The Frozen Lich Trading Company: A New Apartment

Sophie sighed in contentment as she sunk lower into the warm bath water. The apartment she had wanted was available when she contacted the landlord. With the $20,000 part of her lottery winnings she had been able to get the apartment. Plus it was immediately available for her to move in. Dax and Talek had laughed at how quickly Sophie had moved. The rushed moved was so worth the resulting peace and quiet. And the deep tub made for the best bubble baths to relax in. Though she did have to get out of the tub before turning into a walking prune.

Reluctantly she pulled the plug to the tub with her toes and then stood up to rinse off. Her dog, Cali, popped her head up with the sound of water movement. The small black pup had insisted on following Sophie everywhere in the new place. Sophie couldn’t blame the pup though. The new apartment was considerably bigger than the room they had at the company house and even the inn rooms they had stayed in before that.

“We should probably eat dinner, yeah?” Sophie asked while wrapping a towel around her body. Cali jumped up, wagging her tail. “I’ll take that as a yes then.” Sophie laughed.

She walked out of the bathroom and made her way towards the kitchen, looking down at Cali who was bouncing along next her. Sophie rounded the corner into the living room and caught movement of something very big out of the corner of her eye. Out of instinct she cast a fireball in the direction of the movement.

“What the hell!?! Watch it with that shit!” came the panicked voice of Dax.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY APARTMENT???”

Dax peeked out from behind the couch at Sophie, “We came to see how the new place was and to have a house warming dinner with you, and this the greeting we get?!”

“Honey, you’re going to burn the place down and it hasn’t even been a week,” Talek said from the safety of the kitchen.

“HOW THE HELL DID YOU TWO GET IN MY APARTMENT?!?!? The door was LOCKED! And don’t you dare say you climbed in through a window. This is on the 5th floor!” she pulled her towel more snugly around her body.

“Please. A silly lock like that is not very secure. Expert lock picker, remember?” Talek pointed to himself.

“But this is my apartment!”

“Well, we did knock and you didn’t answer,” Dax said matter of factly while standing up.

“Because I was in the tub!” Sophie was tempted to fry her two friends with lightning.

“That would explain the towel,” Dax quipped while straightening his clothes and hair.

“And Dax questioned me bringing that fancy lock over there as a gift,” Talek pointed with a large spoon at a box on the table.

“Because it seems like a lame house warming gift. People usually give stuff like towels and dishes” Dax retorted back.

“A functioning lock to protect our dear friend is a far better gift than some stupid towels. Plus I’ll bet you $100 she already bought nice towels.”

“I’m not taking that bet,” Dax scowled at Talek.

“Guys! Why didn’t you just call me first?!” Sophie interjected tersely.

“We wanted to surprise you with gifts and your favorite food from Grilling Goblins BBQ. Now go put something on so we can eat and I can show you the lock,” Talek waved the spoon at her to shoo her off.

“UGH! FINE!” Sophie turned around and stalked back down the hallway to her room to put some clothes on. Cali happily followed her owner into the room and watched Sophie close the door. Then the little pup jumped up on the bed and sat down patiently.

“Those two are just something else,” she grumbled to her pup as she pulled on the pjs she had laid out before taking the relaxing bath, to which Cali tilted her head to one side. “Don’t give me that look. Let’s go eat the free food, which is better than cooking.”

Cali jumped down from the bed and scooted out the bedroom door as soon as Sophie cracked it open. She could hear her two friends bickering about something, again. And then the sweet smell of grilled chicken hit her nose.

“That food smells delicious. Can we eat before the lock stuff? I’m starving.”

“And you were mad to see us here,” Talek smirked.

“You broke into my apartment,” Sophie poked him in the chest. “I could have killed you both with that fireball.”

“Speaking of, how did that not incinerate this whole place?” Dax questioned curiously as he sat down at the dinner table with a plate full of chicken and potatoes.

“I towd you to not be shtahnding awound in teh lihving whoom,” Talek admonished and then swallowed his mouth full of food. “Maybe next time you’ll listen to me.”

“Can you stop talking with your mouth full of food? I’m going to lose my appetite,” Dax complained.

“Maybe I will if you ever listen,” Talek quipped back and stuffed a big piece of chicken in his mouth, chewing loudly.

“I hate you,” Dax glared at Talek.

“I know,” Talek waived his fork at Sophie. “So you were going to tell us how this place isn’t a charred, smoking pile of ash.”

“Mhmm,” Sophie nodded. She finished chewing her first mouthful of chicken and swallowed while walking over to the table to sit down with the guys.

“Talek, take note. This is how one should finish their mouthful of food before talking.”

“Meh. What’s the point? You understand what I’m saying with a mouthful of food.”

Dax rolled his eyes so hard it made Sophie laugh, “If you two are done bitching like old grumpy men, I’ll tell you.”

“Don’t mind Dax. He’s grumpy by nature. Has been since I met him when we were 7.”

“That explains a lot,” Sophie giggled. “Well, this place didn’t burn up because I warded the entire building. When I walked up to the landlord the other day, they were in a heated conversation with their insurance agent about not having up-to-date magic wardings and something about premiums going up because of it. I offered to update those wardings if they gave me a discount on this place. Right place, right time kind of thing. So the whole place has the most updated wardings and I added some extra ones because I know you two clowns will be hanging around.”

“What is that supposed to mean??” Talek asked defensively.

“Oh, I don’t know. Magical items you bring back from adventures seem to explode just because you look at them.”

“In my defense, that magical box from the ogre cave had several magical traps on it.”

“Pfffftt… You almost burned down the entire company house by trying to open it yourself and instead caused it to burst into blue dragon fire that devoured two of the tables in the common area before we got it under control.”

“It was an unforeseen magical trap.”

“Some thief you are,” Dax finally chimed in after swallowing his food. “Sophie, when did you learn how to do these kinds of wardings? There’s a lot of money to be made out there for that kind of magic.”

“We all make mistakes,” Talek shrugged at Dax who rolled his eyes again.

Sophie poked around at the food on her plate, “I studied it myself so I could take that up as another side job. The big businesses that specialize in it are very picky with who they hire. And they pay hella low for anyone just starting out.”

“I’ve heard about that industry being uppity even when they do shit work. Also, that makes for a second side job you have,” Talek pointed out. “Did you use up all the prize money for this place?”

“Of course not,” Sophie replied back defensively. “Even before getting the discount on this place I budgeted so I could buy some furniture and have money saved back just in case.”

“Someone else who is reasonable with their funds unlike somebody,” Dax shot Talek a disgusted look.

“Don’t judge my purchasing choices! Besides, this was free money all because I was getting a sandwich when you ‘lost’ your little black notebook. It’s a good thing Sophie is such a sweetheart and shared the winnings from the lottery ticket you gave her for finding that ‘lost’ notebook. There was no expectation or plan for these funds.”

“You spent all $20,000?” Sophie asked in awe.

“Yes. But hear me out. It is a great investment.”

“Here we go,” Dax groaned.

“We were in the smithy shop and I was looking at new knives when Edgar came over and asked me what I was looking for. So I told him I had $20k to spend on a nice set of magically enhanced knives.”

“Tell me you didn’t give all of your money to Edgar instead of Vinny,” Sophie looked at Dax who was shaking his head.

“Why wouldn’t I give it to Edgar?” Talek asked innocently.

“Really?“ Sophie raised an eyebrow at Talek. “He has a gambling problem. And Vinny is the one who makes the quality of weapons you’re wanting, not Edgar.”

“Edgar said he could do it. He even promised,” Talek retorted back.

“I’ll bet you $1,000 that Edgar won’t have the new knife set with the specifications you want.”

“You’re on!” Talek held his hand out to Sophie. “Shake on it.”

Sophie was shaking her head as she shook Talek’s hand to seal the bet.

“She’s making all kinds of money off of us lately,” Dax said incredulously.

“Not my fault you guys are so willing to give it away,” Sophie giggled. “Let’s finish eating before this chicken gets cold. And then you can tell me about this lock you brought. I hope it’s not an Edgar Special.”

Talek barked a laughed, “I would never have Edgar make such an intricate, thief proof lock.”

“But you’re trusting him with making you magically enhanced knives,” Dax countered sarcastically.

“You don’t go to a weapons smith for a well-made lock. Everyone knows that,” Talek shot back.