His Name

One, two, three large gulps followed by an audible burp and a brush of the lips before putting it away.

Nyitzcha reached into their crate and retrieved a large sack, inspecting it's dark powder content and weighing it out of memory. Raising a small canister in hand, she proceeded to scoop some gunpowder into the small opening with careful doses. Picking at her belt she carefully held a pinch of green crystals over the orifice before sprinkling it inside then proceeding to shake it hard. She looked back as approached her and sat down next to her.

"Hey, making more of your goods?"

Nyitzcha focused back on her task, setting the canister down and repeating the steps with another. "Yer s'posed to be restin', lad."

"I asked for a few minutes to walk around." Felix replied, noticing the few empty flasks at her feet. "You're drinking?"

The dwarf stayed quiet with a look of concern in her eyes, mixing up her concoction and setting it down as she began working on the third canister. Felix peered into the bag before noticing Nyitzcha sprinkle another pinch of something green and shiny into the third container.

"What's the green stuff?"

"Is a personal invention o'mine, gives it dat extra kick ye be lookin' after. Ye know, de big bang dat makes it nice n'loud." She sighed, placing it down and turning to him. "What ye want?"

He scratched his arm, glancing at the ring on his finger. "Sometimes I forget about this, the deal we made. It was pretty quick-"

"Ye, I didn't have no other ways of makin' seals or contracts." She muttered, crossing her leg. "Don't be makin' no guesses."

He nodded, swallowing and sitting still with her for a moment in the dark. It was cool tonight, the fresh breeze tingled along his tender skin and made him shiver suddenly. Nyitzcha looked around, searching for something before giving up rather quickly.

"Felix, is gettin' cold. Go back inside before ye catch somethin' bad."

"Why did you say that?" He asked. "About being scared for me? It looked like you weren't sure about something, but you never said what."

He watched her look away, hugging herself awkwardly and shifting in her seat. "Nyitzcha, these rings aren't for making contracts. They're wedding rings."

"I told ye nut to make guesses, go back inside n' take yer walk n' de mornin' when de sun shine bright."

Felix snorted. "If I did that, the girls wouldn't give me any privacy. They were all over me when Zimi looked me over. Twice she had to tell them to give her space to work."

"Ye well, das yer price for bein' a hero."

He leaned back, stretching his arms. "I don't feel like a hero."

"Ye risked yer life savin' de girls, took a heavy beatin' for 'em too. Lots a girls fancy a man who do dat fer 'em. Makes 'em feel special." Nyitzcha remarked, passing a plastic tube to him. "Here, make yerself useful if ye sittin' there."

Felix inspected it, a plastic red tube loosely taped and wrapped together with one end left open. It was empty, nothing special about it besides being a broken handle from the looks of it. Her hands reached for a large bowl at her feet, adding a few varying liquids into it before slipping in handfuls of powder and mixing it with a wooden spoon. Just one sniff of it made his nose twitch.

"Yuck, you're not eating that are you?"

The dwarf snorted. "Not feelin' fer that, silly. Dis 'ere ain't fer nutrition."

She proceeded to add more gunpowder into it as the liquid slowly turned sticky and crusty, before crumbling into a slippery sand-like texture. Her leg rubbed against him, motioning for Felix to dip the red tube in and fill it with the mix.

Nyitzcha placed the bowl down and closed the red tube with a handful of clay, yanking a bit of string and placing it at the tip. Felix noticed the blue mark on her back as she leaned over to put the new bomb away.

"There, dis should come in handy."

"You know I appreciate everything you've done for us. Without you, we wouldn't have come this far." Felix began.

"Sure ye would, probably woulda been smelly n' tired but, eh."

"Is there any chance I can learn who Nyitzcha is?" The dwarf stared back at him, her soft eyes growing thinner as she tried reading him. Felix didn't look away, only reaching in for her hand and feeling how cold she was. Nyitzcha closed her eyes, her fingers closing around his palm, their legs touching as she felt the blood rush to her face. She pulled away, placing her hands on her lap and swallowing hard. In a moment she was digging through her things before finding her silver flask and taking one, two, three large gulps down her throat.

"I don't think that's healthy." He said.

She grunted and turned away, unable to handle his look of disappointment. It tasted bitter this time, the aftertaste sizzled on her tongue and she found herself revolted before tossing the flask away.

"Damn thing lost it's flavor." She grumbled, kicking the crate and falling back clumsily when she felt him catch her on time. Looking up, she saw his soft face and his caring look, the way he held her effortlessly, making sure she wouldn't fall. It made her blush, it made her melt, and soon it made her feel upset.

He noticed and helped her to her feet, catching her sniffle as she wiped her nose. "Listen, lad. I 'preciate ye bein' kind n' all, but I ain't de kind a girl ye want t'be friends with."

"Try me. One time, a werewolf attacked me and tried to rape me so I chained her up. Ended up being friends with her, besides how else am I going to respond to you helping me?"

"Just pay me wit' money when ye 'ave it." She muttered. "Then again, ye might not got a penny to yer name so."

They both laughed softly at that, sitting back down together as Nyitzcha glanced at the flask on the dirt. Felix rubbed his nose, pushing the bowl away with his foot as Nyitzcha began to chuckle.

"Don't like de smell?"

"Not a fan of it."

"Eh, ye get use to it." She sighed, leaning into him. "I did, once. Use t'love de smell o' gunpowder n' de mornin' before yer time."

"Before my time, I'm only twenty two of years." Felix said. "What about you?"

"Didn't ye Mum say is rude t'ask a lady's age?" Nyitzcha hiccuped.

"I don't-"

"Sorry, sorry. I forgot." She muttered, patting his leg. "Am forty-seven, kid."

Felix felt his eyes pop out. "You certainly don't look your age-"

"Oh because o' my height, ey? Yer gunna say is cuz I look wee fer my kind!?"

"Hey, easy there." He chuckled, holding her as she growled. "You're the only dwarf I've known, how can I judge?"

"Better nut." She sniffed, hugging his arm. "Damn stupid brats call me short fer my size when I was young."

"That's mean, I'm sure you're of average height."

"I'm one leg short of de four feet average, kid."

"Ah... well, who cares about height anyways? Fuck 'em."

"Yea, fuck 'em." She chuckled, closing her eyes and feeling light as a feather. Her grip slipped and she found herself lying on his lap, face up looking at his eyes and the beautiful winking stars in the blue night sky. Her soft hand reaching up to them as her ring glimmered under the near full moon's reflection. "He was like you, so warm and sweet. Like hot chocolate."

Felix blinked. "Who was?"

"Me ex. He wasss... a real shithead. Always fancied playin' hero. We both were, we didn't know better. Every day was war, every day was our last. When death and destruction becomes normal to ye, ye just... enjoyed life one day at a time."

"What was his name?"

Nyitzcha clenched her hand, pressing it to her chest as her voice cracked.

"His name was Bur Zik, 'n he was de best thin' dat happen' t'me."