"Let's get one thing cleared up early on; I'm not caring for you," the Quinta spat with venom. "If you've got a problem, solve it yourself, and above all stay the hell outa my way!"

Szayel's face fell a little, but otherwise he didn't seem nearly as intimidated as Nnoitra would have hoped. Little freak… doesn't fucking understand the situation. If he did, Nnoitra didn't care to wonder why. The former Octava had a convoluted mind, and it wasn't worthwhile to try and understand his motivations. They just weren't normal.

"Ok" was the subdued reply he got. Nnoitra sneered at him, then returned to his sofa. However, when he noticed Szayel following him, he turned around again; angry.

"I told you to stay out of my way," he growled, shifting Santa Teresa in his grip threateningly. Szayel stopped, looking down at his feet.

"Sorry… but I don't really have anything to do."

"Go do what you usually do."

"I don't know what that is," he said, pursing his lips.

"You experiment. In your lab. Remember?" Nnoitra prompted, and Szayel shook his head.

"I only vaguely recall I even have one," the boy replied petulantly. The Quinta scowled.

"Not my problem. You go screw around with your sick little experiments or you sit in that corner, shut up, and pretend to be part of the wall. Got it?"

"Aren't you supposed to watch out for me?" Szayel asked quietly. The Quinta's eye narrowed and his lips curled back into a snarl. In an instant he was upon the boy, hauling him up by the back of his uniform. Szayel looked shocked as he was slammed into the wall, though this expression of wide eyed alarm shifted to a wince as pain radiated from his shoulder, which had borne the brunt of the impact. Still holding the boy aloft with one hand, the other brought Santa Teresa's curved blade to bear against the soft skin of his throat. A thin line of red trickled to the surface where the weapon nicked his flesh.

"Don't fuck with me, Grantz. Just in case that empty little skull of yours doesn't remember, I'm the one who made you like this. I'm the one who fucked up your eye, and if you don't make yourself scarce, that won't be the only part of you I maim."

The child nodded to show he understood, and Nnoitra let him slide to the ground with a look of disgust. He crumpled there for a moment, drawing his knees up to his chest in a defensive ball as he squeezed his good eye shut. Then, as if rousing the willpower to go on, he uncurled and picked himself up from the floor, looking away from Nnoitra.

"You've made your point," he remarked softly by way of explanation as he wiped the garnet line of blood from his throat. It must have stained the gloves he wore, but they were black and the blood wouldn't show. Nnoitra seemed unconvinced.

"Oh really?"

"Yes."

Nnoitra examined the boy's face, searching for insincerity. Though he wouldn't look him in the eye, the Quinta didn't get the impression that he was lying. It was either he was telling the truth, or he was a damn good actor. Nnoitra grunted.

"Good. Now go."

The child hunched his shoulders dejectedly and scampered; he heard the door open and shut as he exited. An expression of disbelief twisted the Quinta's face; he looked like a puppy that had been kicked. So pathetic. Why the hell had Aizen burdened him with the little brat? That should be work for Hallibel or the other female Arrancar, not him. Shaking his head at the unfairness of it all, the tall Espada resumed his late afternoon nap without a second thought.

Tesla watched his master sleep apprehensively, wondering how Lord Aizen would respond when he found him to be neglecting his duties.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Two days passed without a word from the former Octava. In fact, Nnoitra saw not a single pink hair of him for forty-eight hours. Wonderful. He must have found something to occupy himself with in his lab. It was usually that way; the scientist would busy himself with one project or another and go AWOL for days, sometimes even weeks. The only thing that would force him out of his fortress of a lab during his obsessive phases were the mandatory meetings Aizen would call, and even when Szayel showed up, it wasn't hard to tell he was sour about being disturbed.

Other times he was eerily friendly, approaching the other Espada with an amicable smile and a gleam in his yellow eyes that whispered of sinister ulterior motives. Nnoitra was particularly wary of him during these times or whenever he spoke to him casually, words softly sarcastic and phrased to draw a reaction out of him. It could have been the flamboyant man making an attempt at sociability, but Nnoitra couldn't reconcile how he'd just as readily put Arrancar under and use them in his tests with this possibility.

What he was doing now, the Quinta did not care; and so when Aizen called a meeting five days later and the boy still hadn't turned up, Nnoitra thought little of it other than how convenient things had turned out to be. It would appear Szayel could take care of himself.

The Espada meeting was quieter than usual. It was painfully clear, as he arrived late like always, that there was an empty place among their ranks. The scientific, sardonic, pink haired member of the ten was absent. Nnoitra felt eyes turn toward him as he sat down across from the empty seat.

"Thank you for finally joining us, Nnoitra. Would you care to explain where Szayel Aporro is at this time?" Aizen asked coolly.

Nnoitra shrugged, nonchalant.

"Not here," he answered unhelpfully.

"Then where? You are supposed to watch over him at all times."

"Look, I aint no fuckin' babysitter," Nnoitra growled, irritated that even when he wasn't immediately around, the former Octava still caused problems for him. Aizen steepled his fingers at the head of the table, looking unimpressed by his bravado.

"If that is so, then maybe the next time you are hit with the urge to maim your fellow Espada, you will refrain from doing it. Or pick a more expendable target."

Nnoitra ground his teeth, an action he knew he'd be falling back upon more and more frequently.

"Fine my Lord. I'll go play with him after we get off business here."

"You needn't play, Nnoitra. All you have to do is get him to remember, and however you do that… I won't judge. But remember, the ends justify the means… and if I am not satisfied with the final product you'll be the one to answer for it."

Hell. That man gave him chills. Nnoitra leered unpleasantly and blew his words off with an arrogant "Sure," but in truth, Aizen's threat disturbed him more than he let on. Odious a task as caring for Szayel was, he knew that Aizen would make him hurt if he couldn't get the child Arrancar back to his former state.

And anyways, he'd given him permission to use whatever methods he desired as long as he was successful. So don't screw up, Nnoitra. As long as you don't screw up, everything will be fine. The lanky Espada allowed his face to fix itself into an expression of bored attentiveness and let the rest of the meeting fade into oblivion.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Szayel!"

Nnoitra pounded on the door to Szayel's suite impatiently, waiting for the kid or one of his Fraccion to open the door. He waited this way for about five minutes before losing patience and yelling again.

"Hey you little bitch! If you don't come and open this door in one minute, I'm gonna kick it off its damn hinges."

The Quinta allowed for another sixty seconds to pass before glowering.

"That's it. Better pray your door is unlocked or you're losing it," he threatened as he tried the knob, not expecting it to turn. To his surprise, he felt it give easily in his hand, and the door opened smoothly to admit him. A wonder; Szayel always kept his door locked. To think of it, he hadn't run into any traps on the way over either. Very unusual; the former Octava was notorious for being paranoid. Shrugging, he entered.

"Szayel, where the hell are you?" Nnoitra called, annoyed he was acting weirdly. But the guy had lost his memories after all. Anyways, he's probably sulking that I told him to get out hiding somewhere to piss me off. Asshole.

A savage growl claimed his attention, and glancing over in the direction of the unexpected sound, he caught sight of a feline creature stalking towards him from around a corner. Bony protrusions emerged from the ruff around its throat and all along its spine. Its tail, thin and whiplike with nasty looking barbed grapples on the ends, was forked. Its paws were massive, and ridged claws flexed as it paced forward. Fangs, long and curved, protruded over its jaw like a saber toothed lion.

Nnoitra felt his lips curving into a grin as he sized the animal up; it was enormous, its shoulder coming up to his waist. Here was some entertainment. With a savage roar, the creature pounced, and Nnoitra swung his zanpakuto to hit it in the stomach. It was thrown back by the swing, but instead of opening up a massive gash in the beast's belly, only a shallow slice was inflicted. The animal growled as it recovered its footing, amber eyes narrowing warily, and it began to circle him.

Nnoitra's crazed grin broadened; the thing, whatever it was, had a relatively strong Hierro. Twirling his pole axe casually, he beckoned it over.

"Come on! Don't you want to eat me?" he taunted. The creature's ears flattened as it lunged forward, and Nnoitra laughed condescendingly as he swung his weapon down… on empty air. Santa Teresa wedged in the floor, and while he was still registering how bad that was, the creature seized its chance. A hot wind on the back of his neck was all he got before he was knocked to the floor. The breath was forced out of his lungs by a crushing weight on his back.

Shit.

Teeth closed around the back of his neck, the jaws tensing to sever jugular, windpipe, and vertebrae.

Like hell I'm becoming food for one of Szayel's experiments! Jabbing an elbow into its throat, he felt its mouth go slack and threw it off him, standing up. The Quinta was no longer amused; he was incensed. Striding over to Santa Teresa, he ripped her out of the marble floor, ignoring how the stone cracked and chips flew up as he drug the weapon free. With a bitter grin no less mad than his previous one, he called on his Resurreccion.

"Pray, Santa Teresa."

The thing did not last long after that. He laughed as he hacked it to pieces in a flurry of cuts so fast the average eye could not follow them, and reveled in the gory spray that flecked his face when he finally decapitated it. But that wasn't the pinnacle of his triumph. No, the icing on the cake came when from down the same hall, another feline creature appeared, this one lacking the mane that had graced the other. It loosed a heartrending shriek of sorrow and rage upon the sight of its fallen comrade, and launched itself with no preamble at its murderer. Nnoitra casually sliced up along its abdominal cavity as it hurtled towards him and stepped aside, watching its entrails spill out as it fell. The animal, which he supposed was the mate to the other, spasmed horrifically on the floor before expiring in a pool of blood and offal. Curling his nose at the reek, he stepped over it and down the hall they'd come from. Szayel had to be this way.

That little shit. Sending his experiments after me. When I find him, I'm going to haul his ass off to my wing and beat him until he wishes he were dead.

There; ahead, an open door. Striding into the room, he expected to find a pissed off Espada waiting for him, but instead found nothing. Nnoitra did a double take. He was positive the boy would be here. Irritated, he prepared to leave, but the sound of sniffling captured his attention. Nnoitra looked up.

High on a shelf, looking miserable and petrified, Szayel huddled. As Nnoitra watched, the boy raised his head and peeked over the protective rim of his arms. His face was a mess, streaked with snot and tears. His eye was red rimmed from his crying, and dark circles welled under them from exhaustion. The moment he saw Nnoitra, a flicker of hope ignited in his lachrymose face.

"Are they gone? Did you kill them?" he inquired anxiously, his voice cracking from despair.

Nnoitra looked down at his bloody clothes, then back up at Szayel. The child caught the look, relief melting some of the tension from his face.

"You didn't send them after me?" Nnoitra asked.

The Arrancar shook his head fervently, then shivered.

"God no… they've been roaming around ever since my idiot Fraccion set them free by mistake. They're all dead now, and I've been trapped up here for the last four days… I guess I should count myself lucky I managed to get here where they can't get me, but I haven't been able to sleep in case I fall off… and they're clever. They've come close to, t-to…"

Tears threatened the coherency of his explanation as he broke down crying, and Nnoitra was torn between his irritation with him and a feeling of wonder. Four days he'd been up there, under constant psychological stress not to mention the physical needs of his own body. All things considering, he could have been much worse off. He had a stronger composition than he'd initially supposed.

Still, Nnoitra gave him a look of disgust as he watched him sob. He was fine now, wasn't he? No need to bawl like a- child… well shit, I guess he is one. But he's a fucking Espada too, or he was.

"Dipshit," was all he said as he reached up to the boy. Szayel crawled to the rim of his ledge, bending forward to grab his proffered hands. Nnoitra tugged him off, and he fell into his arms, immediately clinging to his chest with a needy sort of panic. Taken by surprise by this reaction, he stared at the shivering mass of boy that pressed against him for a minute before acting. With a scowl, he peeled the former Octava off of him and shook him.

"Get a hold of yourself, Grantz!" he yelled to his face.

What the hell was that clinginess? Has his personality really done a 180? Nnoitra found himself regarding the pink haired Arrancar before him with confusion. The boy himself seemed shocked out of his little meltdown, for he bit his trembling lower lip and blinked the tears out of his eye.

"Y-yeah…" he finally muttered, and Nnoitra put him down. He proceeded to fiddle with his clothing, trying to straighten out the wrinkles manually and periodically reaching up to wipe his eyes or adjust his glasses and hair. That was more like the vain Espada, so concerned about appearance. Making a noise of dismissal, he turned on his heel and began to walk out.

"Aizen got pissed at me for hauling off and leaving you alone, so you're just gonna have to tag along," he remarked to the open air. His comment was met only with the soft patter of footsteps as Szayel followed him. Nnoitra's mood steadily darkened as they made their way back to his quarters, though he couldn't quite put a finger on the reason. By the time Tesla greeted them at the door to his room, he pushed the boy towards him.

"Here. He'll be sleeping with you Tesla. Any complaints, brat?"

He glanced down at Szayel, who shook his head wordlessly.

"That's settled then. I'll deal with all this shit in the morning; I'm not in the mood to think right now," the Quinta rumbled. He made as if to turn and leave, but paused just before he actually stepped out of the room. A sly expression crossed his face as he considered his slender Fraccion, and he reached toward him languorously, hand coming to rest on his shoulder.

"Except you'll be coming to my room tonight."

Tesla's eyes widened slightly as he looked down at Szayel, then back at Nnoitra. The Quinta leered, as if to ask if there was any problem with his order. The blonde Fraccion's lips thinned ever so slightly, but he dipped his head in acquiescence, murmuring softly,

"As you wish, Nnoitra-sama."

Nnoitra left them to acquaint themselves, and Tesla looked over at the child Arrancar, searching his face for some sort of reaction. Finding no emotion in particular on his face, which he noted was filthy, he settled for pointing out a few of the important amenities hesitantly.

"Over there is my bed, and if you walk down a ways, you'll find the bathroom. You can clean up there if you wish. I'll be back… later, if you need anything."

The child returned his cautious words with slight nod to show he'd understood, and Tesla took his leave of him, feeling his large golden eyes watch him as he left the room. Though he hadn't said anything, the Fraccion felt a distinct chill from the boy that made him uncomfortable.

Szayel stood by the door for a minute or two, gazing blankly at where the two other Arrancar had departed before he finally stirred himself to walk over to Tesla's bed and curl up under the covers without bothering to visit the bathroom to wash his face. But however he buried his pink tufted head in the pillows, he couldn't drown out the noises that sounded from the next room over.


Author's Notes:

Joy. ;~; I managed to get this chapter up today too, although now I doubt I'll have time for FP. I'd stay up late finishing that one if I didn't have to get up tomorrow. That one takes priority next; I've been far too bad about updating it. But that doesn't matter, since it doesn't have anything to do with this fic. Well, here is part two of my late birthday gift to my readers. On Monday, I got the crazy idea to update all my fics by the end of this week. Well, two out of three is good, no? I'll wrangle the last one tomorrow.

Chapter three of Impressions is a bit overdue as well, so my apologies for that. Hopefully it was worth the wait. Its nothing special in my humble opinion, but then, I feel ambivalent to most of my chapters. And there is nothing in particular that needs clarification, so I'll keep this AN short. How did Szayel get up to his ledge? I'd originally intended for him to climb up onto a stack of boxes, which he then overturned as he jumped for the ledge, which is actually a shelf for textbooks, which he ended up throwing at the cat-like creatures in the beginning before he ran out. This didn't endear him towards them a bit. Of course, I left this out of the story because as you may have noticed, its mostly from Nnoitra's point of view. I suppose I could have mentioned the overturned boxes and shredded books littering the floor. Ah, well, that's what this section is for.

Read and review please. ^^ It encourages me to update more frequently. Plus, I love getting constructive crit on my writing or feedback on what you especially liked and such. Gracias por leer. :3

~Tinari

Edit: Deleted and reuploaded because for some reason, the chapter wouldn't show up. Hopefully it will now...