Chapter Text
Just one more sample, he promised himself.
Shellington was up late, (which seemed to be a recurring event, especially lately) examining some algae samples from the day’s exploration out in a kelp forest. Luckily, he hadn’t seen any urchins that would have to be dealt with, as his sister, Pearl, and his nephew, Periwinkle, were currently elsewhere. He felt a nagging guilt, the forest reminding him of his allergy to urchins, but he pushed those thoughts away. He was helping the ocean in another way, by being an Octonaut, he told himself.
And he was helping right now, by studying this special species of kelp and jotting down his findings into a notebook. He was muttering to himself about blade morphology, wrote something down, then pulled out his microscope.
. . .
The sea otter’s heavy eyes begged him to rest already. He simply ignored it. He knew some amount of time had passed, but he wasn’t keeping count, being completely engrossed in his work.
Ah, this is the last one, then I’ll go to bed, he thought for the millionth time.
It was evident that Shellington wasn’t going to sleep any time soon.