Happily Ever After AU - for conning

[abrightboy]

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[abrightboy]

"Gil's usually mad. My mother is usually mad." He watches Neal as he examines him. "Are you sure all the married people stuff is off the table? That kiss barely hurt at all."

[conning]

Neal smiles at that, turning off the shower and kissing droplets of water off of each of Malcolm's cheeks. "I can be pretty creatively gentle."

[abrightboy]

"I'd take the chance to ask if this means I'm getting breakfast in bed, but I'm not a big fan of bed or breakfast." He pauses. "Though you're changing my mind about both..."

[conning]

Neal laughs. "Good."

He draws Malcolm out of the shower, dries him off, carries him to bed.

Very gently institutes some married people stuff.

After, when they're curled up together, he says, "Call me next time? Please? I want to be there if you need help."

[abrightboy]

"He was missing a cufflink. In the interview with my sister, he was missing a cufflink. I just wanted to look for it; I thought I'd be two minutes," Malcolm tells him. "I never thought I'd need any help."

[conning]

Neal exhales a pained little laugh. “Fair enough.”

He strokes Malcolm’s hair away from his face, studying every scratch, the purple-red of the scrape and bruise where he hit his head. “Maybe I should invest in a way to track your phone.”

A pause. “That’s a joke.”

He’s not about to treat Malcolm like someone whose radius needs to be monitored.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm smiles.

“Are you starting to understand Peter’s compulsion to watch your anklet tracking?” he asks. It’s not a judgement, but it’s not a joke, either. He’s genuinely interested in how people tick. All people. Especially this person.

[conning]

Neal frowns. Is he? "I guess."

Except that doesn't feel true.

"...No," he says slowly. "He watches me because he doesn't trust me. I would want to be able to find you so I can make sure you're okay."

[abrightboy]

“He does also love you, though. Maybe he just doesn’t trust you not to get in trouble without him watching,” Malcolm points out. “I’m not saying there’s nothing unhealthy there but maybe we’re not giving the love in his intentions enough credit.”

[conning]

"Yeah." Neal can't argue that. He strokes Malcolm's arm gently. "He..."

A pause. "He's more like a dad than my dad."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm grins. “I know. We have that in common. Gil basically… raised me.” He watches Neal for a second. “He doesn’t like it either when I go places without calling.”

[conning]

Neal makes a softly amused noise. “It’s like they think we’re going to get ourselves in trouble or something.”

He studies Malcolm’s face. “Did you want to stay? In that other version of things?”

[abrightboy]

Malcolm shakes his head, but winces when that hurts.

“No,” he explains. “I wanted to come back to the you that listens to me.”

[conning]

There’s a weird wash of relief that rides along with Neal’s affection when it hits him this time. Like he’s passed a test.

“Well, good. Because I would have found a way to come in after you.”

He frowns. “Look, it has to be possible, all things considered.”

[abrightboy]

"If anyone could find a way, I'm sure it would be you."

Neal always insisted there had to be another way.

"I don't know what it says about my subconscious that nobody listened to me, including the one person that actually does."

[conning]

Neal makes a noise that isn’t really amused. “Maybe it’s saying you should talk to them about that when you’re not concussed.”

[abrightboy]

Malcolm makes a face.

“Do you think there’s a way to do that that they’ll listen to?” he asks.

He sighs heavily.

“Sunshine was a dog.” He might not even be aware that it’s a non sequitur. “I didn’t prefer that. But I guess it was very nuclear of us. Or something.”

[conning]

A snort.

Then a long pause.

“What if we got one? A dog.”

[abrightboy]

“It was my therapist’s first suggestion for an emotional support animal. But I didn’t think I was home enough to be fair to one.” He looks at Neal. “If you’d like it, I’m sure I would. As long as we don’t call it ‘Sunshine’.”

[conning]

He grins. “Oh, Moonbeam, definitely.”

The grin fades to something more thoughtful. “I’ve never had a pet before.”

[abrightboy]

“Never?” That’s outrageous. “Why not?” he asks.

[conning]

Neal shrugs, feeling sheepish and awkward suddenly. “It wasn’t a good idea when I was a kid. Then I left home and I never stayed in one place long enough for it to be fair. Or practical. If I suddenly had to leave town in a hurry, a pet would’ve drawn attention and made running clean harder to pull off.”

[abrightboy]

"...So what you're saying is that you never want to leave," Malcolm surmises, looking over at him slyly.

[conning]

Neal grins at that, the expression surprised out of him. “Yes. Exactly.”

He kisses Malcolm. “I love this city and I love you.”

[abrightboy]

“I promise I’ll try not to fall three stories anymore,” he says in the wake of the kiss, crossing his heart. “Twice in as many years should be anyone’s limit, right?”