"Silvites are all born with an affinity for it. It's just what we're taught to be able to defend ourselves in expectation of needing to leave our... village."

"High level bloodline ability, got it." Scowl. "All I got from my bloodline is racism."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

Eefina takes point again, keeping Cupil mostly in bo staff form, and they continue carving their way through the fourth floor until after they have enough loot to, even split three ways, pay all of Eefina's debts and still have plenty left over.

"Not like it's your fault."

They're not at a level where they can trivially gain so much money it can be counted as 'plenty', and 'plenty' is relative anyway, and her companions don't want to delve deeper citing risk to life and limb. After a while the dungeon starts throwing more monsters at them at once, trying to herd them towards the Boss Room. Going back up to the surface is easy enough, though, and the Guild representatives at the gates count out the loot and take 15%. They'll convert the rest into hard coin then and there if they're willing to take very slightly substandard rates for it.

Eefina now has no debt and six silver coins. Whisper wanders off saying, "See you again some time, maybe."

Tret says, "Well, that was fun. Sort of. What do you need the cash for anyway, just living your life?"

"Among other things, yes. I didn't have anywhere to stay tonight, and I'm getting kind of hungry. Wanna show me around?"

He scratches the back of his head absentmindedly. "Ah, yes, other things. My favorite luxury. I'm not the one you want for a tour of this place. I can point ya to a nice tavern and an arguably better local guide, at least."

"Aw, bored of me already?" she teases.

"Hey, I've got a life, I'm not some lost puppy that started following you!" He's teasing, too.

Rather than refute this obviously false statement, Eefina just giggles.

"At least have dinner with me. I somehow doubt you're secretly a, a Hooper and only eat moonbeams."

He grins wolfily. "You asked for it."

The place he leads her to is "The Drunken Whaler". Decorated all over with bits of ferocious-looking monsters and animals, broken pieces of boat or broken weapons, and paintings of people on boats fighting sea monsters. The waitress is eight feet tall and has large tusks and green skin. The primary things served here seem to be beer and large chunks of meat or fish. Someone is singing about a man's quest to hunt down the monster that took his leg, with accompanying drums and guitar.

Eefina gawks at the decor, and at the people, some, and at the music. She's never heard anything that... lively and authentic, before.

She'll take Tret's recommendation on what to order and where to sit.

"Before I do that, do you go for alcohol or no? Bringing you here is one thing, getting you drunk is another."

Curious headtilt.

"I've never been drunk. But this prrrrobably isn't the time to find out what it's like."

He snorts and shakes his head. "Yeah, no."

He finds a booth along the side and waves down the orc waitress. "Ranger-wolf! Hunted anything tasty lately?"

"Good to see you too, Glenda! Nope. I'm just showing Eefina here one of my favorite places to eat after a long day. No booze for her. I want some Kingsman and a nice big tuna. I'm not sure what'd be best for her, but it's on me."

"Very well! Eefina, you do not have a nickname yet. Look forward to the day I give you one! What kind of foods do you like?"

"I will! Gosh, um." They had hydroponic gardens in the Silver Shrine, so she's ever had fresh fruit and vegetables before, but why not something new? Instead of flailing in her uncertainty. She takes a deep breath and peers around at what anyone nearby is eating. She vaguely recognizes what a lot of it probably is. She picks one and points. "How about that? I'll try that."

The waitress stares for a long moment, then nods. "Very well! Karshan spicy beef with grilled broccoli, peppers, and mushroom. It will be some time before your food is ready. I will bring drinks and appetizers shortly. Look forward to it!"

When the orc is gone, Tret drawls, "So, if you were wondering, just to get it out of the way- This isn't a date. We are recent acquaintances and adventuring buddies, 'least for now, as far as I'm concerned. That said, I'd be fascinated to hear more about the Silver Shrine."

"D-date?"

Now Eefina flails a bit.

"Oh no date did I accidentally a date ask you on a eep?"

"Woah- Nope! Relax, I just said this isn't one." He laughs a bit, even if he's trying not to be mean about it.

"O-okay. Sorry. Not that I wouldn't ask you on a date, hypothetically, but I'd only wanna on purpose. Um, what'd you wanna know about the Shrine?"

"Not that I would hypothetically say yes or no to a date, I mean, it'd depend on things. Sorry. Well, what was life like, I guess? What does it mean to be 'above the sky'? Did you go flying somehow?"

"We had these, you'd call them flying boats, I guess. But they're expensive to make so we didn't have more than a few. Mostly people just never left. We grew our own food, and kept each other entertained with various arts. The Elders don't want us reminding anyone down on the... ground... that we were up there."

"Heh. Don't say 'flying boats' too loud," he jokes, gesturing at the ocean-themed decor.

Eefina starts to giggle, realizes she doesn't actually know what's funny, and tilts her head instead. "Huh?"

"This place plays up the nautical theme, right? I don't know how many actual sailors are in here but there's plenty that will talk your ear off about how awesome sailing is if you give them half an excuse."

Giggle. "Oh."

Eefina nibbles her lip thoughtfully.

"So hey, if someone who lived at the bottom of the ocean asked you what does it mean to be above the water, what would you say?"