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?"

Comments

[abrightboy]

Malcolm breathed out relief as the soap hit his hand and he turned to face Raylan so he could start spreading lather all over him, too. But first he leaned up for a gentle kiss. Sitting in that hospital room felt like years ago and also like yesterday. He was acutely aware, there, how much was still not done. Like their wedding. Like their perfect house on the beach. Like their life in it.

“I bet you can still put a bullet right through the target’s paper eyeball.”

[tinstar]

Humming into the kiss, Raylan chuckled at the confidence, eyebrows lifting unevenly and in amusement.

"Put money on it and I might double it." If it came down to keeping someone safe, Raylan was sure he could hit enough of a target to matter. He downplayed his skills all the time and for a very specific reason, but Raylan had confidence in himself and his ability with his weapon.

"But for now, I'm ready to order that takeout, watch something while I shove my face and then take you to bed. Soap me as yours Malcolm or leave me forever," he said dramatically, smile spreading into a grin. Before he realized Malcolm might not know what he was talking about.

"Top Gun, its.."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm smiled at him from under his brow as he ran the soap over Raylan’s hips with the utmost care.

“I’ve seen Top Gun,” he says. “Though I can see why you might think I wouldn’t have,” he laughs.

[tinstar]

Raylan grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. But also good. It's a classic." Clearly.

Once they were done with their shower, dried off and Raylan wrapped himself in a towel to pad around the apartment as he browsed the delivery options for the area.

"You sure I can't get you anything more than the soup?" he asked with a worried look from under his eyebrows. "Somethin' for tomorrow maybe?" Nothing wrong with frontloading a little and having something to come back to the day after.

[abrightboy]

“For tomorrow?” He considered that. “Do they have anything that’s mostly rice? Maybe with a bit of chicken and vegetables?” he asked, then quickly added “Not all mixed in it, but, like… on the top or on the side?”

[tinstar]

"They've got a sides menu," he confirmed with a nod, hitting a few buttons and looking over with a smile. "It'll be here in about half an hour. Now we just gotta figure out what to do with ourselves."

[OOC: Wanna jump to the next day?]

Yep!

[abrightboy]

After his night terror, Malcolm curled back up against Raylan’s side. Normally, it wouldn’t have been too long before he got up and started puttering around his routine, taking his meds and making coffee and doing his yoga. The previous day’s events and what his gut told him it would lead to were weighing on him, though, and he stayed there in the warmth of Raylan’s body and the comfort of his scent, fingers fidgeting at his ribs as the sun started filtering in the windows and he needed to get up to take his meds but he didn’t want to.

[tinstar]

3:30 in the morning meant that, screaming that he'd gotten half used to or not, he was falling back asleep. But it wasn't a deep sleep, more akin to a heavy doze, arm securely wrapped around Malcolm and the warm solid presence against Raylan's chest in the peaceful dark of the too early morning. He couldn't have said what it was that pulled him up out of the deep sleep but up he was, judging by the way his thumb started drifting over Malcolm's back, back and forth.

"You awake?" he asks, rough and ruffled with sleep but aware that Malcolm's breath was too deeply drawn to be sleep rhythm.

[abrightboy]

“Yeah,” he answers, fingers less frantic in the wake of the calming stroke of Raylan’s thumb along his back. “Never went back to sleep.” But still strapped in, just in case.

[tinstar]

"Mm," he hummed with another deep breath. "Was it that bad or did you just not wanna leave?"

[abrightboy]

He breathed out a self-deprecating laugh.

“Maybe both today. The phone hasn’t rung, so they haven’t found Eve. My father says the girl in the box was never dead, and that might be true, but she also never resurfaced. Staying in bed with my fiance felt like a better morning than getting up and facing all that.” His fingers drifted up Raylan’s sternum. “It’s warm here. I can think about Miami. I can feel like I can see it, just coming over the horizon.”

[tinstar]

Raylan lifted his off arm just enough to drape it over his center and let idle finger pads drift along Malcolm's skin as he shifted and moved around to different parts of Raylan's body.

"We're close. I can't wait to pack up half of this place and Sunshine and drive you down to forever. We'll find her, darlin'." And for now, they could linger right here as long as Malcolm wanted.

"What else are we packing up besides the bird?" It would give Malcolm something nicer to latch onto.

[abrightboy]

It does visibly lift his spirits to consider that and he gestures over Raylan’s chest with a jingle of his restraints.

“My clothes… my weapons… some of my books.” He points to the far end of the room, adjacent to the weapons cases. “Those two paintings down there.” He glances around. “That’s probably it.”

[tinstar]

He smiled and as he thought about that weight, chuckled. "We might have to rent something more substantial than my town car. Maybe an SUV. Something with room and heated seats. Do your weapons have boxes or are we gonna have to improvise?"

[abrightboy]

“I had movers bring them here from DC; I’m not really sure what they put them in,” he admits. “I’m sure they could just go in cardboard boxes. I might wrap them in something. Some are really old. And some are really sharp. Can we rent one of those trucks? I’ve never been in one; what are they like?” he asks.

[tinstar]

"They need foam to sit in, or to be wrapped in bubble wrap with a blade guard." They could figure it out without an exorbitant cost. "We can but it's uncomfortable for everyone involved. That bein' said, I can drive one of those. Sunshine would have to be held by you or strapped into the middle bit. Not that I suppose she would mind. Would't cost us but a few hundred bucks. A few days of time."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm laughed self deprecatingly. “Well, since you’re the one that has to drive for twenty hours, maybe you should be in charge of picking the vehicle,” he concedes. “I wish I could help. You’re supposed to split the driving on long road trips, right?”

[tinstar]

"You," Raylan declared with a rub of his hand up and down Malcolm's shoulder. "Are gonna help with packing and loading and unloading. And that's all just as important as the driving. Just promise you'll be patient with my need to stop and stretch a leg or two every few hours and that'll be help enough."

Pressing a kiss into his hair, he hummed. "You think you're ready to get up, get ourselves together?"

[abrightboy]

Malcolm looks over his shoulder at the window with a distasteful wrinkle of his nose, like he can see the day out there.

“I suppose,” he concedes. He holds up his nearest wrist. “Unbuckle me? I’ll get the coffee started while you’re in the bathroom.”

[tinstar]

One long fingered hand reached out deftly tugged the restraint free from itself, releasing Malcolm.

"It'll be alright," he promises, cup sliding up to cup and steal Malcolm for a kiss before he slides out of bed and directly towards the bathroom as expected. Once he'd taken care of his needs and brushed his teeth, he padded out towards the kitchen.

"We should go into the office to check in with where the investigation is, they mighta found something," he said, having already pulled his phone out to check it for messages.

[abrightboy]

When Raylan emerged, Malcolm was casually popping his pills while the coffee steeped and he looked over as his fiance checked his phone.

“Anything?” he asked anxiously, taking a swallow of water without taking his eyes off Raylan.

[tinstar]

"They've got a couple of leads, a few women who fit the rough description and possible circumstances, new in town twenty years ago, but nothing strong enough to go on. I think we need to go in and 'encourage' them. Maybe you'll put together something they overlooked."

Sidling up to Malcolm's side, Raylan studied his features. "You gonna be okay doing this?" He held all the cards, Raylan was just here to help and piece together what he could.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm clenched his hand on the counter, but nodded with determination.

“I have to finish this. She haunts me. I don’t want to bring her to Miami; I want to leave this here, with the rest of those memories,” he explained, holding Raylan’s gaze.

[tinstar]

He nodded softly, one hand reaching out to rub at Malcolm's back, pulling him in a little.

"I want that for you too." He'd dealt with and left Boyd behind, he wanted the same for Malcolm. For them both, for their future. "Just remember you're not alone in this. No matter what we find." Or don't find.

"Cup of coffee and five minutes to get dressed and I'll be ready to go. Let's see if we can put this to rest."

[abrightboy]

Not alone. Not alone in this. Not alone in anything ever again.

He nods, pouring the coffee for Raylan before heading into the bathroom to take care of his own business. He joins him again for a cup before plucking a dark grey suit from the closet and putting himself together. It’s more than five minutes for him, but he steps into the livingroom when he’s done, straightening his deep purple tie.

“Are we going to the precinct or the Marshals’ office?”