tampered | (no subject)

When; August 11
Rating; PG?
Characters; Jet

lazy_cowboy
Summary; Going out for a drink and a talk--or, rather, a Talk.
Log;

Jet's trip to the bar Spike had indicated was not boring, to say the least. Other people ran and swaggered past him, wearing brightly coloured clothes that looked fit for a Halloween party and not much else. A few looked like they might not've been entirely human, and out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw someone fly between two buildings. He took in the sights with interest, grinning a little to himself as he walked by the varied shops and market stalls in the square.

Upon finding the place, he had to admit a little relief at its familiar appearance, so like the many others he'd patronized in his life. After the shock of landing down in the yet-unfamiliar City with its deities and curses, it was nice to know that the bars--or at least, this bar--here weren't too far off from what he knew like the back of his hand.

He didn't see Spike as he entered. Taking a seat at the main bar, Jet ordered a whiskey and took a sip as he waited for the man to show up.

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"Oi, Jet," came a voice to Jet's left, "Good to see you."

Spike sat down beside him, having already started on drinking, it would seem. A scotch was in his hand already, most of the ice already melted in it.

"It's been quite awhile, eh?"

"Spike!" Jet answered, his face breaking into a true grin at the sight of his old partner and friend. "Good to see you, too."

He took another drink from his own glass. "Not too long. Just about a month and a half, actually."

"Ah, gotcha..."

Spike sat silently next to his old friend, unsure of what to say.

"So," he finally started, "One question I never asked Faye, because she doesn't like me talking about it. Was there a funeral?"

"Nothing too big," he replied, after a moment's pause. "Funerals are expensive. But there was enough to have you cremated. Ended up spreading the ashes on Mars."

Another pause, and then he looked over at Spike. There was no sense beating around the bush, and more than that, Jet was curious about this purpose of this rendezvous. "That's not what you wanted to meet me here about, though, Spike. What's up?"

In response, Spike took another swig, downing the rest of his current drink, then coughed at rubbed the back of his head.

"Well...I wanted to say somethin'. You're a stronger man than I was, Jet. You moved beyond your past, while I was mired in it. It took dyin' and coming here to realize that I needed to take my own advice. She came here too, Jet. Julia, I mean. It seemed like she lost all her vibrancy. I realized after she left once again that maybe I was in love with the memory of Julia, more than the person she had become."

He asked for another drink and settled a bit more in his chair, some tenseness leaving his body.

"Time passed here. Aimless months. I was stayin' with Faye and things...happened."

Jet nodded, finding himself without an easy response to Spike's revelation. He'd hoped Spike would come to a conclusion along these lines, but if only it had happened sooner...

Those thoughts didn't do any good, though, and anyway, Jet had the feeling that death had been the inevitable price in this case. "Well," he said gruffly, looking down at the glass in his hand. "This place could be kind of another chance for you, huh?"

He took in Spike's next words with most of the remainder of his drink, glancing briefly over at the other man in an attempt to read his expression. "Things happened?" Jet repeated, tone neutral.

"...Yeah," he said, looking into his glass as he took another drink, "You know. Stuff."

He held silent, waiting for the reaction.

Jet Black was an intelligent man, and so it didn't take too long to put together what Spike had said with what he wasn't saying now. He'd made the mistake of downing the rest of his drink at that moment and just about choked on it, eyes widened.

"You--and Faye--?" he sputtered out.

"..Yep," he said, downing the rest of his drink, "That's pretty much how I expected the reaction to be. Actually, we've been together for a almost half a year."

He ordered another round and leaned to face Jet.

"Unexpected, right?"

As he regained his composure, he considered both the question and Spike's face. "Kind of," he finally answered, punctuating the word with a sip.

"If you cared about her one way or the other before, you sure hid it well...but if someone'd told me Faye had a thing for you, I'd've believed it."

He shrugged and sipped on his drink, relaxing even further, finally growing more comfortable in his living friend's presence.

"Well, I knew she was attractive. I may have been aloof sometimes, but I wasn't blind. She looked good. Hell, for all the time and bullshit she puts into her looks, she'd better. I just had much bigger things on my mind. The day to day grind of the Bebop was taxing enough."

He cracked a smile at the mention of Faye's beauty regimen. "There's one thing I haven't missed at all. Some of that stuff she owns made the whole ship stink.

"I know what you mean, though," he continued, taking another swig of alcohol. "Kind of hard to concentrate on anything else when you haven't eaten in a couple of days."

Spike let out a tired laugh and took another sip of his drink.

"It might have helped if the stuff you DID cook was actually edible. Four people on a ship and not one bit of cooking ability between us. That's a damned shame in every way."

"I'm telling you, ingredients make all the difference." Jet finished off his second drink and set it down on the bar. "If the food wasn't crap to begin with, it would've tasted better." Not exactly true--he knew his kitchen skills were definitely lacking in a few key areas--but joking with Spike was something he'd missed, even if he'd refused to admit as much to himself.

Having the guy around again was going to be good.

Spike was starting to feel more comfortable now. He ordered shots for the both of them before continuing.

"So that's pretty much it. I've been stayin' with Faye for awhile, now. Not that we've stopped arguing at all. I don't think that'll ever go away."