The Road Home

[abrightboy]

Raylan's loose ends had been tied in Kentucky and Malcolm's were as tantalizingly close as they'd ever been. He and Raylan made the trip to New York with the intent of discovering the fate of the girl in the box, so they could head down to Miami without... baggage.

They would have to start with the revelation Jessica and Ainsley had made to Malcolm right before Raylan was shot, sending Malcolm back to Kentucky: that Eve had infiltrated the Whitly family to learn more about the Surgeon's victims.

Malcolm let them into the New York loft - a space he considered theirs now, more than his, since they decided they might weather the hurricane season there after moving to Miami - smiling as Sunshine tweeted greetings. Once the door was shut behind Raylan, he opened the door of her cage. Ainsley would have fed her diligently, but nobody would have let her out to fly. Sunshine took off across the loft and Malcolm grinned, watching her go.

He looked at Raylan. "We can still bring her with us when we leave, right?"

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[tinstar]

Raylan chuckled as his pants were shucked and his a-line shirt pulled off, boxers following short after so he and his lean frame ambled towards Malcolm, eyes glinting and lips curling with a gentle, devilish pleasure as he carefully removed the tea cup from his fiancee's hands.

"You don't need any scents or ploys to catch what you've already got," he said, the cup set down to one side so that Raylan could start working on undressing Malcolm, one high class button at a time. Waistcoat, tie, shirt, it all seemed to fall away as Raylan continued talking.

"But it does mean that every time I smell sage or your lavender, I start thinkin' about you, if I wasn't already before." As Raylan got down to the last of the buttons on Malcolm's shirt, he leaned in to brush their lips together before kissing the smaller man with a quiet fierceness.

Malcolm was due MANY kisses.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm’s eyes studied Raylan’s face with the quiet intensity of devotion while he talked and unbuttoned, hands drifting to Raylan’s shoulders, down over his collarbone as he met the kiss.

“So the ploy is going super well, then,” he noted breathlessly, arms sliding up around Raylan’s neck as he collected another of those kisses. “Thank you for being here,” he whispered in its wake. “Thank you for… being.”

[tinstar]

He loved being touched and hummed behind it as leaned into the kisses, slowly guiding Malcolm towards the shower before stopping so that his fingers could tug free the belt and two buttons that held his trousers together as he spoke.

"You're the one that came to Kentucky and swept into my life. I should be thanking you." The pants were shoved down and Raylan slid his hands up to push the shirt off Malcolm's shoulders. "Lettin' me into your heart and your house and your life. Yeah," he continued, keeping their faces close, hazel eyes softly serious, "It's messy and ugly and chaotic. But I would rather be here than literally anywhere else in the world, getting honored by bein' allowed to take you into the shower and then, bed."

His lips curled. "Unless you get peckish and we order some food."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm's face warmed into a soft smile, easily moved, easily led around the room, hands lingering on Raylan's body.

His breath was already a little shallow with excitement and arousal. He was already a little flushed, though the hot water hadn't hit him yet.

"You might have to be in charge of being hungry," he admitted. He stole another kiss. "Though maybe I'll work up to an appetite."

[tinstar]

"Oh I'm hungry," Raylan muttered, sliding an arm around Malcolm's waist to secure the man from any chances of not being right against the Marshal where he belonged as he kissed him again, breaking it with a grin and a glance to the side as he turned on and adjusted the water.

"In more ways than one, if I'm bein' honest. Think you can point me to a delivery service that might be able to bring somethin' up? Otherwise, I'm gonna ask if you wanna come on the very boring trip down to one of the bodegas. Those sandwiches are pretty damned good."

[abrightboy]

“We’re getting delivery,” Malcolm tells him almost dreamily, fingers fidgeting along Raylan’s collarbone with one hand and down his tricep with the other. No way the Marshal was leaving Malcolm’s arms’ reach tonight. “Anything you want.”

[tinstar]

"Hmmm, I knew I loved you for a reason," he teased, selfishly kissing Malcolm again before breaking to steer him gently into the shower and under the stream.

"But for right now, all I wanna know is where you find the time to go huntin' down new scents and brands of it for us to try - I've been stayin' with you long enough to know you never visit a grocery store for your toiletries."

Could you even imagine.

[abrightboy]

A breathy laugh bubbles out of Malcolm.

“I order them online. From a company that makes small batches of health and beauty products by hand.” He runs his hands up through Raylan’s hair. “No artificial fragrances.”

[tinstar]

"Nothin' artificial here," he murmured, eyes half lidding at Malcolm's fingers in his hair, his own drifting back and forth over the small of Malcolm's back through the streaming water. "Well you got me, scent memories and all."

Part of him wanted to ask, to reverify that Malcolm was okay, but the larger part of him knew that no matter the answer, he helped.

"Get your hair wet and we'll press in some more."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm outright grins and tilts his head back into the water.

Raylan did help. He always helped. He was more help than anything ever has been.

“Maybe I’ll find new, thematic scents when we move to Miami. Tropical flowers.” His grin broadens. “Oranges!”

[tinstar]

Raylan chuckled. "And Coconut, Mai Tai," he suggested with his lazy timber as he reached over to grab a bottle of shampoo, not paying much mind to the scent he grabbed. Everything that was in here was good. With a few pumps into his hands, he set the bottle back and started the ritual of the shower.

"I'll trust you on anythin more floral than that. Just nothin' too overpowering. I hate gettin' trapped with those guys in elevators."

[abrightboy]

"I would never make you elevator offensive," Malcolm assured him. "Strong cologne is for the nouveau riche," he sniffed with mock-haughtiness. He couldn't maintain the facade, though, and dissolved into a laugh, steadying himself with fingers on Raylan's abdomen for reference as he closed his eyes to keep the shampoo out of them. "Besides, if you're skulking around in the forest hunting a fugitive, we don't want them to smell you from a mile away."

[tinstar]

Their laugh filled their shower, deep and tickled at Malcolm's mock-haughtiness as Raylan's fingers worked the suds into Malcolm's hair.

"That's a very true point. Can't have them sniffin' me out and ruining my element of surprise. Thankfully, none of 'em are familar with the scent of you. Which is my favorite scent."

Winona had once said she hated going in smelling like Raylan. Meanwhile, he loved going in smelling like a sweet mix of himself and Malcolm.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm wouldn’t have agreed with her on that, either. He liked that mark on him. The feeling of Raylan wrapped around him that catching that scent on himself brought.

Once he was rinsed off, he steered Raylan around to where he’d been standing and took down a bottle, squeezing out some shampoo and working it through Raylan’s hair.

“Are you still getting any dizzyness or headaches?” he asked, gently massaging over the mark from the bullet at the Marshal’s hairline.

[tinstar]

Helpfully tilting his head back to both give Malcolm free rein, he watched his fiancée from under cracked eyes and hummed softly.

"Mm no, not really. They seem to have tapered off. Which I assume is a good thing. I'm gonna try to avoid gettin' hit in the head for a little while longer too, just in case all it takes is a soft rattle to set me back again." He understood how severe his injury had been and he was damned lucky to be alive with all his faculties.

"Gonna need to start going back to the range though. Keepin' myself sharp and makin' sure that nothings wrong when I'm firin' is important too. Once we've got the time though. Tomorrow's gonna be a busy day."

[abrightboy]

“Look at you taking care of yourself,” Malcolm murmured approvingly. He leaned up to press a kiss to Raylan’s chin. A reward. “Can I come watch you shoot?” he asked.

It wasn’t about the guns; it was about watching Raylan in his element, doing something he was passionate about.

[tinstar]

Raylan's teeth flashed in a grin at the praise, slipping back into a crooked curl of utter bliss at the kiss to his chin. He'd never been so spoiled with affection before, even in the throes of new passion and new love; there were still days where he had to remind himself that this was, in fact, real.

"'Course," he replied, brow twitching a fraction in. "If you want to. I don't mind havin' you as an audience. So long as you follow all the rules of trainin', which I doubt'll be a problem. Any particular reason?"

Not that it would change Raylan's answer.

[abrightboy]

“I want to watch your face when you do it,” he said in all honesty before steering Raylan back into the spray to rinse. Once the shampoo was out, Malcolm took down another bottle and started working conditioner through his hair. “I know shooting is something that you feel passionate about,” he adds, like there hadn’t been a break.

[tinstar]

Eyebrows pinching in a passing soft confusion, he cracked an eye to steal a glance of his lover before the water threatened to get where it wasn't wanted and he was forced to close them again.

"It is. One of the first and only things I remain pretty damned good at." Well, he knew it was more than that but Frances had raised a polite young man and bragging wasn't part of that.. Here.. where he didn't need to flex.

"Not the only thing though," he half purred, hands staying loose and heavy on Malcolm's waist, fingers gripping gently. "You didn't think I'd tell you no, did you?"

[abrightboy]

Malcolm smiles down between them at the grip on his waist, then looks up at Raylan’s face.

“I thought it might be too personal; something you felt more comfortable doing alone. I wouldn’t interfere if that was the case, but… if you’re okay with it, I’d love to watch.”

[tinstar]

"Nah," he huffed as Malcolm finished clearing his hair of conditioner, letting Raylan open his eyes and take in the drop splattered, beautiful face in front of him. "It's onna my best skills," he rumbled, bending down to steal another kiss. When it broke, he was reaching for the soap and getting it wet so he could suds up Malcolm's back.

"Plus, it only fair. I get to watch you work and 'practice', insomuch as you do." The verbal battles were magnificent to get to listen to and Raylan did love watching Malcolm take someone apart without a swing swung. Most of the time, anyway.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm’s smile spread to a grin.

“Well, I do my thing to suspects and civilians alike. They don’t love it but it’s not illegal,” he joked, turning for his sudsing. “I really enjoyed shooting with you at your farm that time.” Though that had been a little overshadowed by the sex in the barn. “But I can’t wait to see what you do to paper targets on a range.”

[tinstar]

"It's not illegal no, but it is fun," he quipped, soaping more efficiently when Malcolm wasn't facing him. His hands slid around to the front, pulling Malcolm against him as he continued his dutiful work.

"Same thing I do to bad guys out in the field.. but I do need to make sure everythin's.. working right. Lining up the way it should be. Just promise me there won't be any pitty claps if I miss entirely."

[abrightboy]

Miss entirely? That doesn’t sound like Raylan. Malcolm looks at him over his shoulder with renewed concern.

“I promise, but… you’re feeling okay, right?”

Had he rushed them here, into this mystery?

[tinstar]

Raylan's face pulled in a smile, features pulling down faintly as he nods his head. He'd only been joking. (Sort of - he hadn't gone to the range since he'd gotten shot, though he had practiced his draw. First things first.)

"Yeah," he assured warmly, hugging him with a gentle tightness from behind before slipping the soap into Malcolm's palm. "And if that changes, believe me, I'll say somethin'. What I do is too important and if I can't do it right, I need to take the time to get back in form. For everyone's sake."

And if tomorrow brought him a situation where he had to test it all out sans practice? Well. He'd deal with that bridge when it came up.

"I'm okay."