I awoke to the familiar sounds of a
hair dryer running somewhere nearby. Stretching, I yawned and opened my eyes.
And quickly clamped them shut again.
"Agh-ah!" I cried, throwing an arm
over my eyes in pain. Apparently, I had
awoken later than usual and the sun was now up and streaming cheerfully
straight into my face through the ragged curtains.
"Damn…" Turning away from the window, I opened my eyes again.
Surprisingly, the cheap room didn't
look half-bad in the morning's light. Small and furnished in extremely out-dated shades of orange and
brown, it contained the one bed, a small rickety nightstand with a cheap
digital alarm clock on it and an old, tassel-shaded lamp, and one stuffed chair.
Well, formerly stuffed. It definitely looked like it had seen its
share of domestic fights, rowdy children, and overly stuffed suitcases. Not to mention a Meowth or two.
I glanced at the clock. Five to eight. I frowned. Normally my
internal clock woke me at quarter to five. I wondered briefly how I had managed to sleep in so late.
And then I remembered that I had
hardly slept the night before.
"Oh my God…!" I groaned, rolling
back onto my back and staring up at the ceiling in disbelief. I couldn't believe I had done it. All this time. So many times, I had tried to force myself to. And had stopped myself short.
What had she thought? Did she hate me?
I glanced at the bathroom door
nervously. The hair dryer had shut
off. She would be coming out soon. My cheek already stung at the blow I knew I
would receive.
Or would I?
She had really been crying. Or had been about to. My instincts knew. All I could think of was wanting to comfort her. She always acted so cold and tough on the
outside, but I knew that there was a deeply sad and lonely person buried
within. She didn't know I knew, but I
knew. I saw it in her eyes the day we
first met. She hid it well, I was sure
that I was perhaps the only one who had seen through it.
She needed me.
My eyes fell. But she didn't want my help. She had always turned it down in the past,
choosing to isolate herself from others. She wasn't the type to share her pain or feelings.
But I had had enough of keeping my
pain to myself. Growing up with a
Growlithe as my only means of escape, I had craved compassion and true
companionship. And it had seemed that I
had found that companionship in Jesse, for awhile.
But we had been growing apart, as of
late. She seemed to keep to herself
more and more, and every time I tried to look her in the eyes, she'd turn away,
changing the subject or becoming gruff and violent.
And things she used to say and do to
me, that never really mattered much before, began to sting like the bite of a
knife.
I looked up at the ceiling again, a
bit of hope weeding its way into my mind. She had accepted my comfort the night before, though. Perhaps things really were changing.
Sighing, I let myself remember the
soft warmth of her skin. Like expensive
ivory silk, it smelled ever so faintly of roses and fresh air, from living out
of doors so often. And the way her chin
curved against the pale stretch of her soft throat. The way everything about her curved just right and fit perfectly
in my arms. She had the figure of a
goddess, and the high cheekbones and beautiful prominent features of a model,
so lovely there was no need for make-up.
And her full, crimson painted
lips. So often had I longed to touch
them with my own.
I had been unable to sleep the night
before, slipping into the bed after taking my shower and simply lying there,
gazing at her in the light of the dull moonlight falling on the bed through the
half-closed curtains. She looked
so…innocent and gentle when she slept, a harsh change from her gruff attitude
during the day. Like her guard was
down.
It hurt to think she had a guard up
against me.
Thinking back, I remember a time
when she would relax around me, just a little. Before we had joined Team Rocket, before we had begun our training. Only around me, she could be herself.
But now, even that gift of trust was
gone. I had only to offer my
understanding, and she would snap, lashing out at me with a bitter tongue or
the strike of her hand.
It had surprised me when she had
accepted my offer the night before.
But I doubted it would happen again.
With one last sad sigh, I climbed
out of bed. Fishing around in my duffel
on the floor beside the bed, I found my belt and put it on. Then I slipped my black T-shirt on as well,
deciding not to put my uniform jacket on just yet, and pulled a comb through my
now fully dry hair.
Jesse came out of the bathroom, red
hair styled per normal and still dressed in her pajamas. They were my favorite ones: the cute baby-T
with the pink kitten on it, and the low-cut cotton cloud-print pants. It gave her this cute, girlish look that I
found becoming on her. I think she
liked them because they captured the innocence of the lost childhood she never
had.
She gave me an odd look that turned
into an awkward smile, as if it had taken her a second thought. "Finally decided to wake up, huh
sleepyhead?"
I smiled awkwardly. After last night, it was hard to pretend
everything was normal.
"Uh, yeah…sorry," I replied
apologetically, expecting her to chastise me for sleeping in. She simply shrugged dismissively however,
going over to the other side of the bed and retrieving her duffel bag from the
floor.
"Oh, don't bother. We're not in any rush," she commented
casually, though there was an awkwardness to her tone. I dismissed it, nodding instead.
"All we've got planned for the day
is waiting around for Meowth to show up."
She turned back towards the
bathroom, duffel in hand. "I'm going to
get dressed. You go see if you can find
us some breakfast."
After she had disappeared into the
bathroom, I took the room key and my holster off the end of the bed. Slipping my jacket on, I strapped the
holster in its usual place at the inside of my left arm, hidden by my
glove. Fishing my revolver out from
under my pillow, I slipped it into its holster and left the room.
The day was warm and bright, feeling
good after the cramped, musty quarters of the motel room. I found a nearby street lined with little
shops, hoping there would be a place easy to slip through security. Paying wasn't even a concept. We were out of money. All we had was going towards the cheap motel
room and we weren't even sure how long the cash would last.
I sighed. I really should have tried a different 'money-making' method the
day before.
Soon I found what I was looking
for. It was a modestly large shop complete
with fruit and vegetable stands out front. Just what I needed.
I strolled by casually. Now we may not be able to catch that one
pesky little Pikachu (damn the little rat!) but Team Rocket was at the top of
its class when it came to anything else criminal. We had been put through excruciating and nearly impossible
top-notch training, and risen well above our peers, earning us the honor of the
white uniform. Though a seemingly
trivial and simple job, stealing the Ketchum boy's Pikachu was simply a cover
for much more highly dangerous criminal activity. The longer it took us to catch it, the more incompetent the Team
would appear, therefore gaining less police attention and allowing it to get
away with the bigger and better jobs. Jobs like jewel heists, insurance fraud. And the unmentionable 'special assignments'. We even had an assassins' guild in our
operation.
So robbing a little fruit stand
would be a cinch.
Pretending to inspect some tasty
looking peaches, I located the owner out of the corner of my eye. He was helping a pretty little housewife
pick through an array of foreign spices, explaining the different uses of each
and picking out ones that would work well with whatever meal she had told him
of that she was planning.
I waited awhile, picking several
peaches from the pile and slipping them casually into a bag as if I were a
regular shopper, and moved on towards the cereal so as not to appear
suspicious, watching him out of the corner of my eye. The customer was smiling sweetly, thanking him for his
assistance. He helped her with her
bags, carrying them to the cash register for her at the back of the open
store. They chatted a bit as he rang up
her purchases, and I moved on to the eggs and chose a carton, pretending to be
undecided on whether to buy the Large or Medium.
Suddenly she perked up, as if she
had forgotten something. He listened
carefully as she described it, tapping his chin thoughtfully. A rare spice? Most often hard to find? Did he possibly have it? He
smiled, assuring her. Of course he
must, he catered in the rare. He would
have to go in the back and look for it.
I smiled mentally to myself. Just what I had been waiting for.
As soon as he had slipped in back, I
made a face, pretending to be disgusted with something.
"Is that a cockroach in the apples?"
I remarked in distaste, supposedly to myself but just loud enough for the
customer near me to catch. I saw her
face contort in horror out of the corner of my eye, gasping lightly.
I turned to her conspiratorially,
like strangers often do in grocery stores, making light chitchat.
"Well doesn't that just show a lack
of sanitation?" I commented, shaking my head sadly. She nodded agreeably, abandoning the groceries she had been
carrying and leaving the store in disgust.
"And to think I've shopped here all
my life!" I heard her mutter to herself.
Looking at my own parcels with
similar distaste, I made as if to leave them on a nearby stand.
"I'm never shopping here again!" I
muttered loudly, storming out of the shop and down the street, making sure
every customer had seen me leave empty handed.
In reality, when it had seemed I was
leaving the bags behind, I had secretly slipped them into the invisible bag
hanging from my hip. Normally, the bag
hung from my back, carrying my belongings in secrecy so as not to appear a
burden. It was a standard issue piece
of equipment issued to all top Team members; Jesse, Meowth and I all had
one. But Jesse and I had switched the
contents of ours the night before to regular duffel bags to appear as regular
travelers, so the bag was empty now, save the food I had just lifted. Tied by a strap to my hip, it made the
perfect hiding place for stolen goods.
Stopping off at several more shops
to pick up a few more needed supplies, I made my way back to the hotel, a
spring to my step. The air was clear,
the sun was bright, and I had a week's supply of supplies under my belt (no pun
intended). Not to mention I had made my
first move on Jesse just the night before and she hadn't backed off. Life seemed pretty good at the moment.
"I scrounged us up some breakfast,"
I commented lightly with a grin, stepping into the bleak motel room and
dropping my invisible parcel lightly to the ground.
She looked up from the papers she
had been looking through, supposedly supply lists and assignment reports, and
raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"You make it sound like it's beetles
and tree bark," she remarked wryly, pushing away the papers and climbing off of
the bed to help me unpack the supplies.
I smiled again, relieved. Apparently she was back to her old self.
For the meantime, at least.
I nodded, helping her sort through
the contents of the bag as I spilled them out onto the bed.
"That was the idea," I remarked
smartly. She hit my arm playfully,
smiling.
"Well don't tease me like that! I remember the last time we had to resort to
similar methods," she commented, spreading out the supplies and marking them
down on the nearby supply list.
I watched her silently, enjoying her
sudden light attitude. What had made
her so chipper all of a sudden? All
that time she had seemed to grow farther apart from me, had she really just
been upset? Had me simply holding her
the night before comforted her enough to become this happy and carefree?
Or was it something else?
I realized she was staring at me.
"Hey, Space-case!"
I jerked out of my drifting
thoughts. "Oh! Ah—what? What was that?"
Her blue eyes twinkled in humor, a
wry grin touching her lips. "I said,
are you going to make us breakfast or are you just going to sit there and stare
at the food all day?"
I blushed, embarrassed that she had
caught me with my mind wandering. Again. My mind seemed to do that
a lot.
Not that I'm stupid or
anything. Just a dreamer. A dreamer who tended to forget where he was
and what he supposed to be doing at the moment. That's why I needed Jesse to keep my mind on track.
I'd probably be running into a whole
lot of trees without her help.
"Sorry about that, Jesse," I
apologized, grinning sheepishly. I
collected my supplies and brought them over to the camp cooker that had been
set up on the floor.
"Breakfast will be ready in a few
minutes."
* * *