Welcome to the Octonauts

Chapter 2

The octonauts sat down for dinner, which was cooked by the vegimals. As they sat down, Tweak looked to the captain.

"So, what was it?" Tweak asked.

"What was what?" Kwazii asked Tweak.

"Kwazii, I'm sure it's none of your business." Shellington said casually.

"Then they shouldn't talk about it in front of me! They know damn well that I'm going to be curious" Kwazii complained.

"We just got a weird letter in the mail, which I was actually going to talk to you guys about." Captain Barnacles said, looking at his crew with a look that told them to shut up for the next few minutes. Once the table was quiet, Captain barnacles cleared his throat to start talking to his crew. "As I said, we got a letter in the mail today. I read it over, and it turns out, we have someone who wants to fill our need for a biologist." He said, giving the others a moment to take things in. "Her name is Laurel, and she had an absolutely amazing application. Professor Inkling and I looked over her application and credentials together, and we were thinking about meeting her in person." He said. The table was left in silence, the rest of the octonauts thinking about what their captain had said. It couldn't be denied that they needed someone to help them with their operations on land, but a new member would be a HUGE adjustment. It always was. Everyone could remember when Peso joined. It was fun to meet him, but it stressed everyone out in some way. There was no doubt that there would be room, but Shellington was NOT going to share his laboratory.

"Captain, I only have one question." Shellington said, waiting for Barnacles to tell him to go on. When he did, Shellington said what was bothering him.

"I'm all for having someone to help us with the creatures I don't specialize in, but I want to make sure you know that I will NOT be sharing my laboratory." Shellington announced rudely. His tone made it clear he would not be up for negotiating. However, Captain Barnacles was not impressed by the otter's inability to share a public space.

"Shellington, I cannot promise you that you will not have to share the laboratory. I also feel the need to remind you that it is not your lab. Anyone who wants to use it may use it. I do not think we have a spare room that we could make into a laboratory, and it's incredibly selfish of you to just demand that you don't have to share a public space. You could reserve a corner of the room or something, but you do not need to hog the whole room." The captain said, trying not to get angry.

"But Captain-" the otter tried to plead, but Barnacles cut him off.

"NO! It is NOT your space. If you can't respect that other people may need the laboratory, then you won't be allowed to go in there until you can. Do you understand me?!" Captain Barnacles snapped. Shellington just sat in his seat, speechless. He had never made the captain angry at him. But his silence only made the captain angrier.

"Shellington. Do. You. Understand?" He asked in a tone that made Shellington shiver. He could feel eyes of the others staring at him, but the only ones he was worried about was the captains. Those icy blue eyes looked like they could cut him in half.

"Yes." Shellington said. Feeling as though the captain wasn't taking that as an answer, he added to his answer. "Sir." Shellington practically spat. He stood up and grabbed his plate and moved to the kitchen to sit one of the stools at the kitchen island's counter. The other people at the table watched him walk out of the room, and as soon as Shellington was out of sight, everyone whipped their heads around to face the captain. Captain Barnacles was sitting in his seat, arms crossed against his chest, with an expression that made people almost worried for Shellington, since the captain was most defiantly going to "chat" with him after dinner. Most of dinner was eaten in an uncomfortable silence until Captain Barnacles broke the silence as everyone finished their meals.

"Did I go too far?" He asked. The others looked at him, seeing their captain, who looked like he was really worried he went too far with Shellington.

"I don't think so." Dashi said as she stood up to clear her plate.

"I agree. He was being really selfish, and frankly incredibly rude." Tweak added.

"Yeah, I think he needed to be reminded that he doesn't own the lab, and you did just that." Kwazii said.

"Off topic, but who's night is it for dishes?" Peso asked as he walked towards the kitchen.

"I'm not sure, but it's Shellington's night now." Barnacles huffed, putting his plate in the sink and leaving to go find the sea otter. Low and behold, he found him in the lab. "Shellington." Captain Barnacles huffed from the doorway, arms folded.

"Yes?" Shellington asked with a sour undertone. His annoyed response was met with silence. "I'm sorry." He said. When there was still no answer, he elaborated. "I'm sorry captain. It was incredibly selfish of me to refuse to share the lab. I was afraid my things would get messed up." Shellington explained.

"Thank you, Shellington. You're right, was incredibly selfish of you. You can politely tell people that you are working on something and to not touch it, but you can't have the whole lab. Now, you're doing the dishes tonight and tomorrow, so I'd suggest you go upstairs to the kitchen." Captain Barnacles said. Shellington left the lab, flipping the light switch on his way out.