Essence of Quinn Parts 3 & 4 (MxM)

Hope

Quinn and Air took up their places behind Secondo, either side of him, with Earth between them. He was seated on the sofa opposite the one where Papa and Rain now sat.

Rain kept glancing nervously at Quinn and he frowned back at him, annoyed with himself that the water ghoul seemed to be scared of him when all he’d wanted to do was to look out for him. Rain sipped the drink that Aether had given him, gripping the glass and making his knuckles go white.

“Did I do something wrong, Papa?” he asked.

Papa put his arm around Rain’s shoulders and sighed.

“No. You have done nothing wrong. We have some news and it will be both shocking and upsetting for you.” Quinn felt Rain’s anxiety spike and he and Aether both subconsciously sent quintessence to him. “It is about your family, Rain.”

He furrowed his brow, raising his soft brown eyes to Papa’s.

“My family? I don’t have a family,” he said quietly and the sorrow behind those words slashed at Quinn's heart. “You and my pack are my family now.”

Papa patted the hand that rested on his lap gently.

“Si, we are your family. But I am talking about your birth family. It has recently come to light that your brothers have been found.”

Quinn prepared himself for the change in emotions that were about to happen. Sure enough, hope and happiness came first, making the ultimate crash surely that much more brutal. He glanced at Aether who looked like he was having the same thoughts and making the same preparations. Rain’s hand began to shake and he downed the rest of his drink, putting the empty glass on the coffee table. The water ghoul blinked several times, processing what papa just said.

“What?” he whispered, his eyes filling with tears.

“Si, Boreas and his team managed to find out what happened to them.” Papa paused. He was struggling, not wanting to break the news to him. “He informed us yesterday. About their findings.”

Rain smiled, sitting up straighter.

“Where are they? Are they doing okay? Can I go and see them?”

Papa glanced at Secondo who sat still, his emotions not giving anything away. Quinn presumed his face was just as stoic as he was.

Papa pursed his lips.

“Well, I...” He sighed again. “Rain, they...”

Quinn couldn’t take this bullshit any more. He couldn’t handle the false hope that had been ignited in Rain's heart, the false hope that was steadily growing. It wasn’t right. He growled and Earth shot him a sideways glance. He was just about to speak up when he felt the swell of Secondo’s magic and he cursed his ability to read thoughts. Quinn tried to growl again but nothing happened, he'd been rendered mute by Secondo. The human scowled back at him over his shoulder and subtly shook his head. Quinn raised his lip from his fangs but Secondo turned away and ignored him, addressing Rain.

“What my brother is trying to tell you, and there is no easy way to say this, Rain, is that your brothers were found dead.” Rain’s eyes flicked to Secondo and he stared at him blankly. “I am so very sorry.”

Quinn felt Secondo let go of the magic that had probably stopped him from making Rain's opinion of him even lower at the same time that the sorrow hit the other ghoul. Quinn wanted to go to him and to comfort him but he stayed where he was, leaving Papa and Aether to console the now sobbing water ghoul. It tore him in two because to outsiders it was none of his business, Rain was nothing to him beyond another Clergy ghoul.