Friendship And Hardship

[Chapter 4] - New Faces

"You did tell me that I had to meet other members of your team, right?" Parker asked, leaning forward towards Barnacles.
"Actually, there's a few people you need to meet. Emphasis on the few," he answered, smiling.
"Oh, my god!" she squealed, flapping her hands around. "Sorry about that, I just gotta, you know-"
"Go ahead, Kwazii does the same."

Parker backed away from the front of the GUP for a second, shaking her hands by her head. "Did I ever get the chance to tell you that I'm autistic?"
"Pardon?"
"That probably wasn't the best time to bring that up, but it was the only time I could."
Loads of things would be that way. Sure, the whole wrong time deal would be in place, but even though it was the wrong time, would it be the only time?

"Sorry, again. Why am I apologizing, do I need to apologize or-" she rambled on.
"Don't apologize. No need."
"Oh. All right, whatever."

She had already been backed away from the control panel of the gup, but now she felt even further away. Like every move of her body was light, and almost like a floating feeling.
"Parker." Barnacles looked back at her.
"Hm?"
"Come here, you've gone quiet again."

"What's up? You seem... upset now." he asked, arm around her shoulders.
"I'm not upset."
"You sound like me when I was a teenager, come on."

"All right, all right. Truth be told, I don't think I belong here," she said, laughing. "At all. Yes, I know so much about you guys and I could probably guess your birthdays, but I don't think I fit in? You get what I'm saying?"
"Can you explain to me why you think that? Is there a reason?"

"Maybe Kwazii was right? I did technically try to get you guys off the island, whether it was by force or not, but... I don't know. Does that make me a bad person?" Parker looked up at him, more confused than sad at this point.
"Oh, Parker... That doesn't make you a bad person, not at all. It was completely understandable why you acted out like that."
"But.. I threatened you guys. I didn't trust you? And I don't know why? Everything went so fast."
"Calm down, it's all right." Barnacles assured her.
"No, it's not. I can't go in there. I can't, just take me back to the island, I'd rather get stabbed by an arrow," she stammered, hands dragging down her face.
"Parker, calm down. It's all going to be all right. Believe me," he stated, turning to her.

But he turned only to see her holding a whole... dagger. "Woah, woah, hold on, put that down."
"How about you calm down? I'm just cutting off a string on my shirt," she explained. "But I can also throw these things pretty well, they're so tiny and thin and I can fit a shit ton of them in my case!" Parker unlocked the case she had shoved in one of her pockets of her shorts.

And she was right, they were tiny. Lots of them, too. "Don't hurt yourself with those..." Barnacles muttered, turning back around to face the ocean.
"I never have, actually."
"Should I be proud or should I accept that as a normal thing?"
"Both."

~

"I didn't expect this. Dead serious. Not the whole ship deal, I knew about that. I mean the whole 'coming onto the ship' idea you just threw out there," Parker stated, nudging him in the side with her elbow.
"I already had plans ready in case you wanted to make that call yourself."
"Ohh... Thanks."

It was quiet and still for a few seconds in the launch bay, the two of them still standing in the GUP, but in the blink of an eye, she already had her arms wrapped around his.
"I don't think you realize how much that means to me. My 'thank you' isn't enough in my eyes, but I don't know what else to say. You've finally got me speechless."
"After everything, that's what has you speechless?"
"Yep! Apparently so."

~

"I want you to meet someone I know you'll like. You might want to kill me for this too, but you'll love this, I swear," Barnacles said, practically dragging Parker to the library. He couldn't do anything else, she was blindfolded.
"Should I be scared? Anxious? Excited?"
"All of the above."
"Oh, god, save me."