Devil's Nest | Sunday Evening

[long_memory]

An abundance of orange juice had arrived at the bar today. Silver wondered if it was the world telling him not to get scurvy which was probably good advice considering the whole pirate thing. He wasn't about to complain. When life gives you oranges, you make screwdrivers.

[Open, OCD-free!]

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[badassprodigy]

Early in the evening, Barry arrived with a large metal type case under his arm and a backpack slung over his shoulders.

"Silver," he said with a nod of greeting. "You ready to try this fucking thing on? Shouldn't take more than a few minutes to calibrate."

[long_memory]

Silver couldn't help but laugh, because that had not been the greeting he had gotten the last time he was presented with a prosthetic. It also was a little out of relief, because he hadn't been sure if this would actually happen. He didn't think he'd ever be used to random gifts.

He got his crutch so he could move around the bar and sit in one of the stools. "Yes, I am very ready."

[badassprodigy]

"All right then."

Barry then put the metal case down on the bar and popped it open revealing the work he'd been doing the last two weeks.

"So. This is probably going to feel weird at first," He warned, "but eventually you'll walk and run and jump. Maybe not at the speed you were before you lost your leg but it's a definite improvement. Take it slow at first and you'll be fine."

He picked up the leg and kneeled down, making some adjustments based on Silver's height and leg length. "It's built using a new carbon fiber polymer I developed. It contracts and relaxes like a normal muscle does so it mimics normal movement more than a typical leg. See this strap here? It not only fastens to your leg but it relays muscle movement from your leg and signals from your brain. It's weatherproof, waterproof and dishwasher safe so cleanup will be a snap."

He then looked up at Silver and grinned. "Also I gave you an upgrade. With the interface? You'll be able to feel what the leg feels. Hot. Cold. Wet. Dry. Wool sock. Pebble in your shoe. Whatever."

[long_memory]

"Holy shit." In his wildest dreams he couldn't imagine something like this could be made. "I only understood about half of that but it sounds amazing."

He hesitated for a moment before fully revealing what remained of his leg. It looked a mess, not only because he was from 300 years ago but also under the circumstances it had been taken off. First broken with an axe, then hacked off on the fly followed by cauterizing and hasty stitches. Not to mention the infection that he got after...

"And you do stuff like this for fun?"

[badassprodigy]

If Barry showed any kind of reaction to the leg, it was a simple frown. But not one of horror or disgust by any means. He had an idea of the time period Silver had come from and in Barry's last five years in a bronze age world from an alternate dimension he'd definitely seen worse.

"Helping people? Definitely fun," he said as he made some adjustments to the harness. "And I have one of those brains that doesn't really shut off. When I see a problem or something I don't understand I usually can't stop thinking about it until I solve the problem or understand it."

He positioned the prosthesis around what remained of Silver's leg. "See this button? All you have to do is press it and-"

When he pressed the button, the harness conformed to fit on Silver's leg and after a few moments he'd start feeling the sensation of the new leg.

"-that's all you have to do. There's a gyro-generator with in the leg which powers it. So when you move and walk the leg will charge itself."

[long_memory]

"Oh my god," he murmured. This whole thing was surreal. Seeing and feeling his left leg for the first time in years was just...he really couldn't process it at just this moment.

"This is the second time in a week I've been rendered speechless and you've been responsible both times."

[badassprodigy]

"Don't tell Rey that, she might get jealous," Barry joked as he pulled himself up from the floor. He picked up Silver's crutch and handed it to him. "Go ahead and stand up but take it slow. You might need the crutch for a few days until you work out your balance."

[long_memory]

Now this was something he had done before, only this time there was a lot less pain involved when Silver slowly got up and put both feet on the floor. He only swayed a little bit but he was grateful for the crutch.

"It's a very odd sensation," he admitted. "But so was the feeling of not having a leg at first."

[badassprodigy]

Barry gave Silver a chuckle at that as he began to pack up his gear. “That’s understandable. Hopefully this will be a more positive experience. Now if anything feels off or something goes wonky, don’t hesitate to call. I may drop in next week just to check and see how you are doing.”

[texted3times]

"2021 doesn't even sound like a real year," Eric complained to Silver, knowing he was one of the few people who would understand, as he settled at the bar. "Where's my spaceship and rocket boots?"

[long_memory]

Silver had just been given an extremely high tech prosthesis that he was currently trying to get used to wearing so in this instance he couldn't actually agree with Eric.

"You notice the leaps in technology a lot more when you're thrown 300 years into the future," Silver said. "Maybe it happened too slowly for you to notice."

[texted3times]

"Maybe," Eric said, tilting his head. "Something new about you?"

[long_memory]

"Barry made me a leg." He would have showed it off but he still did not trust his balance on the thing. "And it has all sorts of stuff to it that he explained to me and I don't exactly understand."

[texted3times]

Hopefully not rocket boots!

Eric, because he wasn't entirely an asshole and had known his share of people without limbs due to Viking-ing (a completely real word, shh), gave Silver a genuine grin. "Congratulations! Rum's on me."

[long_memory]

Silver smiled. "Thank you. And I didn't even have to pay for it. Which I find extremely odd but I guess I shouldn't question it."

[texted3times]

"If he comes sniffing around for a favor later, let me know and I'll kill him," Eric said helpfully.

[long_memory]

"I don't think it will come to that," Silver said. "But I thank you all the time. I didn't realize that was a perk of my employment."

[thatwaslucky]

Rey didn't know about anything that might have happened earlier in the night when she came in, greeting him with a, "Hey," before she even got to the actual bar.

[long_memory]

Silver gave Rey a smile and moved around the bar to greet her. He was still using his crutch for balance, but he was walking a bit straighter than usual. "I owe your friend Barry something. I don't know what, but something good."

[thatwaslucky]

The start of a smile started creeping across her face, because she'd heard radio and kind of expected something was up, but this was also a lot faster than she'd expected.

"What'd he do?" she asked, mainly just so he could say it.

[long_memory]

"Look down." It wasn't exactly like he had needed a left shoe recently so the prothesis was just visible under his (finally rolled down and very wrinkled) pant leg.

[thatwaslucky]

Rey glanced down, actually kind of surprised, since she'd only ever seen a prosthetic that looked decidedly more crude and robotic.

It was a full smile when she looked back up at him and said, "How are you feeling?"

[long_memory]

"Very strange," he admitted with a laugh. "But I also feel...I don't know how to put it, really. More in control of myself, I guess. Like I'm controlling my body, not the other way around."

[thatwaslucky]

"That is a very good thing to be. Congratulations," she told him, coming over to give him a kiss.

[long_memory]

"Thank you," he said, happily accepting that kiss. "I'll still have to use the crutch for a few days. Need to get used to the balance and everything."