tinstar | Malcolm x Raylan: Cowboy Surprise

"S'that what I am?" He followed the question with an amused pull of his beer. "And I'm not even in the professional leagues." Their shoulders were much better, by comparison and he knew it.

The game started with a singing of the national anthem - a hard press for a guy who's gotta stand up, not wear his hat, hold a beer and put his hand over his heart. Raylan opted to hold his beer and hat. As they sat back down the players split and broke over the field to their positions.

"Do you know what the positions are? Beyond batter and pitcher." Those were common enough, everyone knew them. Raylan was happy to chat about baseball, it's rules and its ins and outs while the first few innings got on but the deeper into the game he got, the less he talked and the more he focused on the game and it's odds.

They were decidedly not better; not one of their shoulders was involved in holding Malcolm while he fell asleep, or threw axes with him or walked around his apartment in a thin sleeveless undershirt that really emphasized them. It was Malcolm's thesis on shoulders, dammit.

He smirked a little. "A few of them. Um, I know that the right outfield," he explained extending his hand to point at it, "is where they put losers they don't really want to play... and the person behind the plate who makes fun of people who get hit by the ball is inexplicably called the 'catcher'," he teased.

Raylan's smile had started to widen but as Malcolm got further and darker, the smile wavered.

"Man, they really messed you up, didn't they? Though I can't argue about your description of the catcher, some can be a real pain in the ass." He smiled, shifted in his chair and proceeded to explain all the short stops and basemen.

"Cather's don't talk shit in professional leagues though. At least not in public. Hell, we'd turn into Hockey type fans in a heartbeat.

Raylan's passion and observations easily brought a smile back to Malcolm's face.

"Baseball is definitely much better with you," he noted happily.

Grinning, Raylan knocked their knees together and focused on the game. It took a few innings but even Raylan's stubbornness couldn't stop him from eventually caving to a few sharply enthused leans forward as a ball was cracked out into left field.

Yeah, definitely good seats.

They didn't go into an extra inning, and the home team won by 8 which Raylan assured was a good game and score difference, and while his beer had been finished by the 5th inning, he didn't opt for a second one.

Leaning back into his seat with a happy sigh as the teams did their walk past each other with high fives, Raylan looked over. "So, what did you think?" He pushed to his feet, resitting his hat on his head as he leaned against the seats in front of them, just waiting for Malcolm to be ready.

"Worth the admission price that you totally didn't pay?"

By the time Raylan got absorbed in the game, Malcolm was able to follow it with some interest. He answered Raylan's question with a smile. "I enjoyed it a lot. We should go again some time."

When it finished, he had half a beer left. He looked down into it as he got up. "Do you want the rest of this?"

The beer got a glance and a shrug that came with a half nod as he collected it. "You've got me in for at least 3 hours of whatever you would like to do tomorrow," he promised, draining the rest of Malcolm's cup in one fell swoop like his throat could extend long enough to get it all in one gulp.

He had the grace to look a little ashamed afterwards, but not so much as one might notice.

"What now? You ready to go home or do you wanna take a walk around the park by your apartment or something?"

Malcolm smiled almost self-consciously.

"I'd like to go home," he admitted. They'd been out all day. While he'd had more fun than he'd had...since he could remember, he was at the point where all he really wanted was for Raylan to touch him. He wasn't doing that in a park.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Malcolm asked as they headed out of the stadium. "We could order something in."

As he moved, his jacket made a noise and he pulled out the crackerjacks he hadn't yet tried. "Or we've got these," he joked.

"Then home it is." That's where he'd rather be too, where he could toe of his boots, relax and enjoy Malcolm's company, heat, and closeness.

As they headed out, Raylan nodded at the question before looking down at Malcolm's jacket and the telltale rustle in it. He couldn't help but scoff a laugh.

"Shit. They're always better in the stands, but they'll be an okay snack later. Yeah, let's order some food. That way we won't have to leave again once we get home." There was something almost possessive in the way the last came out but Raylan didn't notice it and if he did, he wasn't sure he'd care. Malcolm made him hungry and eager in more ways then one, for more than one things.

Clearly it's his fault for inviting this in.

Malcolm wasn't pointing fingers; this was all too good to be true and he intended to hold onto it if he possibly could.

If he had any say in it.

He nodded; he heard that note in Raylan's voice. He liked it. He wanted Raylan to feel at home in his apartment. He wanted to be Raylan's home. He wanted to be Raylan's port in a storm as much as Raylan was his. And he couldn't deny that he was. He felt noticeably calmer when the Marshal was near.

He flagged a taxi as they stepped to the curb and, once he'd given the driver his address, he pulled out his phone. "What sort of food do you feel like?" he asked, scrolling down the screen.

As much as Raylan wanted Malcolm to be a permanent port, the fact that he had to go back out into the storm with no real sense of when the next reprieve was coming had him being a little cautious about sinking into it with a full tilt. It would make going without Malcolm harder and Raylan wasn't into setting himself up for heartache, if he could help it.

Humming thoughtfully as the taxi pulled away, Raylan leaned over to peer onto Malcolm's screen. "Got any shitty, fully American Chinese food? I could do with something that has noodles. A lo mein or something."

Still, he wasn't above sinking into Malcolm's everything when the chance was there. Right now, it all felt like a sweet day dream but how solid and far they'd actually get remained to be seen. He'd been burned too many times to be overly naive about it, as much as he would have liked to. Things were sometimes easier that way.

"Lo meeeiiinnnnn," Malcolm hummed as he punched an order in through an app on his phone. "I could probably stomach some steamed rice," he admitted, ordering that too. Scrolling through the menu, he shrugged and ordered some beef and broccoli and some lemon chicken too. They were leftovers he could easily give away if Raylan didn't want them.

"It'll get to the apartment shortly after we do," he said, tucking his phone away again. He looked at Raylan. "Did you have a good time today?" he asked, hoping everything was at least what he expected.

Raylan sat back, pleased, and slid a hand over to rest on Malcolm's thigh, thumb brushing back and forth a few times as he watched the lights zip by the window. The question brought his attention back and with a broad smile.

"Best day off I've had in a long time, if I'm honest. Couldn't tell you how long it's been since I've taken a day off that wasn't mired in hillbilly bullshit." He got to do things he normally didn't, batting included - unless it was late and he was aiming to get drunk and unfrustrated, and doing them with Malcolm had only made it all better. He liked Malcolm's enthusiasm, even about a sport he wasn't particularly into himself.

"Though I'm not gonna lie and say I'm not lookin' forward to lazin' around your apartment most of tomorrow. Since we're indulging." And that's really what all this felt like. An indulgence. Something that he wasn't going to get often or so freely as he'd gotten it this time.

They were lucky his phone was off and even then, there was a chance he'd turn it on to 20 missed calls or more.

"I'm looking forward to it too," he said happily. Happy Raylan wanted to just spend time with him, happy that his big baseball day of fun had gone well. Happy in general, for once. "Gonna give yoga another try?" he asked with a grin and a cocked eyebrow.

"What, with the way it ended last time?" he asked with an innocent look over. "Of course. At least for a few minutes. Might have to stretch first though."

Was he joking? He wouldn't tell or crack until the AM if he could help it, just for a little fun.

"Don't wanna throw my back out."

"I would be happy to... keep an eye on your back," Malcolm offered, with an innocent look of his own.

As the taxi pulled up in front of his building, he handed some money to the driver and got out, leading the way in, unlocking one door and then the other, hanging up his coat, putting the crackerjacks on the counter.

"Mmhmm," was the amused reply that came in turn.

Sliding out of the taxi after Malcolm, Raylan followed him upstairs and hung his hat on the rack before shrugging off his jacket. But as soon as all that was done, Raylan was striding forwards to slide his arms around Malcolm and draw him in. Didn't matter which way the man was facing, Raylan just wanted to get his hands on and around him again.

They'd had a lot of fun, but he missed this, even with all their soft contact over the day.

"Thank you for takin' me out," he said quietly, happily.

Malcolm grinned up at him.

"Out to the ballgame?" he joked lightly, sliding his arms up around Raylan's neck. He pressed a kiss to his mouth. "It was my pleasure," he said happily.

"Mm, it'll be your pleasure," he promised, leaning in to start a deep kiss that was, after only a few long seconds, interrupted by a knock on the door. Raylan groaned tightly, sighing softly as he turned and let Malcolm go and get the door.

"You weren't kiddin' about delivery time, were you." He was hungry, so he wasn't mad about it, but he was surprised. While Malcolm got it all in and sorted out, Raylan pulled out some forks for them both and started a pot of water before getting himself a tumbler and some scotch.

Malcolm also huffed a little as Raylan let go of him, then unpacked the food at the island while Raylan moved around the kitchen.

It was only the second night of a week and Malcolm watched Raylan move around the space like he was at home in it. It made his heart swell. He almost dropped the lid from the rice by setting it too close to the edge of the counter in his distraction and had to fumble to catch it.

"Oops," he said, glad Raylan's back had been mostly turned when the fumble occurred. Maybe it wouldn't be obvious why. "Got it," he declared, setting the lid back on the counter properly.

He didn't catch all of it, but he caught the catch and the almost sheepish look on Malcolm's face. "It get away from ya?"

The scotch was left out and Raylan slid back onto the stool next to Malcolm's with a sly pull of his lips. "You alright?"

It wasn't obvious why; Raylan wouldn't ever really think he had that much or that kinda power. Mainly because nothing in his life had ever proven as such.

"Slipped. ...Condensation." He huffed a laugh. "And I might have been distracted. You were... around." He pressed his lips together and poked at his rice, looking sidelong at Raylan. "Maybe I was considering what it would be like if you were.... around more."

He didn't bother to dig in just yet, keeping the full power of his attention on the man next to him that continued to make little corners of his life better and brighter than he ever thought it could be.

"Back home we call that daydreaming, though it is gonna happen if I have anything to say about it." Assuming things didn't.. fall apart somehow in the meantime. Raylan didn't think they would fall apart, at least not for a while. It always happened after a While.

"You know I even do dishes," he said, like he was somehow sweetening the pot. Raylan glanced around the apartment before finally looking at and digging into his lo mein. "I was uncomfortable here, the first few nights. Even after.." He glanced over and then back to his food. "Like I was a foreign object. A.. contrasting disruption," he finished more confidently.

Take those words, Harvard boy.

"But I've gotten used to it. How things'll be here."

Malcolm's eyes stayed on him as he explained, his smile twitching up a little at 'contrasting disruption'. He always appreciated Raylan's turns of phrase, but the little unexpected ones were the best.

"'How things will be here' is sure a phrase about the future," he noted happily. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Raylan's shoulder. "I like how that sounds."

It was. Raylan couldn't argue the semantics of the underlying point, but the kiss to his shoulder brought a broad closed smile as he leaned a little into the retreating kiss.

"You're gonna have to teach me how to make your tea," he said softly, eyes meeting Malcolm's. He wanted to know so he could bring Malcolm tea like he brought Raylan coffee. "And when you're most likely to take it. So I can bring you some while you're pouring over a file or something. That's my daydream."

If Malcolm was curious.

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