Phase 11 – A Night Off
Raleigh's legs were shaking when he literally fled from the car as soon as Chuck stopped in a narrow laneway in the middle of the Boneslums.
"I can't believe I actually survived this. Twice!" he groaned as he leaned against the car.
"Shut up, Raleigh," Chuck huffed as he got out.
"So where are we going this time?" Raleigh asked as he looked around. He had not been in the Boneslums yet. Well, he had almost crushed a few buildings on the other side of the road during the battle against Otachi, but that did not really count, he decided.
"My favourite place," Chuck simply stated and made his way along the laneway and out onto the main road.
The sun had already set and the whole area was lit up by cars, lanterns and neon lights. It was actually quite beautiful if you ignored that the huge bones protruding between the buildings had once belonged to Reckoner who had crushed thousands of people on his way through Hong Kong. The streets were busy as hundreds of people made their way into shops, bars and restaurants along the streets.
Raleigh walked shoulder to shoulder with Chuck as they shoved and squeezed their way through the people hurrying along the street. It's Friday, Raleigh realised as he caught a glimpse of an old TV airing the news in a shop window. I can't even remember the last time I was out in the city, just enjoying a weekend.
Of course they were still never really off duty now that kaiju kept coming out of the breach again. They always carried their phones with them, no matter where they went. But only two kaiju had come through the breach in the last few weeks and Hermann was convinced that they had at least another 8 days before the next kaiju might show up. But just in case, all rangers had received orders to not leave the shatterdome at the same time. Either Raleigh and Chuck or Mako and Jenna had to be ready for combat at any time.
Chuck had made sure that Mako and Jenna did not have any plans for the night, so he and Raleigh could take some hours off. Raleigh still did not feel one hundred per cent on easy, though. But he knew that Mako and Jenna had their mark-6 jaeger, which could beat the old Puma Real into pieces, so he had decided to not worry for the night.
"Here we are," Chuck's voice got Raleigh out of his thoughts. They headed into something that looked suspiciously like an Irish Pub.
"What is this thing doing here?" Raleigh asked, confused.
"Well, there are tourists everywhere, Raleigh. And I happen to get sick from the pisswater they call beer here in China. This is one of the few places where the drinks are actually good."
"I didn't even know that you drink at all," Raleigh said as they entered the little pub. It was crowded and smelled like beer, hot chips and sweat.
"Sometimes you just need a drink," Chuck called over the noise. He turned to the bar and talked to the barkeeper, holding up two fingers.
Raleigh could not hear what exactly he ordered but it did not make any difference. He had never been one to drink much alcohol. In fact, he had probably had more beer in the first week after the Breach had been closed than he had ever had in his entire life before then. The academy did not allow it and on the wall construction sites even a bottle of Coke had been more than a little luxury. Not that Raleigh ever drank that stuff. Sodas kept him up all night, and ever since Yancy's death, he'd been fighting insomnia. He had learned very quickly to avoid caffeine in any shape or form.
Chuck turned around with two bottles of beer in his hands and motioned Raleigh to move over to a table in the far corner of the room with a nod of his head. Raleigh flopped down on one of the wooden bar chairs and took a look around the pub.
Chuck had been right; it seemed to be mostly populated by American and British tourists. He heard some Australian accents as well. And he recognised a group of jaeger tech staff from the shatterdome that had obviously had a few beers to many. One of them was topless and they were singing some silly folk song.
Chuck handed Raleigh one of the beers and raised his own bottle for a toast.
"To us, saviours of mankind, rock stars and heroes!" Raleigh had to laugh and clinked his bottle against Chuck's.
They drank their beers and sat in comfortable silence for a while. Raleigh watched the people around them, surprisingly enjoying being in the middle of a loud crowd for a change. Chuck seemed to be watching some ball game on the TV that was hung up above the ball. Raleigh squinted at the screen but he could not recognise the game at all.
"What's that?" he asked, motioning at the screen with his almost empty bottle.
"What? The game on TV?" Chuck asked. "That's Australian Rules Football," he said and Raleigh could have sworn to hear a hint of pride in his voice. Raleigh just shrugged. He had never heard of it before.
Chuck looked at him, unbelievingly.
"What the hell did you guys even do back in the academy?! When I was there, watching a game of sports or playing it was the only kind of hobby we were even allowed to have. Well, mostly we were playing it. Kept us fit and was more fun than spending the whole day in the gym." He gave one of his rare genuine smiles that made Raleigh's feel all warm and fuzzy.
"I was the best football player in the whole academy," Chuck continued.
Of course, Raleigh thought and chuckled. Chuck Hansen, best at everything he does. Except for driving a god damn car.
Raleigh looked back at the screen and made a face.
"Do their pants have to be that short?"
Chuck narrowed his eyes.
"Yes."
"I bet you looked sexy as hell in those short shorts," Raleigh deadpanned and took a sip from his beer.
Chuck stared at him, and then he cracked up with laughter. It was loud and heart-warming, exactly the kind of laughter that you heard way too seldom during the war. Raleigh tried to keep a straight face but failed miserably. He nearly choked as he tried to keep the beer inside his mouth and not spit it all over the table.
Chuck slapped him on the back a bit too hard and Raleigh snorted, beer dripping from his nose. The sight only made Chuck laugh harder.
"Very funny," Raleigh coughed and wiped the beer off his face with the sleeve of his sweater.
Over the next two beers, Chuck tried to explain the rules of the game to Raleigh. By half time, he was getting mildly frustrated because Raleigh just did not understand it. He pointed out all the different rules of the game, why the umpire had had blown the whistle, why the team only got one point and not six, … but Raleigh kept asking him about every single move that happened on the field. After the third quarter, Chuck realised Raleigh only wanted to hear him explain it again and again.
"I like your accent," Raleigh simply said and shrugged when Chuck asked him about that. Chuck smiled as Raleigh got up and got the third round of beers. By the fourth quarter, Raleigh had started cheering for the team that Chuck did not support, just to annoy him. In the end, Chuck's team won, anyway.
To celebrate the victory, Chuck got up to get them a big bowl of hot chips. Raleigh did not protest, his stomach was rumbling and he swore if he had to wait one more minute for some food, he'd starve.
"Hey, did you enjoy the game?" Raleigh heard someone ask behind him. He turned around and saw that it was one of the Australian tourists he had noticed a bit earlier. The guy was maybe Raleigh's age, maybe a few years older.
"Yeah, funny game you guys got there," Raleigh replied and emptied his beer bottle.
The dark-haired Australian smiled and sat down on Chuck's empty chair.
"You're the Becket boy, aren't you?" he asked. Raleigh was surprised.
"Yes, that's me." How the hell did that guy know his name?
"I saw you on TV. Your face has been everywhere, man. You saved all of our asses here, jaeger pilot."
Of course. How could Raleigh have forgotten the countless TV interviews?
"Huh, I guess so. Just did my job, really," Raleigh replied lamely. He did not like the attention he got as a jaeger pilot anymore. Back when he and Yancy had been stars, he had loved it. He had been cocky and arrogant. But now, he really did not feel like talking about this with strangers anymore.
"I'm Rob, by the way," the Australian said and leaned in closer. "Hey, I thought I could show you how thankful I am that you saved my life. I live just across the road, what do you think?"
Raleigh raised an eyebrow.
"I think you should be careful what you say next, Rob," he replied, emphasising the name in a way that made it sound more like a threat than advice.
"Oh, don't be shy, Becket," Rob continued and put his hand on Raleigh's thigh, giving it a light squeeze. "I promise, you'll have the night of your life. And me, too. Who wouldn't want to fuck a jaeger pilot, huh?"
Raleigh grabbed the other man's collar and yanked him closer.
"Who do you think you are, you little shit? Go hit on some drunk loser. You might find someone who pities you enough to let you have their way with them," he hissed. "But honestly, I doubt it."
"What's going on?"
Raleigh looked up to see Chuck standing next to the table, a big basket of hot chips in one hand and two bottles of beer in the other. Rob looked up as well and recognised Chuck's face instantly.
"Oh wow, two of you? Today must be my lucky day. I'll just have both of you, at once," he said with a smirk on his face. Chuck put down the beers and chips on the table and stared at the other Australian, as if to challenge him to go on and say one more word. Rob looked back to Raleigh, then to Chuck.
"Oooh, that's how it is," he said loudly, making sure everyone around them turned to watch what was going on. "You two are fucking. Now doesn't that just make things so much more interesting?" He let his hand glide up Raleigh's thigh a bit more. "I'd really like to watch you two going at it!"
A few guys and a girl at the next table were watching them with interest. Someone was cheering them on. A few others were shaking their heads and then returned to their conversations.
"Watch what you're saying, asshole," Chuck growled.
"You need your boyfriend to take care of you, Becket? Aw that's so cute," Rob sneered.
Raleigh's fist hit the Australian right on the nose with a disgusting cracking noise.
"Ah FUCK!" he yelled as he fell off the chair and stumbled backwards, holding his bleeding nose. Raleigh was on his feet in a second and grabbed the other man's collar again.
"You go and fuck off or I will break your jaw, too," Raleigh said with a snarl. He let go of the man's shirt and gave him a shove to send him to the floor. Rob pressed his sleeve to his nose to keep the blood from dripping onto his chest and shot Raleigh one last hateful look before he ran off.
"One-hit K.O.!" Chuck cheered as he sat down on his chair, giving Raleigh a pat on the back. Raleigh huffed and grabbed one of the chips from the basket.
"Who did he think he was? Trying to pick a fight with a jaeger pilot. Really?"
"More like, trying to pick us up for a threesome," Chuck said as he shoved a handful of chips into his mouth. He shot a sly smile at Raleigh and added, "But don't worry, I won't let any other man steal you away from me."
Raleigh stared back at Chuck, not sure if that had been a joke or not. Chuck seemed to see what he was thinking and laughed. "Relax, Rah-leeeeee, I'm just having a bit of fun, sue me." Raleigh cracked a smile, not entirely sure how to feel about that.
That night, we probably ended up drinking a few more beers and shots than we should have. But oh well, don't blame us. We were young, and just wanted to have some fun on a Friday night like all the normal people around us. Both of us just didn't really seem to be prepared for what happened later that night.
