Thanks in advance for reading^^ I did research on military things, but i'm still not convinced what i put in here is completely accurate. I tried to keep it vague but...Please lmk if there is some glaring error.
Something cute, lightly fluffed.
2,500+ words.
Raleigh winces and grits his teeth when the car door slams. He glares at the back of his last customer while caressing the leather of his precious vehicle. Couldn't he see that Gypsy was delicate, a vintage? Some people.
Sighing, he pulls off down the crowded downtown streets and stops at a red light. His phone, sitting pretty up on the dash, dings with the request of a new customer, so he swipes his finger across the screen to get a look. Mako Mori. She's cute, with short black hair and blue highlights that cut sharply against pale skin. Raleigh finds himself smiling as he accepts the request, turning left towards her location.
.
When he pulls up, she comes flying at the car with a backpack bigger than her whole body. She careens into the back seat, and Raleigh braces himself for the door slam, but it never comes. The girl actually takes the half-second more to appropriately close his car door, god bless her heart, and then she drops her head in what he recognizes is a bow, saying, "Good morning, thank you for picking me up!"
Raleigh is flabbergasted, a word he didn't even know was in his vocabulary. "Uh no problem, that's the job. Where to?"
She tells him the University she attends, which might as well be on the other side of the planet, and Raleigh pulls off assuredly in that direction. He can hear her rustling some kind of paper in the back and cussing in Japanese. "You alright?" he asks in the little Japanese he knows, and glances at her in the rearview. She looks up, startled.
"Excuse me?"
"Just askin' if you're ok."
She blushes, high in her cheeks. "I am sorry. It's been a frustrating morning."
Raleigh nods, understanding. "Got lost, huh?"
"Is it obvious?" She sounds exasperated. Raleigh chuckles.
"Only a little."
"I had directions, but boarded the wrong train." She holds up a piece of paper and shakes it accusingly. Raleigh cracks a smile, sympathetic.
"Happens to everyone."
"It's my first day and I will be late," she sighs, thumping her head against the window. Raleigh can see her in his side mirror, staring bleakly out at the scenery going by, and he feels...something.
"What time is your first class?"
"8:45," she says, resigned.
Raleigh glances at the clock; 8:20. With morning traffic the expressway was a no go, but the side streets would take far longer going the speed limit. He hears another thump of her head against the window and feels something, again. He clears his throat. "Hey uh, could you put your seatbelt on? Safety first and all that."
"Oh, of course."
When he hears the swish and click of the belt, Raleigh's foot presses down hard on the gas.
.
They make it to the building at 8:40, and she still doesn't slam his door when she gets out.
"Thank you, thank you so much!" She keeps turning to yell behind her, and Raleigh is grinning like an idiot.
"You're welcome, now go, go!"
.
In 2 days, he's at her University to pick up someone else and happens to see her leaving. He suddenly wants to know how her first day went, how she likes the school, if the other students are nice, and a host of other things. So he opens his mouth to yell out, but thinks better of it. Then he does it anyway.
"Hey! Mako!"
She turns, but before she can spot him another student appears, diverts her attention. When Raleigh realizes he's been staring at her too long, he looks away, frowning.
His customer shows up and he pulls off, feeling that something twinge in his chest. When he glances in the rearview, he thinks he sees her standing on the sidewalk, staring after the car.
.
He picks her up again from an off campus library, late in the evening. She's got a stack of books in her arms with titles he can't make out. Most of them aren't in english.
"Hello again," he says cheerfully.
"Hello Mister Becket," she replies with a dip of the head.
"Call me Raleigh. So, how did it go your first day?"
She smiles, eyes crinkled, and there's no teeth or anything, but Raleigh's pulse still does a little jig. "I made it with 2 minutes to spare."
"Alright," he slaps the steering wheel with a little too much enthusiasm, but he has to do something with his hands to shake out the tingling in them, and she doesn't seem to mind.
"I didn't get a good seat, but I was in my seat at least. Thank you again, Raleigh." She beams at him with so much sincerity that he actually feels embarrassed.
He clears his throat, drops a hand on the back of his neck. "Nah, it was nothing. Couldn't have your first day ruined. What are you in school for anyway?"
"Engineering."
"What made you choose that?
She hesitates, but Raleigh is patient.
"My father," she finally replies, with an understated adoration and...sadness. Raleigh doesn't understand where he gets that from but it's unmistakable.
"Your father is an engineer?"
"Not anymore," she says. "But I want to be one, more than anything!"
Raleigh has never wanted anything that much. He smiles. "You're amazing!"
He meant to say That's amazing, but she looks pleased, if not a little shocked by the praise.
He pulls up in front of her place, one of many high rise buildings with windows made of glittering black glass. It's got an awning and a doorman, one who opens the car door and takes her books and calls her Miss Mori.
"It was nice to see you again, Raleigh Becket."
"You too, Mako Mori"
The doorman slams Gypsy's door, but Raleigh doesn't notice.
.
He can't stop thinking about Mako. Every time his phone dings he thinks it's her, and his heart attempts a prison break from his ribcage. He keeps accepting requests from her school on the off chance he might see her again, and he's man enough to admit that it's all getting pretty pathetic. But Raleigh has always been a guy who trusts his gut, and his gut doesn't tell him to break traffic laws for just anyone. He ran red lights for that girl on the first meet. That wasn't nothing.
Right?
.
"You can sit in the front, you know," he says when she opens the back door, backtracking when he sees her hesitate. "Ah, if you want."
She dumps her bag in the back and sits up front, hands clasped in her lap. Raleigh smiles dopily and pulls off. He's much too happy about this, and he's trying to curb his enthusiasm, but she's here and smells nice and he really just wants to ask her if she feels it too.
Mako reaches up and lightly touches the dog tags dangling from his rearview mirror. Her thumb traces over the name YANCY BECKET, tilting it into the sunlight. "My brother," Raleigh rasps, because even 5 years hasn't been able to cure his throat tightening over the subject
"I'm sorry," Mako says. Her eyes are soft on him, full of empathy. She doesn't ask him how Yancy died, like most people do. She doesn't ask him anything. Raleigh never knew how good that could feel.
Without thinking, he rotates his left shoulder back, feeling the twinge in his old injury that's at this point mostly psychological. Mako hasn't taken her eyes off of him yet, and somehow he gets the feeling she can see through him, straight to the bullet wounds and shrapnel scars and bleeding heart.
"2 tours in the Marines. It was the best time of our lives," he says, endeavoring to lighten the mood. "Wouldn't trade it for the world."
"You sound like my father," Mako replies, and then goes pink with embarrassment. Raleigh grins.
"Your dad served?"
"He was a Marshal."
Raleigh whistles. "Army brat huh? I bet you got to see a lot of cool places!"
"And many interesting people," she agrees.
He launches into a funny story about a guy he knew, her laughter encouraging the more colorful anecdotes. It isn't until the end that they realize they both know the guy.
"Wait, hold on a sec, you know Tendo? Suspenders? Bow tie?"
"Yes," Mako replies in surprise. "He was often on collaboration teams under my father. You know Mr. Choi?"
"Yeah, 'course I know Tendo!" Raleigh laughs, hitting the steering wheel. "Guy used to be in my ear all the time on comms. Man, I can't believe it. Tendo," he hits the wheel again, and he realizes it's becoming a habit. If he doesn't stop his limbs from flailing in excitement around this girl he might actually hurt himself. "Small world, huh?"
"Sometimes," she agrees, eyes shining. "If you are a friend of Mr. Choi, do you also know Alison?"
"Sure do. She and Tendo ever make it official?"
"I'm not sure, but they should"
"Agreed. What about Herc Hansen, Air Force? You know him?"
"Marshal Hansen is a dear friend," she nods.
"How's his son? He was always carrying around a picture of this ruddy looking kid…"
Mako's face sours, and god if it isn't the most adorable thing Raleigh has ever seen. "I am forced to suffer his company from time to time."
Raleigh laughs. "That bad huh?"
"He can be," she makes an aggravated huff by way of explanation. Raleigh chuckles. "Our fathers are close friends, so it cannot be helped"
"Aw yeah? I've never known Herc to be close to anyone, 'cept his superior, guy named Pentecost. Those two were a nightmare together. You ever meet Pentecost?"
"I...have"
"My brother and I served under him once, and he was always down our throats about something. I swear the guy didn't sleep until he'd intimidated everyone into the perfect formation."
"You must have required more discipline."
"You think so?"
"If you were as reckless as you are now, I know so."
Raleigh blinks at her in surprise. "You think I'm reckless?"
"Honestly?"
"Yeah. Honestly."
"You're unpredictable," she says, with the surety of telling him he's blonde and male. "I have seen you take several unnecessary risks that endanger yourself and other drivers...I don't think this was a wise career path for you."
"Oh. Wow." He works his mouth around, trying to get the words out of his suddenly thick throat. "Thank you for your honesty."
Mako's mouth pinches in a non-apology. That not nothing definitely something flairs up in Raleigh's chest again and pushes words up out of his mouth.
"But y'know this UBER thing wasn't exactly my path. I thought I'd be a soldier forever, and then I got injured and lost Yancy," he shakes his head. "I wasn't fit to do a thing on my own after that. I started driving, you know, just to clear my head. I'd look up and realize I was gone for hours, roaming all over the city; drove my sister nuts, but it helped more than therapy and pills. Didn't help me keep a job though, 'til somebody made it a job. Guess I got lucky that way. Anyway, I think that when you make decisions, sometimes life puts you places you don't expect, and you've just got to go with it. That's what I'm trying to do."
They arrive. Mako stares at him, wide eyed, hesitating. "I didn't mean to offend you," she admits.
"You didn't," he assures her. "Really. But I wanted you to know there's a lot more to me than being reckless."
Mako looks away, chastened. Raleigh leans towards her, feeling a sudden pressing need to tuck her hair behind her ear.
"Did I say something before that upset you?"
"No, I was not...upset."
"You're sure?"
"Yes. However there is something I must say," she takes a breath, meeting his eyes. "Marshal Pentecost can be a difficult man. But he is someone I greatly respect."
Her jaw is set, and Raleigh would marvel at its perfection if he weren't so preoccupied with the resolute defense in her tone.
"I feel the same," he replies sincerely. Pain in the butt or not, Pentecost was one of the few people he trusted with his life. "I'm sorry if I gave the impression otherwise."
Seemingly satisfied, Mako gets out and retrieves her backpack. Before shutting the door, she says,
"I will need a ride home when my classes are over. Will you be available?"
Raleigh fights a smile and fails, horribly. "Is right here ok?"
.
It's a few days before he sees Mako again. He takes some time off to run errands, check on his sister, visit Yancy, think. He tells Yancy all about her, how her dad is probably Stacker freaking Pentecost, how he misses her like crazy but he's gotten a little scared, a little preoccupied with the timing. His has always sucked, and this time is no different. Here he is, thinking about a future with a girl whose future just started, and she thinks he's reckless, just like her dad does.
Well you are, Yancy would've said. And so what?
Yeah, so what, Raleigh thinks. That's the spirit that's gotten me into every scrape of my life.
Yancy would've tsk'ed, maybe thumped him in the head. Is this girl a scrape, or is she the real deal? C'mon kid. She's in your car almost everyday when she could be on the train.
Maybe she just hates the train, Raleigh would've said, just to see that vein in Yancy's head throb. Jesus kid, he would've groaned, make it happen or I will!
.
"So...how's the Marshal?"
Mako sits up straighter in the passenger seat, startled. He shrugs. "I sorta worked it out."
She seems to accept this and sits back, eyes still on him. "He is ill, but recovering."
"Ill?"
"Cancer"
"Oh, God. I'm sorry"
"He's recovering," she reiterates with a firmness that closes the subject. "How did you...work it out?"
"I spent the whole weekend thinking about you. The connections eventually became clear."
"I thought about you too," she offers, after a moment that feels like eternity to Raleigh.
"Yeah?"
"Very much," she ducks her head.
"I'm glad I wasn't the only one then."
"Me too."
Her smile is timid, and Raleigh is tempted to let this comfortable, pulse racing unspoken something remain unspoken; but as always, his heart gets ahead of his head. "Mako…"
"Yes?"
She looks into his eyes encouragingly, and it's not that he loses his nerve, it's just that...well he gets lost, a little.
They stare at eachother far too long, parked outside Mako's Uni with Gypsy's motor purring beneath them. He angles himself towards her and leans shoulder first into his seat, resting his temple against the headrest. "I'm not crazy. You feel it too, right?"
Mako's expression softens into something tender. "What do you think?"
Raleigh thinks he can't handle much more of that look. He finally satisfies his desire to touch her, his fingertips brushing the bright blue of her hair against her jaw. She leans into it, only to pull away suddenly.
"I'll be late for class," she reminds him.
"I never was good with timing," he laments. Mako laughs, squeezing his hand. Raleigh gets out with her and leans over Gypsy's roof to watch her go.
"Hey Mako?"
She stops and turns.
"I'll be waiting right here, when you're done," he says.
She grins. "I know!"