Loot the bodies!

We looted the bodies of the Lutins.

What they wore barely qualified as clothing. Rough scraps of leather wrapped around their waists. Bits of old cloth tied around their arms. Twine used as belts.

The first Lutin had three copper coins, a crude bone knife, and a handful of nuts. The second had seven copper coins and a piece of flint. The third and fourth had nothing of value. The fifth had eleven copper coins, a silver coin, a small brass pendant, and a blue ribbon.

Valentia froze. “...That's my ribbon,” she breathed.

“You sure?” I asked.

She nodded. “I lost it last week…”

I untied it and held it out to her.

She shook her head and took a step back. “Leave it. I don't want it.”

I shrugged and set it back down.

We divided the copper coins, each taking seven. I let Valentia keep the silver and gave the pendant to Ami in an attempt to smooth things over.

I wasn't sure it worked, but it was worth a shot.

After that, we returned to the road and continued north.

We were all quiet for a while, so I decided to check the alerts that had automatically minimized during combat. With any luck, there was an option to set that permanently. I really didn't want to keep dismissing notifications in the middle of a fight.

Several messages appeared.

The Lutins were only worth twelve XP?

The Fleshwood Hunter had been worth 165. That really reinforced the idea that the developers hadn't actually expected me to fight one. I was doubly thankful I'd managed to cheese that fight.

“So how do you guys know each other?” I eventually asked.

Ami ignored me.

Valentia glanced at me but didn't answer immediately. “Ami's my girlfriend.”

I glanced at her. Interesting.

From the looks Valentia had given me, I'd gotten the impression she was into guys. Ami, on the other hand, didn't seem to have any interest in me whatsoever, so I guessed she was probably firmly into women. Not that there was anything wrong with that.

It just meant I needed to be careful. Valentia seemed to have shown at least a little interest in me, and the last thing I wanted was to cause friction between the two of them.

“That's cool,” I said. “How'd you meet?”

Valentia raised an eyebrow. The irritation was still there, but at least she wasn't actively angry anymore. She looked over at her girlfriend.

Ami was walking a few paces ahead of us, her short sword still in hand. She glanced back when she noticed us looking, then immediately turned her attention back to the road.

“We met about six months ago,” Valentia said. “I was working at the Adventurer's Guild in Greyhaven. Ami had just arrived from Valedorn.” She looked at the shortstack.

“What was she doing in the Empire?”

“Looking for work.”

Ami glanced back. “Adventure.”

Valentia smiled. “You were looking for work.”

“Adventure.”

“Work.”

Ami's mouth tightened, but I caught the faintest hint of a smile.

“What happened?” I asked.

“She got robbed.”

Ami groaned quietly. “I dinna get robbed.”

Valentia laughed. “You absolutely got robbed.”

“I misplaced me purse.”

“You misplaced it after someone took it.”

Ami looked away.

I grinned. “That's a pretty generous definition of misplaced.”

Ami glared at me. The look was enough to wipe the grin off my face.

Valentia continued. “She came into the Guild furious. She'd only been in Greyhaven for a few hours, barely knew anyone, and didn't know where to go.”

“I knew where ta go,” Ami muttered.

“You knew where the Guild was.”

Ami didn't respond.

“Anyway, I helped her file a report. We never found the thief.”

“‘E probably ate the money,” Ami said.

Valentia frowned. “Probably spent it on ale.”

Ami shrugged.

“And then?”

“I bought her dinner.”

“Ye bought me soup,” Ami said.

Valentia looked at her. “You had three copper.”

“I had four.”

Valentia paused. “Four?”

Ami nodded. “Four.”

“Okay. Four.” She turned back to me. “Anyway, she was supposed to leave the next morning. But there was a storm, so she stayed another day.”

“And then another,” Ami added quietly.

Valentia smiled. “And then another.”

I glanced between them. “So you just became friends?”

“Pretty much.”

Ami said nothing.

Valentia looked at her. “She kept finding excuses to come back to the Guild.”

“I needed work.”

“You didn't have to come see me every day to look at the job postings.”

Ami's cheeks colored slightly. “There weren't many jobs.”

“There were plenty.” Valentia smiled. “And eventually we started taking jobs together.”

“What kind of jobs?”

“Mostly boring things. Escorting merchants. Clearing wolves from a farm. Finding lost travelers. Gathering herbs.”

“Borin’,” Ami agreed.

Valentia's smile widened. “Except the vampire spawn.”

Ami's eyes flicked toward her. “That wasn't borin’.”

“You screamed.”

“So did ye.”

“I was surprised,” Valentia shot back.

“So was I.”

It was the first time I'd seen any real emotion from Ami.

“You hid behind me.”

“I was protectin’ yer back,” she growled.

Valentia laughed.

Ami's expression remained perfectly serious.

I wasn't entirely sure whether she was joking.

“So when did you two…” I hesitated.

Valentia looked at me. “Become more than friends?”

I nodded.

Her cheeks turned pink.

Ami suddenly became very interested in the road ahead.

“About three months after we met.”

I glanced at Ami.

She didn't look at me.

Valentia continued. “We'd been traveling together for a while. One night we were camping in the hills. It was raining, and we'd both had a terrible day.” She smiled faintly. “We started talking.” Her voice softened. “About our families. Where we'd come from. What we wanted. Things we'd never told anyone else.”

Ami's hand found Valentia's.

Valentia squeezed it. “And somewhere along the way, I realized I didn't want to go back to being just her friend.”

Ami finally glanced over.

Valentia smiled at her. “And apparently she felt the same way.”

Ami looked away again, her cheeks turning pink.

I smiled. “So that's it?”

“That's it.” Valentia laughed softly. “She'll probably tell you the story differently if you ever get her to talk.”

Ami looked at me. Then at Valentia. Then back at me. “No.”

Valentia laughed. “I told you.”

I chuckled. “Fair enough.”

Ami turned back toward the road.

She still didn't trust me. But at least she hadn't told Valentia to leave me behind.