Deciding to ignore the cat, Chel held out the robe that had been folded over her arm. Lexx gave her an odd look, unsure of what she was going to do next. "Here, put this on." Chel offered the robe to him, hoping he'd take it as a good will gesture. "It's my father's, but I don't think he'll mind if you use it." Especially if he doesn't know, Chel couldn't help but think of her father's reaction if he found out. It wouldn't have been a good one.
Lexx nodded and accepted the robe. It was better than nothing, hardly. "Thanks..." He muttered, turning his back to the girl and trying to situate the robe comfortably. It was scratchy and bumpy and not exactly anything he'd choose to put on if he'd had the choice. "Heavier than my clothes,... very primitive." Lexx mumbled, more to himself than anyone else, but he felt he had to say something.
"You can take a shower if you want,..." Chel began, noting that a few bits of mud were still entangled into Lexx's hair, weighing it down in areas and tangling it. "You have mud in your hair."
"Shower?" Lexx looked at Chel warily.
"You know, ... running water to clean yourself, like us primitive humans." Chel attempted a bit of humor with Lexx, not wanting to react to his primitive comment in a way that'd be likely to set him off again. She could already tell he was the moody sort, even after only a few minutes of conversation.
His eyes betrayed the sudden shifts, even if he didn't say anything. His eyes were very clear, reflecting moments of thought and then swinging to uncertainty, anger and frustration. They didn't worry her, but she felt she'd said the wrong thing the moment her mouth closed, judging by the narrowing of just his left eye casting a criticizing look at her. He didn't like having things explained to him that he already knew.
"I know what a shower is." Lexx snapped.
Chel didn't hold back, retorting without a second thought as though she were speaking with her younger brother, "Hard to tell, you don't smell that great." As she did, she squeezed Mittens/Stealth protectively.
The cat gasped, "Mrrr,.. squeezing too tight,..."
Lexx tilted his head, inhaling deeply and sniffing at his shoulder. He hadn't had the benefit of a real shower and now he DID smell a lot like dirt and grass, but he couldn't just agree with the statement, wrinkling his nose toward Chel and remarking, "You don't smell like a bed of roses yourself, human." He grated. He wasn't about to bend to agreeing so readily with anything she said. She might get the wrong idea. One that she could stand up to him and he'd just bend. He couldn't let that happen.
