Okay, I've been struggling to write this ONE chapter for almost SIX months... Sorry about that.
For the second time that day, Meg had waded through the cold, murky waters of the lake. Her arms full of food, clothes and medical supplies. It had been with great difficulty that she had pulled the lever to enter his home, her Maman had been reluctant to allow her to return but had agreed with the condition of regular visits, most likely to ensure she was not at any point hurt by Erik. Of course the concern was only natural for her Maman to feel, and it made Meg smile. It was nice to know that her Maman loved her enough to let her use her own judgement.
Luckily she had found her way here easier than the original trip down to his subterranean home. She had still gotten lost in the twisting tunnels, with their deadly traps, but it had definitely taken less time to find the lake. Though this trip had been much more eventful, seeing as she hadn't set off any traps last time.
She had, unfortunately, set off two of Le Fantômes lethal traps. She barely escaped a trap that probably would have taken off her foot, there were painful scratches up the back of her right shin and heel. The other trap had tried to behead her, Meg considered it good luck that she had had to bend down to unsnag her dress from where it had been caught on a rock.
Unfortunately for Erik her mother had sent her dreadful chicken soup, it was wonderful for healing small ailments such as a cold, but it tastes positively foul. Her mother had forced the covered bowl into her hands, insisting that she fed it to him to make sure he hadn't caught anything, that would aggravate him further. She could tell him that it made him one of a select few, her Maman truly only made it for the ones she truly cared about.
Sloshing onto the shore, Meg heaved the heavy basket off her shoulder, panting slightly from the exertion of her day. Slowly, she padded up the stairs into Erik's sleeping chamber her shoes giving off an absurd slurping noise with every step, causing Meg make a mental note to put them near the fire. She smiled at Erik in greeting as she lowered the basket to the floor, stretching out the stiff muscles in her neck, she turned to the basket. Flipping the lid, Meg reached inside and pulled out the matches, rising slowly and carefully out of her crouch she made her way over to the empty fire pit. Placing the matches down next to the pit, Meg set about preparing the fire pit for its next use, halfway through her task she heard him address her.
"I'm surprised your Maman let you return. Especially since you seem to have hurt your leg."
Meg smirked "Maman did not want me to return, but once I explained you were bed ridden she was much easier to convince." She decided to ignores his remark about her leg, a small amount of disinfectant and a light bandage to cover it until it healed would work perfectly fine.
"Which trap did you set off?" Meg could hear his smirk in his voice, after all he had offered to give her directions so she could avoid said traps.
"An ankle biter, or foot remover. Whichever you would prefer to call it" Meg kept her tone neutral as she continued "Oh! And there was the axe that swung from the ceiling"
"I warned you" Erik stated.
"Oui, I know" Meg waved her hand at him "I'll listen next time, Maman made me promise to go up regularly."
Pushing herself to her feet, she retrieved the soup from the wicker basket, not noticing his watchful gaze narrow onto the soup in mild horror he asked "Is that your Maman's chicken soup?"
Meg smirked.