ic contact - deerington

[suicidemission]

"It's Chuck. Leave a message."

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[suicidemission]

Smiles a little as he takes his plate and sits, pulling food onto his plate. Damn, have they eaten this good at all, yet? He's not sure. Damn sure not in October.

"Oh yeah," he says, picking up his fork. "It's star studded, let me tell you."

[righthemisphere]

Raleigh snorts and shakes his head.

"They're so lucky to have you, man. Nobody seems to give a shit about anything around here."

Which is... Grim.

Then again, they showed up at the worst possible time so he could be completely wrong.

A pinch of salt. A pinch of pepper. He takes a bite and savors it. God, good food. Finally. He's gonna start learning how to preserve stuff so they don't get caught out again. He won't give Chuck the satisfaction of saying it again, but he is right. Food security is a real concern.

[suicidemission]

“It’s disorganized as fuck. I can only do what I can, everyone else just seems to do whatever the fuck they want.”

So. Whatever.

He’s focusing on the dish in front of him, and devouring a good meal. He’s not sure when he’s had something so nice. It’s been a while.

It is a concern. And he knows Raleigh nearly ran out - if he didn’t, actually, chuck would be surprised - because he wouldn’t grab more than a can of beans at a time.

[righthemisphere]

It was their crops that really carried them through. Without those and the forethought to harvest almost immediately after they showed up they would be in a far worse position.

Raleigh absently wonders if he can pickle potatoes. Is that a thing? Sounds disgusting.

"Yeah Vira, um, Vira-lorr?" As he eats,

"She didn't sound like she really knew what was goin' on last time I talked to her."

[suicidemission]

It does sound disgusting. But it can probably be done.

“You talked to her?” He sounds surprised. “When?” What did you do.

Lmfao that face.

[righthemisphere]

Raleigh nods. He doesn't think he's done anything, thank you very much, and continues to eat.

"Mm, yeah. Last month there was some.. I dunno, armed combatant in town. She was telling civilians to stay back but you hadn't got a call to come in so I wanted to know what her plan was. Because it sounded too late to mobilize anything."

Which is, you know, the point of F.E.A.R. so.

[suicidemission]

He squints a little at him.

“Did you do something?” Did you fuss at his boss, Raleigh.

[righthemisphere]

Maybe.

"Like what?"

He definitely did.

"I asked her what the situation was. She assumed I was an operative and told me."

[suicidemission]

Snort.

“Ha. Nice one. You’re a nosy bastard, you know that?”

[righthemisphere]

He almost looks offended but how can he be. He is a nosy bastard and knows it. So Raleigh just snorts and shakes his head.

"I had good reason. I didn't want her panicking you into a last minute scramble. If it was late enough she was trying to warn the town not to engage then it was way too late to call F.E.A.R. into play."

[suicidemission]

Tsk tsk. It’s cute, though.

“Aw. You were looking out for me.”

[righthemisphere]

"Well somebody has to," smirk.

"Go running head first into danger all the time, somebody might say I'm a bad influence on you. And besides, we're a team."

[suicidemission]

“We are a team,” he agrees, taking a sip of wine as he watches Raleigh.

“That was sweet of you.”

[righthemisphere]

He isn't sure about sweet. Protective? None of his business? Distrustful of authority?

But sweet?

Well. He'll take it. The compliment is flattering, anyway.

"Well, that's just part of my charm. Half bed warmer half guard dog."

[suicidemission]

Invasion of privacy, etc.

Chuck doesn’t seem to give a fuck though.

“You’re very good at both,” he agrees, taking a sip of wine. “Think I’ll keep you.”

[righthemisphere]

A smile, warm and wide before he follows suit and tops their glasses up again.

Are his Cheeks warm? Maybe it's just the room. Everything is warm and fuzzy.

"I'm alright with that."

[suicidemission]

He waits until it's full, then picks it up and takes a sip, swallowing it down. The lady was right, this is good shit.

"Good to know," he purrs, flashing Raleigh a wink. "Can't get rid of me so easily."

[righthemisphere]

Raleigh chuckles. Man, they need to start keeping wine in the house. He could really get onboard with getting wine trashed with Chuck tonight.

"Oh, I'm not planning on that," he says and shakes his head. "Funny you said that, I was just thinking the same thing."

[suicidemission]

Well, they each slam back a bottle, they’ll be close to it. He bought two. Maybe not trashed because they’re big damn men with a lot of muscle mass, but definitely in a happy place.

Chuck is happy, anyway.

“Oh yeah?” He takes a big bite. “Tell me about it.”

[righthemisphere]

Happy place is probably better. Certainly more responsible.

It's definitely gone to his head.

"And scare you off? Dunno about that."

[suicidemission]

"Ray," he says, swallowing his bite, "if what happened end of October didn't scare me off, nothin' will."

[righthemisphere]

That's probably fair. But last month was full of extenuating circumstances as well.

Raleigh shrugs a little.

"I dunno. When I find a good thing I don't wanna let it go."

[suicidemission]

It was, but it was also a...pretty good test as to what they can stand from each other. Stretched to the limits, barely functional, tired and ready to drop..

He grins at Raleigh, dimples deep, as he holds a piece of chicken in his fingers like a Neanderthal. 

"Then don't let it go, Ray~"

[righthemisphere]

Something, something, gingers have a higher percentage of Neanderthal DNA than people with other hair color something something.

You're cute though. The cutest Neanderthal.

Raleigh considers Chuck's words for a moment, absently playing with his food and wondering if the other Ranger realizes what a Pandora's box that is. He's been in Raleigh's head.

Ratting himself out feels shitty, though. Hm. Be cool, Rals. You do actually want this, why are you constantly sabotaging yourself. They nearly killed each other as many times as they saved each other last month and they're still here, relationship stronger than ever. That's really something.

He raises an eyebrow and wets his lips. Well fine then.

"You really mean that?" Too late now, Chuck. It's done. You're his.

[suicidemission]

That, and they don't have souls.

"You know I mean it." He's been in Raleigh's head, he's seen the trauma, the strain, what it means to say something like that to a man like him.

Don't drop me again.

Don't let it go, Ray.

To anyone else the conversation is casual, maybe playful. But to two people who have shared minds, thoughts, secrets, wants, needs...it's more. It's so much more. And he means every word he says.