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He’s actually nervous.
Raleigh can’t remember the last time he was nervous around a girl. Especially for a date. But then again he can’t quite remember the last time he went on a date with someone he cared about this much. Or who knew him quite so well. Even before Yancy his dating life—if it could be called that—was primarily one night stands. No explanations, no commitment, no risk.
But Mako is different.
Literally different in every sense of the word. She feels like the other part of him. It’s difficult to actually put that into words. One of the reasons he vanished from the Jaeger program was he didn’t think someone could fit inside his head. Could face his demons and come out the other side in one piece. But he’d never thought there was someone like Mako. Someone who had their own demons, who understood what it was like to face the nightmares and the terror, to push everyone away because it hurt too much.
Drifting was sharing the same mind space. It was fitting two halves into a whole. Maybe their halves were smaller, more broken than most. But they fit together. Raleigh doubted they would have before. He wasn’t in the practice of thinking if things were worth it, but if someone was, it was Mako.
Which was how he found himself standing outside her door, hands shoved into his pockets and wondering why knocking suddenly seemed harder than driving Gipsy Danger into a portal between dimensions. It was made only more ridiculous by the fact that he knew she was just as inexperienced. There were a few boys she liked, but none worth the risk. None who saw her as more than that crying little girl.
"Raleigh?" he turns and nearly trips over his own feet when he sees her standing behind him, tablet cradled firmly in the crook of her arm, “are you alright?"
"Yeah I’m fine," he says with a grin he knows is trying far too hard to be easy going, “how are you?"
"Alright," she says. After a beat of awkward silence she tries again, “I was going to dinner, do you want to join me?" she asks finally.
"No," he says and kicks himself when confusion flickers in her eyes, “I mean yes," she frowns, “I mean—have dinner with me," he says.
"I just invited you to have dinner with me," she tells him, looking at him as though he’s grown two heads.
"I don’t mean here. I mean in the city," he says. She looks at him blankly, “go on a date with me," he tells her finally.
"E-excuse me?" she stutters, confusion giving way to shock.
"No—shit—that came out wrong," he presses a hand to the bridge of his nose, “would you please go to dinner with me in the city," he says, wishing desperately that they would stop trying to build a new jaeger and instead build something useful. Like a time machine. Or something to keep him from putting his foot in his mouth. He drops his hand and looks at her, “Please?"
She’s still looking at him like he’s told her they’re going to retrieve Gipsy Danger or something. It isn’t like this is out of the blue. They’ve kissed before and they eat almost every meal together anyway. But he is asking her out. And that does changes things. He isn’t worried about her not feeling the same way or anything. He knows she does. But Mako is in control of her emotions, to a degree he has trouble comprehending sometimes. And he’s made a complete ass out of himself so he isn’t going to be surprised if she says no.
"Where?"
The question is spoken in a controlled voice. But she isn’t saying no. He reaches up and scratches the back of his neck.
"Newt told me about a place," he says, “I think he heard about it from Hannibal."
"I am not eating Kaiju," she tells him.
"Of course not," he says, “it’s normal food."
She looks at him carefully before opening her tablet and scrolling through the calendar she keeps.
"We can go tonight or thursday," she says and looks back up at him, “which is better?"
"Thu—tonight," he says, “tonight’s good."
She nods and folds up the tablet, turning to go before she pivots on her heel and closes the distance between them. Until then their kisses have been hidden. Not because they are hiding but because they happen when no-one’s around. There are people around and from the dull thud he hears, one of them has dropped something heavy. But Mako’s lips are soft and insistant and he’s not going to worry about something as stupid as a gawker when she’s kissing him.
"Don’t be nervous," she says pulling back, “I’ve been inside your head, remember?"