#pacificsharp

@thegoodxcaptain

Well it was safe to say that, since the frankly overdramatic spat with the Steve the Shrimpy Scientist, Nevaeh’s week had gone from bad to worse. Her supervisor had found out about her taking the simulator for a joyride and consequently banned her from all activities that weren’t strictly training for the next week. According to him, it wouldn’t have been so bad if she hadn’t performed so goddamn poorly. “If that’s how you show off for your boyfriend, no wonder you only have hookups,” were his exact words.

She took it lying down this time, though. Two weeks ago she might have argued, at least on the boyfriend subject, if nothing else. But she shut up and stood at attention until he was done, probably surprising him. The reason was, despite her attempts to convince herself otherwise, Steve. She shouldn’t have pushed him so hard. Arguing with him was one thing, but shoving him into a sim jaeger where he knew he wouldn’t do well was just cruel and unusual punishment. Maybe he did have a hero complex, but it wasn’t like anyone was actually going to put him in a real jaeger. She had a pretty sharp bite when she wanted, but she’d never thought of herself as actually mean. Her actions with Steve could have easily been considered downright bullying.

Nev wasn’t a bully. She’d been bullied, had kids at school avoid her because they knew her mom’s reputation, had girls call her a little slut, had boys push her around because to them, she was just easy. She’d fought all of them for it, so why the hell wouldn’t Steve fight her? Usually people deserved the venom in her tongue, but she might have missed the mark on this one.

for @thegoodxcaptain

"STEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVE!”

Wade’s voice rang out throughout all of the lab he shared with Steve Rogers as he burst through the door carrying two very large take away cups of coffee and a very large bag of donuts and other tasty baked goods. Scientists needed fuel if they were going to make the discovery of the century that could save the world and make them heroes!

Everyone always went on about the jaeger pilots being the heroes. Nope. Without scientists and engineers, those pilots would be nothing. It was about damn time the so-called puny, geeky scientists showed those big shots a thing or two. And Wade was sure today was the day he and Steve were going to achieve that. But first? Breakfast!

“Stevie my darling sweet boy! You home? I have donuts!”

Wade put the coffee and the bag of donuts down on one of the workbenches in the lab. He picked one cup up and sipped it while he looked over the latest scrawl of equations and statistics on one of the whiteboards Steve liked to use. Most of what was written there was gobble-de-goop to Wade but that’s because he was a biologist, not a physicist or chemist or whatever the hell Steve was.

Involved in the Pacific Rim AU (#pacificsharp)? Then this is for you!

Wade was excited to say the least. He was getting a delivery and it was like all his birthdays and Christmases and any other gift giving type occasion had all come at once. This was the one he was been waiting for and rabbiting on about to his lab partner Rogers for weeks. This was the one that was going to make a difference to his research into what makes kaijus tick and once he had that breakthrough, he was going to shove it in all of the doubters’ faces.

But before all of that, he had to get his hands on the damn thing.

He waited out on the concourse where all delivery came in. He was bouncing on his heels, unable to contain his excitement. He babbled away to himself, not caring if anyone happened to listen in on his nonsense or judged him for it. This was the most exciting thing to ever happen to him since someone had (foolishly) agreed to give him a job as a kaiju specialist. 

His shipment came in and he barked at the guys bringing it in to him to be more careful with the cargo. The whole thing was covered in “fragile” and “handle with care” stickers but Wade couldn’t help himself; another symptom of his over-excitement. He signed for it and began wheeling the shipment back inside and back to his lab. The box itself was nearly as tall as Wade was (and he was 6 foot) and almost as equally wide. Inside was the closest Wade was ever going to get to an actual living, breathing kaiju.

It was nearly impossible to escape the sound of heavy machinery inside the Shatterdome. Pick any time of day or night and you could hear people hammering away on the newest jaeger or fixing up ones that had just come back from a fight. The raging cacophony could still be heard even from the dorms, so at that point it was a matter of being unable to beat them, therefore joining them.

Nevaeh liked to hang around the catwalks at the jaeger dock, watching the engineering teams work and the pilot teams practice. She didn’t have a partner yet. She hadn’t signed on very long ago, and she had been approved for jaeger operation, but no one had been found drift compatible with her yet, so she remained a cadet. She didn’t come here just to sit around waiting to “click” with someone. This wasn’t speed dating, it was war.

At least she wasn’t in a shitty apartment anymore. Kaiju were hard to escape when your only decent cover was a back alley.

Getting up from her spot on the catwalks, Nevaeh made her way down to the floor, past the teams doing… team things (basketball? under the jaeger?) and on to the back of the docks. She’d been assigned to a nearly-finished jaeger whenever a partner could be found. It was a 300 foot monster named Mississippi Grind and painted glossy black and cobalt blue. All the standard features were on it, plus a massive blade that came from the right hand, and an expandable shield on the left. The shield could take a ridiculous amount of damage, or so the engineers promised, and it could expand so large that the whole jaeger could crouch behind it if the need arose. The rig was insane, and she’d already done a few simulations for it. If only she could pilot it alone, there wouldn’t be a need for this stupid hunt to find someone who’d like her.

As she approached the right foot of the titanic machine, she caught sight of a brown trenchcoat and a mop of blond hair. “And what the hell are you doing over her?” she asked, crossing her arms. She knew exactly who it was: the tiny scientist that worked upstairs. Steve Whatever. He was always yelling about something, shouting science crap at people even though nobody understood. He was too small and skinny to be starting fights like that, but the little nerd seemed to have it in his head that his muscles were as big as his brain. “Don’t you have some Kaiju dick to dissect instead of fuckin’ around with my jaeger?”