Steamed Beatles

"Ealure?" a warm voice spoke with clarity.

This melodic voice cut through Ealure's cloudy thoughts, running wild with worry and uncertainty. Ealure shook herself out of the labyrinth of thoughts that she was lost in and her gaze quickly shifted to the tender smile awaiting her sight. Infir's comforting eyes widened with concern, awaiting a response. Ealure quickly stumbled through her thoughts trying to gather up a response to this.

"Yes?" Ealure stammered, still trying to reel herself out of the ocean of her thoughts.

"Oh, I was just checking up on you! You just spaced out and I wanted to make sure you were okay. So, are you okay?" Infir replied tenderly.

Infir always had a way of calming Ealure. Her stress had began to melt away as soon as she stared at Infir. 

"Yeah I'm doing well! I'm just thinking about a lot right now." Ealure took a breath in after saying this to try to collect her thoughts. She was trying to muster up any courage she could to ask Infir out on a date. Her mind lingered on the consuming worry that she would put strain on their friendship. Infir was the first person that Ealure truly had feelings for and she wasn't quite sure how to properly ask anyone out. She was starstruck from everything about Infir. Ealure loved how kind Infir was and that she always made sure that Ealure was always comfortable. Infir's gaze shifted between Ealure and the Sea that they were looking out towards. Infir's concerned expression slowly had melted into one of contentness and relief at Ealure's reply. Infir had a small grin her face. Ealure always loved when Infir was happy. She had always felt safer whenever she saw Infir smile. Ealure had always thought that Infir's smile was beautiful. She could feel her face getting warmer and her gaze flicked occasionally to the Sea as well.

Ealure began to lean over towards Infir and began to relax and take in the scenery. Her eyes had drifted to all of the intricate woodworking of Infir's ship, 'The Glistening Pearl'. The dark wood of floor planks as well as the details on the walls of the deck. The ship was like a home to her and she never could've imagined that she and Infir would be living together. She knew that Infir had expected to be living on land, but after they had decided to live together on The Glistening Pearl, Infir had constantly said how much it meant to her that Ealure and she could live with one another. Ealure had always thought of the somewhat miraculous way they met. She was forever grateful that they had met each other and always tried her best to express it to Infir.

The sound of the waves as they hit the ship calmed Ealure. She loved the rhythmic way in which the waves moved along the boat. The spot they were sitting at on above the Captain's Cabin had a breathtaking view of the ocean expanse of The Caverns. Infir and Ealure always loved looking at all of the brilliant blue bioluminescence that floated in the sea. In certain locations of The Caverns, there were even some bioluminescent species that were high enough up to resemble stars. The staggering rock points that the sea had also had large growths of glow lichen, one of the most widely known bioluminescent species. Ealure's gaze shifted upwards and she could vaguely make out the towering, jagged peaks of Eminence Isles in front of the ship by a few miles.

Ealure hadn't noticed it but she had begun to lean more onto Infir than she had intended, Infir's long red hair covering a large portion of her face. She noticed the flushed face on Infir as her head was turned away from her. Ealure took a breath in and quickly tried to muster up the courage to ask Infir what she had been planning for the past couple months.

"So Infir, I was wondering if you'd maybe want to go out to spend time with one another. I would just really love to spend some time with you and doing something special. I was thinking maybe we could rent a smaller boat at Eminence Isles and maybe row out to the Lifelight Underpass? It has these really pretty bioluminescence formations that look a lot like stars and I thought you'd like that a lot," Ealure said with some hesitation. Her claws were placed across her jabot adorned with a rose quartz gem as she awaited an answer from Infir. 

Infir's face began to light up with excitement. Infir could barely contain her excitement at this question. "Oh my goodness I don't even know how to respond, I'd adore that Ealure. I'd also really just love to spend some time with you. This sounds perfect. Do you have a time for when you'd like to go?"

"I was thinking perhaps we could go tonight? We're near the coast of the Eminence Isles so we could most likely make it by tonight!" Ealure suggested.

"Gosh that sounds perfect. How about you come with me as I set sail for Eminence Isles and then we can go get ready," Infir chimed.

Ealure could feel her face getting warmer again. She began to once again stare at Infir as they made their way to the ship's wheel. Ealure was so happy that she could spend this time with Infir.

 

As The Glistening Pearl reached Eminence Isles with a halt, Ealure and Infir stepped out from the ship and onto the rocky terrain of Eminence Isles. The ground was covered in bioluminescent moss and Ealure and Infir both were amazed at this. They both thought it was quite miraculous how the rockiest inhabited islands of The Caverns still managed to hold such life, even at an extremely small scale with some of the glowing blue species. Ealure looked up as the blue moss illuminated Infir's face and eyes. Infir reached down to grab Ealure's claw, in which Ealure hurriedly moved her claw into Infir's hand. Ealure quickly shot up as she had recalled that she almost forgot the gift and meal that she had prepared for Infir. Ealure quickly rushed back to the ship to retrieve what she forgot, the dock creaking with every step she took.

"I think the boat rental establishment should be up this road," Ealure stated as she was still trying to catch her breath from running so fast back from the Glitstening Pearl. As Ealure was walking to the boat rentals alongside Infir, she had realized that in her forgetting her gift for Infir, she had let go of Infir's hand. 'This had to be some sort of sign that Infir is interested in me, right?' Ealure thought. She shook off the thought for the time being and continued on the path. She and Infir slowed down their walking pace as they approached The Illuminate Town, renowned for how bright and full of life it was. The streets were bustling full of vendors that looked like they came from all different areas of The Caverns. A shiver of young sharkfolk children passed by them laughing and playing with mechanical toys with intricate metalworking. Ealure looked over to Infir and saw her admiring all of the swords at a nearby blacksmith. All of the swords had intricate and strategic growths of glow lichen within crevices. 

"Gosh all of the craftmanship that goes into the swords here is incredible. I've heard that Blacksmiths use a technique that originated from Illuminate Town in which they purposefully create crevices for glow lichen to grow in order to seal it and have the final product be a sword that produces its own light. It's so incredible to actually see it myself though. It's really nice to be in a place with such clarity due to how bright it is, though. It means I get to look at you and see you even more clearly," Infir's eyes darted to Ealure as she continued walking and she noticed Ealure blushing. Infir made a faux coughing sound and looked away out of embarrassment that she was so forward with saying that.

"The boat rental shop is up here, Infir," Ealure hummed as she began to run over to the small shop, laughing and calling Infir's name on the way.

"Wait for me, Ealure!" Infir laughed. The two ran on the grey tiles that were lining the ground of Illuminate Town, the tiles creating a crisp sound under them as they ran. Infir caught up to Ealure and abruptly lifted her up into a hug as Infir slightly spun around. Infir, still laughing, lowered Ealure to the ground again. Ealure and Infir exchanged smiles and Ealure extended her claw for Infir to grab. Infir, smile growing ever wider, grabbed Ealure's claw and they once again began to walk next to each other.

Infir and Ealure made their way up to the boat rental vendor. Ealure stepped up to the vendor stand in which she was greeted by an aloof jellyfolk. The vendor looked exhausted but still seemingly recited, "Hello and welcome to the Illuminate Town's boat rental service, providing fun and entertainment for creatures all across The Caverns. This service provides rental boats for exploring the Lifelight Underpass, a fantastical and breathtaking journey that's a must see for any visitor. My name's Leytrael, how may I help you today."

"I'm here to purchase a rental of a boat to sail to Lifelight Underpass, please," Ealure stated.

"That will be 10 Metallic Pieces," Leytrael mumbled.

 Ealure began to rummage through her bag looking for the Metallic Pieces and Chunks that she had brought in order to pay but to her surprise, Infir already had the 10 Metallic Pieces that was required to rent the boat. Infir flipped one of the Metallic Pieces she was holding and set them down on the counter of the vendor stand. Leytrael picked up the Pieces and began to count them.

"Thank you for your purchase and enjoy your wonderous experience at Lifelight Underpass. You can find the boats along the coast," Leytrael said in a similar almost recited fashion.

 

Ealure stepped into the boat as Infir worked on untying the tether the boat had to a post along the rocky beach. Ealure looked down to the gifts she was holding for Infir and took a deep breath in. She hoped with everything in her that this would go well. Infir stepped into the boat quickly as to not have it drift off and began to row away from shore. After Infir had got them considerably out from the coast, she took a quick break from rowing in order to talk with Ealure for a bit.

"This is going to be so incredible. It's really nice to do something like this, just you and me. And this also means that I get to look at you for the whole boat trip because of how we're sitting. But um Ealure, it really does mean a lot that you asked me to do something like this. You're always so kind to me and that really just means the world to me," Infir said, baring a grin. Ealure chuckled trying to think of a way to respond to this.

"Thank you, that really does mean a lot Infir,"

Infir continued to row the two out to the Lifelight Underpass and as they grew ever closer, the glowing blue ceiling of the Underpass began to illuminate both of their faces. The bioluminescence on the ceiling resembled stars and Infir was enamored by the starlike formations. When she saw the ceiling of the underpass, her mind ran wild with comparisons to the starmaps that she had been studying. The glistening blue surroundings lit up everything around them with the light of over hundreds of thousands of glowbeetles. The two sat speechless as they took in the wonderous scenery. As they got further into Lifelight Underpass, Infir slowed the boat to a halt and they sat upon the water. Ealure took notice to the small waves along the sides of the boat, splashing up blue bioluminescent plants to rest upon their boat. Ealure took the two boxes she had brought out of her leather bag, one box with a dark engraved wood with golden details. The other was a slightly lighter box with silver details at the corners of the box. She opened the lighter box and brought out chilled fish meat that had been resting in a cold metal container to preserve its freshness.

Infir quickly took notice to this and hastily replied with shock, "You brought dinner? Oh wow you really do think ahead Ealure." Infir peaked into the box as Ealure was still getting two forks out of her bag and noticed that Ealure had brought one of her favorite meals. Ealure moved the meal with her fork to a dinner plate that she had brought. Ealure handed the dish and a fork to Infir and set back in her seat, awaiting a response from Infir. 

Infir was shocked and gave a sheepish smile to Ealure. "I can't believe you brought one of my favorite meals. Tuna meat with shrimp infused savory sauce isn't exactly the easiest thing to come by, especially in this area of The Caverns. Did you really plan all of this just for me? You really didn't have to do any of this really."

"Well I wanted to spend some time with you. I just-" Ealure stopped herself before she could continue. "I want to talk about something with you, Infir."

Infir placed her plate down next to her in order to give Ealure her full attention, "Oh yeah, what do you want to talk about?"

Ealure folded her claws together and took one final deep breath before she spoke. "I've been wanting to ask you this for a while, but I've just been thinking. I love spending time with you and while living with you I've been the happiest I've been in ages. For a while now I noticed that you just made me so unbelievably happy and I would love to spend the rest of my life with you. I love being with you and I'm not always the best at expressing it, but you just mean so much to me. I don't know how to phrase this other than being rather blunt but Infir, I love you. I didn't know how to ask this but I just would really love to be your girlfriend. I've never met someone like you and I just love you so much, Infir. I've just been worried for a while that it would complicate our relationship if you didn't feel the same, but I thought that I should just tell you."

Infir's face was flushed and she sat in front of Ealure with a wide grin.

"I'd absolutely love to be your girlfriend, Ealure! I've felt the same way for a while as well and gosh I'm just not good at giving hints. You mean so much to me as well Ealure and it's been incredible spending so much time with you. I would love to be able to be with you forever. You're such an incredible person and I just love you with everything in me, Ealure. I love you so much I don't even know how to put it into words." Infir rushed into Ealure in order to give her a hug. Ealure leaned into Infir's embrace and hugged her back as well. Infir placed a kiss on Ealure's cheek as they hugged and Infir returned back to her seat, still holding Ealure's claw. 

"I'm looking forward to being your girlfriend, Infir," Ealure chimed. "Do you want to finish our date, then?"

"I'd love to, Ealure," Infir hummed.

Infir got the plate from beside her and stuck a fork into the Tuna meat. "Do you want any, Ealure? It tastes perfect!" Infir asked. Ealure nodded and Infir moved her fork up to Ealure's mouth and she bit off a piece of the Tuna.

"Oh wow this really is tasty. While you finish up your Tuna, do you want some of the candies I brought?" Ealure questioned. Ealure lifted up the box, filled to the brim with assorted candies that Infir loved.

Infir's mouth dropped as she saw the assortment of candies. "I can't believe you got more of my favorites, Ealure. I'm really going to have to get back at you sometime later," Infir said. She dug through the box examining what types of candies Ealure had. "Oh my gosh you must really listen to what I say to remember all of this. I don't think I've ever seen someone have this many different types of candies besides the vendors themselves. Candied seaweed, sugar beetles, candy crystals, and even frosted eel tails! Oh my gosh that's not even all of them. I really can't believe you did all of this for me, Ealure."

Infir leaned into Ealure and kissed her again.

"I love you so much Ealure. I'm really glad that you did this and I already love being your girlfriend," Infir said

"I'm glad I can be your girlfriend as well."