Essence of Quinn Parts 3 & 4 (MxM)

Faraway/So Close

The room was quiet in the pre-dawn darkness as Quinn came back to himself. The silence broken only by the sounds of their breaths and the slowing beat of their hearts.

“Hi,” Air whispered, a sated smile on his swollen, kiss-bruised lips.

“Hi,” Quinn replied, voice wrecked.

Quinn rolled them onto their sides, mourning Air’s heat as he slipped free. Air hummed, stroking a finger along Quinn’s cheek.

“I missed us,” Air said, pulling one of the soft thinner blankets over them.

Quinn huffed.

“It’s been like, what? A day?”

Air rolled his eyes and gently shoved at Quinn’s bare chest.

“Exactly. A whole twenty-four hours without getting dicked down whenever I felt like it.”

Quinn scowled.

“Air, we fucked halfway through that. It wasn’t exactly a drought.”

He shrugged.

“That one didn’t count. I didn’t really want it then. I just did that to piss you off.”

The scowl deepened.

“Well, I realised that after you chewed up my heart and spat it back at me, Air.”

Air sighed.

“I’m sorry about that. I was hurting, and I lashed out.” He nuzzled his face against Quinn’s scarred shoulder. “I wanted you to hurt like I was. It was petty.”

Quinn moved onto his back, covering his face with the crook of his elbow. His body ached, but in the good way. The way that proved just how thorough their reconnection over the past few hours had been.

He knew how lucky he was. That this hadn’t broken them, but there was still a ways to go.

“I deserved it. I just... I didn’t know what else to do.”

Air shifted, resting his chin on Quinn’s sternum. Quinn glanced down at him from beneath his arm, and the look Air was giving him stole his breath.

Completely open. Trusting, despite what Quinn had done. Loving and fierce in his devotion.

Everything Quinn didn’t deserve.

“I need you to promise me again. That you won’t shut me out the next time this happens. Because we both know there will be a next time.”

His fingers drummed lightly on Quinn’s scar, and he shuddered at the physical reminder of the divine carved into his skin. At the reminder that he’d somehow found himself tangled up in the orbit of things far, far bigger than him. Insidious divination.

Quinn was way too tired for all this shit.

“We deal with it all together,” Air said. Quinn pursed his lips, but Air continued. “I don’t care if you think I need protecting from it. I don’t. We go into this with our eyes wide open. Both of us. No more secrets. No more hiding.”

Quinn studied him for a moment before he answered. Reached out and brushed a strand of dark hair back from Air’s forehead. Blinked a few times.

“I promise. I will try. We can deal with it together.”

His voice was steady, but he felt anything but. Air’s gaze didn’t falter, but Quinn’s words seemed to appease him. He kissed Quinn’s sternum and patted his chest.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m completely fucked.” Quinn quirked a brow at him and he grinned, the corners of his eyes crinkling with tired mischief. “I need coffee. I’ll go make us some.”