Chapter 30
Renton woke from his dreamlike state of mind. His tongue stung from being bitten but the pain soon subsided as he thought about Eureka and what she did a few minutes ago. He could clearly remember the softness and warmth of her breath. He breathed in and could faintly smell the sweet cherry blossoms of Eureka. Renton sat back and conjured a vivid picture of Eureka leaning over the table. The feeling of looking down her shirt was warm and blissful but at the same time, it was nerve wrecking. He slumped further into the couch as he tried to imagine Eureka without her clothes. Every passing second caused Renton's face to glow more crimson but for some strange reason, he could not picture the girl he deeply loved, without her clothes. Renton shook his head and exhaled loudly. His cheeks loss warmth as his blush faded away. Gidget came up from the door she hid behind.
"Hey… How's it going?" She asked hesitantly.
Renton sighed, "I don't know, but Eureka has been acting strangely."
Gidget nodded and Renton continued.
"A few minutes ago, she came in here dressed…. Differently…"
Gidget curled her fingers slowly into her palm and made a fist. She could not stand Renton's bluntness for Eureka's true intentions.
"You got it all wrong!" Gidget blurted out. "She did that all for you! She wanted your attention but instead, you took it all wrong!"
Renton was going to defend himself from Gidget's barrage of words, but decided against it. He knew that he did not intend to take Eureka's actions the wrong way. For the past week, he was busy pondering about Dewey and the recent events.
Why did he want me to kill Eureka?
Why is he even alive? Why…?
Holland entered the room and called out, "Hey Renton! Come with me, I need to tell you something."
Renton looked up and nodded. He waved at Gidget.
"I'll make things right again." He said to Gidget before he left the room.
Gidget smiled, she knew that Renton and Eureka always somehow fix their relation.
"So, what did you want to tell me?" Renton questioned Holland as they walked.
"Talho and I have been thinking… We're going to put you and Eureka on a date."
"Wah-wait? What!?!"
"Is something wrong?"
Renton exhale noisily and shook his head. He had never gone to a date before even though he loved Eureka unconditionally. However, he was uncomfortable with the idea because he had no experience on going out with a girl. Furthermore, he was afraid of something bad happening and did not want Eureka to be in any more danger.
"Eureka will like it." Holland said.
Renton swiped his hair from his forehead. He did not want to hurt Eureka's feelings, but wanted her to be happy. He thought about what Gidget said earlier about what Eureka was trying to do.
Renton sighed and nodded, "Fine, I'll go on a date with her."
Holland smiled and thumped Renton's back.
"That's the way! Now let's get going to town!"
------
"Talho, what exactly is a date?" Eureka asked.
Talho chuckled lightly, "It's when a couple goes out and do something fun and enjoyable."
Eureka stared at the floor as she thought about it. She also wanted Renton to be happy. She was not comfortable with the idea though partly due to her previous failed attempt.
"Will Renton like it?"
Talho smiled, "Of course. Shall we get going?"
Eureka's eyes sparkled as she nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah!"
----
Renton and Holland arrived at the entrance of the city. It took less than five minutes because they drove the Devilfish. Holland handed a small colorful pamphlet to Renton.
"That's where the date will be at."
Renton grabbed the pamphlet and started leafing through it. Apparently, the place was a five star restaurant. Their foods ranged from exotic animals including skyfood, such as skyfish. They even had a twilight ball waltz with a band of musicians.
"Wow! This looks very expensive!"
Holland smiled and nodded, "Yeah, we had some extra money."
"You would actually do that for us?"
"I owe you two."
Renton chuckled, "Now we owe you!"
Holland smiled and parked the LFO. They were in front of a small store that sold fancy clothes.
"But first, we need to borrow you a suit."
The two jumped out and walked through the sliding glass door. There was no one in the store except for the receptionist. He sat behind the counter and read a magazine. Behind him were rows and columns of suits on electrical rails.
"What do you need?" The man said in a monotonous voice.
"Order number 351."
The seller looked at Renton from head to toe and nodded. With lightning speed, he punched in a line of text into his computer. A beep sounded as a whirling noise grew louder. Soon after, the rows of suits began moving on their rails. They moved in a very orderly fashion. The sound of gears winded down to a stop and in turn, the rows of clothes slowed to a stop. The man behind the desk grabbed one of the plastic wrapped suits and handed them to Renton. He then stooped under the counter and pulled out a medium sized rectangular box. Inside was a pair of black, shiny shoes. He gracefully handed the shoebox to Holland.
"Thank you." Holland said.
"My pleasure."
Renton and Holland left the small fancy store and hopped back onto the Devilfish. Renton checked the suit and shoes as Holland reared the LFO back onto the street. After a few minutes of driving around the streets, Holland parked the LFO in front of a small motel.
"It's gonna start in about one hour, se better get ready."
Renton and Holland stepped out of the Devilfish and entered the small building. The motel was not too bad and was only two stories high.
"One room for one night." Holland said and handed money to the lady behind the front desk.
She smiled and took Holland's money.
"Thank you. Down that hallway, room 51." She said and pointed to the hallway to her left.
They walked down the hallway and soon found their room. Renton quickly changed into the new suit and shoes. He had a little trouble with the tie, but with Holland's help. He was ready.
"Wow, these clothes itch."
Holland laughed, "Yeah, but they look nice. Oh, time to go to the restaurant."
Renton and Holland left the hotel and got back into the Devilfish. Within a few minutes, they were in front of the fancy restaurant. Holland handed a small earphone to Renton. It was extremely small and was no larger than the tip of the pinky.
"What's this for?"
"So I can give you advice from the motel."
Holland stuffed the small earphone into Renton's right ear. It immediately changed colors and became nearly transparent.
"Ow!" Renton breathed as he rubbed his ears vigorously. Holland smiled, "Everything will be great. I'll talk into the earphones if you're doing something wrong."
Renton nodded and waved to Holland who drove back to the motel.
------
"What are you searching for?" Eureka asked Talho who was busy digging through her closet.
"Aha! Found it!" She exclaimed as she pulled out a shockingly white dress and appeared to glow sparkle in the sunlight.
"Nice isn't? Go ahead, try it on."
Talho handed the white dress to Eureka. Within minutes, Eureka came out of the dresser room, fully dressed in Talho's snow-colored dress.
Talho smiled, "You look cute in that dress."
Eureka blushed, "Thanks."
Eureka walked over to the mirror and gazed at her image. The dress had a simple design. Two thin straps wrapped across her shoulders and connected to back of the dress. Luckily, the back of the dress was very spacious and exposed more than half her back, allowing her wings to flex freely. Eureka liked the dress more than Gidget's outfit. The dress did not make her appear surprisingly appealing, but it simply revealed her true self.
"Eureka, it's time to go." Talho yelled from the doorway.
"Almost done!" Eureka called and quickly slipped into the pair of white, open toed shoes.
Eureka followed Talho to the hanger. Talho opened the cockpit of the 808.
"Hold on, I'll be right back."
Talho ran out of the hanger and into the front room of the ship. She looked around and saw Ken-go playing with the baby.
"Okay, looks like I found a baby sitter. Now where's Moondoggie?"
Talho spotted Moondoggie's blue cap and ran towards it.
"Moondoggie! I need you to get ready to film the date!"
"What?"
"Don't play dumb with me! Remember what Holland said?"
Moondoggie groaned, "Fine."
Talho ran back out to the hanger.
"Remember to stay out of sight!" She yelled back to Moondoggie before leaving.
Talho hopped back onto the 808. Eureka was ready to go and was fully strapped under her seat belt. Talho yelled, "Let's go!" and pushed down on the pedal. The engines roared as the 808 speed out of the Gekko-Go and towards the town submerged in the twilight horizon.
------
Moondoggie changed into his blue suit and prepared his camera.
He yelled across the cockpit room, "Hilda, I need you to drive me to town!"
"What for?" Hilda's muffled voice called from behind her chair.
"Talho and Holland wanted me to follow Renton."
Hilda perked her head up from her work, "What?"
Moondoggie groaned, "Eureka and Renton are going on a date."
"Hmm," This had caught Hilda's attention. "Wait, explain what's going on."
Gidget was walking by and heard part of the conversation, "Hey! Tell me what's going on too!"
Moondoggie opened his mouth but was interrupted by Mathieu.
"Yo, what's happening?"
Moondoggie grudgingly explained everything again and was interrupted every few sentences by questions.
"I wanna go!" Gidget whined.
"Yeah, I'll go too!" Hilda exclaimed.
Everyone started talking all at once.
"Alright!" Hilda yelled.
Everyone stopped at once and turned their heads to Hilda.
"We can't go or else we'll ruin it."
The others groaned.
"But…" Gidget started but Hilda held up her hand.
"No… But, we can link the camera to a nearby plasma screen. Then we will be able to see everything Moondoggie sees."
Everyone nodded in agreement and started talking all at once.
"Alright then, what are we waiting for?" Mathieu stated loudly.
Everybody pushed and pulled to get into the 606. It was a tight fit, but everyone eventually fitted into the LFO.
-----
Moondoggie was dropped off by the restaurant while the others went to a nearby motel. Without knowing, they were all in the room between Holland and Talho's rooms.
"It's about to start." Moondoggie whispered to himself as he turned on the camcorder and took cover in a couple of bushes near Renton's table.
----
Renton sat on a small white table on the restaurant's balcony. In the middle of the table was one red rose in a small, clear-blue vase. He looked up at the sky and exhaled. It was getting dark and only small tinges of orange and pink showed. The moon was full and shone brightly along with many countless, far-away stars. His gaze dropped slowly down onto the empty chair. Renton swerved around when someone tapped his shoulder. He nearly stopped breathing at the sight of Eureka standing in the moonlight. He stared at her as she took her seat across from him. Renton felt his jaws go slack as he continued to stare. However, it was not the same type of awe as when she was in the tank top and mini-skirt. He could not think of anything to describe what he was feeling. He noticed that Eureka's dress sparkled along with her wings. Even the little thing on her forehead appeared to glow in the dim shine of the moon. She was simply dazzling to Renton. As the seconds past, Eureka's cheeks slowly filled with pinkness. Holland's voice suddenly crackled in Renton's ear, "Stop staring and say something!"
Talho's voice sounded in Eureka's ear, "Ask him how he is!"
Eureka and Renton spoke at the same time, "How are you?"
"I'm fine." They said together again and chuckled at the stupidity of the conversation. Everyone watching laughed too. Even Holland and Talho burst into fits of chuckles.
"May I take your order?" A near-by waiter asked Renton.
"Uh... May I get a medium bowl of your sundae supreme?"
The man perked his eyebrows up at Renton's strange choice of food.
"Certainly, and you, young lady?"
Eureka looked up from the menu in her hands, "I'll get the same thing."
The waiter's eyebrows rose even higher from Eureka's order. It rose even higher from her appearance. After the waiter left, Renton snorted a small laugh. Within minutes of taking the order, the waiter came back with two bowls of ice cream. The bowl of ice cream had many layers of different types of toppings. Each layer grew smaller as they reached the top where there was a small, bright red cherry. All of this was carefully placed upon a beautifully designed glass bowl. The waiter placed them gracefully down in front of Eureka and Renton, and left them to enjoy their food.
"Let's eat!" Renton exclaimed and dug his spoon into his mountain of ice cream.
Eureka smiled and took a bite out of her ice cream. While Renton took humongous gulps of ice cream, Eureka took small, petite bits. Inside the restaurant's main room, the lights dimmed as the musicians started playing their instruments. (Listen to this:
)
People from all sides sat up from their tables and stepped into the middle of the room.
Holland voice suddenly crackled in Renton's ears, "Get up and dance with her!"
Renton sat up slowly and Eureka did the same.
"Want to try some dancing?" Renton asked Eureka.
She smiled, "I would love to."
They uneasily walked over to the center of the room.
"I don't dance very well." Renton said and scratched his head
Eureka giggled, "I don't either. Just do what the others are doing."
Renton nodded, "Alright then."
With his right hand, he held her left hand. His left hand gently held Eureka's waist while her right hand held onto Renton's left shoulder.
"Is this how?"
Eureka looked around and giggled, "Seems close enough."
Together, they took a few steps back and forth like the other people. Renton missed a step or two. He clumsily tried to regain his balance, but stepped onto Eureka's toes instead. It hurt tremendously but she forgave him. They continued to attempt dancing. Though it took many tries, they eventually got the hang of it. Eureka and Renton danced on for a few minutes. Not surprisingly, they bumped into another couple. Eureka and Renton bowed and apologized. They laughed and continued to dance. Together, Eureka and Renton twirled, stepped back and forth, and simply enjoyed their time together. The song changed several times before the dance ended. Eureka and Renton stumbled out of the restaurant. Both were laughing and slightly dizzy.
Renton exhaled loudly, "Whew! That was fun!"
Eureka giggled, "We messed up so many times."
They chuckled and walked along the sidewalk under the night sky. Moondoggie trailed them all the way into the park. The park was not well lit, making it difficult to see objects in front. Luckily, the moon light and the dim, green glow of Eureka's wings provided some line of sight.
Eureka and Renton suddenly stopped. He turned and stared into her loving, violet eyes. She too gazed into his warm, blue eyes.
"Eureka…"
"Renton…"
"I love you…"
Renton closed his eyes as he slowly leaned forward. Eureka blushed from his words. Talho's voice ranged in Eureka's ear, "Show some control, Eureka! You got to push him away and show that you are in charge, not him."
Eureka ignored Talho and slowly closed her eyes. She slung her arms around Renton's neck who in turn, wrapped his arms around her waist. They kissed, gently at first and then with a little more passion. Everyone, except for Talho, nearly cried, even Moondoggie shook a little as a tear slipped down his cheek. Eureka and Renton slowly broke apart.
Renton talked gently to Eureka, "Want to go find a place away from the sidewalk?"
Talho and Holland started yelling into Renton and Eureka's ears.
"Don't you dare do it!"
"Better not ruin that suit!"
"Eureka!"
"Renton!"
"Listen to me!"
Eureka and Renton held their hands up to their ears and pulled out the small earphones. The voices of Holland and Talho ranged loudly out of the small technology. Eureka smiled and threw the earphones into the darkness. Renton grinned and threw his earphone at the sky. Both earphones disappeared and the voices of Talho and Holland faded away into the darkness.
Eureka giggled, "Let's go."
She held on to Renton's arms as they walked off the sidewalk and into a mass of trees and bushes.
Holland and Talho's voice exploded into Moondoggie's ears.
"Moondoggie! Follow them! Don't let them get away!"
"Ouch! Alright, alright!" Moondoggie cried into his microphone and took a few steps forward. However, he did not get very far and slipped on a small pebble. He fell backwards and his head smashed against the cement with a muffled thud.
"Moondoggie!" Talho and Holland yelled. There was no response though; he was knocked unconscious.
Eureka and Renton giggle as they stepped through the bushes and into a small opening. The clearing was roomy enough for them to do nearly anything. Renton slid his fingers over the grass, which was extremely soft. It was slightly moist and had a great, fresh smell. Renton eased Eureka down onto the grass and he himself plopped down next to her. Eureka squeezed his hands softly and pointed a finger at the night sky. Renton gazed up and gasped. It was a breathless sight: many small streaks of fire shot across the dark sky. Some were small and some were big. Others moved slow and others moved fast. He looked at Eureka and she looked back at him.
"What are you wishing for?" He asked her.
Eureka smiled, "It's a secret."
They watched the night sky together. Both laid on the grass silently but they were happy and were glad for the quiet peacefulness.
"We should get back." Renton said in an uncertain voice.
"Just a little longer." Eureka whispered softly.
They continued to gaze at the beautiful meteor shower. Their arms intertwined slowly and their heads leaned against each other.
"Just a little longer," Eureka said gently, "Just a little longer…"