Talking 'bout the lights, the dirt, the shit that hurts.

[hostage]

WHO: Jesse Pinkman & Skye
WHERE: The Beach House in Cape Canaveral
WHEN: Saturday, January 30
WHAT: Jesse has something to show Skye.
WARNINGS: ???

Some people use blindfolds when they bring a date to a surprise location, but Jesse doesn't bother. With the enchantment in place, there's nothing particularly interesting for Skye to see as the car slows upon approaching the end of the street. It's not that the house is invisible, exactly, but from here it looks so dull and uninteresting that it might as well be. A house like any other, forgettable the moment one looks away from it.

That changes as Jesse pulls into the driveway. As if a veil has been lifted, the colors of the house suddenly become more vibrant, the details of the architecture coming into focus, and all its beauty becomes apparent. Jesse kills the engine and hops out of the car, stepping around to open the passenger side door, too.

"Here we are."

Comments

[morethan084]

What. The. Hell? This was not what Skye was expecting when he said he had something to show where. So what's the first words she's able to form?

"Here I thought you were taking me to some unassuming place to kill me."

Instead of getting out of the car she just continues to sit there staring up at the place.

[hostage]

Not the funniest joke, but he's not about to enlighten her about his string of dead girlfriends, so he lets it slide.

"You wanna sit here all day or you wanna get the tour?"

[morethan084]

Yeah, he should probably keep that to himself. For now anyway.

"Right." She's still not sure what the deal was with this place. So having some answers would be nice.

Getting out of the car, Skye shut the door behind her.

"...This is like real life Hogwarts. Is this your way of telling me I'm a witch and you're a wizard?"

[hostage]

"You're close but not quite," Jesse answers, leading her up the steps to the front door. Instead of an ordinary lock, there's a fingerprint scanner, and the door pops open as soon as he presses his thumb to it. "There's magic, just not mine. Shields the house from surveillance, you know? Can't see or hear anything going on anywhere on the property. Not unless I bring you here."

As they enter the foyer, the door locks automatically behind them. If she was waiting for an explanation, he'll give it to her now: "This isn't my only safehouse, but it's the most secure one. Now that you seen it, you can always find it. I'll get you programmed into the system - though I bet you could hack it if you tried. Anyway... War being declared and all, plus the government housing being a total joke, I figured you oughta have someplace to run if you needed to."

[morethan084]

Following him, Skye watched as he unlocked the door and steps inside. Turning her head at the sound of the door locking, Skye then finally looks around the house. A lot of wood was involved, but it was nice.

"It wouldn't be very hard." Skye admitted, even if it was a joke on his part about her hacking into the system. It made sense though, now that he actually explained why he had brought her here. She wasn't exactly sure she would take him up on the offer to have some sort of safe-house for herself as well. Been there, done that. She still got caught. Even if this was place was hidden by magic.

Still, the fact that he cared enough to show her this place...

"Thank you. I was honestly not expecting this."

[hostage]

"Yeah, I know what you were expecting." He flashes her a lopsided grin, not necessarily planning to deny her if she did want to see him naked. "Wanna take a look around? The view's gonna blow your mind."

[morethan084]

Skye tore her eyes away from the architecture long enough to look at him with a sarcastic smile.

"Ha-ha."

She was interested in seeing more of the house though.

"It already has but, sure. Lead the way."

[hostage]

"Okay, so this is the elevator." He gestures to what looks like a closet nestled into the middle of the stairwell. "Goes from the garage all the way to the top floor, if you're feeling lazy. It's a big fucking house, so I wouldn't blame you."

A circle around the center hall gives an easy glimpse into every room on the first floor, and Jesse waves at each door as they pass it: "Bathroom. Dining room. Whatever room." That is, mostly a storage room for stuff he hasn't organized yet.

"The, uh, kitchen," he says as they reach the back, though it's obvious enough. This one gives a decent view of the pool and the beach beyond it. "You're not hungry, are you? Want anything?"

[morethan084]

This was easily the nicest house she's been in. Or at least that she could remember right now.

"Ah, the room when you've got too many rooms, that you just throw shit in." It's a struggle she clearly understands. Not.

Instead of looking around the kitchen she's instantly drawn to the 'backyard'.

"Isn't it a bit redundant to have a pool when you've got the ocean only a yard beyond it?"

[hostage]

"Ocean gets cold. Pool doesn't." Jesse nudges her lightly in the side. "Plus, you know, hot tub. Gotta have it."

[morethan084]

"Yes they do." Skye argued, smirking the whole time. "Unless you're very fancy and have a heated pool too. Which, giving the fact that you have an elevator doesn't surprise me."

Just as he mentioned the hot tub, her eyes fell onto it.

"It's clearly a necessity." And very tempting to get into right now. Florida was really never that cold, but it was nippy out today.

"I'm going to have to buy a bathing suit." Skye nudged him back in the side before turning around. "So should we take the stairs up to the second floor or the elevator?"

[hostage]

The pool is, in fact, very fancy and heated. Jesse politely bites back a comment about how, no, she doesn't really need a swimsuit. The magic would shield her from anyone's view but his. Maintaining the air of a gentleman, though, he refrains and ushers her back into the hall. "I'm good with the stairs if you are."

As they ascend, Jesse waves vaguely around them. "Two big-ass bedrooms on this floor. I'm usually in the bigger one, if I'm staying here. You're welcome to the smaller one, if you feel like. There's a bed on the balcony, too, but that's like... You know." Romantic.

[morethan084]

She was half-expecting for him to make some sort of comment about her not needing a bathing suit, but she's just as surprised as she isn't that he didn't actually say anything.

Big-ass bedrooms. Such vocabulary, Jesse. It gets a smile out of her though. The way he described the house so far was very retailer-esque.

"Oh, well, thanks." Skye hadn't expected him to give her a room of her own just like. Her eyebrow rose when he trailed off about the bed on the balcony. She had a feeling where he was going with that, but instead she decided to play dumb just to mess with him.

"...Cold at night?"

It's clear she's just messing with him, because as soon as the words came out of her mouth she's smiling.

"This is really nice, Jesse."

[hostage]

"Cold at night. Yeah."

Jesse's keeping his mouth clean on purpose. He doesn't want her to mistake any of this as some kind of gesture. This isn't an invitation for her to move in with him or anything like that. It's purely meant to keep her safe, because the idea that she might be stuck without someplace to run would drive him crazy if something were to happen.

The compliment surprises him. He's been a bit afraid to even show the place to her, considering the blood money that funded it. But he smiles and replies, "Thanks. Ready for the third floor?"

[morethan084]

If it had been an invitation to move in, Skye would have politely declined. It's not like she hadn't figured out by now why exactly this place was hidden, much less where it was he had gotten the money from. Of course it made her uncomfortable however, she knew better than to rehash that right now.

"That is the last floor, right?"

[hostage]

"That I know of." By which he means yes.

The top floor is the most open, with windows lining every wall except the corner that contains Ellie's old bedroom and bathroom. As they climb the stairs, Jesse points to it and says, "Don't go in there. Pretty much the only place that's off-limits."

The rec room and the bar, however, are free for her to enjoy. And Jesse makes a beeline for the latter, grabbing a bottle of whiskey off the shelf to pour them a couple of drinks.

[morethan084]

"Why? I mean, okay. ...But why?" It's not like she just planned to come here all of the time. Although it was certainly a lot more quiet.

A few steps behind him, Skye looked around the open floor. This might just be her favorite floor and as she spots Jesse pouring them a drink, Skye moved over to the bar.

"Surprised you don't have a bartender." Skye teased as she leaned against the counter.

[hostage]

"It belongs to somebody else," he answers simply. Does she need any explanation more than that?

Jesse nudges Skye's glass toward her and picks up his own. "What I really need is a chef, but it'd kinda blow this place's cover if I hired a whole staff."

[morethan084]

"...Oh." No she didn't, although she's clearly surprised to hear that.

Grabbing the glass, Skye clinks her glass against his before taking a swig. The face she makes when she realizes it's whiskey has to be hilarious as she finally manages to swallow it.

"Smooth." It's been a while since she's had anything harder than beer.

"Just a little but, having a chef during a nuclear war might not be a bad thing." It's a joke, of course. A terrible one.

[hostage]

"I think we'll have bigger things to worry about."

Jesse snickers at the face she makes. "Do you need ice in that?" he offers. A little something to water it down, since she's apparently not used to straight whiskey.

[morethan084]

"Most likely, yeah."

Chuckling at his reaction, Skye held her glass out to him. "It's been a while since I've had anything stronger than blue moon."

[hostage]

Jesse takes her glass and ducks down to grab a few ice cubes out of the mini-fridge. "I gotta learn to make girly drinks or something. Next time I get you up here, make you a margarita or something."

He returns the freshly-iced glass to her and steps around the bar, waving toward the balcony as he says, "Now let's check out that view, yo."

[morethan084]

Skye can't help but laugh when he tells her he's going to learn how to make 'girly' drinks for her.

"You dont have to do that but, thank you."

How often did he picture her coming up here? She didn't ask right now, instead following him over to where the balcony was.

"We got lucky. The sun is going down soon."

[hostage]

"Isn't it fucking amazing?"

He's not bragging. That's genuine awe in his voice. This house still takes his breath away. After everything that happened back home, to return to a place like this - a life like this - is downright astonishing. Especially given that he earned all this through his own work, without any of Walt's help. It's something that truly belongs to him, and it looks like a home for royalty.

Jesse leans up against the railing and looks out at the water, sipping at his whiskey. "Nobody can see us," he says, "even out here. I love that about this place. Sometimes I'm out here for hours."

[morethan084]

Skye noticed the bed he had mentioned and a smile immediately comes to her face. It's slightly strange but it was too tempting not to take a seat on. So she does on the edge of the bed while Jesse explains how no one can see them.

"Seriously? They all just see what I did until we were close enough? What if they saw you driving up?"