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"A rare, unanticipated consequence of the neural handshake is that a crew will sometimes find that their link remains somewhat active (though muted) even after they’ve disconnected from the hardware. This will invariably manifest as shared dreaming. The condition is known to the pilots as ghost-drifting. It is not common, but the first reported case came reliably from Doctor Caitlin Lightcap herself, the inventor of the Pons system. Even so, Doctor Lightcap and the PPDC’s other experts remain at a loss to explain the mechanisms behind this phenomenon." - (x)
The first time it happens, it seems harmless.
Raleigh is at his old school (except it's different), running through the halls, trying to find something. He opens a door onto a brightly-lit room that shouldn't have been there.
"Mako?"
She's standing in the doorway, wearing (he smiles, later, thinking of it) a pink, fluffy bathrobe, holding a toothbrush.
She tilts her head. "Raleigh?"
"Come on, there's no time -"
He grabs her wrist and tries to pull her after him, but she twists her hand and pushes out of his hold (just like in hand-to-hand practice today, he thinks, and starts to realize it's a dream).
"What are you doing? I was just brushing my teeth -"
"We have to... Wait. Are you...?"
"I think -"
He wakes up, covered in sweat, heart pounding like he's just come out of the drift. He gets out of bed, goes to his door; opens it just as Mako opens her door across the hall.
"What the hell was that?" he asks.
Mako (wearing cotton pants and a tank top, not the bathrobe from the dream), stares at him. "Did they teach you about the ghost drift, in training?"
"I... heard of it. I didn't think it was a thing that... actually... happened." He closes his eyes and rubs the bridge of his nose. "What do we do about it?"
Mako shrugs; a gesture borrowed from Raleigh. "We don't need to do anything. It will come and go. Is it so bad," she smiles, a little shyly,"sharing dreams?"
"Not- not bad at all," he manages. "Good night."
"Good night."
Later, lying in his bunk, he turns the question over in his mind until he falls asleep.
---
The second time, it's a lot less innocent.
Sasha Kaidanovsky holds Raleigh's hands behind his back with one hand, her soft breasts brushing his back as she reaches down to run a finger down the cleft of his ass. Aleksis's rough fingers grab Raleigh's chin and hold him still as he unbuttons his fatigues with the other hand.
"Raleigh?" Mako gasps, and he squeezes his eyes shut.
Can you even blush in a dream? he wonders, then (this can't get any worse, can it) opens his eyes and looks to his right.
There's another set of Kaidanovskys; Aleksis holds Mako up in a sitting position, while Sasha has her shoulders under Mako's thighs. Mako looks just as mortified as Raleigh feels (she can blush, anyway), and she wriggles out of the couple's arms and turns away.
"Jesus, Mako, I-"
"I'm s-"
Raleigh wakes up, drenched in sweat again, this time with a raging hard-on. He does not go to the door, but he hears (or thinks he hears) soft footsteps in the room across the hall.
He just breathes for a while, staring at the ceiling, then jerks off (because, seriously, he does need to sleep sometime) and tries not to think of holding Mako the way Sasha held her in the dream.
But still (eyes closing now, body relaxed, residual embarrassment fading) he can't help but wonder what she'd taste like.
---
The embarrassment is back in full force the next morning.
"Mori," he says.
"Becket," she says.
They do not meet each other's eyes.
They take their breakfast trays in silence, Raleigh going to the seat on Herc Hansen's right, Mako going to his left.
"What's wrong, Gipsies? You two break up?" Chuck says, walking past.
Raleigh turns, angry, but Chuck's already gone. "Don't mind him," Hercules says. "Did you get some coffee? You do look like you'll need it today."
Raleigh looks into his mug - black coffee - then wordlessly slides it towards Mako. She exchanges it for her own - coffee loaded with cream, the way Raleigh likes it. They are very careful not to let their hands touch.
Herc's eyebrows go up, but he doesn't say anything. Raleigh shovels food into his mouth and hopes it's not quite so obvious to everyone else.
---
"Again!" Pentecost roars, as Raleigh (stupid, stupid, stupid) lands hard on the mat. Mako mimes a half-hearted punch to his throat, then stands, bowing to Pentecost.
Raleigh gets up slowly, nursing a bruised hip. It had been a bad fall, and a bad throw - especially for Mako, who'd been practicing judo since she was about eight.
Pentecost says something in Japanese, low - control the center, control the opponent - and Raleigh winces. Mako was off her game, sure, but it wasn't her fault that Raleigh flinched away every time she touched him. It threw off their rhythm, making every movement stiff and awkward.
They fall back into kumikata, ready for the next throw. Mako's fingertips barely brush Raleigh's shoulders, and Raleigh maintains the same distance.
"You're never going to get anywhere like that," Pentecost says, stepping up to them and placing their hands firmly on each other's shoulders and chests. Mako meets Raleigh's eyes for the first time that day, and Raleigh feels his ears burn.
"Now, go!" he says, voice booming, and this time it's right.
Raleigh goes for a hip throw, misses. Mako gets him again, this time with a deft leg sweep, and he falls in a graceful arc, landing lightly. He looks up into Mako's dark eyes and swallows hard.
"That's more like it. Get some water, both of you." Stacker eyes them up and down. "Then go take a nap or something. And next time you wake up, I expect you both to be on alert!" Mako and Raleigh both bow, and he leaves.
Mako looks at Raleigh warily.
"Do you have something to say?" he asks, finally.
"Do you?"
"...No."
"Good." Mako turns around and shrugs off her heavy gi, leaving her in a white t-shirt.
"Right." Raleigh follows suit. "I'm going to the showers."
"See you at dinner."
"Okay."
"Bye."
"Bye."
---
They don't talk much at dinner, either, but they do sit next to each other. Raleigh notices Mako looking at the Kaidanovskys' table, once, and he smiles into his bowl of noodles.
Mako sees, and glares at him. "Like you weren't looking," she says, and flicks him in the ribs under the table. Then it's Raleigh's turn to blush.
"Chow fun for dinner, Mako? I'd have thought you'd want a sandwich."
Mako stares at him, scandalized, then starts to giggle. "I should have thrown you harder today."
Raleigh grins. "Don't worry. There's always tomorrow."
---
The third time, it's perfect.
She runs a hand from his jaw to his neck to his chest, leaving his skin tingling in a way that makes his breath rough and fast.
"Mako," he breathes, and she smiles.
"It's alright," she whispers, and leans down to kiss him.
She's straddling him, and he runs his hands up the outsides of her thighs, lifting the hem of her silk nightgown. Her eyes flutter closed, and he watches, fascinated, as her nipples harden and goosebumps race across her skin. Her hands run firmly down his sides, reaching the waistband of his boxers, fingers slipping under. He tightens his hands on her hips, pulling her down, and her breath catches. She can feel him, feel how hard he is, and he can feel her, warm and wet, through the fabric of his boxers. She tugs at his waistband, and he lets her pull them off. Re-settling his hands - one on her hip, one low on her back - he looks up at her.
"You're beautiful," he says.
"Y-you are too," she says, then lifts her nightgown over her head and off, leans down to kiss his ear. She rubs against Raleigh's cock as she moves, and he groans.
"Mako, please -"
"You can be patient," she says into his ear, and there's something in her voice - a restrained fierceness - that makes him shudder and drop his head back. She kisses his throat, then reaches between her legs to touch herself.
He watches, mesmerized, as she brings herself closer and closer to the edge. Finally-
"Ah," she says, biting off the sound, then shudders hard. Suddenly she is kissing his neck, his ear, his throat, and reaching down to take his cock in her hand and guide it into herself.
"Oh, God, Mako -" so good so good so good "- fuck, harder -"
She rides him, his hands on her hips setting her pace. She is flushed and glorious, eyes closed, lashes delicate on her cheeks. Raleigh thrusts up into her, hard, and she makes a little sound in the back of her throat.
Raleigh is close, desperate, then he's coming hard, shuddering, moaning, holding onto Mako's hips like he's drowning and she's all that's keeping him afloat.
They come down slowly, Mako's head pressed into Raleigh's chest.
"Are we going to wake up now?" she wonders out loud.
"I guess so," he says, and does.
By the time he stands up, Mako is at his door. He opens the door and kisses her, hard, not caring that the front of his sleeping pants is damp and sticky. She is flushed and sleepy and beautiful, and she smiles up at him.
"Can I bunk with you tonight?" she asks, almost shy.
"Very forward, Miss Mori."
Her lips quirk up. "You kissed me first."
For once, he can't think of anything to say.