['Wiggles' is etched into the blocks, a few 'across' are solved with that word to prove it's correct.
Which leaves The Cursed Word. The most annoying four letters in existence. S-_-O-W.
He leans back against the chair - shuts his eyes to mentally run through every combination of characters imaginable. This shit is unreal.]
You know, detectives have a strong desire to solve every mystery set before them. Because of that, I've taken on many cases. Most haven't baffled me as much as this word.
[Old Lady with a missing pet?? Cheating scandals?? Even some murders were blatant in their motivation. The little day to day crimes he solved don't hold a candle to this.
There's a pause. He opens his eyes and-]
I'm going to the library first thing in the morning. If anything, a dictionary should help - hopefully the copies there are modern enough to have such a bizarre word. I'm starting to think it's slang from a different reality.
[ Maruki stares down at the paper, bewildered. He has a pretty extensive vocabulary, but this is new to him. He too starts running through letters in his head. ]
... Slow? As in, to slough off? No, that doesn't make sense.
[ Think, Takuto. THINK. You are smarter than a dictionary. You have a doctorate degree. ]
Depending on the level of pollution, snow can certainly become somewhat trash-like... Ah, that's not it either.
[ There are only so many sounds starting with s-consonant that it could be. He runs through them all in his head again and sighs. ]
I'm counting on you to defeat this evil tomorrow. It may haunt me.
Of course. A detective's goal is always to find the truth and this simple case is no exception to that.
[Slow, S_OW, Slough, Snow and other Words that Drive You Mad Part 1 - hopefully there's a book named that to keep him from having to spend his life searching through pages of an old fashioned dictionary.
When he gets back, he'll never take the internet for granted again.]
Shall we call it for the evening then? Maybe one of us will be hit with a stroke of genius while we sleep. It may not even require a trek to library.
so fucking cute i hate everything god. WRAPPED. COOKED. I'M COOKED
[ Maruki exhales a derisive little laugh at that and shakes his head. ]
I flatter myself to think I've had several strokes of genius in my life, but none would come close to being able to puzzle this one out.
[ Seriously. Stow? Show? Spow? SPOW ISN'T EVEN A WORD. What could it BE.
He's happy to admit defeat for the night and finishes off his coffee, gathers their cups. ]
But no, you're right. I need to figure out my room situation, anyhow. We'll continue our battle tomorrow.
[ Despite the fact that it's been long years since he lived with someone and he hardly knows Akechi well, barely knows Vash or Zazie, it's all too easy for someone as desperate for connection as Maruki to fall into a comfortable domestic routine. Table cleared, cups washed and dried. Shoes by the door and jacket in a closet (not Zazie's). Good nights exchanged casually in passing. A warm shower, a warm bed, the quiet sounds of others going about their lives above and below and around him.
He won't know until he sees him again in the morning that he happened to pick the room directly next to Akechi's. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
I'm not underestimating you. Simply double checking. Let's see–
[ He doesn't even know what Alan Shepard Park is, so he focuses on the other and begins to scribble words along the margin on his side. ]
Squirms? No... Slither? Ah, what else do eels do...
[ He picks his head up to stare out the window, gaze unfocused, pencil pressed to his lips. ]
Wiggles? I feel like the clue doesn't indicate a conjugated verb, though.
no subject
Which leaves The Cursed Word. The most annoying four letters in existence. S-_-O-W.
He leans back against the chair - shuts his eyes to mentally run through every combination of characters imaginable. This shit is unreal.]
You know, detectives have a strong desire to solve every mystery set before them. Because of that, I've taken on many cases. Most haven't baffled me as much as this word.
[Old Lady with a missing pet?? Cheating scandals?? Even some murders were blatant in their motivation. The little day to day crimes he solved don't hold a candle to this.
There's a pause. He opens his eyes and-]
I'm going to the library first thing in the morning. If anything, a dictionary should help - hopefully the copies there are modern enough to have such a bizarre word. I'm starting to think it's slang from a different reality.
no subject
... Slow? As in, to slough off? No, that doesn't make sense.
[ Think, Takuto. THINK. You are smarter than a dictionary. You have a doctorate degree. ]
Depending on the level of pollution, snow can certainly become somewhat trash-like... Ah, that's not it either.
[ There are only so many sounds starting with s-consonant that it could be. He runs through them all in his head again and sighs. ]
I'm counting on you to defeat this evil tomorrow. It may haunt me.
no subject
[Slow, S_OW, Slough, Snow and other Words that Drive You Mad Part 1 - hopefully there's a book named that to keep him from having to spend his life searching through pages of an old fashioned dictionary.
When he gets back, he'll never take the internet for granted again.]
Shall we call it for the evening then? Maybe one of us will be hit with a stroke of genius while we sleep. It may not even require a trek to library.
so fucking cute i hate everything god. WRAPPED. COOKED. I'M COOKED
I flatter myself to think I've had several strokes of genius in my life, but none would come close to being able to puzzle this one out.
[ Seriously. Stow? Show? Spow? SPOW ISN'T EVEN A WORD. What could it BE.
He's happy to admit defeat for the night and finishes off his coffee, gathers their cups. ]
But no, you're right. I need to figure out my room situation, anyhow. We'll continue our battle tomorrow.
[ Despite the fact that it's been long years since he lived with someone and he hardly knows Akechi well, barely knows Vash or Zazie, it's all too easy for someone as desperate for connection as Maruki to fall into a comfortable domestic routine. Table cleared, cups washed and dried. Shoes by the door and jacket in a closet (not Zazie's). Good nights exchanged casually in passing. A warm shower, a warm bed, the quiet sounds of others going about their lives above and below and around him.
He won't know until he sees him again in the morning that he happened to pick the room directly next to Akechi's. ]