Trace It Back

"Anyway, your sex life isn’t vanilla. Who care. Neither is mine! If it was, I would be sorely disappointed in you, though, because you are too cool for fuckin’ vanilla okay. And this is my roundabout what of saying I’m happy for you. So yeah." He reached out with both arms, offering his brother a two thumbs up as he stretched, back arching as he sat back up.

Trace looked at his jeans and then at Quinn's before making up his mind. Quinn's were already messed up so a little more paint wouldn't hurt. Quick as he could he reached out and wiped his hand on his brother's knee. "No you may not paint my hair." He purposefully ignored what Quinn was trying to say in order to conserve some of his sanity.

"So what have you been doing besides Ian? Or well. I guess he’s doing you- stopping that right there before I need the brain bleach again. Do you even know how much I drank to get that image out of my head?" He shuddered, running his hands through his hair to smooth it back into place. It went obediently as always and he smiled at Trace again, displaying purple fingers and motioning for his brother to check his own.

"Good!" Trace said before rolling his eyes at his brother's informed him he wouldn't be stopping. "I'll have you know there's nothing wrong with sending pictures to your boyfriend." But even as he said that he felt the tips of his ears getting hotter and the color rising up in his cheeks. "Oh god." He moaned covering his ears and dramatically banging his head against the back of the couch. "Please shut up." He begged.

"I was just curious! You’re so secretive about this oh-so-cool boyfriend and I’ve not even met him! And you’ve met Nat! Nat!” He punctuated his somewhat teasing, somewhat serious screeching with a lick to Trace’s arm, tongue rolling against the skin. “I hope you have nightmares involving me and what I’ve seen on your phone. I need brain bleach, Trace. Brain. Bleach. My eyes will never be the same.”

He laughed at his brother's useless attempts to break free from his hold. "I'll just wipe it off on your shirt. You won't even notice the new stain." Trace responded as he purposefully spread his fingers and made sure to touch as much hair as possible.

"I hope to haunt your nightmares, though. You’ll never be rid of me." He realized a moment later how that sounded- especially if you took into account how he usually was- and well, he didn’t let it show that he’d even thought about it. He knew Trace could read him like an open book, but he was still happy. Still content in the moment. He shifted so that he was oriented toward his brother. "But then again, don’t think I don’t know what you and Ian get up to." His eyes narrowed, grin turning absolutely evil as he leaned closer. “Password protect your phone, man.” He muttered wickedly, cackling as he pulled back.

Trace chuckled and quickly covered his face with his arm to protect himself from his brother's assault. "You, shrimp, are a little shit." He laughed as he quickly sat up but wasn't quick enough to avoid his brother's second pillow. "You are going to pay for that." He promised with a wide smile before the rest of what Quinn said registered.

"Tracey, it was my idea. He didn’t even know how old I was for like three weeks and then he cut it off. We’re just friends now, got it?” Laughter poured out of him, lighting up his eyes and smoothing out his face. Trace was getting a glimpse of a brother that he hadn’t seen in a long time and Quinn was pretty sure that they both knew what that meant. This kind of thing never lasted long, but they made it worthwhile when it did. Greer skittered down his arm, curling into the crook of his knees.

"Watch your show, but I guarantee that my sex life is five times as dramatic." He grinned, not even a little sorry at the mental images he hoped his brother was getting. "And three times as acrobatic."

Trace glared at his brother as the little shit dissolved into laughter. He picked up the cushion he was using and threw it at him. "Shut up." He ordered, even as he felt a weight he didn't know he had been carrying both dissolve slightly and tighten simultaneously (if that was possible). Quinn was laughing, and not fake laughing, but really laughing. Now that was something that Trace hadn't seen in what felt like forever. The sound was glorious to Trace's ears and yet he couldn't help but worry that it wouldn't last. His brother was never this happy for too long...

"Yeah, why don’ you like him, anyway?" Quinn asked. He’d been wondering ever since he mentioned Nat and Trace had gone on the ‘older brother protecting younger brother’ defensive. He laughed, shaking his head as he set the bag next to the couch, moving into the living room and plopping back down into the corner of the couch. He folded his legs back up underneath himself, tucking away to make himself smaller out of habit. One hand curled around the discarded blanket, the other reaching for the remote. “He’s not a bad guy. Bit of a prick, but not bad." He did have an idea as to why, but he wasn’t going to say anything. Instead, he just side eyed his brother expectantly while he turned the channel to the sappy romantic network where they played dramatic crime and medical shows almost constantly. He had no doubt that it just might be his brother’s favorite channel.

Trace raised an unimpressed eyebrow at Quinn's question. "Do you really have to ask that?" He knew perfectly well that his brother knew, or at the very least suspected, why Trace didn't like Nat. Quinn always knew much more than he let on, that was something Trace had learned long ago.

"Here?" He asked, gesturing to the odd little flat and grinning broadly again. He skirted over the almost accusation of trouble. He was working on that, thank you very much."I dunno. Might’ve told a Nat bug somethin’ like I wanted to move out, maybe rough it on the street for a couple weeks." He shrugged. He wouldn’t have minded it in the slightest, but it was apparent that everyone else would. “He might’ve told me that I always had a place here. So I claimed the spare room. He doesn’t make me pay rent, but I make him let me pay utilities." He knew that Trace would want to know why he’d moved out— it wasn’t like their mom would kick him out. He just— he’d needed to. Everything was becoming too easy and too routine and he’d have gone nuts and done something stupid if he’d have stayed. “Greer an’ the fish an’ I all moved in and that was it." He smiled, pulling himself away from his thoughts. “Now c’mon, let’s chill or somethin’. I’ll turn on a cheesy doctor show ‘n’ make fun of you for being the stereotypical sexy doctor." He laughed like old times, eyes settling on his brother, open and soft like they hadn’t been in a long time.

"I might not like the guy, but I'm extremely grateful he'd your friend." Trace refused to think about what else Nat was to his brother. Nope. That was a train of thought he refused to acknowledge. "Because you living in the streets is not an imagine I'd like to imagine." Trace knew, perhaps better than most that Quinn would have had no problem actually living in the streets. He was aware that when his brother said he'd rough it in the streets he meant it.

Two cans of spray paint in his favorite colors, several small tubes of paint, a few brushes, a small canvas, and a mask- it all jumped out at him and made his smile grow the more he looked at them.

"This is so great." He said, gaze shooting up to his brother’s face. Art supplies weren’t cheap, though, and this must’ve cost a pretty penny. It meant a lot that Trace had brought them at all, but he knew that he’d end up getting into trouble with them as soon as he could. “Thanks." He said, tossing an arm over Trace’s shoulder, despite the fact that his brother was taller than him.

Trace most definitely noticed his brother mentioning almost getting arrested. He narrowed his eyes at the comment but decided that that was a topic he'd pursue later on. He'd let Quinn enjoy his gift and relax a bit before pushing.

"C’mon, I haven’t seen you in forever and you brought me presents. Of course I’m excited. An’ we’re totally gonna chill, man." His and Nat’s schedules didn’t really mesh, so they were always just missing each other around the flat. It got a little lonely when there wasn’t another person, so Quinn had taken to running out to tag a little more than he sued to. That’s how he’d ended up with the blow to the head. He reached back and robbed at where the bump had been, unconsciously wincing but not really feeling any pain. “Sit on the couch, relax. Mi casa es su casa, ‘n’ all that." He grinned as Greer hopped back to him, clutching at his shoulders as her daddy started to move away without her.

You are and always shall be a shrimp." Trace countered with a chuckle as he gently petted Greer. He rolled his eyes as his brother slammed the door shut  and smiled as the chinchilla climbed onto his shoulder- that was until he felt his brother trying to get the bag away from him. He glared at Quinn and quickly moved said bag away from his reach, careful not to drop Greer. “You are truly insufferable sometimes, you know that?" He mumbled, but a smile broke free and with a roll of his eyes he extended the bag.

"Hey." He greeted, already grinning widely when he opened the door. His eyes lit up, happy to see his brother even as his gaze fell from his face to the bag in hand. His smile only widened as he ushered him in, walking backwards and waving so that he’d follow. “C’mon in. Uh- sorry if it’s, y’know, kinda messy. We didn’ really clean or expect company? Nat’s off with his new boyfriend so yeah." He shrugged, skirting over the topic of his roommate in what he hoped was an easy way. That way it’d put suspicion off of why they were rooming together, or knew each other, at all. He was fully aware of the one time Nat had met Trace, and he hoped to avoid that for however long he could.

"Hey, have you met Greer, though?" He reached up, petting the chinchilla on his shoulder as she gave an experimental sniff. Even if they had met, which Quinn couldn’t remember if they had or not, she wouldn’t remember him quite yet. “Oh, so what’s my thing?" He asked excitedly. He hadn’t been this animated since long before he moved out, and it just occurred to him that Trace might not actually be used to it. Oops.

It took Trace a few seconds of staring at his brother to be able to respond to his questions. Was this really Quinn? Trace wasn't sure at the moment, it'd been far too long since he'd last seen him this lively. Don't get him wrong- it was absolutely wonderful, just a bit bizarre. Not to mention that his little brother looked healthier, a lot healthier than the last time he'd seen him. And was that-? Yes, it was! Quinn was wearing short sleeves and there was no new signs of cuts. Now that brought a huge smile to his face, one that widened when he saw the purple dye on his hair.

As soon as he sent the last text, Quinn hopped up off of his bed, rushing down the steps to unlock the door so that Trace could actually get in. Then he was in an equally frenzied state as he hurried to tidy up. Having two single men in a flat didn’t bode well for the state of it- despite certain stereotypes. There was still a large swatch of purple in his hair- not from where he’d gotten paint in it, but from where he’d dyed it without telling anyone. He was hit with the sudden thought, as he ran around shoving his dirty clothes into corners so Trace wouldn’t see, that he hadn’t actually seen his brother at all recently. The changes in him were physical at the very least, and his slight confidence boost would probably be obvious.

Lingering in his bedroom, debating on covering his arms, Quinn decided that, no, he’d go for it. That left him in dark gray jeans and a loose t-shirt. He nodded resolutely. He’d show Trace that it was better that he’d moved out, even if he’d forgotten to tell anyone. He shoved his phone back into his back pocket, gathering up Greer and moving them to the living room to wait for his brother.

Hey guys I have some bad news. Due to school being insane with only a little over a month left and my personal life actually experiencing a reawakening out of nowhere I’m going to have to put Greg on hiatus until I’m on summer holiday in six weeks. I know I suck and I’m sorry to everyone I’m currently RPing with but I really don’t have time needed to dedicate to RPing. I’ll be around stalking so feel free to send me an ask or something if you want. (If it’s asks Greg might even respond. Time allowing of course.)