking this question would end up being problematic' went away, and he had no trouble asking the captain that.

"Are you alright, Captain? You aren't really acting like yourself." Professor Inkling asked. At that moment, the captain stopped avoiding eye contact, and his eyes darted over to look at the professor's.

"Why do you say that?" He said, in a tone that sounded so serious that it sent chills down the professor's spine. Had the questioned bothered him? Gah, this was exactly what he had worried would happen! But... why would the captain be angry over this. The squid set his book down onto the floor, and leaned forward ever so slightly.

"You seem... less sure of yourself, more abrupt than usual, that's all." The professor answered.

Captain Barnacles laughed. The professor could tell that the laugh was forced, though; clearly, something was up with him. Something was troubling him, but Professor Inkling just wasn't able to figure out what that something was.

     "Captain, what's wrong?" Professor Inkling asked. He now sounded even more serious than Captain Barnacles just a few moments ago.

    The captain seemed lost for words. He seemed like he had lost himself completely. Professor Inkling hooped up from his chair and went over to the captain. Captain Barnacle's heart was beating so loud that Professor Inkling could hear it, and hear it with no trouble. This was strange... very strange.

    "I-I'm fine." Captain Barnacles said, with a fake smile on his face, once again avoiding eye contact.

   "Right. Okay. Now say that while looking at me." Professor Inkling ordered.

"Professor, really, I'm fine." Captain Barnacles stated, still avoiding eye contact. It was clear to Professor Inkling that the captain, in fact, wasn't fine. Something was bothering him, and he wanted to hide that something, but he was struggling with doing so.

     "Okay. I'll believe you once you say that while making eye contact with me." The professor said, clearly unamused by the captain avoiding telling him the truth of what is actually going on.

    Captain Barnacles breathed in deeply, and finally made eye contact with Professor Inkling. "I-I-I, er," the captain cleared his throats, "I'm fine, I promise."

     The professor still didn't believe him. What was bothering the captain so much, and why was he so afraid of telling him what it was? Professor Inkling frowned, and thought about what to do next for a few moments. Should he just leave it be? Should he ask something else? Should he investigate further into it?

     "Captain, it's pretty obvious that you aren't fine. Something is nagging at you. What is it? I promise, I won't judge you for it, whatever it is." Professor Inkling told him, urging him to say what was on his mind.

The Captain sighed heavily, and stared at the floor. "I've just... been feeling, different, I guess you could say."

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Professor Inkling asked.

"Different- different around you. I don't know why, but, lately, I've been wanting, yearning. I've been yearning for something, for someone." Captain Barnacles confessed. Professor Inkling stared at him, shocked. Never before had the captain said something personal; he was always so closed off about his personal life, about his emotions. This was the first time that the professor had heard the captain say anything other than orders, or what was currently happening. This was highly unexpected, and quite shocking.

"Ah, that's simply love, Captain." said the squid, chuckling. "There's nothing wrong with it, you don't need to get all worked up about it! Now, tell me, who's the lucky special one?"

   "I, yes, yes, b-but, it's just..." Captain Barnacles stuttered. His heart was now somehow beating even louder and even faster than it already was.

   "Huh?" Professor Inkling 'asked'.

   "I-I feel this way... I feel this way around you..." the captain admitted.