Luppi tugged the sleeves of his fresh uniform jacket closer. It was still stiff, thickly scented with the odor of bleach, but it was the best he could do for now. The familiar circles that gave such teasing glimpses of the creamy skin beneath were no longer present. Instead, the uniform jacket was as plain and markingless as any that Ulquiorra might wear, protecting a scarred and bandaged chest, one that still ached from his humiliation just nights before. The human girl might have brought him to life, but Grimmjow wasn't letting her get close enough to let Luppi turn the tables on him again.

"Stupid Alturo," Luppi stuck out his tongue, wetting his lips. The whole incident left a nasty taste in his mouth, one that begged to be purged with the taste of the other's death or humiliation.

But the question wasn't so much when as much as how that humiliation would be exacted. The when would come as soon as humanly, or arrancarly as it was, possible. The how was the hard part. For one thing, while Luppi was a sexual being, one that was used to getting his little revenges in bed, he wanted nothing less than to see Alturo naked or in a sexual light ever again.

The idea simply revolted him. He trailed a slow finger over the bandages beneath his uniform, giving rise to a numbed pain once again. No, Alturo's defeat would be anything but sexual. Luppi was not taken. Luppi gave himself. Alturo had broken that simple fact with his actions. Whatever punishment Luppi gave the arrancar would be just as painful and even more humiliating than Alturo could even imagine possible.

Just thinking about that proud face twisted in pain gave Luppi a sick feeling of delight fluttering through his chest. It was almost enough to distract him from the fact that another hand was touching the lump of his bandages, a pale one, very much not his own.

He jerked forward, but the hand tightened, digging against the bandages until Luppi tensed, reaching for Trepadora.

The little former Espada had lost some of the pride he held dear. He had tried to cover it up, but it wasn't as if he could run from the state he was in. The doors to the world above had closed and Alturo realized that the other reject still hadn't understood that yet.

He tugged the bandages looser as his other hand lifted to catch Luppi's jaw, almost taking a sick sort of pleasure as he continued, "Release and you'll regret it, former Espada."

His fingers slid against the shallowed flesh, the mark he'd left on the precocious old sixth. It was smooth beneath the tips of his fingers, a contrast to the callouses that dotted his own hands. Alturo felt the other shudder beneath him as he dug his fingers deeper against the babyish cheeks. "You've already forgotten the pain of this loss, haven't you?"

Luppi twisted violently against the invasive hand that was sending traces of pain the lower it sunk beneath the bandages. He hadn't forgotten the pain and the shame of that afternoon. He couldn't forget it now that every breath he took was filled with the sharp scent of the other arrancar.

"Forget your dreams of taking it back. It didn't belong to you to begin with," Alturo continued, voice dark as the fingers sunk hungrily deeper. He was searching for that pain-filled cry, the one that had turned him on almost as much as the taste of the other's blood. He waited for that cry until the other's breathing almost stopped beneath him, like a small animal waiting for a much larger one to pass.

Alturo dug his nails into Luppi's cheeks, finally scratching free a trace of blood, "Your place is here. Remember that."

He jerked free, shoving the smaller one forward and turning to leave. He'd see the results in another day or so. And if the other was feeling just as proud, Alturo wouldn't mind teaching him the lesson as many times as it took to make him learn it.