FRAMED - Cowboy Bebop fanfiction

Session 7

No more than a few hours had passed since her argument with Spike and once the information had successfully uploaded onto the tablet, she wanted nothing more than a nice, hot shower. After such a horrible night, she figured she deserved some means of relaxation, and after spending hours cooped up in her ships pod, she knew her body needed it as well.

Unfortunately she had no idea where the showers were, but she knew a little exploring wasn't going to kill her.

As she hopped out of her pod and made her way towards where she assumed the room might be, she took a pair of spare clothes with her. They were pajamas she had somehow acquired during her journey. She couldn't quite remember how she got them, but she did vaguely remember running away from a very very angry girl who had not known about her boyfriends secret late night rendezvous.

Quinn was quick to find the showers and as she entered the room, she undressed and tossed her clothing onto the floor. She wondered if the rest of the group had gone to bed already. From what Quinn could tell, the ship was moving, so she assumed they had already set off from Mars before getting to sleep.

Quinn yawned as the hot water hit her skin. It was nice to finally be getting clean, especially after such a horrible night, and as she ran her fingers through her hair, she wondered what Spike was up to.

She absolutely hated the fact that she was thinking about him, but she just couldn't help herself. Was he sleeping? Was he awake? Was he awake in his room going through that magazine Quinn had seen earlier... Quinn bit her cheek hard. She didn't want those kind of thoughts rushing through her head, especially not after tonight.

Once she had finished washing up, she got dressed and set back out to her pod. Upon exiting the shower room, she noticed how cold it was onboard. Unfortunately for Quinn, the pajamas she wore provided very little warmth. She wore a white, lace trim, nightgown that was unfortunately not quite her size. It was rather tight around the bust, but she made do with what she had.

As she made her way through the empty corridors after discarding her clothing back in her ship, a familiar smell caught her nose upon entering the living space. She was exhausted, and all she wanted to do was ignore it, but as always, her curiosity got the best of her.

She followed the scent into a hallway that she was now quite familiar with. Tracing the origin of the smoke wasn't difficult to do, and as she peered down the corridor, she saw him standing there, absent in the starlight.

She didn't want to talk to him, but she also didn't want to avoid the elephant in the room. She had a gut feeling that it was probably best to speak to him, and even though she figured Spike came here on his own time regardless of her presence on board, she almost felt like he was waiting for her to arrive.

"Spike?" Quinn called out as she began making her way towards him.

"You should be asleep," he stated once Quinn had made it to the end of the hallway.

"I could say the same for you," Quinn replied as she sat down next to him. To her surprise he sat down as well. For a moment all they shared was silence, but just as quickly as it came, it disappeared.

"What makes you so tough?" he asked, taking a drag of his cigarette. Quinn laughed.

"I'll tell you if you tell me," she replied.

Silence again. Spike seemed to enjoy taking his time to answer. Quinn was a rather impatient woman, but for some reason she didn't mind the time Spike took to reply. It almost made his response better when he'd finally decide to speak up.

"Do you know what it's like to live without actually being alive?" Spike asked. Of all the things he could've asked her, why did it have to be something so poetic? And worst of all, why did she have to understand what he meant.