FRAMED - Cowboy Bebop fanfiction

Session 28

Quinn awoke hours later on the couch in the living room. The electric fireplace turned on across from her, and from the corner of her eye, she noticed moonlight pouring in from an uncovered window.

After Quinn was done investigating the upper half of the house, she had ventured downstairs to explore. She had cleaned the dishes from breakfast, made herself lunch, and she had sun bathed out on the front steps once the sun had positioned itself properly in the sky. It was a relatively slow, yet semi productive day. Even when being held hostage, Quinn managed to create work to busy herself with. 

Quinn yawned as she sat up on the couch. She stretched her arms over her head before rubbing her hands over her swollen eyelids. She had fallen asleep crying . In front of the couch was a large, glass coffee table. Comic books and magazines littered the table's surface while an array of remotes were arranged neatly along the furthest corner of the tabletop. Quinn reached for one.

She held the remote in her hand and pressed the power button. In an instant, the flat screen TV that was suspended from the wall above the fireplace, flickered on.

Nothing but static.

Quinn rolled her eyes as she let out an exasperated sigh.

"What kind of gentleman locks a girl up with no entertainment," she scoffed to herself as she used the remote to flick through endless channels of static. Quinn wasn't one to particularly enjoy television, but after being left on her lonesome for hours, she figured she might as well give it a shot.

Eventually, after changing channels for what felt like forever, Quinn was faced with a black screen. Her eyes widened as a channel menu came into view.

It was a music station, and as Quinn flipped through the music guide, a weak smile grew upon her face once she got to a station she liked. The music wasn't much entertainment, but it at least gave her a chance to avoid being alone with her thoughts. Despite her thoughts bringing her immense displeasure, they were her only source of familiarity, and Quinn much preferred displeasure over boredom.

On a regular day, her mind was filled with nothing but work. Today however, was much different. Now that she was on somewhat of a mindless vacation, in between hopeless fantasies of rescue, Quinn actually began thinking about herself for once. As she sat on the couch, devoid of all feeling, vivid memories of her youth taunted her emotional state. 

Even though it had been months since she had last seen her, Quinn missed Mack. More specifically, the Mack who used to be her bestfriend. Mack, alongside various other characters Quinn had met and eventually discarded along the way, shaped her youth, and lead her to become the person she was today. For that, Quinn was thankful. She saw Mack's constant jealously and sabotage as a way to learn. Quinn vowed to never let someone like that fool her again, yet there she was, trapped, afraid, and hopeless all because she trusted one man whom she had only known for a week. 

Quinn groaned. She didn't want to think about Spike anymore. She shook her head as her mind wandered elsewhere. Quinn suddenly recalled memories of her mother. She hadn't seen her since she had graduated university, and as far as Quinn was concerned, it was for the better.  Due to her mothers lack of selflessness and her fathers inability to function without alcohol, Quinn's teen years were almost unbearable. 

Her parents, although typically progressive, had a hard time accepting Quinn's unique personality, and Quinn was very aware of this. It pained her to know her parents would never accept her if she had married a woman, but ultimately, Quinn knew if they wouldn't accept that small factor of her life, they most likely weren't going to accept anything else about her. They weren't worth her time, but that wasn't something she was willing to fully accept just yet. m