[ Hansen relaxes, so so does Raleigh, unwinding the tension in his shoulders and arms until his hands slip away from the back of his neck, falling open in his lap. Under the shadow of Striker, the world feels very far from them. Raleigh wonders if that’s why Chuck comes down here so often – why he chose to come down here now.
You grow up with Jaegers, and Jaeger pilots are living legends; Raleigh’s never felt that way about himself, not even back when he jockeyed in Alaska, but he used to watch after the older, more experienced pilots as they walked around the cavernous launch bays, virulent and loud and demanding in presence, filling up the Shatterdome with the immensity of their reputations. They looked invincible to him.
Raleigh knows better now, but the sting of the Wei Tangs’ and Kaidanovskys’ deaths don’t hurt any less. They put him on edge like he’d been back on the Wall watching the newsreels report the felling of team after team—
—But Raleigh is a good Ranger, and nobody still working on the warclock's countdown can afford to mourn now.
The mourning will come later, if Raleigh makes it out alive. He’s not expecting to, hasn’t since Stacker made it clear he could be lost to the mission and Raleigh took up his offer anyway, so he isn’t afraid or regretful of the outcome like Chuck isn’t, either. Raleigh thinks he might be a little disassociated with the concept of death. He wonders if he’ll think differently at Pitfall, like Yancy did in Anchorage, when he was sure he was about to die.
He doesn’t want to think about that.
Raleigh scoops the supplies up from off the floor again, and turns so he’s facing Chuck instead of giving him his side. They’re close enough that Raleigh could probably -- tend to Chuck from here, but it's not ideal, so he shifts a little closer on the crate, stiff in his drivesuit. Still not close enough, but he gets the feeling that any closer and Chuck'll be spooked. ] 'm not here to punch anyone this time.
[ He keeps his voice low, free of barbs, more from weariness than care, but it's with a faint hint of amusement that he speaks now. It fades as he glances at Chuck's shoulder.] I kind of figured you hadn't seen anyone about your shoulder, so I brought over some things. [ As an afterthought, he gestures to Chuck's bruised face. ] Some of it's for that, too.
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You grow up with Jaegers, and Jaeger pilots are living legends; Raleigh’s never felt that way about himself, not even back when he jockeyed in Alaska, but he used to watch after the older, more experienced pilots as they walked around the cavernous launch bays, virulent and loud and demanding in presence, filling up the Shatterdome with the immensity of their reputations. They looked invincible to him.
Raleigh knows better now, but the sting of the Wei Tangs’ and Kaidanovskys’ deaths don’t hurt any less. They put him on edge like he’d been back on the Wall watching the newsreels report the felling of team after team—
—But Raleigh is a good Ranger, and nobody still working on the warclock's countdown can afford to mourn now.
The mourning will come later, if Raleigh makes it out alive. He’s not expecting to, hasn’t since Stacker made it clear he could be lost to the mission and Raleigh took up his offer anyway, so he isn’t afraid or regretful of the outcome like Chuck isn’t, either. Raleigh thinks he might be a little disassociated with the concept of death. He wonders if he’ll think differently at Pitfall, like Yancy did in Anchorage, when he was sure he was about to die.
He doesn’t want to think about that.
Raleigh scoops the supplies up from off the floor again, and turns so he’s facing Chuck instead of giving him his side. They’re close enough that Raleigh could probably -- tend to Chuck from here, but it's not ideal, so he shifts a little closer on the crate, stiff in his drivesuit. Still not close enough, but he gets the feeling that any closer and Chuck'll be spooked. ] 'm not here to punch anyone this time.
[ He keeps his voice low, free of barbs, more from weariness than care, but it's with a faint hint of amusement that he speaks now. It fades as he glances at Chuck's shoulder.] I kind of figured you hadn't seen anyone about your shoulder, so I brought over some things. [ As an afterthought, he gestures to Chuck's bruised face. ] Some of it's for that, too.