triangularity | Open RP post for Maggie Garcia

He's easily pulled down and enthusiastic about kissing her, humming as it breaks with a broad smile. Kisses were always special; he knew how much the gesture of it alone meant to her and it didn't hurt that they shared a love of each other.

"I think you might be a little bias on that opinion but I'll take it and fight the judge in court over it. Lead the way, darlin'."

He would follow dutifully behind and take a seat at the place she gestures him towards with a low whistle at the spread.

"Let me do dishes afterwards? Least I can do after all your effort."

"You can do the dishes," she agrees without protest, "although I make no promises I won't stand behind you being distracting."

Fair warning.

She gestures him to sit while she sets the last of their dinner on the table, leaning over his shoulder to kiss his cheek and murmur, "Love you," before she joins him.

And she'll wait until the dinner is well underway before she says, "So, I've been thinking and I want to ask you about something."

"You're a distraction no matter where you are," he says, flirting shamelessly with his broad, endearing grin. Manners abound, he doesn't touch anything until she's sat with her, eyes glittering happily over his smile and the "Love you too" that follows hers. But once she's sat down, Raylan digs in, showing his enthusiasm for a good meal the best and only way how - by tucking in.

That and he didn't exactly eat the best or the most often, so he was almost perpetually peckish if not outright hungry.

"Should I be scared?" He was only teasing though - Maggie almost never dropped something heavy on him.

"Nothing bad, but important." She looks uncharacteristically nervous for a second before she goes ahead and dives in. "We're going to get into all the logistics if you say yes, but first, I want your initial impression. And any answer is okay."

She takes a slow breath, but her voice and her gaze are steady when she asks, "How would you feel about something more permanent? If what's between us isn't just on the Barge?"

It's that look of nervousness in hand with her emphasis on 'important' that has him wiping and clearing his mouth, brow furrowed gently in his attention on her as she lays out all the addendums and 'just in case's. He's set out enough of those himself to recognize them.

But what she suggests is so far out of left field of his expectation that he has to blink a little.

"I-" He would love something more permanent but he didn't dare get his hopes up too much as to how far that statement really went. There were a lot of things to contend with, not least of which was her virus, her commitments and her connections here. Of course he wanted that, a hint of, a chance at what Mason and Maggie had been able to find, with all the trust he had for her that she wouldn't turn around and leave him because she couldn't handle worrying about him out on the job. Maggie's dealt with worse, Maggie trusts in his ability to take care of himself. Maggie only every made him better.

"I would be interested to hear what depends on it. Is that somethi- I mean; are you sure? Your family, your parents -" Let's get into those logistics.

"I can't leave my world behind completely. It would destroy my parents and fuck up my team. But if I work out communication and transportation, I could have a home base somewhere else. I could be in touch with them all the time. I could go back for nice long visits, then come home to you." Say the word, and she'll work on sorting things out to make it possible.

"Iris could probably manage a lot of the logistics of that. She isn't the settling down sort, but she loves me and she eats impossibilities for breakfast." The one thing she has to be up front about is, "It's not safe until I have a deal, to take care of the virus. But I think most of it could be managed other ways. If it's something you want too."

It was a spark of hope in his chest he hadn't left room for previously as Maggie asks if it's something he wanted. Everything was complicated - his world wasn't without it's own, but they were less life or death and more Ex's and Oh's. Less complicated. Less important too - he didn't doubt that Maggie would handle Winona with easy, venomous grace.

Dinner was momentarily forgotten about, utensils weightless and barely there in his hands as he watches her from across the table.

"It's somethin' I've wanted since you told me I could stay. After Mason." Her accepting him for him after all that was a massive thing for Raylan. Maggie made a safe space for him without looking down on him for needing one. "I-.. I don't know that I can wait here-" He wanted to be fully honest with her. "But I can wait."

Would that be good enough? Could she handle that amid everything else that was going on with this offer, with this life on the Barge?

Maggie reaches out, taking his fork and setting it down so she can pull his hand toward her and lean in to kiss it.

"If you need to leave, it's okay. But we'll make a plan for that too. I may not be able to visit, but I'll have Iris relay messages for me. Letters and silly video recordings. I can get dropped off not too long after, from your perspective, even if I'm here a long time. But I don't want you wondering - what's going on in my life, am I still planning a future with you... you deserve to know all of that for sure. You deserve to see and hear that I'm thinking of you."

Raylan lets her move him, watching her like she was made of light and goodness, a hint of reservation and hesitation behind it all, but that should be expected. Plenty of people had promised him this, alluded to it, strung him along on the hope that if he just hung in there, he'd be rewarded with their company and their love. Something to come home to, something to live for. Of course, Raylan Givens would go on living without something other than his job to live for, he wasn't built to quit, but he'd rather not be lonely.

Not if he get the chance to be happy.

"I'd like that. I know me steppin' out means I miss everythin' here but-" Well he had a lot of reasons. A lot of deep rooted in his soul reasons. "I'd love to see you, even if it has to be in video for a little bit."

He could start looking for a house, something he thought might be to her liking -

"I-.. If we do this. When you're.. there with me, in Miami. Will it be just you and me?"

"I'm not going to forget about you, or move on, just because you're not on board anymore, darling," she promises, tone light but gaze steady on his. She gives his hand a squeeze. "And I'll make sure you know it."

As for his question, Maggie hums in consideration. "Other relationships, you mean? I'm fine with not adding any new ones, if you'd rather not? I don't feel the need to go looking, if I have someone to share my life with. But I'd feel... honestly, awful, asking Iris to help with logistics for this, and then breaking up with her. She deserves better. I can't use her and make her feel like she doesn't matter." Iris, especially, Maggie can't break up with over this. But missing Tim is still an ache, even if he never wants to stay still long enough to share her home; she'd like snatches of time with him. She's had a year to come to terms with that. And Fitz is just starting to think about a future. She'd like to be a part of it, at least occasionally.

"Would you be okay with me having intermittent visits with the few people I'm already involved with? In a perfect world, I'd love being able to cook dinner or breakfast for all of us if someone stops by Miami to see me. But what do you want, or need? You feeling comfortable matters to me."

Edited 2024-02-25 08:01 (UTC)

Maggie got to about Iris and Raylan was shaking his head a little, lifting his free hand to stop her before she got too much further.

"No, no. I- I'm not talkin' about givin' anythin' up here. It doesn't work like that here." That was okay. That he didn't have a problem with - Maggie loved people and he loved her for it.

"I mean there. In Miami, in my.. I dunno, timeline? Dimension? And not to say I don't mind Barge visitors but- regular 'other in my world' people. The neighbor, or.. a realtor." Pronounced 'real-tor' because he never did get an answer from Gary on how to say it the 'right' way.

Maggie smiles. That's fine. "I don't want the people who matter most to me to be secret from each other. But it's frankly not anyone else's business. I can do discretion."

As for visits from Barge people, she elaborates, "Iris once asked to spoil any kids I might have and be their Auntie Iris, blowing into town occasionally with presents and fun. Fitz loves the Doctor and adventures as much as he loves me. I think he could handle forever, but not always. And I've had a year to move past wanting or expecting Tim to stay in one place. It doesn't hurt the way it used to, or I promise you I wouldn't jump into this. There's space for me to want something else now." Tim dented her heart pretty badly months before he decided to leave. And she still misses him like hell, but she's okay with that part of things now.

"Because I am the settling down sort. I'd love visitors, mine and yours. But I'm picturing home as you and me, Raylan. If that sounds good to you too."

He nods, squeezes their hands again, and follows it with an impulsive kiss on her knuckles. He had tried his best while thy were together to not get too much in the way, to not have too many open feelings about how much he enjoyed his time with her, how much he wanted to be selfish with her in a way that felt both natural and necessary for him.

"I would love to make a home as you and me, darlin'. I'm okay leavin' room for the people you've connected with here. Okay with makin' space for them in a house too, as much community as you want by. I'll handle Winona and.. anythin' else I can help with..." His brow flinches towards a furrow for a second.

"An' Willa?"

"Sweetheart," Maggie says. "As much time with Willa as we can get. Do you think for a second that I would've asked you otherwise? I love how much you love your daughter. Any home of yours is as much hers as it would be mine."

She already knows she'll love Willa pretty damn quick herself, if she gets to watch her grow up.

As for Winona... "And I'm not planning to stick my nose in anywhere you don't want it or make things harder on you, but you don't need to handle your ex wife for me. I can take care of myself. I'm not worried."

He nods again. He didn't really expect an answer that was different from the one that she gave but he had to ask. He had to hear it, to confirm it beyond what he hoped would be the case.

A chuckle rolls out of him before he can stop it at the last reassurance, smile staying more easily on his face now that he's getting around to accepting that Mags means what she's saying; that they can really have this.

"I can't say some part of me ain't looking forward to getting to watch that. I don't know how she's gonna take this, but. As far as I bend for her and the men she has goin' through her love life, I expect her to give me the same courtesy and not be a pain in the ass about it. But we'll make it work. We'll figure it out, I know we will."

Maggie laughs brightly. "I will be exquisitely polite most of the time, and I can meet anyone at their level of passive aggression if necessary. You'll get to hear all my actual opinions later." He's welcome to spectate.

But then she goes serious again, her voice soft and warm, excitement tempered by one last shred of caution. "So we're doing this?"

He couldn't wait to hear that exchange. Could not wait. Shots would be fired within the declared rules of polite women society. Couldn't wait to make Maggie laugh like that again either. God, was he really gonna get to make her smile for the rest of his life? A less hopeful or bitter man would have focused on all the failures of Raylan's love life, but despite those failures, Raylan couldn't stop hoping. Couldn't stop trying, hoping for a reward like this. A shot.

"We're doing this," he reaffirms with a little lift of his eyebrows. "I'm not afraid or hesitant or anythin' else about the possibility of gettin' to build a life with you, Magdalene Garcia. Whatever that looks like, I want it." He fight for it, he'd bend for it, he would do whatever was in his power to make it happen.

"I love you, Mags. If there's a chance.. I want to take it."

Edited 2024-03-11 01:47 (UTC)

She could have gone home, tried to make things work with Dave or Alaric or both, but she already knew that was a toss-up, because they were best friends and part of what bonded her and Alaric together was their grief over losing Dave. She refuses to be a wedge between them. She'd already braced to give them both up when Iris rescues Dave.

And she loves Raylan. Maggie wants this. She can picture it. She was dreading losing him, and there's a rush of relief that she doesn't have to.

She rises halfway out of her seat so she can lean across to kiss him. Then, soft and serious despite the smile absolutely glowing on her face, "It can look like whatever you want, love. I want you, and I already told you what I need. I'm flexible on the rest of the details."

Edited 2024-03-11 02:00 (UTC)

He pushes himself out, one arm wrapping around her to tug her the rest of the way over into his lap as they kiss so he can wrap himself around her the way he wanted to. Given the room and opportunity to be openly happy in that sweetly possessive way, he could be quite affectionate.

"Then we'll figure it out." But something in his features shifts again, towards worry and soft concern. "I. I don't think we should go tellin' folks about this eagerly though. No need to cause anyone needless hurt when nothin' for them while you're here is gonna change."

Sweeney, he was talking about Sweeney. He loved the man in all brotherly aspects, like a long lost cousin that had joined him in joy and sorrow, and in understanding of each other that was rare in the world of men. He knew it would sting for the Leprechaun, but if he could ease that in any way, he would. For better or worse.

She goes willingly, settling into his lap with her arms looped around his neck, accepting that kiss and nuzzling at his cheek when it breaks. But that condition gives her pause.

"I need to tell Iris," Maggie points out, "if I want her help. And I'm not...particularly comfortable keeping secrets from her, or Fitz, or Sweeney. Or asking her to keep secrets from Sweeney. She loves him a lot."

She promised Sweeney honesty awhile ago. That she wouldn't keep everything to herself to try and spare him. She never breaks her promises to him if she has any control in the matter. "If you want me to hold off until you leave, that's fair. But I wouldn't feel right putting up walls long term. Especially considering all three of them will try to comfort me when you go. Lying to them in that scenario feels particularly fucked up. I don't want the people I love worrying about me unnecessarily or under false pretenses."

"Mm," he notes at all that, nodding a little and keeping his eyes down as he swallows his pride.

"Then least wait to tell them until I leave. I don't want to be answerin' to anyone for darin' to want and say yes to something." He was guilty about it all and he wasn't good at hiding that without distance, but Maggie already knew he was a flawed person. He had to trust that she'd forgive him for it, this time.

"If they want a conversation, they can make the trip. All that matters is that I get to share a life with you, in the end."

"I'm not saying no, love," Maggie tells him, resting her forehead against his. "I'll wait. But you're not doing anything wrong here, and I doubt any of them will hold it against you. I think the most likely hurt feelings would be from Fitz, actually. Iris will be delighted; she knows I want this, and she knows it'd be a terrible idea for her to try and offer it. And Sweeney was furious when Tim left. That I was here heartbroken, because he chose adventure over me. I think he'll actually react better to knowing you're holding space for me in your life than he would to you just leaving."

She already considered that angle; the various reactions. And she's not infallible, but she's a pretty good judge of people.

"You've got me. Don't know what your custody arrangements are, but I'm going to spoil Willa whenever she's there, fair warning. I'd be a pretty kickass stepmom. Or I'll be her fairy godmother if I'm not officially a stepmom. Like I said, I'm flexible on the details. I just want you and me and a home to settle into."

He looks at her with her first statement, as close as they were with their foreheads together, and wishes that he could convince everything inside his chest that she was right. That it would be fine. Except he knew better. On the surface, everyone would make their pleasantries, their politeness, and behind closed doors, spear him with rebuke. Sweeney might not even mean to do it, but Raylan felt the sharp edge of getting what he wanted in the face of so many people who couldn't. Still, it wasn't going to stop him. If he begged off things he wanted because it made things easier for other people, he'd be left with even less than what he's currently got.

Instead of answering Maggie's reassurance, he hums a note of acknowledgement and holds onto her a little tighter for a few long seconds.

"It's flexible, the arrangement that Winona and I have goin'. Willa's primary residence is her mother's house, but outside of that, as long as I communicate, I can have her whenever it works for us. Or whenever works for Winona - my bosses know my situation. Know I don't want to get moved out of Miami for cases unless I have to." He can't help but smile though. "Can't say I don't like how all that sounds though. You bein' a kickass stepmom. No part of me that doubts that you'll be amazing... If you can handle how little I know about girls." The soft warning came with a pull of a self-deprecating smile though and a rub of his thumb back and forth against her where he settled his hand.

"You know, it's gonna be hard to walk around here for the next two weeks knowin' I got this to look forward to," he murmurs before caving to his impulse and tilting his head enough to brush his lips across hers, drawing her into a soft kiss.

Maggie kisses him, slow and sure, raising her hands to cup the sides of his face, thumb stroking along his jawline.

"I'm not proposing, although I'm not not proposing. I've already thought seventeen steps ahead in a variety of directions. I wouldn't choose another world over my own if I weren't fully committed. I'm all in, Raylan, or I wouldn't be asking."

She kisses him again, briefer this time. "I just thought you should know up front that any permutation of marriage and kids you want or don't want down the line is fine by me. I know you've done both before, so you've got more baggage attached to them than I do. I'm not married to the idea of marriage, only the idea of you. And if I have to content myself with spoiling Willa rather than having kids of my own, it's not like that's a hardship. I've gotten a sneak peek, and she's an amazing kid. If I get to watch her grow up, I have no doubts I'll love her."

It'd be a much bigger sacrifice, offering to not have kids, if she wouldn't have a stepdaughter to adore.

He smiles stupidly as the kiss breaks, eyes half lidded as he opens them, ears almost blocking out everything except for I'm not NOT proposing. They were gonna get to do it, get to take their shot, taste what Mason and the Maggie of that world had wanted and had been denied. What they were denied here by virtue of the way the Barge was and what it demanded of them.

"Mags," he says softly, interrupting her as she starts talking about having kids, "If you want kids, then I want kids. If we wanna have kids, I wanna get married. If we're doin' this, I wanna do it full tilt. I love you. Doesn't matter that I've been married before, unless it matters to you. We got the rest of our lives to figure things out if we need to, but I'm dedicated." His smile pulls devilishly.

"And I'm stayin' the night. For as many nights as you want me before I leave, but if you ever need me to leave or give you room..." Just tell him.

Open RP post for Maggie Garcia

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