Chapter 6: Double Pay

The group got back to Bunpidum just after eight o’clock, so the sky was still slightly bright, and the shop owner of The Ore Mining Company said he would wait until night fall. They entered the shop to find the shop owner examining a sparkling lump of ore with some sort of magnifying glass. He looked up and turned to welcome them, but then seemed somewhat surprised. His eyes followed a few seconds later and Austin let slip a “pfft”, turned around, and walked straight out again. Ellie, however, was not in a laughing mood.

“Oh… Hello-”

“YOU SOLD US OUT YOU PRICK!” slamming her fist on the counter.

“Um… uh… w-w-what?... I-I would never.” The owner stuttered and glanced around the room in an attempt to avoid eye contact with anyone.

“BULLSHIT!”

“I- uh- perhaps we can settle your payment in the back room.” And without waiting for her response, he scuttled away.

Ellie stayed where she was a called to him, “Double pay!”

“2,500?”

“Double pay!”

“2,700?”

“DOUBLE PAY OR I’LL GIVE YOU A SECOND WOODEN EYE!”

The five miners turned around, slightly dismayed, at the sound of Austin’s howls of laughter from outside.

“Fine… fine. Okay. Double… okay.” The owner came back from around the corner with three pouches, handed them to Ellie and then returned to the back room.

“If it’s short… There’ll be interest.” And with that, she left.

Ellie stormed out of the shop in a sulk while also carrying a proud smirk to find Austin curled up in a ball on the floor next to the door. She looked at him in embarrassment and give him a slight kick. He turned his head and scowled at her.

“I’m hungry… And I’m tired… But more importantly… I need a beer.”

“You’re like a child.” She sighed and rolled her eyes.

Austin just continued to scowl at her.

“Fine. Let’s go get a room and some food.”

“And beer?”

“And beer.”

Austin sprung up into the air in celebration. “YES!”

The two of them spent 30 minuets walking around the town looking for the best inn to stay at before finally deciding to settle at the first one they saw. They walked in through the restaurant to check it out and looking at the menu they had on before making their way to the reception area. A young lady greeted them and asked if they would be staying the night.

“It’s 100 coin per room or 150 for a double bed.”

“Double bed.” Ellie decided before anything even came out of Austin’s mouth. She looked Austin up and down and scoffed at the sight of his red tinted skin, “And we’ll need a bath as well please.”

“As you wish. That’ll be 25 coin. When would you like it ready for?”

“Five minutes please.” Austin replied without quite understanding what he was in for.

They were told their room number, given a padlock and key, and told how to get to their room. When they got to the room Ellie slumped onto the bed and let out a groan of relief. Austin went to do the same before he was cut off by her foot.

“AH AH AH… You are not touching this bed looking like that!”

“Like what?” He replied as he held her foot and began twisting it.

“AHH PRICK!... What do you mean “like what”? You’re still covered in blood.”

Austin examined himself and looked slightly dazed. “Oh yeah.”

“So I’m using the bath first.”

“Huh?”

“Well, I don’t want to sit in your bloody water, do I?”

“I’m confused.”

At that moment there was a knock on the door and two men came in carrying a large wooden tub filled with steaming water. One of the men handed Ellie a small loofah and the two of them left.

“Turn around… I need to get changed...” Ellie started strong but quickly began sounding embarrassed.

“Fuck this. I’m getting a beer.”

“Get me one too!”

It took about 10 minutes for Austin to get the beers and bring them back to the room and by that stage Ellie had already got out of the tub. She stood next to it wrapped in a towel that barley covered her, and her face was flush from the heat.

“If you’re quick, the water’s still warm.”

He handed her the beers and began taking off his clothes like he would normally. Just as he was about to take of his pants, he hesitated for a second and noticed that Ellie was watching him with a pleasant, seemingly innocent smile. Austin looked at her a cleared his throat in the most obviously ‘turn around’ way he could manage. She seemed to snap out of her trance when he did this, and her face turned an even brighter shade of red as she spun around on the spot. Austin got into the tub and let out a relieved sigh as he shuffled and settled into it as much as he could with his legs hanging out the sides. Ellie sat on the bed and watched him for a moment. Thoughts she had never felt before filled her head and she didn’t know what to do about them. She had never found herself looking at anyone in such a way.

‘He’s so toned… I wonder if his hair’s soft?... He even looks good covered in blood stains… wait that’s really weird.’

“Could you scrub my back for me?” He asked handing her the loofah.

“…… Yeah… sure…” She took the sponge off him and began wiping down his back. ‘I’ve never done this before… I hope I’m doing it right… I could touch his hair now… no. I should ask him.’

“Is this alright for you?” Ellie asked timidly.

Austin turned around sharply and looked surprised. “Are you alright?” he asked.

“Yeah… why?... Do I look weird?!?!”

“No, no, no. It’s just that usually you tend to punch me or threaten to punch me a lot, so I wasn’t expecting you to wash me back for me when I asked.”

“That’s because you’re annoying most of the time! And why did you ask if you were expecting me to say no to washing your back?”

“Because I’m assuming it’s also stained with blood and I can’t reach it. Even if you said no and threatened me, I would have tried to convince you to do it.”

“Oh… Yeah. Well, it is.” ‘I could ask to wash his hair!!!!!’ She thought about it a little longer and then cleared her throat quietly, “I could wash your hair for you as well if you want. Ya know. Since I’m already here.”

“Uhhh… If you want, I guess.” He shrugged.

After a while Austin was cleared completely of the stained blood and the two of them got changed facing in opposite directions. They decided to go down and have a proper meal in preparation for the long journey back to Incipancy and have a drink in celebration for their first fight and victory together. By the time it had reached midnight the two of them were quite drunk and were even told to go to bed by the bar manager. They staggered to their room and went to bed without a second thought.