No One's Born Broken

[abrightboy]

For tinstar.



Gil came and went. Dani came and went. Ainsley came and then left with their mother, who refused to even hear him out about telling the truth. He stared through the window at the motionless man in the bed for some indeterminate amount of time, his hand clutching his phone in his pocket.

Finally he let his eyes leave the figure through the window and he took his phone out of his pocket. He stared at that for a long moment, then scrolled through his contacts until one name rolled onto the screen: Raylan Givens.

He looked through the window, then looked at the name. Then he pressed it.

Comments

[abrightboy]

"Well, I figured the others stayed somewhere," he admitted. He held Raylan's gaze. "Did it start as just a social obligation, then?" he asked.

[tinstar]

"The social obligation was just a good excuse to get you back into my space again. We didn't talk about happy things at Arlo's and somehow I still almost enjoyed the conversation. That ain't nothin'."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm set his glass on the table and turned to lean his forehead against Raylan's temple, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheekbone, sliding his hand up to thread fingers into his hair.

"How far into your space is ideal?" he murmured.

[tinstar]

Smiling, Raylan tilted his head into all of it before looking over sidelong while his hand settled down almost tightly around Malcolm's waist. "You're gettin' warmer," he husked as impulse took over to kiss Malcolm again with all the feeling he couldn't really articulate. When it broke, he continued.

"And it's real dangerous, bein' all in my space, especially for you.. And that chicken."

There'd never be a question of want here; Raylan's answer would always be an emphatic yes.

"I don't care how we got here. All I want is the rest of forever with you too." Not too much to ask, right?

[abrightboy]

God, that kiss. He was definitely learning the ways Raylan expressed feelings he had a hard time talking about.

He grinned, sitting back slightly, but staying close.

"I'm not going anywhere," he promised. "Except Miami, with you."

He pressed one more kiss to his mouth, then sat up a bit more. "No distracting the chef until after dinner. Got it," he said with a bright smile.

[tinstar]

As much as he would try, Raylan would always be a man who showed, rather than talking, and he was very confident in how clear he could make himself without words. Or with as few as possible.

Raylan let out a sighed soft growl as Malcolm pulled back the second time and he knew if he didn't get up and keep his hands busy, they were going to have take out and a promise to never tell Winona what Willa was in the room for. Maybe tomorrow, when Willa was back with her mother and they were blissfully alone.

"Dangerous dangerous man," he accused as he got to his feet and headed over to check on Willa with a hand she grabbed and threatened to gnaw on before he gently took it back.

"If you wanna help, I forgot tongs and the sauce on the counter?" It would give them both something to do.

In the meantime, he'd peak under the hood of the grill to check the meat and start the clean up he should have done as soon as everything was on the fire.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm grinned at the accusation and did not deny it at all, the expression softening to a happy warmth as Raylan checked on his daughter.

"I always want to help," Malcolm assured him, taking a drink from his glass before heading inside. He delivered the tongs and sauce to Raylan, then went back in and set two places at the table and adjusted Willa's high chair before joining Raylan outside again.

He drew beside him at the grill, quietly watching Raylan turn the meat, paying attention to how it looked and what he did. His phone vibrated in his pocket. He was transfixed on the lesson and he didn't look at the call display as he answered it pretty much on autopilot.

"This is Bright."

His expression became slightly grim as he looked at Raylan instead of the grill.

"Hello, Mother." A beat. "Yes, I am," he said plainly. He frowned faintly as he listened. "So tell them we'll be down there on..." He paused. "No, tomorrow isn't good for me." A frustrated huff of breath. "Don't bring him into this; of course I'll come." A beat. "I know." Another beat. "I know. Okay. See you then."

He disconnected and slid the phone back into his pocket, looking at Raylan miserably. "I have to go back to New York in the morning. I'll probably be gone before Willa is."

He turned and stepped back to the coffee table, picking up his glass and taking a large swallow.

[tinstar]

The tongs and sauce were taken with a soft, fond 'thank you' and Raylan's eyes followed Malcolm back into the house. This felt normal and being the greedy man, he wanted more of that too. Tomorrow, he reminded himself.

The corn, he kept turning every few minutes and it was the first off the grill before he could get into any saucing, but once he had, he leaned his weight against Malcolm as he worked. It'd only be a few more minutes, now.

Raylan glanced over at the call being answered, expression falling a little hard and dry at his greeting. It was never good news. Was she capable of having that? He didn't know. But the suggestion that Malcolm was leaving early had him pinching his eyebrows together as he turned, staying where he was next to the food, eyes on Malcolm.

"What? Why?"

[abrightboy]

"My mother needs me to go with her to see my father about the stabbing. He has to give the police a statement. We have to talk to him before they do. They're moving him back to Claremont in the morning."

He drained his glass and put it down, then stepped back over to Raylan at the grill, looking up at him.

"We have to make sure he agrees to the same story we've told before they take his statement."

[tinstar]

Raylan's lips tightened and his gaze fell to the ground before coming back up to glance at the chicken and met Malcolm's eyes as he stepped over.

He wanted to protest. They had plans. Yet more plans that had to be put off for one reason for another. There was no hiding the disappointment, even through his stoic masks.

"Guess I'm goin' to work tomorrow after all," was his only response before he started off loading the chicken onto the clean plate.

"Don't tell me when you gotta leave until later." Let him enjoy a few more hours of fantasy.

[abrightboy]

It was a good thing that Raylan didn't want him to go, right? But he felt a tightness in his chest that wasn't there before the phonecall as he watched Raylan retrieve the items from the grill with a sad nod at his request.

"Are... are you just going to say Winona picked her up early?" he asked, staying near his elbow as he worked and as he moved.

[tinstar]

Tearing and folding a clean piece of foil, Raylan pulled off Malcolm's lone nonsauced piece before turning it all off and leaving the hood open to vent as much heat as possible.

"She is." So it wasn't a lie. "They're used to her changin' her mind." Hell sometimes they knew things about his ex-wife before he did. "It'll be fine," he assured, pulling up his casual southern small talk charm. "I'm sure Art'll enjoy the extra time leacturin' me on how to not fuck up my daughter."

He headed inside.

"Dare I ask what your mama said about me?"

[abrightboy]

Malcolm picked up Willa from the playpen and followed him. No point making Raylan make two trips while he sat on his ass.

"She asked if I was with you. And when I said tomorrow was bad for me, she asked if I was really going to abandon my family in an hour of desperation to stay here with you. But she was saying something about me, not you, really." He bounced Willa slightly as he lingered just outside of Raylan's elbow room. "It was tempting to say 'yes'."

[tinstar]

Setting down the plates, Raylan hot fingered one piece of sauced chicken and a cob onto his plate without much reaction beyond a faint lift of his eyebrows.

"Might do 'em some good, if I'm honest," he replied darkly as he grabbed a napkin to wipe off his fingers before walking to the kitchen to grab a baby spoon and a couple of jars of food for Willa.

"But she's probably right about needing you up there, considering the situation. Much as I hate to say it."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm nodded, slipping Willa into the high chair.

"I do have to be there for this," he conceded. "I just... of course it has to be tomorrow," he said tightly. "It can't be the next day or... or next week."

He could feel his anxiety ramping. He didn't want to ruin the evening. He didn't know when they'd get the next one. He took a breath and closed his eyes a second, letting it out slowly.

"I should be used to Martin Whitly ruining my life," he sighed, sitting in his chair. "Can I cut one of these in half... or, like, a quarter?" he asked gesturing to the corn cobs. "They're huge."

[tinstar]

"We'll get the time," Ryalan assured, calmer about it, in all his frustrated disappointment than Malcolm's ramping stress.

"Yeah," he said with a pinch of his brow with his nod towards it. "Cut whatever you want. Whatever isn't eaten tonight, I'll eat over the next couple of days. Cold chicken after a long day ain't so bad, really." It was kind of a trashy delight.

"Will you call me and let me know how it goes afterwards? How you're doin'?"

[abrightboy]

"I will call you on the video chat so I can see your face and remember life isn't complete garbage," Malcolm promised him, cutting just the last third of the narrow end of a corn cob. He gestured to the sauceless piece of chicken. "I assume this is mine." It was also way too huge. He cut the last third of it off, too, and put it on his plate.

[tinstar]

"Oh yeah, the computer," he suddenly remembered with a glance towards the bedroom and the small desk area tucked to the side. "Good. That's better than a phone call. Help me sooth my wounded ego, you gettin' stolen away with such short notice.."

Raylan looked over at him. "They.. knew you were coming here, right?"

[abrightboy]

Malcolm cut a small piece of chicken and looked up from under his brow.

"I wouldn't say I announced my intentions, but I'm sure many of them assumed it," he offered, taking the bite. "The flavour is nicer on the barbeque," he noted. "Fuller somehow."

[tinstar]

"Mm," he hummed, glancing down to tear off and eat a piece before turning his attention to Willa, who'd grabbed the spoon and was lightly banging it against her tray.

"It's the fire, though I can't tell ya why. Everything tastes better on it. Smoked meat is better. The wood provides a different flavor, if it's done right."

No opinions or plans here, no sir.

[abrightboy]

"I've had smoked salmon. No other meat smoked, though." He gestured to the corn cob. "Is there a right way to go about that?"

[tinstar]

"With your teeth, like you might see people do with ribs if you don't mind a little work. Otherwise, you can cut it down the vertical and cut off the kernels." Raylan managed to get a few bites into Willa's mouth, though it took all of his focus.

"Chicken doesn't smoke too well, but larger birds do. Turkey. Delis love it. I prefer beefs and porks, myself, but if you ever tasted som'a the BBQ that gets served in the lower hollars, you might even agree with me."

[abrightboy]

He picked up the corn and took an experimental nibble like he'd seen on tv.

"It's nice, fresh off the cob. Sweet." He looked over. "I have trouble with pork and beef. I find them.... I don't know. Heavy. How does seafood smoke? I can handle some fish and seafood."

[tinstar]

"They can be," he granted, after smiling crookedly at Malcolm's approval of the corn. "Moderation bein' key and all. The 'meatsweats' are a thing for a reason. But aside from that, I don't know about seafood. I'm sure someone does. Fish definitely can get smoked. We'll look around, see what we can find. If not here, then in Miami. Might have better luck down there, to be honest."

[abrightboy]

"We'll have a backyard," Malcolm pointed out wistfully. "We can get a smoker and a barbeque," he said, trying another nibble of corn as his eyes lingered on Raylan feeding Willa. "You're going to have me eating solid food at least three times a week," he teased.