Termination

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--STAMPYS POV--
I walked back down the stairs into our cabin. It was cold and dark. I lay on top of the sheets of our bed for about half an hour until Squid walked in nervously, still feeling threatened by me. I noticed that he was staring at the gun on the table beside me.
I took a deep breath and picked it up, David took a step back before I opened the window and threw it out into the sea. I wouldn't need it again.
I turned around, David blankly smiled. It was freezing here and David was wearing next to nothing, so I walked out of the room and grabbed a couple extra blankets for David, who lay in bed, shivering.
"Thanks." He croaked. As I draped the blankets over him, letting myself lie in the cool, it was the least I could do.
As we lay awake in the cold climate David broke a conversation,
"Why is it so cold?" He asked, "like seriously, we're almost at the equator and it's bloody freezing."
"You know what mate, I've got no idea- suppose they must have some cold days?"
"But it's like.. Summer." He laughed, "here you must be cold too- have a blanket."
"No, no I'm grand." I lied,
"You've got goose bumps all over you man. " he said, handing me a blanket, he touched my hand.
"Oh, you aren't that cold." I observed, feeling the heat given off by himself.
"Am I really? I feel cold." He said, moving closer to me until we both felt warmed by each others own heat.

As I curled up in the duvet, I looked back at Squid,  his eyes looked dark as if he were about to cry.
I couldn't find the words to say to him, so I turned towards him and put a hand around his shoulders. He looked up at me, "do you expect me to kiss you or something?" He chuckled,
"No I expect you to punch me in the face and tell me that you never want to see me again." I replied.
"Meh." He said, lying down on his back, "too much effort."
He closed his eyes as a tear drizzled down his cheek. He knew that I was staring at him.
"Ignore that." He said. Continuing to keep his eyes closed as more tears seeped down,
"-and that."
"And that.."
"You're go into be saying that for a while aren't you." I said, watching his bright blue eyes open with anxiety.
I put my arm around his neck as he cried.
"Oh god stamps what's wrong with me?!" He whispered.
"Nothing. It's what's wrong me.."
"It's not that. It's not about that.." He sobbed,
"What's it about?" I asked him, trying to comfort him.
"Sarah." He whispered, his daughter.. He thought that he was going to die without getting to know his daughter..
"We'll find her one day. I promise you." I told him, before his breathing slowed and the tears stopped and our eyes closed...

***

I woke up at exactly the same time as Squid.
"Morning, mate." He groaned, stretching.
"Morning.." I sighed, wobbling out of bed and into the kitchen where I put the pot of boiling water onto the hob.
"Where are we, Dave?" I asked Squid, who was already upstairs driving the boat.
"Ehh.. About fifty miles north of... Djibouti?"
"So we're opposite Yemen?" I asked, visualising the map of the Red Sea in my head.
"Yep."
I was just about to sit down beside David when his phone rang,
"Ooh! We have signal!" He squeaked, sounding pleasantly surprised. "..and it's Courtney.."

--SQUIDS POV--
"Heeeello?" I answered, not feeling fully awake to speak to my boss at the moment.
"Hi Dave," Courtney said, "how are you?"
"I'm.. Alright, what about you?"
"I'm grand, but last time I called Joe said you-"
"No, I'm fine.. W- when was it you last called?" I asked, I hadn't spoken to my boss in months.
"I think he said you were going to Morocco."
"Oh." I sighed,
"Has anything happened?"
"Well, you've certainly got a variety of footage.. I can tell you that much." I said, looking at Stampy.
"So.. Whereabouts are you now?"
"Just west of Yemen."
"Right so you took the Suez route?"
"We did." I sighed.
"Are you alright?" Courtney asked. I tensed,
"Yeah, I'm fine just.. Things got a bit rough getting through Egypt and we don't have a lot of money."
"God what happened?"
"I- I don't really remember, to be honest."
"God I feel so bad.." Courtney began,
"W-why? It's not so bad-"
"It's because.. I'm not your boss anymore." My eyes widened, I put the phone on speaker,
"W-wait what? Did you resign or-"
"No.. But.. I'm sorry to have to say this to you, but both your channels have been terminated because of inactive content and-"
"Wait- hold on a second." I took a deep breath before my life was torn away from me,
"The YouTube channels StampyLongHead, and iBallisticsquid have been terminated due to infrequent content and disregarding the code of conduct-"
"No. No, my videos are being uploaded as normal- my videos are-"
"No video has been uploaded since you departed. We can no longer pay you and nor can YouTube-"
"But.. But Nicole was uploading my videos.. And, and Sqaishey was uploading Stamps' I don't understand!?"
"Well I think you better have a word with who you trusted your channels with."
"B- but what about the boat trip.. What about this? W-"
"We'll keep the footage and pay you if it's good."
My mouth dropped.
"I'm sorry David and Joe, I really am." Courtney said.
We had no words... We just sat, numbed. Unsure what to say or what to do.

We were stranded on a boat, thousands of miles from home, without a job and with.. As it seemed.. No one to trust but eachother..

"I don't get it.." Joe muttered. I looked over at him, "I mean.. Beth not uploading my videos is semi-understandable because we broke up but.. Nicole? Did something happen to you two?"
"No.. Nothing at all.." I said, trying to think of anytime I had annoyed her or she had annoyed me, nothing stood out. I had always loved her and she me. What happened? What made her do this to me? Why?! Why would she destroy my job! My past, my future. My life!? How could she do this to me?!

I used the tiny bit of signal I had to go onto Twitter, my phone lagged with notifications but all I wanted was to see @sketchasaurus .. When I found it I saw it all.

"Of course..." I sighed. Looking at the picture of the two happy people..

"What's up?"

"My fault.. Never leave your brother in the same house as your girlfriend.."

THE BOAT TRIP: Stampy And SquidOpowieści tętniące życiem. Odkryj je teraz