Chapter Text
The trap door to the attic creaked open in protest as Yuu and Grim peaked their heads inside.
"You go turn on the light Grim" Yuu waved their hand towards their left.
"Nyah, human! Why must the Great Grim do it?" Grim protested as he climbed off Yuu's shoulder into the attic.
"Because the Great Grim is smaller and has better eye site in the dark." Yuu answered as they hauled themselves up into the attic. Grim walked over and hoped up, hitting a light switch on the nearby wall. The bare lightbulb dimly lit up the room, Yuu's eyes taking a moment to adjust. The best way to describe the room? Dusty, dingy, and piled up with a rag tag assortment of who knows what in far to many unidentified boxes. Honestly it reminded Yuu of some of the attics they'd seen in horror movies back home, at least Yuu already knew the ghosts who haunted Ramshackle. The three ghosts were off haunting other parts of the place today, leaving Yuu and Grim to solo the attic.
"So tell me again why we're doing this? It's suppose to be a day off from classes! Why are we spending it in a dusty ol' attic?" Grim flicked his ear as a cobweb caught on it, before reaching a paw up to smack away the offending webbing.
Yuu rolled their eyes. "Because Grim, I finally got some time to clean and I need to sort through what's up here. Can't let the dust bunnies rule the dorm you know." Yuu started taking tentative steps, first checking the strength of the floor. Nobody could be sure how far decayed the flooring in Ramshackle were, so anywhere new Yuu needed to explore, they would tread with caution since falling through the floor was not on their to do list. Once satisfied that the floor felt safe enough to traverse, Yuu walked over to a nearby pile. They began to carefully open a box, trying not to kick up to much dust. The first box appeared to be full of papers, Yuu gingerly poked around, but upon finding nothing notable, Yuu set it aside, something to look through when Yuu had more time, they soon opened the next one. Inside that box Yuu found what appeared to be fabric. Yuu gingerly lifted some, and they pulled up what look like a dress. Underneath the dress Yuu saw what looked like a man's shirt and a vest.
"What ya got there?" Grim peaking over the top of the box.
"Clothes. Doesn't look like any uniforms so maybe some costumes? Maybe I could ask if Vil or Professor Crewel could ID them? I feel like they'd know." Yuu set the dress back in the box before setting it aside. Making a mental note to message the Pomefiore dorm leader later that day.
The box underneath it contained more clothing, but nothing remarkable. Yuu set that aside as well. Finally upon opening the 4th box. Yuu and Grim were greeted to the site of what looked like props and accessories. Yuu pulled out a feathered cap, it looked something Rook would wear. Yuu placed the hat on Grim's head, who made a noise in protest before sneezing from the dust floating in the air, causing Yuu to giggle.
Yuu scanned the content of the box until their eyes fell on a much smaller box inside, they picked it up out of curiosity. It looked to be a small jewelry box. It appeared to be made of some unidentified mineral, covered in intricate carvings of delicate flowers and unidentifiable script. The jewelry box had a lock on the latch. The box was certainly lovely, but for know the content was unknown.
"Oi, Henchmen, found something interesting?"
"Not sure, whatever it is, it's locked, so who kn... Hey!" Before Yuu could finish Grim had jumped up on their shoulder trying to get a better view of what they were holding. Startling Yuu, causing them to lose their grip and drop the box, a loud crack! As it hit the ground.
"Grim!" Yuu exclaimed.
"Oops." The Cat Monster quietly said.
Yuu gingerly picked up the box, a noticable crack now ran through the lid and one of the hinges was broken. Yuu sighed. Setting the box down on the pile of clothing in the previous box. Yuu wondered if there was anybody at NRC who might know how to repair it. But for now they pushed that thought to the back of their mind since there was still a lot of stuff to go through.
After several hours had passed, Yuu and Grim had sorted, or rather Yuu sorted with commentary from Grim. Through several more boxes. Anything that caught Yuu's attention was set aside while the majority of the boxes had notes written on them based on their content.
Yuu stretched their back, feeling the ache from having spent an excessive amount of time hunched over.
"Alright Grim, I think now's a good time for a break."
"About time, if we spend any more time up here, I think I might turn into a dust bunny "
Yuu giggled as they pictured Grim as a bunny with a cute cotton tail and blue flames in his ears. "Well you'd make an adorable dust bunny."
"The great Grim is not adorable, I'm handsome!" Grim said with a smirk. He squeaked as Yuu picked him up and pulled him into a hug.
"Well the Great Henchmen Yuu says that the Great Grim is adorable!" Yuu laughed.
"Unhand me human!" Grim tried to squirm away to no avail.
"Nope! It's time for the great grim to receive cuddles." Yuu giggled again.
"The great grim does not approve of this cuddle time!" Protesting as Yuu rubbed their cheek on Grim's head.
"Will the great grim approve If I make him lunch afterwards?" Yuu asked, batting their eyes playfully.
"The great Grim approves upon the promise of a post cuddles meal."
"Sounds like an excellent plan." Yuu laughed once more before moving to cradle Grim in one arm as they headed for the exit, Grim moved to Yuu's shoulder as they turned to lower themselves down the ladder.
"Oi human what about the stuff you pulled out?"
"Well leave it for now, it's not like it's going anywhere." Yuu replied. Grabbing the attic door to swing it closed behind them, the room once again plunged into darkness.