Title: transient
Fandom: Justified
Pairing: Boyd Crowder/Raylan Givins
Length: 682 words
Rating: Teen
Warnings: no major warnings apply
Notes: Also written for trope_bingo - prompt: secret relationship
Summary: Taking place at the end of episode 1x08 - but instead of Boyd’s daddy picking him up when he gets out of prison, Raylan gives him a ride instead…



“Now Raylan, don’t you be afraid to put your foot down on that there pedal.”

“You in any particular hurry, Boyd?”

“As you know Raylan, I just got out of prison and if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to put as much space between myself and that uncivilized locale, as possible.”

Raylan shook his head and increased his speed just a little. He wasn’t exactly as eager as he should be for this ride to be over. It’d been a while since he’d been alone in a car with Boyd Crowder. It brought back an abundance of memories. Strangely, more good than not.

Boyd started prattling on about the Bible again. Raylan shot him a look. “I’m not quite in the mood for a sermon, Boyd.”

“Sorry, Raylan. I’m just overjoyed to be back in the land of the free.”

Boyd smiled and it lit up the world. He was practically vibrating in his seat, sticking his head out the window, and grinning up at the sky. There was this energy about him. This terribly tempting energy that Raylan longed to get caught up in. Again. He was already mucking up his life, he could hardly make it much worse, could he?

Boyd leaned back in his seat. Fingers brushed past Raylan’s thigh. Almost imperceptibly. “Raylan, do you remember when we got all that snow?”

“Why don’t you refresh my memory?” It wasn’t as if there’d only been one time.

“Well Raylan, it was near the end of January and the snow was coming down awfully fierce. We were hunkered down, waiting out the storm in that broken-down shed with a jar of something-something. No food, but we had the booze.” Boyd turned to look at him. “And we had each other.”

Raylan’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Is that so?”

“The flakes were so big and pretty. I remember staring up at the sky being so mesmerized, I felt like I was drunk.”

“You were drunk, Boyd.”

Boyd laughed. "I was drunk on life."

"And moonshine.” Raylan adjusted his hat. “It was February.”

Shit-eating grin on his face, Boyd said, "Raylan, you do remember."

Shit. It’d been a trap, hadn't it? Boyd Crowder, degenerate trickster. There was a tension between them there in the car. Thick and heady. It warred with the familiarity of the situation. Though, last time they’d been in a car together, Boyd had been the one driving. "Where can I drop you off?"

"Are you that eager to be rid of me, Raylan?"

Raylan shrugged. He was and he wasn’t. He was concerned that if they were in the car together much longer his dick might get him into trouble. It was a bit of a pattern with him.

"Could we just drive for a little while?" Boyd’s voice had a wistful quality to it.

"Why?"

"Do I really have to say it, Raylan?”

He didn’t. The itch to be in each other's presence for just a little while longer was considerable. “I suppose, I could take the scenic route,” Raylan said.

“Raylan, were you aware that the road, by its very nature is a type of liminal space?” Boyd’s hand brushed Raylan’s thigh once again.

“I was not,” Raylan said.

“The road is transient. It is neither here nor there.” Boyd’s hand was firmly on Raylan’s thigh now. “So maybe, for a little while, we could be together, yet not together, here in this in-between place.”

Raylan glanced at the gas gauge. The tank was full and he had no place to be. “I suppose that might be alright.”

They drove for a while and parked for a little longer than that. It wasn’t exactly like old times, but it was something akin to it.

Boyd wanted to be dropped off at his cousin Johnny’s place. “Thank you kindly for the ride, Raylan.” Boyd inclined his head. “And the company. I'm sure that I'll be seeing you around."

"You can count on it, Boyd.” Raylan wasn’t sure if he meant his words as a threat or a promise.