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]

Malcolm looked at the little fridge, then at Raylan as he stood up. ”Sure." It sounded like a good idea to him, in fact. "Bourbon, right? What brand do you like?" he asked curiously, picking up the phone. "And do you want any food?"

[tinstar]

"Jim Beam and any cheeseburger they can find," he replied as he pulled his jacket off, turning to toss it over the back of the couch so that he could tug his tie free and open a few buttons on his shirt.

With a sigh, Raylan slipped behind and wrapped around Malcolm, leaning his face into his hair softly.

"I'd love to see you eat too. Especially if you're gonna have a drink with me. You are gonna have a drink with me, right?"

[abrightboy]

The warmth of Raylan at his back stilled his hands for the moment and he closed his eyes.

"After today, a drink sounds pretty good. I'll see if they have any kind of a soup I can eat. Something hot sounds appealing, too."

He set one hand on Raylan's arm around his middle, dialing with the hand holding the receiver. Once he was assured that a cheeseburger with fries, chicken noodle soup and a fifth of Jim Beam were on their way, he hung up and turned around in Raylan's arms so he could wrap his own arms tightly around Raylan and lean his forehead into Raylan's temple with a hum as tension eased noticeably out of his body.

[tinstar]

He hummed his acknowledgement and approval, lifting his head only so Malcolm could order without having to deal with the weight of it. When Malcolm turned around, Raylan shifted his grip to accomedate and held Malcolm tightly against him as he breathed in the subtle scent of Bright that haunted him, now that he knew what Malcolm smelt like.

They stood there for a good 45 seconds before Raylan took another deep breath and pressed a kiss to Malcolm's forehead. He already felt better.

"Once we get to Miami, I'm gonna be hard pressed to spend a night away from you for a long time," he breathed out, the exhaustion and happiness paired with relief in his voice.

[abrightboy]

"We'll be very stocked up on being apart," Malcolm agreed. He lifted his head and gave Raylan a kiss, soft, slow and tender. The proper, proper 'hello, I missed you' kiss he'd been yearning to give him since he got on the plane to Kentucky.

"Hi," he murmured contentedly as it broke.

[tinstar]

Raylan let himself curl into a question mark around Malcolm as they kissed. He hummed again as the kiss broke and smiled softly. "Hi." His eyebrows lifted with it, a greeting with his whole expression.

"Welcome home." He'd missed this feeling, the warmth that sprouted in him when Malcolm was against him. "I need this more regularly in my life, not gonna lie," he said, smile spreading a little. "Never been into addiction, aside from my drinkin', but you're a dangerous one."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm's smile spread slow and wide.

"I might be safer than drinking," he teased, pressing another gentle kiss to his mouth. "I'm almost certainly safer than drinking. I mean. Unless another axe murderer decides to kill everyone I love, but I feel like you could have taken him."

[tinstar]

"You are," Raylan promised with a smile as he met the kiss. "I'm sure I could have. My gun isn't ever far from me and I've put people I like more down for less."

Killing to protect Malcolm was something that Raylan was more than okay with.

"Hope I don't have to take out the bellboy."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm laughed.

"The bellboy? I don't think he's a killer. Though in the interest of full disclosure, I think he was flirting with me when he brought my bag up, but you don't have to shoot him; he was bad at it."

[tinstar]

"Does that mean I get to shoot the ones that are good at it?" he teased with a grin before he leaned down to steal another kiss. When it broke Raylan hummed, eyes slow to open again as they cracked to peek at Malcolm's face. "Now that's what I needed."

Hugs and kisses were.. magical things now. It was strange in the best way.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm smiled as the kiss broke. Being the remedy for the heaviness of Raylan's days was heady and, no matter how many times they kissed, those kisses still stirred delighted butterflies and coiled arousal in his stomach.

"You could, at least, threaten to. Who am I to stop you from being all gallant and hot in..."

He was interrupted by a knock at the door and looked in that direction, but didn't let go of Raylan straight away.

"Food and drinks," he said.

[tinstar]

Raylan's face curled in amusement at the halted question, very curious as to what other flattering adjectives Malcolm could apply to him.

"Gallant and hot, huh?" He stole another brief peck of a kiss as he stepped away, lifting a finger at Malcolm. "You stay right there."

When the door opened, an employee announced himself as 'Room Service' and Raylan let them in, watching them as they left again from the same spot and locking the door behind them. That was it - that was the last of the outside world that Raylan was willing to affably deal with tonight.

Gun, tie, and overshirt abandoned, Raylan came back to wherever Malcolm had settled with their food, looking far more comfortable then he had before.

[abrightboy]

While Raylan took care of the pleasantries, Malcolm shucked his waistcoat and tie and toed off his shoes, but - as requested - stayed where he was. The hotel employee had set the food and the bottle of Jim Beam on the table, but Malcolm snagged Raylan by a belt loop as he returned and tugged him back into his arms for one more kiss (right where he was).

"Gallant and hot in my defense," he concluded with a broad smile.

[tinstar]

He was easily snagged, smile broad as he was tugged in and he wrapped around Malcolm with another throaty hum of approval at the warmth of the kiss.

"This is not the way to get me to let go of you long enough to eat but you did do as you were told, for once," he teased. "I'll be hot and gallant as often as the situation demands it from me, anytime darlin'," he promised before stealing another kiss - he couldn't get enough of them, like he was stocking up for their next break apart.

"C'mon," he said with a gentle pat on Malcolm's hip to break away to the table, one hand catching Malcolm's to just as gently drag him along. "Come eat with me."

[abrightboy]

"The rewards system makes me want to do the things you ask," he teased as he followed him - gladly - to the table, squeezing his hand before letting go to sit down and pry the lid off his container of soup. He gave it a little stir with the spoon, and then took his experimental first bite, then put his spoon down to see how that sat. It came with a roll and a little container of butter. He pushed them towards Raylan and gestured to the bourbon. "Do you care to do the honours?"

[tinstar]

"Didn't know we had one of those," he replied, utterly unbothered and completely charmed by the idea. Raylan had fallen right into rewarding him, but he knew that wasn't ever going to change. Sitting down, Raylan popped his own lid off to inspect the food with a little nod.

He glanced at the roll being pushed towards him and the bourbon and nodded again, cracking the bottle open and pouring two fingers worth in each glass. "We've earned these," he commented as he spun the cap back on and set the bottle to the side in favor of picking up a fry and popping it into his mouth.

"And to think I was gonna go home to a bar and eat god knows. Probably more peanuts. I'm gonna have to watch my salt intake til I get outta there."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm smiled broadly.

"Are you going to stave off heart disease just to spend more time with me?" he noted. He picked up his glass. "In that case..." He held it up to propose a toast. "To the day when we can start harassing each other about what we eat every day," he said cheekily.

[tinstar]

"I might." Strange the things that happened when you really had someone to live for. "You and Willa." He lifted his glass, clinking it against Malcolm's gently and watching him steady over the edge as he took a sip.

"Hear, hear," he sounded as he set his glass back down, picking up half of his neatly cut burger to take a big bite. Raylan was hungry and the burger and fries did not last long. It was the quickest he'd eaten in front of Malcolm but he'd also never been this hungry in front of him before.

When he'd finished, he snapped up his drink and leaned back with a heavy, satisfied sigh. "Oh my god that was good," he breathed.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm finished maybe a third of his soup in that time, but gamely took another bite.

"I'd love to enjoy eating something," he said, setting his spoon down to take a sip of bourbon. "To really enjoy it, instead of it being... I don't know. A biological obligation that my body mostly rejects."

[tinstar]

"What.. what stops you? Why is your mind so against food? What happens up there?" He wanted to know, honestly - there was no correction here, Malcolm was doing what he could and Raylan could only strive to understand the reasons.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm thought about how to explain it.

"You know when you're really nervous about something? Like... public speaking or... I don't know. A review? And your stomach knots up and you feel sick? I feel like that all the time, thanks to severe anxiety and also the medication for anxiety." He shrugged. "I don't really even remember what it feels like to not be at least vaguely nauseated."

[tinstar]

Raylan hummed and frowed softly, nodding in understanding. His Opinions about Malcolm's Medications would be kept to himself - what did he know, but it only reinforced his theory.

"I wish you could. And you've.. never been off your meds since the doctors put you on them? How.. how do they know they're working?"

[abrightboy]

"I haven't been on the same medications all this time. It's a constantly evolving thing. The body gets used to one, it loses its effectiveness, they trade it out for another. They change combinations and dosages. But...I've occasionally been off of them. I miss a dose now and then when I get caught up in something... it's not good. I hope you never see me... fully unbalanced."

[tinstar]

Raylan could only shake his head a little, face pinched in consternation.

"Alright." He drained his drink and poured another and tried to change the subject.

"So, you talked about Tim but how did Rachel take you showin' up?"

[abrightboy]

Malcolm watched Raylan's face. He could see he wasn't happy with Malcolm's answer. He pressed his lips together, turning his glass around on the table, but answered the question asked.

"Suspiciously. She didn't seem quite convinced that anyone would ever visit Kentucky to visit Kentucky."

He paused and looked from his glass to Raylan. "Do you remember the hallucination I had at my mother's house?"