Chapter Text
Lately, a morning for Tanya von Degurechaff starts out like this: Wake up, check the clock, look around, then go back to sleep. Wake up again, and then either sleep some more, or sit in bed and find something to do to waste time… there usually isn’t much, so mostly she just goes right back to sleep.
Yes, again.
Suffice to say, her day only starts late into the morning. Far later than she’d like. Only after First Lieutenant Warren Grantz greets her and presses a cup of coffee into her hands to help her wake up.
… It’s not worth drinking, but she does it anyway. Not for the flavor— it’s bad. Not for the caffeine— she’s slept so much she doesn’t need it. Purely because he wants her to.
This is it. Mornings that drag on, slow as ever, time moving at a crawl. They’re nothing like those hectic days on the frontlines where she was forced to sleep in shifts and had to be ready to rally at any moment.
In a way, this change might be considered good for her. She just wishes it could’ve happened under different circumstances.
A deep sigh leaves her body, as she glances toward the grandfather clock across the room for the umpteenth time. It’s only moved two minutes forward since she last looked.
He’s even later than usual today…
As if it might make Grantz show up faster, she sits up in bed, stares at the door, and listens to the clock go tick tock tick…
In the silence of the bedroom, she hates the noise enough that she almost considers breaking it… But she hates the idea of losing track of time even more, so she does not.
Last night she had the forethought to leave a book on her nightstand before going to bed. Unfortunately, she finished it already. Read it cover to cover, and then some, despite it not being very good. Perhaps she overestimated how much time it would take to read… Or maybe it’s more accurate to say she underestimated how late her Lieutenant could possibly be.
Tanya was used to starting her mornings at 0600 sharp before this, but lately she’s been managing to sleep in until roughly 0800 or 0830, which is the usual time Grantz shows up.
… Incidentally, it’s nearing 1000 now.
You would think she’d have taught him better than this when he was her subordinate, but alas.
She falls back and rolls over… only to feel more uncomfortable.
Her bed is soft and warm, and some days she’s even able to appreciate sleeping in it instead of a bedroll on the frontlines, but right now all she can feel is annoyance. It’s soft to the point she’s sinking into it, warm to the point of being smothering.
But still, she doesn’t leave it because the only alternative at the moment is to sit on the floor.
That’s it. If he doesn’t show in the next five minutes, I’m really going to—
In the distance, there’s a noise. The sound of a door opening and shutting. A pause… and then there’s a rush of footsteps heading toward her, then a flash of mana— a tiny, blink-and-you-miss-it blip on the radar.
Every noise in this empty house carries, but even if she hadn’t heard the door, that mana signal is entirely unmistakable.
Seconds later, an extremely ashamed lieutenant bursts through the bedroom door. As he hurries into the room, profuse apologies spill from his lips, “I’m sorry! I lost track of time! Have you been waiting long?”
The polite answer to his question would be ‘no.’
She responds, “Yes. Where the hell have you been?”
He winces, and makes another apology, “I’m really sorry… I went into town this morning for some stuff. I didn’t think it’d take so long…”
With that, he hands over this morning’s cup of coffee. It’s not the usual homemade stuff he brings her, it’s a to-go cup from some café that’s, surprisingly, piping-hot as though it was just served. That must’ve been what the mana signal was about, he was reheating it for her.
“The stuff you make here is fine, you know,” she lies. It’s really not, but she absolutely does not want this incident to be repeated. If it means Grantz is going to make her wait almost two hours more than usual, it’s absolutely not worth it.
“I know, I just figured you might enjoy drinking it while you read the paper… since, y’know, I was already in town to get that…”
That gives her irritation pause for just a moment. “Wait, as in a newspaper? Really?”
“Ah. Yeah. Remember? The other day, you told me you didn’t like not knowing what was going on outside, so…” He reaches for his back pocket and pulls out the neatly folded up paper before handing it over. “I thought it might help?”
“Well, I’d still prefer to be out there myself, but… it’ll do,” she responds. She’s hesitant to praise him too much. It might get to his head. Still, despite her bland answer, he looks pleased with himself.
Alright moving on. Time to begin the mission.
The time is approximately 1000 hours, a late start for Tanya, even with her recently changed schedule taken into consideration, but there is nothing she can really do about it. Her start unfortunately depends on Grantz’s, and as she’s seen, he’s decidedly less than punctual.
As for their location, it’s… well, she’s unable to confirm exactly. Technically she knows what this place is, but not where.
She’s been told it’s the abandoned estate of Georg von Sachsen— an Imperial Named mage and Ace of Aces, who happens to be recently deceased… and also Grantz’s great uncle, apparently.
But as for what towns are nearby or even just where in the empire it is, she’s got no clue.
Yes, not knowing that particular bit of information is a large bump in the road for her mission, but it also likely won’t be relevant until much further in. She’s got time to figure it out.
But not right now. Right now she’s got other objectives she can complete.
Finally, finally, finally, Grantz kneels down beside her. He reaches into his other pocket and pulls out a key, inserts it into the lock, and with a single click, the cuff around Tanya’s ankle that keeps her chained to the bed comes off.
So the mission. It’s simple, she can sum it up with just a sentence: Find a way to escape her captor.
Warren Grantz looks up at her and smiles.
Yes. Him.
Really.
It’s almost impossible to believe this harmless-looking guy— the one blithely smiling at her like he doesn’t have a care in the world— is the one responsible for her current situation, but here they are. As dumb and disarming as his appearance might suggest, he still managed to kidnap her.
He gets to his feet as Tanya does and dutifully follows her out as she leaves the bedroom. She could very well spend her time idly drinking coffee and reading in bed, but she’s been cooped up so long that it sounds repulsive. She needs a change of scenery. Even if she can’t necessarily leave the house, she just needs to be somewhere else within it.
Grantz doesn’t split from her side once they’re out the door, he continues to trail after her— not that she expected any different. She never gets a second alone once the chain is off.
“So, what were you thinking about doing today?” he asks.
Running away from you.
“Well, first I’d like to read the paper and drink my coffee, since you went through the trouble of getting them for me.”
“And after that…?” he prompts her to go on.
“Mmmm… I was thinking we should finally tackle cleaning out that storage closet near the kitchen.” She casts a backward glance to gauge his reaction as she responds.
Predictably, the cheerful expression on his face falters, and is replaced by a slightly nervous one. “Ah, well… we don’t have to, do we? Maybe we can put it off another day?”
Grantz really has been trying to avoid that particular mess for a while, doing anything he could to get out of facing it— technically not for no good reason, but it still pisses Tanya off.
She wasn’t exaggerating when she said this was an abandoned estate. Tanya doesn’t know the finer details, but Grantz said his family didn’t want to deal with upkeep of this place after his uncle died.
When he mentioned that to Tanya, he placed particular importance on that fact because it meant no one would come around to check on them, therefore it’d be safe. Tanya, however, realized almost immediately that fact meant this place would be a fucking disaster. And it was.
Sure, it’s better now than how it was when she first arrived, but some parts are still in rough shape. Like, for example, that particular closet which she’s fairly certain might harbor something disgusting.
It’s absurd. If you’re going to kidnap someone, you should at least take responsibility for their living conditions.
She has no intention to willingly stay here in the long-term, but the amount of time she’ll be forced to stay is still up in the air.
And if she has to stay for an undefined amount of time, then she refuses to do it in filth.
“It’s a mess,” she snaps, “It needs to be emptied out, no matter what. What if something starts nesting in there?”
Seriously, if I see a rat running around here, I won’t even have access to a gun to get rid of it.
He winces, and then, very hesitantly, he acquiesces, “Ah… okay. Yes, ma’am…” He lapses into silence thereafter, and stays that way even after they reach their destination— a sunroom on the other side of the house that’s in mostly okay shape.
This sunroom is, in Tanya’s opinion, the single best room in the house, exclusively because it’s the closest she can get to feeling like she’s outside without actually being there.
Large windows take up most of the space on two walls and allow lots of nice, bright sunshine in. It’s almost like a greenhouse, actually. It’s several degrees warmer in this room than any other in the house, and therefore cozier.
And finally, it’s also nicely furnished. The room is filled with cushy armchairs and couches, and, yes, most of the upholstery is faded by the sun, but the fabric is still nice and soft. The curtains are a nice sheer material that doesn’t completely block the sun, just cuts the harshness.
Tanya immediately takes her usual chair— the lounge parallel to the window that gets the most sun— and makes herself comfortable.
Grantz, however, doesn’t immediately go to sit in his own chair. He knows by now what Tanya wants before she can even make demands about it. Without a word, he adjusts the curtains so the sun isn’t shining directly in her eyes; then he moves to get the blanket she likes— the same one he neatly folded up and put away for her yesterday— from the chest in the corner; and, finally, he sets a wooden dining tray next to her so she can set her drink down.
Only then does he finally sit in his usual armchair and pick up the book he abandoned on the table beside it yesterday.
Tanya almost sighs at him. She doesn’t, but it’s a near thing.
Well, there goes that plan.
At the beginning of the week, Tanya had started trying to test what she could get away with. She started demanding him to wait on her hand and foot to be annoying and difficult. She hoped to piss him off enough that he’d just let her go. Obviously it didn’t work. He never once protested, and now he just does stuff before she can even complain.
That’s the weird part about this— when he acts so subservient to her, that is. Grantz capitulates to Tanya’s every whim almost instantly. It doesn’t fit the bill of the kind of behavior she’d expect from a kidnapper. She expected this to be about control— about bending Tanya to his will.
…But all he ever asks of her is one thing. Stay.
To that end, he follows her around all day, chains her up when he can’t watch her, and physically stops her from leaving if he has to. But otherwise? He lets her do what she wants.
I don’t get it— and that’s a problem.
Tanya’s current mission, as she’s stated, is only to find a way to escape. Not actually achieve it— that’ll come later.
Despite that, the mission status is completely unclear.
She’s still yet to ascertain Grantz’s reason for abducting and trapping her. His actions don’t give her any good clues, and without knowing that, it’s impossible to find a clear path forward.
If he’s doing this out of a pure desire to be cruel and controlling— which she’s fairly certain he’s not, judging by his behavior— then the only way out is escape by force. Run away when he’s not watching, injure him enough that he can’t stop her from leaving, or even in the worst case: kill him.
Incidentally, she did try things like that in the first few days. Numerous attempts at escape ended only with bad results.
Considering Grantz is twice her size, there wasn’t much of a chance she’d win against him. Especially since, y’know… he’s also carrying a computation orb and Tanya isn’t. The only thing she got out of those ventures were bruises Grantz apologized up, down, and sideways for, and an even more paranoid captor.
But putting past failures aside, there’s other methods to get out. That’s why she needs to figure out the root cause of her situation. If he’s doing this for a more benign reason, perhaps reasoning with him and convincing him to set her free becomes a possibility.
That’s why, for now, she’s staying quiet and playing at being a willing victim. (Or at least trying to. She’s well aware she’s not good at it.) if she can convince him that she’s trustworthy and complacent, safer paths to freedom open up.
So, to that end, she has to figure out the Why. So far she’s come up with two other possible reasons— not counting the one that’s just ‘a desire to hurt her.’
The first one is that he’s just officially lost it— become a complete basket case.
It’s almost plausible, really. If that is the real reason, she should’ve even seen it coming. She knew Grantz was the type who’d break under enough stress— she saw it back in Arene. Placed in a dire situation, he rebelled against her. She did correct the behavior immediately, but it still happened.
She should’ve tried harder to stay more conscious of it, she knows that now. The problem is that she didn’t have a single behavioral complaint about him afterwards. He didn’t betray any indication that something was wrong, so she put it out of mind. But maybe that incident was like a small crack that, when strained under continuous pressure, would eventually lead to a shatter.
The war could certainly be considered a source of pressure, but was it enough…?
This theory unfortunately has gaps in it. Even worse, they’re important gaps. Gaps too big, too weighty to gloss over. What was the thing that finally broke him? What about that stressor led to this outcome? What anxiety is alleviated by keeping Tanya under lock and key? She has to figure that out before she can start to assuage it.
This is why Tanya is so resistant to accepting her first theory. There’s too many unknown variables that will take too long to figure out. She doesn’t want to wait for however long it’ll take for Grantz to get comfortable enough to open up about his problems. And it’s impossible to rush that level of trust, so, for now, she’ll set it aside.
Moving on then, there’s… the other option. The one that has less messy variables to accommodate, but is repulsive to her sensibilities.The one that seems like it’s right out of a shitty dime novel. The one she has no desire to be part and parcel of.
He’s in love with her.
Just thinking about it makes her want to crumple up her newspaper and throw it at Grantz’s head.
She does not do that, but she thinks about it. It helps marginally.
The concept of an obsessive lover isn’t new to Tanya, but if she were to be honest, she’s still in disbelief about it. Mostly because, well… It sounds absolutely insane.
A person who’s so infatuated with the object of their affections they’d be willing to commit any kind of heinous act to have them. She may potentially be a victim to a person like that.
It doesn’t feel real. Or maybe she should say it doesn’t feel ‘plausible.’ The concept at its core sounds like something you’d only see in fiction, and that’s even ignoring that the person in question is fucking Warren Grantz. If you factor him into account it becomes wholly, patently, ridiculously preposterous.
And yet she hasn’t been able to definitively rule this theory out— Which isn’t ideal because, in that scenario, the most assured path toward freedom… is going to involve seducing her captor.
Ugh.
It’s not that the idea of flirting with Grantz in particular is repulsive, don’t get her wrong. It’s that the idea of flirting with anyone is repulsive. She just doesn’t know what the hell she’s supposed to do.
If she suddenly starts to come on to him with no warning, wouldn’t that be extremely suspicious? Or would he be so caught up in the delusion that it wouldn’t matter? On the other hand, if she plays coy too long, would he get impatient and aggressive?
There’s an obvious path forward, but she doesn’t know how the hell to traverse it. Is it better to tread lightly, or barrel forward, full steam ahead?
That’s only assuming this is the correct answer too. He’s made no indication that that’s actually what this is about. Maybe he’s trying to be patient in hopes that overtime she’ll warm up to him, but it’s already been a bit since she’s been trapped here and he’s made no moves in that time. Is he really that kind of patient person?
She truly doubts he’d be so daring as to immediately force intimacy onto her, but even the slightest hint of interest is missing. He doesn’t flirt with her, or try to sit close to her, or even casually touch her.
Is he even attracted to me, at all? Am I considering the wrong solution?
In the first place, what about her could possibly be attractive? She has no figure to speak of, no ‘physical assets,’ a completely defective personality…
Is Grantz’s type ‘Girls who very obviously look and act like they grew up on the frontlines of a war’?
If that’s the case, there has to be something wrong with him.
And maybe there’s something wrong with Tanya too because she’s not sure whether she’s pissed off by that or not.
Really, why wouldn’t I be pissed? That’s the correct feeling, why would I hesitate? There’s no universe where receiving that kind of attention would be good for me. Get it together. No more of that.
She shakes her head to clear her train of thought and turns her attention to the newspaper she’s been staring blankly at, but not actually reading. She can struggle to find her way out after she’s done reading.
She flips through the pages looking for anything to distract herself from own addled thoughts, but unfortunately, there isn’t much of substance.
Updates on the war are exactly as she expects them to be— enough lies and propaganda from the PR department to make them completely unworth reading. It’s disappointing, but there’s nothing she can do about it. Considering there’s little more than fluff to them, that means there’s no good news to report.
There’s nothing in the newspaper about her disappearance, not that she really expected there to be, but in the privacy of her own mind, she was hoping against hope that they’d make a little fuss about her. It seems like they aren’t though.
She knows the papers can’t brazenly publish ‘Famous War Hero Goes Missing’ on the front page, it would be bad optics, but even just a missing persons report would be nice.
Maybe they did publish one, but only in papers around the capital. Or maybe I just missed it. It’s been what? Two weeks now?
Two weeks, huh…?
She glances up over the top edge of the paper toward her captor, who’s making a poor effort of pretending like he’s not watching her. Immediately he looks down at the book in his hands to avoid eye contact.
“Hey,” she says, putting the paper aside and rising to her feet. “How much longer are you planning to keep me here?”
She tries her best to use her Commander-Giving-Orders voice. She’s honestly not sure if that’s even effective on him anymore— he’s resisted it every time she used it since he brought her here— but it’s worth a shot.
“Um, well… Until it’s safe for you to leave, I think…” No dice. He won’t look at her when he says it. As per usual, he’s irritatingly avoidant on this subject. Snapping at him earlier probably didn’t help, either.
In that case, she’ll have to force him to confront her.
“Right,” she begins, taking a step closer to his chair and then another, until she’s looming over him, “You told me that before, but do you have any idea how long that might be?”
“N-no… Not really…” he mumbles.
Her intent is to try to intimidate him into speaking, but… is it really that easy to knock him off balance? Just with proximity?
Hey wait, is that… A sign of interest? Physical interest? Getting nervous when I’m close? And, hold on, just a moment ago, he was staring at me when I wasn’t looking, right? That too? Could it be?
She almost shoves that thought to the background in order to continue her interrogation undistracted, but then she realizes. She should be pushing, testing him. She’s been lacking solid evidence on all her theories. This is an opportunity.
“And are you ever going to tell me what you’re trying to protect me from?” Tanya asks.
She leans over him, resting her hands on the arms of the chair to cage him in. It’s not quite the classic wall pin you see in romance books and movies, but it achieves the same effect.
“It’s— it’s hard to explain…” He looks up at her for half a second, the barest hint of a flush dusting his cheeks— he’s starting to fluster.
“Well, try it anyway.”
What he responds with, however, barely qualifies as a sentence. “I-I don’t think… It’s um… I can’t really— I can’t put it into words, so…”
“Seriously?”
He pauses for just a moment, and then, “It’s… a feeling I have.”
“A feeling,” she repeats.
“… Yes, ma’am.” He dares to glance back up at her.
A feeling?
Was that a confession, of sorts? He didn’t quite say ‘I have feelings for you,’ but it was something close to that… A Freudian slip of the tongue?
He begins again, in lieu of Tanya’s silence, “L-listen, I know it sounds stupid, but…”
“No, hold on. It may not be as ridiculous as you might think.”
“It’s not?”
“This feeling of yours… Can you tell me about it?”
“Well, I already told you… It’s hard to explain…”
Tanya frowns. If it’s really love, she doesn’t know if she would be able to describe it either. She doesn’t know much about the subjective matters of the heart— mostly because she’s never felt that kind of thing herself. Her knowledge base consists mostly of the pop culture understanding of love. The associated physical sensations, vague metaphors like ‘feeling butterflies,’ and the expected outcomes, like dating and marriage.
It’s enough to get by, but not enough for a deep understanding. Still, she has to work with the cards in her hand. Right now, there’s an opening. There’s no time to run off to study.
“Alright, let me guess, then. When you think of me, does your heart rate go up? Does your chest suddenly feel tight?”
“Um. Sometimes.”
“Are you nervous to be around me? But also anxious about what I’m up to when I’m not?”
“Y-yes…?”
“How much? How often? Is it that you want me by your side at all times?”
“…”
No answer, and he won’t look at her. It’s not just that he’s averting his eyes anymore, he’s completely dipped his head down to stare at his lap.
In a normal scenario, if you’re not in love with someone, shouldn’t you deny it immediately if they ask something like that? What is there to gain from not answering except a misunderstanding?
She straightens and steps back while she thinks.
Is that really it then? Is the love theory the one?
It doesn’t align with what Grantz has said about his own motivations… Is the whole thing about this being ‘for my safety’ a lie then? A convenient excuse? Or does he not yet know how to define his feelings, and chose to fixate on something easier to confront than love?
…Or perhaps he really does think he’s protecting me from something, it’s just that instead of a real danger, it’s the threat of falling in love with some other person?
I’ve been thinking about this wrong. I set up my theories thinking they were mutually exclusive, but maybe they’re more closely linked. If you kidnap someone because you’re in love with them, obviously you’re also mentally unwell.
“I think I get it,” Tanya finally says. The explanation for the inconsistency could be any of those, but at the moment, the specifics don’t matter. Whatever ends up being the case, she has a confirmed theory now— a completed first mission. All it took was a bit of confrontation.
“You… do?”
Up until now, I’ve been too placid, playing it too safely.
“I understand why it’s hard to express. But know that, going forward, I’ll do my best to accommodate your feelings.”
“Does… Does that mean…”
I have to be more aggressive.
“It means I’ll stay with you.”
Immediately Grantz lights up. He looks cautiously excited, like he can’t quite believe what he’s hearing. “You… You will?!”
“Mhm,” Tanya nods.
In an instant, he’s out of the armchair and steps right into her space. Grasping her hands, he blurts out, “Thank you, ma’am! I promise—”
“Hold on. Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Tanya cuts him off, and his expression blanks, “You should know that living together with someone requires compromise. I won’t complain about staying here, nor will I try to run off, but in exchange I want some things from you.”
If he’s in love with me, then that makes some things easier. Sorry, Grantz, but I’m going to have to take advantage of your feelings.
“You do?”
“Yes. I’m not exactly thrilled with my living conditions here.”
“You’re not…?”
“Of course I’m not! This place is a mess! Just because I’m used to worse conditions on the frontlines, doesn’t mean I like them.”
“But we—”
“Don’t start. I know we don’t use even half the rooms in this house, but even so, they should be cleaned out. Mold spreads and will make us sick, pests multiply exponentially and carry diseases, and most importantly it’s generally unpleasant to be in. You told me when you first brought me here that I didn’t need to worry, and that you’d handle everything, but, from my point of view, it doesn’t look like you’re doing that.”
Looking at Grantz’s face is both upsetting and annoying. Gone is his previous elation, he looks genuinely stricken by what she’s told him.
What right does he have to make a face like that? Out of the two of us, I’m the one who’s been kidnapped.
At the very least he looks contrite. “I’m sorry… I didn’t realize it was that much of a problem and you were so uncomfortable,” he says, “Um. I’m sorry for bringing you here while it’s like this. And for trying to get out of fixing it so much. I’ll start today. I promise. And anything else you want, I’ll do my best…”
“Good answer.” For a split second, Tanya allows him to look relieved, before she lays the next demand on him. “Next, I want to be able to go outside.”
Despite what he literally just said about ‘anything else,’ he flinches and looks hesitant. “Ah— That’s, uhh… a lot more difficult to accommodate, Ma’am…”
“I don’t care what you have to do to make it work, but I can’t stand being cooped up inside all the time. I need fresh air. I’m going to go stir-crazy being stuck here all the time. I can only read your uncle’s books for so long before I start getting bored. So find a way.”
It shouldn’t really work. She shouldn’t be able to argue with him like this. The only bargaining chip she can meaningfully leverage against him is her obedience— and he’s already got quite far without it. There should be no reason for him to listen to her.
…But maybe there’s still a shred of loyalty within him. He folds.
“Right. Okay. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Good. One more thing, and that’s all.”
“Hm?”
She’s already managed to get him to agree to two major concessions, so really she should stop pushing while she’s ahead. The problem is there’s one last thing, the thing she hates more than anything else, that she wants him to change.
“I hate the chain.”
She doesn’t have to say any more than that. Grantz makes a pained face in response.
“Ma’am, I know it’s not pleasant, but… I’m sorry, that one’s not negotiable…”
“And why is that?
“Well, I mean… I can’t just get rid of it.”
“Why not?”
“Um…” Silence.
Despite his nonanswer, she knows exactly why.
“What? You can’t trust me?” If she were in his shoes, she’d probably feel the same way, but that doesn’t mean she’s very happy about it.
“That’s not—”
“No,” she cuts him off, “There’s no need to lie, I know it’s true.”
“Colonel, I—”
“I’m a little offended, actually. How many years have I been your commander? How many years have I trusted you to fight by my side? Protecting not just me, but all of the 203rd?”
“I’m sorry! I don’t like having to put it on you either! It’s just… it’s necessary! It gives me peace of mind when I know you’re safe here.”
“Peace of mind? Grantz, nothing about that thing is safe! You were in town for how long this morning? Imagine something happened while you were gone. Maybe there was a fire, or this house collapsed, or something. In that scenario, there would be nothing I could do but stay put and die.”
There we go.
With the look on his face she knows that one struck home. Maybe manipulating his emotions like this is kind of mean, but she doesn’t care much anymore. Maybe she would have hesitated to do it before she was kidnapped, but she has no such moral compunctions now.
“I… I didn’t think of that.”
“I know. I figured. Because you would never intentionally put me in danger, right?”
“Of course, I wouldn’t!”
“So…?” she trails off, prompting him for an answer. Preferably agreement.
“I…” He pauses for a moment to think, to feel the weight of Tanya staring at him, and then finally he breaks. “I promise I won’t leave you here with the chain on anymore. Um… When I go into town for groceries and stuff, I’ll bring you with me. That way you can get outside like you asked, and you don’t have to be locked up.”
“Thank you.” She can be satisfied with that, for now.
Yet Grantz surprises her by continuing, “And… I’ll try to come up with an alternative to it for other times. Like when you’re sleeping, and stuff.”
Now that gets her curious, maybe even a little excited. He really might do away with the chain entirely? Before she can ask what he’s thinking of, he continues further.
“Listen… I know I haven’t been good at it up until now, but from now on I promise I’ll take better care of you.”
It’s almost sweet. If this wasn’t a kidnapping, Tanya would actually feel a little flattered by that.
“I’ll hold you to that promise.”
She wonders, just for a moment, if he realizes that what he said sounded like a confession. Probably not considering he didn’t immediately falter and flush.
But that reminds me, I have a new objective I need to be completing. Is flirting just teasing with a bit more intention?
She steps back from him, and for half a moment, she wonders if she should really say this, but, as the saying goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained. If it goes poorly, she can find an excuse. “Y’know… I was surprised to hear you don’t like the chain either. Here I was thinking you were making me wear it because you’re into it.”
That’s not quite a lie, the thought briefly crossed her mind at one point, but she eventually dismissed it. Still, he doesn’t need to know that.
“…Into it?” Grantz echoes. Tanya doesn’t clarify further, as she can see the gears in his head turning in an attempt to decipher what she means, until… he suddenly blurts out, “IT’S NOT LIKE THAT!”
Tanya can’t help but snort at his reaction. His face is a bright shade of pink, and he’s practically falling over himself to explain.
“It’s purely for practical reasons! I swear! I wouldn’t do something like that to you!”
“If you say so,” she says.
“I promise, really! I—… Wait. If you thought that was why, why would you let me do it?!”
“Good question. Why indeed,” she responds, and then says nothing more. She’ll let him overthink it on his own. His own imagination could probably convince him of Tanya’s ‘interest’ better than she can herself. And technically, even if she needs to be more forward, saying and doing too much too soon still seems like a bad move. She doesn’t want it to ring hollow.
To distract him from insisting on an explanation, she speaks up again. “Hey, why don’t we go clean out your uncle’s study, now?”
He blinks, and then resets. “Huh? Not the storage closet?”
“I thought about it, and I think we should circle back around to that one. Sure, it needs work, but if we start with the hardest one first, it’ll feel insurmountable. The study will be easier.”
And I think I’ll have better chances there, anyway.
She’s been insisting on cleaning a lot, but she actually has more than one motivation for it. It’s not just that she’s worried about her physical and mental health degrading in an unclean environment, there’s other potential benefits.
If there’s one thing being in the military has taught Tanya, it’s that she should always have a contingency plan. If Operation Seduction fails, she needs a backup. This is her first step toward that.
The late Georg von Sachsen was a soldier, and not just that, an aerial mage. He has to have an old weapon stashed around here somewhere— Tanya just needs to find it.
♡
Elsewhere in the Empire, a very miserable Colonel groans and puts his head in his hands. The bottle of stomach medicine on his desk is long empty, drained due to the stomach ache that’s been plaguing him for weeks now.
Two members of the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion— arguably one of the Empire’s most valuable units— are gone.
One missing, the other presumed dead.