Deep Kiss of Winter.

[Hikari_Mamo]

Conrad gasped and put an arm under her thighs and lifted her up. "Half way." He said then handed her a bit of chalk. "Mark it down on the carpet so we can track your progress okay?" Was he overdoing it? Oh god he inwardly thought so. . .But he hoped she knew he supported her no matter what.  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Alyson couldn't really grab the chalk very well. Her hands were shaking from the overexertion of the rest of her body, and the feeling hadn't really returned to her fingers after leaving from the tight grip she had maintained. She did try to grab it through, but wound up fumbling the small cylinder and dropping it. She let lose a rather tired swear as she just watched it hit the ground, frowning a bit, but she was too tired from her attempts to walk to really care. And hungry. "Can we just eat please?" she asked, looking back up at Conrad, the exhaustion showing in her face.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Conrad nodded and left the chalk on the ground and carried her all the way to the kitchen and sat her on a chair there. "Okay, so I tried my hand at that recipe for the food you wanted. . .I hope it's okay. . . I couldn't really taste it, so I have been going off smell. . .I hope I did okay. . ."  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Alyson chuckled a bit, though it was a rather tired chuckle. "Well, I guess there's only one way to find out." she teased him lightly. She hoped it would be just fine. Because she was really hungry. And if she found that somehow the meal had become unpalatable, then Conrad would have a very cranky lady on his hands.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Conrad actually had made the meal blander than the recipe had called for. He didn't know her taste and he didn't want to hurt her more with something too hot. He placed her gently on the chair then served up the meal but he left the glass empty, he wanted to pour for her, but, he also wanted her to feel like he was giving her some of her own independence too. He knew how much that meant to her. He also gave choices of juice, water, soda, some cordial, and flavoured milk, too. Anything she wanted, he'd see which one she favoured and keep that one on the table for now on.  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Alyson took a bite and winced. "I think you could have been a . . . bit more liberal with the spices." she critiqued in as nice a way as she could think of while being so tired and hungry. She looked to the empty glass. "Some water would be great, thanks." she said, not quite sure what flavors of juice there were, and not really wanting a coke (which is what she called soda) at the moment.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Conrad nodded. "Well I can't really taste food so, I didn't want to be too liberal with the spices. . . I didn't want to have you diving for the milk." He poured her a glass of cool water and returned to doing the dishes for her. He was happy that it didn't taste horrible.  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

It was a mere ten minutes before the was a rather large clatter, and as Conrad rushed to see what the problem was, the answer was simple. Due to the rather bland taste of the food, there was no spice to help keep her awake, and she fell asleep, her face hitting the side of the bowl and spilling the food and drink all over the table.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Conard jumped at the noise. Damn it! He inwardly cussed. He shouldn't have left her alone! What the hell was she trying to do?! He turned and saw the mess, but more importantly, her, with her face half in the food half in her drink. "Oh gods give me strength." He muttered in Estonian as he took a damp cloth and went over to her washing the food from her face and hair then took her up to bed, tucking her in and kissing her brow. After, he traced back into the kitchen and cleaned up the mess. Maybe next time he'd go a bit more. . .stronger, with the spices. . .  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

The next morning, almost fourteen hours after she had passed out at the table, Alyson woke up in her bed. It was nine in the morning, and though she had slept for quite a while, she felt rather exhausted. And her legs were screaming at her for what she had put them through yesterday. She tried stretching, but instantly recoiled with a moan as strained muscles screamed at her for moving them. "Owie . . ." she muttered, rolling over and hugging her pillow tightly.

((Whether said pillow is Conrad or not is up to you. XD))  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Conrad had finished his dishes, cleaned the floor and the table. . . Did everything he could to give her as much time to rest as he could. But eventually he had to go and check on her. So he took up the deep heat cream to give him a legit excuse, but she was still sleeping. So adorable, so. . .Oh she was the most gorgeous creature he'd ever seen. But he did notice she was having trouble rolling. Oh her legs must hurt. He checked to make sure she was deeply asleep before beginning to rub the cream into her legs watching she normal colour return. Once he was happy he put the cream away and tucked her back in. Only to be pulled into the bed and snuggled up against. Oh god. . . Oh god. . . He tried not to shudder and very gently held her close, taking the time to sleep himself. When he woke she'd rolled away from him. Okay. That was fine. Movement was good. He didn't remember going back to sleep, but he did remember waking up with Alyson clinging to him tightly. Oh god. . . What to do. . . Um. . .Maybe just wait for her to wake again.  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Alyson, however, was already awake and in quite a bit of pain as the relief the cream had given her during the night had most definitely worn off. She squeezed her pillow a bit tighter before realizing that . . . it seemed to have ribs. And was not the same consistency as her pillow normally was. She opened her eyes and blushed as she saw that she was squeezing Conrad. She quickly let go and tried to roll away a bit, but she had used her legs and she hissed, curling up into a fetal position, holding her knees, trying to get the pain to stop.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Conrad sat up. "It's okay." He whispered stroking her hair. "Let me get the cream and we'll take a break from practice today, how about leg rubs and heat packs?" He held up his hand to stop protests. "I'm not babying you or trying to hinder your independence, I'm trying to prevent you from hurting yourself. We'll do passive stretches today. And maybe I'll get you on your back with your feet in the air holding up some books or something. To get your legs used to holding some weight." He smiled a little. "I can make you some hot chocolate too, would you like that?"  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

"Yes . . ." Alyson groaned out, not protesting at all or complaining. She wasn't going to put her body through more stress when it was already feeling so much pain! "That sounds amazing . . ." she mumbled into her knees.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Conrad smiled softly. "Would you like me to take you to the couch? So you're not cooped up in here all day? I could put on an old movie for you while you drink the cocoa and have something to eat?" Conrad wanted to be helpful. He liked looking after her, even if it was in a small way.