darker_london | The Good Teacher (Flynn, Quinn, Julian) (Reply)

Flynn wasn't entirely sure what he'd find when he entered Julian's room, but he'd seen junkies before. And to tell the truth, Julian didn't actually look as bad as some he'd seen. He didn't look good either... "Hi, Julian." Flynn said softly, moving over to sit near Julian's bed. Quinn was hovering by the door. "This is my boyfriend, Quinn. But he doesn't have to stay. He understand though. You know when I lived on the streets...part of that time I spent with him."

Quinn waved at Julian. "Nice to meet you, Julian. I'm a good friend of Spectre's as well."

Julian nodded. "Okay. You don't have to go..." He turned to Flynn as Quinn went to take a seat beside his boyfriend. "So. Uhm. How are you?"

"Doing really well, actually." Flynn said with a smile. "I'm glad to see you, Julian. I missed you."

"Why?" Julian asked without meaning to.

"Because you're my friend." Flynn wasn't bothered by the question at all. It actually seemed quite logical to him.

"Oh. Uhm...good." Julian felt very awkward, and he shifted his weight forward. "I'm sorry I ran off like I did."

"No you're not." Flynn said. "Not yet. You don't have to lie to me."

Julian blinked. "Wuh...oh. Okay then. I'm still sorry I hurt people's feelings."

"I forgive you." Flynn leaned forward. "Julian, did anyone out there hurt you?"

Julian's eyes flicked between them and he nodded. "Yeah. A...some did."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that." Quinn interjected. "We understand what that's like. If you want to talk about anything..."

"You were both homeless?" Flynn and Quinn nodded. Julian just wanted to feel like he wasn't the only disgusting person he knew. Spectre had been homeless but he hadn't stooped to the depths Julian had. He needed to know. "What was the worst thing you did to get money? Did you steal or...anything?"

"I never stole anything." Flynn said, reaching out for Quinn's hand instinctually. "I uhm...found food in bins sometimes. If things were really dire. If busking wasn't going so well. That's what I usually did for money. Busking. But sometimes there wasn't much money in it and there wasn't anything to eat in the bins either...and I had Quinn to take care of." Quinn put his other hand on Flynn's knee then. "I found out you could get money for giving blow jobs so...I did that sometimes. It was shit. But after it was over, there was food in my belly. And Quinn's too, so I did it. Why, Julian? Why did you want to know?"

So Julian wasn't alone. Flynn had done the very same thing he had. And it didn't actually make Julian feel better to know that. Less disgusting perhaps, because Flynn was here and he was happy. He was proof things could be okay. But he didn't feel glad that Flynn had gone through that too. He cared. He actually cared that someone else had suffered what he had. "Uhm...I just...I just wondered." Julian looked down at his hands. "Were they ever...rough with you?"

"Not most of the time. But I would have been rough right back..." Flynn wasn't like Julian. He'd come from a hard life. He was a fighter. Julian was not. "Julian...were they rough with you?" Flynn knew exactly why Julian had asked, of course. And Julian just nodded. "I'm so sorry."

"Spectre doesn't think I'm disgusting. And I don't think you are and you did it too. So I guess...I can be okay with it. With what I did."

"You're not disgusting." Flynn soothed. "The rules are different out there. I know that. Quinn and Spectre know that." Quinn just watched Flynn work his magic. Really...he was incredibly good at it without even realising... "You did what you had to do, okay? And now you just make sure you're never in a position where you have to again. Because you're not out there anymore, you're here. Where the rules are different. Better. You know that right?"

Julian nodded quickly. "Yeah! 'Course I do..."

"Then you learned something." Flynn added. "And that's valuable."

Julian smiled a little. "Okay. Thank you."

"Of course, Julian. We're both here. If you want to talk about anything else."

"What about...Days of Our Lives?" Flynn blinked, questioningly. "I just mean...we could watch it and take the piss."

"Oh! Sure!" Flynn laughed and Quinn passed Julian the remote.