Chapter Text
'Gerrof,' murmured Jesse sleepily. At least, it sounded like he said that; like Walt, he had slept with his gas mask on during the night for the first volatile stage of the cook.
Walt's eyes snapped open. The right side of his face throbbed a little from the indentation his own gask mask had left on his face, and he raised his head a little to clear the fuzziness as much as he did to take in the source of Jesse's grumbling: he followed the line of his own arm, draped across the hapless junkie as if they were post-coital.
He sat up abruptly, pulling his arm away. 'You're clearly on my side,' he said. He pushed Jesse slightly for emphasis, so he could see the metal pole dividing their cots.
Jesse pulled off his mask and dropped it to the floor. 'That doesn't mean you have to make out with me, you big homo,' he grumbled, turning around and pulling the sheet closer around him.
'Why is everything out of your mouth an insult?'
'Hey, I got no problem with gay people. I just got problems with your perverted old ass.'
Walt stood up. 'Go back to sleep. Idiot.' He stretched his aching body and walked to the door of the RV, throwing it open to air out the makeshift laboratory, removing his mask. He wandered away from the RV, walking out his aching joints. He stopped for a piss, squinting in the early morning sunlight. There wasn't a soul around for miles, no other vehicle present on the horizon. His mind turned to the radiology appointment and he cast it from his thoughts as quickly as possible; no need to worry about that. Today, the most important thing was the cook.
He made his way back to the RV, gratified to see that Jesse had arisen and was fumbling about trying to make coffee on the small camper stove he'd mercifully had the sense to bring outside.
'Just gimme a couple minutes and we'll be all set,' said Jesse as he moved past him to use a little of the water to wash his hands and face.
'That's good, Jesse.'
'Yeah,' said Jesse, sounding pleased. He busied himself setting up a couple of mugs, taking the chipped one for himself and wiping down Walt's carefully before he poured in the instant coffee and hot water. 'Hope you like it without milk 'cos, y'know...'
Walt took the mug from him. 'Thanks.' He took a sip and grimaced. 'This is terrible.'
'I did the best I could--!' began Jesse hotly.
'I'm not blaming you,' said Walt. 'I blame you for breakfast, not the coffee.'
'You're still bitching about the Funions? Unbelievable.'
'Yes, Jesse! Funions for breakfast.' He snatched the packet from Jesse and shook them in his face. 'This is squalid.'
'We slept in a meth lab,' huffed Jesse. 'The Funions aren't the most squalid part, right?'
Walt bit his lip. 'Well, there you have a point.' He downed the coffee in one acrid gulp and set the mug down. 'Shall we get to work?'
The morning stretched into silence as they worked, the incessant humming of the fans they had set up around the RV punctuated by short, terse conversations about measurements of fluid and temperature gauges. This was the most difficult part of the cook; they had to work in sync, instinctively preparing each step of the process alongside each other without faltering. It was only after the main components of the cook had been processed that Walt's mouth was no longer in a hard, intense line and Jesse fell back into his usual chattering.
Walt wondered if the kid purposefully needled him just to get the conversation flowing sometimes. He gave non-commital grunts to the Jesse Pinkman Diatribes About Modern Life as much as possible, but Jesse always kept poking until he found a conversation piece which would get a rise from Walt. And today he found it quickly:
'So after you spooned me this morning, I got to thinkin' about Tyler Anderson.'
'Who?' said Walt.
'Tyler Anderson, that tall prick from our junior chemistry class.'
'No, I don't remember.'
'Stop pretending. You remembered me.'
'You weren't easy to forget.' Walt cast him an appraising look. 'For all the wrong reasons.'
'Dick,' said Jesse good-naturedly. He continued grinding the lithium. 'We called him Lurch, he was so tall. Like from that film--'
'Yes, yes. The Addams Family. It was a TV show first.'
'Yeah, okay. Anyway, you know he was banging Mrs. Garcia, right? That total MILF who taught history?'
'Bullshit.'
'Naw, I'm tellin' ya.'
'She's married, and very religious.'
'What's that gotta do with anything? Even Jesus was tempted, yo.'
'Tempted by some acne-ridden flagpole?'
'You do remember him!' said Jesse excitedly. He pointed the pair of scissors at Walt, who pushed them away irritably. 'Anyway, if I was a teacher and I had all these hot chicas just wantin' extra credit--'
'Nonsense. You're in a position of trust; it's unethical.'
'Says the meth-making guy who killed two people!' scoffed Jesse. He nodded with satisfaction when Walt winced. 'Yeah, I got no problem believin' you'd sleep with the students, after all that...' He shrugged. 'I should totally have banged Mrs. Garcia for extra credit. God, I probably woulda sucked off your wrinkly dick for a passing grade.'
Walt turned to him. 'You're very sure of yourself, aren't you? What makes you think that all the teachers would fall over your ratty wannabe gangster body?'
Jesse smiled widely. 'Nah, c'mon, Mr. White! I'm cute, we both know it. Ain't never had trouble with the ladies.' He looked up thoughtfully. 'Or guys. Not that, y'know, I ever would. Just good to know that when you look like this, you don't hafta swing one way.'
'KABQ,' said Walt. 'If we'd brought a radio -- with a good range, of course -- I could be listening to a debate on KABQ instead of listening to this moronic excuse for conversation.'
'Sorry that I don't jack off to talk about 401Ks and briefcases!'
Walt rolled his eyes. 'You can't think of anything else to talk about?'
'Well, I could suck your dick, you know, take your mind off it. For extra credit.'
Walt slammed his hands down on the workstation. He turned to Jesse again. 'Will you knock it off?'
Jesse grinned. 'I'm taken anyway. You missed your chance.'
'I'm sure I'll manage,' said Walt.
At his side, Jesse began humming a song. Walt glanced at him, the clean profile of his nose, his striking blue eyes narrowed with concentration as he focused on his task. Jesse grimaced a little and ran his tongue along his lips. Walt felt an involuntary shiver crash through him. He turned his back to Jesse and continued with his own work.