My Little Treasure

chapter seventeen: (part 4) catching feelings

(Kwazii's pov)
Me and the other octonauts were watching saber on the gup finder, she took the gup-C out to find captain barnacles whose lost out in the storm, all of a sudden the gup-C started spinning out of control, we all gasped as the gup's icon flashed red meaning it had ether crashed or had taken damage of some sort, the icon finally stopped moving and I jumped on the radio "Saber are you okay?"

(Saber's pov)
I drove the gup-C out of the octopod and boy is it rough out here, just then a current caused an iceberg to smash into the hull of me ship "woah" I yelled, the gup-C finally stopped going in circles after crashing on the sea floor "Saber are you okay?" Dad's frantic voice came over the radio, "as soon as everything stops spinning I well be" I replied shaking my head and trying not to lose my balance, the gup's still drivable so I'm gonna press on, the captain has to be out here somewhere, I pulled up the radar on the computer screen in front of me, at least the crew locator feature on his octo-compass is still working

From what me radar says I'm not far from him, just a little bit further and I should find me captain, I put the gup in park, flipped up me eyepatch and pulled out me black and gold spyglass to look around, it wasn't long before I stopped the gup-A stuck between two pieces of ice sticking up from a rock coated in a thick sheet of ice "ship ahoy" I exclaimed happily, I quickly drove closer to the gup-A and activated my radio "gup-C to gup-A, can you hear me?" I questioned, "kinda, saber is everyone okay?" A familiar deep voice asked, typical, he's worried about everyone but himself "yes captain, are you?" I responded, "not exactly...my helmet radio has see better days" he replied just before the radio cut out, I moved the gup-C into position in front the gup-A, now time to prepare myself for another first...swimming in a storm

I held on to the gup-C's tow line with my paw and tried to swim against the fast moving water "yeow" I exclaimed as a current caused me to barrel roll, I regained my composure and kept pushing forward and eventually I managed to hook the tow line to the gup-A, I turned around to start my way back up the tow line, I was halfway back when I turned back to the gup-A to see the captain watching me through the windscreen, I gave him a thumbs up and continued my way back to the gup-C, once I was back inside I grabbed the steering wheel with both my paws and began trying to pull the gup-A free, the first attempt went south quite quickly, I growled in frustration as I began my second attempt, this time the ice encasing the gup-A shattered

"Woohoo" I shouted in delight, "saber I don't think we can keep the octo-hatch open much longer" tweak explained over the radio in a rather worried tone, "aye aye" I replied, "we have to close the octo-hatch in, 10 9 8" dashi started, "come on, easy does it" I mewed halfway struggling to keep the gup-C upright, "7 6 5 4" dashi continued counting down, "almost there" I said using all my strength to push the gup-C against the currents, "3 2 1" dashi finished just as I drove in the octo-hatch and it closed behind me, I docked the gup-C and jumped out of the ship as everyone cheered happily

The captain carefully hopped out of the gup-A holding his left arm while doing so, he landed next to me on the pier looking quite relieved to be home, he turned to me and smiled as he started rubbing my head in way of a thank you "oh dear captain, you certainly look worse for wear" inkling stated giving the captain a good look over, "I sure feel like it" the captain remarked slowly walking forward, "if that's the case, then you'd best come to the sick bay, I'd like to give you a check up" peso explained waddling towards barnacles who nodded in response, Nora also walked up to the captain as her long tail waved behind her, she took hold of the captain's paw and softly nuzzled her muzzle against his in an eskimo style kiss, which the captain was more than happy to return, then paw in paw they followed peso though the octo-shoot and to the sick bay

(Peso's pov)
Nora accompanied me and captain barnacles to the sick bay, I noticed the captain moving much slower than normal, he's acting as if he's sore "captain did the gup-A crash?" I questioned as I entered the sick bay, "multiple times" he replied hoisting himself up onto my exam table, Nora sat up on her knees on the opposite side of the table and gently rubbed the captain's shoulder with her paw in comforting manner, the captain gave her a slightly painful but warm smile "mind if I listen to your chest?" I asked politely putting my stethoscope on, the captain nodded once more so I put the end of my stethoscope to his chest "mmm, your heart sounds good, I'm gonna check your lungs now, take a deep breath" I explained, the captain did take a breath as I asked him to but it seemed reluctant, after running a few other tests I found out why

"How many times did the gup-A crash?" I asked inquisitivly, "well let's see, it crashed into two separate icebergs and then a rock, so three times" barnacles explained, "is it painful to breathe at all?" I questioned, "slightly" the captain responded putting his paw to his chest, "well that explains it, you're badly bruised captain, it's most severe on your ribs and left arm, I can give you something for pain but other than that you'll just have to heel with time" I explained handing a bottle of pain medication to the captain, "now I know this may be hard for you but please take it easy for a while" I explained to him, "don't worry peso, I tell him off if he doesn't" Nora laughed, "good" I giggled, much to the captain's expense, he looked the least bit impressed

(Barnacles's pov)
After thanking peso and slipping the medicine he gave me into my utility belt, Nora and I headed to my room for some much awaited rest, I changed out of my uniform and into my pajamas as Nora changed into hers (pictured above) , she went and sat on my bed and leaned against the wall, I walked over yawning tiredly while doing so and sat down on the bed with her, "you know barnacles, I've been thinking, we've known about each other's feelings for quite some time now" she started before trialing off, "and?" I asked, "well, I was thinking we could take the next step" she replied handing me a bracelet, it was a mix of navy light blue and white colored beads, along with a few that bared letters spelling out the word "boyfriend", "dashi helped me make it" she explained sheepishly, I smiled and slipped the bracelet over my paw and onto my wrist "I'd love to" I remarked happily, Nora smiled back and kissed me quite passionately I kissed her back, love is still very confusing to me but I couldn't be more happy

(Nora's pov)
After our first proper kiss, barnacles laid his head in my lap, we stayed in this position for a long time, chatting and swapping stories of our adventures "so that's how you met tweak?" I inquired, "indeed, we worked together for several years" he responded sleepily, I looked at his alarm clock on his bedside table "mmm, I think it's time we try to get some sleep, what do you think barnacles?" I asked still looking at the clock, I started to hear a deep purring sound, so I looked back down at my lap only to see barnacles already fast asleep, the purring noise was coming from him, it was a satisfied sound along with a happy expression,it was a deep low growl that sounded like a cat purring only much louder than a cat, I smiled at his sleeping figure before sighing "for such a brave and tough octonaut, you sure are a big marshmallow"

(End of chapter seventeen: catching feelings)