Work Text:
Fandom: Pacific Rim
Prompt: “Move, my arm is falling asleep.”
Mako is prone to sleeping in strange places.
Curled up on top of her desk, underneath her bed, even—and Raleigh’s not really sure how this happened—on top of the wardrobe they wedge into the corner of the pilot’s cabins. He doesn’t ask her about it because that’s rude, and it’s not like it’s affecting her performance or anything, but he’d be lying if he said id didn’t worry him just the slightest bit. After all, he knows better than anyone that sleep during the war was not easy to come by and the last thing you need is to be startled awake by the Kaiju alarm and fall from your precarious sleeping place. Yancy had more than a few bruises because of that. So for the most part, Raleigh just shrugged and started carrying around a spare blanket or two, just so that when he found Mako he could drape one over her. God knows she doesn’t get enough sleep as it is.
Of course, as co-pilots, Raleigh and Mako kind of accept a lot about the other. Listen, you spend enough time in someone else’s head, and it just kind of happens. They don’t have to talk, they don’t have to ask, they just…adapt. Unfortunately, the rest of the Shatterdome doesn’t necessarily have the same benefits.
“Marshall Pentecost!”
Raleigh turns around from his meeting with Stacker to see Newt barreling into his office, his hair sticking up in strange ways and his glasses askew.
“You must have a very good reason for this, Dr. Geiszler,” Pentecost says, not moving from the spot in his office.
“It’s Mako.”
Yep, Raleigh thinks as they immediately snap to attention and follow Newt out of the lab, that’ll do it.
Newt leads them to his lab, where they meet a very concerned Hermann at the door.
“Ah, yes, good,” he mutters, glancing at them before returning his gaze to something above their heads, “I didn’t think this was…exceptionally concerning but I thought it…merited your attention.”
Raleigh glances at Pentecost who marches right up to Hermann and looks up. His concern turns to exasperation and his shoulders slump. Raleigh joins them and—
Mako is asleep balanced on top of one of Hermann’s blackboards.
“Is this normal,” Hermann mutters to Pentecost, “or should I be concerned?”
“No, Dr. Gottlieb,” Pentecost sighs, “you do not need to be concerned. Though I thank you and Dr. Geiszler for your efforts.”
“Wait, so she’s still doing this?”
Raleigh glances at Newt. “Guess so. She been doing this long?”
Newt shrugs. “Never saw her sleeping in her quarters. Chalked that up to me and her never having overlapping sleep hours.”
“You rarely get sleep as it is,” comes Hermann’s snide reply.
“Pot, meet kettle.”
“Gentlemen.”
“Sorry.”
“My apologies.”
Pentecost sighs, turning to leave. “Mr. Beckett, if you have any further concerns, you know where to reach me.”
Raleigh nods distractedly, still watching Mako sleep perfectly balanced atop the blackboard.
“Um,” Newt says, shuffling back and forth, “should we wake her up?”
“I do have to use this blackboard.”
“We can try.”
“Not it.”
“Not it.”
Raleigh sighs. “Thanks, guys.”
He steps forward, carefully positioning himself at the end of the blackboard so that no matter which way Mako falls, if she falls, he can catch her.
“Mako?”
Nothing.
“Mako, wake up.”
He feels her in the Ghost Drift before she actually starts to move.
Raleigh?
Yeah, Mako. Don’t move too much right now.
Is something wrong?
Well, you’re currently balanced rather…uh, precariously on top of a blackboard. How’d you even get to sleep up there?
Oh. I had forgotten. Do they need the blackboard?
Yeah, that’d be nice.
One moment, please.
And all three of their jaws drop when Mako stretches lazily, then flips into a handstand and pushes herself off the blackboard. Raleigh recovers first, nodding at her and gesturing to where she’s got chalk dust on her.
“Sorry for the inconvenience,” Mako says, calmly brushing herself down, “I will leave you to your work.”
“Ranger Mori, it was no big inconvenience,” Hermann stutters, “but…I do have to ask about your safety.”
“The board was secured,” Mako replies, “I checked. You do not need to be concerned.”
“Give it up, dude,” Newt says, pushing Hermann away, “you’re not gonna get any more out of it than we did. Believe me, I’ve tried.”
Raliegh chuckles and follows Mako out, bumping their shoulders together. She smiles and they get back to work. He does ask Pentecost about it, though, his curiosity piqued again that day.
Pentecost sighs. “In my attempts to ensure that she was…prepared for the nature of life during these conditions, I seemed to have unintentionally inspired a tendency to not sleep in traditional accommodations.”
“So she’s a cat.”
They exchange a look. “Precisely.”
Raleigh shrugs. That’s fine with him, as long as she doesn’t get hurt. And she’s Mako, she knows how to make good decisions. Does mean they’ve sometimes gotta do ‘search for sleeping Mako’ rounds but that’s okay.
He finds her on the floor underneath their Jaeger once.
His first thought is that she’s fallen, and he rushes over, heart hammering in his chest, only to feel her blink awake fuzzily in the Ghost Drift.
Her face is frighteningly blank, eyes closed, hair sprawled out behind her head. He frantically crouches down beside her, starting slightly when she opens her eyes to gaze up at him.
“Hey there, Mako,” he says, “you okay down there?”
She nods.
“Tired?”
Another nod.
“Attack?”
Nod.
“Can I touch you?”
Nod.
He places a hand over hers and gives it a squeeze. After a moment she squeezes back. The corners of her mouth crinkle up into a tiny smile. He grins back.
“Can you speak?”
The smile fades, but she nods.
“Would you rather use the Drift?”
Her brow crinkles. He raises the hand holding hers to his head - it’s not strictly necessary for the link to work, but they could both use the reassurance - and waits. She holds his gaze for a few more seconds. It’s the one that makes him feel like she can see inside his brain. Then she sighs.
I did not mean to frighten you.
That’s okay, I’m okay. You’re okay too, right? I thought you fell.
I would not try to sleep up there.
No, I know. I just…panicked.
You are very sweet.
Raleigh feels his face flush despite himself, Mako’s amusement drifting in slowly. He glances around. It’s still the twilight shift, so the floor isn’t very busy. No one’s right around the Jaeger anyway. It’s quiet. Suddenly lying on the floor and not doing anything for a while sounds pretty damn good.
Can I join you?
She nods.
He stretches out next to her, still wary of how much physical contact she’s alright with right now, only to have her entire weight sprawled across him a second later.
“Oof.”
Sorry.
Nah, you’re good. Just wasn’t expecting it. You okay?
Yes. You are comfy.
High praise.
It really is, though. And there is absolutely something comforting about having someone else’s entire weight pressing down on you as you lie together on the floor. The warmth, the pressure, the way you can feel them breathing. If he focuses, he can feel Mako’s heartbeat against his own. It’s a great way to lose track of time, mainly because he only becomes aware of it when he feels his left arm start to tingle.
Move, my arm is falling asleep.
…
Mako?
Ah. Well. He knows the rule.
No moving if a cat falls asleep on you.