With a quick shift of their pillows, Raylan was comfortable and wrapping Malcolm against him, happy enough to have his arm serve as support for the bit of pillow in between. He listened as he rested his lips onto Malcolm's head, grateful for the slight privacy it brought him.
When Malcolm's head tilted up, Raylan pulled back enough to be drawn into focus and study Malcolm's face in return.
It tumbled out of him before he could stop it. Maybe it was the soft bit of morning they often found themselves in, maybe it was how often his brain had circled around it, maybe it was Raylan's need to claim someone and kiss them in public and be the way he wanted to be in whatever given moment, as much as things would allow, but once the words were out, he didn't regret them and it was a promise he'd break himself to keep.
"Malcolm, when we're settled, when things are right, I'm gonna ask you to marry me. Not because you scream at night or because you're tormented, but because you're a good person who makes me feel.. loved. You make me happy. These... It's fifteen minutes out of my night, and being a rock for you is something that makes me feel good and maybe that means she's right and I'm.. messed up somehow. But I'm messed up by a lotta other old measures that don't count for shit. Nightmares and five minutes of screamin' doesn't make you an emotional invalid. It never will, not in my book."
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When Malcolm's head tilted up, Raylan pulled back enough to be drawn into focus and study Malcolm's face in return.
It tumbled out of him before he could stop it. Maybe it was the soft bit of morning they often found themselves in, maybe it was how often his brain had circled around it, maybe it was Raylan's need to claim someone and kiss them in public and be the way he wanted to be in whatever given moment, as much as things would allow, but once the words were out, he didn't regret them and it was a promise he'd break himself to keep.
"Malcolm, when we're settled, when things are right, I'm gonna ask you to marry me. Not because you scream at night or because you're tormented, but because you're a good person who makes me feel.. loved. You make me happy. These... It's fifteen minutes out of my night, and being a rock for you is something that makes me feel good and maybe that means she's right and I'm.. messed up somehow. But I'm messed up by a lotta other old measures that don't count for shit. Nightmares and five minutes of screamin' doesn't make you an emotional invalid. It never will, not in my book."