026 》sweet troubled man are you giving or taking?

[thering]

characters: Malcolm, Neal, Negan, Raylan, Doc
location: 1306 Phillips Dr
date/time: day 26 morning
content: the reset Playstation button was pressed
warnings: tbd

After the strangeness of the past two nights they were likely fully expecting to awaken in the same strange, different, not-so-new anymore places they found themselves in in the past two days.

Instead everything seems to have reset, again. The three permanent residents and two guests are back in 1306, exactly where they had been two nights ago. Malcolm was in his own room, Neal was in Doc's and Negan in Raylan's master bedroom. The two displaced cowboys are downstairs sharing one too-small couch, a night of drinking culminating in fighting over couch space and who gets to be the bigger spoon.

The fire in the fireplace had gone out and their Winter 2020 Collection of bespoke lanterns have vanished, but nothing else seems to be awry.

Comments

[abrightboy]

Malcolm went to the fridge and took out a carton of eggs, then stood there staring at it as it shook in his shaky hands, then looked at Raylan.

"I was going to make the eggs," he noted with a note of distress. It occurred to him Raylan had asked. At some point in the blur. He put them very carefully on the counter, casting around for a pan.

"We... no we weren't alone. We were in the boarding house. With. Some people. Ellie. And Zed. And a couple new people," he relayed distractedly as he pulled a frying pan out of the cupboard. "I broke... I broke everything," he confessed, putting the pan on the stove.

[tinstar]

It was like he could see the edges of Malcolm fraying a little more with just the stress of having gotten caught up in himself and his own brow pinched faintly in concern as he watched the smaller man flutter to a stop in front of the stove.

"Hey," he sounded softly, mostly to get Malcolm's direct attention before continuing. "It's okay." The instinct was to pull Malcolm into a hug, reassure him like he would have done with Loretta maybe, but everything in him stopped that idea, trading in a hand reaching out to settle on Malcolm's shoulder. "No reason to get wound up. It's just eggs. Breathe, okay?"

His thumb brushed up and down against Malcolm's shoulder before he pulled back to testingly nudge the pancake. Nope, not ready yet.

"Why'd you break everythin'? It talk shit about your mama or somethin'?" He wasn't mocking, in any shape of the word, but it distinctly impressed a specific level of reckless rage. Oh the damage he would do if someone talked shit about his mama.

[abrightboy]

The touch was grounding in itself, backed up by Raylan’s quiet reassurance. He took an unsteady breath as the marshal let go.

“No. There was a shadowy man. Like the one across the chasm.” Like he’d been dreaming about. “And he felt dangerous.” He looked down, pressing his eyes closed. “But he wasn’t real,” he breathed. “I... followed him. I fought him. In the kitchen. I broke everything.” He opened his eyes and looked at Raylan. “Do you think they’ll be mad?”

[tinstar]

If he had been a softer, more open man like Doc, he wouldn't have to chew over if giving a reassuring hug was okay. Then again, maybe Doc had gotten more of those in his life to help make him that way. Of course he wished he was, but life didn't have that in the cards for Raylan.

He frowned softly. "If we're bein' frank, me and dead owls don't give a hoot. There's plenty of space to steal from to replace it. It's not like you broke anything really irreplaceable, right?" Raylan shrugged and shook his head.

"Alls that matters is that you're alright now. I don't suppose you kicked his ass for us, didja?" Nudging the pancake again, he flipped it, off hand propped up on his tilted hips.

[abrightboy]

He looked at Raylan, an almost relieved break in his expression as he huffed a wry laugh.

"If how many dishes I broke and how close I came to giving Negan a concussion are any indication, I sure beat his ass," Malcolm conceded. He reached out, fidgeting at the edge of the counter with his fingers. "It was like the lighthouse that time, except longer." And without Raylan. "What if the next place they put us... what if we're there so long I can't stay awake?"

[tinstar]

A valid question. A valid concern. Raylan's face pinched again and he nodded, repeating the actions to get another pancake on the griddle with a deep sigh.

"I don't know. Get resourceful. If Doc or I ain't around, find someone to wake you up. Short naps is the best I can suggest." He and Doc were intelligent and crafty enough to work something come hell or high water. They cared about Malcolm and what he was cursed to suffer.

"Here," he said, one hand sliding over the small of Malcolm's back as he handed him the spatula and stepped around him. "Watch that for me, will ya?"

Eggs needed to be started.

"I can't tell you how to manage somethin' I don't understand the feelin' of, but if you try to tend to your needs before shit really goes off the rails, you're better off. There's not much we can do but prepare." He knew it wasn't helpful, but it was better than lying to Malcolm about something. Giving him false hope that wouldn't serve him a real situation.

[abrightboy]

He wasn't sure he could trust anyone to ask them to be involved. He looked at the pancakes, tightening and loosening and tightening his grip on the spatula in a shaking fist.

"If I have my phone... I could set an alarm so I don't sleep long enough to have a night terror," he said softly. "Or I could lock myself in a room... where I can't hurt anyone."

[tinstar]

Raylan looked over as he got a bowl out from one of the lower cupboards and opened up the carton of eggs. They'd have to leave one, so it could repopulate, though Raylan wasn't sold on that being how it worked. Better safe than sorry there too.

"I know you're scared Malcolm, but I promise Doc an' I aren't the only good people here." They couldn't be, right? "When these things happen, you're gonna havta see if you can find a person you can trust. And in the meantime, you got us," he reiterated with a look as he started cracking eggs into the bowl. "You ain't doin' this alone."

Oh yeah. A nap for Malcolm needed to happen after breakfast but before the trip to town. He'd picked up on the shaking hand and it's being a tell of how bad off Malcolm was in any given moment.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm very carefully flipped a pancake and then another.

He was sure that was right, that they weren't the only good people there but... his experiences with their fellow captives had ranged from surface politeness to mild interest to odd looks to... impoliteness. He might trust Neal, after their talk the night before they were separated. Maybe. He had a good feeling about him. But otherwise? He wasn't sure anyone would be willing to take it on even if they could be trusted to.

You ain't doin' this alone. Malcolm looked over at him for a moment and nodded, then flipped another pancake.

"Where did they put you?" he asked. "Who were you with?"

[tinstar]

Scooping up the eggshells to carry over into the trash, Raylan dumped them in with a concerned glance at Malcolm's turned back. As much as Malcolm needing Doc and him the way he did made him feel, Raylan knew there were going to be points like this again. They were going to have to figure something out.

"I was in a big ol' mansion. Think it mighta been the lodge. Company was alright - The Hargreeves. Girl named Max from the boarding house, Claire Novack, John. And a new guy. Think you and he might have more in common than the rest of us, if I'm honest." He came back to the counter to start beating the eggs. "He was covered in blood. We started out talkin' about Dante's inferno - he thought I was a hallucination there to ferry him to hell." It left an unease in him that he couldn't quite explain. He'd have to find the man now that they were all presumably back.

[abrightboy]

He couldn't help making a bit of a face at 'John'. He'd been excited to go to the magical autopsy, but the tour guide had been condescending and dismissive and he hadn't gone out of his way to get himself some more of that.

But Raylan's description of the new man made his eyes widen with interest and he looked at Raylan raptly.

"He thought you were a hallucination? Right on arrival?"

They brought one man with madnesses. What would stop them from bringing another? But the first one was relatively harmless.

"Whose blood did he have on him?" His own or someone else's?

[tinstar]

"Oh, someone else's though I didn't get that without a bit of a dance," Raylan answered with a lift of his eyebrows as he turned the stove on and centered the pan on the burner. "Didn't even buy me dinner first.. A serial killers, apparently. One to join the group he listed off to me as company that I couldn't see. I think he does the same kinda think you do. Read some parts of me like I was.." Raylan rolled his shoulders in half a shrug.

"A file. It was impressive, even if he was creepy as hell. I think I might seek him out tomorrow." Not today. Today was for home and making sure everyone had their head on straight. "If you meet him, just.. go easy on him. You know as well as he does how hard wakin' up in this place is and he's a quick one."

[abrightboy]

"...He's a profiler who hunts serial killers?" Malcolm verified, eyes wide. "There aren't that many of us, Raylan. Can I come with you when you go to see him?" he asked eagerly.

[tinstar]

"Very niche talent pool, I'll agree," he said with a little lift of his eyebrows as he poured the eggs into the pan, the sound of sizzling filling the air around him.

"Sure. I'd like to see what you think of him, though I think he's gonna know why I'm there. You, your interest will seep off you like sap off a tree tap. It'll be interestin' to watch." To say the least.

[abrightboy]

"...Do you think it's going to end up being a competition?" he asked curiously, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

[tinstar]

"Possibly," he returned with a sidelong look that suggested that he did not find it as exciting a prospect as Malcolm. Malcolm could ratchet tension up. Will was tension, as far as Raylan could tell.

That was asking for a spark of trouble. He'd see how it went.

"But givin' him today will let him.. find his feet maybe. We'll see how he's doin' tomorrow."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm gave him a bit of a cheeky look.

"...But your money's on me, right?" he teased.

Interesting that Raylan was worried about this guy, though. Maybe Malcolm's line of work drew broken people. Or maybe it broke them.

[tinstar]

"Always," Raylan assured with the squint of one eye, face curling in his smile. Always bet on home team, right?

"Those pancakes can get pulled. If you'll pour me another cup of coffee, I'll pour some more." Once Malcolm moved over, Raylan continued. "Glad we don't pay water bills though, two days sweating in the dirt of this place, we all need a shower." Nevermind that Raylan smelled like the whiskey he'd been soaking himself in.

Thank god Winona wasn't around to berate him for it.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm looked down at the pyjamas he’d been wearing since he was taken, then glanced at Raylan before turning his attention to the cup he was filling.

“Me in almost three days of my own grime? It’s like the first time I stayed with you all over again.”

He turned and put Raylan’s cup on the counter by the stove.

[tinstar]

"You don't stink yet, if that's what you're concerned about." Not that he'd noticed how Malcolm or Doc smelt. He's not saying he noticed. Nor is he saying he'd noticed again later, when he ended up curled up with Malcolm in a bed.

"Though if you are, I can handle this. Doesn't sound like Negan or Neal is up yet, but I can't imagine that that'll last much longer. Suppose we'll need to start another pot of coffee.. Thank god that jar refills, we'd be out ten times over by now."

[abrightboy]

"I was a little concerned about it," Malcolm freely admitted. "But I think I'll have a bit of eggs first. I didn't really... eat there either. I'm not what I'd call 'hungry' but. I should have something before I keel over."

He was already taking down the can to make another pot of coffee.

[tinstar]

Raylan's lips curled a little as he scrambled the few eggs he'd put in, grabbing the pepper to grind a little in, mixing it again. "You won't have to wait long for that. I hope to get a little somethin' in you at dinner too. Might have to hit up the Gull, get creative. I think another mornin' of eggs and I might scream."

[abrightboy]

"See if they have some chicken," Malcolm requested, putting grounds in the press. "And I promise I'll at least eat a few bites." He looked over. "If we're not having eggs for breakfast tomorrow I could do... yogurt? Maybe a little fruit?" He held up a finger as another possibility occurred to him. "Or oatmeal?"

[tinstar]

"Will you eat it fried? The fryers they got up there can't go to waste and I can make a mean fried chicken, given the chance," he said with a gesture of his spoon at Malcolm. "Oatmeal is a good idea to - a reliable source of fiber. Still, once spring comes, we might have to consider a garden. Just for freshness. I could do some fruit. Peaches especially.. Been a long time since I've had 'em."

[abrightboy]

“A peach? I thought Georgia was pretty close to Kentucky,” he teased. “I’ve never tried fried chicken. Heavier food... disagrees with me,” he admitted.