Breaking Bad Drabbles, Season One
So, uh, I've been rewatching Breaking Bad, because no other show is quite managing to stand up to it. (Don't worry, I'm keeping up with Walking Dead, Fringe, et al. as well.) To make myself feel a little better about spending time in this endeavor I've written a drabble for every episode. Finished Season One the other day so... here they are.
They're mainly Jesse centric. There's really vague Walt/Jesse, and a mention of past Badger/Jesse.
S01E01 Pilot
Jesse cradled the camcorder he'd brought to the cook, having thought it would be a fun way to rile the old man. Now, with two bodies parked in his driveway, he watched and re-watched the message Mr. White had recorded for his family.
Mr. White teared up and shoved his palm over the lens again and again.
There wasn't anyone Jesse cared about like this, no one who cared for him this way either. He tried to imagine who he'd leave a message for as he watched Mr. White's face crumble again and felt a clenching in his own chest.
S01E02 The Cat's in the Bag...
Krazy 8's breathing echoed through the house and all Jesse could think about was Scrabble. Was he going mad like his aunt? Was he imagining the breathing the way she'd imagined the scratching of an opossum?
He'd played his drums for awhile, banging out the loudest rhythms he could to cover Krazy 8 up, but his hands and back had started aching and he'd dropped the drumsticks to the floor.
Now, sitting at the kitchen table Jesse placed his hands over his ears and rocked back and forth. He'd had everything under control before Mr. White shambled up his driveway.
S01E03 ...And the Bag's in the River
The stucco ceiling of Wendy's hotel room cast strange shadows in the sickly, yellowish light of the streetlamps that filtered through the window.
The room reeked of meth and sex.
It was still better than being in his own house.
Wendy was snoring on the other side of the bed. These encounters always felt meaningless. Usually he kind of enjoyed the sensation. He felt powerful, like a real drug lord, trading his product for meaningless sex, but tonight he couldn't sleep or gloat. He trailed his fingers down his stomach and tried to think about something that filled him up.
S01E04 Cancer Man
Jesse drew his knees up to his chest and listened to Skinny Pete and Combo argue over whether Scarlett Johansson or Angelina Jolie was hotter. He felt like there was a subtext to their debate that he was missing. The meth was pounding in his skull and his friends were speaking in code.
He twitched his toes against his sneakers and thought about the code Mr. White talked in. Jesse thought about Erlenmeyer flasks and oxygenation and all the long lectures he'd sat through in high school. He let them become a kind of background hum that dulled his panic.
S01E05 Gray Matter
It was weird seeing Badger again. Jesse hadn't seen him since high school. Senior year their relationship had been a little...unconventional. The last time Jesse had spoken to Badger had been the third time he'd jacked Badger off for a teenth. Their eyes had met in the hall after that, but they hadn't said a word to each other.
Now, they were in the RV and Badger felt like an intruder. The declarations of “No homo” that had ended each of their encounters echoed in Jesse's ears. With each cheeto Badger crunched Jesse felt Mr. White's absence more keenly.
S01E06 Handful of Nothin'
The slight rise and fall of Jesse's chest and Skinny Pete's nervous knuckle cracking were the details that drove the situation home for Walt.
Walt found himself counting the rhythm of Jesse's breathing-three seconds for each inhale, two for his exhale, a half-second pause before breathing in again-as he clenched his fists, digging his fingernails into his palms.
Rage coursed through Walt and the steady in-and-out of Jesse's breathing was all that kept him from attacking the wall.
Tuco would pay. He couldn't abuse Walt's partner like this and expect to get away with it. Walt would protect his people.
S01E07 A No-Rough-Stuff-Type Deal
They didn't say anything as they drove away from the junkyard where they'd just watched a man get beaten to death. There was nothing to say. The level of shit they were in was now clear, as if it hadn't been before.
So they both stared at the desert rolling by. Jesse with his hands gripping the steering wheel, knuckles white. Walt sitting absolutely still in the passenger seat.
What was now also clear, as if it, too, hadn't been obvious before, was just exactly how much their individual survival in this business relationship depended on the other's as well.
They're mainly Jesse centric. There's really vague Walt/Jesse, and a mention of past Badger/Jesse.
S01E01 Pilot
Jesse cradled the camcorder he'd brought to the cook, having thought it would be a fun way to rile the old man. Now, with two bodies parked in his driveway, he watched and re-watched the message Mr. White had recorded for his family.
Mr. White teared up and shoved his palm over the lens again and again.
There wasn't anyone Jesse cared about like this, no one who cared for him this way either. He tried to imagine who he'd leave a message for as he watched Mr. White's face crumble again and felt a clenching in his own chest.
S01E02 The Cat's in the Bag...
Krazy 8's breathing echoed through the house and all Jesse could think about was Scrabble. Was he going mad like his aunt? Was he imagining the breathing the way she'd imagined the scratching of an opossum?
He'd played his drums for awhile, banging out the loudest rhythms he could to cover Krazy 8 up, but his hands and back had started aching and he'd dropped the drumsticks to the floor.
Now, sitting at the kitchen table Jesse placed his hands over his ears and rocked back and forth. He'd had everything under control before Mr. White shambled up his driveway.
S01E03 ...And the Bag's in the River
The stucco ceiling of Wendy's hotel room cast strange shadows in the sickly, yellowish light of the streetlamps that filtered through the window.
The room reeked of meth and sex.
It was still better than being in his own house.
Wendy was snoring on the other side of the bed. These encounters always felt meaningless. Usually he kind of enjoyed the sensation. He felt powerful, like a real drug lord, trading his product for meaningless sex, but tonight he couldn't sleep or gloat. He trailed his fingers down his stomach and tried to think about something that filled him up.
S01E04 Cancer Man
Jesse drew his knees up to his chest and listened to Skinny Pete and Combo argue over whether Scarlett Johansson or Angelina Jolie was hotter. He felt like there was a subtext to their debate that he was missing. The meth was pounding in his skull and his friends were speaking in code.
He twitched his toes against his sneakers and thought about the code Mr. White talked in. Jesse thought about Erlenmeyer flasks and oxygenation and all the long lectures he'd sat through in high school. He let them become a kind of background hum that dulled his panic.
S01E05 Gray Matter
It was weird seeing Badger again. Jesse hadn't seen him since high school. Senior year their relationship had been a little...unconventional. The last time Jesse had spoken to Badger had been the third time he'd jacked Badger off for a teenth. Their eyes had met in the hall after that, but they hadn't said a word to each other.
Now, they were in the RV and Badger felt like an intruder. The declarations of “No homo” that had ended each of their encounters echoed in Jesse's ears. With each cheeto Badger crunched Jesse felt Mr. White's absence more keenly.
S01E06 Handful of Nothin'
The slight rise and fall of Jesse's chest and Skinny Pete's nervous knuckle cracking were the details that drove the situation home for Walt.
Walt found himself counting the rhythm of Jesse's breathing-three seconds for each inhale, two for his exhale, a half-second pause before breathing in again-as he clenched his fists, digging his fingernails into his palms.
Rage coursed through Walt and the steady in-and-out of Jesse's breathing was all that kept him from attacking the wall.
Tuco would pay. He couldn't abuse Walt's partner like this and expect to get away with it. Walt would protect his people.
S01E07 A No-Rough-Stuff-Type Deal
They didn't say anything as they drove away from the junkyard where they'd just watched a man get beaten to death. There was nothing to say. The level of shit they were in was now clear, as if it hadn't been before.
So they both stared at the desert rolling by. Jesse with his hands gripping the steering wheel, knuckles white. Walt sitting absolutely still in the passenger seat.
What was now also clear, as if it, too, hadn't been obvious before, was just exactly how much their individual survival in this business relationship depended on the other's as well.