Searching Science - An Octonauts Story Book 3 (complete)

Chapter One - Consulting

"Well, Captain, that's actually a very interesting question..."

Dashi adjusted her position in her chair as she quietly listened to Shellington ramble about a new discovery, as he was accustomed to doing when he got excited over something. His constant enthusiasm for everything marine was just one of the many things she loved about her collective best friend and boyfriend, and if she could she would always spare some time to sit by him in the lab or the library when he got invested in researching some new secret of the ocean that he hadn't been aware of before. His tangible excitement had a tendency to drag her into its orbit, like a powerful force of gravity around a star. Often she would be surprised to find herself, hours later, sitting cross-legged next to the biologist on a beanbag, poring through ten open textbooks at once as they chatted amicably about nothing and everything. It was too easy to lose track of time, just the two of them. Young scientists in love.

"... but I'm not quite sure why a swordfish would be in waters that shallow in the summer months," Shellington was saying, as she tuned back into to his conversation with the mission team, a small frown passing momentarily over his face as he pondered over a question he unusually couldn't answer. "And you say she doesn't know where her home is, except she's sure the ocean is much deeper where she lives?"

The Captain confirmed this, and Shellington murmured a response that Dashi didn't catch, his eyes clouded in thought. "Hmm..."

The swordfish bobbed her long nose into shot. "Please help me find my home, Doctor," she pleaded, her voice fearful. Peso laid a flipper gently on her side in an attempt at reassurance.

Shellington smiled warmly at the lost creature. "I will do my best," he assured her, his slight accent giving the words a Scottish lilt. The dachshund was next aware of the scientist spinning in his seat to look at her, meeting her eyes with his own friendly, light brown ones. "Dashi, would you mind passing me over that book?" he asked politely.

"On it, Shel." Dashi resisted the strong urge to salute and instead slid her chair swiftly across the HQ to grab the book sitting on the opposite side of the room, returning it to her boyfriend along with a smile.

Shellington smiled dreamily back, lost in her eyes for a moment, before coughing and remembering what he had been doing, flashing a furtive glance at the screen to see if his friends had noticed his brief lapse in concentration. "Anyway... I should be able to find it in this. Give me just a minute, please."

"Sure," Peso replied, turning off-screen to relay the situation to the large swordfish bobbing respectively in and out of the shot. Kwazii and Barnacles relapsed into quiet conversation in the background of the Gup A as Shellington opened the textbook at the contents page and began to search for the entry, running his paw along the text before flipping the pages over, scanning them for anything relevant to the mission. Dashi always enjoyed watching him do this, too. The quiet focus that he slipped into, so different from his bumbling awkwardness around everyday life, was simultaneously odd and endearing to watch. It just showed how much he loved his job. Like they all did, really.

"Anything useful in there?" she inquired now.

"Uh huh..." Shellington replied distractedly. "Well - not yet, actually, but I'm getting there."

"Do you need any help? I can look it up on the Octopod computer."

The sea otter nodded, flashing a grateful smile at his girlfriend. "Yeah, that would be great. Thanks, Dashi."

Dashi scooted her chair back into her usual spot at the dashboard, her paws a blur as she typed efficiently into the database and running a search of the many facts they had ever recorded on their travels. "Sword... fish," she murmured under her breath as she worked, slipping into the same concentration level as her crewmate. "Let's see."