2
-Szayel groped along the wall urgently, feeling for the light switch as he held the girl with one arm and his raised knee. He finally felt the smooth resin plate and snapped it on filling the small tiled room with light. It was a cold washroom as industrial as the lab adjacent to it. He sat her down on the cold porcelain toilet and pulled open the chrome door above it to reveal a deep cupboard. He pulled out several large white towels and hung them over a metal rack behind the door and shut the door. He tried to move quickly seeing her cold pain; the last thing he needed was to have her die of hypothermia. He forcefully shoved aside the curtains over the shower and pulled out the knob, turning it over to its highest heat.
-The water banged against the wall and finally spat through the shower head. A gentle spray of cold water erupted against the tiled wall as szayel adjusted the height . as the water grew warmer he turned the knob back to the center, so it would not grow hot enough to burn her. While he thought of this he suddenly realized he would have a definite problem having her wash herself, as she could hardly sit upright.
-He pulled open his shirt from the seam in the middle and removed his boots and zanpakuto and laid them on the floor. He sighed in dismay at the thought of standing in soaking wet pants trying to keep his glasses from spotting, but pulled aside the curtain, stood up the girl, and helped her into the deep tub all the same.
-She flinched and slipped a bit as the jet of water beat onto her back. "is it too hot?" he asked, struggling to hold her upright. "No, it feels good," she said backing into the water and almost trying to nestle into it as if it were a blanket. "You'll be warm soon, it just takes a little time for the room to heat up, alright?" he said, "hold still. Hang onto me."
-He reached for a smooth white bar of soap sitting in a little nook in the wall. He rubbed it in his hands working up a lather. "Hang on," he ordered as he reached out of the shower and pulled a cloth off the rack. She held on tightly. "Good girl, up now." He rubbed the soap onto the cloth and worked it up into a white bubbly cream. "You can let loose," he muttered almost irritated. "you're warm," she sighed, eyes closed and calm. "Yes, I know, but you will be warm soon too. Now please let go," he sighed trying to wash her back despite the current of fresh water beating the washrag.
-"I need you to follow me, step forward," he stepped back and pulled her from the jet. It was exponentially easier to wash her now. He gently scrubbed at the tiny bead of dried blood the peppered her arms and back and eventually passing over all of her skin. He checked her over a second time, indifferently inspecting her limbs and trunk. Other than the bruises, not a speck could be seen on her skin, however, the water running around her feet and on szyael's hands was a watery brown-red from the washed and dried blood. He threw the cloth to the bottom of the tub and rinsed his hands behind her back. "Hang onto me again , alright?" he bent to reach for a bottle on the ledge of the tub. A horrible slipping and squeaking noise came from behind him and before he could turn he felt her slam into his back. He winced slightly in pain but flipped himself back around in time to catch her, falling face first toward the bottom of the tub. "ok, ok just sit!" he panicked sitting her down out of the current of the jet. He stood and turned the jet of water away from them. "Are you alright," the noise alone seemed to have irritated her; she was covering one ear with her hand and trembling, eyes forced shut. "it's ok, you won't fall anymore." He took the bottle he was reaching for and emptied some of the liquid inside onto his palms. "You're worse than a infant," he muttered, working the solution into her hair.
-A greasy and heavy feeling slipped around between his fingers and the soap near the top of her scalp. He worked the soap in more and eventually poured more from the bottle onto his hands and continued. Her hair grew with the foaming bubbles until he squeezed out the excess soap. Her hair was a light brown while it was wet and soapy. He ran his fingers up to her scalp and began to massage it lightly to rid it of any excess dirt or oils and lure blood to her skull.
-She blinked around innocently and began to look around the shower. She stared hard at Szayel. "can you see quite yet?"
-"I think so." She looked down at herself and then at Szayel who was kneeled, soaking wet with his hair and pants plastered close to his body. "You look different than me. "
-Szayel smiled. "Yes, you're a little hurt. The purple will go away. they're just bruises"
-"your legs are very long," she commented, wiggling her own.
-She stared around a few moments as he finished with her hair.
-"The steam is pretty. Smokey," she commented.
-Her actualization of steam surprised him. "What is steam? What phase of matter?" szayel asked, half-expectantly.
-"vapor," she replied quietly.
-"what defines a vapor? Makes it different than a solid?"
-"the speed of the molecules. The temperature rises, the molecules speed up, they separate and become a vapor," she replied casually.
-Szayel's hand stopped, stiff in her hair. He could hardly believe that she had just recited such information. He half- expected her to know almost nothing . Phases of matter were in no way complex but they were a glimmer of dear hope to szayel that she may possess endless knowledge. "very good," he responded after a while. "turn around with me, I need to rinse off your hair," he prodded , exchanging positions on the bottom of the tub with her. Her back was now to the water and he was farther from the jet. He stepped over her shoulder and adjusted the water to fall onto her head and back. Gently , he rinsed her hair , searching the dark-colored strands for a hint at what colors her hair might contain. Here and there a hue of light purple surfaced under the light, but for the most part it was brown. As he was creating her, her hair grew in with all sorts of color, in patches and not at all the same thickness or shade. As it grew out it had also grown quite dirty and chemical-soaked. In the absence of medicines and chemicals, he wasn't quite sure what color it would be.
-"Lean your head back, I need to get your hairline," he instructed.
-She obeyed and instantly started spitting up water and coughing.
-"Ah! You have to hold your breath!" he exclaimed, agitated.
-She coughed up water, rubbing her face. "what?"
-"look at me" he held her hand to his nose and held his breath. "see, no air in or out. " he took a deep breath and slowly breathed out.
-"you were breathing then," she commented.
-"yes, but only outward. If you breathe in, you will get water in your nose. Alright?"
-She nodded and leaned her head back into his hands again. She held her breath better but still seemed to have some trouble, and would panicingly rub her face and gasp suddenly.
-After much splashing, Szayel sat her back upright and removed his glasses. He could see just about as well either way with all the steam and water on the lenses. "you're a lot of work," he grumbled, sighing deeply.
-"im sorry," she apologized quietly.
-"it's not entirely your fault. I didn't plan as well as I should have," he snapped to himself.
-He reached to the far wall and pushed the knob back into the wall, stopping the water and stood, dripping loudly. He stepped out onto a towel he had lied down on the floor. He quickly grabbed the large towels through the clouds of steam in the room. He wrapped one around the girl's shoulders and pulled her to her feet. She seemed more steady on them now , but she still leaned heavily onto him. He gently bent her over and wrapped the second towel around her hair, and stood her upright again. She seemed slightly unbalanced by this and wobbled for a moment. After balancing her, Szayel reached back to the cabinet and grabbed another towel which he wrapped around his dripping waist and led her back out into the lab.