Milo and Malcolm (Patreon)

A/N Just a oneshot that came to mind about Milo and Mal back in the early years.
This will not count against your normal RO shorts. This is just kind of a bonus content for the month.

Malcolm opened his door to a very wet and disheveled Milo. Not a completely foreign sight through the years but still not one he had expected. Not tonight at least. They were on rival jobs and when they took those contracts, they spent their time apart, not even glancing in the other's direction until the contract was complete. Hazel hated it. She claimed it spread disharmony. But for the two of them, it worked. It gave them a chance to be apart. Made them remember that there were things worth coming back to when they got too snippy with each other.

Without a word, Malcolm stepped aside, letting Milo shuffle through the front room, dripping water all over his hardwood floors.  Normally curly hair was plastered to his head and he kept his hands in his pockets as he toed off his shoes and socks with minimal movements.  Malcolm left him do it, going and fetching a towel along with a soft pair of sweats and an oversized sweatshirt Milo had left here at some point.  When he tossed it to Milo, Milo caught them with a nod of thanks and began to strip. Malcolm gave him privacy and went to the living room, making sure to light a small fire to chase away any of the chill.

Milo joined him when the fire was roaring. It was at least twenty minutes later and he still had not talked. Instead, he had gone into the kitchen to make himself tea, busying himself in there by himself. Malcolm gave him the space he needed. Milo often times needed time to gather himself.  When he came and sat beside him, curling his bare feet under his legs, he looked at Malcolm out of the corner of his eye.

“Hey,” he said, voice raspy.

“Hello.”

“Today sucked.”

Malcolm nodded. A childish sentiment that was all Milo. “Do you need comfort, to vent, or actual discussion?”

“I need you to tell me why today sucked.” It was said with such an air of petulance that it actually made Malcolm smile a bit.

“Because life sometimes feels like that. A series of moments that are not enjoyable and they can bog us down if we have too many in a frequency that we cannot keep up with.”

Milo shook his head. “No. I don’t think that’s it at all. I think people are just horrid pieces of shit we should put through a meat grinder.”

“That too.”

Milo’s shoulders slumped forward. For all the world, he looked as if he had deflated. Malcolm wanted to wrap him up in a blanket until he felt like himself again. Seeing Milo like this was never easy. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I know you don’t like me talking like that.”

“I don’t. But if you need to in order to get something off your chest, I’m right here.”

“I’m trying, Mal,” he started. Malcolm didn’t know what exactly the man was talking about but he had the idea that it didn’t matter.  Milo always felt like he was at the edge of a cliff, ready to tumble into nothing.  And every time he got there, he knew it was his own feet that would eventually walk him off the edge. “I’m trying with everything I can to do the right thing but somehow I keep fucking it up.”

At that, Malcolm frowned. “What do you mean ‘do the right thing’?” Milo often got in over his head and it was the main thing that kept Malcolm up at night.

“I can’t tell you,” he said softly, tucking his feet further under him. “It has to do with the job.”

“Are you in trouble?”  The steel in Malcolm’s tone hardened and he had to remember to soften it. Milo didn’t respond well to anger. Not from the people that had seen his heart.

“No,” he said, and then winced a little at the knee-jerk lie. “I don’t know.”

Malcolm rose, looking for his jacket and the runic bits of magic that he kept nearby for protection.  There was a look on his face that Milo was very familiar with. It was the one that showed when one of his loved ones was in danger.

“Where are you going?”

“To null and void the contract. I’m not working it if it’s putting you in danger.”  The hand that wrapped around his wrist was tight and unrelenting. Pausing, he looked down, watching as Milo stared back up at him with tired eyes.  For a moment, Malcolm thought about pulling away. It would be so easy, after all.  Milo was exactly strong. But in the end, he relented with a sigh. He could break the contract after he took care of Milo.

Sitting back down, he stared at the younger man. His hair was drier now and the chill had been driven from him. He looked ridiculous though in all his oversized clothes.

“Stop looking like that,” Milo demanded.

“Like what?”

“Like that.”

Malcolm sighed wearily. “This is just my face, Milo.”

“Well your face is making me think you’re going to go on a murder spree and I kind of hate it because there are much better things your face could be doing.” He paused, a slow quirk of his lips curling at each end. “Oh. That’s a good one. I’ll have to save that pickup line.”

Malcolm snorted. “It was a three at best.”

“What? That was clearly a solid six,” he protested. “On my pickup line scale, that was one of my best.”

“Re-evaluate your best then,” Malcolm snarked back.  Reaching out, he twisted his fingers within Milo’s shirt and tugged him forward, the two of them falling back on the couch.

Milo quirked a brow at him. “Against the rules, Mal.  No bumping uglies unless we aren’t on a job, remember?”

They were shifting against each other, trying to get comfortable. Milo ended up elbowing Malcolm in the rib and Malcolm ended up kicking him in the shin. “Is everything always about sex with you?”

“Yes.”

Malcolm rolled his eyes. “Liar.”

“I know,” he grinned. “But it makes me feel better to make you pissed.”

“I know.”

“I know you know.”

Maneuvering them so they laid side by side, they ended up staring at each other, sharing the same breath, hips and legs pressed together. It was comfortable and familiar and with each steady rise and fall of Malcolm’s chest, he could see Milo begin to relax even further.

“Can you still do that thing where you make pictures appear on the ceiling?” Milo asked.

Reaching around, Malcolm pulled the little device from under the sofa, tapping at a few buttons until something appeared up ahead. Milo grinned in delight, snuggling down and turning so he could watch the cartoonish images above them.  Malcolm laughed softly, tossing the device down and settling in with the man. They did have rules in this situation. They did make sure to keep their distance. But today could be an exception. At least for Milo’s sake.

Reaching out, Malcolm took Milo’s hand in his, pulling it to his chest. Milo didn’t say a word, but he smiled all the same, tapping him softly in tune with whatever the images up above were singing about.

“Thanks for breaking the rules for me,” Milo whispered after a long moment. “I like dragging you down to my level.”

Malcolm squeezed his hand tight.  “It’s not dragging when I willingly go,” he whispered. They were both asleep long before the pictures above blinked out.