Talking Back to the Night Part II

I do not own Cowboy Bebop or any of the song lyrics quoted.

In flashes of lightning
You will shine
Do as you want
Do what you want

________________________________________

Spike stormed through the hallway and descended the stairs towards the common. He grabbed the box of cigarettes from the table and slumped down into the couch. He lit up and took a deep drag, exhaling smoke and some of his tension from dealing with Faye.

He should have known better than to crash in her room last night. The woman's moods switched on and off like a damn Christmas tree.

The Bebop was docked at Ganymede Bay on a warm, muggy evening. The crew was ecstatic after their second successful hunt in less than 72 hours, and the occasion called for alcoholic celebration. They even had an excess of woolongs after the bills had been paid and the storeroom replenished, so they had plopped themselves on deck, armed with a full case of premium Ganymede scotch, courtesy of one of Jet's ISSP contacts.

Amidst silly jokes and maniacal giggles over everything from the size of the Ganymede moon to the wash of the waves, the liquor flowed quickly and their spirits were high. By the time they were halfway through the fourth bottle, they decided (or rather, their drunken, spinning heads did) that it was time to turn in for the early morning. Spike had snagged the half-empty bottle to stash away in his room for some future celebration. As they all headed towards their respective rooms to sleep off the merriment, Spike, in a moment of alcohol-induced generosity and goodwill, decided to guide Faye to her room.

It could have been because she was walking so unsteadily that he thought she'd crash into the wall before she reached her door.

Or it could have been that the mere thought of walking the extra steps to his room, just down the hall from hers, seemed too much of an effort.

Whatever the reason, once he had delivered her safely to her door, he decided to finagle his way into her room with the enticement of sharing his bottle of scotch with her.

After that, everything was a bit of a blur, although he did remember Faye turning on the little radio in her room to a station playing songs that they both could sing to. And vaguely he remembered stretching out at the foot of her bed, assuring her that he was just going to close his eyes for a minute and then head down the hall to his own room. She had been surprisingly agreeable to this and had curled up at the other end of the bed. Somewhere along the way he nodded off and so, apparently, did she.

Then this morning happened.

Thinking about how she had treated him produced an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he was a little surprised. He couldn't believe that he actually felt a little hurt by her reaction. It wasn't like he would have tried to take advantage of her; he valued his limbs too much for that. And anyway, he liked her.

For one, no one else could match him drink for drink.

He liked the fact that after partnering with her on their bounty hunts they would head back to the ship to work off the excess adrenalin by playing cards. Despite of the fact that she cheated at cards, he was a cheat too and let her beat him sometimes because he liked the devious, triumphant smile that would appear on her face when she slapped down the winning hand.

Because, despite his complaints that she was a mooch, a cheat, and a selfish bitch, he never could tell her how much he liked hanging out with her.

Frustrated, he closed his eyes and took a deep drag, choking on the smoke when he looked up to see that Faye had entered the common room. She stood at the top of the stairs, watching him silently. His eyes locked onto hers. He swallowed and willed his nervousness to calm as they stared at each other. Finally, he spoke first since it was obvious that she would not.

"So, Faye …" he began, frowning at her.

"So, Spike." She glared back.

She sighed, coming down the stairs to join him on the couch.

"Got another one of those?" She refused to look at him, her eyes on the ceiling as she held out her hand and waited.

Spike stared at her momentarily, then shot her an unguarded, spontaneous grin and placed a cigarette in her palm.