003: Acceptance

Neither he nor Raleigh ever considered themselves "Drift Compatible". When they trained in the academy, it was on the basis that they would do anything to prove they could hang with the best of the best; do anything to protect their home because they couldn't think to do anything else.

If they ended up with other teammates, it wouldn't be a big deal; things rarely went their way. Being judged by strangers wasn't too big of a deal for either brothers; despite what Drifting ultimately entailed, he figured he could handle the intimacies of a head he'd never been in before.

It wouldn't be someone he had to live in the same sense as his brother, if it wasn't mandatory to live in the Shatterdome by the time they graduated. But, Drifting with his brother meant there would be no secrets between them; nothing that could really stay hidden. The idea in and of itself was probably the most daunting aspect of the procedure. Yancy, he liked his privacy and knowing that that disappear once they literally became one person in relation to the machine they would pilot put him on edge.

It seemed petty when you compared it to Kaiju, but still...

Standing like a mannequin as the Drivesuit teams strapped them in their armor, he let his good eye switch over to his brother. Raleigh put on a small, nervous smile. Yancy chose to ignore it.

Then it happened. All of the same memories they incidentally shared from living together came rushing at him once at drastically different angles and emotions. How he perceived a moment was nothing like how Raleigh did. Form him, Naomi was a chance to let off some steam in the midst of stress; Naomi to Raleigh was a prize opportunity stolen from him. Being the oldest by three years made him automatically responsible and heir to the position of adult responsibility; being the youngest by the same space of time hindered made him feel powerless in the face of a brow beating from his brother, father and mother. Back and forth, two lives, two perspectives. Good and bad. The whole ordeal overwhelmed him, literally knocked him off balance. His body twitched, jerking to the left before he went to one knee, bracing his knuckles against the floor.

Whoa! You alright, Yancy?

Y-yeah, I'm alright- He stopped, realizing his lips weren't moving. Rals?

I know, right? Acoustics and everything. Way different than the simulators.

That went without saying. He opened his eyes and he saw things a completely different light. He was still him, but there was them and there was Gipsy. The colossal weight and strength, all of it connected to their bodies. And he didn't need to say anything, not with words; he could hear his brother in his head, could feel him raise his arm when he did; sincerity and bitterness, all awash in their heads. Gipsy Danger's arms moved in sync with theirs, fingers flexing and its wrist turning when they did the same.

"Gentlemen, we good?" Tendo's question echoed in their ears. They raised their hands with thumbs up, Gipsy did the same. "Yeah. Yeah, I think we're good," Yancy answered. Heart racing, he turned face his brother. He could imagine the look on his face because Raleigh was smiling.

This is awesome.

This is the best.

You still mad?

Hell, yes. You owe me lunch, kid.

This came out reasonably weird. One part me wanted to do "First Drift = Awesome", the other "First Drift + Gipsy Danger = Super". Instead it kinda comes out stream of consciousness-y (Mrs. Canon is hitting me with the comic book right now :D).