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

[tinstar]

"Oh that's reassuring," he replied with a sarcastic tone and a smirk behind the edge of his lifting coffee cup.

"Yeah actually. You know one too now," he implied with a lift of his eyebrows. "Almost all the bars here got 'em. One night we'll have to go out and play together." Raylan liked pool. It was easy, fun, and he didn't have to think or work too hard. Plus, it went great with a few fingers of scotch.

"Isn't Racquetball basically tennis on a wall to be played by yourself?"

[abrightboy]

"I'd like that a lot," he said softly to the invitation to play pool. Though it was also all the more reason to get better at it. He was about to spear another bite of eggs when Raylan offered his understanding of raquetball.

"Oh, no," he scoffed. "It's extra savage tennis on a wall to be played against someone."

[tinstar]

"How do you make Tennis 'savage'? Or play against someone on a wall?"

He'd heard of the game, just not any of the details of it, and he'd never had a reason to question it before. It wasn't something you did in cowboy boots, so it wasn't for him. Generally, that was a good rule for him to follow - kept him outta places he didn't belong.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm grinned. "Okay, so basically the points system works like tennis or volleyball, where you can only win points on your own serve. The ball has to hit the front wall and can bounce no more than once before it's returned. And since it's a little rubber ball, it can really sting when it gets going."

[tinstar]

Raylan listened, eyebrows lifting a little as Malcolm went on. "Sounds chaotic." He cut the last of his ham into pieces and stabbed one. "I think I'll stick with pool and baseball. There's only minimal savagery there. Well.. Most of the time."

He glanced up between his bites. "You play it a lot?"

[abrightboy]

"I used to," he admitted. "It was a good way to get some stress out when I lived in DC. Haven't played much since I got back to New York."

He looked up at Raylan from under his brow. "Though I kind of like batting now as a stress-reducer."

[tinstar]

"Sounds like a DC/New York thing," he said, eyes narrowing a little in mock suspicion as he took his last bite and started the smallest of clean ups, stacking his silverware and napkin on the empty stacked plates.

"You won't hear any argument from me. Works my shoulders out after gettin' slammed through whatever work puts me in." When his eyes returned to Malcolm's, they were smiling to match the faint, fond pull of his lips. "Plus, your shoulders need to do something different. Make the rest of us feel better about ourselves."

[abrightboy]

"Oh, you mean than axe throwing," Malcolm laughed. "Well, I have to keep up my championship form. What if I want to throw competitively again?" he pointed out. "Oh, hey, I wonder if they have an axe throwing club here..." he mused, looking out the window like he could suss it from their booth.

[tinstar]

"Between that and yoga," he defended with a bob of his head and spread of his smile.

The idea that someplace as lowkey as Lexington might have an axe throwing club made him laugh as he bobbed his head again. "I doubt you'll find one but you might prove me wrong. We're into some weird stuff down here sometimes." Ren fairs, and the like, the only places where he could imagine such a thing really being used and displayed.

"Got clubs for all sorts of things I've never looked into."

[abrightboy]

"See? Lots to do," Malcolm teased. "I'll be fine."

He took one more bite of the eggs, then put his cutlery on it and pushed it towards the centre of the table.

"So did I beat Willa if we subtract what got onto her face instead of into it?"

[tinstar]

He hummed a note as he drained his cup, eyes narrowing playfully before he turned his attention towards Willa and the question that came with it. Huffing a smirk, he bobbed his head. "I think so, yeah. But she's already got you beat on formula so I think it evens out."

Catching the waitresses eye, Raylan lifted his head fractionally and after a moment, nodded as she signialled she'd be over in just a minute.

"Hopefully it'll hold her over til I get back home again. You too. Save room for the lemon Jello later, right?"

[abrightboy]

Malcolm laughed. "Yes, of course. Someone once said 'there's always room for jello', but they did not know what they were talking about." He drained his cup. "I'm looking forward to the barbeque," he admitted. He didn't know how the food would go down, but just... the whole event of it. It was exciting. "I've never been to one where I ate anything."

[tinstar]

"Bill Cosby, I think," he answered as his smirk took over the rest of his features, eyebrows lifting a little. "Yeah? Maybe today'll be the day that changes. I'm lookin' forward to grillin' with a beer, if I'm honest."

The waitress came over with their check and Raylan fished out his wallet for a few bills to drop onto the table before scooting out and collecting Willa from her chair.

"Grab the bag?"

[abrightboy]

Malcolm was happy to grab the bag as he scooted out of the booth.

Most people who held barbeques he'd been to were not interested in cooking a piece of chicken with nothing on it for the weirdo they had to invite because he worked in their office or lived in their building. Like baseball, it was bound to be a thousand times better with Raylan than it had been in any previous experience.

He held on to the bag as they headed out to the car, putting it in the back seat where Raylan could easily retrieve it.

"If you're heading to work, I'm just going..." He gestured vaguely at Lexington. "Make my way from here," he suggested.

[tinstar]

Once he'd gotten Willa back into her car seat, Raylan left the door open as he propped an arm on the top of the car as they talked.

"Are you sure? I can drop you off at the house first, it's not a problem. I don't like just.. leavin' ya here."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm gave him what he hoped was a reassuring grin.

"You're not 'leaving' me here. You're... setting me free to explore. I'll make my way home in the next couple of hours. I'll be there when you're done..." He waved off in what he thought might be the direction of the courthouse. "What you have to do."

[tinstar]

He did not look convinced. "If you're sure." Raylan glanced around before glancing down, shoving the urge to kiss Malcolm goodby into one of his pockets.

"You'll let me know if you need anything, right? I'm not trapped - I can come pick you up some place if I need to."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm's smile was wider and warmer.

"I'll text you if I need rescued," he assured Raylan. "Or if I see something exciting. Or if I miss you too much to not."

[tinstar]

That earned a pull of Raylan's lips and a brief, intense study of Malcolm's features before he nodded again and closed his town car door.

"Alright. I suppose I'll see you later then." Fidgeting with his keys for a second, Raylan turned around and slid in, turning the engine over so he could roll down his window. "If I don't hear from ya, I'll text you before I leave."

Wow, he.. really didn't want to go, but he had to.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm leaned down to look in the window at him.

"You'll hear from me, Deputy," Malcolm assured him lightly, his smile delighted and charmed. "But do that anyway."

[tinstar]

Raylan nodded, face drawn a little too serious as he put the car in reverse and pulled out. There was some small part of him that worried that this was somehow going to be the last time he saw Malcolm. His gut didn't like it one bit.

But the feeling was one he had to chew on as he drove to work. It went much as he expected; all the parents in his office demanded some of Willa's attention, though Art was the worst of them all, and Raylan managed to pawn her off onto Art in exchange for him doing some paperwork. Art was already a grandfather - there was no stopping that softness. After getting some shit for not just taking the day off to spend with his daughter, Raylan finished up what he needed to, some near three hours later, and recollected her with a laugh.

He had a BBQ and a smol New Yorker he wanted to get back to.

After shooting off a text to said smol New Yorker, Raylan got him and his daughter back into the car and on the way home.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm walked in the direction he was pretty sure their apartment building was in, but he was wrong and he ended up in an unfamiliar neighbourhood. That didn't stop him from sending one short simple text at a point about an hour after Raylan drove away from him.

I couldn't not. I love you. Hope you're having fun. I'm lost, but it's for the best. See you soon. xxxooo

By the time he got Raylan's text, he'd found a taxi and made it home, but he'd turned the stereo on and was painting the bathroom to 70's soul music, so he didn't hear his phone beep. He didn't answer the text.

[tinstar]

The text had brought a much needed smile to Raylan's face but something someone said distracted him away from answering it in any kind of time to be worth reading. Still, the words 'I'm lost' didn't do anything to help the feeling he'd left with, despite him repeating and reminding himself that Malcolm was a wholly capable human being.

He'd be fine.

Right?

So maybe Raylan sped a little on the way home, careful to not take it too far or hard - Willa was in the backseat after all, but everything in him was ready to call Winona to come take Willa so he could go find Malcolm.

The sound of music was a welcome break to his tension, though he couldn't help but lift his eyebrows above a curled smile at the music that greeted him. Instead of calling out, he got Willa settled, changed and laid in her playpen for some alone time so he could go and search out Malcolm.

When he found him, Raylan leaned his shoulder face against the outside door frame and grinned. "Hey Earth Wind and Fire. I like the color."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm looked over with a big grin at the sound of his voice, then looked up at the wall he was painting. "Yeah? I hoped you would." He looked over again. "I didn't hear you come in. Must have the music too loud. I hope the neighbours don't complain."

He set the paintbrush down in the tray and stepped over to give Raylan a kiss. "How did it go? Was everyone utterly charmed?" Of course they would be, his expression said.

IS HE PAINTING IN HIS SUIT??

[tinstar]

"I could only just make it out in the hall, I'm sure they're fine," he defended before Malcolm stepped over to collect the kiss Raylan 100% had to give him, hand slinking around his waist.

"'Course they were. Cutest baby they've ever seen. I think she broke a world record on cute or something," he said with a smirk as he stole another kiss. "How did getting lost go? You had me worried there for a minute."