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]

Because it was easy to see his shoulders in that shirt, it was easy to see what they were doing.

He nodded. "One more time?"

[tinstar]

Raylan grinned and twirled the bat again before readying himself and hitting another middlefield ball. Instead of turning around just yet, Raylan cocked and swung again, hitting the following ball in easy succession. Yeah, he was having fun.

[abrightboy]

And Malcolm liked to see it. He grinned as Raylan hit the second ball in succession, just appreciating his shoulders that time.

"How old were you when you started playing?" he asked, not making a move to take the bat back; it was more fun watching the smooth, practiced movement of Raylan swinging.

[tinstar]

"About 6, almost seven. It was-" He swung again, cracking another ball of into the back of the field before stepping back with a roll of his swinging shoulder. "My mother's idea as I recall. Got me out from under Arlo's feet for a little while most days and hell," he admitted with a shrug of his face and a bob of his head.

"I loved it and I got pretty good by the time high school ended. Ladies only cared about the football team though, so it didn't get me anything but a set of cleats in my face a couple of times."

[abrightboy]

"...Really?" He gave Raylan an assessing look. "Maybe you should have tried wearing that shirt," he suggested innocently.

[tinstar]

Raylan smirked at him and hefted the bat up so he was holding the thicker end to hold it out to Malcolm. "Shoulders like these take time, like a good whiskey." The smirk broke into a grin. "I was always a little too skinny, I think, but there were a few ladies that liked that more than anything to do with baseball."

[abrightboy]

"I bet."

He took the bat, giving it an experimental swing before stepping back up and trying to imitate Raylan's stance.

Breathe in when it's coming, hold it. Swing. Breathe out.

He hit it with a good crack and it still popped up a little but it went almost down the middle.

He looked at Raylan with a little triumph this time.

"A moving round surface hitting a moving round surface is hard to predict, you know."

He lined himself up to try again, letting two balls pass before he swung. It didn't go any straighter, but it went farther.

[tinstar]

Malcolm was getting better. It was all about the small adjustments that no one could figure out but the person swinging. His look of triumph was echoed with an encouraging nod of Raylan's head and a small spread of his smile.

"It comes at the same spot each time here. Just work on swinging for center." His grin was spreading as Malcolm lined himself back up, and Raylan enjoyed the view as Malcolm swung again. This was a satisfying companion to him learning how to throw axes. "You can put strength into it later to worry about trying for any home runs."

But this was a good start.

[abrightboy]

"I'm so not worried about trying to hit home runs," he said with a self-deprecating laugh. "I'm working on not stumbling into the path of the next ball," he joked, getting ready to swing again. A ball passed. Another. He swung and hit, sending it respectably straight towards second base.

[tinstar]

"That's the easy part, just don't fall forward." Raylan grinned at him as he watched, clapping once as Malcolm's hit launched into the field. "Yeah, good hit, now you're getting it. We got about 15 balls left before it stops. Keep goin', find your rhythm."

[abrightboy]

"Do it again?" He glanced at the next ball whizzing past. "Okay," he said with a resolute nod, raising the bat again, hitting the next ball at a bit of a wonky angle, but still inside the foul lines. He didn't lower the bat. He let the next ball go by, then swung at the next one, sending it through the middle, but on the ground.

[tinstar]

Raylan leaned back into the chainlink fence and watched Malcolm go at it.

"You coulda played, given enough time. Thank god you're not scared of 'em, that's what most people choke up on. 'Course, a ball comin' at you at 65 miles an hour, I can see why that might be the case."

[abrightboy]

"Yes, well. I've suffered worse than a ball in the face." A beat. "And also I've suffered a ball to the face." As he'd related when he'd told Raylan about his only forays into baseball.

He lined himself up again and swung at the next ball, hitting it high just inside the first baseline. He let a couple balls go by, then hit another, sending it high and down the centre.

He looked at Raylan. "I could have played?" Nobody he'd ever played with suggested he could have been anything but crap that they took because they had to.

[tinstar]

All the more reason it was impressive, in Raylan's opinion. Other people would have used that and gotten more frightened of it happening again.

The high ball down the center only proved Raylan's point and he grinned at Malcolm as he turned back.

"You see that last ball you hit? Woulda gotten you at least two bases, depending on how well you run in those suits.." The last ball whizzed past Malcolm and Raylan pushed off the chain link to amble over and pick up the ballbasket that they'd use to collect them back up.

"You ever run? Recreationally, not in pursuit."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm laughed, glancing down at his outfit.

"I used to," he said. "Now it's mostly pursuits."

He bent to help Raylan collect the balls.

"Maybe in Miami we could join a rec league or something," he suggested.

[tinstar]

His grin spread as he turned his attention back to the ground to continue the tedious but almost comforting task of cleaning up after batting. "Once I stopped playing, I stopped runnin', so I'm with ya in the pursuits pilates class. Think we might need to save the rec league for when we're old and in desk jobs. Marshal's Service is plenty workout for me."

He picked up another few balls, ignoring the fact that he just admitted that he wanted to get old with Malcolm.. Well, older, anyway.

"But something we can go too that's noncommittal might be alright. So long as we're not lettin' anyone down when we have to bail for work."

[abrightboy]

"I wasn't sure how they worked. I thought they might be... kind of casual."

He dropped some more balls into the bucket.

"But we have... our whole lives ahead, right? No need to rush."

Confirmed.

[tinstar]

Raylan's chest felt like it was going to burst but he kept it cool and eyed the last few balls they'd need to deal with, heading that way to collect them. "Yeah. Our whole lives."

He gave Malcolm a bright smile and walked towards the pitching machine, heart beating in his ears. Raylan supposed, somewhere along the way, that he would be used to being happy again, but as happy as he was with Winona, it somehow didn't come close to the way Malcolm made him feel. Like he was more than what he could save him from, a constant need that didn't waver based on Malcolm's mood or the weather.

"I'm gonna set a 45 second delay so we can get back to the mound. You a little more excited about the game now that you know what it feels like to swing?"

[abrightboy]

Malcolm wasn't sure he was more excited to watch the game itself, but he was excited to watch the game with Raylan, who clearly loved it. Just like he'd never been interested in playing it, but playing it with Raylan sounded fun. Raylan's passion for it and his encouragement put it in a light it could never have been in when kids were throwing the ball at his head on purpose or his 'teammates' put him in the outfield because they had to have a minimum number of players and there wasn't anyone else available.

He smiled. "I'm excited to hear your insights into it. I've never paid close attention to a baseball game before."

[tinstar]

"You're gonna regret asking for a play by play by the third inning," he cautioned. "Maybe the second if you let me drink." He didn't want to get too messy but he hadn't watched baseball with people or friends or anyone for more than a few years and part of him couldn't ignore the need to Sports.

The machine pitched its first ball as they got back to the batting plate and Raylan picked up the bat, twirling it again as he stepped up. He waited for Malcolm to get clear before he cocked his bat up at the ready.

"I've always wanted to see a game at Yankee Stadium, since I was a kid." He swung, hitting another solid ball and thinking back to when he was small and Aunt Helen would take him into town to use the batting cages there. "Aunt Helen would let me watch games on her TV when they were on, between episodes of Rawhide and Ponderosa." He swung again, having let one pass, knocking it out the park. Not all of his hits were fantastic but the vast majority of them were solid straight lines and the ones that weren't went a little wide on either side.

"New York always seemed like some impossible place, bein' so far away."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm doubted very, very much that he'd regret asking Raylan to talk. He needed, as Raylan might say, to stock up on Raylan's voice.

He smiled softly as he told the story, getting an even better picture of how Aunt Helen fit into Raylan's life.

"It's some kind of crazy kismet that we even met, isn't it?"

[tinstar]

"Fate?" He knew the word very loosely and was largely using the context to guide him as he smiled back at Malcolm before focusing forward again. "Now that you mention it.. You're the reason I came up here. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if Quarles hadn't come up." Would he still have come up?

Raylan swung again, hitting another solid ball before he let the bat fall from it's held position as he turned back around to Malcolm. smile spreading.

"Then I realize I would have probably died alone and miserable, and I don't bother thinkin' about it again."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm smiled broadly, taking an aborted half step towards him. His instinct was to kiss him, but he remembered they were in public and didn't think Raylan would be comfortable with that. He continued the step after a beat and reached for the bat instead, but raised his eyes to Raylan's face.

"Well. Not on my watch," he said softly.

[tinstar]

He saw the half aborted decision and while Malcolm was right, Raylan wasn't going to go without touching him, and slid a hand around the side Malcolm's neck, thumb brushing a passing caress before Raylan finished stepping out of the way.

"I figure I'll get used to livin' here, even part time. Though the lack of space still rubs me the wrong way." There's so many people packed in here. "Especially if I get to come bat here now and then."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm leaned almost unconsciously into the touch.

"Yeah, I guess New York is denser than Lexington. Or Miami."

There were passes for the facility, though, and Malcolm would look into picking up an annual, so Raylan could use the cages whenever he wanted.

"How long does hurricane season last?" he asked curiously as he took up his stance with the bat.