Getting Clouse home proved to be a bit of a challenge.
The young man was willing to follow Chen, but his body was weak from starvation and he was barely dragging himself along as the two started walking through the forest. They had only gotten a short distance when Chen had to support him, then he had to outright carry him on his back like a baby.
Luckily Clouse was quite small and his thin body made him easy to carry around. Still, the journey back home felt a lot longer than it should have and Chen continually had to keep himself from throwing the younger man off his back and tell him to pull himself together.
Back at the monastery Chen dropped off Clouse on the bed in one of the many unoccupied spare rooms. Clouse was already fast asleep. He didn't even wake from being thrown down on the bed. Chen threw a blanket on top of the other, then went to his own bedroom and fell asleep himself.
The next morning, Chen got up and made breakfast as usual.
He had always been extremely good in a kitchen and it was one of the few places in the monastery he always kept clean and well-organized.
He made some normal breakfast for himself but in addition he made an extra serving of rice and sprinkled it with some chopped, vitamin-rich herbs.
The day before, on the way home, Clouse had thrown up all of the food Chen had given him. Chen had found out the young man hadn't had any proper food in a long time, his body apparently deciding the stuff he had eaten had been dangerous and rejecting it.
Chen understood he couldn't simply offer Clouse normal food. He had to start with smaller meals until he was back on his feet again.
Once Chen had eaten his own breakfast, he went to the room Clouse was in.
The other was awake, his eyes obviously open, but he still seemed tired and in need of more rest. The room already stunk from the smell clinging to his filthy body.
The moment Chen entered Clouse sat up weakly, his body clearly straining from the simple action. He was handed the bowl of rice, taking it and staring at it with an odd expression.
Chen was just about to feel offended when he remembered Clouse was from another place entirely and perhaps hadn't seen rice before.
"It's food. Eat it, it's good" Chen insured him.
Clouse started looking around, Lifting the bowl and looking underneath it too.
"With what?"
"Use your fingers… Wait, hold on".
Chen left the room then came back a few moments later with a bowl of hot water, a bar of soap and a small piece of cloth.
He helped Clouse wash his hands, the water instantly getting dirty. Chen changed it and redid it all. Once Clouse's hand were clean, Chen felt satisfied and let him have his meal.
Clouse dug his fingers into the rice like a child who had to eat on its own for the first time. He put a small ball into his mouth and started chewing in a strange fashion, as if the consistency of the food was entirely new to him.
Chen sat at the edge of the bed, watching the other eat in mild amusement. He asked whatever Clouse had really never eaten rice before. People in Clouse's village, as it turned out, primarily ate wheat. Clouse had been used to eating porridge and bread, never any rice.
Chen kept questioning the food culture in Clouse's hometown, trying to decipher exactly how different their eating habits were. Clouse didn't know about the majority of the things Chen asked him about, Chen in turn knew about quite a lot of the things Clouse mentioned but only from reading about it.
As Clouse finished his meal, Chen took the bowl from him and got off the bed. He was almost at the door again when he realized Clouse was attempting to get up, probably wanting to follow him.
"Don't. You need the rest, stay in bed for now" Chen ordered him.
Clouse fell back into onto the bed, an almost thankful expression on his face.
The rest of the day went by like any other would prior to Chen meeting Clouse, the only exception being Chen would check up on his guest now and then. The young man was either sleeping or simply idling in bed. Chen bought food twice more, both times simple rice to make sure Clouse would be able to keep it down.
The next two days cycled in the same manner, with Chen brining food to Clouse who would remain in bed recovering but otherwise not do much.
Chen felt slightly annoyed by Clouse being in bed doing nothing, it really wasn't any fun, but he knew the other needed to recover before they could get started on anything. Finally having a person with magic abilities would be no use if said person died from overexploitation.
It was too precious of an opportunity to waste it on wanting to get started quickly.
On the third day Chen decided it was time for Clouse to get out of bed or he would rust solid to it.
He still hadn't had a bathroom visit and Chen had been dreading having to deal with any potential accidents. Luckily nothing had happened.
In the morning, as he bought Clouse his meal like he normally would, he also told him it was about time he had himself a trip to the toilet and a bath. Clouse agreed entirely, obviously not fond of the smell from his own body either.
That morning he got out of bed, for the first time since his arrival, and followed Chen.
Chen's monastery was very old and the kitchen was the only room which had been updated in any way. Every other room stood as it did the day the place had been built.
Ninjago was expecting a technological evolution and yet Chen felt no need to replace anything as long as the things he knew were still functionally.
Chen led Clouse to one of the many small bathrooms in the building. During the walk the young man was looking around, eyes wide with fascination.
Then, in front of the toilet, eyes wide in disbelief.
"That's a toilet?" he asked, staring down at the hole in the floor, "How do you sit down?"
"You don't sit down, you squat" Chen answered, not sure whatever he should be amused or feel ill having to explain how to use a toilet.
When Clouse didn't move at all, Chen reluctantly illustrated. He squatted down above the hole, resting his arms on his thighs. He felt silly squatting down like that while fully clothed.
"See? Easy."
Clouse just kept staring at the hole. Chen got up.
"Once you've done your business, you shower it down with water and it all wash away, ready for use once more" Chen said gesturing to a bucket full of water a bit form the hole.
"That's… disgusting" Clouse whimpered, staring at the hole like it had personally offended him.
"Clouse, you are literally covered in filth" Chen snorted then gave a playful shove as the other hung his head in shame "Whatever is going to come from you is no worse than what is already on you".
Chen headed for the door. Clouse still wasn't moving at all.
"Once you've finished, we'll get you cleaned up" Chen said as an odd sort of indorsement. He then left Clouse to do whatever he needed to do.
Almost an hour and a half went by before Clouse finally showed up again. Chen had been entertained by the idea the young man had fallen in the toilet and then troubled by the thought he had just given up and died in place. He was happy to conclude neither had happened.
Chen led Clouse to another bathroom this time, the one with the actual bath in it. It was a tub build in the centre of the room, meant to resemble a public bath somewhat.
Chen ran the water and gathered some basic necessities as the other man started undressing in the far off corner, showing obvious signs of embarrassment.
He was down to his undershirt and shorts when he just stopped, throwing Chen a shy glance.
"What?" Chen said.
Clouse's eyes darted from Chen to the door. He then turned back around and undressed completely, quickly jumping into the tub and pulling up his legs as to cover himself up. Only then did Chen understand.
Chen had grown up with public bathhouses and generally didn't mind nudity at all. Clouse on the other hand, obviously felt uncomfortable undressing and being naked in front of another person. Chen bit back a fun remark about the young man not having anything he hadn't seen before.
The water in the tub had to be changed twice and almost an entire bar of soap was used up in the process of cleaning Clouse. To be honest, Chen really didn't have much reason to help Clouse clean himself, he just found it amusing how uncomfortable and odd the other man acted. As if nudity wasn't entirely natural.
A large part of Clouse's black hair, which had been tangled together in a big knot, had to be cut off. The remaining hair got shampooed and conditioned three times until a brush would go through it. When Clouse was finally let out of the tub again, he was an entirely new person.
"Look at you, back from the dead" Chen laughed, watching the other put his black hair in knot on the back of his head. Chen had given him an old set of clothes. It hung from the young man even more than his own set did, as Chen was noticeably larger, but was much more appealing to look at.
The old set had been thrown into a fire.
Chen had given Clouse permission to move into another one of the unused spare rooms, the old one having the stank of Clouse's filthy former self permanently stuck in the bedclothes. They had been thrown on the fire alongside Clouse's old clothes.
Clouse looked at himself in the mirror deep in thought. He turned around, looking back at Chen who was still watching him.
"Chen… I… Thank you" Clouse said, unsure how to express his immense thankfulness.
Chen gave Clouse a small smile. He sensed a seed of loyalty had been sown within the young man. Such things meant more to him than simple thanks. Clouse's real thankfulness was going to be put to the test soon enough.
For now, Chen gave the other a small pad on the shoulder and told him to head back into bed.
As Chen left the room, he started planning how Clouse would be of use to him.