Chocolate Bubble Tea

-November 23, 2017-
It goes without saying that snow is Raleigh's favorite part about Alaskan winters. He can build things with it and no one minds when he makes forts for snow ball wars. The only problem is the black ice that likes to coat the Shatterdome sidewalks but they have salt for that and it isn't rationed too badly. It's also a year to the day he met Hermann when the mathematician had slipped on some black ice and cracked his tailbone again. The latter part hadn't been told to Raleigh until very recently when he'd discovered that Hermann was hiding something huge. Raleigh wouldn't tell a soul, of course, but some people had no qualms.
The only one he couldn't hide it from was his brother. Yancy was still trying to make up for the date he'd stolen from Raleigh but he didn't care after his brother had apologized. He guessed it was another thing Mom had passed on; the ability to forgive someone was rare but he accepted it like he did most things.
"Wings. Jesus fuck. You sure?" Yancy asked as they huddled together on the ledge inside of Raleigh's snow bubble.
"They're not huge or anything. I don't think they extend much past his arms. It was nice and they were really warm." Raleigh explains as they watch people pass by them without so much as a blink. Both of them need the reassurance that the other isn't mad; the link's been wide open for weeks now. There's no such thing as lying when a person shares your mind, knows you inside and out.
"That's why he's always so hesitant to touch. I can't imagine the strain the wings are under, let alone the feathers."
Yancy murmurs softly.
"We need to leave the approach up to him, Yan." he huffs as he elbows his brother. "He's my best friend and I don't wanna scare him away."
"Yeah, you're right. Isn't today the day you two met?"
"Mmmhmm. I made Hermann a figurine." he hums as he leans against the solid strength of his brother. "Why the hell are you warm? It's below freezing." Raleigh cuddles close to Yancy as he makes sure his nose is covered by the red scarf. His brother's scarf looks like it's been dipped in frost but it's his breath condensation freezing solid.
"Because someone wanted to talk outside and forgot to mother-hen themselves. Idiot." Yancy grumbles as he hauls both of them up and out of the warm bubble. "Let's go inside an' check on Hermann before we freeze out here." Raleigh is herded into the Shatterdome and the snow in his hair starts to melt. Yancy pulls down both of their scarves and laughs at the result of their talk. "Soakin' wet Rals an' we didn't even stay out that long. C'mon. You can take the shower first."
"Why me?" he protests as they kick off their boots at the door.
"Cause Maman would kill me if you got frostbite and died on me. I'd never hear the end of it." comes the sarcastic remark. Raleigh giggles at the mental image and then they're both laughing as they part ways to dry off and change clothes.
"Oh thank God you're here. He's thrown chalk at three interns and reduced another to tears by shouting at him in German. I'm not sure why he's in such a foul mood."
"Doc?" Raleigh ducks to avoid the chalk thrown at the doorway and kicks the door shut. "Hermann?"
"Yes." the stiff response means that the man in front of Raleigh with a stony expression has taken three steps back from the progress they made in October. For once it was Raleigh who'd been busy and barely had time to sleep, let alone hang out with friends.
"Why are you terrorizing the interns?" he asks as he rounds the desk, clearing a little space on the desk for him to sit down.
"I did not think that you would appreciate the company of..."
"Of what? My friend? My best friend at that. I don't care about whatever you're hiding." Raleigh told him with a warm smile. "For fuck's sake, Yancy and I can hear each other's thoughts clear as day from seventy miles away. I don't know about you but that shit? That makes some deadly weaponry right there."
"You can?" Hermann's eyes are as wide as they can go.
"Well yeah. It's not a common Jaeger pilot thing but if Yan is anywhere within that radius, I can talk to him." Raleigh shrugs it off and nibbles on his lip as he thinks. "Hug?" He opens his arms knowing that Hermann might not take him up on it. Much to both of their surprise, Hermann takes the offer. Raleigh embraces the slimmer man with a feeling of warmth going through him.
Hey, he is warm. Don't hold him too long though. Poor guy's still skittish like a high-strung horse. Yancy murmurs in surprise as he relaxes in their quarters.
I know that, Yan. He releases Hermann the second the slimmer man starts to wriggle. "Better?"
"My mood is much improved by your presence. I may have to apologize to the intern that I reduced to crying, however. The other three interns were interrupting my second thesis which happens to be on the Breach. My first was on Jaeger programming
without revealing how to reverse-engineer any of my maths for weaponry in the future." Hermann informed him with a small but very sincere grin flashed his way.
"You cut out the parentheses before the AI system so that it wouldn't balance out. I read it. Of course, if they tried the math themselves, they wouldn't know that it doesn't work like that until at least the fifth or sixth proof. You fudged the signs too. Your Theta is actually supposed to Alpha." he blurts out, groaning as his Asperger's chose now of all times to monologue.
"Impressive." The raised Spock brow was something he'd yet to master entirely but at least he was better than Yancy at it.
"I knew that it wasn't right because I found the original in your chalkboards. Most people don't even take long enough to differentiate the math on each one. I noticed because no one else does. You're brilliant, Hermann." Raleigh hums as he taps out the rhythm for Sleepsong. "I'm sorry. I've been pushing a lot to the back of my mind and now it's just pouring out."
"They work you hard." Hermann's tone tells Raleigh that they'd done it to the man in the early days, the desperate need to finish the hulking Mark I Jaegers.
"We're winning but they wanna make sure that the Kaiju don't come out on top." Raleigh sighs as he kicks his feet back and forth. "D'you remember what today is?"
"The day we met."
"Uh-huh. I was wondering, in passing, if you'd care for some time off from the thesis and stupid interns?" he cajoles sweetly, "The weather's horrible, as Yan and I discovered this morning. Patrol was so cold that I swear even Gips was protesting."
"Your Jaeger is made of metal and it is below freezing; I am frankly surprised that ice doesn't coat the Jaeger bays." the
slimmer man snorts.
"No, I mean... This is gonna sound crazy." Raleigh sighs as he scrapes back his hair. "Gips feels different. I've tried explainin' it to the Gages and the D'onofrio's but they're not listening. She heated up more than Romeo or Brawler did today and the techs were sayin' that she overheated. I call bullshit. She heated up cause Yan was shivering in the Conn-Pod."
"... Raleigh, you are implying that the AI programs I wrote are aware?" Hermann looked at him with horror.
"Not sure. She's always a tad quicker than the Mark I Jaegers when we do calibrations before patrols and she's... I can feel somethin' else in the Drift. It's probably me gettin' double-drag from the Drift." Raleigh admits as he slides off the desk to lean against the Shatterdome wall.
"The Gages are often visiting their Jaeger with the excuse that he needs watching because of sabotage." comes the wary response.
"I visit Gips cause she's lonely. Techs are only there so often." he decides not to lie to his best friend. "Yancy makes his excuses but I know when he can't sleep he goes to see her."
"Her?" The mathematician sat down slowly into the desk chair, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose.
"I guess, hell this is an actual guess, that the Marks have different genders. The I and IIs are guys and the IIIs are girls. No wonder they don't wanna talk about it. They already know." he laughs. "We probably shouldn't tell anyone. Gips is pretty protective of us."
"You are deliberately including me in that group." Hermann states dryly as he grabs the brittle cane. Raleigh thinks about the polished cherry and bronze cane hiding in their closet under some PPDC-authorized Gipsy Danger t-shirts. Maybe he'll make it a gift when Hermann leaves for Sydney.
"Gips included you because you're important." he counters lightly, turning around backwards as they leave the office and weaving around people easily. He knows everyone's moves so he doesn't bump into anyone as he continues to chat with Hermann. "Please tell me they'll let you stay long enough for us to exchange gifts?"
"Perhaps. The PPDC has its own interests." Hermann replied as Raleigh does an about face to keep pace with the mathematician. "You were going to run into someone at that rate."
"Nah. I can navigate the Icebox blind-folded an' backwards. The routines never change around here." Raleigh said confidently, folding his arms behind his head as he yawned. "Watch this." He closed his eyes, turned around and wove around the people he knew on a daily basis. Cracking an eye open, he grins as Hermann picks his way around the crowd of people heading for lunch. "See?"
"That is something you have been doing for months."
"Nope. I watch people. I pick apart things and think way too much sometimes. Could probably map out the guard change-out too. Might have to tell the Marshal that one though." Raleigh chirrups with a happy smile. He opens the door to their quarters to find Yancy carving the scrap wood they keep with a glazed look in his eye. "Ghost-Drift. He carves and I flirt instead of the way it usually is with us."
Hermann settles into his chair while he watches Yancy cut away slivers of wood, "Ah. Does it happen often?"
"I wake sometimes thinking I'm Yan. The Drift breaks all personal barriers so that it's always we and never I. There's no room in the Jaeger or the Drift for individuality. Outside is easier but it crosses over. Your Russians have started calling each other by the same name. The longer you do it, the more
integrated you become with your co-pilot." he admits as he bounces on his toes. "Aww, man."
"I take it your Asperger's is doing something it should not?"
"Wish it wasn't so insistent," Raleigh sighs as he bounces his leg and sits in his chair. "but I've been shoving it away because I don't have enough down time. It's usually been channeled into fine-tuning the calibrations but now I don't have an outlet."
"Snow-ball fight with the techs?" Yancy snapped out of the Ghost-Drift as the link flared open again. Raleigh hummed as Yancy's love and affection washed through their link. He pressed back much the same, smiling as it left them both with a euphoric feeling.
"Listening in?"
"Nah. I had the itch to carve somethin' so I sat down and Ghosted for a while. Guess I didn't waste any of your scraps." Yancy admitted sheepishly as he stares at the figurine of Tacit Ronin duking it out with Reckoner in his hands. Raleigh had been trying to carve it for days before he just gave up on it.
"It was driving me nuts but the scrap from the cedar turned out beautifully." Raleigh plucked the wood from his brother's unresisting fingertips and slung an arm around Yancy's shoulder. Thanks Yan.
Thought I was you for a sec there but seein' Hermann busted that bubble pretty quick.
Why?
Cause he looks at us different. Me? He looks at me with slight disappointment and some hope. I still haven't done enough an' we both know it. You he looks at with restrained joy and a tiny bit of happiness. I may not notice as much, Rals, but we're definitely a family in all the ways it counts. Yancy offered as
they slipped on warm coats and turned to see Hermann's gaze going from one of them to the other.
"Is that why you smile for no reason in a completely serious briefing?" comes the question and Raleigh giggles at the mention of that particular meeting. "I had evidence to present and then there was the official brief for Yamarashi's defeat."
"We were there for the latter but man, Yancy was just on a roll with cracking jokes that I was so tempted to laugh out loud." Raleigh answers with a wry grin as he waits for Hermann to lever himself out of the chair.
They all know that the mathematician has his pride on certain things so they wait. Yancy tucks the gift for Hermann away in his bigger pockets when Hermann's not looking. Raleigh goes ahead with the man to get the infamous parka from the Kaidonovskys so that Hermann could stay warm. He offers the green scarf again but it's refused once he sees the parka does the job just fine.
"I take it you two are back to your old ways?" Hermann asks as Yancy hangs back.
"Nah. Yan always checks to see if I'm okay with it but honestly? I forgave him. Some people might say it's wrong or whatever so I tell them that conflict isn't allowed in the Drift. They shut up pretty fast after that but it also might be my fist in their shirts." Raleigh explains quietly as he tugs Yancy forward, slinging his arm over both Hermann and his brother's shoulders. "Yan, quit it." Yancy had been radiating guilt like it was snowing so Raleigh poked his brother's cheek.
"Sure, Rals, whatever you say." The smile was back to it's sarcastic pull so he slapped Yancy's shoulder as he kept his touch warm. Hermann looks like he's soaking in the affection as they walk to the snow-fort grounds.
"'Sup Gipsy?" Trevin Gage looked at the mathematician
before speaking again. "Up for a friendly match? Us against you."
"Pfft. Like you don't have Brawler on your side as an ambush. Play fair or not at all, Romeo." Raleigh snorted as he slides his arms off of Hermann and Yancy. He cracks his neck, back and shoulder before popping the air out of his knuckles.
"You brought the K-Sci officer. Can he play?" Trevin asked with a dismissive glance at Hermann.
"Are there any rules I should know, Raleigh?" the mathematican added as he narrows his eyes, the grip on his cane tightening.
"Just pin 'em right between the eyes and you should be good, Doc." he answers with a wicked grin that Yancy matches.
"Ah. I see." the return grin is smug but no one but him and Yan need to know that. Hermann's a great marksman with his chalk; Raleigh knows that it transfers over into targeting. They pile behind two snow-forts as Raleigh directs Hermann to face the rear.
"They're gonna think you're the weak spot, Doc, and we can't have that." he cackles as he talks through the link. We're gonna beat them so badly.
Ha. No kiddin'. Hermann has the arm of a baseball champ. Yancy laughs via link as he ducks behind a second fort. They have no idea. Sure enough, one of the D'onofrios tries to sneak behind Raleigh as he targets the Gages. He hears a high-pitched yelp and sees Sergio limping off with not one, not two but three snowball marks. Two are on his thighs and one's melting off his face. Idiots.
"Was that alright? I didn't want to disable him from piloting in case we get called in." Hermann inquired as he made more snow projectiles.
"Probably should've thought of that. Gimme a sec." Raleigh
whistles a tune that all Jaeger pilots know means truce. "Guys no disabling us to fight in case, y'know, Kaiju. Doc brought up a valid point."
"Shit. Didn't even... Thanks. You're not so bad, Doctor." Bruce hissed as he shook out his gloves from snow. "Trevin, you good with that?"
"Yup." the other twin agrees before ducking back behind the fort.
"D'onofrios?"
"Loud 'n' clear, Romeo and Gipsy." Caitlin's assessing gaze that looks Hermann over gets the hand movement they're all taught in advanced pilot training; don't go for the sweet spot. She nods in agreement and passes it on to her co-pilot.
"Did they just ask us for permission to target Doc an' you denied 'em?" Yancy asked incredulously as they resumed their positions.
"Basically. They think Hermann's our secret weapon." Oh how he's gonna bust that idea wide open...
Exactly eighteen and a half snowballs later, the opposing team is cursing Raleigh's talent for strategy. By this point they're all soaked and they call truce to get dry.
"You got a mean swing, Doc." Trevin admits as they split at the central hallway. "Ever need any help then just ask for us."
Hermann nods hesitantly when Bruce agrees, "Yeah. You're a good guy. See ya round, Doc." The Gages and the D'onofrios go one way while they go another.
"Your quarters or ours, Hermann?" Raleigh asks since the hallways are completely empty. Everyone is either in the Rec Room, the mess hall or their own rooms.
"My quarters after we change into something warm." Hermann replies as his back twitches. Raleigh knows the wings are
probably sore from being bound under Hermann's clothes.
"M'kay." Raleigh gently pats Hermann's arm as they turn towards the pilot rooms. "See you in fifteen minutes."
Those wings must be cramped. Yancy commented through the link.
I thought as much. He'll get the chance to stretch them if we don't barge in. Raleigh acknowledged as they strip down to their basic t-shirts and boxers. You take the shower first this time. He pulls a blanket down from the shelf and wraps himself in it as their socks dry on the radiator. Raleigh yawns as he's warm and sleepy from expending so much energy.
Don't you fall asleep on me, Rals.
Mmm.He snuggles into the blanket, resting his head against the arm of the couch. Not gonna.
Uh-huh. Last time you said that we were nearly late for patrol. Yancy snorts as he comes out in the PPDC-issued bathrobe while scrubbing his hair dry. Shower, kiddo.
But it's warm...
Shower. The mental shove jolts Raleigh upright as he grumbles unintelligible words.
Jerk.
Bitch. They both laugh at the reference as Raleigh flees to the bathroom. He showers quickly, throwing on a Gipsy Danger sweater with the pin-up girl on the front and the 34 on the shoulder so that he almost looks like the Jaeger. The sweatpants are probably Yancy's as they ride up about an inch on his ankles. Yancy looks at his own set before they trade to be more comfortable. They pull their boots back on and Raleigh keeps ahold of his Iron Man blanket.
Good time for tea and trading stories. he hums as he tugs his brother along to Hermann's door. Raleigh knocks, smiling as he hears a curse in German. It's been a little over twenty
minutes according to Yancy's watch so Hermann had taken advantage of their absence.
"I am sorry about the mess." Hermann says before they even set foot in the door. There are boxes everywhere and the paperwork that can't be electronically transferred is already packed. Most of the airplane models have slowly migrated from Hermann's rooms to Raleigh and Yancy's quarters and so there's only about twenty left. The sight is familiar enough considering they traveled quite a bit before K-Day.
"You need help packin' the models so that they don't get busted up on the way over to Sydney? Assuming you're takin' the flight offered by the PPDC." Raleigh offers as he steps around the packing paper and stacks of books in his thickest set of socks. Both of them had left their boots by the doorway as to not dirty up the papers floating around on the floor.
"Some assistance would be greatly appreciated. I like to pack what I consider personal property and the PPDC knows how to handle my chalkboards." Hermann smiled wanly in relief.
"Okay. You want us to wrap 'em in bubble wrap or paper?" Yancy questions as he delicately shifts some papers into order on the floor, checking to make sure they're all part of the same report. Mixed reports were never fun, as both brothers had figured out when they had to file for Yamarashi's estimated damages and anything they'd done to the city to defeat it. Marshal Pentecost had fixed the error but warned them to compile their reports separately next time.
"Bubble wrap." Hermann pointed at the blue material. Raleigh carefully made sure that the delicate models were swaddled without losing their shape. The noise of burbling water made him hum 40s music along with snatches of Disney songs. He sat down on the floor and wrapped until all the models were packed away into a box. The only one was the Moth Major with the
de Havilland engine that they were going to take back to put with the rest of the WWII models. By the time he levers himself up off the floor with the Iron Man blanket wrapped around his shoulders, Hermann's steeped the tea and is pouring it over something. "Chocolate bubble for you and Earl Grey for myself." the mathematican stated as he set it down on the much nicer table.
The porcelain set is pristine and nearly translucent with how finely made it is; Raleigh wonders who gave it to Hermann. "Huh. Sounds interesting."
"As a concession to the weather, the tea is hot instead of cold as it is normally served." Hermann informs them as they sit down to have tea.
They drink and Yancy hums at the taste, "It's pretty good."
"I was introduced to it at an academic conference in Boston shortly before K-Day." the man admitted as he sipped his Earl Grey. Raleigh swallows his mouthful and examines under the cup for the stamp. Rosenthal limitiere Kunstreihen Germany was definitely upscale in terms of tea collectors. The rumors had been that the set was destroyed at Stamford.
"Hey, Hermann, where'd you get this set?" he asks as he swirls the tea and tapioca pearls absently before taking another drink of it.
"From someone who was a dear friend." the saddened answer isn't what he expected and Raleigh realized he probably over-stepped the line.
"Sorry."
"He would have appreciated its use and I have occasion to use it now." Hermann replied with his sadness tempered by a smile. "I do have to thank you for your help. Those models are delicate enough and I do not think the professional movers will read the package."
"You're welcome, Hermann. That's what friends are for." Raleigh hums as he fluffs his blanket and giggles as Yancy pokes the link lightly. "Hey, we carved something for you. Do you want it now so you can pack it away or, umm, later?"
"Later, Raleigh." Hermann murmurs into the warmth of the room.
You remember when we said we were gonna be superheroes? Yancy asks as he steals a corner of the blanket.
Yeah?
I think we did it. Raleigh hums as he snuggles close to his brother. Hermann watches them with fondness as they poke each other under the blanket and bicker about stupid things.
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