It's three more days before Raylan finally loses the collar, and not a moment too soon as far as he's concerned. He's still trying to process movie night, but he realizes that somehow both Rachel and Tim have slipped past all his defenses.
It's the point at which he realizes that this is actually new territory for him, that he's startled. He's had friends before. People he's had a drink or two with, or people he's dug coal with (he grimaces at that one, to the extent that Tim leans over the partition and asks very quietly with one eye on Art's office door if he wants another pain pill), even people that he went to school with and drive ugly little gremlin cars, he even knows there are many subtle levels of trust and friendship. This is virgin territory.
Tim plants a glass of water on Raylan's desk, reaches into Raylan's pen drawer for the little orange dispensary bottle, reads the instructions and taps out two.
"Here." He drops the pills into Raylan's right hand. Raylan stares at the little round white tablets and can't quite decide if Tim is being an asshole or Tim is taking care of him, (there's a third option that Tim is an asshole taking care of him but Raylan's brain is feeling a little overloaded at this point). He is sure that he should make a snappy comeback, but the clock on the wall says it's painkiller time, and Raylan's deal with the doctor includes taking all provided medication when he's supposed to. He's already pushed his luck which is why he was stuck with the foam collar for an additional three days, and he really wants out of the sling before too much longer.
He could be an ungracious asshole here, or he could let Tim know that he's grateful, and here they are back at the point where Rachel and Tim tried to let him know that they were there for him after Arlo died. He remembers anger, sorrow and confusion, and lashing out, but this is a whole other situation.
"Thanks," he says quietly.
"Y'welcome." Tim says. No smartass, just a simple statement.
Raylan looks up, Tim's eyes hold sympathy and concern, and Raylan realizes a little guiltily that he has seen that look in Tim's eyes before, directed at him but he didn't want to know about it back then. He can't really say anything, so he gives Tim a little nod, like he did once before back when they were tracking Jamie Berglund and a corrupt guard from the prison.
Tim seems pleased at that, and Raylan notes the difference in Tim's response to Raylan's response. He realizes that Tim has almost as many barriers and defenses as Raylan does, and this dance they are doing is going places for both of them that they've never really been. It's odd, and Raylan is certain he is going to mess up some time and they will be back where they were, but he kinda likes it so he hopes that it won't happen.
And somewhere in the back of his mind is a van full of poultry.
Rachel limps over to them, she's down to one crutch now, but that doesn't stop Raylan or Tim fetching things for her. Coffee mostly.
"Lunch." She says. And Raylan starts to reach for his wallet. "No, not here, we're going out."
"We are?" says Tim.
"Well I'm sick of these four walls, Raylan's been making faces all morning," Raylan is a little surprised at that, he hadn't thought he was that transparent, "and you have to be climbing the walls by now with all that sugar and E numbers you've been packing away."
Tim gives her a look, "cheese strings have plenty of nutriment in them." He says with dignity.
Rachel rolls her eyes. "We're going out."
Tim is the designated driver, because Rachel may have lost a crutch but she's still on the injured rosta with Raylan, and can't drive until she's cleared. Raylan feels a bit selfish, he processes that feeling awkwardly, but is still kinda glad he's not the only walking wounded. They pass his town car sitting forlornly in its space, there's a layer of dust on it, Raylan notices. It's when they pass the remains of the Yukon that they barely walked away from that Raylan flinches.
Shit. He closes his eyes, grits his teeth and prays that Tim and Rachel didn't notice that, as he forces his legs to continue movement in the direction of Tim's Yukon which is parked just beyond the destroyed vehicle.
Rachel sees Raylan flinch, and it's not exactly the work of a rocket scientist to figure out that it's the remains of their vehicle which set off a reaction. She remembers when he was shot, saving Loretta from herself, and Tim dragging him out of the office. Raylan would have denied it to his dying breath, but he was unsettled by being shot, and his difficulties afterwards were as much about the psychological damage as the pain in his side.
She notices something, Raylan defaults to the back seat. He can't drive, but shotgun is something that they have all fought over at sometime or another, only this time it seems as though Raylan isn't playing.
Tim doesn't seem to have noticed, but with Tim Rachel is never quite sure. Tim has a far sharper mind than people normally credit him with, mostly because he's young and was a soldier. The image of the dumb grunt is something that Tim sometimes plays to perfection. Rachel knows that he does it, and that it amuses him, but she rather needs him not to be playing it right now.
They settle in, have a brief argument over where they are going, Tim is feeling the need for pizza and Raylan wants chicken. The fact that Raylan really, really wants chicken says quite a lot to Rachel about his emotional state. She throws Tim a look, and Tim alters his demand to something wrap-related that they can get at Raylan's favourite chicken place, and there's something for Rachel too.
She wonders about her own emotional state. She can still feel the warmth from his cheek resting against her shoulder, the surprising softness of his hair, clean and silky beneath her fingers, the little moan he made in his sleep when she gently stroked his head. He's never been that open before, she's not sure what it means, but she thinks she means that she's falling for him.