step on the glass, staple your tongue

[ ... ]

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he mentally kicked himself, “For the highest accuracy in my results it’s imperative that the dosage be administered no later than twenty-four hours and twenty minutes after the previous dose, and I still have to prepare every individual dose.” This was weeks worth of work practically down the drain, in terms of testing side effects, dosage amounts, “I suppose I could experiment with withdrawal symptoms now, though I doubt certain subjects are at the point where the level of addition is high enough to warrant anything severe.” he was mostly talking to himself, thinking out loud as he often did when he got caught up in his work. Even still, the more time they wasted in his lab, the quicker he’d have to work once he got home. 

“Q, my boy,” he started, “I’m afraid my oversight must cut our meeting short. However, I could use a hand in the cellar to help cover lost ground. If you were so inclined, I’d welcome you to join me.” 

Q tilted his head, temple resting against the palm of his hand, as he stared straight through Aiden’s soul. As if he could read exactly the thoughts going through his mind. He couldn’t, of course--- mind reading wasn’t exactly a talent of fae or demons either one--- but it wasn’t exactly hard too infer. He hadn’t written off the way that the vampire would kindly excuse himself from the room when he stepped in for quite a while when he first joined G.H.O.S.T, and neither had Quinn, judging by the faerie’s immediate weariness toward their gang’s second in command. 

Can you please look away, you know how uncomfortable this shit makes me. Q’s eyes rolled upward, as if trying to look at Quinn straight through their shared brain. The faerie was getting brave, huh? His sweeter half usually never tried to communicate with him through anything other than vague feelings when the demon was in the presence of someone who scared him. He had to give him props for stepping out of his comfort zone, at least, even if it was just out of desperation.

Q let out a brief, breathless chuckle before he humored Quinn, opting to glance around the interior of the lab rather than straight at the man across from him. He made a face in response to Aiden’s train of thought, couldn’t imagine taking on a project which required such precision himself. His focus was a fleeting thing, and he much preferred a quick resolution to a methodical approach, but he could very much admire Aiden’s dedication to his craft. 

[ ... ]

Come now, Q, surely you’re not so petty as to let yourself suffer through this too. I thought you were the smart one, the vampire thought to himself, nothing in his face or eyes could give away his feelings. He really did enjoy the fact that he didn’t need to pretend to have emotions around Q. While some might complain that his blank stare was unnerving and unsettling, Q knew it was just a normal Tuesday. “See that you do. I expect your next report ne-” his statement was cut short by an alarm on his phone going off, “Oh, shit-” he swiped at the notification on it to turn off the incessant beeping, A sighed passed through the rosy lips of the manufacturer, “Oh well. I suppose if their dose is already late there’s not much I can do about it now.” 

A smile looked pretty on his face, he knew this only because he could see Quinn every time the faerie looked in a mirror. And yet expressing any sort of positive emotion was so hard for Q that a smile usually came off a bit awkward, unnatural, like he was trying way too fucking hard. That was probably because he was. And yet, Aiden’s reassuring words tugged ever so slightly at one side of his lips, gone just as soon as it appeared. So easy to miss. The demon wouldn’t hesitate to argue that it was never there in the first place.

Quinn cringed somewhere in the back of his mind in response to Aiden’s words, and more than anything it just made Q want to laugh. His other half could find fear in anything, it seemed. Didn’t know how to dissociate himself from such a feeling. Really, Q pitied him. “I could imagine.” Faeries must have been something like a delicacy to vampires, he supposed. Soft on the outside, sweet on the inside. Like a dessert. “The demon blood must ruin it, though, right? Like putting salt on a cake.” Q made a mental note to remind the faerie to write the report up later, maybe bribe him to do so with some ice cream or something.

Val was quiet, still nursing his coffee as he listened to the other speak. In a nutshell, everything that Q had said had been true, but yet, somehow, when it came out of his mouth, it sounded stupid. And then, the ultimate question. Why did Val care? He still wasn’t sure himself. Maybe it was because Val considered him a friend of sorts? Weirdly enough, a friend. Probably the only one in G.H.O.S.T. “Because you’re a friend,” he shrugged, “Aren’t friends suppose to care?” he pointed out, raising an eyebrow towards him. 

After a moment, Val sighed, turning to dump the rest of his coffee down the sink and tossing away the paper cup. “But I’m not forcing you. You also never know what could happen in the field. Someone could one up you, and then, you’re injured all over again. So, I don’t know, maybe I don’t want a friend out there when he’s hurt that could easily make one mistake. You’ve got to think about Quinn too, does he want to be working?” Val finished, then gave one final shrug. “Either way, I know you’re going to be working, so go ahead, go to work.” With that, he began to walk out of the kitchen. 

Friend. What an odd word, really. It formed weird on Q’s tongue, never quite came out right. Quinn had friends, oh the faerie had plenty, but Q had never quite understood what the word even meant, not in the grand scheme of things. “...Sure,” he agreed halfheartedly, if only because he didn’t actually know the answer to that question. And really, it was a bit disorienting to hear someone call him that. A friend. The only time he’d ever been called that was when someone mistook him for Quinn, perhaps didn’t know that the faerie had a demonic alter ego who acted of his own accord. Val knew who and what he was, and yet still used that word to refer to him. Interesting.

[ ... ]

“No,” he sighed once more, his voice returning to its smooth, silky lilt, “I figured you wouldn’t have very much to report, but a man can hope, can he not?” he shrugged with a curl of his lips. Anyone who looked at it would think of it as a smirk or a scowl, but anyone who knew Aiden better would know that that’s the closest thing to a genuine amused smile the man will ever show. “The only report I really want is for you to answer me this: are you prolonging your healing process because you want Quinn to suffer?”

Q considered the older’s words for a moment, staring blankly down at his hands. “I blame me,” he admitted, voice no quieter than it was moments before. No, he’d admit to his own mistakes with grace, wouldn’t allow it to break his confidence. “I’m supposed to be stronger than Quinn. I should’ve been able to hold him back, but I couldn’t. He won that battle, and yet look where it got him.” Q sighed, maneuvering his body into a slightly lazier position, elbows propped up against the table, cheeks squished between the palms of his hands. He looked young, soft, innocent. Unfortunately, his appearance was one thing he could never have separate from Quinn.

“Good luck getting him to talk,” he said, amusement spilling into his voice. “He thinks you’re scary, he’d rather hide behind me.” Q chuckled lowly. Truthfully, he didn’t blame the faerie. Aiden was capable of vast destruction, and if it wasn’t for himself, he was sure Quinn would be on the vampire’s radar. 

Val rolled his eyes. “Just because you’re bored doesn’t mean you need to get up and do your job. Especially since killing can be quite strenuous. And I’m sure our medic would agree, just saying,” he stated, nose scrunching up a bit at the mention of their medic. Even if the guy was his brother, by blood, he had his reasons on hating him. “You need time to rest. Your whole back was barbecued, dumbass,” he reminded. There was no real reason for Val to care. After all, Q and him were simply… coworkers. They worked closely together on cases. Val collecting information, and well, Q killing. They never hung out, really. But Val cared, for some odd reason. 

“How about this, I take the day off to sit with you so you’re not bored. Rest a few more days, so you don’t hurt yourself again,” he suggested, setting down his cup of coffee. “I have a Hulu account too, so we can watch some shit on there instead of Netflix, if you’ve already watched everything,” he continued, pausing, before he continued some more, “I’ll even buy you lunch, I just want you resting instead of working. It’s too soon.” Why did Val even care?

Q raised an eyebrow, silently questioning Val’s tone of voice when he said the word medic, as if it were something dirty. Come to think of it, he was probably referring to a specific medic rather than medics in general--- Q had witnessed a small amount of the realizations that had come between Val and Seokju, after all. Really, he wished he knew more, wanted in on the drama as much as possible. “Good thing I don’t care if our medic agrees, then,” he responded, mocking the tone that Val had used. The demon sipped at his coffee, internally cringing at the reminder of his injuries. Laying on his stomach for the past week to avoid anything touching his back had been a nightmare--- well, to be fair, Quinn was the one following instructions to keep pressure off his back while Q was bumping it into things as often as possible just to make Quinn cringe.

[ ... ]

Aiden’s focus remained attached to the microscope before him as he analyzed a blood sample from one of his toys, muttering his response, “Hello, Q,” when he pulled back from the device, his brow was furrowed in frustration, “I apologize for having to reschedule our meeting last week, an unusually large order of amphetamines came in and it couldn’t be turned away.” and truthfully, this meant he had higher expectations in Q’s report- after all, he’s had one extra week. Aiden liked to meet with every member personally, one-on-one, on a monthly or bimonthly basis. He wanted to know how things were going, if operations were running smoothly, if they weren’t, what was going wrong, and what could be done to remedy the issue at hand. 

Q made himself comfortable on one of the stools, leaning forward to prop his elbows against the lab counter. “S’Fine,” he muttered simply in response. Truly, he hadn’t been feeling up to the meeting anyway--- his back had been in pain ( and it was still in pain, if only because Q wanted Quinn to have to feel it for as long as possible, to put him in his place ), not to mention that in this report, he’d have to talk about the bomb. And he really didn’t want to talk about the bomb. It had been a moment of weakness for Q, his inability to hold Quinn back from fucking shit up. 

That being said, he still had to talk about it. Because if he never accepted his moments of weakness, then how was he ever supposed to improve and make sure they never happen again? Aiden had taught him that. And so, if there was anyone Q would feel comfortable talking about it with, that person would most definitely be Aiden.

“No offense, but your friend is a dick if he just left you here,” Sy murmured, knowing that was such a sensitive subject to some. You couldn’t just call someone’s friend a dick nowadays, without the risk of getting your head bitten off. Something deep inside of him told him he felt this strange would agree. “Oh! The campus. That’s no biggie, I can help walk you there, I don’t mind. My night isn’t going as planned, so it’s okay. Truthfully, I rather help someone than do drugs, hook up, and drink. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I heard a local college student was killed, because someone didn’t walk him home,” he explained softly, deciding after a moment, to hold out his hand.  “I’m Sy, by the way. I didn’t exactly introduce myself. I know how to get back to the campus from here,” he smiled reassuringly. He didn’t mind the walk, not at all. After all, he was helping someone. It had been too long since he had done something just for the kindness of it. Someone was always asking for something, and he just wanted to help out this lost soul. Just as he would when he use to be a proper angel. 

“Oh, none taken--- he is kind of a dick,” Quinn agreed, shrugging his shoulders as if to brush off the subject. He didn’t exactly want to get too into it, knowing that if he began to talk about Q, it was inevitable that he’d expose himself as absolutely crazy. An amused laugh rang out in his head. Help me or leave me the hell alone, Q, I swear--- “Really? Are you sure you don’t mind? I really don’t wanna ruin your night or anything.” Still he was grateful, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. The faerie’s eyes fell to observe the other’s outstretched hand, hesitating only a moment before opting to take his hand, allow him to lead him out.

Val stood, nursing his coffee as he read the text messages on his phone with a small smile. Since his husband was in the hospital, and Val was busy with school and work, he couldn’t exactly be there all the time. So texts when the man woke up was enough. Truthfully, Bohai had the nerve that Val didn’t. To leave. But then again, being truthful to his husband, and admitting that the bomb which went off was kind the gang’s fault, kind of helped. He felt awful, but it was pointed out that Val did tell him to leave. 

His focus was torn away from his phone whenever he heard someone enter, raising an eyebrow as he noticed it was Q. Who was suppose to be resting. What with the kid’s injuries. He narrowed his eyes a bit, annoyed his friend wasn’t listening. His back had been pretty bad, from what Val had seen. “Believe me, I would, but that isn’t the picture I want,” he winked, before turning serious. He shook his head. “I’m just trying to figure out why exactly you’re out of bed, when you should still be resting. Go home, Q,” he murmured, slipping his phone into his pocket. “You can’t kill people when you’re injured, it’ll just make it worst, you know.”

Perhaps it was the pain of his injuries blocking logical thought, or maybe Quinn was just rubbing off on him, but Q didn’t quite understand what Val was trying to get at, simply scrunching his face in vague confusion before turning back around to fumble through the fridge for coffee creamer. “Well, I’m out of bed because I’m bored and there’s nothing good to watch on Netflix,” the demon quipped nonchalantly as he finally managed to find the creamer pushed to very back of the bottom shelf of the fridge. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Quinn was complaining about being forced to abandon the novel he was reading, but Q only rolled his eyes, ignoring the faerie’s whining.

[ ... ]

“But I can walk you home, so you’re safe? What’s the address? Or like, where it’s near. I think I know the location of everywhere pretty well,” he offered, figuring the other wouldn’t take the offer. After all, he was a stranger, offering to walk him home was weird. “I think,” He added, frowning as he thought about it. It was a terrible idea. 

“Or, we can find someone with a phone, I guess? That might be more comfortable to you?” he offered as well, shoving his hands into his pockets. So much for snorting a line of coke in the bathroom. He wasn’t going to get higher now, not when someone needed help. Curse his damn angel tendencies. He just wanted to have fun. 

Right. Yeah. Hooking up was probably the first thing that should normally come to mind when someone were to mention leaving the club with someone else, but then again, Quinn wasn’t exactly anyone’s definition of normal. Besides the obvious, the faerie was sheltered almost his entire life, kept inside of a small social bubble to be poked and prodded and observed. It was only recently that he’d even had a chance to take on a normal social life and, of course, he’d just thrust himself into an underground society in a country completely foreign to him instead of taking the baby steps that he probably should have. Although that he could mostly blame on Q. “Oh, I um--- I came with a friend at first, but then he left me, so...” Quinn trailed off, not technically lying at all. Q had brought him here and then left him on his own. The fact that Q was entirely in his head was simply irrelevant information.