Essence of Quinn Parts 3 & 4 (MxM)

One Trauma at a Time

What felt like only minutes later there was a knock on the bathroom door and Quinn felt Air there. Secondo let him in and he went straight to Quinn, pulling him into a hug, one arm around his back, the other hand in his hair. He pulled his head down towards his shoulder gently. Quinn whimpered and melted into him, gripping onto the material of the shirt at his back.

“I’m here, sweet. I was already on my way when Secondo called,” he said against his hair.

Quinn felt the love that Air sent him through their bond and he clung to it.

“He didn’t deserve that. He’s so fucking young, Air. He must have been no more than a kit when they took him,” Quinn whispered.

Air cursed and held him tighter.

“I managed to pick up a few things from him,” Secondo said. “I think that you are right. He was not quite fully grown when he was summoned.”

Quinn was shaking and he was pissed off at himself for reacting this way. The enslaved ghouls that he’d dealt with were long gone but he hadn’t realised that he still carried them with him to this day. They were just as much a part of him as the witches were.

The witches were the ones who had given the orders, but their pets were the tools that had been used to cause the maximum amount of damage to his family. They’d been wielded just as effectively as any blade could have been; even more so. When Quinn had stumbled through the door of his cottage and found their broken bodies, the message left for him had been loud and clear. It had carved out his heart quicker and more brutally than anything merely done with a sword could have done.

He closed his eyes and snarled. At the time it hadn’t mattered that those ghouls had been slaves to their masters’ whims. He’d been out for their blood just as much as he had the witches’.

Air was murmuring to him in that way that he did. The words didn’t matter, although they were always so achingly kind. Quinn felt the love behind them though and that is what never failed to guide him back from the edge.

“I will get Earth to cover the day shift today,” Secondo said, his hand resting on Quinn’s bicep.

“I’m sorry,” Quinn whispered. “Your quintessence has proved just how fucking useless he is yet again.”

He’d meant it as a joke to lighten the mood but Secondo didn’t take it that way.

“Do not speak that way. I should not have put you in that situation. I blame myself for this, I should have realised.”

Quinn huffed a laugh.

“You shouldn’t have to. I should just do my job. I’m a fucking liability.”

Secondo tutted and scowled at him.

“Shut up, Quinn. Just go with Air and we will talk about this later.”

He turned and left and Quinn sighed. He was still trembling and Air stroked his hair gently, running deft fingers through it.

“We are going back to your room and we are going to deal with this, right now,” Air said.

“I don’t think...”

Air ignored his protest and talked right over him.

“You’re going to tell me all about it and get it out in the open, then we know what we are dealing with and we can prepare. I don’t think this ghoul is going anywhere any time soon so we need to be ready for that. I will not let this wound fester any longer than it has to.”

Air knew about Quinn’s dealings with these ghouls, but he'd skimmed over the details on the rare occasions that it had come up. He didn’t like talking about his past but when he and Zephyr used to have those kinds of conversations, it usually did help to talk it through and get insight from someone else. Air was good at that, seeing things from another perspective and pointing out things that Quinn had seen differently.