Eternal Tears
Book Two: Hopeless
Chapter IV—Behind Closed Doors
Kwazii grumbled as he fumbled with his tie for the sixth time.
"Will somebody at least teach me how to tie this thing...!"
"Kwazii! How many times must I tell you that you are supposed to make a triangle and not a square?" Shellington scolded.
Right now, the Octonauts were preparing themselves for the party. They did not have to worry about the budget as it was all provided for by Dashi's parents. Thus, the girls went on a massive shopping spree, buying whatever they thought looked good or useful off the racks and shelves; all the while the boys would shake their heads, mumbling about how they could never understand what went on in the minds of the opposite gender.
Professor Inkling, Dashi and Shellington had no problems putting on their fancy outfits as they has plenty of experience doing so, but the rest needed guidance.
No, it's not easy to teach someone to wear posh clothing.
"Ugh, what are you applying on my face?!" Tweak yelled at Dashi who was holding many, many makeup kits with her paws. How she managed to do that, nobody will ever know.
"Its foundation. To conceal the freckles on your face." Dashi said flatly, "now stay still, there are a couple of spots that I missed."
"But Dashi! There is nothing wrong with freckles! Surely there is no need for your silly white powder!"
Tweak never believed in wearing makeup. She was raised in a family where they only believed in natural beauty, and makeup would just hide who they truly were. Her mother would often tell her that makeup was a waste of money, and it would affect her studies. Tweak found her saying was absolutely ridiculous at first, but over time she accepted that belief and avoided makeup altogether.
Dashi grew annoyed, but she tried to conceal it by gritting her teeth. "This is a formal party you're about to attend, and you're gonna have to put up with it, whether you like it or not."
Tweak gave up trying to convince her friend that she didn't need extra accessories and allowed Dashi to have her way.
Meanwhile, Kwazii was still fumbling clumsily with his tie. Shellington was hurling instructions impatiently at his face, which wasn't helping the poor cat whatsoever.
When Dashi looked up to check the time, she gasped audibly. "Guys, we don't have much time left! The party's starting in five minutes time!" When the Octonauts heard the news, Kwazii panicked, while Shellington tried to calm the cat. Peso was rechecking his attire for the umpteen time, Tweak was hastily putting on jewellery, and the Vegimals were helping each other with their fancy outfits, with Professor Inkling giving them last minute advice.
When everyone was ready, they left the comforts of their guest rooms and into the wilderness of the enormous dining hall. Guests wearing their finest attire they had, either eating, drinking or just simply chatting about business and politics. Huge chandeliers hung overhead, illuminating the massive room in its soft, golden glow. Fancy décor littered the area, mostly flora of a variety of colours, giving the room a sense of life and nature.
Everyone except Dashi and Inkling were gawking at the foreign sight, having never been into such a posh party before.
"Dashi darling!" Astella called out to her daughter.
"I'll be right back..." Dashi whispered to them before rushing to where her mother was, situated near the bar with some random guy. He was a tall chocolate brown dachshund wearing a full on black suit. He greeted Dashi with the most charming smile as he made a short bow, staring right at her with his intoxicating emerald green eyes.
"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Dashi." He said in a thick Russian accent. All Dashi could do was blush madly and stammer in reply, "erh... A pleasure to erm... meet you too, Mr...?"
"Jonathan. Samuel Jonathan."
"And what do I owe the pleasure kind sir?"
"Oh, nothing much. I'm quite lonely, and I would like to have a little chat with a beautiful lady like you." Samuel said in his charming voice, inching closer to the already blushing dog who could only stammer in response.
"You've got to be kidding me..." Kwazii deadpanned, watching the duo flirting with each other. He wasn't the romantic type, and he found love awkward. He found himself grimacing every time he saw couples acting intimately, thus avoiding the outdoors during Valentine's Day, bundling himself with blankets while reading comics or cleaning his telescope with a dirty rag.
"What's wrong Kwazii...Oh..." Shellington asked as he approached the shivering cat and noticed the happy couple.
"I can't stand lovey-dovey couples, I'll be honest." He then pointed at other couples immersed in their partner's eyes. "I can't wait till the party ends. This tie is itchy and the suit is uncomfortable. I'll be grateful to get a chance to ditch the posh outfit!"
Shellington just sighed and looked at Dashi and Samuel holding hands, a strained emotion evident in his eyes. Just looking at the two lovebirds stirred a strange emotion in his gut that he couldn't explain. Immediately, images of Dashi and himself replayed in his head. Back then when they were still friends and coworkers, casually chatting about fascinating marine life...
"Oi me hearty! You seem a little lost—is everything alright?" Kwazii said, waving his paw directly in front of the sea otter's face.
Shellington coughed and tries to regain his composure. "I'm alright. I would like to see how the others are doing."
Kwazii and Shellington were literally pushing and shoving past the mass of animals whom all shot them annoyed looks, trying to locate their penguin friend Peso. They found him situated in a corner eating food from a plate. He seemed a little uncomfortable, his eyes darting the area worriedly every few seconds. When he saw his friends he let out an audible sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness you found me! It feels weird being in a formal party that you were suddenly invited to. I sort of feel that I don't belong here."
"Same here me hearty. But we're doing it for Tweak, right?" Kwazii said, patting Peso on the shoulders encouragingly. After all, the reason they were here was to convince Dashi's parents into giving them the money for Tweak's surgery.
The penguin nodded.
"We could try to talk to some people to kill time." Shellington suggested.
And so, the trio made their way to the nearest group of animals whom were all holding wine glasses in their hands and chatting.
Kwazii confidently made the first move. "Excuse me, may I ask if you are all having a good time?"
Immediately their heads turned to face the orange cat. Just like everyone else present at the party, they were all in formal wear varying from tuxedos to satin dresses. The men had confident and proud smirks, while the women adorned with makeup and jewellery carried gentle expressions. If they were annoyed from the interruption of their conversation by a nobody, they didn't show it.
A male polar bear that painfully reminded Kwazii of Barnacles spoke up, "yes, we are having a great time."
A female tiger in a cobalt blue dress said, "after all, we work in Martine Pte Ltd, one of the richest companies in Herzoslovakia. I am the Deputy Group Director of Martine, for your information." She smiled smugly before taking a sip of wine from her glass.
A female panther scoffed. "Oh please Swanelle, don't forget that I'm the Deputy Chief Executive. Oh, and what do you work as, mister? I haven't seen you before."
"I'm Kwazii, Captain of the Octonauts, an undersea rescue team. My friend and colleague Shellington is the marine biologist, and Peso is the medic." Kwazii spoke firmly. It would take more than a few boastings to bring the cat down.
Upon this, a few oohs sounded from the group, as if they had never met anyone who was working on the marine line. Maybe they hadn't, for they were shooting the captain numerous questions like a machine gun. Kwazii was delighted to be in the spotlight among high ranking business people, answering their questions fluently while retelling their adventures with full-on exaggeration, but they bought the story anyway. Shellington and Peso stood on the sidelines, giving their friend all the attention.
Meanwhile, Dashi and Samuel were having the time of their lives, doing what a couple was supposed to do. They exchanged hobbies, favourite foods, friends and more. Samuel had a death grip on Dashi's paw, but Dashi didn't mind since Samuel claimed that he was just protecting her from harm. When she said that nobody would dare to harm her, the dachshund digressed, gripping her paw tighter than he already had.
Dashi was considered a hopeless romantic, constantly reading sappy romance novels and lying in bed daydreaming about The One. She imagined him as a strong built man with strikingly handsome features and breathtaking eyes. Her kind, gentle and sweet Prince Charming would carry her in his muscular arms, kiss her passionately and whisk her away to a tropical island where they would spend the rest of their happy days away from stress and troubles.
Of course, such chances of her dreams turning into reality were slim. Most of the men that her parents recommended to her were mostly self-centered and arrogant. When she joined the Octonauts, she took some serious consideration. Peso was timid yet sweet, Kwazii was loud yet adventurous, Shellington was nerdy but fun to hang out with, and Barnacles was well-built and fiercely loyal. She had to admit that it was tough to choose who. But it didn't matter. She had Samuel, her supposed Prince Charming that she had been searching for.
"Hey Samuel..." Dashi tentatively spoke up.
"Yes, darling?" Samuel replied, gazing at her with his intoxicating green eyes that Dashi couldn't get enough of.
"I know this might sound stupid, but I don't actually know which company my parents had a partnership with... please don't laugh."
"Huh, what?" he asked. He looked surprised, then he said, "No. Wait, give me a moment. I want to do an actual spit take." He took a swig of wine from his glass, looked around him, then quickly spat it back out, spraying expensive red wine on the floor in a dramatic show of shock. Dashi glanced at the crowd, but nobody seemed to notice as they were at the corner of an isolated area of the hall.
"Then why are you even attending the party for if you don't know the purpose behind it? Not to mention that you're the daughter of the couple that owns this entire mansion!" Samuel let out a fit of laughter. His laughter reminded the photographer of jingling silver bells.
Despite his beautiful laugh, Dashi gave him a playful punch to the shoulder. "I told you not to laugh at me!"
When his laughing fit subsided, he inhaled deeply and said, "Okay, sorry. The company that is helping your parent's company earn big bucks is called Martine Pte Ltd. I bet you've heard about my parent's company—it's one of the richest companies in Herzoslovakia."
Martine, Martine, Martine...? Oh, Martine! Of course Dashi had heard of that company name when she was still living with her parents. Even though she wasn't entirely involved in her parent's company's affairs, she knew that Martine aided them financially during their budding years as a small, unknown company. And Samuel's parents owned Martine? Now that was interesting.
Dashi gave a small hmm, and Samuel played with his empty wine glass.
He suddenly spoke, "hey Dashi. I need to ask you something."
"Sure, go ahead."
The dachshund dragged his lady out of the dining hall and towards a balcony where it gave the best view of the twinkling stars and the rows of civilian houses below. The Octonaut was stunned, and her cheeks turned to a bright shade of red. She was grateful that the darkness hid her blush.
The Russian leaned closer to her, and immediately her legs turned to jelly. She almost fell, but she held onto his muscular arm.
(This is the moment that I have been dreaming of for my entire life! And this couldn't get any better!) Dashi squealed from the inside.
Samuel let out another laugh. "Are you alright? You seem quite excited."
Dashi let out a nervous giggle.
"Alright, I won't tease you any longer." He then took her paws into his and placed them firmly yet gently on his chest. "The first time I laid my eyes on you, I felt something and... well... I think you felt it too. So I was thinking, what about if we... you know..."
Wasting no time, Dashi released her paws from his grip and embraced him tightly. "Yes, yes, yes!" She sighed in content as she inhaled his cologne. He hugged her back, and they remained that way until they heard footsteps approaching them. Giggling like a high school couple, they headed back to the party, clutching each other's paws to publicly display their affection towards one another.
...
"Hehehe... time to go guys!" Dashi said as she stumbled and held onto a pillar to stand upright, her cheeks flushed red from drinking too much. Peso clutched her arm to steady her as they walked through the iron gates of the mansion.
It had been a success; Dashi's parents had agreed into aiding them financially for Tweak's surgery. Maybe the reason they agreed so readily was that she was able to get along with Samuel, their partnering company's heir. Not that she minded; she loved Samuel to bits. Dashi was reluctant to part with her prince, but he promised to email her on a weekly basis.
When they returned back to the motel, Tweak was slumped on the bed, hugging the blanket as she watched a cooking channel with a bored expression on her face on an outdated television set. She immediately rushed to give her roommate a bone-crushing embrace as she stepped into the room.
"Oh my gosh, Dashi! You're back! Finally! I was dying of boredom! I thought of going out but there wasn't any interesting shops and we are financially tight and I didn't wanna waste any of our money and in the end I decided to watch some lame cooking channel because it's the only source of entertainment in this dingy motel and I hate the chip in my head cause it's so annoying I almost fainted twice and where the heck did you go Dashi did ya—"
"Woah, slow down Tweak! One at a time, I can't understand what you're saying!" Dashi said as she raised both paws, overwhelmed by the bunny's sudden change of behaviour.
Tweak giggled. "Okay. I was bored y'know? I didn't want to waste money so I spent my entire day watching television. Because of this"-she hit her left temple for emphasis-"stupid chip. I think I fainted twice today! Not to mention I felt strange, really really strange. One moment I felt happy to be alive and the other moment I felt sad because Cap died. I feel so messed up..." She ended her speech with a bow of her head, sighing.
Dashi just gave her a light hug and patted her back as she started sobbing. (This will all end soon Tweak. Once we appoint a surgery for you, the chip'll be out of your head in no time, and all of us can go back and be friends again...)
"Don't worry Tweak." Dashi said as she broke up their hug. "We have found enough money to afford you an operation, and after the chip is out we can resume our normal lives once more."
Tweak was shocked after hearing the good news, for she simply stated at her friend in astonishment. No sooner than that, she started bouncing all over the room, her sadness forgotten. She squealed in bliss as she leaped on the bed and hugged the covers tightly as if her life depended on it. She began singing "yes yes yes yes" for a full fifteen minutes, unable to control her excitement.
When the bunny calmed down, she scurried to the bathroom to prepare for bed.
...
Tweak rose from her bed, rubbing early morning fatigue from her eyes. She was shocked when she found herself back in her bedroom in the Octopod. Maybe the operation was done, and they sent her back?
Deciding to ask one of her crewmates later on, she went to the bathroom to prepare, and after tying her trademark pink ribbon on her head, she headed to the cafeteria for breakfast.
She expected to hear the cheerful chatter and singing from the vegimals, but silence greeted her. That was strange, usually they would be up bright and early in the kitchen preparing breakfast—maybe they were done and are at the garden?
Shrugging her shoulders, she picked up her plate and headed to the picnic tables, but the animal sitting on the furthest table almost made her drop her plate. This couldn't be... oh dear, her eyes must be playing tricks on her. There was no way he could be...
The animal noticed her and waved. "Tweak! Good morning! How are you?"
Tweak tried to respond, but she spoke incomprehensible words, her mouth opening and closing like a fish.
"C-C-Cap? Is that really..."
Captain Barnacles chuckled at the bunny's flabbergasted expression. "What's wrong? Have you not seen a polar bear Octonaut before?"
With shaking legs, she approached him, sitting on the bench. She reached out and touched his paw. It was warm, so he couldn't be a ghost or an illusion. She stared hard into his eyes, trying to figure out what in the name of carrot sticks was going on.
Now it was Barnacle's turn to be surprised. "What's wrong Tweak? Why are you acting so strangely today?"
Tweak inhaled sharply. If the captain was alive, then his death, the ocean massacre and the fiasco with her father—was it all a dream? Surely it must have been a horrible nightmare she had after an exciting night.
A warm feeling filled up her entire being as she suddenly let out an excited squeal of delight, and reached out to the polar bear and hugged him tightly. Captain Barnacles let out a cry of surprise from his crewmate's sudden embrace. She buried her face into his shoulder, inhaling his scent. Tears flowed freely from her eyes like a faucet, soaking his uniform.
"You're alive! You're alive! Thank goodness! I thought I lost you! Oh me oh my!"
Captain Barnacles awkwardly patted Tweak's back. "Oh, urm... alright. Calm down..."
She suddenly let go and beamed at him. "C'mon, hurry up and eat breakfast. You won't believe what I dreamt of last night!" She plonked herself on the bench and gobbled down her pancakes and coffee. After they were done, they left their dishes in the sink and headed to the HQ. The gups could wait. What was the harm in having a chat with the captain once in a while?
However, the HQ was deathly silent like the cafeteria. Dashi was an early riser and would be controlling the computers in the wee hours of the morning, but she was nowhere in sight. In fact, there was nobody at the HQ except herself and the captain. Tweak felt a little worried.
Captain Barnacles sat himself on the chair that Dashi usually occupied and said, "so, what did you want to tell me?"
The bunny tried to shake off her worry and sat herself on a chair next to him. She told him about how he died, how Kwazii took his place as captain, how her crazed father ordered a massacre of the ocean creatures and the chip in her head giving her mood swings and different personalities. He listened attentively, nodding occasionally to show that he was listening. When she was done, she let out a sigh of relief, as if a large boulder had been lifted off her shoulders.
Tweak expected the captain to chuckle at her elaborate dream, giving her a pat on the back and assure her that everything was okay. However, he had a dead-serious expression on his face.
"Cap?" Tweak asked tentatively.
When he didn't answer, she said louder, "Cap?"
"Captain!"
All of a sudden, Captain Barnacles grabbed her shoulders roughly, causing Tweak to yelp. As she looked into his eyes, she realised that they were empty and hollow, devoid of life. He was somewhat... angry? Angry for what?
"I-I-I-I'm sorry Cap! I didn't mean t-to offend you in any way!" Tweak cried fearfully.
He then gripped her shoulders tighter, making Tweak squirm. What was going on? This isn't the kind, gentlemanly captain that she used to know.
"Whatever you do... don't you dare... you hear me? DON'T DO IT... LISTEN TO ME... THE CAPTAIN... WHAT I SAY..."
His words became more muffled as he continued, and the mechanic realised that her surroundings were blurring to static.
She was scared. As in really, really scared.
"TWEAK... UP... TWEAK... ON... GET..."
She screamed.
Okay, first let me apologize (again) for the hiatus. I sorta moved on to other fandoms for a while, but my passion for the show has now returned! I think I have a concrete idea for this story and I hope that I can remain that way.
BTW, I also have another ongoing story, The Shores Of Ignorance, which is a trilogy. If you like future generation stories or would just like to read another story from me, do check it out. Otherwise, have a pleasant day, ta-ta!