[ Her hands are shaking when she finally gathers the courage to dial Raleigh's number. Don't ask her how she has it, she doesn't want to talk about how, one time he'd been in her shower and his phone had been right there on the table when a call had come in and it's not like she'd intended to look, she just had to know if it was someone important.
She doesn't want to talk about how when the phone stopped ringing it was right there in her hands and maybe she opened it up, wrote down Raleigh's ( and then Tendo's, because Tendo was kind of Yancy's other best friend, right? ) number in case she needed it for an emergency.
( This was about the time when Yancy started staying over more, when Naomi realized his night terrors weren't a one-time thing but how do you offer to help when you're just dating and not really sure what you guys are - Are we together? Is this official? Do people know about us? The safe answer is always, "no." )
This isn't an emergency - not really, but she hasn't seen Yancy in two weeks and she's too proud to try and contact him and too scared to try because she keeps on replaying that night in her head, how everything went from bad to worse and shit she needs a cigarette.
She's trying to light up when she realizes that Raleigh's picked up, has said Hello? Anyone there? Hello? I'm sorry, 'fraid I can't hear you, about twice now. ]
H-hello. Um. [ She starts to sit down on the edge of the bed and decides the floor is better. Steadier. ] Is this Raleigh Becket?
[ getting a call from an unknown caller is usually not a good thing. raleigh's pretty careful about who he gives his number to, so when he sees it's someone he doesn't know, he almost lets it go to voicemail. he's not sure what makes him pick it up, but he does. he almost regrets it when he ends up talking to empty air for a minute too.
but then naomi speaks up and he recognizes her voice. not who it is, not yet. but the voice is definitely familiar. that, combined with the tone and slight stutter turn his worry mode ( something he swears he inherited from yancy but really had all along ) on. ]
[ raleigh was okay with yancy dating her. really, he was. but now that he's actually having to talk to her again all he can think is i saw you having sex with my brother in a jeep in the drift and that was really awful also i'm totally not interested in you but damn you looked good there oh my god what am i even thinking.
and now that he's thought that, he's kind of wondering why she's calling. and if it has something to do with whatever it is yancy's mood's been doing for the past two weeks. ]
So uh, [ actual pacing, back of her hand pressed to her forehead, smoke trailing down ] I um.
Wow. Sorry. Let me start over. [ she takes a breath ] I don't know if, uh... okay. I've been seeing your brother for the last couple of months and we had something of a fight about- [ a pause ] -we had an argument about two weeks ago.
[ so the weird mood was a girlfriend thing. and he's kind of wondering why she's calling him if she's worried about yancy and the argument they had. that just doesn't seem like the right thing to do.
unless she and yancy broke up.
... well, then. he's not telling her shit just in case that's what happened. ] Yeah, he's doing good.
it's not her place to say. yancy's always been so determined to keep things private and close to the chest, and she respects that. she really does. but she also cares, and maybe raleigh's got more right than she to tell yancy that he needs to open up. to talk to his brother.
sorry yance. she'd keep her mouth shut, but she loves you a lot and sometimes, when you love someone, you overstep your bounds a little because you want them to be okay. ]
It's not my place to say [ a breath ] but you're his brother and maybe [ her voice hitches a little how is this so hard ] he needs help, Raleigh.
Yancy's been having night terrors. And panic attacks. And I tried to get him to talk about it but he- [ she kills the cigarette on her ashtray and switches the phone to her other hand, leans forward because it feels like she shouldn't be doing this but it has to be done ] It's none of my business as far as he's concerned, and maybe he's right.
But your brother he... he means a lot to me.
And if there's anyone who can get through to him. I just figured it would be you.
raleigh's excitable, not dumb, so he knew something was going on with yancy. outside of the ppdc shrinks stamping POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER on both of their official files, that is. he knew there were nightmares ( he's an insomniac now, he can't help but notice these things when he's wide awake and yancy isn't ) but the panic attacks are new information. and it all makes a horrible amount of sense.
for a brief moment, raleigh wants to curse out the ppdc. if their psychologists hadn't deemed them unfit to pilot, then maybe he could force yancy to go and see a therapist. now, he's pretty sure he's got about a snowball's chance in hell of that happening. but damn if he's not going to try. ]
Yeah, I knew it was rough going for him. [ he doesn't say how much. doesn't say why do you get to know this about him and not me? i'm his brother. raleigh just does his best to act like this isn't much to worry about. ] We're working on it.
[ he pauses, then adds a small, ] Thanks for worrying about him, I guess.
[ She's nodding her head when she realizes, this isn't a video call, Raleigh can't see her acknowledging what he's said ( everything she's told him now feels utterly superfluous — we're working on it, he'd said — but that's okay; that's good. And it doesn't matter what part she played in it happening, if she had to lose him so that he would be okay, that's something she can live with.
She exhales, and if there's tremor in it, so what? ] Like I said. He means a lot to me.
You're a good brother, Raleigh. [ That last bit slips out before she can think twice. And she shakes her head, of course he's a good brother, Naomi, now put down the phone before you embarrass yourself further. ]
I can tell. [ that yancy means a lot to her. and that's... kind of weird to think about. of course you'd care about the person you're dating, what's the point of having a relationship otherwise? but raleigh's not really used to the idea of a girl he doesn't really know being so fond of his brother. ]
I'm just doing what any good co-pilot would do. [ he still thinks of the two of them that way. co-pilots and brothers. because co-pilots implies a stronger and deeper bond than they could ever get by just being brothers. ] Thanks for calling, Naomi.
[ It's weird that Raleigh's acknowledgement of how she feels for Yancy helps ease the building pressure from behind her eyes. But it does. ] Precisely why you're a good brother.
No problem. [ She debates, and then adds. ] Take care, Raleigh.
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[ Her hands are shaking when she finally gathers the courage to dial Raleigh's number. Don't ask her how she has it, she doesn't want to talk about how, one time he'd been in her shower and his phone had been right there on the table when a call had come in and it's not like she'd intended to look, she just had to know if it was someone important.
She doesn't want to talk about how when the phone stopped ringing it was right there in her hands and maybe she opened it up, wrote down Raleigh's ( and then Tendo's, because Tendo was kind of Yancy's other best friend, right? ) number in case she needed it for an emergency.
( This was about the time when Yancy started staying over more, when Naomi realized his night terrors weren't a one-time thing but how do you offer to help when you're just dating and not really sure what you guys are - Are we together? Is this official? Do people know about us? The safe answer is always, "no." )
This isn't an emergency - not really, but she hasn't seen Yancy in two weeks and she's too proud to try and contact him and too scared to try because she keeps on replaying that night in her head, how everything went from bad to worse and shit she needs a cigarette.
She's trying to light up when she realizes that Raleigh's picked up, has said Hello? Anyone there? Hello? I'm sorry, 'fraid I can't hear you, about twice now. ]
H-hello. Um. [ She starts to sit down on the edge of the bed and decides the floor is better. Steadier. ] Is this Raleigh Becket?
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but then naomi speaks up and he recognizes her voice. not who it is, not yet. but the voice is definitely familiar. that, combined with the tone and slight stutter turn his worry mode ( something he swears he inherited from yancy but really had all along ) on. ]
Yeah, that's me. Who is this?
[ and why are you calling me? ]
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Um, hi. Sorry to bother you like this. I don't think you'd remember me but um-
-it's Naomi. Naomi Sokolov? We uh, we met a couple of years ago.
[ i gave you my number. but it was your brother i ended up hooking up with. ]
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[ raleigh was okay with yancy dating her. really, he was. but now that he's actually having to talk to her again all he can think is i saw you having sex with my brother in a jeep in the drift and that was really awful also i'm totally not interested in you but damn you looked good there oh my god what am i even thinking.
and now that he's thought that, he's kind of wondering why she's calling. and if it has something to do with whatever it is yancy's mood's been doing for the past two weeks. ]
What's up?
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breathe, naomi. ]
So uh, [ actual pacing, back of her hand pressed to her forehead, smoke trailing down ] I um.
Wow. Sorry. Let me start over. [ she takes a breath ] I don't know if, uh... okay. I've been seeing your brother for the last couple of months and we had something of a fight about- [ a pause ] -we had an argument about two weeks ago.
I just wanted to check in to see if he was okay.
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[ so the weird mood was a girlfriend thing. and he's kind of wondering why she's calling him if she's worried about yancy and the argument they had. that just doesn't seem like the right thing to do.
unless she and yancy broke up.
... well, then. he's not telling her shit just in case that's what happened. ] Yeah, he's doing good.
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Okay. Good. [ she sits down. obviously yancy's okay. raleigh wouldn't pretend otherwise, right? ] That's good.
[ she hangs her head, lips pressed together and why the hell is she shaking? yancy's fine. clearly. ]
Look uh. Thanks.
I just wanted to check. Thanks, Raleigh.
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[ it's a relief to him too. naomi obviously cares about yancy, even if they're fighting or broken up or whatever they are. ]
So, uh-- [ oh god this is a terrible idea. but it's not like yancy is going to answer this question. ] What were you two fighting about anyway?
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it's not her place to say. yancy's always been so determined to keep things private and close to the chest, and she respects that. she really does. but she also cares, and maybe raleigh's got more right than she to tell yancy that he needs to open up. to talk to his brother.
sorry yance. she'd keep her mouth shut, but she loves you a lot and sometimes, when you love someone, you overstep your bounds a little because you want them to be okay. ]
It's not my place to say [ a breath ] but you're his brother and maybe [ her voice hitches a little how is this so hard ] he needs help, Raleigh.
Yancy's been having night terrors. And panic attacks. And I tried to get him to talk about it but he- [ she kills the cigarette on her ashtray and switches the phone to her other hand, leans forward because it feels like she shouldn't be doing this but it has to be done ] It's none of my business as far as he's concerned, and maybe he's right.
But your brother he... he means a lot to me.
And if there's anyone who can get through to him. I just figured it would be you.
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raleigh's excitable, not dumb, so he knew something was going on with yancy. outside of the ppdc shrinks stamping POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER on both of their official files, that is. he knew there were nightmares ( he's an insomniac now, he can't help but notice these things when he's wide awake and yancy isn't ) but the panic attacks are new information. and it all makes a horrible amount of sense.
for a brief moment, raleigh wants to curse out the ppdc. if their psychologists hadn't deemed them unfit to pilot, then maybe he could force yancy to go and see a therapist. now, he's pretty sure he's got about a snowball's chance in hell of that happening. but damn if he's not going to try. ]
Yeah, I knew it was rough going for him. [ he doesn't say how much. doesn't say why do you get to know this about him and not me? i'm his brother. raleigh just does his best to act like this isn't much to worry about. ] We're working on it.
[ he pauses, then adds a small, ] Thanks for worrying about him, I guess.
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She exhales, and if there's tremor in it, so what? ] Like I said. He means a lot to me.
You're a good brother, Raleigh. [ That last bit slips out before she can think twice. And she shakes her head, of course he's a good brother, Naomi, now put down the phone before you embarrass yourself further. ]
Well. I won't take up any more of your time.
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I'm just doing what any good co-pilot would do. [ he still thinks of the two of them that way. co-pilots and brothers. because co-pilots implies a stronger and deeper bond than they could ever get by just being brothers. ] Thanks for calling, Naomi.
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No problem. [ She debates, and then adds. ] Take care, Raleigh.