Remnants of the Earth
EDANITH => The Frontier => Topic started by: Rhi-Rhi on September 14, 2015, 11:22:15 pm
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"Fuck fuck fuuuuck, you've gotta be fucking kidding me!" Jewel smacked the side of her smart phone, as though that would make the dumb thing work again. But nope. Nothing. The screen was a chaotic mess of pixels and color, and so what if it was several versions behind the latest upgrade? It was working fine earlier!
Cursing all the more, she took it apart, popped the battery, and put it back together. But then it wouldn't turn on at all, period. No chaotic colors. Just a black screen.
"Seriously?! What the fuck, C-Mobile!" She fiddled with it some more, made a few final, futile attempts at trouble-shooting, and was finally forced to call it quits. She stuffed it back in her jeans pocket.
She was fucking screwed.
Like, more screwed than before.
Here she was, out in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but her old motorcycle (running low on fuel, now) and a backpack full of clothes, water, and a little food. That was it. Oh, and a failure of a phone that had her GPS and everything on it, and now decided to just die when she needed it most. There was supposed to be a settlement out here somewhere, but without her GPS...
Well, shit. She didn't know how to get somewhere by following the sun or whatever! Which way was north?!
And which way was back to Tynova?
Jewel looked back over her shoulder and wiped sweat from her brow, though she was sweating all over. The heat was intense out here, with no shade or vegetation, and her clothes were sticking to her in all the wrong places. All she saw behind her was more red earth. Tynova could be back straight that way--or maybe it was more to the side. Fuck if she knew now! There were no landmarks out here to orient herself, and the ones that were around were just...rocks and more rocks.
She really hadn't planned this out. But she'd also had no time. Her neighbor had reported her. Her fucking neighbor! The chick she'd loaned books and movies to! She'd barely made it out of her flat when the cops rolled up and there was no way she was going with them, no way she was going to become one of those selfless saviors--AKA one of those mages with the shit drilled into their brains. She couldn't exactly go back now.
That didn't mean she wanted to die out here in the desert, though.
"Okay. Don't panic," she told herself, and took a deep breath. "If there's a settlement, you're gonna see it, right? If I just...keep going, I mean, it'll stand out, right? I'll see something on the horizon."
Right?
Yet she froze, struggling with fear. The fear of the unknown ahead of her, the possibility she might find nothing and die out there, and the fear of the known: the knowledge that if she went back, she might not ever get this chance again, and her future, her life, would be sealed.
And all the while the sun beat down on her, leeching away her skin's water.
-
"No. Yes. Yep, clear as day..."
Jesse leaned against the Lindy-Lou's landing gear, tipping his hat up and adjusting the goggles he wore to keep Edanith's red dust out of his face. He held a standard satellite communicator to his ear, and his eyes stared off at the worksite ahead of him. There was a crashed Aedolan shuttle just about twenty meters from his ship, and from his spot in the shade, he could see Highway, Turnpike, and Boulevard, his beloved robots, milling around it.
It wasn't military or anything. In fact, Jesse was on contract for the recovery of it's flight recorder, and currently talking to his employer.
"Yep, I found it just fine. Looks like it's in good enough condition. Yep, should have the flight recorder in my hands in a few."
He put the transmitter on his shoulder and pinned it down with his head, and he fiddled with the communications array sitting just a few feet in front of him.
"Reportin' in a few. Signing out for now."
He put the transmitter in his pocket, and walked over to the shuttle. Highway, the largest robot of the three, finally managed to pry open the shuttle's emergency doors, and immediately, a loud alarm sounded off three times. The action seemed to trigger something in the ship's fried systems, because the emergency landing flares went shooting up into the sky. Jesse paid it no mind (Because who was going to see that, they were out in the middle of the desert!), and he peered into the shuttle. Immediately, he saw the two dessicated corpses inside, and grimaced.
"Damn... Well boys, you know the drill. I'm going in."
He made suer his toolbelt was all nice and fastened, and he climbed into the upturned shuttle.
Boulevard scanned the horizon, and then all three robots took up idling positions around the shuttle, using standard lookout procedures.
-
Jewel was seriously considering turning back around--if she just kept a low profile, she'd be okay, at least long enough to snag a new phone and fuel up--when a loud, blaring sound rang out across the desert. Better yet, flares shot up into the sky, practically pointing the way like some deity had heard her thoughts and decided to have pity. If she was the sort to believe the gods actually took a personal interest in her sad life, that is.
Whatever it was, she was taking it.
Even as she swung back onto her bike and got the engine roaring, the rare, cautious part of her mind screamed a warning: it could be folks out looking for her. Or it could be outlaws. Or shit, she could be heading straight into some military operation! Hah, wouldn't that be rich? But if she headed back, that might be as good as surrendering, anyway, and she'd take her chances with criminals. She had a gun--not that she'd ever actually fired one before--and...well...
#YOLO?
Before she knew it, she was speeding off over the desert, leaving a trail of dust in her wake. It wasn't a long drive, but a small hill had hid what lay on the other side.
A wreck of some sort.
And another ship, a Not Wrecked ship.
A Not Wrecked ship that was not Edani, from the looks of it. It didn't look like anything she recognized. There were robots, too. No sign of a person, from what she could see, but someone had to pilot that thing.
Sooo either criminal or friendly. She'd take her chances. If she could get off this dusty planet, that'd be even better! And shit, it wasn't like anyone even had to know she was there, if she was sneaky enough. She could just catch a ride and get off at wherever civilized place they stopped at, no harm done.
Still not much of a plan, but it was something!
Dismounting her bike and hefting her backpack, she moved quickly. There was no telling what those robots were doing, or if they'd report her, so she gave the trashed shuttle a wide berth as she climbed down the hill--and looped back around to head for the other craft.
-
[In case you didn't see it when you looked through Jesse's profile, his three robots all have pictures linked to their names. Just lettin' you know!]
Jesse peered around the wrecked shuttle. He might've been on the job, but it didn't keep his curiosity from rearing it's ugly head. The shuttle was by no means shabby. If he had to wager, his client was probably some rich jerk-off looking into some kind of corporate accident. The tattered suits and matching briefcases of the shuttle's two occupants certainly made it seem that way.
Getting an idea, he quickly pulled up his contract, eyes flipping through it. He smiled.
Sucker'd forgotten to put a scavenging restriction! On the contract, there was no mention of leaving company property untouched. All it called for was one recovered flight computer, fully intact or otherwise.
He pushed the button on his transmitter, and a holographic image of Boulevard appeared. Outside, Boulevard straightened up slightly. It projected an image of Jesse in front of it, and remained still.
"Boulevard, get me the hover-dolly and a few empty crates. If we're gonna go fishing around for a flight computer, we might as well pick up a few extras while we're here."
Boulevard walked off towards the Lindy-Lou, and the cargo bay ramp opened up to allow the robot entry. Fortunately for Jewel, Turnpike's sensors were too small to pick her up at the distance she was approaching, and Highway, the largest of the three robots, just happened to be scanning in the opposite direction when she made her approach.
-
Oh man, the timing couldn't have been better.
Just when Jewel had been starting to wonder just how the hell she was going to get on the ship, the weird mannish bot opened up the cargo hold. Perfect! Now she just had to hope that guy she'd glimpsed a projection of wasn't actually in there.
And, you know, not get caught by the robot. Or the other ones.
Jewel crept closer, and waited anxiously for the robot to vanish inside the hold as she shot nervous looks toward the other bots. But they either didn't notice her or couldn't, because nothing happened, no screaming alarms, and she counted a few more heartbeats before she tiptoed up the ramp and into the hold.
This was crazy. This was insane. She knew that, and knew she had no idea of what she was getting into, or what could happen if she was caught.
And yet somehow that only made it all the more exciting as she wedged herself behind a crate and crouched down low, arms around her knees as she watched out through the space between crates. She'd complained before about her life being monotonous so...
Well, here she was. A real mage deserter out on the run, boarding strange ships to who knew where! And as she sat there, her breathing and heartbeat all she could hear, it began to really sink in that this was happening, she was doing this--
And pretty soon, there was going to be no turning back.
-
The cargo hold was a unique place, to say the very least. As far as cargo holds went, it wasn't anything massive by any stretch of the imagination. Boxes full of valuable looking scrap, spare parts, and odds and ends littered the place in an organized mess.
From her little hidey-hole, she'd be able to see Boulevard as it activated the hover dolly and loaded a few empty crates onto it, and head on its way.
Jesse, meanwhile, had finished cutting open the shuttle's control panel, and had fished out the flight computer when Boulevard arrived with the crates. Putting the flight computer in his backpack. He opened each crate with a light touch on the side, and he pretty much loaded it with anything he could find that seemed remotely valuable. This included both of the occupant's briefcases, the suitcases in the luggage compartment, the wallets from both of the corpses inside, and any valuables and personal effects he could find.
He didn't open anything up just yet, he was saving all of that for the trip back up into space.
Jewel was alone in the cargo hold for five minutes, tops, before heavy, scary sounding footsteps sounded off on the ramp. Slowly, Highway's massive, plodding frame came into view, nearly eight feet tall, Jesse pushing the hover-dolly beside him.
The single camera-shaped eye that made up Highway's head scanned around, until finally, it stopped.
Pointing dead at her.
-
It was hot in the hold. Probably because of the air outside pouring on in? Jewel sure hoped that was all it was. She hoped this hold had AC, because otherwise she was going to get baked--in the least fun way possible.
She shifted her legs a little as soon as the robot left with a dolly, stretching when they got cramped and wiping her sweaty face on her shirt. Maybe she should consider sneaking further onto the ship? 'Cause like...gods, what if the bots hung out in the hold? Then what? She'd be screwed. And this ship was pretty big! There had to be other good places to hide, right? But before she could consider that, those scary, thundering footsteps made her tuck her legs back against her chest and curl up, quiet and still, as she watched that huge robot some stomping along with a human companion. The captain? Huh. He didn't look like a murderous thug--
Oh fuck me!
The robot was looking at her.
It was staring right at her.
Maybe it doesn't see you... Jewel thought as her heart lunged into her throat. She held her breath and went very, very still, like a deer blinded by headlights. But it was pointing right at her and it was huge, and her eyes traced the lines of its form--and landed on that pincer-like hand of its.
Sweat dripped off the tip of her nose and her heart thundered in her chest, her muscles so tense they were trembling.
She did not want to find out what that pincer-claw-hand-thing did.
You don't see me, nothing here to look at, carry on! Please and thank you!
-
In all honesty, the pincer claw wasn't even a pincer claw at all! Highway was a loader-bot, so as a consequence, one of it's hands was designed so that it could clamp down on hooks or be threaded into cargo pallets. Although, while it wasn't a weapon, that certainly didn't mean that it wasn't capable of squeezing people's guts out of their asses.
"Discrepancy detected."
Jesse stopped in place, and looked over to Highway, a puzzled expression on his face.
"Discrepancy? What do you mean discrepancy? Stop starin' at cockroaches and get over here, Highway."
The robot didn't move, still staring at Jewel. It turned to fully face her, single eye unblinking.
"Negative status on isopodal arthropods. Discrepancy is humanoid."
-
Shiiiiit! Seriously? You metal hunk of ASS!
Cover officially blown, Jewel stayed frozen for a second longer, mind racing to process just how fucked she was, before she just decided, fuck it. It was probably either show herself or get dragged out, and she'd much rather avoid that! Maybe she could just...play this off as no big deal? Ha ha?
Releasing the breath she'd been holding, she scrambled to her feet and popped up, leaning both hands on the crate in front of her and flashing her most charming grin. "Uh, yeah, hi guys! Discrepancy here! Don't mind me, just, er...chillin'. With the boxes. And whatnot. S'up?"
Cue awkward wave and please don't shoot me smile.
-
Jewel's smile might've been of the please don't shoot me variety, but it didn't stop Jesse from whipping out his weapon and pointing it straight at her. It was a sidearm, that much could be seen, but as to what it actually was, well.
It looked like some kind of sawed-off shotgun, except much fancier, like as if it was a scatter-laser rather than a solid shot weapon. Immediately, Highway's programming switched gears, and its hand shot forwards to give her a lovely little knockout tap with its proper hand.
-
"Whoa, fuck!" Jewel jerked backwards at the sight of that weapon, her shoulders slamming against the wall behind her and hands thrown up in an I surrender! gesture. Okay! Scratch that! These were the criminal-y sorts and she had so misjudged the situation oh shit oh shit oh shit she'd fucked up!
"Hey, man, calm down! I'm not--!"
She didn't get much farther than that. Because that was when the robot's hand shot out and slammed into her head. Her words cut off, her eyes rolled back, and she fell over into the crates.
-
Jesse was about to start asking questions, but before he could get to it, Highway corrected the situation for him. As Jewel collapsed out of view among the crates, Jesse couldn't help but wince. In all the excitement, he'd forgotten to tell Highway to stand down. It seemed he had a pretty decent handle on the situation!
He holstered his weapon and slid over the crates, landing on his feet and kneeling down next to Jewel. She just looked like some random lady, hanging out in his cargo hold! Not one to leave a problem uninvestigated, he slipped her backpack off of her shoulders, and took a peek inside. Clothes, food, water... a sidearm. Then, he took a cursory look through her pockets. The smartphone was the tipoff for him, really.
"A goddamn city girl," he muttered to himself, and zipped her backpack back up, leaving the gun in there and everything.
"Highway, do we still have those temporary bunks set up?"
"Affirmative. Boulevard has not corrected that room."
Nodding, Jesse put an arm around Jewel and hefted her up.
"I'm gonna get to the bottom of this."
-------------------
When Jewel woke up, she'd find herself lying on a cot, still in the clothing she arrived in. There was a blanket folded up on the floor next to her, and the room (about twice the size of your average walk-in closet) contained an old couch that had definitely seen some better days and a small table with two chairs.
Her backpack was nowhere to be seen, but she still had the contents of her pockets. To help alleviate whatever dent Highway left behind on her head, she also had a cooling patch stuck right where the robot's metal fit had impacted her. The light above the door was green, indicating that it was unlocked.
From the room beyond, there were audible footsteps, and occasionally the sound of tools.
-
It was the pounding in her head that ultimately woke Jewel.
With a quiet groan, she shifted where she lay and pressed a hand to her head, gingerly feeling the tender spot--which was covered by a cooling patch. Eh? For a moment she just lay there, a little nervous about what she'd see when she opened her eyes. Like, obviously she wasn't dead, and obviously she'd been treated for...whatever the hell had happened after he'd pointed that gun at her, and obviously she was laying down in a bed of some sort, but...
Was she going to open her eyes and find herself chained up in some locked room with dull instruments on a blood-stained table and a robot sentry guarding her? She swallowed, took a deep breath, cracked her eyes open--
And found she was in a pretty damned innocuous room.
Couch. Table and chairs. Simple cot, minus chains. No bone saws or bloodstains or pliers.
And muffled, the sound of footsteps and other things. Tools? Maybe the next room was the torture room.
Now you're just being ridiculous. They wouldn't patch her up and make her (relatively) comfortable just to fuck her up! Probably.
Sitting up gingerly and adjusting the cooling back, she looked around the room more carefully. She could feel her smartphone in her pocket, but her backpack was gone--and her stomach twisted at the realization, a sick sinking feeling deep in her gut. He'd probably gone through her stuff, as any smart person would, which meant he knew about the gun. The gun she'd never fired, but he didn't need to know that.
Okay. Yeah. This was all bad. Bad, terrible idea! Her bike probably had enough juice to get her back to Tynova, and this was clearly the universe giving her some Big Signs--something she wasn't normally too big a believer in, but man, it had literally punched her in the head! Like, upgrade her phone! Lay low and plan a little more! Don't sneak on board shady ships! Her bad! The guy probably thought she was still asleep, and there was a lot of noise going on, so maybe if it was unlocked she could just sneak out and leave.
Rising shakily to her feet, for she felt a little dizzy, she tiptoed to the door. There was a green light above it, and green meant go, generally, so...
She bit her lip, and opened it slowly and quietly as she could.
-
The next room over, was, in fact, not a torture room. There were no strung up corpses, no insane robots with needle arms, and there certainly wasn't a murderous criminal in their either. Instead, she happened across an area that looked very much like a mechanic's workshop blended in with a ship's common area. There was a circular table in the center, and a few seats built into the wall here and there, but apart from all that, there were also wall-cabinets filled with parts, tool racks, and labeled containers lying about.
Most importantly, though, was the fact that Jesse was there. His engineering suit, gun holster (with gun), and toolbelt all hung by a door behind him. He was seated at the table, working over some kind of cylindrical container with a power drill.
Also standing by the table was Boulevard, who's head turned to look at Jewel, followed by Jesse's. When he saw her, he sighed, and but his tools down. He leaned back in his chair, and crossed his arms.
"Just who the hell are you, and why in the hell'd you try to sneak aboard my ship?"
He had his theories, of course, that she was a city girl on the run, but that was yet to be seen.
-
Dammit. Caught red-handed. Again.
Jewel took a step back and grimaced at her own cowardice--but he had a weird robot with him and a gun behind him and he'd aimed that at her and she'd been robot-punched so...she was a tad skittish. For good reason.
"Well, howdy-fucking-do to you, too," she said before she could help it, covering up nerves with snark as usual. She winced, regretting it--the guy did have a gun!--and gave a quick look around the room as though gauging escape routes. Yeah. She couldn't make sense of the layout. It was her first time even on a ship! With another uncomfortable look his way, she licked her chapped lips and leaned against the door frame, arms folded and one hand still rubbing her head.
"Uh, I mean...hi. Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot. I wasn't trying to be shady, I just need a ride out of this dust bowl. I was totally gonna introduce myself! I just wanted to scope it out before I did. Make sure there weren't like bodies in those crates."
-
"We definitely did," Jesse said, not appreciating her snark one bit. The obvious lie about wanting to scope the place out before she introduced herself didn't sit well with him either. He liked to beleive that he was well within his right to point his gun at her! For all he knew, she could've been a criminal or something!
"Listen, don't try and make it sound like you weren't stowing away, because I know you were trying to stow away," he said and leaned forwards. Boulevard picked up the cylinder and the power drill, and resumed Jesse's work while Jesse talked.
"That being said, I'm sorry for not calling off my robot before he, well..."
Jesse tapped the side of his head.
"That."
-
Caught red-handed yet again. Okay, but that lie had been pretty lame. Plan B, then! As though she'd even had a Plan A...
Jewel leaned her head against the door frame and frowned at the guy, hand cushioned between her head and the hard surface. "Better than getting shot," she said. "I thought you might actually shoot me for a second there. Doesn't mean it ain't sore as fuck. Um, so, look..."
She met his eyes then and chewed at some dead skin on her lip. Of all the things she'd forgotten, she couldn't believe she'd forgotten lip balm! "You're not gonna like...report me, are you?"
-
"I almost did shoot you," Daersen said, and crossed his arms.
"There's dangerous folks out here. If I pegged you as the wrong sort, we wouldn't be having this conversation," Daersen said, a grim tone to his voice.
he leaned back in his seat, and Boulevard paused in its work. It hit the cylinder on the table a few times, before it resumed drilling. Jesse smiled at that, before he looked at Jewel.
"Listen, you seem like a nice enough girl, so I'm not gonna turn you in. But..."
He stood up.
"if you want a ride, I need to know why you're on the run."
-
Jewel jumped at the sound of the banging before she realized it was just the robot smacking the cylinder on the table. Relaxing again, as much as she could considering the situation and tension thrumming through her, her frown deepened at the guy's words.
Yeah, no way. She wasn't going to out herself and have him turning her in. But she also couldn't exactly lie, since he'd caught her in her others. No, the best lies were often those with an element of truth to them, so after a pause she let her eyes drop.
"I'm just trying to get away from this abusive fuck, okay?" she said, and hoped he'd let it drop there. Most people didn't press very hard when the matter seemed personal and traumatic like that, so hopefully he was of the same ilk. Looking back up at him again, she shifted off the wall and met his eyes again.
"I don't care where you're going. As long as it's Not Here, I'm cool with that. And I can do stuff! Like, whatever you want me to do around here to earn my keep. I don't expect to just mooch off your food and shit for free." Except she totally had, back when she'd been hoping not to be found!
"Just nothing weird or creepy. I'm talking like...cleaning or cooking whatever," she added with a wrinkle of her nose.
-
An abusive boyfriend? Jesse raised an eyebrow, but he didn't question her story. It seemed real sketchy, and he found himself doubting it pretty much right out of the gate. Leaving an abusive relationship was usually premeditated. There was no way she could've known he was here previously, and a few other factors pretty much pointed to complete and utter bullshit.
But he stayed quiet.
"Well, I run a professional scavenging business, so you're guaranteed Not Here. One hundred percent. If you're willing to help me keep tidy, act as impromptu assistant, and cook a meal every once in a while, you're welcome to stay on as long as you like."
Jesse offered her a kind smile.
"Now that we got that out of the way.... Howdy! I'm Jessup Rhodes, and welcome to the offices of Rhodes Scavenging SP. You can call me Jesse."
-
"Ohthankgods! Seriously, thank you! I can do all that, yeah, no problem! Do you like coffee? 'Cause I can make a mean latte or whatever other caffeinated bev you like! Professional barista and all! Cooking and drink-making, that shit's easy!" Jewel gushed, relief pouring out of her in practically a single breath--along with a little desperation, as though afraid he'd reconsider if she didn't impress him.
Sure, moments ago she had been trying to escape, but it was ovious now that he wasn't dangerous people. After all, dangerous people wouldn't be super worried about, like...some city girl potentially being a dangerous people, right? Plus, he was just a scavenger. Harmless.
Except for the gun and bots. Ow.
Taking a step toward him, she held out a gloved hand--fingerless leather gloves--with a wide grin. "Oh man, this is awesome! I've never been on a spacecraft before, much less in space! Name's Jewel by the way, last name's unimportant. When are we we leaving? Soon, right? Where're we going?"
-
"Jewel, huh? Can't say I've heard that one before," He said, and he took her hand into his and gave it a nice, brisk shake. "Can't say I've had a barista on board, either. Whatever that is."
He let go of her hand, and motioned to Boulevard.
"That there piece of work is Boulevard. The big one that put your lights out was Highway. Turnpike's around here somewhere, that little rascal gets all over the place..."
-
Jewel looked to Boulevard, the robot she'd followed into the cargo hold the first time. "Huh. I sense a theme here," she said with a small smirk, reaching up to poke lightly at the cooling pack.
"Remind me not to piss them off again. They're not gonna attack me now or anything, right? Like, is there anything I need to watch out for with them? Don't really wanna get another KO..."
-
"I put you into the system, so they'll treat you right," he said.
Suddenly, a loud pop came from Boulevard, and the robot set the cylinder down.
"I have opened it," the machine said, and then played an audio recording of Jesse saying "Yee-haw!"
Jesse chuckled, and stepped over to the cylinder, and picked it up. He popped the lid off, and immediately, an strong odor Jewel would probably be very familiar with wafted into the room. Jesse laughed, and peered inside.
"Shit, there's half a pound of grass in here..."
-
Yee-haw? Really? Jewel raised an eyebrow at Jesse, in a total "I'm so judging you" sort of way, though she supposed she should have seen it coming, what with the whole cowboy look he was rocking. Judgment, however, was quickly put on pause when the contents of that cylinder became clear--in sight and smell.
"Dude, no way!"
Jewel was right behind Jesse in a flash, peering around him and into the cylinder he held. "You're gonna share that, right?"
Because that was one of the many things she hadn't packed. Only the essentials, she'd told herself, and besides, she was trying to give weed up as it apparently relaxed her powers, too. Powers she had no handle on and didn't know the first thing about, nor want to learn.
But it was easier to quit something when temptation wasn't staring you right in the eye, and she just knew one hit of that would have her head feeling leagues better.
-
Jesse returned the look with a "I can do whatever I want with my robots!" expression, and he peered back down to the cylinder.
"Hell yeah, I'm gonna share it," he said, and set the cylinder down.
"Perks of bein' a contract scavenger. It's a Finder's-Keeper's world out there."
He stood up, and capped the cylinder.
"Will you join me in the cockpit, Jewel?"
-
Jewel snapped off a jaunty salute. "Aye aye, captain! Lead the way. 'Cause I've seriously got no idea where the fuck anything is in this place."
And then her look turned teasing as she nudged him in the side. "The cockpit, huh? Gonna let me drive?"
-
"Hah! Not if you were the gods themselves. She's a old beast, not like these shiny, modern ships zippin' around. She needs a proper handler!"
He motioned to the door behind him, and it opened.
"Place is laid out pretty simple. At the front, there's the cockpit. This room right here's my workshop, and the room at the back of this level's where I keep my workshop supplies and the robots."
He walked inside the cockpit, and sat down in the pilot's seat. The whole thing was incredibly old fashioned. The Lindy-Lou was one of the few remaining ships out there that had a completely manual control system. Switches, dials, levers, and old-fashioned computers. Even the hyperdrive system had to be calculated manually.
It also looked pretty damn vintage, with plenty of chrome and minimalist layouts.
"That main room's also where your room is connected. It's where you woke up. bathroom's connected there too. There's an elevator, too. Up leads to my quarters, down goes to the cargo hold. The Lindy-Lou's got three decks."
He set the cylinder on the dasboard, and reached up to press a button. The cockpit's sun shutters opened up, and the both of them got a kickass view of the Edenenian sunset.
He popped open a glove compartment with his foot, where there were several packs of cigars.
"Hell of a sight, isn't it?"
-
"Good answer!" Jewel said with a laugh. "I wouldn't have trusted you if you'd agreed. Only thing I've ever driven is my motorcycle. And a car. Right up until I totaled it."
She followed him into the cockpit, not at all subtle about the way she stared at all the shiny levers and screens that did who knew what. How did anyone even keep track of all that shit? She moved carefully as she walked, half afraid of bumping into a lever and blowing up the ship or ejecting Jesse from his seat or something, and after getting a good look at everything, she finally turned back around and sprawled out in the co-pilot's seat like it was a throne.
She didn't even care that she was grinning like a fool. This was too cool. She was in the cockpit of a ship! In the co-pilot's chair! Made her feel all important.
And as for the view...
"Shit," she breathed, leaning forward as she stared out into the wide red expanse that was Edanith, and the colorful sky above it that was painted in pastels, all reds and golds and violets. Back in the city, sunsets didn't really look like that. There were too many lights and buildings blocking the view, so she really only saw ones of this caliber on TV. The desert that had looked so dead and ugly to her earlier now looked a little more...artful.
"Alright, I'll admit, that's pretty...pretty," she said after a pause as she drank it in. "You don't see sunsets like that in Tynova." And then, after a pause, she added, "You don't see many sunsets at all, actually. Way too busy doing other shit, you forget to look."
-
"This ain't nothing," Jesse said, and took a cigar from the glove compartment.
"Boulevard!"
After a few seconds, the door opened up, and Boulevard stepped in. Jesse held out the cigar and the cylinder to the robot, and it took those things into its hands.
"Wanna see something cool?" Jesse asked, and then propped his feet up on the dashboard.
"Boulevard, roll that for me."
Immediately, the robot looked down at both of the objects, and some light came out of it as it gridscanned both objects. A compartment opened up in its chest, and a third, smaller arm tipped with several tools came out. Using a precision laser, it split the cigar in two, and then atomized the contents.
"But yeah, I've seen some mighty beautiful things out in the solar system. It'll open your eyes, those sights."
He took his hat off, and rested it on his chest, letting his hair go free. He ran a hand through it, and then joined his hands behind his back. All the while, Boulevard worked its magic.
"Ever been out of the city, Jewel? or've you been a slicker your whole life?"
-
"Niiiiiice! You programmed your bot to roll blunts?" Jewel said, finding herself endlessly amused by that for some reason. "Ah, technology. Such a wondrous thing--whoa!"
The contents vanished beneath its laser, leaving her wondering just how powerful said laser was. Like, that could probably remove a finger (or a hand) no problem.
She watched the robot work as Jesse spoke, looking up only when he asked his question. She nodded, and went back to watching Boulevard. "Yeah, Tynova born and raised. Well...raised, at least. I was born in a frontier town, technically, but my family came here when I was really little, so..."
She flashed him a smile. "That counts, right?"
-
"It'll count, I suppose..."
He crossed a leg over the other, and returned her smile.
"Boulevard's got a cognitive association module. He can monkey-see-do anything I can do. Sometimes, he mimes me a bit too close. He's picked up some bad work habits."
Boulevard was quick with his work. With all the precision one would come to expect from an engineering robot, it packed, rolled, and heat-sealed the blunt. It handed it back to Jesse, who took a plasma torch from the ground near his seat and started to wind up the valve.
"Got a final destination in mind, or you just content to stay on board until you see a place you like?"
-
"Must be a pretty pricey robot..." Jewel said as Boulevard finished up its work. She sat back in her chair, drawing her knees up against her chest with her boots flat on the seat. The guy must make good money doing what he did! Which suited her fine. She'd been damned lucky running into him, bump on the head aside...
She wrapped her arms around her knees and tilted her head to look from the robot to Jesse, shoulders lifting in a shrug. "Nope, no destination. Like I said, just Not Here. I figured I'd figure the rest out later, once I was safe. Plus, I honestly don't really know what's out there. I do, in theory! I learned the planets and nations and shit in school, seen it on the news, but that's not the same. So, I guess I'll just know what I'm looking for when I see it.
"What about you?" she asked. "You live here?" Because he looked like he could be your typical Edani frontiersman.
-
"No, I'm not from Edanith," Jesse said, doffing his hat a tad. "From Cancer. Born and raised in the Ruddersteel District. Reason I'm so ravishingly rugged," he said with a grin. As if to prove his point, he finally cocked up the plasma torch's valve, releasing the bright blue flames from within. It immediately lit the blunt, and Jesse took in quite the large hit, and released it through his nose.
He held it out to Jewel, and grinned.
"Boulevard was cheap. I built and programmed him myself."
He licked his lips, and fell silent.
"Good shit, by the way."
-
Jewel happily took the blunt, hardly able to believe her day. It hardly felt real! Just that morning she'd had to flee the city on her freakin' motorcycle, got hopelessly, lost in the desert, been knocked out after being held at gunpoint, and now she was smoking Mystery Dope on a mysterious ship with a mysterious stranger. What a day.
She took a long hit and let it out in a smoke ring, eyes closed in pleasure--and as she predicted, her aching head soon began to feel a lot better, even as aches and pains she hadn't known she'd had ebbed away. She held it back out to Jesse.
"Cancer. That the piratey place?" she said, and then narrowed her eyes at him playfully. She leaned in, voice lowered to a whisper and other hand cupping her mouth. "You a pirate?"
-
"No, I ain't no bandit. I'm an honest bussinessman, and I mean that when I say it. But I'll let you in on a little secret, Jewel."
Jesse leaned towards her, and cupped his hand over his mouth too.
"Before I went straight, though, I delt scrap illegally. Worked on ships. Ever since I earned my own, though, I've been honest."
Jesse narrows his eyes at her. He takes the blunt and drags in some more smoke. Exhaling through the nose once more, he smiled.
"What about you, Ms. Jewel? You say you're a fancy chef or something, but you don't dress all prim. You got spice in you. What's your story?"
-
That got a loud laugh out of Jewel, Jesse's statement just a tad funnier than it would have been a few minutes ago. She reached for the blunt, snapping her fingers to indicate he needed to surrender it to her again.
"Fancy chef? Me? Yeeeah, something like that, I guess," she said with a grin. "I'm a barista. Was a barista. Means I know how to make tasty caffeinated drinks of the coffee-and-espresso variety. And I'm just gonna throw this out here right now, but I reserve the right to smack you if you ever say ex-presso, I swear to dog, don't test me."
She scooted around in her seat a little and decided to follow his example, kicking her feet up and onto the dashboard. "So, that's basically my life. I made drinks at a hipster-goth-whatever cafe--it could never really decide what it wanted to be. Oh yeah, and I served muffins and stuff. Hope you're not too disappointed, because my cooking mostly consists of whatever I can nuke or 'just add water' to. Sometimes I crack an egg. But I am serious, I make awesome lattes--fluffy foam, smooth shots--so it more than makes up for my by-the-box cooking skills."
-
"Oh, so you're like a bartender, but with coffee! That's damn cool, I tell you what."
He surrendered the blunt, just before giving her a mockingly nasty glare.
"Don't get snippy with me, girl."
-
"Girl?" Jewel repeated as she took the blunt. "Oh no you didn't! Rule number one, it's espresso, not expresso. Rule number two? My name's not girl. Or sweetie. Or darlin'. Or any other patronizing pet name."
And she took another hit, after sticking her tongue out at him.
-
"Pardon me, Jewel. Sometimes, my Cancer side breaks out a bit more than I like," he said.
"And I knew how to say 'spresso, too."
He looked up at the sky, and then back at Jewel.
"Reckon it's as good a time as any to take off! You came up here to be in a spaceship launch, didn't you?"
-
Suuuure he knew how to say it. But Jewel bit her tongue and exhaled smoke instead, relaxing into her seat all the more. Good stuff, indeed. A bit stronger than the stuff she normally smoked, and she could already feel a gnawing case of the munchies coming on. Probably didn't help that all she'd had since that morning were some protein bars on the run.
She gazed out into the sunset, which seemed all the more vivid now, and then flashed Jesse a smile and slid her feet off the dash, leaning forward in her seat eagerly. "Fuck yeah, I did. So snap to it, captain, let's go! Let's blast off!"
Blast off.
Into space.
"Holy shit."
It hit her then, the instant she said it, and as she registered his words all the more. To be in a spaceship launch. Oh man. This was really happening. She was leaving Edanith and going up into fucking space. Just like that. Without telling anyone. Not even her mom, not her friends, no one. Just running off with a stranger into the black abyss above.
Where no one hears you scream! her brain added helpfully She'd done some crazy things, but this was the craziest.
Her eyes widened, and she flopped back in her seat, her free hand covering her mouth. "Holy shit, I'm going up into space," she mumbled from behind her hand, as the gravity of it all struck her all at once. "Holy shit."
-
"Holy shit's right! We're gonna go to fuckin' space!" Jesse yelled, his sense of humor telling him to hype her up.
"Strap yourself in, Jewel!"
Jesse sat up, took the blunt from her, and took a deep hit before quickly handing it back, exhaling that last hit through his teeth. He set his seat straight, turned towards the dash, and started flicking switches and turning dials. He ratcheted back two levers, and the ship started to vibrate with a dull thrumm as the engines came to life.
"All robots, set yourselves in your charging station," he said, leaning into a microphone.
He set his cowboy hat on the dashboard, and he pulled the steering wheel, which was wrapped in detailed leather and studded with steel, up into place.
-
"Strap myself--oh! There's seat belts. Ahahaha. Of course there are!" Jewel said, and fumbled with the straps before clicking them into place with jittery hands. Holy shiiit! This was happening.
She was gonna need a lot more weed.
She took another hit, and gripped the armrest with her free hand as she looked back out into the Edani sunset, her heart pounding with fear and excitement in equal measure. Truth be told, she'd always wanted to leave, find somewhere better, somewhere not full of closed-minded conservatives, but Edanith was still all she'd ever known! Yeah, she definitely hadn't had time to think about the full weight of what she was doing!
The ship vibrated, and her heart thudded faster. "Oh fuck, I can't believe I'm doing this, I can't believe I'm doing this, this is so fucking awesome and terrifying I can't even--"
She froze as movement on the horizon caught her eye. First dust rising into the sky, and then two vehicles approaching fast.
Military vehicles.
Her stomach dropped.
"Jesse, does this ship launch any faster?"
-
Just as they came into Jewel's vision, the ship's sensors came online, and a few sharp pings alerted Jesse to the approaching vehicle.
"Course it can. I wasn't in a rush before!" He said, and locked his feet into foot pedals. Taking up the steering wheel. With a bit of oomph!, the ship lifted up off the ground, and hovered in place for a few seconds before Jesse angled it away from the approaching vehicles.
"Here we go! Don't drop the blunt!"
The engines on his ship spread out, and they went zooming off through the air. The cockpit had plenty of inertial dampeners, but Jewel would still feel the acceleration. They went straight for a few moments before Jesse curved them skyward, and before long, they were lancing up through the atmosphere.
-
Suddenly, they were airborne, and Jewel let out a squeak of surprise she would forever deny making. It was like going on some amusement park ride, only smoother. Maybe like an elevator or something? There was no real comparison, and Jewel gripped the armrest white-knuckled as they lanced up through the atmosphere, her stomach in her throat not because of the inertia, but because of the rapidly vanishing ground.
And oh yeah, she kept a tight grip on that blunt, too.
Thank gods his ship had spunk! And thank gods they'd timed that just right, because she had a feeling those vehicles had been there for her, though she had no idea how they could have tracked her. Her tracks, maybe? That seemed ridiculous, but oh well! It was behind her now!
Or...below her?
Whatever! Right then she was too busy watching out the window and taking in the new view, some of the fear leaving her to be replaced with sheer awe and an adrenaline rush thrill.
"Ohmygodsthisissocool!"
-
"Isn't it!?" Jesse laughed as they sailed up through the planet's atmosphere. He put the engines into their second gear, and they blasted up into the sky. One they cleared the cloud layer, they were confronted by an awestriking sight.
The clouds, painted purple and red and yellow beneath them like a sea, with the sun providing the colors.
"Hoo-lee shit..."
-
"Hoo-lee shit is right..." Jewel had to admit, as she was confronted with the sunset from the other side. It was gorgeous, and the sight literally took her breath away as for a second, she forgot to breathe. It looked like she could just step right out of the ship and walk on those clouds, or swim in them, just a giant field of sunset cotton candy...
...Damn, that sounded good right then.
"That's fucking gorgeous, I...wow. We're actually above the clouds. Holy fuck. We're--"
A sudden thought struck her, and she twisted in her seat to stare at Jesse.
"Hold a tick. If a sunset viewed from below is a sunset, is it a sunrise when you're on top of it?"
-
Jesse fell still as well, looking off into the distance.
"Don't think so. Sun still goes down. Whole point of setting!"
He slowed the ship down, just so he could appreciate that view, before they continued to speed off.
"Been a while since I had somebody in the cockpit with me. Gotta say, it sure feels good to lend a hand."
-
"It doesn't really go down, though. We orbit it!" Jewel said as she watched the clouds pass beneath them. She offered Jesse the blunt, deciding she was done for now. Her stomach was growling something fierce, and besides, she wanted to stay awake. The rate she was going, she'd be ready for a nap soon. "Down, up, directions don't matter much in space, do they?"
She let out a content sigh, fear abating from a mixture of the scenery and the drug. "So, you do your stuff solo usually?"
-
"I do, yeah. Sometimes, I take on freelancers if I need to get a specialized job done, but usually it's just me and the robots."
Higher and higher still, they went. Jesse took his hit, and passed it back to Jewel.
"So I take it you've never been in zero gravity before, then? Or do they have gizmos to replicate that in the cities?"
-
Jewel took the blunt, but didn't smoke it. She just held it as she watched even the clouds disappear beneath them, but snapped a look at Jesse when he mentioned zero-gravity.
She hadn't even thought about that.
"Are you telling me I'm gonna get to float around?!" she said, and added, "Fuck, no, I've never done anything like that! Never been in a sim or anything! Unless you count those rides that go super fast in a circle so you stick to the wall and hope no one barfs!"
-
"Well, just you wait, then. Once we get into orbit, I'll turn the pseudo gravity off."
"It's just the bee's knees. Floatin' around while toasted off your ass..."
-
"SWEET! How much longer before we get there? Where're we going, anyway? Do you have any of those little fruity candies? It always looked hilarious fun to try and chase 'em around while floating," Jewel said, still staring out the window.
If it weren't for her seat belt, her face would have been smooshed against the glass.
-
"Well, gettin' there's gonna take us a couple more minutes. We'll have the blunt in the meantime. As for our final destintion, I was gonna stay in orbit around Edenia for a bit, to see if any jobs come up locally, before heading off to Aedolis " he said, and laughed.
"You mean gummy bears? Shit, I got all kinds of sweets you can chase around. Just wait 'till we get there."
-
"Whoa, wait, we're going to Aedolis?" Jewel said, and despite herself, despite knowing she should hate the mere sound of that, a fresh wave of excitement shot through her. She knew Aedolis was a dangerous, vicious place--what with the dragons and "we want to dominate everything" attitude, not to mention driving the Edani out, buuuut...
It was also basically counter-culture HEAVEN. That was where all the big celebs came from! They had the best parties! They didn't judge! Gluttony and excess abounded! Like, maybe it wasn't great to live there with the, y'know, dragons and totalitarianism but it sure sounded like fun to visit!
"Okay, so like, fair warning but if we go there, you may not see me for a few days."
-
"We might, might not. Depends."
Finally, that pressure started to wear off as they hit the upper atmosphere. The stars were getting closer and closer, and the horizons were disappearing rapidly.
"If a big job comes around somewhere else, then I usually follow the money. As it stands, I gotta deliver the flight core I was hired to recover back to some corporate types. We're gonna be makin' a stop at the closest space station, first. I know there's a commercial one somewhere in an Edanith orbit."
-
"Sounds fun to me!" Jewel said. "You gotta remember, this shit's all new to me. Like this?" She waved her hand at the window. "Is all fucking fascinating right now because I'm in space! Well, almost. I'm in the air! Flying! So wherever we're going, I'm cool with it! Just figure if we end up in Aedolis, I'm gonna party like it's my last day to live!"
-
"Who says I wasn't?" Jesse said, and smiled at her.
"My time ain't all work. We can always take a detour there the next time i'm on break for a couple of days."
-
"Sweeeeet! Think we'll see a dragon when we go there? I always wanted to see a dragon! Even if the dragons are supposed to be like uber fucking nightmare fuel. Still wouldn't mind seeing one. You been there lots?" Jewel asked.
"Also, do you got any snacks or anything conveniently here? 'Cause I don't know about you, but I could eat my own arm."
-
"Believe me, I'm suffering too. Once we finish our ascent into orbit, I'll get out the snacks."
He shifted in his seat, and cleared his throat.
"I've been there a couple times. Never seen a dragon. I don't think they're as common as you think, Jewel."
-
"Hey! Don't be lame!" Jewel said, reaching across the way to slug Jesse's shoulder. "Just because you haven't seen one doesn't mean I won't get lucky!"
-
"I'm just saying!" Jesse said, raising his hand in his defense.
"Givin' you my personal experience and shit. So, I gotta ask you... how does it feel to just... run away from home? To just hop on a starship to anywhere in the solar system with a complete stranger? Although, at the rate we're going, we won't be strangers for long."
-
"How's it feel? Uhhh..."
Jewel raked a hand through her blue hair, pushing her bangs back from her face. Blech. She could use a shower, too, come to think of it. Her hair felt oily from spending a day out in the heat, sweating up a storm.
"Really exhilarating and kinda scary? I've done some crazy shit, but nothing this crazy. Like, for all I know, you could be a serial killer. Or a slaver or something." She eyed him. "Not that I think you are. But yeah, it's exciting and crazy! I thought moving downtown was a big life change..."
She rubbed her face. "It's probably gonna be a few days for this to sink in."
-
"For all I knew, you could've been an assassin," Jesse said, and finally, the ship evened out. They were in orbit, and Jesse turned the ship sideways (It didn't matter if the ship was upside down, the artificial gravity kept everything the right side up!) so they could get a view of the planet from orbit.
"By the way, I put your backpack in that common room outside your quarters. Still got the gun in it and everything."
Jesse locked the steering wheel again, pressed a few buttons, and the ship stabilized their orbit.
"Alright. Snacks?" He said.
-
...Oh. The gun. So that's what happened to it. Jewel's face colored a little, realizing then why he might think she was an assassin. Hiding in the cargo hold with a gun? Yeah, real smooth, Jewel.
"If I was an assassin, I'm a pretty damned shitty one," she said. "That was just, uh, to protect myself. In case of outlaws and stuff." And then, a pause, and realization. She let out a soft groan and tilted her head back against the headrest. "Awww, man, that means you went through my shit."
Which included her underwear (at least it was super cute!) and a pile of tampons. Oh well, not like it was a secret, girls wore underwear and bled now and then, big whoop.
"Hope it was enlightening. Anyway, yeah, hit me up! I'll eat literally anything at this point. Anything that isn't a gross protein bar. Peanut butter flavor my ass, more like pee and sweaty nuts."
-
"i just poked through it," Jesse said, standing up after he unstrapped himself.
"Had to make sure you weren't dangerous or anything."
He led her back into the common room. There was indeed a small kitchen crammed into a section of that room, but that's not where Jesse went. He went to a cupboard, and just pulled out a bigass bag of marshmallows.
"You still got the blunt?" he asked, and set his plasma torch down on the table.
-
Unbuckling her seat belt, Jewel rose to her feet and followed after Jesse, out into the common room--
And to a clearly magical cupboard.
Because marshmallows!
Jewel sucked in a sharp breath, and held the blunt out to Jesse in answer to his question. "If you have chocolate and graham crackers somewhere in there too, I'm seriously gonna drop down on one knee and propose."
-
"You better get your ring ready, then. Because that is exactly what I was gonna get after that!"
He delved deeper into where he kept his snacks, and got hold of a bag of chocolate squares and graham crackers. He lit the plasma torch again, and rekindled the blunt, taking a nice long hit before setting it down on the table for Jewel to take.
He got some long, metal spikes, and motioned to it all.
"This is gonna be great."
-
"No fucking way. Space S'mores? Are you kidding me?"
Jewel stared at Jesse a long moment, snatched up the joint, then laughed, took a hit, and dropped down on one knee.
She held the blunt out to him like she was presenting a ring. "Jesse Rhodes, will you marry me?"
-
Jesse burst into laughter, and took the blunt after he managed to compose himself.
"When you spring it on me like that, how can I say no?" He said, and took his hit. "Of course I'll marry you, Jewel!"
With his free hand, he tilted the plasma torch's hose so that it was pointing upwards, and then turned it off.
"We need some seats. Erm... There's a couch up in my quarters."
-
"Pfffhaha, alright hubby, let's get, then! I want some of that sweet wedding cake," Jewel said as she snatched up the marshmallow bag along with the chocolates and graham crackers. Yeah, she wasn't letting them out of her sight!
"Take me to your lair!"
-
Jesse smiled, and walked into the elevator, waiting for her to follow along. Once she did, he hit the button marked "D1", and the elevator went up. Jesse looked at Jewel, with her arms all full of delicious food, and he raised his fingers on the blunt, and held it out to her.
Obviously, the intent was for her to take her hit while Jesse held it steady for her.
-
"Why thank you, captain!" Jewel said, and leaned in to take the hit, eyes closed in enjoyment. She blew the smoke out, watching it curl upwards into the air. Part of her wondered what kind of ventilation this ship had, if any, or if they were going to be smelling skunk the entire time they were here.
Not that she wasn't used to the smell, and even liked it. Either way, whatever anxiety she'd been feeling when they'd taken off was now officially gone, and her head felt fantastic.
Thank you, miracle drug!
-
Jesse followed the smoke with his eyes, watching it diffuse and then get sucked out through the ventilation. For obvious reasons, spaceships needed good ventilation systems.
The elevator ride was over almost as quickly as it had started, and the doors opened up to reveal Jesse's quarters. The place was packed with all kinds of neat, vintage stuff and fancy old-timey doodads.
He even had a lava lamp! Homebuilt too, by the looks of it.
His quarters were spread into a bedroom and living room area, with no door or wall seperating them. The living area consisted of a loveseat, coffee table, and a TV with a couple of video game consoles beneath it. The bedroom was just that. A bed, a nightstand, and a closet. Given, they were fancy and fit the aesthetic, but they were just that.
Jesse took a hit, glancing down to the blunt and finally noticing how short it was getting.
-
Jewel let out a low, appreciative whistle as she stepped out of the elevator and into Jesse's "lair". She cast a look around the place and felt like she'd taken a step back in time. Clearly, this guy liked an old fashioned aesthetic.
Not that it wasn't cool as fuck.
"A lava lamp? Damn. Haven't seen one of those since I was a kid and broke mine," Jewel said as she dumped the goods onto the coffee table and flopped down onto the loveseat. She looked up at Jesse and shrugged. "I wanted to see what the blobs were made of. Whoa, shit, you've got games?" she said suddenly, and slid from the seat to the floor, shuffling over to the TV on her knees to check out his consoles.
"Damn, rockin' it old school. You got that old one? Super Maria Sisters? I loved that shit. Could never beat the last world though. Oh, hey! By the way! You said that one room's my room, yeah? Does that mean I get to decorate it?"
-
"Do whatever the hell you want with it. Nothing too permanent, though. Think of it as your apartment," Jesse said, and dropped down on the couch next to her. The seat was small, so conditions were a tad intimate, but Jesse was too high to care.
The game systems were a mix of older and newer ones.
"Never was a platformer guy. I've got all the newest ones, though!"
He turned the plasma torch back on, and popped open the bag of marshmallows. He opened up the crackers and chocolates, and rubbed his hands together.
"I know I look mighty old-fashioned, but I like my modern comforts, too. Oh, and that thing's not just a lava lamp. It's a bong, too."
-
"Lava lamp bong? Niiiiice," Jewel said with a laugh, and rejoined him on the loveseat, flopping back in her seat and propping her boots up onto the coffee table.
Careful, of course, not to crush any of the sweets!
Reaching forward, she grabbed one of the sticks and skewered a marshmallow on it. "Got any co-op games? I bet I'd destroy you," she said, and held the stick out to him before giving his torch a pointed look. "This marshmallow ain't gonna roast itself."
-
"Yeah. I smoke... quite a bit. Bona-fide stoner."
He looked at her, and raised an eyebrow.
"Just hold it over the fire," he said, motioning to the lit plasma torch. The nozzle was pointed upwards, so the flame wasn't exactly out of reach for her.
"Don't you be bettin' anything. You're on, Jewel."
He held the blunt out to her.
-
"Oh. Right." Jewel snorted a laugh and held the marshmallow over the flame. Yeeeah, okay, this stuff was definitely stronger than she was accustomed to. Generally, she didn't smoke to get baked off her ass, just enough to keep her chill, keep the anxiety at bay. She'd gotten used to the effects after frequent use. But right now? She was feeling as giddy and stupid as her first time.
Which was fiiiine, because it was definitely keeping her from thinking about just what the hell she'd done!
When her marshmallow had turned a golden brown, she removed it from the fire and waved the stick carefully to cool it enough to handle. "Too late, bet's already made. I play even better when I'm stoned," she said, and took another hit from the blunt before passing it back. Damn, that thing was almost gone.
Taking up some graham cracker squares, she laid some chocolate on it, then mashed the marshmallow off the stick and between the crackers. The chocolate quickly began to melt and drip onto her fingers, but she didn't care as she took a bite--
And burned her tongue.
"Ow ow ow, hot, hot!" she said, fanning her mouth.
-
Jesse laughed, and was ready in case she dropped either the blunt or her s'more. When neither happened, though, he relaxed.
"You alright?" he said, leaning forwards a bit. He held his own marshmallow over the plasma torch, blackening it a bit more before loading it between chocolate and crackers. He took the blunt, killed it, and then tossed it directly into the plasma torch's mouth, incinerating it completely.
"Damn, that was some good shit..."
He took a bite out of his s'more, and laughed.
"This is some good shit too!"
-
"Pretty sure this is the best s'more I've had in my life," Jewel said. "Burnt tongue and all!"
She blew on the s'more, cooling it, then took another bite and closed her eyes, letting out a small moan of pleasure. "I'm gonna fucking eat myself fat."
-
Jesse nodded, and took another bite.
"Anyways! Video games. Just pick out one you like," Jesse said, and he stood up. He fetched his lava lamp bong, and set it on the table so he could load it.
-
Jewel licked chocolate and marshmallow from her fingers, then slid off he loveseat and crawled in front of the TV. "You got it, cap!" she said with a salute, before she started to dig around in his games.
She finally settled on a brawler, and loaded it into the console. "Uber Thrash Brothers it is!" she said, and tossed Jesse a controller.
-
[These game names XD Let's do that shit for the characters, too!]
"Hah! You're toast," Jesse said, grinning confidently as he caught the controller. He booted up the console from the controller, and slouched back a bit. He put the controller, leaving the startup and fight select to Jewel while he loaded the bong.
-
[HELL YEAH! xD]
Taking up her own controller, Jewel sat back down on the loveseat. She selected one of the dynamic levels that was modeled after your typical Super Maria Sisters level, and when it came to the character select screen, she chose Shriek. She liked the ninja/assassin/crossdresser thing that character had going on.
"Choose your weapon, dude," she said, and popped a square of chocolate into her mouth.
-
Jesse finished loading the bong, and he stopped what he was doing to select a character. He chose Major Hawk, the lightning-wielding racecar driver. He grinned, and turned his head away from her.
"Turnpike, S'more!"
Immediately, Jesse's ball-shaped spider robot hopped up onto the table, and started preparing a s'more for him.
He got comfortable, and waited for the match to start.
-
"Oh, oh! Me too! S'more for me, too, Turnpike!" Jewel said, not taking her eyes off the screen as the level loaded and then counted down from three.
3...
2...
1...
THRASH!
Immediately, she sent Shriek at Major Hawk, doing those low, ducking kicks that pissed her competitors off time and time again.
-
He knew it!
As soon as she saw a Shriek player come at him like that, he knew what was gonna happen!
He jumped up above the reach of her feet, and immediately launched Major Hawk's downwards Hawk Kick, countering her blow.
-
"Ow," Jewel said, as though she was the one getting battered! She phased Shiek out and up, then came down atop Major Hawk from behind with a volley of kicks and punches.
-
Jesse spun Major Hawk around, throwing up a barrier to block Shriek's combo. He dropped it too early, though, and found himself struck with the last hit. He bounced back in with the Hawk uppercut. if he hit, he'd launch her into the air, and follow up with a kick to slam her back down to the ground.
-
"Aw, maaan," Jewel said as yup, Shriek was launched into the air and beaten back down. Maaaybe she should have picked a different game! Remembering Shriek's combos while high off her ass was not working out for her so hot!
However, it was the Super Maria Sisters world, and soon it spawned a flashing star.
"MINE!" Jewel shouted, and physically shoved Jesse off the loveseat as a distraction so she could nab the power up.
-
Jesse managed to stay on, thanks to his superior strength, and he actually shoved her back and attack, trying to bring down Shriek with a jumping knee strike.
-
...Welp.
Not only was Jesse taller, but Jewel was, quite honestly, a self-professed wuss. Strength-wise, that is! She didn't weight much, either, despite her height, and since she had no time to brace for it (and because she was high as fuck), Jesse's shove toppled her off the loveseat.
She fell onto the floor and dissolved into laughter, helpless to defend Shriek against Major Hawk's attacks.
-
Jesse laughed as well, and he leaned over and put his hand on her shoulder. As for the game, he only hit the defenseless Shriek a few times (hey, gotta get something out of it!) before turning his attention to Jewel.
"You alright? Oh my god, that too funny!"
-
"Pfffhaha, I'm fiiiine!" Jewel giggled, something she'd never admit to doing, her face flushed with laughter. She grabbed at his hand and used her grip on him to haul herself back onto the loveseat, before she looked at the TV.
And snorted.
"You didn't murder me! Man. I would've murdered me," she said, and unleashed a quick combo on him.
-
"Well, it wouldn't be proper of me to hit a lady while she was down," Jesse said. He tried to judge out of the way, but he misjudged Shriek's combo and found himself the victim of her punishing combo. When it was over, Jesse cartwheeled Major Hawk backwards and caught a freshly spawned plasma sword.
Jesse put his hat up, and grinned.
-
"...Aw, shit," Jewel said when he got the plasma sword, and considering he was playing Major Hawk, she knew what was coming!
But unlike him, she was not opposed to cheating. Half the fun of playing this dumb game with her friends had always been the physical sabotage that broke out during matches!
She charged Shriek his way, tossed some grenades at him before leaping up--and at the same time, Jewel rose up and plopped her ass in Jesse's lap so her head and shoulders blocked his view of the TV.
And then she went to town on Major Hawk. "Oh, I'm sorry, am I in your way? Too bad!"
-
"Hey!" Jesse said, controller fumbled and vision obscured. By the sounds on the TV, though, he knew he was getting worked, and frantically, he tried to peer over Jewel's shoulder as she wriggled around.
Looping his arms around her belly, he regained some form of control, enough to put up a defense, but he was on the verge of losing one of his lives. So, he had to return the sabotage in kind!
He spun about, lying down across the couch so he could look sideways at the TV without having to worry about Jewel being in the way. Of course, that left her sprawling on top of him, in a position that frankly, could have looked pretty risque' to an outside observer.
He thrashed around to try and disorient her, even as he moved in for a series of punches, followed by a sword slash and horizontal Hawk Kick.
-
"Ack!"
Jesse spun and laid down, and Jewel pitched forward and fell on top of him, her face planting into his chest. But she wasn't even thinking about how risque it looked--she was too aware of the grunts coming from Shriek and the vibrating of her controller, which meant she was getting punished.
And then, the telltale sound of her getting knocked off the screen and out of one life.
"Fuck!" Jewel laughed, and pushed herself up onto her knees, which left her straddling Jesse's hips. She respawned, and quickly vanished to avoid whatever hit Major Hawk was no doubt prepping, then cartwheeled over him to come down from above. "I'll getcha this time! You just cheated!"
-
"Y'all just miffed that I cheat better!"
Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough to counter the hit that Shriek delivered, as she was currently enjoying the benefits of that post-respawn invulnerability! Major Hawk went careening off the stage, but...
Not out of the fight yet!
"Come on, come on!"
Major Hawke reappeared at the edge of the screen, falling towards the stage's edge. Jesse was going for the recover.
-
And as soon as Jewel saw that, she leaned forward across Jesse's body and over his face to block him yet again--and hopped Shriek over to the edge to pound Major Hawk off the stage.
"TAKE THAT!"
-
"I fuckin' knew it!" Jesse barked, even as Shriek spiked Major Hawk into the abyss below. Scratch one life!
While he waited to respawn, Jesse tossed his head back against the couch's armrest and away from Jewel, putting up his arms to prop her chest up and away from him with his elbows.
Jesse'd played it defensively until now, so this time around, he went on the attack. Shriek was quick, but she was dainty, and Jesse intended to capitalize.
-
"Ow! Watch the boobs, man!" Jewel laughed, sitting up straighter and rubbing at her chest after taking elbows to some not fun places. Of course, that was also just enough of a distraction for Major Hawk to go to town on Shriek--and indeed, Shriek was fast, but not particularly strong. Weaker hits, even though she could do them in quicker succession to make up for it, but man, once Shriek got caught in a beat-down, it was sometimes pretty hard to pull her out of it!
"Aw, man, no fair!" Jewel said, and bounced in place a little in frustration as she tried to pull Shriek out. Which...couldn't have felt too good on Jesse's crotch. Oops.
Or maybe it wasn't so unintentional after all.
She got hit up, and quickly backflipped out of the way and back onto the stage before she could topple off it, then fired off more grenades at Major Hawk's back and moved in for some of those annoying low kicks.
-
"I was aimin' for the space below 'em," Jesse said plainly, his upbringing on Cancer making him fortunately nonchalant about the intimate conditions in which they found themselves playing video games.
He shifted his legs up a bit so that Jewel wasn't bouncing up and down directly onto him, and shifted the brunt of the impact to his thighs. Jesse raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off. It's not like the contact wasn't unwelcome, or anything...
Shriek came in with those predictable low kicks, and once more, Major Hawk jumped up and countered with a downwards Hawk Kick. This time, though, when Shriek bounced off the ground from the impact, Jesse sent Major Hawk up into the air to spike her downwards towards the ground with his Dashing Hawk Punch
A few beeps from Turnpike, and Jesse glanced over to see a slowly growing bunch of freshly prepared s'mores. He'd only had one, so the munchies were still very real.
"Hey, uh... can we pause for a bit?" he asked, and pointed at the s'mores.
-
Jewel had never smashed a pause button so fast. "Oh, duh! S'mores! Of course we can pause!" she said, and slid off of him and back onto her side of the loveseat, shoving Jesse's legs out of the way to give herself some space.
Intimate playing conditions or not, Jewel was high enough not to care. Besides, it wasn't like she would have cared anyway. She and her friends got up to the same sorts of goofy shenanigans and it didn't mean anything. Of course, that was different--they were her friends, people she'd known forever, and most of them were girls. You know, people she was fine flashing when she got a cute new bra she wanted to show off, or groping as a joke, or cracking lewd jokes with. A lot of it was for the shock value; Edanith was a more conservative place, so of course rebellious teens liked to act out all the more.
...So maybe she would have taken more care if she wasn't high. She did get more touchy-feelie then, with lower inhibitions, and right then, Jesse was her new weed-induced BFF.
She snatched up a s'more, nice and cooled off but still just warm enough, and bit into it with gusto. "Soooo good."
-
Jesse snapped her a glare when she pushed his legs out of the way, but his face quickly returned to that smile he usually did when he wanted to let somebody know he was kidding around.
He took up a s'more and happily bit down onto the gooey delicacy, careful not to get any chocolate on his fingers. Because after the s'more, came, well...
Jesse wiped his fingers off on his jeans and adjusted his vest, stretching his bare arms as he straightened up. His arms, muscular and tattooed, caught the light rather nicely.
He reached over to the bong, and took a hit from it, cocking his head back and breathing out the smoke through his mouth.
"Daaa-yuum"
He coughed a bit, and held it out to Jewel.
-
"You trying to knock me out?" Jewel asked as Jesse held the bong out to her, but she took it nonetheless. "This stuff's strong! It's gonna be nap time soon at this rate..."
But even as she said it, she took a hit, coughed out a little smoke as it dried out her throat, and then snatched up another s'more.
-
Jesse shook his head, and finished off his first s'more.
"Don't worry, I don't intend to finish the whole bowl off. Just keeping us topped up."
He picked his controller back up, and looked to Jewel. He grinned, and slouched back in the loveseat again.
"Ready when you are."
-
Folding her legs beneath her on the loveseat, Jewel didn't give Jesse any warning before she unpaused and launched Shriek at Major Hawk, pulling off another fierce combo and hoping to take advantage! Of course, one of the side effects of being so relaxed and lacking care was that...well...she was becoming rather careless in her game. At this point, it wasn't about winning; she just thought this whole thing was funny. If she'd smoked less, she could have been more focused and played a good game, but now she was just goofing off.
"THINK FAST!"
-
Maybe if Jewel'd been less high, her little surprise attack would've worked. Jesse knew she liked to play dirty, and frankly, he didn't care. He liked to play dirty too! His own deliriousness contributed to the goofing, though, and before long, they weren't fighting, so much as just goofing off in each other's general direction.
"Oh yeah? How about this!"
Major Hawk jumped at Shriek to try and land the Hawk Punch, a devastating maneuver!
-
"I don't think so!" Jewel laughed, flipping out of the way and slamming into Major Hawk while he was still executing his maneuver--
Which, well, had the unfortunate effect that she'd been just a tad too overzealous and hadn't realized how close to the edge they both were. As a result, they both went careening off into the abyss.
"...Oops."
-
Jesse only sat and stared as both Major Hawk and Shriek fell to their deaths in the abyss, and just like that, it was over.
DRAW!
Jesse almost couldn't believe it, but the fight had ended in a damn draw! He looked over to Jewel, dumbstruck, and he started to laugh his ass off.
"Oh... oh my gods!" he gasped in between laughs. He dropped the controller and sat all the way back in the loveseat.
"That was killer..."
He looked over to her, and smiled.
"Zero gravity?"
-
Jesse wasn't the only one cracking up. Jewel was doubled over with laughter, her sides in stitches and controller on the floor. Tears sprang into her eyes, the whole damned thing far funnier than it would normally be, and she wiped them away and sucked in deep breaths to get a hold of herself before her lungs popped.
"Fuck yeah! That's how I roll! I never go down without taking my opponent down with me!" she said, still wheezing, before she grabbed another s'more and took a bite.
And then nearly choked.
OH RIGHT, ZERO GRAVITY!
"Uh, yes? All the yes? All of it," she said, staring at Jesse like he'd asked the most obvious question ever.
-
"Alright, alright. Uh..."
Jesse looked around at all the loose objects lying around, and frowned.
"Okay, help me put the controllers and s'mores somewhere we won't bump into 'em. I'll get the controllers. " he said, and he stumbled up to his feet. He picked up the controllers, and went to put them into a drawer. He motioned for her to handle the s'mores.
Once they were all tidied up, Jesse picked the bong back up, and took one last hit before the real fun began. He held it out to Jewel, and waited.
-
Jewel sprang to Jesse's aid, tidying up the s'mores (and by tidying up, that involved putting some of them away into her stomach). And when all that was taken care of, and Jesse had secured the controllers, she took the offered bong and took a hit.
Because she was so ready for this, as evident in the way she stared expectantly at Jesse. "So? Do the thing!"
-
"Okay," Jesse said, and put the bong out of the way. He put it in a drawer as well, and stood in front of Jewel.
"Here we go!"
He pulled up a holographic screen from a rectangular device he had clipped to his belt. It was a diagram of the ship, complete with a list of systems, technical readouts, and notifications. Jesse ticked off a few buttons, and with a stroke of finality, he turned the gravity off.
They didn't start floating up into the air. In fact, everything remained perfectly still! Despite all that, though, the weight of gravity was immediately lifted from Jewel's shoulders, and Jesse smiled. He put his arm out, and gently nudged her away from him.
-
Jewel waited anxiously, practically fidgeting with excitement and anticipation, and watched in fascination as he fiddled with his holographic control panel. That was too awesome! Technology, man! And here she was, in a spaceship, about to float around and shit!
And then...
Huh.
Well, something happened. Jewel could feel the subtle shift, the sudden lightness, but she wasn't floating or anything. She blinked, was about to ask Jesse if he'd done it yet, and then he nudged her back.
Unprepared for the nudge, she stumbled back--
No. Not stumbled back.
She glided back. Glided over the floor, her blue hair lifting up around her face like she was underwater, and she gasped and threw her arms out, did a little hop to try to stop--and wound up floating up.
"Holy SHIT!" she gasped, awe in her voice, though she felt like she was flailing rather ungracefully, not at all used to this feeling of weightlessness, of there being no up or down, and she wasn't quite sure how to maneuver in it! So instead, she just floated, until she reached the ceiling and put her hands up to keep her from bumping it--which sent her back down. "Whoa! How...what...how do you...?!"
-
When she sent herself back down, Jesse was there to catch her. Or rather, stop her momentum. His feet were still flat on the ground, and he smiled at her.
"Born and raised a spacer. Zero g's like second nature to me," he said, and he let her go again.
He pushed up with the balls of his feet, and he gently rose up. Because there was still oxygen, however, there was air resistance, so his momentum cut out about halfway up, leaving him floating in mid-air.
"There's still air in here, so you gotta factor in air resistance. Try and push off into me! I'll catch you."
-
"Alright, so like..."
Jewel planted her feet flat on the ground, then jumped up--with perhaps a lot more force than necessary, having been overcompensating for air pressure. She went sailing up at Jesse faster than she expected, on a trajectory to smack right into him.
-
"Woah!"
Jesse caught her and they tangled up with one another. Propelled upwards, Jesse bumped his back against the ceiling, but he was having so much fun, he didn't care.
And so they laid together against the ceiling, having fallen still once again.
"Yo... if you look up, you can see the floor!"
-
"Oof!" Jewel said, but she said it only because she expected the collision to be rougher than it was. Jesse caught her, though, and she grabbed onto him, feeling strangely out of control and helpless in the weightlessness. Jesse bumped the ceiling, and Jewel gradually untangled herself from him, rolling off of him and...onto the ceiling.
That was such a weird sensation.
She stared up as Jesse pointed it out, and let out a laugh. "This is so fucking weird!" she said, and sat up, moving slowly until she was standing up.
Standing upside down, on the ceiling, head tilted back so she could look up at the floor. "Oh my gods this is so fucking cool! How do you not just do this all the time?" she said, spinning around to look at Jesse, and picking her feet up off the ground as she did, so she sort of floated slowly around.
-
Jesse stood up with her, surprised to see she'd learned how to stand up so quickly! The trick was all in keeping your feet firmly planted and using your torso as a weight. Keeping your knees bent a bit also kept you from floating off of surfaces.
Jesse floated after her, swooping by the s'mores to take one off the top of the pile without disturbing the rest.
"I'm used to it. Been in ZG so often, I've stopped seeing the wonder in it. Also, gravity's crucial so I can work on things."
He ate the s'more, making sure to tilt his head upwards before swallowing, and looked over to her again.
-
Jewel was still idly spinning, putting a foot down to kick herself into another spin when she began to slow.
"Dunno how you could ever lose the wonder in this," she said. "Though...I guess it makes sense! I'll bet the first people to drive a car were all awestruck, now it's just this thing everyone does. Still..."
She pushed up from the ceiling, floating out into the middle of the space, and attempted a somersault. "This is hella fun!"
-
Jesse laughed along at Jewel's wonderment, and nodded at her words.
"Has a certain charm to it," he said, concurring with her point.
"I'm gonna be honest with you, though. I've done everything in zero G at least once. 'cept fuckin'. Never got the opportunity!"
-
"What? Really? Why not?" Jewel asked, letting out an incredulous laugh.
"Shit, that'd be like one of the first things I did!"
-
"Well, first I gotta get a lady into my ship. Then I gotta get her up here, then get her in a ruttin' mood, and then get her to rut without gravity."
Jesse crossed his arms.
"Only ever made it to step three. A lot harder than you'd think it'd be."
-
"I can see why!" Jewel said, and kicked her legs back to try to pull off a backwards somersault now that she'd executed a front one, completely oblivious to the comment she'd made, since it had been a flippant, unthinking one. "Hella easy to get distracted!"
Still spinning slowly, she snorted a laugh. "It'd probably look damned ridiculous, too."
-
Jesse interpreted her comment in the only way that made sense: as a comment towards the gravity.
"Yep to both of those, although I don't think looking ridiculous matters much, in the moment" he said, and floated over to her on his back. They were aligned to the wall now, so they looked vertical from the floor. He was upside-down, and she was right-side up.
At the moment, of course.
"I just stopped trying after a couple of months of just hookin' up, trying to get it to happen. Figured it was something I shouldn't be spending too much effort in."
-
"A couple months?" Jewel blurted out, and then burst into laughter. "Well, see, that's your problem! Random hookups! You maybe gotta tell the gal what you're planning first before you spring it on her!"
-
"Well, you know what they say about hindsight."
Jesse spun about and pushed off the wall so he ended up next to her, and he just floated.
"Gods, we're just casually talking while floating upside-down. Isn't that some shit?"
-
"Upside-down! Or are we right-side up? Do directions even exist in space, or are directions something us humans invented, 'cause we gotta label everything?" Jewel smirked at her own words--gods, she'd been spending too much time in that cafe around wannabe philosophers--and then stretched out onto her back like a plank.
And just floated.
She let out a soft yawn and stretched her arms over her head. "Ever just...taken a nap like this? Man. I bet it's hella good for your back."
-
"That, I've done. One time, I got really high, and I had the bright idea to wrap myself up like a burrito and turn the gravity off. Best sleep I've ever had, Jewel."
Suddenly, he got the bright idea to poke her side, so that's exactly what he did!
-
Before Jewel could muster up a response to that, he poked her side, and she let out a small, girlish squeal (forever denying that!) and batted his hand away. "Gah!"
-
"Oh, my gods. That squeal, though!"
He got a mischievous look on his face.
"I've got to hear it again!"
And with that, he pushed off towards her, trying to catch her.
-
"What? No! I didn't squeal! You didn't--hey! What're you--GAH!"
Jewel had floated back toward the floor, and as Jesse lunged for her, she planted her feet on the ground and pushed off hard, zipping up toward the ceiling.
-
Jesse spun about and caught himself on the wall, careful not to crush anything that was hanging there.
"Just one more time!"
He launched himself at her, laughing all the way.
-
"Oh my gods you freak!" Jewel laughed as she scrambled to get away, launching herself away from him. That time, it didn't go so hot. She didn't get her planted right, and thus didn't get enough oomph in her lunge, so she wound up floating far slower than Jesse was.
"ACK! NO!"
-
"Yes!"
Jesse caught her, and made sure he was clear of her feet before he started to tickle her. She couldn't get away, since she had nothing to push off of.
-
"Ahhhahahaha, noooo!" Jewel squealed, grabbing at his arms and thrashing in his grip--but weakly, for she had dissolved into helpless, breathless, wheezing giggles.
-
Jesse made full advantage of their weightlessness. Giving her nothing to push off of, he tickled her for a bit more, but then let up. He still had her in a sort of grip for a couple more seconds after that, but finally, he let her go.
"Jewel, could I ask you something?"
-
By the time Jesse let her go, Jewel was weak with laughter, and panting lightly from exertion. She had been basically helpless against his attack--for tickling already made her a squirming mess, and with nothing to brace against or push off of, she was screwed! Weightlessness was his domain, she was the n00b!
She shoved back from him to put some space between them as soon as he let go, a little weak from the attack, and put her arms back to catch herself when she floated back into a wall. "Bastard!" she laughed, and watched him warily as though prepared for another assault.
"Ask me what?"
-
"Okay, so I'm gonna make a crazy proposition here, and it just might be the weed talkin'," Jesse said, and he pushed himself off and landed in the couch, slouching on it as if it made a difference.
He looked over to her, and smiled.
"But I'm really feelin' like we can pull off some Zero Gravity sex right now."
-
Everything was, of course, at least twice as funny as it normally was high, so when Jesse asked her that, Jewel doubled over in laughter again, clutching her sides and letting herself just float.
"Pfffft! Yeah, we probably could!" she said.
Then paused, blinked, and looked down at him. "Wait, are you serious?"
-
Jesse nodded, and pushed off of the couch, deciding that the ceiling was a much cooler place to chill.
"I mean, why not? We're high, we're in Zero G, and there's no strings attached."
He chuckled.
"It'll be like one of those things you do just once, just to experience it."
-
Jewel snorted. Oh, he was serious.
"Hey man, heh, no offense or anything, but I just met you! I mean, sure, it sounds fun, but shit. You ain't even bought me dinner yet."
-
"Okay," Jesse said, putting his hands up.
"No offense taken. We're probably not even going to remember this conversation, anyways," Jesse said.
However, he did cross his arms. He leveled a grin at her.
"So you're saying that providing you with lifesavin' s'mores isn't dinner?"
-
"That's dessert! I'm talking prime rib and candles and shit! Maybe a movie and trip to a museum!"
Jewel smirked, hands on her hips. "Then you might be lucky to get a kiss. If I deem you worthy."
-
"Worthy?"
Jesse laughed, and stood up, so that he looked at her all upside-down like.
"You a queen, now?"
-
"If I say yes, will I get special treatment?" Jewel asked with a wide grin.
-
Jesse laughed.
"Yyyeeahh no."
-
"Pshhh! Well you never know! I could be a queen! Maybe that's why I had to run away. I was a captured queen from another planet and now I'm trying to return to my people!"
Jewel tugged at a strand of blue hair. "I mean, blue hair is totally an alien thing."
-
Jesse looked at her, and then smiled.
"Well, then what's your alien name?"
-
"Ohmygods I get to come up with an alien name?! Sweeeet!" Jewel said, and then folded her legs so she sat cross-legged in mid-air.
"My alien name is Demohrra Angalisha! I come from the planet Harkor. We are a peaceful people," she said, and adjusted her stance so she was sitting in lotus pose, her chin raised and fingers curled so the thumbs and middle fingers touched.
"A very enlightened people, with our...chakras and shit. I've got a third eye and everything. A real one. I just hide it so it doesn't scare people."
-
"Wow..."
Jesse floated closer on his back, and took up the same pose as her. Because he grew up on a spaceship, Jesse was much more flexible than one would normally expect the average scavenger to be.
He had a lot of spare time, so he actually knew yoga, and had plenty of other quirky little things.
"So Demo, you have any powers or something?"
-
"Yeah!" Jewel--er, Demohrra--said with a wide smile, amused at Jesse's easy adopting of the pose. Cool! Looked like she had a yoga buddy.
"I'm an earth mage!" she blurted.
-
"Woah. Well, sorry to say, Demo, but you're not gonna get much use out of that here. The Lindy-Lou's all metal."
He nodded, though. He'd been out in lawless space so much, mages or psychics never really bothered him.
"Gonna have to give me a demonstration one of these days. Think I got a jar of dirt around here somewhere..."
-
Jewel's eyes widened when she realized her slip, and she quickly held up her hands. "Whoa whoa! I was speaking IC there! In-character! Like roleplaying and shit! That was Demohrra talking. Jewel's not an earth mage! That'd be silly. And illegal."
Cough.
-
"Nothing wrong with having a little magic in your blood," Jesse said, waving the issue away.
"Personally, I think it's real cool. There's something attractive about a woman with power like that."
-
Jewel quickly put a finger to her lips and waved her other hand in a shush sort of motion.
"Ah ah ah ah! Shhhh! Like I said, I don't have any power! That was just Demohrra talking!"
-
Jesse nodded his head, and raised his hands.
"Then why're you gettin' so defensive?" Jesse asked, poking his tongue out at her.
-
"I'm not defensive! I'm just...high..." Jewel said lamely.
-
"Listen," Jesse started, and he floated up next to her.
"There ain't no judgement on this ship. It's alright if you're a mage, I ain't gonna rat you out."
-
Jewel squinted her eyes at him, frowning softly and crossing her arms over her middle. Her shoulders hunched a little, thoroughly uncomfortable with this topic.
"Okay, just...please don't. I, uh...okay, look, I wasn't entirely straight with you. I'm fleeing 'cause people already know and I don't wanna become some mage slave. That's what they do to you, y'know? I didn't wanna leave, but all this shit just happened and I never asked for these fucking powers and just...just promise not to tell anyone, okay?"
-
"Lips're sealed," Jesse said, giving Jewel a genuinely warm smile.
"Ain't your fault that you're born with what you're born with. I ain't no rat."
-
Jewel let her breath out in a soft rush, her shoulders sagging a bit with relief. "Okay," she said, and took another breath before offering him a smile. "Thanks."
-
"Don't mention it," Jesse said. "Just doin' what's right."
He crossed his arms.
"That being said, I think that's really fuckin' cool. Ya think you could give me a demonstration the next time we hit land?" Jesse said, floating up next to her.
It was kind of hard to remember that they were floating in zero gravity, especially with such grand conversation!
-
"Ummm, well, uh...I mean, maybe?" Jewel said, still floating in place.
"See, I actually don't really uh...know how my magic works, exactly..."
-
Jesse tilted his head a bit, but he nodded.
"Lemme guess: It works when you don't want it to?"
-
Jewel grimaced at that, and nodded slowly.
"How'd you guess?"
-
"I've seen it before. Met plenty of mages or psions who's powers only work when they're agitated, or under certain conditions."
He nodded slowly, and then looked at her.
"I know it's not easy, too."
-
"Yeeeeah, that sounds about right," Jewel said with a huffed sigh that sent some of her blue hair fluttering. "I was, uh, sorta drunk the first time? That was a year ago. My ex-girlfriend's flowers were dead, and I joked that I could heal them."
She rubbed her face. "Don't really know how I did it, but I did. We were both so wasted, though, she just thought she'd imagined it, so...I was able to cover it up for another year. Until I was all pissed off yesterday, I guess it was, a little baked and stomping around the complex yard, ranting to my friend about Boy Problems and..." She threw her arms up.
"Sorta made the ground crack. Messed up the street. Cracked right through the asphalt. Neighbor saw everything and I was officially fucked. Good thing we're all in this metal thing right now."
-
Jesse listened intently, nodding when appropriate, and keeping quiet until she was finished.
"Well, then it'll bring you comfort to know that the Lindy-Lou's a judgement free zone. Your secret's safe with me, Demo."
Jesse looked down for a bit, and then smiled.
"Demo... It's not a bad nickname. 'Least I ain't callin' you girl."
-
"Pfffffft! You know I'm not really an alien, right?" Jewel laughed, and lightly slugged Jesse's shoulder. "This is just hair dye!"
-
"I know, but Demo rolls off the tongue so much better!" Jesse wined, and he poked her hair with a finger.
"It's a nice color, though."
-
"You think?" Jewel said, and fluffed her hair.
"It's my favorite color, so..." She pushed off the wall, so she spun in a slow circle. "I think it looks hella hot! Or cold. Blue's a cool color, so...cool! You ever thought about dying your hair?"
-
"I have, but it's er... not exactly the best thing in my profession. Hair dye's flammable, isn't it?"
He spared her hair a couple more glances, and nodded.
"It's both. Hot and cool."
-
"It's not flammable once it's on you! I don't think," Jewel said, wrinkling her brow. Then, putting her hands up, she pushed herself down toward the floor so she could snatch up another s'more.
"Glad you think I rock it well, though! I think so, too." And she grabbed another s'more just so she could send it floating up to Jesse.
-
Jesse caught the s'more, taking a bite out of it and grinning to her.
"Wouldn't be much point in rocking it if you didn't like it," he teased.
-
"...Point," Jewel said with a laugh as she chomped down her s'more. When she was done, she let out a loud yawn and stretched.
"Dunno about you, but a zero G nap's sounding pretty nice..."
-
"That sounds lovely," Jesse said, and pushed off the wall so he could be by her again. It was kind of awkward keeping up conversation from across the room!
"Grass is startin' to put me under too."
-
"Yeeeeah," Jewel said with another yawn, and folded her arms under her head, legs crossed at the ankles. Her eyes were closed, her head tilted back; she could feel herself starting to fade hard.
-
[Should we have them float into a sorta compromising position while they sleep? >:D]
"Eeyup."
Jesse didn't even bother to position himself, since he knew his limbs were going to end up going all over the place anyways. He simply closed his eyes, and let himself fade away.
-
[The answer is always yes!]
Go all over the place, indeed. For when Jewel came to, some hours later, she was all curled up and floating near a wall--
And someone's arms were all wrapped around her middle, someone's body pressed all along her backside.
Yep. A slow, sleepy glance backward proved it. Jesse was spooning the hell out of her.
She jolted in surprise, wide awake now, and felt an awkward blush creep up her cheeks. One thing to fall asleep and wind up spooning your buddy, quite another to wake up being spooned by your strange new captain.
She cleared her throat loudly. "Jesse? You awake?"
-
Her only response was a light snore.
Perhaps it was always having to live with the hum of the engines, and the rattle of the frame of your ship, but Jesse was a special case.
Sometimes, he had to stay in floating scrap fields for prolonged periods, and he'd acclimated quite nicely to sleeping under pretty much any conditions. Loud noises, sudden bumps, and even certain celestial events couldn't wake the rugged mechanic.
Jesse was still where he'd fallen asleep, however, which begged the question.
Just how the hell had she ended up in his arms to begin with?
-
"Ummm...Jesse?" Jewel repeated, and gave him a light nudge in the ribs with her elbow.
It wasn't so much that she minded this, really. He was warm, and she tended to just sort of gravitate (no pun intended!) toward warm places when she was sleeping. But what about him? This could get awkward.
Like if he got morning wood.
Another nudge. "Jesse?"
-
At the third nudge, Jesse stirred a bit.
"Hmm, whu...?"
His hands shifted around a bit, as if to ascertain just what the hell he was holding, and after a few moments, they went shooting off of her.
"OH! Jewel, I..."
He slipped out from behind her.
"I'm so sorry, I didn' realize, that... er... that. Sorry!'
-
Jewel barked a laugh at Jesse's reaction and waved a hand.
"No worries, seriously. We're cool," she said with an amused grin. It might have been more awkward if she remembered Jesse's proposition when they were high, but by now, it had completely slipped her mind.
"Just didn't want you to freak out or anything when you woke! Or, y'know, things to be weird if..." She motioned at his waist. "You know. Morning wood. I don't really care all that much about a little cuddling."
-
"Oh, well, okay then," he said.
Because while Jesse found Jewel attractive, he didn't want to be laying hands on a lady if she didn't want them.
"Well, in that case, it's kinda cold in here. Must've left the circulator on before I fell asleep. Can we, uh... get back to doing that, then? If you don't mind?"
-
"Pfffff, sure," Jewel said with an amused snort. But what could she say? She was chilly, too, and feeling the air all the more now that she wasn't all wedged up against something warm and breathing.
"Big spoon or little spoon?" she asked with a wink.
-
"Well, if I'm the big spoon, the heat'll distribute better."
He grinned, and pulled up his wristpad.
"Should I turn the gravity back on? We've been floating for a while..."
-
"Proooobably," Jewel said with an exaggerated sigh. "I guess, before we get too lazy, huh, and forget how to walk? As long as we get to do this again soon! That was hella fun!"
Pushing off from the ceiling, she drifted back to the floor and set her feet on the ground. Didn't want to wind up falling when she wasn't sure her legs would support her just yet! She was sure being in zero G was sort of like getting out of the water after swimming for a while. She always came back out all wobbly-legged after getting spoiled by the weightlessness.
-
Jese floated back down to the ground, and stood right next to Jewel. He offered her his hand, and then turned off the gravity.
Slowly, the weight came back, until they were back to normal gravity.
-
"WHOA!" Jewel yelped as gravity returned and she had to support her own weight. Her knees gave out and she flailed, grabbing onto Jesse--and taking him down with her, if he wasn't ready to catch her.
-
Jesse was so ready to catch Jewel, that when she fell onto him, he barely even budged. Hands on her waist, he caught her before she could even fully fall against him.
-
"Whoo! Thanks, man," Jewel said as Jesse steadied her, and she held onto him until she felt she could stand on her own.
Her legs still felt all wobbly, and she was far more aware of her own weight than she ever was before, bit after a few moments she let go and started to stretch out her limbs.
"Talk about having the weight of the world on your shoulders," she said.
-
Once he was sure she was steady on her feet, Jesse let Jewel's waist go, and yawned.
"Dang, how am I still tired?" he said mid-yawn.
"Must've only slept for an hour or something," he said. He glanced around to all the potential cuddle spots. There was the couch, the bed, and a few other places, if they got creative.
"So, have any preferences for where you spoon, or will the bed do fine?"
-
"Be pretty difficult to spoon elsewhere," Jewel said with a glance around the place. "Loveseat's pretty cramped, floor would be cold."
She let out a small yawn, finding Jesse's contagious. Shaking her head, she rubbed at her eyes. "Bed's fine by me. Looks way better than mine, too."
And without further adieu, she strode over to it, kicked off her boots, and flopped into it, but not before burrowing her way under the covers. Maybe it was a little risky of her, curling up like this with the guy, but he hadn't crossed any boundaries before so she trusted he wouldn't now. Besides, she wasn't really ready to head to her own room. Truth be told, she was a little shaken by what she'd done--leaving not just her hometown, but her planet--and she wasn't quite ready to be alone with her thoughts just yet.
-
For one, Jesse was surprised that she was alright with this as well! Maybe they raised 'em differently on Edanith, but on Cancer, no way in hell you'd even go into a stranger's house without knowing them, let alone spoon up with one.
He tossed off his vest, since it'd be a tad uncomfortable to sleep or lie down with it on, set his own boots down by Jewel's, and joined her under the covers.
He opened up his arms so she could back into him at her own comfort.
-
As soon as Jesse was situation, Jewel backed on into him and curled up like a cat. A blue-haired, punk rock cat. She let out another soft yawn and nestled further into the covers.
"You often spoon platonically with strange women, Jesse?" she asked sleepily as she got all comfortable and warm, her cheek pillowed on her hand.
-
"You spoon platonically with strange men frequently?" Jesse rebutted, and put his arms around her, pulling her a bit closer as he got comfortable.
"Comfy?"
-
"Comfy!" Jewel said, and laughed.
"Naaaw, I only spoon with friends. Which...I guess, makes you one," she said with a grin at him from over her shoulder before she faced forward again.
"Plus, I'm just not really ready to go to bed. My own bed, I mean."
-
"'Spose that makes you my friend, too," Jesse said, and chuckled a bit.
Jesse let out a few deep breaths as he relaxed. Unintentionally, his breathing gently caressed the back of Jewel's neck, and it didn't help that when he breathed through his nose, the air went down her spine.
At her comment about her bed, he raised his head a bit.
"Why's that?" he asked.
-
Jewel shivered as Jesse's breath tickled her neck, goosebumps rising up along her skin and making the little blue hairs there stand on end. But it wasn't an unpleasant sensation at all; it felt nice, and reminded her that another person was there.
At his question, she shrugged a little.
"I...don't do so well alone," she admitted. "Don't really like it. Even back home, I had to have the TV on to fall asleep. Guess I'm not really ready to be alone with my thoughts." She pulled the blanket up a little higher. "I left everything back there. Everyone."
-
"I know the feeling," Jesse said.
He shifted around a bit, which did mean they bumped hips, but it was only an isolated incident, and Jesse seemed to settle down pretty well afterwards.
"Well, if you're ever havin' trouble, my bed's always open, Jewel. I sleep better with company too."
-
Jewel was hardly bothered by the bump against her ass. It was bound to happen with such close contact, and she'd cuddled with enough people she hardly noticed anymore. It wasn't like he had a raging boner. That she'd notice.
"Might take you up on that," Jewel said as she let her eyes drift shut. "Just kick me out if you need a private moment," she added, a teasing note in her voice.
"So, what do you mean you know what I mean? You have to flee home too or something?"
-
"Yup."
He yawned, and resumed speaking.
"I took out a loan to get this ship. Almost had it paid off, too, but then my pa got diagnosed with some alien disease or something, I forgot what it was called. I broke the bank gettin' him his treatment."
He moved the arm that wasn't wrapped around her abdomen so she could use his bicep as a pillow.
"When the loan sharks came callin', I cleared out. Ship and all."
-
"You still in contact with him?" Jewel asked. "Your pa, that is? Like, you saved his life and just...you visit him? Your family?"
Another pause, and she added, "Wait...where you from, anyway?"
-
"It's kinda complicated, goin' back home," Jesse said.
"I call my family on the holo all the time, though."
Another deep breath.
"I'm from The Cancer."
-
"The piratey place?" Jewel said, for that's all she really knew about the Cancer--that it was a den of thieves and pirates and all sorts of criminal activity. But it was also a very open sort of place. What would be so hard about going back there?
"Why's it complicated? I mean, it's the Cancer, right?"
-
"Well, the loan sharks are in Cancer," Jesse said.
"It's only been a couple of years, they're... probably still pretty eager to find me."
-
"Can't you just be all like...sneaky?" Jewel asked with a glance back at him. "You know, like a ninja. In and out and totally invisible! It's not like they can just obsessively watch for you, right?"
A pause. "Guess it depends on how much money you owe them..."
-
"Well, there's the ship..."
He counted with his fingers against her abdomen.
"Robots were on board, then there was the rest of the money I owed as capital for my business that I... uh... kept."
When he was done counting, he pulled her a bit closer.
"Shit, you're comfy..."
-
"So, a shitton," Jewel said. "In other words, we're sitting in a hunk of metal worth more than I can count. No wonder they want your ass."
As Jesse pulled her closer, she chuckled at his comment. "Yeah, so I've been told," she said with a cocky smile he couldn't see. "Been a while since you've had human contact?"
-
"Not really," Jesse said, narrowing his eyes at her.
"I get plenty of contact when I dock. It's the inbetween trips that get kinda lonely. Been awhile since I had an actual passenger."
-
"Why's that? Shit, son, if I had a spaceahip, I'd be throwing parties every night! And parties aren't as fun solo."
-
"Well, I gotta keep 'er fueled and powered. Got some pretty delicate controls around here, so parties ain't that optimal. Drunk people might touch something they're not supposed to," Jesse said.
"Also, air's an important thing to have. Can't have people using that up..."
-
There was a long pause after that statement, and Jewel stiffened just a tad, noticeable, no doubt, to Jesse as he was pressed against her. Uh...what? That...that was something she hadn't even thought about like...at all.
After all, you didn't normally have to think about breathing!
"Uhhh...is there...a limited air supply here...?"
-
"She's got about two months of air in her tanks. It's free to refill at any station, and we're never more than a couple hours of hyperdrive away from one. Even then, I got emergency air supplies to last another week."
Jesse leaned over her, so he could try and smirk at her.
"So you don't have to worry about runnin' out of air. Even then, you're spoonin' with the best mechanic this side of the Solar System. If there's a problem, I'll get it fixed."
-
With a slow breath out, Jewel relaxed again. Okay, two months. Cool. Two months was a lot. You'd have to to huff and puff a lot of air to go through that faster!
Cuddling back into him, she nuzzled her cheek against her arm. "Ever thought about getting plants or something?" she asked. "Something to make this place pop and look more alive? And, you know, the whole part where they turn CO2 into O2? That parts nice, too."
-
"Synthlight's not the greatest for growin'," Jesse said.
He looked up, a motion felt when he took his head off the pillow, and then set his head back down. When she cuddled back against him, his hand adjusted over her belly moving so that his arm was parallel to her body. His hand came to rest beneath her breasts, and soon enough, they were flush together, like when they woke up in Zero G.
"Besides, I like the workshop 'sthetic I'm rollin' with."
-
"Fiiiine. Then I'll just have to get a bunch of plants at our next stop and turn my room into a green house!" Jewel said with a firm nod, and a brief glance down at his hand. It was creeping up into iffy territory, but it was probably just an accident. Hard to cuddle without getting real intimate and familiar with one another.
"There's gotta be some hardy species that can handle it. I'll just snag a bunch of those."
-
"Sounds nice."
Indeed, his hand had stopped once it reached the border of "iffy territory". It was a natural effect of them being so close. To maintain his hand firmly planted on her abdomen would've been a bit awkward, angles-wise, so he opted for a position that seemed more natural.
Besides, after a few moments, his hand shifted away anyways, his arm encircling her more completely. As a result of that, his hand distanced itself horizontally from her breasts, although altitude wise, it remained in the same position.
He chuckled.
"Is it really that bad 'round here that you want to redecorate so quickly?"
-
"Pshhh, it's not that. Ain't bad at all. I like your place. But I also like my aesthetic, you dig?"
She gave a little wiggle and a stretch. "And my aesthetic just so happens to include a shitton of plants and crystals and shit."
-
Jesse shrugged, trying to ignore the places she pressed against when she wiggled and stretched against him.
"Well, I've got some crystallin' minerals in the hold. Haven't got a use for 'em, so I guess you can have 'em."
He closed his eyes, and felt himself nodding off.
"Think the sleep's coming back now," he muttered.
-
"I'll take 'em!" Jewel said on a yawn, her own eyes closed. Jesse wasn't the only one feeling sleepy; zero G was nice, but nothing compared to a warm, snuggly bed.
"Yeeeah, I think I'm down for the count, too. I'd say good night but it's kinda always night out here, eh?"
-
Jesse Lifted his arm from her and turned his wrist so that his wristpad was visible to the both of them. The clock read 13:56.
"Almost two PM standard time," Jesse said, and put his arm back where it was.
Suddenly, a chuckle.
"Shit, I just remembered how much weed we still have."
-
"Pffffft, yeah," Jewel snorted sleepily. "We could sell that shit for a fuckton, buuuut...I think it's better to just keep it. It's quality shit."
-
"Definitely. I like your mindset..."
He was starting to settle down, sleep was beginning to overcome him. One final adjustment to achieve maximum comfort, and he closed his eyes.
"It's so much weeeeddd..." He wined playfully.
-
"Soooo muuuch," Jewel echoed with a laugh that turned into a yawn, her hands sliding up to rest atop Jesse's.
"We're just gonna be perpetually baked, huh?"
-
"You bet your ass," Jesse said, fingers shifting slightly when she put her hand onto his.
"And you owe me a rematch on Thrash Bros, too."
-
"I'll kick your ass good and proper next time," Jewel said, her voice fading into a mumble. "None of this draw shit. Just you wait..."
-
"We'll see..."
he let himself shuffle closer until they were pressed flush together, and then he settled back down.
"Night, Jewel."
-
"Afternoon, Jesse," Jewel said in return, grinning sleepily--after all, hadn't he said it was almost 2 PM? With another yawn, she nestled into the covers, and into him, and let herself drift.
-
"Smartass..."
With that, Jesse went still, and faded away rather quickly. Soon enough, his chest was gently heaving against her back. She'd be able to feel his heartbeat slow down, and then, the gentle, deep breathing of someone asleep.
-
Jewel awoke some time later. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but from the rested way she felt, she figured she'd gotten a full night's rest.
Full...day's rest?
Ah, fuck it! Time didn't matter in space, right?
She stirred a little, stretching out her back and legs, though Jesse was still all wrapped around her so she tried not to move too much so as not to disturb him. She was still all warm and comfortable and pleasantly drowsy, not yet fully awake, so she was more than happy to just stay where she was.
-
Jesse still slept soundly, pleased to stay exactly where he was. The warmth of a woman in his arms was something he wasn't too used to (although he'd had his fair share!) and in his sleep, he relished the added heat.
During the night (Day?), his hand had gone from beneath her breasts to the lower edge of her abdomen, fingers resting pleasantly on her belly. His other arm was beneath her head. Somehow, it ended up as her pillow at some point during their snooze, and didn't move since.
-
When Jewel eventually noticed how close to her crotch Jesse's hand was, she gently moved it further up on her belly. With a yawn, she closed her eyes to let herself doze a little, for she'd always been the slow to wake sort who could lay in bed for an hour before rising--but then when she'd gotten all comfortable again, of course that was the moment her body decided to let her know she really, really had to pee.
With a soft groan, she disentangled herself from Jesse, rose with a stretch, and headed off to track down the bathroom.
She needed to pee, then she needed to see about showering. Get all the desert grunge off of her!
-
When Jewel left, Jesse grasped for her in his sleep, but instead of waking, he rolled onto his back, and continued sleeping.
Jesse'd told her the bathroom was in one of the rooms connected to the common area. In there, within the surprisingly clean confines, she'd find a toilet, but no shower.
-
Once Jewel had taken care of business, she returned to Jesse's room--and found him still sleeping. Unsurprising, really. He seemed like a heavy sleeper!
She was loathe to wake him, because she knew how much she hated to be woken, but she felt gross. So after a moment's pause, she crawled back onto the bed and gave his shoulder a nudge. "Jesse? Hey, Jesse."
-
"Hmm?" Jesse said, eyes cracking open without him moving. He wasn't going to lie, Jewel was giving him some pretty decent cleavage, crawled onto the bed like that, but he spared it only a momentary glance. It looked like he was just waking up, was all.
He cocked his head a bit, and sank into the covers a bit more.
"What's it?" he gently mumbled.
-
Jewel hardly noticed that she was giving Jesse an eyeful in that tank top of hers, but then again, she wouldn't have really cared if she did. Right then, though, she had a single-minded mission on her hands--get clean and wash off the gross!
Because she was sure she smelled funky. She'd been sweating like a pig traveling through the desert, and then after getting baked...well...she was sure her personal perfume was lovely.
"Didn't wanna wake you, but...where's your shower?" she asked, head tilted. "Or a general bathing place? I wanna wash the funk off."
-
"Shower's in there," Jesse said, pointing to the door opposite the bed. Jesse Didn't really have company all that often, so he only had one shower on board! Next to the door, there was a bin made of woven straw. It was full of towels.
"Take a towel in with you, there ain't any inside."
Jesse rolled back over.
"Door lock's on the wall."
-
"Oh. Sweet! For a second there, I thought you might not have one. You know, like maybe you spacers had some fancy lasers or something that cleaned away dirt. Or something."
With a smile his way, she strode to the door and grabbed a towel out of the bin. "Hope your water heater's good. I'm gonna be in there for a while."
And with that said, she slipped into the room and shut the door behind her, though she didn't bother with the lock. She doubted he'd be barging in on her. She stripped down, tossing her dirty clothes on the floor, and experimented with the dials until she figured out how to turn on the shower and get the right temperature.
She liked her showers hot, and with the air being kind of chilly there, all the better. With a happy, relieved sigh, she stepped into the shower and watched as the water went a little murky before running clear; more dirt had been clinging to her skin and hair than she'd realized.
-
Jesse sat in bed, awake, for gods knew how long, before he sat up and decided to get changed. He wasn't really dirty, he could've really gone for a change of clothes, though. He stood up off the bed, and stripped down.
He started to rummage through his cabinets, back facing the bathroom door.
-
Jewel took her sweet time showering, soaking up the feeling of warmth and cleanliness, and only finished up when she started to get overheated. She rinsed her hair and skin, shut off the water, and grabbed her towel.
Once she'd fluffed her hair with the towel and dried off her skin, though new droplets of water soon sprinkled her shoulders and chest from her hair, she wrapped it around her so it covered her from the tops of her breasts to just above her knees. She'd realized, part way through her shower, that she'd forgotten to bring her clothes with her, but no big. She'd just have to make a trip down to the common room to grab her bag.
Leaving her dirty clothes on the floor, she stepped from the room, steam pouring out--
And stopped abruptly when the first thing she saw was a whole lot of Jesse. Namely, his naked back and ass.
"Whoa! Sorry, dude!" she gasped, taking a step back in surprise. But though her cheeks colored quite noticeably, she didn't make a big show of averting her eyes or anything, despite her words. He had a nice ass, and it was right out there in the open. Didn't hurt to look. "Didn't know you were...uh...yeah. Don't mind me. Just gonna--" She pointed toward the lift. "--get my stuff."
-
Jesse tensed up a bit when Jewel raised her voice, but apart from that, he only spared her a glance backwards. He smirked when he noticed that she was looking right at his ass, but spared her any commentary.
"Go 'head. I don't mind," Jesse said, and he went back to picking a pair of underwear out. Why did it suddenly matter which one he wore?
Not only would Jewel get a nice view of his butt, Jesse's features were pretty nice in general. He had the rugged body of a working man, the contours of somebody who was no stranger to a little bit of grit and elbow grease.
There was also a square-shaped wire jack implanted in the back of his neck, just above the base.
-
Yeeeah, he was definitely a looker, Jewel decided, as she swept a more thorough look over him when he looked away again. Definitely a looker. She swallowed, her cheeks still hot, and started to walk past him when something else caught her eye.
The square bit on the back of his neck. It looked almost like...like something you'd plug something into? She froze, her eyes going wide.
The only people she knew of that had ports in their bodies were Aedolians. Were Pilots. The anti-Aedolis propaganda was all over Edanith, and Jewel definitely knew more about that place than she did about anywhere else.
Clutching the towel tighter, she took a step back. "Uh...Jesse? What...what's that?"
-
Jesse shut the underwear drawer, and tossed a pair of boxers onto the bed. He stepped to the side, and started going through pants.
"What's what?" he asked, and glanced around his room, and then at her. He didn't turn his hips around, because then that would just be indecent.
"There something on the floor? It's not a roach, is it?"
A silent curse under his breath, he looked back to he drawer, and pulled out a pair of loose cargo pants, holding them up.
"Thought I got all those little varmints..."
-
"No, no, not...uh...no. I mean, uh...that." Jewel touched her own neck, her heart beating fast because oh shit, what if she'd really fucked up and been cuddling up with some Aedolian! Some Pilot! Shit, shit, shit!
"Your, uh, your neck...what is that?"
-
"Oh, the SenseNet jack?" Jesse said, and put on the underwear he'd picked out. He turned to face her, although his underwear were definitely... flattering. The way things looked, he might as well have kept them off and turned to face her.
At least he had an impressive bulge.
"They got this thing over in Cancer called SenseNet."
He crossed his arms, noticing how pale she was.
"You alright?"
-
"Cancer?" Jewel's voice came out in a relieved rush, a huge sigh escaping her, followed by a nervous laugh. "Oh. It's a Cancer thing, huh? Ahaha...that's great. Right. Of course. Of course it's a Cancer thing."
Oh thank bloody gods!
She let her shoulders slouch again and waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, no, I'm fine, it's nothing. Just. You know. Never heard of something like that!" She let out another small laugh. "'Cept when it comes to Pilots, you know! But of course you wouldn't be a fucking Pilot! That'd be ridiculous!"
She smiled sheepishly at him, betraying herself, and adjusted her towel a little more even as her eyes dipped down briefly. Fuck her life, she couldn't help it! It was only natural to be curious!
And damn. He was packing.
-
"Yeah, pretty much everybody in Cancer's got one," Jesse said, all too aware now of the fact that she was staring at his junk. Not that he minded, of course, but a little teasing now and then was good for the soul.
"Eyes are up here, Jewel," Jesse said, even as he leaned against the cabinet, putting a forward tilt to his hips as a consequence and causing his package to poke forwards just a tad bit more. He pretended not to notice.
-
Jewel quickly snapped her eyes back up, her face going redder. "Kinda hard not to look when it's right there!" she said with a laugh, and blushed all the harder at her own flustered tone. Argh! Wasn't like her to get all flustered but, you know, dude she'd just met, stuck on a space ship with him, packing a hot bod...
"Right! Well. You're not a Pilot. Good to know! Uh, gonna get dressed now. B-R-B!" And she quickly turned, headed briskly for the lift.
-
Jesse smiled and watched her go. The towel didn't betray much, but he got what he could get from the view as she stepped into the lift. He got the rest of his clothing back on; Grey and rust-red camo cargo pants, a grey shirt with two crossed wrenches that said "Cancer Car Club", and a light black vest that showed off the imagery on his shirt. He topped it with his usual black cowboy hat, and waited by the lift for her to come back up.
-
When Jewel returned, she returned wearing a white tank top that kept wanting to slide off one shoulder, sporting an older indie band's logo: Indigenous Fairy. A red plaid overshirt covered it, unbuttoned and hanging open, and her skinny jeans were stylistically slashed all along the front, from the shins to her thighs. Not very practical clothing for a desert adventure, but none of her clothes were, and this was about the best she had!
She went barefoot, her boots left behind in Jesse's room, and her blue hair was still damp. The towel was slung over her shoulders, keeping her hair from dripping onto her shirt.
She looked at Jesse as she entered, an appraising look, and lifted an eyebrow. "Car club?"
-
"Yep," Jesse said. He crossed his arms and gave Jewel the very same appraising look.
"They got race tracks on Cancer. Some folks drive cars around on the street, too."
-
"Damn," Jewel said, and blinked up at Jesse.
"That's...big. I mean, the Cancer is big! I knew that, of course, but I guess I didn't realize it was so big there was a fucking racetrack!"
She paused, and looked away sheepishly. "...Guess I should've, if it can dock lots of ships and shit. Heh, like, duh."
-
"Well, Cancer's big, yeah."
Jesse glanced down to read her shirt.
"Nice choice of band," he said, and shooting her a teasing glance, he put the fabric of her shirt up on the shoulder it was loosely hanging off of, only to watch it droop back down. He smiled, as if it amused him.
"Biggest damn space station in the System."
-
"We're gonna be going there, yeah?" Jewel asked, grinning in amusement as he attempted to adjust her shirt. Joke was on him! It was designed to slope off the shoulder!
And she chose it for exactly that reason. Why have tats if no one got to see them?
"Do you do racing there or something?"
-
"At some point, yeah. Gotta get some new cells for Highway in a month or two. Guy who sells 'em to me lives in Cancer," Jesse said, and he leaned against the wall, doffing his hat up.
"I used to work on a pit crew."
-
"Niiiice," Jewel said, and she crossed the room to flop down onto the loveseat, stretching out across it to hog it all. "That what you did before you had to high tail it?"
-
"Yep."
Jesse walked over to the loveseat, and without even asking, he lifted her legs up sat down, and then put them right onto his lap.
"Pretty crazy job. You're just sittin' there, havin' a cigarette. All of a sudden, your driver pulls in, and it's pure chaos for five seconds. Then, peace."
-
Jewel didn't protest when Jesse moved her; she just let him do his thing, keeping her legs limp so he had to work for it. When he settled down, she stretched back out again, her legs propped over his lap like a nice foot rest.
She stretched her arms up and folded them under her head.
"Five seconds? That an exaggeration? I mean, I know pit crew has to be fucking fast, but..."
-
"It works differently in the Cancer leagues," Jesse said.
He crossed his arms, laying them on her legs like nice armrests.
"Car's only allowed to do one thing at the pit stop."
-
"Liiiiiike?" Jewel prompted, waiting for him to explain. She gave his leg a slight nudged with her foot.
"You're gonna have to explain! Remember, Edani city girl. I don't know shit about Cancer, much less its races."
-
"Well, ya can't change the tires, and refuel, and all that. Ya can only do one at a time. To make up for it, though, each car's got multiple pit teams spread 'round the track. Drivers gotta be strategic with their stops."
He looked over to her.
"Satisfied?"
-
"Satisfied!" Jewel confirmed, and grinned at him. "Sounds fun. Sounds like something I'd wanna see, in fact. Hint hint."
-
"We'll see," Jesse said, and he patted her leg. He looked over to the table, seeing that the bong was still there.
It was still loaded, too...
"How does breakfast sound?" He said, and nudged her legs.
"You can show me all that fancy food stuff you said you could do."
-
With a feigned sigh, Jewel slid her legs sideways off of him, and off the couch, and sat up straight with a stretch that popped her back.
"Ahhhh. Food? Oh, fuck, yeah. All I've had since I left Tynova was a protein bar and s'mores. Fantastic shit, not gonna lie, but not really...food. The s'mores, I mean. The protein bars taste like ass," she said, and poked her belly, which was indeed quite empty.
She rose to her feet. "Gonna warn you now, though. My skills are limited to your supplies."
-
"Well, the kitchen's pretty stocked, so you should be abe to rustle something up," Jesse said, standing up and walking past her to the lift.
"I know I got coffee."
-
"You got some sort of milk?" Jewel asked as she joined Jesse in the lift. "I can at least make a cafe misto if you've got that. Well. Some form of it. It's all gonna be very improvised. I could make it better if you've got a milk steamer, buuuut...I'm gonna guess you prooobably don't."
-
"Got milk and cream."
He set the lift, and it was a short ride back down to the common area, and then it was across that room and into another door that lead to the galley. There was a full kitchen, plenty of food supplies of all kinds, and a table in the center of the room.
As they stepped in, shutters on the far wall opened up, giving them a striking view of Edanith as the sun peaked over the planet.
-
Yeah, Jewel was definitely not looking at the kitchen right then.
Instead, she made a beeline to those windows and pressed her hands and nose against them, peering out at the planet below--all reds and patches of green--with wide eyes.
"That's Edanith?"
-
"Mhm," Jesse said, and he came up next to her, elbow close enough to almost touch her.
He looked to her, and smiled.
"Lot prettier when you're not standing ankle deep in sand, huh?"
-
"It's fucking gorgeous," Jewel said, breath fogging the surface in front of her.
"I've seen pictures, of course, but...damn. Those don't compare."
With an effort, she pushed herself back from the window, even though she wanted to keep looking. But her stomach was grumbling and she'd promised to earn her passage by cooking, so it was probably time she got to that.
"Alright. Time to rustle up some grub, eh? Where do you keep your coffee? Please tell me it's not that instant garbage!"
-
"This a micro-freighter, not a pleasure cruiser," Jesse said, and crossed his arms.
"It ain't exactly instant coffee, but it's not your fancy beans or whatever either. Coffee's above the stove, along with all the stuff to make it with."
-
"We'll get some 'fancy' beans next time we're in some port or other," Jewel said with a nod. "And a coffee grinder."
Where they were going to get the money for these things? Jewel wasn't saying. Mainly she was hoping Jesse would provide.
She grabbed down the coffee, which she deemed satisfactory but not great, and set up the pot for brewing. While that gurgled away, she started to rummage around his cupboards and drawers, familiarizing herself with what he had and where, and scoping out his supplies.
"Whatcha feeling for breakfast?" she asked as she puttered around. "Any requests?"
-
"I'll see what we can get," Jesse said, and leaned against the window.
He watched her work for a bit, before pushing off of the window.
"Surprise me," Jesse said with a grin, and made for the door.
"I'm gonna get the ship moving. Bring it up to the cockpit, alright?"
and with that, he was out.
-
Alriiiiight. Surprise it was, then!
Which really, maybe wasn't much of a surprise. Jewel went with a classic, a traditional breakfast food that was a classic for a reason--pancakes! Space pancakes. Some of the ingredients were a little too artificial and processed for her liking--she ate organic--but she made do; space wasn't Edanith, after all, so they probably had to go with some of the fake stuff.
Didn't turn out bad, either!
She cleaned as she went, which made the going easier, and the coffee was ready to long before she finished. She piled the pancakes onto a single plate in a stack, stacked that plate on top of two more for them to use, and tucked the butter and syrup under her other arm. Then she frowned. This...was a lot. Maybe she'd gone overboard?
Either way, she was going to need to make a couple trips for the coffee and utensils.
Balancing it all precariously, she headed for the cockpit.
"Hey, Jesse, gimme a hand, yeah?"
-
Jesse came out of the cockpit after a few seconds, and saw the heaping plate of pancakes. He nodded his approval, before looking at her.
"What with?"
-
"Take them from me before I drop them all over the place, is what," Jewel said, thrusting the plate out at him and nodding to the items she'd tucked under her opposite arm. "I gotta go get the rest."
-
"Gotcha," Jesse said, and he took the pancakes into the cockpit, setting them down on the flat part of the dashboard.
-
Jewel darted back to the galley as soon as Jesse took the goods from her, and returned moments later with utensils and two cafe mistos in mugs. Well, her best rendition of a cafe misto, considering she had to nuke the milk rather than steam it.
But it would work in a pinch!
She'd even melted some chocolate to add a little flavor to it. Normally, she liked her coffee black, but she was also sort of a coffee snob, and this was the sort of coffee that needed flavor to cover up the fail.
"Breakfast is served!" she announced, setting his mug down on the dash and handing him his utensils. "I did what I could. Hope it's decent! Go on! Dig in!"
-
Jesse accepted the mug of coffee with a grateful smile, and took a sip. He savored it for a brief moment, before swallowing.
"It's terrible, I'm throwing you out of the airlock."
He looked at her, a dead serious look on his face, before he broke into laughter.
"I'm just kiddin'. This is pretty freakin' good."
-
"Wait, what?" Jewel blurted, a deer-in-headlights look striking her, because hey, how was she to know it was a joke?! They'd just met, after all! And while he seemed a chill guy, who knew! Cooking had been one of the terms for her boarding!
Okay, she didn't really fancy herself the gullible sort, but for a second there, he'd had her.
Until he burst into laughter, at least, and she slouched forward with her hands on her knees.
"Oh, har har. Very funny," she said, before straightening up and giving him a light punch to the shoulder. "Careful there. You almost got a face full of fucking coffee. Us baristas take this very seriously don'tcha know."
...Yeah, smooth. Trying to blame her momentary shock on the "insult" and not the airlock threat.
-
Jesse recoiled his head backwards, eyes going wide. He smiled at her threat and took another sip of coffee.
"You won't have to wait long for us to make port. We're docking with Edanith Orbital Station fifteen for fuel, and so I can meet my client to get paid. Ain't the biggest station, but they might have some of the doodads you're lookin' for."
He set the mug down on a cup holder, and took the controls for the ship in his hand. They started to move, although the inertial dampeners in the cockpit kept them from feeling any of that motion. With his free hand, he speared a pancake with a fork and brought it onto his plate. In the distance, a space station was getting closer.
He flicked on a headset, and cleared his throat.
"Edanith Orbital, this is the M.F. Lindy-Lou, requesting docking permisions for twenty-four hours."
-
Jewel's eyes went wide.
"Oh...wait...so we're gonna be boarding an Edani station?" she asked when he was done, and took a couple pancakes for herself before slathering them in syrup.
"On second thought, might be better if I stay on board. I, uh...did I ever mention I'm kinda wanted?"
-
"Oh, right..."
Jesse frowned a bit, wrangling off a piece of plain pancake with his fork.
"Well, if I see any plants, I'll get 'em for you if you want. Just pay me back later."
-
"Yeeeeah, that's another thing. Uh. Can I pay you back in breakfasts and coffees?" Jewel asked, and smiled her sweetest smile.
-
Jesse smirked.
"I'll get your plants, but the next time we get high, which is probably sometime today, you're cooking."
He pulled the throttle back, slowing down as they approached the station.
"Roger that, Edani Orbital. We are heading in."
-
Jewel burst into laughter at that. "What? You want me to bake while I'm baked?"
-
"Will baked baking be a problem?" Jesse asked.
-
"Nuuuupe! That's basically the opposite of a problem! Just no guarantees about the quality of my concoctions," Jewel said with a grin.
-
"'Long as it doesn't kill me," Jesse said, and he pulled them into the station. The docking arm took over, and as it moved their ship into its spot, Jesse heaped some pancaked onto his plate and poured syrup onto them.
"Been a while since I had good pancakes,"
-
"Really? Man. Pancakes just not that big of a thing in space?" Jewel asked between mouthfuls, before she grin ed.
"Aren'tcha glad I snuck on board?"
-
"I ain't much of a cook," Jesse said, stuffing his face as the ship came to a stop. He chased the pancakes down with another sip of coffee.
"Oh! But if I ever take you down to Libra, there's this diner that you have to go to."
-
"Yeah?" Jewel said, taking another large bite. "Which means you're definitely taking me there, right? Hey, isn't Libra that one place? The one that's okay with magic?"
-
Jesse nodded.
"Think so. I mean, they'll keep an eye on you, but apart from that, they won't bother you 'long as you're well behaved."
-
"Well behaved. Heh..."
Jewel snapped a look back up at Jesse and grinned brightly. "I mean, right! Duh. Of course. I'm a perfect fucking angel."
-
"Alright, Angel. I'll take your word for it," Jesse said, and propped his legs up on the dashboard. He passed a hand over the back of his neck, fingers dusting over the jack there.
"So easy to forget you have one. I can't even feel the damn thing."
-
"What's it do, anyway?" Jewel asked as she leaned over to get a better look at it. She reached a finger out and gave it a little poke.
"Aren't you afraid of like...stuff...gett ing in it?" she continued, wrinkling her nose. "Like just...getting in there and getting all stuck in your neck? Eugh..."
-
"Not really. Connection to my spine makes a humm. Puts in energy, keeps insects away. I keep it plugged, usually. that keeps stuff from rustlin' on in."
Jesse shrugged.
"It's like there's nothing there, most of the time.
-
"It connects to your spine?" Jewel said, and shuddered. "Eugh. Looks like it'd hurt. But like...what's it do? You mentioned some sense net thing or whatever like I'm supposed to know what that is but like..."
She held her arms open and then let them flop back down to her sides. "Edani chick, remember?"
-
"Well, it's like..."
Jesse looked thoughtful for a bit.
"It's like... virtual reality. Imagine the internet you have back on Edanith, except it's an actual place. Websites become places you can visit. Online stores work as actual stores, run by an actual person who's also jacked in."
Jesse shrugged.
"It's painless to install. Pretty cheap, too. I can't think of a single person back on Cancer who didn't have one."
-
"Ohhh. So like virtual reality on steroids? That sounds pretty fucking sweet..."
Jewel rubbed her chin, obviously intrigued, but then paused and narrowed her eyes. "So like...what happens if someone stabs you there? Is it like those old shows? What happens in VR happens in real life? If you die in the system, do you die for reals?"
-
"No, nothing like that. You get jacked out real forceful, though. Some people go into momentary shock," Jesse said.
"There're programs to keep people from doing that to one another, but if someone's a good enough hacker, they can hurt you, or even jack you out."
He swallowed some pancakes.
"Pretty rare, though. If you're just minding your business, nothing'll happen to you."
-
"Hah! So, it's like getting kicked from a chatroom for being a dick, eh?" Jewel asked as she shoveled more pancakes into her mouth.
"Alright then! Not so bad. Sounds hella fun, actually. Can you like fly around and shit?"
-
"Totally!"
Jesse gave off a wistful sigh.
"Imagination's the only limit. I knew a place that offered a service, what was it... Oh!"
He pointed at Jewel.
"They basically wrote a program that let the user control digital matter, and they had it programmed to look like a forest. It was just a giant sandbox you rented by the hour. You could do anything you wanted in there."
-
Jewel rubbed the back of her neck, right where a port would go. It was a fascinating thought...
"That sounds awesome," she said. "But I dunno. Still a little weirded out by the port thing, but...eh! I'll probably get over with. Just, you know. Ports. Plugs. Getting things screwed into you. It's the sort of thing they do to mages on Edanith, so..." A grimace. "Guess I'm just a little extra paranoid. But it really really does sound like fun, really! To just vacation without leaving your room...shit, man. I'd probably get so fat."
-
"It has a natural disconnect and cooldown function. You can set limits for yaself," Jesse said.
He looked at her, and smiled. It was a bit warmer than usual.
"I got some games for it on my ship. Surgery's the cheapest thing ever. If you're down, i'll spot you for the implant."
-
"Really? You'd do that? Thanks, dude!" And then Jewel narrowed her eyes playfully at him and waved her fork under his chin.
"Unless it's all just a ruse to try and steal my brains or something..."
-
"Welp, you got me figured right out, then," Jesse said, nodding his head.
"This whole time, I've just been wantin' to eat your brains."
-
"Fuck, I knew it! You're a zombie!" Jewel gasped, hands pressed to the sides of her face in mock horror.
"A really intelligent, good-looking zombie, but still! You're not getting these brains, mister!"
-
"Can't win 'em all, I suppose," Jesse said, and went on back to eating his pancakes.
Wait.
He looked over to her, sly look on his face.
"Good lookin', huh?"
-
...Oh. Uh.
Awkward.
Jewel played it off with a roll of her eyes and a shrug, hoping he wouldn't notice the color in her cheeks. "Uh, duh? You've seen yourself in a mirror, right? Don't play coy."
-
"Oh, believe me. I've seen myself in the mirror plenty of times," Jesse said, and took a sip of his coffee.
"You ain't too hard on the eyes yourself, Jewel."
-
"Oh, I know," Jewel said with a wide, cocky grin and a flip of her blue hair. "Like, I'm pretty sure if I had a clone, I'd do me."
-
Jesse laughed a bit at that.
"Wasn't there some rich guy who did that? It was on System News a few weeks ago."
-
"...Ew, really?" Jewel said, and made a face. "Is that incest or masturbation?"
-
"I think they had it down as incest," Jesse said.
"Reasons were a bit foggy."
-
"Yeah, that's disturbing. Okay, never mind. I guess I already do me anyway, and I do me well enough on my own," Jewel said with a nod and a chipper smile, before she shoved another forkful of pancake in her mouth.
-
"Hey, you're the one who asked," Jesse said with a shrug. He finished off the pancakes on his plate, and patted his belly.
"Are you sure you're not allowed on board? Edani Orbital's a series of corporate stations. Only private security on these. No official Edanith presence."
-
A pause, and Jewel looked up with raised eyebrows.
"I dunno, I mean...do you think I'd be okay? 'Cause I'd love to go, I just...if I get outed, if anyone figures out I'm a mage, I'm fucked."
-
"Trust me, it's okay," Jesse said.
He smirked, and poked her leg with his.
"And if anybody tries to front up to ya, I'll set 'em straight."
-
Jewel sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, twirling her fork in her fingers. Finally, she nodded.
"Alright," she said, and grinned. "Why not? I mean, we're in space! Probably a lot harder to magic a tree into existence or crack the earth. Since there's no earth. So yeah, sure! Sign me up! Let's do this!"
-
"Alright!"
Jesse looked around, and a green light pinged to life.
"Docking tube's in. Shall we?"
-
Jewel shoved her plate aside and was on her feet before he'd hardly finished the sentence.
Despite some trepidation, she was so fucking ready for this!
"YES!" she said, and the paused. "Uh, one sec. Be right back! Don't leave, 'kay?"
And she turned and bolted off, heading down to her room.
She returned a short while later, hair covered by a gray beanie. "Y'know. Just in case anyone's looking," she said, tapping her head. Blue hair was preeetty distinctive, after all. She stopped by Jesse's bed, took a seat, and pulled on her combat boots. "Ready steady."
-
Jesse himself went up to put his boots on and spritz on some cologne, coming back down smelling roughly of earthy tones.
He met her by the exit door, and when he saw she was ready, he motioned out the door. It opened up to reveal a slender docking tube, and beyond that, it poured out into what could only be described as one massive commercial district.
The place was like a gigantic shopping mall in space.
-
"Hoooooolyyyyy shiiiiiiiit," Jewel breathed as she stepped out into the tube, her eyes humorously wide as she looked around, turning in a slow circle even as she walked so she wound up walking backwards at points, hardly paying attention to where she was going. She felt like a kid with a credit card who'd just stepped into the world's biggest toy shop.
It was amazing, being able to just...look out at space all around them. While stepping out into a shopping mall.
"Oh my godddd. Oh my god I feel like such a tourist. I'm gawking, aren't I? I totally feel myself gawking. Holy shit, holy shit, this is so cool! Where first?! Huh, huh?" And she rounded on Jesse and tugged at his arm, bouncing on her toes like an excited kid.
Because fuck yeah, she was in a SPACE MALL.
-
Jesse smirked at Jewel, finding her excitement to be infinitely amusing. He patted her own arm, treating her like the child she was acting like.
"Now now, Jewel. Business first. I gotta meet my client, deliver the flight computer he wanted, and get paid real nice. Then, it's the implant clinic. After that..."
He thought for a few moments.
"What do you want to do?"
-
"Yeah, yeah, we can do all that stuff, no prob!" Jewel said, still bouncing impatiently. "And then...ummm..."
What did she want to do?
"I dunno! Something awesome! Get some plants and decorations and shit, sure, but shit, I've never been in space in a space mall! Guess what I wanna do most is just look around, see what's even here!"
-
Jesse planted a firm hand on her shoulder to stop her from bouncing.
"Alright, we'll take a stroll around the place when we're done. Get some space burgers, if we run a bit late."
-
Jewel scowled at him when he stopped her bouncing, then sidestepped to shrug his hand off--so she could keep on bouncing.
Just because he tried to stop her.
"Awwwright! Then let's hurry up and get your business done! Oh! Do you know if there's a place where I can like...phone home?" she asked, her bouncing stopping then. "I should probably let people know I'm still alive..."
-
Jesse smiled at her, and then looked around for a payphone.
"Erm... Oh! There's one right over there," Jesse said, and pointed to a public communications terminal. He offered Jewel his arm, since it seemed she liked holding onto it a lot.
"C'mon."
-
Jewel linked her arm with Jesse's--and proceeded to drag him along with her toward the terminal. "What kinda money does this place take, anyway? Edani currency, right?"
-
"Should," Jesse said.
"'Less there's been a government change in the past couple hours."
-
"Alright, smartass," Jewel said, sticking her tongue out at Jesse. And as soon as they were close enough, she broke off from him and headed over to it.
"I'll be just a minute, okay?"
-
"Okay," Jesse said, catching a nice glance at Jewel's butt as she went her own way. Hey, she'd probably been staring at his butt! It was only fair.
He hung out pretty much where she left him, leaning up against a light-pole with his hat doffed forwards.
-
Jewel was in the booth for over five minutes, and when she came back out, it was with a frown.
"Well, mom's not happy, predictably, so I got an earful. My head's still ringing. But she's glad I'm safe, at least. Even though I didn't tell her where I am, heh."
-
"Well, at least they know," Jesse said, walking back up to her. Again, he offered his arm.
"Probably for the best you didn't tell her you were hitchin' a ride around the solar system on a scavenger's ship."
-
"Yeeeeeeah, she'd shit herself. Probably wouldn't be surprised, but she'd still shit herself. Then she'd give me the talk about staying safe and not getting preggers. Typical mom shit."
Jewel linked her arm with his again, giving him an amused look.
-
"Sounds like typical mom shit," Jesse said, and he held her arm nice and comfortable. If she was feeling mischievous or curious, his bicep was only a nice squeeze away.
"Alright, so the first place we're headed to is a bar called "Nate's Orbital." My client'll be there, and the exchange'll only take a few minutes. After that, we can hang around, have a few drinks, and then it's off to put a jack in your head."
-
"Whoa, you mean here? Already? They can do that here?" Jewel said, her eyes going wide in surprise and heart leaping with nerves and excitement both. "Oh. Uh. Whoa. I thought that was like...a thing we had to do on Cancer."
-
"Well, I know it's a thing on Aedolis, too. And there are people all over the place who use it, so pretty much every implant clinic offers the service."
Jesse smiled at her excitement.
"It's dirt cheap, and takes only a couple minutes to do. We'll be in and out in no time."
-
"Aaand if I don't like it? Like, can you get it removed later?" Jewel asked, still a little unsure.
-
"Totally," Jesse said.
He pointed to the square hole in the back of his neck, covered by a neat little plastic lid.
"This is my second one. First one got some dust in when I forgot to put the lid on one day."
-
"Gross," Jewel said with an amused snort, still feeling anxious and excited in equal measure. She hadn't realized she could get it so soon! She had been picturing it as this thing they did in the far future, not a thing they did right now.
She rubbed the back of her neck, in the same spot Jesse's port was. "Alright, then, if they can remove it later I guess...don't see any reason why I shouldn't try it out?"
-
"That's the spirit," Jesse said.
They walked for a solid five minutes, arm-in-arm. Jesse couldn't particularly remember why he offered her his arm. It just seemed like something he should do. Something that came naturally.
Finally, they arrived at a pretty ritzy looking bar. The sign read "Blue's", and the holographic sign depicted a whale in a spacesuit, sitting at a bar. After a momentary chat with the hostess, they were let in, and Jesse immediately singled out a man in a suit, sitting in a booth by himself.
Jesse looked to Jewel.
"That's my guy. Could you wait by the bar?"
-
"Blue's. Pretty apt location," Jewel said, pushing a strand of blue hair back into her beanie. Fancy place, too, she thought as she looked around. Really, really fancy, compared to the dives she and her buddies hung out at.
With a nod Jesse's way, she snapped off a salute. "Aye aye, captain!" she said, and headed over to the bar and took a seat on a stool, wedged between a couple and some burly red-skinned dude that had horns growing out of his head.
And since she was waiting, and she had no idea how long it would be, she figured why not start this trip out proper with a toast to herself and a new life? So she started it off with a tequila sunrise.
-
The exchange took three minutes, more or less. Jesse sat down with the man, and they both had whiskey on the rocks as the deal went down. At some point, Jesse handed his contact the flight computer and received a big fat digital check in return.
In the meanwhile, that burly red-skinned dude left his seat, presumably to take a leak or something, and it was about that time when the deal concluded. They stood, shook hands, and Jesse joined Jewel at the bar.
"Enjoying the confines?" he asked, the whiskey still faint on his breath. He looked down at her drink and smiled.
"Classy."
He ordered the same thing for himself, and turned to face her, one elbow on the bar.
"Got a pretty fat check from Mr. Johnson back there," Jesse mused. "Nice-ass bonus for getting that flight computer in good condition, too."
-
"Soooooo, does that mean you'll cover my drink, too?" Jewel asked with a teasing smile as she finished off her drink and ordered another. "Oh, pardon. Drinks."
She turned to face him, too, mimicking his posture with an elbow on the counter. "Whatcha gonna use that money on, anyway? Wild parties? Maybe some shots?" She wagged her eyebrows, liquor already loosening her up. "We could do body shots."
-
"Well, gotta refuel the Lindy-Lou, then I've gotta pay for dockin', and a supply restock. Leaves plenty for diversions, though. Like drinks!" Jesse said, catching her look. Once his drink arrived, he spoke up again.
"The hell are body shots? That an Edanith thing?"
-
Jewel shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe? They're fun, though! It's exactly what it sounds like. You take a shot--but you take it off someone's body! Like their navel or their tits."
-
Jesse's eyes widened slightly at the explanation. Yeah, that was probably an Aedolan thing. Sounded like fun, though!
"Remind me to get a bottle or two so we can do that on the ship," Jesse said. He took a sip, also of tequila sunrise. It just seemed like a nice thing to have, and besides, she was having it too!
"Doesn't sound like a very decent thing for public spaces."
-
"Pfffff! it's not like you get naked to do it! You just lift your shirt enough so someone can get at your tummy, or wear a low cut shirt if it's a cleavage shot," Jewel said, and grinned. "Though, yeah, you wouldn't do it at most bars. My friends and I goofed off like that at clubs when we got drunk enough. Got kicked out of more than one, so..."
-
"Well yeah, that's what I meant," Jesse said.
"This place is a bit too ritzy for that," Jesse said. However, he pulled up his wrist tablet and swiped through what appeared to be some online stores.
"I'm definitely getting some for the ship, then."
He took another sip, and looked down at his watch, then at her drink.
"Implant clinic closes soon. We should get going," he said.
-
"I'm surprised you don't already have booze on board," Jewel said, and she took up her drink and downed it in several long gulps.
Prooobably not the best idea. Tequila went straight to her head, and the sweetness disguised its punch. But hey, they were on a time limit and what better way to start out this new adventure! Wasn't like she could hurt anything here if her abilities decided to do their thing. It was all metal!
And the booze and weed helped keep her mind off her other anxieties.
"Whoo, damn! That's the good stuff," she said, clinking her glass down. "Alright, I'm ready! You ready? 'Cause I'm totes ready for this jam."
-
"Alright!" Jesse said, and got up with her. He paid their tabs, finished his drink, and he stepped away from the seat just in time for Big Red to come out of the bathroom.
"Right this way, Jewel," Jesse said, offering her his arm.
"We're gonna have to get another drink for the both of us when we get out of the implant clinic. Keep this nice-ass buzz going."
-
Jewel followed after Jesse, linking arms again and chuckling at his words. "Buzz? Pfffft. Says you. I'm on my way to getting smashed."
-
"Alright, then!"
Jesse wheeled his head about to grin at her. They stepped out of the bar and back onto the street.
"Smashed it is."
-
"Hey, I was talking about me! Should you get smashed? You're the driver! Pilot. Whatever!"
-
Jesse shook his head.
"I'm actually damn good at driving under the influence. Like, I remember I was both drunk and high this one time, and I drove the Lindy-Lou through a debris field. Not. A. Scratch," Jesse said, pride in his voice.
"Besiiides, we'll be docked for the rest of the day. We'll leave in the morning."
He walked quietly for a few moments, and then grinned.
"We should get crossfaded."
-
"You speak my language, bro. Let's do the thing!" Jewel said with a laugh and gave him an imaginary toast.
Yeah, Jesse was a baaad influence on her. Already he was validating all her bad habits. But heck if she cared!
"Yeah, I've totally gone to work high. Manager didn't notice, thank gods! Just said I was extra chipper. And I think my drinks were tastier! I did make more tips that day than usual."
-
Jewel was a bad influence on him, too! It's not like she validated him, but her eagerness to do all these things sort of gave Jesse the excuse to do 'em!
"Wow, that's pretty impressive. I can't do my mechanics work high. I just tend to goof off, make completely unrelated things, or eat," Jesse said.
-
"I may not know how to pilot a spaceship, but I've got my own special skillset!" Jewel said as she puffed her chest out with pride, wobbling a little as she walked as the pathway began to pitch and roll a little--in her head, at least. She bumped into Jesse and laughed.
"Is this place rocking or is it just me?"
-
"No, it's you!" Jesse said, holding her by the sides so she'd stop swaying around all crazy-like.
"How much did you have to drink? Was it really just two?"
-
"Yuuup! Just two. But it was tequila. Tequila fucks me up fast. I think they put a lot more tequila in those than usual. Noooot complaining!" Jewel added quickly, smiling at Jesse. "Means I can't get nervous about the port!"
-
"Oh, tequila. Yeah, I had myself some of that too. I'm a bit more resistant, though," Jesse said with a sneer.
In the distance, a green cross with the words "Implants" was visible projected off of a very clean, very tidy looking clinic.
"Embrace the liquid courage, Jewel!"
-
"Embracing it!" Jewel said, pumping her free arm into the air, as they came upon the clinic. And as though to prove it, she dragged Jesse along with her, opening the door and striding inside.
-
"Woah!"
The inside of the clinic was a bit cold, but other than that, the walls and floors were a nice, clean white. Low, geometric ferns lined pathways on the wall. Jesse got himself steady again and laughed at Jewel.
There were a few patients waiting. Some people with prosthetic limbs, others waiting for cosmetic augmentations.
He motioned to the receptionist, and he walked her over there. She was a spritely looking young girl, with short, blonde hair that encapsulated her soft face rather nicely. Across her eyes, she wore a transparent visor.
"Hi! Welcome to the Edani Orbital's implant clinic. What can I do for you two today?"
Jesse motioned to Jewel.
"She's looking to get a SenseNet jack," Jesse said, and the receptionist nodded.
"Your name, miss?"
-
"Je--uh, Jessica," Jewel said, deciding to err on the side of caution. She didn't know how this shit worked, like what to expect as a fugitive mage! Would she be on the Most Wanted lists with bulletins posted this far out?
She scratched the side of her neck and cast a quick look at Jesse. "Jessica Summer. So yeah! Just the SenseNet thingy!"
Another look around the room, and she noted a few decorative plants here and there. Real ones. Somehow, she just knew without looking too close, or touching them, that they were real and she knew that was her magic at work. With an awkward shifting of her weight, she rubbed at the goosebumps on her arms.
Nothing was going to happen. Just chill, Jewel.
-
"Alright... Jessica. The implant process is quick and painless, and that's not just the usual doctor saying, either. I really mean it!" The receptionist said, smiling brightly.
"Go ahead and take a seat. The doctor will be with you shortly."
Jesse smiled at the receptionist, and felt the tenseness in Jewel, noticing her rubbing her arm. He traced her stare to the plants.
Shit...
He put a hand over hers, stopping her from rubbing her goosebumps.
"It'll be fine," Jesse said, although there was something in his eyes that said he knewHe motioned to a pair of empty seats.
-
Jewel stopped rubbing as soon as Jesse laid his hand on hers, and she was quick to take a seat. She crossed one leg over the other, but her foot still bounced with budding anxiety--though some might call it paranoia.
"I know. It's fine. I'm fine," she said, and started to fiddle with the spinner ring she wore--black with little white skull designs. It was silly to be afraid of a plant. It wasn't like it could do anything. It was all her! And if she didn't like...make it do anything...it'd be fine! It wasn't going to jump her! Or start singing! It was just a plant. But the first thing she'd ever influenced had been a plant, and she'd done it without trying. She'd always felt like she had an affinity for them--like a green thumb--and boy was she downplaying it.
Even not looking at it she could pinpoint its location, and the location of any other plants in the room. Fuck. She knew one of the technicians kept a little one on their desk in one of the offices behind that door...
"How long you think it'll be?" she asked Jesse.
Don't think about the plants, don't think about the plants...
But, of course, telling herself not to think about them only made her want to think about them more. Maybe it was a self-fulfilling prophecy like that, since Edanith was full of nature and she'd been able to control herself, more or less, except when she was under the influence or otherwise feeling some strong emotion. But now that she was on the run, she was all the more freaked.
-
"Just a few minutes," Jesse said, and he smiled at her, hoping his calm nature would help bring her back down to earth.
And, in fact, it was only a few minutes before a nurse appeared at the waiting room door. She glanced down at the clipboard in her hands, looked up to the room, and smiled.
"Jessica? Jessica Summer?"
-
When her name was called, Jewel practically sprang from her seat and raised her hand.
"Here!" she called, before she realized the obvious: she wasn't in class. Hadn't been in class for years since she dropped out of high school. Her face bloomed red, and she ducked her head at the strange look the nurse gave her.
She was way too drunk for this.
"I mean, uh, yeah, that's me! Jessica! I'm Jessica. Hi," she said, lowering her hand to eye level and wiggling her fingers in greeting.
End meeee.
She fought back the urge to sink her face into her hand. "Sorry. It's my first time. Little nervous!"
"That's natural, but you have nothing to be nervous about, Miss Summer," the nurse tactfully said. "This is a standard procedure. Right this way, please."
Shooting Jesse another look, Jewel put two fingers to her temple like a gun and mimed pulling the trigger. Jeez. She was a disaster.
-
Jesse had to try nice and hard to not let out a snicker at Jewel's drunken antics. He stood up with her, and put a hand on the small of her back to help urge her forwards.
"She's always been a bit nervous around doctors," Jesse said, and he looked back at her as he walked over to join the nurse they shared a bit of conversation, and the nurse nodded. Jesse went to stand by the door, and he looked back at her.
"C'mon, Jess."
-
With one final look at the plants in the room, as though to ensure they still looked the same, Jewel followed after Jesse as the nurse lead them down a hallway and into an open room on the left. Inside, it was clean, cold, and sterile, with an examining table in the middle. The nurse tore off the old sheet of paper lining it, replaced it with a new one, and motioned to it.
"Please take a seat and while I take your vitals," she said, before she rolled Jewel's sleeve up and put a blood pressure cuff around her bicep. The machine beeped, she made some notes on her clipboard, and then took Jewel's temperature by ear.
"Hm. Your heart rate is a little fast," she mused, and tucked her pen away into her smock. "But I imagine that's just nerves. The doctor will be with you shortly." And with that said, she left, and closed the door behind her.
Jewel let out a whoosh of air and looked at Jesse. "Do you think they're suspicious? Am I suspicious? I'm not totally blowing this right?"
-
When the nurse left, Jesse looked to Jewel, and shook his head.
"You haven't messed up at all," Jesse said, and he approached her on the table.
"Need me to hold your hand?" he teased, but he offered it to her anyways. Regardless of her decision to take it or not, the doctor came in, wheeling a cart with an implant syringe, a dermal anasthetic patch, and the implant itself. The jack itself was in a canister that was compatible with the syringe.
-
Jewel had a snarky response prepared for that, but when the doctor came in, complete with all those ominous looking tools and what looked to her like a bigass needle, she took his hand and squeezed.
"Painless, right?"
-
The doctor smiled at the scene unfolding in front of him and nodded.
"Painless, trust me," the doctor said, stopping next to the examination table. He pressed a few buttons on a wristpad, a utility model similar to Jesse's. The examination table formed into a seat, leaving Jewel undisturbed.
"The dermal patch will make sure you don't feel a thing," Jesse said and showed the doctor his own jack.
The doctor nodded in approval, and motioned to the seat.
"Go ahead and take a seat, Jessica. It'll be over before you know it."
-
Jewel got comfortable in the seat--as comfortable as she could, considering. Her foot bounced with anticipation and a little trepidation as she waited.
"Cool, cool. Not that I'm worried, like..I've got tats and piercings. That's way scarier than this," she said with a wave of her free hand. "They don't even numb you for those."
-
The doctor smiled at her, and started the intricate process of preparing the implant syringe. A small panel opened up in the seat, giving the doctor access to the necessary area on her neck.
Jesse straddled the seat, and took up both of her hands.
"You good, Jess?" Jesse asked, looking at her with both playfulness and genuine ocncern in his eyes.
-
"Juuust about to get a plug in my neck! Haha, why wouldn't I be good?" Jewel answered, hands squeezing his.
"If I happened to get it removed later, it won't leave a huge nasty scar, will it?"
-
"Not at all," the doctor said, still setting up the syringe.
Jesse waited for the doctor to finish, before smiling at Jewel.
"Just making sure you're good," Jesse said.
-
[Lolol man my tablet hates me. xD *quietly fixes typos in last post* >_>]
"Oh, yeah, I'm good, I'm cool, I'm chill! Really! I'll be even better once this is done!" Jewel said with a bright, forced grin.
-
"Okay," Jesse said, and he moved back to the side of the seat, letting her hold just one hand. The doctor finished setting up the syringe, and he peeled the covering off of the dermal patch. He walked up behind Jewel, and he placed it right on her neck, right where the jack would go.
He took a few steps back, waiting for it to completely numb that spot.
Jesse held Jewel's hand, just buzzed enough to enjoy the feeling of her hand against his.
-
Jewel's hand tightened on Jesse's, squeezing rather tightly--but not enough to hurt. Admittedly, she was less afraid of the implant and more afraid of just being here, because it just seemed like a bad combination! Nerves from the implant combined with drunkenness combined with nerves over her magic! What if all that stress...did something? She didn't know how to really make it do things, but she also didn't really know how to not make it do things!
All that was cycling around in her head in a miserable loop, those plants in the other room haunting her like specters, when she felt her neck start to numb.
She blinked. "Is it in yet?" she asked, and then barked a laugh. "Pffffft. Sorry. I know guys never like hearing that."
-
Jesse narrowed his eyes at her joke, and the doctor shook his head behind her, a breathless smile on his face.
"That's the anaesthetic," Jesse said, and he pulled up a chair with his foot and sat down next to her.
With a click, the syringe finished setting up.
"We're almost done," the doctor said.
"Just a few more seconds. You won't feel a thing."
-
"Yeah, I already don't feel a thing," Jewel said, tapping her foot on the ground, sole clicking out a beat on the tile floor. C'mon, c'mon, hurry up already! Hurry up and finish the--
And then, from somewhere down the hall, toward the receptionist's desk, there came a scream.
-
At the scream, the doctor looked up, and then at Jesse.
It wasn't a scream of horror, per se. For all they knew, it could've been a workplace mishap. Jesse looked at the doctor, and nodded.
"I'll check it out," he said, and the doctor nodded. He put the syringe against Jewel's neck, and the thing started to calibrate. Jesse went out the door, cursing repeatedly in his head.
-
Jewel's heart was racing, her palms gone cold and clammy as her own litany of curses raced through her head. Oh gods, what had she done? It didn't occur to her that they were in a clinic, and that mishaps happened; her first thought was that it must be her doing, and as she watched Jesse leave she wanted nothing more than to bolt after him.
She was screwed, she was done! She was going to get caught!
But she also knew she couldn't move just yet, because while she couldn't feel anything, she could feel the slight pressure of that syringe at her neck. Yeah. Now wasn't a good time for moving. One wrong move and that syringe could go places she didn't want it to go.
Outside the room, at the receptionist's desk, that spritely young woman was on her feet and surrounded by another nurse and doctor who had come out to check on her. She looked pale.
And she was eyeing the viney plant on her desk like it was a predator.
"I'm telling you, it grabbed me!" she was saying.
"Are you sure, hon? You're sure you didn't just brush against it?" the doctor was saying, her brow knit with concern.
"Of course I'm sure! I know how crazy this sounds, but I swear it grabbed me. Wrapped right around my wrist."
The nurse frowned, and went over to check on the plant, poking at it and brushing at its leaves. He looked back to the doctor, shrugged, and headed back over.
"Well, of course it won't do anything now," the young receptionist said with an exasperated sound. "But it swear, it grabbed me!"
"How have you been sleeping?" the doctor asked, and the girl sighed.
"Sleep's not the problem, it--LOOK! It's doing it again!" she yelped and pointed when the plant twitched.
-
The doctor had the syringe against Jewel's neck for a good few seconds before it beeped twice. With a chunk the syringe planted the jack right into her spine, then cauterized and sealed the seams with lightning-quick lasers. An electric tingle would go through Jewel's spine, but she was completely unharmed.
Meanwhile, Jesse had to act, and he had to act fast. Cocking his head back, he let out a series of rough coughs and stumbled against the desk, elbowing the plant off of the desk.
"Oh gods, I'm sorry!" Jesse said, and he feigned another sneeze.
"I, uh, I gotta go to the bathroom," he said, mimicking awkwardness, and he quickly took his leave, apologizing profusely as he went.
He went back to the room, and peeked his head in.
"Someone dropped something. Nothing to worry about!" Jesse said, smiling.
"You get the jack yet, Jewel?"
-
A chill raced down Jewel's spine and she jumped a little as the syringe made its noise, her only indication that it was done since she felt not a thing.
There was a crash outside the room, the sound of something breaking, and another yelp that had Jewel digging her nails into her palms with anxiety. She bit the inside of her cheek hard, breathing fast through her nose--and then Jesse popped his head in.
Her eyes flashed to his, a little wide. Was that really all that happened? Part of her hoped so, the other part felt it was BS.
"Yeah! I got it! I think. Was that it?" she asked the doctor, still bouncing her legs anxiously. She wanted to get up and go already!
-
The doctor nodded, and he stepped in front of the chair.
"You can stand up now," he said, but immediately put up a hand.
"Take it slow, though. The anaesthetic's pretty potent," the doctor said. He looked to Jesse, and Jesse smiled.
"Nurse give you my payment info?"
The doctor nodded.
"Thank you, then. C'mon, Jewel," Jesse said, and he offered her his arm once again so they could leave.
"I need another drink."
-
Jewel had been about to shoot up from her seat, but the doctor's warning had her taking it slow. She rose carefully, even though she wanted to just bolt from the room, and took Jesse's arm.
The doctor was right; she did feel unsteady.
But she was pretty sure her knees weren't shaking from the anesthetic.
Once they were out of the room and headed out the main door, she let out a held breath and pressed her hand to her forehead. "Fuck. You and me both," she said, and sucked in another breath. She slid an uneasy look Jesse's way. "Someone didn't just drop something, did they?"
-
Jesse kept an eye on Jewel, ignoring the dirty look he got from the dropped plant's owner. She did look a bit unsteady, but that would only last a few minutes. For somebody who'd just gotten a series of needles and transistors embedded in the back of her neck, she looked pretty straight.
Once they were clear of the clinic, Jesse spoke.
"Naw, someone dropped something. You're just being nervous, Jewel," Jesse said, and he slowed down a bit. He spotted another bar a short walk away, and they started heading towards it. It looked a little bit less ritzy than the previous one.
"Feelin' alright? You're gonna be a bit tingly for a couple hours, but you'll adjust."
-
"Nervous, hah...more like paranoid," Jewel said with a breathless laugh, relief washing through her at his words. She hadn't done anything freakish. Thank freakin' gods.
"I feel alright. Kinda weird, but nothing booze can't fix! I feel infinitely better now we're outta that clinic. You know how many freakin' plants they kept? Too many."
-
Jesse laughed, and he guided the both of them right into the bar. The bar itself was taken up completely, but there were a few secluded booths that they could sit at. Jesse motioned to one and beckoned for her to sit first.
"Just a few more drinks, and you''ll be right as rain."
-
"More like drunk off my ass, but hey! Least I won't remember anything else!" Jewel said as she slid into the booth, across the table from Jesse.
She nudged his leg from under the table. "Whatcha gonna get?"
-
"Something with vodka," Jesse said, and he leaned forward onto the table, planting his elbows on it and joining his hands. "Maybe just vodka."
He grinned, and nudged at her leg as well.
"And you?"
-
"I was thinking a long island iced tea," Jewel said, scratching her chin. "Which, incidentally, is also full of vodka. I'm sensing a theme here..."
Slowly, her hand migrated from her chin to her neck and then the back of it, and she tentatively ran a finger over the port--and shuddered. "Eugh. Am I supposed to be touching this yet? Or am I gonna get it all infected if I do?"
-
"Naw, it's sterilized itself when it went in. Pretty advanced doodad," Jesse said, and then he motioned to her eyes.
"Nanites should be hitting your eyes now. See the outline on this wall?" Jesse said, and pointed to a blank spot on the wall. Indeed, there truly was a shining outline on it, a small rectangle where there'd previously been none.
"The jack sends signals to your brain, tells it how to see things a bit differently. Basically, you've got VR vision going around in your noggin. You can see things like port covers and all that."
-
"Whooooaaaa..." Jewel said as she stared at the wall, and she blinked a couple times as though to check her vision and ensure it was actually real. She reached up and rubbed at her eyes and blinked again.
"So I can see things better now, is what you're saying?"
-
"Yup," Jesse said, and he put his hand on the rectangle. It beeped, and a port in the wall opened up, revealing four jacks set into the wall.
"This bar's got it's own SenseNet domain," Jesse said, and he motioned to the bar around them. A few patrons who were sitting at table were, in fact, plugged into the wall.
"Means that it's also a place on the SenseNet. It's a bit early for you to jack in, though."
Their drinks arrived, and he winked at her.
"I've got a trainin' program on the ship. Ever watch this movie called The Grid? The one where all the humans live in this computer program? I'm gonna train you up like Orpheus trained Leo."
-
[*snortlaugh* xDDD]
"Whoa, shit, you serious? Is the SenseNet like that? Like I'll be able to back-bend away from bullets slow-mo style and shit? Sh-pow--wah!" Jewel tried to imitate the scene, leaning back in her chair and throwing out her hands, but had to grab the table when the chair rocked back and nearly tipped her over instead.
Laughing, she righted herself and leaned her elbows on the table like she'd totally meant to do that. "Pfffhaha, I won't disappoint you. Catlike reflexes and all."
-
"Actually, yeah. SenseNet's pretty much just like The Grid," Jesse said. She couldn't have noticed it, since it was all happening under the table, but Jesse'd actually caught her chair with his feet, making sure that she didn't fall.
"Doesn't really take much training. Although I can put us in a kung-fu dojo, just like the movie."
-
"Dooo eeeet," Jewel said with a wide grin. "Seriously, sounds fun as fuck. Even better, since there's that whole can't die thing. Hey, even if you can't die, per se, does like...getting shot still hurt?"
And as they spoke, a server came by and passed them a menu for happy hour appetizers, and Jewel paused only to give her order: long island iced tea and mozzarella sticks.
"Extra marinara sauce," she added with a nod and a sweet smile Jesse's way.
-
"Oh yeah, it still hurts. If you die, it just forces you out of the SenseNet. Might even give you a migraine, depends on how you go."
Jesse ordered his drink as well and nodded appreciatively at the mozzarella sticks.
"Excited to jack in for the first time?"
-
"Do pirates like booty?" Jewel said with a deadpan glance, before she cracked a grin and threw up her hands. "Uhhh, hell yes! How long does it take before I can? Oh, and..."
She narrowed her eyes playfully at him, right as the server came by with their drinks and appetizer. "Just don't shoot me, 'kay?"
-
"No promises," Jesse said, and he was quick to snatch up a mozzarella stick, and claim a cup of marinara for himself. It was a good thing she ordered extra!
"It'll be a couple hours until your body finishes adjusting. It'll be ready by the time we get back to the ship."
-
"Sweeeeet. So when we get back, we'll just like plug in and go from there?" Jewel asked, taking a sip of her drink. "Heeeey...what happens if something happens outside while you're in the system? Like if there's danger outside or something, like someone decides to kidnap my body or whatever. Do you wake up or...?"
-
"Well, when you hit the SenseNet, you sorta just... noodle out," Jesse said, and he went limp in his seat to demonstrate.
"If someone nudges you, you'll get a notification that someone brushed against you, and you can sorta half-jack out if you want to make sure nothing funny's happening. If someone tries to pick you up, or shoves you too hard, you'll snap right back."
Jesse dipped his mozzarella stick, making sure to get plenty of that delicious marinara on it, and then took a big 'ol bite out of it.
-
"Ohhhh! 'Kay, that's cool. Just wanted to make sure, y'know, no one's gonna kidnap me or draw dicks on my face when I'm all in the zone," Jewel said with a grin.
She soaked a mozzarella stick in marinara and shoved it in her mouth, realizing then how damned hungry she was. She may have eaten her weight in s'mores and pancakes earlier, but she'd always had a fast metabolism, much to her friends' envy.
Still chewing, she picked up another stick and motioned at Jesse with it. "So what's your favorite thing to do there? in the SenseNet thing."
-
"Well, there's so much to do, it's like..."
Jesse trailed off, and he smiled as if struck by nostalgia. There were so many possibilities, and the thing about the SenseNet was that in many cases, your imagination was the limit.
"Well, there're these great places on the SenseNet where you can hang out and stuff. Kinda like a chat room, but it's actually a room, ya know? There's whole nightclubs on the SenseNet. The games are pretty great, too. Did you know they have Uber Smash Brothers on SenseNet?"
-
"No way," Jewel said with a surprised laugh. "No, I didn't know that! Do you mean like...you get to be one of the characters and like hop around on the levels beating each other up and shit?"
-
"Yeah," Jesse said, and he dipped the rest of his mozzarella stick in and took a big bite.
"We gotta get you oriented before you do any of that crazy stuff, though. So you know what it's like, yeah?"
-
"Yeah!" Jewel agreed, and snatched up another mozzarella stick, intent on fitting as many in her stomach as she could before she got sick.
"What's the plan after this, then? Back to your ship or...?"
-
"Was anything else planned?" Jesse said, cocking an eyebrow as he tipped his drink back and finished it.
"Oh! We gotta get you a cable. For your SenseNet port."
-
"It takes a cable?" Jewel said, and cocked her head.
"...Well, duh. Of course it does. Man. This is gonna be so weird, plugging into shit like a freakin' appliance!"
-
"Brain's the greatest appliance you got," Jesse said, and cracked her a smile. He finished his drink, and set his glass out to the side. He reached into his jacket, and pulled out a thin cable that was styled to look like a thick copper wire, complete with yellow caution lines.
"You can get 'em pretty custom."
-
"Of course you can. You can customize aaaanything these days," Jewel said, before downing what was left of her drink. "But I'm not picky! I just want the experience, so I don't even care if all that's here is a baby shit green one! Let's do this!"
-
Jesse smiled at Jewel's eagerness, and he took the cable and put it back into his jacket. Just like at the previous bar, he paid by pulling up a hologram on his wristpad and he stood up.
"Alright, let's get goin'," he said, and offered his arm.
-
Rising to her feet, Jewel happily linked her arm with his and tugged him along toward the exit.
"Got any other business you gotta do?" she asked as they went. Some small part of her was still a little anxious to be here, just in case there were more plants hiding somewhere (what could she say? She was paranoid), and Jesse's ship had become a sort of safe space. In space.
Haaaah.
-
"Well, 'part from gettin' you your cable, I'd say that we're done here," Jesse said.
-
"Sweeeet! Then let's rock and roll and test this baby out!" Jewel said as she dragged him along.
-
Gods, Jewel certainly did walk like a city girl. Not that people in Cancer didn't walk fast either, but Jesse had always been more of a "moseyer" than a "walker".
He was happy to keep pace, though. Something about the girl's energy was just so contagious, and Jesse couldn't help but get swept up by it.
"So, How come a hip lookin' girl like yourself never heard of the SenseNet? They not have it on Edanith?"
-
"I mean, they probably do in the counter-culture underground, but like...it's different there. Body mods ain't smiled upon. Like, even fucking tats and piercings get ya looked at like some kinda criminal. And cyborgs? Forget it. Pretty sure they'd think you're a freaking cyborg with a plug like this."
And then Jewel paused, eyes going wide, and cut a look at Jesse. "Does this make me a cyborg?"
-
"Ah, that explains it," Jesse said, nodding along at Jewel's explanation.
"I mean, technically... yeah. You're a cyborg now," Jesse said.
"Got a data port in the back of your skull and everythin'."
-
"Dude, AWESOME! I'm fuckin' metal! Literally!" Jewel laughed, pumping her fist.
"But man. If my folks knew, they'd be rolling in their graves. Except they're very much alive. Except knowing would probably give them heart attacks, and the they'd start rolling."
-
"It'd be pretty awkward, gettin' em into their graves. What with all the rolling they'll be doing."
Even then, his expression straightened out a bit.
"Jewel, do they know what you've gotten yourself into?"
-
"Ummmm..."
Jewel let out a discreet cough. "You want the truth or the lie?"
-
"I don't think I need to hear either to know," Jesse said.
He stopped, although he didn't unlink their arms.
"You owe it to them to let them know you're safe. Ain't nothin' terrify a mother more than her kid just going missing."
-
Jewel winced at that, averting her eyes to the ground.
"I planned on calling them," she said quietly. "Like from the space station or something. But like...they probably already know what's up."
She finally looked at Jesse again, her voice kept low, just above a whisper. "I got reported. Got reported as a mage. That's why I had to scram. The police have probably already contacted them. Probably to make sure they weren't harboring me, or squeeze info out of them as to where I might be..."
-
"Oh," Jesse said, and at the news that she wasn't just a runaway, but a fugitive, he glanced about.
"Well, perhaps callin' em's not the best option. They probably got their line tapped."
He gave her arm a reassuring squeeze.
"Don't fret about it. You can call 'em from the ship. Direct orbital transmissions can't be traced."
-
"They can't?" Jewel said, and let out a low sigh of relief.
"Okay. That's good. That's real--uh...hey, so...you're not like...weirded out or anything?"
-
"No, why would I be?" Jesse said.
"In my line o' work, I'm always on that legal boundary. Besides, I'm from Cancer, so I'm used to it."
They were back in the docking area now.
"Lookin' forward to jacking in for the first time?"
-
Another sigh of relief, and Jewel raised her eyes again to see they were almost back to Jesse's ship.
"Of course I'm excited," she said, happy to be off that awkward subject. She'd mentioned a "they", but it was really just her mom she was worried about. Her father...that was a wrought subject.
"I've never done it before, and I've got really no clue what to expect except sheer awesomeness from the sound of things!"
-
"It's gonna take you some getting used to, not gonna lie. You're gonna love it once you pick it up."
The door to the boarding tube opened in front of them, and he stepped through.
"It's really gonna change everything."
-
"Eeeeverything, eh?" Jewel said as she stepped through, and let Jesse lead the way back to the ship.
"You're setting my expectations pretty high here, bro."
-
"Well, they're right about where mine was when I first jacked in," Jesse said, and he finally unlinked their arms to open the door that led back into his ship.
The Lindy-Lou smelled fresher on the inside, having recieved an oxygen refill and getting an overall cleaning by his robots while they were out and about on the station. Apart from that, the ship's food supplies were also replenished, and there were a few small boxes sitting around in the main room, which was located just past the small airlock that led to the docking tube.
"Got some plants. Figured you'd want to arrange 'em yerself," Jesse said, looking to Jewel.
-
Jewel came to a dead stop when Jesse announced he'd gotten her some plants.
"Uhhhh...that's...you what?" she said, and gave him a wide-eyed look. "After I said I'm a freakin' earth mage? You really think that's a good idea? I dunno what the hell I'm doing with this power! I could end up choking us all to death when they sprout all out of control and tangle in the engines and vents and stuff!"
-
"Relax, I didn't get any trees or vines," Jesse said.
"You said the ship could do with a bit more green, and you know what? You were right. So I got a couple of flowerpots, a fern for my room, and an itty-bitty little cactus for my dashboard."
He put a hand on the small of Jewel's back, and chuckled at her.
"I don't think you're gonna go do all that, anyways. Hell, maybe you could use 'em for practice."
-
"A cactus? You got a stabby plant? With me around?" Jewel let out a nervous laugh as she let him lead her along.
"You've got a lot more faith in me than I do."
-
"It ain't a big cactus," Jesse said, and he laughed a bit. He motioned to the boxes, and nudged his eyebrows upwards.
"Wanna help me arrange the plants?"
-
"Yeah! Let's do it. Just, y'know, steer clear of me in case anything goes horribly wrong."
Jewel knelt down by the boxes and took a deep breath. "See, the thing is, I'm not even sure the extent of what I can do?"
-
[One of these days, I'm gonna get some grid paper and art up the Lindy-Lou's interior]
"Neither am I," Jesse said, and he popped a box open to reveal a small fern, just the right size to fit in the center of the common room's table.
"But these're just ferns and small plants. Can't exactly do much with 'em, I suppose."
-
"Watch me go and prove us all wrong and wreck EVERYTHING," Jewel muttered as she eyed the fern like a viper. But despite her apprehension, she couldn't deny that she felt drawn to it, the same way she felt toward earthy things in general. She'd always had an affinity for the natural; she'd always just figured it was her upbringing, being raised by Edani with Edani aesthetics.
Of course, she'd eventually come to realize that affinity went far, far deeper.
"It's pretty," she said at last, cautiously.
-
"Let me tell you, the Lindy-Lou's been through much worse than you," Jesse said, and he gave Jewel a smile. He picked up the small fern, and held it out to her. His warm smile deepened.
"Go ahead, put it somewhere nice."
-
Taking the pot gingerly between her palms, Jewel stared down at it--and couldn't help but smile, just the smallest amount. It was pretty. And she did like plants. And...
And so far it wasn't growing to mammoth proportions and trying to eat her.
She gave Jesse a cautious look. "Is it okay if I put it in my room?"
-
Jesse waved a solid affirmative to her.
"Go ahead," he said, happy to see that smile on her face despite her trepidation.
"I'll be arranging a couple of these in the living area."
-
Cautiously, Jewel balanced the pot in one hand and touched one of the fern's soft leaves. Still nothing. It only moved because she had moved it.
Huh...
"It'll definitely brighten up the place. Space is cool and all, but man is it...sterile," she said as she looked around the place. "Techy. I guess you can't really get too hippy dippy out here. Anyway, if nothing else, they'll add some extra oxygen to the air, yeah?"
-
"Yup! Less strain on the carbon filters means I can keep 'em longer," Jesse said, giving Jewel a smile.
Jesse stepped a bit closer, and looked at the fern with her.
"Back on Cancer, you'd be lucky to see a flower, let alone a tree," Jesse said.
-
"Eugh. That sounds depressing," Jewel said with a frown. "Good thing we got these, then 'cause like...yeah. Thanks for these! I know I'm weird about plants and stuff but y'know. Being what I am...I had to be careful back home."
She smiled down at the fern, then shrugged. "I'll be right back. Just gonna stick this somewhere so I don't have to keep holding it!"
-
Jesse nodded, and motioned for her to proceed. In the meantime, he started unpacking some more plants, starting with a small cactus that he went to go put on his dashboard and moving onto a bushy, decorative plant for a bare corner of the common room. There were other boxes, too! He'd resupplied his pantry and all of his other supplies when they made port, so he busied himself with unpacking those as well.
-
"Wow, it already looks less dead in here," Jewel said as she walked back into the room, scoping the place out, noting the new plants. She nodded to the boxes. "Need help?"
-
"It'd be much appreciated," Jess said, motioning to the boxes.
"Robots're charging right now, so I could use some help resupplying the kitchen."
-
"Yeah, sure, not a problem," Jewel said as she went over and grabbed a heavy stack of two boxes, grunting under the weight. But she made sure to lift with her knees, not her back, and was quick to shuffle on toward the kitchen.
Even though her place here was as good as secured for now, some deep part of her desperately worried about being useful.
"Get anything good?" she called over her shoulder as she plopped the boxes onto a counter and started to tear the tape open.
-
"Nothing too extraordinary," Jesse said, carrying the conversation over from the adjacent room. The interior of his ship carried sound quite effectively.
"My docking protocols automatically refill the things I need more of, so there's probably some veggies, a decent bit of canned food, and a couple cuts of chicken and fish," he continued.
"I wasn't that low on supplies, so there ain't much to pack in."
He came into the kitchen and right up next to Jewel, carrying a couple boxes himself.
"The rest is snacks for you know what."
-
"Snacks?" Jewel asked, and raised an eyebrow.
"You mean munchies?"
-
"That's another way to say it, yeah," Jesse said, turning to half-face her and resting an elbow on the counter.
"So, how's the implant feelin? Did you already forget you had it in?"
-
"Oh!"
With a slight start, Jewel slapped a hand to the back of her neck, then let out a laugh. "Huh. Yeah, I guess so. Shit, that's weird."
-
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it," Jesse said, and he looked at the inside of the box. He started unpacking what seemed to be pasta supplies.
"After we pack everything up, how'd you like to try the SenseNet?"
-
Jewel fixed him with a flat look. "Is that reeeally a question you even had to ask?"
-
"Yeah," Jesse said, returning her look with a smile.
"Some folks get a bit nervous their first time around. It helps to be eager!" he said, and he clapped a hand onto her shoulder with a wide smile.
-
"Nervous? Why? Isn't it all just fake? A simulation and all that?" Jewel said with a curious tilt of her head.
-
"It's the actual jacking in part that shakes people up sometimes," Jesse said, and his hand lingered on her shoulder for a few moments before he used it to gesture to his own jack.
"It's kinda like going under for surgery, but a bit quicker. Takes about two seconds or so."
-
"What."
Okay, yeah, Jewel wasn't aware of that part. Her eyebrows rose.
"Does it...hurt?"
-
"Hell no," Jesse said.
"When you plug in, you're going to feel kinda heavy as you switch over. After a couple of seconds, to motion inhibitor kicks in and you close your eyes. Then, you're in the virtual world," Jesse explained.
"There's a margin of a second between the inhibitor and going under, so you won't be able to move at all during that time. It happens so quick, though, so you'll barely notice it."
-
"That's it? Huh. Okay, yeah, that doesn't sound so bad," Jewel said with a shrug.
"I mean, I guess it is if you're freaked out by needles and shit?" She motioned to herself, a gesture encompassing her many piercings and the tattoos peeking out from the collar of her shirt. "I obviously don't have that issue."
-
"I can see that," Jesse said, eyes wandering to her collar to try and get a look at the tattoos peeking out from under there.
"How inked are you?" he said, getting a bit closer to sate his curiosity.
-
"Not as inked as I wanna be," Jewel said, and noticing his look, she hooked a finger in the collar of her shirt and stretched it out and off her shoulder. Just enough to expose one red, watercolor-style rose inked onto her shoulder, and the thorny vines that snaked along her collar bone and met between her breasts.
"It's on both shoulders," she said. "I want a shitton more, but these things are expensive. Especially for someone making minimum wage."
-
"Looks expensive," Jesse said, and he traced a finger along the edge of the rose.
"Damn fine ink, too..."
-
Jewel shivered a little as he traced a finger along the rose, but she grinned and gave a small shrug. "I figured if it was going permanently on my skin, I was gonna save up for the best of the best. Great guy, Jeff. If you're looking for ink, he's at The Meteor in Tynova."
She let go of her collar, letting it snap back into place. "You got any ink yourself?"
-
"Naw, but I've been considering it," Jesse said, and he rolled up his sleeve on his right arm and flexed it.
"I wanna get one of those tats that makes my arm look all cybernetic and stuff," he said, and he got back to unpacking.
"Always liked the aesthetic of a cyber limb, but I was never too keen on willingly getting my arm hacked off."
-
"Pffhaha, uh, yeah, no. Go for the fake look. I've heard people actually get their arms taken off willingly, and I...yeah. I can't even imagine," Jewel said with a shudder, rubbing at her arm as though imagining it.
"Tats are way, way less painful," she said, as she opened up the next box and started to put away its contents.
-
"I knew a guy in Cancer--" Jesse started, and he put a couple of packs of sour gummies on the counter from a box before he resumed unpacking.
"Had what we call a junkyard jaw. Dude could bite through scrap metal."
-
"Hah, sounds like a new party trick for the frat boys to break out," Jewel said with a snicker--before her eyes fell on the gummies.
Oh gods, sour gummies. No fucking way.
She snatched up a pack of them. "Oh my gods tell me one of these packs is mine."
-
"Wasn't too far off from a party trick," Jesse said, and he motioned to the sour gummies in Jewel's clutches.
"My food is your food, so knock yourself out," he said.
"I'd save it for later, though."
-
"Yeah?" Jewel said, and set the pack back down.
"Whatcha got in mind?"
-
"I mean, I plan on getting stoned later," Jesse said.
"After Edanith, I planned on taking another scavenging job over in Cancer. It's gonna be a long trip, even by hyperdrive."
-
"...Alright, duly noted. Saving the gummies," Jewel said, and pushed them further away from herself.
"How long of a trip are we looking at? I mean, I'm in no rush. Just, first time flyer and all."
-
"Cancer's current orbit position puts it at about..."
Jesse did some rudimentary counting with his fingers, although the way his brow knit indicated much higher math than initially apparent.
"Just under a week's jump from here."
-
"Ah! Well, shit, that ain't that bad at all," Jewel said, and put away the last stray items from the box she was unpacking.
"So basically, we get to have a week long slumber party."
-
"Hell yeah!" Jesse said, and he finished unpacking right after Jewel. He glanced around, and when he saw that all the boxes were unpacked, he grinned.
"Looks like we're good to go," Jesse said, and he walked past Jewel, motioning for her to follow as he crossed back over into the living area, where two of his three robots, Boulevard and Turnpike, were idling about. Boulevard seemed to be organizing tools, while the spider-like Turnpike seemed to be having trouble processing the presence of one of the new plants.
"Boulevard!" He called out, and the thin, humanoid robot turned its head and beeped attentively.
"Set course for Cancer."
The robot beeped again and walked into the cockpit, closing the door behind it.
-
"So, a whole week, huh?" Jewel said as she flopped down onto the couch and stretched out, arms folded behind her head.
"Whatcha do to pass that kinda time, eh? Eat special brownies and surf SenseNet?"
-
Jesse chuckled and flopped down on the couch next to her, stretching out. It was a bit weathered, and the only real piece of real "furniture" in the living area, save for the high-backed stools by the table. The rest was taken up by work tools, which made sense, since Jesse did most of his relaxing up in his room, anyways.
He put his arms up, which meant one of those would go around Jewel's shoulders without actually touching her.
"Pretty much," Jesse said, and he looked to Jewel, giving her a smile. He glanced back to Turnpike.
"Turnpike, get me my SenseNet ball, wouldja?"
The spider robot chirped and clambered into the elevator, activating it.
He looked back to Jewel.
"I got this old SenseNet ball I got all the way from Cancer. Doesn't actually connect you to any SenseNet places, but it's got free-form code and protocols. You ever see that old movie, where the guy was in this virtual world, and this other guy took him to this blank white room and it was like a training simulation?"
-
"Pffft, who hasn't seen that movie? I always thought it was kinda silly, but it's actually a thing?"
Jewel gave him a quizzical look. "So is that what that ball whatchamacallit is? Like you can't really go to any SenseNet places 'cause we've got no connection, but you can train in this separate thingy?" She made a face.
"...Man. I sound real technologically challenged, don't I?"
-
He laughed.
"Oh, I've got connection," Jesse said, and he grinned.
"I just think it's good to get acquainted with what it's like before you hit the real thing. Make less of an ass of yourself that way."
He rested his head against the couch. Boulevard came back from the cockpit, and the ship lurched forwards slightly before the momentum compensators came online and it started sailing as smooth as a ship could sail.
"We've entered Hyperspeed," Jesse said, and his eyes focused on Boulevard. He made a smoking motion with his fingers, and the robot beeped before going to stand in front of the elevator. Right as it did so, it opened, and Turnpike clacked out, holding a fist-sized metal ball with the only break in its surface being a small panel.It came and deposited it onto the table, before chirping pleasantly and wandering off.
-
Jewel leaned forward to peer quizzically at the orb, eyebrow cocked. "What's that?" she asked, waving a hand at it. "That the SenseNet ball?"
She poked at it curiously, making it wobble on the table.
-
"That it is," Jesse said, and he watched her poke at it quite curiously. He opened a compartment on the side and took out two cables, a red one, and a blue one. Gripping them both in one hand, he motioned towards himself.
"Here, I'll set you up. You ready?"
-
"Not to be cliche, but I was born ready," Jewel said with a grin, though she honestly wasn't sure. She had no idea what to expect, had never done anything like this before. "Let's do this!"
-
"Alright, hot shot," Jesse said, and he put a hand on her head to hold her steady.
"Here it comes."
Without much ceremony, he plugged it into the newly installed slot on her neck. There was a click as it locked into place painlessly, and he plugged the other end into the ball, which had a slot that was circled in blue. However, she didn't immediately slip out of consciousness. Jesse took the time to plug himself in and switched it on. He let himself sag into the couch. He shot her a look, and motioned to himself.
"It's gonna turn on in a little bit, so get yourself comfortable."
-
It was such a strange sensation, getting something plugged into her neck. Jewel winced reflexively, even though it didn't hurt, and when Jesse motioned for her to get comfortable, she settled down onto the couch next to him. Curiously, she touched the plug, and grimaced. That was...so weird. Kind of gross, too, if she thought about it too deeply.
"I forgot to ask about how the heck we clean these things," she remarked as she got comfortable, turning sideways on the couch to lean against its arm while throwing her legs over Jesse's. "Like, to make sure it doesn't get clogged with dead skin gunk or anything. Ew."
She gave a final stretch before she let herself relax. "Any last things I should know?"
-
Jesse let his arms rest on her legs, shooting her a look. He looked thoughtful for a bit, before he let his head rest back on the couch. He grinned, and found her eyes with his own when he turned to look at her.
"Nothing else. Just relax and enjoy the ride in."
He sagged more into the couch and closed his eyes. His breath evened out as he relaxed.
And sure enough, just a mere few seconds after his words, the connection finished, and she'd start to feel a little drowsy. Not the sudden drowsiness of a sedative, but more of a pleasant sleepiness that would just gently nudge her towards unconsciousness. When she closed her eyes, it'd be nothing but black for a few moments, just like having her eyes closed in real life. Then, white would creep in at the edges and consume her vision.
Pieces of visualized data floated around her, looking like loose bits of matter. it'd probably be around that time that she was aware of her body, and that she was floating like she was in zero gravity!
A human-shaped outline slowly materialized in front of her, and then the outline gave way and formed into Jesse. It was like they were floating in some kind of ethereal nothingness. A completely blank slate.
"So, what do you think so far?" Jesse said, and he shot her his classic grin. He raised his right arm and a screen appeared in front of him, projecting from his fingers.
"I know it ain't much to look at just this moment, but once I start putting in some settings and programs, well..."
He chuckled and looked up to her from the menu.
"Sky's the limit. How're you feeling?"
-
"Uhh..." Jewel looked slowly up from where she had been staring at her feet and the vast nothingness beyond, to Jesse, her eyes wide. "Feeling good. Feeling pretty good. Just. Whoa."
She stretched her arms out and rotated her wrists and fingers, testing out her digitalized body. It was so bright in here, so white, and the nothingness was kind of unsettling yet also kind of...cool? In a weird way? Maybe she was just way too high, but was this what death felt like? Yeah. No. That was way too downer. No existentialist crises, now was not the time!
"This is crazy. This feels...real. Like, if I pinch you, will you feel it?" And before he could answer, she reached out and did just that.
-
“Yeah, you feel pretty much everyth-HEY!” He cut off suddenly, shrugging his arm away when she pinched him and smiled after. He was distracted with his efforts to calibrate the rules for their digital world, and thus she’d caught him completely off guard. His eyes narrowed, and he got a mischievous look on his face.
“Sure you can, let me show you!” he said and shot his hand out to pinch a nice handful of her side and leaned away to protect himself from any retaliation.
“Feels real, don’t it?” He laughed, and then returned to his digital display. A wooden floor materialized beneath them and he gently cranked up the gravity for himself so he set down.
“Turnin’ your gravity on, so be mindful,” he said, and then put in the command. As she lowered, Jesse put in his favorite start-up room and from the ground up a cozy, woodsy-looking log cabin materialized around them out of data, complete with forest sounds coming from outside and the pleasant smells of springtime.
“Welcome to my favorite hub program,” he said, motioning about. It had all the modern comforts that could be found on any starliner mixed with a certain rustic charm.
“There’s pre-made ones, some people program their own. Think of it as a really fancy start-up menu that you can also crash in if you’re feeling beat,” he said, and he leaned against the wall.
“Which you will be, after I string you up in our Thrash Bros. rematch.”