Luke and Elena, woke up the same way they had for the past week.
Awkward looks.
Insults thrown toward Luke.
"I told you not to look until I was fully ready," Elena yelled, loud enough to wake that whole side of the inn.
"I swear I didn't look, Elena. I've been hiding under my blanket the whole time," Luke replied, his voice muffled by fabric pulled over his head. "If you wanted privacy, why wouldn't you get dressed in the bathroom?"
"I already told you. That bathroom is too cold. The floor freezes my toes in the mornings," she said, giggling as she continued getting dressed. "And Luke, I can see the holes in your blanket. You aren't fooling anyone."
At that, he immediately rolled over and buried his face beneath a pillow.
"I… I didn't look," he yelled, panic edging into his voice.
Elena wasn't the only one who had noticed the holes. Luke used them often, but not always to peek. He was guilty of that, sure, but more often he used them to hide his face. Because every morning came with the same problem.
Flush cheeks.
A quickened heartbeat.
The sight of Elena at the start of the day did that to him.
"I won't peek again," he lied.
"I'll forgive you this one time," Elena said with a laugh as she finished her routine. "Do it again and I won't be scared to use a Frost Cut on you."
Elena started her day like a normal person would, right up until it reached a point of no return. She grew completely silent, focusing on her reflection as she made sure her hair sat just right and her makeup was immaculate.
She was a beauty even without the effort, but once she was finished it was as if a soft glow followed her wherever she went.
On off days, she'd walk through town for hours, stopping at windows and stalls alike, dragging Luke behind her without mercy. Forced to endure the scowls of other men.
Luke pretended not to notice, keeping his eyes forward and his hands buried in his pockets. It was easier than explaining why their attention made his skin itch.
"Elena, we need to stop and eat lunch before all the good stalls run out," Luke said, exasperated. "We never get anything but scraps."
She paused, glanced back at him, then sighed.
"Fine. Then we're headed to the guild."
Luke let out a breath of relief, letting his shoulders relax a little. His stomach was empty and his brain fried from the dive.
They still trained most days, but ever since the two-dive-per-week mandate had been put in place, Elena had filled the rest of their time with sightseeing, shopping, and far more walking than any dungeon delver should reasonably endure.
The forced downtime left Elena restless and Luke exhausted, neither quite sure which feeling was worse.
They stopped at a familiar stall along the guild road. It served thick meat skewers, fried tubers and hearty boar stew, the smells drifting outward.
They'd become regulars here whenever Elena decided they'd earned a meal.
"Well, if it isn't the newest guild team in town," the vendor said with a grin. "How've you been? Thought maybe you got eaten by a slime."
"Food," Luke said flatly from behind them. "Then we'll talk. I'll take a full plate of meat skewers and boar meat."
"I'll have the stew," Elena added.
Justin worked quickly, clearly eager to hear about their dive. He set the plates down with a knowing look.
"Alright, now spill it," he said. "Why were you gone so long?"
"Elena," Luke whispered, leaning in just enough that Justin could hear. "She wouldn't leave until we proved ourselves. I nearly starved."
The conversation carried on until Luke noticed something wrong.
Elena was gone.
"Oh gods, damn it," he muttered. His face paled. "She's taken off again."
The anxiety was immediate.
"This woman is going to kill me," he said, already backing away. "Dungeon or not."
Luke took off down the road, glancing back at Justin. Despite the dread on his face, there was a flicker of something else there too.
Something like excitement.
"Later, Justin," he called. "Thanks for the food. I gotta find Elena."
After a few minutes of fast walking, he saw her.
Staring at more swords.
The woman hadn't been able to take her mind off the dungeon since they met.
Elena would often stay up late and talk about the dungeon. How they would gather drops and get stronger through fighting together.
She tried to make Luke feel more confident in his power when he apologized, explaining that if he hadn't done this or that, she could have gotten hurt.
Luke would listen while he studied his guides, never really taking her words to heart.
"Elena, you already have a sword that works perfectly fine. We can't afford another right now," Luke said.
"But this one says it can launch fire from it," she exclaimed. "Imagine me using frost and fire at the same time. I'd be unstoppable."
That was another thing she constantly mentioned, using two types of magic at once.
"Elena, look at the price tag," Luke told her.
The girl lifted the manila tag. Too long for any price they could afford.
Twenty-five million shards.
"We only earned twenty-five hundred shards. Barely enough to cover our living costs this week," Luke said abruptly.
"You sure you aren't hiding riches somewhere, bookworm?" Elena asked. "No wealthy family to borrow from?"
Elena stepped closer, inspecting him for some kind of hidden pocket. Luke's face was already turning red with panic.
"No, Elena," he sighed. "I came from a backwater town. No parents left after the last collapse," Luke explained. "I most certainly don't have that kind of coin."
"I figured you'd be the one with the wealthy family," Luke replied. "Nobody from where I came from looked like you unless they had money."
"Looks like what?" she calmly replied, a slight twinkle in her eyes.
Luke, flustered by the question, walked toward Elena and reached his hand out.
"Come on. This isn't the guild, remember?" Luke said, grabbing Elena's shoulder.
Luke froze for half a breath when his hand touched her shoulder, ears becoming flush.