A/N: Um, yes. More fandom jumping ahoy! Now I'm trying my hand at Cowboy Bebop, which started owning my soul a while ago but had to compete with things like Advent Children and Kingdom Hearts. My friend asked for Spike/Faye, which I do ship with a passion, though I've never written them before. I read her stuff and it really helped me out. Constructive criticism on style's not needed so much as character, since these two are very tricky people. Merry late Christmas, Mary, and you should be proud of me for not writing a "Mary Christmas" pun.

…or, well, you should have been, anyway.

Razor Edge

They take the sharpness away a day at a time. They have to dull themselves down before they can even touch. It's a pain in the ass and they both wish they didn't have to do it, but needs are needs and Spike's a very dangerous boy and Faye's a very dangerous girl.

They'll both do anything before they resort to paying for sex, because that's a line neither of them want to cross, a shame neither of them want to bear. They live on the razor edge, the safest place above the abyss, but they're not stupid. Spike and Faye have both fallen enough to know they don't want to fall forever, down to whatever hell is waiting at the bottom of all those stars.

They can never come too close when they're both at their best, when they're all jagged angles and crowns of thorns.

Just ask Ed, she'll tell you that Faye's green eyes can cut stars, she swears it's true. Just ask Jet, he'll tell you that Spike's white smile can tear time apart, he's seen it done.

The two of them live in permanent sharpness, all scissors and elbows, only dull when they're drunk. That's why they never fuck when they're sober. If they did, it'd be a mess. They'd cut each other up, blood would stain the sheets, they'd never wake up. It would be over before it began, a fun little game played for no reason. They'd be the death of each other.

It's not so pleasant and it's not so conventional, but they still go on because maybe if they do it often enough, they can learn how to be softer. If they do it often enough, they can actually feel something besides the hangover the next morning.

If they do it often enough, they can maybe leave the ghosts behind. They can say goodbye to Julia, goodbye to Whitney, goodbye to everyone who's still out there who didn't treat them right.

If they do it often enough, maybe they can learn to let go, and fall in love again.

---