[It's been far too long since they've had any special mommy and daddy time, and it's not even finals time either. Though Raleigh's still not thrilled with that but he's learned to live with it and plan the babysitter weeks in advance so that when he turns in his last one, they don't have to worry about Sophia, just how fast they can get clothes off. Mako's just had a lot of work lately, leaving her tired and not in the mood and that's okay because Raleigh is struggling with being able to leave Sophia at daycare when he has to go to class (not as many online classes anymore, the deeper into his degree he gets, he's got to actually go to the campus more and more) and distracted too.
But tonight. Tonight the stars aligned and Sophia went to bed early, worn out by the day trip to the zoo and all the excitement there and that's okay because they've decided to make their own excitement. Started with Raleigh coming up behind her at the bathroom sink, running his hand along her stomach and smirking at her in the mirror.
And yeah, let's do it.
Raleigh could easily spend hours kissing her, just pressing his lips to hers over and over, exploring her mouth with his tongue, even though he already knows it like the back of his hand. But tonight, he's kind of multitasking, kissing her and ridding her of her clothes, isn't he so nice, and helped her take off his and about ready to get Little Raleigh back to knowing lower parts of her when--]
Mommy?
Edited 2014-01-09 03:08 (UTC)
[ No, no, no, no, no. Mako groans against his shoulder in a way that has absolutely nothing to do with her finally getting laid by Raleigh and getting extremely reacquainted with Little Raleigh and everything to do with their adorable, precious baby girl that's standing in the doorway of their unlocked door.
Why now, after all the weeks of pretty much not getting some coveted private time with Raleigh? Mako is not demanding when it comes to physical intimacies, but she's a normal, functioning human being with Needs and her sexual frustration level at these past few weeks had been very nearly burying the needle and she'd been looking forward to this for an age.
The night had started so promisingly too, when she'd been winding down in the bathroom and Raleigh had That Look in his eye when he'd smiled at her and she'd pretty much wasted no time encouraging him and they were so close -- !
It takes precious few moments to quickly scramble for a shirt and her shorts under him, forgoing the underwear because her bra's hanging from the back of a chair and her panties are... well, somewhere. Thankful for the covers that keep them decent when Sophia comes around, sleepy but curious, she kisses Raleigh briefly before she edges out of the covers and takes a seat on the edge of the bed, rumpled but concerned.
Sophia, however, is distracted -- why aren't Mommy and Daddy asleep? "What are you doing?" she asks. "Mommy, why was Daddy on top of you? Are you playing a game without me?"
It's fortunate that it's too dark to see her blush, and Mako hurriedly makes up a story -- ] No, he's just... giving me a checkup. Mommy isn't feeling too well. What's wrong, Sophia? Can't sleep?
Why now, after all the weeks of pretty much not getting some coveted private time with Raleigh? Mako is not demanding when it comes to physical intimacies, but she's a normal, functioning human being with Needs and her sexual frustration level at these past few weeks had been very nearly burying the needle and she'd been looking forward to this for an age.
The night had started so promisingly too, when she'd been winding down in the bathroom and Raleigh had That Look in his eye when he'd smiled at her and she'd pretty much wasted no time encouraging him and they were so close -- !
It takes precious few moments to quickly scramble for a shirt and her shorts under him, forgoing the underwear because her bra's hanging from the back of a chair and her panties are... well, somewhere. Thankful for the covers that keep them decent when Sophia comes around, sleepy but curious, she kisses Raleigh briefly before she edges out of the covers and takes a seat on the edge of the bed, rumpled but concerned.
Sophia, however, is distracted -- why aren't Mommy and Daddy asleep? "What are you doing?" she asks. "Mommy, why was Daddy on top of you? Are you playing a game without me?"
It's fortunate that it's too dark to see her blush, and Mako hurriedly makes up a story -- ] No, he's just... giving me a checkup. Mommy isn't feeling too well. What's wrong, Sophia? Can't sleep?
[Yancy should be proud of himself-- he's effectively murdered all chance of Raleigh ever having sex again. In a really roundabout way, it could be considered Raleigh's own fault, since he is the one who brought his girlfriend into his room and didn't have any condoms in there for if (when) things went further than just doing homework and making out. So he's the one who has to sprint down the hall to the bathroom in just his boxers, sporting a matching boner and guess who's coming out of his room at the exact same time.
It's Yancy. Who takes one look at him and starts laughing. Raleigh thinks he could've handled that except that then his brother starts giving him sex tips and critiquing his style and do you ever get on top you lazy idiot, your hair gives you away and bye bye boner.
Bye bye sex life, he's going to be a monk.
Raleigh comes back to his room with no condoms because he honestly forgot to grab them and like the life has been sucked out of him, shutting the door behind him with a mournful click.]
Kill me.
[ At this point, neither of them had expected that it would happen -- Mako had always been happy with making out but today had been different; today was more urgent and today was the day she knew she was ready, that they could go further and Raleigh won't change his mind about her.
So when they went pretty much almost all the way, they remembered the condoms, and while Mako is loathe to let him out of her arms, contraceptives were absolutely crucial; especially when she's still too young to have a kid, no matter how much she loves Raleigh.
Mako rolls over on the bed, burying her face in his pillow and breathing him in, fighting to keep her desire under control, her anticipation and hope burning before he comes in and looks like someone just told him that his abs are underperforming or something. She straightens, pulling the covers up to her chest, immediately concerned -- that's not good. ]
What's wrong?
So when they went pretty much almost all the way, they remembered the condoms, and while Mako is loathe to let him out of her arms, contraceptives were absolutely crucial; especially when she's still too young to have a kid, no matter how much she loves Raleigh.
Mako rolls over on the bed, burying her face in his pillow and breathing him in, fighting to keep her desire under control, her anticipation and hope burning before he comes in and looks like someone just told him that his abs are underperforming or something. She straightens, pulling the covers up to her chest, immediately concerned -- that's not good. ]
What's wrong?
[When he took the job, he was not expecting what he got. A rich businessman (who may or may not have ties into some dirty business) asks for someone to protect his wife, and he was expecting some bleach blonde, shopping loving girl with bling everywhere and a tiny dog. Was bracing himself for it even, and wondering if anyone would notice if he carried a flask.
What he gets-- the person that Mako is is completely different. She's beautiful, yes. Her hair's not blonde but there's streaks of blue. She doesn't shop, have any bling, or a dog. She's Not Happy with being saddled with a bodyguard, doesn't really have to say as much but it's obvious that she doesn't agree with her husband.
The more time he spends with her, the more he learns, the more he likes her. It doesn't take a genius to notice that he spends more time with her than her husband does, that's obvious from day one but it becomes more apparent as time goes on that she's lonely, and not happy with her situation. Not just the bodyguard thing anymore but all of it. The money, the silence, it's not her, it's suffocating her.
Raleigh doesn't mean to fall for her, doesn't mean to act on those feelings but life had other ideas and you can't ever pick who you love. It's another night where Mako has to attend some gala alone, and he keeps her company, commenting on the ugly dresses the other women are wearing, asks her if she wants to dance. Which is maybe the tipping point, when they were close together, and came to realize what they both want and what's stopping them? A man who's never around, who isn't even in the country right now?
Right. Didn't think so.
They're careless, in more than one way. They fuck in pretty much every room in her big empty house, spend the entire night together even if they can't be completely sure that her husband is going to be gone til morning, forget the condoms a couple times when the need is too great, when they just can't wait it has to be now, it has to be fucking now.
Maybe they get lucky because the last time that happened (a hurried affair in the bathroom at a charity event of all places) a visit from her husband happened around the same time. So no one besides Raleigh is even a little suspicious even Mako announces that she's pregnant.
Pregnant.
Raleigh doesn't look at her for the rest of the night, sure that one look would give him away. He stands in the shadows, where he's supposed to while she and her husband entertain their dinner guests. Mako's pregnant. And he's hopeful that it's his child and sick with himself for wishing that. What's going to change if it is his child? Is she going to leave her husband now? Can she even leave?
Her husband has a red eye flight to Paris after the dinner. Leaving the two of them alone a little after midnight and isn't that where all the trouble started. Raleigh doesn't knock before slipping into her bedroom, closing the door behind him quietly.]
Is it mine?
[ Raleigh is a mistake she makes over and over again -- when her husband had first introduced him to her, she had been startled; he was younger than she'd thought he would be, with kind eyes and a sturdy strength, not a hatchet-faced veteran that would haunt her every step. Mako is aware that given the rigors of her husband's business, she would require a modicum of protection from threats, but she's also aware that she's perfectly equipped to take care of herself.
He wouldn't listen, of course, her husband -- he never listens, and the constant absences, the smothering inattention and the trappings of wealth made her feel suffocated. She likes the man well enough; under all that he's at least kind to her, and his wealth is needed to fund Pentecost Industries; they'd hit a rocky road these past few years, and Mako knew that her father would need the additional funding to keep Project JAEGER afloat to make it a viable business option. They were, and had always been a technology conglomerate that developed and manufactured advanced weapon and defense technologies, and Mako had been most unwilling to let it sink under its temporary setbacks.
Hence the marriage, entirely out of her free will -- her father had protested this, objected, but she knew what she had been doing, what she ought to do. And it worked. The high profile marriage had sent stock prices of Pentecost Industries skyrocketing.
But at what cost? Mako only understands the full weight of the cost now, when she falls in love with her bodyguard despite herself, when his constant company meant companionship, when she got to know him and found herself liking his quirks, his habits. And when he asked her to dance that night -- when his hands were warm on her waist, she'd known she was done for.
They toppled together, when she saw the heat in his eyes and felt the heady, intoxicating rush of desire in his kisses, when they fuck without a care and she'd never felt more alive; above, under, all around him. It was never quite like this with her husband, and they were desperate lovers, sharing a sweet, forbidden secret from the rest of the world.
He makes her feel her age, young and reckless and passionate, and that had translated into now, now, please, I need to have you -- and everything that such a reckless thing had entailed. Mako loved fucking him, adored all the times they made love everywhere, anywhere, he was so good and he was such a thorough, giving lover that she'd reciprocated in kind, teaching him, showing him what she liked, learning what he liked.
But then she gets pregnant.
She gets pregnant and she knows that it's Raleigh's, pretends that it's her husband's because it's only a stroke of luck that he'd returned a few days later. When she announces it at a gala dinner she's hosting in their palatial home, Mako doesn't look at the father of her child. She can't.
The dinner goes as planned, and when her husband kisses her before leaving for Paris, Mako eases from the evening dress into a lighter, more comfortable nightgown. She's seated at the ornate vanity, carefully removing her makeup; startled when she hears his voice.
...Raleigh.
Mako doesn't answer, for a moment. ]
Does it matter?
He wouldn't listen, of course, her husband -- he never listens, and the constant absences, the smothering inattention and the trappings of wealth made her feel suffocated. She likes the man well enough; under all that he's at least kind to her, and his wealth is needed to fund Pentecost Industries; they'd hit a rocky road these past few years, and Mako knew that her father would need the additional funding to keep Project JAEGER afloat to make it a viable business option. They were, and had always been a technology conglomerate that developed and manufactured advanced weapon and defense technologies, and Mako had been most unwilling to let it sink under its temporary setbacks.
Hence the marriage, entirely out of her free will -- her father had protested this, objected, but she knew what she had been doing, what she ought to do. And it worked. The high profile marriage had sent stock prices of Pentecost Industries skyrocketing.
But at what cost? Mako only understands the full weight of the cost now, when she falls in love with her bodyguard despite herself, when his constant company meant companionship, when she got to know him and found herself liking his quirks, his habits. And when he asked her to dance that night -- when his hands were warm on her waist, she'd known she was done for.
They toppled together, when she saw the heat in his eyes and felt the heady, intoxicating rush of desire in his kisses, when they fuck without a care and she'd never felt more alive; above, under, all around him. It was never quite like this with her husband, and they were desperate lovers, sharing a sweet, forbidden secret from the rest of the world.
He makes her feel her age, young and reckless and passionate, and that had translated into now, now, please, I need to have you -- and everything that such a reckless thing had entailed. Mako loved fucking him, adored all the times they made love everywhere, anywhere, he was so good and he was such a thorough, giving lover that she'd reciprocated in kind, teaching him, showing him what she liked, learning what he liked.
But then she gets pregnant.
She gets pregnant and she knows that it's Raleigh's, pretends that it's her husband's because it's only a stroke of luck that he'd returned a few days later. When she announces it at a gala dinner she's hosting in their palatial home, Mako doesn't look at the father of her child. She can't.
The dinner goes as planned, and when her husband kisses her before leaving for Paris, Mako eases from the evening dress into a lighter, more comfortable nightgown. She's seated at the ornate vanity, carefully removing her makeup; startled when she hears his voice.
...Raleigh.
Mako doesn't answer, for a moment. ]
Does it matter?
[Stacker Pentecost finally comes home and it's-- exactly like Raleigh thought it was going to be. He hasn't been able to tell Mako who he is, not through a lack of chances, it's come up over and over and each time, he thinks about telling her, opening his mouth-- and nothing comes out. He can't say it. He can't tell her that he used to be one of her father's mercenaries, that he made a mistake that got his brother killed and himself enslaved.
Dying would've been better, in the eyes of Pentecost and he doesn't hesitate to remind Raleigh of that.
He stands there, silent and tense, staring at the ground the entire time. If Mako looks at him, he isn't aware of it. She doesn't say anything and he takes that as permission to retreat as best he can. His collar feels like a lead weight around his neck, hidden underneath his turtleneck from plain view but burning against his skin anyway. A heavier reminder of what he is now, how far he's fallen. He should have told her, a long time ago, when she first woke him from a nightmare. When they sparred in the kwoon. When they became lovers. But he didn't, and the Marshal's anger is understandable, expected. He's not sure how Mako is taking it.
Not sure he wants to. Pentecost dismisses him eventually, and even though he's not technically his own, Raleigh takes the chance to duck out of there, doesn't look back at her because he can't. He can take the rebuke from Pentecost, because he'd always been so sure that the Marshal never liked him much, and that's he more upset that one of his mercenaries has fallen into something so shameful. But with Mako--they've fought so hard just to have something, a glimmer of something normal and he wouldn't blame her if she couldn't forgive this.
He'd understand it but it wouldn't make it hurt any less.
Raleigh heads to their room, since there's so few private places around the Shatterdome and he is sure that it's only a matter of time before this new revelation gets around the entire place and he doesn't want to be around people when that happens. So he paces aroundtheir her quarters, stripping his sweater off and tugging at that damn fucking collar until there's red marks all around his neck from it. He can't pull it off, can't cut it off, can't pick the lock-- and he's so fucking fed up with it.]
Dying would've been better, in the eyes of Pentecost and he doesn't hesitate to remind Raleigh of that.
He stands there, silent and tense, staring at the ground the entire time. If Mako looks at him, he isn't aware of it. She doesn't say anything and he takes that as permission to retreat as best he can. His collar feels like a lead weight around his neck, hidden underneath his turtleneck from plain view but burning against his skin anyway. A heavier reminder of what he is now, how far he's fallen. He should have told her, a long time ago, when she first woke him from a nightmare. When they sparred in the kwoon. When they became lovers. But he didn't, and the Marshal's anger is understandable, expected. He's not sure how Mako is taking it.
Not sure he wants to. Pentecost dismisses him eventually, and even though he's not technically his own, Raleigh takes the chance to duck out of there, doesn't look back at her because he can't. He can take the rebuke from Pentecost, because he'd always been so sure that the Marshal never liked him much, and that's he more upset that one of his mercenaries has fallen into something so shameful. But with Mako--they've fought so hard just to have something, a glimmer of something normal and he wouldn't blame her if she couldn't forgive this.
He'd understand it but it wouldn't make it hurt any less.
Raleigh heads to their room, since there's so few private places around the Shatterdome and he is sure that it's only a matter of time before this new revelation gets around the entire place and he doesn't want to be around people when that happens. So he paces around
[ Stacker Pentecost comes home and all secrets come undone. He is furious, and Mako finds out why, that the bed slave she had taken in, had eventually made a companion and lover out of, used to be a mercenary under her adopted father's employ. Raleigh doesn't look at her, and that's a good call because a part of her is angry -- she'd asked him about it, had suspected something along those lines but he'd hidden it from her.
Now she knows why he's not like the others, and when Raleigh leaves at Stacker's express, terse orders, she finally understands. He bears the weight of Stacker's disappointment and disgust, because Mako and Raleigh both know the dislike he carries for indentured slaves; the shame he'd ended up bringing into the profession.
Raleigh was a mercenary that had caused his brother's death, had made a mistake that cost him his dignity and his freedom. The Marshal tells her this when Raleigh leaves, and it's a lot for her to take in. He tells her this, and says that she should turn him out, that there's nothing she could do with the likes of him.
Mako protests despite herself, and the worst is when she discovers that he's disappointed in her, because he'd expected better behaviour, that she wouldn't have gone ahead to sleep with a slave. Mako, gutted, had requested her permission to leave, unable to bear the brunt of his disappointment even as she's fighting to keep him with her because she'd seen him when he'd suffered from his nightmares -- knows that he kept his secret from her out of necessity.
A part of her feels betrayed, that he didn't trust her enough to keep his secret -- but a much larger part sympathises, and it's this much larger part that dominates when she goes back to her room and she sees him yanking at his collar violently, his throat an angry red and if he keeps tugging on it the collar's going to cut into him. ]
Raleigh. Raleigh! [ The door shutting behind her, she goes over to him to try to calm him down, a hand on his arm to stop him. She's not the only one who was practically decimated by the Marshal today. Her voice softens, and she feels the tears prickle at the back of her eyes -- not for her, but for him. How much shame is he carrying, when he's like this? How much more does he have to pay? ] Raleigh, no.
Now she knows why he's not like the others, and when Raleigh leaves at Stacker's express, terse orders, she finally understands. He bears the weight of Stacker's disappointment and disgust, because Mako and Raleigh both know the dislike he carries for indentured slaves; the shame he'd ended up bringing into the profession.
Raleigh was a mercenary that had caused his brother's death, had made a mistake that cost him his dignity and his freedom. The Marshal tells her this when Raleigh leaves, and it's a lot for her to take in. He tells her this, and says that she should turn him out, that there's nothing she could do with the likes of him.
Mako protests despite herself, and the worst is when she discovers that he's disappointed in her, because he'd expected better behaviour, that she wouldn't have gone ahead to sleep with a slave. Mako, gutted, had requested her permission to leave, unable to bear the brunt of his disappointment even as she's fighting to keep him with her because she'd seen him when he'd suffered from his nightmares -- knows that he kept his secret from her out of necessity.
A part of her feels betrayed, that he didn't trust her enough to keep his secret -- but a much larger part sympathises, and it's this much larger part that dominates when she goes back to her room and she sees him yanking at his collar violently, his throat an angry red and if he keeps tugging on it the collar's going to cut into him. ]
Raleigh. Raleigh! [ The door shutting behind her, she goes over to him to try to calm him down, a hand on his arm to stop him. She's not the only one who was practically decimated by the Marshal today. Her voice softens, and she feels the tears prickle at the back of her eyes -- not for her, but for him. How much shame is he carrying, when he's like this? How much more does he have to pay? ] Raleigh, no.
[ It's not supposed to be this way.
Mako Mori is not supposed to fall in love with the mark, the target, the man whose skull she's supposed to put two bullets into because -- oh, what the hell, she doesn't even care to know. All she knows is that somehow he's made a few very powerful people very angry (which is difficult to believe because have you met him? Raleigh Becket is as uninvolved with those kinds of people as they come) and they want his head in return.
They'd hired her because she's the best at what she does, because she doesn't ask questions and she takes the money and gets the job done by getting close and striking when they're at their weakest.
But with Raleigh, she pulls back twice. Three times. It shames her as much as it enthralls her, the way she's so drawn to him, the way she warms up to his kindness and his gentleness, the way he looks at her like she's the only person in the world who matters. She learns that he has a brother who died, she learns that he's working hard to make something of himself, and she learns that he likes hockey and chili and he kisses like he's in love with her and she's in too deep to pull away.
She tries to kill him the fourth time, when they have sex for the very first time and he cuddles up to her, vulnerable and sweet, his lovely pink lips kiss-bruised and his skin sporting her bruises, her teeth-marks.
She doesn't.
Mako stays until the morning that day. And the day after that, and the day after. She's cat-like, lazing in his bed when he leaves, sitting up behind him and wrapping his arms around his waist in silence when he comes home, her secrets in the warm breaths that fan over his back. She holds him tight this afternoon, and allows herself to smile because this is bliss, and this is frightening and lovely all at the same time. ]
...Welcome back.
Mako Mori is not supposed to fall in love with the mark, the target, the man whose skull she's supposed to put two bullets into because -- oh, what the hell, she doesn't even care to know. All she knows is that somehow he's made a few very powerful people very angry (which is difficult to believe because have you met him? Raleigh Becket is as uninvolved with those kinds of people as they come) and they want his head in return.
They'd hired her because she's the best at what she does, because she doesn't ask questions and she takes the money and gets the job done by getting close and striking when they're at their weakest.
But with Raleigh, she pulls back twice. Three times. It shames her as much as it enthralls her, the way she's so drawn to him, the way she warms up to his kindness and his gentleness, the way he looks at her like she's the only person in the world who matters. She learns that he has a brother who died, she learns that he's working hard to make something of himself, and she learns that he likes hockey and chili and he kisses like he's in love with her and she's in too deep to pull away.
She tries to kill him the fourth time, when they have sex for the very first time and he cuddles up to her, vulnerable and sweet, his lovely pink lips kiss-bruised and his skin sporting her bruises, her teeth-marks.
She doesn't.
Mako stays until the morning that day. And the day after that, and the day after. She's cat-like, lazing in his bed when he leaves, sitting up behind him and wrapping his arms around his waist in silence when he comes home, her secrets in the warm breaths that fan over his back. She holds him tight this afternoon, and allows herself to smile because this is bliss, and this is frightening and lovely all at the same time. ]
...Welcome back.
[Raleigh never wanted to be king. Never expected to be either but no one sees a freak accident coming, one that claims the life of the country's newly crowned monarch. There's an investigation and conspiracy theories but in the end, it was an honest mistake. A mistake that Raleigh walked away from with ringing in his ears, blood in his eyes and no feeling in his left arm and a country looking to him to be their leader.
He tries. He really does but of the three of them, Raleigh's the least suited for it and he stumbles through it for the better part of a year before he meets her. Mako Mori. A foreigner, no title, no money, by all standards, someone that Parliament and the general public won't let him marry because they won't let her be Queen because of tradition and bullshit he doesn't care about.
Maybe he was thinking about doing it anyway and Mako just gives him the excuse to actually sign the papers. Maybe that's not entirely healthy either, there's this weight on the decision that she's it, they're together forever because who gives up their crown to marry someone they end up divorcing ten years later. Exactly.
Raleigh's sure of two things though. He's not making a very good king and he loves Mako more than anyone. He set his lawyers on the task of drawing up the papers before he retires for the evening, calling Mako the second he's gotten rid of all of his followers. No one warns you that when you're king, you're surrounded by people all the time and that's really the last thing that Raleigh wants and it's amazing really, how much that really grates on his temper.]
Hey.
He tries. He really does but of the three of them, Raleigh's the least suited for it and he stumbles through it for the better part of a year before he meets her. Mako Mori. A foreigner, no title, no money, by all standards, someone that Parliament and the general public won't let him marry because they won't let her be Queen because of tradition and bullshit he doesn't care about.
Maybe he was thinking about doing it anyway and Mako just gives him the excuse to actually sign the papers. Maybe that's not entirely healthy either, there's this weight on the decision that she's it, they're together forever because who gives up their crown to marry someone they end up divorcing ten years later. Exactly.
Raleigh's sure of two things though. He's not making a very good king and he loves Mako more than anyone. He set his lawyers on the task of drawing up the papers before he retires for the evening, calling Mako the second he's gotten rid of all of his followers. No one warns you that when you're king, you're surrounded by people all the time and that's really the last thing that Raleigh wants and it's amazing really, how much that really grates on his temper.]
Hey.
[Some guy comes sniffing around the apartment for Mako, complete with a nice suit and a paper bag with soup in it because she wasn't feeling well enough to go into work today and he thought he'd check on her and-- Raleigh is not happy. He's killed people before, with his bare hands and no one has found the body and he doesn't so much tell the guy this (because he's obviously a lawyer too), but makes it pretty obvious with his body language that if he comes back a second time, that's going to be his fate too.
And oh by the way? Mako's not interested. How does he know? Maybe because she's a little busy with their son.
It takes him a few moments after shutting the door in his face to realize why he's so ticked off. He's jealous. They're not anything official, sure they're living together in New York with their son, are sharing a room because Yancy's old enough to question it if Mommy and Daddy sleep in separate rooms and it's not so bad. He didn't think. They aren't back together but he wakes up sometimes curled around her in the morning, because he's a compulsive snuggler and it's-- nice. It was something.
Or he thought it was until it's obvious that someone else is interested in her and no. Not happening. She's not on the market. She's so far off the market that there's no price on it. Because she belongs to him and Yancy and they are a family and it's not happening a second time. She's not leaving a second time.
Raleigh heads back to their room, where Mako's watching a movie with Yancy on the bed.]
Hey kiddo, why don't you go play in your room for a while. I need to talk to your mom for a second.
[ Mako is blissfully unaware of all that's transpired outside of her movie-watching "date" with Yancy; yes, she'd been feeling slightly under the weather, and Yancy had insisted on watching Thomas and Friends and Mako had only been too happy to indulge him -- it was a good... family day, and a woman could get quite used to that.
Things with Raleigh are less smooth; there are still plenty of things they don't talk about, and the distance between them seems to be an unbreachable thing. Yes, she sometimes wakes up to having him cuddle her, and it's days like these where she starts to hope. It's something, but he still keeps her at arms length for the majority of the time and maybe Mako has to revise that opinion after all.
They still sleep in the same room because of Yancy, because sometimes he asks why they sleep in different bedrooms, and while he's too young to understand, one day he would - and Mako would come to dread that day because she wants to make it all up to him, have him grow up normally, with loving parents and a good home.
(But sometimes she wonders if that's all there is? Just to fulfill their roles as parents? She misses Raleigh, she loves him -- but he hasn't forgiven her and she doesn't begrudge him for it, even if it keeps her quietly frustrated.)
Today had been a nice day until Raleigh went to answer the door, Mako looks up with Yancy when he comes back into the bedroom, curious. But then she sees the look on his face and gently pats their son, tells him she's paused their movie. Yancy nods and scuttles off the bed obediently, slipping out the room.
When they're alone, she asks: ]
Is something wrong?
Things with Raleigh are less smooth; there are still plenty of things they don't talk about, and the distance between them seems to be an unbreachable thing. Yes, she sometimes wakes up to having him cuddle her, and it's days like these where she starts to hope. It's something, but he still keeps her at arms length for the majority of the time and maybe Mako has to revise that opinion after all.
They still sleep in the same room because of Yancy, because sometimes he asks why they sleep in different bedrooms, and while he's too young to understand, one day he would - and Mako would come to dread that day because she wants to make it all up to him, have him grow up normally, with loving parents and a good home.
(But sometimes she wonders if that's all there is? Just to fulfill their roles as parents? She misses Raleigh, she loves him -- but he hasn't forgiven her and she doesn't begrudge him for it, even if it keeps her quietly frustrated.)
Today had been a nice day until Raleigh went to answer the door, Mako looks up with Yancy when he comes back into the bedroom, curious. But then she sees the look on his face and gently pats their son, tells him she's paused their movie. Yancy nods and scuttles off the bed obediently, slipping out the room.
When they're alone, she asks: ]
Is something wrong?
[ Proper seduction is not, technically, in Mako's wheelhouse. She's bad at it, because she's pretty much never had to seduce anything in her entire life -- vengeance like an open wound, a traumatic childhood, and the impending end of the world had cut short any musings of the sort.
But the end of the world didn't come (even if it sometimes felt like that, more figuratively) for Mako, and four years on, Raleigh and Mako are dating each other, moving on to the next chapter of their lives -- to a future neither of them had quite envisioned. It's new to the both of them, but Mako still works with the PPDC to develop more equipment, roping in Raleigh to help out as well, and aside from the both of them sharing a little apartment outside of the Shatterdome (because it's difficult to have sex with Raleigh without anyone knowing when the man's a mouthy, loud son of a bitch in bed).
Anyway, the long and short of it is that on their fourth anniversary, Mako pays a visit to Victoria's Secret, and decides to heat things up in the bedroom, so to speak, when she gets herself lacy garters and a matching black bra. She'd worn it under her overalls that day, and when she dragged Raleigh into the nearest supply closet to make out that afternoon, had given him a glimpse of the bra underneath, and a tantalising promise of more when they get home.
Which is why she doesn't waste any time pushing up him against the back of their door the moment the house keys are dropped into the bowl, reaching around him only to lock it as she tiptoes to kiss Raleigh, warmly passionate and yearning. ]
But the end of the world didn't come (even if it sometimes felt like that, more figuratively) for Mako, and four years on, Raleigh and Mako are dating each other, moving on to the next chapter of their lives -- to a future neither of them had quite envisioned. It's new to the both of them, but Mako still works with the PPDC to develop more equipment, roping in Raleigh to help out as well, and aside from the both of them sharing a little apartment outside of the Shatterdome (because it's difficult to have sex with Raleigh without anyone knowing when the man's a mouthy, loud son of a bitch in bed).
Anyway, the long and short of it is that on their fourth anniversary, Mako pays a visit to Victoria's Secret, and decides to heat things up in the bedroom, so to speak, when she gets herself lacy garters and a matching black bra. She'd worn it under her overalls that day, and when she dragged Raleigh into the nearest supply closet to make out that afternoon, had given him a glimpse of the bra underneath, and a tantalising promise of more when they get home.
Which is why she doesn't waste any time pushing up him against the back of their door the moment the house keys are dropped into the bowl, reaching around him only to lock it as she tiptoes to kiss Raleigh, warmly passionate and yearning. ]
[Know what Raleigh loves doing? Kissing Mako Mori. She's tiny and feisty and one of the best freestyle skiiers in the world. She's strong and determined and kissing her is much the same, like making out with a gold medal every night. He loves snowboarding too but he has yet to figure out a way to do that and kiss her at the same time, without crashing or actually doing anything that's not just laying there in the snow, which he also likes doing but that is technically not snowboarding.
Sometimes their schedules don't always coordinate. He doesn't have a competition where she does, she's pulled for an endorsement thing in another state. It's just the lives of professional athletes, they go where the snow and the awards are and that means that he hasn't seen her for about three days.
So yeah, Raleigh pretty much pounces on her the moment she comes in the door, helping push her bag off her shoulder and pull her towards the nearest horizontal surface that isn't the floor. So like the couch. And it's magical and great and tell him about the shoot, was it the whole bikini and skis thing again cause he was a fan of that and--]
What's this on your wrist?
Sometimes their schedules don't always coordinate. He doesn't have a competition where she does, she's pulled for an endorsement thing in another state. It's just the lives of professional athletes, they go where the snow and the awards are and that means that he hasn't seen her for about three days.
So yeah, Raleigh pretty much pounces on her the moment she comes in the door, helping push her bag off her shoulder and pull her towards the nearest horizontal surface that isn't the floor. So like the couch. And it's magical and great and tell him about the shoot, was it the whole bikini and skis thing again cause he was a fan of that and--]
What's this on your wrist?
[ Mako is likewise delighted and surprised to be ambushed by Raleigh Becket; she'd barely gotten through the door before she'd been practically swept off her feet by all 6 feet plus of a half-french Alaskan bear, and she's laughing because it's only been three days but she's missed him, she's missed kissing him and she doesn't want to know whether he really makes out with a gold medal every day that she's gone.
She's madly, irrevocably in love with him for reasons even she can't explain -- there's just too many of them, beginning and ending with the type of person that he is, and the joy she sees in his eyes that seems to always make her day brighter, no matter what type of a mood she's in.
And oh, oh, making out. Making out is fun, even more fun and spine-tingly when she's with him, because with him, she's always felt like she could do absolutely anything. He was the one person who had been in her corner all along, even when it felt like the world had turned on him, and she would never forget that.
So she's telling him, yes, it's the whole bikini and skis thing and she knows he's a fan and she's -- Mako just smiles, shifting her wrist under where he's pinned it over her head on the couch, and she lets him get a clearer look.
There it is, the classically beautiful fonts, clear as day, on the inside of her wrist -- 'R.B.'. She'd only gotten it the day before she left, and while it's mostly fine now, it still tingles now and then.
Mako teases him. ] Guess.
She's madly, irrevocably in love with him for reasons even she can't explain -- there's just too many of them, beginning and ending with the type of person that he is, and the joy she sees in his eyes that seems to always make her day brighter, no matter what type of a mood she's in.
And oh, oh, making out. Making out is fun, even more fun and spine-tingly when she's with him, because with him, she's always felt like she could do absolutely anything. He was the one person who had been in her corner all along, even when it felt like the world had turned on him, and she would never forget that.
So she's telling him, yes, it's the whole bikini and skis thing and she knows he's a fan and she's -- Mako just smiles, shifting her wrist under where he's pinned it over her head on the couch, and she lets him get a clearer look.
There it is, the classically beautiful fonts, clear as day, on the inside of her wrist -- 'R.B.'. She'd only gotten it the day before she left, and while it's mostly fine now, it still tingles now and then.
Mako teases him. ] Guess.
[Before they adopt Sophia, before he's let off his leash in Los Angeles long enough to find her, they're just a couple of newlyweds, making the most of their time together, and celebrating the little things and all the holidays together because neither's had much of a reason to celebrate things like that over recent years, so why not do it together, right? Right.
Dinner is turning into a poor excuse to play footsie with each other under the table and drink wine and share good food with each other-- well, feeding each other food, which they should really not be allowed in public together. He's already got something of a stain on his collar but that doesn't seem to be stopping them from breaking a few rules about PDA in restaurants. It doesn't matter how much they they tried to hide away in the back, people are going to notice them anyway, so why bother.
He's just going to laugh when trying to feed her a bite of spaghetti gets sauce all over her cheek and here maybe he'll come help clean it up with his mouth.]
Dinner is turning into a poor excuse to play footsie with each other under the table and drink wine and share good food with each other-- well, feeding each other food, which they should really not be allowed in public together. He's already got something of a stain on his collar but that doesn't seem to be stopping them from breaking a few rules about PDA in restaurants. It doesn't matter how much they they tried to hide away in the back, people are going to notice them anyway, so why bother.
He's just going to laugh when trying to feed her a bite of spaghetti gets sauce all over her cheek and here maybe he'll come help clean it up with his mouth.]
man i made some embarrassingly weird typos in that last tag
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raleighs
- 2014-02-20 03:49 (UTC) - Expand |
Be to her, Persephone, All the things I might not be: Take her head upon your knee. She that was so proud and wild, Flippant, arrogant and free, She that had no need of me, Is a little lonely child Lost in Hell,—Persephone, Take her head upon your knee: Say to her, "My dear, my dear, It is not so dreadful here." |
[ There are far more jewels beyond the comprehension of gods and mortals both that lie glittering within the stark shadows of Hades; sapphires, rubies, diamonds, precious gems of untold worth, shining like cold fire within the kingdom's confines that would put all the riches of the world to shame.
But the cruelty of it all is this: the kingdom of Hades belongs to the dead.
In her care were the souls of the men, women, and children who had left the world, who came with their grief, their woes, the unfulfilled dreams and the fear stink of fear and despair that permeates the entirety of her domain.
Mako, queen of the underworld and one of the Three who had gone against their father and won, fights the bitterness of her lot -- that she would have unimaginable wealth and yet be unable to hear the simple trill of birdsong, or witness the blossoming of flowers.
From the earth it all comes, and to the earth it all goes; and while every creature under the sky reaps its abundance, Mako tastes only ash and dust. It's difficult not to burn with loneliness, ruling over the dead with no one to be her consort, the pervasive gloom and darkness weighing heavily on her shoulders. She does her job well enough, but she's come to yearn for someone worthy, for a light in the ever-present darkness.
Perhaps it is why she ended up seducing the young, beautiful, bright-eyed god of spring. Raleigh, who is everything she isn't, who is spring and summer, the seed of the fruit of the fields. Raleigh is a masterpiece, a shimmering, brilliant light of life that shines so vividly in the obsidian of her luxurious chambers, with budding blossoms threaded into hair like spun-gold. He is light, and air, and colour -- and Mako loved him the moment she set eyes on him; and when the queen loved, she wanted; when she queen wanted, she took, and for the first time in the long while, when she made love to him on silver silk and black satin, Mako felt alive.
He was hers, her god of spring and abundance and hope, and Mako didn't care that she took him from the world -- no, all that mattered was the way he kissed her, the way he looked at her when she eased him back into her bed and unraveled him under her hands and her lips, when she drew one orgasm after another from him as his seed spilled on her sheets, on her, inside her. Mako gave him unimaginable pleasure and practically made him sing with it, had shown him the extent of her kingdom, but soon... soon, Raleigh wants to go home.
Soon, he is going to leave her. Mako knows the signs, and while the wrathful side of her demands that he stays, she knows she must find another way to keep him. She comes to him one night, pale in black silk with a coronet of diamonds in her hair, and a fresh, ripe pomegranate in her hand. ]
You are... unhappy, tonight.
But the cruelty of it all is this: the kingdom of Hades belongs to the dead.
In her care were the souls of the men, women, and children who had left the world, who came with their grief, their woes, the unfulfilled dreams and the fear stink of fear and despair that permeates the entirety of her domain.
Mako, queen of the underworld and one of the Three who had gone against their father and won, fights the bitterness of her lot -- that she would have unimaginable wealth and yet be unable to hear the simple trill of birdsong, or witness the blossoming of flowers.
From the earth it all comes, and to the earth it all goes; and while every creature under the sky reaps its abundance, Mako tastes only ash and dust. It's difficult not to burn with loneliness, ruling over the dead with no one to be her consort, the pervasive gloom and darkness weighing heavily on her shoulders. She does her job well enough, but she's come to yearn for someone worthy, for a light in the ever-present darkness.
Perhaps it is why she ended up seducing the young, beautiful, bright-eyed god of spring. Raleigh, who is everything she isn't, who is spring and summer, the seed of the fruit of the fields. Raleigh is a masterpiece, a shimmering, brilliant light of life that shines so vividly in the obsidian of her luxurious chambers, with budding blossoms threaded into hair like spun-gold. He is light, and air, and colour -- and Mako loved him the moment she set eyes on him; and when the queen loved, she wanted; when she queen wanted, she took, and for the first time in the long while, when she made love to him on silver silk and black satin, Mako felt alive.
He was hers, her god of spring and abundance and hope, and Mako didn't care that she took him from the world -- no, all that mattered was the way he kissed her, the way he looked at her when she eased him back into her bed and unraveled him under her hands and her lips, when she drew one orgasm after another from him as his seed spilled on her sheets, on her, inside her. Mako gave him unimaginable pleasure and practically made him sing with it, had shown him the extent of her kingdom, but soon... soon, Raleigh wants to go home.
Soon, he is going to leave her. Mako knows the signs, and while the wrathful side of her demands that he stays, she knows she must find another way to keep him. She comes to him one night, pale in black silk with a coronet of diamonds in her hair, and a fresh, ripe pomegranate in her hand. ]
You are... unhappy, tonight.
[ Raleigh is restless tonight, nudging for attention and Mako is half-aware of why. They'd gone in for an ultrasound earlier to take a better look at their baby, and to see if all is well with the pregnancy -- it's fine, and the three month-old fetus is still so small that it's impossible to see if it's a boy or a girl.
It had been an incredible, moving moment, to know that Mako had a life growing inside of her, a little life that they'd made together. They haven't quite felt the same since -- and so after Raleigh put Sophia to bed and they both settled in for a bit of a read, she's pleasantly startled when he rests his head on her stomach, cuddling up to her like a puppy wanting to be noticed.
She looks up from her book and smiles briefly, a hand coming to trail in his hair, fond and loving. He's the father of her child, she thinks; of the baby they're going to bring into this world. ]
It's still too early to feel it kick, you know.
It had been an incredible, moving moment, to know that Mako had a life growing inside of her, a little life that they'd made together. They haven't quite felt the same since -- and so after Raleigh put Sophia to bed and they both settled in for a bit of a read, she's pleasantly startled when he rests his head on her stomach, cuddling up to her like a puppy wanting to be noticed.
She looks up from her book and smiles briefly, a hand coming to trail in his hair, fond and loving. He's the father of her child, she thinks; of the baby they're going to bring into this world. ]
It's still too early to feel it kick, you know.
[ They're trying for a baby; they're trying very hard and it helps very much that they're enjoying the process, too, even if the doctor's prognosis isn't in the least favourable. Technically, neither one of them can have children because even if the radiation had been minimal, and the shielding had been adequate, they both had spent a long time in and around radioactive materials -- it's lucky that it hasn't graduated to cancer cells.
But Mako and Raleigh aren't about to give up, no way -- and so, months into their marriage and before Sophia, so she's waiting for him to come home. Tonight's one of the nights where Raleigh studies late and Mako comes back early, and she settles for cleaning up the house, straightening everything before washing up and retiring to bed; even choosing to wear his shirt, and only his shirt, to bed.
He should be home at any moment, she thinks, when she glances at the clock, and she smiles when she hears the key turn in the lock. ]
But Mako and Raleigh aren't about to give up, no way -- and so, months into their marriage and before Sophia, so she's waiting for him to come home. Tonight's one of the nights where Raleigh studies late and Mako comes back early, and she settles for cleaning up the house, straightening everything before washing up and retiring to bed; even choosing to wear his shirt, and only his shirt, to bed.
He should be home at any moment, she thinks, when she glances at the clock, and she smiles when she hears the key turn in the lock. ]
[ Mako paints.
She paints the skyline of the city -- glittering beneath her through the windows of the high-rise penthouse, she paints houses in the sunlight and dreams up of embellishments to add; children and dogs and mothers tidying. She paints dreamy little suburbs from memory, splashed in golden light and unbearably bright skies -- and maybe they become a little exaggerated, because she's spent so long in the darkness that she doesn't know what it's like anymore, save for random scenes on television.
Mako sometimes works on two paintings at once, large canvases popped up on twin easels, her sensitive nose no longer irritated by paint fumes because -- well, it's hard to when breathing becomes largely optional. She's restless tonight, in a mood where she feels, acutely, every year of her four centuries, from the burning of Kyoto to the hustle and bustle of New York City, her newest haven shared with her lover and fledgling-- well, relatively speaking; Raleigh was 27 when she took him as hers and turned him, 80 years ago.
Things went smoothly, as they're usually wont to do when transformations are mutually consensual, when being a vampire isn't the constant gloom and doom that books and movies all make it out to be. Even so, Mako particularly despises contemporary retellings; they added far too much romanticism, because which vampire in his right mind is going to be fixated on some barely-legal trollop with zero personality?
No, vampires chose carefully: vampires loved and killed and fought and fucked, and sometimes vampires had ready supplies of O-negatives in their fridge.
Mako leaves Raleigh sleeping in their massive bed as she mixes colours, naked as the day she was born; she prefers being undressed as much as she can, it makes the evening breeze taste sweeter on her skin, and contemplates painting him, her magnificently gorgeous childe, so beautiful in repose. She makes a decision, leaves the palette, and sets up a third easel with a blank canvas.
Enough about suburbs she would never see -- Raleigh is a far more worthy subject for the night. She adds colours and shapes, glass bottles of paint tinkling whenever she chooses new variations in capturing his likeness when he's on his side facing her, eyes closed in slumber.
He's the choice she never regretted, beloved and favoured above nearly all else. ]
She paints the skyline of the city -- glittering beneath her through the windows of the high-rise penthouse, she paints houses in the sunlight and dreams up of embellishments to add; children and dogs and mothers tidying. She paints dreamy little suburbs from memory, splashed in golden light and unbearably bright skies -- and maybe they become a little exaggerated, because she's spent so long in the darkness that she doesn't know what it's like anymore, save for random scenes on television.
Mako sometimes works on two paintings at once, large canvases popped up on twin easels, her sensitive nose no longer irritated by paint fumes because -- well, it's hard to when breathing becomes largely optional. She's restless tonight, in a mood where she feels, acutely, every year of her four centuries, from the burning of Kyoto to the hustle and bustle of New York City, her newest haven shared with her lover and fledgling-- well, relatively speaking; Raleigh was 27 when she took him as hers and turned him, 80 years ago.
Things went smoothly, as they're usually wont to do when transformations are mutually consensual, when being a vampire isn't the constant gloom and doom that books and movies all make it out to be. Even so, Mako particularly despises contemporary retellings; they added far too much romanticism, because which vampire in his right mind is going to be fixated on some barely-legal trollop with zero personality?
No, vampires chose carefully: vampires loved and killed and fought and fucked, and sometimes vampires had ready supplies of O-negatives in their fridge.
Mako leaves Raleigh sleeping in their massive bed as she mixes colours, naked as the day she was born; she prefers being undressed as much as she can, it makes the evening breeze taste sweeter on her skin, and contemplates painting him, her magnificently gorgeous childe, so beautiful in repose. She makes a decision, leaves the palette, and sets up a third easel with a blank canvas.
Enough about suburbs she would never see -- Raleigh is a far more worthy subject for the night. She adds colours and shapes, glass bottles of paint tinkling whenever she chooses new variations in capturing his likeness when he's on his side facing her, eyes closed in slumber.
He's the choice she never regretted, beloved and favoured above nearly all else. ]
[ sent over the course of about 7 minutes: ]
1/7
I think I know what you want from me.
2/7
Looking back on our conversation last night, I get it. I was stupid and didn't see what you wanted me to say then, but I do now.
3/7
You want to hear those three little words, right?
4/7
One of them starting with an 'L', right?
5/7
I can say them, yanno. I just wanted to wait and make it all official and stuff, you know? But I guess this works.
6/7
Mako Mori.
7/7
Lick my balls.
1/7
I think I know what you want from me.
2/7
Looking back on our conversation last night, I get it. I was stupid and didn't see what you wanted me to say then, but I do now.
3/7
You want to hear those three little words, right?
4/7
One of them starting with an 'L', right?
5/7
I can say them, yanno. I just wanted to wait and make it all official and stuff, you know? But I guess this works.
6/7
Mako Mori.
7/7
Lick my balls.
[Raleigh gets a text in the middle of church to call her asap and he is generally not a paranoid man but those words from Mako have to mean that something serious is up. That something's wrong with Tyler or that she has a new tidbit of information and it's just not a phrase that she throws around lightly.
So he excuses himself, tells the boys to keep talking, he'll be back in a few minutes and immediately calls her back.]
What is it?
Edited 2014-02-21 00:28 (UTC)
Tyler's pacifier is missing.
[ Mako is terse, and with good reason: their little tot is completely insufferable without his pacifier -- he's become incredibly addicted to it, despite best attempts to wean him off it. It's his security blanket, and Mako can only distract him for so long before he realises it's missing and cries his eyes out. ]
Is it with you?
[ Mako is terse, and with good reason: their little tot is completely insufferable without his pacifier -- he's become incredibly addicted to it, despite best attempts to wean him off it. It's his security blanket, and Mako can only distract him for so long before he realises it's missing and cries his eyes out. ]
Is it with you?
i like that there was too much mako rage to even do tiny brackets
raleighs
- 2014-02-23 17:10 (UTC) - Expand
[Raleigh didn't make it a habit after his brother died to measure his life in things that he's lost. Tried his best to make his peace with it, with his bad decision and to move on from it and maybe he did a pretty crappy job of moving on, and was more stagnantly trying to forget how to live but this.
This is too much, even for him. This is crossing the line between too much stolen from him and too much to come back from. Part of him wants to blame Chuck because if Chuck hadn't been a stupid, fucking ass like he always is, he wouldn't have gotten hurt, he wouldn't have needed saving by Gipsy and Raleigh would've been fit to pilot her to the breach with Mako. But he wasn't, and not even Raleigh Becket can pilot a Jaeger with a broken leg so Stacker took his place.
No one came back from Pitfall. It was a success but both Jaegers and all four pilots went down with the effort and Raleigh couldn't do a damn thing about it except stand in the LOCCENT (because broken leg or not, fuck you guys, he's not weak, he's staying here to the end) and watch the signals blink out. Tendo looked at him, a silent question, knowing damn well that blank screen meant that Mako was gone, and that's two co-pilots and maybe he's fucking cursed or something but Raleigh pretended like he didn't see it and walked (hobbled) away.
If he was an insomniac before, he's a freak of nature now. Because Raleigh can't even remember the last time that he slept, knows that he has because he remembers waking up from nightmares and flashes of her smile and her fear in that alleyway in Tokyo and maybe it's stupid, he knew her for maybe two days at the most but that was two days with two Drifts and two kaiju kills and she was a part of him. As much as Yancy ever was, she was his co-pilot, the fresh breath of air that he's had in years and she's gone and with her, went Raleigh's will to keep going.
He's done. He's just done. There's nothing to keep fighting for, the war is over, the wall is abandoned and he's the lone face of the Jaeger program and he just wants to walk into the Pacific after her and be done with it.
His leg heals, just like his shoulder did. There's a row of scars from the pins holding his leg together to match the circuit burns on his shoulder and if you think about it, Raleigh's body is just a road map of a broken man who doesn't know which way to turn next.
He figures he must be dreaming now, or seriously losing it (and maybe that'd be okay too) because someone is curling up behind him on the bed, slinging an arm around his shoulder and pressing a small face to his shoulder but when he opens his eyes to look, he doesn't see anything. But it feels so real that he closes his eyes again and reaches out to where he feels her hand and fuck, he's totally lost it because he would swear he's squeezing her fingers tight.]
[ Dying is... dying is easy. It's quick, it's (relatively) painless, and Mako dimly remembers the anger, the fear -- and then it's finished and well, here she is, caught in between two worlds like a stranger looking in. She doesn't know what she came back, only that she's dead, and the knowledge of that breaks Raleigh into a thousand little pieces. There are no heroes in a world where people don't die, but that consolation rings hollow when she trails after Raleigh, inexplicably drawn to his heartache and his misery.
She tries to soothe him, she does, but he doesn't hear her, he doesn't see her, and she wants to say she's sorry that things turned out the way they did, but see, didn't it all work out in the end? The apocalypse is cancelled, and the world can rebuild itself again.
That should mean something, right?
Mako's still as much a part of him as she was when she'd been alive, and she wishes she could tell him that, too, no matter how small a comfort it is. Instead, she keeps watch over him, a silent witness to his pain.
Tonight, when he sleeps, she decides to make a move -- summoning all her willpower, she shifts to embrace him from behind, to offer him consolation, to let him know that she's still there. Her arms come around him tight, and her lips press against the crook of his neck.
She's sorry. She's very sorry she had to go where he can't follow, that he has to lose her, too.
And then he reaches to where her hand is, and even if she knows he doesn't see it, he's touching her, and that's all that matters. ]
Hey. [ She says quietly in his ear, hoping that this time he'd be able to hear her. ]
She tries to soothe him, she does, but he doesn't hear her, he doesn't see her, and she wants to say she's sorry that things turned out the way they did, but see, didn't it all work out in the end? The apocalypse is cancelled, and the world can rebuild itself again.
That should mean something, right?
Mako's still as much a part of him as she was when she'd been alive, and she wishes she could tell him that, too, no matter how small a comfort it is. Instead, she keeps watch over him, a silent witness to his pain.
Tonight, when he sleeps, she decides to make a move -- summoning all her willpower, she shifts to embrace him from behind, to offer him consolation, to let him know that she's still there. Her arms come around him tight, and her lips press against the crook of his neck.
She's sorry. She's very sorry she had to go where he can't follow, that he has to lose her, too.
And then he reaches to where her hand is, and even if she knows he doesn't see it, he's touching her, and that's all that matters. ]
Hey. [ She says quietly in his ear, hoping that this time he'd be able to hear her. ]
[Raleigh is getting old and he's forced to face the truth of that, when after their baby is born, he finds himself unable to read things that are close to his face. Like it's just blurry and he thought maybe he was having some allergies but it doesn't get better and he does this dance of moving papers closer and further from his face depending on how big the font is or the lighting or just the fact that he honestly can't focus on the letters.
He needs reading glasses. His dad did, so it shouldn't be a shock but he feels old anyway because you know who needs readers? Old people. He's not that old, sure he's on the other side of thirty and Mako still isn't but come on. He doesn't feel old and that might be because of his hot younger wife and two young children but still.
Readers.
And they do help, that's the best/worst part because he needs to be able to read stuff, he just doesn't like the weight of them on his face or something. His ears hurt and he has red spots on his nose and it should come as no surprise to anyone that Raleigh wears them only when he has to and even though it's been like two weeks since he got them, he still hasn't worn them in front of Mako. Sophia got treated to them when he made dinner last night, and she kept stealing them to put on her face and yeah, alright that was pretty cute.
Still doesn't mean that he plans on showing them to Mako. Even if it means sitting in bed with her and looking at the pictures in his textbook and not the actual words.]
He needs reading glasses. His dad did, so it shouldn't be a shock but he feels old anyway because you know who needs readers? Old people. He's not that old, sure he's on the other side of thirty and Mako still isn't but come on. He doesn't feel old and that might be because of his hot younger wife and two young children but still.
Readers.
And they do help, that's the best/worst part because he needs to be able to read stuff, he just doesn't like the weight of them on his face or something. His ears hurt and he has red spots on his nose and it should come as no surprise to anyone that Raleigh wears them only when he has to and even though it's been like two weeks since he got them, he still hasn't worn them in front of Mako. Sophia got treated to them when he made dinner last night, and she kept stealing them to put on her face and yeah, alright that was pretty cute.
Still doesn't mean that he plans on showing them to Mako. Even if it means sitting in bed with her and looking at the pictures in his textbook and not the actual words.]
[ Sophia snitches on him. She tells Mako that Daddy has four eyes, and giggles, pretending that her fingers are glasses when she makes circles with them and holds them before her face, and Mako suddenly understands why Raleigh sports two odd little red marks on the bridge of his nose.
Hey, he's not that old, thirty-plus is still an age where men are virile and strong, and she's still going to love him when he reaches forty, fifty, sixty, you know.
So when Raleigh sits by her tonight, stubbornly refusing to put on the glasses she knows he has, she breaks the silence. ] Why don't you put on your readers?
Hey, he's not that old, thirty-plus is still an age where men are virile and strong, and she's still going to love him when he reaches forty, fifty, sixty, you know.
So when Raleigh sits by her tonight, stubbornly refusing to put on the glasses she knows he has, she breaks the silence. ] Why don't you put on your readers?
[They've been lovers for years, long before he ever married someone else, and that was really nothing but a small bump in the road because it's just a marriage in name and both he and his new queen know it. Raleigh's done the bare minimum there he had to, consummated it, showed proof for everyone to see and went right back to his mistress.
Except Mako's more than a mistress. She's his bodyguard, his adviser, his closest friend, the woman he loves. The only reason he married his queen at all was because his country needed the alliance and that was her father's terms. Marry her, make her a queen and they would stop fighting, would work together as a united front against the kaiju and that was desperately needed.
It's not really uncommon for kings to have mistresses, maybe it's a little odd to be so devoted to the same one, to not be interested in anyone else, even his wife. Raleigh hasn't spared much thought or time for heir making and can you blame him, really, why would anyone want to leave a bed with Mako in it. He's made her as comfortable as he can though, set his new queen up in another set of rooms across the castle, lets her decorate it with whatever she wants, gives her free reign of what servants and ladies she wants attending her, doesn't control her movements through the castle. She can live her life and he will continue with his, the way it was before.
He doesn't think anything of it when Mako smirks suddenly and loops her arms around his neck tighter, urging him on, faster, harder because that's Mako, she knows what she wants and how to get it and he will gladly give it to her. At least not until they're done and she doesn't relinquish her hold on him, kisses him like she wants to go again already and she's still smirking.]
What's gotten into you?
[ A part of Mako wants to say that he's gotten into her, all impressive inches of him -- and the words are on her tongue, but she doesn't say it, she doesn't need to, when she makes it obvious anyway. But see, the thing is that Mako has never been a selflessly giving person; no, she could never stand to watch the man she loves go to another woman.
She's fierce, she's unforgiving, she's possessive and territorial and she would give her life for Raleigh in a heartbeat if it means that he lives. He's the light of her life, the reason she's here; and if the courtiers are resenting that she's captured the King's attentions for years, managing to hold it the way no other woman can, then they can go ahead to stew in their own jealousy.
It's an open secret, the fact that the two of them are longtime lovers -- his cadre of advisors and officials knew when Raleigh took her virginity in his bed; there was blood on the sheets and a rosy radiance on the King's cheeks that had charmed more than its fair share of fair maidens at the court, but perhaps Raleigh's wit and beauty is also his greatest cruelty: his heart belongs only to Mako.
His Queen, Naomi, has her own chambers at the other end of the castle -- and it was clear that beyond the cursory consummation that was required of every king and their wives, he had no interest in her.
But then when Mako pulls Raleigh into her arms as they tumble into bed and he moves inside her, she catches sight of the pale face behind him, the way the colour bleeds from his queen's face and for a moment, her guilt blossoms; but then she remembers Naomi's manipulations, the demon that lay beneath that seemingly angelic visage; she remembers her callousness and her intent to monopolise Raleigh, and she smiles over his shoulder.
Raleigh isn't any the wiser, but Mako feels a burst of possessiveness, of fierce pleasure when she could finally show the queen how it's Mako that inspires his wildest passions, that it's her that he makes love to in his bed, night after night; that she might be his queen in name but Mako is the one true queen of his heart.
She arches in pleasure when Naomi turns to leave, the sounds of their pleasure ringing in her ears, carnal but heartfelt, and a part of Mako knows that reprisal would be swift in coming. Still, the fact that Raleigh gives her exactly what she wants is a heady intoxication, and when it's over, she's rolling him over on his side, tangling her limbs with his before she kisses him, bright-eyed and mischievous.
Mako might be a knight, but her years with him have taught her how to be a temptress, too, and she murmurs. ] You're mine, aren't you, my Lord?
She's fierce, she's unforgiving, she's possessive and territorial and she would give her life for Raleigh in a heartbeat if it means that he lives. He's the light of her life, the reason she's here; and if the courtiers are resenting that she's captured the King's attentions for years, managing to hold it the way no other woman can, then they can go ahead to stew in their own jealousy.
It's an open secret, the fact that the two of them are longtime lovers -- his cadre of advisors and officials knew when Raleigh took her virginity in his bed; there was blood on the sheets and a rosy radiance on the King's cheeks that had charmed more than its fair share of fair maidens at the court, but perhaps Raleigh's wit and beauty is also his greatest cruelty: his heart belongs only to Mako.
His Queen, Naomi, has her own chambers at the other end of the castle -- and it was clear that beyond the cursory consummation that was required of every king and their wives, he had no interest in her.
But then when Mako pulls Raleigh into her arms as they tumble into bed and he moves inside her, she catches sight of the pale face behind him, the way the colour bleeds from his queen's face and for a moment, her guilt blossoms; but then she remembers Naomi's manipulations, the demon that lay beneath that seemingly angelic visage; she remembers her callousness and her intent to monopolise Raleigh, and she smiles over his shoulder.
Raleigh isn't any the wiser, but Mako feels a burst of possessiveness, of fierce pleasure when she could finally show the queen how it's Mako that inspires his wildest passions, that it's her that he makes love to in his bed, night after night; that she might be his queen in name but Mako is the one true queen of his heart.
She arches in pleasure when Naomi turns to leave, the sounds of their pleasure ringing in her ears, carnal but heartfelt, and a part of Mako knows that reprisal would be swift in coming. Still, the fact that Raleigh gives her exactly what she wants is a heady intoxication, and when it's over, she's rolling him over on his side, tangling her limbs with his before she kisses him, bright-eyed and mischievous.
Mako might be a knight, but her years with him have taught her how to be a temptress, too, and she murmurs. ] You're mine, aren't you, my Lord?
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