#Before I get to write it down though. I think fdb should get to kiss them when he learns who they are

[mx-myth]

So here's the mlc pacific rim au finally (told in bullets because that's usually how I do things when I'm not frantically typing and instead frantically writing on sticky notes)

(Titled "mlc pacific rim aka drift au" funnily enough)

Lxy and dfs who were rivals during Jaeger training

By the end they learn they're extremely drift-compatible but due to a freak event where they have to emergency-pilot a Jaeger lxy gets an injury that makes him permanently unable to pilot forever

Dfs also gets injured badly but not as severely and does recover after a few years

But no one for the next several years is drift-compatible with him so he just. Stays at the dome

He's a stellar pilot (aced all of his training) but everyone knows him as the man who is rapidly leaving his prime piloting age (which I'm somewhat making up. Think of it like how athletes have a "prime" age)

Lxy becomes a pilot trainer at the dome and he and dfs do become friends eventually but the bitterness of what they could have been always tinges their relationship

But a few to several years later fdb shows up for Jaeger pilot training. He's very good, though his file is all about how sickly he was as a child (lxy likes him and thinks he's quite promising - "He reminds me of us, feisheng")

They do a preliminary drift-compatibility test in the class at one point and it turns out fdb is compatible with exactly no one in the class. Lxy observes how much it depresses him and how he throws himself into his training as a result of it (lxy: "he reminds me of you, feisheng") (dfs, who at this point still hasn't seen fdb yet: "fuck off")

(Little do they know that the reason fdb wants to be a Jaeger pilot so badly is because he saw the Jaeger Lotus Tower save his home city live on TV when he was in the hospital. Something something lxy and dfs gave him a reason to live)

Dfs assists lxy in one of his classes because he's curious about this boy lxy talks about sometimes (he complains about all of his students but when referring to fdb he always ends up praising him a little, which dfs notices) and

Dfs, literally vibrating: xiangyi. I'm going to fight him

Lxy, who has also wanted to do that since forever: lol just don't kill him and stay in the sparring ring

(It is a beautiful match. Dfs hasn't felt this alive since he was in the drift with lxy. Fdb hasn't felt this alive since he saw Lotus Tower on TV)

(Not that he knew that it was dfs and lxy who saved him. Not that he knows that now)

Lxy notices how they seem to click and Meddles(TM)

(He's resigned himself to a future devoid of the passion and youth of his past. But he won't let dfs rot away too)

So the next time his class test drift-compatibility he drags along dfs

Dfs digs his heels in and is like. Xiangyi. Why am I here. These are Kids.

Lxy: "you'll see. Fang duobing, come here"

Basically he whips out a stack of paperwork and launches into a spiel of how he petitioned the higher-ups for an opportunity for dfs and fdb to test their drift-compatibility as he shoves them into the testing unit)

(It is, perhaps, the moment when fdb begins to look at lxy like he hung the moon)

(It is, perhaps, the moment when dfs finally sees a bit of the old lxy return)

Fdb and dfs turn out to be just as drift-compatible as lxy and dfs once were (and still are.)

They begin training together. Dfs feels alive again. Fdb feels like he's finally living properly

Lxy has another one of his Hunches(TM)

When they complete partner training and are now certified co-pilots he smugly presents them with a repaired Lotus Tower (who has basically when sitting in what amounts to the Jaeger garage for years). Dfs has the hugest smile on his face ever. Fdb cries

(This is mildly alarming for the two of them. Lxy and dfs have no idea how he loved (loves) the Lotus Tower and loved (loves) them as the ones who gave him a reason to continue living)

(Fdb tells them how the Lotus Tower and her only pilots saved his life. Dfs and lxy are stunned)

(Yes, Lotus Tower was built for them. They were her only pilots. They had no idea that the only time they had ever piloted - the only city they had ever saved from destruction by kaiju - would have such a huge impact on anyone, much less that they would ever meet anyone they had saved)

Lxy: "duobing..."

Dfs: "xiangyi." (What he doesn't say: tell him.)

They tell him. Fdb cries even more. He hugs then. Maybe he even kisses them. (He loves them. He loves them so much. He loves them as the pilots of Lotus Tower who saved his life. He loves them as his new co-pilot and his instructor. To find that they're one and the same - is it not fate?) (He can't believe that he'll be Lotus Tower's third pilot; this must be a dream. He loves her too)

(By the way. Huli Jing is lxy's dog. They go everywhere together. She is Constantly Underfoot Being Adorable. Fdb brings her treats during his classes)

Extra stuff I'm making up RIGHT NOW

Lxy and dfs held onto their drift as long as they could. As a result it never completely fizzled out (does the drift ever leave, after all? Do you ever lose that kind of connection?). Once they both recovered fully from their injuries they drifted properly in the testing units at every chance they got (it was a trapping of co-dependency) (it was also the sort of thing to get lxy barred from any promotions and permanently confine him to be an instructor) (Not that he ever wanted to move up. Not that he ever even cared). By the time fdb comes around they're only stealing drifts a couple times a year

Lxy and fdb are also just as strongly as drift-compatible. They're able to very tangentially feel each other through dfs. Dfs gets tired of seeing fdb wince when lxy stubs his toe (often)/lxy grab his water when fdb burns his tongue eating too fast and shoves them both in a testing unit. Lo and behold.

(All this results in is that they start playing video games that use technology that essentially is just a baby drift. They play a mystery/crime thriller story game set in historical China and fdb and lxy get really competitive over who can solve the cases first. Dfs just wanders about enjoying the graphics and occasionally being the Owner of the Braincell and less often acting as the cannon they point at npcs because he chose the warrior-type character with a bad reputation) (Yes it's mlc as a game)

Dfs and lxy shared a cabin as co-pilots but now live separately in two of the permanent suite residences in the dome. Fdb gets one on a technicality of "Well your co-pilot is refusing to give up the nice cushy lodging we gave him"/"Oh your mom is actually rich from inventing and patenting a bunch of the technology we use you can have a suite too" (that's how lxy and fdb find out fdb is kind of a rich boy) (but he spends more time in lxy's rooms or dfs' anyway)