Page 8 of Steve's Barmaid
The jarl stood and ushered us out of his home, stopping to envelope Piper in a hug. “See you at dinner, Jarlin Piper,” he teased.
“You’re insufferable,” she said with a laugh as she waved us all out. “I look forward to introducing you all at dinner.”
I was sharing a room with Reykr, but it was fine. I had my own bed and there was no guard standing outside our door as there had been in Vátrfírar. Reykr, Tyr, and Berit decided to nap until dinner, given that none of us had slept well on the road. But my mind was restless. Instead of trying to sleep I quietly slipped out of the room. Maybe I could do some exploring on my own.
CHAPTER FIVE
BILLIE
Igroaned as I rose from my knees, which ached from scrubbing the baseboards. The wood was in beautiful condition, though it was hidden under layers of dust and grime. I’d pushed all the furniture into one corner so that Osif could determine what was salvageable. Then I got down to work.
The place needed to be deep cleaned from top to bottom. I washed the walls repeatedly until the water ran clear, and you could see the wood’s beautiful grain underneath. I moved onto the floor, mopping until it shined. Now that the baseboards were done, it was time to tackle the windows. There were several missing panes, but I could clean the intact ones and prepare the space for the new glass. It was cold in the bar with the missing window panes, but I was sweating from all the work. I stood back and pleased to see it coming together. With each layer of dust I removed the bar felt more and more like mine.
I was on the third pass of the window, trying to get a particularly stubborn patch of grease off, when a low voice that sounded quite close said, “Wow, you are focusing pretty hard on that window.”
“Jesus fucking Christ,” I shrieked as I stumbled backward. In my panic, I put my foot into the bucket of soapy water and fell squarely on my ass, water splashing all over me. “What in the hell? You scared the shit out of me!” I yelled. “What do you think you are doing sneaking up on someone like that?” I was pissed as I attempted to remove my foot, which was now firmly lodged in the bucket.
“I—I had been standing watching you for quite a while. I was surprised you didn’t notice me before,” He stumbled over his words. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Well, you did, and now I have a goddamn bucket stuck on my foot. The least you could do is help.” I stuck the trapped appendage in his direction, the seat of my pants soaked through with washwater and the rest of me feeling decidedly sorry for myself. Even my palms smarted from catching myself on the hardwood floor. This was the worst.
“Of course, of course,” he said as he attempted to climb through the window.
“Dude, the doors are right next to the window.”
He blushed a deep green, before walking to the doors and opening the working one. He walked to where I was sitting and stood over me, still sitting with a bucket stuck on my foot and my ass soaking wet. I didn’t recognize him at all, so he definitely wasn’t from our tribe.
“Okay, so, how can I help?” he asked, looking incredibly embarrassed.
“Well. You could grab the bucket and pull?” I spoke slowly as if talking to a complete idiot.
“Right, okay. Yes. I can do that,” he said eagerly as he bent to examine the bucket.
It wasn’t painful, but my boot was wedged in awkwardly. He took the lip of the bucket with both hands, looked at me, and said, “Steady yourself.”
I planted both hands behind me where I sat, trying to anchor myself to the floor as he pulled with all his might. Instead of freeing my foot, as I’d hoped, the stupid orc underestimated his strength and lifted me completely off the floor. Then he slipped in the spilled water, causing us to fall to the ground. Whoever this stranger was, he was making a marvelous first impression.
“What the fuck was that? I said ‘pull the bucket off my foot’, not ‘hurl me into the air!’” I cried.
“I’m sorry, I think it is more wedged than we thought. And you aren’t heavy, so I guess I underestimated how easy it would be able to lift you—or throw you.” He cringed.
We were now lying atop each other, limbs entangled. His muscular orc body pressed against mine, and I could feel the heat radiating from his green skin. I wanted to be irritated at this strange orc who appeared out of nowhere, disrupted my productive afternoon, and made a complete mess of the floor I’d spent hours cleaning. But as I locked eyes with him, something stilled in me. His eyes were a warm amber and apologetic, in a confused but amicable face. Even more confusing was that they looked almost human—with white sclera. How odd.
I took a deep breath. He hadn’t done this on purpose. He was just a guy. It wasn’t his fault I didn’t notice him until he was right up on me. I took a deep breath.
I pushed myself off of him, sweeping my free leg and upper thigh over his hips. Beneath me, he tensed up, a breath catching in his throat.
Oh my god. I was grinding on a total stranger.
It was my turn to apologize, feeling incredibly embarrassed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean—I mean, I was just trying to disentangle—ugh,” I spluttered, avoiding eye contact.
The spilled water had turned into a small puddle, and the bucket still clung stubbornly to my foot.
The orc cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure. “Let’s focus on the bucket,” he said, reaching down to wrestle with it again. “I promise I’ll be more careful this time.” And just like that, the tension shifted from embarrassment to determination. We both tugged at the bucket, laughter bubbling up between strained breaths. Maybe this unexpected encounter wasn’t so bad after all.
He finally managed to pull the bucket off, leaving us sitting on the floor facing each other. As I faced him, I could discern more details about him up close. He was an orc, but he didn’t look like the other orcs from our tribe. As I had noted, his eyes matched human eyes more than orkin. He looked leaner than most of them, as well. Most orkin were stocky and built like solid walls of muscle. This orc was muscular but almost like a swimmer’s body, with broad shoulders that narrowed down to a more tapered waist. I cocked my head to the side, studying him.
“Who are you?” I asked finally.
