[Chuck's been the girl next door ever since Raleigh can remember. She's a couple years younger than him, so for the first five years or so, he didn't think anything of it when he, Jazmine, and Chuck would spend all day chasing each other around the neighborhood. Not until Yancy hit a certain age and girls had cooties according to him and crap. Yeah. Clearly they did and it was a pretty easy choice for Raleigh.
Follow Yancy or stick with the girls.
That summer Yancy taught him how to fish and throw a punch and by the end of it, he forgot that he was ever that close to his little sister and the neighbor girl. They like different things anyway. By the time high school rolls around, Chuck is suddenly into every sport under the sun and Raleigh is bad at playing with a team and better at hitting people with his fists. She is taking advanced classes and he's failing biology.
And Chuck is hot. Raleigh has no idea when that happened but he's definitely staring at her instead of taking the trash out while she gets the mail.]
wait oh my goodness this makes her A M E R I C A N :3
[ her parents immigrated while her mother was pregnant, and apparently after a whole lot of hustle and bustle in the air force, all herc hansen wants to do is build his wife a chicken coup, a tree house for his kid, and a couple single flyer planes for himself. angela gets her coup, herc gets a rented unit on the nearby airstrip full of working glider planes and a shed full of small remote control models, and chuck gets a tree house that she and jazmine becket practically live in the first summer that raleigh and yancy decide boys and girls need to play different games. they play (decapitate) barbie dolls, and play with their mothers' pearls and lipstick. later in life they make snow angels and christmas cookies in their family kitchens, and play dates evolve into hanging out, and they study together and carpool and chuck tries to drag jazmine into the soccer scene, but the other girl is more of an observer so they settle for her just coming to all of chuck's matches. it's a pretty good friendship, albeit tested when her mother dies when chuck's ten, and she does a complete personality 180.
it's been a couple years since that; there's no species war to distract her father, and his hefty military pension means he can take the summer off and they can go back to australia after the funeral, and all in all, chuck hansen is a lot more well adjusted than she would be if she'd climbed into a robot and gone to war.
jazmine has two older brothers that used to be nice. now they're not mean, but they're very detached and uninvolved with their sister's life, and by proxy, their neighbors, but that's fine. chuck's an only child anyway, and wasn't expecting anything too special from befriending them or worming her way into their family. but it also means she doesn't have much context for the way raleigh becket is staring at her right now (which she catches over the top of a postcard) and can't tell if he'd mean mugging, or if she's got something on her face. they're about fifteen feet apart, so she reasons she has to talk loudly. but it still comes out a little louder and more defensive than she means to. ]
[He's staring. He's staring like a creep and he should stop doing that but he can't. It's like he's a stupid deer caught in the headlights and she's the car coming to hit him and-- actually she might and totally would hit him, if he remembers her right so blink, Raleigh.
Fucking blink.]
Uh-- [Get rid of the trash bag in your hand too, you fucking moron.]
[ he says nothing, but she's going to keep eyeing him suspiciously because that nothing sounds a whole lot like something, and he's not sharing. she tips up her head up in preemptive defiance, and narrows her eyes but doesn't poke at him any further. ]
Two nights ago.
[ that's a lie, she's never not going to pick at him or on him. one month with her uncle and grandmother has her drawling like a cocksure aussie. ]
[Let's be honest-- Raleigh hasn't actually said more than seven words to Jazmine all week. Max spent the whole time in her room anyway, and the door to Jazmine's lair is always, always shut. Which is fine because he doesn't want to see what she has in there.]
Didn't even notice she had him for a while, honestly. That's a good dog you have there.
[ this is a nice, safe, casual conversational topic they can discuss at length without anyone getting angry or anyone getting hit. ]
Yeah, he is, [ she agrees with more pride than any parent could ever have in their child. ] He might eat your homework, but I trained him to do that, so I'm not gonna apologize.
[ and then because she's a nervous parent who glances back up her lengthy driveway: ]
[Max stole some of Yancy's socks and hid them around the house and then peed on them-- but that just made Raleigh cackle with laughter. And he didn't have to think about feeding the dog, because he fucking sucks at feeding himself half the time.
Yeah, you get it. [ chuck's mean, and nodding at him like he's an idiot in need of a great deal of condescension. but at least she's dropped the arm brandishing the post card, right? no paper cuts for raleigh becket today, folks. though she seems to have grown tired of entertaining his lesser intelligence, and tucks the mail securely up under her arm before turning back towards her house. ]
I'll be keeping an eye on you, [ she tosses over her shoulder as a belated thought. ] See you around, Ray.
[Wait-- where's she going? Raleigh just follows her, totally missing the cue that she's done here but also you know, his house is in the same direction and he's not carrying the trash anymore so.
What's that, Ray? Didn't hear you there? [ though she very obviously did, and it's very obviously only the month long stint of relaxing (ha) family time in australia, where she heard all variations of her name and is thus temporarily desensitized that has her not biting his head off. she's not even looking at him, thumbing through the mail and eventually ripping open the letter (technically addressed to her dad) about next years school supplies. ]
[ she hums as if to say that's what i thought, but is scanning down the list of required reading appraisingly and is momentarily distracted from their play; stops walking long enough to shove the letter under his nose. ]
Did you ever end up taking AP Trig with Professor Gottlieb. And do you still have a copy of "Numbers Don't Lie" if you did?
[Raleigh can't even spell trigonometry. What does that tell you, Chuck. That Raleigh gets a boner from girls who are smarter and better than him, that's what.]
[ no wonder he gets so many boners, the world is full of girls who are smarter and better than him. ]
It's not boring. [ because it's educational and she's actually quite stoked about this class, it's like, a bajillion college credits out of the way if she passes — and she's herself, she's going to pass — and how dare he insult it. chuck makes a face, and five years ago she woulda stuck her tongue out at him too. but excuse everyone, she is an adult now — self proclaimed. ]
Can you ask your brother? And if he did, can you ask him if I can have his book? I'll buy it off him.
[Yeah alright no, sorry not sorry that he's laughing at that. If he hasn't taken it, then it's a sure as hell bet that Yancy didn't either. Because Raleigh's more or less following in his footsteps exactly, much to mixed reactions from the rest of the Beckets. Sometimes pride, sometimes irritation, sometimes annoyance, sometimes laughter.]
Definitely not. What about Jaz? Did you ask her, she loves that kind of shit.
Last I heard she wanted to do Debate, and they're the same time slot. [ and debate seems a lot more jaz than advanced math does, because jazmine wants to be a lawyer (she doesn't say so much, but chuck can tell — people who didn't fancy lawyer careers didn't fucking marathon law and order).
but chuck shrugs. though maybe there's one other favor she can ask him, since he proved so useless with her other request. ]
[Jazmine would do debate. Raleigh has to resist the urge to roll his eyes and it doesn't even occur to him that it's weird that Chuck knows this fact about his sister before he does.]
[ they have two cars, but one's an old '54 chevy that's in a constant state of disrepair and is in need of some tender love and care right now, based on how the engine whined last night. so herc is using the audi van which effectively leaves her carless — but what are good neighbors worth if not the occasional car ride?
she'll even flirt for it if she has to. twirl her hair and smile dazzlingly. ]
[Smiling at him like that and twirling her hair is so unChucklike that he gives her a weird look for it, ignoring the little butterflies that start flying around his stomach because of it because he's got a hopeless crush on her after like thirty minutes.
He's messed up in the head because he likes the snappy, waspish Chuck better than the sweet one.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gratuitous country au? don't ask me...
this is 100% based on a tswift song
Follow Yancy or stick with the girls.
That summer Yancy taught him how to fish and throw a punch and by the end of it, he forgot that he was ever that close to his little sister and the neighbor girl. They like different things anyway. By the time high school rolls around, Chuck is suddenly into every sport under the sun and Raleigh is bad at playing with a team and better at hitting people with his fists. She is taking advanced classes and he's failing biology.
And Chuck is hot. Raleigh has no idea when that happened but he's definitely staring at her instead of taking the trash out while she gets the mail.]
wait oh my goodness this makes her A M E R I C A N :3
it's been a couple years since that; there's no species war to distract her father, and his hefty military pension means he can take the summer off and they can go back to australia after the funeral, and all in all, chuck hansen is a lot more well adjusted than she would be if she'd climbed into a robot and gone to war.
jazmine has two older brothers that used to be nice. now they're not mean, but they're very detached and uninvolved with their sister's life, and by proxy, their neighbors, but that's fine. chuck's an only child anyway, and wasn't expecting anything too special from befriending them or worming her way into their family. but it also means she doesn't have much context for the way raleigh becket is staring at her right now (which she catches over the top of a postcard) and can't tell if he'd mean mugging, or if she's got something on her face. they're about fifteen feet apart, so she reasons she has to talk loudly. but it still comes out a little louder and more defensive than she means to. ]
What?
well he's not fucking canadian either x(
Fucking blink.]
Uh-- [Get rid of the trash bag in your hand too, you fucking moron.]
Nothing. Sorry. When did you get back?
canadians are cool. free health care!
Two nights ago.
[ that's a lie, she's never not going to pick at him or on him. one month with her uncle and grandmother has her drawling like a cocksure aussie. ]
Didn't you notice Jaz doesn't have Max anymore?
BUT AMERICA
Didn't even notice she had him for a while, honestly. That's a good dog you have there.
europe??
Yeah, he is, [ she agrees with more pride than any parent could ever have in their child. ] He might eat your homework, but I trained him to do that, so I'm not gonna apologize.
[ and then because she's a nervous parent who glances back up her lengthy driveway: ]
He really wasn't any trouble?
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[Max stole some of Yancy's socks and hid them around the house and then peed on them-- but that just made Raleigh cackle with laughter. And he didn't have to think about feeding the dog, because he fucking sucks at feeding himself half the time.
So yeah. It was fine for him.]
Better watch out, I might steal him.
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I helped my uncle gut a crocodile last week, and could sure as hell do the same thing to you if you tried.
[ she's brandishing a postcard from her dad's london friend at him like she'd use the edge of the card paper to do it. ]
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Or-- not. Don't joke about stealing Max, got it.
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I'll be keeping an eye on you, [ she tosses over her shoulder as a belated thought. ] See you around, Ray.
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Maybe he'll just go inside too.]
It's Raleigh, Chuckles.
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Didn't say anything, Charlotte.
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Did you ever end up taking AP Trig with Professor Gottlieb. And do you still have a copy of "Numbers Don't Lie" if you did?
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I-- no. Sorry. But it sounds boring as hell.
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It's not boring. [ because it's educational and she's actually quite stoked about this class, it's like, a bajillion college credits out of the way if she passes — and she's herself, she's going to pass — and how dare he insult it. chuck makes a face, and five years ago she woulda stuck her tongue out at him too. but excuse everyone, she is an adult now — self proclaimed. ]
Can you ask your brother? And if he did, can you ask him if I can have his book? I'll buy it off him.
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Definitely not. What about Jaz? Did you ask her, she loves that kind of shit.
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but chuck shrugs. though maybe there's one other favor she can ask him, since he proved so useless with her other request. ]
What are you doing tomorrow?
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Depends. What are you looking for?
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[ they have two cars, but one's an old '54 chevy that's in a constant state of disrepair and is in need of some tender love and care right now, based on how the engine whined last night. so herc is using the audi van which effectively leaves her carless — but what are good neighbors worth if not the occasional car ride?
she'll even flirt for it if she has to. twirl her hair and smile dazzlingly. ]
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He's messed up in the head because he likes the snappy, waspish Chuck better than the sweet one.]
Yeah. You bet. Noon work for you?
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[ and now she starts walking, and is close enough to her house that she can veer off at an angel that would be weird for him to follow her at. ]
See you, Rahleigh.