Essence of Quinn Parts 3 & 4 (MxM)

Weakness

"I'm not happy about this. Not at all. Secondo, please. See reason," Doc Michaels said, her frustration evident. "He's not ready."

Air snarled, climbing to his feet from his place next to Quinn on the couch. Quinn reached out and found his hand, squeezing it reassuringly. He sent him calming energy, and Air took a deep breath, sighing it out before he spoke.

"We respect your opinion, Doc, but this is ghoul politics. It isn't the same as your human version. You cannot show weakness. Nobody will take you seriously if they think you are weak."

The Doc gave a humourless chuckle.

"That is exactly my point, Air. They're going to pick up on it. They'll know and they'll take advantage of it."

Air growled, and Quinn's lips turned up into a smile at the thought of his mate facing off against the Doc. She was smaller than him, but she was feisty.

He adjusted the sunglasses he'd taken to wearing again. They blocked out any bright lights that irritated his eyes. Quinn could see a vague outline of things now-inky shapes and flickers of movement. He'd regained only that much in the few weeks since he became blind. So far.

Quinn had found he'd adapted pretty quickly after his initial wobble, remembering how he'd coped with temporary blindness before. He'd made more of an effort this time, though. Because this time, the stakes had been higher. He'd had to accept that maybe this was permanent, and he'd had to suck it up because he had other, vastly more important priorities to worry about.

He'd quickly learned how to incorporate his other senses to compensate for his eyesight, but the thing that had helped him the most-aside from accepting help from Air and the others-was adapting the use of his quintessential magic. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of doing that before.

He already used it in all kinds of ways that differed from other quintessence ghouls. Always had. Particularly when he'd trained under Andras, who'd pushed the limits of what he could do to the extreme.

As far as he knew, some of his abilities were somewhat unique, or at least the way he felt them was. The way he could use his magic as an extension of himself to touch and to manipulate. He mostly used it when he was with Air or Calista to enhance their pleasure. To stroke and to caress. When he did that, he could feel it too, as if it were physical touch.

Not long after they let him go home, he and Air had a somewhat intense session of reconnection, during which Quinn used his magic to push Air a little further. He'd had a eureka moment then, when he realised the feel of the quintessence had created a map of Air's body in his mind. Realised that if he used it to reach out to his surroundings, he could feel physical objects, casting a net out around him and gleaning sensory information from it. If he could create a map of Air's body, then why not the world at large, too?

Once they'd finished their playtime, he'd mentioned it to Air, and the two of them had spent the rest of the evening playing with it and seeing how it could potentially work.

Quinn could figure out the outlines of solid objects, furniture, walls and the like now, creating a sense of them in his mind. It wasn't as immediate as sight, but he was getting better at interpreting it. If he cast the magic too far, it sometimes created a sensory overload, so he'd learned that a few feet all around him worked best. It wasn't perfect, by any means, but it was better than the nothing he'd had before. That was enough for him to manage within the familiar small world he'd been confined to.

In the world beyond the Abbey, though? Well, he'd just have to try his best. He knew it would be exhausting. The use of his powers this way was draining, and during their experiments, he'd quickly tired. He'd practiced, knowing that time was of the essence. That if he could master this, he could push forward the meeting with Boreas and secure Amaya's safety sooner.