It was the third time this year they had abandoned their camp. Quinn could never bring himself to call it a home; home was the flat he'd shared with his mother before the dragons came, home was where they drank tea together in the mornings before she put on her work boots and went to dig. It was a kitchen with sunflower curtains and a bird feeder on the sill and his mother telling him the name of the birds that came to peck the seeds.

Now, they were hoping once more that this place would be a shelter they could use for more than a few months before the dragons came. Quinn's clothes bore the scent of smoke and other, less desirable things. The smells hung around him like the memory of the last camp, and how he'd pulled people out of the back of the raging inferno while the screams of the unfortunate souls sounded around him, too slow to escape the dragons. He knuckled up fists that were coarse with digging and rubbed his eyes. How long could a person do this? Watch good people die one after the other with no hope it would ever stop.

"Thought I'd find you out here." Creedy's brogue was unmistakable and a cup of what passed as coffee was thrust in front of his nose. Quinn was half annoyed and half grateful to the man for finding him.

"What made you think I'd be out here?"

"Because you have this half cocked notion that you need t'be strong all the time, an when you don't want us t'see you brood you end up in the dark somewhere watchin' the skies." He gestured at their surroundings with one side of his mouth tilted up in a smile. "So, here you are." When Quinn did nothing more than give an annoyed grunt Creedy sat beside him.

"Want t'know a secret?"

Quinn glanced over at the other man but he was looking at the sky and his face gave away nothing. "Why not? Enlighten me then." He shrugged and went back to the muddy liquid in the cup.

Creedy looked around in an exaggerated manner, as if he were making sure no one overheard. He leaned close, smelling of smoke and sweat. But there were other smells under there that threatened to make Quinn smile. He scowled and looked away instead.

"You are allowed t'be human." The man's voice was low in his ear like he was imparting the most important secret in the world to Quinn. When Quinn reared back and turned that scowl on him Creedy just flashed an unrepentant grin at him. "It's true. You feel pain same as the rest of us, Quinn, only difference is we let it show once in a while. And sometimes we let someone help us with it."

He cupped the back of Quinn's neck with one warm hand and squeezed it lightly before getting up to start walking back to where they were digging under the hill. Quinn looked up as he left and Creedy flashed a grin at him.

"And who's going to be the one to help me?" He couldn't believe he'd asked that and he looked down digging the toes of his shoes under the piles of loose soil. "Never mind," he said more quietly.

When the shadow fell over him he looked up with that stab of panic they all felt when something blocked the sun from above, and then confusion as it turned out to be Creedy standing over him. The man knelt in front of him and smiled with none of his normal sarcasm.

"All you ever had t'do was ask, Quinn." and he found himself pulled into a rough hug. He hadn't had contact like this since his mother had died, and for a moment he pushed back at Creedy and tried to make him stop, to let him go. He felt brittle as he pushed away, like he'd crack apart if he stopped and let himself miss the things that were gone.

"Trust you t'not know what's good for you. Stop pushing, stupid." The rough coat against his face and the voice in his ear shattered his control and the tears finally came, as scalding as dragon fire. It was insane to sit out here in plain sight, clinging to Creedy's coat and sobbing, but he could no more stop than he could fly. There were eyes on the sky besides his, they'd call if the dragons were coming.

When Quinn finally stopped shaking and there were no more tears, he felt hollow. He figured he must be; he'd emptied out ten years of pain all in one go, what else could be left inside? All he'd had to fill him with was the bitter ache of every loss they had suffered. Still, there was a sense of peace that came with being surrounded by warm arms and having one curl of someone else's hair tickling the back of his neck.

Feeling lighter than he could ever remember, Quinn lifted his face to look at Creedy. He felt like the arms holding him were the only thing keeping him from floating away like a balloon whose string wasn't held on to tight enough. Quinn was just starting to feel like a fool for having let go his guard in front of someone, and the thought of fleeing was looking very good.

He swore Creedy was a mind reader. As soon as he got too uncomfortable, the man let go and leaned back enough to make him look up in surprise. The smile was back on Creedy's face, and his hands settled on Quinn's neck and jaw, surrounding him with warmth. Suddenly he didn't care if there could be dragons, or that he felt like a scooped out gourd of emotions. He just wanted the moment to last.

Creedy kissed him while Quinn's hands threaded into his curls. He tasted like smoke and rock dust and hope.

Maybe this could be home after all.