House Rules [Cowboy Bebop]
Title: House Rules
Characters/Pairings: Spike, Faye
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Language.
Prompt: I fell in love with a dead boy for the 4th of july meme
House Rules
“Red or black?”
Spike looks at her hand, her face, makes a pit stop at her tits Faye figures he hopes she wouldn’t notice, back to her hand, then squints. “Black.”
Faye throws down the card - four of hearts. “Drink up, cowboy.”
He throws back the shot in front of him like he’s water, even laughs a little after taking it. “Tasty.”
It’s not. It’s god knows how old swill they found in the cargo bay. Faye’s not even sure if it’s technically drinkable, but she’s already had a quarter of the bottle so it’d better be. Helps with the hunger anyway.
But enough of that - his eyes are…unusually eager, so she drops her gaze and peeks at the next card in the deck. “Red or black?”
“Black.”
She flips the card - seven of clubs. “Lucky break,” she grumbles, as if she can lose in this game. Instinct, she guesses.
Spike signals for her to keep the game moving. “I don’t have all day.”
Faye narrows her eyes. “Yeah you do.”
He waves her away, gives her a little tsk out the side of his mouth. “Higher,” he says, without being prompted.
She throws down the card hard on the table. Nine of diamonds. His bus is getting a little too long, if you ask her. “Red,” she says, her voice filled with annoyance, “or black.”
“Black,” he says, his gaze on her not at all charming, nope, not a bit.
Wait, what?
The jack of clubs is grinning at her, like he fucking knows her or something.
“Higher.”
“Fuck,” she snaps under her breath when the king of spades shows his face. “Why can’t you pick something else, jackass? Black, higher, Black higher--”
“You’ll get your turn soon enough,” he teases. She wonders if he can tell her annoyance isn’t just about cards, ‘cause his thumb keeps grazing over the lip of the bottle and he’s got a look on his face like he’s thinking about running his finger over something that’s, well, not a bottle. Not that she can ever really tell what’s going on in his head. Or that she even cares, ‘cause she doesn’t.
Faye doesn’t blush, not around him, but-
“Black.”
She scowls, and throws the card down.
Ha!
Queen of hearts - who, in this (tastefully) pornographic deck, is a slender pale wisp of a woman, wrapped in black leather with her tits bursting out and long flowing blond hair encircling them like a frame. And right now? Faye’s new best friend.
Well, she would be, except Spike’s staring at that card now kinda like how Faye would want him to look at her (maybe, you know, if she were more drunk).
So now Faye just thinks she’s a bitch.
“Drink,” she says to snap him out of his reverie, and it works in a way. “House rules - drink ‘til I say so.”
Spike shakes his head like he thinks she just made that up, and Faye’s expecting an argument because arguing with her seems to be his favorite hobby nowadays, but instead he just does it. Gets about four gulps in when Faye realizes if she lets him drink it all, she’s not gonna get any.
“Alright, cut it off.” He doesn’t stop, though. Just keeps chugging that bilge water filth down his stupid gullet. “Hey jackass, I said cut it off!”
The bottle pops off his lips like it burns. He wipes his mouth on his arm and looks at her with…remorse? She’s not sure what that would even look like on his face, really. Not towards her.
“I don’t-“ he begins, his gaze swimming. “I gotta go.”
The bottle clanks against the ground as he sits is next to her, and then he’s gone.
“Asshole!” she yells after him as he slinks off but he doesn’t respond, and it’s only when she’s putting the cards away does she notice one missing.