Smut, Gen, Angst, Fluff, Anything, Everything. PFL era, Post war, Pre Canon, AU, whichever Brackets or Prose whatever you're comfortable with Tag and go, baby!
"I'm not going to get drawn into another argument, Taylor, and so help me if you're hungover in the morning," he snaps crisply. This isn't...where he thought all this would be going, but then again, he has no idea where it's supposed to go. "I am not your superior. Knock it off."
"You outrank me." Till he's back in the pilot rig, he doesn't really HAVE a rank. And he's been fine with that, fell back into the familiarity of it with a comforting ease and it shouldn't bother him. He has to roll over and feel around under the bed to find his next flask, shirt hiking up on his ribs from how he's hanging, the edges of his scars a sharp reminder of how this all goes so wrong so quick.
"Then what are you, Mal? An instructor? A friend? I know exactly dick about you other than you're good at your job, like fruity drinks, and are a pretty sorry dancer without coaching."
"You know that isn't the point." They both know it. But fine, if York wants him to sit so badly, he'll bloody well sit. There. Happy now?
"Aren't we just going to find out the answers to all of our questions once we get in the drift? Assuming we can get in the drift. We'll know everything about each other inside and out."
"Flying blind sucks, no matter what's happening. Sigurd and Maine didn't know jack shit about each other before they drifted and they both seized hardcore for the first drift. Carolina and I have known each other for years-" he catches the elusive flask and rolls back over, staring at the ceiling.
"...had. Had known each other for years. Didn't get so much as a migraine."
"So you want this to be a bonding moment. Evening. A bonding evening. Put in a few years of getting to know each other in a few hours? Because if so, you'd better be sharing that flask."
"It's not my call to make. That's between you and the doctor." He unscrews the flask and takes a swig from it, coughing briefly. Definitely the strong stuff. "Did you put bloody petrol in this thing?"
"What, you've never had jeager blood before?" He swings his legs over and props his elbows on his knees, brows lifted. "Last flask from Lockdown, right there."
"Then I'm extra glad I'm sharing this, because another one of these would knock you flat on your arse." He supposes there's no one else to share it with. Obviously. "There's plenty to Ranger culture I've only ever heard about."
Might as well indulge. He gets chattier and friendlier if he gets drunk, this much he knows. "Oh, am I to ask questions?" He wasn't the one bothered by how much or how little is known. "How does one even prepare to drift and literally give themselves over to someone?" There, that's an appropriate question.
"About Ranger Culture, but sure that's legit." SOmewhere to start- that's his problem most of the time. Talking about anything of real consequence needs him to have a springing off point but this'll work. "Well. Most people that aren't related have sex the day before. Make it literal. Some swap stories and just spill their guts to each other so there aren't any surprises. Carolina and I? We went dancing. Like- in ten different clubs. We danced till we were exhausted then drag ourselves to the next one, do a few shots, wait for a song we liked to come on, and dance all over again."
"I suppose not..." It's not something he's ever considered before. He shakes his head. "I don't know where to start asking with anything about the culture. I live around Rangers, after all."
"ANything you've seen them do or hear them talk about that's particularly baffling?" He knows there's plenty, really, that he didn't get till he'd actually done a few drops.
"You learn to read postures. After you've been in someone's head a look is just about the same as saying something. The twins would have whole conversations with their eyebrows."
"Unique to each Jaeger. Mechanics know about it but keep quiet since it's kind of a tradition now. There's a bit of piping that's just there as insulation between the fuel lines and the coolant system and the neural gel. You install a cache there and make a mash with- well whatever you and your partner like. You a bourbon man or a gin man? ANyway. You put that in the still and don't touch it till you've been through three drops. Take it out and sure a little of the coolant's probably gotten piped in and a little of the neural gel but it's good." He taps the empty flask already on the bed. "Kinda helps the ghost drifting along, probably. Some people even bleed into the canister before they install it."
"Yep!" And he is way, way too proud of that fact. "Lockdown's went through the coolant and neural gel piping systems so if you get a bit of a tingle- that's what it is. Also if you taste strawberries stop drinking for a bit."
"...This is going to kill somebody." He holds the flask away from him, as if it's going to jump out and kill him right now. "I'm certain people have died because you're drinking coolant and gel with a little alcohol mixed in."
"Nope! The coolant acts as a sweetener and it's only like, .05% in there anyway, and the Gel is nontoxic. We ran the numbers. Carolina was very competitive, had to have the best blood in the Dome." God the tests they did just to be sure.
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"Then what are you, Mal? An instructor? A friend? I know exactly dick about you other than you're good at your job, like fruity drinks, and are a pretty sorry dancer without coaching."
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"Aren't we just going to find out the answers to all of our questions once we get in the drift? Assuming we can get in the drift. We'll know everything about each other inside and out."
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"...had. Had known each other for years. Didn't get so much as a migraine."
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