The Job

The next day Alex woke up early. Since the call of nature was too great to go back to sleep, he decided to get up and went down the stairs and outside the inn to the outhouse. On his way back he smelled bacon and eggs from the kitchen, so he decided to get breakfast. He ordered a double portion. Some men were already here dinking their breakfast beer before heading out on the fields. Some seemed like they been here all night. Alex sat himself down by a window table. He watched the morning sun glide over the tips of the forest tree. Alex didn’t wait long before the waitress brought his breakfast, with a beer.

“Huh… back in my old world, my breakfast beer era was over… but here I have the appetite again… Must be the dwarven influence the past year…”, Alex thought.

He took his first bite of bacon while watching a big ball of wild and unkempt red hair with two legs sticking out of the bottom coming down the stairs.

“Good Mo-“, Alex began as it came closer

“Shit first… can talk later…”, said the red ball rushing by him outside the door.

Alex went back to eating his breakfast and beer. He was halfway done as the door to the inn swung open and Violet, her hair tied back in a braided tail, came in. Without hesitation she went to Alex and sat herself opposite of him.

“Oh beer? Nice!”, she exclaimed and took a big gulp.

Alex slid his plate over to her and she began eating hungrily.

“You had a vision last night?”, he asked

“Mhm… you… mguh… too?”, mumbled Violet trying not to choke on a breakfast sausage.

Alex nodded.

“What was it about?”, she asked after washing down the sausage with beer.

“You…”

“Well duh…”

“And Caleb…”

“Shit!”

Heads turned their way after Violet’s sudden shout. She made an apologizing gesture, and they soon faced back to their own table.

“What did you see?”, she asked in a hushed voice.

“Well, I think it must have been the night in Budan he was referencing yesterday…”

“You saw that? Oh no… shit… Okay, dude… Lemme explain… I had been studying magic for three years straight, with out as much as going outside once. That was the first time I got send on an errand… alone… and I was really… and I mean really!... pent up! And drunk! And kinda lonely, I guess… And I read this novel just a few days before… where you know…there was this guy… and you’ve seen how Caleb is… and you know… I got curious… and one thing let to another…in the end it wasn’t even that great… rather disappointing actually…”

“Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, that I am able to understand what’s said now too… or rather screamed…”

“Oh fuck… okay… yeah… mhm… well… then… you know… he wasn’t that bad, okay? Quite good, compared to others at least… okay that sounds wrong… I’m not a harlot, okay? So, let’s just say among my limited… very limited experience, he was definitely among the nicer ones… But don’t tell him that, okay? You saw how he is… I would never hear the end of it…”

Alex had never seen Violet this panicked and flustered. She began munching on the rest of the breakfast and her expression began to calm. Violet’s face went back to normal after she finished the meal. Alex had ordered some fresh fruit juice he was drinking now.

“So… you saw all that huh… you saw me? How was it? Did you like what you saw?”, asked Violet with a raised eyebrow and her typical wry smile.

Alex was taken by surprise by that question and nearly choked on some juice.

“Hehe… never mind, you don’t have to answer the question… I got the reaction I wanted. Let’s just say we are even now…”, said Violet through the coughing of Alex.

“What… do… you… mean… by… even?”, he asked struggling to clear his throat and nose of juice.

“I saw what you hide under you bed and what you do with it… Also, these moving pictures you watch when you’re alone at night… That’s what you meant, when you said what the internet was for, huh? Interesting… very interesting sort of entertainment you have in your world indeed… “

Alex eyes grew large and his face felt hotter second for second.

“I… that’s… well… you saw… that?... me?... shit… I…”, Alex fumbled for words.

Violet laughed.

“Don’t worry! All good… this is nothing to be ashamed of… I get it… you have some needs… we all do… and sometimes we have to fulfill them with what we have at hand… or by hand.”

Alex averted ashamed his eyes. Violet grinned widely and satisfied.

“You are way too easy to tease, Alex! Oh well… Let’s just move on from this… We just know each other a bit better now… Some would say a bit to much, but hey… at least we don’t have to worry too much about those bracelets anymore… can’t get any more embarrassing now, huh?”, she said smiling friendly.

Alex hesitated a bit and then nodded slowly.

“Okay, then promise me one thing. Not a word about all this to Caleb… especially what I said about that night you saw… That was a one time thing and that’s it!”, said Violet and looked Alex right in the eyes.

“Two times.”, corrected Caleb.

“Fine… it was a two ti-…”

Violet paused mid-sentence and blinked a few times. She slowly turned her head in the direction of the window. Caleb stood outside of the window. His elbows perched on the sill and his grin went from one ear to the other. Violet opened her mouth in shock.

“You…no… since when?”, she stuttered.

“About that time you went Mhm… you… mguh… too? … Sorry, I don’t have much experience in talking with a mouth full of meat… But I think I hit the note.”

“Fuck me…”

“Already did… twice in fact… and I’m honored you count me among your nicer partners… Don’t you worry, my sweet fiery Violet, I’ll be sure to remind you of that regularly from now on.”

“Where is my fucking staff?! I’m gonna burn this memory out of your brain you eavesdropping scoundrel!”, exclaimed Violet furiously.

In the next few moments, both mugs, the empty plate and the cutlery flew out of the window. Caleb dodged all of them effortlessly. It seemed this wasn’t the first time he had an angry woman throw things at him. Violet calmed down, after everything throwable in reach was thrown out of the window.

“Well, this turned out to be an eventful and enlightening morning, hasn’t it?”, said Caleb still smiling.

“Shut up…”, pouted Violet.

“I will do no such thing my dear! Since there was a snip bit of information that made me most curious, and it pains me to say, but it wasn’t about our passionate nightly encounter. For that it was a rather interesting paring of words, that graced my ears…”, said Caleb theatrically and turned to Alex.

“My dear friend Alex… I do pride myself on a very good and attentive pair of ears, so I don’t believe I misheard our definitely not a harlot here mentioning something about… your world?... Care to enlighten a good friend, on what exactly is… your world… and why the nomenclature distinction from our world?”, he continued.

Alex hesitated and looked at Violet.

“Meh… No point in hiding anything anymore… he has a knack for extracting information once he got a whiff of it, so just tell him…”, she said defeated and shrugged.

Alex told Caleb the whole story of him coming from another world.

“By all of the naked muses that inspire me! That just sounds so fantastical! Our meeting really must have been fate! My artistic soul is quivering with excitement hearing about this other world! You must tell me all about it! That settles it! I’m gonna go with you on your adventure!”, said Caleb excited after hearing the story.

“Why do you think we want you with us?”, asked Violet sharply.

“Because I got you a job.”

“What job?”

“The lovely Elyra, our dear Alex here got to know a little about yesterday, was tasked with procuring the next delivery of flour for her papa. For that she has to travel to the next village, two days from here. And since the roads are getting a bit dangerous these days, I offered our help as protection for the journey.”

“And what made you think we agree to this?”

“Well first, it could prove a good opportunity for our dear Alex. Secondly, she has already paid for your stay here and is willing to put a bit extra on top after reaching the next village. And third… it’s our direction anyway…”

“How do you know we are heading to the Erzstain Mountains?”

“Where else to?”

“Mh… It would definitely be a relief on our travel budget… okay… the day can’t get any worse anyway, so fuck it, let’s do it.”

“Well then pack your things and meet at the entrance to the village in around thirty minutes, okay?”

Caleb didn’t wait for an answer and was gone. Violet sighed and then started cursing in the distinct dwarven way, that would make old Barrik proud.

“Better get ready…”, she muttered and went up the stairs.

Alex went back to his room too. Quickly he packed and grabbed his axe. Alex then hesitated for a moment and looked at the bed. It was just like he left it. Alex’s ears went a bit red. He rummaged through his pockets. Alex placed a sliver coin on the bedside table and then left.