Sweet Embrace storyline

Five times Raleigh hugged someone and one time someone hugged him.
==Structural Failure==
15 November 2023; Sweet Embrace IV or V.
 
The section collapse of the Wall in Sitka leaves Raleigh supporting two of his Russian team members as they all stumble into the dull sunlight. He goes back for the rest and begins to lift sections he can handle by himself. The remaining uninjured members start teaming up as Raleigh lifts and they carry them to the dump sight. He refuses the water, passing it onto his incapacitated team members as he dives back into the chaotic fray to help trapped people. 
Swearing in several languages helps as he darts from one end of the shattered section to another. Raleigh barks out more commands than he expects since people are sitting there staring at their hands in pure shock. Once everyone's doing something, he goes hack to picking up pieces he can lift, taking them off of broken legs or arms as his muscles shake when someone else pulls the injured person to safety. 
It takes hours before the section is slowly getting repaired under stern supervision and Raleigh slumps against the steel girders with a sigh. His team leader sits next to him and offers him a bottle of vodka. 
"Sit, sladkiy kot*, before you fall. Here. Drink. You saved many lives today." The man's broken English makes Raleigh snort quietly before coughing. He takes a long pull of the alcohol and hands it back. Raleigh's not much for contact anymore, not since his brother slipped where he couldn't follow but he gently slings his arm around the man's shoulders and they sit in silence as welding sparks shatter against the concrete.
==+ I==
-March 1, 2025-
A agonized scream comes from deep within his chest as Yancy wakes up sweat-soaked and shivering. Raleigh was... gone. Dead in the jaws of Knifehead. So who was this next to him? He didn't have another Drift-compatible partner. Maybe a Jaeger Fly from his glory days but she felt... different. He scrubs at his face, grimacing at the stubble he felt.
Maybe some cold water and a straight shave would help him remember what year it was or who he happened to sleep with. Yancy hissed as his shoulder bumped into the doorframe of the bathroom. He flicks on the light and the bold yellow note makes him keen lowly in the back of his throat:
Yancy Becket is dead. Your name is Raleigh Becket and you're on a tour of the world. The lady in bed with you is Mako, your co-pilot.
Raleigh runs straight for Mako and she opens her arms to him. He buries his face in the crook of her neck as great, rattling sobs shake him. She holds him closer when he makes to pull away and he slumps in her strong hold.
"Mako, Mako, Mako." he whispers against her skin.
"Raleigh." there's not one iota of judgement in her tone and he sighs in relief. "Dilly-dally, shilly-shally."
"I understand that reference, Mako." he giggles wetly as she cards her fingers through his longer hair. Mako lays back, pulling Raleigh with her so that she's the little spoon even as she's facing him. "Today's..."
The anniversary of Knifehead and your brother's death. It still hurts you so much, Raleigh. I will not judge you if you wake every day from now until we die waking up as Yancy Becket so long as you come back to me. she finishes for him as she wraps her leg around both of Raleigh's.
It's nice to be held.
You share so much, Raleigh, and expect so little in return. Just when he's about to fight it, she practically and systematically destroys his argument with memory after memory of his own or Yancy's or even her own. You are sweet and selfless.
'Mnot perfect, Maks. He protests as he laces their fingers and stares at the new scars on Mako's arm.
Her laughter is soft but warm as she replies, No one is; there is no such thing as perfect. However, saiai*, you are everything someone could ask for in a friend or a loved one.
... How about a boyfriend? he points out with a childish poke down the link.
Partner. Boyfriend sounds childish after all we have been through. she wrinkles her nose and he kisses it softly before his lips graze her cheek to kiss her mouth. Mmm. That's nice. He slides his fingertips over her scars as she traces his own. She giggles when he touches her ribs but he follows his own trail with soft, closed-mouth kisses that rove back up to her face. Raleigh! Mako's laughing over the link and his memory of the terrible day shifts into something a little kinder than it has in years.
Thank you.
I need no thanks, saiai. This is more than enough. she hums as she presses kisses to his scars, creating something better than tragedy in her wake.
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Category:Sweet Embrace storyline
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