Chereads / The Rogue / Chapter 3 - Baby Steps

Chapter 3 - Baby Steps

Leo's first few months were awful he often found himself unable to push his infant body to his will and the lack of any motor skills and muscle memory made every movement sloppy and uncoordinated. To the outside eye it would simply look like the average infant discovering the world of his own body but Leo was thinking about the bigger picture.

I always struggled to progress my physical prowess so I need to start early I can't be a weak kid, life won't forgive any someone for being soft Leo often repeated this to himself to remember that honor and morality will leave the room when it's time to get dirty.

His mother was often around and would speak to him when the rest of the family was away, she carried him in a sling going across her chest and Jean rolled him in a bundle to keep him warm and contained. Leo having all other options removed simply listened to his mother and tried to learn the language they spoke, it had Latin roots but it was still far enough removed from the languages of earth for him to grasp any other similarities.

If I can't figure any of this out it's going to be a very dull childhood, ok I'm now called Leo that's for sure and I know words like food and water but I have the body of a potato and my mother won't take me out from the house so what I'm supposed to play baby for a couple of years!? Leo thought on this and grew restless the longer time went by.

One night he had enough and decided to take action, knowing the sensations he felt through the spell the old woman had cast on him he meditated after all its not like there was anything he could do he couldn't even crawl yet because the soft flesh he had for a body.

Leo was no zen master or any of that crap he was a brawler a hardened laborer doing so taught him how to listen to his body. To use the muscles like he was playing a violen and what he couldn't solve he did so in brute force, which usually motivated stubborn things to work with him. I felt warm, I felt empowered almost like a runner's high all that energy flowing through my body capable of something.... big, how to describe it? Leo spent hours meditating on the sensation when he realized he morning had come and he didn't notice anything at all but at the same time he felt like he slept through the night.

The next night he repeated his meditation session but he didn't feel so rested when the next morning came but rejuvenated more than if he didn't simply sleep, realizing he was onto something he became ecstatic releasing a shill giggle before he could stop himself. The response was his father Keith stumbling into his chamber that connected to his parents bedroom. *"Well boy you seem ready for the day but I could have been allowed to sleep for awhile longer, I will need to teach you some manners before you make a habit of this"*

Leo looks at Keith studying the man who was his father when Keith picked him up and sat in a rocking chair in front of the bed. He reminds me of my other father, a man who knows work and struggle intimately and I approve for now holding his hand out and resting it on Keith's.

Felix's father was a rough man in and out and from a young age taught him life life is hard and cruel so much so that only by luck and cold hearted determination one could carve success. Leo watched Keith for any reason not to trust him, after 25 years on earth he was hopeful he knew how to recognize the difference between the shitheads from the saints. Sat in the chair Keith's eyes began to close and it didn't take a genius to know that he was going to pass out holding baby Leo.

Well this sucks not only do I get to be bored but I get to hear the giant snore.... Leo didn't get to thought as he began to role off Keith's leg, cursing his odds and his luck he began to scream like a hell waking Keith up yet again but not soon enough for save him. "ahhhhhh shit" Leo literally shit himself and in a soft thump hit the floor breaking his arm in humerus and ulna.

*"Ah shit"* Keith went to retrieve the screaming Leo when he felt a dark blood thirsty presence manifest behind him, *" well I guess I'll be sleeping with the dog tonight"* turning around to see Jean his tiny 5'4 wife successfully instilling in him a primal sense of terror. *"only once I've broken your legs"* Jeans sweet smile never wavered once in speaking those words and gracefully retrieved Leo from his arms.