Octonauts - 1930s | To Whom, With Love?

Chapter Four - Never In A Million Years

A/N- Beware, lots of shipping in this chapter.

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Barnacles and Dashi knelt down and examined the cinder block.
Dashi got up and frantically said, "I- don't understand! How could this happen? Who would do such a thing?"
Peso cleared his throat and said, "Well..."
Min turned to Peso and quietly said to him, "Doctor!"
She shook her head at him, and the two bickered for a moment before Min sharply exhaled and explained, "Well, when we first arrived, a man may have said something... not very nice to me. But it's really no big deal."
Inkling pushed past the others and said, "What? What guy? What did he say?"
"Oh please, Inky, don't make a scene. It's okay, really."
Barnacles piped up and said, "Yeah, come on. Tell us. If perhaps he did this, I'd like to know what he said to you before I go accusing anyone."
"Well... alright.
He told me to go back to my own country."
Inkling's jaw hung before he exclaimed, "Why, how dare he say that to you!"
Tweak chimed in and said, "Did ya happen to see what he looked like?"
"Oh sure, he was short and thin, and if I remember correctly, he had an Irish accent."
Dashi and Barnacles sighed in unison before Barnacles said, "Don't mind him. That was just Mr. Daley."
Dashi agreed as she added, "The man must be seventy-five years old. He's just a cranky old man."
Barnacles nodded and continued, "Right, even though he may have said something insulting, never in a million years would he have been strong enough to throw this through my window."
Kwazii chuckled and said to no one in particular, "Ha. "Never in a million years." Like the song."
Barnacles rolled his eyes before he said, "Yeah. Like the song."
Kwazii shrugged as he took a sip of his wine and said, "Hey, come on. Why do you all assume this was something nefarious? There must be a number of reasons this could have happened without it being because of some sort of revenge or something."
Barnacles rose from his knees and walked over to Kwazii, saying, "It's funny you'd say that, Mr. Madden."
"Why would that be funny?"
"Well, you are the only one in this room who's name was in the paper for robbery-"
Dashi quickly interrupted Barnacles and sharply said to him, "Honey! I showed you that in confidence!"
Tweak sprung into the conversation and said, "Wait! You robbed someone?"
Kwazii sighed and explained, "Alright, maybe I have been in the paper on robbery charges. But I was proven not-guilty, and that was all so stupid anyway. It was all just a big misunderstanding."
"That's all fine and dandy, but you did happen to brush over the fact that the paper said you have known criminal ties!"
Dashi gave her boyfriend a shot in the arm before she said, "Barnacles! What are you doing? Are you trying to get us all killed?
I mean... I'm sorry, Mr. Madden. I didn't mean to suggest that-"
Kwazii slammed his wine glass onto the credenza and grabbed Peso before he yelled, "Well, I certainly didn't come here to be insulted."
"Kwazii, how many drinks did you have?"
"What does it matter, Peso?"
He dragged Peso out of the dining room as he grabbed their coats, and left the house.
The second Kwazii and Peso left, the rest of the group began bickering over the matter. They went to some ugly places before Dashi broke up the argument.
Inkling and Min left in a huff after Tweak accidentally made a racial comment, which left Shellington and Tweak with Barnacles and Dashi.

"I'm so sorry about all of this. I really wanted this party to be perfect.
But I guess I'm just lousy at making parties."
"Oh, Sweetie, give yourself more credit. You certainly cooked up a fantastic turkey."
Dashi smiled and said, "Well, thank you, Honey. Though I still think it could have been better."
Tweak and Shellington agreed, and Shellington said genuinely, "Don't beat yourself up over it. No one wants to throw a bad party.
...
Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say-"
Dashi sighed and agreed, "No, don't apologize. You're right. It was pretty bad."
Barnacles nodded and admitted, "Well, I could have acted more maturely than I did. There was no excuse for my behaviour tonight.
But I still believe that Irishman Kwazii deserved it."
Tweak shrugged as she set down her drink and said, "I say we don't dwell on it. It'll only make us upset."
She looked at her watch and said, "Well, I suppose I should go home and get some sleep. I gotta do some work in to shop tomorrow. Can I use your telephone? Ya see, my Pa dropped me off and... Say, Shellington was it?"
"Yeah."
"Is Brooklyn too much out of your way?"
Shellington thought for a moment before he tried to answer. But Tweak cut in again and explained, "It's just that I didn't count on the party ending this early, so he ain't gonna come and get me for a-"
Shellington enthusiastically responded, "Sure, I'll drive you home."
"Well, don't jump too far out of your seat now.
Hey, thanks for the party, you two."
They say their goodbyes, and Shellington and Tweak start on their way home.