Using what little supplies he had, James managed to find something in his pack that resembled a spatula in some way. After rinsing it off with some water, he began to use it to flip the pancakes he had made. He always made breakfast, but it was usually some sort of grits or something else easy to pack and make. Yesterday, he had managed to get a package of pancake mix and thought he would surprise Jessie and Meowth with it. That was, until, last night. It was a normal night starting off, with talks of how to finally steal Pikachu and joking about their last attempt. It wasn't until an argement started that things got tense.
The members of Team Rocket argued often. Each one typically had a different idea of how to go across each plan. The start of the argument was nothing special, as they had many similar ones time and time again. The difference in this one depended upon Meowth's early departure to bed. Aft er that, he and Jessie had continued arguing to an escalated point. Screaming at one another, they had said every insult under the sun and more. It all led up to a point of Jessie crying and accusing James of trying to take the place of a father she never had. James didn't know what to do, so he held her until she fell asleep. Knowing it would be a chilly night, he had given her his blanket as well as her own and had sat up most of the night thinking about the situation. He knew he had feelings for her, although he had no reason why. She typically abused him in some sort of fashion, but he came to the point where he thought he saw more behind the torment. Could Jessie have feelings for him? He laughed with the thought, as it sounded obsurd to him. He had always enjoyed her company and hoped for more than a friendship, but being as they were constantly working, he knew such a relationship would be stressed and looked down upon by the boss, at best. He sighed and poured more batter onto the pan over the fire.
Jessie's eye fluttered open momentarily before shutting them again. As she had done most of her life, she knew to keep still until she could assess the situation of what was going on. She learned at a very young age not to jump into any situation without figuring out what was going on first. Her experience with Team Rocket had furthered this belief. Cracking her dominant eye, she peered around for visual clues while paying attention to the sounds she could hear. She couldn't really see anything, but the gentle rustling and sounds of a fire popping told her that James was cooking breakfast, as usual. It was her nose, however, that picked up something was different. The smell was not of a flavored oatmeal packet or a buttery package of grits, but something nicer. Jessie's nose twitched in an effort to get a better sniff. A small smile came over her face as she placed the smell, pancakes. She had always loved pancakes, and indulged in them whenever she could. James didn't know this, did he? It was something she was pretty sure he didn't know, so she wondered why today he would make pancakes of all days.
With that the small smile on her face fell. She had not meant most the things she said to James last night, but it was all she could say. She was afraid that if anything else would have come out of her lips, it would have been her sharing her feelings with James. Feelings were dangerous things to the red-haired Team Rocket member, and she avoided them at all costs. The funny thing to her was that she almost didn't care if James knew her secrets. He had been her best friend for years, and she was pretty sure she wouldn't mind if they were more. Before she could think about it anymore, her survival instincts kicked in and she reminded herself that it would be incredibly dumb to do such a thing and it should be avoided at all costs. Putting on a stone cold face, she rose from her side and headed toward a small brook to rinse off her face.
James saw Jessie head toward the water source and he felt nervous. Usually they said typical morning greetings to one another with teasing about breakfast being the same thing as yesterday, but the commraderie wasn't there, just silence. James flipped the last pancake onto the dish and set out the three trays for each Team Rocket member. Meowth hadn't come out from the bush he had retired to for the night, but James wasn't surprise. "Probably couldn't sleep with all the yelling," he muttered to himself. He set Meowth's plate close enough to the fire to keep warm and began chewing on a pancake off of his own plate.
Splashing water onto her face, Jessie wondered if she could wash away the things she had said to James. She knew it was foolish childish wishing, but she didn't care. She was ashamed of what happened and knew something had to be done. Although the survival instinct was telling her that she had needed to put him in his place, she knew that sometimes survival wasn't good enough. She wanted to live a full life and be happy, and she knew who could make her happy, James. Shaking her head in an attempt to clear her throughts, she approached where James was sitting.
"I—I'm sorry, James," she whispered quietly. "I didn't mean to get so hateful. I just—," she stopped and collected her breath. "I just don't know how to balance between my instinct of survival and wanting to be close to someone."
"It's alright, Jess," James replied. "I said some pretty awful things myself, and I also apologize. I'm not proud of what I did." His eyes narrowed in attempt to read her response. "I really care for you, and I don't want to see anything get to you."
Jessie's face contorted a little. What did he mean by 'care for you'? She was going to ask, but was interrupted by Meowth approaching.
"Well, good morning, Rockets," Meowth said while greedily grabbing his plate of pancakes and shoving one in his mouth.
The other two team members both mumbled a similar greeting, but each was looking at the other, trying to figure out what was or wasn't there.