Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ Duet for Dreamers ❯ Chapter 1

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

DUET FOR DREAMERS
by Shinobu

Odd as it may seem, there is nighttime in space. "Night" is whenever the crew of a ship wants it to be. People need the night, the sleep, the rest and regeneration. And so, it was the artificially induced night on the spaceship Bebop as it made its way toward Europa. Jupiter's moon held the possibility of another bounty and its accompanying reward. The ship was on automatic pilot, the lights were dim, and the crew (most of them) were asleep in their quarters.

Faye Valentine was not- in her quarters, that is. Asleep- well partially. Nature had called in the middle of the night, and she was sleepily stumbling from the toilet back to her cabin. Faye had always thought the term "cabin" was overly generous for this ship, and that perhaps "cubicle" would have been more accurate. Of course, her bounty hunting comrades, Spike and Jet thought that if anything on this vessel was overly generous it was them, in so much as Faye was essentially an uninvited partner. Her complaints about cabins and this and that generally fell on deaf ears.

Suddenly the Bebop gave a lurch, and Faye bounced to the side of the corridor. In her half awake state, she gave little notice. The Bebop wasn't as young as it used to be, and the occasional wobble was nothing unusual. Regaining her balance, she entered her cabin, closing the door behind her.

Funny, she thought. I know I left the light on. Damn ship, nothing works right. Proceeding to her bed, she walked into something. "Shit!" she blurted out as she pondered the bruise that was going to be on her thigh tomorrow. Instantly, her mind turned to more important matters as she heard the "click" of a pistol being primed. "Lights, low" a masculine voice said quietly.

As the lights came up to "night lite" level, Faye could see Spike Spiegel laying flat in the bed, head raised with a gun in his right hand- pointed straight at her. Funny way to invite himself into her bed. As her eyes adjusted to the light however, she began to realize the truth. She was in his cabin.

"Hii~~ii!" was her immediate reaction, saying the single word in the wonderfully seductive way that only a few select women could.

"What are you doing in here?" Spike asked as he relaxed a bit.

A sheepish grin went across her face as her right hand shot up behind her neck. "I was coming from the bathroom and I must have gotten disoriented" she answered, with a half laugh attached to the end. While she was explaining, she observed Spike more closely. He lay in bed with a sheet up to his waist, wearing no shirt. Under the sheet just below his belly was a large raised mound of cloth. As she stared, he suddenly understood what she was gaping at. She swore the mound rose a bit more before he collected a pillow from somewhere and placed it strategically.

"Tell me, do you always sleep with it loaded?" she asked as Spike put the gun back beneath his pillow. "The answer is yes, on both counts" he said. "Now reorient yourself, go away, and let me sleep."

Faye started to turn for the door, but noticed Spike's hair was wet, soaked with perspiration. His face was also dripping with beads of sweat. "Hey," she said, "you don't look so good."

Before he could respond with "I'm okay- goodnight", she was at the lavatory sink moistening a wash cloth. "Well at least cool off before you go back to sleep. It's not good for you to sleep in your sweat like that." She walked the few steps to Spike's bed and sat down on the side of it. Using the damp cloth, she wiped his forehead.

She hovered above him in the dim light. Faye's white skin shone through her sheer nightgown. Her large breasts floated over him like twin erotic clouds as she dabbed sweat from his brow. "Take your mothering skills back to your cabin and let me go back to sleep" he mumbled. She smiled at him as she completed her administrations. "Wouldn't you like to see how far my mothering skills go?" she responded and grinned. His eyes went to her breasts and the smile disappeared from her face. "Hey, that's NOT what I meant, you pervert!"

"Keep your voice down and don't call me the pervert. Who's in whose cabin here?" Spike shot back. She threw the washcloth in the direction of the sink, and Spike decided to try to smooth things over, for ship's morale and so he could get rid of her and return to his slumber. "Look, thanks for the concern, but you really need to be going now, before someone passes by and gets the wrong idea."

Still seated, she looked calmer. "No one will. Ed's plugged into the computer, so it will be days before she surfaces for air. As for Jet, he's asleep. Have you ever tried waking him when he's sleeping? This ship would have to fly into a supernova. The only other one that might wonder by is Ein, and I don't think he'd say a word. You sure you're going to be okay?

"Positive. Goodnight."

"Well, I'll let you get back to your dreams," she said.

"What makes you think I was dreaming?"

She moved her head to glance at the pillow over his crotch, then looked back to his face, smirking.

"Please go away" he begged, but she didn't move from the edge of his bed, facing him. Once again her expression became somber. She moved closer to him, her face above his chest.

"You were dreaming about her, weren't you?" she asked softly. "About Julia."

Spike's large left hand shot up to seize Faye's mouth. He grasped her chin in his palm, squeezing her mouth from both sides between his thumb and fingers. He was still lying on his back, head on the pillow, and pulled her roughly nearer.

It would have been a natural reaction to pull away, but she did not. She wasn't sure why she didn't, but she didn't. The two of them stared into each other's eyes as Spike gripped her mouth. "Don't say her name again." A moment of silence fell between them, then he continued, "you don't know... you just don't..."

Neither of them knew whether it was Spike who pulled her closer, or Faye who moved toward him, but their faces were now just inches from each other. Spike slowly released his grip on her and placed his left hand on the bed, but now noticed that his right hand had somehow found her thigh, where it remained. Her ample breasts now pressed against his upper body. He could feel the hardening of her nipples through her gown. Her skin was milky white in the low cabin light. The two remained transfixed for a long moment. Finally, Faye's tongue slowly licked between her lips, and she spoke in a hushed voice.

" It's okay. Each of us has our own nightmare. I know someday...you'll find your peace." She closed the gap between them and gently kissed Spike's right cheek. She held her lips on his face, her breast on his for a moment, then rose and walked toward the door.

"Faye," Spike whispered. She paused in mid-stride but did not turn around. I think that's the first time he's ever spoken my name, she thought.

"Sweet dreams, space cowboy," she spoke softly, and left the cabin.