tinstar | Malcolm x Raylan: Cowboy Surprise

"If she didn't, she wouldn't have taken you to the South of France," Raylan agreed. He didn't blame or condescend to Jessica because of her wealth, only because of the way she looked at people who didn't have it. People like him.

"I know she loves you. I know she means well." But Good intentions paved the road to hell or some shit and it looked just as damaging as what his father had done. But as a son who'd lost his own mother, he would tolerate all her shit, for Malcolm's sake.

"Which is why we'll take her into high class restaurants instead of pulling up at a food truck and watching her turn a different shade of pale."

"I think we should eat at our house," Malcolm said matter of factly. "When we visited her, she invited us to what makes her comfortable. When she visits us, she can join us at our table, eating what makes us comfortable."

"It's an option. If that's where you wanna start," he said amicably. It wasn't his decision to make and a very large part of their relationship was Raylan letting Malcolm make his own decisions. He wasn't here to raise him.

"How do you feel about a hotel for her? Just so she can have her own space." He didn't know how many rooms a house the size Malcolm was thinking had, nor the habits around staying with family when you were in town. It was an exploratory question.

"She might prefer that," Malcolm mused. "I'll offer her the option. I don't know if we'll have a guest room. I mean. I guess we should. But if we can only have two bedrooms, one is ours and one is Willa's and that's it. If we can get one or two more... then we'll see."

He nodded. "Fair enough." God he was happy he didn't have to worry about Arlo anymore. And that Malcolm was still making considerations for the daughter that wasn't here right now.

"You know that you've got the lead when it comes to her and the rest of your family, right? I'm not gonna get in the way." Regardless of how he sometimes wanted to. Sometimes did.

Jessica started it.

"I just wanna see you happy."

"I am happy," Malcolm said. "I... know how I want to handle things with my family. But. I think sometimes I'll need help. It's..." he took a deep breath. "I can't always maintain my resolve."

"Just don't change any plans on me too suddenly so we're both goin' the same direction." Malcolm had a solid rock to lean back against and Raylan would try his best to not overstep the lines drawn.

He took the last few bites of his plate and sighed contentedly as he sat back.

"You're going to spoil me like this ya know."

The lines of tension that started to creep in talking about his family faded immediately and he grinned.

"That's the idea," he exclaimed. He pushed his plate away and got up. "I want to show you the rings," he said, glancing around until he found where he'd left his bag that morning. He stepped over and grabbed his laptop, opening it up propped on his arm as he walked back over to Raylan.

"Yes," he said, propping one arm out over the neighbouring chair as he watched Malcolm walk around. As he got in range, Raylan pulled the chair out, inviting him to sit next to him so they could both see.

"I want to know what kinda tastes you've got for it."

"I kept it simple," he promised, "but look what I found." He pulled up a picture on the computer, setting it where Raylan could see. "They custom engrave these. What you do, is we'd both get a simple ECG and then they engrave our actual heartbeats on them." He looked at Raylan. "Your ring would have my heartbeat on it and mine would have yours. You can choose from different metals. You can get yellow gold so it doesn't clash with your other ring."

"Gold is for rich mobsters and assholes," he quipped as he leaned in to peer a little closer at the image provided before looking at Malcolm. "They can do that? .. Huh. That's.. really cool."

It was so far out of the box that Raylan lived in that it was a bit of a shock, but in the best way.

"I like that. A lot." He looked over at Malcolm. "A symbol of us carrying each other with us no matter where we are."

He hoped Malcolm felt the same way, believed that he did, but the way he felt was inarguable. He'd find a way to bring down the moon if Malcolm asked.

Malcolm breathed out relief at Raylan's opinion.

"Oh thank god. I was hoping it was as romantic as I thought and not... weird."

He considered Raylan for a moment. "What metal would you want?"

"It's not," he assured with a smile before looking back at the screen. "Silver, I guess. I don't know what dark metals are up for consideration. I was lookin' at wood rings but I don't know. Seems like it'd be more fragile that way. More chance for me to break it."

Which clearly, he didn't want to do.

"I'm open to suggestions if you've got 'em but silver is normally my go to."

Malcolm thought about that.

"Okay, if we're thinking white metals and we don't want to go as elaborate as white gold or platinum, what about titanium?" he asked. "They do them in aircraft grade titanium. It's the same colour as stainless steel, just about, but stronger and lighter and it's almost indestructable when you're not dropping it out of the sky from six thousand feet. That has to be symbolic, too, right? We just have to be careful when we size ourselves; titanium can't be resized later like softer metals."

"We can look into it. Almost indestructible might be a good idea considerin' what I get up too but this one's held up alright," he said, tapping his ringed fist lightly on the table as he mentioned it.

"If they've got white gold, you think they'll have black gold? I think it'd look good with black and a contrasting white gold for the heartbeats."

Malcolm's eyes lit at the idea and he pulled up a new tab to google it.

"Black metal...." He scanned the results. "They do have 'black gold' but it's regular gold, plated in black rhodium... I'd think that would make it susceptible to chipping eventually..." He scanned a bit more. "Black Zirconium is similar in properties to titanium - it's lighter and stronger than steel - and they do have that option where they make these rings." He looked at Raylan.

Raylan leaned over a little to scan the page as Malcolm searched and he smiled over at him as he finished.

"Let's look into that one then. We might still have to be careful about sizin', but we should probably be doin' that anyway. Besides, I don't see either of us losin' or gainin' any real weight that would make a difference. But we're both tough as hell. It's fittin'."

"We need rings that can keep up," Malcolm agreed. "There's an order form on their website. Once we've decided to go ahead, we just need to get the ECGs and then submit them with the order," he explained, closing the laptop. He didn't want email or something to pop up at him. He was unplugged today. He just wanted Raylan to see the rings. "You're happy with that design?" he asked, looking over at him.

Still smiling crookedly at the now sliding away laptop, Raylan looked over and nodded again.

"My only question is, are our heartbeats the same? The line. I've seen a lot of ECG monitors in my time, it all kinda looks the same unless someone is spikin' or flatlinin'. But I think it'll look good, yeah."

He shook his head. "They'll be the same basic pattern, obviously, because they're both human heartbeats. But the frequency, the speed, the exact rhythm... they'll look a little different." He grinned. "I bet mine's faster than yours." He gestured towards his chest. "Anxiety."

Raylan kept his smile but he couldn't find it in him to spread it for Malcolm's anxiety. Instead he leaned over and kissed him.

"Maybe we'll get to work on a little of that in the middle of your Life things. In the meantime, maybe we clean up and sit out on the terrace for a little bit. Take in some night air." Pretend that everything was peaceful.

"Only if you're done though."

"Oh, I'm done," he said.

He'd eaten almost one and a half beans and a third of a third of a chicken breast, after all. He bounced up to grab the plates and the bowl of bean salad. It would keep for the next day. According to the recipe, it'd be even better by then.

"Do you want some of this salad to take to work tomorrow?" Malcolm asked as he put it away.

Before shutting the fridge, he grabbed a beer for Raylan. It seemed to be his evening porch-sitting beverage of choice.

"And eat in the office? Hell no. Not that your salad isn't great. Only that I think the fridge in the break room is growing something and I don't trust people to not eat it before I get to it," he said as he stood to follow Malcolm into the kitchen, stealing the plates to scrape and stack them to deal with later.

"But I can snack on it when I get home." He gestured for the beer and popped it open, tossing the cap into the trash can as he headed for the terrace, stopping to pull off his boots and socks so he could pad out barefoot.

"Maybe we order out tomorrow. Take it easy." He looked at Malcolm as he sat down. "Then you can turn your phone back on, if you have to."

When he said turn it off for 24 hours, he really meant it.

"I wonder what will happen if I don't..." he mused, toeing his own shoes off and stuffing his socks in them as he followed Raylan out. "I'm a little bit interested in how long my anxiety will let me keep it off before it starts spiraling."

"Well so long as you don't let that spiral get goin' before we nip it in the bud. I'm all for ignorin' it. If they really need you for somethin', Gil's got my number. He's a smart guy."

Raylan gave him a reassuring smile. "Consider it practice for later. For them and you both."

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