Octonauts Oneshots

Kwazii's saxophone disaster part 1

There was a lilting music wandering its merry way through the Octopod again, and thank goodness it wasn't the Captain's accordion, or at least three members of the team would be wearing earplugs or alternatively be bearing themselves in a pillow fortress.

He wasn't bad, but it was tiring to listen to after a while.

And it certainly wasn't Peso's xylophone or nobody would be able to get any work done.

Not that really was any work to be done. It was by now a common occurrence, a boring nothing of a day on board the Octopod.

Sure every couple days a week, they had to go rescue a whale or Shellington got stuck in a Gup or Kwazii did something idiotic or Dashi mistook a whale shark's mouth for a cave, but that didn't mean the Octonauts never had any time to kill.

And evidently someone was killing their time by playing music. The tune that meandered through the Octohatches and into HQ was funky and upbeat and the sort of music that made your toes tap to the beat. And it was on piano.

"Is that Shellington?" Dashi wondered aloud from her seat in HQ.

"Well it isn't me," Kwazii shrugged. "And isn't he the only one of us that can play piano anyways?"

"Actually the Captain can play," Dashi corrected. "Even if it's just the right hand part that he learnt as a byproduct from playing the accordion."

"Well, I don't know if that counts," Kwazii said skeptically. "And what we're hearing right now is definitely more than just the right hand."

"Okay, so yes it's Shellington," Dashi admitted. "I'm going to go check out what he's playing. Wanna come?"

"Sure why not," shrugged Kwazii, hopping into the Octochute and leaving Dashi to join him.

***

Shellington bit his lip and frowned. His new piece was okay and it sounded alright on piano but arrgh if he could just have a saxophone to play the melody! There was no way Shellington could play the melody with his right hand and simultaneously play the bassline and accompaniment with his left-

"Hey whatcha doing?" Kwazii asked as he and Dashi entered the games pod.

"Just... writing a song."

"Sounded very jazzy," Kwazii nodded.

"Well yes,"Shellington said with a slight frown. "It's a jazz song."

"What's it called?"

"I haven't named it yet. I'm trying to figure out how to play the melody at the same time as everything else. It's really hard to on piano. I wish I had a saxophone to play this bit," the marine biologist explained, playing a little riff.

"How about I do it?"

Shellington and Dashi looked at Kwazii, trying not to be rude, but utterly failing to hide their confusion.

"What instrument?"

Kwazii, excited, dashed out into the Octochute, leaving Dashi and Shellington a good twenty seconds to look at each other, shake their heads and suppress laughter.

He returned soon enough--he was the super fast, hyperactive Kwazii after all--with a large brown cardboard box in his hands. An Amazon delivery. He waved away their questions about the box's content with a casual "you'll see," and began tearing at the packing tape with his bare paws.

"What's... What's in the box?" Shellington asked with a tilted head.

"Just wait," Kwazii said, ripping the box open with renewed vigour and pulling out...

A saxophone?

"You... You play saxophone?" Dashi asked, trying to hide her surprise, although perhaps only the socially ignorant Kwazii would be fooled. But who wouldn't be at least a little shocked? Kwazii was... Not such a great musician; last time the Octonauts had formed a band, Kwazii acted as a faux synth vocalist. Who would have guessed he played the saxophone? Why didn't he play it last time? Why did he need a new one?

"No I don't play the saxophone," Kwazii admitted.

Oh. Never mind.

"But," the pirate cat announced. "I certainly plan to learn how. And as you were just playing jazz Shellington, I was wondering if you could drop some tips."

Shellington was worse at hiding his shock than Dashi was.

"I... I've only ever played a wind instrument once, and that was when I sat on my second uncle's bagpipes. I don't know if I'm the best guy to ask."

"Oh." Kwazii looked downcast. Then he brightened. "Do you know anyone who would be good to ask advice from?"

Dashi and Shellington shared a look as they ran through the Octonauts crew, trying to remember whether any of them played anything remotely similar to a saxophone.

Not as far as Shellington or Dashi could remember, although whether you played a woodwind instrument wasn't really a regular topic for the Octonauts and agents. They'd have to ask everyone again, because nobody wanted to hear Kwazii messing about on the saxophone without some sort of guidance. 

That would just be plain terrible.

"In that case," Kwazii said, picking up his saxophone (but not the mess of packaging he had left). "I'm going to be messing about on the saxophone with no sort of guidance to learn it."

Kwazii hopped into the Octopod and Dashi and Shellington shared a look of utter, total despair.

A/N) that's right, little Octofans, we've got a multipart chapter coming! It'll be a collection of oneshots based off Kwazii's woodwind disasters. Whaddyathink?