errantechoes | (no subject)

Once Tim had gotten a moment to sit down (he'd spent the entire day chasing some asshole around Lexington, too occupied to answer his phone when Raylan had called), it was actually well past time for him to be off work. He listened to Raylan's voicemail at his desk and, after the conversation they'd had the week before, knew immediately that it was bullshit. And it didn't take a genius to figure out where Raylan was or what he was doing. It also didn't take long to trace his phone just to double check.

Technically, collecting his CI from an establishment that was frequented by known associates of the criminal he was informing on was not a good idea. But Tim was too annoyed to give a shit, and he did just that, locating the proper trailer (with just a couple of errors) and stalking inside. He seized Raylan by the back of his shirt and hauled him outside. Realistically speaking, Raylan could easily overpower him. Tim just had to hope he'd caught the vampire off guard.

It wasn't just that he was caught off guard, too focused on the girl before him and his own hunger to hear or smell Tim's approach, but also rather willing to have an excuse to NOT go through with this. He stumbled out, but yanked himself back the moment they were outside. "The hell're you doing here?" he hissed, frantically searching the area. If Boyd saw them, they were both in some serious shit.

Tim scowled and shoved Raylan backwards into the shadows of the trailer, just to give them a little more cover. It would be better if they didn't get caught at all, but if they did, Tim had every intention on slapping a pair of cuffs on Raylan and coming up with some bullshit trumped-up charge to take him in on. It was a very plausible thing; cops were always coming up with bullshit trumped-up charges to harass vampires with.

"You wanna explain to me what part of 'no whores' it is that you don't seem to understand?" Tim asked. He wasn't yelling; his voice wasn't raised at all. But he sounded angry.

Raylan shot a hasty glance toward the main building of the bar. At least Jimmy wasn't hanging around out back. But that didn't mean much. He could be anywhere. So could Boyd or Carl or anyone. Even if they were inside, there was still a chance they could be heard. And god forbid Dewey come skulking out of one of the trailers. There'd be no shutting him up.

Tim didn't need to show his anger for Raylan to pick up on it. He could smell it, like a punch in the nose, before Tim even spoke. But Raylan wasn't much better, his jaw working as he ground his teeth together, lips pressing into a tight line. "You wanna watch your fucking mouth?" He snapped, hissing the words out as quietly as he could.

"Or what?" Tim knew it wasn't his best idea to pick fights with a vampire, specifically with Raylan, but he was just pissed off enough that he couldn't really bring himself to give a shit. He glanced over his shoulder, scanning the area briefly. Then he turned his glare backon Raylan. "Explain to me what the fuck your problem is," Tim said lowly. "Unless that order is too hard for you to follow too."

"Not. Here." He pointedly looked back to the bar, before fixing Tim with a hard look. It was as much to avoid the question as it was to save Tim's skin if they were seen. He just turned and stalked toward his car. Though that fact that he merely walked said a lot for how willing he was in all of this, when he could have easily left with a bit of that unnatural speed. It was to make sure Tim got out of there safe, he told himself.

Tim rolled his eyes, but didn't object because he knew Raylan was right. This was not the place to have this conversation. And since it seemed that Raylan didn't plan on just splitting, Tim stalked to his car, relocating to a more private meeting place (an abandoned parking lot behind an abandoned building) a safe distance away from Audrey's, expecting Raylan to at least be capable of following him there.

And Raylan did follow. He told himself a thousand times on the short drive that he should just take off, go somewhere else. Ditch his phone so Tim couldn't find him. Or any number of scenarios that would just stop this all. But a CI trying to run never ended well. He'd barely shut off the engine when he flung the door open. He was all barely contained fury and frustration. "You wanna tell me what the hell you're thinking, Gutterson?!" He bellowed, now that they were well out of earshot of any of Boyd's lackeys. "Someone's gonna smell you all over that place! Hell, they probably saw us leave together! How the hell'm I supposed to maintain my cover with you pulling this shit?!" Yes, because Tim was the one misbehaving and not doing what he was supposed to.

Tim was out of his car when Raylan pulled up, leaning against the hood of his SUV. Raylan started yelling and Tim's eyebrows arched slightly, waiting it out. Once Raylan paused and gave Tim a chance to answer, he said, "You mean the shit I had to pull because you're incapable of doing what you're fuckin' told? That shit?" He pushed himself off his car, but didn't move forward any. "What the hell is your problem, Raylan?"

Raylan slammed his door, stalking around his car to get closer to Tim. "I followed protocol. I called ahead of our meeting because IT WASN'T SAFE FOR ME TO LEAVE HARLAN. If you would've answered your damn phone we could've set a different time. A different place!" He still wasn't answering that question. Because it wasn't an answer he wanted to think about.

Now Tim moved forward to meet Raylan halfway, stopping short in front of him. If he weren't so familiar with Raylan, if he hadn't worked with him for years, he might've thought twice about going chest to chest with him. But he didn't. "No, what you did was directly disobey the god damn orders I gave you and won't fuckin' tell me why." He stood with his one hand on his hip, the other resting on his gun.

Raylan stopped short, resisting two very different urges. The first and strongest was to move closer. He'd been dragged away from his meal and the sound of the marshal's pulse was too much to ignore. And the second was to step back and get back into his car, for very much the same reasons. "I just TOLD you why!"

Tim leaned a little closer, if only because he knew Raylan was hungry, and he knew Raylan could hear his pulse, maybe see it in his neck if his focused enough. Maybe it was a manipulative thing to do, but Tim didn't care. He wanted Raylan to bite him. Needed it, really, not unlike the way he needed a few drinks before bed. "I might believe that if it weren't for your sudden problem with our arrangement last week. I'm not an idiot, Raylan, I know this isn't just about not bein' able to get outta Harlan. Why are you tryin' so hard to fix somethin' that ain't even broken?"

But the moment the words came out of his mouth, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He didn't want to know why Raylan had a problem with feeding from him specifically; he was sure he wasn't gonna like the answer.

The moment Tim leaned closer, Raylan looked away from him. Very obviously looking at absolutely nothing on the ground somewhere to his right. His teeth ground together, at first seeming like wasn't even listening, in that I'll-do-whatever-the-hell-I-want he'd always done. Slowly, he shook his head, taking a slow step back. He needed distance to think clearly. To ignore every last beat of that all too familiar pulse. "Because..." he started slowly, finally looking back to Tim. He needed to pick his words very carefully. "It's getting harder each and every time. One of these days, something's gonna happen. Something neither of us can take back."

Tim leaned away again once Raylan stepped back, swallowing hard. He didn't like the feeling that was rising in his chest, especially since he couldn't seem to put a name to it. The explanation he was given was not necessarily what he thought it might be. It could be interpreted in a number of ways, and Tim couldn't quite pinpoint what part of It Raylan was actually referring too. His expression remained carefully blank as he searched Raylan's face. He didn't like making stabs in the dark, he liked knowing. Tim shook his head. "What part of it is gettin' harder?" For once, his voice wasn't accusatory or snarky or angry. It was genuine. He wanted to know.

Hands on his hips, Raylan tilted his head down, his hat obscuring his face. He wasn't trying to delay, he just couldn't settle on which part exactly that he meant. Because it wasn't just one part. It was all of it. Breaking it down into individual components that he could put into words that Tim could understand just wasn't happening. But he had to say something or else Tim would keep hounding him. "The part where I stop," he said finally, lifting his head enough to look at the deputy.

That made sense. And Tim hated that it made sense, because he could feel himself getting anxious and impatient and he needed something to curb over the weird needy feeling. He needed to be bit, wanted it to be Raylan, but he honestly wasn't sure how picky he'd be about that if he had to go too long without it. He wanted to look away when Raylan looked up at him, but he met his gaze instead. "You'll stop," he said, sounding sure. "I trust you."

But it was more than stopping the feeding. What he felt after, when he did pull back, he didn't want that to stop. But what that would mean, where that would go, he didn't want to think about it. At least if he fed for too long, he knew exactly what would happen. But that feeling he didn't know what to do with it. He stood there, lips pressed together, looking down again. He didn't say anything. What could he say? That he didn't trust himself? That it was getting harder to find reasons to stop? That if he didn't stop Tim would be his in a way he didn't even want to consider?

Tim was glad that Raylan wasn't looking at him, because it allowed Tim to close his eyes against this, against Raylan, to give himself a moment to breathe. He wanted to keep their arrangement, just keep doing what they'd been doing, because that had been working for Tim. Even if the entire thing meant more to him than it ever would to Raylan, that was fine, because that was what Tim had always expected anyway. But Raylan had his reservations, and Tim was tired of fighting for it.

He took a step back, looking at Raylan again. "Look, you do what you gotta do. If that means findin' somebody else to feed from, then do it. But what I said still stands. No whores or junkies. Don't kill anyone, don't turn anyone. And let me know when you've got somethin' useful."

There was something in what Tim said. It inspired dread and a tightness in his chest that he didn't want to think about. Because there WAS no one else. He wanted to make Tim understand, but when he tried to sort it out, all he could think about was the rush of Tim's pulse. It threatened to overwhelm him, drowning out his very thoughts. Before he could stop himself, one hand was pulling his hat off and the other wrapping around the back of Tim's neck, having closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye. He looked just like he did every time he was finally ready to bite, lips parted eyes downcast so Tim couldn't see how unnatural they were. But he didn't go for the throat. His fangs weren't even out. Instead, his lips crashed against Tim's lips. It was all he could do to stop himself from biting him again. Or so he told himself.

The speed that Raylan moved with was not something Tim was prepared for. It wasn't like he didn't know about vampire super speed, it was just that he didn't often see Raylan use it himself, especially not in such close proximity. Suddenly, Raylan was in front of him, touching him, and the quickness of it all made Tim tense, put him right on guard. For a second, he thought Raylan was going to bite him. But it was just a second, and then Raylan's mouth was coming down on his. That was the last thing he expected. He expected sudden nuclear warfare before he expected that. Part of him wanted to push Raylan away and tell him that wasn't fair, he couldn't just do that. But he found it was easier to lean lean into it instead, relocate his hands to the front of Raylan's shirt and kiss back. For a moment, it let him forget how much he needed the vampire's fangs in him.

But it didn't last long. Not nearly long enough, at least. Because it felt right, in all the ways it shouldn't. It matched up so well with that feeling he'd been trying to ignore, that warmth that settled in his chest after he'd fed on Tim. That feeling that was only partially attributed to the blood. When he finally broke the kiss, he didn't fully pull away. He pressed his lips into a thin line, his eyes squeezed shut. He didn't know what to say. What could he say? He'd done it to deflect the urge to bite Tim, or so he let himself believe. But now, he couldn't make himself pull away, fingers still on the back of the man's neck.

No, it didn't last nearly long enough for Tim's liking. He wanted to follow Raylan's lips when he broke the kiss, but didn't. His hands slid up to Raylan's neck and he kept his eyes closed, not moving any further, not saying anything right away. His heart was thumping hard in his chest and his lips felt stupidly tingly and it had been a long time since he just wanted to stand around and kiss somebody for forever. And he was aware of the fact that getting caught like this was far more compromising and dangerous than getting caught in almost any other situation, but he still didn't want to move. Finally, he opened his eyes, searched Raylan's face, and at risk of spooking him and making him back off, said his name quietly to get his attention and make him look.

Raylan was in no way calm. Someone who didn't know him might assume he was, but there was a tell-tale tension to him that spoke volumes of just how he felt despite his stillness. He ground his teeth together, at first stubbornly not look at Tim. Hearing his name, spoken so softly, stirred inside him that very same feeling he didn't know what to do with, that warmth in his chest. "I know," he said, rather gruffly as he forced himself to step back. He used adjusting his hat as an excuse to not have to look at Tim. "It was damn stupid."

Tim wasn't surprised when Raylan stepped back; he'd expected it. But it seemed like a dumb reaction considering Tim hadn't rejected him in any way, hadn't voiced or shown any disapproval. He'd kissed Raylan back. It wasn't like he didn't want it. But that wasn't where he'd been getting at, anyway. He stepped forward, right back into Raylan's personal space. "That wasn't what I meant," he said quietly. He dropped his gaze, unable to look at Raylan when he spoke again. "I need you to bite me." He was tired of pretending like it was about their best option when it was really about what Tim needed. Trying to manipulate and corner Raylan into it hadn't been working anyway. Asking was a last ditch effort.