the fact that at least one person in mha strategized, deduced, and uttered “separate Midoriya Izuku from Bakugo Katsuki” as a step in winning this war is SICK,, they know exactly what they’re capable of together..
The house was in a much better state after breakfast. Chilchuck had busied himself with whatever he could find, mostly to avoid having to deal with the realization that he was truly interested in you, in getting to know you. Most of the furniture was damaged but usable. Whatever wasn’t was scrapped for fabric and fire wood. You were sweeping out what was left of the debris when your grandmother arrived. A new basket of breads in tow.
“Your mother was quite upset to hear what happened to the last one.” She laughs to herself, and it makes you smile. Despite all that’s happened it’s been good to see her find things to amuse herself with. “I’m sorry it took me longer than expected, you know how she likes to talk.”
“To be fair, there was a lot to talk about this time. How did father take it?” She winces, and you can only imagine his anger. His last living parent having her home treated in such a way, a home that housed his only child. All for a box. Hidden treasure or not, it was a slight with little excuse and required immense nerve. Your father never got along with his siblings, being much younger than them, and more well-rounded. It made you wonder, would you have been as callous as your relatives had you been raised by someone else?
Chilchuck can see you’re lost in thought and wastes no time in getting to the point.
“You mentioned a friend your husband had.” Your grandmother pauses, hands stilling over the breads and pastries she was piling onto the table. “Was he an elf of the west?” He wonders if they were one of the canaries.
“Yes. They often wrote letters, updates on life and news of The Island. I only ever met him one time many years ago.”
“Do you have any?” He tries to not lean forward in his seat too much, to not topple the chair he sat in.
“Any what?”
“Of the letters, they may have information about the puzzle box. If he commissioned that friend to make it, surely there’s schematics or something we could use.”
“That’s not how he would have wanted you to do things.” She speaks to you only.
“Grandmother-”, you start. But Chilchuck interrupts you.
“ This has become dangerous. What’s next when they come back and someone’s home? One, no, both of you could get seriously hurt.”
“Those children may be rotten, but they’d never hurt one of us.”
“You think they’d trash your house and not you?”
“Chilchuck!” Your tone is harsh. You knew where he was coming from, you were worried too. But she was your family, they all were.
“My husband had his reasons for it to be solved. Not for it to be cheated. I’m not sure how he’d even feel that you hired a picklock in the first place.” When you’re silent at that Chilchuck feels his temper flare. You’re holding your hands in your lap, staring at your thumbs circling themselves. He goes to speak but this time it’s you who interrupts him.
“I had my reasons.” It’s an ashamed whisper. Your reasons have inconvenienced more than just yourself.
“I know you did, dear,” her withered hand gently squeezed your shoulder. You raise your head to meet her gaze. “It’s hard to let go, trust me when I say I understand. But he had his reasons too,” she looks at the half-foot next. “And I’m not one to dishonor with wishes of the dead.” Though her voice is patient, her gaze is cold.
“Okay,” he raises his hands in annoyed defeat. As much as he didn’t feel it was reasonable, he was not about to argue with a widow. Much less your grandmother. “So what do we do now?”
“How far have we gotten so far?” Her use of ‘we’ bothers him. Saying that was bold when you both knew she wasn’t going to give you any help.
“There are four compartments inside. The first answer was hydrangeas. I’m assuming the whole box is flower themed? If that’s the case, we should only have to figure out three more.” It was a false confidence in your voice. You hadn’t truly looked at most of the box outside of its exterior. The craftsmanship of the carved details alone kept you engaged, and at the time, you weren’t ready to delve deeper. For all you knew, the next three compartments could hold more puzzles or riddles inside them too. And then you’d have to spend even more time on it.
“Oh that man. You know, he never showed it outright. But he was a romantic. He loved deeply.” Your grandmother's voice was distant and so was her gaze. Remembering times far away from the present. And Chilchuck softens, thinking about how you told him that flower was her favorite. Grief made one do funny things. Things that didn’t make sense. And if she wanted you to solve it properly, he couldn’t deny that. She continues on, “He loved when things were connected. When you have to think deeply about a memory. He loved to reminisce. Wanted to live life so fully that in his old age he could think about all the wonderful things there were to live for.” She pauses again, a deep stuttering breath follows. “I’m sure that there’s all sorts of things he wanted to do, in life and for that damned thing, but flowers would have been the easiest to associate with those little moments.”
You grab her hand, thumb stroking the wrinkled skin. “We’ll focus on the box, maybe mother and father can work with you to figure out who ransacked the place.”
Chilchuck thinks back to the box, off the top of his head he can’t remember the rest of the compartment riddles. Which means they would need to go visit his shop to start truly working on it. But if he could get any information out of your grandmother, it would be now, and maybe she’d let something slip in reminiscing. It makes him feel grimy but he presses on. “What other puzzles has he had you solve? Maybe that can help us approach this with some insight.” He keeps his voice quiet.
“Well there was a phase of wooden block ones, where they had to fit together perfectly, or where you had to slide one specific piece out. There were literal puzzles, an image cut up and needing to be pieced back together. There was his math faze, which I was not a fan of,” you whisper that bit exasperated, “and his spoken ones too. He was always fond of the written ones most, liked how the answer could be considered right in front of you as soon as you finished it.”
Your grandmother continues your train of thought. “He thought the more upset you got after solving it, the better the puzzle was. Because it was unexpected, and that meant a good challenge.” Seems that you weren’t kidding when you thought that he wanted to drive someone mad. Yet you and your grandmother seem to remember his shenanigans fondly. It doesn’t give him the answers he was hoping for. However, it was a start.
“It does seem like the box is riddle based. We should start solving the next section now. The sooner we get it open the better.” You nod at his words, but don’t stand just yet. You’re busy searching your grandmother’s face for something.
“I’m afraid I’ve got no hints for you,” your grandmother jokes. “Hope that’s alright.”
“It’s not that… I think you should stay with my parents. I don’t want anything to happen to you just because I’m out working on this.” You’re holding her hand with both of yours now, clasping at it with conviction.
“Trust me, your folks have already given me an earful on the very same subject.” She stands, one hand bracing against her back. “Why don’t I go pack for an extended visit, then you two can hurry on and figure this thing out.” It didn’t take her long, a heavy bag that seemed to bow under the weight of itself at the handles held in her hands. “Your father will come get me after they close the bakery for the day. You two can head out.”
“Are you sure you’re good to be alone here?” You’re holding her hand again.
“I doubt they’d come back now, they didn't find what they were looking for the first time, and we have a good bit of daylight left ahead of us.” Chilchuck is doubtful, but he keeps his thoughts to himself as you hug her goodbye. “Take care of this one please,” she’s looking right at him. “And you,” she shifts her gaze to her grandchild. “Visit the stores for updates. And to see your parents. They were worried sick before, doubly so now. Alright?” Her question is asked without needing an answer, the word comes out stern, as an instruction. Still, you nod and leave with the half-foot.
When you close the door behind you it’s an action full of apprehension. This was becoming a much bigger ordeal than you had ever meant for it to. Not that it would have mattered what you meant. It seems like your grandfather had plans of his own. He always did. Chilchuck takes note of the deep sigh you let out, of the way your shoulders sink. Despite all of you sleeping through the night, your eyes had dark circles underneath them. He’s certain he has his own to match.
He lets the ambient noise of wind in fields and people milling about outside keep him occupied for now. He was itching to offer you some kind of comfort, but he wasn’t sure how. Emotions were never his strong suit. The idea of talking about vulnerable moments was like oil floating above the water that was his words. When they surfaced it always came out wrong, thick on his tongue and gumming up his mouth. Instead, he pats your back gently as you stand there. And when you look at him, he grabs your hand. Gives it a simple, short squeeze that you return.
drink some water folks <3 do y'all think he's a huge flirter or do y'all think he'd take things slow. I'd like to write both but idk yet how I want to do it for this story, rest assured I'll pick one at some point
-----------.·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙ ✩ *̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧-----Part 7 * Part 9-----·͙̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙ ✩ *̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .------------------------‧̍̊·̊‧̥°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥‧̥·̊‧̍̊ ♡ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙· Master Fic List *̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ♡ ‧̍̊·̊‧̥°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥‧̥·̊‧̍̊--------------
shouldn’t his lord be woken up bright and early every morning anyways? isn’t he.. a prince or something... “who else is going to bitch at the wenches?”
