Malcolm x Raylan: Cowboy Surprise

[tinstar]

Art was suspicious right off the bat when Raylan took a week off with the express note that his phone would be Out Of Order til the next Monday, but the Chief Marshal wasn't going to look gift horses in the mouth. Not when it suggested he'd have a few days of peace, until Raylan caved to turning his phone back on again. Still, he watched the younger Marshal walk out of the office and promised himself to check into the state of Harlan within 3 days to make sure that the place wasn't on fire. The smoke would reach him before he called, he was sure.

But Art didn't have much to worry about - Raylan had no plans on staying in the state for his vacation, beyond one day spent closing up Arlo's and securing it the best way he could before getting on a plane to New York City. He wanted to surprise Malcolm - it'd been near two months since they'd last seen each other and frankly, Raylan was tired of missing him. They'd called and texted, stayed in a fairly consistent, if odd houred, touch but it wasn't the same.

Once he landed, Raylan rented a car and navigated his way towards Malcolm's apartment, stopping to grab a bouquet of flowers. It was.. Extra, but Raylan didn't want to show up empty handed, just in case. Thirty minutes later, Malcolm's door buzzer was being hit, like Raylan was here to deliver something. Well, he was, but that was half the fun.

Comments

[abrightboy]

How much more time next to you.

Malcolm raised his eyebrows and looked over as he realized what that meant.

"We could add 45 more minutes at home if we cut straight across there," he said, gesturing towards the path running south. He felt like warmth was spreading from his heart all the way out to his limbs.

"More if we walk faster," he added.

[tinstar]

"South it is," Raylan declared, smile curling as he headed that direction. Yes Malcolm, not being able to touch you was a slow murder for the cowboy. He hadn't thought it would be this bad, but his hands itched again.

"But let's avoid breakin' into any runs. These boots aren't made for running."

[abrightboy]

"I'd spill my tea if I tried it," he noted. He held it out to Raylan. "Want to try it?"

[tinstar]

"What'd you say was in it?" The question was asked as he reached over, stealing the cup long enough for a sip, face pinching as he hands it back.

"It's... good." It wasn't good - well, it wasn't his speed and he didn't much care for the taste.

[abrightboy]

"Rosehip, hibiscus and cherry," Malcolm told him. Once Raylan took the sip - and his thoughts on it were all their in the slight grimance - he took the cup back. "It's supposed to be good for anxiety," he admitted.

[tinstar]

Raylan hummed his acknowledgement. "Does it work? In case I ever need to get off the 'sauce'."

[abrightboy]

"Well, caffeine is actively bad for anxiety, so I try to avoid it in the afternoon..." He glanced over. "I feel pretty calm right now, but I don't know if that's the tea... I think it's more likely that it's you."

[tinstar]

"That make me prescription grade?" His smile was more than amused when he looked over at Malcolm again. "You could use a little less anxiety on a consistent basis. Too bad I can't do anything about your nightmares."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm glanced over, then looked down at his tea.

"Maybe that just takes longer," he suggested.

And if it didn't happen at all, he wasn't any worse off. Except he was warmer, because thrashing nightmares didn't put Raylan off, somehow.

[tinstar]

"This'll count as scientific study, right?" His smile pulled. "I'm glad that I'm therapeutic - not many other people would agree with the application of that term in relation to me."

[abrightboy]

"The fools," Malcolm noted. "Well." He took a sip of tea. "More for me."

[tinstar]

Raylan scoffed a laugh. "More for you. Mind, it comes with bullets sometimes. Might have to invest in bulletproof windows in Miami."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm looked at him. "Is that something that's likely to happen? Someone coming to our house to kill you?" he asked, though his tone was all curiosity rather than trepidation. He frowned faintly. "Not that I can talk. All sorts of weird murderers seem to come after me and my family..." He looked at Raylan again. "They usually know my dad."

[tinstar]

"Mm," he stated with a little nod of his head. "It's happened more than once, I'm afraid. I've spent more replacing the windows than I would like to think about." Raylan glanced over.

"To your house? And apparently everyone under the sun knows him." A fact that kind of irritated Raylan a little bit, if he was being honest.

[abrightboy]

"Then bulletproof windows is an investment I'm willing to make."

He took a careful sip of tea.

"Everyone under the sun knows him, but they don't usually recognize me unless they knew him really well." He looked at Raylan. "I was eleven when my picture was in the paper and most people who are, you know, serial killer fanatics... don't know my current name. So far." He winced slightly. "I'm a little concerned that it's going to get out there eventually."

[tinstar]

"Valid concern, considering. The name change helps. I meant to ask, is that on paper or is Bright like your... stage name?"

He could see both being possible, but he had a hunch it wasn't on paper. Of course, Malcolm continued to surprise him so, anything was still possible.

[abrightboy]

"I changed it legally. I was trying to get into the FBI with a serial killer for a father," he pointed out. "It's on my prescriptions," he offered as evidence, since they were sitting on his counter. Easy to verify. "It's on all my documents now. Malcolm Whitly doesn't exist anymore. You can't find him anywhere after 2008."

[tinstar]

Raylan hummed and nodded again. He didn't need to verify.. but he also knew it wouldn't stop him from looking at the med bottles when they got back to the apartment.

"Why 'bright'? Why not.. Smith or Jones or something?"

[abrightboy]

He looked at Raylan, then looked at his tea, then looked at Raylan.

"I've never told anyone this before," he admitted. A beat and then "Not that anyone has ever asked, either...."

It was possibly the world's least desired secret.

"Okay, well I knew I wanted to change it. And I wanted something simple, because I didn't want to draw attention to myself. If I wanted to draw attention to myself, I would have stayed the Surgeon's son. And so I thought about.... who I wanted to be." He glanced at Raylan. "He's all darkness inside. I wanted to be something else."

[tinstar]

He'd been taking a drink of his coffee but he couldn't help but look over at the fact no one had asked.

"You wanted to be Bright," he echoed, nodding a little and smiling. "Well you have managed that. Especially in the mornings." A beat passed. "They don't ask about that kinda thing in your office? Should I be concerned about how much they care about you?"

It was a tease, but only half of one.

[abrightboy]

"Gil never asked why, he just said... okay. I mean, I think he just thought it was a good thing for me to distance myself from Dr Whitly. He calls me 'Bright' almost exclusively. I think he prefers it because it has nothing to do with... him. He calls everyone else in the office by their first name. He considers it... just my name. I appreciate it." He huffed a laugh and looked at Raylan. "My mother, on the other hand, has referred to it as 'a ridiculous alias', but I think she's mad that she kept the name and all its burdens and I shed it like a snake shedding its skin."

[tinstar]

"Of course he did. Gil got front row tickets. Can't imagine that didn't leave a mark on him." And now that Malcolm was back under Gil's wing, Raylan could imagine that Gil wanted to focus on the now.

"Just figured the others mighta been curious, even in passing conversation. But I can't say I envy the repercussions of keepin' the name. That's a world of attention on a narrow set of shoulders. She's a strong woman to deal with it so well." Makes for strong kids too, though Raylan wasn't going to say that again.

Malcolm, for all his fragilities, was strong as hell.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm huffed a laugh.

"I think what they do know about me is plenty weird enough for them," he said. "We get along well, but... I think - like most people - they have a limit as to how much they feel up to dealing with."

At the beginning, the limit was a lot lower. He was the annoying little brother that Gil made them take along with them. Things were better lately, though.

He looked at Raylan as they exited the park and drew close to his building. "You never considered shedding his name?" he asked curiously.

[tinstar]

"Maybe I've just got a higher tolerance." He didn't know why but he wasn't going to argue it.

The question had Raylan shaking his head, shrugging with his face with that bob of his eyebrows. "After 43 years, doesn't seem like there's much of a point. Only people that know it anyway is in Harlan and a name change doesn't get me outta the hat or what I'm known for. They're free to look up Arlo's rap sheet; shit. I'd hand it out myself if asked. No one is gonna be a fan of a petty, two bit criminal. Most interesting thing about it is the history, most of which isn't on more than some birth and death certificates. No name change changes where I came from." He glanced over, after another sip of coffee.

"I kinda like my name," he admitted. "Rolls off the tongue.. when they're not callin' me 'Rayray'."

And they'd have to recarve the gravestone outside of the family house. Not that he planned on keeping them there, but he'd gotten used to seeing his own gravestone with 'Givens' on it.

[abrightboy]

What Raylan said made sense. Besides, he'd never planned to stay in the only town where the name meant anything.

But when he mentioned being called 'Rayray', Malcolm looked positively horrified.

"Who calls you that?" he asked. "That's. ...awful."