Team Cougar Who: Mikey & Ronnie (with mentions of Ro and Noah) What: A conversation When: After this Where: Terrible’s Roadhouse, the trailer. Rating: Mid - some mention of violence Status: Complete
I’m scared, man
Mikey pulled into the gravel drive of Terrible’s and tossed his truck into park before swinging out of the cab, his blood pounding in his ears. After Ronnie’d let him know that the man who’d had rough encounters with him twice now was at his restaurant, he’d sent off a rapid series of texts to Rhiannon and Cian while waiting impatiently at a red light, and his mind was racing nearly as fast as he’d driven over.
Why had Noah broken his deal? Was he trying to stalk Ronnie? How in hell did Ro fit into all this?
A few things fell into place as he saw Ro get into a car with a slim man, which then drove off. He could catch a slight whiff in the air -- it was the man, alright. The one who’d threatened Ronnie. There was no mistaking it. And Ro was… well, the way she was looking at him, she was pretty damn familiar with him. He could see her lean over and kiss him on the cheek as the driver took them away.
He stared at the car as it pulled out of the drive, his heart pounding in his chest, before he turned to make his way towards the restaurant door, unsure of what he’d find.
He swung it open, scanning for Ronnie, a low whine in his throat.
It was business as usual there.
The booths held a few patrons, some sat at tables. One elderly man who had been chatting with Ronnie when the pair appeared still sat with his cup nearly over filled with coffee. It had gone untouched since the cook had filled it.
Ronnie was still in the kitchen. He’d been hiding there since waving goodbye to Ro.
Thankfully Nesryn caught sight of the cougar. Clearing her throat, she waved Mikey over and then toward the kitchen.
Mikey went towards the kitchen at a brisk pace, and felt his heart immediately slow once he saw Ronnie was there, looking pale, but otherwise okay.
“Hey,” he said numbly as he walked towards Ronnie, wrapping the smaller man in a hug, “...hey, baby, I’m here, it’s okay.”
That greeting, familiar and warm snapped him out of whatever mood he’d been in prior. And into those arms he melted. Ronnie clung to Mikey, burying his face in the man’s chest. “He was here…” The words may have been tangled up in Mikey’s shirt but that was okay.
Ronnie took a deep breath, inhaled his boyfriends scent, and felt himself relax. Lifting his head, Ronnie pressed a kiss against Mikey’s jaw, “Thanks for coming. I really needed this.” He felt as if he could focus again. The charade at the table wasn’t him, but he’d done it for Ro and also for the man whose arms he was in. He’d promised not to engage or irritate the man — Noah.
“I’m here til you close,” Mikey replied, “right here. And I let Rhiannon and Cian know.” He wrapped his arms tighter around Ronnie. “What’d he do?” He asked quietly, trying to keep calm, swallowing the snapping anger and fear he felt to try to focus on Ronnie. “Would it help to talk about it?”
“He knows where I work,” Ronnie murmured. Even if Noah couldn’t get into Searchlight, bad guys didn’t always work solo. What if someone came looking for him? Maybe that sounded paranoid - he didn’t know if Noah even cared that much, but it scared him all the same.
Shaking his head, Ronnie took a breath. “He didn’t do much of anything cause he was there with Ro,” he explained before telling Mikey the entire series of events.
“Then he gave me this hundred dollar bill. I put it in the register and dumped the change in Nesryn’s apron for the staff. I don’t want his money. Who knows who he hurt to get it, you know?” Blood money. Noah had done nothing physically except give him a look that dared him to say anything to Ro. But that had been enough to spook the cook to the core considering what else he’d done in the past that Ronnie knew about and dredged up their previous interactions.
“I just can’t get over Ro,” Mikey muttered when Ronnie finished, brushing his arm up and down Ronnie’s back. “They were looking super tight when they left. Do you think… does she…” he swallowed. “Is she in on it?” He asked. “His… his deal. His sort of work?”
At mention of Ro, especially the part of her being involved or knowing, he shook his head. “That ain’t her. I don’t think she knows what he’s been doing, and even if she did she wouldn’t bring him here if she knew about me. She’s a friend.” That, and she was also an adult who could pick her own friends. He couldn’t stop or come between anyone Ro hung out with or did things with on her own time.
“I’ll tell her next time I see her and let her decide for herself.”
Mikey paused. “It might be… I’ll see if that’d be a good idea?” He replied. “Keeping quiet about what he is might be part of the deal. The deal he’s currently shitting all over, but still.”
He huffed. “I still… I really don’t like that she’s tight with him. It’s…” he took a deep breath and let it out. “It is what it is,” he added. “You… you want her coming around, hanging out, I can deal.”
Just then Ronnie didn’t know what he wanted, exactly. “I think it’s only fair that she gets to say her side of things before we all go making up stories about her. She’s a friend.” While he wanted to agree that maybe Ro was involved somehow, that didn’t sound right and didn’t sit right in his stomach. He owed her a chance to explain and also tell her what happened without Noah being there to chime in.
“I’m hoping she’s gonna be truthful, but I can’t control that.” All he could do was take the story and see what happened next. “It’s our place, baby. Ours. If you don’t want her in the trailer til this is sorted, I get it. But we need to give her a chance.”
Mikey nodded, his mouth pulling down unhappily at the corners. Noah was a threat, and Ro’s association with him was beyond troubling -- at the very least, it spoke poorly of Ro’s judgement, and the whole thing was just an enormous, tangled mess.
He also hated all of this -- hated the pale, drawn look on Ronnie’s face and the worry in his voice, and the person who’d put it there, and the fact that there was so little he could do about it. “Hey,” he said, “hey, we’ll… we’ll cross that bridge once we get there. Rhiannon knows, she’ll… I’ll ask her about what’s up, and… I’ll just plan on bein’ here for the next coupla late shifts, yeah?”
Ronnie nodded.
“Okay babe. As long as you’re not overworking yourself, yeah?” He understood the need and the want to be nearby, but there was no use stretching each other out thin in the meantime. Nesryn worked a lot of the same shifts, so there was that.
His shoulders slumped. He felt tired, worn out, but his shift wouldn’t be over for a while yet.
Mikey’s frown tugged further. “Hey,” he said softly, “...what do you need? You need me to scrub up and pitch in? I can chop stuff, or do dishes, or whatever makes this shift easier, and then we can go home together and I can hold you all night long.”
That sounded like heaven. “Yeah. Yeah, that sounds awesome. I think I can make it now.” He was kidding but also serious. “Thanks babe.”
One more hug and Ronnie pulled back to get washed up and ready to keep filling orders.
When they finally made their way home several hours later, Mikey insisted on being the first one out of the car, and circled the property, but there was no trace of Noah, which was a relief. After a quick shower to wash off the lingering traces of Terribles, the two of them ended up curled together on the bed, Mikey’s arm wrapped protectively around Ronnie’s middle, his face buried in Ronnie’s neck, breathing in his familiar scent.
“I got you,” he said quietly, kissing Ronnie’s neck. “I got you, gorgeous.”
Their bed felt so good beneath him. He curled up, nestling in against Mikey and closed his eyes. This was what he needed. He could focus here. Tomorrow would be better, he wanted to forget about the events of the night and start anew. “I’m so glad I have you,” he murmured. “Seriously. I don’t know what I would’ve done after that.” Maybe he was clinging.
“Baby,” Mikey replied back, his voice low, “I’m not goin’ anywhere.” He wrapped his arms a little tighter around Ronnie in a brief squeeze. “You know you save me too, yeah?” He added. “Every day. Every day I’m so fucking glad I know you.”
“I know,” Ronnie breathed, holding on tighter. “I’m just...fucking scared, man. You know? Like it shouldn’t matter, that guy is probably just being a jerk but like...what if we run into each other on the street and there isn’t anyone around? What happens?” His voice had taken on a thicker tone, weighed down with emotion. “I wish he never would’ve heard of me, never come here.” He didn’t like being scared of stuff.
“If you ever do,” Mikey replied, “you won’t be alone. Rhiannon wouldn’t be physically there beside you, but she might as well be.”
He swallowed that small voice insisting that Noah didn’t appear to care about the deal they’d brokered. It wouldn’t help either of them to focus on that.
He kissed Ronnie lightly on the cheek. “You disengage, you keep yourself as safe as you can. If he’s just bein’ a jerk, he’ll get tired of it if you don’t give him anything to work with.” He nuzzled Ronnie’s neck. “It’s okay to be scared,” he added. “Shit, I’m there too. It sucks.”
He hadn’t met Rhiannon but he liked her a lot already and knowing she was on his side helped. “Okay, cool.” His eyes finally opened and he looked at the ceiling for a moment or two. “Yeah. I think I’m just gonna run next time. And Ro is gonna have to deal with it, or whoever is there if anyone else is there. I’ll call the cops or something, I don’t care.”
Ronnie held onto Mikey, nodding. He pressed kisses into his hair, on his forehead. “We can be scared together, cause nobody messes with us. I’m not a cougar but I feel like one sometimes and I guess that’s good enough.”
Mikey rubbed his cheek against Ronnie, a low pulsing rumble in his throat. “Damn right,” he said, a small smile on his face. “And cougars? They know when to cut and run. And we can sure hide good. No shame in that.”
He kissed Ronnie slowly. “You got people lookin’ out for you,” he said as they parted. “I know… I know it’s weird with Ro right now, which makes all that feel a little less certain, but you don’t ever have to doubt that you got me and Derek on Team Ronnie all the way, ride or die.” He brushed Ronnie’s hair behind his ear. “And Gabe, and Rhiannon, and Cian, and Abby, they all kept you safe when we were going through this shit the first time, and they’ll be there if you need ‘em. And you know Nesryn has your back, and Celeste thinks the world of you. You aren’t alone. And you gotta know, I mean, I already know how many bison zombies I’d fight to try to get to you. The answer is a lot.”
He kissed Ronnie again, slow and soft. “Love you,” he added. “Whole big ol’ bunch.”
Ronnie listened to what Mikey was saying. He smiled. With each person named he felt more solid, less scared. When Mikey put it that way, he felt like nothing could touch him. And those kisses only served to heighten that. “Love you too, baby. More than anything. Anyone. It’s you and me and everyone else, but mostly you and me.” He wasn’t going to let that change, not even for a jerk like Noah.
“Cian is pretty cool, by the way. Did I tell you I ran into him the other day at Gabe’s?” He couldn’t remember. His head was still a little scrambled up.
Both of Mikey’s eyebrows shot up. “You… no?” He replied. “But it was okay?” He added. “He was okay?”
Ronnie blinked. “Yeah? Why? What’d you think was gonna happen?” Everything had been casual. It was then he explained the setup - the food delivery to Gabe, the chance meeting with Cian with Gabe appearing during the conversation and then the eating of food. “Everything went pretty well.”
“I…” Mikey laughed a little and shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t know? I guess I ought to have figured that you’d be charming and funny and sweet, because that’s who you are. And of course he’d like your food.”
He knew it was silly to still be nervous -- he loved Ronnie, they were planning on moving in together, Cian and Abby knew all about it.
Laughing softly, Ronnie shrugged. “Bilson totally won me points, he’s the coolest little dude ever.” And theyd bonded in an odd way, but then Ronnie had always been good with animals. It was why Marsh asked him to watch his dog. “I know Cian is important to you, babe. Being in his good graces is important to me, and I didn’t wanna mess it up.”
“Yeah, well,” Mikey added, “he knows you’re important to me too. So.” He kissed Ronnie lightly. “M’ glad it went well.”
“Me too,” Ronnie replied. He shifted a bit, snuggling closer if that was even possible. “Let’s iron out a new place, yeah? I wanna get out of this one. And I’ve been thinking of quitting Terrible’s. Maybe working for myself. Haven’t decided yet. But after tonight I’m really considering it.”
“Yeah?” Mikey replied, his eyebrows raising again. “You know I’m gonna support whatever you wanna do. You wanna do catering, or… find a gig as a personal chef, or whatever you want to try, I’m there for you.”
“I was maybe thinking of starting a food truck or something, you know? Maybe commute back and forth to Vegas or swing it around here a bit if it’s popular. Cian said he’d help, too, if I needed it. We can talk about it more when I’m not dog tired.” Ronnie pressed kisses against Mikey’s hair, forehead, closing his eyes. “Gonna sleep now babe, love you.”
Mikey laughed. “Yeah,” he said, “long day. Night gorgeous.”