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"Rina, Rina, check this out, look!!" Pearl near sprinted into the kitchen like she was shot from a cannon, stopping dead in her tracks when she reached Marina's seat at the table. Marina pushed up her glasses and glanced over. Pearl had been doing this every day of late, discovering something new about Octarians and rushing to tell her Octarian friend about it. It was cute, Marina thought, how Pearl accepted her secret so readily and was doing everything in her power to learn more about where Marina came from. "It said on Inkipedia that, unlike Inklings, Octarians can be born from a single tentacle!! Isn't that wild?!"
Marina, of course, knew all this already. "That's really interesting, Pearl! Though any octolings like me were born the old fashioned way, Octarians like that grow up differently."
"Right, now this is the cool part. Tadaaaa!" Pearl opened her hands to show a little ball, with one big eye and mouth in the middle and suckers on its back, getting smaller the closer they got to its head. "You've probably met a few of these guys, but isn't he cute? I 3D printed this a bit ago and I'm gonna stick him on my desk."
"It's been ages since I've seen an Octoball…" Marina carefully turned the figure over in her hands, unsure of how she felt about a 3D printed model of another living being, as if it was a commodity. She then remembered her several different Squid Sisters figurines stashed away in her room and pushed the thought out of her head, setting her glasses back over her eyes and getting back to reading her book.
"Y'know Rina, I've been thinking lately." Pearl spoke slowly as she strolled over to the opposite side of the kitchen table and sat down. "I haven't heard you speak in Octarian since you learned Inklish a lot better. You should say something!"
"What do you want me to say?"
"Anything! Not like I'll know what you're saying anyway!"
Marina thought for a second. Pearl wouldn't know anything Marina was gonna say. This was an opportunity. She could say something that would normally be really risky, and it's completely safe. So it's decided, then. Marina's gonna say something she's thought about for years. Completely risk free.
"I think about kissing you a lot. I'd probably kiss you right now, if I could get away with it." Marina didn't even look up from her book. She didn't need to. Pearl didn't understand a word, her feelings were safe still inside her heart, and everything was the same as it was.
After a little bit, Marina finished the chapter she was reading and finally looked up from her book. It had been surprisingly quiet the past while, but that was alright, it made for a nice reading experience.
Pearl had not moved an inch. She was still seated across the table from Marina, mouth agape, eyes wide. "Pearlie?" Marina cooed, confused as to why her friend sat stock-still. She placed a hand on Pearl's shoulder, who yelped and turned squid in surprise. "Whoa, it's just me, Pearl."
Pearl turned back to kid form and sheepishly looked away, facing the floor. "Sorry, Rina, you startled me."
"Is everything okay? You've been quiet for a while, ever since you asked me to speak Octarian. Not quite how you imagined?"
"No, no, it's, uh…" Pearl looked up but refused to meet Marina's eyes. "Is that true?"
"Is what tr-" Marina stopped in realization. That wasn't Pearl being curious. She wanted to show off. She learned. She knew. She heard. She understood. "Oh, cod. Oh no."
"Rina, it's fine, I promise, I'm just-" Marina completely tunes out Pearl and sits back down in her chair at the other end of the table. She told her best friend that she wanted to kiss her. She said that, out loud, on purpose, thinking since it was in her mother tongue she was safe. Of course it wasn't. Since the incident with the statue and the walkie talkie, Pearl has been doing nothing but studying Octarian culture. Of course she learned the language. Marina couldn't believe how dumb she was for not realizing that before.
Pearl was still talking. Marina's mind was racing, she couldn't process anything Pearl was actually saying, but her lips sure were moving. Marina felt a hand on her shoulder. It probably belonged to Pearl, they were the only ones in the room, but she couldn't be sure. Pearl was very close to her, actually. Was she this close a second ago when she was talking? Is she still talking? Is she getting closer? Marina couldn't tell, she didn't know.
And then all at once, she did.
The kiss was hesitant at first, but quickly deepened, both girls unwilling to let the other go for even a second. Marina trying to lean backwards and let Pearl guide them, Pearl trying to pull Marina back in so the chair didn't fall over. Eventually, they had to break for air.
"So," Pearl says between heavy breaths, "that's how I feel about that." She pauses to take another breath, before shifting her weight further onto Marina.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that." Marina wrapped her arm around Pearl's back. "Can you repeat that for me?"
Pearl leans forward and kisses Marina again, a quick one, before pulling away. "I said, I love you, you dork."
The next kiss toppled Marina's chair. Neither girl cared to get up.