Darjeeling Tea

Yancy reflects on strays, family and crepes.
==Meta==
For pickleplum. Taking their advice and switching up the point of view. The first attempt went horribly wrong because it felt more like Raleigh narrating through Yancy. Oops.
Also, I freaking love this fandom. We are so tiny but we are fierce and as loyal as Max is to Chuck. Just... My feels for you guys is immense.
Yancy's favorite song is Edith Piaf's rendition of La vie en rose in case anyone wants to run with that in any direction.
Enjoy!
==Text==
-April 10, 2017-
Yancy wonders sometimes if he takes his duty as older brother a little too seriously. He vets all of the people strays and his Maman used to trial the animals. But lately, Raleigh's been happy hanging around the mathematician that heads the Physics department. Nothing's wrong with their link so Yancy decides to head out on his own to explore Anchorage, maybe snag some decent tea or something for his brother.
He takes a taxi to the city and his jacket instantly makes him the target of the pilot groupies. Yancy ducks into the side alleys to avoid them since he's not interested in fielding questions. A quiet and somewhat sarcastic person by nature Yancy has a love-hate relationship with the fame. Tucking his nose into his scarf, he slips into a tiny café that serves decent tea and coffee for a good price post-Breach.
"Is that you Becket?" The lights in the café are fairly bright but Yancy's got the same habit as his brother when he gets cold. He tugs down his grey knitted scarf with a small grin pulling at his lips. "Mmm, older Becket."
"The name's Yancy. Rals comes in more often then I do. Anything good?" The patrons don't even glance up from their tablets or video conferences as the owner grins in answer to his question.
"Darjeeling straight from India." The woman says as she ducks into the back and an employee steps up to serve the other customers. Yancy steps off to the side to pay for it.
"Hmm. I'll take it and a chai to go. Places to be, y'know." he shrugs as yet another person enters the building and brings cold air with them.
"Gipsy Danger? You're a pilot?" Yancy cringes as he turns around, expecting a Jaeger Fly.
"...Yes." he answers reluctantly as he takes his tea and cradles it staring warily at the woman over the rim of the cup.
"Is that the name of your Jaeger?" she asks with wide blue eyes. Yup, Jaeger Fly through and through; oh joy.
"Gips is Gips. She's ours." he makes sure his answer can't be taken as anything other than loyalty to his Jaeger. "If you'll excuse me." She's pretty, he'll give her that, but right now he's busy. Yancy tucks the tea away in his coat pocket, checking on his brother via their Drift-link. Heya Rals.
The order in his brother's mind tells him that Raleigh's playing chess against an inferior strategist and that his brother's winning. Yan! I'm making the new Instructor eat his words about strategy. Ha. This guy should play against Hermann.
Good to see you're still schooling them. Listen, you need anything? I'm in Anchorage. he responds mentally as he shivers in the nippy weather, sipping his tea to keep him warm.
Umm, some more tea maybe but we're good otherwise. The mental shrug makes him grin into his to-go cup.
Love you Rals. He presses affection down their link and gets the equivalent of a hug from his brother as Raleigh turns back to his game.
Love you too, Yan. Yancy pulls back into reality to see he's drifted from the café to the only wood-working store in Anchorage. Raleigh had turned the rectangle of diamond willow into a figurine of Coyote Tango, fiddling with his knife again to carve scrap wood. Yancy nibbled his lip as he calculated their pay, his savings account in case one of them (died) was left unable to pilot and the back-up of their back-up that Raleigh had no idea existed. Deciding was easy as he entered the store with his tea in one hand and the other free to look at the wood they had on offer.
"Mr. Becket I trust the diamond willow did not disappoint." the owner pronounced quietly.
"It was perfect. Your mahogany stick, is that still here?" he asks as he drinks his tea, eyeing the new stock with a critical expression.
"A fine memory, Mr. Becket, and the answer is yes."
"How much?" He watches as the man fiddles with the carved figurine on the sales counter.
"I have another interested."
"Mmm, that puts a damper on things. How's the cherry this year?" Yancy switches tactics because all he needs is a dark wood for the cane.
"A man who knows his abilities."
"It's not for me, it's for a friend." he replies as he taps against the bamboo. "A deal, maybe?"
"You drive a hard bargain but I am willing to listen, Mr. Becket." Trap set, bait taken; now for the coup d'grace.
"Cherry, about three feet tall and four inch circumference along with a block of dark walnut." he tests slyly, making sure to draw it out.
"Cherry at two feet and three inch diameter, no walnut." The man's frown is fierce but Yancy's got this in the bag.
"Three feet and three inch circumference with a block of yellow cedar." he counters with a tilt of his head.
"Done." They shake on it.
Yancy gets both wrapped in brown paper with twine. Tucking them under his arm, he pays for them and nods to the owner as he steps back outside. He walks out of the alley and lets loose a particularly loud whistle. A taxi screeches to a stop in front of him. Yancy grins as he slides in, "Thanks."
"It was the whistle, young man. Where to?" The older woman asks as she weaves into traffic.
"Shatterdome please." he's polite as he rattles off the address.
"Oh. Cadet or...?" She's obviously driven out there before because she doesn't question him too much.
"Tech." he gives his standard answer as he tucks the tea under the twine of the block of cedar. "Got some time off."
"So you visit the city."
"Yup." She just smiles in the rear-view mirror, turning up her 40s music when she catches him mouthing the words. The ride is fairly pleasant for an afternoon driver. She drops him off almost directly at the gates and he tips her well. "You have a nice day, ma'am."
"Such nice manners." He hears her laugh as he turns around and Gipsy's name is plastered on the back of his jacket. Yancy walks through the gates, throwing up casual salutes to the PPDC guards as he goes by them.
"Back so soon Becket?"
"Nah. Been a while." Yancy comes around the corner and nearly mows over Raleigh's math guy. He catches the huge pile of paperwork and the man's glasses before they meet the concrete floor of the Shatterdome. "Whoa. I'm sorry I ran into you Doc." Hermann sniffs as he steadies himself with his cane but looks relieved that the papers haven't scattered everywhere. "You doing anything later?" Yancy asks as he hands back the pile carefully.
"Delivering paperwork to Marshal Pentecost but nothing too pressing." comes the slightly irritated remark from the shorter man.
"Tell you what, Doctor, if I help you deliver these papers then you and I have some tea. I know that's typically your thing with Rals but if he's attached to you, I think I need to get to know you a bit better." he offers seriously even as he shifts his packages to carry the thick pile of papers that Doctor Gottlieb is hanging onto like a lifeline. "Only if you feel like it though."
The man's thin lips all but disappear as he presses them together. "The papers are quite heavy."
"'Sokay." He takes them and walks with the Doctor to the Marshal's office, where the man himself takes the pile. "Marshal."
"Ranger Becket." They exchange mutual nods and then the Doctor hesitates at their quarter doors.
"I'm not gonna eat you, y'know. Just wanna talk." he huffs dryly as he sets the wood on Raleigh's bunk and snags the tea box. "Got in some new Darjeeling from India. I think we still have some Earl Grey or... Huh. Out of anise. Gonna have to email Jazzy again." Yancy smiles at the thought of his youngest sibling bargaining with the market stalls for them. She's feisty and doesn't take no for an answer.
"I would not mind the Darjeeling."
"Nice. It's loose leaf." he hums to himself as he reaches up for the glass pot and the canvas steeping bag they carry around. Yancy scoops up two spoonfuls of the Darjeeling, tucking it into the bag. He pulls the loop tight and sets it in the pot as he gets the water ready. Hermann is uncomfortably stiff on the guest chair. Yancy sighs as he realizes the man thinks he's going to interrogate him. "Use that chair instead."
"That is-"
"Your chair when you're here. I'm not an idiot and you look like you're about to barf if someone so much as touches you. Go on." he rolls his eyes at the man's nervousness as he watches the tiny bubbles on the bottom of the pot get bigger. When Yancy hears the guest chair creaking and his own courderoy chair scuffing, he grins at his tiny victory. Pouring the boiling water over the tea, he digs around for the wafers he knows Raleigh keeps around but groans as he realizes his brother found a new hiding spot. Rals, Imma kill you. I have your math guy and I can't find the wafers.
Bottom right shelf. Raleigh responds with a brush of curiosity. How's he reacting?
Like I'll torture him if he so much as blinks. Raleigh's laughter is bright as it comes over the link. Yancy pulls out the vanilla and raspberry wafers, debating before choosing vanilla. The glass pot of tea is placed on a mat and the wafers arranged on a plate. A lemon slice is placed next to Hermann's mug (deep blue) and Yancy waits for the Doctor to make his tea. He pours in cream and drops in a single sugar cube as he stirs the tea until it becomes a decent mocha color.
Hermann takes a sip, looking at the wafers before Yancy sighs into his chipped mug, setting it down carefully.
"Is there something the matter?" the man asks with a slight frown.
"Yeah, you're clamming up on me. Rals talks a mile a minute and you have no trouble with him. I'd like to know the guy who beats my brother at chess; the man behind the Jaeger operating system. Stop looking at me like I'm gonna do something to you if you so much as breathe." he snorts as he takes a handful of wafers and leans back to toss them in his mouth one by one.
"Ah. I was... unsure of my welcome." The slender fingers shift a wafer before they pick it up and it disappears into the man's mouth. That's definitely progress in his opinion.
"Rals invited you in for pretty much the rest of your life the second he insisted on tea and chess. You're part of his peanut gallery now and don't ask me how it works. I may have a peek but damned if it isn't busy in there." Yancy scoffs at the insecurity. "If he likes you, you're here to stay. Never doubt that if you doubt anything else."
"I meant my welcome in your space." The correction is said with a raised brow.
"Me? You're good. I trust Raleigh's judgement." Yancy shrugs as he waits for the man to talk some more. "You let Rals ramble, don't you?"
"He says some remarkable things." comes the counter as Hermann dips his wafer into his tea. The bite is almost invisible as the mathematician finishes the wafer.
"Yeah. Rals is great. He gets overwhelmed sometimes though. I try to give him space when that happens." he hums as he drinks his tea slowly, savoring the simple flavor. "So, aside from Jaegers, Kaiju prediction equations and chess, what do you do?" The embarrassment is clear even from the short distance. "Hmm."
"I am not sure if that is a good or a bad sign."
"Thinking." he mutters absently in Czech before the idea comes to him. Yancy deliberately switches into German, which he knows is flavored with his previous language. "Teach me Russian."
"Why?" Hermann warily asks as he finishes another wafer, his reply also in German.
"I'm a bit rusty in my other European languages and I know Raleigh is in Japanese. We need your help in maintaining them. I also know that Rals would never ask this of you." he replies honestly as he pours more tea for them both, looking up as Raleigh comes in with snow-dusted hair and laughing eyes.
"Hey! It's snowing again. I want-Oh. Was I interrupting something? I'll, umm, I'll go-" Yancy gets up faster than the nervous Doctor and catches Raleigh's wrist before hugging his brother. "I really like him, Yan." The small voice Raleigh uses makes Yancy wince. He'd had to chase away so many assholes who'd use Raleigh's complete trust in them for their own gain but they're sweet to Raleigh's face. The feeling he usually gets isn't present with Doctor Gottlieb so the wounded face has to go.
"Your stray gets to stay as long as you like Rals. Stop with the kicked puppy face, I hate it when you get like that. Come, come, show me the smile." he slips into Czech again and presses his forehead against Raleigh's. The small smile he sees brings his own and a cleared throat from Gottlieb. The German is almost automatic but still rusty. "You're welcome to join us, Doctor."
"I just realized something! You're wearing an original N3-B snorkel parka with the wolf fur trim." Raleigh says with an air of excitement and in English. Yancy's a bit dizzy from the language switches but he can keep up.
"Oh boy. You sparked the World War II fanatic." he says fondly as he pulls away to ruffle his brother's mop. "He'll run out of War steam eventually. Rals, you said something about snow?"
"Yeah. Some of the techs are building snow Jaegers and I wanna build Olaf." Yancy chuckles at the reference, pulling on Raleigh's gloves as he all but squirms in Yancy's grip.
"Go coax a carrot from the cooks." he says as he lets go of Raleigh. His brother barrels out the door and does a back-hand spring to curb his excess energy.
"Gymnastics?"
"Nah. Rals picks and chooses but can never really stay concentrated unless it's his thing. You so much as breathe the words World War II, tactics or Disney and he's off like a shot."
"Disney?" Hermann's surprised tone has Yancy nodding to the question.
"Mmmhmm. Raleigh could rattle off every fact ever about the Disney movies and which Princess is his favorite." he hums as he also pulls on his gloves and offers the shorter man a pair out of pure habit, since both Jazzy and Raleigh have a tendency to freeze their hands by accident. "His favorites tend to be either Elsa or Belle; says he sees a lot of them in himself."
"... And your favorite?" the tone is curious and the Doc's opening his body stance (something Raleigh taught him when he was going through a huge Sherlock phase again).
"Kida. I mean, technically she's a Queen by the end of her movie but still... She speaks to me on a level most people don't care to understand." Yancy admits as he winds his scarf around his neck, smiling at the faint scent of his Maman's prefered washing brand. "You?"
"... I do not technically have a 'favorite' as you say but I prefer Ariel if pressed for a choice." Hermann declares quietly as Raleigh bounces back over to them with an entire bag of carrots.
"Nice. Doc says his prefered Princess is Ariel."
"Oh. The original version's better." Raleigh says immediately.
"Hans Christian Anderson?" Another fairy-tale and well-read friend for Raleigh then; Yancy heartily approves.
.
Raleigh wakes him up in the middle of the night by scrambling for the bathroom with a choked sob and slamming the door. He sits up suddenly, his eyes wide as he blinks away sleep.
"Shit." he hisses as he realizes this is a bad night for his baby brother. "Dammit, he was doing so good too. Rals? Talk to me."
"Go away!" The tone is frantic and scratchy as his brother's mind overflows with information too quickly for their Drift-link to compensate.
"Either I come in nicely or I break the door again." he warns as he braces his socked feet on the concrete floor. The door creaks open and Raleigh comes flying out, words coming out of his mouth in a stream of consciousness.
"Wanted to sleep, had such a good day, good memories, turned sour, wanted to keep quiet, shhh, calma te, I promised Maman I wouldn't bother you, needed your sleep more than I needed hugs." The trembling frame shakes hard as Raleigh attempts to curb the runaway thoughts. "Can'tcan'tcan'tthinkcan'tthink... Can't think, too loud, too much. Need help." Raleigh's knuckles turn white as they grip Yancy's tank top as his brother keens. "I'm sorry. So sorry. Didn't mean to, Yan."
"Hey, hey, we're cool." He smoothes back the thick mop, carding his fingers through it as he goes through his strategies for dealing with Raleigh's hyper-extended mind. "A song. Can you manage a song?"
"Maybe." the word is tight and pained because the thoughts are starting to come down the link regardless of Raleigh's ingrained barriers. "Don't wanna make you bleed again." Yancy shudders at the memory of Raleigh's exhausted mind sweeping through his own, seeking sanctuary and less pain. The song is mindlessly chosen from the vast memory Raleigh keeps.
"Okay. Lemme start. I can't sleep, no not like I used to..."
Raleigh shudders as he rasps out the second and third lines, "I can't breathe in and out like I need to/ It's breaking ice now to make any movement."
"What's your vice? You know mine's the illusion." The lyrics are painfully true for them both but they keep singing, the absolute blitz of Raleigh's mind slowly coming back under some order.
"All at once / I can help you out." His brother's voice wobbles on the chorus line but continues doggedly.
"I'll be what you need, I'll do anything/ Goodbye apathy, so long apathy." he soothes the frantic pace with his own mind, gently nudging similar thoughts together. "So don't sit still/ Don't you move away from here."
"So goodbye apathy/ So long fancy free." Raleigh's voice is a bit stronger as Yancy cradles him close. "Goodbye apathy, I don't wanna be you."
Yancy takes up the next bit, relaxing a bit as Raleigh finally stops trembling, "I don't walk right, not like I used to/ There's a jump in my step as I rush to see you/ I could be happy here as long as you're near to me/ As long as you're close to me."
They touch foreheads as Raleigh's too-pale skin gains some color. "Now that I'm alright/ I can help you out."
"I'll be what you need, I'll do anything/ Goodbye apathy, so goodbye apathy..." He trails off quietly as Raleigh slumps against his shoulder and drops back off to sleep. Yancy picks up his brother, his muscles protesting the heavy weight as he tucks them both into his bunk. It's been a long night for them both.
.
The morning light that filters into the Jaeger pilot rooms is pale but welcome as Raleigh cuddles closer to Yancy.
"Hey, Yan?" Raleigh's whisper is cautious, almost afraid of breaking the softness of the room just yet.
"Yeah kiddo." he hums back gently as he allows his brother to press his face against Yancy's shoulder even though Raleigh's the taller one now.
"Do I slow you down?"
"No. Who gave you that idea?" Yancy asks as he looks down at Raleigh's partially hidden face.
"It's... It's been rattling around in my head since that Tech said we were cheaters." the way his brother phrases it means it came from the inner turmoil that tripped the danger night.
"That's what caused your night. You listen to me, Rals, and you listen good. I'm not held back or slowed down by anyone. You get that thought outta your big brain right this second, you hear?"
"Yeah." the raw relief in Raleigh's voice makes him sigh. For all that Raleigh appears immune to insults and sharp barbs, his brother's only human like the rest of them.
"We good? No more suppressed thoughts? Cause we'll sit here an' talk 'em out if that's the case, Rals." Yancy tells his sibling seriously.
"Nah. It was just that one." Raleigh says with guilt lacing his tone. "Sorry-"
"Don't apologize. Don't you ever apologize for being different, Rals. There's no such thing as normal." he murmurs fiercely as he tightens his hold on his brother. "Seems to me that we need a French morning, hmm?"
"Sure."
Yancy lets his brother lounge in bed as he pulls out an old familiar crepe pan. It's Maman's and has been in the family for decades. He makes the batch smooth and even as he ladles the first crepe into the pan. Yancy swirls it around until it coats the bottom of the pan running his spatula under the cooking crepe to check if it's not sticking to the pan. Flipping the crepe over is easy, a simple flick of his wrist that settles the steaming crepe back down to cook some more.
Sliding it onto a warmed plate, Yancy turns on the crap radio they own to a French channel and smiles at his Maman's native tongue. Raleigh sings to the songs he knows as he shuffles into the dining area and all but curls into his seat. Yancy glances over his shoulder with a soft smile directed at his brother. The resulting grin is bright especially when one of Maman's favorite songs comes up. He absently dances as he cooks breakfast for them both, plating the crepes while also snagging the sugar bowl and the strawberry cream from the mini fridge. Raleigh gets up to grab the butter knives as well as the chocolate spread that's in a tiny jar.
A knock on the door makes his brother look up from where he's intently spreading one half of his crepe with strawberry cream and the other with chocolate. Yancy answers it with the spatula still in hand, surprised to see Hermann at the door. The music drifts out into the hallway.
"Come on in, Doc." he steps back and calls over his shoulder in English, not sure of the man's French as he is the German. "We've got extra crepes."
"Breakfast? Very well." The new plate on the table is obviously Raleigh's doing even as he sticks his tongue out to fold the crepe carefully. "Guten morgen, Raleigh."
"Hey Hermann." his brother answers as he cuts into his food to eat it. Yancy sets a crepe on the Doc's plate and drags over the strawberry cream and sugar. "Butter?"
"Alright Rals." Yancy mutters in French as he digs around for the tub of butter.
"I did not realize you spoke French as well." Hermann states in a clear, if somewhat accented, sentence.
"Right. Forgot to mention that Maman was full French so we learned it and English at the same time. Rals stuck with Mom and I insisted on Maman." Yancy shrugs as he takes the lid of the butter off and places a knife over the rim. "Like I said, that was our short list on what we're good at; French and English will always be our best languages."
"Besides, now we can all talk and drive Tendo nuts trying to figure out what we're saying." Raleigh chirrups, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"No, Rals, we're not." he scolds lightly. Yancy reaches over to ruffle Raleigh's already sleep-styled hair and his brother whines as he bats away Yancy's hand.
"Please? He's pulled a few on us." The puppy eyed look Raleigh pulled out was plain evil and he sighed as he threw his hands up. "Is that a yes?"
"It's a 'do what you like just don't get me in trouble' sort of sigh, Rals." he grumbles as he eats his pile of crepes one by one. He sees the good Doctor sneak at least three more and mentally pats himself on the back for remembering Maman's recipe. The light filters in on a warm scene reminiscent of a morning at the Becket household. Yancy lets a small smile grace his lips as he watches Raleigh interact with his friend. Out of the corner of his eye, he misses a reflection that resembles his Maman with happiness in her eyes and that fades with familiar laughter.
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