Comatose Cowboy
Chapter 5 - "Round Two"
The second Spike bath was easier to arrange. All Jet had to do was ask and Faye said "Yeah, okay" (!) with no argument. Jet listened quietly outside Spike's door without Faye knowing to see if he could glean what her change of heart was all about. He was shocked to hear her speaking casually to Spike as if he were awake and conversing with her. She always made fun of him for talking to Spike. That hypocrite! Oh, well, Jet thought. At least it was better this way. He didn't have to have a showdown with Faye to get Spike cleaned and Faye was getting comfortable around Spike again. Maybe now he could start looking for work. If Faye would stay with Spike, Jet could go after something a little more profitable than what she was able to bring in. Besides, Jet was itching to leave the Bebop for a while. He hadn't been able to go anywhere for nearly two months and had a wicked case of cabin fever.
Faye went into bathe Spike the second time with a lot less nervousness than the first. She had been to Spike's room several times since then, in fact. She found it strangely comforting to sit beside his bed and talk about her thoughts and feelings. Faye would never risk to do this with an awake, coherent person, but Spike just lay there, his chest rising and falling steadily, his face perfectly free of the usual smirk that Faye always sooo wanted to slap right off.
She would sit and file her nails in here, talking about things like what it felt like to return to her childhood home, only to find it empty and devoid of anything meaningful to her. She spoke of waking in the cryo-lab, disoriented and frightened. (Faye thought to herself on that day that Spike had already heard that story, but fuck him. He wasn't listening anyway.) She also bitched about Jet, and how he thought he was the boss of her and how he really needed to take some cooking lessons. But mostly she talked about how lonely she was most of the time. She had never been in love with anyone long enough to feel safe and secure. All of her love adventures had ended quite badly, leaving her bruised and wary of men.
So being here to bathe Spike again was much easier. She went about setting up the water and towels. As she stood over Spike, she started sponging his body and chatting away.
"Well, Spike, you certainly do manage to get dirty, even though you aren't doing anything. I'm not going to shampoo you today. The hair still looks relatively clean."
She washed his arms, feet and legs without hesitation, but when she came to 'the area' again, she halted. Best to simply take a deep breath and start cleaning, she thought. Pulling back the sheet, Faye found herself sneaking just the tiniest peek at Spike's package as she washed. Oh God! Did it move? Faye couldn't be sure, but she didn't dare look again. Or should she? What if Jet came in and found Spike with a tentpole and Faye standing there like an idiot? She got totally flustered and threw the sheet back over Spike.
She turned away quickly, knocking over the bath water, sending it cascading to the floor.
"CRAP!" she yelled. Oh shit, she thought to herself. That exclamation was probably enough to bring Jet running. Lately he thought that the brainwave activity was pointing to Spike waking soon, and would come running to the room at the slightest provocation. Sure enough, as she was tossing the towels on the floor puddle, Jet came to the doorway.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Uh, nothing. I knocked over my water tub, that's all. I uh,....I'm almost done here. I...I'll be out in a minute."
"Okay, whatever." Jet replied. "Be more careful next time, huh Faye?" and he left.
Faye got all of the water wiped up and was getting ready to leave when she noticed her sponge was missing. Where did it go, she wondered. I had it a minute ago when I was....Oh, God! It was there, barely visible under the sheet, next to Spike's......Okay. Don't panic, Faye. You're going back in for the sponge, nothing more. Just reach in and get the sponge. Don't touch anything else!
Small beads of perspiration had formed all along her hairline. She held her breath and went in after it. When at last she had the troublesome sponge back in her hand, she looked up to see Spike looking right at her with his eyes wide open.
Chapter 5 - "Round Two"
The second Spike bath was easier to arrange. All Jet had to do was ask and Faye said "Yeah, okay" (!) with no argument. Jet listened quietly outside Spike's door without Faye knowing to see if he could glean what her change of heart was all about. He was shocked to hear her speaking casually to Spike as if he were awake and conversing with her. She always made fun of him for talking to Spike. That hypocrite! Oh, well, Jet thought. At least it was better this way. He didn't have to have a showdown with Faye to get Spike cleaned and Faye was getting comfortable around Spike again. Maybe now he could start looking for work. If Faye would stay with Spike, Jet could go after something a little more profitable than what she was able to bring in. Besides, Jet was itching to leave the Bebop for a while. He hadn't been able to go anywhere for nearly two months and had a wicked case of cabin fever.
Faye went into bathe Spike the second time with a lot less nervousness than the first. She had been to Spike's room several times since then, in fact. She found it strangely comforting to sit beside his bed and talk about her thoughts and feelings. Faye would never risk to do this with an awake, coherent person, but Spike just lay there, his chest rising and falling steadily, his face perfectly free of the usual smirk that Faye always sooo wanted to slap right off.
She would sit and file her nails in here, talking about things like what it felt like to return to her childhood home, only to find it empty and devoid of anything meaningful to her. She spoke of waking in the cryo-lab, disoriented and frightened. (Faye thought to herself on that day that Spike had already heard that story, but fuck him. He wasn't listening anyway.) She also bitched about Jet, and how he thought he was the boss of her and how he really needed to take some cooking lessons. But mostly she talked about how lonely she was most of the time. She had never been in love with anyone long enough to feel safe and secure. All of her love adventures had ended quite badly, leaving her bruised and wary of men.
So being here to bathe Spike again was much easier. She went about setting up the water and towels. As she stood over Spike, she started sponging his body and chatting away.
"Well, Spike, you certainly do manage to get dirty, even though you aren't doing anything. I'm not going to shampoo you today. The hair still looks relatively clean."
She washed his arms, feet and legs without hesitation, but when she came to 'the area' again, she halted. Best to simply take a deep breath and start cleaning, she thought. Pulling back the sheet, Faye found herself sneaking just the tiniest peek at Spike's package as she washed. Oh God! Did it move? Faye couldn't be sure, but she didn't dare look again. Or should she? What if Jet came in and found Spike with a tentpole and Faye standing there like an idiot? She got totally flustered and threw the sheet back over Spike.
She turned away quickly, knocking over the bath water, sending it cascading to the floor.
"CRAP!" she yelled. Oh shit, she thought to herself. That exclamation was probably enough to bring Jet running. Lately he thought that the brainwave activity was pointing to Spike waking soon, and would come running to the room at the slightest provocation. Sure enough, as she was tossing the towels on the floor puddle, Jet came to the doorway.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Uh, nothing. I knocked over my water tub, that's all. I uh,....I'm almost done here. I...I'll be out in a minute."
"Okay, whatever." Jet replied. "Be more careful next time, huh Faye?" and he left.
Faye got all of the water wiped up and was getting ready to leave when she noticed her sponge was missing. Where did it go, she wondered. I had it a minute ago when I was....Oh, God! It was there, barely visible under the sheet, next to Spike's......Okay. Don't panic, Faye. You're going back in for the sponge, nothing more. Just reach in and get the sponge. Don't touch anything else!
Small beads of perspiration had formed all along her hairline. She held her breath and went in after it. When at last she had the troublesome sponge back in her hand, she looked up to see Spike looking right at her with his eyes wide open.