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]

Grinning, Raylan filled his glass up and set the bottle away with a glance towards Malcolm as he shifted seats. When he sat back, one arm found a spot over the back of Malcolm's chair.

"And all the days we get to have together," he finished, gently clicking their glasses together and taking a small sip before letting his arm slide onto Malcolm's shoulder and pull him into a gentle sidehug.

"No matter what happens, darlin', I'm glad we're together." Just in case Malcolm was even fractionally worried.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm was always fractionally worried that he would become Too Much, somehow. That abated a bit at a time as Raylan remained resolutely at his side, but some part of him still worried like a background hum that nobody could take his nonsense forever.

He pressed a kiss into Raylan's shoulder, taking a sip from his glass before resting his head there.

"I think I'll just get one bookshelf to start with. When we get to Miami, we can expand it to a whole wall."

[tinstar]

He hummed at the kiss and turned his glass this way and that before looking down at the statement and curling a smile.

"That's probably a good idea. Books are heavy and all." Raylan took a deep breath and let it out. "I don't think it'll really set in that this is real until tomorrow when I'm walkin' in the door."

[abrightboy]

"That's why it has to be perfect when you walk in the door," Malcolm said, taking a sip without lifting his head from where it rested against Raylan's shoulder. "This is the dress rehearsal for Miami and I want it to make you happy. Like a personal paradise to go back to whenever you leave the office, even if I'm not there and it's only a few hours."

[tinstar]

"Malcolm, as long as you're there, I don't care what it looks like. You are a personal paradise, you know that, right?" he asked with a serious look at him. "You already make me impossibly happy, I doubt you can top yourself."

[abrightboy]

His smile spread delightedly as Raylan spoke.

"But it won't stop me from trying," he pointed out with a laugh. He lifted his head, pulling his legs up so he was sitting on his knees on the chair facing Raylan, still holding his glass. "I'm going to get a laptop for the apartment so you can video chat with Willa from there instead of your office," he explained excitedly. "Then you can video with me too."

He couldn't from the Marshals' office for obvious reasons.

"So I can see you when I'm not here."

[tinstar]

That brought a different kind of smile to his face, one that warmed his eyes a little differently than just his standard loving gaze.

"Far be it from me to stop you then," he said, smile breaking slowly into a grin. "You want to video chat?" It was charming, somehow. A bridge he had to cross to see his daughter getting used to keep him close to Malcolm. He didn't know why he didn't think about it.

"Sure you're not gonna get sick of seeing my grainy face?"

[abrightboy]

He set his glass down and scooted closer, sliding one hand up onto his shoulder and ran his fingertips along Raylan's jaw with the other.

"I might be a little sad that I can't touch it, but seeing it is better than not seeing it," Malcolm told him.

[tinstar]

There was no helping Raylan's shifting to face Malcolm and lean forward a little, arm providing leverage on the back of the chair as he looked over Malcolm's features.

"I don't know if I've said it today but I love you." Leaning forward, Raylan kissed him, arm falling again to settle on Malcolm's back and he continued as the kiss broke. "Since you won't be able to touch it, seems only fair and right, in my opinion. For both of us."

He liked Malcolm touching him and the way it grounded him in warmth and security, though he couldn't quite say why he felt secure beyond the raw country ideas that he was going against so openly with such a comforting place to figure it out in.

[abrightboy]

Hearing those words always, always warmed him through and he stayed close when the kiss broke.

"How about if you finish your steak," he suggested, pressing another kiss to his lips, "and then you take me to bed."

[tinstar]

It was intrinsically important to Raylan that he say or hear those words at least once a day or once per conversation if Malcolm wasn't in state. He hummed again into the kiss and smiled at the suggestion.

"I like that idea." He stole one more kiss, a little longer than it strictly needed to be before turning back to his plate, eyes still sidelong on his lover. "Might not even make it through the rest."

He would, but the sentiment was still the same. Raylan wanted to sink and soak in their mutual touches and kisses, little breaths and sighs, whatever that looked like in any given moment.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm curled up on the chair, up against his side again, head on his shoulder again.

"I love you too," he said, fiddling with the stray belt of Raylan's robe, watching Raylan's hands work as he cut the steak. He picked up his glass, taking a sip.

[tinstar]

His smiled pulled as he popped another bite into his mouth, warmth curling up in his chest. He liked all of it; the soft way Malcolm's eyes turned when he said it, the way he was fiddling with the robe belt, the way it felt like Malcolm didn't want to be outside of arms length. A sentiment he wholly agreed with.

The steak was finished in short order and Raylan drained his glass again before looking over with a pull of his lips.

"I hope I get to see you eat more than that tomorrow," he started with a little nod at Malcolm's soup. "We're not allowed to argue before supper anymore."

Pushing his chair back, Raylan stood up and held a hand out to Malcolm. They had a big bed to take advantage of before their privacy was stunted by the most beautiful little girl.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm took the hand gladly, letting it pull him to his feet as he glanced in the direction of the bowl he'd taken maybe three bites from.

Food. He pulled a bit of a face at it. Had it been an argument? He hadn't intended it to be and he still had a lot of concerns about that situation, all revolving around protecting Raylan's heart, but he could set them aside for the moment.

As they walked to the bedroom, Malcolm looked up at him, sidelong. "You said soundproofing is easy to find and you can install it? How does that work? It doesn't have to be inside the wall? You can just... " He searched for a verb but it eluded him. "What do you just 'do'?"

They hadn't really had time to prepare the apartment for even them to live in before Willa's impending arrival, but he was sure the soundproofing concern was for her benefit much more than their neighbours'.

[tinstar]

They hadn't gotten to what Raylan would call a fight, but there was enough contention, in his mind, to get them to 'argument' status. But it didn't matter - they'd come through it without anyone yelling or storming out, and were ending the happy. Success.

"It's just extra padding on the walls. Eggshell foam. People who play games on line with the.. Camera. .thing," Raylan started, shrugging off his robe and tossing it towards a corner. Streamers, is what he was going for. "They use it. Sound booths for music, ectera. Stops the soundwaves from bouncin' around."

He might have done some research after they first talked about it.

"You just peel and stick, far as I could tell."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm considered that with a nod. "Okay. I can find that. I guess I'll have to go over there and measure first; I don't want to end up not having enough." He huffed a breath of a laugh. "Otherwise I'll have to check back into the hotel tomorrow night. That would be an anticlimactic end to our first night in our place, huh?"

[tinstar]

"Just get too much. If nothing else, we get the ceiling too," Raylan assured, a little pang of worry that Malcolm was going to talk himself into not staying with Raylan while Willa was there. "Besides, she's too young to remember anything, even if it's not perfect."

His jeans were shucked and tossed to the side before he ambled the few steps over to Malcolm to gently grab his lapels to peel his robe off too.

"I don't want to hide you from her too. She'll be okay."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm let the robe fall, reaching up to cradle Raylan's jaw in his hand, leaning up for a kiss and the warmth of his skin against Malcolm's skin.

"Do I get enough for the door?" he asked softly as the kiss broke, his hand sliding around to the nape of Raylan's neck. "We must have to put it on the door, right?"

I don't want to hide you from her too.

He gave him another gentle, lingering kiss before he could answer those questions.

[tinstar]

With a hum, Raylan slid his arms around Malcolm's waist as they came together, leaning down to meet the kisses with a little chuckle at how quickly Malcolm came up for the second one.

"I don't know," he murmured, kissing Malcolm again briefly before breaking the kiss again. "We'll need to get a baby monitor, otherwise I won't hear her either." He was going to be on double scream duty, but Raylan didn't mind. "Better safe than sorry. Means we won't have to hold back in bed."

Not that that was the reason but hey, Raylan couldn't help the inspirations that Malcolm gave him.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm grinned into the next kiss.

"It is going to be out first night there..." He stole another kiss. "I'll get one while I'm out," he said, his other hand sliding up Raylan's arm to his shoulder. "One of those video ones. So you can check on her with out getting up." Another kiss. "Even if she's quiet." Another kiss. "Even if you just want to see her."

[tinstar]

Raylan was the most patient and pliable when he was otherwise occupied with those rewarding kisses, and smiled at Malcolm's last two points. He loved that that's what Malcolm's mind jumped to.

"Mm. Should I be worried that you know me so well?" It was a small concession to Malcolm's earlier point, but a concession none the less.

"And we gotta break in new beds, it's social rules," he said before stealing up Malcolm's lips again. After a long moment, he broke it and pulled away a fraction with a brief glance down before meeting Malcolm's eyes. "If you want to sleep in the next forty five minutes, we should probably get headed that way."

Of course, it was said with a suggestive tilt of his head and a devilish curl of his lips. What could he say.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm laughed at his first question, a delighted laugh that lit up his eyes. Raylan knew him at least as well and he didn't have a degree in behavioural science to fall back on.

At his next remark, Malcolm noted that rules were rules. At his last, Malcolm grinned.

"I suppose we do have a big day tomorrow..."

For the sake of us doing this in another thread..

[tinstar]

"All the more reason," Raylan said suggestively as he leaned down and kissed Malcolm, pulling him towards the bed before turning them around and gently helping Malcolm onto the bed.

It was only a little irresponsible and Raylan wasn't sure how he felt about having sex next door to a baby yet as he'd never done that, so he wasn't going to pass up what might be his last opportunity to enjoy this kinda physical connection. Thirty minutes or so later, they were breathless but roughly cleaned up with another towel lazily abandoned in a corner and laid out on the messed up bed, tangled up loosely on each other.

"Now we can go to bed," he said with a deep breath. "Tomorrow is a big day."