Hey guys! This just a little something I wrote about quintis. This doesn't follow the storyline of the actual show. It's like what if they met, sort of, as teenagers. They're both still geniuses and all it's just an au. Also, check out the collab I did with somuchmorethanpartners. Let me know what you think, thank you for reading, and send me your ideas. Pm me your out there theories regarding the episode from last night. I enjoy the company.
-Aislin
Sixteen year old Happy Quinn did not often spend time in her backyard. She had better things to do. She wasn't an indoor cat per se, but it was easiest to work on her machines without the glare of the summer sun. Today, however, was different. Her foster mother of three months had forced her to go outside.
Eileen believed that it was healthy for children to enjoy sunlight, so from now on Happy would have to spend at least 2 hours a day in the fresh air. Happy didn't love this, but it wasn't the worst thing a foster parent had had her do, and Eileen and her husband, James, weren't bad people. This was the best foster home she had lived in in a long time.
So, here she was sitting alone in the back yard with nothing to do but count the number of flowers in the yard and engineer whatever she could out of sticks, rocks, and grass. If she was honest with herself and didn't play the role of the rebellious teenager, she had to admit she didn't actually hate being out here. It was calm, and it gave her a break from the rough reality of her life.
She took a deep breath in, and let out a long sigh. This whole going outside thing could be good for her. It would be nice and relaxing for her. A nice break from humanity was all she needed to...
"Achoo," She sneezed.
"Bless you," A boy replied on the other side of the fence.
"Holy shit! What they hell? Who the hell is listening to me?," She shouted.
"Feisty," He observed.
"To creeps who are stalking me via my fence," She stated.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"We don't have to keep talking. We can just stop, and you can leave me alone, and then I can get back to my day, and you can do something else," She dismissed.
"Well, personally, I don't have anything to do, and so I think I'd like to spend this time outdoors talking to the girl on the other side of my fence," He laughed. "What's your name?"
"Happy," She replied.
"You don't sound particularly Happy, and it doesn't make sense for you to be telling me about your mood. I know we just met, sort of, but you seem like a pretty closed off person and-" He rambled confusedly.
"My name is Happy," She clarified. "Happy Quinn."
"Well then I'm happy to meet you Happy Quinn," He chuckled to himself. She could feel his smirk. "I'm Tobias M. Curtis, but I go by Toby." It was nice to be able to put a name to his voice, Toby's voice. "How old are you?" He tried to push the conversation for both of them.
"Sixteen, you?" She informed him quickly.
"I see you aren't a girl of many words. Lucky for you, I can talk for the both of us. I'm sixteen too," He chattered. "So whatcha doing outside?"
"Listening to my skin burn and tearing out grass," She answered sarcastically.
"I'm out here to work on my tan," he laughed equally sarcastically.
"Something tells me that was supposed to be a joke. Remember that I can't see you, idiot," She reminded him.
"I'll have you know that I am, in fact, a genius," He told her cheerfully.
"Being an actual genius myself, I'm gonna be honest and tell you I don't believe you," She disregarded his prior statement.
"I swear to God, who I don't really believe in, that I am," He shouted back to her.
"You're still an idiot," She replied.
"Surprisingly so," He agreed. "So what are you really doing out here? Also, you can't bullshit me. I know everything there is to know about the human psyche."
"My foster mother says that children need to spend time in the great outdoors. I have no where better to be, so here I am," She breathed out.
"I'm sure a girl with a pretty voice like yours has plenty of friends to spend time outdoors with,"He chuckled.
"Not really," She disagreed.
"Why not?"
"People are untrustworthy. They only let you down," She claimed.
"You're talking to me," He argued.
"For all I know, you're just a voice," She laughed. "Besides, this is just one conversation. It's not like we will speak again."
"One, as a med school student I can tell you that there are no people that are just voices. Two, I think we will," He insisted.
"Whatever you say. So why're you out here?" She changed the subject.
"I'm out of med school for the summer, and I gotta escape the 'rents somehow. So I plan on spending everyday here. Tell me, do you get kicked out of your house often?" He inquired.
"Everyday from now on," She declared.
"If that's not fate, then what is?" He asked. "You wanna be friends for the summer?"
"I suppose some human company wouldn't be awful."
"So they really believed you stole the computer?" Toby laughed in disbelief. "Where did they think the robot came from?"
"I don't know," Happy admitted. Despite her best efforts to keep distance between herself and Toby, already he was the closest friend she had. They had been talking for hours. "It freaked them out enough to return me though."
"So you really love machines, huh," Toby observed.
"I guess so, doc." She had coined the nickname a while ago. "You can always fix them. They never abandon you. They're better than people."
"I mean I know first hand that people can suck, but it sounds like it can get pretty lonely being surrounded only by mechanical objects. No conversations, no long term attachments," He tried to sympathize.
"Tools can't hurt you. Only people do. I just prefer their company, and I'm not the only one with problems. You're a goddamn gambling addict," Happy pointed out.
"It's mostly to get through school," He tried.
"You know the first step to solving a problem is admitting you have it," She sighed.
"I thought I was supposed human behavior expert here," He chuckled. She didn't respond. "Fine, I have a problem." She laughed at him, and he laughed with her.
"Happy, come inside!" Eileen called."It's time for dinner."
"I guess you gotta go?" Toby asked.
"Hear you tomorrow."
After a few weeks, they had become the closest of friends, but they never saw each other. They spent hours everyday on opposite sides of the fence. She learned all about his ex-girlfriend who had dumped him for some other med-school student. He declared the student, Quincy Berkstead, to be his nemesis. And he learned all about her life. He learned about the bad and the good, and he got deeper than anyone ever had.
Eileen didn't even have to force Happy out the door anymore. Happy just went out after breakfast. She only ever came in for lunch and dinner. She didn't have a clue what he looked like, but she didn't care all that much. She didn't think looks would change anything.
"What's up, doc?" She greeted as she arrived at the fence.
"Oh the usual, Hap," He said, but she couldn't ignore the waver in his voice.
"What's wrong?" She questioned.
"Nothing. I'm alright. I promise," He assured her. He couldn't exactly he hide the gasp of pain that came as he sat down.
"I swear to God, Toby, I will jump this fence," She shouted to him.
"I am fine," He murmured into the fence.
"I'm coming over," She announced.
"No, no don't. It's just a bruise. I promise I am fine. I can take care of it," He groaned.
"You can't stop me," She looked at the 7 ft tall fence in between them. She wasn't tall, but she could definitely get herself over this wall. She jumped to grab the top, and quickly pulled herself over. She didn't account for the fall back down to the ground. She landed right on top of him.
"Ow, my...you know, I would name a specific part of me that hurts but right now that's everything, so ow," He complained with his eyes shut.
"Don't be such a baby," She chastised turning to look at him. He opened up his eyes to meet hers. They were silent for a moment. Both were finally able to face to a name. They weren't just voices anymore. They were people.
"I expected you to be taller," He broke the silence.
"I expected you to be scrawnier," She retorted.
"I didn't expect you to be so..." He paused.
"So what?" She narrowed her eyes.
"You're just so pretty," He stuttered in awe. She rolled her eyes at him.
"Don't be so cheesy," She laughed. "And it doesn't matter because I'm going back over the fence soon and then you can go back to being just a voice." It wasn't as though she wasn't equally wowed by him, but she didn't do romantic relationships. She didn't want to let him in more than she already has.
"If that's what you want," He agreed in shock.
"Now, tell me what's wrong with you," She got to the point.
"I just got a little beat up last night. I am fine," He argued.
"Were you gambling?" She asked while picking up his arms to examine his wounds. She maneuvered his head, so she could better see his black eye. Growing up in the foster care system had taught her to examine all injuries and to disregard personal space if necessary.
"Maybe," He tried to stare at the ground.
"Doc, you need to stop," She nearly sounded upset, but that couldn't be true because Happy Quinn was never upset, or at least not outwardly. "You can't do this anymore. You keep getting hurt, and it's selfish. You need to be careful."
"What do you mean it's selfish? The only person I hurt by gambling is me, and in fact it doesn't normally hurt me. It's been helping me pay for school," He argued.
"Then get a regular job. I'm sure Starbucks would be willing to hire you, or burger king, or whatever. You don't need gambling to get through school," She reasoned.
"I'm an addict, Happy," He muttered.
"Then change," She ordered.
"I'm only hurting myself. It doesn't matter," He sighed.
"That's not true. What about your parents?" She questioned.
"You know very well that they don't care," He rolled his eyes.
"What about me?" She looked away from him for the first time since they had met.
"You don't get attached to people, Happy," He pointed out.
"I changed," She replied. "And you can too. Look, Doc, you're my best friend, and I've never had anyone like you in my life before. I don't want to lose that. Ok?"
"I'm your best friend?" He repeated slowly.
"Don't make me say it again."
"It's my birthday," he informed her through the fence.
"I'm not going to sing to you," She deadpanned. It had been a week since she had gone over the fence. They hadn't seen each other since.
"I know, but I thought you might come over to this side of the fence again," He invited.
"You sure you want me to come over there?" She asked.
"I'm sure," He guaranteed.
"I'm coming," She announced, "So move out the way."
"Yes, ma'am." She could almost picture his sarcastic salute, the roll of his large brown eyes, and the way he straightened his back to match his statement. She quickly reached up and swung herself over the fence. Only this time she didn't land on Toby. Instead, she basically flung herself into him. They fell to the ground, her on top of him.
"I told you to move, you dumbshit," She groaned.
"Right because you're the one that got crashed into," He retorted."Also, you shouldn't insult the birthday boy."
She made a big show of rolling her eyes. Neither of them moved a muscle. "It's just another day of the year, Doc, but now you're a year older. it's just a way to measure the time."
"I think birthdays are special. They should be a cause for celebration. I mean I survived another year. That's gotta be a surprise for the world," He declared.
"Which is apparently why I'm over here," She laughed.
"Yes, and also I wanted to see you,"He informed her.
"We should get up," Happy pointed out.
"Probably," He agreed. The two of them stayed still.
Later, after Happy had texted Eileen that she was over at a friend's house(Eileen had been ecstatic), Happy and Toby were sitting in the shade of a tree in Toby's back yard. Happy had her back leaned against Toby. Purely for comfort, she had convinced herself.
They reciting their favorite childhood stories. Right now Toby was rambling off the details of some adventures he had had with an Irish Genius named Walter. Apparently, the boys had been friends in their youth until Walter had moved away. They had supposedly gotten into all kinds of genius trouble together.
Happy had told him stories about her first good foster siblings and all the good foster homes. There weren't many stories, but there were enough to make her life look somewhat less depressing.
"So, we ended up building a bomb and blowing up that flower garden. It was awesome," He ended his story.
"You must have been a dangerous child to raise," She laughed against him. She turned to look at him, but found him already staring at her. He looked away quickly.
"Well, most geniuses are. Being a geniuses does things to you, you know," Toby informed her. "Like Walter was distant."
"And you're a condescending jerk," She added.
"Yes, and you're just plain angry," He teased.
She punched him in the stomach in response. Before he could yelp she interrupted, "Don't complain. You deserved it."
"And bossy," He muttered under his breath.
"What was that?" She raised her eyebrows.
"Nothing, nothing at all," He stuttered.
"That's what I thought."
It was getting dark when Happy finally decided it was time for her to leave. He of course didn't want that.
"You should stay. It's my birthday," He pleaded.
"I have to get back before Eileen puts dinner on the table," Happy reasoned standing up. He stood up next to her, and caught her hand before she could move to the fence.
"You could just stay," He suggested.
"I really couldn't and you know it," She took her hand away ignoring the crushed look on his face. She started to size up the fence. What happened next was unexpected to say the least.
She turned around quickly and said, "Happy birthday,Doc." Before she could change her own mind,She grabbed his shoulders and pulled him down to her. She kissed him gently, but urgently. When she let go, he was dumbfounded.
"I," he began.
"No," She quieted him. "Don't talk. Don't ruin it." She then turned around and jumped the fence as quickly as she could.
"Date friday?" He called hopefully.
"You know where I'll be."