Lemon Zinger Tea

Lemon Zinger Tea
5 August 2017
-August 5, 2017-
Raleigh hissed as he burnt his fingertips for the third time in nearly an hour as he glued the last flower into place. Getting everyone's head measurements had been absolute hell on his and Yancy's part but now he could surprise everyone with them.
"Rals what on earth could necessitate-Oh no. I am not wearing one of those." Yancy strode into the room, practically vibrating over-protective older brother before switching to a long stare. "Is that hot glue on my desk?"
"I covered your stupid desk with some of my sketchbook pages that I didn't like anymore." he sniffed as he glued the last piece of rainbow ribbon into place. "Anyway, this one's mine. Yours is over there. The flowers are at least manlier than everyone else's."
"Flower crowns. Stacker's gonna flip." Yancy groaned even as he put on the fake roses and tiger-lily crown, the brilliant colors highlighting his hazel eyes as Raleigh knew it would. His creations may have been embarrassing but at least he knew his color wheel.
"Then he doesn't have to wear his for the annual tradition." Raleigh huffed as he adjusted his white lilac and germander sage flower crown with the ribbon as he put it on. "Besides, when's the last time anyone around here had a good laugh?"
Yancy tapped his booted foot, painting a strange but silly picture in their nearly Spartan rooms as he thought about it, "Good point."
"Tendo's gonna wear his with pride." he points out as he holds it up, the brilliant gold and bronze tulle trailing behind it an inside joke as he ruffles the fake flowers to make them bushier.
Tendo's flowers were harder to pick out (sunflowers and yarrow) but the LOCCENT technician would just not care. Raleigh had literally never seen a more confident man. Stacker? Well, it was a matter of coaxing him to wear it with a straight face. The lantana and spring iris would go well with the PPDC-issued uniform. Hermann's was easily the most difficult, especially as Raleigh didn't want to emasculate the man; he'd made it with care, using Graham Thomas roses and prickly pear blooming flowers along with sprigs of goldenrod woven around with bronze tulle. The rest of LOCCENT had gotten the more generic ones that he'd be distributing before the kids visited.
"Tendo already wears hipster shit. This is barely gonna blip on that smooth radar he's got going." Yancy snorted as he fiddled with the deep red ribbon spiraling off of his flower crown. "Y'know, if they weren't for a joke, I'd actually like
them."
"Uh-huh. That why you're playing with the ribbon?" he asks dryly. Yancy blushes as he flicks the ribbon behind his back with a cough.
"Shut up." It reminded me of Carnivale.
"Can do, bro." Raleigh mock-salutes his brother and nudges him with warmth through the link as they walk out of their rooms. The laughing starts before they're even halfway to LOCCENT command but Yancy just flips them off as Raleigh hands off the generic ones along with the official memo stating that they have to wear them. "Tendo!"
"'Sup brother. Where's mine?" Raleigh pulls it from the bag, shakes it to fluff the flattened flowers and hands it off with a grin. "Awesome. Make sure to get pics of everybody." The funny part is that Tendo looks perfectly at home wearing the damned thing.
"Mr. Choi, could you hand me the-What is that on your head?" The disapproval would have melted a lesser man but Tendo just takes it in stride.
"Flower crown, sir. The annual tour's today." Marshal Pentecost's eye twitches as he takes in Raleigh and Yancy grinning with their own on perfect display. "You have to admit that this is better than those ridiculous hula skirts."
"The crowns are somewhat tasteful." Stacker admits as he accepts his own with a put-upon sigh. "Who made them?"
"I did sir." Raleigh answers as he adjusts Yancy's tiger lilies. "I chose everyone's flowers aside from the generic ones. Only one left to deliver, sir."
"Go do that then, Ranger. Don't you two have somewhere to be in ten minutes?"
"Crap. We're leading the tour in since Romeo Blue and Horizon Brave are on duty. C'mon Yan." Raleigh groaned as he lengthened his stride. Everyone was wearing the crowns with varying reactions in the science labs. Hermann's door was locked tight but Raleigh could tell the man was inside.
"Doctor Gottlieb?"
"Must we wear those abominations?" comes the snippy response.
"Yeah. I made you a better one than the generic puke-fest though." he responded softly, having heard the tap of the cane getting closer to the door.
"... Very well. You may come in." Hermann [sighs] as he [steps] back from the closed door. The click of a lock had at least five of the science interns looking up in awe.
"Dude."
"Seriously, the Becket bros must have magic powers to get Dr. Gottlieb to open the door."
"They're totally boyfriends."
"Are not."
"So are."
"Excuse you," Yancy projects into the furiously whispered conversation, "my brother's just best friends with Doc. You people latch onto damn well everything here, don't you?" ------Go cheer up your poor stray.
Thanks, Yan.
You're welcome Rals. Yancy crosses his arms as he guards the door while Raleigh slips inside.
Hermann is glaring at the pastel mess of flowers on his desk that doesn't compliment his coloring. "Hey, Hermann."
"That was dropped off amidst much giggling and swearing. I will not wear it."
"That's fine."
"Yours, however, is at least decent." Raleigh pulls out Hermann's flower crown from the bag he's been carrying around and shakes it, fiddling with the tulle to get it right. "Is that for me?"
"Yeah. The regular stuff's awful on anyone's coloring so I made some custom ones for those closer to me. It's an annual tradition that dates back to the opening of the first Shatterdome in '15. We have to wear ridiculous stuff and last year's was hula skirts. Trust me when I say that the flower crowns are dignified compared to those." Hermann gently set the golden flowers on his head and Raleigh grinned; he was damned good at crafting. Hermann actually looked decent in the flowers Raleigh'd chosen. "Not bad, Hermann. Definitely better than half of the people out there right now."
"Perhaps. You used English roses."
"Yup. You should see Stacker." Raleigh cackles gleefully.
The students took in the sight of Yancy and Raleigh in their official Jaeger jackets and flower crowns before roaring with laughter.
"Alright, you're from Chicago, right?"
"We are." the teacher answers with laughter in his tone.
"Okay, ignore the flowers if you can, it's an annual 'dome tradition we do. I'm Raleigh Becket and I co-pilot Gip-"
"You're Gipsy Danger's pilots!" one of the middle-schoolers yelps and Raleigh laughs at the interruption. Kids he can handle; it's the adults that bother him.
"Yeah. Romeo and Horizon are on duty so we got picked for the tour. Anyway, you're standing in the entrance to the Icebox Shatterdome. The Jaeger bays are to your left and the 'copters that take us out are on the right."
"You guys hungry?" Yancy asks as he slides in to take over.
"Yeah!" the enthusiastic answer has his brother grinning.
"Mess hall's this way. We'll get to the science labs afterward, okay?" Raleigh herds the straggling kids away from the classified or private areas. He crosses his arms when some of them pout at him and favors them with a raised eyebrow.
"Ranger Becket, will you sign my book?"
"Sure at the end." he promises with a smile, deliberately blocking the snooping kid of the bunch. "That's the private quarters, kiddo."
"But--"
"Wait and enlist. You'll get one for yourself if you pass." he remarks wryly as the kid joins the group again. The shy kid lingers in the back and grabs his hand with a fierce blush.
"You're not supposed to do that, weirdo."
"Hey. The PPDC has a zero-tolerance policy for name-callin' or bullies." Raleigh chides as they enter the mess hall. He snags one tray to offer to the boy still holding his hand and grabs one for himself. "Kiddo, ya gotta eat."
"I'm sorry. Is he bothering you, Ranger Becket?" the teacher sighs as the kid lets go to dig his fork into the potatoes and take a bite. "He's autistic."
"That's fine." Raleigh keeps an eye on the kid and grins when the kid looks up. "Taters any good?"
"... Yeah. You're not like everybody else."
"Nope. I've got Asperger's." Raleigh admits with a shrug as Yancy ruffles his hair. "C'mon Yan!"
"Older brother privilege, Rals."
"They let you in like you are?" the kid asks as he pokes at the spinach arranging his food into little piles.
Raleigh helps him, knowing the compulsion doesn't get any easier as he responds,"Uh-huh. Yan and I are Drift-compatible so they let us in."
"What's your favorite thing? Mine's puzzles."
"I've got a couple myself but I like airplanes and World War II best." he says with a lazy grin.
"We're studying that at the Academy." comes the admission as the kid eats his veggies by color order.
"Year-round school with winter break, huh?" he comments as he shovels the mac and cheese into his mouth. The cooks are really good even with the rationing that's beginning to affect the Shatterdomes.
"Wow. You really do know a lot." the kid says with awe in his tone.
"Mmmhmm." Raleigh hummed as he finished off his meal. Most of the kids were done and glancing over at their table with confusion as to why said kid was sitting with them.
"Alright, time to see the science behind the Jaegers!" Yancy barks, startling half the kids into standing up and the mess hall occupants to snicker. "Who wants to go look at Gipsy Danger?"
"I do!" the obliging chorus of voices follow Yancy down the hallways as they head towards the math division of the science labs.
"Okay, so you gotta be quiet when you come in. They're doing important work for the Jaegers." Yan stated seriously as he stops before the door. "On the count of three, we come in with tiptoes. Raleigh knows one of 'em and he'll answer any math related stuff that's not classified." They walk into a busy division that doesn't look up as the kids take in the holographic interfaces and the Jaeger upgrades being projected into the air as models.
"Dr. Gottlieb? We've got a class." Raleigh knocks the special way and Hermann comes out with his cane, stiff posture at the ready.
"You want to look at the closest thing we can get to God's handwriting?" The intense stare excites the kids like Raleigh
knew it would and they nod happily. "Very well. Come in and do not disturb the models." He grins as the kids 'ooo!' and 'ahh' over the airplane models while taking in the huge chalkboards full of numbers. Raleigh's chalk gyrfalcon sits on one of the sideboards with his signature scrawled under it and one of the kids spots it.
"Did you do that, Ranger Becket?"
"In my spare time." he shrugs as they take in the precise way the numbers are written. "That's the operating system for the Mark IVs."
"That's a lot of numbers."
"Dr. Gottlieb's job is to figure out how to move the Jaegers and make 'em tougher. He does a ton of other stuff too but I can't say what." Raleigh informs the attentive students and teacher.
"Awww..."
"It's classified." he says with a teasing wink as he herds them towards the observation deck for Gipsy while flashing a grin at Hermann. It's a promise to hang out later and just relax with some tea as down time. Yancy takes over again but Raleigh's little stray hasn't left his side since lunch. "Hey, kid, what's your name?"
"Liam."
"Well, Liam, tell you what; I'll sign your book with my contact info if you ever need someone to listen to you instead of talk over you. We have a deal?" Raleigh offers gently.
"Okay." Liam grins as Gipsy comes into sight. "She's amazing."
"She's even better when we pilot her." he admits as Yancy's end of the link radiates exasperation while dealing with the same question asked from at least eight different kids. "Lemme go rescue my brother."
"They're noisy." Liam mutters as he leans on the bottom rail to watch the techs run over Gipsy to make sure she's in tip-top shape for a battle.
"Mmm, but most people are, kiddo." he counters lightly as he nudges Yancy through the link, taking over easily. "Alright, that about wraps up the tour. Last stop is signing and a snack before you guys go see other Anchorage sights."
"But the Shatterdome's the only interesting one."
"You say that now. Trust me, some of it you don't wanna miss." he says as he sits behind the desk assigned for signing and scrawls his signature across almost half of the class's notebooks or actual guide books they bought before coming to the Shatterdome. Liam's the last one up as the rest of the kids compare his and Yan's signatures. "Kiddo."
"Thanks for the tour." Liam says as he holds out his book.
"It's part an' parcel of our jobs. Rals is the one they all like," Yancy chimes in with a wry grin. "but you're welcome anyway." Raleigh carefully writes out a message and his email that he checks everyday along with his sharp, spiky signature. Yancy snags the book as Liam reaches to take it back and signs it as well, the looping elegance something Raleigh can never manage. "You'll be late if you linger."
"Thanks."
"Shoo, shoo." Raleigh smiles as he gestures for Liam to return to his classmates.
The teacher walks up with the official guide book and presents it with a curious look at the pair of them. "Liam normally struggles with strangers. I'm not sure what you did but he hasn't interacted with his fellow students this much since we went on a tour of the St. Louis arch."
"It helps that we have something in common." Raleigh shrugs as he signs, the scribble of ink almost covering up his soft words.
"You--Oh. You're on the scale." The pity in the man's voice makes him grit his teeth.
"Mmm." he doesn't answer so much as avoid it.
"And your brother?" he slides a glance over to Yancy but doesn't spot anything out of the ordinary.
"Perfectly normal, sir. Don't dwell on it much." Yancy advises as he finishes quicker to hand back the book. "We hope you enjoyed the tour." The man slips Yan a piece of paper that discreetly gets looked at and ripped to shreds afterwards. The class is escorted out by the Gage twins back from patrol and still in their Drivesuits.
"You gonna take him up on that offer?" Raleigh asks as he pulls off his flower crown to adjust a stray leaf before putting it back on.
"Hell no." Yancy growls as he stands to go back to their quarters. "He looked at you like I was some kind of hero for looking after you just cause you're on the autism scale. Fuck that. You're your own goddamn person and the kind of people who pity you just piss me off." Raleigh squeaks a bit as Yancy pulls him in for a hug. It makes my blood boil when they think you're less of a human being because of one word.
People judge, Yan. They do it all the time. As long as I have you, Hermann an' Tendo, I'll be just fine. Raleigh soothes Yancy's anger with affection as they touch foreheads. 'Sides, I've got better things to worry about than snooty middle-school teachers.
Like Kaiju and flirting with pretty librarians? Yancy teases as they pull out of the embrace to walk in sync down the hallways. It's a familiar sight by now to everyone in the Icebox Shatterdome and they reply to greetings the way they always do.
You can be a real shit sometimes, you know that? Raleigh huffs as he shoves his brother's shoulder.
You love me.
Damn right I do. Raleigh hums lightly as Yancy presses love down the link. They break into giggles that only get worse when they realize they're still wearing the flower crowns. He texts Hermann as Yancy pokes at the white flowers on his crown. Raleigh slaps his fingers away with a flick of his wrist as he types with one hand.
Tea? -R
Hermann doesn't take long to reply.
Of course.
They flop into their chairs, Yancy's long given over to Hermann as a concession to his best friend. Yancy gently sets aside the flower crowns on top of one another and cards his fingers through Raleigh's hair after the water is put on the stove. The knock is perfunctory by now as Yancy replies from his spot with, "It's open Doc!" Hermann comes in and he's not wearing the flower crown anymore. It's obvious his hair's been combed back into place. "Tea should be ready soon. We'll take it outside in a sec."
"I am in no particular rush to do anything."
"Anybody say anything about your flower crown?" he hums as Yancy slides his blunt nails all the way to Raleigh's scalp. Raleigh practically purrs at the attention, his mind drifting pleasantly instead of being too much to concentrate on.
"No. I believe my scowl was sufficient to deter them. Thank you, Yancy, for attempting to dispel the rumor-monger's opinion." Hermann murmured as he watched them trade easy affection.
"Ya want Yan to massage your scalp? Magic fingers, I swear." he asks as he closes his eyes to enjoy the sensation. "Won't even mess up your hair."
"Perhaps at another time." the wistful voice is one that Raleigh's not as familiar with when it comes from Hermann. The man's a huge puzzle but he's content to leave the context clues that keep jumping out in peace. But to deny himself affection?
Raleigh sits up and opens his eyes to consider Hermann with a measuring stare, "You sure?"
"My family... My parents... were perhaps not as affectionate as they could have been, to be frank. I would like the attention but I do not know..." Hermann twisted the bottom of his tweed jacket and again touched his chest as part of the nervous gesture. Raleigh's beginning to think it's a tic of Hermann's that has some other meaning that he's not clued in on.
"How to ask for it? That's okay. Just think of a signal or something and we'll meet with you in the middle as compromise." Raleigh assured him with a soft smile. "Honestly, I've been holding back cause you seem really, umm, body concious."
That startled a slightly hysterical laugh from Hermann. "Is that what you call it?"
"Yeah. Rals an' I noticed that you shied away from touch so we got careful, made sure you could see us or hear us comin'. So... Petting alright with you?" Yancy asks with a shrug. "Only if you feel like it, Doc; not gonna press if you're not okay with it."
Hermann looked torn between saying yes and squirming in his chair, "I can tell you to cease if I begin to become uncomfortable?"
"Yes." Raleigh answers as he waits patiently.
"You may try." He scootches his chair closer to Hermann and gently cards his own fingers through the extremely soft hair. Raleigh quietly hums Swan Lake as he fluffs Hermann's cropped locks. He keeps his touch light and warm like he used to do with Jazmine when they were little. Hermann makes a noise halfway between distress and happiness; Raleigh slowly pulls away so that his friend can see him do it.
"Too much?" he inquires as he starts pulling out his fingers.
"This is quite kind of you. Please... continue." Raleigh slides his fingers back into the incredibly soft hair and massages the way Yancy usually does for him. "Do you do this with just anyone?"
"Nah. Like I said, we've been holding back. Beckets like affection and we're a lovey-dovey sort of family. You've been adopted by us so you're one of us now; in name if not in blood. Mémé likes to say that we're a rambunctious pack of pups." he laughs as he cards in a rhythm before something tells him Hermann's had enough. Raleigh pulls away with care as he preps the tea for outside and grins as he leaves the tea with no sugar at all. He thinks Hermann will enjoy the surprise.
The ledge is quiet and free of anyone who wants to talk about things that Raleigh's not interested in. Hermann drinks his tea from the blue mug they brought along with their own cups.
"What is this one called?"
"Lemon zinger. Jazzy almost left it at the stall because she was so busy thinking about a design. NY's a big tea and coffee place still so her bargaining skills are second to none." he says as he props his head up with one arm to look at a content mathematician.
"She is quite the force." comes the comment and Raleigh can't help but agree.
"Speakin' of forces, when are you meeting this Dr. Geiszler?" he asks as he rolls over to drink from his own well-used mug. Yancy's lolling face-down on the hill that leads up to and encompasses the concrete ledge, taking a nap in the summer sun. Raleigh knows that the reason Yancy sleeps when he can is because they'll have the occasional bad night together and neither one can sleep.
"Tomorrow. This is the first time we will be meeting face to face. We traded most of our academic research through letters." Hermann states with a dignified sort of glee.
"That sounds like a bit of a romance movie. If he says somethin' stupid, you call me an' Yan. We'll kick his ass for you," Raleigh tells Hermann with a serious expression as he sits up properly. "if you haven't kicked already."
"I do not think I will need your offer but it is appreciated for the gesture it contains therein." Hermann informed him with a warm, tiny upturn of his lips.
"We stay loyal. Maybe Mémé was right."
"About what?"
"How we stick up for everybody we're close with because that's how we show we care." Raleigh hums absently as he finishes his tea. The tiny grin on Hermann's face blooms into a full-blown smile that he returns without reservation.
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