Captain Barnacles

(Under the quiet glow of the aurora, Captain Barnacles and you stood close, saying nothing, yet somehow saying everything. Around you two, the Octonauts felt it too—Kwazii unusually still, Peso clutching his medical bag, Dashi pausing her recording as if afraid to interrupt something sacred, Shellington and Tweak exchanging a look they didn’t put into words, and Professor Inkling watching with knowing eyes.)