Sage and Honey Tea

Sage and Honey Tea
19 March 2017
-March 19th, 2017-
Raleigh cusses out Technician Green soundly when his healing fingers bump into the desk Yancy had brought in for studying.
"Yan! Your stupid desk is in the way of my poor hand!" he yells into the bedroom as Yancy steps out with damp hair.
"Sorry Rals. Lemme see." his brother had been extra careful of his hand for the past four weeks and not even two days into the limited mobility allowance, he bumps them. They feel fine for fingers that are almost done healing. "They look alright."
"Yeah. I should've watched where I was going." he hums as he carefully bends the fingers and flexes them to prevent stiffness. "Any plans to go out?"
"Nah. I'm actually free for the day. What'd you wanna do, Rals?" Yancy shrugged as he scrubbed at his hair some more with the towel around his shoulders.
"Ummm. Hmm. I doubt they'd go for it but maybe a sleepover like we used to do in Norway?" he explains as he stretches lazily, injured hand over his head as his good hand curls down.
"It's not a bad idea but I'm not sure your math guy would say yes; he seems pretty skittish to me." Yancy says as he throws on a t-shirt and then a flannel button-down over his pants.
"Couldn't hurt to ask." Raleigh hums as he texts Tendo.
Wanna have a sleepover while Yan is studying for his GED?
Hermann's invited too but not sure if he'll come. -R
He makes himself some toast with strawberry jam as he waits for Tendo's reply. Munching on his toast, his phone buzzes with a reply.
Sure. My night's clear and I know Hermann's is too. The trick is to convince him to stay longer than an hour. -T
Raleigh grins around his toast and Yancy rolls his eyes.
"You look demented when you do that. Finish your toast properly." Yancy grumbles at Raleigh as he puts their tiny collection of dishes away. He flips his brother off absently as he types out his answer.
Leave that to me. Just get him to come in with you. How's your gaming thumb? -R
The second after he sends it, he gets a text from an unknown number.
Apparently you invited me to a juvenile sleepover.
Raleigh eats the last of his toast, cheeks bulging as he smiles. He knows who it is now.
Yeah. Hey, is this your number? -R
It takes longer than a usual text from Tendo but he gets both answers at the same time.
Wicked. Imma kick your ass at CoD. -T
Yes this is my personal cell. What does one bring to a sleepover? I have no personal experience.
He chuckles wryly at Tendo's answer and frowns at the other reply.
"Hermann's never had a sleepover before."
"Really? Well shit, now he has to come with Tendo." Yancy sounds vaguely affronted that Hermann's childhood didn't include that particular staple.
"Destress your breasts, Yan. He'll be here." he snorts as he taps out his challenge to Tendo and to reassure Hermann he was making the right choice.
Bring it, Tendo. I'm gonna rip you a new one in CoD, MW and Marvel vs CAPCOM. -R
Your favorite pillow and whatever makes you comfortable. We won't be too loud if you decide you want to work. -R
He looks up to see Yancy pulling out the couch bed and lining it with the various pillows around the room.
"Are you making a pillow nest for Hermann?"
"Duh. He seems a bit... shy for your usual stray so I wanna make him okay with us." Yancy stuck his tongue out as he pads one corner higher than the others. "You can do whatever but I'm going for food to eat that's not chow hall regulated."
"Sure. Around six?"
"Your sleepover, bro, not mine." comes the muffled answer as Yancy pulls on a black fleece and grabs his jacket. "I'll get back in about an hour."
"Ahah. Here." Raleigh wraps the green scarf around his brother's neck, making sure that it settles properly.
"You'd make a lovely housewifey." Yancy teased as he ruffled Raleigh's hair.
"Yan, seriously?" He shoves his brother out of the door and closes it soundly.
"Oww my poor nose! Rals, so not cool!" Yancy protested through the steel door.
"You own fault, Yan!" he shouts back as he hides his collection of stuffed animals and pulls out an old PS3 with all the hookups. His phone buzzes on the table where he left it sitting and he catches it before it falls to the floor with a grunt as he lunges across the couch bed fort.
We'll just have to make it best match and let Hermann be the judge. Still gonna kick your ass though. -T
Very well. What time should I arrive?
He fires off a text to them both as he flops in Yancy's open chair.
Whatever, bro. Still schooling you. -R
Around six. Bring your PJs. Yancy's got the snacks covered and I'll make sure he has some healthy choices too since I think you're not fond of chocolate. -R
Yan, get some healthy stuff for Hermann. He can't eat chocolate as far as I can tell. He refused a brownie so I might be making assumptions but just in case... Y'know, don't want anyone keeling over. -R
His phone goes off like crazy in his hand as all of them reply.
Damn you're a hard nut to crack. -T
Thank you for the invitation. I will arrive ten minutes to six with a bag. You are correct about the chocolate. My body does not digest any cocoa and it tends to make me violently ill.
Can do, Rals. My nose is okay. Thanks for asking, you butt. -Y
He rolls his eyes at his brother's response as he tidies up the place with care and sets up the gaming system.
Tendo's actually the first to arrive bearing gifts of pretzels, crackers, strawberries and a custom controller that glows along with a ridiculous TARDIS onesie.
"I brought stuff for Hermann." Tendo says as he carefully deposits the controller and the strawberries on the table.
"Yeah, Yan is too. We want to make this a good experience and not a bad one. So... Classic or modern DW?" Raleigh hums as he brings out plastic bowls for the pretzels and crackers.
"Right on." they high-five before Tendo answers the question. "Both but I like modern a bit better. Have you noticed that Hermann looks a bit like Nine?"
"Huh. Now that you mention it, yeah, but no way would he go for Nine's style. He's incredibly attached to his perpetual 1940s clothes." Raleigh snorts with amusement.
"Really?" Tendo raises a groomed eyebrow at him and he shrugs.
"Yup. Big, uh, WW II fanatic here. I would know." Raleigh and Tendo are pretty close but not quite close enough just yet. He knows that they'll eventually be as comfortable as Raleigh and his brother but for now Tendo gets to learn new bits about Raleigh.
"Wow. That's pretty rad."
"Yeah?" he asks with a smile.
"Yeah." They nudge shoulders and look up like a pair of hound dogs when the tentative knock comes. Raleigh scrambles for the door and opens it to see a sight that a good three/fourths of the 'dome will never see; Hermann in overly large stripey PJs under a blue robe. He really does want to scoop Hermann up but refrains by the barest fraction as he remembers the man's body-conscious. Yancy coming up behind the man with deliberately loud steps of his steel-toed boots is just the distraction he needs.
"C'mon in. Yan's got snacks and Tendo's set some up already." he graciously lets Hermann sidle past him with the duffel bag and the pillow clutched to his chest. When Hermann spots the nest Yancy made in the corner, he looks at Tendo with an expression that could maim, "Is that your idea, Tendo?"
"Nope. That appears to be a Becket bro special." Tendo denies as he makes a stawberry and cheese cracker sandwich before stuffing the entire thing in his mouth. Raleigh cracks up laughing at the way Tendo's cheeks look like a chipmunk's and Yancy joins in shortly afterward; Hermann's rusty laughter is all the sweeter when it makes an appearance. "What?"
"Real mature, Tendo, real mature." he manages after he
wipes away the tears of laughter.
"Don't tell me I looked-"
"Like a chipmunk? Oh yeah." Yancy rags the LOCCENT officer with a grin as he sets down the paper bags full of goodies. "S'okay. Rals is just as bad with marshmellows."
"Hey! There is nothing wrong with liking sugar. Besides Yan's the one who built the nest." Raleigh smirks as Yancy blushes and rubs the back of his head when Hermann's assessing gaze lands on him. "He wanted to make sure you were comfortable without being too obvious."
He digs through the bags and sets everything out except the ice cream which he sticks in the fridge. The spread's pretty varied and he steals a marshmellow as he goes to the tiny ensuite to change into his PJs. Everyone else is getting settled on the couch bed as Tendo cues up the first game. Raleigh pokes his head out after he's done to just observe. Hermann's cradled by the soft pillow nest as he watches Yancy get trounced by Tendo. He leans on the doorway, chuckling as Tendo curses in Cantonese and Hermann mutters something in German that he's pretty sure is 'mind your language'.
"Yan's pretty sneaky when it comes to strategy games. He sucks at Street Fighter and Marvel vs. CAPCOM." Raleigh points out as he snags a third and fourth controller, offering one to Hermann. The mathematician shakes his head no but does take the bowl of pretzels Raleigh snags off the table instead. He shrugs as he joins the game and snipes both Yancy and Tendo with a cackle. Slowly, Hermann unwinds from the pillow nest and hesitantly takes the controller that's been sitting at Raleigh's side. It's taken nearly two hours for Hermann to work his way through the pretzels and the mathematician's tablet is buried under the massive amount of pillows. "Here. Combo menu's here, basic commands are pretty easy. Allontanarsi. Hermann needs to practice." he states dryly as Hermann taps out basic sequences. "Va bene."
"How many languages do you Beckets know?" Tendo asks with a hint of confusion.
"Hmm. Good question. Czech, Italian, German, Norwegian and Japanese is the short list. We have key phrases in languages of places that hold oil and whatnot but yeah, we know a ton." Yancy nods along and turns off his controller before stealing Tendo's to do the same by laying on top of him. Raleigh knows that tactic works because Yancy's weight is deceptive because he's so tall.
"Is it always that rough?" Hermann murmurs in German and Raleigh shakes his head.
"No. We're careful with you. It's not that you're not strong enough, we just want to give you your space." he explains as the tutorial screen pops up. "Just follow that for now. I think you might be good at this." The nudge is soft but still in the spirit of camaraderie. Hermann clears his throat as he shuffles back to the nest but he's got a tiny smile on his lips that makes Raleigh smile as well. Yancy cracks open the peanut-butter and the vanilla ice cream as Tendo sets out bowls for sundaes.
"Hermann, vanilla or peanut butter?" Tendo asks as he drizzles caramel and heated chocolate over his PB ice cream sundae, topping it off with M&Ms. Raleigh pulls a face at the amount of sugar on it but Yancy's already making one for him. Yancy's is simple, vanilla with caramel and a tiny amount of sprinkles. Raleigh's is just PB with caramel and a dab of honey. Hermann frowns as he taps out a kill combo on the character that's AI controlled on the screen.
"Vanilla with nothing on it."
"Okay." Tendo plops two scoops into a fresh bowl and hands it off to Hermann with a spoon. They eat quietly as Hermann starts the match with Raleigh. Both of them hold their own before Hermann gets the upper hand and gives Raleigh's character a smackdown.
"Awesome. Told you you'd be good at this one." He holds up his hand for a high-five; Hermann barely completes it before putting his hand on the controller again. Raleigh can't help the smile that pulls his lips up because the man's making some small progress. "Okay, we play for breakfast decision. You're next, bro." Raleigh tosses the controller and Yancy barely catches it.
"I gotta study, Rals. Have Tendo-Oh no. Rals, he's got Tulio." Raleigh whips around to see Tendo cradling his stuffed husky that he's slept with for nearly a decade since he got it from his Mom.
"Put Tulio back." he warns, half-rising from the couch bed.
"Dude, you have an entire collection of stuffed animals. I didn't know people did that anymore." Tendo teased. Raleigh slid off the couch bed as to not jostle a very confused Hermann and practically tackled Tendo.
"Screw you Tendo. That was my Mom's last gift to me, you jerk." He huffs as he snags Tulio from the man's grip, tucking the stuffed husky under his arm to place back in his collection.
"Sorry, bro, my bad. Why do you have so many though?"
"It's his thing. Strays or stuffed animals from every place we've ever been in. Tulio's from a toy store in France. The rest are just build-up from years of travel." Yancy answers from the desk as Raleigh sets Tulio to rights.
"So the German Shepard?" Tendo asks as he peers at the neatly organized pile.
"Belgian Altesian and in the Swiss mountains on top of the Gotthart Pass in the middle of summer on our way to Italy." he supplies as he pushes Tendo out of the bedroom. "Go play with
Hermann, teach him your wiles. I'm gonna go grab some more snacks from the kitchen." He grabs two bags of chips and one bowl of crackers, offering them to Hermann along with some water. Tendo's back cracks as he stands up to get a drink. Yancy's busy mouthing words that he's reviewing for the GED that he'll take with a video conference. Raleigh watches Hermann glance at his tablet and then back at the game before looking at his buried tablet again. "Turn it off if you're done."
"Really?"
"Mmm, you can only game for so long before you move on to other stuff. Like I said, it's okay if you want to get ahead on work too. Not gonna make you do something you don't wanna do." he responds as he shuts off the game system after he takes out the disc. The game is easily shelved as he absently brushes off nonexistent dust.
"Thank you."
"No problem. I actually have to update my blog now that you mentioned other things." Raleigh hums as he grabs his own tablet from off the desk. He uploads a few photos of Gipsy Danger and gets to work on writing his new entry. He's gotten a ton of comments saying that Gipsy Danger won't last past the third battle it engages in. Raleigh grumbles under his breath about idiots who have no idea and that Jaeger pilots have it tougher than people think.
"Hey, my favorite blog updated! I think it's run by a tech because they keep correcting people on Drift-compatibility." Tendo chirrups and Raleigh nearly chokes on his mouthful of chips.
He clears his throat after he swallows down some water, "Tendo, what's the name of it?"
"Adventures of Gipsy and the Dangers." Yeah, that's Raleigh's blog alright.
"It sounds like a band name." Yancy mutters as he pulls away from the GED material.
"They are... interesting to read." Hermann's got it up as well, Yancy hovering over Tendo's shoulder to poke at the screen. "Extremely knowledgable about the Jaeger even if it hasn't been deployed yet."
"Uhh, guys, that's mine. I wrote it for shits and giggles when I couldn't sleep and now I have weekly updates." He shows them the master post page on his tablet and Yancy cracks first, seeing as Tendo's jaw drops and he blushes like a school girl; his brother starts laughing and sits down next to Raleigh as he looks over the programming.
"Not bad, bro. Did... Hey, you wrote the other one on Matador Fury." Yancy is faintly projecting jealousy over their link.
"Yeah. Felipe and Jesus let me do theirs after they saw what I did for Gipsy. RB and Cherno Alpha's blogs are run by civilians that know the pilots, Lucky Seven's run by Herc and Tatic Ronin is on a Facebook page. There's a bunch of them dedicated to logging the experience that piloting or being friends with pilots brings." he explains with a shrug. "If you want the blogs, I can share them?"
"Yeah."
"Matador Fury's pilots are infamous for being... convicts." Tendo rubs at the tattoo on his right hand with a sigh.
"Eh. Reformed and whatnot. They're pretty chill." Raleigh waves off the concern as he emails the MF pilots. "The pilots and 'domes gotta stick together."
"Indeed." Hermann's dry response makes all of them laugh.
They watch a few movies before Tendo falls asleep on one side of the couch bed, clutching a plushie of Reckoner to his chest. Yancy's next to sleep with his body curled up on the edge like a cat. Raleigh's the last awake as Hermann's fighting sleep even in his cozy pile of blankets and pillows. He just turns down the lights and waits for the quiet breathing to shift into deeper breaths indicating sleep. Raleigh's long learned how to make-believe that he's asleep so he watches as Hermann shifts onto his side and snuggled into the pillow nest. They all drop off to pleasant dreams and warm feelings.
He's the first one awake stretching luxuriously as he yawns. Scrubbing away the eye crust, Raleigh takes a picture with his tablet of the sleeping trio. Hermann's huddled under his blanket fort so that all Raleigh sees is a tuft of red-brown hair and sharp cheekbones. Yancy's sprawled like their old cat had with his arms stretched over his head with his feet curled up. Tendo's actually the cutest, Reckoner plushie still squished to his chest as he drools onto the pillow he stole from the nest and the blanket tangled around his legs.
He resists the urge to laugh at all of them and decides that since he's already up, he needs to make pancakes, coffee as well as the obligatory tea. Raleigh knows that Hermann drinks more than tea but they both like the way it's something they share with no one else. He pulls out his Mom's favorite, sage and honey, with a small smile. Then he gets to work with the recipe his Mom taught him for crepes except he makes the batter a bit thicker for American pancakes. By the time all of them stumble, or in Hermann's case stiffly walk, into the dining area, Raleigh's just setting down the sugar cubes for the steaming coffee and tea.
"Wow. Did you do all that?" Tendo asks with a sleep-roughened voice.
"Yeah. Rals is the master of breakfast." Yancy adds before he cracks another yawn.
"I find it familiar." Hermann's words make the mood soften as they pour their various beverages in the morning light. "Is that sage I smell?"
"Sage mixed with honey and a little bit of lemon juice." he says as he drinks his tea with a happy noise. Hermann's messy bed-head makes Raleigh want to ruffle it even further but he has the feeling that Hermann would not appreciate it. Tendo steals at least three more from the pancake pile and eats them like a sandwich as Raleigh grins when Hermann also reaches for seconds. Yancy just takes an entire pile (six in total) and drenches them in syrup.
Raleigh eats quite a few himself but leaves the lone pancake in the center as Tendo eyes it. The pancakes are soon gone and the morning seems to linger a moment longer as they put everything away. Hermann changes into his 1940s clothes and tucks the pillow away into the duffel bag.
"So, how was it?" he asks as Tendo and Yancy argue over who won the game tournament.
"... Pleasant. I will say that you are a good host." That was Hermann speech for, 'yes, I had a good time.'
"By the way, guys, Hermann won because he beat Yancy's record and yours by a solid margin of three games each." Raleigh interrupts the silly bickering with the news.
"Darn." Yancy grumbles good-naturedly.
"Guess he schooled us." Tendo admits with a shrug.
Raleigh shakes his head and shoos away the LOCCENT officer, "Y'know you're welcome to invite yourself over if you feel like it, Doc."
"Perhaps." With a small, secret grin, Hermann turns away and hums Raleigh's favorite song as he leaves.
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