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Australian summers are killers, but Chuck's an Aussie through and through. Not even the weeks he spent deployed, and then healing, in cold and wet Hong Kong managed to change that. And even though his skin feels like on fire as he sits on the edge of the beach, toes in the water, he knows it doesn't get better than this. Doesn't feel more home anywhere else.
"C'mon, Max," he yells over the waves, their never-ending hum, when his lump of a dog ventures too far for his liking. "Get back here!"
Max, the good boy that he is, turns back the second he says this, and Chuck smiles lopsidedly at him. The bulldog plops down on the wet sand beside him, leaning heavily over his hip and using his shadow as his personal coolant.
"Good dog," Chuck mutters as he reaches out and scratches him behind the ear, just as he likes. It earns him a few wags of Max's tail.
Just as he means to turn back to the ocean, he feels vibrations reverberating through his backpack. Reluctantly, he fishes out his battered, beloved phone with a purple spot in the corner of its screen.
1 unread message
[Unknown Number] got any new years eve plans yet? asking for a friend
He frowns until it almost hurts. Max continues to pant against him, a comforting rhythm.
Who is this?
[Unknown Number] an old friend, you may say
It turns Chuck's frown into an even deeper one.
Meaning?
He waits and waits and waits, eyes on the screen, before his phone vibrates once again and a new message appears.
[Unknown Number] becket. the more annoying one. the one with the sweaters?
He presses on the power button and waits until his phone powers down.
"Bloody hell, Max," he whispers under his breath.
Max looks at him, tongue out. There's nothing wrong in his world right now. He's happy.
Chuck wishes he was Max.
He drives to the grocery store, and then to the pharmacy, and then to the pet shop. There's more than enough of Max's food stacked at home, but it feels weird not having any snacks on hand. He buys a packet of jerky and a box of these colourful dry bites with vegetables that he doesn't even know the name of - the pretty cashier smiles down at Max where he's nearly jumping in joy at the sight of Chuck's purchase.
"He's such a cute dog," she remarks, her tone light and maybe a little flirtatious. Chuck nods awkwardly.
"That he is," he agrees before gathering his things and fleeing as fast as possible.
He scratches Max's chin, face sour, when they get into his truck. "Don't embarrass me like that again."
Max only looks up at him with those dark, dark eyes that hold so much love and so little thought. He can't help but chuckle.
"Yeah, I know. You can't help it."
He doesn't think much when he reaches for his phone and waits until it turns on, still busy petting Max. He's startled when he puts in the PIN code.
5 unread messages
3 missed calls
He calms down somewhat when he sees that the calls are from his dad. A message follows them, all in a row.
[Dad] Could you pick up once in a fucking while? My phone camera doesn't work. I don't know how to fix it.
He smirks and chuckles under his breath. There's something so comforting about reading the text and hearing his dad's voice in his head automatically. He means to call back, his thumb hovering above the green icon, when another message gets through. He clicks on it.
[Unknown Number] i know you're back home, your dad told me
[Unknown Number] i've never been to australia, you know? i'd love to see the ocean, i heard it's beautiful
[Unknown Number] you still there?
[Unknown Number] i bought max's favourite snacks, come on
[Unknown Number] you DON'T have plans do you
Max's favourite snacks are dried carrots. Chuck never buys him dried carrots because only Raleigh ever gave him dried carrots and now the stupid dog associates them with him. Chuck hates the way Max ignores the dried carrots every time he tries to give them to him, and starts looking for Raleigh instead.
It does break his heart, if only a little.
And if I did then what.
[Unknown Number] would be a shame. i'd have to mail it and it'd get destroyed in delivery
[Unknown Number] an airport guard would eat it
Chuck surprises himself when he snorts. It's such a Raleigh thing to say.
Real shame. Even worse that I can buy it around here.
[Unknown Number] i bought it myself. spent my hard earned money. you can't do this to a guy like me.
Chuck barely supresses the urge to just power his phone down again and mutes it instead. Max stares at him expectantly, searching, like he suspects something. Chuck doesn't like that thought.
"Mind your own business," he tells him and starts the engine.
Yeah, he might've gone a little crazy from the loneliness, so what.
His dad starts yelling the second he picks up. Chuck almost hangs up on the spot.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to reach you, Mr. Important? What the hell are you so busy doing?!"
Chuck pinches the bridge of his nose when he puts the juice carton down on the counter.
"Jesus Christ, you fought what, twelve Kaiju and you can't fix your own phone camera?!"
"Fifteen and I know you know this damn well!"
Silence rings on the line for a moment. Chuck hears his dad take a breath, and he sighs himself.
"Sorry," his dad says gruffly.
"Yeah, 'm sorry, too," Chuck echoes. He leans against the kitchen counter. "You alright, old man?"
His dad sighs heavily. "Yeah, I'm- Not great, but I'm good. I'm good. My back keeps aching. I can barely bend down these days."
It makes Chuck chuckle softly. "They said it would. You're past your prime days, you dusty dinosaur. They don't make them like you anymore."
Instead of making his old man angry, it makes him laugh. Chuck grins at the sound, so rare even earlier this year.
"Must be some truth to it," he admits, his voice rough but warm, comforting. Familiar. "Are you okay, sprog?"
Chuck thinks about Max and the cashier, and he thinks about how calm the waters are. He thinks about the silence filling his house to the brim. He thinks about the text messages.
"I'm fine," he says, fighting with himself but knowing it's not worth it. He lets it go. "I miss Striker. And Mori."
His dad hums. "She still wants to talk to you, you know. She mentions it every time we speak."
He swallows past the bile climbing up his throat. "Maybe one day."
His dad doesn't push.
It's not that he's dumb or something. Well, maybe he is. No, he just is, that's right. But he doesn't accept the call because he's dumb. He accepts it because he's tired and groggy, and it's 1 a.m., and he's just managed to fall asleep.
"What?" he snarls somewhere around where he knows his phone microphone is. General somewhere.
"Aren't you a little ray of sunshine, honey."
The line carries a faint sound of laughter. Familiar. Comforting. Chuck furrows his brow, eyes still closed.
"It's past midnight. Well past midnight. No, I don't wanna get a subscription. Yes, I mind. Shut up."
He almost hangs up as he always does when people harass him on the phone, but then it resounds again. That same damn laugh. He feels like he's going crazy.
"Who is this?" he mumbles to the phone, not even sure if he's audible. Max snores somewhere next to him on the bed, just behind his back. He feels his lump blindly with his hand to get a general idea where he is.
"Raleigh," the voice says and Chuck's world stops. "It's good to hear you in high spirits. I didn't expect you to pick up, but it must be my lucky day."
Chuck's eyes fly open in panic. All the sleep has gone away in an instant, all because of a name. A name that used to bring warmth to his chest and make him dizzy - but that was a long time ago, wasn't it? A month, two? Half a year? More.
"I told dad not to give away my phone number."
"Good thing your dad cares more about your happiness than your ass opinion."
"Who said you were the happiness?" he grumbles, but Raleigh only laughs.
"I'm a pleasure to be around."
"For someone who doesn't know you."
"Hey, that was mean!"
"Good."
Raleigh's laughter is distorted through the phone, but it's still the same. Chuck smiles despite himself and closes his eyes.
"What time even is there?"
"Past eleven," Raleigh hums, his voice sounding closer to the phone. There's some rustling in the background.
"A.m.?"
"P.m.," more rustling. "I'm just getting into bed."
"Great to hear about your plans. Really life-changing."
"I'm currently fluffing up my pillow."
"Very interesting."
"It's a very nice pillow. The soft one with the fluff on the outside."
"You're a baby."
"You're just jealous," Raleigh mocks him, joke clear in his voice even on the line. "You're probably sleeping on these hard as rock military pillows."
Chuck smirks. "Pillows as in plural? That shit is for the weak. Real men sleep on a singular pillow case."
Raleigh laughs again, loud in Chuck's ear, and it's the best sound Chuck has heard in months - maybe beside the waves crashing against the sand. It's definitely the best he's felt though, in a long, long time.
"I'm surprised they haven't locked you up in a facility yet. You're unstable."
"And also a fast runner," he adds in good humour, and listens closely as Raleigh chuckles.
Max wriggles beside him and kicks his back in the process, all while still snoring. Chuck winces in pain, the scars protesting, but only makes more room for his bloody dog and snuggles closer to the phone.
"It's really good to hear you, you know. I missed your voice."
Chuck's chest constricts. He swallows, hard, and presses his eyelids tighter together. "Yeah."
"You too."
Raleigh hums at that. His breathing is audible through the line. Chuck doesn't want to tell him to move away though; he's starting to feel like he's slipping back to sleep.
"Are you free on New Year's Eve though?"
Chuck hums back, too tired to speak. His mind's hazy - New Year's Eve? What the hell.
"Is that a yes?"
He hums again, longer. Free for what? Whatever.
Raleigh's breathing is the last thing his consciousness registers before slipping away.
His phone is dead when he wakes up. Max is also drooling on his face so the phone issue doesn't seem too pressing with cheeks covered in dog saliva.
"You can't not be a total ass for once, can you," he scowls down at Max when they're in the bathroom, his dog having followed him here. It's not the most pleasurable thing to try and wash off a dog's spit, but Max only gazes up at him with exhaustion as if he hasn't just slept for nine full hours.
"Come on, I'm gonna make you some breakfast."
And then next to exhaustion, there is also love. Chuck shakes his head, but scratches Max's head anyway.
"Dumb dog."
His phone finishes recharging just as he finishes eating. It blinks at him and asks for password before the screen unlocks.
1 unread message
[Unknown Number] i know you just fell asleep so goodnight <3
He stares at the heart on the end of the sentence for long enough that the screen fades back to black. He clicks on the message box.
I am free on New Year's Eve, if that wasn't clear.
And then-
Good morning, wanker.
He puts his phone down on the counter, and then picks it up again. He types in just one thing and presses send before he has time to think about it.
<3
The waves are stronger today. Chuck sinks down to the sand a little farther away from the water, whips out a sandwich and bites down. He kind of regrets not taking his surfing board with him, but rationally he knows it's not a good idea to go surfing on a desolate beach with no one around. Especially since he's trying to heal the relationship with his dad and shit.
Max runs along the edge of the water before fixating on a spot. He starts digging feverishly, sniffing the sand every few seconds, and Chuck stares at him deep enough that he almost misses the vibrations shaking his backpack.
1 unread message
[Unknown Number] awww i said i'm a pleasure to be around
Chuck smiles, shaking his head, and bites down on the sandwich again. His phone buzzes.
[Unknown Number] guess who has a flight to sydney booked for tomorrow
You're desperate enough to buy a plane ticket after a dude says he's free on New Year's Eve?
[Unknown Number] that's me
How do you know I'm coming to get you?
The only thing that gets through next is the shrugging emoji. The fact that it's the woman version makes it even funnier, and Chuck rolls his eyes as he crumples the empty sandwich foil after having thrown the bread crumbs on the sand. The buzzing again.
[Unknown Number] i have faith in god
Chuck laughs under his breath, stuffs his phone into his backpack and goes to investigate Max's suspicious hole in the sand.
"Does that camera work?"
"Yeah, it does. I don't know why I had that setting turned off. I swear I didn't touch it."
Chuck sighs, cutting a cherry tomato in half. "It happens sometimes. Phones glitch. Must've been the case."
The line is silent for a moment or two. Chuck continues slicing up cherry tomatoes, listening to the rustling on the other side of the phone call, before his dad decides to speak again.
"Are you sure you're fine staying there for New Year's Eve? I can come. Or you could. Whatever works for you," he says quietly, and there's so much concern in his voice that it punches the air out of Chuck's lungs. He braces his hands against the counter.
"I'm sure. I'll call you if something happens, alright?"
"Alright."
He knows his dad isn't happy to hear this, nor satisfied, but he also knows his old man trusts him. The Drift is haunted and just as he feels his dad's ghost, his dad feels his. If there's anything resembling the connection they had in that Jaeger, it's their mutual trust. That much Chuck knows.
And he also doesn't want to tell him about Raleigh yet. Why? He has no idea.
But his old man doesn't have to know for now.
He takes a deep breath, picking another tomato and placing it on the cutting board. "How is that funding going? The one you told me about last time. Did Mori and you get it?"
It's the right question to ask, he muses in relief when his dad's voice gets a pinch more excited.
It's stupid. It's so, so stupid. But there's no backing up now, is there? What is he going to do - leave the man on the airport in an unknown country and drive home? That's too much of a dick move even for him.
Max keeps tugging on the leash with more and more force, and Chuck's shoulder grows tired, aching. He puts it in the other hand, shifts his weight to the other foot and waits. The crowd around him moves smoothly forward. The air is cold inside. Chuck is anxious.
His nerves spike when he spots a mop of dirty blond hair. There's a blue sports bag. White sneakers.
Raleigh sees him and grins. He starts heading their way.
There's not many things wrong in Chuck's world right now. He's happy.
He grins back.