New

One's education is never complete.
There will always be something you don't know-
And something others have yet to learn,
No matter how obvious.
Never be ashamed of lack of knowledge.
Seek to correct it.
You never know what tiny piece of information will grow our fortune.

Pearl yawns and fights to keep her eyes open as she waits for the train. Marina will be here soon, and then they'll drive to Pearl's house, and this had better be worth it.

She sits down, just for a minute, and next thing she knows someone nudges her shoulder. Pearl groans and opens her eyes.

Marina stands there, a tiny smile on her face. Her goggles are perched on her forehead, her headphones keep the chill from her ears, but other than that she looks like a marshmallow. Puffy coat, puffy pants, even her tentacles are wrapped in warmers. "Sleep well?" she asks.

Pearl yawns and grabs Marina's hand, lets Marina hoist her to her feet. "Very," she says. "You ready?"

"You still haven't told me what all the fuss is about," Marina says, keeping hold of Pearl's hand.

"It's a surprise." Pearl opens the car door with a flourish. "After you, milady."

Marina giggles, because that's how she acts when Pearl is silly around her, and slides in.

The ride passes quickly (Pearl dozes through it), and they reach her house just after sunrise. Pearl leads Marina not into the house, but around it, where the helicopter's waiting, the captain leaning against it. He gives her a thumbs up.

Marina squeals. "We're riding in a helicopter?!"

"The splatfest next week is snowmen and sandcastles," Pearl says. "We've made plenty of snowmen-" she jerks her head at the dozens that cover the yard- "but you've never made a sandcastle! So we're going to the beach to fix that."

Marina grabs Pearl in a hug so hard Pearl's feet are lifted off the ground. "I get to fly," Marina whispers. "I get to—to—I never even dreamed about this."

It takes Pearl a moment to free her hands enough to hug back. "Helicopters are pretty cool," she admits. "And you'll like the beach. Now put me down so we can go!"

Marina sets Pearl down and steps back, blushing. "Sorry. I, I didn't mean to."

Pearl waves a hand. Her cheeks are burning; why is that? "Come on! You wanna sit up front?"

Pearl hasn't seen that expression on Marina's face since Squidmas. "Can I?" she breathes, her hands clasped before her. "Is—is this real? Really, really real? I mean—I mean, it can't be, but—"

"Wouldn't've asked if the answer was no," Pearl says, shoving Marina in. "Introduce yourself to the pilot, now; we've gotta go!"

Pearl takes her own spot in the back and settles on the pillow she'd brought. The flight will take nearly an hour; she can sleep through it. Or she thought she could.

She spends the entire time watching Marina and the pilot instead. Because Marina is just... her tentacles waving and twisting and curling, her face alight, she's adorable. Pearl wants to take Marina's face in her hands and—but no. They're musical partners, and Marina's still finding her feet in Inkopolis. Besides, everything about this—their friendship, their music—it's all too new.

How old is Marina now, anyway? She said she was sixteen when they met, but that was in October. She could be seventeen now, and Pearl's nearly twenty. That's not too much of a gap. But Pearl's stomach squirms at the thought. It's best to just focus on sandcastles, today.

Let the future take care of itself.