withtheoldbreed | d-day + 92 ✯ video & spam

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d-day + 92 ✯ video & spam

[Backdated to the Start of the Breach]

[This is a fresh faced new recruit to the Shatterdome who looks way too happy to be here, all excited and eager to get moving and see some action. He's not really looking to introduce himself or cause a fuss - he's just happy to be here - but there is one thing he really wants to know:]

Anyone know where I can find Jimmy Sledge around?

[Friends of Jimmy's might recognize him from family pictures - this is his kid brother, Gene, and from the way he's dressed, he's clearly not here for a family visit.

(He's also got a different accent - Jersey, not Alabama.)]

[Open Spam]

[Gene spends most of the time after his introductory post - if one can really call it that - exploring the Shatterdome. He's heard so much about it (and done so much reading since the program got started, and watched every news report and documentary and behind the scenes look that he could manage) that he practically feels like he's already been here for months, years even, but there's new stuff, too. The people, for one. And he's impatient to find his brother.

So most people passing by him in the hallways have probably been stopped and asked if they've seen or heard of or know where he can find Jim Sledge. He lingers a little awkwardly in the mess hall, looking for some of his buddies from training or anyone who doesn't look like they'd mind company from a new boot, and typically, he can't totally stay away from the hangers, and has to unpack in his quarters eventually, taking out the few personal items from home (some family pictures, a couple books about birds and the Civil War) and arranging them on the utilitarian shelves.]

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[He'd known it was bound to happen at some point, with the emails Ma had been sending him, with Gene's almost-obsession with all things Jaeger. But he'd thought maybe that could be the only good thing to come out of the crash: Gene realizing it's not all glory and goodness. Idle hope, now that he sees his little brother on the network, bright faced and eager to get himself in trouble.]

Gene. [He tries to think of a good question, like 'What the fuck do you think you're doing', but that's obvious, really. He doesn't look happy to see his little brother yet-- he will, once he's given him a proper ass-kicking.] When did you get here?

Just a couple hours ago. [At least he has the decency to look a tiny bit sheepish? Just a tiny bit, though. He'd thought, maybe, that Jimmy wouldn't be happy to see him here, but he'd kind of let himself hope that maybe...

Anyway, he doesn't drop the smile completely, yet. It's been a long time since they've seen each other face to face.]

Where are you?

[He hasn't seen anyone from home in ages, maybe years by now. He kept meaning to, but leaving the Shatterdome was always a risk: what if there's an attack right when he left? What if they'd been needed, and he wasn't there? Besides, after Angela, he just- couldn't muster the energy.

So there's something in him that's relaxed at the sight of his brother, but something else has started tightening. He's still frowning, but the video goes unsteady as Jimmy stands up, pulls on his jacket, boots, and starts moving towards the mess hall.]

Goin' to the mess hall. Meet me there. [He sounds like he intends to cut the feed in favor of moving quickly, but--] You doin' okay, Gene?

[Gene's all set to go, really, had been fine with leaving the conversation there, but then Jimmy asks the question and he pauses, a little caught off guard.]

Yeah. [Why wouldn't he be? Not that he minds being asked or anything. Honestly, he's just really happy to finally be here.] I'll see you down there.

[And you will! Gene knows where it is at this point, but lingers around outside, impatiently waiting for his brother to show up and doing his best to look professional and mature while doing so.

Even if he's really excited.]

[Gene may be going for professional and mature, to Jimmy he's his little brother: gangly and awkward and maybe still a little sickly, even if he's not 13 anymore. He approaches him from behind, his uneven footsteps echoing in the metal halls, and he takes a second to realize that Gene's actually here.

Dumb piece of shit or not, he's happy to see him again. He pushes down the swell of emotions that rises up in his chest, and then grabs Gene and hugs him.] Welcome to the Dome, brat.

[The hug catches him a little off guard - he knows about the injury, obviously, but it hadn't really registered that those uneven footsteps belonged to Jimmy - but after that half second of surprise, he laughs and hugs him right back.] Really happy to be here, jerk.

It's really good to see you. [It is. They've kept in touch, obviously, but it's different to see each other in person after Jimmy's been gone for so long, and he's really missed his big brother. Even if now he's a little worried.

It's different to hear about an accident like that and to see the effects of it, especially since it's not like Jimmy had told them all the details. Really, he should be happy it's Gene who's here and not their mom.]

[He hadn't told him nearly all of the details: he was in a crash, his drift partner died, his leg got messed up. But he'd never told their parents about the kind of relationship he and Angela had had, and he'd only hinted at it in his e-mails to Gene. What it had felt like to be in someone's head when they died, what it felt like to know it was definitely partially your fault that they did... He hadn't thought he'd have to explain everything- because he hadn't figured he'd make it home anytime soon.] Good to see you too.

[He pulls away from the hug after that, then punches Gene in the arm. Hard.] You're a goddamn idiot, Eugene. Who the fuck let you come out here? Did you run away in the middle of the night?

[Wow, okay, he was sort of expecting that, but that doesn't change the fact that it hurt. Not bad or anything, but enough that he has to try not to flinch, and puts a hand on his arm over the sight of impact, giving Jimmy a mostly amused look.] Ow.

[But he quickly sobers, shaking his head. No, he didn't run away.]

I don't need Mom or Dad's permission to enlist, Jimmy. [Or yours.] I just want to do my bit.

[He pushes a nervous hand through his hair, shakes his head once. He's feeling so conflicted, so happy to have his brother, someone familiar here; but it's here, where so much can hurt him. Gene may have been far away, but he'd been safe at least.]

It's not like I got any right to judge. I just-- I wish you wanted to do your bit elsewhere.

[He wishes he did have a right to judge, so he could tell him again to get out. But he doesn't, and he doesn't want to scare Gene off, make him clam up. So he gives Gene a wry smile, then wraps a hand around the back of his brother's neck, pulling him along a little.] Get the big tour yet, brat?

[Gene doesn't really know what to say to that, so Jimmy just gets a sheepish smile in response. He knows Jimmy - and their parents, and basically everyone - would have preferred he do something different, but... he didn't want to. And now there's nothing he can really say to comfort him, because he's here, he's going to do this. Jimmy can't talk him out of it, and he's so glad he doesn't really try. Gene doesn't want to fight with him about it, not after it's been so long since they've seen each other in person.

So the change in subject is appreciated, and so's the hand on his neck, because that feels like back home and makes him feel like a dumb kid again in a good way, like not everything's completely different.]

Just the official one. Wouldn't mind hearing your spin on it.

Think I'm gonna give you all the good hangouts? I'll never get another moment of peace. [He slides his hand from Gene's neck to his hair, gives it a good ruffle, then sticks his hand in his pocket. He's itching for a smoke, but not enough to risk a reprimand from one of the commanding officers.

Jimmy shows him around, shows him his own cabin (carefully not commenting on the pictures of Angela that are taped to his wall), some of the nicer places of the Shatterdome. It's small enough, most of the space taken up by the hangar. Of course they take their time there, and he looks at Gene admiring the Jaegers from a distance. He gets it, after all: there's nothing like it, nothing like being one of the few people allowed to pilot those huge machines. He answers any questions his brother might have, sitting down on a ledge at one point to give his leg some rest.

Before dinner, he shows him the sparring rooms. There's only a few people there at this hour, some CO's training together, a few pilots working on synchronizing their moves. On a whim, Jimmy takes off his shoes, and as soon as Gene has followed him he goes for a headlock. It's good, a scuffle just like when they were kids.]

[Yeah, except Gene isn't the same scrawny, shrimpy eight year old he used to be. He's still slim and looks younger than he is, but training to be a pilot has put some muscle on him, and he knows how to fight better now than he ever did before Jimmy shipped off. So he slides out of his shoes, taking a neutral stance, waiting to see what Jimmy's planning next.

The headlock doesn't come as a surprise, but Gene being able to extract himself from one quickly is probably new, instead of just crumpling to the mat and squirming ineffectively while his brother subjected him to a noogie.

Once he's free, he takes a couple steps to the left, grinning and hoping he looks surprised.]

Gonna need to do better than that.

[He grins back, mirroring Gene's movement.] What, you actually paid attention in boot camp?

[He takes up a better stance, arms up, hands ready to grab more than to punch. He's buff enough, but compared to some of the guys on the base he's had to rely on agility more than pure muscle strength. So when he moves in on Gene he's quick, aiming to grab his brother's arm and knock him off balance at the same time.]

[Jimmy does succeed in grabbing him, and he doesn't fully twist out of the way, but Gene does manage to reorient himself a lot more gracefully than Jimmy probably expects him to, sweeping a leg out to try and knock Jimmy off balance.

He knows Jimmy. They'd never really physically fought, but they're brothers and they'd roughhoused a little, when Gene was a little bigger and not as prone to catching every cold and flu and other serious childhood illness one could get, so it's not impossible to read him, or to know what he's trying to do, here.

(It's also just nice to not be treated like he's made out of glass.)]

I might've.

[He's grinning a little more now, even when he stumbles and has to catch himself on one outstretched arm. He's easy to knock off balance these days, his leg injury still catching him off guard from time to time. He winces when he gets up, but he's still grinning as he moves back.

They're on even ground, now-- Gene's no longer a wisp of a kid, and Jimmy's no longer that cocksure teenager he'd been when he'd signed up for the program. He feels it, that equality, when he moves in again, trying to grab Gene underneath the armpit and hoist him over his shoulder.]

[It's not that Jimmy gets lucky necessarily so much as Gene's feeling vaguely guilty and gets distracted - God, right, his leg, which Gene knows about and everything but it's still difficult to fully recognize all the ways his brother's different now when he's so used to the way he'd used to be - so he does get him up and over his shoulder, but again manages to reorient himself so at least he'll hit the mats as gently as possible.

Which, admittedly, Jimmy was probably already planning in the first place. He wouldn't try to intentionally beat the crap out of him.]

[When Gene hits the mat, Jimmy falls down beside him-- on purpose, mostly, though he may have lost balance for a second there. He bumps his brother's shoulder with his own and grins at him.]

Put up a good fight, the- [he's interrupted by one of their commanding officers, and he scrambles to get upright for a lazy salute, kicking Gene on the way up so that he can get with the program. The officer's big, stern, has his arms crossed across his chest, but his eyes are kind enough.]

Sledge. And-- [He looks at Gene, and Jimmy nods, replies quickly.] Also Sledge.

[The officer nods, looks between two of them.] Good fight, men. Have you considered your compatibility yet?

[The kick winds up being more or less unnecessary - Gene springs to his feet and snaps to attention immediately, obviously worried they're going to be in trouble or something, but it eases off almost immediately when he says that.]

No, sir, [He answers quickly, glancing sideways at Jimmy, already almost bursting with enthusiasm at the idea.] I just got here.

[Jimmy tries his best not to give too obvious a reaction, but Gene could always read him better than anyone else: he looks scared, caught off guard. It's an unsettling feeling that settles inside of him, and he realizes the officer's right- they'd be great together, they could very well be compatible, and Jimmy could get back into a Jaeger in no-time if he could drift with Gene.

But he'd been hoping that it would take a little longer for Gene to see action than this. Selfishly, he doesn't want to be the one to introduce his brother to this brand of violence.]

No, sir. [He looks straight ahead, but he knows there's no way out.] Permission to talk to the technicians about trying out compatibility, sir.

[The officer nods, obviously pleased that the Sledge brothers are so eager to help out.]

Dismissed, Sledges. Go on and make us proud.

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d-day + 92 ✯ video & spam

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hope this is ok! moving into compatibility?

totally cool with me 8)

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