[So she shows up. It's incredible. It's like those people in movies who talk about how this or that is like riding a bike; you learn it once and you will always remember how to do it. Well, the brain remembers in record time, when it happens. She feels like she's floating, but instead she's just walking.
On both her feet. So her Eudio bar went up, and maybe she has to stay longer, but that's never been a pain. What's been a pain has been her hips for the past seven months, and she realizes that now, when she can walk without tilting them one way or the other to adjust her weight. That part, will take time.
Because she needs practice, she stops over at the one shop that's still open this late at night, and grabs a bag of candy at a quarter of its original price, because she has this need for sugar, and because showing up with her hands empty feels weird.
And maybe she eats a couple of them on the way, pocketing the box while she rings his doorbell and waits, weight on her brace-less left leg.]
[ bellamy falls asleep again, but the sound of his doorbell startles him awake. the dogs start at it with chion making a sound from his place in his ice cooler, but the only dog that follows him to the door is the small golden brown one. zelo pushes past him when he opens the door, rubbing at his face while his dog tries to push past his leg and the doorframe. in track pants and a light shirt, bellamy blinks at her for a moment before he seems to waken. ]
[ unused to having any visitors, his first thought is that he should've offered to go to hers. it's easier, less taxing, even if it'd take him a while as he walks from place to place. she may have told him to stop feeling guilt over her leg, but it's much easier said than done. he feels it bloom within him now, feeling guilty for not going to hers instead. ]
[ it's always been a quick glance on his behalf; looking down at her leg, he expects to see her brace. leaning against the side of his door, his brows furrow, and he looks at her legs like he expects to see something there that shows it's damaged. his first thought is that she's been recklessly stupid and has walked without her brace through his apartment building foyer and his corridor, but bellamy knows the way raven holds herself when she walks and stands, and this is familiar in its unfamiliarness. ]
[ bellamy glances up at her, wearing an expression of disbelief. his voice is low, as if he doesn't want to disrupt what's happened. ] This is better than something good, Raven.
[She can feel her smile bloom into a grin that becomes wider and wider, the more she looks at the display of reactions on his face. First sleep -- she's going to tease him for being an old man who sleeps too early, later -- then confusion, then sudden wakefullness. And there it is, it hits him.
Of all her people, and all her friends, Bellamy is the only one who she's told of this; it fits that he ends up being the first one she lets know that it worked. He has his trust issues when it comes to the administration of this city, but she can change his mind. Not that it's her duty to, but she hopes he'll just accept that sometimes these people do good by them, without bringing down Raven's excellent mood.
Her cheeks hurt from the grinning, and she only realizes she'd been holding her breath when, following his reaction, she lets it out with a happy grin.]
[ before he does anything, bellamy glances over his shoulder to look down at zelo. ] Move. [ he pushes him back with the heel of his bare foot before he pushes the door as if he's going to close it on her. zelo's a bit of a runner while nike likes to sniff and jump and sit on people. bending down, he scoops the dog up, his paws on bellamy's shoulder as he glances at raven before bellamy turns to face her.]
[ opening the door wider, he steps aside to let her in, but can't quite help glancing down at her leg. ] Unless you've got somewhere else to be.
[She steps up closer to give the dog some well-deserved behind-the-ear scritches, for being such a cute and curious dog, and the grin hasn't really disappeared.]
Nope, everyone else can hear the news some other day. [She glances away from him, focuses on Zelo.]
I wanted to show you first, [she murmurs, off-handed, quietly. Not because she thought he'd judge her, since she already knows she has his support on this, but because she just wanted to. That part where he's her closest friend (family) wasn't a lie.]
[ he shoves at his door with his foot, hearing it slam closed. now that it is, he lowers himself to let zelo drop from his arms. he doesn't linger long, having saw, sniffed, attempted to escape, and failed. he easily walks back toward his bed and tucks himself at the foot of it. ]
[ nike's the one who charges toward raven and stands on her hind legs, front paws on her bum leg, and leans on her for attention. bellamy has to wonder if his dog has sensed that's the leg to never run to, even though she hasn't jumped on raven and demanded attention as she does now. raven could always feel in the other one; he has to wonder if his dog knew that, or if she simply chose a leg and bolted for it. ]
Get off, Nike. [ his voice isn't hard. she ignores him, lifting herself whenever she falls back onto all four feet to lean against raven. ]
[She jumps. Samantha said that it would take about twenty-four hours to feel normal again, and safe for the fact that nothing's felt normal for so many months, she just thought after stumbling around for a few hours, by now there'd be nothing left.
And now she realizes she was wrong: feeling that touch, dog paws against her left leg, is what makes her jump. First touch she's felt on it in so long. Almost a year.] Easy, girl... [She doesn't move to push Nike away or shove her off, but crouches with some lack of finesse. She's out of practice, she's out of practice with so much.
Once crouched, she picks the dog up and stands gain, able to carry her weight and a little bit emotional over having felt that touch.] Shit...
[ nike is, unsurprisingly, a pain in the ass. he watches raven, trying to make sure nike doesn't shove her over or ruin this. but it's stupid to think a small puppy can ruin such a feat. once raven stands, bellamy feels easier, watching nike behave herself as she brushes her nose againsr raven's jaw. ]
[ it's easier to misconstrue "shit" to mean something bad. in bellamy's world, it could be, and it's what dictates his next decision. taking a step toward her, he begins to move his arms as if to take nike from her. ] I can take her if you want.
No, no. [She turns a little, shielding Nike and holding onto her, even at the cost of being slobbered on. If it happens, it happens; Gruff's mouth stinks worse, really.
She shakes her head, quickly.] It doesn't hurt, it's just still new. Again. And - she touched me. I felt that.
[ he doesn't know what to expect at the news she's essentiallt regained her leg. wondering if it hurts, he knows she probably wouldn't have come to his when she could've asked him to walk to her warehouse. knowing he would, even calling her stupid for insisting he take a cab or they meet halfway, it can't be pain she feels. ]
[ the worry leaves him, and the crease of his brows disappears as he looks at her. nike sniffs underneath her neck and shifts her paw, but is otherwise restlessly well-behaved. beginning to smile, he finds its a wide one when he crosses his arms against his chest and asks, ] How does it feel?
[She looks at him again, after she loses interest for how well behaved and cute Nike is being. Looks at him and lets out a relieved laugh.] New, almost. [She shifts her weight onto her right leg, and lifts her left one up, giving it a shake.]
Look at that. Sam told me it'd take a while, about twenty four hours, and it still twinges a little, but it's like...I think it's just having not used it enough. What do you think?
[ he can't help but laugh lightly at her antics. he doesn't know what he would do if it was him. maybe run, even though he suspects he wouldn't want to push his leg too hard and too fast within seconds of getting it back. ]
I don't know, Raven. [ sometimes bellamy has the answers, and sometimes he doesn't. he wish he did now. looking at her leg, he doesn't find them there, what he's meant to say, if there's anything at all. ]
[ he glances up at her, and inevitably looks down at her leg. he tries to think of something to give her, and all he can think of is hades and persephone, of how he had waited half a year for her to come back. it isn't the same, of course, but he thinks he's found some of his answer within it. ]
You just have to let it come back to you. Your leg is still you. [ he shrugs his shoulders, and tries to stifle his amusement, ] It's just a little slow, like you.
[She has this feeling that if she tries to run, or jump, or swim, she'll trip and fall or drown. But walking has been safe, she just has to get it all back.
It's going to be a process, but she doubts it'll take as long as she's gone without it.
She lets out a laugh.] I will kick you, don't think I won't.
[ he laughs, and cocks his eyebrow. ] Yeah? [ it's not as threatening as it should be, as it could be. raven once held a knife to his throat and he had known if she has the guts she would've slit it. she didn't, which speaks more of her strength of character than of any weakness to him. but her threats and her bursts of physical aggression have never been anything to laugh over. ]
[ until now. for once, physical violence isn't a threat. it's a joke, like how people in the city tend to make fun of one another. ]
[ he ducks his head, smiling, and when he looks up, says, ] I look forward to it.
[ he begins to move further into his apartment, leading her to the couch near his bed. even though she has the sensation and control of her leg back, it's still new. baby steps. standing on it without shifting her weight to her other leg may be weird. or bellamy's simply overthinking it. ]
[He's over worrying it. She isn't. Logic and precaution says that she should be careful when she moves, she knows this, and yet she just wants to move. She doesn't think about whether or not it will hurt her in the long term, if she crouches like so, or sits down like so. She doesn't have to, not while she is here.
She lets herself drop onto the couch, and stretches her leg out, bumping it into his in the softest of jest kicks. Fear her.]
[ nike fusses in her arms. bellamy watches her, tuned into keeping an eye on people's body language. he's slowly learning how to read his dogs, often failing when it comes to their true intentions. but making sure nike doesn't hurt raven is the reason he watches his dog look around, pressing her paws against her shoulders like she's unsure if she wants to leave or leap down and claim the floor as her territory once more. ]
[ he hasn't stopped smiling. ]
[ he looks down at their legs and purposefully knocks his knee into hers. it's with ease he jokes, ] I guess this means the next time we're on the beach together, you're carrying me across the sand.
[She runs her fingers through Nike's fur, nuzzles her cheek against her smaller head, and ultimately puts her in her lap. If she wants to stay there, she's welcomed to it, but if not. Well.
And her stomach does an acrobatic flip. She could feel that.]
[ usually, he'd pull his leg away. bellamy's always been about space and keeping his distance from people, but he's had to acclimate to the ground and eudio not being the ark. he may not need to protect octavia any longer, but a part of him has grown to do so as a knee-jerk. protecting octavia often means protecting himself — however sloppily he does it. but he doesn't need space now; bellamy keeps his leg against hers. he's always been able to feel her leg, but she hasn't been able to feel his in a long while. ]
[ he looks at her leg when he asks, ] What did Samantha say?
[She keeps it there, soaking up the novelty of the touch. She's forgotten this, and it's heartbreaking that she's forgotten this. There's no 'like riding a bike' when it comes to perceiving touch, not with her. She has to catalog every little detail, how every twitch of her muscles produces a different contact.]
I was given a choice. Either stay here longer, or be more intimate... I'm just glad they did this without putting me in a hospital bed.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
VALENTINE'S. late evening. text
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but not over the phone
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hence my question if you're home
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Yeah. I was asleep. Will be here all night.
action;
On both her feet. So her Eudio bar went up, and maybe she has to stay longer, but that's never been a pain. What's been a pain has been her hips for the past seven months, and she realizes that now, when she can walk without tilting them one way or the other to adjust her weight. That part, will take time.
Because she needs practice, she stops over at the one shop that's still open this late at night, and grabs a bag of candy at a quarter of its original price, because she has this need for sugar, and because showing up with her hands empty feels weird.
And maybe she eats a couple of them on the way, pocketing the box while she rings his doorbell and waits, weight on her brace-less left leg.]
action;
[ unused to having any visitors, his first thought is that he should've offered to go to hers. it's easier, less taxing, even if it'd take him a while as he walks from place to place. she may have told him to stop feeling guilt over her leg, but it's much easier said than done. he feels it bloom within him now, feeling guilty for not going to hers instead. ]
[ it's always been a quick glance on his behalf; looking down at her leg, he expects to see her brace. leaning against the side of his door, his brows furrow, and he looks at her legs like he expects to see something there that shows it's damaged. his first thought is that she's been recklessly stupid and has walked without her brace through his apartment building foyer and his corridor, but bellamy knows the way raven holds herself when she walks and stands, and this is familiar in its unfamiliarness. ]
[ bellamy glances up at her, wearing an expression of disbelief. his voice is low, as if he doesn't want to disrupt what's happened. ] This is better than something good, Raven.
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Of all her people, and all her friends, Bellamy is the only one who she's told of this; it fits that he ends up being the first one she lets know that it worked. He has his trust issues when it comes to the administration of this city, but she can change his mind. Not that it's her duty to, but she hopes he'll just accept that sometimes these people do good by them, without bringing down Raven's excellent mood.
Her cheeks hurt from the grinning, and she only realizes she'd been holding her breath when, following his reaction, she lets it out with a happy grin.]
I know.
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[ opening the door wider, he steps aside to let her in, but can't quite help glancing down at her leg. ] Unless you've got somewhere else to be.
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Nope, everyone else can hear the news some other day. [She glances away from him, focuses on Zelo.]
I wanted to show you first, [she murmurs, off-handed, quietly. Not because she thought he'd judge her, since she already knows she has his support on this, but because she just wanted to. That part where he's her closest friend (family) wasn't a lie.]
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[ nike's the one who charges toward raven and stands on her hind legs, front paws on her bum leg, and leans on her for attention. bellamy has to wonder if his dog has sensed that's the leg to never run to, even though she hasn't jumped on raven and demanded attention as she does now. raven could always feel in the other one; he has to wonder if his dog knew that, or if she simply chose a leg and bolted for it. ]
Get off, Nike. [ his voice isn't hard. she ignores him, lifting herself whenever she falls back onto all four feet to lean against raven. ]
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And now she realizes she was wrong: feeling that touch, dog paws against her left leg, is what makes her jump. First touch she's felt on it in so long. Almost a year.] Easy, girl... [She doesn't move to push Nike away or shove her off, but crouches with some lack of finesse. She's out of practice, she's out of practice with so much.
Once crouched, she picks the dog up and stands gain, able to carry her weight and a little bit emotional over having felt that touch.] Shit...
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[ it's easier to misconstrue "shit" to mean something bad. in bellamy's world, it could be, and it's what dictates his next decision. taking a step toward her, he begins to move his arms as if to take nike from her. ] I can take her if you want.
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She shakes her head, quickly.] It doesn't hurt, it's just still new. Again. And - she touched me. I felt that.
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[ the worry leaves him, and the crease of his brows disappears as he looks at her. nike sniffs underneath her neck and shifts her paw, but is otherwise restlessly well-behaved. beginning to smile, he finds its a wide one when he crosses his arms against his chest and asks, ] How does it feel?
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Look at that. Sam told me it'd take a while, about twenty four hours, and it still twinges a little, but it's like...I think it's just having not used it enough. What do you think?
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I don't know, Raven. [ sometimes bellamy has the answers, and sometimes he doesn't. he wish he did now. looking at her leg, he doesn't find them there, what he's meant to say, if there's anything at all. ]
[ he glances up at her, and inevitably looks down at her leg. he tries to think of something to give her, and all he can think of is hades and persephone, of how he had waited half a year for her to come back. it isn't the same, of course, but he thinks he's found some of his answer within it. ]
You just have to let it come back to you. Your leg is still you. [ he shrugs his shoulders, and tries to stifle his amusement, ] It's just a little slow, like you.
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It's going to be a process, but she doubts it'll take as long as she's gone without it.
She lets out a laugh.] I will kick you, don't think I won't.
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[ until now. for once, physical violence isn't a threat. it's a joke, like how people in the city tend to make fun of one another. ]
[ he ducks his head, smiling, and when he looks up, says, ] I look forward to it.
[ he begins to move further into his apartment, leading her to the couch near his bed. even though she has the sensation and control of her leg back, it's still new. baby steps. standing on it without shifting her weight to her other leg may be weird. or bellamy's simply overthinking it. ]
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She lets herself drop onto the couch, and stretches her leg out, bumping it into his in the softest of jest kicks. Fear her.]
Masochist.
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[ he hasn't stopped smiling. ]
[ he looks down at their legs and purposefully knocks his knee into hers. it's with ease he jokes, ] I guess this means the next time we're on the beach together, you're carrying me across the sand.
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And her stomach does an acrobatic flip. She could feel that.]
I will gladly do that.
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[ he looks at her leg when he asks, ] What did Samantha say?
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I was given a choice. Either stay here longer, or be more intimate... I'm just glad they did this without putting me in a hospital bed.
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ack, html failure ack
i see nothing of the sort.
good continue
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