It had been a couple of months now since that night the two of them had slept with each other. No homo. And for the most part, things had been fine. Aside from Bon-bon getting a little scared on an amusement park ride a few weeks ago there hadn’t been any ‘relapses’ as Lyra’s therapist called them from either of them. But of course since this is where the story picks up again that’s clearly about to change.
Not a lot had changed really, at least Lyra didn’t think so. Her psychiatrist on the other hand thought a lot had. For starters she had played the piano for the first time in three years. Something to which Lyra had responded with ‘Yeah, and see where it ended up?’ which, while true, didn’t stop her from continuing to fix up the piano after seeing the horrible condition it had gotten into.
Only doing so much every couple of days didn’t seem like much to her either but regardless of how much or how little it was, over the course of three months it had been restored to its former glory. She’d also found her electric keyboard in that time but thanks to her repairing the piano it had disappeared, likely taken by her brother for parts seems the main one now worked perfectly.
It was the beginning of summer and to put it simple, it was too damn hot! Lyra had always hated summer and this one had been particularly bad. Walk outside for five minutes and you’d have to change clothes just from sweating so much. It wasn’t exactly common for her, but from time to time, even before the accident, Lyra would wake up in the morning, reach up, turn the air on and stay in bed the entire day.
The first day it had been completely fine. She did feel a little guilty knowing everyone else was outside on a day like this while she was sleeping in her bed, enjoying herself while she was in a 36 degree [103 fahrenheit] hell. She pushed it aside though with the feeling of snuggly wrapping herself in a thin sheet at just the right temperature all day long. It wasn’t until the second day she stayed in bed that she could no longer push it aside. It was more than just that minor bit of guilt and in truth she’d known so the day before too. She’d just hoped it wasn’t this again.
It was nearly the end of the third day now and her parents hadn’t even noticed it yet. They just assumed that she thought it was too damn hot. Of course her complaining about letting the cool air out anytime someone opened her door probably didn’t help. But really, nothing would. She knew from experience and some psycho-babble from her shrink that once her depression had set in, even if what set her off in the first place was resolved, it wouldn’t necessarily end these feelings.
What’s worse is what had caused it all to begin with. It had been small things in the past before, such as forgetting her own birthday or big things like going to clap and smashing her prosthetic into three pieces. While rationally, this time seems mundane and stupid, it was actually one of the bigger ones she’d ever had. She’d finally finished the Tell Tail’s The Gryphon Among Us and had absolutely loved it. Relating it to some meme pic she’d seen on the interweb, it seemed to sum up her current state quite well.
The story had been so good, the characters had been so real. She had to have more. And soon enough she found a new game to fill the void. Though all the good it had done. If anything it had only made things worse. The problem with games like that is if something happens to a character you like, it almost feels like it’s your fault for letting it happen. And when you personally relate to what happens, it only makes it all the harder to accept the ending.
Her door opened “Uhhh… you’re letting the cold air out…” she groaned as she rolled over, facing away from the light now coming into her room and pulling a handful of sheet into her chest. Her brother wouldn’t be home by now so it had to be one of her parents. They’d have to have noticed by now. On the other hand, it was Friday though which meant “What’s up Bon-bon?” she asked without facing her friend.
“Not much.” she replied as she walked over to where Lyra was laying. “It is SOOO nice in here!” she announced. Today wasn’t a particularly hot day but it was still a refreshing change. She heavily sat down on the bed beside Lyra. “What’s up with you?”
“Even less.” she replied, still mostly ignoring Bon-bon.
A couple of seconds passed before Bon-bon realised she wasn’t going to get more out of Lyra. “You ganna get up?” she asked, waited a few more seconds for no response then followed it up with “Am I going to have to crawl into bed with you again?”
“I thought we agreed to never speak of that again.”
“We did… but if we were role reversed don’t tell me you won’t be bringing it up anyway.”
She waited again to get no response and after a few seconds “Fair point.” Lyra answered back. She rolled over to face Bon-bon who although she’d dropped down initially with her back practically touching Lyra’s back, had now scootched over to only just sitting on the bed. “I don’t feel like getting up right now alright. So, go watch something on the TV. And don’t plan on staying the night, k?”
Bon-bon didn’t respond right away. Which Lyra only assumed was Bon-bon giving her a taste of her own medicine. But as always, she spoke up eventually. “Listen, Lyra, you’re brother told me I should try my very best to get you out of bed. He made it sound really important too.”
“So he did notice…” Lyra said out loud, though hadn’t meant to.
“So… would you please get out of bed. And come do… something with me? Come watch TV. We can even watch it in japanese like you like. What do you say?”
“Fine.”
“Wait. That’s it?” Bon-bon asked as Lyra threw the sheet off of herself and began to sit up. “Your father made it sound like it would be a lot harder than that.”
“Yeah. Well. Just because I don’t want to doesn’t mean I can’t.” she answered as she nudged Bon-bon with her legs, egging her to stand up so she could swing her legs out of bed. Bon-bon moved and allowed her up, as she stood she let out a yawn and stretched. Though it had only been two days, she could already feel the lax in her legs beginning. But who knew, maybe this could pull her out of it… because the attempts her parents had made had always been so successful.
“It’s your choice, what are we going to watch? And, well, I know I said it didn’t have to be in english… but can it be?” Bon-bon said as Lyra took a few steps towards her computar/TV. It was a small screen by TV standards but a large screen by monitor standards. And it was also 4k whatever that meant but Lyra was always proud of that fact for some reason.
Though she’d gotten out of her bed, once in front of her screen, she just plopped down into her chair. “Sure… just grab something from the shelf.” she said, waving her arm towards her DVD collection. She clearly showed nothing but disinterested despite Bon-bon’s best efforts.
“Oh, come on. I know you, there’s got to be something you’ve been watching recently. So what is it?” asked Bon-bon as she came and stood behind her friend, shaking the chair gently.
“A game. Haven’t watched anything in a week or two.” Lyra replied flatly.
“Then let’s play it.”
“No.” she stated quickly before adding "I finished it.”
“Well… does it have a number 2 or 3? or is there a number 1 of it?” she asked, trying to find anything that got a spark from the girl. She’d heard Lyra say she can get ‘bored’ as she’d called it but never expected it was like this. She usually would’ve loved any of the things Bon-bon had suggested. “Well… how about a movie? Um…” she trailed off as she went over to the movies section of the collection.
“Yeah. Sure. Pick something, I’ll watch it.” she said dismissively.
She perused the shelves for a few moments before a low but loud sound stole her attention. “Was that your stomach?” Bon-bon asked, holding a few DVDs and one redray.
Lyra hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Yesterday. And while she hadn’t felt hungry laying in bed all day, standing up and falling into the chair had stirred up her guts juices. “Yeah. That pretty loud huh?” she answered back.
“Well, I’m sure there’s more, but take a look at these ones.” Bon-bon said as she practically dumped the shows and movies she’d picked out onto Lyra’s now slightly upset stomach. “I’m going to go get us a snack.” added Bon-bon as she headed towards the door. Before she left, she turned to Lyra in her seat who had at least grabbed the DVDs [and one redray] and was looking over them one by one. Knowing that her friend was at least showing some level of interest in what she’d said, Bon-bon opened the door and stepped out. Then quickly stepped back in. “Oh wow… I forgot how hot it is!”
She forced herself back outside, now not entirely against Lyra’s idea of just laying in the wondrous air conditioned room all day long over the weekend. She’d return soon enough though and for now she just wanted to get them something to eat and hurry back to Lyra’s room. She had a feeling Lyra hadn’t eaten properly today so instead of just grabbing some chips she opted to make them both a healthy[ish] sandwich. Sure, she couldn’t fit it in her mouth but… it looked delicious!
Unfortunately, Bon-bon was about half way back to Lyra’s room when she remembered that those bags of chips were Nature Box and probably better than this sandwich was. Not to mention it was a little bit too close to dinner time for something this big. Too late now though. She simply sighed and gave a little smirk. A few months ago she’d have been annoyed at herself for it, but now thanks to Lyra, she’d learnt to laugh about things like this instead. And that was all the more reason she was doing this for her.
She returned to the room and just managed to open the door, having been holding the plate with the sandwiches on it with both hands. The chill of the air con instantly hit her as she entered and she let out another sigh, but this one for different and much better reasons. Lyra was still in her seat but most of the DVDs [and one redray] were laying the floor beside her. It didn’t look like they’d been thrown or anything, how far away from her they were, it looked more like they’d fallen and she just hadn’t bother picking them back up.
Bon-bon began as she stepped in beside Lyra and was about to hand her a sandwich “So did you find something yo-”. She was quickly cut off however.
“I am not watching this movie again.” she stated angrily before she then haphazardously through a case in Bon-bon’s general direction, landing just shy of hitting the wall behind her. Bon-bon put the sandwich plate down on the computer table with a small clatter, then turned to see what Lyra had thrown over her shoulder.
“Didn’t you like Tangled?” she asked as she reached down and made a grab at the case. She then made a second grab for it. Though surprisingly the first attempt failing had nothing to her with her nerve damage this time, rather just accidently going just short of reaching it. “I thought you said you liked it. I know I liked the cartoon you recommended me.” Bon-bon said, trying to Bait her friend by calling an animu a cartoon.
Sadly it didn’t work and Lyra instead focused on the DVD bon-bon was now holding. “I didn’t.” she said as Bon-bon opened the case, careful to make sure the disc didn’t fall out if it had been dislodged from the nipple. Which it had. She put her finger through the hole and thumb on the outer edge, picking it up out of the case.
Bon-bon came back over to the computer table and placed the case on top of it and held the disc up, shiny side facing her to check for scratched. “Sounds to me like you just forgot how much you told me you loved it. I think we should watch it.” she told her friend happily.
“I don’t want to watch that horrible movie!” Lyra shouted. Though it wasn’t exactly the kind she wanted, it had at least been a show of some sort of enthusiasm from her.
“But I thought you said you liked it?” Bon-bon asked in equal parts shock and disappointment that the first thing she’d recommended Lyra to watch, something that going back and forth getting the other to watch or play or read something that the other liked had become nearly the cornerstone of their relationship, she had secretly hated.
“There’s a god damn guy in it with a hook hand playing the piano! OF COURSE I hate it!” Lyra yelled as she lunged out and smacked the disc out of her friends hand. Or at least tried to. Bon-bon’s finger was still in the centre of the disc and all she succeeded in doing was painfully bending Bon-bon’s finger backwards. Not budging more than a few painful centimeters, the disc snapped from the impact.
“AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!...” Bon-bon screamed as she flinched from the hit, pulling her arm away and stumbling backwards. She tripped and landed hard on her back, she scream ending abruptly as she did.
“Oh shi-sorry! I’m sorry Bon-bon!” Lyra said, suddenly having motivation to get out her seat and having spun around and stood up. “Are you alright?” she asked. “Hey… Bon-bon?... Bon-bon. Bon-bon!” she ended up yelling as she dropped down onto her knees beside her friend’s limp body. Bon-bon’s eyes wide open and just staring up at the ceiling. “BON-BON!!” she yelled as she grabbed her with both hands and lightly shook her.
“I’m sorry…” Bon-bon muttered.
“Oh my god… don’t… you…” she just fell onto her friend and half hugged her as best she could without being able to get her arms around the girl laying with her back on the ground.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that was in the movie. I’ve only seen in once and before I met you, that’s not exactly something I would think too much about.” Bon-bon said as she gently wrapped her arms around her friend. “This feeling is horrible. And I’m so so sorry I made you feel like this too.” she continued, softly patting her friend’s head on her chest.
Lyra stayed there for a few moments longer before she pulled herself up from ontop of her friend. “No… I’m, sorry.” Lyra replied as she got onto her knees then stood form there before offering her hand out to help Bon-bon up off of the ground too. She didn’t take it though. “Hey, Bon-bon, you’re alright, right?” she asked, getting a little worried once more. Bon-bon had lain on the ground without moving for a good while after all.
“I fell.” Bon-bon simply replied, looking at her friend above her but otherwise remaining still.
“Yeah, I know. Now, get up off the ground. I know it’s cooler down ther-”
“No… I mean. I fell. That’s how I… it’s how this happened.” she said as she moved one of her hands over herself as if indicating her entire body.
It wasn’t exactly hard for Lyra to put two and two and two together, realising what she meant by ‘this’ was her condition. She’d taken a fall. “From like a horse or something?” Lyra asked, still extending her hand.
“No. I just… fell.” she said, putting grim emphasis on her last word. “I tripped over and I couldn’t get up. All I could do… was lay there on my stomach. I couldn’t move at all. I just lay there.”
“Bon-bon…”
“Every time I fall over I get so scared. I can’t move at all and I think it’s happened again. It’s so terrifying! I, I hate it so much! And I’m so sorry I made you remember something that made you feel the same! Even if you don’t remember it like I do.”
Lyra, just looked down at her friend. She fully understood what she meant. While Bon-bon was sorry she brought back those memories for Lyra, Lyra was just as hurt that she too had brought them back for Bon-bon. Hand still extended, Bon-bon finally took it and let lyra help her back to her feet. “Actually… I do remember. I remember seeing my arm ripped to shreds!”
