Post by Grisha on Aug 30, 2020 12:38:07 GMT -8
Kousetsu Village
It was another slow day in the village—at least the days always seemed to drag on whenever Grisha was away. A young blond was seated in the window with her arms folded upon the sill. Her chin was resting on her forearms as she stared outside at the children running through the slushy streets, lobbing snow balls at each other. It looked like fun, but she didn’t have the energy. Her cheek tilted into the pink, wool sleeve of her sweater. Her left arm extended until she could touch the chilled window with her finger and draw Xs and Os in the condensation.
Tobias was at the cast iron stove, pressing coffee. He turned his blond head to peer over his shoulder at his daughter. She always seemed to get like this whenever a certain lunkhead was gone. While he was on vacation, she was bored and without a grown man-child to take care of. Tobias rolled his eyes as he slowly pushed down on the press. “Have you asked the baker if he needs help kneading dough?” Tobias asked.
“I helped him this morning,” Lena replied plainly.
“Did you see if Mrs. Snowmoor needed help with the loom?”
“She was already finished when I checked.”
A vein began to pulse on the side of Tobias’s head. “The blacksmith?”
“He hired Alosha to help him.”
“The shop?”
“After helping the baker, I helped them restock.”
“Then how about you go walk around outside or something?”
Lena turned her head over her shoulder to frown at her father. “What has gotten into you?”
Tobias didn’t look at her. His lips felt like weights. He didn’t want to tell her, but he knew what he wanted to say, and if he said what he wanted, they would argue. After pressing the coffee, Tobias reached across the counter to snag a mug.
“I just need my coffee,” he muttered lowly. There wasn’t enough brew in the world to prepare him for what was to come.
Lena’s attention returned to the kids outside, watching them as they paused in their games. Their eyes were wide and alert like a rabbit’s. Lena blinked as she wondered, What are they looking at?
Grisha! one of the boys exclaimed.
Immediately, a large smile spread across Lena’s face. She enthusiastically looked back at her father as she stood from her chair. “Grisha’s back!” she exclaimed.
Tobias’s lips tightened to resist spitting out his coffee. How many weeks had it been? Two? Two hadn’t felt long enough. The most pathetic and pained look creased Tobias’s face as he moaned like a child. “Why Kami…just a few more days…”
Lena was tapping her boots upon the floor as she made sure her feet were snug within them. She gave her father at narrowed-eye look. “Don’t be such a baby. I know you’re secretly happy that Grisha’s back.”
“The hell I am!”
The blonde rushed out the door into the snow, and it was as the children said. Grisha was back.
The giant Saiyan leisurely trudged through the village. His boot-covered feet crushed the ice as hissing behind him was the large, blubbery body of a walrus creature. He dragged it by its tail as its flippers were splayed to its sides in its death pose. Children climbed onto the carcass as though it were a ride, and that wasn’t the only thing they climbed on. They latched onto Grisha’s legs and started scaling him as though he were a tree. Their hands gripped the skin of his pants and the fur of the cape the warmly draped his shoulders. It was a race to the top. The fastest kid got to sit on his shoulders and from up there, they got to look down at everyone.
There wasn’t a furrow of irritation on the Saiyan’s brow. He was used to it. The children of Kousetsu Village were pretty adventurous and often filled his naïve mind with their crazy stories such as the monster under the bed or in the closet. He still hadn’t found the creature, but he was determined to find it and kill it one day. Apparently, every child had seen it, but he hadn’t. None of the adults could give him information about its existence either.
“That’s a big catch Grisha!” one of the village grandmothers praised.
Grisha turned a gray eye to the old woman and smiled. “Small walrus. Grisha catch bigger.”
The grandmother blinked in surprise. “How big do you need?”
Grisha cracked a hungry grin. “Biggest!”
One of the boy’s who had made it to his shoulders had placed his White Lion helm upon his head. He threw his fists up into the air and exclaimed on the deepest voice his pre-pubescent vocals could muster (it was inspired by Grisha of course): “Mountain-size!”
Grisha side-glanced the kid: “Yes!”
The girl on his other shoulder threw her hands up next, exclaiming on her own gravelly Grisha-inspired voice: “Planet-size!”
Grisha side-glanced her and agreed, “Yes!”
The kids didn’t realize it, but they were getting his appetite riled up. He was almost drooling at the fantasy of a planet-sized walrus. All that meat! Lena rested her hands upon her hips and glanced at all the children clinging to Grisha: “Now, now; don’t get him excited.”
She looked passed Grisha’s hip at the walrus and turned her cheek dismissively. “You disappear for two weeks without saying goodbye, and you think returning here with a walrus would make me forgive you? You’re just expecting me to cook it for you, so you can eat and run.”
The guardian’s mouth fell open in speechless shock.
Ooooo! the kids chorused.
Lena did her best to appear cross with him, but the corner of her mouth quirked in an amused smile. A hand rose to cover her mouth as she laughed, “You should have seen your face!”
Grisha closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes at Lena. He released the walrus and raised his hands to his shoulders to remove the two kids from them. He then shook his body like he was ridding it of water, causing the kids to slide down his sides with giggles. Setting the kids he held upon the ground, he dropped to his knees and Lena raced over and locked her arms about his neck in a hug. Grisha gently embraced her, beaming.
“I missed you,” she told him.
“Grisha miss Lena,” he returned. His brows then converged and the smile on his face became strained as he felt Lena’s fingers gripping his hair.
“Did you really? Or were you just thinking about food?” she asked on a threatening voice.
A sweat bead descended down the side of Grisha’s head. “Honest! No lie! But Lena cook best!”
Lena released her arms from around him and smiled at him sweelty with rosy cheeks. “Mmm! Good answer!”
Tobias was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his cup of coffee in his hand. He and Grisha made eye-contact briefly, but no greetings were exchanged. The Saiyan seemed to dismiss her father’s presence as he rose to his feet and told her, “Grisha get wood.”
“We have firewood,” Tobias interjected.
“Grisha get more.”
“We don’t need more.”
Grisha glared at Tobias and growled. Lena held her hands up between the two. “Dad; it’s okay. Grisha; go get more. That’s a big walrus after all.”
As the Saiyan stomped away, Lena walked over to her father and gave him a look. “Dad, are you serious? He just got back and you’re starting this?”
Tobias nonchalantly sipped his coffee. “I started nothing. I was stating facts. We don’t need anymore firewood. If he wants to be useful, he could help us clean the darn thing.”
“Will you stop? You’re acting like a jerk right now.”
Tobias turned to walk back into the house as he muttered, “I need a longer vacation.”
WC: 1,312
Tagging: @null
It was another slow day in the village—at least the days always seemed to drag on whenever Grisha was away. A young blond was seated in the window with her arms folded upon the sill. Her chin was resting on her forearms as she stared outside at the children running through the slushy streets, lobbing snow balls at each other. It looked like fun, but she didn’t have the energy. Her cheek tilted into the pink, wool sleeve of her sweater. Her left arm extended until she could touch the chilled window with her finger and draw Xs and Os in the condensation.
Tobias was at the cast iron stove, pressing coffee. He turned his blond head to peer over his shoulder at his daughter. She always seemed to get like this whenever a certain lunkhead was gone. While he was on vacation, she was bored and without a grown man-child to take care of. Tobias rolled his eyes as he slowly pushed down on the press. “Have you asked the baker if he needs help kneading dough?” Tobias asked.
“I helped him this morning,” Lena replied plainly.
“Did you see if Mrs. Snowmoor needed help with the loom?”
“She was already finished when I checked.”
A vein began to pulse on the side of Tobias’s head. “The blacksmith?”
“He hired Alosha to help him.”
“The shop?”
“After helping the baker, I helped them restock.”
“Then how about you go walk around outside or something?”
Lena turned her head over her shoulder to frown at her father. “What has gotten into you?”
Tobias didn’t look at her. His lips felt like weights. He didn’t want to tell her, but he knew what he wanted to say, and if he said what he wanted, they would argue. After pressing the coffee, Tobias reached across the counter to snag a mug.
“I just need my coffee,” he muttered lowly. There wasn’t enough brew in the world to prepare him for what was to come.
Lena’s attention returned to the kids outside, watching them as they paused in their games. Their eyes were wide and alert like a rabbit’s. Lena blinked as she wondered, What are they looking at?
Grisha! one of the boys exclaimed.
Immediately, a large smile spread across Lena’s face. She enthusiastically looked back at her father as she stood from her chair. “Grisha’s back!” she exclaimed.
Tobias’s lips tightened to resist spitting out his coffee. How many weeks had it been? Two? Two hadn’t felt long enough. The most pathetic and pained look creased Tobias’s face as he moaned like a child. “Why Kami…just a few more days…”
Lena was tapping her boots upon the floor as she made sure her feet were snug within them. She gave her father at narrowed-eye look. “Don’t be such a baby. I know you’re secretly happy that Grisha’s back.”
“The hell I am!”
The blonde rushed out the door into the snow, and it was as the children said. Grisha was back.
The giant Saiyan leisurely trudged through the village. His boot-covered feet crushed the ice as hissing behind him was the large, blubbery body of a walrus creature. He dragged it by its tail as its flippers were splayed to its sides in its death pose. Children climbed onto the carcass as though it were a ride, and that wasn’t the only thing they climbed on. They latched onto Grisha’s legs and started scaling him as though he were a tree. Their hands gripped the skin of his pants and the fur of the cape the warmly draped his shoulders. It was a race to the top. The fastest kid got to sit on his shoulders and from up there, they got to look down at everyone.
There wasn’t a furrow of irritation on the Saiyan’s brow. He was used to it. The children of Kousetsu Village were pretty adventurous and often filled his naïve mind with their crazy stories such as the monster under the bed or in the closet. He still hadn’t found the creature, but he was determined to find it and kill it one day. Apparently, every child had seen it, but he hadn’t. None of the adults could give him information about its existence either.
“That’s a big catch Grisha!” one of the village grandmothers praised.
Grisha turned a gray eye to the old woman and smiled. “Small walrus. Grisha catch bigger.”
The grandmother blinked in surprise. “How big do you need?”
Grisha cracked a hungry grin. “Biggest!”
One of the boy’s who had made it to his shoulders had placed his White Lion helm upon his head. He threw his fists up into the air and exclaimed on the deepest voice his pre-pubescent vocals could muster (it was inspired by Grisha of course): “Mountain-size!”
Grisha side-glanced the kid: “Yes!”
The girl on his other shoulder threw her hands up next, exclaiming on her own gravelly Grisha-inspired voice: “Planet-size!”
Grisha side-glanced her and agreed, “Yes!”
The kids didn’t realize it, but they were getting his appetite riled up. He was almost drooling at the fantasy of a planet-sized walrus. All that meat! Lena rested her hands upon her hips and glanced at all the children clinging to Grisha: “Now, now; don’t get him excited.”
She looked passed Grisha’s hip at the walrus and turned her cheek dismissively. “You disappear for two weeks without saying goodbye, and you think returning here with a walrus would make me forgive you? You’re just expecting me to cook it for you, so you can eat and run.”
The guardian’s mouth fell open in speechless shock.
Ooooo! the kids chorused.
Lena did her best to appear cross with him, but the corner of her mouth quirked in an amused smile. A hand rose to cover her mouth as she laughed, “You should have seen your face!”
Grisha closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes at Lena. He released the walrus and raised his hands to his shoulders to remove the two kids from them. He then shook his body like he was ridding it of water, causing the kids to slide down his sides with giggles. Setting the kids he held upon the ground, he dropped to his knees and Lena raced over and locked her arms about his neck in a hug. Grisha gently embraced her, beaming.
“I missed you,” she told him.
“Grisha miss Lena,” he returned. His brows then converged and the smile on his face became strained as he felt Lena’s fingers gripping his hair.
“Did you really? Or were you just thinking about food?” she asked on a threatening voice.
A sweat bead descended down the side of Grisha’s head. “Honest! No lie! But Lena cook best!”
Lena released her arms from around him and smiled at him sweelty with rosy cheeks. “Mmm! Good answer!”
Tobias was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his cup of coffee in his hand. He and Grisha made eye-contact briefly, but no greetings were exchanged. The Saiyan seemed to dismiss her father’s presence as he rose to his feet and told her, “Grisha get wood.”
“We have firewood,” Tobias interjected.
“Grisha get more.”
“We don’t need more.”
Grisha glared at Tobias and growled. Lena held her hands up between the two. “Dad; it’s okay. Grisha; go get more. That’s a big walrus after all.”
As the Saiyan stomped away, Lena walked over to her father and gave him a look. “Dad, are you serious? He just got back and you’re starting this?”
Tobias nonchalantly sipped his coffee. “I started nothing. I was stating facts. We don’t need anymore firewood. If he wants to be useful, he could help us clean the darn thing.”
“Will you stop? You’re acting like a jerk right now.”
Tobias turned to walk back into the house as he muttered, “I need a longer vacation.”
WC: 1,312
Tagging: @null