Welcome to the Octonauts

Chapter 3

After Shellington finished the dishes, Captain Barnacles called a meeting at the library. Everyone guessed that it was to talk about the application they had received in the mail. Before Shellington ruined the mood, the captain had seemed really excited about it. Once everyone had gathered in the lounge-ish corner of the library, which was basically a living room but for over 10 people if count the vegimals. It had three large couches, each having four identical brown cushions which split the couches perfectly in halves. Two on the bottom of the couch, and two on the back of the couch. The couches were arranged so that one was pushed against the wall, another mirroring it with the third couch in the back of the two, making a boxy "c" shape, the same shape as an unused staple. Below the couches lay a gray shaggy rug. There was a large circular end table in the middle of the rug, along with smaller matching end tables at each end of the couch in the back. The two smaller end tables were also taller, matching the height of the couch's arm rest. They also had electrical sockets built into the tops for people to plug in their devices. Since the couches were in the corner of the vast library, the wall mirroring the back couch had a large television mounted to it. None of the crew members knew where the remote to that T.V was. Only their captain did, he kept it hidden unless somebody asked to use the T.V, which then they had to "sign in" on the little dry erase board hung on the wall next to the T.V so everybody knew who's turn it was. Which meant you also had to "sign out" so everybody knew they could use the television. When you signed out, whoever had the T.V has to return the remote to the captain. It wasn't always that complicated, but Captain Barnacles had learned within the first month or two of the Octonauts' existence that being the captain was often closer to baby sitting a group of 5 year olds, who all are siblings. And that was exactly how the crew acted when they were not on a mission. The new system was introduced after Kwazii and Tweak got into a fist fight over the remote, during which Peso slipped in the living room, jumping over the back of one of the couches to grab the remote. Once Kwazii and Tweak figured out what had happened, chaos ensued. Captain Barnacles walked into the library to find a broken tv remote and three members of his crew with black eyes and bruises. Everyone sat down, either on one of the couches or on the carpet below. Captain Barnacles laid the letter and forms down on the end table in the middle, so everyone could see them.

"I want everyone to read the letter over and to tell me what they think. Personally, I was going to reach out miss Laurel and tell her I wanted to meet her in person. However, I want this to be a group decision, since if she was hired, we would all be living with her, we would all be working with her, and we would all need to get along well with her. So, what are everyone's thoughts?" The captain asked his crew. Peso sheepishly grabbed the letter, reading it over. Tweak and Kwazii peered over his shoulder, also reading the letter. Once the three of them had read both pages, Peso handed the letter to Dashi, who read it with Shellington and Professor Inkling glancing over her shoulder to read it with her. About a minute or two later, the letter was put back on the table. Dashi was the first to speak.

"Well, I think she sounds really nice. She sounds like she would be pleasant to be around." Dashi said with a smile.

"She also seemed like she really wants to join us. She seems like she would work very hard to help us in any way she could." Peso added.

"Well, I agree with what Dashi and Peso are saying. She sounds like she would be an amazing addition to our team, and she just seems like a nice person in general. I would say she's very passionate, which is very important." Professor Inkling spoke, his lips curving into a smile.

"I would say the same things. I think we go meet this girl!" Kwazii cheered. The whole room erupted in positive cheer as it became even clearer to Captain Barnacles that he and the crew needed to meet miss Laurel.

"Well then, it seems like everyone is on board for me to email her and tell her we would like to meet her in person to talk about joining us, right?" Barnacles asked jokingly. The whole room nodded, and the captain dismissed the meeting. He walked down the hallways, slowly making his way to his own room, which is where his computer was. He slowly entered the room, taking off his jumpsuit and throwing it in the dirty clothes basket that was in the corner near his bed. Each bedroom on the octopod was completely identical by floor layout. Everyone had the option to rearrange furniture and stuff, but the actual shape and sizes of the rooms remained the same. Each room had a queen bed, a large dresser, a desk and desk chair, and a bookshelf/ storage shelf. Everything else was up to whoever lived in the room. He walked over to his dresser, opening one of the bottom drawers to grab a pair of pjs. He grabbed one of his pairs of light blue pajamas with dark blue pinstripes. The shirt buttoned down the middle with a collar around the neck line. He got changed into his pajamas before remembering his phone was still in one of his jumpsuit's pockets. He walked over to the laundry basket, fishing for his phone and plugging it in on his night stand once it was found. He sat down at his desk, opening his laptop and turning it on. He set the letter on his desk, reading the email address that was written on the paper. He typed in it, and started typing.

"Dear Miss Laurel,

Hello. This is Captain Barnacles, the captain of the Octonauts. We have received your application letter and documents in the mail, and after some discussion and consideration, we have decided that we would like to meet you in person to talk to you about this position. If we could set up a time and date to meet, my crew and myself would be glad to talk with you in person.

Thanks,

-Captain Barnacles."

He hit send, and clicked on another tab, which was just a few forms he needed to sign and whatnot. After about ten minutes, he heard a small "ping" from his laptop. He saw that he had received an email, switching tabs to check that. He saw a reply to the email he had sent to Miss Laurel, and he was shocked by how fast she had replied.

"Dear Captain Barnacles,

Hi! This is Laurel Pines, and I'm so glad to hear you guys got my letter. I would love to meet you guys in person! Would it be okay if we met on Monday? (The 12th) I'm free all day on Monday, but I was thinking that the best time for me would be mid-day.

Hope to hear back soon! :)

Captain Barnacles smiled to himself. She certainly seemed very excited. He hummed some song he had heard earlier that morning as he wrote a response.

"Hello again miss Laurel

That would work just fine for us. How does Monday at 1:30 sound?"

"That would be awesome! Can't wait to meet you all!! :D

Also, you can just call me Laurel.

-Laurel Pines"