hello beautiful • varied imagines

we'll be fine • malcolm bright/reader

Breathe in slowly.
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Hold...
Exhale.

Malcolm slowly opened his eyes after doing his breathing exercises. It was something he'd become accustomed to doing as a meditative practice. He felt himself relax and felt relief.

He'd been recovering from bouts of mental and physical trauma. Slowly, he glanced over at his partner, fast asleep on his bed. He didn't want to wake them. Them being asleep was a rarity, since they were usually plagued by night terrors similar to his own. He watched the slow rise... and fall of their figure and felt a small smile form on his face.

"A peaceful sleep. Good." Malcolm thought to himself. If anyone deserved to have a relaxing rest, it was his partner.

They'd both been going through a lot. After John— The Junkyard Killer— had abducted and tortured Malcolm, his partner went to Jessica and Ainsley, desperate to help search for him. They were in the house that day when John made an attempt at his family's life, so they'd been recovering from their own forms of trauma as well.

Malcolm knew that the trauma wasn't as bad as his own, but they were both still going through a recovery process of sorts. Gil had sentenced them both to a two-week leave from work. While both he and his better half had resisted, they both knew that they needed to have some a period of recovery. Reluctantly, both agreed to Gil's terms.

It would be hard for them both, Malcolm knew that. They loved working, so two weeks of inactivity would prove difficult, but his partner had faith in him and themself that they'd manage. It made him feel... relieved. Happy, even, that someone believed in him so truly.

Malcolm knew not to expect any less from his partner, however. They'd met at the precinct of the NYPD, both with a passion for law and catching criminals. His partner was the more logical one, however.

They never liked Malcolm's impulsive decisions made on the job. It worried them, as it had always managed to get Malcolm caught up in some dicey and dangerous decisions. However almost every case, Malcolm seemed to somehow make impulsive choice after another.

But Malcolm would always tell his partner the same thing. Being with them— choosing them as his partner in crime, and in life? That was one of the most well thought and sure fire decisions he's ever made.

And he's never felt any regret for making that decision. He knew he still had plenty of issues, but his partner made him the happiest he'd been in a while.

He tore his eyes away from his partner momentarily as his canary— Sunshine— flew over and landed on his hand. He smiled, soon getting up and walking over to the bed, seating himself on the edge of the bed with Sunshine still perched atop his hand.

He glanced to his partner up close now, feeling relief that they were still resting peacefully. Quiet moments like these where Malcolm was able to collect his thoughts and recall the past few months of his life were one of his favorites. Of course, spending time with his partner always topped that.

He knew though, that despite all that they've been through in these past few months, they had been lucky. Because through all of the mess, near death experiences, cases and killings, they'd still had each other.

Malcolm slowly shut his eyes and let out a slow sigh of relief.

"We'll be okay." He whispered to himself.

He felt arms wrap around his waist and heard a soft voice respond to his passing thought.

"As long as we're together, I know we will be."

Inhale. With me this time.
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Exhale, slowly.
Together, we'll be okay.