bakerstreet | The Other Wordly Meme

The Other Wordly Meme

The Other-Wordly Meme

Words are magical things; they can have so many lovely connotations and varied histories.
Words have family trees just like people. They are linked to each other.
Some words are full of flavor and color and describe things you never suspected there were words for.
Words are why we're here.

The meme is simple: post a comment with your muse's name and canon in the subject line.
List any preferences you may have ("No Shipping," "No Smut," etc.), if you decide to leave the next step up to responders.
Responders (or original posters, if they so decide), go to the Other-Wordly blog and hit 'Random' until you get a word. Use the word as a prompt to write up an RP scenario. Do this several times, if you like. Mix and match. Have fun with it!
Don't stop with a word, though! Words can often have etymologies that are at odds with their current meanings. Words can shift connotations over time. Let your imagination carry you with the words as its wind.

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[The last time Jazmine talked to Yancy, she told him to go to hell and never come back. Original, she knows, but she was seventeen going on eighteen and whatever he said, on her own from now on. Mom was dead and Dad was gone and her brothers off training to be Jaeger pilots. She was going to have to take care of herself from now on, and she didn't appreciate her oldest brother trying to give her advice for what to do next.

She was not joining the corps so she could stay close to them. First of all, she had zero technical skills, nothing useful except for pouring coffee and that leads to the second point. She wasn't going to hang around the PPDC and be The Becket Brothers Little Sister.

She was Jazmine Becket, with a goddamn z in her name, she could make it on her own. She already had a job busing tables part time and after she graduated high school, she could go full time no problem. She had plans to move into an apartment with her best friend and her boyfriend. She'd be fine.

(The third point involved the fact that she was so jealous of Raleigh and Yancy, that they got to work together and go off and save the world together, that it was all about the Becket brothers, but they had a sister too that no one cared about.

She was really dramatic as a teenager.)

Then there's Knifehead and Raleigh dies and she thinks, it's a four hundred dollar bus ticket from Juneau to Anchorage but she manages to get the money together. From her savings and her roommates (different city so different ones than before, a girl she works with and a gay couple) chip in. She brings only what she can stuff into a backpack and heads to the hospital that Yancy's staying in right now. She tried to call ahead, to get an idea of what to expect but all anyone would tell her was that he was going to live and visiting hours went until nine every night.

Yeah, that's great, thanks.

Of course when she gets there, everyone thinks she's a reporter or an insane Jaeger fly and she just starts carrying her ID in her hand, flashing it to every nurse, doctor and tech that opens their mouth at her. One nurse finally leads her to Yancy's room, a private room at the end of the hall, like they're trying to shelter him or something and Yancy, what happened to you, why is Raleigh dead, he can't be gone, what happened, what happened, what happened.

Jazmine takes a deep breath and knocks on his door, opening it a second later.] Yancy?

[ When you're picked for drift compatibility, they tell you all the good things — the benefits. How there's visible proof that when two people drift, they bring the best of themselves to enhance each other. How you grow together not just as rangers, but as people. How you are faster, stronger, better. All these things, because you are in it together.

Stability in the neural bridge requires trust, faith, and in varying degrees and forms, love. Because that is the contract by which you make it work: no you, no me, just us and the jaeger against the incoming storm.

But they never tell you how to deal when there's only one of you left. What to do when the other hand falls away leaving you to close your eyes hoping to sleep only find an echo of the drift singing through you — your brother's voice reaching out in a voice you haven't heard since you woke up that one fateful morning to find Dad gone.

(Yance. What do we do?)

Yancy turns his face to one side, as if by doing so he can block out Raleigh's voice.

(Yance. I don't want to die.

Yance.)

—Yancy?

This is how he looks when you step through that door: He looks like hell.

His arm's in a sling and yeah, that's a busted lip, and there's some bruising that's bloomed along one cheekbone and right down his jaw. But it's the way he looks just so tired, like he's had the strength sapped out of him; like the world's fallen down around his ears. ]

Jaz?

[ There's a tone of disbelief in his voice that says: Is that really you? Are you really here? ]

[She hesitates for a moment before she makes herself step forward and close the door behind her. This is not the brother that she remembers. Yancy was--well, he was always so solid. He's five years older than her, and she doesn't really have memories of him before she was five. And she's never remembered him as anything but solid, warm and strong.

He's her big brother (so was Raleigh but Raleigh was different. Maybe it was because he was in the middle and so didn't act as mature or because they were closer in age and so naturally just fought more. And wow how much does she regret that the last thing she said to Raleigh was to tell him to shut the fuck up and stop humming that song) but right now, he doesn't seem like it.

It's because of Raleigh. And the super secret part of her that's never going to see the light of day suddenly wonders if he'd be that torn up if she was the one who died and Raleigh was still around.]

Hey. [Jazmine makes her way to his bedside, hesitating like she wants to sit down on the edge of his bed but are they close enough for that anymore?]

You know you kinda look like shit.

[ They were always so alike except in the ways that they were always different. Yancy has memories of breaking Raleigh and Jazmine apart, of Raleigh looking mutinous when Yancy took him aside, accusing him of playing favorites just because Jaz was a girl and girls needed protecting.

You are her brother, Rals. Her older brother. Why did you leave her at school alone like that?
—It's just two years. And she was cramping my style, Yance.
I don't care. You are older. And I'm not protecting her because she's a girl, and I'm not playing favorites.
She's your sister, she's family. Understand this, little brother: family comes first.

They still fought after that and Yancy let them be because it was probably written in their bones. But Raleigh had never left Jazmine on her own ever again, though he was discreet about it, watchful from a distance, ready to step in if Yancy wasn't quick enough himself and quick enough to brush it off so she didn't think she was winning. ]

Hey.

[ She's grown. He isn't sure why that surprises her. Why it jars him a little to see the baby fat gone from her face, to note that she's a grown woman now, not the eighteen-year-old who'd told him to piss off (not all her fault, he willingly takes the blame for letting her walk, he'd been too high on the ranger life, too preoccupied with things and he'd regretted it every day since).

He chuckles at her observation — a small, sort of wounded sound. And for a moment it's like the room blurs and Raleigh's laughter is in his ears, their near-matching bruises fading days after Pentecost had given them the ultimatum to shape up or get out.

Brother, you look like shit.
Yeah, well your pretty face isn't so pretty today either. ]

[You know, she never thought that something that was supposed to be a laugh could actually make her want to cry until right now.

The corners of Jazmine's eyes are wet and she blinks hard a few times. She didn't cry that much when their mom died, maybe because she saw it coming. Lived with Mom while the cancer slowly killed her and made her peace with it long before it happened. But Raleigh--she didn't see that coming and she hasn't cried all the way here but seeing Yancy now and they haven't even said his name and fuck.]

Yancy-- [She shakes her head a little, and reaches up to brush at her eyes.]

I'm sorry.

[ He shakes off the memory, focuses on the present, notes the look in Jazmine's eyes and thinks: What are you apologizing for? No. Jaz, stop.

He wants to reach out to her, maybe stand up and take her in his arms and hold her until the world steadies itself beneath his feet.

Only... he's not sure if he's allowed that anymore. If she'll allow him that kind of closeness because it's been too damn long but dammit she's his baby sister, the same one whose suitors he'd had to kill with kindness, an unspoken you hurt her I will break your face, the same one he had to pick up from school, and further back still, the one who'd sit at the edge of his bed while he studied for exams that always made his head hurt. ]

Don't— [ his voice cuts before he can get the next word out ] I'm the one who should be apologizing.

[She's shaking her head and finally closes the distance between herself and his hospital bed. Yancy definitely can't cry too because she's never seen that happen in her lifetime either and if he starts, then she is definitely not going to stop.]

For what? I was horrible to you and Rah-- Raleigh at Mom's funeral.

[ It's so easy to reach out, fingers catching on the edge of hers and curling in so he can fold her smaller hand in his own. ]

You were grieving. [ We all were, he doesn't say. Instead, Yancy looks up at her, silently marveling at the fact that she's all grown up and a sharp stab of regret gets him in the gut because their mom always said that it didn't take one person to walk away for any kind of relationship to end - it always took two.

(He doesn't know what he could to say to that. No amount of I'm sorry, Mom can change the fact that those years are lost to them now.)

He wishes he could tell Jaz about the day they got word from the brass that they were being shipped to Anchorage. Raleigh hadn't said a word, had only looked at him and the Drift seemed to do the rest: Jazmine throwing a textbook at his face get out of my room Raleigh you are gross oh my god the way the grass looked so unfairly green the day they put their mother in the ground he wasn't singing to make her feel bad shit Jaz I miss her too you know Yancy marching over to break them both up from an argument muttering jesus christ do you two always have to be at each other's throats the way Raleigh's knuckles hurt as they collided with Adam Cosca's stupid-ass seventh grade face what the hell did his sister see in the lying, cheating schmuck you stay away from Jazmine you maggot.

But explaining it means explaining the Drift and Jaz had made it plenty clear she wanted nothing to do with any of that. ]

How've you been, princess?

[Well, Mom would know all about that, wouldn't she?

When he grabs her hand, she takes that as an invitation to sit on the edge of his bed, curling both her hands around his fingers. She'd hug him but his arm is in a sling and she doesn't want to hurt him more but he's Yancy, she went to him when she had a nightmare. Not to Raleigh because Raleigh was stupid and Dad never really seemed to care and Mom worked nights so who else was there to make sure that there weren't monsters under her bed or in her closet.

More tears well up in her eyes when he calls her that silly pet name.]

Okay. I spent the last eighteen hours on a bus, so my butt's kind of numb. Just been working. Nothing special.

[ There's no mention of her boyfriend, the one she was with at the them they split. Yancy never liked the guy but Jaz hadn't cared what he thought at the time and he was too high on the fact that he and Raleigh were heading off to pilot the newly completed jaeger if Jaz didn't want to listen to him that was fine he had bigger fish to worry about.

He regrets that. Regrets letting her go that way, he could have at least tried to keep in touch but it had been too easy not to. ]

Get over here. [ He tugs on her arm, who cares if he's in a sling, this is stupid they're family how come they're treating each other like strangers.

His heart hurts. Was Raleigh the price they had to pay to make things right between them again? ]

[Yeah, no, the boyfriend is long gone. It's not even a thought that crosses her mind as she scoots forward and hugs him as best she can. And even if he asks, she's definitely not going to tell him that they broke up because she caught him cheating on her.]

How long are you gonna be in here?

[After Mom, she had her fill of hospitals. There's only so many times that you have to drive your mother to the hospital she used to work at in the middle of the night because she couldn't breathe, because this might be it, before you just start to hate the place.]

They want to keep me one more day.

[ He's not letting you go just yet, Jazmine, so you sit there and accept these hugs he's giving you.

Physically, he's alright. A little banged up, but it's only his arm that's problematic and even then, it's nerve shock as opposed to an actual break or dislocation. It's his mental state that concerns the doctors the most. One, because his brother died while they were still in the neural bridge. Two, every goddamned body is concerned whether or not he's going to set foot again in a jaeger.

Answer Key: Nope. ]

After that... well. 'm not really sure.

[Jazmine can just tell that something's not totally right with him and it's not just the shoulder. Maybe she hasn't seen him face to face in a few years but there's no way that a couple of years would change him this much.

No, Raleigh did by dying.]

... we can make room at my place in Juneau?

[ A part of him wants to say yes, let's go as far away from this place as possible so I don't have to think about Raleigh but at the same time, the prospect of leaving jars him.

He doesn't want to pilot a jaeger again, but he's a ranger. He's not going to desert the fight. It feels wrong.

And what the hell would he do back in Juneau?

He presses a kiss to the top of her head. ] I need to check in with my superior first, sweetheart. Then, we'll see.

[To be fair, she's not really sure what the hell she's doing in Juneau either except for surviving and she can do that anywhere. She just... doesn't think she wants to go back there alone. Raleigh's dead and they're the last Beckets standing and she hates herself for leaving things like they did at Mom's funeral.]

You're not going to pilot again are you?

[ He goes incredibly still at the question - stops breathing for a moment, really. And then lets out a slow, audible breath between his lips.

Even if he could. Even if by some turn of fate he got his head back on straight.

It's not like he has a copilot.

So, no. Fuck no. He is not piloting again.

Maybe Pentecost can get him a job at Kodiak. He'd like that. Teach kids not to get themselves killed.

He doesn't answer her question though, just sets his chin atop her head. ]

[Jazmine feels him stiffen under her cheek and holds her breath with him without meaning to, only relaxing after a minute of silence when she realizes that his silence isn't him ignoring her, it's his answer. No, he's not going to do that again, not without their brother, and she doesn't know if she's relieved or sad for him or both because she doesn't think she could lose him too but he loves piloting a Jaeger. It'd take an idiot not to notice that and she's not an idiot.

Most of the time.]

I'm glad you're okay. [Even though they lost Raleigh too, just like they lost Mom, but at least she's got one brother left and as guilty as it makes her to think about, she's always liked Yancy better.]

[ He presses a kiss on top of her head again. It's kind of the only thing he can do because he's glad she's here and still grieving the fact that Raleigh's gone and a huge part of his mind isn't taking that well at all and it's probably just that he's stubborn and a control freak over his own emotions that he blocks out the voice at the back of his head that's shaped like a silhouette of his brother. ]

I'm sorry, sis. [ Couldn't it have been him instead?

No. That's wrong. He'd never wish this on Raleigh.

( Fucking kaiju. You killed my brother. )

Tendo had snuck him the after battle reports. He'd overloaded Gipsy's plasmacaster and the fucker still wasn't blown to smithereens. What the hell kind of justice was that? ]

I should have kept a better eye on that runt.

[The only thing she can think is--why is he apologizing to her for that? It's not like he killed Raleigh himself or that he pushed Raleigh in front of the kaiju and ran the other way or did anything as far as she knows except for the unlucky fact of survive when their brother didn't.

She wants an apology for a lot of things from a lot of people. She wants their dad to come back and say he's sorry for being a deadbeat. She wants her high school boyfriend to apologize for sleeping around on her. She wants Yancy to say sorry for letting her be so stubborn and not making her come with them. She also wants him to apologize for basically ditching her for his robot. She wants one of the bitchy nurses she talked to to apologize for trying to keep her from her brother.

But not this. Never for something like this because they both know damn well that if Yancy could've done something to save him, or die in his place, he would've done it. End of story.]

Don't apologize. You didn't go anything wrong.

[ He would have. He really would have if it meant that Raleigh would be safe.

A breath drags through him. ] I could have checked that the damn kaiju was really dead.

[ That's the thing, isn't it. That they'd blasted Knifehead and it had gone down and they'd figured they were done for the night.

And there was that other thing he doesn't like thinking about. How the kaiju had known they were in the conn-pod. Where exactly to pluck Raleigh out, one gleaming eye trained on Yancy as if it was a creature with higher thinking functions than they'd all come to believe. ]

It's not your fault it wasn't.

[She doesn't know the kaiju knew they were in there, that it went specifically for Raleigh because that part hasn't been released to the public. All she knows is that they thought they killed it but it was stronger than the initial plasma cannon blast and they were caught unaware.]

Everyone knows they're getting stronger.

[ There's a small sound that escapes him and he pulls back, takes his arm away from around Jazmine so he can cover his face with both hands.

He'd spoken to Pentecost - standard debrief - had told the Marshal and Tendo what he'd seen. That the kaiju had gunned specifically for the connpod, had ripped away at the rest of them so that they could barely defend themselves and then ripped Raleigh right out with a purpose.

It knew we were in there. It knew.

The world is spinning again, there's so much static in his head and he knows he's just traumatized and reaching for things that aren't there anymore, but he can almost hear Raleigh's voice cutting through the noise to say-

( You have to tell her, bro. She deserves to know. ) ]

No, I can't.

[She moved to sit up when he pulled away from her, sensing without having to be told that she'd hit a nerve. Even though she has no idea what she could have said to make that happen. But you don't really know you've stepped on a mine until it arms under your foot.]

You can't... what?

[ His mind's broken, is all he can think, because there's no way Raleigh's still an entity in his head.

( Bro, shut the fuck up and just TELL Jazmine. )

Tell her what? The Marshal hadn't commented on it, Tendo had made him coffee and K-Science had been briefed. Tell her what, Rals? That the kaiju aren't dumb beasts? How is that protecting her? You don't tell her that the monsters under the bed are there. You tell her it's okay, she can go chill in your room for awhile and you tell her silly stories until she falls asleep and then you take a steel bat and kill those fuckers dead.

Yancy shakes his head when he realizes he spoke out loud. ] S'nothing, Jaz. Sorry. Just a headache.

The Other Wordly Meme

is it too early to say "ouch"?

you deserve this

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