[b]Chapter 6: The Shower[/b] Jack was still frustrated from her encounter with the other two Vanguards, and Cayde could tell. He tried to distract her by talking and asking her questions about the things she liked but could barely get anything out of her. He hoped that showing her the room she'd be staying in helped. "Here it is," Cayde smiled as the metallic sliding doors swooshed open. Jack's eyes widened as she saw the large room with a large tan bed in the middle, pressed against the large window that overlooked the courtyard below. The room had a dark atmosphere and was dimly lit by the lamps on the end tables. Across from the bed sat a bookshelf; next to it sat a chair and a large potted plant. Across from the door was a dresser with a mirror that sat above it. A small hallway led into another room between the dresser and bookshelf. Jack walked into the room in almost a daze as she took everything in. "Feel free to decorate it however you want; I mean, this is your home, after all," Cayde's smile widened as the room seemed to distract her, "Oh, and check this out!" He gripped her wrist and rushed her down the small hallway that led to a small room with tile on the wall and floor. He flicked on the switch and went, "Ta-daaaa! You're own bathroom!" "Wow," she breathed as she stared at the glass door. She had seen objects like this before, but she had never known what it was or what they could do, "What's that?" "This? This is a shower," Cayde explained as he slid open the glass door. He leaned over and twisted the nob below the showerhead; Jack jumped back as the loud noise of water hitting the tile wall echoed throughout the room. "See, isn't it cool?" Jack hesitantly approached it and put her hand under the water, "Yeah, that is. So, what do you do with it exactly?" "Well…" Cayde started, surprised by how little she knew about basic hygiene. Though he assumed that was normal due to how long she was alone after being risen. He explained to her the basics of bathing if taking a little longer than needed due to Jack's questions, "-Make sense?" Jack nodded slowly, "Yeah, I guess so." He laughed, "It'll make more sense when you do it yourself," he leaned over and turned off the water. "What're those?" He looked down to see shaving cream and a razor, "Oh, that," he picked up the razor, "You use it to shave." She -blam!- her head, "Shave?" "Yeah, y'know, when you remove hair from your body." "Ooh!" Jack's eyes widened, "You mean like what I do in summers?" Cayde raised a brow, waiting for her to continue, "Usually, I'll cut off the hair from my legs during summer because it gets too hot!" Cayde watched as Jack lifted her pants leg to show a forest of hair on her leg, "It helps keep me warm in the winter, not by much, but every little bit helps." Cayde stared at her leg, smirking, "You're like a bear." She smiled, the hair almost looking like fur on her leg, "Well, I do tend to sleep more during the winter," she took the razor from Cayde and examined it, "I still don't get what the bottle is for." "You put it on your skin before shaving." "Why?" Cayde stared at her for a moment, "Uuh…" he leaned down and grabbed the bottle, flipping it over to read the back, "To exfoliate the skin!" She looked over his shoulder, "And how does it do that? Also, what does it mean 'exfoliate the skin'?" "Does it look like I shave?" He questioned before setting the bottle down. Jack smirked as she eyed his body and, with a sultry tone and a half-lidded gaze, asked, "I don't know; you could be hiding some hair underneath all that leather..." Cayde smirked at the comment, "Whoa, now, buy me a drink first," he then turned on his heels, "I'm going to go see about getting you some new clothes." "Alright, I'll be here," she answered as she watched him leave the bathroom. Jack sighed as she looked at the shower. She breathed deeply and slid open the sliding glass door, imitating the same actions as Cayde to turn the shower on. Once again, the noise startled her, but the more Jack listened to the pitter-patter of water against glass and tile, the more at peace Jack felt. The sound reminded her of the waterfall she used to visit whenever she wanted to relax and escape all the fighting and death that surrounded her. She let out a yelp as the cold water hit her, immediately backing up against the wall to avoid the icy water. She reached down and turned the knob, hoping that twisting it in the opposite direction would change the water temperature. She let out a gentle sigh of relief as the water warmed up. She basked in the feeling of the mud, sweat, and dried blood washing off of her body. She stared down at her toes and saw a small river of muck slide into the drain, the image reminding her of the time the heavy rains created a mudslide next to her home. She soon grabbed the loofa and began to wash herself the way Cayde told her to. When finished, she stepped out of the shower, squeezing the water out of her hair before grabbing a towel and wrapping it around herself. She examined herself in the mirror once more, smiling as she noticed her hair returned to its original bright blonde. She made her way into the bedroom and sat down on the bed with a sigh; she fell back onto her back and stared at the ceiling as the day's events replayed in her mind. "Sheldon?" [i]"Yes, Jack?" [/i] "You doing alright?" [i]"Of course; why?" [/i] Jack sat up on her elbows, "I don't know, I guess…" she let out a gentle breath, "Does it not bother you how you're speaking?" [i]"No, I'm actually relieved. I was tired of feeling like something was wrong with me." [/i] "There wasn't anything wrong with you." [i]"Jack-" [/i] "Sheldon." The Ghost remained quiet, for he knew what her tone meant. It was a tone that told him that he would not win this argument, that he couldn't change her mind no matter how hard he tried. He sighed, [i]"You were happy with how I was? " [/i] "Sheldon, I'm happy if you're happy," her brow narrowed, "But you weren't broken; I don't care what anyone else says. You were perfect back home, and you're perfect now." He couldn't help but feel touched by her words. He still felt like how he was initially was abnormal, but at least his best friend accepted him.