The Seven Revels

Stay in the Present

(Warning: Possible Triggers)

Well that went well, Milo thought to himself as Quill slammed the door in his face.

Quill didn't look good. In the brief moment Milo could see him, he could see how pale Quill's face was. He had dark circles under his eyes, his hair was a mess and he looked a little like he was going to throw up.

"Go away," Quill growled from the other side of the door.

"Come on, Quill, open the door. We just want to talk to you," Garrett said.

"I've got nothing to say to you, Burgess. Leave me alone."

Milo looked helplessly at Garrett, then back at the door. "Quill, can we please come in? Just for a minute."

"No. No you absolutely cannot. Leave me alone."

Garrett groaned in frustration. "Give us a minute," he told Milo before he stepped up to the door and pulled on it. It was clear that Quill was trying to hold it shut, but he wasn't doing a very good job of it. Garrett got the door open fairly easily and slipped inside, pulling the door closed behind him. Milo resisted the temptation to press his ear to the door. As it turned out, he didn't need to.

"Absolutely not!" Quill snapped.

"Come on, Quill, he just wants to talk."

"Yeah, you know the last time a Burgess said that to me, I was almost killed."

"Wait, you mean...?"

"Yeah. That asshole standing outside the door is one of the ones who..." Quill's voice choked off for a moment.

"Hey, come on," Garrett said. "Take a deep breath, you gotta calm down. Don't think about it." A pause. "Did I ever tell you about the time Molly and I crashed her dad's RevKart?"

"Only about a million times," Quill said after a moment. "Give me a second, I can handle it this time..."

"I've never seen Molly's dad so mad before. I was sure he was gonna kick me out," Garrett said with an easy laugh. "You're good, okay? You're fine."

"You gotta think of a new Calm-Quill-Down story, dude. I know every little detail about you and Molly crashing the RevKart. It's not even that funny anymore..."

"Honestly, did you ever think it was funny?"

"No, I just..." Quill's voice faded for a moment. "I can handle it," he said after a second, his voice much quieter this time. Milo leaned closer to the door. "I can handle this, I can do this... Oh, god, I can't breathe."

"It's okay, Quill. Just take a deep breath. Tell me what you need now."

"I'm stronger than this. I can do this. I can breathe- I'm fine- it's fine- I'm okay, I can handle this, I can do this." Quill's voice grew more rapid with each word. "Talk to me," he hissed after a moment. "Tell me something. Anything. Please."

"Abigail," Garrett said at once. "I never told you about the time Abigail and I-"

"Dude, who the hell is Abigail?" A sharp breath. "I can do this, I can breathe."

"Like you don't remember Abigail. If I remember correctly, you guys got to know each other pretty well. At least it looked like it while you two were sucking face, for lack of a better phrase." as Garrett talked, Milo could hear Quill hissing under his breath.

"Not real, it's not real. I'm okay, I'm safe, I can- I'm not... it's not real."

"Take a deep breath, Quill. I'm here, I've got you. You're safe, you can breathe. It's not real. Whatever you're feeling, it isn't real. You're safe, you're with me. Concentrate on your breathing, stay in the present. You can get through this. Stay in the present, Quill."