[ OPEN ]

[hostage]

Date & Time: Evening of April 30 (forward-dated)
Location: Unit 409
Characters: Jesse & anyone who wants to join him in baking cookies
Summary: Getting baked. The cookies are, that is. Here is the IC invitation.
Notes: Party/meme-style. Tag in your characters. Tag around. Whatever. Fun times. Remember this is taking place during the mission, so sorry to anyone who's in Australia. You're missing it!!!
Warnings: Put warnings on your thread subject lines. But seriously...

Jesse treats his kitchen the same way he treats the lab: it's spotless, sanitized, and organized. He's laid out many more supplies and ingredients than he would need if he were doing all the work himself. A few extra tables have been brought in and set up like an assembly line, so that each step of the process can be taken care of in order without people tripping over each other. After a few months of trials with this baking thing, he's gotten it all down to a science. The ingredients include items that can't be found easily in the city: various frostings, colorful sprinkles, some rarer nuts and chocolates and such. All things he picked up on a special shopping trip in the past, courtesy of the Initiative. The bakeware, too, is state-of-the-art. And there's a stolen stereo playing 80s-90s hip hop at a volume just loud enough to fill the silence.

Comments

[5055034455]

[Saul isn't helping.

SURPRISE!

He is there, though, "helping" in his own way: by keeping an eye on Jesse everything from the relatively quieter safety of the living room.

He's also confiscated some of the nuts.

You know, out of consideration for the well-being of others. What if someone's allergic, huh? Or what if they're allergic and don't care and the temptation is just too great? He's nothing if not a problem solver.]

[hostage]

You eat all those, I'm sending you back to 1998 to get more.

[He damn well knows what Saul's doing here, and it bothers the hell out of him, but he doesn't have the energy to be more than mildly unpleasant right now. Plus, it'd make a pretty big scene if he went and kicked Saul out, and the last thing Jesse wants is people asking what that's about.]

[5055034455]

Oh, that's nice. You wait until now to tell me I'm eating the stalest nuts in history?

[But they taste fine, so he's guessing they were recently acquired.

...he hopes.]

You're looking a little better.

[hostage]

[Of course they're recently acquired, but he'll let Saul think they're a thousand years old if it'll get him to stop munching.]

Yeah, you can quit stalking me like any day now.

[They're in the living room, away from the others, but Jesse still keeps his voice low.]

[5055034455]

[No such luck, Jesse. On either of those counts.

Saul hasn't laughed in a few days, though, so that's an accomplishment!]

God, I thought you'd never give me permission to lay off.

[He offers a nut to Jesse.

Literally.

Just one.]

Don't flatter yourself, Jesse. If I were stalking you, I wouldn't be here right now.

[hostage]

[Jesse don't want your nuts, Saul.]

Whatever. Are you just here to eat all my shit or were you looking to interrogate more people about me?

[5055034455]

[Hardy har. Saul leans past Jesse to peer into the kitchen.]

Nah. Now's not a good time. I don't want to be a distraction.

[hostage]

So what're you doing?

[5055034455]

[In response, Saul waggles his eyebrows.

So mysterious~~~]

[hostage]

[And Jesse rolls his eyes skyward.]

You know, if you wanna ask me something, just ask. This whole whatever you're doing is driving me crazy.

[5055034455]

Is it? I'm sorry.

[hostage]

Yeah, no. You're not.

[5055034455]

[He appears to think about that for a moment. Then, he shrugs.]

You're right. I'm not. You need to take a chill pill. What I'm trying to do is my job, which is kind of difficult, all things considered. And since you're the only client I have left — well, there you go.

[hostage]

[He gives the room a quick glance and his voice drops to a hissed whisper:]

Look, these people like just started believing I'm not a murderer. And now you're going around asking all kinds of questions... How do you think that looks, huh? You think you're doing me any favors?

[5055034455]

[Saul doesn't like whispering because when people whisper, it looks suspicious. And if Jesse's so concerned about looking suspicious...

He places a hand on Jesse's shoulder and steers him farther from the kitchen. If Jesse resists and he has to start shoving, so be it.

But Saul is not going to whisper.]

Untwist your panties. I'm looking out for you, believe it or not, and I'm not gonna apologize for getting the information you probably wouldn't have given me even if I'd begged. You tell me to ask you whatever it is I have to ask? I say no, no thanks, I'd rather not waste my breath.

[hostage]

[Jesse goes right along without a struggle. As if he'd have the strength, anyway.]

I appreciate you looking out for me, but I was doing fine before you got here.

[...said behind clenched teeth. He doesn't sound very appreciative at all.]

[5055034455]

Oh, yeah. [He scoffs.] Perfectly fine. Because people who are doing fine always go around making plans like the one you've got floating around in that fuzzy little head of yours.

[Saul's half-tempted to rub said fuzzy head for emphasis, but doesn't. Instead, he drops his hands to his sides.]

You don't appreciate shit, Jesse. That's your problem. Good thing I'm not the kind of guy who cares about whether or not he's appreciated, huh?

[hostage]

[Jesse wheels around to face Saul properly, jerking his chin forward as if he's the one challenging rather than being provoked.]

Yeah, why don't we talk about that. Because, what the hell? What's your game here, huh? Lisbeth don't know enough to get it, but you do. You should be on my side here, man. I mean...

[He gestures vaguely toward Saul, lacking the words to properly describe the catastrophe he brought into Saul's life and the entire goddamn city of Albuquerque, if not beyond.]

You know.

[5055034455]

Lisbeth knows.

[Saul takes a small step backward.]

Maybe she doesn't get it, but she told me about what happened back in... wherever the hell that was. Canada. About Walter and Fring. So I explained part of the situation, because I was pretty sure you didn't. A tiny, tiny part. And you know what I said? I said they were ground zero for this whole fiasco.

Now, go ahead. Tell me I'm wrong.

[hostage]

[Jesse bristles with rage at that - who gave Saul the right? - but more importantly... It's amazing how fast Jesse moves to defend the man he believes murdered him in cold blood:]

Mr. White never woulda started cooking if it wasn't for me. How's that for ground zero?

[5055034455]

[And now it's Saul's turn to roll his eyes.]

Jesus. Really? How brainwashed are you? You see what he's turned into. That doesn't just happen accidentally. Granted, I don't know what he was like before this all went down, but I know enough about people in general to also know that someone doesn't just wake up one day and switch from mild-mannered chemistry teacher to murderous drug lord without the latter being there all along.

If it wasn't you, it would have been someone else. You were just convenient.

[hostage]

[Jesse bites his lower lip for a second, both steeling himself and keeping down some nasty retort. His voice is cooler when he opens his mouth again:]

You're right. You don't know what he was like. So stop pretending like you do.

[5055034455]

[Saul's quick to respond, but he doesn't sound angry, either.

He sounds... tired. Disappointed.]

And you think you do?

Honestly?

[hostage]

[Jesse shakes his head - not in answer, but in rejection of the entire argument. He takes a step back, rubs his face, and turns away again. His expression, which Saul can't see, is conflicted. Obviously Mr. White isn't the man Jesse thought he was. He learned that a long time ago. But the same goes for Gus, for Mike, for Saul himself, for almost everyone in Jesse's life. He can be angry at all of them for deceiving and betraying him. But...]

I'm not gonna kill him.

[5055034455]

[And Saul, while Jesse isn't facing him, pinches the bridge of his nose. This is exhausting. But he shouldn't be surprised, really — it's not like he hasn't dealt with Jesse before. It's not like all this stubbornness isn't familiar.

But what really gets him is this: Jesse hasn't seen Walt in almost a year, right? Maybe longer. And he's still defending him. Even if Saul told Jesse everything, he'd probably do what he did just now: shake his head. No. Saul doesn't get it, right? Mr. White doesn't deserve to die. Mr. White has a family. Mr. White is Jesse's partner.

Some partnership.]

Fine. You don't need any more blood on your hands, anyway.

[He lays a hand on Jesse's shoulder again, gently turning him back around.]

Including your own. So you better get that idea out of your head.