being sedentary is not for me ;; wil

Lotus had been bed ridden for far too long. It had to have been at least two weeks now since Wil had found him. He could already feel his muscles begin to atrophy, and he hated it. Though he couldn't remember his past, something about him said that he should be proud of his body, and weakness wasn't an option.

The make shift stint that Wil and Grey created for him had helped, but he could already tell that his leg wasn't going to heal correctly. What he needed to do was go to a hospital, but there was no way he could afford one. He didn't even know who he really was, or how he got into this state. The only thing he certain of was that it probably wasn't through favorable circumstances, or legal circumstances at that.

Lotus couldn't remember the day he settled, but he knew he was Adhbhar. The dirt and rocks just called to him. He hadn't really been able to use his eilemaiden since he woke up on the small mattress he still sat upon, and he was really itching to get out and use it again.

Wil and Grey had left for the day, leaving Lotus alone. He was staring at his leg, trying to calculate the best way to roll out of bed and actually use it. He would have to carefully favor it, but he was willing to do whatever it took to get moving.

"You really think this is a good idea?" Senua asked, sounding skeptic.

Lotus looked at his daemon and shrugged. "You really think it's a good idea to sit in this bed like a vegetable?" He asked her. "I'm already getting a bed sore on my lower back."

Senua said nothing, and just stood there by the bed, watching her clio. If she could express worry on her face, she would.

Lotus took in a deep breath, then blew it out through his mouth. He sucked in his lips, and placed both of his hands firmly on the mattress on either side of his hips to use as leverage. Slowly and carefully, he straightened out both of his legs, and began to swing them over the side of the bed, making sure to keep the left one (the broken one), out straight. He counted to three in his head, then pushed up, keeping his right foot planted firmly on the floor. He was so weak, his arms began to tremble, and he accidentally jerked his left knee when he lost balance momentarily on his right leg. The pain that radiated through his body was remarkable, and he felt his body start to plummet toward the floor. Right before he hit, he managed to catch himself on the rickety bedside table, all while spilling a cup of water as he did so. Lotus groaned in pain and humiliation, tears pricking out from the corners of his eyes. He held himself up like that for a few minutes, arms shaking, taking deep breaths, until finally the pain subsided and he managed to push himself back up again. It felt like a literal miracle that he managed to stand without falling. Next step was to see if he could walk...

Using the wall as support, Lotus managed to hobble through the home, narrowly missing a few plants that Wil had placed about the rooms, until finally reaching the front door. Senua kept close to her clio, trying to keep up support and encouragement.

When Lotus stepped outside, he was met with bright sunlight and chilly air, but it was so refreshing. He welcomed the cold and the goosebumps on his skin as if they were old friends. He took a few deep breaths of the fall air before finally getting to work. Using what minimal dirt they had in their front yard, Lotus began to form and solidify his own home-made crutches. They were made from whatever piece of rock, concrete or clay he could summon, and were customized to his own height. Feeling satisfied, he took them underneath his arms and began to walk around the sidewalk with them. He actually began to laugh, feeling giddy and proud of his accomplishment. He couldn't wait to show Wil!

Well you can tell her right now! Senua said, excitedly. She's walking down the street as we speak!

Lotus looked to where his daemon indicated and grinned. There she was, her dark hair blowing in the wind, looking as beautiful as ever.

"Wil!" he called from where he stood. "Wil, I'm out of bed!"

Wil was returning home from an opening shift at the flower shop. Like usual, she was not really paying attention to her surroundings--instead she was lost in her mind, thinking about the boy who was waiting at home for her.

Lotus had been staying with Grey and her for going on two weeks now, and he was steadily getting better. This made Wil both happy and nervous, which is what she was thinking about as she walked along. She was happy that he was on the mend, obviously, because he was in less and less pain as the days went by. But she was also nervous...nervous that when he got well enough to walk that he would decide to leave. She wanted him to get his memories back, honestly (Ness was not sure that if you had to think the word honestly to yourself that you were actually being very honest), but she couldn't help thinking about what would happen when he did.

He was sweet and caring--always asking about her day and smiling through the pain she knew he was feeling. He was mostly bedridden, but he always seemed cheerful. His personality was proving to be much like what Wil had instinctively thought when she noticed his lotus tattoo, and nothing like the personality Grey had feared. Wil was, to be honest, somewhat smitten.

In any case, she was definitely already thinking of him when she heard him call her name. She looked up, confused, and saw Lotus outside, walking around with a cane. Outside. Lotus was outside!

"Hey! Wow!" she said, a grin appearing on her face. Whatever her worries, she felt only excitement at the surprise of him out of bed--out of the apartment! He had healed so much under her and Grey's care that he could walk again! "Ahhh!" she said, running up to him. "Oh my gosh! You're walking!"

Lotus couldn’t wipe the grin off of his face as Wil came bounding down the sidewalk toward him. He wished that he could hug her, but his crutches were making it hard to do that. Lotus didn’t realize it, but he was growing a bit smitten as well.

“Well,” he replied. “Hobbling...”

He laughed, then started to demonstrate the use of his newly crafted crutches, and how well they were working for him. It was wild how he went from being a talking vegetable to a somewhat mobile man in two weeks time. Lotus stopped in front of her, his grin still prominent on his face.

“I crafted them myself,” he said matter-of-factly. “I was really itching to use my eilemaiden again.”

A chilly breeze blew between them, and Lotus shivered. He’d been so excited about being upright that he forgot that he was outside on a fall day without a coat.

“Let’s go inside,” he said as he started to head toward the door. “It’s cold out here!”

When the two of them got inside, he started to hobble around the house, exploring the rooms he was never able to see because of his leg. There were plants everywhere, and he honestly loved it. Wil made everything bright and cheerful.

“I like this place,” he called out to her from the kitchen. “It makes me feel...warm.”

Wil agreed and they entered back into the apartment complex. The stairs loomed in front of them and she looked over at Lotus. "How did you get down these by yourself??" she asked him. Whatever his answer, Wil smiled. "I can help you back up them?" she offered. She let Lotus put his arm around her shoulders and then helped hoist him up each step.

For some reason his closeness as they stumbled up the stairs made Wil feel nervous. It wasn't a bad kind of nervous...but it was a kind she'd never felt before. A nervousness that felt like butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

When they arrived back in the apartment, Lotus walked to the far corner of the kitchen area. Wil grinned at Lotus as she kicked off her boots. "Me too," she told him. She loved the home she had built together with Grey. When they'd been kids they'd always talk about what it would be like when they were rich enough to live in a house, but it had always been a far off dream that Wil was never really confident two street kids could ever make happen. And while an apartment wasn't exactly the same thing as a house, it was more than Wil had really ever wanted. This home was perfect.

"Want some tea?" she asked, walking over to the stove and striking a match to get a fire lit. She wilted and crumbled some herbs she had growing on the counter and began to soak them in water. "Hot tea sounds good after that walk home."

"A lot of determination," Lotus replied, with a laugh. Wil smiled at his response, and he smiled back. He liked her smile. When she offered to help him back up the stairs, he hesitated at first, but went up them with her anyway. It was a lot easier to navigate them with her help. His heart was pounding from the closeness between them. It was exciting and new, he had never experienced a feeling like this before.

"Tea sounds nice," he responded, turning toward her. "I don't think I ever really drank it in the past."

Lotus hobbled toward the rickety looking kitchen table and took a seat. The chair groaned under his weight, and for a moment he worried that it might break underneath him, but it didn't, and he let out a quiet sigh of relief. He knew that Wil and Grey didn't have a lot of money, and this table and chairs were probably something they found in a dumpster somewhere. It was fine by Lotus though, it was Wil's and that's all that mattered to him.

"I can't wait to get outside more," he said casually, as he watched her prepare their tea. "It was really hard being trapped on that mattress forever."