dear_mun | [ on the muse being picked up, period

Such is your appraisal of the value you possess as a muse?

Eh, yes and no.

[ raleigh's view of his own self-worth is another story for another day. ]

She's just not very confident.

Right, picking you up at all is the worst idea yours has ever had.

Good luck with that, man.

I've got stuff to do, she's not confident. Seems like a disaster waiting to happen to me.

Eh, mine's not either, wasn't until she started seeing all the art floating around, and I mean, there's worse reasons to pick somebody up, I just wish she'd stop poking at things is all.

...Art?

Yeah, fanart. Of ... you know, us. Well, mostly you guys, the pilots, but there's a lot of it of Hermann and me too. Some of it's pretty good.

Oh. I get it.

[ Okay that makes more sense now than it did a moment ago. ]

[One of the problems with Newt is that she expects people to be as smart as she is, or to just know what she's thinking.]

Yeah. That stuff. So mine's extra unsure, and I don't really even know what she's thinking, because she's ... ugh, she's just busy, that's all, and she has too many of us hanging around anyway, so I don't even know why she's picking me up in the first place, especially when I've got better things I could be doing than waiting around.

[ ....is that a dig at raleigh's intelligence newt das rude. ]

I'm in a similar situation. Being busy, cramped headspace, all that.

Nice to stretch my legs though, I guess.

[It's a dig against everyone's intelligence, not just Raleigh's. And she rarely realizes when she's being rude, it's a problem.]

Yeah, there is that, and I mean, people know who I am when she lets me talk go them, so that's ... something. Don't know if it's good or not yet, but it's something.

Well...it's better than nothing, I'll say that.

I wouldn't go that far, at least if there was nothing I could at least get some work done. Probably, I mean, as long as it's a metaphorical nothing and not a literal or an exestential one. Those would both be not so great for getting anything done in.

[ neeeeewwwwt you talk so much ]

Uh. Yeah.

You should have a little faith.

Ran out of that a while back.

[ a beat. ]

It sounded worse than I meant.

[ hey bro how's it going? ]

I had the same reaction and was promptly told that I have nothing to worry about. Actually it was more along the lines of, "SHUT UP YANCY no one asked for your opinion." which did not exactly inspire much in the way of confidence. I've found that muns tend to be pretty terrible at that whole being reassuring thing.

[ holy shit. ]

Yeah. They do. She warned me you might pop up, too but--

[ swallow. ]

[ a small smile. ]

Hey, I am just as surprised to be here as you are. My mun just has a thing for minor characters, apparently.

[ a pause. ]

How have you been?

[ this is unreal. his voice breaks, just a little. ]

Tell 'em I said thanks.

[ another thick swallow, then a barked laugh that lacks mirth. ]

Terrible. You?

Yeah. I'll...I'll let them know.

[ a slight wince, followed by an awkward shifting of weight. ]

I've uh, I've been better.

[ he wants to rest a hand on his brother's shoulder, but would that make things better or worse? ]

[ He’s awkwardly smoothing out nonexistent wrinkles on his pants. If ever there was a reunion to be desired, this would be it. Now that he’s here, he’s not sure what to do with himself. ]

Yeah, man. Me too.

[ Say, five years ago, he was better.

Finally he just – gives in and grabs his brother and drags him in for a crushing bear hug. ]

[ Well that answers that question. Yancy returns the hug with just as much force, not quite clinging to his brother. He's pretty sure that he just felt his spine pop in several places from the tight grip Raleigh has on him, but he doesn't care. ]

I'm sorry.

[ Sorry for underestimating Knifehead. Sorry for leaving him to fight alone. Sorry for almost getting him killed. Sorry for so many other things. ]

[ Raleigh would be sorry about that – but he knows that Yancy isn’t a fragile flower, and he also knows that he’s getting a return hug that’s as equally bone crushing as Raleigh’s.

He doesn’t ever want to let go. ]

Don’t do that.

[ It’s his fault. He got cocky, he got arrogant, he let it happen. This? He’s sorry about.

It’s like he’s a little kid again, and his hand fists in Yancy’s jacket, chin sharp on his shoulder. ]

Didn’t think I’d ever see you again, Yanc.

[ Yancy could argue the point. He was the older brother. He was supposed to be the responsible one that kept an eye out for danger because it was his job to protect his younger brother. That had always been his job. He remembers Raleigh's scream, his pain, as Knifehead tore away their Jaeger's arm, his fear in those last few moments before the Kaiju ripped Yancy out of the Conn-Pod and severed the Drift.

It just makes him hold his brother that much tighter. ]

Me neither, kid. Me neither.

[ They could argue about it until they were blue in the face – they’re brothers, it was one of their talents.

But Raleigh doesn’t want to argue about it. He just wants to pretend that this isn’t some kind of crazy, wacked out metharocin induced dream that he was going to wake up from in a cold sweat.

Slowly, he pulls back, but doesn’t break their contact. Nah, he’s clapping his hands on Yancy’s shoulders and he is not teary eyed what are you even talking about? ]

You look good.

[ There is a split second where Yancy considers teasing him over the teary eyed thing, until he realizes that his eyes aren't exactly dry either. He just blinks it away and covers it up by pulling Raleigh into a headlock and ruffling his hair with an affectionate older brother noogie. Becket boys don't get misty eyed, you're just seeing things. ]

Thanks. Seems I am being groomed up to be shipped off to a game of some sort.

You don't look too bad yourself. Scale back on the number of fist fights you get into or something?

[ Raleigh automatically protests the noogie, though it’s not entirely sincere. He’s missed the roughhousing, the talking, the presence. He only fights Yancy long enough to right himself so he can reply, giving him a gentle punch to the shoulder in return. ]

Game? Better be a good one. I’m not sure what’s gonna happen to me. [ Ah, indecision. ]

I clean up nice. [ Chuck’s gone and Raleigh…well. Yeah, he supposed that he has scaled back, hasn’t he. ]

[ Yancy chuckles and takes a half hearted swipe at his brother in return that ends in him lightly tapping Raleigh's ribs, a fair mimicry of their duels in the Kwoon room. ]

I don't know how 'good' it is going to be since I will essentially be dumped in a parallel universe where category IIs are still the most troublesome Kaiju coming through the Breach and I have to sit on the sidelines. But, being a beach bum in Hawaii for a few weeks isn't the worst thing I can think of. [ Doesn't mean that he won't be clawing the walls for the want to do something but it's hard to fight Kaiju without a Jaeger and a copilot. ]

Well, you always were the pretty one. [ He remembers that whole "age before beauty" quip, dude. ]

...Doesn't sound like much of a game. [ But if anyone deserves being able to sit in Hawaii and relax? It's Yancy. ]

Course I am. [ Yeah so does he. Still rings true. Raleigh's pretty and he knows it. ]

Not really. I get to join the pool of other Rangers missing their Jaegers and partners while the native bunch go out and fight the big uglies when the Breach spits them out. Think of it as an extended forced hiatus until they figure out what to do with us. [ He is going to leave out the fact that Gipsy Danger does exist in that universe...she just has a different name and different pilots. ]

[ And you know what. Come here, time for another noogie. ] Keep it up and I am going to start introducing you to people as Raleigh Becket, world's prettiest princess.

What? [ No really that does...not sound right and he is confused but he's a little busy squirming against his brother's grip again. ]

Not fair, wasn't ready-- I am not a princess!

They're impounding any alien Jaeger that gets pulled in, and there aren't any complete pilot teams among us even if they didn't. We aren't much use to them right now. [ He does not sound very happy about this, but he also knows that his hands are tied at the moment. Arguing with the local authorities won't get him very far. ]

Since when do I play fair? [ Squirm all you want bro, he is not going to let you go. ] Okay, so you aren't a princess. How about Miss America?

Muns frequently have terrible ideas. It is your job to argue with them when they get things wrong.

[Her expression softens a fraction.]

Raleigh. You are a good Ranger. If your mun went to the effort of welcoming you, then I would not worry. A bad idea is going to fight a Kaiju with no Jaeger. Giving you - head-space, mine says - is not a bad idea.

Yeah, they do. They don't listen very well.

[ He cracks the barest hint of a grin. ]

Well, I'm glad you think so.

[ on the muse being picked up, period | canon is pacific rim ]

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