Blackberry Tea

MAY
Blackberry Tea
2 May 2017
-May 2, 2017-
Watching the sun slowly set on his ledge, Raleigh pillows his head on his laced fingers as he catalogues the colors by scale and opacity. It's been busy lately, his time with Hermann shortened when the mathematician has to work on Vulcan Specter and Shaolin Rogue's operating systems with their pilots.
Raleigh's not one to complain, however, so he snatches what time he can with his friend. He'd even label them good friends if someone asked him to quantify his relationship with Hermann. Rolling over, he spots Tendo and Hermann with their heads bent together as the mathematician gestures with his hands as he speaks animatedly. He props himself up on his elbows as he kicks his feet back and forth. Raleigh's okay with just observing sometimes.
"There he is, Hermann. I told you he's got places."
"Raleigh." the tiny, fond smile is one he matches with a grin.
"Bonjour, Doctuer Gottlieb." he responds as he turns on his back to veiw them and the sunset upside down. "Avez-vous besoin de moi pour quelque chose?"
"Yes, I do need you for something." The fact that it was in English meant that Hermann actually needed him focused.
"Dimmi." Raleigh hums as he sits up on the grass, bits of it falling down into his lighter cloth scarf. Shaking it out and putting it back on takes seconds.
"We were discussing my model airplanes and I was wondering if you would like to take a look at a World War II aircraft for me? I need to see if I require a different engine." Hermann admits as he shifts his weight to the brittle cane. Raleigh knows he needs to polish the cherry wood staff before he sends it to wherever Hermann is going when the Doctor does transfer. He also needs to fit the handle and tip so that the wood doesn't warp in colder weather.
"I'm in. Hi Tendo." the reply is in English as he knows it irks Tendo to be left out.
"Hey Rals." The LOCCENT technician rolls his eyes at the language switches even as he wraps an arm around Raleigh's shoulder.
"What's the Mark number?" he queries as they fall into step.
"It has a steel nose and appears to be of British make." Hermann explains as they enter the man's personnel quarters. The distinct blue aircraft makes Raleigh grin as he scoops it up with gentle hands.
"Hello little Moth Major." he says sweetly to the model as he used a pair of tweezers to open the fuselage. "It's the correct engine; a beautiful D.H. 60 G-III aka the Gipsy III. I love this model. Where'd you get it?" Raleigh carefully shut the fuselage he'd opened and turned it upside down with a firm grip on the body of the plane. "Hey. It even has the original landing gear." Tendo laughed as he took a seat, Raleigh taking in the rest of the models with a practiced eye for the World War II planes. "Oh wow. Is that a Supermarine Spitfire?!" He sets down the Moth Major and practically skips over to the Spitfire.
Hermann looks torn between being pleased as well as worried for his work.
"Dude, you're like a kid in a toy store." Tendo laughs as he leans against the doorframe.
"You have no idea." he snorts as he leans down to take in the Spitfire's exact measurements. Through the thin wing of the plane he saw a Mitsubishi Ki-109 interceptor. "Hermann, how many WW II plane models do you have?"
"Quite a few from my... younger years. I'm not surprised you recognize them all by name." the slimmer man murmurs as he also takes a seat.
They watch him in amusement as he spins in place to take all of the hanging or shelved planes, "It's amazing, is what it is, Hermann. What are you building?"
"Guess." the teasing tone is one that Raleigh appreciates even as he glances at the pieces.
"Hmm. Looks like-Oh! That's a Letov Š-328N. Four hundred and eight were made in the war." Tendo makes a strangled sort of noise as Raleigh glances at the set and sees where the parts go.
"How do you remember all that?" Tendo asks with his voice going weak on the end. "Just curious."
"I, uh, I've got Asperger's Syndrome. I figured you knew." he admits with a shrug and a casualness he doesn't feel. Tendo's immediately looking the term up on his phone, his brown eyes widening as he takes in the information. "Does knowing change anything?"
"Nope. That's why you have those places?" comes the prompt answer.
"... Yeah. I mean, I know it's in my file." he sighs as he picks the Moth Major up again to examine it closely. "People always look surprised that I can keep up with Hermann."
"Nobody reads the files anymore brother. We're too busy
fending off the Kaiju, catching up on what rest we can and training pilots." Tendo huffs as he relaxes in the chair. Hermann sits down and tinkers with the Letov Š-328N's upper wing panel to add it to the base.
"Right. Kaiju invasion's the only reason we're all here." The thought that he'd have never met Hermann or Tendo if it wasn't for the Breach and Trespasser is sobering.
"Hey but one hell of a reason to fight. Giant alien monsters from the ocean's depths." Tendo points out as he accepts Raleigh's offer of a strawberry hard candy. "We've been looking in the wrong direction this whole time."
"It could've been Space Pig." he mutters as he gently snags a Messerschmidt Me 410 flown by the Luftwaffe and pretends to shoot at the Moth Major. Raleigh's inner ten-year-old is absolutely delighted by all of the WW II planes along with how they're perfectly constructed by Hermann's slender fingers.
Both of his friends try hiding their laughter by clearing their throats before Tendo starts giggling, "Heheheheheee! That would've been hilarious!"
"Immensely embarrassing to those trying to bomb the UFO." Hermann states dryly as he struggles to retain his composure. Raleigh just grins as he mimics machine gun fire of the Moth Major firing back at the Luftwaffe plane. The laughter is not even remotely dignified and definitely not as rusty as it had been a few months previous. "You remind me of my brother."
"You mentioned 'em before. Younger or older?" Raleigh hums as he drops the Moth Major into a flight manuever he'd heard about.
"Younger and we tend to call him Hasi." the sly smile that goes with the remark is one he never thought he would see on the mathematician.
Raleigh sets down the planes to crack up laughing, "Aww, man, he must get so embarrassed! I'd be mortified if Yan ever called me that!"
"Bastien does not seem to mind." comes the bemused answer.
"Then he's a saint." Tendo snorts as they come down from the giggle-fit.
"Ranger Becket?" Raleigh looks up expectantly. "Someone at the gates claiming to be your sister, sir. We need confirmation."
"Sure, sure. I'll be right back." Raleigh tells them as he follows the PPDC guard to the gates. Jazzy's in the warming box, popping her gum with a grin and toting an incredibly large duffel bag. "That's her." He wants to slap a hand over his face but it isn't professional in the least. "I'll sign her in and take full responsibility." They walk slowly into the 'dome space as Jazmine spins around to look at everything. "Jazzy, what are you even doing here?"
"My tea run for everybody in The Icebox Shatterdome. Besides, like I need an excuse to see my older brothers." she ribs him as she pops her gum again.
"You're barely legal as is, Jazzy. You're gonna get us in trouble. Did you at least leave a note for Wanda?" he sighs as he steers her away from the Jaeger bay doors. Yan, Jazmine's here.
She's WHAT?! In the Shatterdome?! Yancy sounds practically apocalyptic with fury.
Yeah. She's popping her gum. Think she's here for more than just tea. Raleigh decides as the pattern repeats itself. Definitely something she wants to tell us.
"Duh, Rals. I'm not that stupid. Besides, she sent you guys cookies." Jazmine opens up the duffel side-pocket and Raleigh grins at the familiar loopy handwriting on neatly packaged lemon cookies.
"You're still not off the hook entirely." he warns as Yancy spots them across the entrance. "Yan's pissed." Their brother's long stride eats up the distance and he's towering over Jazzy with a stern expression.
"Your delivery couldn't be by mail?" comes the clipped question, Yancy's disappointment pulled back behind a mental barrier. Raleigh softly pulls away wisps of righteous anger until Yan's not quite so volcanic. "What was so damn important that you had to leave Wanda's care?"
"I got into Parson's School of Design." Jazmine blurted as she fidgeted with the duffel strap.
"You did? Jazzy, that's awesome!" Raleigh releases the tension by hugging his sister.
"Who's the pretty girl?" Romeo Blue's dumber Gage (Trevin) whistled as Raleigh growled lowly in the back of his throat.
"Our sister." Yancy cracked his neck and his knuckles, the narrowed hazel gaze not something to be fucked with on the best of days. The man slowly backed away before practically fleeing them both.
"Lemme guess, some idiot you guys have had to beat senseless?" she concluded with a tilt of her head.
"The dumber half of Romeo Blue." Raleigh clarifies as he digs through the main body of the duffel for the tea, having snagged the weight from his sister a while ago. "He's not exactly smart but his survival instincts are thankfully better than what he keeps housed up there."
"Beckets can't help that they're half-French and pretty." Jazzy teases as she takes Yancy's arm with a laugh, her dark hair tossed over one shoulder with little fanfare.
"Pretty? You mean devilishly handsome." Yancy snorted dryly in French. "Rals picked up a new stray."
"You did? Ooo, do I know this one?" she nudged Raleigh as
he dug deeper into the bag.
"Nope. He's a math genius and he programs the Jaeger OS for each individual team." he answers as he scores the star anise and blackberry he'd ordered through the kitchen staff. "Ah-ha."
"You ordered those? I was going to send your butt more star anise anyway. Yan said you were out." she rolls her eyes as he sticks his tongue out at her.
"We were out but now we're not. C'mon. You gotta meet Hermann." Raleigh zips the duffel back up and pauses mid-stride. "After we deliver this cause I know some people get grumpy without their tea fix."
The tea is delivered with sweet smiles on Jazzy's part and sheepish grins on Raleigh and Yancy's. By the time they make it to Hermann's rooms, the door is locked and Raleigh texts Hermann as Yancy takes Jazmine back to their quarters.
My sister's in the 'dome and she brought tea. How does blackberry sound? -R
The man's reply takes longer because Hermann insists on using proper grammar.
Blackberry sounds wonderful. Are you sure she does not mind the time taken out of her schedule?
Raleigh huffs out an amused breath as he types back with one hand as Jazmine settles in the other guest chair, glancing at Yancy's corduroy chair longingly.
Nah. Besides, she got accepted to the trade school she wanted to go to earlier. She wants to chit-chat. -R
"Jazzy, you can stop with the pitiful chair looks. That one's for Hermann." he states quietly as he sets the kettle full of water onto the already-lit stove (courtesy of Yancy).
"As far as I can remember, that's Yan's chair." she comments with a raised brow.
"Mmmhmm. For the time being, it's Hermann's though. Man's about as thick as a twig and twice as likely to snap in a harsher chair. It actually made us go looking for some decent guest chairs." Yancy remarks as he settles into the plush green rocker.
"Does he know about..." Jazmine hesitates at mentioning Raleigh's particular problem but he shrugs as he curls up in his own chair.
"Yeah. He lets me ramble all I like; hasn't told me to shut up yet either." The smile comes unbidden and sweet as it can be, the solid warmth of friendship to back it up.
"You like him." Jazmine coos as she takes out the lemon cookies and sets them on the rickety table.
"'Snot like that, Jazzy. We're friends." Raleigh grumbles as the kettle whistles to signal it's done. He scrambles to shut it off and pours the steaming water into four mugs.
"Rals likes--" [She] tries to start something she can't finish so Yancy nips that in the bud. Raleigh doesn't envy his older brother that particular task; Jazmine's a stubborn one when she gets going.
"Jaz, it's not like that. The guy's nearly twice Rals' age, for one, and they're hamster pile buddies. They play a pretty mean chess game too." Yancy informs her as Hermann knocks on the door. Raleigh opens the door with the man's personal blue mug as an offering.
"Tea's still steeping and Jazzy's decided she's gonna be a punk. You wanna ditch 'em and go look at stars?" he asks, knowing that some of the rumor-mongers have at least spread something that they're more than friends. Raleigh hates it but knows it's not true. Interest in Hermann goes only one way; for his prickly personality and wonderful brain.
"Apparently, you and I are engaged in coitus." the
sarcastic response makes Raleigh laugh. "I think I will join your family for some rare quiet."
"You sure? She's being a bit of a--"
"Hi! You must be Hermann?" Jazmine's evil, he decides as she herds the poor man inside.
"Jazzy, shut up." Raleigh hisses as he elbows her out of the way. "Sorry. Doc, this is my sister Jazmine. This is Dr. Gottlieb, Head Science Officer of the Physics department." The entire teasing demeanor drops as she gets a good look at Hermann. "Jazzy delivers our tea when she's not busy designing clothes."
"I see." Hermann takes his mug and slides into Yancy's chair, his posture a bit stiff as he takes in their sister.
"What've you guys been up to lately?" Jazmine breaks the ice with a wide grin as she pokes Raleigh with her socked foot under the table.
"Hermann's got World War II airplane [models," he replies] with a wide grin, glancing at Hermann to make sure that it's okay to say.
"I have many models but Raleigh was needed for a model's engine that specifically dates to World War II." the slight nod means it's okay to talk about.
"Oh man, Rals, what's it like?" Yancy asks as he absently offers a lemon cookie to Hermann.
"They're everywhere. I saw a Spitfire and a Mitsubishi and my favorite." he sighs happily, stuffing a lemon cookie in his mouth because he missed Wanda's cooking.
"No way. The Moth Major we named Gips after?" Yancy wasn't as obsessed but he loved the Gipsy inversed engine just as much as Raleigh did.
"Uh-huh." he [hums as he sips] his tea to wash down the cookie.
"Haha. Rals is practically in bliss. You must have some very detailed models for his face to be like [that," says Jazzy, smiling warmly.] "I think I like you."
"The sentiment is appreciated." Hermann [states, staring at] the cookie Yancy'd put on his plate. "May I ask what this is?"
"Lemon cookie. Wanda makes the best in the entire state." Raleigh informs his friend, snagging another cookie and flicking the radio on as he goes back to categorizing his week's worth of memories.
"Very well." The cautious bite is taken and Hermann makes a noise between pleasure and astonishment before the rest of the cookie vanishes. "These are incredible."
"Told [ya," he] grins as the last memory sorts itself and he shuffles in his chair to look at Hermann with a soft smile. "After we're done with tea, can we go back to the models?"
"You are fascinated with them." Hermann's tone is gentle, maybe even laughing a bit.
"I could probably sit in your room just to rattle off every WW II model I see. Where'd Tendo get to anyway?" he replies as he shoos Jazmine's hand away from the cookies. [new paragraph] 
She gets them all the time so he's not sharing with her. Jazmine pouts but sips her tea anyway.
"He is testing Vulcan Specter's team as we speak in simulations. Shaolin Rogue's programming will take a bit [longer," says Hermann, selecting] another cookie.
"Hmm. Did you finish the Letov Š-328N wing panel?" he [asks, stretching out along the] length of his chair.
"It has minor details to add but the body of the plane itself is finished for now. The tea reminds me of summers picking blackberries." The fond smile resting on Hermann's lips is warm.
"Well I've got some other teas that nobody picked up. Umm, ligonberry, citron and comfrey are what's [left," she adds] with a dig around the mostly empty bag.
"We'll take 'em Jazzy." Yancy says after he glances at the clock. "You got a long drive back. You should go."
"But--" she protests, glancing at her mostly empty mug.
"No buts, Jazzy. That's a four-hour drive." the tone their older brother speaks in brooks no arguments. "I'll sign you out." She slurps her tea obnoxiously as she finished it and sets it in the sink.
"[Bye, Rals]." Jazmine kisses both of his cheeks and waves at Hermann, winking at the confused mathematician over her shoulder. "Bye Doc."
"... Was your sister flirting with me?" Hermann sounds as uncomfortable as Raleigh feels.
"I'm not actually sure what she was doing. Jazzy's weird enough as it is. I quit questioning her methods a long time ago." Raleigh shrugs as he tucks the new tea away. "That being said, she's a notorious flirt."
"Beckets excel at wooing or so the rumors go." the mathematician commented as he tapped his fingers against the arm of the chair.
"All except me." he points out as he flumps back into his own seat. "I'm the shy one. Yan's got a perfected technique and Jazzy's just... I dunno. I get flustered and I can't say what I mean because it gets mixed up." Raleigh shrugs as he sits up to take a drink of his tea.
"I assure you that you are not the only one it happens to, Raleigh." Hermann murmured as they sat together.
"Good to know." he hums as Yancy walks back in.
"Ugh. I love Jazzy but she's a pain in the ass." Yancy grumbled as he resumed his seat, rubbing at his forehead.
"Preaching to the choir, Yan, preaching to the choir."
Raleigh reminded him as they resumed their usual conversation. "You picked blackberries as a kid?"
"In the Bavarian National Park along with my siblings. Blackberries, ligonberries and raspberries in separate baskets." The memory's obviously a good one as Hermann smiles naturally.
"We did that once in Norway when Dad was working on a rig." Yancy reminisces as he leans on the table "Met some Scottish guy... Rals, help me out here. He had two kids of his own."
"Oh yeah. He said the guy had the thickest brogue he's ever heard." The light-hearted remembering is better than the bitterness Raleigh carries towards their Dad.
"A friend's father worked on an oil-rig." Hermann sounded a little sad at the mention so Raleigh nudged his brother under the table.
"Pretty cool Hermann. International friends are great. Anyway, Rals, remember Molina?" Yancy changed the topic and Raleigh groaned.
"Oh man. Mom dragged us through all three levels of difficulty on the trail. It's this waterfall park in Northern Italy that's got a fantastic view if you can stand the climb." he explains with his hands, miming the trail. "We carved out our names on the bench sitting there. Jazzy gave a victory screech that scared all the birds away when she regained her breath."
"Haha. The Italians thought some giant bird had landed at the peak." Yancy laughed at the memory. "We had to explain Jazmine and her noises. That was embarrassing."
"Mom just shrugged and said that kids would be kids." Raleigh countered even as the memory brings up pleasant sensations.
"Maman was way too patient with Jazzy's shit. I guess it comes with having three kids." Yancy quipped with a grin. "I definitely do not have Maman's patience."
"Nope. That's my specialty." Raleigh says as he finishes his tea. "Hermann, you alright?" The mathematician had been quiet while they'd been rehashing memories.
"I am continually amazed at the amount of travel your parents managed with three children." comes the wry observation.
"Maman was the master at juggling us and the travel schedule. Dad had no clue what she did or how she managed it. Everytime he had to leave, we were packed and ready before the flight even touched the ground." Yancy practically hummed at the memory of Mom and Raleigh pressed warmth down their Drift-link. They shared a familiar smile as they continued to revisit memories with Hermann occasionally sharing some of his own.
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