Essence of Quinn Parts 3 & 4 (MxM)

Firsts

"You know why I like redheads so much, right?"

Quinn blinked, suddenly pulled out of his thoughts. Wait, what had Air said?

"What?"

Quinn turned his head to face Air and found the other ghoul grinning back at him. Air shifted so that he was facing towards him and his eyes roamed Quinn's face.

"You back?"

For the past fuck knew how long Air had been talking at him. Quinn had no idea what he'd said, just that the tone of his voice was a quietly soothing constant.

He stretched out his legs, his back and his neck, realising that his ass had gone numb from sitting on the floor.

"I must be," he murmured, turning back to Air, who was looking at him warily now.

Quinn reached out and touched his cheek, leaning in to kiss him gently. He opened their bond back up again and Air shivered against him, breathing a little sigh of relief. He pulled away just enough to speak.

"I wish you wouldn't do that. It hurts," he whispered.

Quinn felt instantly guilty.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. I didn't even know I'd done it until we got here and I couldn't do anything about it by then. I just kind of shut down."

Air put his forehead to Quinn's and met his eyes.

"I know, but I still wish you wouldn't do it."

"I will try harder next time."

The sad truth was that he knew there would be a next time. He didn't seem to be able to handle all the Rain and Calista stuff very well. He'd gradually managed to deal with his past in a much healthier way since his summoning; Zephyr and Air had played a big part in that, but this seemed to be beyond his control.

"I know you will," Air said sadly.

"What did you just say about redheads?"

Air pulled back and smiled, mood changing again, his eyes getting that mischievous spark.

"I said, did I ever tell you why I like red heads so much?"

"Well, no, but I thought you had a thing for blondes?" he said teasingly.

Air leaned in and bit his bottom lip playfully.

"Well, blondes are more fun I guess..." he said against Quinn, sucking on the lip he'd just bitten and pulling back again. "But anyway, it was the fire ghuleh."

"The fire ghuleh?"

Air nodded and grinned again.

"She was my first. She was..." He closed his eyes and bit his lip. Quinn smirked, his stomach always flipped when Air did that. It was one hundred percent carnal. "Yeah. She was something else."

He opened his eyes again and they were glowing. Quinn felt his own burning in response.

"Oh really. Do I have some competition here?"

Air laughed.

"You should be thanking her. She taught me that thing that you like."

It was Quinn's turn to laugh.

"Oh? Well, in that case, maybe I should."

"What about you?" Quinn frowned when Air asked him that. "Who was your first?"

He pursed his lips, trying to remember.

"It was so long ago, I'm not sure."

Air raised his brows in surprise.