   [ mako was released to go and get some sleep in her own bed about an hour ago. the doctors are keeping raleigh overnight in the infirmary to monitor him and make sure that his trip to the anteverse didn't do anything horrible to him. alison happened to be gone the two days he was around before pitfall. she was in new york getting the baby all packed up because if the world was going to end, the chois were all going to be in one place, god-fucking-dammit. except pitfall happened early so she was flying over europe when tendo was watching raleigh's vital signs fail. she's here now, though, and has been able to watch her son and husband have a lovely reunion. tendo's gone to crash, which means it's time for another reunion and this one alison is a little unsure about. her husband, bless his heart, probably couldn't hold a grudge if he wanted to. certainly not against raleigh becket. alison, on the other hand, is still a little angry that raleigh disappeared. oh, she understood it as much as anyone who has never drifted can understand such things. but it was hard not to be at least a little disappointed when things like your wedding happen without a wedding party because the would-be best man is god knows where. as she walks into the infirmary, baby on hip, she tries not to dwell on that, though. it's surprisingly easy. flights from new york to hong kong with a one-year-old are exhausting, and she certainly looks tired. she also looks different from the last time raleigh saw her. her hair's a little longer, she's got a new tattoo on the inside of her right foot which shows when she props her feet up on his bed after dumping the baby in his lap. ] Raleigh, that's your nephew. Yancy, this is your Uncle Raleigh. Say hi, baby. [ baby yancy does not say hi. he just stares up at raleigh with wide eyes and shoves his fist into his mouth. ] Well, I'm beat and Tendo's asleep so you get to entertain him while I nap in this chair, okay? Okay, good. |
[Yeah. What?
He saw the ring on Tendo's finger when they reunited in the Shatterdome and he gave his friend an extra clap on the shoulder for it. Good for you, Tendo, he's so happy for you both really and yeah--sorry that he didn't make it to the wedding. He would've been a real party pooper anyway so he'll make it up to you guys some other time.
Raleigh doesn't seem to know what to do when a baby is dropped in his lap, though part of him wants to call out for Mako to come help him. Even though he knows she has about as much experience with little babies as he does, but girls love babies, right? He's not... afraid of the baby itself, just afraid of doing the wrong thing by accident and hurting him because he's so tiny and wait, what did she--]
You named him after Yancy?
[Don't you dare fall asleep now, Alison Choi.]
He saw the ring on Tendo's finger when they reunited in the Shatterdome and he gave his friend an extra clap on the shoulder for it. Good for you, Tendo, he's so happy for you both really and yeah--sorry that he didn't make it to the wedding. He would've been a real party pooper anyway so he'll make it up to you guys some other time.
Raleigh doesn't seem to know what to do when a baby is dropped in his lap, though part of him wants to call out for Mako to come help him. Even though he knows she has about as much experience with little babies as he does, but girls love babies, right? He's not... afraid of the baby itself, just afraid of doing the wrong thing by accident and hurting him because he's so tiny and wait, what did she--]
You named him after Yancy?
[Don't you dare fall asleep now, Alison Choi.]
[When his brother dies, Raleigh heads east, gets the fuck out of Alaska because Alaska is nothing but a constant reminder of what he's lost. He goes as far east as he can get, which turns out to be a city called Starling City and that's where he meets her. He gets a job as a bouncer at some club in the Glades (and who the fuck builds a club in the ghetto, oh Oliver Queen that's who) and he dares to ask her for ID the very first night that he's working because he's not from here, he doesn't recognize her and no ID, no getting in.
She laughs and laughs at him and eventually it comes out that she's his boss's sister and he'd like to go die of embarrassment actually.
Raleigh's not really sure how they end up talking, whether she's just coming back to make fun of him or if she decides she actually likes him, but every time he works, he ends up spending almost as much time talking to her as he does actually doing the job he's paid for. If Oliver Queen's noticed, he hasn't said anything and to be honest, the guy scares him a little. It's the way he doesn't seem to be paying attention to anything around him and then he looks at you and you're sorry for every wrong thing that you've done.
He's not so dumb that he doesn't know the story of how Oliver was presumed dead for five years before he came back about a year ago. He eventually tells Thea about his brother, how Yancy is officially dead because a drunk driver hit the car they were in and Raleigh managed to stumble from the wreckage but he was the only one.
That doesn't directly translate to where he is now, which is making out with her on her bed but he's sure that it helps lead them there. Thea's one of like five people he even says more than a sentence too and he's so lonely that when she tilted her head back the first time and smirked at him, he had no choice but to lean in and kiss her hard.]
She laughs and laughs at him and eventually it comes out that she's his boss's sister and he'd like to go die of embarrassment actually.
Raleigh's not really sure how they end up talking, whether she's just coming back to make fun of him or if she decides she actually likes him, but every time he works, he ends up spending almost as much time talking to her as he does actually doing the job he's paid for. If Oliver Queen's noticed, he hasn't said anything and to be honest, the guy scares him a little. It's the way he doesn't seem to be paying attention to anything around him and then he looks at you and you're sorry for every wrong thing that you've done.
He's not so dumb that he doesn't know the story of how Oliver was presumed dead for five years before he came back about a year ago. He eventually tells Thea about his brother, how Yancy is officially dead because a drunk driver hit the car they were in and Raleigh managed to stumble from the wreckage but he was the only one.
That doesn't directly translate to where he is now, which is making out with her on her bed but he's sure that it helps lead them there. Thea's one of like five people he even says more than a sentence too and he's so lonely that when she tilted her head back the first time and smirked at him, he had no choice but to lean in and kiss her hard.]
[Raleigh is pretty sure that he hates her.
He hates that she bites him when they kiss. He hates that everything is a competition with her. He hates that all she has to do is smirk at him from across the room and he's ready to go and for fuck's sake, Chuck, your dad is right there are you trying to get me killed and actually, maybe she is. He hates that he keeps telling himself this is the last time and then he opens his door and there she is and the last time becomes the second to last time (or the third depending on how enthusiastic they get). He hates that in the quiet times, when they're just lying in bed with and she's asleep or damn good at pretending and he's just watching her and his heart starts aching for something he's never going to have with her because they just don't work like that.
When she pushes him down on the bed, all he does is lie there, arms spread out wide and a smirk on his face, like come on Chuck, is that all you've got? Because he knows that daring her to do anything is surefire way of getting her to do it and this is all going to crash and burn around them sooner rather than later but hopefully at least not for another half hour or so.]
He hates that she bites him when they kiss. He hates that everything is a competition with her. He hates that all she has to do is smirk at him from across the room and he's ready to go and for fuck's sake, Chuck, your dad is right there are you trying to get me killed and actually, maybe she is. He hates that he keeps telling himself this is the last time and then he opens his door and there she is and the last time becomes the second to last time (or the third depending on how enthusiastic they get). He hates that in the quiet times, when they're just lying in bed with and she's asleep or damn good at pretending and he's just watching her and his heart starts aching for something he's never going to have with her because they just don't work like that.
When she pushes him down on the bed, all he does is lie there, arms spread out wide and a smirk on his face, like come on Chuck, is that all you've got? Because he knows that daring her to do anything is surefire way of getting her to do it and this is all going to crash and burn around them sooner rather than later but hopefully at least not for another half hour or so.]
[ they snatch her from the street on her way back from an extended shopping trip. thea spares a moment to be glad that she didn't actually end up buying much, because the two bags she'd been carrying end up on the sidewalk, new dress spilling over the ground, and then she realises how inconsequential her new clothes really are and begins screaming. that's when they hit her across the face with the butt end of a gun and thea shuts up pretty quickly after that, eyes wide and a little unfocused as she tries to keep tracking the movement of the gun.
they hit her again and everything turns black.
it's not the first time she's been kidnapped. maybe there's a quota that the members of the queen family need to fulfil, maybe it's just that she's an easier target than her brother these days. it's not like it matters. she comes to in an abandoned warehouse and they're all wearing masks and fighting over how high the ransom should be.
thea stays still and silent. she's learned from the last time when she'd mouthed off to her kidnappers and come home with two broken ribs and bruises that wouldn't fate for weeks.
fuck, she'd been looking forward to seeing raleigh again tonight. (she'd been meaning to go to the club in the dress she'd bought, just to see his eyes lingering on her curves like he can't help himself. she thinks maybe he can't.)
it isn't until one of them points the gun at her again while arguing that she grows scared. ]
[After Pitfall-- it was just a shitshow. That's the only way to describe it, at least from where he's standing. Raleigh hates people and crowds on a good day and the days following that mission, when his other shoulder hurts like a bitch and Mako just lost her mentor and he feels that grief just as raw and open as if it was his, those are not good days. They're okay days. They're days when getting dressed and eating all three meals are going to have to be good enough, because he'd really rather just lay in bed, curled around Mako like a burrito than talk to another human being for a good long time.
Except that they can't get away with that. The media comes knocking and hounding sooner rather than later and Herc does what he can but the world wants to see the two people that saved it. Raleigh wants to point out that four people and two Jaegers went to the Breach and they're not heroes just because they survived and no one else did and don't thank them for fuck's sake.
It takes about five seconds for someone to speculate that they're together and another two seconds after that for someone to ask. Raleigh and Mako just share a long look and ask for the next question. No answer. Neither one of them knows what to say anyway, because it's not that simple. It's not, oh we're dating now, and boyfriend and girlfriend because it's so much more than that. She's his co-pilot. She's the one who pulled him out of his depression and she's his moon and stars and sun and all that silly sounding stuff. Her grief is too new anyway, to even be thinking of sex.
Raleigh's perfectly content to hold her hand and let her use him as a pillow for as long as she needs. And when she rolls over one morning and presses her lips to his, he kisses back and they don't have to talk about that either.
When he proposes though, they play a little game with the media and the world. To see how long it takes someone to notice her ring. Granted, she's had it on her hand for about half a day but they went out grocery shopping earlier and she had it on then.]
So far nothing. [he announces as he wanders into the little bathroom off their bedroom.]
Except that they can't get away with that. The media comes knocking and hounding sooner rather than later and Herc does what he can but the world wants to see the two people that saved it. Raleigh wants to point out that four people and two Jaegers went to the Breach and they're not heroes just because they survived and no one else did and don't thank them for fuck's sake.
It takes about five seconds for someone to speculate that they're together and another two seconds after that for someone to ask. Raleigh and Mako just share a long look and ask for the next question. No answer. Neither one of them knows what to say anyway, because it's not that simple. It's not, oh we're dating now, and boyfriend and girlfriend because it's so much more than that. She's his co-pilot. She's the one who pulled him out of his depression and she's his moon and stars and sun and all that silly sounding stuff. Her grief is too new anyway, to even be thinking of sex.
Raleigh's perfectly content to hold her hand and let her use him as a pillow for as long as she needs. And when she rolls over one morning and presses her lips to his, he kisses back and they don't have to talk about that either.
When he proposes though, they play a little game with the media and the world. To see how long it takes someone to notice her ring. Granted, she's had it on her hand for about half a day but they went out grocery shopping earlier and she had it on then.]
So far nothing. [he announces as he wanders into the little bathroom off their bedroom.]
I'm gonna pop some tags. Only got twenty dollars in my pocket. I'm a-- I'm hunting, looking for a come up, this is fucking awesome.
[They're pretty much dating at this point, because they text all the time and make out even more and they don't just meet up at parties, but at coffee shops or the college library or to go take Max for a walk or for movies, both at the theater or at her place (not at his because his has his brother and Yancy is a dumbass who won't stop making kissy faces at them).
But they are at another party now and guess what came on the stereo and he's been singing along with the song and he's not sorry at all.]
I wear your granddad's clothes. I look incredible. I'm in this big ass coat from the thrift shop down the road.
[They're pretty much dating at this point, because they text all the time and make out even more and they don't just meet up at parties, but at coffee shops or the college library or to go take Max for a walk or for movies, both at the theater or at her place (not at his because his has his brother and Yancy is a dumbass who won't stop making kissy faces at them).
But they are at another party now and guess what came on the stereo and he's been singing along with the song and he's not sorry at all.]
I wear your granddad's clothes. I look incredible. I'm in this big ass coat from the thrift shop down the road.
[Raleigh spends most of his time at his brother's coffee shop, either working behind the counter or studying (because for some reason it's okay that Yancy never went to school, opened up a coffee place instead but Raleigh's getting his fucking BA or else). There's a handful of regulars who come through and Mako Mori is one of them. She's also in a lot of Raleigh's classes because she's an economics major with a focus in Japanese (which makes sense because she's from Japan so it's kinda dumb that she has to take classes about the language but there you go) and he's a linguistics major.
He also spends most of his time thinking about how amazing she is. How she corrects his pronunciations without any judgement. How her forehead wrinkles when she's thinking hard about something. How she can smile at him and his stomach does flip flops. How she seems stoic and calm but he's seen her rant about something before and she's so passionate about everything. How he has the biggest crush on her ever and how he doesn't even have her phone number. How Yancy's noticed the mooning and won't shut up about it.
(you two make me sick. It's like watching a puppy lust over a fire hydrant. Do us all a favor and ask her out before you start humping her leg)
But Raleigh's ignored him and thrown things at his head because he can't ask her out. They're friends, alright, and besides she'd never go out with him because he's a kid from Alaska who wears a lot of sweaters even in hot weather and she's going to change the world and also, did he mention that she's perfect? Because she is.
It's finals and he's claimed a table for his own at the shop, even though Yancy could use the help because he's not the only frantic, caffeine starved college kid around but Yancy actually kicked him out from behind the counter and threatened him with a spoon and he doesn't want to know what Yancy has planned for him and that spoon, so Raleigh pulls out his books and sends half murderous, half concerned looks over at his brother every once in a while.
It's starting to slow down a little when the door opens and in comes Mako and his hand is up and waving at her before he can stop it (it's possessed or something) and it's too late now. She's coming towards him and his table and he's pushing the other chair out with his foot (and oh my God, all of his limbs are betraying him).]
We can share if you want.
He also spends most of his time thinking about how amazing she is. How she corrects his pronunciations without any judgement. How her forehead wrinkles when she's thinking hard about something. How she can smile at him and his stomach does flip flops. How she seems stoic and calm but he's seen her rant about something before and she's so passionate about everything. How he has the biggest crush on her ever and how he doesn't even have her phone number. How Yancy's noticed the mooning and won't shut up about it.
(you two make me sick. It's like watching a puppy lust over a fire hydrant. Do us all a favor and ask her out before you start humping her leg)
But Raleigh's ignored him and thrown things at his head because he can't ask her out. They're friends, alright, and besides she'd never go out with him because he's a kid from Alaska who wears a lot of sweaters even in hot weather and she's going to change the world and also, did he mention that she's perfect? Because she is.
It's finals and he's claimed a table for his own at the shop, even though Yancy could use the help because he's not the only frantic, caffeine starved college kid around but Yancy actually kicked him out from behind the counter and threatened him with a spoon and he doesn't want to know what Yancy has planned for him and that spoon, so Raleigh pulls out his books and sends half murderous, half concerned looks over at his brother every once in a while.
It's starting to slow down a little when the door opens and in comes Mako and his hand is up and waving at her before he can stop it (it's possessed or something) and it's too late now. She's coming towards him and his table and he's pushing the other chair out with his foot (and oh my God, all of his limbs are betraying him).]
We can share if you want.
[Look, Chuck Hansen is pretty much the worst girl that Raleigh has ever met. Because she always has to be right and never let him do any of the work when they were lab partners and she's so stubborn and when she gets that mad look on her face, she thinks it's threatening but it's actually just adorable, she's crazy smart and doesn't hesitate to make sure you know, she's got Dad issues that make his Dad issues look like nothing.
She's also a good kisser, still in high school and he's a sophomore in college, neither of them are old enough to drink but that doesn't stop them from going to parties, drinking and then spending all night doing the dance of tongues.
But he hasn't slept with her or tried to do much more than that because Raleigh's a relationship kind of guy. He's careful with his dick (unlike some people, Yancy Becket) and he thinks he likes Chuck. He likes making out with her anyway and it's fun to make her laugh and trade shots and all that but he's got no clue if she likes him back like that.
Right now, Raleigh's brushing his teeth because he and Chuck have plans to go see a movie and then out of fucking nowhere a box comes flying into the bathroom and hits him in the face. It doesn't really hurt but he still winces and nearly chokes on his toothpasty spit and what the fuck, Yance, what if you'd taken out his eye?]
You raging asshole. [He says after he spits in the sink and that's when he notices what the box actually says. It's a box of condoms. He nearly lost his precious eye to a box of condoms.]
What's this?
She's also a good kisser, still in high school and he's a sophomore in college, neither of them are old enough to drink but that doesn't stop them from going to parties, drinking and then spending all night doing the dance of tongues.
But he hasn't slept with her or tried to do much more than that because Raleigh's a relationship kind of guy. He's careful with his dick (unlike some people, Yancy Becket) and he thinks he likes Chuck. He likes making out with her anyway and it's fun to make her laugh and trade shots and all that but he's got no clue if she likes him back like that.
Right now, Raleigh's brushing his teeth because he and Chuck have plans to go see a movie and then out of fucking nowhere a box comes flying into the bathroom and hits him in the face. It doesn't really hurt but he still winces and nearly chokes on his toothpasty spit and what the fuck, Yance, what if you'd taken out his eye?]
You raging asshole. [He says after he spits in the sink and that's when he notices what the box actually says. It's a box of condoms. He nearly lost his precious eye to a box of condoms.]
What's this?
fyi i took so long because each time i tried to type a response i would collapse into lulz
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bigblondmotherhen
- 2013-09-27 19:07 (UTC) - Expand
[Mako Mori is a blanket hog.
That's something about her that Raleigh didn't glean from the Drift, all three that they did in about thirty six hours, sometimes he thinks it's a wonder he still answers to Raleigh and not to her name, but apparently there's still stuff that he doesn't know. Like how she's six inches shorter than him and he's pretty sure she weighs a hundred pounds soaking wet and yet-- he's the one waking up in the middle of the night freezing cold because she wrapped herself up in the blankets like a little burrito.
He supposes that he should be grateful because a) he was sleeping and b) there weren't any nightmares but c) he's from Alaska, it takes a lot to make him cold and come on, Mako.
Raleigh sighs and reaches out to try and tug the blanket away from her, either give him one back or let him into the burrito. Actually, just do the latter.]
That's something about her that Raleigh didn't glean from the Drift, all three that they did in about thirty six hours, sometimes he thinks it's a wonder he still answers to Raleigh and not to her name, but apparently there's still stuff that he doesn't know. Like how she's six inches shorter than him and he's pretty sure she weighs a hundred pounds soaking wet and yet-- he's the one waking up in the middle of the night freezing cold because she wrapped herself up in the blankets like a little burrito.
He supposes that he should be grateful because a) he was sleeping and b) there weren't any nightmares but c) he's from Alaska, it takes a lot to make him cold and come on, Mako.
Raleigh sighs and reaches out to try and tug the blanket away from her, either give him one back or let him into the burrito. Actually, just do the latter.]
[She's a rat.
The whole thing was a set up. Starting with her arrest and ending with how she faked being fired from her job, and wormed her way into his life and his club and his heart and Raleigh doesn't know which one he's more upset about. The club he's so loyal to, will defend it to his death (but sometimes, he thinks he's that loyal because he expects it to kill him sooner or later and that wouldn't be such a bad thing), will do time before he turns on them. Because it's not glamorous and it's not legal and it's dangerous but it's the only thing since Yancy that's made him feel alive, like he's got a purpose, and he so desperately needed a purpose.
Being with Mako gets his heart going and makes him feel alive in a different way and fuck, all she had to do was smile at him and things didn't seem quite as dark and the sex, holy shit, he's never felt anything like that, even when Yancy was alive.
And Mako was using him to get close to Chau.
He trusted her, loved her even and he just... he doesn't know if he still does. Thinks he does and that fucking sucks. The urge to shut down like he did after his brother's death is strong and he does the best he can, except that Mako is so far under his skin that it's an itch he can't make better. Raleigh doesn't know what he's going to do, the club doesn't know or they'd all be down here with guns blazing to take her out. He only found out because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time apparently. Saw her with someone he didn't recognize, followed the guy and didn't like what he found. Hasn't said anything to anyone because he wants to give her the chance to defend herself.
Thinks about killing her, knows he won't be able to, knows that he doesn't want the club to do it for him either, and so after they talk, she's got to be gone. She has to be. Because he won't keep this secret from the boys and she won't survive in this city once they know, so she has to leave and never come back.
Since they started sleeping together, started this relationship, he's smoked less, hasn't needed the vice but today he's gone through at least a pack waiting for her to come back to his place. He can hear Yancy in his head, pointing that smoking is stupid and unhealthy and remember what killed Mom, you idiot, shut up Yancy, this is a time that calls for it. Raleigh keeps lighting a cigarette up and then putting it out half done so it's not as bad as it looks.]
The whole thing was a set up. Starting with her arrest and ending with how she faked being fired from her job, and wormed her way into his life and his club and his heart and Raleigh doesn't know which one he's more upset about. The club he's so loyal to, will defend it to his death (but sometimes, he thinks he's that loyal because he expects it to kill him sooner or later and that wouldn't be such a bad thing), will do time before he turns on them. Because it's not glamorous and it's not legal and it's dangerous but it's the only thing since Yancy that's made him feel alive, like he's got a purpose, and he so desperately needed a purpose.
Being with Mako gets his heart going and makes him feel alive in a different way and fuck, all she had to do was smile at him and things didn't seem quite as dark and the sex, holy shit, he's never felt anything like that, even when Yancy was alive.
And Mako was using him to get close to Chau.
He trusted her, loved her even and he just... he doesn't know if he still does. Thinks he does and that fucking sucks. The urge to shut down like he did after his brother's death is strong and he does the best he can, except that Mako is so far under his skin that it's an itch he can't make better. Raleigh doesn't know what he's going to do, the club doesn't know or they'd all be down here with guns blazing to take her out. He only found out because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time apparently. Saw her with someone he didn't recognize, followed the guy and didn't like what he found. Hasn't said anything to anyone because he wants to give her the chance to defend herself.
Thinks about killing her, knows he won't be able to, knows that he doesn't want the club to do it for him either, and so after they talk, she's got to be gone. She has to be. Because he won't keep this secret from the boys and she won't survive in this city once they know, so she has to leave and never come back.
Since they started sleeping together, started this relationship, he's smoked less, hasn't needed the vice but today he's gone through at least a pack waiting for her to come back to his place. He can hear Yancy in his head, pointing that smoking is stupid and unhealthy and remember what killed Mom, you idiot, shut up Yancy, this is a time that calls for it. Raleigh keeps lighting a cigarette up and then putting it out half done so it's not as bad as it looks.]
[They go to Japan first, mostly because it's closer to Hong Kong. Raleigh and Mako start in Tokyo, find that exact same alleyway from her memories (now his memories, it feels just as real to him as it does to her) and just stand there, holding hands for the longest time before they leave. Go visit her childhood village, a place she hasn't been since the day of Onibaba and that feels like goodbye too.
Then it's Alaska and his home. The Beckets lived all over the world growing up, thanks to Dad's job, spent a few months in Europe, in Central America, in Japan too actually but that wasn't an important enough blip to ever go back there. But Alaska is always going to be home for him. It's where the Beckets had their permanent home, and where they stayed after Dad left and Mom got sick. It's where he fought with Yancy in Gipsy Danger. Mako's been before but she's been to Kodiak and not the Alaska that he knows. And he takes her to local places, like this burger place that he and Yancy loved and the best place to see the aurora, to the high school he barely got his diploma from. Takes her to visit his mom and Yancy too (which really means their graves but the idea is there and she treats as solemnly as if she were meeting them for the first time in person and not just in his memories). Would introduce her to Jazmine except that he hasn't talked to his sister in like ten years, kinda burned that bridge to the ground when he avoided her after Yancy died and he might have just saved the world but he's honestly a little afraid of her. Afraid of the anger she might have for him, that he deserves, afraid that she still won't want anything to do with him, afraid she'll punch him and she's got one hell of a right hook but of course she does because Yancy taught her how to throw one.
So they skip that part of the home tour and start on seeing the world together. Raleigh's been to a lot of places in the States, and likes showing her the things he remembers. Likes going to the beach with her and watching the sunset. Likes climbing a fourteener in the Rocky Mountains. Likes taking her to the Hollywood sign. Likes taking her to a baseball game because she's never been and he's not the biggest baseball fan, prefers hockey but it's still fun to be there. Turns kind of awkward when they're recognized (and it wasn't a question of if, it was when) and put on the big screen and yeah, here they are. Mako Mori and Raleigh Becket go to baseball games like everyone else.
Raleigh wants to ask what that means but he's pretty sure he won't like the answer.
The baseball game's just the beginning though, like doing something that simple has put people on Becket and Mori watch and suddenly, even going to the grocery store is headline worthy. It's not, Raleigh's fucking starving and he just wants a protein bar and a pre made sandwich, gets one of each for Mako too and grabs a bottle of tea for them both and people take pictures of him with their phones, he doesn't get it. It feels like playing where's Waldo? but with the entire world and sometimes it can be fun, to trick the people that think they know them so well, but mostly it's not.
Mostly it eventually boils up and over the point where Raleigh loses his cool. They're in Europe now, Italy specifically but there's a leaning tower he's always wanted to see and never got the chance, even when his family lived in Budapest. And there's this reporter, following them around all day with a camera and a recorder, asking questions in English and Italian and Raleigh doesn't even speak Italian so what the fuck. He finally has to stop and starts telling the guy off and that doesn't work, the guy just keeps pushing, asks him if he's fucking Mako (exact quote there) and Raleigh doesn't make the conscious decision to punch him but he does. And of course the reporter has friends who jump in and then Mako jumps in and here they are, in a holding cell in Italy, arrested for disturbing the peace.]
Then it's Alaska and his home. The Beckets lived all over the world growing up, thanks to Dad's job, spent a few months in Europe, in Central America, in Japan too actually but that wasn't an important enough blip to ever go back there. But Alaska is always going to be home for him. It's where the Beckets had their permanent home, and where they stayed after Dad left and Mom got sick. It's where he fought with Yancy in Gipsy Danger. Mako's been before but she's been to Kodiak and not the Alaska that he knows. And he takes her to local places, like this burger place that he and Yancy loved and the best place to see the aurora, to the high school he barely got his diploma from. Takes her to visit his mom and Yancy too (which really means their graves but the idea is there and she treats as solemnly as if she were meeting them for the first time in person and not just in his memories). Would introduce her to Jazmine except that he hasn't talked to his sister in like ten years, kinda burned that bridge to the ground when he avoided her after Yancy died and he might have just saved the world but he's honestly a little afraid of her. Afraid of the anger she might have for him, that he deserves, afraid that she still won't want anything to do with him, afraid she'll punch him and she's got one hell of a right hook but of course she does because Yancy taught her how to throw one.
So they skip that part of the home tour and start on seeing the world together. Raleigh's been to a lot of places in the States, and likes showing her the things he remembers. Likes going to the beach with her and watching the sunset. Likes climbing a fourteener in the Rocky Mountains. Likes taking her to the Hollywood sign. Likes taking her to a baseball game because she's never been and he's not the biggest baseball fan, prefers hockey but it's still fun to be there. Turns kind of awkward when they're recognized (and it wasn't a question of if, it was when) and put on the big screen and yeah, here they are. Mako Mori and Raleigh Becket go to baseball games like everyone else.
Raleigh wants to ask what that means but he's pretty sure he won't like the answer.
The baseball game's just the beginning though, like doing something that simple has put people on Becket and Mori watch and suddenly, even going to the grocery store is headline worthy. It's not, Raleigh's fucking starving and he just wants a protein bar and a pre made sandwich, gets one of each for Mako too and grabs a bottle of tea for them both and people take pictures of him with their phones, he doesn't get it. It feels like playing where's Waldo? but with the entire world and sometimes it can be fun, to trick the people that think they know them so well, but mostly it's not.
Mostly it eventually boils up and over the point where Raleigh loses his cool. They're in Europe now, Italy specifically but there's a leaning tower he's always wanted to see and never got the chance, even when his family lived in Budapest. And there's this reporter, following them around all day with a camera and a recorder, asking questions in English and Italian and Raleigh doesn't even speak Italian so what the fuck. He finally has to stop and starts telling the guy off and that doesn't work, the guy just keeps pushing, asks him if he's fucking Mako (exact quote there) and Raleigh doesn't make the conscious decision to punch him but he does. And of course the reporter has friends who jump in and then Mako jumps in and here they are, in a holding cell in Italy, arrested for disturbing the peace.]
[He doesn't remember falling asleep but he must have because the sun's up now and it definitely was not when he finally made it back to his apartment tonight. Last night. Some night.
It's simple, a job went south. That's it, there's not much to tell. What should have been a simple drop off, and payment collection turned out to not be very simple and shots were fired and punches thrown and thank God, he didn't get shot but he definitely took a few to the face. And the ribs.
Raleigh made it home but barely. Remembers Mako nearly throwing a fight and he was alternatively touched and irritated. It's just a couple of ribs and even if they are broken, there's nothing a hospital can do for him. Hand him some pain pills and tell him not to push himself too much. She gets that, he thinks, and hospitals come with questions and he didn't bring her to one after she was stabbed either, because she didn't want to.
When he wakes up though, there is a distinct lack of Mako in his close vicinity, which means groping around the bed with one eye open to find her and when he doesn't feel her, he groans. Groans and forces himself up even though it hurts to sit up.]
Mako?
It's simple, a job went south. That's it, there's not much to tell. What should have been a simple drop off, and payment collection turned out to not be very simple and shots were fired and punches thrown and thank God, he didn't get shot but he definitely took a few to the face. And the ribs.
Raleigh made it home but barely. Remembers Mako nearly throwing a fight and he was alternatively touched and irritated. It's just a couple of ribs and even if they are broken, there's nothing a hospital can do for him. Hand him some pain pills and tell him not to push himself too much. She gets that, he thinks, and hospitals come with questions and he didn't bring her to one after she was stabbed either, because she didn't want to.
When he wakes up though, there is a distinct lack of Mako in his close vicinity, which means groping around the bed with one eye open to find her and when he doesn't feel her, he groans. Groans and forces himself up even though it hurts to sit up.]
Mako?
I'm sorry.
[ The Doctor says it to Raleigh and Mako both, because the worst is yet to come for the both of them. He knows, at length, the strength of their neural connection, the way it keeps them bound together, heart and mind and soul. He knows how it makes them one, when they're quiet and they speak in mutual glances, thoughts conveying a richer gamut of emotion and sentiment. The Doctor knows it all, when they make each other whole and happy, introducing a brand new frontier of intimacy never before achieved by humanity.
Not like this, not like them.
The Doctor knows, too, the pain of their inevitable separation -- when he finally must disconnect the signal encoded from an unknown sender, when he discovers that it's their connection, the inscrutable power of their unified desire to be with each other that boosts the signal that maintains Mako's flesh avatar, a perfect carbon copy of her, complete with her own mind, her own heart; the consciousness that is Mako Mori keeping the avatar alive and strong, spying on the Doctor in plain sight.
With enough will, you can move a mountain. He has to be impressed at the enterprising nature of his unseen enemies, savvy enough to use the one thing more resilient than hope, stronger than faith: love.
He doesn't tell Raleigh that the woman he holds in his arms is not quite Mako, even if it is, in all essence, her. He doesn't tell Raleigh that even through the infinite reaches of all of space and time, they could still be so impossibly intertwined, and breaking it would introduce a pain unlike any other, an aching, yawning loss; a hole punched into the fabric of their very selves.
"I'm sorry," the Doctor says when takes this gamble, severs the connection with the unwavering glow of his sonic screwdriver, and he kills something that day to save them both. The flesh (a living, breathing organism with Mako's face, her personality, her nature, who deserved also to live), and now Mako is nothing where she used to be, vanished from Raleigh's stubborn grip and, very temporarily, from his mind and heart and soul.
They will find her again, and soon; they'll find out where she's been and take her back from the grasp of his adversaries. Mako is strong, and so is Raleigh, and the silence will only be temporary. Even the Doctor cannot, after all, permanently compromise their neural link, only buy enough time to slip in under the radar of their perpetrators and take her back from them. "Bear with it, Raleigh. What you're feeling right now -- it's only temporary. " The Doctor doesn't think twice when he makes this call (he doesn't think about how she screams Raleigh's name in her prison, hundreds and hundreds of light years away because they've never once been separated, not for anything, not even in the most dire of times -- no, they faced those times and fought, together), when he makes the choice for them because he can, and he must. ]
She's still out there, fighting her way back to us. We just have to find her first.
[It's exactly like losing Yancy all over again. Only it's worse because it's Mako and you don't Drift with someone three times in about a day and walk away from them. Not ever, not even if he wanted to, not even if he could draw the line in the sand and say this is Mako's and this is mine, because it's not that simple. It's theirs and they're both all each other has left in life, even their girl Gipsy is gone and that loss hurts too, the only thing that makes it manageable is that she served her purpose. Went down with a fight.
Raleigh loves his brother, misses him every single day, would still do just about anything to get him back even if he's more or less made his peace with his mistakes that night. The silence that follows after Mako like, literally melts in his arms into a puddle of... something, it's worse than that cold February morning. It's worse because he doesn't have anything to fight against in that moment, doesn't have the imminent threat of a kaiju trying to kill him to make him focus, to fight to live and kill the son of a bitch that took his brother, doesn't even have the Jaeger to stumble back to shore in and he still doesn't know how he did it, how he walked Gipsy back to shore on his own without seizing but he did.
The Doctor raises his screwdriver and that buzzing is all he can hear in his head. It's the sound of the silence, where one second Mako was there and bright, her mind brushing against his like it has for so long now, and then it's just gone and he'd liken it to being a rock concert for several hours and then stepping outside and realizing you can't hear anything. To being thrown head first into a brick wall just to see what would happen. He can see the Doctor talking, sees his mouth move but for the life of him, Raleigh can't make sense of it. His head is screaming for Mako's, where is she, where did she go, is she dead, mako mako mako mako no come back please don't leave no and it hurts so much so suddenly that fainting would probably be a mercy.
He doesn't faint, he just sees the Doctor and he doesn't think, doesn't try to rationalize what just happened, Mako's gone, not in another part of the TARDIS, not trapped somewhere, gone and it's the Doctor's fault and Raleigh walks right up to him and punches him.]
Raleigh loves his brother, misses him every single day, would still do just about anything to get him back even if he's more or less made his peace with his mistakes that night. The silence that follows after Mako like, literally melts in his arms into a puddle of... something, it's worse than that cold February morning. It's worse because he doesn't have anything to fight against in that moment, doesn't have the imminent threat of a kaiju trying to kill him to make him focus, to fight to live and kill the son of a bitch that took his brother, doesn't even have the Jaeger to stumble back to shore in and he still doesn't know how he did it, how he walked Gipsy back to shore on his own without seizing but he did.
The Doctor raises his screwdriver and that buzzing is all he can hear in his head. It's the sound of the silence, where one second Mako was there and bright, her mind brushing against his like it has for so long now, and then it's just gone and he'd liken it to being a rock concert for several hours and then stepping outside and realizing you can't hear anything. To being thrown head first into a brick wall just to see what would happen. He can see the Doctor talking, sees his mouth move but for the life of him, Raleigh can't make sense of it. His head is screaming for Mako's, where is she, where did she go, is she dead, mako mako mako mako no come back please don't leave no and it hurts so much so suddenly that fainting would probably be a mercy.
He doesn't faint, he just sees the Doctor and he doesn't think, doesn't try to rationalize what just happened, Mako's gone, not in another part of the TARDIS, not trapped somewhere, gone and it's the Doctor's fault and Raleigh walks right up to him and punches him.]
ASKJDHAKSJHDKJHF STOP it's because you give me so many beautiful things to work with ;~;
continuities
- 2013-10-06 02:29 (UTC) - Expand
[The Doctor gives them a room with bunk beds in it. Bunk beds. Mako and Raleigh exchange one look and start laughing because if he's trying to say something, or implement separate sleeping arrangements, then it's not going to work. And if they can squeeze into the beds in the PPDC, then they can make it work here too. It's not even sexually driven, though that is part of their relationship and probably what the Doctor was trying to prevent, but more like they don't know how to survive without the other one there at night, curled and tangled up in each other like human squids.
Why they made the decision to travel with the Doctor was pretty simple. After Pitfall, life was kind of boring. Oh they still had the Jaeger program, apparently you save the world with one and suddenly the government recognizes that they're worthwhile investments and no one anticipates the breach reopening (besides Hermann who says it's a mathematical possibility but that's not a yes or no) but natural disasters are still a thing and Jaegers can be used to bring in supplies, get people out, help with relief efforts.
But after fighting kaiju-- it's boring on Earth. So when the Doctor drops into their lives in his blue box and offers them the stars, they don't have to say anything to each other, the decision's already made.
Raleigh's not sure if he likes the Doctor, he's pretty weird a lot of the time but he seems to have that same love of humanity but dislike of crowds of people around him all the time that Raleigh does, and it's a common ground they can work with. The Doctor seems sadder than Raleigh could ever imagine and he wants to ask why but understands why the Doctor doesn't volunteer the information either, because he wouldn't. He doesn't either actually, say anything about his brother, that is and that works for them too.
Mako's making tea while the Doctor and Raleigh are in the main console room, the Doctor telling stories about his previous travels.]
Wait. It actually had a city on it's back?
Why they made the decision to travel with the Doctor was pretty simple. After Pitfall, life was kind of boring. Oh they still had the Jaeger program, apparently you save the world with one and suddenly the government recognizes that they're worthwhile investments and no one anticipates the breach reopening (besides Hermann who says it's a mathematical possibility but that's not a yes or no) but natural disasters are still a thing and Jaegers can be used to bring in supplies, get people out, help with relief efforts.
But after fighting kaiju-- it's boring on Earth. So when the Doctor drops into their lives in his blue box and offers them the stars, they don't have to say anything to each other, the decision's already made.
Raleigh's not sure if he likes the Doctor, he's pretty weird a lot of the time but he seems to have that same love of humanity but dislike of crowds of people around him all the time that Raleigh does, and it's a common ground they can work with. The Doctor seems sadder than Raleigh could ever imagine and he wants to ask why but understands why the Doctor doesn't volunteer the information either, because he wouldn't. He doesn't either actually, say anything about his brother, that is and that works for them too.
Mako's making tea while the Doctor and Raleigh are in the main console room, the Doctor telling stories about his previous travels.]
Wait. It actually had a city on it's back?
[ It doesn't end well. In Mako's dreams, she's conscious, stranded in the middle of an ocean with a body heavy in her arms. His last words to her are a ghost of a whisper, branded into her consciousness like a living testament -- "All I have to do is fall. Anyone can fall." His last words to her are selfish.
She twists, turns, caught in memory and nightmare, not of monsters but of loss, a painful, staggering emptiness that hollows out what's left of her heart and leaves her cold. Raleigh is unmoving in her arms and she buries a sob in his shoulder; this time he doesn't cough, doesn't strain against her and tell her she's holding on too tight. I can't feel his pulse. Help him; I can't feel his pulse.
But help doesn't come; there is radio silence on the other end and she is terribly, frightfully alone. She's lost her teacher, her father-figure -- she can't lose him, too. Not like this, not when he's the only thing she has left. Her prayers fall on deaf ears, tears burning in her eyes, on her cheeks, "Don't go. Please, don't go.", and she knows he's gone where she can't follow -- where only hours before they knew they were going to make one last stand together, to take up the fight and keep going because it's what they do as Rangers, as co-pilots, walking down the same road come hell or high water. It's the pact they've made in the Drift; they came as one, they stay as one, and now he's left without her and she wants to hit him, she wants to shake him so hard that he wakes.
But he doesn't, and Mako's sob echoes in her slumber, muffled against her pillow. Her loss turns her thoughts turbulent, chaotic, a powerful wave of profound grief washing over her consciousness because she'd lost him, she'd lost such a key part of herself and there's nothing, nothing left for her. Mako tosses and turns, and the lifeboat starts to sink beneath the waters, taking the both of them with it. She doesn't care, not when the hurt sits so deeply, so painfully in her chest. Raleigh. Raleigh, don't go. Wake up, please. Wake up, for me. ]
Edited 2013-10-04 17:29 (UTC)
[For once, she wakes him up.
Not that Raleigh is waking her up all the time with nightmares, though he does still get one every once in a while, where he's right back in Gipsy and her left arm is gone and the kaiju is tearing through her chest, and then the hull in the conn pod and reaching in and plucking Yancy out, a memory so powerful that he still screams out Yancy's name in his sleep sometimes, even five years later.
But he usually just doesn't sleep that much. Makes do with five, six hours of sleep because that's what he's used to, that's all his body needs and it's always been more or less like that with him, he always had more energy that everyone around him.
Mako's dream seeps into his sleep, there's no way around that, the way they're entwined in each other, mentally and physically. It starts when she grabs his shoulder in her sleep, the bad one for the record but it's not the pain that wakes him, it's the way that her fingernails dig into his skin and the way that he's hit with a deep wave of loss and wake up wake up wake up wake up Raleigh that he has no choice but to wake the fuck up right then and there.]
Mako.
[If she weren't so obviously in pain, caught in the middle of a nightmare, Raleigh would be amazed at how strong she is. That even her bad memories are so strong, she feels it with her entire body. It's almost like when he threw them out of alignment in the Drift and she went down the rabbit hole but right now he doesn't just have to stand there and yell at her uselessly and watch a little girl sob with terror. Now he can reach out, grab her shoulders, shake her, ground her, be there for her, pull her out of it.]
Mako. Wake up. It's just a dream, Mako.
Not that Raleigh is waking her up all the time with nightmares, though he does still get one every once in a while, where he's right back in Gipsy and her left arm is gone and the kaiju is tearing through her chest, and then the hull in the conn pod and reaching in and plucking Yancy out, a memory so powerful that he still screams out Yancy's name in his sleep sometimes, even five years later.
But he usually just doesn't sleep that much. Makes do with five, six hours of sleep because that's what he's used to, that's all his body needs and it's always been more or less like that with him, he always had more energy that everyone around him.
Mako's dream seeps into his sleep, there's no way around that, the way they're entwined in each other, mentally and physically. It starts when she grabs his shoulder in her sleep, the bad one for the record but it's not the pain that wakes him, it's the way that her fingernails dig into his skin and the way that he's hit with a deep wave of loss and wake up wake up wake up wake up Raleigh that he has no choice but to wake the fuck up right then and there.]
Mako.
[If she weren't so obviously in pain, caught in the middle of a nightmare, Raleigh would be amazed at how strong she is. That even her bad memories are so strong, she feels it with her entire body. It's almost like when he threw them out of alignment in the Drift and she went down the rabbit hole but right now he doesn't just have to stand there and yell at her uselessly and watch a little girl sob with terror. Now he can reach out, grab her shoulders, shake her, ground her, be there for her, pull her out of it.]
Mako. Wake up. It's just a dream, Mako.
[He finds the test in the trash, and don't ask what he was doing going through the trash, he thought he dropped his toothbrush in there and he grabbed the pregnancy test thinking it was that and yeah, no not brushing his teeth with that. A quick search for the box tells him what the little lines mean. Two lines means pregnant.
Well, fuck is the first thought through his head and shit, that sounds bad but it's not like that. Okay, it is like that but it's good he didn't say it out loud even to himself. Raleigh never really wanted to be a father, to be perfectly honest. Being a dad and having a family of his own sometime was Yancy's thing and Raleigh never put much thought into it, never met a girl that he really entertained those kinds of thoughts about for a very long because having a family to him means being in a long term committed relationship, getting married, and all that. That's just what he grew up with in his head, he's not really the kind of guy for one night stands or casual fucks and that's always worked just fine for him in the past, so why bother changing it.
Mako's obviously not anything like a casual relationship. She's his entire world, she's the one thing that could ever have made him turn away from the club, she's the reason he made that deal in the end and brought all of Chau's organization down, she's the reason he took the gamble and went against his own sense of loyalty, she's the one thing he insisted on when he signed the deal. He'll spill whatever they want but they had to protect her too. He'd go wherever they said, call himself whatever they wanted but she had to come with him. They had to be put together because fuck knows, she was going to have to disappear too.
Witness protection isn't glamorous, not that anyone would think that. It's literally uprooting from your previous life and cutting all the ties there. It's easier for Raleigh, who had nothing but a group of men like brothers that he betrayed and an estranged sister to leave behind but Mako has to cut contact with her FBI contacts, with her adoptive father and mentor and they never talk about it but Raleigh knows that's not an easy thing for her.
When he finds that test, his entire world shifts on its axis. They've been pretty safe in their new life, but that doesn't mean shit if the members of the club who managed to avoid prison find them, if Chau's friends hunt them down and there's guns stashed all over the house for this exact reason. Having a kid makes it more complicated, makes it harder, makes it so there's something else for them to lose if this all crashes down around them.
It would make the most sense to keep it simple, to get rid of it but Raleigh's mind immediately rebels against this plan the second he thinks of it. He doesn't care about sense, he cares that she's carrying his child and it might just be like an inch big right now but it's still his family. And he can't let anything happen to his family. He's lost so much of it that he'll cling to a baby that hardly resembles a person right now and fight to the death for it. Fuck, he wants a kid and don't ask where that urge came from, he's not sure either but he doesn't want her to get rid of it.
And wait, shit--]
Mako!
Well, fuck is the first thought through his head and shit, that sounds bad but it's not like that. Okay, it is like that but it's good he didn't say it out loud even to himself. Raleigh never really wanted to be a father, to be perfectly honest. Being a dad and having a family of his own sometime was Yancy's thing and Raleigh never put much thought into it, never met a girl that he really entertained those kinds of thoughts about for a very long because having a family to him means being in a long term committed relationship, getting married, and all that. That's just what he grew up with in his head, he's not really the kind of guy for one night stands or casual fucks and that's always worked just fine for him in the past, so why bother changing it.
Mako's obviously not anything like a casual relationship. She's his entire world, she's the one thing that could ever have made him turn away from the club, she's the reason he made that deal in the end and brought all of Chau's organization down, she's the reason he took the gamble and went against his own sense of loyalty, she's the one thing he insisted on when he signed the deal. He'll spill whatever they want but they had to protect her too. He'd go wherever they said, call himself whatever they wanted but she had to come with him. They had to be put together because fuck knows, she was going to have to disappear too.
Witness protection isn't glamorous, not that anyone would think that. It's literally uprooting from your previous life and cutting all the ties there. It's easier for Raleigh, who had nothing but a group of men like brothers that he betrayed and an estranged sister to leave behind but Mako has to cut contact with her FBI contacts, with her adoptive father and mentor and they never talk about it but Raleigh knows that's not an easy thing for her.
When he finds that test, his entire world shifts on its axis. They've been pretty safe in their new life, but that doesn't mean shit if the members of the club who managed to avoid prison find them, if Chau's friends hunt them down and there's guns stashed all over the house for this exact reason. Having a kid makes it more complicated, makes it harder, makes it so there's something else for them to lose if this all crashes down around them.
It would make the most sense to keep it simple, to get rid of it but Raleigh's mind immediately rebels against this plan the second he thinks of it. He doesn't care about sense, he cares that she's carrying his child and it might just be like an inch big right now but it's still his family. And he can't let anything happen to his family. He's lost so much of it that he'll cling to a baby that hardly resembles a person right now and fight to the death for it. Fuck, he wants a kid and don't ask where that urge came from, he's not sure either but he doesn't want her to get rid of it.
And wait, shit--]
Mako!
[Honestly-- he's been meaning to ask this for a while. Just hasn't found the right moment or the right courage or just the right ring even. He doesn't like any of the ones that he's seen and he hasn't really gone looking because he's serious about it but not right now and it's Mako, so there's no rush.
But there is his big dumb mouth.
It takes a couple of years before the frenzy really starts to die down, before Raleigh can go to get a can of pop from the store and people don't follow him around like lost little ducks. Where he and Mako can settle into the rest of their lives. The PPDC is still around, turning into a private business, using Jaeger tech for research and that's right up Mako's alley. Raleigh is trying to go to school to be an architect, trying being the operative word because he's actually enrolled but it's hard to study when his book is on the other side of the bed and Mako's on top of him, all warm and half dressed and yeah okay, they had sex a while ago (and it was awesome). But sometimes, they're just a pair of teenagers and they like to just make out, slow and tender and like they're still exploring, trying to map each other out when really, it's like traveling over an old familiar road together.
But anyway, Raleigh gets a chance to breathe and opens his big mouth and--]
Marry me.
But there is his big dumb mouth.
It takes a couple of years before the frenzy really starts to die down, before Raleigh can go to get a can of pop from the store and people don't follow him around like lost little ducks. Where he and Mako can settle into the rest of their lives. The PPDC is still around, turning into a private business, using Jaeger tech for research and that's right up Mako's alley. Raleigh is trying to go to school to be an architect, trying being the operative word because he's actually enrolled but it's hard to study when his book is on the other side of the bed and Mako's on top of him, all warm and half dressed and yeah okay, they had sex a while ago (and it was awesome). But sometimes, they're just a pair of teenagers and they like to just make out, slow and tender and like they're still exploring, trying to map each other out when really, it's like traveling over an old familiar road together.
But anyway, Raleigh gets a chance to breathe and opens his big mouth and--]
Marry me.
it's a beautiful night, we're looking for somethin' dumb to do - hey baby, i think i wanna marry you
fissions
- 2013-10-21 13:49 (UTC) - Expandyou know one of these days when i get my money right, buy you everything
raleighs
- 2013-10-21 23:55 (UTC) - Expandexcellent bb you know i'll throw my hand on a blade for ya
fissions
- 2013-10-22 11:27 (UTC) - Expand
[Maybe it was a bad idea to celebrate the end of their press tour (that lasted for six months he might add) with a bottle of sake split between the two of them. Because he's not really sure about her but he's a chronic lightweight and splitting a bottle of anything with him is a bad idea.
Especially since like-- he's a handsy drunk. You wouldn't think that, just looking at him, but he hasn't stopped touching Mako since that first shot, her hair, her shoulder, her hand, her hip. They haven't got anywhere to be the next day and they're tangled up on the bed together and it's just.. easy.
And he's singing and he's so embarrassing, if she was smart, she'd drop him like a sack of kaiju shit and never speak to him again. It starts off fine, just a silly pop song that she actually put in his head during one of their first Drifts, and then it changes-- into Brel. Who only sings in French by the way.
So that's Raleigh Becket, singing French love songs from the 1950s at his lady love. Deal with it.]
Especially since like-- he's a handsy drunk. You wouldn't think that, just looking at him, but he hasn't stopped touching Mako since that first shot, her hair, her shoulder, her hand, her hip. They haven't got anywhere to be the next day and they're tangled up on the bed together and it's just.. easy.
And he's singing and he's so embarrassing, if she was smart, she'd drop him like a sack of kaiju shit and never speak to him again. It starts off fine, just a silly pop song that she actually put in his head during one of their first Drifts, and then it changes-- into Brel. Who only sings in French by the way.
So that's Raleigh Becket, singing French love songs from the 1950s at his lady love. Deal with it.]
[When Mako leaves for the clinic in this life, Raleigh packs a bag and makes a call. He calls probably the last person anyone ever expects him to, even himself and that person is his sister. He still has her number in his phone, though it's just labeled as J and no one else knows about her because he never talks about her because she stopped talking to him years ago, long before Yancy died, so he's pretty sure that even Chau had no idea about her.
He knows for a fact that Mako has no idea he's one of three siblings and not just two.
So he calls Jazmine, and he takes his bag and he disappears from this little life that witness protection set up for him and Mako because he can't do this. He can't stay there with her anymore. He loves her so much and he's never really asked her for anything and the one time he has, it's just-- he's not being petty. He doesn't think so anyway. This is a pretty big thing to disagree one and it's hitting all of the buttons related to his brother and not in the good way and he just-- he's out.
It's totally fucking awkward with Jazmine at first. She wants to know about his tattoos and why he smokes now and where he's been this entire time and he just-- doesn't want to talk about any of it. And they snip at each other for two weeks before he finally cracks and tells her everything. The club. Mako. How he killed the drunk driver that killed their brother. How he cut a deal. How Mako wouldn't listen to him and keep their baby and he maybe cries on her shoulder a little bit but she lets it happen.
And that's the story of how Raleigh ends up working construction in Boston, which is totally not glamorous and living with his sister is alternatively awful and good at the same time but it's better than it would've been if he'd stayed. Or that's what he tells himself.]
He knows for a fact that Mako has no idea he's one of three siblings and not just two.
So he calls Jazmine, and he takes his bag and he disappears from this little life that witness protection set up for him and Mako because he can't do this. He can't stay there with her anymore. He loves her so much and he's never really asked her for anything and the one time he has, it's just-- he's not being petty. He doesn't think so anyway. This is a pretty big thing to disagree one and it's hitting all of the buttons related to his brother and not in the good way and he just-- he's out.
It's totally fucking awkward with Jazmine at first. She wants to know about his tattoos and why he smokes now and where he's been this entire time and he just-- doesn't want to talk about any of it. And they snip at each other for two weeks before he finally cracks and tells her everything. The club. Mako. How he killed the drunk driver that killed their brother. How he cut a deal. How Mako wouldn't listen to him and keep their baby and he maybe cries on her shoulder a little bit but she lets it happen.
And that's the story of how Raleigh ends up working construction in Boston, which is totally not glamorous and living with his sister is alternatively awful and good at the same time but it's better than it would've been if he'd stayed. Or that's what he tells himself.]
[ It's a great night for the team; they'd just won the Stanley Cup after months and years of grueling practice and all the blood, sweat and tears every one of the members had put in. The bar is full of supporters and fans, rowdy and in high spirits, with beer flowing like water and everywhere she looks, everyone's recounting the glorious moment that had transpired, the plays that had gone down that night.
Mako has never been happier, because victory is a sweet, sweet thing and they had deserved it after all the work they had put in, all the effort Stacker had put into the team, and not forgetting the team members themselves. She mingles with the team, all of whom are so much a part of her; family members who'd stuck together through thick and thin, but her eye doesn't wander far from Raleigh, even if his time is taken up by his team-mates, well-wishers, and anyone who wanted to thump him on the back.
Tonight's his night, tonight belongs to everyone on the team, and she smiles behind her glass of beer when the girlfriends of the respective members start to come in, and someone cranks up the jukebox. ]
[At this point, Raleigh isn't entirely sure if people keep hitting him on the back because he scored the winning goal or because five minutes after that, after the handshake line, but before the cup was presented to the team, he grabbed their assistant coach and kissed her hard-- on live television.
Worse, right in front of her father who is also the head coach and could kick him down to the minors but he's pretty sure he wouldn't even care because she kissed him back and he's floating on air.
Winning the cup helps a lot with that feeling, because it was his and Yance's dream since they were little kids, because when Yancy died, Raleigh thought his hockey career was over but then Mako came along and demanded better of him and he fell in love with her somewhere along the way.
He's just tipsy enough and so fucking happy that when someone passes a microphone into his hand, he takes it with a laugh and starts singing the first stupid, cheesy love song that pops into his head. Guess who that's for.]
Worse, right in front of her father who is also the head coach and could kick him down to the minors but he's pretty sure he wouldn't even care because she kissed him back and he's floating on air.
Winning the cup helps a lot with that feeling, because it was his and Yance's dream since they were little kids, because when Yancy died, Raleigh thought his hockey career was over but then Mako came along and demanded better of him and he fell in love with her somewhere along the way.
He's just tipsy enough and so fucking happy that when someone passes a microphone into his hand, he takes it with a laugh and starts singing the first stupid, cheesy love song that pops into his head. Guess who that's for.]
two goals in 17 seconds.
[ They're nearing the last five minutes of the game, with a losing score of 2 - 1 for the final and the pressure is palpable. One can only plan for so much up to this day, run through that many plays and strategies and the rest is up to the players, to all that they had taken away for the past few months. Mako's eyes are glued to her teammates, her boys -- they're in top form tonight but it's not enough. They need a victory, with every second that ticks by she knows that the window is getting smaller.
Her knuckles are white over the clipboard, over the lists of strategems she had employed, the details of every team members strengths and weaknesses, each used to full advantage to form a cohesive unit. It's a game that matters so much more -- if they could secure the Stanley Cup tonight, they would make history, for the first time in fifty years they would win, and Mako's mouth is dry.
Please win, she thinks, when she sees Raleigh streaking past; they have their star player back and it means something, it means everything.
Two minutes left, and they score to a tie -- ensuring them overtime after a battle in the corner, quick and sharp and intense and Mako rises to her feet, eyes wide. Yes, yes, they have a chance after all!
One minute, fifty-five seconds more to go. ]
Edited 2013-10-26 09:50 (UTC)
[Raleigh's heart is going so fast in his chest, it's threatening to come up his throat and strangle him, and it's taking every bit of his will power to keep that in the back of his mind, to keep his focus on the game and on the puck and on his teammates.
There's a minute forty left, then a minute thirty... twenty... ten... the play gets stopped because of an off side call around a minute left in regulation that has him nearly growling in frustration because that wasn't off side are you blind ref. But he skates in to take the draw anyway, because he's surprisingly good at face offs for someone who used to only play defense. He's got another twenty, maybe thirty seconds before his line gets pulled in favor of someone else.
And if that doesn't work, then it's overtime and Raleigh-- does not want to go to overtime. Again for the fifth time in this series. He wants to end it now.
He bends down, waiting for the puck to drop and he wins the face off cleanly, sending the puck back to the point, back to Kaidanovsky, a big Russian bear of a defenseman, who passes the puck off to Hansen. Raleigh drifts towards the net, the puck moves between his teammates a couple of times before Chuck takes the shot, it gets blocked by the goalie but the goalie gives up a rebound and Raleigh's right there to take it and--
-- it goes in.
Twenty nine seconds left in the game and he just scored. Raleigh feels like he might faint, like he could just pass out on the ice right now, here's his gloves and his stick count him out. He's down for the count, he's shaking so bad that he nearly does fall over when Kaidanovsky skates into him for a hug and Hansen's there too and the whole arena is screaming because they're at home and Raleigh Becket, the former defenseman that everyone wrote off came back to the game and he just won them the Stanley cup.
The last half minute of the game, Raleigh's out there again, even though it just feels like a formality. The other team is too stunned to do anything, to make a play happen and get another goal to tie it up and when that final horn sounds-- Raleigh does finally drop his gloves, throws them off and he could get care less about his stick because they won. They did it.
That's for you, Yance, he thinks, fingers pointed towards the sky as the rest of the team circles around him, one giant mass of players and coaches hugging.]
There's a minute forty left, then a minute thirty... twenty... ten... the play gets stopped because of an off side call around a minute left in regulation that has him nearly growling in frustration because that wasn't off side are you blind ref. But he skates in to take the draw anyway, because he's surprisingly good at face offs for someone who used to only play defense. He's got another twenty, maybe thirty seconds before his line gets pulled in favor of someone else.
And if that doesn't work, then it's overtime and Raleigh-- does not want to go to overtime. Again for the fifth time in this series. He wants to end it now.
He bends down, waiting for the puck to drop and he wins the face off cleanly, sending the puck back to the point, back to Kaidanovsky, a big Russian bear of a defenseman, who passes the puck off to Hansen. Raleigh drifts towards the net, the puck moves between his teammates a couple of times before Chuck takes the shot, it gets blocked by the goalie but the goalie gives up a rebound and Raleigh's right there to take it and--
-- it goes in.
Twenty nine seconds left in the game and he just scored. Raleigh feels like he might faint, like he could just pass out on the ice right now, here's his gloves and his stick count him out. He's down for the count, he's shaking so bad that he nearly does fall over when Kaidanovsky skates into him for a hug and Hansen's there too and the whole arena is screaming because they're at home and Raleigh Becket, the former defenseman that everyone wrote off came back to the game and he just won them the Stanley cup.
The last half minute of the game, Raleigh's out there again, even though it just feels like a formality. The other team is too stunned to do anything, to make a play happen and get another goal to tie it up and when that final horn sounds-- Raleigh does finally drop his gloves, throws them off and he could get care less about his stick because they won. They did it.
That's for you, Yance, he thinks, fingers pointed towards the sky as the rest of the team circles around him, one giant mass of players and coaches hugging.]
[It's-- awkward between them. There's no way around that because they're trying to relearn each other, to figure out who they are now and how that compares with the person they knew years ago. It's hard because all he wants some nights is to curl up with her in bed, to lay his head on her shoulder and watching their daughter play.
The closest he ever gets is Mako falling asleep on his shoulder during a movie while Eleanor sleeps in her crib across the room and he spends the entire movie just watching her. He hurt her, he realizes that, and he can only try to heal that wound with time and patience and he'll wait for as long as he has to for her.
Fate, or something, pushes his hand. It has him dropping Eleanor off with his sister to babysit and he has to double back to Mako's to get her diaper bag because he forgot it, but he leaves the baby with Jaz because she can manage for a little while. When he gets there, her door is kicked in and there's signs of a struggle and Raleigh stopped carrying a gun a long time ago but he knows how to kill a man with his bare hands still. And he doesn't even hesitate when he finds Mako and her attacker in the bedroom, just sees someone trying to kill her and she's bleeding and he snaps.
So does the man's neck. It's only after that Raleigh realizes he knows this man, that he's from the club and how did he find her? How did he find Mako and is this about him too and--]
Mako?
The closest he ever gets is Mako falling asleep on his shoulder during a movie while Eleanor sleeps in her crib across the room and he spends the entire movie just watching her. He hurt her, he realizes that, and he can only try to heal that wound with time and patience and he'll wait for as long as he has to for her.
Fate, or something, pushes his hand. It has him dropping Eleanor off with his sister to babysit and he has to double back to Mako's to get her diaper bag because he forgot it, but he leaves the baby with Jaz because she can manage for a little while. When he gets there, her door is kicked in and there's signs of a struggle and Raleigh stopped carrying a gun a long time ago but he knows how to kill a man with his bare hands still. And he doesn't even hesitate when he finds Mako and her attacker in the bedroom, just sees someone trying to kill her and she's bleeding and he snaps.
So does the man's neck. It's only after that Raleigh realizes he knows this man, that he's from the club and how did he find her? How did he find Mako and is this about him too and--]
Mako?
[It wasn't really something they ever talked about, what school she'd go to once she graduated because he always just assumed that she'd go to the same one as him. Since she took classes there and all and he's not wrong but there were a tense couple of weeks after he let it slip that's what he assumed so maybe if she wanted she could live with him and Yancy instead of the dorms because the dorms are really bad where she got mad at him for making plans for her life and seriously, what's the big deal, Chuck?
She asked if he was going to dump her if she went somewhere else and Raleigh had laughed so hard that an elbow to his ribs was the only way to shut him up and okay, maybe that was mean but that's the most ridiculous thing he's ever heard, babe. Go to whatever school you want, they can figure it out but if you do come to his school, then she doesn't need to buy sheets or a mini fridge or anything because he's offering that already.
It's just good economics.
She does go to the same school and moves in with him and Yancy and he's so excited that he definitely resembles a puppy. So much that he's even waiting for her outside her first official college lecture as a college student, with a latte for her, even though he's already snaked a few sips from it.
Sue him, live together, they can share a latte and he was thirsty okay.]
She asked if he was going to dump her if she went somewhere else and Raleigh had laughed so hard that an elbow to his ribs was the only way to shut him up and okay, maybe that was mean but that's the most ridiculous thing he's ever heard, babe. Go to whatever school you want, they can figure it out but if you do come to his school, then she doesn't need to buy sheets or a mini fridge or anything because he's offering that already.
It's just good economics.
She does go to the same school and moves in with him and Yancy and he's so excited that he definitely resembles a puppy. So much that he's even waiting for her outside her first official college lecture as a college student, with a latte for her, even though he's already snaked a few sips from it.
Sue him, live together, they can share a latte and he was thirsty okay.]
[Raleigh really does have a test in Japanese tomorrow. And he knows that Chuck has homework to do too because they just load high school kids down with that shit these days, he remembers it well and it's her senior year so apparently that means add more.
So he really did invite her over for the afternoon to share a coffee pot and to work on their shit together because he's reached that sickeningly sweet point where he wants to spend all the time with his girlfriend that he can.
That does excuse why he's read the same sentence six times and still can't remember what is on the page because he's much more interested in smelling his girlfriend's hair at the moment. He likes her shampoo okay and if he fails, he fully intends on maybe writing a sonnet to her hair in Japanese tomorrow instead of like, whatever the question actually asks for.]
I need a study break.
So he really did invite her over for the afternoon to share a coffee pot and to work on their shit together because he's reached that sickeningly sweet point where he wants to spend all the time with his girlfriend that he can.
That does excuse why he's read the same sentence six times and still can't remember what is on the page because he's much more interested in smelling his girlfriend's hair at the moment. He likes her shampoo okay and if he fails, he fully intends on maybe writing a sonnet to her hair in Japanese tomorrow instead of like, whatever the question actually asks for.]
I need a study break.
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