"Hmmm . . ." Mayako hummed in thought, "I-I think I have an idea . . ."

Pushing him into the water was fine, indeed. There was something to break his fall, after all. Pushing him out onto the floor, though, was a terrible idea. The floor would not break his fall nearly as well as the water.

Mayako got out of the tub, and felt a little guilty about standing there while dripping wet--and, in fact, concluded the idea to be dangerous--there was equally no point to wasting the time to dry off if she was helping Fenix get out of the tub, too. She could dry off after she helped him take care of that little issue. Mayako moved to stand by Fenix, outside of the tub, and set her hands upon the top of the bathtub, bracing herself for a moment.

"O-okay, h-how about this? Y-you pull yourself up, and s-sort of . . . roll out into me, b-but try to keep your legs straight. I . . . I should be able to keep you up l-long enough for you to get some balance." It was the best idea she could come up with at the moment. Nothing else seemed like it would work better . . . well, besides getting help. That one didn't dawn on her at all, either.

"Okay..." He had some doubts about whether Mayako could generally hold him up or not, but even if she couldn't landing on her would be better than landing on the floor.

With much difficulty he pulled himself up, attempting to hook his legs over the edge so he could roll out of it. His limbs shook with the effort but he he manage to do it, though he wasn't quite as straight as Mayako probably would've liked.

Whether she caught him fine or tumbled over with him, he'd still be panting for breath for several moments before he was capable of movement again.

Everything was going great. She was out of the tub, standing right next to where he'd be coming out. The plan was perfect, even. She wasn't all that strong AT ALL, but Fenix had lost a lot of weight while in a coma. She'd be able to hold him up perfectly fine and well.

Though it was only for a second, she was doing just that. Mayako wrapped her arms around Fenix's back and shut her eyes tightly while straining every muscle in her body--when suddenly, she remembered that there was water on the floor.

Uh . . . o--

"A-ack!"

She fell back, her back colliding hard with the floor, then her head. That . . . really, really hurt. Enough that she went completely numb for a moment, unable to feel the actual pain itself, but knowing what happened and why. Doing this with water all over the floor was just asking for trouble from the beginning. Well, at least Fenix was okay.

For a moment, Mayako laid there, wondering if she had done any serious damage to herself. This would be the best place to do it, that was for sure. It felt like her head was bleeding, but with the traces of water scattered about, the very fact that she saw no red told her she was all right. Since she was okay, she was able to justify simply letting out a whimper. Fenix was on top of her, his back against her chest, making him feel a lot heavier than he really was.

". . . owie . . ." Mayako whimpered.

At first, Fenix wasn't sure what happened. It seemed like, against all odds, Mayako was holding him up, but suddenly he was falling. The landing wasn't hard--or at least, not as hard as it should have been if he hit the floor.

Regaining his bearings, he realized Mayako broke his fall, and he felt a bit guilty for his earlier thought. Even if it seemed likely, he wouldn't go so far as to say he wanted it to happen.

When he recovered his breath, he said, "That sounded painful. Are you okay?" He would have moved, but the strain he put on his body pulling himself out of the tub made him terribly winded. He didn't even have the energy to roll off of her.

"Nhhhhh . . . h-hai . . . ." Mayako groaned.

She almost always spoke in Common, and had absolutely no Cizokian accent; she spoke better Common than most, in fact. Actually, she learned proper Common, and that made her somewhat unliked in this type of area. She was shy, but happy around those she knew, but still: she altogether used absolutely no slang, her grammar was almost always proper, and in spite of her stuttering problem (which had since been diagnosed over the past few months), she spoke as proper and confident as she possibly could. It was the only way to get a point across anymore, and in this area, where most people had a minimal grasp on proper language skills, many her age simply didn't like her for it.

Mayako's primary language was Cizokian, though, in which she actually used slang and improper, informal speech. When Mayako was hurt, overly stressed, overly nervous, or any of the sort, she had a habit of speaking in Cizokian, but that habit was nowhere near as bad as a particular busty Cizokian two years her junior that she once knew--who usually only spoke in Common when she was thinking before she spoke, which became more and more infrequent over time.

Nonetheless, Mayako strained to push up on Fenix's back. "C-come on . . . y-you have . . . to pull yourself up . . . j-just a bit . . . come on . . ."

Hi? Fenix briefly thought she must have really been out of it if that's how she responded, before recalling that the word was also a Cizokian affirmative. She didn't speak with an accent at all, so it was easy to forget that it was probably her native language even with her looks.

And of course, when she spoke to him next she clearly possessed all her faculties. "If I could move, I would have done so already," he pointed out, still a bit breathless. "Give me a minute and I'll try again."

Having to admit he was still so weak made him a bit irritable, but as he took a few deep breaths he calmed down. Maybe it's a good thing Zach isn't around after all.

"Alright, here I go." He strained as best he could, attempting to push himself off of Mayako, but while on his back he couldn't muster much force. It would be mostly up to her, and if she didn't have the strength either...well, then they wouldn't be going anywhere for awhile.

"C-come on . . . p-push . . ." Mayako groaned, speaking not to Fenix, but herself.

She was trying to push him up to give him the opportunity to pull himself off of her, and maybe let her back recover from the pain of the landing and the pressure of all of Fenix's weight down into it. If she had that opportunity, she'd be much more helpful in moving him.

I . . . really should have gotten Tsukimono Urikuse-sama . . . to help . . .

Mayako had her hands against Fenix's back, and with what little strength she had in her body, she was trying to push him up off of her--but to no avail. She wasn't strong enough to do it--like with many things in life. She was small, frail, and weak, always offended when someone mistook her for an eleven year old, always quick to have a mental tantrum when someone picked on her for being unable to carry much more than two large books at a time.

"G-grab . . . grab the s-side of the tub," Mayako coughed, "I-it's heavy--it'll hold you up . . ."

Unfortunately, even their combined efforts were proving futile in lifting him off of her. This is just pathetic, Fenix thought sourly. He couldn't wait until he could walk again.

"My arms...aren't long enough," he panted in response to her suggestion. Since their feet were towards the tub, he'd practically have to be sitting up already before he'd be able to reach it.

He paused in his efforts again to recover his breath before getting an idea of his own. "Can you slide out from under me?" With both the floor and their bodies wet, it seemed feasible to him.

Slide out from underneath of him? Well, they were both wet--and the floor was, too, by that point. Theoretically, it was possible, it just took quite a bit of exertion from her. Overall, it wouldn't be nearly the amount of physical exertion required to try and push him off of her. Fenix wasn't overly heavy or anything, Mayako was just weak, small, and frail. She couldn't handle these sorts of things, and probably should have had the foresight to know this was bound to happen. Sliding out from underneath of him was synonymous to literally maneuvering her way through a tight squeeze. Water or no water, it was going to be difficult.

"I . . . I think so," Mayako whimpered, "M-maybe . . ."

She started to worm her way to the side, with one arm around Fenix to try and push him to the other side. It was the only way. After much struggling, she finally managed to squeeze out from under him, at which point she wound up laying on her side, doing nothing more than panting and gasping for air.

"Nhhhh . . . w-well . . . th-that . . . that was kind of rough . . ."

For his part, Fenix did his best to move himself as well, but his contribution was minimal--he was just too tired now to put much strength behind his actions. It wasn't just that his muscles atrophied, he was also lacking in stamina. Climbing out of the tub had taken a lot of effort, and even the relatively small effort moving off of Mayako required was beyond him at the moment.

All in all, he was rather displeased with the situation. He wasn't so full of pride that he couldn't accept aid from others, but the fact that he couldn't do even the simplest things for himself (like walk) was infuriating.

"Y-Yeah," he agreed as he caught his breath. It shouldn't have been rough, but it certainly was.

"I hope by the next time I take a bath I can walk again." He wasn't sure how likely that was--according to the doctors, it was too early to say.

It was difficult to talk like this, though--Mayako was right next to him on her side, meaning that when was looking at her their faces were only a few inches apart.

"M-me, too," Mayako lamented.

This may have been the problem she was going to have with being a nurse of some sort. Mayako just wasn't strong in the least. She didn't have any sort of physical strengths like her friends, nothing even similar to it. All she had was a bit of intelligence when it came to religion, philosophy, poetry (though many regarded her poetry as horrid), and prose. Taking care of people was wonderful--it was something she always wanted to do, and she had a knack for cheering up a room when she tried. She could remember things well and was an excellent cook; all things considered, Mayako had all it took to be a nurse except for a formal education and physical strength.

Maturity was another of her assets, in this case. It was something not too developed with her just a few months ago, but over time and a few stressful, borderline traumatic events, she grew up quite a bit. Now, it was only physical touching by someone she was fond of that would get her flustered; almost everything else was disregarded or creeped her out. Like when this older man in the clinic pinched her butt when she was leaving. That was extremely uncomfortable.

"A-all right," Mayako announced as she sat up, "L-let's get you dried off and see about this room change!"

She tried to sound energetic, at least. Nonetheless, she stood up on her own and started towards the towel rack, grabbing three towels--one larger one for Fenix and two for herself, which were in themselves large compared to her. Mayako didn't know how well Fenix could dry himself, so she had to (painfully) hoist him up to a bench and see what he could do, and what she'd have to help him with. She was more than willing to just dry him off on her own, but Mayako knew how men could be: always wanting to do things on their own if absolutely possible. Fenix came off as the type of man who'd be irritated by excessive help.

That was a quick recovery. Which was odd, considering she'd certainly seemed winded just a moment ago. Maybe she was just really positive by nature.

Now that he was up, it took only a bit more effort for her to get him back over to the bench, where he began to dry off using the towel he gave her. This, unfortunately, went about as well as him washing himself: he could get most of him, but he didn't have the flexibility to reach his back yet.

This didn't stop him from trying, but after a few seconds of frustration he just gave up. Swallowing his pride, as he didn't want the back of his shirt be wet all day, he gave Mayako a resigned look. "I think I need some help..."

"O-okay, j-just ooooone second," replied Mayako.

Her voice was distant, though. Strangely, she hadn't stood by him the entire time he was trying to dry off . . . at all. In fact, she wasn't remotely close to him. Considering the fact that she was a volunteer nurse and doctors' assistant, that was odd. She should have been nearby, standing by just in case he needed help--not on the other side of the room, standing with the tub between the two of them, wrapping her hair in a towel to make it dry faster--and to keep it soft. But she was.

Likewise, she had herself wrapped in a towel, too. Fenix had been concentrating so much on drying himself off that she had gotten away with sneaking away, to the other side of the tub, and drying herself: wrapping her body, from armpits to thighs, in a towel, and wrapping her hair up in her second second.

Were Fenix observant enough, he'd spot her clothes lying by the tub--tank top and panties both. Under the towel, she was wearing nothing, and had been sneaky enough to get to that point without him noticing at all. Truthfully, Mayako figured that she was doing him a justice by sparing him the sight.

"H-here, let me," Mayako stated as she stepped in closer to him.

She had the towel around her pretty tight, tied in two places: up by her armpit and down by her thighs. This way, it wasn't going to come off, and the only way he'd be able to see a sliver of skin would be if he was looking at her side, and barring the obvious fact that she was naked, and he'd thusly be able to see the skin of her side, hip, and the like, undisturbed by the inhibitions of clothing, he wasn't going to see anything she'd be uncomfortable with . . . so it was perfectly fine.

Bending over him, Mayako took his towel and started patting and gently rubbing it across his belly and sides, two places that she knew he had trouble with--if only because he couldn't suds himself in that area. From there, she leaned forward even more, allowing herself to reach around him in order to dry his back off, and were she to decide to sit down, she'd have been sitting in his lap with intimate proximity. Of course, that didn't happen, but still. Other places that she figured he had problems with were his legs, which took a lot more to dry, considering how guys had leg hair and the like. She didn't seem embarrassed at all this time, and when she withdrew from him in order to bend over to reach his knees and legs (carelessly exposing her thighs), she didn't even seem flustered. This was just part of the job, and she was treating it as such. Now that she wasn't being crushed by Fenix, she could get back to doing her job at the clinic--taking care of him and the like.

"Were th-there any other places?" Mayako asked as she stood back up, "Th-that you had trouble with."

Mayako's voice sounded farther away than normal when she responded, and when she emerged from behind the tub she was wearing towels--and if the clothes he saw piled up were any indication, only that.

He let her dry him off--his belly was actually fine, the only reason he was having trouble in the bath with it was that it was underwater when he was sitting, and he couldn't stand and wash it at the same time.

If the clothes weren't enough, the glimpses of bare skin he caught through the gaps in her towel proved she was naked underneath--though he didn't see anything indecent, which he supposed was for the best even if it was a bit disappointing.

"No," he replied when she asked; everything else he managed on his own. "Pretty brave of you, changing while a guy's in the room." Though said guy could hardly move on his own, so it wasn't as risky as it might otherwise have been.

"O-oh?" She quirked a brow.

Mayako had to wonder for a moment if he saw her changing or something. She didn't seem too bothered by the idea, though. Surely, some form of modesty would have been broken, and she'd have every reason to feel duly violated and ashamed! But she just didn't seem like she was all that concerned. Fenix's observation was just that: an observation. He didn't see anything indecent at all.

"I-I put a towel on first," Mayako replied, unconcerned. "Th-that way, I-I could just slip my shirt and underwear off w-without being indecent o-or anything. I-I've had to do that before, s-so . . . w-well . . . you know."

She didn't want to elaborate. Even if he asked, she'd not have told him what she meant by it.

"Wh-when you have wet clothes on, it's the best way to get dry."

Speaking of which, Fenix was currently wearing a (painfully familiar) pair of swimming trunks, and there was no way he was going to get dry while wearing those. What to do about that, though, Mayako had no idea. The only idea was exactly what she did: wrap a towel around his waist and have him harmlessly strip his trunks off--then, the moisture in that area could just soak into the towel. How to do that, though . . .

"W-well, I-I, well . . . I-I suppose w-we should have you do that, too. U-um, c-could--c-c-could you wrap this a-around your waist?" Mayako handed him his towel, "A-and, i-if . . . if y-you can, d-do what I did . . .?"

Hopefully, he wouldn't need help with that. Mayako might just have to go ask an adult if that was the case, as she wasn't too comfortable putting her hands anywhere near a guy's crotch.