WHO: Jesse Pinkman and Paine WHEN: a few days ago? WHERE: The suite they share. WHAT: Paine orders a ton of food and Jesse attempts to help her eat some of it. WARNINGS: Some iffy stuff with Jesse's past, but nothing too descriptive. STATUS: gdoc, complete!
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Cruise life was something to get used to. Paine wasn’t against it in the least. She’d been apprehensive about being thrown into such accomodations, but so far she hadn’t felt the need to find Yuna’s room and sleep on her couch, or Rikku’s. She’d had time to accept that she’d grown somewhat since she joined the Gullwings, interacting with other people wasn’t something to be avoided at all costs.
And Jesse seemed like a fairly nice person. If a little odd. But Paine thought most people here were odd in their own way.
As it was a cruise ship, and the weather didn’t agree with her usual attire, Paine had put aside the leather and armour and acquired some appropriate clothes from the boutiques on the ship; things called board shorts and halter tops. Similar to her own attire, but less hot. She hadn’t quite got to the point where she was looking to eat in a room full of people, which meant the room service option was something she was very, very fond of.
Platters of fruit and salads were easily selected, several drink options, excluding alcohol as she was informed she was not yet old enough for it -confusing, considering she’d saved all of Spira, but fine, she’d let them have their rules. She was very close to wheeling it all to her room and hiding away before reconsidering, knowing that Jesse was still in his room.
“Jesse? I ordered room service.” If it would have things he’d like, she wasn’t sure, but it was polite to offer, wasn’t it? “If you’d like to share.”
Jesse was getting used to this whole displaced situation. It was a hell of a lot nicer than what he came from, even if it got weird sometimes. Being in another dimension kept him sober and out of jail. He met Sherlock and Jason, friends that weren’t going to use him, and got a job. Then they were tossed through time and space onto a cruise ship.
Jesse found this to be just fine. Whatever, he’d go with it.
He was a little disappointed that he didn’t get a big suite with Sherlock and Joan. But this way, he could meet new people. And this new person happened to be some sort of warrior. She’d be good to have around when the inevitable came around. When she called for him, he pushed himself off the bed and poked his head out the door. He ventured out a few steps and saw everything, “Hell yeah, you did. You order one of everything?”
One of everything? Why didn’t she think of that? “Um… No.” That would’ve made sense, but then the hadn’t honestly been thinking ahead and hadn’t considered a dinner partner. “It’s mostly desserts.” Because Paine liked sweet things, little known fact, and they were in short supply in Spira, especially when you lived on an airship.
“They had a whole bunch of flavours, and different types of drinks.” Things she’d never tried before and wondered about -the meats she’d skipped. She’d never been interested in changing her diet, she did just fine without it. “But we can call them back for some if you want.”
There was plenty of space in the common area of the suite to spread things out, bottles of fizzy drinks and fruit juices, the array of fruit salads and vegetable dishes. What Paine was curious about were the cakes. “Are you allowed to get one of everything?”
Jesse laughed and rubbed his eye, a twitch he had. “Well, you might as well do it up while we’re here, who knows how long til we go back or … end up someplace else.” He sat down at the table and picked at a strawberry coated in chocolate.
“I’m not going to order anything-- unless you don’t want to share.” His mouth was full when he spoke, 25 years old and still lacking in manners. No, he had manners where it counted. “You sure you can eat all this? Because you might need to share.”
The laugh was honestly easy. He acted a little like Brother did. “I don’t mind sharing. I wouldn’t have invited you out if I did.” She was still unsure about how easily available all this food was, how people didn’t mind leaving portions or whimsically taking things. Spira wasn’t short, but Paine never wasted food, the poor rarely did.
“While it’s free, right.” She’d gotten a job in Tumbleweed, right before they’d been put on a ship and told they wouldn’t want for anything because their wrist bands would solve that problem. So she understood taking advantage of the situation. “Next time, we’ll order one of everything.” She knew there’d be a next time, she couldn’t tell when she’d be prepared to eat in a big hall full of people. “I could eat it all though, it’s mostly sugar, water, some fibre. The cake might get filling.” Death by Chocolate, it said. She was sure it wouldn’t actually kill her though.
“Where I’m from, we don’t have cakes like this.” Sharing information. Friendship. She was taking cues from Rikku and Yuna. She could figure this out.
Jesse picked up a slice of cheesecake on a dainty little plate and held it like a pizza slice. “Exactly, while it’s free.” He had a job himself but he wasn’t exactly rich enough for something like this. Back when he was working with Walter, he had so much money he didn’t know what to do with it. In a fit of depression and rage, he threw bundles of it out of his car. It was dirty money.
“Next time, huh?” He laughed again, digging into the cheesecake. “What’s it like where you come from? My world’s a lot like Tumbleweed, I’m from only a few states over. The desert, the slack jawed yokels.” Jesse didn’t mind talking when people actually listened.
Next time she’d ask Jesse first, if he wanted to join her or go meet his friends to eat somewhere, she’d make sure to get something he’d like -she would be a courteous room mate. Although it seemed like Jesse didn’t mind terribly, people seemed a lot more understanding when Paine took a step back and tried.
“Slack jawed?” All the worlds people came from where rather interesting to Paine; Spira was full of adventure if you let it, but these new places people were from, they sounded just as interesting. “Spira is… It’s like a lot of different little places, each one is very different. We went through a long period of strife and danger but it’s calmed now.” Explaining Sin and the Calm was complicated, since Paine still wasn’t sure she understood it all, even from what Yuna and Rikku had told her.
“I come from a place called Luca, it’s one of the biggest cities in Spira. We host the Blitzball tournaments, which is… it’s like what people call soccer. But underwater.” All the sports in this world seemed to be about throwing, kicking or hitting balls. Picking at the fruit salad, discovering a lot of it was like she thought, and rather tasty, Paine tried to work out how best to describe most of Spira. “But we have desert islands, some snowy mountains, magical forests. My friends and I travelled around Spira, we were sphere hunters.” She wasn’t sure if they’d continue, after defeating Vegnagun.
“You know, slack jawed, like this,” and he made a face, his mouth agape and his eyes vacant. He let out what could only be described as a giggle, and brought his closed fist up to his mouth.
He listened to her explain her world-- it sounded like it was out of a book. Jesse didn’t like to focus on the fictional stuff that people were from. To him, they were all real, it just happened there was a show, movie, or book about them. His own show was on Netflix and he avoided it completely. It was just one of those things you have to ignore.
“Underwater soccer? How do you breathe?” He put his chin on his hand, his elbow on the table. “Or do you have some sort of device that helps?” Jesse sounded a little excited at the prospect of that, it would be awesome to have something like that in the pool here. “Magical forests… sounds cool. What are spheres and why did you hunt them?” He picked up some grapes and popped them into his mouth.
She’d definitely seen some people like that in her time, the way they just gaped and didn’t know what to do. Yes, that made perfect sense if she were honest. “And that’s what people all act like where you’re from?” She’d want to get away from that too. For sure.
“Anyone who plays Blitzball can hold their breath for the duration of the game. It’s a training tool.” Although considering the things from her world, there was probably an element of what was thought of as magic too. “Some of the Al Bhed have devices though, they’re engineers, so making stuff like that isn’t hard.” They were also scavengers, so diving for wrecks was part of their way of life.
Finally getting to the chocolate cake, trying piece by piece before scooping some up together, Paine frowned a little, “Spheres are… power crystals. They can contain different things. Recordings, data, videos. But they can be turned into power spheres. I have some with me, only two here but more in Tumbleweed. They’re dresspheres and when I use them, my abilities change to make the powers associated with the sphere.” It started as a way to travel, but it didn’t take long for Paine to really love what she was doing.
Jesse laughed, his voice deeper than it looked like it should be for someone who looked like a kicked puppy. “Yeah, they’re all idiots. And a lot of them were on high for most of the day, so they were pretty out of it.” He had a lot of customers when he worked with Walter. Everyone in Albuquerque wanted to escape the real world.
“Shit, really? That’s impressive. I can’t hold my breath that long. I can swim, at least.” He tipped back in his chair, almost dangerously so, still holding the plate the cheesecake was on. “I knew a guy who could make sh- stuff out of scrap. He made a battery for us when we were stranded.” Jesse tried not to curse, she was from another timeline where everyone was probably more polite than him.
“Powers, right.” His chair fell back to the ground and he put the plate among the others. “You said if something goes down, you’ll help me out. I appreciate it. I … have a gun with me, I don’t know why. I guess I won’t be completely useless, but it’s not like I want to shoot anyone.”
High, it wasn’t a term she understood, but he’d seemed less than enthusiastic to talk about his past and where he came from that she didn’t press at the term. Even if she wasn’t entirely sure what it meant.
“More than half of Spira is water. Learning to swim and hold your breath, it’s pretty important.” It helped that the biggest sport was water based. “That’d be handy, it’s enviable really, seeing things people call rubbish and being able to see something functional with it.” She’d learned a lot about the Al Bhed, largely from Gippal, but she’d never managed to pick up the skill.
“I have a warrior dressphere and a gunner one. So, I have my sword and my gun.” Her skills were primarily with her warrior sphere, and she was being honest about assisting Jesse if she ever needed to. “My friends, we defeated a dangerous machine trying to destroy our world, if it comes to it, you won’t need to shoot anyone.” Friends defended friends; and Paine was learning to make friends.
“Can you fight without a gun?”
He saw the confusion on her face and tried to explain, “Like, under the influence of drugs. Silly and stupid.” Or paranoid and determined to dig a hole in the front yard. Jesse crossed his eyes for a second to help her with the mental image.
“Where I’m from, it’s all desert. Nothing out there but cow houses and cacti. I think a lot of water would be nice. Is it always warm?” He guessed it was a tropical kind of place.
“No, I can’t fight worth anything without a gun. I’ve gotten my ass kicked so much I’ve gotten used to it.”
The face he made, trying to explain, made Paine snort a short laugh, shaking her head, “I can imagine wanting to get away from that.” Paine wasn’t one to suffer fools after all.
“The Calm lands and Bikanel Desert are like that; vast and open and not much there. There used to be so much on Bikanel, it’s where most of the Al Bhed people lived, but it was destroyed a few years ago.” Almost every place in Spira suffered an attack from Sin, few places managed to escape the threat of destruction at steady intervals.
“Most places are warm. Mostly. The Thunder Plains are clamy and dark, Mount Gagazet is covered in frost and snow, it’s very cold. Most of Spira has a steady, warm climate though.” That was part of the beauty of the place, although the culture was moderately different from one area to the next, depending on how people lived, it was easy to travel around without needing to get used to new weather all the time.
“I can show you some things, if you’d like. Things that might, at least, stop people from being able to do that.” She didn’t like when people made a point in hurting those who couldn’t, or wouldn’t fight back. She’d been lucky enough to be athletic, and then to find an interest in battle techniques and advance her skills. Some people never had the chance to do that. “Breaking someone’s nose is a good way to get them to leave you alone.”
Jesse leaned his elbows on the table and watched her as she spoke. “A desert that used to be something? That’s sad.” He thought of how when him and Walter went out in the RV, the desert was so peaceful and beautiful. He thought Walter was his friend at one point, but he was ever so wrong. At least his last act was to free Jesse from his captors.
“You mean like …” He put his fists up like a boxer. “These kind of moves?” Jesse laughed and dropped his hands. “Sure, I don’t mind.” Hey, she was a teenager but more than likely a better fighter than he was. “I just don’t fight back, I’m not really big… I’m an easy person to beat the shit out of.”
He hadn’t really told anyone his whole story, some of the people among the displaced knew it anyway. Everything was public. So he kept a low profile to keep anyone from Googling him. Jesse figured if they knew he used to be a bad guy, they wouldn’t talk to him. He thought about that for a second before speaking up again, “The Thunder Plains sound bad ass.”
“Spira’s taken a few blows, but … we’ll bounce back.” Even if they were digging everything up, Paine was sure that something would come of it, the Al Bhed wouldn’t give up. They were rebuilding, slowly but surely, and one day it might be just a distant memory.
The imitation of boxing wasn’t terrible, which indicated that Jesse probably just had to want to stand up for himself. “Exactly like that.” Paine had been a scrawny child, but she stood up for herself, even as she was quiet and distant, people didn’t make fun of her or tease her because she was ‘scary looking’, even at eight. “That seems counterproductive.” Unless Jesse was attempting to punish himself.
“They’re pretty cool. There’s dozens of rods spread out over a stormy expanse that attract lightning.” The atmosphere was dangerous and foreboding, and all the fiends were strong and threatening. But Paine loved it, and now that Rikku wasn’t scared of it, they didn’t need to avoid it at all costs.
Jesse gave her a lopsided smile and waved his hand at her, “Yeah, okay…. And I don’t fight back because that just makes ‘em more mad.” Or maybe the act of not fighting back pissed them off, and he did it to get a small ’fuck you’ in there.
“Is it dangerous to go through there? Do you have to wear a special suit?” He thought of something like the yellow hazmat he wore when he was working with walter. “Like a big rubber band ball?”
She felt that here, maybe, it was unlikely that people would be starting fights just for the sake of it, so if she was showing him a thing or two, she was sure it wouldn’t be to defend himself against people who had been displaced like them. She’d made a friend, she’d help that friend, and if she had to show him how to disable an attacker for long enough to get away, she would.
“Only when the rods aren’t working.” Which they weren’t for a while, but it had been fixed, “The rods are what attract the lightning to them, so it doesn’t strike people walking through.” Having garments that assisted or items that could absorb lightning helped too. “I usually have a bangle that allows me to absorb lightning magic and cast it.”
Jesse was all talk, he was scrawny and was always in need of saving. If Paine wanted to show him how to throw a proper punch, he’d take it. He was more comfortable learning that stuff from a woman anyway, they wouldn’t make him feel like he wasn’t strong enough. Women tend to be supportive.
“Cast it? Like … you can shock people? Damn, that’s really cool. I hope we don’t get into any storms on this boat…” Jesse sighed and stood up, “I’m going to head out, but if this stuff is still here by the time I get back, I’m going to eat all of it,” he warned.
Paine had no trouble with demonstrating what she knew, and while she was more comfortable with weapons assigned to her dresspheres, she could punch a person or two out -she’d learned that fairly early into her Crimson Squad days.
Storms on the boat would possibly happen at some point, but hopefully they’d have ways to get through them. Since she still had a fair amount of food to get through, Paine just raised an eyebrow at Jesse, “I’ll think about leaving some.” She could work her way through the tv programs and eat, she was fond of the cartoon adventures. “But I’m making no promises.”
She probably wouldn’t eat it all, but jesting was fairly easy.
Jesse liked cartoons a lot as well, they were simple and happy. He’d get along with Paine wonderfully. He scrubbed his face with one hand and sleepily replied, “No promises, got it.”
He left the suite with the intention on finding something to do other than sit around and bore a teenage girl to death.