She laid on her makeshift bed, the large white couch pushed against the left side of her room, with an arm over her eyes. Orihime was in that unusual middle ground of consciousness that everyone despises, where you’re not fully asleep but not fully awake either. She groaned softly, her internal clock sensing that Ulquiorra would soon enter her room and announce that it was time to eat breakfast.

‘ Actually, it’s more like threaten me to finish all my food this time or else he’ll be forced to give me an IV or shove the food down my throat,’ she corrected herself, turning over and pushing the covers to the end of the couch.  ‘ No matter how many times Ulquiorra threatens me, though, he never carries it out.’

She pushed herself off the couch and stretched, letting out a loud, long yawn.  Orhime’s back was to the door when the handle started to jiggle. The door opened creakily and a form entered the room.

“ I thought you usually announced yourself before you entered, Ulqui-” she started, turning around to face him. Orihime stopped, however, as she noticed that the Espada before her was most definitely not Ulquiorra. Instead, a pink haired, bespectacled man stood before her, an amused grin plastered on his face.

She blushed in embarrassment. “ I’m sorry, Szayel Aporro-san. I wasn’t expec- I thought you were Ulquiorra,” she finished lamely.

He shook his head, the pink strands moving about his face. “ That is quite alright, Orihime-san. May I inquire,” Szayel said, taking a few steps closer to her, “ how it is you know who I am?”

“ Ah, well, Ulquiorra told me about the other Espada and their physical descriptions and things like that, “ she answered truthfully, taking in his appearance. It had been so long since she had really seen another being, with the exception of Ulquiorra and Aizen, that a new face was more than welcome.

“ Oh?” Szayel remarked curiously, crossing his arms across his chest, “ The Cuarta Espada isn’t exactly known for being particularly chit-chatty. How very peculiar indeed.”

“ It was an exchange,” Orihime explained, “ He said he would answer anything I had to ask and, in exchange, I would have to finish my meal.”

Szayel nodded. “ In that case, his behavior makes sense. Anyway, we should get going.” He walked toward the door but stopped, noticing Orihime stood planted to the ground.

“ Um, Szayel Aporro-san, I’m not supposed to leave the room,” she said, wringing her hands together nervously. “If Ulquiorra finds out-”

He shook his head. “ No need for you to worry about that. Ulquiorra is out on a very important mission for Aizen-sama, so I have been temporarily assigned to watch you until he returns. However, I can’t allow myself to get behind in my own duties, so you’ll need to come with me to my domain.”

“R-really?” Orihime asked, looking slightly hopeful. As nice as her room was, a golden cage was still a cage. Anyway, she was probably developing a bit of cabin fever. “ Okay, then, I guess we should go.”

Exiting the room, they walked down the halls, Orihime lagging behind. Noticing this, Szayel slowed down a bit so that they walked side by side. She blushed lightly and murmured an apology.

“ No need to apologize, Orihime-san,” he replied, a grin spreading on his face. “ So, what exactly did the Cuarta Espada have to say about his fellow comrades?”

She was so used to walking in silence when she was with Ulquiorra, Orihime jumped at the sound of his voice. Szayel let out a chuckle while her face turned a bright shade of pink. “ About whom specifically, Szayel Aporro-san?”

“ Me, hopefully,” he replied, a hint of humor in his voice, “ and perhaps anyone else you feel is worth mentioning? And please, you don’t have to be so formal with me. Call me Szayel. ”

Orihime let out a nervous laugh. “ Ulquiorra didn’t really have a lot to say about you, Szayel-san. He just said that you were the scientist, of sorts, in Las Noches, and that you had pink hair and glasses. He had some choice words for some of the other Espada, but, um, they’re not something I could repeat,” she finished, blushing furiously.

Szayel looked at her out the corner of his eye. “ That’s all he had to say about me, huh? Well, that’s almost down right kind, coming from Ulquiorra. Grimmjow and Nnoitra, right?”

“Huh?” she asked, looking around at her surroundings are realizing she had never been in this area of Las Noches before. The again, the only places she had been in her Aizen’s throne room and her own room.

“ The other Espada that he had “choice words” for,” Szayel explained, walking up to the entrance of his domain and pushing the door open, “ They were Grimmjow and Nnoitra.”
Orhime nodded. “ Yeah.”

Szayel mirrored her movements and tilted his head slightly, inspecting her. No little detail escaped his attention. After all, meticulousness was in the nature of a scientist. He noted the way her long, bright orange hair framed her face, held back with two light blue flower clips (where her powers originate from, he remembered Aizen telling him), and the way the white and black uniform hugged her body in certain places and floated away in others. Her hands wrung together in a nervous fashion, with her shoulders slumped over ever so slightly, as if there was a weight on her shoulders that was getting increasingly heavier. Most obvious, however, was the amount of life, of light, that radiated from her entire being.

‘ Interesting,’ he contemplated. Noticing that she began to feel self-conscious under his gaze, he turned and motioned for her to enter.

“ It’s not much, but this is where I call home.”

Orihime’s eyes widened in wonder. His domain was enormous, especially when compared to her room; it was wide with very high, almost cathedral-like, ceilings. He watched the emotions play on her face, and noted how they played on her face.

‘ That lucky bastard,’ Szayel thought enviously, ‘ Does Ulquiorra even realize what an amazing specimen he has in the palms of his hands? Probably not.’

Orihime turned to him, a small smile on her face. “ Do you also have a lab here, Szayel-san?”

“ Yes, of course,” he replied, pushing up his glasses with a finger, “ what is a scientist without one?”

“ So, are you one of those mad scientists, like in all those really old horror movies?” she chirped, curiosity getting the best of. She held her hands close to her chest, awaiting his reply.

“ I’m sure some would argue that,” Szayel replied, chuckling a bit as he moved closer to her. “ And as much as I would love to show you some of my research, I’m sure Aizen-sama would be very displeased with me.”

She deflated a bit. “ Oh, well, I guess it’s for the best, then.”

They stood that way for a moment, a very neutral look on Orihime’s face as she continued inspecting his domain with a critical eye. It pleased him, for reasons that he couldn’t quite understand, that she behaved like that. Suddenly, the realization hit him.

“ You’re very inquisitive and very observant, aren’t you, Orihime-san?” he asked, standing in front of her and placing his hands on his hips. “ Those are the signs of a very good scientist.”
Orhime blushed at his words, laughing nervously. “ T-thank you, Szayel-san. You’re too kind.”

He shook his head. “ Not at all. It’s the truth. I think,” he continued, placing an arm around her shoulder and walking deeper into the domain, “ it would be a shame to let this blossoming scientist go to waste.”

“ R-really?” She stiffened at his touch, but didn’t move his arm. “ So, does that mean-?”

His hair covered his eyes, but she saw his grin widen. “ Yes, I have to let you see at least one experiment before you go, Orihime-san.”

They continued to walk deeper and deeper into his domain, a multitude of doors on either side of them. Orihime felt like they would go on forever and ever, causing the anxiety and dread to build up inside of her.

“ Um, Szayel-san?”  she asked.

He glanced at her quickly. “ Yes, Orihime-san?”

“ You’re-you’re not going to show me anything too, er, dangerous, are you?”

Szayel stopped for a moment, staring at her. After a moment, he continued walking her towards their destination.

“ It seems that Ulquiorra felt it necessary to let you know the nature of my...experiments,” Szayel  replied, his voice very level.

Orihime glanced up at him. “ Yes.” She paused for a moment. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

A small smile made it’s way onto his lips. “ No need to apologize. Don’t worry. I wouldn’t ever think of showing you anything too dangerous. Anyway,” he stated, “ there would be more than a few people who would be upset if anything were to happen to you.”

“ Upset? Like wh-” she started.

“ Ah, we’re here,” Szayel announced, unlocking the door and opening it. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her inside.

‘ She seems warm, ‘ he noted, making sure to remember all the details of this entire encounter, ‘ Although it’s hard to determine this with my gloves on. Her cheeks are red, though, which seems to support my theory.’

Orihime wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when she entered the room. A large part of her was worried that she would find hundreds of Hollows in cages, kind of like in the images she had seen of primates back in her world, or perhaps something being dissected on a pure-white table, still alive and thrashing about in pain and horror. Although it wasn’t nearly as bad as she had expected, it still caused a chill to crawl up her spine.

“ Szayel Aporro-sama! Szayel Aporro-sama! You came to visit us!”  two weird, sphere-like beings exclaimed, bounding their way towards them. Orihime moved closer to Szayel, gently gripping the the fabric of his sleeves as best she could. He couldn’t help as the smile on his face grew wider at the contact.

The two stopped in front of them, and looked up at the woman curiously. “ Szayel Aporro-sama?” Lumina said, “ Who is that woman?”

The other let out a noise of triumph. “ You owe me! I told you Szayel Aporro-sama wasn’t gay!” Verona cried out, much to the frustration of the other, who begrudgingly handed him something that couldn’t be identified.

Szayel was about to go to punish his fraccion (‘ I can always make more Caja Negacions and fraccion anyway, he rationalized) when the three heard light giggling. Orihime looked mortified and amused at the same time, a hand covering her mouth to keep the laughter from escaping.

“ I’m sorry, Szayel-san,” Orihime replied, in between her laughter, “ I didn’t mean to laugh.”

‘ Another thing I must remember to record. Her laughter is very light and pleasant. Like...’ He thought for a moment for a comparison, but came up blank.

Szayel glared at the two with a look that promised them hell later and smiled sheepishly. “ It’s quite alright. My fraccion are rather...amusing, aren’t they?” The fraccion looked at each other with worry.

“ Yes, they are. So, you’re the one who created them?” she questioned, watching the bizarre Arrancar as they bounced in place.

“ Unfortunately,” he remarked, “ What are you two doing in here? You know that this area is restricted. Leave now, or else you’ll regret stepping one foot in this room.”

As soon as they had appeared, the two were gone. Orihime blinked, confused. Turning to him, she asked, “ They weren’t the experiments you wanted to show me?”

He shook his head. “ No.”  Szayel took her hand again and brought her to the center of the room, where a pedestal stood. On top of the pedestal was a pure white cube with a little speaker on the front, or, at least, what Orihime assumed to be the front of the machine. There a bunch of tools randomly strewn about on the tables near the creation. She looked at him, and, after seeing his nod of approval, she moved her hands across the surface. It was cold and smooth.

“What is it?” she asked, turning back to him.

“ This?” Well, it’s...” Szayel trailed off. He let out an embarrassed laugh. “ I’m not sure at the moment. It’s the outer case for a robot. I haven’t decided what it should do.”

Orihime smiled, a twinkle in her eyes. “ Maybe you should make it an Ulquiorra translator. Really, sometimes it feels like he’s speaking another language,” she suggested jokingly.

He put his chin between his point and thumb. “ An Ulquiorra translator, huh? That’s not a bad idea, actually.” He grabbed a clipboard and started to frantically write down notes, ignoring Orihime’s protests that she was only joking.

‘ Very intelligent,’ Szayel wrote, looking at the young woman out the corner of his eye, ‘ and has an amusing sense of humor. ’

Finishing up the last bit of notes, he placed the clipboard on the table and turned to her. “ Well, shall we be going?” he said, placing his hand on the small of her back. She nodded, and the two walked in silence. The walk back felt much shorter, although that was probably due to the lack of anxiety on Orihime’s part.

“ Thank you for showing your creation to me, Szayel-san. It was very interesting!” Orihime replied happily, a bright smile on her face. “ It’s been so long since I’ve seen something new, I was starting to go a bit crazy.”

He smirked. “ I know exactly how you feel, Orihime-san,” he agreed, removing his gloves and taking a strand of hair between his fingers.

‘ Smooth as silk, just like I thought they would be,’ Szayel reflected.

Orihime started to feel warm, her body shaking lightly. “ Wha-what are you doing?”

“ I wonder, Orihime,” he said, his grin widening as he pushed her against one of the walls. It did not escape her that he had dropped the formal title from her name. She pushed herself closer against the wall, her breathing rapid. “ ...if all of you is this silky smooth...”

His fingers grazed the skin of her cheeks, following the curve of her jaw. She let out a small gasp at the contact of skin and skin, causing him to chuckle darkly. His thumb rubbed the apple of her cheeks and he leaned in close to her ears.

“ You are truly a one of a kind specimen, Orihime...” he murmured, his lips grazing her skin so lightly, she couldn’t help but grip the front of his shirt to keep from making noise.

“ Szayel. What do you think you are doing?” a cold voice came from behind. Szayel groaned softly.

‘ He just had to come back, just when I was getting to the interesting part,’ he thought bitterly. Turning around, he was greeted with the sight of a fairly pissed off Cuatra Espada. If looks could kill, he would have been many times over.

“ Ah, so you’re back already, Ulquiorra?” Szayel said, pulling away from Orihime. “ I wasn’t expecting you to be back so soon.”

Ulquiorra’s eyes narrowed. “ Obviously.” The two glared at each other, their reiastu’s flairing; it was beginning to become too oppressive for Orihime. Clearing her throat, she gained the attention of the two males in front of her.

“ Um, Ulquiorra, I was wondering. Is there any way that I can have clothing with color?” she asked randomly, effectively dissipating any tension there had been between the two Espada.

Szayel understood what she was trying to do and decided to follow suit. “ I agree with you, Orihime,” he stated, causing the green-eyed Espada to turn his gaze at him, “ Although white and black is nice, you could do with some clothing with color. I think pink would look very nice on you.”

He looked Orihime straight in the eyes, causing her to turn a very deep shade of red at his implication.

“ I disagree,” Ulquiorra said, coming up to her and placing his hand on her back, pushing her away from the Octava Espada. She looked up at him curiously. “ Pink doesn’t suit you.”

“ Is that so?” Szayel questioned, running his fingers through his hair, “ And what color do you think would suit Orihime best?”

The Cuatra Espada held his gaze with the pink-haired Espada for a few moments before responding. “ Green, obviously.” In a flash, the two were gone, leaving Szayel to stare at where they had been just moments before. Letting out a sigh, he decided to get back to his experiments.

‘ Inoue Orihime, huh?’ he reminisced, bringing his fingers to his lips, ‘ Definitely requires a more in depth investigation.’