A daily struggle (open)

[Kasey Łukaczyński]

Laundry day. 

Kasey Lukaczynski hated laundry day. She avoided it like the plague. This was to the woman's disadvantage, unfortunately, as when more laundry accumulated it was more difficult for her to drag her dirty clothes to the laundromat down the street. Unfortunately the laundry services in her apartment were located in the basement, and therefore had stairs-only access. So down the street Kasey rolled, a huge bag of laundry and supplies strapped to the back of her chair, and lofstrand crutches sitting on her lap. 

It didn't take long for Kasey to get to the laundromat, but what did take a while was getting herself situated once there. While her clothes were already sorted, and she had her quarters and detergent ready, finding three machines on the bottom row of washing machines was no easy task. Today especially, it seemed like none of the lower machines were available, and Kasey's life was going to be even more difficult. As hard as loading a top-machine was, unloading was about 10 times harder. (Not to mention moving the wet clothes from the washing machines to the dryers. 

Kasey managed to find two machines on the bottom row open, where she put her delicates and colors. This left her with a bag full of dirty white clothes and only top-row machines to get them into. With a sigh, Kasey propped herself up out of her chair - unwilling to wait for a machine to become available. Balancing on her crutches, she grabbed the bag of clothes, slowly and carefully putting the laundry into the machine. She dropped only a sock, but even that sock added about 3 minutes to the time it took Kasey to load the machine. Bending down was not something the blonde could do anymore. 

Once loaded, the blonde threw in the packet of detergent, and slammed the door to the machine, realizing only then she was slightly too short to reach the button for 'whites'. She reached her arm up, fingers just short of where the button was. She attempted to raise up onto her toes, a sharp pain tearing through her thighs. She lowered herself quickly, having to catch her balance on her crutches as the pain subsided. She looked up at the machine hopelessly. She hated laundry day. 

[Eli Morrison]

One of the benefits Eli had discovered when he'd moved in with his best friend a few years ago was that she had her own washer and dryer. Sure, they were a smallish, stacked set in the basement of her house, but it was so much better than lugging his laundry a few blocks to the laundromat. For almost everything laundry-related, they were able to manage at home.

However, this morning Tory had spilled an entire cup of apple juice on his mother's bed, reinforcing why there was a rule about no drinks except for water outside of the kitchen. Though he fully planned on letting his housemate know about the accident, he wasn't going to tell her until she'd come home from her recruiting trip. First, he was going to bring the comforter down to the laundromat and clean it properly.

Once he'd dropped Tory off at his preschool, Eli brought the heavy blanket down the street. There were a few heavy-duty washers there, meant for jobs like this that would overwhelm the washer in the basement. Fortunately, one was just being emptied as he came in, so he had been able to start the load right away. Then he'd sat back on on of the hard plastic benches and pulled out his phone. He'd found it was much cheaper to download books from Project Gutenberg when he wanted casual reading, as he read too fast and remembered too much to justify buying physical copies.

That's what he'd been doing when the young woman had rolled into the building, and he'd barely looked up since. Until, however, the door slammed. He noticed her struggling and put his phone down, hesitating for just a moment. Would it be rude to offer to help? Eli considered that, then decided it would be more rude to just sit and watch her struggle.

"Which one do you want?" Eli asked, getting up and walking over. He was tall, so he didn't even really need to lean to reach over and hover his fingers above the buttons, waiting for her to confirm which one she was reaching for.

[Kasey Łukaczyński]

Kasey didn't look at the man's face right away, but rather his fingers hovering over the buttons. She sighed. Kasey was not to proud to accept help when needed. She was genuinely grateful that there were people in the world willing to come to her aid without being prompted. But the slight groan and the look on her face may not have expressed that too clearly. She was just frustrated. As time passed, she was able to do less and less on her own. Days like these were a reminder that sooner rather than later she was going to be completely wheelchair bound. She was going to have to wait the extra half hour for a lower washing machine. She may even need to move back in with her parents (though she seriously hoped that would never be the case).

"Whites. Hot water," Kasey said finally, a small smile on her face as she looked back and up at her good Samaritan. She grabbed the arms of her wheelchair and lowered herself back into the seat. She tucked her crutches across her lap. "Thank you," she added, suddenly remembering that the phrase was the polite response in this situation, and just because she was throwing herself an internal pity party didn't mean she should forget that other people exist and deserve to be treated well. "Probably would have taken me an extra ten minutes to reach the button or find someone willing to help," she admitted with a dry chuckle.

She was still upset, but Kasey could only be upset for so long. She knew this was her fate. She had known since she was twelve. All she could do was deal with it. They were the cards she was delt.

[Eli Morrison]

Eli's hand wavered slightly when the woman sighed. Whoops, maybe it was rude for him to just walk over and insert himself in her day like this. When Mii had been pregnant, she had frequently told him to stop babying her and to wait for her to ask him to help. At the time, he'd ignored most of Midori's complaints, but he'd realized it was pretty condescending for him to do that. Maybe this woman would find his intrusion condescending as well.

After the woman in the wheelchair told him which button to press, he did so, then quickly backed away. He wasn't good around people sometimes, and now with the concern that she might have thought him rude for just walking over, Eli was feeling distinctly uncomfortable. Of course, once she had thanked him, he was pretty sure she wasn't annoyed at him. If she was annoyed, it was by the situation, or just having to be at a laundromat. "You're welcome."

Eli nodded when she "joked" about it taking ten more minutes if he hadn't helped her. He couldn't relate to that experience--not only was he an able-bodied man, but he was well over six feet tall--no everyday activity was physically daunting to him. But he could empathize, having seen Mii struggle when she was nine months along and couldn't see her shoes to tie them. Of course, that was only temporary for her. "That's rough. No one deserves to be stuck in a laundromat for any longer than absolutely necessary."

He glanced over at the heavy-duty washer where the blanket was still churning. The time on it was only halfway through, and he still needed to wait for it to tumble-dry after. "I'll be here for a while too, so if you need a hand..." He shrugged a little, "Well, I'll be here."

There, at least if he ended up helping her again, it would be because she asked. "And, um, My name is Eli."

[Kasey Łukaczyński]

Kasey chuckled at the lighthearted compliment the man had made, slowly becoming a little less flustered over the washing machine. It was common place for Kasey to struggle with everyday activities, so she tried not to dwell on those moments too much. While the assistance from the man emphasized the fact that Kasey won't be able to function alone forever, she did appreciate people like him and was glad he wasn't too put off by her initial poor attitude. "I may just have to take you up on that offer," Kasey said with a slight sigh and a roll of her eyes as she looked up at her washer. Perhaps she would have been better off just waiting for a lower machine...

"I'm Kasey," the blonde responded to the introduction, wheeling herself slightly away from the machines so other patrons could make their way through the laundromat. "And seriously... thanks. I'm glad there are people like you in the world. Six foot something and willing to press buttons for pretty blondes in wheelchairs," she said - a cheeky smile on her face toward the end. Despite the joke she hoped her appreciation was appropriately received.