Did Raylan hear the little fizzing sound of a fuse blowing in Tim's brain? Maybe smell the ozone as his brain went into overdrive and then threw a rod straight into the engine block.

He made a couple noises, half spoken words that were bitten off before all the syllables made it from his throat. His hold on Raylan never loosened but Tim went silent for more than a few minutes as his brain tried to process what he heard. It put him on unstable ground that felt like sand slipping out from under his feet, even as he tried to gain purchase to form a response.

It was too much, too fast. He could barely get his head around what it meant to have a relationship with Raylan, someone he knew and trusted. But was this Raylan's way of telling him that he needed to give the older man space? Every time Tim tried to unwind the knot of uncertainty suddenly stuck to the inside of his skull, it seemed to become all the more sticky.

Raylan probably felt him take a breath, try again to start in on words but again they died before they could even clear his throat.