Still off the Key of Reason
Chapter 12: If You Call My Name Out Loud
Rachel reclined in her deck chair, soaking up the sun and watching Sam and Quinn splash around in the pool. They had the inflatable whale out, of course, and Sam couldn't seem to mount it without causing it to capsize. No matter how many times he jumped. Different heights, angles, distances. He'd seize the handles for half a second, grin triumphantly, and then nose dive into the water.
Rachel just reveled in Quinn's melodious laughter. It was birthday week, so Quinn had many reasons to smile.
Like the fact that the pool had a miniature waterfall. It also had a Jacuzzi, and Sam and Quinn liked to switch rapidly between the two, shocking their bodies with the temperature change. Because that was fun. Rachel rolled her eyes every time they ran past her and tried not to get splashed.
"Rach! Throw my quarters!" Sam called out, bobbing in the deep end with his hands in the air.
Rachel didn't move. She wondered where she'd put his quarters. Was that the money she'd used to buy the chewing gum?
"Come on, Rachel!" Sam continued, swimming to the edge. "I wanna see how fast I can retrieve them all from the bottom."
Where the fuck had she put those quarters?
"Not faster than me!" Quinn yelled from the other side of the pool. She was trying to haul herself back onto the whale. Sam took off in her direction. Probably to knock her back down.
Rachel sat up on her elbows and glanced around briefly. Towels, water, bags, cooler, chewing gum. She had definitely spent Sam's quarters in the vending machine. She rummaged through her purse to find a few pennies for him to use instead.
They were brown. They'd probably be better for seeing underwater anyway, right?
When Rachel looked back up, Quinn was stepping out of the pool. She half expected it to go Sports Illustrated style. All golden glistening skin and slicked back hair, tossed around in slow motion. Quinn would emerge slowly, dripping profusely and smirking sexily in Rachel's direction.
But it was Quinn. She sloshed up the steps, tripping on the last one because her hair was in her face and Sam was wind-milling water at her. She caught herself on the rail, knocked her shin into the concrete, and then stumbled toward Rachel, dripping, smiling, and trying to adjust her sideways bikini top.
Rachel held up a hand to say "stop right there."
Quinn chugged right along. She strode up right next to Rachel and shook her hair out over Rachel's body. Rachel squealed and covered her face.
"Quinn!" she shrieked, slapping Quinn's thigh.
Quinn made a garbled noise of pain and laugher and jumped away.
"Rachel bear, there's a frog you have to come see." She stated with a wide smile. She bent over to rub her shin and her thigh, and Rachel noticed that her bikini top was still very sideways.
The only other person in the pool area was Sam though, so at least Quinn wasn't flashing children. Impressionable infants. Sam seemed to be submerged at the moment. Hopefully he was alright. The whale drifted around like an abandoned ship in a horror movie.
"Baby, come here." Rachel demanded exasperatedly, wiping water off her cheeks and gesturing at Quinn.
Quinn eyed her uncertainly. "Don't-don't hit me again."
Rachel snorted. "Your boobs are falling out." She said bluntly.
Quinn just flushed and smiled brighter and shuffled up to Rachel. She kneeled down so that Rachel could readjust her top, throwing a little more groping in than was necessary. Quinn chuckled and shimmied her shoulders.
"Uh, what's going on over there?" Sam called out hesitantly from the far side of the pool.
Quinn gave him a thumbs-up with both her hands. All was well. Nothing to see. She stood back up, blocking the sun from Rachel's face. Rachel wrapped an arm around a toned thigh because it was right there.
"Now come see the frog." Quinn pleaded.
Rachel groaned. She used Quinn's thigh as leverage to heave herself to her feet. Quinn walked around the pool and led Rachel up to the edge. Rachel was just kneeling down when a body impacted her from behind. Sam's body. She never stood a chance.
Luckily, Rachel seized Quinn's arm to drag her into the water as well. If Rachel went down, Quinn would go with her. Willingly or otherwise.
She should've known there wasn't a fucking frog. She should've known not to fall for Quinn's pleas and puffed out cheeks. She just never fucking learned.
Rachel shrieked under the water and emerged sputtering and coughing, trying to swear and yell but choking on her words because there was no air in her lungs.
"QUINN!" She yelled when her respiratory system was functioning again.
Quinn was laughing. She was clutching Rachel in one hand to prevent her from drowning, and the wall in the other because Rachel was trying to drown her. Inadvertently, maybe. Sam swam underwater to the other end of the pool and laughed safely over there.
"WHAT THE HELL, QUINN!" Rachel yelled again, nose burning. Two could play this game. Quinn couldn't stand to have people angry at her, so Rachel would take advantage of that fact. For a moment. She'd just inhaled a gallon of chlorinated water. Quinn could handle this.
Quinn's wide smile looked a little uncertain now. "Wait, you're not really-"
"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" Rachel screeched. She grabbed the floating whale with both hands and swung it at Quinn's head. She could hear Sam drowning on his laughter, and she struggled to maintain an angry face. She was pretty sure there was snot coming out of her nose.
Quinn clung to the side of the pool and shielded her face. Rachel dropped the whale because it was making a loud sound against Quinn's head and Rachel didn't want to accidentally concuss her wife. With an inflatable Shamu.
"I'm sorry." Quinn whined loudly, looking a little distraught now. She watched Rachel with wide, wary eyes.
Rachel stared at her unblinkingly, breathing out of her mouth because her nose was on fire. She let her smile slip out when she couldn't hold it anymore. "You're so mean, bear." She remarked with a short laugh, pinching Quinn's upper arm.
Quinn swallowed. Her mouth dropped open. She looked like she was about to start crying. She pushed off the wall and wrapped Rachel in her arms, bouncing on her toes to keep their heads above the water.
"I can't-I can't-God, I hate you." Quinn murmured. "No, wait, I love you. I love you, I'm sorry."
Rachel laughed, prying herself out of Quinn's arms. "Next time there better be a god damn frog, bear." She warned.
"Ooh, a frog-bear." Sam laughed, swimming up behind Rachel. He obviously considered the waters safe now. Rachel spun around and sent a wave of water into his face with her arm.
"You, I do hate." She stated with a straight face.
Quinn shook her head. "She means love." She insisted sweetly. She pulled on Rachel's ear and slicked the dark hair out of her face. "Also, little bear, there is actually a frog. So come over here." Quinn tugged on Rachel's wrist and moved towards the other side of the pool
And Rachel went. Because she never learned. And Quinn's eyes were shining bright enough that she knew an actual animal was involved this time.
~oooooooooo~
Rachel was just barely suppressing the overwhelming urge to get up and sing "The Sound of Music." She seemed to find herself in this situation a lot. Except this time it was because she was sitting on a blanket in the middle of a large green field surrounded by hills.
Quinn had wanted a quiet birthday, like always. A picnic in the park with her wife, her dogs, and her friend. She eyed Rachel from across the blanket, dropping sandwich crusts into Char's mouth. Penguin sat next to her licking her toes.
"Do it." She said with a knowing smile.
Rachel laughed and shook her head. If she started now, she wouldn't be able to stop herself until she'd run through every song in the musical. It was like a disease.
"Wait, do what?" Sam asked, hurriedly swallowing his mouthful of macaroni. He thumped himself on the chest so he wouldn't choke.
"Sing. Rachel wants to sing." Quinn clarified, smiling at her wife. "I can see it in your eyes, baby. Probably 'The Sound of Music,' right?"
"Quinn. Eat your cookies." Rachel instructed sternly. She reclined on the blanket and stretched her arms above her head. Barnaby saw it as an invitation to play, so Rachel closed her eyes and covered her mouth while he snuffled frantically around her face.
"I can do it." Sam offered easily. "I know the, um. The yodel one. With the goats? I can sing that one."
"The Lonely Goatherd." Quinn supplied.
Rachel smiled. Quinn wouldn't have known that three years ago. Rachel's brain-washing was successful. She'd dragged a willing Quinn into her world of musicals until she knew everything there was to know.
"Can you yodel?" Rachel asked curiously. It was a skill Rachel hadn't practiced very much. Maybe she should learn. It would be a nice little niche to hold in the Broadway world.
Sam laughed loudly. Flecks of macaroni flew out of his mouth. "Nah, dude. But I can sing that song."
Rachel watched Quinn push Char away and drop her cookies back into the container. She moved onto her hands and knees and crawled towards Rachel, bulldozing right on over a bag of chips and half of Sam's sub. Sam made a noise of protest, and Quinn picked up his sub, reshaped it with her hands, and handed it back to him with a sweet smile. He grimaced.
Then Quinn continued on her quest until she was hovering right over Rachel, staring down at her and grinning brightly.
"Yes?" Rachel asked, raising her eyebrows.
Quinn bent her elbows and kissed her wife. She hummed and chuckled into Rachel's lips, ignoring the groans Sam was emitting.
"Sing for me, little bear." Quinn demanded when she pulled back. Her head blocked the sun. She was like an angel.
"Mmm, don't move." Rachel murmured. "You're my shade."
"With my big head." Quinn said sagely.
Rachel nodded. "With your big head."
"Please, Rachel." Quinn coaxed. "It's my birthday." She rubbed her nose because the spring air was making it itch and moved forward so that her face was only an inch from Rachel's. She went cross-eyed trying to maintain eye contact.
Of course Rachel was going to sing. Even if Quinn was begging her not to sing, she'd still sing because she just had no self-control. Especially when it came to "The Sound of Music."
Rachel put her hands on Quinn's cheeks and bobbled her head around. She eyed Sam to make sure he wasn't checking out her wife's ass. He was busy trying to prevent Barnaby from stealing Quinn's cookies.
Rachel heaved a sigh like she was being inconvenienced. She poked Quinn in the stomach to get her to move so she could sit up. She took a deep breath, watching Quinn from the corner of her eye.
"High on a hill was a lonely goatherd, lay ee odl ay ee odl lay hee hoo-"
"No, not that one!" Quinn protested, trying to clap a hand over Rachel's mouth.
Sam cheered over her. "Yeah! Keep going!"
Rachel tried, but Quinn's hand wouldn't budge. She pried it off of her mouth and stood up. Quinn lunged for her ankle and missed as Rachel bounced away, laughing loudly.
She cleared her throat, making sure both Sam and Quinn were watching her, held her hands out to the side dramatically, and started to sing.
"The hills are alive with the sound of music, with songs they have sung for a thousand years."
Quinn went completely still. She leaned back on her hands and watched Rachel with an adoring, captivated smile. Sam swayed along, one arm around Char, the other stuffing meatballs from his sandwich in his mouth.
Cornelius and Cloud came running back from the edge of the park to jump around Rachel's legs. She was standing up and making a lot of noise, so obviously she wanted to play. She spun slowly around with the music, knocking the dogs with her knees a few times, or gliding straight into them. They took it as encouragement.
When Rachel was finished, she curtsied neatly in her skirt and then waved her arms around with a flourish. Quinn clapped loudly. Sam hooted. Quinn crawled up off the blanket and ran towards Rachel, arms open. She picked Rachel up around the waist and spun her around. Rachel laughed and tucked her face into soft blonde hair, clutching her wife's neck and keeping her feet off the ground.
Quinn planted her back on the ground and Rachel stumbled unsteadily.
"I want to direct a musical." Rachel proclaimed, not entirely sure of where that had come from. Quinn smiled her I-can-fit-a-watermelon-in-my-mouth smile.
"Next school year. I want to do The Sound of Music." Rachel continued, confidence in her idea growing as she thought about it. It would be an amazing opportunity to see how the "other side" worked. And she could use it to become an even better performer when she returned to the stage. She may go a little mad with power, but who doesn't sometimes?
She was a star. Her dictatorial tactics should be appreciated.
"Quinn, your cookies are melting." Sam called through a mouthful of something.
Quinn turned on her heel to rush back to them, but stopped abruptly and stared at Sam. "Cookies don't melt." She argued.
Sam glanced at Rachel and then back at the plastic container. He swallowed whatever he was eating. "Well, they're…evaporating or sublimating or something, dude. Condensing. Condensating?"
Quinn seemed to just block Sam out. She turned back to Rachel and put her hands on Rachel's waist. "I'll come see your play every night." She promised, eyes sparkling.
Rachel laughed. "You'll fail all your classes."
"Dude, seriously, your cookies are being evaporated." Sam stated urgently. "Get them out of the sun."
Quinn whirled around, stooped down to pick up her cookies, and threw the top off of the plastic container to rescue them. She stood back up and held one out for Rachel. Rachel shook her head. It looked like it had reverted back to its "dough" stage.
"You know, we're getting cake on the way home." Rachel remarked.
Quinn nodded easily. That fact didn't affect her eagerness to consume the cookies at all.
Rachel looked around. Barnaby, Cloud, and Cornelius had gone back to chasing squirrels over the grassy field. The empty grassy field. Rachel felt like a horde of zombies would come up over the hill at any moment.
"Let's play a game." She suggested. Quinn straightened up immediately, like Rachel knew she would, and hacked a bit on her cookie. Sam bounced to his feet as well, stretching his arms around and doing a few squats like Rachel had suggested entering the Hunger Games.
"Monkey in the middle." Rachel offered.
Sam tripped over himself trying to grab the football on the picnic blanket to ensure he didn't become the "monkey."
"Not it!" He yelled, toppling sideways into Quinn's legs.
Quinn stared down at him with a raised eyebrow. She put one of her bare feet on his side and slowly applied more pressure. He rolled out from under her and stood up.
"Rachel can be it." He suggested, winking at Quinn.
Quinn shook her head immediately. "Rachel's too small. She'll never get it."
"Hey!" Rachel interrupted. She didn't know if she was insulted or indignant or pleased. She was perfectly capable of being the monkey, though. She could jump higher than both Quinn and Sam. She was like a flea.
She spun around and waved to all the dogs. "Hey, monkeys!" she called to them. They could be her helpers. Knocking Sam and Quinn down, distracting them, stealing the ball. This is where Cornelius got to shine. "We got this!" Rachel proclaimed, ruffling the ears of all four animals. Penguin was stuck fumbling around on the folds of the picnic blanket.
Arms circled around Rachel's waist and she spun around to find Quinn smiling at her.
"I love you, monkey." Quinn murmured, pressing her nose into Rachel's cheek.
Rachel chuckled. "Bear."
Quinn hummed. "Little polar bears can jump pretty far… Well, far enough. They jump around pieces of ice. I don't know if brown bears jump."
Rachel gasped exaggeratedly. "You don't know?"
Quinn scrunched up her nose at Rachel. She pinched Rachel's smiling cheeks. "I will-I will find out."
"People, hurry up!" Sam called, doing a few jumping jacks off to the side.
Quinn looked determined. Maybe a little unnerved that there was something about bears that she didn't know. Rachel tapped her cheek.
"How far can they swim?" she asked knowingly.
Quinn focused immediately. "Sixty miles non-stop."
Well. Rachel couldn't do that. But she could bounce around like a little bear. She herded her helpers over to Sam to start their game. Rachel caught the first ball Quinn threw. It was far too low, which was odd because Quinn was a pro at all games. Quinn was smiling though, and she wouldn't meet Rachel's eyes as she made her way to the middle.
Rachel caught her waist and kissed her cheek. What a sacrifice.
~oooooooooo~
Maybe bathing a frosting-covered Barnaby in the master bathroom was not such a good idea. Rachel leaned against the doorway and cringed as she watched. She didn't enter, though, because Sam and Quinn seemed to have the situation pretty well under control.
Well. Not control.
At least nobody was crying or drowning. Barnaby had one of his back legs out of the tub, like he was trying to reverse his way over the edge. His tail had knocked over all the soap bottles and Sam had resorted to climbing into the tub with him. In his jeans.
Quinn sat on the toilet rubbing Barnaby's chest because it made him stand still. All the frosting was gone. Now he was just pretending that the tub was his very own lake.
Rachel waved the stack of envelopes she was holding in her hand to get Quinn's attention. She refused to step inside the bathroom.
"Hey, baby!" Quinn greeted, holding up a soapy hand. She quickly put it back on Barnaby's collar when he lunged sideways into Sam.
Never let your guard down. Barnaby would sense it.
"Come into the bedroom so I can give you your birthday present." Rachel requested.
Sam made a garbled noise, but kept his attention on the dog he was wrangling. "Dude! I don't need to hear that!" He protested, shaking his head and flinging water over the floor.
Quinn smiled brightly.
Rachel laughed. "No, not-" she held up the envelopes as an explanation. "It's something else."
Quinn eyed the envelopes. Sam waved her away.
"Go on, Quinn. I got Barnes." He assured.
Quinn didn't need to be told twice. She surged towards Rachel and pushed her backwards and past the closet until they hit the bed and toppled over each other. Rachel laughed and collected herself and settled cross-legged facing Quinn.
"Bear." Rachel said with a small smile, building anticipation. "This…is your fanmail."
Quinn blinked. She pushed her hair back and looked down at the mail and then back up at Rachel.
"We had Tina confirm you have Asperger's," Rachel continued, waiting until Quinn nodded. "And these are letters to you from my fans, your fans, expressing thanks and love and inspiration, and…whatever else."
Hopefully nothing inappropriate. Rachel didn't want anybody being traumatized.
Quinn stared at Rachel, mouth open. Rachel chuckled and held out the envelopes.
"You're already inspiring people, Quinn." She stated, tapping Quinn's cheek with the mail when Quinn made no move to take it from her.
"They-they wrote to me?" Quinn asked quietly, disbelievingly.
Rachel nodded encouragingly. She hadn't been surprised when Tina had handed them over. She knew the world would fall in love with Quinn, just like she had. It was only a matter of time. Quinn would lure everybody into her trap and never let them go.
Rachel also got Quinn a photo album full of their animals, but this was just present wave number one. Or two, if the cake counted. Cake always counted in Quinn's book.
Quinn reached over the edge of the bed and grabbed Penguin before the puppy could bound into the bathroom and disrupt whatever disaster was occurring in there.
She settled the Dalmatian in her lap and opened one of the envelopes.
Rachel bit her lip as she watched the smile slowly spread across Quinn's face. Quinn looked up at her after a minute, eyes shining.
"She said-she said I'm her role model." She told Rachel, holding up the letter. "She's twelve, and she doesn't even know me, and I'm her role model."
Rachel nodded. Quinn rubbed her nose and smiled wryly at Rachel. "I don't know if I should be a role model."
Rachel shook her head immediately and planted her hands on Quinn's knees. "You are a good person. A kind and wonderful and inspiring person." She stated clearly. "And if I had never met you before, I would still want my future children to look up to somebody like you. You're a perfect role model, sweetheart."
Quinn pressed her lips together and played with Penguin's black ears. She was quiet for a minute, but then she looked up and smiled. "Of course the person who managed to marry you should be a role model. I don't-I don't know how I did it."
Rachel laughed and shrugged. She grabbed Quinn's free hand. "You just sucked me in, bear."
Quinn gazed at her for a moment. She set Penguin back on the floor because the bathroom door was now closed, which was a little ominous. Then she rocked forward, hands on Rachel's knees.
"I want to call it 'A Bear, A Star.'" She stated. She was doing that "staring into Rachel's soul" thing. Waiting for feedback or love or just watching her eyes.
Rachel clasped her hands together excitedly. "Your website?"
Quinn nodded, squeezing Rachel's knees. "Where animal rescue meets autism awareness."
Rachel bounced on the bed a few times. "I love that!" she proclaimed.
"Because…metaphorically, a bear can be with a star. Or a bear can be a star. And people can rescue bears and become stars." Quinn explained. "And did you know Ursa Major is the Great Bear constellation? We're in the sky together, Rachel. Sort of a collision of worlds, slash interpretive 'take it as you want' meaning."
Rachel got a little lost in that explanation, but she got the gist. Bears and stars, animals and people, Quinn and Rachel. It made perfect sense. And it was perfect for Quinn.
Rachel had started a club in high school for aspiring performers like herself. She'd called it "Dreams on our Minds." Which spelled out "doom." They didn't really get much accomplished.
The only person who joined was Finn because Rachel had made it mandatory for him and nobody else was mature enough to appreciate her adolescent ambition.
"Abas" was better. It reminded Rachel of fish. Which could only be good.
"And I'll be the, um…face." Quinn explained, squinting in thought. "But I want Barnaby to be the image people associate with it."
Rachel listened and nodded along.
Quinn smiled at her. "Because that's what my favorite face suggested I should do."
Rachel laughed. She surged forward and pushed Quinn down on the bed by her shoulders. She tickled along her sides, delighting in the laughter she was eliciting.
"No funny business out there!" Sam's voice called from the bathroom. He sounded a little out of breath. And then there was a thump and a bark and it went quiet again.
"I have to give you twenty-seven kisses, baby!" Rachel proclaimed loudly over Quinn's shrieks.
Quinn squirmed and nodded, red and laughing. Rachel leaned forward and pressed kisses to her forehead, cheeks, chin, and nose. Her hair fell into Quinn's mouth and Quinn sputtered to get it out.
"One, two, three, four, five." Rachel said proudly, pulling back and moving backwards down Quinn's body. "Six, seven." Rachel counted, kissing each of Quinn's shoulders.
Quinn watched her adoringly.
"Eight, nine." Rachel continued with both of Quinn's breasts. She glanced up at Quinn with a smirk. "Eight, nine." She repeated, kissing them again.
Quinn laughed. "I think-I think you skipped eight and nine." She offered helpfully.
Rachel nodded sagely. She definitely had. She kissed Quinn's breasts again. "Eight and nine." She patted them fondly before shifting again. She trailed three kisses down each of Quinn's arms.
"Sixteen." Rachel counted, flipping up Quinn's shirt to blow a raspberry on her abdomen. "Seventeen." She added when she kissed her belly button.
Rachel kissed Quinn's thighs, knees, shins, and feet. Then she crawled back up to Quinn's face and pecked her lips. "Twenty-six."
Quinn hummed. "One more." She said with a smile.
Rachel feigned confusion. She furrowed her brow and looked down at Quinn. "Really? I thought we were done. Did I lose count?"
Quinn stared up at her, narrowing her eyes. "What, no. One more!" she demanded.
Rachel heaved a sigh like she was being inconvenienced. "I guess I'll just have to start over." She moaned.
Realization dawned on Quinn and she grinned and nodded eagerly. She puckered her lips and pulled Rachel down on her in a bear hug. Rachel laughed and kissed her sloppily on the mouth.
"One."
~oooooooooo~
Sam left the apartment with all the dogs an hour later. He insisted that he needed to take them on their evening walk by himself. But he winked at Rachel as he hurried out the front door, and realization dawned on her. Quinn was a little oblivious. Lying on the couch watching old music videos and talking to Butter about Bananarama and Bananas in Pajamas.
Rachel stretched her back, pinched her cheeks, and draped herself over the back of the couch to look at Quinn. Quinn kept conversing with Butter, so Rachel cleared her throat until the fat cat ambled away.
Quinn looked up at her with a smile. Her smile faltered almost immediately and her eyes dropped to Rachel's chest.
"Sam gave us some alone time." Rachel whispered with a grin, tilting forward to catch Quinn's gaze. She batted Quinn's hand away as it reached absently for a boob.
Quinn swallowed. "That was nice of him."
Rachel chuckled. "Yes, it was."
She watched Quinn for a moment. Quinn was completely silent, dressed in faded shorts and a t-shirt covered in white cat hair and staring honestly up at Rachel. Her eyes were twinkling and expectant. Rachel swayed a little bit to the Blondie video on the television and stared nonchalantly into space.
"Well, maybe we could-"
Rachel cut Quinn off by climbing over the back of the couch, or rolling herself over, and pressing her mouth to Quinn's. Quinn's hands went straight to Rachel's thighs to hold her in place and Rachel delighted in the little gasps of surprise she received. And the laughter, because she kissed right under Quinn's ear and she knew it was the most ticklish point of her wife's body.
Quinn tilted her head to give Rachel more room. "This is-this is more than twenty-seven kisses."
Rachel kissed along her jaw and then whispered in Quinn's ear. "You can't limit my kisses, baby."
It would be like trying to spin the world the other way. Quinn shivered. "Super Freak" started playing on the TV, which Rachel found a little perturbing, but she rolled with it. The remote had long been buried under the cushions.
"Take-take off-" Quinn moved a hand up from Rachel's thigh to her butt, and gestured at the straps of her dress. She whined when all Rachel did was smile and kiss her again. Rachel chuckled. She ran her tongue along Quinn's teeth and trailed her hands up Quinn's sides.
Quinn's breath was hot on her face and Rachel knocked multiple pillows off the couch trying to reach as much skin as she could.
"Super Freak" finished and "I Want to Know What Love Is" started, and Quinn began grinding herself up into Rachel, and Rachel finally just sat up and rolled off the couch with Quinn's wrist in her hand. She didn't say anything, just because she had a purpose and Quinn would find out what it was soon enough.
Her lips were raw and she was vibrating and desperately trying not to sing along with the Foreigner song on TV.
Quinn stumbled along after her as she strode to the bedroom. She shut the door behind them and then pushed Quinn up against it, smiling at Quinn's sharp exhalation of breath. Quinn coughed and focused and allowed Rachel to help take off her t-shirt.
"How-how long did Sam say he'd be gone?"
Rachel shook her head. She couldn't remember that now. Rachel kissed and licked Quinn's collarbones, wincing when Quinn's head tilted back and thumped against the door. She put a thigh between Quinn's legs and held her in place.
"I wanted-I wanted, um…" Quinn shut her eyes tightly like she couldn't remember what she was saying. Rachel palmed her breasts over her yellow bra and she gasped. "I wanted to-to go with him to the lake to see if Penguin would like to swim."
Well that was nice of her.
Rachel hummed. Her mouth was a little busy. And Quinn was really warm. On her face and her hands and her thigh.
"Dalmatians usually-they usually like to swim, but Penguin's only a puppy, so…" Quinn groaned and arched away from the door when Rachel licked a broad stripe right up her abdomen. "Shit, Rachel." She dragged out.
And Rachel froze. She looked up at Quinn with an incredulous smile. Quinn's bra fell to the floor and landed quietly. The only sounds were heavy breathing.
Quinn's ears were bright red. She opened her eyes and met Rachel's gaze, but then just shut them again and shook her head around.
"Sorry, I-I didn't mean-I shouldn't swear."
Rachel laughed lowly. She pressed herself up against Quinn so that there was no space between them and played with the hem of Quinn's shorts over the swell of her hips.
"Baby, swear all you want." She whispered. She could feel the shivers under her fingers. "I realize it's quite hard to find the words to express just how wonderful I am."
Quinn whined. She lolled her head forward so that it rested against Rachel's, and Rachel undid her faded yellow shorts and let them fall to the ground. She could hear "Come on Eileen" coming from the TV now. It was certainly peppy, though still a little unnerving.
Sex with eighties marathons in the background was definitely intriguing.
Rachel whirled Quinn around and pushed her backwards until she toppled onto the bed. And then she stood there for a second, just admiring her wife and her pale, smooth skin and curves and the light flush that covered her body.
And then Quinn held her arms out wordlessly, and Rachel crawled into them. She held up her weight with an elbow by Quinn's head and pushed into her firmly. Quinn's hands fisted in the sheets, and then in Rachel's dress, and then under Rachel's dress because Rachel was wearing far too many clothes.
"Fuck." Quinn murmured, barely audible. Rachel was thrilled. She'd turned her wife into a profanity machine for one night. She would've laughed, but she had better things to do.
Quinn inhaled deeply. Rachel watched her bite her lip and then leaned forward to kiss her. She still tasted like the chocolate frosting from her cake.
"This is-this is the best birthday ever, Ra-Rachel." Quinn stuttered, clutching Rachel's dress like a lifeline. "I love you so much."
Rachel smiled and sped up. She was straddling Quinn's thigh and inadvertently enjoying this as much as Quinn. She brushed the hair out of Quinn's eyes with her free hand and kissed her cheeks and her chin. And then Quinn wrapped all her limbs around Rachel and shuddered, and Rachel did the same with her face buried in Quinn's shoulder.
Quinn held her there for a good five minutes. Rachel was sweltering, and Quinn probably was as well, but she was not letting go. Rachel managed to untangle herself for a second to pull off her dress before she was tugged back down.
Quinn traced a finger over her belly and kissed Rachel's forehead. "That's better." She murmured. "You're very soft and cuddly."
Rachel didn't know if she should be insulted or not. She curled up into Quinn's side, noticing that the music now coming from the living room was "Mr. Roboto." She mouthed the words against Quinn's warm skin.
"I want to go and see if Sam took Penguin to the lake." Quinn whispered a minute later. She was obviously eager, but trying not to disturb Rachel. Or make it seem like she was ready to leap out of bed just to go and watch a puppy swim for the first time.
Rachel tilted her head up and narrowed her eyes at Quinn. "Right this minute?" she asked, voice a little hoarse. "After what we just did, you want to drag us out of bed right now?"
Quinn puffed out her cheeks and pressed her face into the pillow.
Rachel chuckled and tickled her neck. "Are you hiding now?"
Quinn stayed completely still.
"Because you're naked, baby. And I could take advantage of you." Rachel poked Quinn's boob just to demonstrate.
Quinn made a muffled grumbly noise into the pillow. She wiggled her butt until it was no longer covered by the sheet, and Rachel found herself mesmerized.
"We can go watch the puppy swim if you want, Quinn." She conceded, absently reaching a hand out to palm her wife's glorious ass.
Quinn laughed into the pillow as soon as Rachel's hand made contact and her whole body shook. She lifted her head up, even more flushed than before, and nuzzled into Rachel's cheek. "Let's do that. Are you ready?"
Rachel nodded. "As long as you won't be flinging obscenities around with your dirty mouth, baby." She stated sagely. "We live near children, you know."
Quinn sat up abruptly, pouting and trying to hide the blush that ran from her cheeks down to her chest. She grabbed the 101 Dalmatians pillow and pressed it lightly over Rachel's face. Rachel snorted into the fabric and pushed it away easily, sitting up so that it landed in her lap.
All she saw in Quinn's eyes was mirth. And a little disgust that Rachel had slobbered on her pillow.
"You're still kind of sweet." Rachel assured, eyes shining. She leaned backwards to retrieve some of their clothes off the floor.
"Kind of." Quinn repeated, eyebrow raised.
Rachel nodded. She tilted forward to whisper conspiratorially as she pulled her dress over her head. "I know there's a badass buried in there. I'll dig her out, one romp at a time."
Quinn flushed even darker and pulled back immediately. She played with the sheet that was covering one of her legs and shook her head around, and Rachel watched her with a fond smile.
"Hey." Rachel murmured, waiting for Quinn to look up again. Rachel smiled at her when she did. "You're getting us out of bed to go watch a puppy swim for the first time. You're still the sweetest, bear."
Quinn mumbled something unintelligible before putting on the sweatshirt Rachel handed to her.
"What was that?" Rachel asked, leaning forward until she was only inches away from Quinn's face.
Quinn played with her sleeves and met Rachel's warm brown eyes. "I said you're the sweetest. Not me."
Rachel would argue that until the day she died, but she let it sit for now. Because it was Quinn's birthday. And Quinn had rescued a puppy from church on Easter and she wanted to see it swim for the first time. So Rachel just tilted forward and kissed her and fluffed the tangles out of her hair, and she let Quinn wrap a blanket around the both of them, no matter how counter-productive it was, so that they could walk to the lake and finish their evening with Penguin.