Do You Blame Yourself?

[Chapter 44] - Triple Trouble

Two days had passed since the diagnosis, but it had felt like an eternity.

Day one was chaos, that was obvious. Day two wasn't as bad, but the conveying of emotions wasn't going well.

Day three.

"How ya feeling today?" Kwazii asked, about to turn around, but instead he was hit in the back with...

Uh?

"I'm taking that as a 'bad'," he muttered, feeling Peso bang his head against his back. "You need to let me turn around," he said, laughing.
"Hngh..."
"That wasn't proper English but I'll take it."

...

"Well, we do have a slightly specific mission today," Barnacles announced, prompting Kwazii to turn around, leaving Peso standing there.

"It's about the coral reef, not the one you were stung at, but another one- Kwazii are you even listening?" he began again.
"Yeah, I'm listening," he answered.

Kwazii was listening, but he was multitasking. He was trying to rewake Peso by nudging him, or attempting to fix his hair.

Didn't look like he was listening, to be honest.

"You know, Kwazii, you don't look very well. Are you feeling okay?" Shellington jokingly asked, leaning forward on his elbows, raising an eyebrow in concern.
"I feel fine, what are you on about-"
"You don't look well? What do you mean?" Peso reeled back far enough to see Kwazii's face.
"I feel perfectly fine, nothing is wrong," he stated again through gritted teeth.

"Can we please get back on topic?" Barnacles muttered, dragging his hands down his face.

...

"Continue."

~

Peso smushed his hands against his head, the stabbing pain still refusing to go away. Ever since that stupid flu, these headaches haven't gone away. He had to physically walk away and pull himself back together before doing anything.

"You good, Peso?" Kwazii hummed, glancing down at him.
"Mhm, yep."

He paused, thought for a moment, and then returned to his spot next to the captain by the steering wheel. "Cap'n, I've got a question. Do you think I could-"
"Yeah, sure."

...

"You didn't even let me finish?"
"Oh no, I already know what you're going to say," Barnacles said, looking down at him for a second before turning to face forward.

"Okay, looks like I'm going with you, just for reasons." Kwazii sauntered towards Peso, trying to break the uncomfortable silence that loomed in the GUP-A.
"See? I knew it." Barnacles threw his right hand into the air, his left remaining steady on the wheel.

"Kwaz, I'm all right. I don't need you to supervise me this whole mission," Peso said, laughing and brushing him away like dust. "I feel fine, it's all just a headache."
"You've been having these headaches for a while now..."
"I'll give myself something when we get back, now isn't the time to worry about me."

"Sounds like you're having a migraine back there," Barnacles exclaimed.
"That's what I think it is, Captain. I don't think it's anything worse than that."

Kwazii was ready to fight Peso, he was on the verge of testing his medical knowledge because he knew that this wasn't just a migraine.

He knew that, and that sure says something.

"Oh, don't start pouting back there, it won't get you anywhere," Barnacles stated, laughing. Kwazii could almost see him rolling his eyes.
"I'm not pouting, god..."