With the Captains suffering casualties and heavy injuries on their side, all hope seemed to be lost... until Shinji Hirako appeared, along with the rest of the former Shinigami. Though the aid of the Vizards certainly helped to draw the battle in their favor, it seemed Aizen's power alone proved too much for them.
When the thermometer beeped Szayel pulled it out of his mouth. He told him that he had a fever. This led to a small frown on the face of the Vizard; he didn't feel feverish. Of course, he knew better than anyone how he had a large tolerance to temperature change. His inner world made feeling any kind of heat or lack thereof nearly impossible. Then Szayel pinched his wrist and watched the skin bounce back. Alexei looked at his wrist curiously. He held it up and turned it about as he squinted at it. What had Szayel just done?
"You are dehydrated..."
The young Vizard looked up at Szayel with eyes of wonder. How had the Arrancar known that? Was it something to do with his wrist? No, that couldn't be it. How did his wrist have anything to do with his water-level.
"Szayel-sama, how do you know that? Is it on a sensor of some sort?"
Alexei then watched as Szayel filled a bowl with a pink sludge of some sorts. Maybe it was a paste to be rubbed on him? Maybe it would heal his wounds or re-hydrate him. These were all good assumptions, but they would most likely prove to be wrong. Come on, it's Alexei. When is he ever right?
Szayel continued to tell him that he was rather ill. Again, that was strange. He didn't feel ill. Not in the slightest. All he felt was a little tension in his chest from the cuts he had suffered from Xuan. However, if Szayel said it, it must be true.
"Szayel-sama, I don't really feel sick. However, if you say so, it must be true."
"I'd think you were getting smart with me, if you had an ounce of intelligence to begin with," Szayel chuckled as Alexei claimed not to feel sick. The boy was too stupid to be lying; Szayel doubted that he was. He took a mental note of where Xuan was - loitering near Alexei's cell. He pulled the microphone from his collar and held it to his mouth. "Xuan-kun, come here."
The sound echoed slightly, and the pink-haired arrancar slipped the microphone back into his collar. Xuan would be by shortly.
"I do recall you asking for food," Szayel said, still holding the bowl of pink sludge. He would send Xuan back to the boy's cell with antibiotics later, but for now he would give the boy the odd substance. "This is it, Alexei-kun, I can't say for the taste but you're in no real position to mind."
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
Alexei simply smiled as Szayel insulted him. It wasn't that the boy was enjoying getting insulted. It was simply that he didn't recognize what the Arrancar was saying as insults. He felt that an ounce was some unit of measure for intelligence and Szayel seemed pretty assured that Alexei didn't posses quite enough for that. Wondering how much of an ounce he had, Alexei figured he might as well ask.
"Szayel-sama, if I don't have a full ounce of intelligence, how much to I have? A half-ounce maybe?"
Alexei looked at the Arrancar with big, innocent eyes. He really was that stupid. Now Szayel was calling Xuan. The Vizard wondered what that could be fore but decided it wasn't really his business. He simply sat and smiled. Humming slightly to himself, he felt something was wrong. Oh yeah, he was really hungry. That might be a little bit of a problem. Looking down at his stomach, he acknowledged that he was really cut up. He hoped Szayel would heal him somewhat. Maybe, possibly.
Now Szayel was handing him a bowl of pink sludge. He took it graciously and gave a small smile to the Arrancar.
"Thank you Szayel-sama."
He raised the bowl to his face and ate a bit. He had to do this in a crude way as a spoon was not provided for him. It tasted kind of odd. Like sugar-flavored toothpaste. However, after eating quite a bit of it, Alexei had grown to love it. He lowered the bowl and licked his lips. He was only halfway done with the sludge but felt the need to compliment Szayel on the tastiness of this treat.
Szayel could not help but bring a palm to his forehead when the boy asked if he perhaps had half an ounce of intelligence. No, the boy's head was completely empty. And not only did the boy thank Szayel for the oddly-colored food, but he also said that it tasted delicious.
The door opened, and Xuan entered, his hands in his pockets and his eyes bored. "You called, Szayel-sama?"
"Yes...take him to his cell for now, and return after you've dropped him off," Szayel murmured, walked off to another section of the laboratory. He would give the boy a fair amount of antibiotics to keep off the infections, and he would have to send more food to the boy since he was ill. Bothersome as it was, he was regrowing several of his old fraccion. He could spend that time addressing them.
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
When Xuan entered the room Alexei turned his head to him. He gave a wave and smiled. To him, Xuan was a friend. The Vizard was unaware of how Xuan really felt about him. Thus, he continued these acts of kindness. Even if he did know how Xuan felt he wouldn't have changed his attitude. Alexei was nice to everyone, whether they deserved it or not.
However, this whole time he had been cursing them within his head. There was a conflict between how he acted and how he felt. Of course, how he acted was external. But it was beginning to win out. He was beginning to actually enjoy his situation and honestly mean what he said to Szayel and Xuan. As such, he meant every word of this.
"Privet Xuan-san, nice to see you again."
Szayel then told Xuan to take Alexei to his cell. On cue, Alexei stood up from the table and walked over to Xuan. With a smile he prepared to follow the Arrancar. He rocked back on his heels a little and then bounced slightly.
"Privet, Xuan-san, nice to see you again," the vizard greeted. He stood up and gleefully consented that Xuan could lead the way. Xuan cocked his head at the empty bowl of...whatever that slop Szayel fed his subjects was. The boy had little bits and pieces on his face, so he must have been eating it. Xuan's nose crinkled. "Lead the way, Xuan-san."
"Same as last time, idiot," he muttered impatiently, leading Alexei out of the cell. He would have liked to smack that grin off of the vizard's face - he was a test subject, not a damn patient. By all rights he should have been trembling in fear. But Szayel's orders came first, no matter what Xuan wanted to do.
The door closed behind them. Szayel smiled to himself. The boy would recover, he would send Xuan out to find new subjects, and he would have a few of his old fraccion ready for use. Life was good - for him at least. [end]
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.