Free Time

I Love You

"Tunip. Please," Shellington pleaded. "I do not think that the Octopod needs any more fish biscuits or kelp cakes!" he sighed in exasperation. Tunip, apparently, didn't agree.

"No, there's still not enough! We need to make more!" Tunip replied stubbornly in Vegimalese. 

"Tunip! The whole kitchen is full of fish biscuits and kelp cakes! There's not even any space to put more! And don't say you're going to stack them in boxes or something, because each of the piles is already a metre high! If you keep on like this, you're going to flood the Octopod - in fish biscuits!"

"But we always eat them all anyways. Besides, there's Grouber..."  Tunip motioned vaguely to a purple Vegimal ploughing through fish biscuit after fish biscuit, aided by Halibeet, Pikato, Codish and Tominnow. Only Barrot and Tunip were still cooking. "And the others..."

"Yes, they're eating them, but they can't eat forever, whilst you Vegimals certainly seem to be able to cook forever... and the crew won't be able to eat this many fish biscuits and kelp cakes! Even the sea creatures outside might have trouble eating that much food," Shellington pointed out. His patience was straining.

Tunip shook his head obstinately. "No, there's still not enough!"

Shellington sighed. "You're right, there's not enough! There's more than enough on that one pile alone!" he said, gritting his teeth.

"But we still use so many fish biscuits in missions..."

"It's not like we go on missions all the time, Tunip! Either you're stupid or blind, and I know you're not blind! WHY CAN'T YOU SEE WHAT'S PLAINLY THERE?! THERE ARE ALREADY ENOUGH- NO, MORE THAN ENOUGH, FISH BISCUITS!" Shellington yelled at the little yellow Vegimal, finally snapping.

Tunip's eyes filled with tears when Shellington shouted at him, and he started sobbing when the sea otter called him stupid. Not wanting the other Vegimals to see him like this, Tunip jumped into an octochute and slid out of sight, tears streaking down his face. Shellington stared at where the small Vegimal used to be in shock as he realised what he had just said. After a moment, he regretfully slid down the octochute and followed Tunip.

~~~~~

Tunip ran with his fish-tail legs to the farm, the only other place other than the kitchen that he visited on a daily basis. Vegimals rarely slept, as so much of their time was spent cooking and farming. Because of this, none of the Vegimals had 'beds' or 'bedrooms'. They mostly just slept wherever. Besides, who needed sleep? Tunip'd prefer cooking fish biscuits any da-

Fish biscuits.

He thought back to his conversation with Shellington. He didn't understand what had gone wrong. All he had wanted to do was cook a lot of fish biscuits... okay, so maybe there had been just a bit too many fish biscuits that had been cooked. But Shellington didn't have to yell at him. He could've just pointed it out calmly.

Isn't that what he did? Didn't you refuse to listen like the selfish Vegimal you are, only believing that you're right?  His mind whispered. Tunip shook his head, trying to shake off the thoughts, but he couldn't help the tears that flowed down. He really was selfish. 

Tunip curled up in a ball, sobbing his heart out on the floor of the farm. And that was how Shellington found him.

Shellington's heart broke when he saw the little Vegimal curled up, crying. He had caused this. He was an awful person. He didn't say anything, and instead walked over and took Tunip in his arms. The Vegimal rested his head on Shellington's chest, and his wails and sobs started to cease. Shellington raised a paw and brushed some tears out of Tunip's eyes. 

"I'm sorry."

Shellington looked down at Tunip and found his own sorrow reflected in the red and puffy eyes that were looking up at him. Both had been thinking the same thing, then. Tunip was sorry too. Well, it wasn't Tunip's fault. Shellington had been the one to yell at the poor Vegimal. Shellington was the one at fault here.

"It was my fault."

As Tunip spoke the words, he realised that they were true. It was his fault. He hadn't listened to the sea otter and had only seen the argument from his point of view. Then, instead of apologising, he had ran off and cried in the farm, like he hadn't done anything wrong. Like it was all Shellington's fault. He really was stupid.

"It's okay."

And it was. Shellington realised that Tunip had been feeling just as bad about himself as Shellington had been about himself. A light chuckle escaped his mouth. They were more similar than he had originally thought. But that didn't matter. Both had been at fault. Both had realised their mistakes. Both didn't hate each other. 

"I love you."

That, at least, was true. But it wasn't romantic love, or love as friends. It was love as a family. Because all the Octonauts weren't just friends. It was one family. One big family. One big, multicultural, diverse family. And they all loved each other. And Tunip loved his family. And Tunip loved Shellington.

"I love you too."

Shellington smiled softly at Tunip. Tunip really was adorable. He was so small and cute.

"I..."

"I..."

"Thank you for being there."

"Thank you for being there."

 Shellington cuddled the Vegimal just a little bit closer. 

And their bond grew just a little bit stronger.

And their love for each other became just a little bit fiercer.

Notes:

Just a short one this time! A bit of angst and fluff. As always, hope you enjoyed. 

By the way, this story is more of like oneshots than exactly what the title suggests. 

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