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]

Raylan opted to lean in the shower and turn on the water, adjusting it either way with a hand coming to check the stream before he straightened and opened up the curtain to the other side.

"My favorite? Fried Chicken. But you don't wanna order that in - it loses somethin' on the way." With the water set, he stepped in and ducked under the water briefly before fighting with and tossing the small box that held the soap over the curtain rod.

"I can always appreciate a good steak," he offered. See? Simple man.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm picked up the soap box and tossed it in the trashcan, then slipped into the shower.

"Hi," he said, ducking his head under the spray. "Steak? We can do steak. Champagne? Is that too pretentious? Too momentous for the moment? We have the bourbon."

[tinstar]

If Raylan had put a bet on it, Malcolm did exactly what he would have bet on and it made him chuckle as he stepped back to make the room, body already half soaped.

"Hi," he replied, hands already reaching forward to soap Malcolm's chest and stomach as he spoke. "Too pretentious for a new apartment?" He scoffed. "Nothing pretentious about it. Hell, I'm half surprised we didn't get struck by lightning on the way out, outta spite. That's gotta be worth a bottle at least, right?"

[abrightboy]

Malcolm grinned. "Part of me is telling me to play it cool, but I actually want to make a really big deal about it," he admitted, looking around for shampoo and then grabbing the little bottle off the shelf. "I've never lived with anyone. I'm excited." He squeezed shampoo into his hand and then reached up to work it into Raylan's hair.

[tinstar]

Raylan slid one slick hand up Malcolm's neck and jaw so he could bend down and kiss this silly, wonderful man he'd fallen in love with. It wasn't the first time Raylan had lived with anyone, but he was excited too.

"Make a big deal outta it then," he said when it broke. Just this once, at least. "Because it is one. This is the first place I've had with someone in.. shit, almost ten years. I'm excited too," he admitted, hands sliding around Malcolm's waist so he could wash his back and still find an excuse to be against him.

"But I think we should be celebrating in the apartment too. Maybe we'll do that by having a drink on the terrace together when I get home tomorrow."

[abrightboy]

"Jim Beam?" he suggested. "And our first sunset there?"

He leaned up for one more kiss before walking them both a couple of steps to put Raylan's hair under the spray. "Right after the furnished grand tour," he said. "Tilt your head back."

[tinstar]

Raylan smiled. "Sounds perfect." And it really did.

Malcolm's kisses would never not broaden his smile and Raylan let himself be shifted and moved around until he was under the stream and tilting his head back as told, closing his eyes as the soap was washed from his hair.

"Lookin' forward to how you dress the place up. You did your own in New York, right?"

[abrightboy]

"I did," he conceded, moving back to bring Raylan out of the spray again so he could smooth conditioner through his hair. "But I have constructive feedback on that to improve the experience," he noted with a grin. "Couch: must be comfy, for example."

[tinstar]

The soap was set down on the small jutting bit of wall that served as the soap holder so that he could rinse his hands off in the stream that was running off Malcolm again, rinsing Malcolm's back while he did it.

"Just don't go too far the other way," Raylan warned with a grin. "Nothing comfortable about sitting down and feeling like the couch is going to eat you whole. Maybe a loveseat or something to go with a few chairs on the terrace too, so we can sit together, hold hands." Because that's how it played out in his mind.

With his hands clear, Raylan started raking them gently through Malcolm's hair, letting the water get to the roots that Malcolm's thick hair otherwise diverted as best it could so he could get some shampoo into his hands and into Malcolm's hair after a step back from the water.

[abrightboy]

He smiled at the image, tilting his head up to help Raylan's fingers get the water through his hair.

"The loveseat faces west," he said. "Our favourite spot gets the sunset view."

He had some idea what he wanted to put in the apartment and how wanted to lay it out. He had things in mind specifically for Raylan, and he wanted to surprise him.

[tinstar]

"For whenever we're actually there to catch 'em. Days off or something. Vacation." He was so ready to start the rest of their lives together.

"Step back," he said, turning his soaping fingers into rinsing ones. "What are you gonna get for supper? Where are we getting it?"

Now he was starting to get hungry.

[abrightboy]

"They have room service here. They have steak on the menu," Malcolm told him, closing his eyes as Raylan worked the shampoo out of his hair. "I'm sure they can get us a bottle of champagne."

[tinstar]

"You're gonna spoil me on room service alone," he warned with a chuckle as his hands moved Malcolm's head back and forth with the gentle scrubs of fingertips in his hair. One hand slipped around his neck to urge him forward a step so Raylan could get some conditioner and work that in.

"We don't even have to get dressed after this. We can order in, wrap up in those big fluffy robes and enjoy the quiet."

[abrightboy]

Eyes still closed, Malcolm's smile broadened.

"That sounds great," he breathed, his hand finding Raylan's hip to rest there, just for the connection. "Should we have some fluffy robes hanging in the bathroom at the apartment? For nights like that?"

[tinstar]

He hummed at the answer and chuckled at the question, eyes preoccupied with Malcolm's smiling face. God it looked good on him.

"Yes. Since showering together seems to be a habit of ours. Word to the wise, maybe not white. It shows everything." Stealing the opportunity, Raylan leaned down and pressed a kiss to Malcolm's lips. "You look good like this."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm laughed lightly and cracked an eye open. "Wet and naked or entirely entrusted into your hands?" he clarified with a grin, closing his eye again to finish getting his hair rinsed out. "Navy blue is a nice colour. Or charcoal grey."

[tinstar]

"Add Smilin' onto that list, and yes." All yes.

"I like either. Or black. Black is easy." Raylan's fingers carded out and slipped down Malcolm's neck. "All done." Now for his own hair. Unless Malcolm took that over - he was in the way currently, after all.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm slipped around him to get him under the spray; he would not be deprived of the pleasure. He slid his fingers up into Raylan's hair, working the conditioner out.

"I'll see what they have."

The expression on his face as he carefully rinsed Raylan's hair wasn't fully a smile, but it was peacefully thoughtful. Peace was another emotion not often seen on his face. Raylan was setting records all over the place.

Once he was done, he pulled the curtain back, letting Raylan get the water while he grabbed the towels, passing one to Raylan when he was ready.

"What's your favourite book?" he asked. Yes, he had been thinking about that library request.

[tinstar]

Keeping his head at a careful angle, Raylan kept his eyes cracked so he could see Malcolm, however blurry around the edges it was as his hair was rinsed out, fingertips propped on his skin as he worked. Peace looked almost as good as Malcolm's smile - Solid second place.

His eyes followed Malcolm as he stepped out and with one last rake of his hands through his hair, Raylan turned around and turned off the shower before taking the offered towel. Opting to dry off the worst of the wet in the shower, Raylan stepped out with a hum as he rubbed his hair mostly not sopping wet.

"Favorite?" He shrugged with his face. "Got a few but.. I wore out a copy or two of Battlefield Earth. Ender's Game. Louis L'amour.. I like Asimov."

Raylan wrapped the towel around his waist and tucked in the corner to secure it on his lean hips. "Don't know how that stands up to anything else, but they got me outta my head when I was younger." He eyed Malcolm. "What about you? What do you read that isn't textbooks or files?"

[abrightboy]

Malcolm laughed delightedly at the question.

"Not that I'm not a huge fan of textbooks and files," he allowed, dropping his towel on the floor to grab a robe off the hook. He offered the first one to Raylan. "But I've always loved Dumas. Verne. And detective stories. When I was little, I had every Hardy Boys book, but I eventually graduated into Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle and PD James."

[tinstar]

That was the biggest difference between them as readers - Raylan had to work though textbooks and didn't care much for files, but anything outside of that, he could sink his teeth into with gusto.

"I can't see you doing any other job, with those titles," he said with a chuckle as he took the robe and slung it on, adjusting the belt a little but ultimately leaving it open as he waited for and followed Malcolm out of the bathroom.

From the floor, his phone dinged and he frowned at it before stepping around Malcolm with a light passing touch to fetch it. He lit the screen with a button press and then sighed and looked over at Malcolm.

"It's Winona. You okay if I take this?" He wasn't going to step out of the room or ask Malcolm to leave but he wanted to make sure Malcolm could.. he wasn't sure. Handle it.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm looked over from tying his robe at the question. "Hm? Yeah; go ahead," he said.

He bent over and picked up his towel, tossing it into the shower.

[tinstar]

With a press of the button, Raylan was lifting it up to his ear.

"Winona. Everything okay?" There wasn't enough volume for her answers to carry. But as the silence in the room stretched on, Raylan frowned softly.

"Yeah, sure. No, no, I can.. figure it out. Tomorrow?" He looked over at Malcolm. "Can you do the day after? I got a thing tomorrow." Another too long silence passed, more than would ever be needed for a simple answer and Raylan sighed again, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Sure. No problem." He hung up and stared at his phone for a minute before looking back up at Malcolm.

"Well. I don't know if you're ready for this but.. Winona is droppin' off Willa for a few days, tomorrow evening. I said I'd watch her."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm looked at him. "You're going to have the baby when you come home tomorrow? Do you need me to pick anything up for her? A... playpen or something? Where does she sleep?" he asked, a little excited.

It didn't occur to him that Winona might drop her off at their apartment in the evening; he assumed she'd drop her off with Raylan before he left work.

[tinstar]

"Babies tend to travel with their own playpens. Winona will bring the supplies, though extra wipes probably wouldn't be bad to have. Apparently," he explained, as he reached for Malcolm, hand sliding around his neck as he stepped close again, "-we can never have enough."

Raylan watched Malcolm carefully as he continued. "Are you sure you're okay with this? Meeting her? Dealing with a baby?"