Scott stared at each of his three primary companions one after the other. Their expressions were a mixture of amusement and shame for the most part, though Kitty also held an air of annoyance about her.

"So. Your shower is broken and you need to take one here instead?" asked Scott slowly. He eyed the tattered clothing two of the three girls wore, and the ridiculously fluffy fur that Kitty now sported. The poor cat's fur stood completely on end resulting in an appearance similar to a large orange puffball.

"Yes," said Samantha. A hint of a smirk crept onto her lips after she spoke.

Scott's eyes narrowed slightly. Clearly there was a story here, but they did not seem that interested in discussing it. "I have no problem with you all showering here, but what happened to yours?"

Saelil's hands curled into fists and she muttered something under her breath. Samantha's mild smirk widened into a warm smile. In a strangely cheerful tone she said, "Electrical problem."

Saelil snorted and then Kitty raised her nose. Scott rubbed the side of his nose and fought down a smile of his own. He had obviously missed something fun. Still, there was no sense in trying to press them for answers on something that had nothing to do with him.

"Shower's free... Vita and Chaine are watching television in the living room, if anyone cares to go see them," said Scott.

Kitty threw her head back and stalked forward. Her puffball body fluttering in the air as she moved. "Let these two shower. I don't need it."

"Because you can bathe without water?" asked Samantha lightly.

Kitty snorted then lashed her tail imperiously before she looked up at Scott. "If anyone needs me, I'll be resting in our room."

"Our room...?" asked Saelil, a hint of an edge in her voice.

"Hmph!" exclaimed Kitty before she padded off towards the bedroom, her nose in the air and her fur waving majestically in a self-created breeze.

Two sets of feminine eyes stared off after her for a moment, but they then looked to each other. Their mutual gazes lingered briefly. Many things were spoken without the need for words. However, there was one topic that truly needed to be discussed.

"Since you ruined my bath, I shall bathe first," said Saelil.

Samantha's eyebrow rose up. "Oh? So you think that you're going to get to go first, when my shower is wrecked?"

Saelil strode closer to her compatriot and thrust her chest outward, "It would be perfectly fine had someone not acted like a hateful child."

Samantha's lips curved upward into a cheerful smile that somehow did not reach her eyes. In a smug tone of voice she said, "I agree. So, I should go first."

"You..." said Saelil in a strangely conflicting tone of voice that carried both a cold tone and a heated edge in her inflection.

Scott took a short sharp little breath, schooled his expression into one of calm rationality, and then casually said, "You know, it's big enough for two if you can't decide on the order."

Samantha nearly choked on her own smug smile for a moment as she realized what Scott had said. She whirled around to face him once more then said, "Ha. You'd like that wouldn't you?"

He maintained his calm and rational demeanor, for the most part. "I'm just putting it out there."

"Bathe with this creature?" asked Saelil haughtily. "I'd sooner never bathe again."

"Sounds good," said Samantha before she started toward the hallway that lead to the bathroom. She nearly passed by Scott before Saelil's voice reached her.

"Where is it that you think you are going?" asked Saelil in annoyance. "No one has decided that you will bathe first."

Samantha turned toward her, now standing at Scott's side. "Didn't we? I was a Marine before I became a bounty hunter."

"What does your occupation have to do with anything?" demanded Saelil.

The pony-tailed powerhouse leaned forward slightly. "Ancient traditions as they are, federation marines do everything together during training. We fought as a team. We ate as a team. We bathed as a team."

Saelil withdrew slightly from the strangely intense, yet still smug, expression on Samantha's face. "A creature such as yourself actually did all of that with other people? You don't seem the type."

Samantha withdrew slightly herself, a complicated expression crossing her face in the process. The calm mask of superiority had slipped away briefly. However, it quickly returned with along a slightly icy tone in her voice. "Whatever. I am not a child. Bathing in the same room as another member of my team is nothing to me."

Saelil frowned at the blond bounty hunter, but said nothing. The only sound that she made was a slightly heated snort that took several seconds to appear.

"So, it's settled then..." said Scott lightly as he stepped a little closer to Samantha, "Team bathing exercise it is!"

Nostrils flared just before Saelil closed her eyes and snorted once more. "Beloved, why are you so determined for me to bathe with this wo—" she began, her eyes opening. However, a sharp stabbing pain erupted behind her eyes. The world seemed to slow down for a moment as the two people who stood before her seemed to change.

Scott's appearance changed only slightly, though he did also seem to grow quite a bit taller. His hair darkened back to a more normal color for a human, and his tail disappeared. Where once he wore his black nano-cloud suit, he now wore battered and blood-stained armor more akin to the fashion of her home world. His expression, once an oddly endearing mixture of humor and delight, shifted to one that was taciturn and serious.

Samantha's appearance changed more drastically alongside the same strange height difference that Scott enjoyed. Her well-toned body became even more physically powerful while still retaining strong feminine appeal. Instead of her tattered soft-suit, she wore only an apron. Her complicated expression remained, but changed slightly to include a pensive nature.

For the briefest of moment's Saelil looked up at these giants who seemed oddly similar to both her beloved and her current bane. However, as quickly as the surreal event had occurred did the world restore itself to its normal state. Saelil shook her head slowly, then blinked away the residual images.

"So, we're agreed?" asked Samantha. "I'll shower first?"

Saelil took a slow breath then turned away from her companions. "Do as you wish."

Samantha regarded her for a moment, an obvious desire to speak writ large on her features. However, she curtailed that desire and nodded. "I'll go ahead."

Scott watched her wander off toward the bathroom then turned to Saelil. "Hey, is everything alright?"

"Yes. I am fine," said Saelil. Her melancholy tone spoke volumes that she did not. She was most certainly not fine.

He pressed her a bit. "Look, if it's about the shower—" only to have her cut him off with a shake of her head.

"It is nothing more than the events of the day catching up with me," she said in a soft tone. She forced herself to look into his eyes and then tried her best to level a warm smile in his direction. "I am merely a bit tired, beloved."

"I suppose that makes sense..." said Scott.

A brief moment of silence passed between them. He was not the most empathetic of souls on his best day, though he was the type of individual who tried to help his friends. Unable to decide on the best course of action, and absolutely certain that she was holding something back from him, he hit upon a reasonable compromise. "Bet your blood sugar's a little low. Let me find you something to eat."

Saelil started to speak up, to say that she did not want to eat. However, Scott had already rushed toward the kitchen. "You know," he called from the kitchen, "If your blood sugar is low it can make you super tired... Something quick is best."

"Beloved," said Saelil as she slowly moved into the kitchen. "This is not necessary."

Scott ignored her quite statement and spied something that might work. "Here we go!"

He turned to her and made an offering. "Would you like an apple?"

Saelil froze in place as though her body had completely locked into its current position. Slowly, her eyes widened and she mouthed the words that he had just spoken.

Scott tilted his head slightly to the side, completely unaware of what his saddened companion currently thought. In Saelil's strange world-view there was an image of a second Scott superimposed over the one whom she knew. It was the same image as before, a slightly different version of Scott who wore battered armor. Strangely, the two image came into focus at an almost perfect convergence when both versions of him offered a serious, but gentle, smile in unison.

Saelil's hand rose to her lips as she stared at the strange vision before her. She was uncertain of the meaning, but unbidden words rose up from the depths of her long forgotten memories. She began to speak them as they flowed to her lips part way through her inner monologue.

"...do not know the customs of my people..." said Saelil in a tone that made her sound quite a bit like a little girl.

"Is there something wrong with offering you an apple?" asked Scott. "I mean..."

"Well, I am a bit young for such a thing," said Saelil in a mechanical tone, much like she made a poor attempt to read from a script.

Scott began to speak once more, but he stopped as he took careful notice of her expression. Her eyes had taken on a glassy appearance. Soon, it became apparent to Scott that she did not truly see him. It was as though she had lost focus and now saw something far away that he could not.

He walked over to her quickly and placed his free hand to her shoulder. "Saelil?" he asked gently.

She blinked twice then shook her head. The far-seeing stare faded and she looked at him, confusion evident.

"I..." he began, only to stop. Scott took a breath then awkwardly said, "Look, I'm not that great at being a shoulder to lean on or whatever.... but you can talk to me, alright?"

Saelil nodded mutely. Scott smiled at her then started to move back, apple in hand. "Anyway, sorry for offering you an apple, I guess. It won't hap—"

Before he could withdraw his fruity offering completely, Saelil's hand flashed out and she snatched the apple away.

Scott glanced down at his empty hand then back to Saelil. "Uh..."

Saelil clutched the apple in both hands then closed her eyes and breathed in its scent a little. Slowly, she looked back up at him with red-rimmed eyes on the verge of shedding tears. In a strangely intense manner she said, "I'll treasure it, beloved."

"I... Uh..." said Scott intelligently. Before he knew what happened, Saelil slipped forward and kissed him on the cheek.

"What was that for?" he asked her gently, as the now smiling elf-maiden pressed herself to his chest.

"I am uncertain..." she said softly, "But, I do think it possible that you've been a great comfort to me for far longer than either of us know."

Equally uncertain in that moment, Scott glance left and then to the right. Slowly, almost timidly, he slipped his arms around Saelil and held her close. Soon, he rested his cheek atop her head.

The spell of comfort was broken not long after when he mumbled something, however. Saelil chuckled softly and asked, "What was that about pie, beloved?"

Scott coughed politely and tried to beg her leave not to answer the question. Saelil, however, drew back and poked him in the chest before leveling a warm smile in his direction. "Be a man, beloved. Speak your words earnestly or not at all."

He grunted once then sighed. "Fine..."

Another moment passed before Saelil poked him again. Scott snorted. In a quiet tone he said, "I got a peck on the cheek for offering an apple. So, I wondered what an entire apple pie would have gotten me..." then looked awkwardly to the side.

Saelil stepped back from his embrace then placed a finger to her chin. Her expression became shrewd and calculating for a moment. "Perhaps my beloved should bake a pie for me in order to discover the answer to that mystery."

"What's this about pie?" asked Samantha as she walked into the kitchen while wearing nothing but two towels.

"There is no pie for you," said Saelil lightly. "It is for me alone."

"Hey, now..." said Samantha, "I like pie, too..."

Scott opted not to speak. Quite honestly the sight of Samantha wearing nothing but a towel for clothing, and a second one for a turban, left little capacity for him to speak in that moment. Saelil, however, was more than happy to continue the conversation.

"Ah, but do you not currently have ownership of the spaghetti rights? You cannot also claim rights to the pie," said Saelil.

"What if I want the pie, too?" asked Samantha, a slight smirk on her lips.

"Pasta and pie?" asked Saelil, her lips quirked into a smile. "Let us hope my beloved is endeared toward large women..."

Samantha's eyes widened, "Did you just call me..."

"I called you nothing, merely noted that a lady who lives entirely on pasta and pie will have quite the excessive amount of love to give in the future," admitted Saelil sagely.

Samantha frowned at Saelil briefly but then nodded her head. "Alright, you may have the pie... This time..."

Saelil quirked her eyebrow. "How gracious."

Samantha ignored her passive-aggressive barb and glanced toward Scott. "So where is this pie?"

"There is no pie," said Scott.

"So what, I was being lied to about pie?" asked Samantha, "That's just cruel."

"Yeah, the pie was a lie," said Scott cheerfully.

Samantha seemed interested in continuing the conversation, but they were interrupted by a loud feline noise of discontent. "Rroawl!"

Kitty looked at the trio from the doorway, her fur still a-fluffle. "Ahem. I said I would be in our room..."

"So, why aren't you?" asked Samantha with a quirk of her brow.

Kitty snorted loudly. "I am so not speaking to you, traitor."

"Didn't you just speak to me, though?" asked Samantha curiously.

Kitty's eyes widened extensively for a moment, but then she raised up her nose and closed her eyes slightly. "Hmph!" she said, before she turned quickly around, and walked away with her nose still in the air.

The trio watched the fuzzy cat pad away then looked to each other. Finally, Scott said, "I think she needs someone to talk to..."

"Does she really?" asked Saelil in a mildly amused tone that her glittering eyes did not match. She gave off the impression of a charismatic crocodile who had decided to entertain her prey before the dinner service began.

Samantha glanced at Scott then grimaced slightly before she walked off toward the refrigerator. When she was certain that no one could see her face she quietly said, "I just work here."

Scott sighed loudly then laughed it off. He'd seen enough of their antics by now to know that this was as close to acceptance of the situation as things might get. Either way, there was an irate and lonely furball to attend to at the moment.