[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.]
[ 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?
[It doesn't even occur to Raleigh that Sophia is the one who snitched on him about the glasses. If anything, he puts it down to the freaky mental connection, as some people put it, that he has with Mako where they don't always need words, they just know things about each other and looks often say more than any words would anyway.
He stares at his book for a moment longer before he turns to look at her.]
What readers?
[Doesn't mean that he won't act stupid for a moment anyway.]
Are you going to tell me that you don't have glasses stashed away somewhere?
[ Mako asks evenly, because she sees right through you, baby. It's that freaky mental connection again when she knows he's hiding something from her, however tiny it is.
[He-- was planning on dong that before she just comes out and says it and oh. Yeah, it does make sense that Sophia would say something and he should know better than to trust a preschooler with secrets.]
[ He should know better than to trust a preschooler with anything. They fold like ridiculously cheap suits when jello cups are mentioned. Mako makes a soft noise, before setting her own book aside to look at him. ]
[Raleigh hesitates because she's wrong, they do look really stupid and even years of marriage later, he doesn't really want to look stupid in front of her.]
It's fine, I don't feel like studying any more tonight anyway.
[ Mako's not wrong, and she's going to prove it to him -- there's absolutely nothing that Raleigh can do that would make her love him any less; it's just impossible.
So she gives him the patented Kitten Eyes of Pleadingness, rarely used and usually super-effective. ]
Raleigh gives her a look, like he knows he's going to lose and he's not happy with it and he just has to pout to make himself feel better. And then he rolls over to get his glasses out of the drawer in the bedside table and no, he will not look directly at her after they're on his face.]
Mako pauses for a long, long moment, because he's adorable and it's adorable and why doesn't wear it everywhere? (He shouldn't wear it everywhere because this view is all for her), and she's just -- reaching to gently tip his head up to look at her. ]
You don't have to be shy about it. I think you are very handsome.
[He won't admit to it, but his cheeks turn a little red and he is ducking his head, looking away from her out of habit. He's come a long way, really, he has, it's just sometimes she'll say something and Raleigh has this knee jerk reaction to turn it back on her. He's just lucky to have her, you know, lucky that she loves him too, that's all he really wants.]
[ He's adorable when he's shy, and Mako's pleased that he doesn't turn it back on her this time. They've been working hard on it, you see -- so that Raleigh accepts praise without deflecting it, and she's kissing his cheek. ]
[He's more red now, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye for a moment before he sighs and turns back to her, like a sunflower to the sun. Raleigh can't hide from her for very long, no matter what.]
[ Mako cups his face, she loves how he turns to her, his cheeks flushed pink with an inexplicable shyness that's become second nature. She senses the things he doesn't say, the worries he carries, and she kisses his mouth once, and again. ]
You're only thirty-two, Raleigh. That's not old. [ She kisses his chin, then. ] Even when you're old and greying, I would still think that you're the handsomest man in the world.
[When Raleigh leans into her, his glasses bump into her face and push the little metal piece into nose and that is seven kinds of uncomfortable and another reason why glasses are the worst. But this is Raleigh moving in to kiss her again anyway.]
So when you freak out about turning thirty, can I say I told you so?
[ Mako laughs quietly, her thumb smoothing over his lower lip with infinite tenderness. They can both be lovesick together, because it astounds her to know that even after so long, she could still be so hopelessly in love with him. ]
I love you, Raleigh. [ then, in Japanese - ] Very, very much.
[Raleigh's not so surprised by it, since he considers himself lucky daily to have found her. Because she was the one who gave him hope to think about what life could be like actually living instead of just waiting for the final nail to drop.]
I love you too. But I'm still going to say I told you so.
[ It's not a real life if he's constantly worried about waiting for the other nail to drop, right? This is their life now -- this is what they're going to build together, what they fought for, all those years ago. Mako will remind him of that, again and again.
Nudging her nose against him, she takes his glasses and sets it on the bridge of her nose. Okay, it makes her a little dizzy, but still. ]
Raleigh can honestly say that he hasn't thought about Mako wearing glasses at all, but now that he has the imagine right in front of him, it's like a hot librarian fantasy come to life and oh.
Is he staring at her? He's pretty sure that he is. But Mako is hot wearing his glasses.]
[ No, not really -- it's foggy and out of focus, but she knows Raleigh's looking right at her for some reason, and she refuses to be self-conscious about it, entertaining the same thought (unknowingly) about hot librarians, only Raleigh's the one and she's removing the glasses and handing it back to him. ]
[He's nowhere near smart or bookish enough to be a hot librarian. He could be a hot teacher maybe, like social studies or something that cool but Mako looks studious and sexy and like she could smack him with a ruler and he'd really like it.
Raleigh takes his glasses back from her, but doesn't put them on right away, just kind of holds them off to the side.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no pics because thats some hard shit to do on ipad
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.]
no subject
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?
no subject
He stares at his book for a moment longer before he turns to look at her.]
What readers?
[Doesn't mean that he won't act stupid for a moment anyway.]
no subject
[ Mako asks evenly, because she sees right through you, baby. It's that freaky mental connection again when she knows he's hiding something from her, however tiny it is.
She turns to him, amused. ] Sophia told me.
no subject
I hate wearing them. They look stupid.
no subject
I doubt that they look stupid. Show me?
no subject
It's fine, I don't feel like studying any more tonight anyway.
no subject
So she gives him the patented Kitten Eyes of Pleadingness, rarely used and usually super-effective. ]
Please?
no subject
Raleigh gives her a look, like he knows he's going to lose and he's not happy with it and he just has to pout to make himself feel better. And then he rolls over to get his glasses out of the drawer in the bedside table and no, he will not look directly at her after they're on his face.]
no subject
Mako pauses for a long, long moment, because he's adorable and it's adorable and why doesn't wear it everywhere? (He shouldn't wear it everywhere because this view is all for her), and she's just -- reaching to gently tip his head up to look at her. ]
You don't have to be shy about it. I think you are very handsome.
no subject
You have to say that, you're my wife.
no subject
Maybe the reason why I became your wife was because you're gorgeous.
no subject
I didn't have the glasses back then.
no subject
I'm serious. You look good.
no subject
I'm getting old, Mako.
no subject
You're only thirty-two, Raleigh. That's not old. [ She kisses his chin, then. ] Even when you're old and greying, I would still think that you're the handsomest man in the world.
no subject
So when you freak out about turning thirty, can I say I told you so?
no subject
[ Mako gently adjusts his glasses, looking back at him with unmistakable affection, with a sweet, abiding love that she could never grow out of. ]
You're supposed to tell me that I'm the most beautiful woman you've ever met.
no subject
[He smiles back at her, like a lovesick puppy or a teenager with his first crush.]
That's why I married you obviously.
no subject
I love you, Raleigh. [ then, in Japanese - ] Very, very much.
no subject
I love you too. But I'm still going to say I told you so.
no subject
Nudging her nose against him, she takes his glasses and sets it on the bridge of her nose. Okay, it makes her a little dizzy, but still. ]
No, you're banned from saying that.
no subject
Raleigh can honestly say that he hasn't thought about Mako wearing glasses at all, but now that he has the imagine right in front of him, it's like a hot librarian fantasy come to life and oh.
Is he staring at her? He's pretty sure that he is. But Mako is hot wearing his glasses.]
Can you even see with those on?
no subject
Can I ask you to do something for me?
no subject
Raleigh takes his glasses back from her, but doesn't put them on right away, just kind of holds them off to the side.]
Yeah, always.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)