Ahoy there, minna-san! As you can see, I'm back with another update of 'Look
Me in the Eye'. Thank you so much for those of you who remained patient, and
for those of you who sent reviews, thanks go to you also!
My comp is still on the fritz, but I've found that by emailing updates to myself, I can
then post them on ff.net so not to keep you waiting. I wish I had thought of that sooner,
though it doesn't change the fact that I still need to buy a new comp.( donations are
accepted)
But anyways, enough talk, here's more Cowboy Bebop goodness for your reading
enjoyment.
Chapter 9 - (Interlude 1) Not so funny Valentine
"I'm on the outside, I'm looking in
I can see through you, see your true colors
And inside your ugly, ugly like me
I can see through you, see the real you"
- Aaron Lewis of StainD and Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, "Outside"
Women are a strange breed; you can't understand them, and if you try, there's
something definitely wrong with you. Females like being mysterious, and they begrudge anyone who would take it upon himself to try and figure them out.
That's the way it is, was, and probably the way it will always be.
Looking at his female boarder/comrade in arms, Jet decided one Faye Valentine
was no exception to this fact. She came into their lives quite by accident, but in
no time had turned herself into a permanent fixture in their daily routine. She
seemed to surround herself in lies. She'd cheat, steal, and loved to lie - in fact, it
seemed as her very life-story was constantly changing. Nothing about her ever
seemed constant.
Then, the Syndicate changed everything. At first they had both agreed not to
speak of Spike and the ordeal surrounding him once it was determined that he
wouldn't be returning to the Bebop of his own volition. However, somewhere along
the way, the hotheaded woman had got it in her head that the lunkhead was in
fact alive and downright insisted they go and retrieve him.
Jet had had no qualms about this turn of events. In fact, he was quite relieved that Spike was alive – not that he'd admit that to anyone (he did have his pride as a man, after all). He didn't even mind paying all those woolongs to get the lanky moron
patched up at a real (semi-legit, that is) hospital.
After all, Faye had insisted that he leave his care taking solely to her. Jet, was completely okay with that; playing nursemaid was definitely not a pass time he
found enjoyable - he had his bonsai for that. Besides, he did have two zipcrafts and
a ship to repair.
Several weeks had passed since they had brought Spike's mummified body back
to the Bebop and surprisingly enough, Faye had kept her word. Devoting her
attentions to helping along Spike's recovery, Faye did everything in her power to
bring the lanky bounty hunter back into the land of the living - without a single complaint. Needless to say, Jet was impressed. Granted, she had always been
the one tocater to his graver injuries, but everyone was aware that this time had certainly taken the cake.
Three weeks had gone by before Spike even regained consciousness, but in that
span of time Faye did not lessen her efforts one bit. She changed his bandages regularly, checked his makeshift IVs constantly, and even sat by his side to make
sure he was comfortable in his sleep. She talked to him about random things, and
even went so far as to calm him when he felt too much pain and soothed away his nightmares.
Jet was no fool. If there had been any doubt before, he knew then for certain that
Faye was in love with Spike. Why, was still left to be determined. Of course she
didn't make any showy signs of affections while she doted on him. While it was
true that she had cried after he had left, while caring for said injured cowboy, the
woman did not shed a single tear. For the most part, she remained completely professional, dedicating every spare ounce of energy towards his recovery. And
when he woke up, she cut herself off from him completely.
Spike seemed, to say the least, a bit put off by her disappearance; Jet couldn't say
he wasn't surprised by that either. The two had spent most of their time together - Spike being doted on by Faye and Faye doing the doting - without so much as a
single argument. It could almost be safe to assume that the two had started to
enjoy each other's company. However, once Faye had vanished once her services
were no longer needed, claiming women to be as 'fickle as the skies of Ganymede'
Jet just wrote it off as Faye carrying out her 'good deed of the year' and left it at that.
However, Spike had seemed to have taken it a little bit more personally.
He had to have called her out of her name, Jet assumed, to make her disappear as soon as Spike had completely recovered. Of course, there was only one possible
name that could have caused such a reaction, but the ex-cop was not about to get involved in one of their tiffs. After all, why bother when he found it so amusing? Faye locked up in her room for three days doing only God knows what, while Spike sat
invalid on the couch, pretending to be lazing about when in reality he was waiting for
her to emerge. Aside from Ed and Ein, the place had been almost peaceful.
All in all, it was quite laughable really. At the time, Jet had no clue as to where
Faye sat in Spike's eyes, but he felt it was a pretty safe assumption that his
opinion of the 'Untouchable Shrew' woman had definitely changed. Sure, the two
still squabbled with each other over trivial things, but not so much to the point where
Jet feared massive property damage. Often times, the two actually managed to be
civil with each other, discussing current bounty heads like professional adults. It
was almost as if Spike were actually viewing Faye as a person… a female person.
Faye was not without subtle changes either. The two had never been as in tune
with each other as Jet had been with Spike, but Jet had noticed a change in the
ex-con the moment she returned with the message for Spike on that fateful day.
She didn't have to come back to tell him such a thing, but the fact that she relayed
the message at all was admirable – especially since it had come from Julia. He
had earlier come to the realization that she had gone off in search of her past, and
the fact that she had returned lead him to one conclusion – she hadn't found what
she was looking for.
Jet had to admit he felt bad for her, but he admired the fact that she continued to
hold her head high, carrying herself as the Poker Alice she had come to be known
as. She helped out more, complained (a bit) less, but all in all remained loud,
brassy, and annoying as ever. However, deep down, he knew she wasn't the same
as she had been. It was just an act.
It was almost as if she had changed masks on them; keeping up the bravado
façade of a gutsy broad who didn't take no for an answer, when deep down she
was hiding and still searching for the truth she so longed for. It was because of this
that Jet had to admit he held some respect for the girl. He only hoped she found the true self she was looking for, before the mask she hid behind became the real Faye Valentine.
~ End of Chapter 9
Me in the Eye'. Thank you so much for those of you who remained patient, and
for those of you who sent reviews, thanks go to you also!
My comp is still on the fritz, but I've found that by emailing updates to myself, I can
then post them on ff.net so not to keep you waiting. I wish I had thought of that sooner,
though it doesn't change the fact that I still need to buy a new comp.( donations are
accepted)
But anyways, enough talk, here's more Cowboy Bebop goodness for your reading
enjoyment.
Chapter 9 - (Interlude 1) Not so funny Valentine
"I'm on the outside, I'm looking in
I can see through you, see your true colors
And inside your ugly, ugly like me
I can see through you, see the real you"
- Aaron Lewis of StainD and Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, "Outside"
Women are a strange breed; you can't understand them, and if you try, there's
something definitely wrong with you. Females like being mysterious, and they begrudge anyone who would take it upon himself to try and figure them out.
That's the way it is, was, and probably the way it will always be.
Looking at his female boarder/comrade in arms, Jet decided one Faye Valentine
was no exception to this fact. She came into their lives quite by accident, but in
no time had turned herself into a permanent fixture in their daily routine. She
seemed to surround herself in lies. She'd cheat, steal, and loved to lie - in fact, it
seemed as her very life-story was constantly changing. Nothing about her ever
seemed constant.
Then, the Syndicate changed everything. At first they had both agreed not to
speak of Spike and the ordeal surrounding him once it was determined that he
wouldn't be returning to the Bebop of his own volition. However, somewhere along
the way, the hotheaded woman had got it in her head that the lunkhead was in
fact alive and downright insisted they go and retrieve him.
Jet had had no qualms about this turn of events. In fact, he was quite relieved that Spike was alive – not that he'd admit that to anyone (he did have his pride as a man, after all). He didn't even mind paying all those woolongs to get the lanky moron
patched up at a real (semi-legit, that is) hospital.
After all, Faye had insisted that he leave his care taking solely to her. Jet, was completely okay with that; playing nursemaid was definitely not a pass time he
found enjoyable - he had his bonsai for that. Besides, he did have two zipcrafts and
a ship to repair.
Several weeks had passed since they had brought Spike's mummified body back
to the Bebop and surprisingly enough, Faye had kept her word. Devoting her
attentions to helping along Spike's recovery, Faye did everything in her power to
bring the lanky bounty hunter back into the land of the living - without a single complaint. Needless to say, Jet was impressed. Granted, she had always been
the one tocater to his graver injuries, but everyone was aware that this time had certainly taken the cake.
Three weeks had gone by before Spike even regained consciousness, but in that
span of time Faye did not lessen her efforts one bit. She changed his bandages regularly, checked his makeshift IVs constantly, and even sat by his side to make
sure he was comfortable in his sleep. She talked to him about random things, and
even went so far as to calm him when he felt too much pain and soothed away his nightmares.
Jet was no fool. If there had been any doubt before, he knew then for certain that
Faye was in love with Spike. Why, was still left to be determined. Of course she
didn't make any showy signs of affections while she doted on him. While it was
true that she had cried after he had left, while caring for said injured cowboy, the
woman did not shed a single tear. For the most part, she remained completely professional, dedicating every spare ounce of energy towards his recovery. And
when he woke up, she cut herself off from him completely.
Spike seemed, to say the least, a bit put off by her disappearance; Jet couldn't say
he wasn't surprised by that either. The two had spent most of their time together - Spike being doted on by Faye and Faye doing the doting - without so much as a
single argument. It could almost be safe to assume that the two had started to
enjoy each other's company. However, once Faye had vanished once her services
were no longer needed, claiming women to be as 'fickle as the skies of Ganymede'
Jet just wrote it off as Faye carrying out her 'good deed of the year' and left it at that.
However, Spike had seemed to have taken it a little bit more personally.
He had to have called her out of her name, Jet assumed, to make her disappear as soon as Spike had completely recovered. Of course, there was only one possible
name that could have caused such a reaction, but the ex-cop was not about to get involved in one of their tiffs. After all, why bother when he found it so amusing? Faye locked up in her room for three days doing only God knows what, while Spike sat
invalid on the couch, pretending to be lazing about when in reality he was waiting for
her to emerge. Aside from Ed and Ein, the place had been almost peaceful.
All in all, it was quite laughable really. At the time, Jet had no clue as to where
Faye sat in Spike's eyes, but he felt it was a pretty safe assumption that his
opinion of the 'Untouchable Shrew' woman had definitely changed. Sure, the two
still squabbled with each other over trivial things, but not so much to the point where
Jet feared massive property damage. Often times, the two actually managed to be
civil with each other, discussing current bounty heads like professional adults. It
was almost as if Spike were actually viewing Faye as a person… a female person.
Faye was not without subtle changes either. The two had never been as in tune
with each other as Jet had been with Spike, but Jet had noticed a change in the
ex-con the moment she returned with the message for Spike on that fateful day.
She didn't have to come back to tell him such a thing, but the fact that she relayed
the message at all was admirable – especially since it had come from Julia. He
had earlier come to the realization that she had gone off in search of her past, and
the fact that she had returned lead him to one conclusion – she hadn't found what
she was looking for.
Jet had to admit he felt bad for her, but he admired the fact that she continued to
hold her head high, carrying herself as the Poker Alice she had come to be known
as. She helped out more, complained (a bit) less, but all in all remained loud,
brassy, and annoying as ever. However, deep down, he knew she wasn't the same
as she had been. It was just an act.
It was almost as if she had changed masks on them; keeping up the bravado
façade of a gutsy broad who didn't take no for an answer, when deep down she
was hiding and still searching for the truth she so longed for. It was because of this
that Jet had to admit he held some respect for the girl. He only hoped she found the true self she was looking for, before the mask she hid behind became the real Faye Valentine.
~ End of Chapter 9