thelastbecket | Drunk Raleigh. While I am drunk.

Raleigh might have had a little too much of the vodka the Russian techs had been brewing when he stumbles through the Shatterdome towards the medical bay. It's been a while since he's been drunk,and it seem unfair to him that even though his arm and leg nerves are kind of shot again from Gipsy's damage, that Chuck of all people is the one stuck in medical when he was the one most willing to sacrifice himself for the Pitfall mission besides Striker.

He grinned and charmed his way past the nurse on guard until he was stick his head through Chuck's curtains, grinning like a loon. It was a surprised to see Chuck decked out in a hospital gown, sea foam green instead of his usual military prescribed garb. It didn't suit him, but Raleigh didn't think tell Chuck he looked bad in medical was going to win him any favors.

"Chuck Hansen." He grinned and walked into the little sectioned off corner, dropping himself into the visitor's chair next to Chuck's bed. "You're missed at the party."

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From:

suicidemission

Chuck's flipping through a book.

It's a big, thick book, something most people wouldn't think Chuck Hansen would like, but everyone else can fuck off because Chuck's read Machiavelli like, ten times and everyone else can shut up about it.

He's obviously not expecting any visitors and he's asked to not have any except Herc and Max but somehow Raleigh's smirked and flirted his way in and Chuck's snapping the book shut and shoving it under his sheet.

...His sheet which he promptly pulls up to his neck.

"The fuck are you doing here. Go away."

From:

thelastbecket

Raleigh doesn't comment on the book, if he was sober, he would have asked about it and tried to hold a coherent conversation event though he didn't think he'd read anything that thick in his life He doesn't get why Chuck's hiding the book under his sheet, but he doesn't ask about that either. He just smiles and leans towards Chuck in his bed even though he's got the covers pulled up.

"I'm sorry you're missing the first party. I would have brought you something, but the nurses wouldn't have let me by with it, and Mako said it was a bad idea."

From:

suicidemission

Chuck tugs the sheet up higher. He's got nothing on underneath it and Raleigh keeps leaning closer and closer.

"Whatever. Doesn't matter."

He doesn't need anything. Just -- silence. A quiet place to reflect and sulk.

Admittedly, he's not really sure why Raleigh's even here. Chuck's not the nicest person in the world to chat with. He must be drunk.

. . .

"You're bloody pissed, aren't you?" Because that would explain so much.

From:

thelastbecket

"I not angry. I'm doing pretty good."

Raleigh smiled at Chuck, even as he pulled the sheet up to his chin and hid beneath it.

"Might be kind of tipsy though. Who knows how long the Russians were brewing that shit in their bunks. Strong stuff. They promised they'd save you a bottle of it, though. A hero deserves party even if it has to be a bit late."

From:

suicidemission

"...Not angry, Raleigh. Drunk. You're fucking drunk."

And he's right and Chuck twists a face, Jesus Christ, if he drank that shit the Russians had been brewing...

No wonder Raleigh's in here and giving him doe-eyed looks and leaning towards him and calling him a hero.

Except--

"I'm not a hero," he says shortly, "just did my duty. That's it."

From:

thelastbecket

Raleigh shook his head and then abruptly stopped because that made it spin a little.

"Yes, drunk. Right, that's Australian slang, pissed."

He looks earnestly at Chuck.

"You are a hero, though. You worked so hard, and you were going to--" He stops almost shaking his head, but stopping himself in time. "That's heroism. Heroics. Whatever, but we can call it duty if you want."

From:

suicidemission

"I did what I needed to do. I had a shot, I took it. I shouldn't even be fucking sitting here right now."

But he is and he's torn between being grateful and angry about it.

"What do you really want, Raleigh? What're you doing here?"

From:

thelastbecket

Raleigh nods at Chuck's words, because he gets that, he does. He went into the breach after all, through to the other side and only just made it back out. He's not sure he doesn't deserve to be in a morgue or hospital bed too and that's a thought his sloshed brain doesn't need to focus on.

"I wanted to see you. It seemed...bad that everyone's celebrating and you're in medical." And he wanted to check on Chuck a little, but he's not quite drunk enough to admit that one out loud.

From:

suicidemission

"You wanted to see me," he repeats, disbelief obvious. Raleigh doesn't have to say anything about checking up on him, Chuck can already tell -- just from that sentence.

"Bloody hell, Becket." Chuck scrubs a hand through his hair and smirks, unable to keep the grin off his face.

"You do this shit on purpose? Come in here pissed out of your mind 'n acting fuckin-- adorable?"

That's just not fair.

From:

thelastbecket

Raleigh turns red at Chuck's words. He's not sure how to take them. Chuck's not calling him a has-been which is kind of true, or anything else which may or may not be true. He's likening him to a stuffed animal or something.

"You're smiling at me." Is the unfortunate thing that actually comes out of his mouth as Chuck grins. "It's a nice smile. And I'm not adorable. Just, a bit drunk. It's been a while. Didn't use any rations for alcohol. Would be a waste for shit stuff."

From:

suicidemission

"Don't tell anyone," he advises, trying to cover up the grin with a scowl. "You'll ruin my reputation with shit like that."

But he's sort of pushing himself up and staring at Raleigh, like he's seeing him as a whole new person in stead of a wash-out, a has-been, someone who gave up and ran.

Instead, he's starting to see him as a man, a human who did the only thing he could do, but came back when he was needed most and was ready to fucking die along with the rest of them and that's--

that's pretty fucking admirable.

Chuck reaches out, touches the top of Raleigh's head.

"Made up for it tonight, yeah?"

From:

thelastbecket

"It can be our secret. Not even Mako unless we ever drift again." Which wasn't likely.

He ducks his head, pressing it into Chuck's hand.

"Guess I did, even if I didn't mean to. Haven't been this drunk in ages. Since the academy or earlier maybe....I don't remember."

He's still smiling and pulling the chair closer to Chuck's bed.

From:

suicidemission

He gently cards his fingers through Raleigh's hair, noting how soft it feels, how much he really is enjoying Raleigh's company, all things considered.

"If you were drinking the Russian's stash, I'm surprised you're even fuckin' standing." He hesitates, traces his finger over Raleigh's ear. "Once, before I was a Ranger, I wanted to be big 'n bad, like them. Saw Sasha 'n Leksis drinkin' one day and figured why the fuck not, I was gonna be a Ranger too, so I demanded a shot."

Chuck grimaces.

"Took it. Threw it right back up all over Sasha's shoes. I smelled like fuckin' shoe polish for weeks."

From:

thelastbecket

Raleigh leans over, propping his arm on Chuck's bed to keep his head pressed into the strokes through his hair and the gentle touches to his ear.

"They're legends." He murmurs. "Six fucking years of guard and patrol up there..." He laughs just a bit at Chuck's story, but doesn't move his head anywhere else.

"Vodka sucks. Unless you're really looking for it to burn and get sloshed. Yancy and I did a lot of vodka and orange juice...we didn't know any better. Luckily, we made it to the toilets."

From:

suicidemission

"Yeah." He murmurs, lips quirking a little bit while his fingers keep moving. Raleigh's rambling, just a little, and it's goddamn adorable.

"Gonna fall outta that chair, mate," he drawls, scooting a little and patting the thin mattress. "C'mere. Before you crack that pretty face open."

From:

thelastbecket

Raleigh blinks at the empty space Chuck's offering him on the medical bed and his good sense is saying he doesn't belong there, that he needed to stumble back to his own room and handle himself there, but his drunk sense is saying: Chuck Hansen wants you in his bed. It's no competition in Raleigh's mind, really. He's careful getting out of the chair, and crawling onto the bed to stretch out next to Chuck with a smile.

"That would be bad. My looks are a good selling point." He pressed close to Chuck. "Don't let me hurt you. Or get you in trouble." Having a drunk pilot in Chuck's bed probably wasn't the bed idea he'd ever followed though.

From:

suicidemission

He lifts IV tubes and other various medical paraphernalia out of the way and lets Raleigh crawl in that hospital bed with him.

"I'm hard to break, Rahleigh," he drawls, draping an arm around his shoulder and letting Raleigh press in against his side. He keeps the sheet up and over his chest, the book hard against his leg on the other side.

"It'll be fine."

From:

thelastbecket

"Yeah, you're tough shit, Chuck Hansen. In a good way though." He mumbles settling in as gentle as he can. His eyes are getting heavy as the fact that alcohol is in fact a depressant and he's running on four hours of sleep a night for five years catch up with him.

"If I get discharged again it's your fault." He yawns and presses his face into Chuck's arm.

From:

suicidemission

"You won't," he says, though a lot of the acid has left his tone and he's curling that arm around Raleigh, letting his cheek rest against his blond hair.

"Safe with me, Becket."

From:

thelastbecket

"Yeah." Raleigh agrees with him and squishes even closer until he can gingerly lay his head on Chuck's shoulder and his hand on his chest. He can feel the hair there through the thin fabric and he wishes idly that Chuck was actually shirtless. "Safe and warm. My favorite things." At the moment, it doesn't occur to him that Chuck's being awfully nice for someone who wanted to beat his face in less than forty eight hours ago.

He hasn't done a very good job of bringing the party to Chuck, he knows, but he's getting tired now. Everything from the past week catching up and crashing down on him. He can feel Mako still going somewhere in the dome from the drift hangover. When he left she was doing a specially crafted jaeger shot every time someone toasted the Marshall. He figured she'd need him in the morning. Or maybe she wouldn't she seemed like someone who would be terrifyingly competent at hiding a hangover.

"I didn't do a good job of bringing you a party, but that's alright. Tendo's writing up some kind of drinking game on a computer for the party when you get out of here."

It would probably still be brilliant despite the way Tendo couldn't walk in a straight line.

From:

suicidemission

Nearly dying and almost losing everything can make a person nice. Chuck's -- still prickly, still a little (a lot) weirded out by Raleigh being here but he's drunk and because he's like this Chuck doesn't feel like he has to hold himself upright. He can just...relax.

Raleigh's head is warm against his shoulder and Chuck's fingers slide soothingly through his hair.

"Nah, mate. The party'll be over before I'm outta here. Got more testing, diagnostics and shit. 'M a bit beat up, yeah?"

Not badly. He can walk, he can talk, he has his motor functions. But they're worried about his exposure to radiation and there's gonne be some pretty bad scarring all down his left side.

From:

thelastbecket

Raleigh closes his eyes and hums, enjoying the feel of being touched so gently and affectionately. It's been a long time since he's done anything but fight on the Wall. A long time since someone was this close and this nice to his body.

"This party, yeah, but they're all planning your party. You get one, too. When you get out. One of Gipsy's techs is gonna paint a picture of Slattern to burn...or something. I don't remember all of the ideas. This is just...relief and getting sloshed. The real party'll be when you're out. We can wait for you. You're important. Best Ranger left, well...maybe tied with your dad, but he's Marshall now, not Ranger, and only 'cuz he's been doing it longer. Which isn't something you had control over."

He's rambling and telling Chuck things he probably shouldn't, but he warm and safe, and never going to be woken up in the middle of the night by an alarm ever again. At least, not a real one.

From:

suicidemission

Raleigh is definitely rambling, and Chuck just listens, smirking a little to himself as he continues to pet the older Ranger that's all cuddled up next to him.

"Chatty, aren't ya?"

That's alright, though. His voice is nice to listen to, and his body is warm and solid. It's good and what's better is that Raleigh thinks Chuck's important. That he really does consider Chuck the best Ranger left, even over himself.

"Why're you here, Raleigh? Y'don't like me, we don't get along unlessyou're pissed and I'm incapable of running. What gives?"

From:

thelastbecket

"I'm pissed as you said. Loosens up my tongue some I guess."

He huffs a little and cracks his eyes back open to look at Chuck's face.

"I do like you. You're the one that doesn't like me. I didn't really intend to break your face until you called Mako a bitch. That's not polite. You're a shit, but you're a good guy too. Makes life interesting."