NEMO: Into The Depths

Chapter 14: A Relatively Lazy Day

"Did you collect your royalties from the bank?" Alex inquired, bored out of his mind, trying to keep it occupied by snapping his fingers as fast as he could.

"Not since... last month I guess," Red replied, tinkering with an elemental bomb in order to adapt it for him. "Why? You need your cut?"

"I was thinking of swinging by the orphanage after the guild. The bank's close to it, so I thought I'd check," he replied. As he waited in the workshop, the atmosphere was as greasy, dark, and cluttered as he remembered from six months ago. After enjoying the best breakfast ever prepared by him, Alex was banished downstairs by the two lovebirds, so they could make Elyza some new clothes. According to them, Kurve could work faster without disturbance from 'the most distracting man on the planet.' Taking it as a compliment, he could only imagine how much Elyza was hating every second she was stuck up there.

"Hey!" Red commanded, finally looking up from her work to stretch her back. "Did you tell her about the incident?" whispering the last word for some reason.

"Nah," he waved her question aside, explaining, "I haven't asked her about her own past, so she hasn't asked me about mine."

"Aren't you scared she could find out about it from someone else?"

Alex scoffed, "I know you guys won't tell Elyza, and, except goody-two-shoes, everyone who could know else is either dead, or indebted to me."

"Maybe I should tell her," Red mused, and an audible groan escaped his lips, "Unless you can incentivize me to keep quiet."

"You know I'll just get whatever you ask, so why must you try and blackmail me?"

Clearly disregarding what he had said, she slammed her hand on the desk, proclaiming, "I want a pet."

It took Alex a moment to process her statement, and he didn't bother hiding his confusion. "Alright? The fuck does that have to do with me? You want me to find you like ... a dragon or a hellhound to adopt?"

Surprisingly, she seemed taken aback, muttering, "Oh, good, you're okay with it," before returning to her tinkering with the sphere.

Frustration bubbled up in Alex. "WHY'D YOU ASK ME-" He nearly screamed before catching himself, taking a deep breath and continuing, "Red, you know I hate it when you do this, so tell me why you asked me that."

"I don't think I will," she replied stubbornly. "I mean, you didn't tell me why you disappeared for five fucking months, and then when you did show up, you stuck around for a day, told me you needed me to craft a spell, and then disappeared again."

"Red," Alex said with a smile, "And I say this with love—you absolute buffoon, you moron, you haven't checked any letters in half a year, have you?"

For a second, Red's hands stopped working, her eyes widened, and her face shifted to a slightly darker shade of purple. "Pfft... of course I have," she lied, laughing awkwardly.

"We've been friends for fifteen years, and I can spot a rock lying across a field." Alex teased.

Unfortunately, a knock on the door spared her from any further ridicule his mind could come up with. Four bangs in succession, the last one slightly delayed – it couldn't be anyone other than Elyza.

"Took ya long enough," Alex called out, swiftly stepping through the void to reach the door and opening it for her.

She looked different. Her blazing red hair was braided and then tied up in a messy bun on the back of her head, ensuring it couldn't be easily grabbed, with a few locks gracefully framing her ears. Beneath her bronze chest plate, she wore a faded purple high-collared shirt with leather pads peeking out from beneath her shoulder guards. The green cloak elegantly hugged the sides of her arms. Leather shin guards adorned her brand-new shiny black boots, which seamlessly complemented her chestnut pants. But as Alex glanced past the frosted shine of her armour, past how the colours engraved into the branches of the design eased into her clothes, he noticed something strange.