Several years had passed since the fateful night that Quin had first met Sebastian and Myrddin. It could be said that they were friends, but it was a tenuous relationship that she didn't like to fall on often. She had no other choice now except to fall back on him this time again. She had gotten a job at a diner after getting her GED and even had enough to a manageable shoulder length cut and her hair was her natural black instead of the vivid trademark purple. Her olive skin had filled out her skin and she had even grown a few inches with the proper nutrition. She looked much better than she had, she knew that much for certain.
A patron from the diner had been making eyes at her for the past few nights. Him being charming was one of the reasons why she had agreed to meet him after work to walk down to the pier. The stroll had been pleasant enough - chatter that would buzz any red blooded male dotted the conversation along with just the right hint of body language set the mood for things to get hot and bothered a little later. Things were almost to go to the next level when the two overheard something they shouldn't have. The mob was conducting business on the pier. It took seconds to kill the mood that had been created as they both watched as a man was shot dead before their eyes. Quin's reaction was faster than her date's and she spun on her heels and began running. Her date stood still for a moment before uttering loudly, "What the hell?"
This brought the mob's attention that they weren't alone and they came running. Quin was almost out of their sight when they fired a bullet at her running form. It caught her on her arm, but she knew to pay attention to running instead of the pain for survival. She reverted back to what she knew from the streets; sacrifices must be made for survival. There hadn't been an immediate gunshot for her boyfriend, so she could only assume the worst and think that they knew where she worked. For the next few nights, she had called in sick at the diner and watched from outside as she saw two non-regular customers begin making almost hourly. They would talk to her coworkers before leaving without buying anything. The deaths were reported in the paper and were barely a blurb about a suspected drug deal gone bad. The other guy that had been killed was an undercover cop. It was requested that anyone with any information to report to the police what they knew.
She couldn't go back to her own pad - it was on the third story and the fire escape had been out of order since before she had moved in. Plus, if they had found her work, there was no telling if they had found her home address yet. She would stop in fast food joint bathrooms to clean her wound up, but she saw it festering without any antiseptic on it. Her sleeve was still stained with caked blood, and she couldn't go into a corner store without raising more questions than she'd like. Hospitals were out of the question because they were being watched for anyone with bullet wounds, plus the mob could come in at any time and finish her off. So, she did the only thing she could think to do in her situation - she went to Sebastian's.
She broke in during the day, picking the lock and deadbolt with rusty hands, but she finally gained entrance to Sebastian's home. She locked the door behind her, knowing that he would have his key. They haven't made a lock that could keep me out yet. she thought to herself as she cleaned herself up, dressed her bullet wound and put on a bathrobe as she washed her clothes. Then she went to his closet and got one of his smaller swords. She didn't know how to wield it, but any blade was better than nothing at all. She wasn't going to go down without a fight. She rummaged in the kitchen and cooked a meal because she was hungry, and she figured either he or Myrddin would be hungry for something to eat when they came in.
It took less than thirty minutes to prepare and she ate her fill before going to put her clothes in the dryer. She was surprised that Sebastian had stayed away as long as he had at this point in the day. She picked up the sword and maneuvered a chair in front of the door to await his return. But a good dinner and a few sleepless nights finally caught up with her and she passed out in the chair waiting for him to return. The sword was propped against the arm of the chair and she had curled herself up to sleep in the chair with her head leaning against the back.
It was several hours later when Sebastian turned the locks on his door and opened it. He chuckled softly and smiled at something Myrddin had just said. He was just about to reply when he looked in and saw Quin in the chair fast asleep. The smile left his face and he lowly called over his shoulder, "We have company, Myrddin." It wasn't as much a warning as just to let him know so he didn't freak out. Quin had changed quite a bit since he had last seen her; her hair was longer and she hadn't dyed it again so it was very black. She wasn't nearly as bony.. and she was wearing Myrddin's bathrobe. It looks like an oversized kimono on her with his flowered print and length. And why in the world she had taken one of his swords from his closet he didn't even care to guess at, but he picked her up with both arms from the chair as he juggled the sword in his left.
Myrddin walked in the door after Sebastian and closed and locked it behind them. He paused a moment as he stared at her in his bathrobe before muttering what sounded suspiciously like, "Well, that's a bathrobe I won't be wearing again." Once Quin was out of it, Myrddin moved the chair out of the walkway and put it off to the side as Sebastian walked up the flights of stairs to his preferred sitting room. They entered the room, and there was the unmistakable smell of something cooked from the kitchen. "Seems like she cooked something. Just made herself at home." Myrddin muttered under his breath, but went off to the kitchen to dig up some coffee and to see what Quin had cooked.
Sebastian laid Quin down on the couch carefully before going to his bedroom closet and depositing the sword where he assumed it had come from. He returned to the living room and saw she was still fast asleep, but had curled up on her side while he had been gone that short while. He saw it would be futile to wake her until she was ready and went to the kitchen to see what she had cooked. Myrddin had already put the burner on to warm up the contents of a pot and was sniffing at it uneasily. "Looks like ramen." Myrddin said disdainfully. "She didn't cook it long enough."
"Then cook it a little longer." Sebastian said with a hint of humor in his voice as he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and gave him a kiss at the base of his jaw line. A soft chuckle confirmed his tease as his hands went down around Myrddin's waist.
A cocky smirk played across Myrddin's face as he replied, "Just what do you think I'm doing, Mister?" He put down the spoon and turned in Sebastian's arms and planted a kiss on his boyfriend's lips. The tender moment between the two lovers was interrupted by a low moan from the den, bringing them back to the present. Their limbs unlocked and Myrddin went back to heating the ramen as Sebastian walked into the living room to check on Quin.
Quin hated waking up in a disoriented state, and since she had been out cold when Sebastian had moved her, the location was not what she had been expecting when she opened her eyes. A sharp pain from the hole in the arm she was laying on made her wince and moan low in pain. She sat up as Sebastian walked into the room from the kitchen and she nodded groggily in his direction before dragging her arm out of the sleeve of the bathrobe to let it be closer to her body. She needed to explain herself and why she showed up before bringing this mess out.
"Hey Bastian. How's Myrddin and.. things?" She managed a sheepish grin before ducking her head. Maybe that hadn't been the best way to open up the conversation. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with her left hand and shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry for dropping in so unexpectedly... but something came up."
"I figured that out. Do you care to tell me or do I have to guess?" Sebastian returned in his calm, soothing voice. He sat down in one of his oversized chairs watching Quin carefully. He didn't know her that well, but something was bothering her. He could also smell blood on her; in fact he had smelled it since he had first gotten close to her. She was hurt, but she was doing her best to hide it from him. He wasn't impatient, and she would tell him in her own time.
Myrddin snorted from the kitchen at Quin's question. It didn't take a genius to figure out this wasn't a social call. When she showed up, she always wanted something from Sebastian. "So, what do you want this time, Quin? You know you only come around to ask for something."
"Ding. Ding. Ding." Quin quipped back sarcastically. "Hello to you too, Myrdie." She sighed and crossed her arms, holding the right with her left and crinkled her noise at the shoot of pain that went up and down her arm. "But I guess I deserve that. I don't come around for social calls, do I?" She fell silent and drew her feet underneath her in a quick second. "Look. It isn't about money. I have a job. All I need is some time and then I'll be out of your hair again. I just need someplace save to figure some things out." She put emphasis on the word safe, and then figured she would need a reason why she needed a safe place to be. They deserved the entire story if they were even to think of putting up with her. "Look. How much do you hear about recent events?"
Sebastian furrowed his brow at Quin and pursed his lips. "Well, I do have a television, Quin. What in particular are you wanting me to know?" By this time, Myrddin had finished heating the ramen and had put it in a bowl to walk into the living room to plop down on the other end of the couch to Quin.
"Well, there was a recent murder on the pier. I think they said it was a drug deal gone bad or something and an undercover cop got killed. That ain't true though." Myrddin slurped noisily at the ramen and Quin paused, looking at him a moment before returning her attention to Sebastian. "The guy who wasn't a cop was... an interest of mine. Of a kind anyway. We were on a walk and the mob was there and iced the cop." She shifted on the couch uncomfortably, thinking that it was getting warm quite suddenly in the room. She hadn't thought it was that warm before, did she? She diverted her eyes as she continued her tale, "They killed the guy because he saw. They tried to get me too, but I was too fast for them." She paused a moment and shrugged, "Well, sorta. Think it's infected."
"I went to the diner afterwards, and two new guys came in questioning my coworkers, but they never ordered anything. I think they were the mob. If they found my workplace, they must've found my pad by now. I really don't want to put you guys out any, but I really don't have any place else to go."
Myrddin wrinkled his nose and slurped some more noodles down. They were hot, but they weren't fresh. Fresh is best. Silence reigned after her last sentence, Sebastian seemingly dumbstruck by what she witnessed. He took the opportunity to ask pointedly, "So, you witnessed a murder, got shot, aren't going to the police who could protect you a lot better than Sebastian here, aaaaand to top it off, you're in my bathrobe without any clothes on. Speaking of, where are they?"