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]

Malcolm grinned at him, letting the bird perch on his hand.

"Are you suggesting that I'm the real Sunshine Bright?" he teased. He lifted his hand so the bird flew the other way.

He tilted his head towards the yoga mat. "I have another mat. Are you going to try it with me? We'll go step by step."

[tinstar]

"You suggesting you're not?" Raylan countered with a curl of his features behind another sip of coffee.

If Malcolm had thought he'd seen how high Raylan's eyebrows could arch, the idea would be challenged at the look that Raylan blinked over at him, neck seeming to extend a little bit as his head moved forward. "I'm sorry?"

The yoga mat was looked at like it might explode. "I don't..." He gestured with the cup. "Yoga." But that, like so much else, was a natural engrained flaw. He didn't because he never had, was all.

[abrightboy]

"How do you know?" Malcolm asked cheerfully. "Have you tried it before?"

He went to a cupboard under his bookshelf and pulled out a charcoal grey mat, rolling it out a couple feet from his.

"I doubt they have many yoga studios in Harlan, Kentucky, but maybe courtesy a bikini-clad instructor on Miami Beach?" he suggested with a devilish look. He paused. "Maybe I'll take that class," he remarked. Malcolm swung quite happily both ways with no shame about it. He turned and looked at Raylan.

"Come on! You can at least do the first couple; they're day one stuff. You develop a decent downward dog and you'll impress the bikini-clad Miami Beach yoga instructor."

[tinstar]

He frowned slightly, but it was a look of distrust towards the idea, not the fact that Malcolm had called him out on it. But the picture he painted had Raylan chuckling despite himself, eyebrows lifting again as his tongue peeked out to edge one of his canines, eyes finding part of the floor until Malcolm mentions taking that class.

That got him to look up from under those eyebrows, jaw shifting a little.

Alright. You got him.

Raylan pushed off the counter and set his cup down padding over and putting on a suspicious look before kneeling down.

"Can't promise how much of this'll I'll tolerate," he warned.

[abrightboy]

"Sure, sure," Malcolm said with a grin. "Quit whenever you want."

He gestured to how he was sitting. "You want your knees about shoulder width apart," he pointed out, then shifted forward onto all fours, then straightened his legs. From there, he looked at Raylan to watch him match the position. "We'll deal with when you're supposed to breathe in and out another time," he said.

[tinstar]

Smart ass. Raylan shifted his knees to match and then forward onto his hands, evening out the distribution of his weight but when Malcolm stuck his ass in the air, Raylan gave him a slightly amazed look before trying it himself.

Well, he got up there, but he glanced over at Malcolm. "I feel like an idiot with my ass in the air," he said. Still, he wasn't moving away yet, so there was there.

[abrightboy]

It was not the first time Malcolm had been accused of being a smart ass, nor would it be the last.

He gave Raylan a cheeky grin. "But you look great," he commented, then added "But we're going to get it out of the air as we shift into plank position."

He demonstrated.

[tinstar]

Raylan did not look convinced, whatever of his profile Malcolm would see with his nose pointing towards his toes. He was still breathing though, so that was good.

Grunting, Raylan shifted with him, breathing out a deep sigh as he settled on his forearms. "This is at least like pushups. What the hell is this for?"

Just Flexibility? Probably some health, cardio thing, if he was being serious.

[abrightboy]

"Physically? Core strength, muscle tone, flexibility. It opens up your joints so your nerves and blood can move freely. But mentally..." He looked over. "Are you ready for this part?" he asked with a grin, shifting his weight forward and lifting one leg up into the air, then, using his core to balance, he pulled his other leg up. "Feathered Peacock," he announced, but didn't wait for Raylan to join him in the armstand before continuing his thought. "Mentally, combined with breathing exercises, it really helps calm and focus the mind," he explained.

[tinstar]

Raylan held his plank as he listened but as Malcolm pulled himself up, Raylan gave it up and just rolled onto his hip, keeping himself propped up with one elbow to watch in amazement as Malcolm straightened himself.

He didn't dare try that. He would fall over and make an ass of himself, he just knew it.

"How long did it take you to get up in that first time?"

[abrightboy]

He smiled. Yes, there was a secret to it.

"Well, I'll tell you the pro tip," he said. "When you first start doing any of the arm balance poses, you start against a wall."

He carefully curled his legs to bring him into the scorpion of that morning.

"Scorpion," he announced.

"The balance takes time. It took me a lot of practice to be able to just do it from the floor."

[tinstar]

"I can promise you I will not be trying." Maybe Malcolm could get Raylan to take better care of himself.

"Very sexy," he said with a tilt of his head. "When did you start doing Yoga? I'm gonna assume you're an expert, at this point."

[abrightboy]

He brought his legs down and ended up sitting on his knees again, looking at Raylan for a moment before crawling over and urging him onto his back to drape across him.

"I've been doing yoga in the morning since I was in college. My therapist suggested it. She said it might help me order my thoughts before going to class."

[tinstar]

God that was a sight to behold if he ever held one. Raylan hadn't been expecting the softest of tackles, but he rolled onto his back as the urging, arms wrapping around Malcolm's waist as they settled on the floor.

"Can you believe I actually studied in collage? Criminal Justice and Law. Rented a room off campus and borrowed all the textbooks I needed." Raylan shifted his head. "Age aside, can you imagine us being there together?"

It was a nice little daydream, anyway.

"You benefit from it." His hands slid down to Malcolm's ass, gripping it with a slow, appercitive grope as he pulled Malcolm's weight on top of him the rest of the way. "You're very bendy."

[abrightboy]

"Where did you go to college?" Malcolm asked with interest. "Did you like it?"

Had they been the same age and gone to the same school, they may have even crossed paths. Some of the criminology classes Malcolm took in the psychology program would have also been required in a Criminal Justice degree. He would bet Raylan was cool though; he wasn't sure he would have noticed Malcolm in that environment.

He grinned as Raylan emphasized his point by grabbing his ass and let his weight settle where Raylan pulled it.

"The core strength training ended up helping when I was learning self-defence at the FBI." He leaned in conspiratorially, like he was revealing some sort of secret, though his expression gave away the fact that it was actually a self-deprecating joke. "I'm actually smaller than a lot of the people I had to arrest. The instructor liked to point this out."

[tinstar]

"University of Kentucky," he replied with a pull of his lips. "It's no Harvard. I didn't hate it - tests were rewarding when I passed, which only made me study harder." He liked the feeling of doing well in something that wasn't commiting crimes or running from them.

Now that Malcolm's weight was properly settled over him, Raylan let his hands wander back up Malcolm's back as he listened.

"That mean you're vicious?" Raylan's eyebrows lifted a little, smile curling. He wasn't being condescending, he was curious and intrigued. "Wouldn't mind seeing you on a mat sometime. Or taking down someone twice your size."

[abrightboy]

"I think 'vicious' might be overstating it.... though I did get fired for workplace violence so... maybe not," he noted with a rueful smile. He looked down at Raylan. "I mean. You're bigger than I am and I got you on your back on a mat," he teased.

[tinstar]

"Smaller guys are always more vicious," he continued, fighting the spread of a grin. But Malcolm's tease blew that attempt out of the water and Raylan laughed. "It's not my fault I turn into a very functional pillow when you're around. You're lucky I'm not turning us over and pinning you down... again.."

Well, 'lucky' was objective, he supposed.

[abrightboy]

"Am I? Because I was feeling pretty lucky when that happened," he retorted with a grin. "But I'm also feeling pretty lucky right now. You must be my lucky charm."

[tinstar]

"The tallest rabbit foot you'll ever see," he said, slipping one leg over Malcolm's as one hand came up to rest on Malcolm's left hand.

The move was a simple but effective one - Raylan pulled Malcolm's wrist and the weight support that came with it to roll them over in a swift swing of weight.

"But luck goes both ways here," he continued with a curl of his smile, face drawn close to Malcolm's. "And I'm feeling some kinda way." The good kind of way, if the kiss he followed the words with were any indication.

Malcolm was good, and hot, and loved him; how could he feel any other way?

[abrightboy]

With the slide of Raylan's leg, Malcolm had a feeling it was coming, but with the sudden roll, so swooped his stomach and he met the kiss with equal ardour, one hand coming to rest lightly at his ribs and the other wrapping around his back.

He found a lot of comfort in Raylan's weight on him. He liked the warmth of it. He felt grounded by it.

"Me too," he murmured as the kiss broke. The hand at Raylan's back was drawn up so he could reach up and smooth it through Raylan's bedhead.

And they still had lots of days. That was what Raylan said the night before. Imagine taking their time like this on any Saturday morning they pleased.

One day.

He smiled softly up at him.

"Are you sure you don't want to try a Feather Peacock?" he teased. "I'll hold your legs." And, glancing around, almost in the same breath. "Does making out on a mat on the floor count anywhere on that list you had?" he added, looking up at him again.

[tinstar]

Raylan seemed to breathe that answer in like it was the air he needed and hummed softly in response as Malcolm's hands started moving over him, sending a rolling heat through his body. Dark hazel eyes flitted over Malcolm's face and the way that soft smile turned all of his features up to ten.

"Maybe tomorrow," he muttered back with a quirk of his smile before huffing an amused breath. "It does, but I don't have any intention of stoppin' there." The sultry promise was capped with a kiss the deepened evenly as Raylan slid a hand up Malcolm's side to get under that t-shirt and touch that skin that had teased him when he woke up.

[abrightboy]

Raylan was always so full of good answers and Malcolm arched his back to press up against him as he returned the kiss, his fingertips pressing a little harder into Raylan's skin at his ribs while the other hand came to rest at the nape of his neck.

[tinstar]

He hummed into the kiss, hand slipping under Malcolm's arched back for a second before moving back around up his chest, palm smoothing down the hairless firm length of him to catch the edge of Malcolm's shirt and pull it up. He wanted them naked and tangled together, hopefully in short, sweaty order.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm was eager to help wriggle out of that shirt, tossing it aside once it was over his head, so he could enjoy Raylan's skin against his own, leaning up into another kiss. He pulled his legs up and, once more, hooked his toes in Raylan's waistband to push his sleep pants down over his hips.

"I feel like a lifetime of flexibility training is all becoming worth it," he murmured against Raylan's mouth with a laugh.

Getting made fun of for dancing ballet was so worth it in retrospect, when he could undress his boyfriend by just using his feet.