"That's right! He wouldn't!" Dav said, almost singing as he realised Hurk's idea was one grounded in the indisputable fact that everyone was scared of Colonel Hyram, but no one was as scared of him as Clevus, his own flesh and blood.

"Shuddup dwarf. I'm cogitating over here."

"You could keep the find and we leave. You get in good with your pa and we get to pay him back in some other way," Hurk continued.

"That… that sounds like a fair deal to me. Yeah, that's fair. You just don't tell pa we had this meeting of sorts and everything will be just fine," Clevus said.

"So, what now Clevus?" Dav asked. He was significantly more chipper than he had been a few brief moments prior. It had felt like a lot longer, realising that his fate had rested on a negotiation between two of the dumbest creatures on the whole world.

"Now, I figure we get our things and leave and let Clevus keep his prize," Hurk said. His nose started to run, and when he wiped his hand over it he felt sticky blood.

"That's enough thinking for you today Hurk. Let's make like smart guys and leave before we get shot."

Hurk smiled. He liked the sayings that Dav knew. It wasn't the main reason he had signed up to work for him, but it sure was better than some other folk who hit Hurk, or called Hurk awful names that made him sick just to think about.

Spotting his torch from where he'd accidentally dropped it on Clevus's entry, he took one last look at the desk, the one that started running out when he turned that key. As carefully as a nine foot person could, Hurk bent down for his flashlight and turned the key in the little lock. The numbers came back on, greens and reds, all running out. The smaller they got, the less this bomb, or this desk, or even that rusted gun would be to Clevus and then the joke would be on him.

Hurk pocketed the key and turned to leave, shuddering when he caught sight of Clevus and his horrible, torn open mouth, decades of scarring around an infant's teeth.

"You're no high class society man yourself, Hurk," Clevus growled.

No, he wasn't, Hurk silently agreed. But today he had tricked someone who everyone said was more clever. He wished he could see the look on Clevus's face when he realised that the bomb had run out and there was none worth selling. That would be too funny, but Hurk managed to keep his smile hidden as he ducked out the door and started jogging out of the pit after Dav.

Ten minutes later they were both puffed and Hurk couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

"What's the joke, friend? Thought up another barn yarn worth getting held at gunpoint for? If so, feel free to keep it to yourself."

"Nope, but we should probably get moving. Once Clevus finds out what I've done, he's probably going to come give me a whooping something wicked." Hurk pulled out the key and showed it to Dav.