<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #80BFFF"><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;">Peter Halvardson</span><br/><span style="font-size: 120%; line-height: 116%;">'The Viking'</span></span></div><br/><br/><div style="text-align: justify;">Peter had a lot of time to think over her words. And he wondered if it meant that they would end up in bed at some point. He had never been one living in chastity. And if her nickname Huntress was because of her hunting down men, then it may get interesting down the road. The problem was, he liked her and her body, but he had to keep distance. Sex would only lead to proximity and proximity would lead to faults. He couldn't allow for faults to happen. Not now, not six weeks out of his retirement.<br/><br/>They worked hard for the next hours, him checking on her everytime he finished a hole. He saw it coming, long before it happened. Her drilling got slower, the power left her, he knew what she had to feel now. Every miner had gone through those moments when you try to push harder but nothing happens. When you try to compensate the lack of power by throwing more bodywork in, when you tried to surpress the trembling of your legs and arms. He had tried to talk her out of it, had even tried to pull her away from her drill, but she had refused him, had returned to her drill, stubborn bitch, she had named it. There was nothing he could do to help her, as she wasn't allowing him to help her. She wasn't proving it to him, she was proving it to herself. She could manage a double-shift and she nearly did. Nearly. Half an hour more and she would have managed it.<br/><br/>When she sunk to the ground, the drill half buried inside the hole, he stopped his own drill and stepped over to her. She was unconscious, but her muscles were trembling. Peter shook his head and switched off their drills. Stupid bitch, why? What had she proved now? That she didn't know when to stop?  <br/><br/><span style="color: #FF8000">"You are really some stupid, stubborn bitch, Alice. Ok, let's call it a day."</span><br/><br/>He packed their overalls in his case and threw her over his shoulder. No need to be careful now, she was out cold. Carrying his case in one hand and her slung over his shoulder, he walked back to the lift. Some miners were looking at him on his way to the top, but nobody said anything. He removed her clothes and rubbed her body clean under the shower. Not knowing which locker was hers, he wrapped her in a towel and carried her to his room. <br/><br/>He put her in his bed, one of his t-shirts looking like some oversized pajama on her and then he made a camp on the floor. Peter hoped that he would wake up before her, but he had no idea when her exhaustion would wear off. <br/><br/><span style="color: #FF8000">"Sleep well, stupid girl."</span><br/><br/>He pulled the blanket over his body and he was out within two minutes. 24 hour shifts got to him too.</div>