darker_london | Aristophanes SO got it right... (Flynn, Quinn)

Quinn awoke to Flynn gently stroking his cheek. He had to admit, as far as alarm clocks went, that was probably the best one. "Morning." Quinn mumbled, giving Flynn his best attempt at a smile though his face was still frozen with sleep.

"Morning, Sleepyhead." Flynn ceased his stroking and he leaned in to kiss Quinn's cheek instead.

"Mmm what time is it?"

"8:26." Flynn responded. "You have a class at 10:00 so I thought I should wake you. Unless...you don't want to go? How are you feeling?" Flynn's face changed from serene to worried in a heartbeat.

How was he feeling? Well pretty much the same as he'd been feeling for months now, but it was harder to hide when he was surrounded by people instead of hermitting in his room. He couldn't deny it any more, he felt like crap. But he hadn't let that detract from his studies then, so he shouldn't now that he was acknowledging that there was something going on. "I'm feeling alright. I'll survive the bitter trenches of Professor Zifcak's 'Classical Ethics from Plato's Symposium to Aristotle'."

"From whosie what's to what?!" Flynn asked, looking lost. Flynn was intelligent, but he wasn't exactly well-read and how could he be?

Quinn gave Flynn a fond look. "Old dead guys." He explained. "The former involving rambling about love at a piss up!" Ah yes, for Quinn had many layers.

"I think that happens at a lot of piss ups..." Flynn remarked.

"Not all of it becomes great classical literature, however." Quinn pulled himself into a sitting position and he took a deep breath, trying to get rid of a little of the ickiness he felt inside. "I'll deal. I'll be okay."

Flynn bit his lip and then he kissed Quinn's hand. "How about...you get ready and I'll make you something to eat. Then I'll walk you to campus and wait for your class to be over so I can walk you back?" It would make Flynn feel better to know Quinn was safe. Rehearsals for the benefit concert with Johan were starting that afternoon, but Flynn had time.

Quinn just watched Flynn for a moment, and then a grin broke through the frozen features and he kissed Flynn's cheek. "I'm so lucky to have you, Bub. Thank you."

"We're both lucky. Now go, unless you wane to talk about classical piss ups in the nip."

"It would be topical!" Quinn said with a cheeky grin.

Soon enough, a showered and fed Quinn was walking alongside his Flynn as they made their way to his philosophy class. To Flynn's surprise, the professor was actually standing outside the classroom, speaking to students in the hall on a completely informal basis. He didn't realise that the philosophy department was relatively small and they all pretty much knew one another. Flynn decided that was close enough, and he turned to Quinn to say, "I'll wait for you in the union, okay?"

Before Quinn had a chance to reply, Professor Zifcak caught sight of them and he grinned. "Excuse me!" He called, nearing them, weaving between students expertly. "Hello! Who is your friend, Quinn?"

"He's actually my boyfriend." Quinn said without shame or fear, smiling at his favourite professor. "Malachy-"

"The famous Flynn!" Professor Zifcak interrupted, and Quinn grinned even more because Zifcak remembered. "Are you here to visit today?"

"Er-"

"Splendid, splendid, the more the merrier. In you go!" And before Flynn could say anything else, he felt himself ushered into the classroom. He gave Quinn a questioning look, but Quinn only shrugged. Professor Zifcak was odd and unpredictable, and Quinn was used to the laid back workings of the philosophy department.

Flynn took a seat beside Quinn and he immediately leaned in to whisper to his boyfriend. "What if he asks me a question, and I don't know anything about this Plateau guy or his piss ups!?"

Quinn squeezed Flynn's hand and he smiled at him. "Don't worry, I'll protect you." He winked, and Flynn still worried. But he needn't have. Flynn could protect Quinn in a fight because he was a quick thinker and strong and fast and he could have you on our back on the ground before you even realised that the fight had commenced. Quinn, however, was pretty much fodder for the beating in a fight. But when it came to something like this...an intellectual discussion or debate, he was in his element. He was brilliant and he could talk and prove his point so eloquently, you were left stunned and wondering what had just happened. He was made for academia, and staring at Quinn with his mouth hanging slightly open was all Flynn could do as the discussion on The Symposium started.

"I know, I know, Aristophanes was a rival of Socrates, but a reckon he's got a fair argument." Quinn put forward, placing his pen back in his mouth when he was done with his sentence to keep himself from just talking the entire time.

"Of course you do!" Another student spoke up, laughing. "He says the homosexual male is the manliest man of all!"

"Exactly!" Quinn winked to more general laughter. "And who could argue with him?!"

A sour looking young man frowned. "His argument raises the issue of duality-"

"No it doesn't!" Quinn said, shaking his head. Everyone sat back because they knew he was on a roll now. "It's about the opposite of dualism. Dualism states that two things are completely separate entities. And yes, Aristophanes says that Zeus split the first humans in two because they dared to try to reach Heaven. But his entire point is based on the fact that we are now half-creatures who wander this Earth, searching for our other half, and from the pursuit of that wholeness is love bourne. In my opinion, his speech has much more depth than any of the other orators. Even Socrates." Quinn waited for the general good-natured booing to die down, because they all loved Socrates, and Aristophanes was long time rival.

"Even though it's presented in such absurdist manner, it's clearly symbolic. With the other speeches...who cares about the distinction between profane love and pure love? And we all Pausanias was just trying to legitimise his relations with young boys." There was more general laughter, because if you had read Pausanias' speech, it was plainly obvious. Flynn was still staring at Quinn because he was utterly lost, but wow was Quinn sexy. "Socrates has a wonderful point. Ultimate love is a true virtue, and it does lead us on the search for true wisdom. But there is true feeling behind what Aristophanes says. We are all searching for the other half of ourselves. Without which we can never feel a true sense of completeness or satisfaction. There's always something missing, and we search out love above all else. There's something so poignant in the way he says Zeus split the people right down the middle, and that we cannot truly survive that way...were never meant to survive that way...Aristophanes is right. Being separate like that...it's horrible. I've been through it."

The class was silent, because they knew enough about Quinn to know he'd been through a hell of a lot. Some eyes were on Flynn too, and he felt his cheeks colouring. It didn't help that he was sort of well-known and some of the people here would be Spectre-fans. But Professor Zifcak didn't let the silence hang for long. He grinned and nodded. "Well said, Quinn. Is there something to be said about the way Agathon lies down next to Socrates at the end-"

And the class continued, but Flynn didn't hear another word of it. All he remembered, was looking up and realising the room was emptying. He looked over at Quinn who was talking to his professor. As soon as Quinn came back, Flynn smiled up at him. "You're like...a genius."

Quinn laughed. "I'm just a Plato fanboy." He offered Flynn a hand up and Flynn took it.

"So...you really think you're the other half to my whole? Oh that sounded potentially disgusting if you mistook which spelling of 'whole' I meant..."

"Hah! Well...disgusting aside...yes. Yes I really do." Quinn bustled Flynn out the door and then, once they were in the hallway, he captured Flynn's lips in a kiss. "I always have. You complete me. As terribly corny as I sound right now."

"I think you sound the right amount of corny." Flynn slipped his hand into Quinn's. "Come on, Genius. Let's go home so I can pamper you more. And maybe you can tell me about this Stopha-knees guy. He sounds smart like you."

"He's actually a comic playwright. But I certainly will. Especially the letting you pamper me part!" And they entered the cool London afternoon together hand-in-hand, two halves of a whole.