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 rolled his head to the side to look at Raylan.

"I didn't mean it to be.... some sort of revelation for them or anything. It kind of slipped out. But only because... that's just the way it is," he said softly, watching Raylan's face. "It's a fact. It's... part of my infrastructure."

[tinstar]

One eyebrow lifted a little as the rest of his face curled unevenly, however softly. He was infrastructure? Huh. He wasn't entirely sure how to process that and gave a softly blissful little smile before glancing at his lap and up out the front window, landing back over on Malcolm's features despite himself.

"You know what your mother said was bullshit, right? I'd say I'm sorry for losin' my temper but I'm not. Talkin' down to your kids is a real bad look, especially when she's tryin' to dismiss me."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm nodded.

"I know. Intellectually. I know she's wrong. It's just...." He took a breath and laid his free hand on his chest. "It's hard to accept that the reason my mother thinks you don't love me is that she thinks I'm fundamentally... not lovable. That... was a bombshell I'm still trying to process." He stared out the front window for a moment, then looked at Raylan again. "That means every time she ever tried to set me up, she was trying to.... arrange some sort of... marriage of convenience? I guess?" He blew out a breath. "I don't know what to do with all that except... maybe take a page out of your book and just not... think about it right now."

end it after a cap off?

[tinstar]

Raylan's hand in his tightened a little.

"Best I can guess, she was goin' for love over time, but arranged anythin' doesn't lead to a lotta happiness in my experience. There's always time to deal with shit later," he agreed with a nod. When it stings less.

"Let's get home. I don't know about you, but I need a drink and about 5 minutes of quiet."

[abrightboy]

"That sounds... better," Malcolm agreed, settling against him for the rest of the ride.