Chapter 5 - Paper cut
"Why does it feel like night today?
Something in here's not right today
Why am I so uptight today?
Paranoia's all I got left"
Location - EARTH, somewhere in the area once known as the United
States of America. It is widely known that after the Gate Incident, many
of Earth's residents left the planet, unable to withstand its hazardous living
conditions. The defective gate's destruction destroyed part of the Earth's
moon, causing its debris to fall to the Earth in the form of meteorites.
Those who remain on the Earth consist of hackers, the poor, nut jobs, and
criminals. The hackers put to use Earth's satellite probes to hone their skills.
The impoverished, too poor to leave the planet in search of better living
conditions remain in small clustered cities, trying to make the best of a bad
situation. The insane, due to the fact that they don't have the common sense
to leave hover around cities and can sometimes be found hiding out in caves
and ruins of old cities. Last but not least are the criminals - low-lives, bounty
heads, and the basic scum of the earth - those who take advantage of Earth's
vastness to hide out from the law.
=====
"Look, pal," a sleazy looking hustler/sales clerk, complete with oily skin and
greasy hair, stood behind the counter of his store. The establishment itself was
fashioned out of the remains of an old aircraft carrier.
His current customer, a sleek young man in a brown trench coat and black
shades, addressed him curtly; "I'm not your pal." His voice was gentle and
alluring, almost making you feel safe and secure… Almost.
The clerk adjusted his collar, feeling slightly intimidated. "Yeah," he replied.
"Like I was saying, what you see is what I got."
"Hmm," The man eyed the wall behind him, silently appraising the items
contained within the room. "I guess they'll have to do." He placed a large wad
of cash on the counter. "Give me the best of whatever you've got."
"Hey now," the clerk replied. "You can't just slap a few woolongs in my face
and expect me to just hand you any type of merchandise you want." The man
raised an eyebrow at him. "This is Earth, in case you've forgotten. There's
certain ways you have to--"
--Click!-- The clerk swallowed, feeling the cold steel of a gun being pressed
against his Adam's apple. Beads of sweat began rolling down his forehead
as he looked up at the man apprehensively.
"I know exactly where I am," the man told him. "And I know exactly what I
want. I don't need someone like you trying to tell me what to do. It isn't
healthy." He raised the gun to the point where it was directly between the
clerk's eyes. "So, don't tell me how to do my job, and I won't tell you how
to do yours. Are we clear?"
The clerk nodded, quickly handing over the desired merchandise. "H-here
you go, sir." he stammered.
The man smiled a frighteningly dazzling smile. "Thank you." he replied, as
he headed towards the door. He stopped, however before he reached the
exit, turning to face the clerk again.
A scream and several shots rang out before all was silent again.
=====
The sound of glass shattering rang throughout the apartment followed by a
loud "Shit!"
Faye stared down in frustration at the remains of a glass jar at her feet. She
had been trying to pack a last few remaining items into a cardboard box while
balancing it on her hip when she bumped into the kitchen table, knocking a
jelly jar to the floor. It was a good thing the jar was empty, or she would have
hand one hell of a time trying to clean grape jelly out of the fresh cut on her
hand.
'And it's a damn good one, too,' she thought to herself, wincing while
observing the injury as she sat the box down on the table. She had tried
picking up one of the broken shards, serving only to earn herself an inch-wide,
centimeter-deep laceration on the palm of her hand. It hurt like hell. She
rushed to the sink to rinse the blood off of her hand.
"Val? You in here, Valentine?"
Faye looked up to see a young man in his late twenties walk into the room
carrying a bag of groceries. He had light brown hair and grayish-green eyes. It
was the man from her picture. "Oh, hey, Macy," she replied. "You're back soon.
Is your mom okay?"
Macy Caldor frowned, striding into the kitchen. "She's fine," he replied wryly.
"It turns out the old woman was only faking so she could drag me all the way
out to Venus to gripe about how I don't return her phone calls."
Faye smiled slightly, gently rinsing the disinfectant soap from her hands. "You
should call her more often," she said.
"Yeah well…" Macy grumbled, stopping when he noticed the shards of glass
on the floor. "Break something?"
"Yeah," Faye answered sheepishly. "A jelly jar. Don't worry, I'll clean it up."
"Grape, huh? We were all out weren't we?" Faye nodded. "Good, 'cuz I bought
some more. You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"
"Not too badly," Faye lied, fetching the first-aid kit.
"Uh huh," Macy sat the grocery bag down on the table, only to notice the large cardboard box
already there. He had noticed two more by the door next a duffel bag. "Taking
a trip?" he asked.
Faye came back into the room, rooting through the kit for some bandages.
"Yeah," she replied as Macy took the box from her. He glanced at the
deepness of her cut, but didn't say anything, setting about the task of
bandaging it. "A bounty came up. A big one."
"Cool," he replied. "Guess you won't be so stingy now when it's your turn to
do the groceries." Faye swatted him with her good hand. "But seriously, you
look like you're heading to space with all that junk you've got packed."
Faye got quiet. "I am."
"Really?" Macy's look of surprise quickly changed into a serious one. "I
thought you said you weren't going back… after what happened."
"I know," Faye replied, fidgeting with a loose thread on her jacket. "Things
changed."
"I see."
"Hey, Macy?"
Faye noted the small thread she was toying with suddenly became longer.
"You know that guy I told you about," she replied. "The one I used to hunt
bounties with?"
"You mean Jet?" Macy asked, his eyes lighting up. "How's he doing? He
hasn't been by here in ages. You should invite him back again some time."
Faye frowned at him. "Oh, you weren't talking about him, were you? You
mean the other one… uh, what was his name?"
Faye's frown lessened slightly. "Spike."
"Yeah, that's right. I was thinking Knife, or Stick… something like that," Macy
looked up at Faye, noting the expression on her face. "You're not still grieving
over him, are you? It's been how long?"
Faye sighed. "He's not dead, Macy." she replied. "The ass came here this
morning."
Macy blinked in surprise. "He didn't hurt you, did he?" he asked.
Faye blinked. "Uh, no." she answered.
"Oh, good." There was a slight pause. "Is he cute?"
"Macy!" Faye gritted her teeth in frustration.
"Calm it down, Val," Macy laughed, tickled by the jealous expression on her
face. "I was kidding!" Faye did as asked, putting down the rolled up newspaper
she had been waving threateningly. "Well, I guess you got to get going, right?"
"Yeah," Faye answered. "Jet will have a fit if I keep him waiting too long." She
laughed a little. "He reminds me of somebody's dad sometimes."
Macy nodded. "You be careful." he told her.
"Of course," she replied, observing her bandaged hand. "I always am." She
tossed him a grateful smirk. "But this time, Macy, wait a couple weeks before
you start posting openings for a new roommate on the Web."
Macy grinned cheekily before kissing her on the cheek. "You got it," he replied,
ruffling her hair slightly. "Need help with those boxes?"
Faye already had one in her arms, heading for the door. "Nah, I've got it." she
replied. "Thanks anyway."
"See ya around." he told her. As the door closed, Macy had a feeling it would
be a long while before he saw Faye again. He could only hope that things turned
out for the best for her.
=====
"What'll be, buddy?"
"Hm?" Spike looked up absently at the bartender in front of him. "Oh, the s
trongest of whatever you've got."
"Ah, I gotcha." The bartender looked him over, almost as if he could identify his
exact problem. Spike really hated when people did that. "Coming right up." he
told him. "Don't you worry, buddy. This won't solve yer problems, but it'll make
ya feel a helluva lot better."
Spike smirked. 'Like he has any clue,' he told himself, all the while knowing he
wasn't really sure what was bothering him either. Granted, it had been awhile
since he had been back on the Bebop with its crew, but that shouldn't bother him.
After all, he had been looking forward to it for some time. Why should he be
having doubts now?
'Doubts?' Spike rubbed the back of his neck, letting out a sigh. 'Nah, that's not
it.' He closed his eyes, trying to sort out his thoughts. If it wasn't doubt that was bothering him, then what was it?
"Where are you going? Why are you going?"
Spike flinched, memories of that day coming back to him. He sighed heavily,
taking a swig of the drink the bartender had placed before him. It seemed that his thoughts kept wandering back to events in the past.
'Back to Faye the shrew is more like it,' he thought dryly to himself, although
deep down he really didn't seem to mind.
"Since when has the great Spike Spiegel needed the help of me - Faye
Valentine; Faye the bitch, the shrew woman?"
Boy, had she been pissed. Spike smirked to himself. It was nice to know
that Faye hadn't lost her 'charming' personality. Though she seemed to have
changed a great deal, it made Spike feel good to know that some things had
remained the same.
Or had they?
"No, you just had to screw it all to Hell, didn't you?"
Spike placed his empty glass down on the counter, ordering another drink.
It suddenly dawned on him what was bothering him. Somehow, through means
he was not exactly sure of, Spike had managed to ruin Faye's life.
He had told her that the past didn't matter, and for a time, it seemed as though
she had believed him. However, he went and proved himself to be a hypocrite
when he left to face Vicious.
"Why are you going?"
She had wanted him to stay - with her - with the Bebop. Spike nearly choked
on the bitter liquid going down his throat. Faye Valentine had actually cared
about him. To what extent, he wasn't sure, but he knew it was enough to not
want him to die. He rubbed at his temples, warding away an oncoming
headache. If he had asked her, Spike was almost positive that Faye
would have gone with him - Jet as well. Still, he was too proud. Not only
did he feel that taking on Vicious was his responsibility, but he also didn't
want to put them in danger. They were his family after all.
"My -family-?" he wondered aloud, staring at the glass in front of him. He
glanced up at the bartender. "What is this stuff?"
The bartender, a graying old fellow similar to the ones you might see in the
movies, glanced up from the martini he was mixing. "You asked for the
strongest in the house, right?" he asked, smirking slightly. "What you got
there is Arubian Moonshine… any stronger and they'd be using that stuff for
rocket fuel." He chuckled lightly to himself. "I wouldn't drink too much more
of that though - instead of having to worry about a hangover, you'll hafta worry
about trying to remember what you did before you passed out. I heard one
guy drank half a bottle of that stuff - caught himself 4 bounties and then
passed out. Didn't wake up for two whole weeks."
Spike smirked thoughtfully, sniffing the liquid before him. He then shrugged
and took another swig, feeling the beginnings of a light buzz.
'No hangovers, huh?' Spike could remember occasions on which he would
come back to the Bebop, smashed beyond belief. Faye would go out of her
way to increase the severity of his brain-numbing migraines by yelling at the top
of her lungs, or banging things around loudly. The end result would always be an argument - following his passing out on the couch.
Spike sighed once again. Something told him that this new Faye would not go
out of her way to make his life miserable - as he had so enjoyed doing to her. In
fact, it seemed to Spike that Faye was now scared of him, and maybe a little
pissed at him. If he wasn't careful, she'd probably end up hating him.
Now he couldn't have that. As much as he teased and aggravated Faye in the
past, he had never imagined her hating him. He knew he had hurt her by leaving,
but judging by the way that she had pointed a gun to his head, Spike had never expected Faye to not want to see him again.
He didn't think he'd be able to handle that.
'Whoa…' Spike set his half-empty glass back down on the counter. Where
had his thoughts gotten him? Suddenly he found that he wasn't all that thirsty
anymore. Setting a few woolongs down on the table, Spike left the bar, heading
back to the Bebop.
=====
When Spike entered the ship, there wasn't a soul in sight. Figuring everyone
had turned in for the night, Spike resolved himself to take a shower and then turn
in as well. However, when he went to enter the bathroom, he was met with quite a sight.
He felt like one of those slack-jawed, bug-eyed cartoon characters. Standing in
the open doorway was Faye, wrapped in only a medium sized towel. Steam from
the shower wafted around her and water dripped from her hair and shoulders,
running down her body in little rivulets.
"Spike!" she exclaimed, her towel nearly slipping from her grasp. She felt the temperature rise in her face. Why was he staring at her like that?
"Hm?" he replied, forcing himself out of his stupor.
Faye averted her gaze, fearing her face was red as a tomato. "N-nothing," she
said quickly. "I was just surprised to see you, that's all. I thought you were
still out."
"Yeah," Spike answered, clearing his throat. "I just got back in though." 'For
crying out loud, man, stop staring.'
"I see," 'Why is he still staring at me?'
Spike cleared his throat again, glancing away as he rubbed the back of his
neck. "Um, sorry." he murmured.
Faye blinked, looking up at him. "For what?"
"This morning," Spike answered. "I didn't mean to scare you like that."
"Oh," Spike looked down at her, finding it harder and harder to tell what she
was thinking. It was almost like she was a different person; he had left a
marker in a book only to find that the marker he came back to was in an
entirely different book. Why hadn't he noticed that before?
"It's okay," she was saying. "I'm over that now. Really."
Spike managed a small smile. "I meant what I said earlier," Faye gave him
a confused look. "I am glad you decided to come along."
Faye could feel her heartbeat getting faster. "Really?"
"Yeah," Spike replied slowly, marveling at how he had been ignorant to how
beautiful she was. 'Faye? Beautiful? What the hell was in that stuff anyway?'
Faye suddenly came to a realization: she was pretty much naked, and the two
of them were only a few feet apart. Her brain was screaming like an alarm. 'Too
close! Too close! Escape! Flee! Need distraction… pronto!'
Spike opened his mouth to speak when he found a pair of amber eyes staring
him in the face. "What the hell…?"
Faye looked down at her feet to see Spike pinned to the ground, being
smothered in kisses (and licks) by none other than…
Spike blinked in surprise. "Ed? Is that you?"
Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV, now a good foot taller than before, with
even wilder chin-length hair grinned happily. "Hello-ello-elloooo! Edward is so
happy to see Spike-person and Faye-Faye!"
Faye fought to hold back a smile. "Good to see you, too, Ed." she replied.
The young hacker giggled. "Faye-Faye is happy to see Edward?" She then
blinked curiously. "Why is Faye-Faye naked?"
Faye's face turned red again. "I'm wearing a towel for crying out loud!" she
exclaimed. "I just got out of the shower!"
"Oh." There was a pause. "Faye-Faye is nay-ked! Faye-Faye is naaaay-ked!"
Ein barked loudly.
The cabin lights switched on, revealing a sleepy-eyed Jet dressed in only a
pair of sweatpants. "What's going on in here?" he yawned.
"Jet-person is here, too!" Ed squealed, latching onto his leg. "Edward is happy
to see Jet-person, too!"
"Ed?" Jet exclaimed, patting her on the head. "You're here early… or late, I
should say." The girl only laughed. Jet then looked up to see Spike laying
sprawled out on the floor and Faye wearing nothing but a towel. He pointed an
accusing finger at them, his jaw dropping to the floor.
"Looks like we got a bit carried away." Spike laughed, trying to hold back a smirk. "Sorry we woke you, Jet." he replied, earning a murderous glare from Faye.
"Faye! Why the hell are you naked?!"
"I'm not naked! I just got out the shower! Spike Spiegel, I swear I'll kill you if you
don't stop laughing!"
"What're you gonna do? Strangle me with that towel?"
"Aaarrgggghhhhh!!!"
"Ed, you can let go of my leg now…"
"Faye-Faye is nay-ked, Faye-Faye is nay-ked. Nay-kee, nay-kee, nay-ked!"
Ein barked twice, tilting his head to the side before settling himself into a comfy
position on the floor.
It seemed as though things were getting back to normal on the Bebop.
End of Chapter 5
"Why does it feel like night today?
Something in here's not right today
Why am I so uptight today?
Paranoia's all I got left"
Location - EARTH, somewhere in the area once known as the United
States of America. It is widely known that after the Gate Incident, many
of Earth's residents left the planet, unable to withstand its hazardous living
conditions. The defective gate's destruction destroyed part of the Earth's
moon, causing its debris to fall to the Earth in the form of meteorites.
Those who remain on the Earth consist of hackers, the poor, nut jobs, and
criminals. The hackers put to use Earth's satellite probes to hone their skills.
The impoverished, too poor to leave the planet in search of better living
conditions remain in small clustered cities, trying to make the best of a bad
situation. The insane, due to the fact that they don't have the common sense
to leave hover around cities and can sometimes be found hiding out in caves
and ruins of old cities. Last but not least are the criminals - low-lives, bounty
heads, and the basic scum of the earth - those who take advantage of Earth's
vastness to hide out from the law.
=====
"Look, pal," a sleazy looking hustler/sales clerk, complete with oily skin and
greasy hair, stood behind the counter of his store. The establishment itself was
fashioned out of the remains of an old aircraft carrier.
His current customer, a sleek young man in a brown trench coat and black
shades, addressed him curtly; "I'm not your pal." His voice was gentle and
alluring, almost making you feel safe and secure… Almost.
The clerk adjusted his collar, feeling slightly intimidated. "Yeah," he replied.
"Like I was saying, what you see is what I got."
"Hmm," The man eyed the wall behind him, silently appraising the items
contained within the room. "I guess they'll have to do." He placed a large wad
of cash on the counter. "Give me the best of whatever you've got."
"Hey now," the clerk replied. "You can't just slap a few woolongs in my face
and expect me to just hand you any type of merchandise you want." The man
raised an eyebrow at him. "This is Earth, in case you've forgotten. There's
certain ways you have to--"
--Click!-- The clerk swallowed, feeling the cold steel of a gun being pressed
against his Adam's apple. Beads of sweat began rolling down his forehead
as he looked up at the man apprehensively.
"I know exactly where I am," the man told him. "And I know exactly what I
want. I don't need someone like you trying to tell me what to do. It isn't
healthy." He raised the gun to the point where it was directly between the
clerk's eyes. "So, don't tell me how to do my job, and I won't tell you how
to do yours. Are we clear?"
The clerk nodded, quickly handing over the desired merchandise. "H-here
you go, sir." he stammered.
The man smiled a frighteningly dazzling smile. "Thank you." he replied, as
he headed towards the door. He stopped, however before he reached the
exit, turning to face the clerk again.
A scream and several shots rang out before all was silent again.
=====
The sound of glass shattering rang throughout the apartment followed by a
loud "Shit!"
Faye stared down in frustration at the remains of a glass jar at her feet. She
had been trying to pack a last few remaining items into a cardboard box while
balancing it on her hip when she bumped into the kitchen table, knocking a
jelly jar to the floor. It was a good thing the jar was empty, or she would have
hand one hell of a time trying to clean grape jelly out of the fresh cut on her
hand.
'And it's a damn good one, too,' she thought to herself, wincing while
observing the injury as she sat the box down on the table. She had tried
picking up one of the broken shards, serving only to earn herself an inch-wide,
centimeter-deep laceration on the palm of her hand. It hurt like hell. She
rushed to the sink to rinse the blood off of her hand.
"Val? You in here, Valentine?"
Faye looked up to see a young man in his late twenties walk into the room
carrying a bag of groceries. He had light brown hair and grayish-green eyes. It
was the man from her picture. "Oh, hey, Macy," she replied. "You're back soon.
Is your mom okay?"
Macy Caldor frowned, striding into the kitchen. "She's fine," he replied wryly.
"It turns out the old woman was only faking so she could drag me all the way
out to Venus to gripe about how I don't return her phone calls."
Faye smiled slightly, gently rinsing the disinfectant soap from her hands. "You
should call her more often," she said.
"Yeah well…" Macy grumbled, stopping when he noticed the shards of glass
on the floor. "Break something?"
"Yeah," Faye answered sheepishly. "A jelly jar. Don't worry, I'll clean it up."
"Grape, huh? We were all out weren't we?" Faye nodded. "Good, 'cuz I bought
some more. You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"
"Not too badly," Faye lied, fetching the first-aid kit.
"Uh huh," Macy sat the grocery bag down on the table, only to notice the large cardboard box
already there. He had noticed two more by the door next a duffel bag. "Taking
a trip?" he asked.
Faye came back into the room, rooting through the kit for some bandages.
"Yeah," she replied as Macy took the box from her. He glanced at the
deepness of her cut, but didn't say anything, setting about the task of
bandaging it. "A bounty came up. A big one."
"Cool," he replied. "Guess you won't be so stingy now when it's your turn to
do the groceries." Faye swatted him with her good hand. "But seriously, you
look like you're heading to space with all that junk you've got packed."
Faye got quiet. "I am."
"Really?" Macy's look of surprise quickly changed into a serious one. "I
thought you said you weren't going back… after what happened."
"I know," Faye replied, fidgeting with a loose thread on her jacket. "Things
changed."
"I see."
"Hey, Macy?"
Faye noted the small thread she was toying with suddenly became longer.
"You know that guy I told you about," she replied. "The one I used to hunt
bounties with?"
"You mean Jet?" Macy asked, his eyes lighting up. "How's he doing? He
hasn't been by here in ages. You should invite him back again some time."
Faye frowned at him. "Oh, you weren't talking about him, were you? You
mean the other one… uh, what was his name?"
Faye's frown lessened slightly. "Spike."
"Yeah, that's right. I was thinking Knife, or Stick… something like that," Macy
looked up at Faye, noting the expression on her face. "You're not still grieving
over him, are you? It's been how long?"
Faye sighed. "He's not dead, Macy." she replied. "The ass came here this
morning."
Macy blinked in surprise. "He didn't hurt you, did he?" he asked.
Faye blinked. "Uh, no." she answered.
"Oh, good." There was a slight pause. "Is he cute?"
"Macy!" Faye gritted her teeth in frustration.
"Calm it down, Val," Macy laughed, tickled by the jealous expression on her
face. "I was kidding!" Faye did as asked, putting down the rolled up newspaper
she had been waving threateningly. "Well, I guess you got to get going, right?"
"Yeah," Faye answered. "Jet will have a fit if I keep him waiting too long." She
laughed a little. "He reminds me of somebody's dad sometimes."
Macy nodded. "You be careful." he told her.
"Of course," she replied, observing her bandaged hand. "I always am." She
tossed him a grateful smirk. "But this time, Macy, wait a couple weeks before
you start posting openings for a new roommate on the Web."
Macy grinned cheekily before kissing her on the cheek. "You got it," he replied,
ruffling her hair slightly. "Need help with those boxes?"
Faye already had one in her arms, heading for the door. "Nah, I've got it." she
replied. "Thanks anyway."
"See ya around." he told her. As the door closed, Macy had a feeling it would
be a long while before he saw Faye again. He could only hope that things turned
out for the best for her.
=====
"What'll be, buddy?"
"Hm?" Spike looked up absently at the bartender in front of him. "Oh, the s
trongest of whatever you've got."
"Ah, I gotcha." The bartender looked him over, almost as if he could identify his
exact problem. Spike really hated when people did that. "Coming right up." he
told him. "Don't you worry, buddy. This won't solve yer problems, but it'll make
ya feel a helluva lot better."
Spike smirked. 'Like he has any clue,' he told himself, all the while knowing he
wasn't really sure what was bothering him either. Granted, it had been awhile
since he had been back on the Bebop with its crew, but that shouldn't bother him.
After all, he had been looking forward to it for some time. Why should he be
having doubts now?
'Doubts?' Spike rubbed the back of his neck, letting out a sigh. 'Nah, that's not
it.' He closed his eyes, trying to sort out his thoughts. If it wasn't doubt that was bothering him, then what was it?
"Where are you going? Why are you going?"
Spike flinched, memories of that day coming back to him. He sighed heavily,
taking a swig of the drink the bartender had placed before him. It seemed that his thoughts kept wandering back to events in the past.
'Back to Faye the shrew is more like it,' he thought dryly to himself, although
deep down he really didn't seem to mind.
"Since when has the great Spike Spiegel needed the help of me - Faye
Valentine; Faye the bitch, the shrew woman?"
Boy, had she been pissed. Spike smirked to himself. It was nice to know
that Faye hadn't lost her 'charming' personality. Though she seemed to have
changed a great deal, it made Spike feel good to know that some things had
remained the same.
Or had they?
"No, you just had to screw it all to Hell, didn't you?"
Spike placed his empty glass down on the counter, ordering another drink.
It suddenly dawned on him what was bothering him. Somehow, through means
he was not exactly sure of, Spike had managed to ruin Faye's life.
He had told her that the past didn't matter, and for a time, it seemed as though
she had believed him. However, he went and proved himself to be a hypocrite
when he left to face Vicious.
"Why are you going?"
She had wanted him to stay - with her - with the Bebop. Spike nearly choked
on the bitter liquid going down his throat. Faye Valentine had actually cared
about him. To what extent, he wasn't sure, but he knew it was enough to not
want him to die. He rubbed at his temples, warding away an oncoming
headache. If he had asked her, Spike was almost positive that Faye
would have gone with him - Jet as well. Still, he was too proud. Not only
did he feel that taking on Vicious was his responsibility, but he also didn't
want to put them in danger. They were his family after all.
"My -family-?" he wondered aloud, staring at the glass in front of him. He
glanced up at the bartender. "What is this stuff?"
The bartender, a graying old fellow similar to the ones you might see in the
movies, glanced up from the martini he was mixing. "You asked for the
strongest in the house, right?" he asked, smirking slightly. "What you got
there is Arubian Moonshine… any stronger and they'd be using that stuff for
rocket fuel." He chuckled lightly to himself. "I wouldn't drink too much more
of that though - instead of having to worry about a hangover, you'll hafta worry
about trying to remember what you did before you passed out. I heard one
guy drank half a bottle of that stuff - caught himself 4 bounties and then
passed out. Didn't wake up for two whole weeks."
Spike smirked thoughtfully, sniffing the liquid before him. He then shrugged
and took another swig, feeling the beginnings of a light buzz.
'No hangovers, huh?' Spike could remember occasions on which he would
come back to the Bebop, smashed beyond belief. Faye would go out of her
way to increase the severity of his brain-numbing migraines by yelling at the top
of her lungs, or banging things around loudly. The end result would always be an argument - following his passing out on the couch.
Spike sighed once again. Something told him that this new Faye would not go
out of her way to make his life miserable - as he had so enjoyed doing to her. In
fact, it seemed to Spike that Faye was now scared of him, and maybe a little
pissed at him. If he wasn't careful, she'd probably end up hating him.
Now he couldn't have that. As much as he teased and aggravated Faye in the
past, he had never imagined her hating him. He knew he had hurt her by leaving,
but judging by the way that she had pointed a gun to his head, Spike had never expected Faye to not want to see him again.
He didn't think he'd be able to handle that.
'Whoa…' Spike set his half-empty glass back down on the counter. Where
had his thoughts gotten him? Suddenly he found that he wasn't all that thirsty
anymore. Setting a few woolongs down on the table, Spike left the bar, heading
back to the Bebop.
=====
When Spike entered the ship, there wasn't a soul in sight. Figuring everyone
had turned in for the night, Spike resolved himself to take a shower and then turn
in as well. However, when he went to enter the bathroom, he was met with quite a sight.
He felt like one of those slack-jawed, bug-eyed cartoon characters. Standing in
the open doorway was Faye, wrapped in only a medium sized towel. Steam from
the shower wafted around her and water dripped from her hair and shoulders,
running down her body in little rivulets.
"Spike!" she exclaimed, her towel nearly slipping from her grasp. She felt the temperature rise in her face. Why was he staring at her like that?
"Hm?" he replied, forcing himself out of his stupor.
Faye averted her gaze, fearing her face was red as a tomato. "N-nothing," she
said quickly. "I was just surprised to see you, that's all. I thought you were
still out."
"Yeah," Spike answered, clearing his throat. "I just got back in though." 'For
crying out loud, man, stop staring.'
"I see," 'Why is he still staring at me?'
Spike cleared his throat again, glancing away as he rubbed the back of his
neck. "Um, sorry." he murmured.
Faye blinked, looking up at him. "For what?"
"This morning," Spike answered. "I didn't mean to scare you like that."
"Oh," Spike looked down at her, finding it harder and harder to tell what she
was thinking. It was almost like she was a different person; he had left a
marker in a book only to find that the marker he came back to was in an
entirely different book. Why hadn't he noticed that before?
"It's okay," she was saying. "I'm over that now. Really."
Spike managed a small smile. "I meant what I said earlier," Faye gave him
a confused look. "I am glad you decided to come along."
Faye could feel her heartbeat getting faster. "Really?"
"Yeah," Spike replied slowly, marveling at how he had been ignorant to how
beautiful she was. 'Faye? Beautiful? What the hell was in that stuff anyway?'
Faye suddenly came to a realization: she was pretty much naked, and the two
of them were only a few feet apart. Her brain was screaming like an alarm. 'Too
close! Too close! Escape! Flee! Need distraction… pronto!'
Spike opened his mouth to speak when he found a pair of amber eyes staring
him in the face. "What the hell…?"
Faye looked down at her feet to see Spike pinned to the ground, being
smothered in kisses (and licks) by none other than…
Spike blinked in surprise. "Ed? Is that you?"
Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV, now a good foot taller than before, with
even wilder chin-length hair grinned happily. "Hello-ello-elloooo! Edward is so
happy to see Spike-person and Faye-Faye!"
Faye fought to hold back a smile. "Good to see you, too, Ed." she replied.
The young hacker giggled. "Faye-Faye is happy to see Edward?" She then
blinked curiously. "Why is Faye-Faye naked?"
Faye's face turned red again. "I'm wearing a towel for crying out loud!" she
exclaimed. "I just got out of the shower!"
"Oh." There was a pause. "Faye-Faye is nay-ked! Faye-Faye is naaaay-ked!"
Ein barked loudly.
The cabin lights switched on, revealing a sleepy-eyed Jet dressed in only a
pair of sweatpants. "What's going on in here?" he yawned.
"Jet-person is here, too!" Ed squealed, latching onto his leg. "Edward is happy
to see Jet-person, too!"
"Ed?" Jet exclaimed, patting her on the head. "You're here early… or late, I
should say." The girl only laughed. Jet then looked up to see Spike laying
sprawled out on the floor and Faye wearing nothing but a towel. He pointed an
accusing finger at them, his jaw dropping to the floor.
"Looks like we got a bit carried away." Spike laughed, trying to hold back a smirk. "Sorry we woke you, Jet." he replied, earning a murderous glare from Faye.
"Faye! Why the hell are you naked?!"
"I'm not naked! I just got out the shower! Spike Spiegel, I swear I'll kill you if you
don't stop laughing!"
"What're you gonna do? Strangle me with that towel?"
"Aaarrgggghhhhh!!!"
"Ed, you can let go of my leg now…"
"Faye-Faye is nay-ked, Faye-Faye is nay-ked. Nay-kee, nay-kee, nay-ked!"
Ein barked twice, tilting his head to the side before settling himself into a comfy
position on the floor.
It seemed as though things were getting back to normal on the Bebop.
End of Chapter 5