[closed log] what I love most about my home is who I share it with

[conning]

Who: Neal, Malcolm, and Tim Drake (with potential Steve Harrington if he wants to face this awkward reunion)
When: Early December
Where: Apartment B1 in the ADI complex
Summary: Malcolm brings Tim home to B1 after his unexpected reappearance.
Warnings: N/A yet



Neal Putters. He called out of work today to make some plans and cook some food, the latter to restock the fridge once again after the uptick in how much is being consumed with the addition of Steve Harrington to their space. Neal very clearly labels the ones that are for Malcolm, also marking them with the dates they should be eaten by.

...He's OCD at the best of times, but lately he's been feeling overzealous.

When he hears the key in the lock, he glances up, sees the familiar shape of Malcolm entering, and starts with a greeting-slash-codephrase laced with affection as he looks back to his work.

"Where was our second kiss?"

Comments

[abrightboy]

"...Ours? But I didn't pay anything," Malcolm reminds him.

[conning]

"Who cares?" Neal shrugs. He doesn't. "If you want, you can join in on the mortgage payments."

[abrightboy]

"I don't... have any money," Malcolm tells him with a wince. His clothes aren't fancy, but he has quite a few of them now. He likes his fancy coffee. He's not used to a budget.

[conning]

Neal chuckles again. "Yes you do. I've been keeping an eye on things."

He may or may not have been autosaving a percentage of Malcolm's paychecks for him. "Not that I think you should spend it all at once now that you know it's there."

[abrightboy]

"I never realized a regular amount was so... small," Malcolm tells him. He frowns faintly. "Is this a normal amount?"

Does he even know how much he makes consulting for the NYPD? Sort of. When he remembers to bill them.

[conning]

Neal gives an ironic little chuckle. “Welcome to the capitalist system. We get less than a lot of people, but more than a lot of them too.”

[abrightboy]

"How do people live on less than that?" Malcolm genuinely asks.

[conning]

“Most of them can’t,” he says softly. “They have multiple jobs or loans they can’t pay back or credit cards that hover near being maxed out until they get cut up.”

[abrightboy]

Malcolm winces. "Am I part of the problem?" he asks.

[conning]

That startles a laugh out of him. "Malcolm, in this place? You are absolutely not."

He brushes a hand through the hair at the other man's temple. "Back home your family benefits from the way things are, certainly."

He shrugs. "Here, now, what you were there isn't as relevant."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm considers that.

"What if we go back there?" he asks.

[conning]

Neal starts to shrug off the question with a flippant answer and then pauses to actually consider it instead. “Then you know about something to change.”

He draws Malcolm over to the bed and sits down. “I don’t think we’ve ever talked about what would happen if we were able to choose where we went home to. If we find a way to do either one, which one would you want?”

[abrightboy]

"I don't know. I guess we'd have to pro and con both options," Malcolm muses.

[conning]

Neal's eyes crinkle a little with a half-hidden smile at the fact that Malcolm immediately goes to data. "What's your gut instinct, though? When I say you have to choose between a version of the world you know, a life you've lived, friends you've made, and another whole new world with nothing but what we can carry?"

[abrightboy]

“I don’t know enough about your world to make that call with anything except the fear of the unknown that would make me choose what I know. Literally, I need the data because I don’t want the choice to be fear based,” Malcolm tells him.

[conning]

The insistence on data tells him enough though. It tells him that Malcolm is no longer so afraid of what he left behind that he’d run for the first potential safe exit. He cares about that life again. It makes Neal feel better, lifts a slight weight from his chest. He kisses Malcolm. “We can do that. It’s a good idea.”

He wraps an arm around Malcolm’s waist and pulls him down to lie on loveseat currently occupying the space against one wall where Neal pictures their future king bed. “I’ve got some other ideas I’d like to act on first though.”

[abrightboy]

Malcolm is easily pulled and he breathes out a smile, lifting an eyebrow.

"Like what?" he asks. "Choosing paint for the walls?"

[conning]

He snorts. “No, Malcolm.”

A long kiss. “The ideas I have are more immediate. And might involve a test of the soundproofing.”