The Ocean Deep is the Life for Me

A Dinner Table a Mile Long

This oneshot isn't all that interesting or important. I just felt like writing it.

A Dinner Table a Mile Long

"Angel? Dinner's ready."

The eleven-year-old girl slapped her book shut and got to her feet. Heading up to the kitchen made her feel a little anxious. She always did in social situations.

The problem was, the fewer people there were around, the more anxious she was. With more people around, Angel felt like she kind of faded into the background. She felt much less pressure to socialise.

This particular night, there would be only two of them eating dinner together: herself and Professor Inkling.

Of everyone on the Octopod, Angel felt the least close to Professor Inkling. Most of the time, he was holed up in the library, reading. Angel didn't like to bother him. Not only that, but he was so formal, the girl had no clue how to talk to him.

The fact that the two of them went on very few missions didn't make much of a difference. When everyone else was busy, like tonight, they each just did their own thing and rarely crossed paths.

Although, the last time it was just them, Angel had not wanted to bother him and ended up eating an entire bag of marshmallows for dinner. Later on, she had woken Peso up with a stomachache. So, she'd received lectures from both the Captain and Peso- and the Professor received one from the Captain. Now, Inkling seemed to be making an effort.

Up in the kitchen, Angel found the octopus dishing up. It was kind of comical to watch him holding two plates at once, putting food onto each of them at the same time.

He turned around and smiled. "Ah! There you are!"

"You made dinner?" she asked, way more surprised than she intended. Usually, the Vegimals made dinner. If they were absent, like tonight, normally, they would just have leftovers.

The Professor didn't seem the least bit offended. "Yes. Have a seat."

Angel slid onto the bench. Professor Inkling put the plate down in front of the girl.

"Thanks."

Then he put his own plate on the other side of the table and the meal began.

At first, neither of them spoke; they just focused on eating and taking the occasional sip from their drinks. The Professor also watched Angel to gauge her response to the meal. ("Angel’s only eleven, Professor", Captain Barnacles had pointed out when he'd found the octopus poring over cookbooks. "You don't have to do anything too elaborate.") She seemed to be enjoying it.

Angel was enjoying it, but she was also just shovelling food in her mouth so that she had something to do. Her heart was racing; her throat felt a little dry and she had to hold her knife and fork tightly, so it wasn’t obvious that her hands were shaking. The silence was making her anxious, but she barely knew the Professor, despite living together. What on Earth were they supposed to talk about?

Eventually, Professor Inkling cleared his throat. "So, Angel, what have you been up to today?" Until now, the only time they'd seen each other that day was in the launch bay when the Octo-Alert went off.

The eleven-year-old shrugged. "Not a lot. Just chilled in my room, sat in HQ for a while... I was actually just reading the book you gave me for my birthday."

"Were you? What did you think of it?"

The words were right on the tip of Angel’s tongue: It was one of her favourite books! It was funny and full of adventure. It brought the ocean to life. She especially loved the part with the dolphins. It was actually her sixth time reading that book (her eleventh birthday was months ago; in fact, her twelfth birthday was right around the corner).