a bath scenes is one of my favorite things to read in a fic. a character at their most vulnerable, placing their trust in a caretaker or at the mercy of a sadistic whumper.
a caretaker tending to whumpee's injuries, extra cautious to be delicate with them. gently running their fingers through their hair, getting the last traces of conditioner out.
caretaker is thorough in their work, ensuring that whumpee's hair is unmatted and that any dried blood is rinsed out. it's terrifying to let someone in this close, but caretaker has shown nothing less than compassion, even when they've done nothing to earn it.
it's the first time in months that whumpee can stop thinking and let their aching muscles relax. instinctually, whumpee leans into their touch, needing it more than they realized.
on the other hand, a whumpee becoming intimately familiar with all the ways whumper can torture them. waterboarding or ice bathes, forcing whumpee to take a long hard look at what their body has become, all covered in cuts and bruises.
the bath could be the only place where they get any respite from whumper's torment. the one place they get to be alone with their thoughts and feelings.
the one place where they can scrub off the feeling of whumper's touch. a room of mirrors to regularly remind them they're under constant surveillance and need to be on their best behavior.
