darker_london | Bwuahah! (Quinn and then Flynn)

Quinn spent a great deal of his day at the University Library doing research on his thesis. At the moment, he was still in the note-taking stage, preferring to collect ideas before he began drafting. And since he had lost three months to a semi-vegetative state, he wanted to waste no more time on dilly-dallying. He had become a common fixture in the library, often recieving waves or short 'hi's from other students. It was normal to find Quinn sitting at a computer or at a table rapidly taking notes from five open books with his ever-present fedora cocked to one side to keep the glare from the flourescent lights from hurting his one remaining eye.

Usually the other students knew not to disturb Quinn because he tended to either ignore you without meaning to, or he'd look at you in a confused manner and then proceed to confuse you with ramblings about ancient Roman ethics or answer questions you hadn't asked. They mostly just left him to it. Except, apparently, for the red headed girl who plunked down across from him on Wednesday in the late afternoon. She let out a heavy breath and plopped her book bag on the table. "Oh my god I'm buggered." She smiled and swept her slightly damp hair out of her face. "Interesting books?" She asked, raising her eyebrows and surveying the selection he had open.

"Muh?" Quinn looked up, only halfway registering that someone was there. "Oh, uhm...fine?"

The girl blinked and then she smiled at him. "Well...good to know. Even if that's not what I asked. What are you studying?"

Quinn had glanced back down at his notes before looking back at the girl again. She was really pretty. Her delicate features were perfectly accented by the way her light red hair framed her face. She was wearing black, artsy clothes and he found he was as distracted by her as he was by his notes. Which was strange because that hadn't happened in a very long time. "I'm..." Quinn pointed at his notes. "Studying."

"I see that." The girl smiled again, seemingly charmed by his confused manner. She wasn't picking up any clues that he wanted her to leave, though if she had, Quinn wouldn't have intended it that way. His mind was still half in Ancient Rome and half somewhere around Red Haired Girl's shapely chest. "I came to get out of the rain."

"'sraining?" Quinn asked, appearing quite dopey.

"Has been for hours. What's your name?" The girl asked then. "Mine's Rachel."

"Quinn." He said, as if on auto-pilot and then he seemed to finally snap out of his stupor. "I'm Quinn. Nice to meet you. I was taking notes for my thesis."

"Oh, awesome! What's it about?" Rachel asked, crossing her legs which seemed to indicate she was staying right where she was, at least for the time being.

"It's...a work in progress, but I'm writing about the Ethics of Ancient Rome. Saying that in some ways, though their society was a bit...you know...full on, they were more civilised than we are. I want to compare Aristotle's black and white view on things to Socrates' more open view. He saw shades of gray where a lot of philosophers didn't. And then there's Plato, who's somewhere in the middle I think, on most things, and...you...probably don't care. And now you think I'm a nerd."

Rachel laughed and she gave him a wink which caused a completly inappropriate reaction on his part that bothered him more than a little. "This is University, I think we're all nerds here. Me, I'm completely obsessed with art history. Anything Rembrant or Carravagio or Van Gogh and I'll go on for hours and hours."

"Me too! Not...with art." Quinn chuckled a little, self-consciously and his ears turned red. She was really ditracting. It was messing with his head a little. Quinn hadn't been attracted to someone not Flynn in a very long time. And certainly not someone female. Not since Jade. "I just mean I know what you mean."

"I do like it when people know what I mean." Rachel plopped her head down on her hands and she glanced at his notes. "Are you reading all these books at once?"

"No, I'm just...cross-referencing. I've read them all before. For..fun." Quinn blushed again. "Don't think I'm making myself sound better there..."

"On the contrary." Rachel's smile was beginning to show more than a slight interest in Quinn and he could tell. He was wondering why, but he could tell regardless. "I'm glad it rained."

"Heh."

"Hey, any chance you'd want to fill a girl in on your research? I'm fascinated."

"Er..." Quinn felt completely out of his depth here. Part of him wanted to talk to the girl, and the other part knew that since he was feeling quite distinct feelings for her and it was clear she was too, he probably shouldn't.

"Come on. Have you been studying since this morning? Have you even taken a lunch break."

Quinn thought about that, and his stomach quickly reminded him that he had not. Not that he had noticed until she asked, but now that he was made aware of it the pang in his stomach was going to be remedied by nothing but food. "No. I could eat..."

"Fabulous!" Rachel said, flashing him a bright smile. "I'm starving and I feel like a veggie lasagne. The Cave's bound to be crowded since it's raining, but we'll add a little class to the join, eh?" She winked and helped him gather his books together.

Once Quinn had everything gathered together, Quinn and Rachel walked to The Cave together, chatting the entire time. Quinn let her talk about art history for quite a while, because it made him feel better then, for rabbiting on about his thesis. They ended up spending the entire afternoon together, and Quinn didn't return to the library at all. Eventually he walked home, feeling completely conflicted about the afternoon he had just had. He had met a kindred spirit. A kindred spirit he was attracted to. He found out she volunteered at shelters and did charity work and she borrowed his copy of Nicomachean Ethics. She didn't look at him, confused when he talked about academic things. Flynn did, most of the time. Not because Flynn was stupid, as that was certainly not the case. He just hadn't had an education past the age of sixteen, since he had been kicked out of his home. Quinn knew Flynn had the capacity for great things, he just hadn't been in a situation where he could tap into it. Quinn loved Flynn for what he had managed to do despite that, but now he was feeling like Rachel understood him in ways Flynn didn't, after one meeting, and he didn't like the feeling of it. He knew it was neither right nor true, but the feeling festered away in the pit of his stomach, nevertheless.

When Quinn walked into the house, he was greeted by a bouncing Flynn, despite the face that Flynn was bruised from his encounter with Frankie. He was still happy to see Quinn. "Hi!" Flynn said cheerfully. "I made you scones! I baked!" Flynn knew that Quinn usually studied right on through the day, forgetting to eat lunch, so he had made sure to provide something to eat when he got home.

"Hey." Quinn took his wet coat off and he shook the water out of his hair before he welt to kiss Flynn's cheek. "I ate, actually."

"...oh." The bounce went out of Flynn so quickly and Quinn felt another stab of guilt in his gut. "Well I...I can give them to Thomas."

"I can have some later?" Quinn said, trying to make it better.

"They'll go a bit funny when they get cold. They won't be any good. Nevermind." Flynn was trying not to sulk, but it wasn't easy when he'd been so excited. Flynn didn't usually bake. He had tried it as a special thing and now he just felt stupid for doing so.

"Oh, Bub..." Quinn stepped forward and he took Flynn's hands. "I'm sorry. I'd love some scones. And I love that you made them for me." He kissed the corner of Flynn's lips and he was pleased to see that Flynn's delight returned to him in an instant.

"Okay! I can put cream and jam on them! You sit, I'll do it! You just sit!" Flynn backed away to the kitchen, making sure Quinn complied. When Quinn was sitting down Flynn chattered away again, unusual for him but since he was with Quinn he felt secure and safe to do so. "Did you do anything special today?"

Quinn bit his lip and he looked up at his lover, so happy just to be doing something nice for him. "No..." He said, and he felt terrible the second he had said it. He just didn't want Flynn to know.

"Well, I have something special planned for later." Flynn turned and he grinned at Quinn. "Are you free tonight, Stud?"

Quinn took a deep breath and then he nodded. "Of course. Yes. Yes, I'm free."

"You're bein' weird." Flynn informed him, before going back to the fridge to fetch the cream. "Are you okay?" Flynn hoped Quinn wasn't still upset about him being hurt. Flynn was trying to pretend it had never happened.

"I'm fine. Sorry. Distracted. By...study." Study. Right.

"Should have know." Flynn winked as he carried the jam and cream over to the kitchen bench. "I'll do my best to distract you right back."

Quinn finally managed a smile back at Flynn. He really did adore him. "You always can, Mal." He said fondly. "You always can." Or he always could.