Do You Blame Yourself?

[Chapter 23] - Trouble But It's Not On The Reef, It's On The Octopod

1:34 AM

3:51 AM

5:00 AM

It was almost as if Peso's night and his sleep was sectioned. Sure, he got sleep, but he felt as if it weren't enough. Peso would wake up at random, stare at the wall for a minute, and then fall back asleep.

But this time he couldn't. Something prevented him from doing that. Another gut feeling? Just a feeling in general? Peso couldn't tell.

The last time he remembered he had a gut feeling was when Kwazii got stung, so something was up. Peso's ears rang and his head throbbed in pain. Something was pushing him to get up and go.

Go to him.

That's all Peso could hear. Deep down, he knew who 'him' was, but he wouldn't admit that. He sat up, looking around the room. Surprisingly, Peso got up and just stood there. Everything and everyone was different after... everything that had happened in the past weeks or so. It was too early for thinking.

Maybe it was too early for thinking for Peso, but not for Kwazii. Things were only getting started for him as he paced around his pod. Just as Kwazii was about to grab the paper that was laying by his nightstand, the lights flickered, then turned off.
"I got you that time," Peso stated from the doorway, his hand on the lightswitch. He turned the lights back on. Kwazii turned around and smiled.
"You're all dressed and ready for the day, matey. Is something up?" he asked. Kwazii whipped his head around to look at his clock.
"Is my clock off or something?" he questioned.
"No, everything's fine. I just wanted to tell you something," Peso stated.

Wait a second. Peso didn't seem stressed about this, or anxious. Was something good happening? Or was something so serious that it drained Peso of his happiness? Kwazii didn't want to think about that last option.
"All right. Shoot," he said, somewhat afraid for the reply.
"Shoot? What? I don't have a gun..." Peso mumbled.
"No, I mean go ahead. What's up?" Kwazii explained.
"Oh. Well, I just wanted to apologize. About last night," he said, pausing, "it's my fault. I lashed out against you, and I'm assuming it hurt the both of us," Peso said.
"Everyone needs to get their anger out at some point," Kwazii said.
"I know that, I just feel bad about screaming at you," he said.
"Trust me, matey. It felt weird for me, too. I don't remember the last time I saw you like that," Kwazii added. Peso fiddled with his hands, flinging them around a bit.
"I don't remember, either," he said, chuckling. Kwazii clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth, deep in thought.
"I'm trying to think of something," he muttered, folding his hands and putting them in front of his face.
"What are you thinking about?"
"I'm just thinking of a solution to this."

"But, there is no solution. All I could've done was tell people how I felt, but I didn't. That's why this is my fault," Peso insisted.
Nothing made sense to Kwazii. Maybe he hit his head while he was sleeping. "Was there a reason you didn't?" he asked. Peso sighed, dragging his hands down his face.
"You know, I don't really have an answer to that question right now," he said, trying to come up with one on the spot. To Kwazii, that felt like a blow to the stomach, and he didn't know why.
"That's fine, matey," he mumbled, backing away just a bit. Peso looked in between his fingers. He then slowly removed his hands from his face and glared at Kwazii.
"Are you all right?" he questioned, tilting his head just a bit.
Kwazii stiffened slightly and nodded his head.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said.
"Whenever those words come out of your mouth, it's always a lie. Are you all right?" Peso asked once again.
"What makes you think I'm lying?" Kwazii snapped. Peso wasn't intimidated by this. Kwazii had snapped at him multiple times before. The thing was, Kwazii was better at expressing his feelings, Peso wasn't in this case. He kept his glare on Kwazii, staying as quiet as ever, and as still as a rock.