Searching Science - An Octonauts Story Book 3 (complete)

Chapter Five - Unsure

It must have been over an hour later that Tweak found her best friend up in her own pod, sitting upright in bed and wearing a concentrated expression on her face as she stared forcefully at about three textbooks at once. The bunny laughed, making Dashi jump and give a tiny squeak, evidently not having noticed her presence. "What's all this, then? Dashi going all Shellington on us? It's normally him I have to come and prise the books away from at 10pm, not sensible, bedtime-at-9 Dashi."

The dachshund looked somewhat guilty as she closed one of the textbooks, pushing the spine away slightly across her pink duvet and giving a sigh uncharacteristic of her: one that almost sounded like - defeat? "I had a headache most of the day today," she explained, putting a paw to her temple, even though it wasn't really that sore any more on account of her fairly pleasant day of recovery. "Went to bed early."

Tweak frowned. "Sure doesn't look like the usual Dashi remedy for a headache to me. Isn't that a salt water ice-pack and a lava-lamp-lit darkened room, usually paired with moany whale music and bed at like half seven in the evening?"

Dashi had never been very good at lying. "I - um - ran out of ice-packs?" she tried halfheartedly.

Tweak gave her a pointed look and the younger Octonaut relented. "Okay, okay. I just had stuff I needed to finish before bed, that's all."

"Says the ultra-productive resident computer expert? You always make sure to get all your work done before nine, and that's with me moving the Octopod for you this afternoon. I'm perfectly happy to do that, of course, but it's not at all like you all the same. That's why I came up here to check you felt okay." Tweak narrowed her eyes. "Nope. Not buying it. Spill."

Dashi didn't reply as the dog's gaze swept tiredly over the other four still-open textbooks, all visible pages revealing the names and characteristics of sea creature species. A telltale motion. Suddenly suspecting the truth, Tweak scanned them over her friend's shoulder, and her eyes suddenly widened again in realisation. 'Humpback whales typically only stay underwater for 5-10 minutes before needing to breathe'... 'The Latin name for regular coral is Anthozoa'... 'Hermit crabs are omnivores, typically eating both worms and plankton as their main diet'...

The engineer looked up almost accusingly at Dashi, who giggled sheepishly. "You're trying to memorise textbooks?" she asked, an incredulous note to her voice.

"No! Well - yes, but there is a reason."

"Beyond you being very odd and having possibly lost your mind, to which your best friend should be very concerned about you?"

"Yes. Well, there is that too, but that's not all of it."

Tweak took the opportunity to sit down on the side of Dashi's pink-covered bed and folded her arms sternly. "I'm waiting," she remarked.

Dashi gave a small smile as Tweak shut the next nearest book and promptly sat on it. "Well, as you might know, Shelly's teaching me a bit of extra science..."

"Dashi, everyone on the Octopod knows you and Shel are doing science at the moment."

"Yeah, I know, just setting the scene... And tomorrow we're having a little test to - well, test my knowledge," explained the dachshund. "That's all, honestly."

Tweak frowned. "So that's why you're attempting to absorb all the knowledge from these books?"

Dashi chuckled. "Come to think about it, it does sound a little mad, doesn't it?"

"Yes. Yes it does."

They shared a companionable silence for a moment, then Dashi broke it by huffing, burrowing deeper under her coral-coloured covers and rubbing her tired eyes as she stared at another textbook. "'Sperm whales are one of the deepest diving whales, normally diving down to 400m, but they can reach down to 2-3 km...'  It's no use, I'm never going to get this!"

"Look, there's no point stressing over it," Tweak pointed out sensibly. "You already know loads of this stuff anyway, probably lots more than you think you do, just from missions and typing out some of those sea creature profiles into the Octopod computer. That sperm whale thing, I bet you know that if you just think about it. Maybe not the numbers, but it's the facts that count, surely."

Dashi did think about it. "I guess so," she agreed.

"Shel also wouldn't want you worrying yourself to illness over it," Tweak continued, on a roll with the supportive best friend advice thing now. "Back to illness, anyway. He's not expecting you to become him, you know."

Her resolve was weakening. Another textbook was closed.

Tweak gave a knowing nod, concluding her argument. "Honestly, I'm around 97% sure this whole 'teaching Dashi science' thing is just an excuse on his part to get to spend more time with you."

Dashi started; she hadn't thought of it like that. The bunny saw her altered expression and motioned triumphantly to her. "Aha. You see it now, don't you?"

"But Shel is really excited to be teaching me! I want to learn things so I can make him happy."

"Have you met Shellington!?" Tweak erupted. "He's not going to get annoyed with you if you can't remember which species of sea turtles can retreat into their shells, or what the diet of a great white shark is. He's the softest person we all know - maybe apart from Peso. Plus, the silly sea otter's besotted with you. And constantly terrified of letting you down."

"I guess so," Dashi said quietly. "I just really don't want to let him down."

Tweak rolled her eyes, her expression one of exasperated amusement as she gently punched Dashi's shoulder. "Fine. If you're so insistent on cramming yet more knowledge into your already clever-enough brain... let me help you."

"Really?" Dashi felt a little more hopeful, if there was anyone who could help her study and remember random facts, it would be Tweak.

"Of course. What are friends for? But in the morning, okay?" Tweak took the textbook from the dachshund's outstretched paw, and sternly gathered the rest together, before placing them in a pile on Dashi's dressing table. "I may be accustomed to staying up late and getting work done, but you definitely need your sleep. And no waking me up at 6am, either, just because that's when your crazy mind starts waking up. Just because you're set on making Shel an android like you. This system works both ways."

"Okay." Dashi smiled, hugged her friend to show her unspoken gratitude. Tweak always seemed to know what to say to make her feel better, just as she did when Tweak was stressed out. "Now go to sleep," instructed the rabbit. "If we've got a test to prepare for tomorrow - oh no, it feels like I'm back in school! - we need to prepare our brains."

The dachshund snuggled up under her covers, closing her eyes obediently and listening as sleep called to her. "Night, Tweak."

"Night, Dashi."