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Flick.
Flicker.
Flick.
Flick.
“Come on…” Anya muttered as she flicked the lighter, biting down slightly on the butt of the cigarette in her mouth. She leaned slightly back, scooting a little further back onto the roof in hopes of moving out of the wind.
She cupped her hand around the lighter once more, trying a different direction.
Flick.
Finally.
Anya took a breath in as she moved the flame below the cigarette, taking a deep breath in as the smoke filled her lungs. She set the lighter down, taking the cig out with one hand and blowing the smoke out. She watched it go with the wind, taking another drag.
“Wow, Anya, don’t you know smoking’s bad for you?”
Anya choked on the smoke, coughing it out as she attempted to hide the cigarette.
“D-Daisuke! I-” Another cough interrupted her. “Sorry, I didn’t think anyone else was awake.” She sputtered.
“Hey, hey, you’re ok.” Daisuke reassured her, moving to sit next to her. “I’m not gonna tell anyone, don’t worry.” He pulled out a bag, setting it in his lap. “Besides, it’s not like I came out here to just enjoy the breeze too.”
Anya blinked and then gave a small laugh as Daisuke pulled out a joint. Really, was she surprised? Not particularly. “I guess neither of us were out here tonight then, huh.”
“Yeah, seems like it.” He pulled out his own lighter, lighting the joint and taking a breath before letting the smoke out. “Man, I am so glad to be back on Earth. Don’t get me wrong, being on a spaceship is cool and all, but man does it get boring after a while. I like the wind and seeing the actual sun, thank you very much.”
Anya couldn’t agree more. “Yeah…me too. It’s nice to finally get out of there.” Though her reasons were…a Lot different from Daisuke’s. After the first time trying to tell Curly failed, she hadn’t bothered to try again. Moving into the medical room had helped keep her sanity at the very least, but…
She took another hit of the cigarette, falling silent as Daisuke did the same.
“...do you want some?” He offered her. “Trade offer? You get: a hit of my joint? I get: a hit of your cig?”
Anya stifled a bit of laughter, pulling herself out of the hole she was starting to fall into. She handed over the cigarette, taking the joint and taking a drag of it.
Sure, she hadn’t smoked much weed in her life. But hey, after this journey? Her life couldn’t get much worse. She might as well.
As she blew out the smoke, she let out a cough or two, coughing the smoke out. Once she had stopped, she looked up to the moon shining in the sky. No broken pixels here.
“It’s a lot better than the one on the ship, isn’t it?” Daisuke asked.
“...yeah. A lot better.” She sighed, taking another hit of the joint, managing to stifle her coughs this time.
“Nothing beats the real thing.” He took a hit of the cigarette and held it back out to Anya. The two traded again.
“...” Anya sat in silence for a moment, the weed starting to hit her. Feeling a little more relaxed, she took another hit of the cigarette. “...how was your first flight, by the way..?”
“Aw, and I thought I’d escaped the psych evaluations.”
“No, don’t think about it like that.” Anya took another hit. “We’re not out here, after all, right?”
“Yeah, true, you’re right.” Daisuke smiled before staring back out. “...it was fun and all. Really, it was. Just…a lot more intense at times than I thought it’d be.”
Anya nodded. “Yeah…first flight is always a shock to the system.”
“Definitely.” A pause as Daisuke took a hit. “Hey, Anya, how was your flight?”
“Wh- mine?” Anya blinked in surprise. Thankfully he had caught her before she took another drag off the cigarette, preventing another cough episode.
“Yeah. I know you were in the medical room for a lot of it, but otherwise, I don’t know a lot of what you did. How was your flight?”
Anya hesitated, looking away and taking another hit of the cigarette. She didn’t want to talk about this. She couldn’t separate...it. From everything else. She couldn’t separate him from everything else.
“...Anya?”
Daisuke’s concerned tone brought her out of her thoughts as she realized she’d been taking a very long hit of the cigarette. She blew out the smoke, letting another cough out with it.
“S-sorry, um…it was ok. Just a lot of organizing and taking care of everyone.” She said simply. “That’s…how a lot of the nursing duties go.”
“...yeah. I can imagine.” Daisuke stared at her for a moment. In that moment, Anya knew, she just knew he didn’t believe her. She tensed up, waiting for the questioning that she knew was about to come.
“...you know, if you ever want to talk about anything…” Daisuke took another hit of the joint. “...I’ve been told I’m easy to talk to.”
“...I’ll keep that in mind.” Anya nodded, internally sighing in relief. She took one more hit of the cigarette, finishing it and ashing it on the rooftop.
Daisuke nodded, satisfied with that answer. Right, he wasn’t the type of person to pressure someone into talking.
Thankfully.
He handed back the joint, which Anya accepted and took another hit of.
Maybe one day. Maybe one day she could talk to him about it. Maybe she could even get justice for herself.
But for now, smoking together was enough. This was fine with her.