Essence of Quinn: Parts 1&2 Secondo Era and Terzo Era

Residual

By the time they'd reached the Abbey, Quinn's nose had stopped bleeding. It hadn't even been a proper vision that had caused it this time, just a fleeting flash of something that he didn't even register. He was getting so tired of this, he needed to figure out what was wrong.

Martha had stayed quiet on the way back after he'd snapped at her. He felt bad for it, but he'd been confused and she'd caught him off guard. He hated the fact that he looked weak in front of someone else. His pack was one thing, but a virtual stranger was another.

They stepped into the porch and almost bumped straight into Air and Sister Jane who were leaving. The air ghoul scowled when he saw him and noticed the blood.

"Fuck, what happened now?"

Quinn scowled back at him and Martha spoke up.

"He got a nosebleed so we came back to get him cleaned up."

Air looked to Martha and smiled.

"Did you beat him up again, Sister?"

She laughed, but Air kept casting concerned glances his way. He could tell that he was dying to come and look after him but Quinn didn't want to ruin their evening. And sure enough... "Come on, we need Secondo and Zephyr to look at this."

Quinn snarled.

"No! I'll go and see them myself. Go and fuck the Sister, Air."

Jane's eyes widened but he saw the amusement there. Air looked angry though.

"Don't get like that with me. I'm worried about you. We talked about this already."

Quinn sent him quintessence to calm him down and he sighed.

"Seriously Air, I'll be fine."

Martha spoke up.

"I'll make sure he does as he says, don't worry."

Air seemed satisfied with that and gave Quinn a quick hug.

"Send someone to get me if you need me. Pack comes first. Always," he said in Ghoulish.

Quinn nodded and smiled at him before ushering them outside.

"Are we going to the infirmary then?" Martha asked.

"I will be fine, I'll go and find Secondo. You can go home. I don't need you to come."

He felt her disappointment but there really was no need for her to go with him. Especially as they would need to talk about his visions.

"Oh, are you sure? I don't mind."

His head was pounding and he didn't want to be rude to her.

"I'm sure. Enjoy the rest of your evening."

It was slightly awkward but he turned and walked away. It wasn't as if they would have been spending the night together anyway, so he didn't feel bad for her. He'd made himself pretty clear from the start and he wasn't so ill that he couldn't make it to Secondo's apartment on his own.

He knew that Secondo would be at home because there was nothing planned on his schedule tonight. Water was on duty and he answered the door when Quinn knocked.

"Oh, hey Quinn. You okay?"

He frowned when he registered the blood that was drying by now.

"Fine. Just a nosebleed but Secondo wanted me to tell him if anything like this happened again."

They stepped into the main living area and Water went to the kitchen to get supplies to clean Quinn up. He came back with a wash cloth and a bowl of warm water, laying them out on the kitchen table and gesturing for Quinn to sit.