triangularity | Open RP post for Maggie Garcia

"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.

Maggie laughs, then kisses him again, deeper and dirtier, tongue tangling with his. "Hell yes, you're staying the night. You think I'd let you out of here without kissing you senseless after this? Among other things, of course. I can think of plenty I'd like to do with you. Maybe you shouldn't stay every night till you leave, if I'm not supposed to be explaining things to the people who'd notice, but I'll take as many as I can get away with. And absolutely tonight, darling. I want to wake up next to you."

She sees him still worrying, at least a little, about asking too much, and notes, tone playful but sincere, "I'm very rarely a needs-space sort of person, except when I'm upset and refuse to show it to anyone I don't trust. Which obviously doesn't apply to you."

Then Maggie goes softer again as she adds, "And yeah. I want kids. It wouldn't be a dealbreaker if you didn't want more, I want you either way. But I'd like to be a mom. And I don't have strong feelings about marriage in general, but I'd love to marry you at some point."

His mouth follows hers for half a beat before pausing to grin at her words. A grin that only dimmed slightly as she addresses what lay under the polite and respectful doors that he tried his damnedest to always leave open. The worry would lessen as his comfort about the situation, his situation, this whole possibility grew. All he needed was confidence that this would work. That Maggie really did love him. That Maggie might stay in the way that mattered, once she joins him.

His smile broadens again as she continues, chest already swelling a little with the idea of it all.

"Does that count as a proposal?" Because his answer was obviously yes. "We can start plannin' just as soon as you're done here. If we're gonna have a little herd of Givens runnin' around, I want them and you to be able to take full advantage of my job and its benefits." He wanted to take care of them, as best he could. His smile spreads slightly from it's easy tilt again as he admires her eyes, her smile, her everything.

"I had the idea, a few months before Willa was someone we knew existed, I dreamt about it. Having a house, a yard, porch full of kids.. I want that. The whole white picket fence idea, no matter what kinda weird outta this world work arounds we gotta work in."

And he would throw all of himself into it if she said jump.

Maggie laughs ruefully, kissing him again. "I guess it does. Which makes us engaged?" That's a step farther than she planned to jump tonight, but she knew she'd jump whenever they got around to it. What's a little sooner?

"I will absolutely marry you, Raylan. I'm into white picket fences as long as they come with someone I trust to see me as I am. And I'm not marrying you for the benefits. I understand and appreciate that you want to take care of me, and any family we have. But I also want you to know that I'd say yes without anything but you, okay?"

"'Fraid that's what I come with right now," he jokes, following it with a nod. "I know, darlin'. Because I don't have a single one of those benefits here and somehow I'm still lucky enough to have found a way to you. To this possibility. And regardless of my job, I'll always want to take care of you."

Given the chance, he'd hold on with both hands as tight as he could and figure out whatever he needed to along the way to make it happen. Raylan Givens with a Goal was an unstoppable force.

"Here you just come with an awesome beach in your backyard. And fantastic sex. And great hugs. And a listening ear." She says it lightly, but she means it.

And she means this next part too. Maggie rests her forehead against his as she murmurs, "And I'll let you as long as you let me take care of you too. Do I have to put that in the wedding vows? We take care of each other. No one way streets."

"Three outta four for forever ain't bad." And beach, they could find. Beach, they could get. Well. Near a beach. It would be beach soon enough, if the climate scientists were right.

"No one way streets," he murmurs back, eyes halfmoons before he closes them as he steals a kiss from her. A kiss that he deepens as he scoops her up and stands, chair getting kicked back by the back of his thighs at the movement.

"I'll clean up dinner later," he murmurs in the middle of a break from the kiss before kissing her again as he heads them up towards her bedroom.

"Forever sounds good when you say it," Maggie murmurs, then groans softly as he deepens their next kiss and heads for somewhere they can do more than that.

She'll answer on the stairs, while she's behaving herself as usual so as not to tumble them both down, "We should reheat the cobbler when you do, darling. Throw some ice cream on top and eat dessert curled up in bed. Later." Because right now she can think of better things to do with her mouth, nipping at his earlobe and trailing kisses down his neck as they cross the threshold of her room.

At least Fetch is well trained enough not to climb on the table and steal the leftovers in the meantime.

He would have happily cleaned up any mess, dinner or digestive, that might come from the dog eating their dinner, and he would be grateful if he wasn't utterly and wholly preoccupied with Maggie.

"Later." Echoed huskily - they had forever right now, right? - Raylan's long steps manage the stairs quickly, slowing to a casual meander as they get into her room. He left the door open in defiance and pays it no mind as he carefully sets her down on the bed, following with his own weight and eager lips that claim hers. With his hands free, he can push one up her shirt to slide it across her side and back, hips rolling against hers so she can feel what the promise of time with her did to him.

Maggie arches into him, fingers digging into his hips for a moment as she grinds against him, then she's running her hands up his back, pushing his shirt up to bare as much skin as she can without breaking their kiss.

Raylan's weight pinning her to the bed and his lips against hers feel so damn right, and she can hardly believe she gets to keep this.

A thought flits into her head, and she thinks he'll appreciate it, but it can wait till later too. She wouldn't interrupt this for the world.

Edited (Email tagging broke this response, whoops.) 2024-06-23 05:39 (UTC)

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