Welcome to the Octonauts

Chapter 4

Captain Barnacles closed his computer. He was really excited to meet the Octonaut's potentially newest member. He walked over to his bed, flopping down on his back, grabbing his phone and opening the messages app. He saw that he had no messages, and put his phone back on the end table. He stared contently at the ceiling, watching as his eyes closed and his body relaxed under the covers. He slowly fell into a deep sleep, smiling to himself as he did.

***

Captain Barnacles woke up feeling well rested, which was a rare feeling for him. He slowly opened his eyes, his eyelids still feeling heavy. He could see fish and other creatures from his window, swimming and exploring the vast blue scenery they called their home. Barnacles could see the outlines of a coral reef in the distance, a smile making its way onto his face. He slowly sat up, stretching with a louder than necessary yawn. He stood up, a content smile firmly planted on his face. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like that day was going to be a great day. He looked at his computer, remembering the conversation he had had with Laurel over email the previous night. His smile grew as he recollected the conversation, realizing he needed to tell the crew that they were going to meet miss Laurel on Monday. The captain opened his dresser, grabbing one of his jumpsuits. He hesitated for a moment, He made his way out of his room, walking to the bathroom. The octopod seemed rather quiet. But it was a comfortable quiet, a calm silence. He walked into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind him. He turned on the shower head faucet, taking off his pajamas and stepping into the icy water.

***

Captain Barnacles stepped out of the bathroom, now fully dressed and ready for the day. He made his way down the stairs, the smell from the kitchen getting stronger with each step. It smelled delicious, whatever it was the vegimals were cooking this morning. He could certainly smell eggs. And onions. Barnacles guessed they were making omelets. As he made his way down the hallway, he could hear the sounds of silverware hitting the glass plates, the chatter amongst his crew. He knew he had slept in for a good amount of time, but it didn't bother him that morning. He walked into the kitchen, seeing his crew sitting on the bar chairs with their plates on the counter of the kitchen island. They didn't seem to notice him as he grabbed his mug from the cabinet, turning on the coffee maker and putting in one of his coffee pods. Almost everyone on the Octopod drank a different type of coffee, so there were always at least five types of coffee in the pantry. Kwazii didn't drink coffee, and he most certainly did NOT need it. Professor Inkling preferred tea. Captain Barnacles drank his coffee black, not seeing the need to make it overly sweet like Dashi did. God, that girl put so much stuff in her coffee. Tunip was the first to realize that the captain was awake. "Cheeba egga? (Omelet?)" Captain Barnacles smiled at the tiny creature before responding.

"I would love an omelet Tunip." He said as he put his cup under the coffee maker. It was at this point the crew realized their captain had woken up.

"Morning cap." Tweak said with a chuckle.

"Mornin' Tweak" The captain replied with a smile.

"I thought I would die before I saw captain sleep in" Shellington joked.

"Especially this late!" Dashi laughed.

"Heh, I was surprised myself. Well, I still don't know what time it is, but I don't really care. It felt nice waking up later than five thirty." Captain Barnacles said as he grabbed his cup out from under the coffee maker. He took a large sip, looking at Kwazii, who was laughing while looking at his phone. "Kwazii, if you send me one more of those videos, I will have Tweak surface the Octopod just so I can throw you overboard." Captain Barnacles said in a joking voice. He took another sip of his coffee, leaning against the counter.

"Oh captain, did you send an email to miss... uhm.... what was the name of the woman who sent the application?" Peso asked with a smile.

"OH! That's right! I did send an email to miss Laurel, and she responded. We eventually agreed to meet in person on Monday at one. Is that okay with everyone?" Captain Barnacles asked, the crew nodding and murmuring yeses. Monday was two days away, since it was Saturday.

"Cheeba egga chipa (Omelet's ready)" Tunip said as he lifted a plate towards Captain Barnacles.

"Ah. Thank you Tunip." He said as he took the plate from the little creature. Despite what some of the media thought, the octonauts did eat meat. Sure, their whole mission was to protect creatures, but they had collectively decided there was a difference between the animals they encounter and livestock raised on a farm, who were only raised to be killed and didn't have intelligent minds. Besides, some of the Octonauts, (epically the captain) couldn't survive without eating meat. The captain sat down at the counter, joining his crew's conversations.

***

The Octonauts slowly got out of the gups, exhausted. There had been a lot of mission that day, and they had to split up THREE TIMES because they were needed in two places at once. Captain Barnacles was incredibly grateful for the extra sleep he had gotten that morning, because he almost collapsed from exhaustion as he exited the gup A. It was already ten thirty at night by the time the group had gotten back to the octopod, and they had left at around nine forty-five that morning.

"Uhm captain, what would one do if they were really hungry right now?" Kwazii asked nervously.

"I'm rather sure the vegimals have gone to bed by now, or at least I certainly hope they have. If anyone wants dinner, there are leftovers in the fridge." Captain Barnacles said with a dismissive wave as he walked towards the stairs.