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.

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[tinstar]

Raylan took the chance to slip an arm half around Malcolm as the train started moving, one hand holding them steady on the top rail. It was packed, to his perspective, anyway, what was a loose hand around him going to hurt?

"You've never barbequed?" Raylan scoffed. "Considering all of what you don't normally eat, I shouldn't be surprised. We're gonna have to take care of that as soon as possible. Mine isn't as good as you'll get up in places like Nobles holler but I've always felt mine at the very least stands up to it for a few bites. It's the only way to break in a patio. Might even spring for a smoker, but I'll have to find friends to help eat it...

How do you feel about Poker Nights?"

[abrightboy]

"Well, I've also never had a patio. I'm very excited about all of this," he said, his eyes absolutely alight with it.

And with that hand around him. It was a tiny gesture and it was also everything.

"Poker is a psychological battle of wits more than a card game," Malcolm informed him. In other words, he was intrigued by Poker Night. "Though I've barely played it, I do know the rules and I've played people.... like, a lot."

HES GONNA TURN INTO TIMMY O MAKING DRINKS IN THAT VIDEO

[tinstar]

Raylan chuckled, both pleased and amused at how much enjoyment Malcolm was getting out of this.

"You're going to be my secret weapon once I find people to play with. And until then, we can get a lotta work outta that patio." His cheeks almost hurt from the amount of grinning he was doing, but he loved it. "Put in a small bar, a place to store ice.."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm looked at him as he realized something.

"Oh my god, we're going to have to make friends." A beat. "I'm not usually helpful for that."

He didn't look worried, though. Raylan was very personable.

[tinstar]

"Trick is to start with the neighbours," he supplied with a knowing wink and slow nod. "Over the fence conversation will get us a lot of movement. Just don't be mad at me if I interrupt you to save us from something. If we're gonna be living next to people for the rest of our lives, might not want to irritate them too soon."

They'd be fine.

[abrightboy]

"Maybe I just... won't talk to them until after you talk to them," Malcolm said in all seriousness.

People did find him irritating. Especially at first.

[tinstar]

"You'll be fine once the sun and the sand soaks in," he assured with a brush of his thumb and a sure nod of his head. "We're not gonna be handing out welcome baskets or introducing ourselves to everyone on the block like that. The point of Miami is to take it easy, after all."

[abrightboy]

He laughed.

"I'll be fine? Like. By normal person standards? I'm not sure the sun works like that," he teased, grinning down at the floor.

[tinstar]

"Sure it is," he teased with a little pull of his head, grin broadening. "Maybe not by normal people standards fine but your standard fine. I'm sure there's some study out there about being outside lowering anxiety or something."

[abrightboy]

He looked up suddenly, his smile still broad.

"There actually are a bunch of them," he admitted, pleased that Raylan guessed that so astutely.

His boyfriend was so clever. It sure did make him even hotter.

"Oh, we have to get off at the next stop," he said, glancing around to check where they were. He almost got carried away and forgot to pay attention.

[tinstar]

"Thought I read that somewhere," he said with a smile, pleased at Malcolm's approval of the scant table read lit he'd come across in his life. At the mention they had to get off at the next stop, Raylan actually bothered to mind where they were at on the line.

The train dinged and came to a stop and Raylan filed out behind Malcolm, keeping his hand lightly where it was until he could pull up next to him freely. His stomach rumbled, and he ignored it with only a passing rub over it.

"I hope that all this today means that we get to stay home tomorrow. I could do with a day inside after this. Not to mention however sore we're both gonna be." It was a good statement, he was enjoying himself and was looking forwards to the game later, but a day in would balance it out nicely.

[abrightboy]

"A day in tomorrow will be nice," he agreed. Especially since 'in' meant they didn't have to moderate their behaviour for public eyes.

"The restaurant's just there," he said, gesturing. It was slightly upscale with white linens and real silver. Once they stepped inside, they were led to a table near the windows.

[tinstar]

Following Malcolm in, Raylan couldn't help but feel like he had to slip the hat off as they were led to a table, glancing around before he set it in a spare seat at the table. Once he'd sat down, he ran a hand through his hair as he adjusted his denim jacket, feeling more than out of place.

"Nice place," he said, as though Malcolm didn't know. "Don't suppose they serve fried chicken, do they?" He was teasing now, no way in hell an upscale place like this did something as low rent as fried chicken.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm smiled as he turned his coffee cup over.

"They have... chicken," he said, looking up at Raylan from under his brow. "But I know they have fried chicken at the stadium," he offered. He unwrapped his cutlery and set his napkin across his lap. "I may have googled it."

[tinstar]

Why did that sound like a very alluring dramatic way to say chicken? Raylan grinned as he unrolled the silverware, leaving them upturned on the table where they fell as he draped the napkin over one leg.

"Only thing safe worth eating a stadium is the beer, the hotdogs and it's alway 50/50 on the popcorn. Unless they've got their own stall.. Then I'll consider it." He liked supporting small business.. Mainly because you could better see who you were actually dealing with.

"You googled their food amenities?"

[abrightboy]

He shrugged a shoulder. "Yes." A beat. "In fairness, I googled all their amenities. I think Gil took me there once, but... I don't remember that much about it."

A waiter came and poured water into their glasses and noticed Malcolm's coffee cup turned up as he set menus on the table. He looked at Raylan. "Would sir like coffee as well?"

[tinstar]

"Hm?" Raylan glanced up at the waiter, down at Malcolm, then at Malcolm's cup and his own before glancing at Malcolm and back up to the waiter. "Uh, no, thank you. Iced tea, if you have it."

He waited til the waiter stepped away before looking back down at the table. "Any other silent language things goin' on here that I need to know about?" How many forks did he have?

He'll look at the menu afterwards.

[abrightboy]

"...Silent language things?" Then he realized. "Oh. Oh. No." A beat. "I don't think so."

He also didn't usually drink coffee so late, but he hadn't been sleeping well all week.

"Which stadiums have you been to?" he asked curiously, since he seemed to know what was generally good there.

[tinstar]

Raylan gestured at the cups and, well, everything else on the table before Malcolm caught on and nodded his suspicious acknowledgment. He adjusted his silverware back to rights as he answered.

"I went to Marlins Park in Miami a couple times. Dodger Stadium in L.A. Lexington technically has a stadium, but it's a Little League park in comparison to any context you've got." It wasn't like he hadn't ever gone - he wasn't twenty something anymore.

"I feel like I should ask about ballet theaters now, since you clearly weren't goin' to baseball. Not that I've got a lot of context for that but.." It came to mind. If Malcolm was willing to go to a baseball game with him, he was fine with being asked to go to ballet with Malcolm.

Raylan didn't love classical music, but he could appreciate the fervor of it.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm huffed a smile down at his place setting.

"The New York City Ballet performs at the Lincoln Center," he replied. "I haven't been in a long time." He straightened his napkin in his lap. "Maybe next trip we can fit it in." He glanced up. "If you want."

He was still distinctly uncomfortable with the notion of anyone knowing he enjoyed ballet. A ritual of after school beatings drove the point in. Intellectually, he knew Raylan was safe. His limbic system would have to get used to it.

[tinstar]

"I won't tell if you won't," he replied, lifting his eyebrows like they were somehow really taking a risk. He looked down at the menu, eyebrows lifting again as he eyed the lack of price. That was never a good sign.

"So what's good here?" Honestly, since he was being given a chance, Raylan wasn't being dicey about the prices and was actually looking at what they had that he might not have had in some form or another, before.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm laughed. "I love how you ask someone who hasn't tried most food," he pointed out. "I know people like the dry aged prime steak, the cornish hen's a popular choice... the rack of lamb has good reviews..."

[tinstar]

"I assume that you've watched people eat it and the people you've watched have been significantly higher rent than me." He glanced up. "Sorry, than I." The smirk spread as he looked down at the menu. "Haven't had lamb in a while, but I also eat fish too. Tryin' to keep it varied." Sometimes healthy. He wasn't unaware of his age or his health or how he probably needed to adjust things to stay around for a little longer.

"What are you ordering?" He peered over like Malcolm's menu would highlight his soup of choice, like might also consider it even though he totally wouldn't.

[abrightboy]

"Oh!" His eyes widened. "The ahi tuna steak is supposed to be amazing; you should try that," he advised.

He paused and looked up impishly "and 'than me' was correct; it's the object of the preposition. 'I' is nominative."

[tinstar]

Raylan's face lifted in consideration as he kept looking over the menu.

"Smartass," he accused out loud for the first time, face curled in amusement as the waiter came back with a silver coffee pot and creamer to pour out for Malcolm before asking for their order. Raylan actually took Malcolm's suggestion and ordered the ahi tuna steak, flipping the menu closed and handing it over with a friendly smile.