A/N: I haven't written anything for this story in a month, so it's been in a lovely little "plotless" lull. But I'm writing again, and we'll be back in New York in the chapter after next, and yes, we'll see more of Kurt and Puck and Santana and everybody else. Moving fast now. And looking for a bit of conflict.
Still off the Key of Reason
Chapter 13: I Don't Need Any New Voices
Quinn's website launched the day before Rachel's musical premiered. It was January of Quinn's third year of vet school, and it would have been sooner, but classes got in the way. Eight hours a day. And Quinn usually stayed for another three hours to study or finish up her labs or play with some farm animals. Sometimes Rachel felt like they were both turning nocturnal.
And then Quinn would say they could be just like gerbils. Except they didn't sleep during the day. They just worked even harder.
The launch was very anti-climactic. Rachel was expecting fanfare of some sort, but all Quinn's team had done was press a button. Nothing shot up into the sky and there were no explosions of any kind.
But now there was an organization with an official website called "A Bear, A Star," where autism awareness meets animal rescue. So far, it was mostly a place for people to share their stories, but Quinn would be adding animal organizations and pets up for adoption, as well as putting together fun runs and attempting to collaborate with various zoos.
She would be a busy, busy woman.
Rachel was getting used to sharing her with the world.
But right now, surrounded by a plethora of nuns and being applauded for her directorial debut, Rachel was very pleased to see Quinn approaching her. Galloping towards her, really, backstage. The nuns were all singing "Maria," and Quinn weaved through them until she was standing in front of Rachel with a bright smile.
"That was magical, baby!" Quinn proclaimed, wrapping Rachel in a hug.
Rachel was returning it when she was zapped in the arm by one of Quinn's fingers. Static shock. She flinched and grabbed her arm and Quinn stared at her fingers delightedly. She reached out to touch Rachel again, but Rachel batted her away.
"We're electric." Rachel remarked, a little breathless from all the celebration.
Quinn hummed. "Sparks fly, baby." She reached out her hand again and Rachel slapped it away. Quinn laughed. "Shock something so I can touch you."
Rachel rubbed her own hands against Quinn's warm, wooly scarf and then held them over Quinn's head. She chuckled when some of Quinn's bangs were lifted up.
"You're exacerbating the problem." Quinn commented, rolling her eyes up to see what Rachel was doing. She had to speak loudly over the singing nuns.
Rachel took Quinn's hands when she was sure all of their static energy had been released. Quinn tilted forward and kissed her forehead and then her lips, and Rachel wrapped a hand in her scarf again.
"You're a director!" Quinn enthused, bouncing on her toes and forcing Rachel to bounce with her.
Rachel had known her play would run smoothly. She was a seasoned, hard-working, organized Broadway actress. And she'd cast about ten extra nuns just to make sure she had enough.
The cast and crew moved the celebration to a restaurant just off campus, and Rachel thanked them all and congratulated them in a toast. She thanked Quinn too, of course, and they sat together at the end of a long table listening to the chatter and mild drunken singing.
Nobody was surprised that the mild drunken singing was coming from Rachel.
She could admit, she'd had a little too much to drink, and Quinn sat next to her, buzzed and vibrating because she'd been nursing her own fruity concoction so that she wouldn't be so bothered by the noise and the crowd.
Rachel had started off with "Hakuna Matata," but she was now rapping something by Lil Wayne and she could not remember when she'd switched or how she even knew anything by Lil Wayne. But she knew where she was. And she was keeping an eye on Quinn, so she wasn't wasted.
"I have a project for tonight." Quinn proclaimed randomly, beating two straws against the table like out of control drums.
Rachel nodded immediately. "Is it to have sex? Because I can-"
Quinn's eyes widened and she clapped a hand over Rachel's mouth, looking scandalized. Rachel snorted. She didn't really know where she'd been going with that sentence. She kissed Quinn's palm and lifted up the untied end of Quinn's scarf to drape it around her own neck, encompassing both of them.
Rachel tied it into a knot when Quinn removed her hand.
"No, that's not my project." Quinn explained, eyes a little dilated, but serious. "My advisors say I need more people skills if I want to get a job when I graduate. Like spontaneous group speaking. This is the perfect setting."
Rachel couldn't remember what "spontaneous" meant at the moment, but she got the gist. "So you want to talk to some people." She guessed, lolling her head around like she'd lost control of her neck.
Quinn's focus had jumped down to the scarf while Rachel's had jumped up to Quinn. "What if we were tied together like this forever?" Quinn mused, leaning sideways experimentally and smiling when Rachel was dragged with her.
"Two-headed." Rachel drawled.
"Like that dragon on Dragon Tales." Quinn continued. "The purple and green one." She turned her head so that her nose was about an inch from Rachel's cheek. Rachel turned her head as well and went cross-eyed trying to look into glassy hazel eyes. She couldn't pull away any further than that.
"I think I'd need some space." Rachel admitted.
She'd definitely be killed if she was strapped to somebody permanently. Even if it was her lovely wife. Nobody could take that much. And if there was a reason they were being strapped together forever, they were probably doomed anyway, right? It could be like SAW.
Quinn pictured cartoon dragons while Rachel saw horror movies involving chopping off limbs.
"Hello, sweetheart." She greeted Quinn like they hadn't been in the middle of a conversation. Quinn smiled fondly at her. "Let's go talk to some people. And get more drinks." Rachel suggested, trying to stand up and then coughing when she was strangled by the scarf.
"Babe, wait." Quinn pulled her back down with a concerned laugh and untied the knot, rolling her eyes at how complicated Rachel had made it. She trailed her fingers over Rachel's neck when the scarf fell away, and Rachel giggled at the feeling.
There was a step to go up from the dining area to the bar, and Rachel caught it with her toe and tripped, but steadied herself on the back of a booth. Quinn didn't miss a beat in purposely tripping on the step as well, and stumbling to the floor herself. She straightened up, put an arm around Rachel, and looked back at the step like she didn't know where it had come from.
Rachel flushed and tried to shake the alcohol out of her brain.
Quinn sat her on a stool and put a hand on top of her head, holding her steady. Rachel tried to focus on the concerned hazel eyes in front of her. She smiled lopsidedly at Quinn.
"I'm fine, Quinn." She stated honestly. A little unsteady in the motility department, but fine. "Go…interact. Use your words. I'll be here."
Quinn pushed the blonde hair back off her flushed face. "I was-I was going to start with some of the von Trapps. They seemed nice."
Rachel smiled. "They're very nice."
Quinn swallowed. "Okay." She whispered. She kissed Rachel's cheek and squeezed her hand and walked away in search of a herd of blondes.
Rachel ordered another drink and talked with various cast members and crew as they approached. She tried to keep an eye on Quinn at all times, but she lost her after about half an hour. She must've lost herself too, because when she finally spotted Quinn, Kelly was on her arm and Rachel was filled with irrational anger.
Had Kelly just crawled out of the woodwork? Slithered through the cracks in the door to find Quinn?
This was not acceptable. Rachel blinked to clear her blurry vision and slipped off the stool, feeling surprisingly steady.
"He's been watering you down." Captain von Trapp explained easily, gesturing at the bartender. "Quinn said you'd had enough."
Rachel felt like she should be offended or something, but she saw Kelly trail a finger down Quinn's forearm and Rachel made a beeline for her wife instead. She bumped into a chair and apologized to it, and watched Quinn shake her head around and try to extract herself from Kelly's grasp.
"Hey!" Rachel's volume control was long gone. Both Quinn and Kelly spun around to see her when she was still ten feet away. Her eyes were burning, probably because she'd been awake too long. Rachel realized she may look crazy right now, but that could work to her advantage.
She stepped between Quinn and Kelly and put a hand on Kelly's arm.
"Oh, hi Rachel." Kelly greeted, amused. "How-"
"No." Rachel interrupted, flipping her hair out of her face. Kelly still looked like a brontosaurus. "I don't know… if you're incompetent, or deaf, or stunted in some other way, but Quinn has asked you to stay away from her."
Rachel spoke slowly so that she could get the words right. The letters felt like they were so close to falling in the wrong places.
Quinn laid a warm hand on Rachel's arm. "Rachel, it's-"
Rachel shook her off, gaze fixed on Kelly. "You are incredibly disrespectful. To Quinn, to people with Asperger's, to me, to our marriage. This is my wife, Kelly, and you need to leave her alone."
Kelly scoffed. "Quinn doesn't have Asperger's. She's just shy, and she needs somebody to pull her out-"
"Oh my God!" Rachel screeched, sputtering for words because she couldn't believe what this woman was saying. She was aware that they were receiving a few looks by now, but she couldn't tear her gaze away from Kelly.
"Rachel," Quinn interrupted again, quietly resting a hand on the small of Rachel's back. "She was just-just looking for a ride. She-"
"No." Rachel stated, whirling around to face Quinn now. And wow did that make her nauseous. "Quinn, if you really believe this woman just wants to be your friend, then your advisors were right and you do need to work on your people skills."
Quinn's jaw clamped shut. Her eyes dropped straight to Rachel's feet and her hands twisted into the end of her scarf.
"You need to stop indulging her. Stop being so nice to her." Rachel ranted, voice rising to a higher pitch. Quinn kept her eyes fixed on the floor. "I know this is how you are, but she doesn't deserve it. Open your eyes, honey."
Everything was silent and still for a moment.
Quinn swallowed. She took a few deep breaths and brushed at her eyes before stepping around Rachel and picking up her head to stare at Kelly.
"You need to find another ride." She stated quietly. Clearly. "I thought-I thought you were a good person, but you're being disrespectful, and-and I need to take my wife home now."
Kelly pursed her lips and nodded shortly. She glanced at Rachel, who was focusing on not vomiting right at the moment. It was going to happen. She could feel it.
"I…" Kelly shook her head and rolled her eyes, at what, Rachel wasn't sure. "You're right. Both of you. I'm…just-sorry."
And then she was gone.
Rachel stood still for a minute. She pressed a hand over her eyes and sighed heavily.
"Are you going to be sick?" Quinn whispered.
Rachel didn't know. She didn't respond, but Quinn wrapped an arm around her waist and led her carefully through the crowd and outside into the cold air.
"I should've thrown up on her." Rachel muttered. Why did the best comebacks always come after the person left? "Then she wouldn't come back. Nobody comes back after they've been puked on."
Quinn scrunched up her nose, pulling Rachel to sit next to her on the curb while they waited for a cab. "You're drunk." She said quietly.
Rachel was vaguely aware of that fact, yes. If Rachel could stop herself from speaking, she would've done it hours ago.
"You see her more than you see me." Rachel whined pathetically. "In your classes. All day." Her eyes were burning again but she knew it was because of tears this time.
"Stop, Rachel." Quinn whispered, pulling her into her side. She kissed the top of Rachel's head and rubbed her arms to keep her warm. "You're not thinking clearly right now."
Rachel cried even harder. She wrapped her fist in Quinn's scarf and pulled her wife as close as possible. "And I didn't mean to-to say you don't have people skills!" she choked. "You do! I love your skills!"
Quinn chuckled a little hopelessly and rubbed Rachel's back. "The way you phrased it sort of…wasn't nice."
"I'm being dumb." Rachel sniffled, wiping her nose on Quinn's scarf.
"You're drunk." Quinn said again, grimacing but helping Rachel with her nose. "I-I love you more than anything in the world and more than I can even say, and…I just thought Kelly might need a friend. But no more. You can throw up on her shoes the next time you see her."
Rachel took a deep, shaky breath and wiped at her eyes.
"This is your night. You're a director." Quinn continued softly, still rubbing Rachel's back. "And it's always only you for me, little bear. You don't have to…tell me to open my eyes. I know what I'm doing."
Rachel whined and nodded, pressing her face into Quinn's shoulder.
"It's patronizing." Quinn said quietly, kissing the top of her head. "Or it feels like it is."
Rachel kept nodding. She just couldn't stop nodding. "I'm sorry. I love you."
Quinn shook her head around. "I'm sorry I haven't let you punch Kelly yet. Maybe she deserves it." Then she frowned and scrunched up her nose. "Wait, no, nobody deserves that."
Rachel swallowed, chuckling lightly and trying not to projectile into the street.
"You can work on your people skills with me." She drawled, hugging Quinn's arm.
Quinn laughed. And Rachel leaned forward and vomited between her shoes.
~oooooooooo~
Rachel dropped onto the couch the next afternoon and watched Quinn sort through the box of chess pieces. It had been a relaxing day. After the vomiting had stopped and the headache had dulled and all of the Sunny Delight in the house had been funneled into Rachel's body by Quinn.
At least she could think clearly again, after about five showers. She enjoyed watching the rain all day and snuggling under blankets and listening to Quinn read Gulliver's Travels out loud.
Quinn liked to change her voice to suit all the characters. The giants, the tiny people. The horses. Mostly because Rachel laughed when she did it.
Rachel watched Barnaby saunter up and grab a pawn out of the box with his mouth. He did it nonchalantly, right in front of her face.
Like fuck yeah, this is my pawn. I'll just walk away with this.
"Hey." Rachel scolded, propping a leg up on the coffee table to prevent Barnaby's escape. "No, Barney. Give it to me."
She held out her hand. Her other hand was holding an ice cream cone. Strawberry vegan ice cream, which was unsettling her stomach, but oh so delicious. This whole thing was probably a ploy so that Barnaby could seize the cone while Rachel grappled for the pawn.
He sat down and stared at the leg propped in his way. Then he tried to turn around, but the space was too narrow, so he backed right up into Quinn.
Quinn gave him a hug. Rachel rolled her eyes.
"Get the pawn, Quinn." Rachel said, gesturing at Barnaby's mouth. He was keeping it closed, concealing his treasure.
Quinn was usually the one able to pry open the jaws of their animals. Rachel could, but she wasn't fond of getting covered in slobber, thank you very much.
Cornelius had the jaws of an alligator. Or a hippo. Just super-strength, and they usually had to offer him a trade for whatever he had in his mouth. The rest weren't so bad. Barnaby liked to whine while Quinn pried his mouth open, like he was being injured, probably looking for some pity.
Rachel pulled on his golden, fluffy tail until it started wagging.
Quinn pulled the pawn out of his mouth and pushed him away to play with the cats. Quinn looked like she was going to wipe the pawn on the couch, but she caught Rachel's raised eyebrow and jumped up to get a paper towel from the kitchen instead.
"Yeah, you do that." Rachel said loudly. She frowned at the chess board. Something had chewed the corner of it.
"You're melting, baby." Quinn commented, plopping back down next to Rachel and taking the ice cream from her hand. She licked around the top until it wasn't dripping down the sides, and then handed it back to Rachel looking pleased.
Rachel hummed. Lovely.
She wiped the ice cream off Quinn's smiling lips and turned back to the game board.
"We're missing a rook and a knight. And both black bishops." Quinn observed. She flipped the box upside down but nothing else fell out.
Rachel narrowed her eyes. She wasn't entirely sure what the rook looked like. She knew the knights were the horses. They were Quinn's favorite pieces. Rachel's favorite piece was the queen. She liked to take it on power trips to destroy her opponent.
"They're castles." Quinn clarified, without even looking at Rachel.
And they're probably in Barnaby's stomach. Or decomposing in the middle of Central Park.
Quinn retrieved some gummy bears and situated herself on the black side. The side with all the missing pieces. She filled in all the boxes with gummy bears and then smiled at Rachel, ready to battle with her army of candy.
"Blue is a rook, red is a knight, and white are the bishops." She explained.
Rachel stared at her.
Quinn faltered. "Do-do you need the bucket?"
Rachel snorted and shook her head. No, thankfully, that was all out of her system.
She knew Quinn would end up accidentally eating half of all her game pieces before the match ended. She was eager to see how long it would take. Rachel took the first turn and then slid onto the floor so that she could play with Quinn's feet under the coffee table.
It was silent for five minutes, except for the tapping of the plastic pieces.
"Do you think Teletubbies are dinosaurs?" Quinn asked loudly, frowning at the board. She absently stuck a gummy bear, one of her bishops, in her mouth, and Rachel snorted a laugh. Quinn looked up at her and flushed. She replaced the gummy bear with a new one.
And then Rachel realized what she'd actually said, and laughed again.
"I think a Teletubby is a Teletubby." Rachel mused with a wide smile. "They're their own…thing. Species."
Breed. Kingdom. Whatever. Rachel could see the resemblance to dinosaurs, though. Or the resemblance to fake dinosaurs, like Barney and the ones from The Land Before Time. Probably not accurate representations.
Rachel shrugged. "But they do have those things on their heads, so…"
Antennae? Horns? Rachel did not know.
"They're sort of anthropomorphized. I think if the world was coming to an end, if the apocalypse was upon us, the Teletubby bunker would be a good place to hide." Quinn remarked, studying the board. "Zombie or otherwise. There's only one entrance, and it looks like a steel door. And then inside there's a pancake machine, so…"
Obviously. It would be the perfect place. Rachel nodded along. Quinn ate another bishop.
"You'd be camouflaged in the hills." Quinn continued. "It'd be like living as a gopher."
Quinn looked up at Rachel with wide eyes right as she said that. Rachel smiled at her. She knew what she was thinking. From gerbils to gophers. Rachel really didn't know exactly what a gopher was. She used the word "hamster" to describe everything from moles to voles to meerkats.
Rachel took her turn while Quinn was lost in her fantasy.
"There's a gopher in Pooh." Quinn stated, staring seriously at Rachel. "He calls himself Samuel Gopher, but he wasn't in the books Milne wrote. Just the old movies. He whistles when he talks."
Rachel tried not to laugh. Quinn ate her knight.
"And he falls into his holes a lot." Quinn added. She sighed and tilted her head to stare down at her lap. She was silent for a moment. "You-you said I was crazy for thinking Kelly wanted to be my friend."
Rachel's smile dropped with the sudden change of topic. She squeezed Quinn's bare foot and tickled her toes.
"But I-that's-that's what Aunt Lisa used to say." Quinn stuttered, ripping the head off a gummy bear before looking horrified and trying to stick it back together. "That I was too weird for friends to like me."
Rachel's mouth dropped open. Quinn finally looked up and smiled self-deprecatingly. "I mean, I'm twenty-seven, I know I shouldn't-"
"Bear." Rachel interrupted, shaking her head and squeezing the life out of Quinn's foot. Quinn ate the gummy bear she had decapitated and chewed with her cheeks puffed out. "That woman, that seven foot tall, crazy bitch, brontosaur-"
"Rachel!" Quinn pressed her cold foot against Rachel's thigh, eyes wide and shaking her head vigorously. "Don't be mean."
Rachel sighed exasperatedly. "I meant, she has a crush on you. A massive crush. And there's no doubt in my mind that she wants to be more than friends with you. That's what I meant."
Quinn licked her lips, listening intently with her gaze on Rachel's warm eyes. "I've told you before, anybody would be lucky to be your friend, bear. Of course they would." Rachel insisted, tickling the bottom of Quinn's feet.
Quinn tried not to smile. "Oh." She said simply, sounding relieved. "I-you should have said it like that last night."
Rachel shrugged. "I'd rather just forget about last night, please."
Everything after curtain call. Just wipe it out.
"People love you, and that's why you're going to find an amazing job when you graduate." Rachel continued. She waved a hand vaguely through the air. "Fuck the advisors."
"Rachel." Quinn chided, a little quieter than before. She was probably getting used to it. "Language."
Rachel leaned down and kissed Quinn's foot. Quinn threw a few gummy bears at her and Rachel laughed loudly. A ritualistic call that attracted all the dogs and caused Cloud to sweep all the game pieces off the board with his tail.
Rachel won the first game anyway. Mostly because Quinn had eaten her pieces and then lost track of where they'd been. Rachel was about to call "check" in the second game when Quinn looked at the time on her phone and announced that she had to go study.
Rachel pouted. "You can't study here?"
Quinn stood up and climbed over the coffee table. Instead of walking around it like a normal person. She sat on the floor next to Rachel and kissed the side of her head.
"I have to meet the group. We're sharing notes. And, you know, people skills, right?" she murmured. "I'm the smartest one. I think they need me."
Rachel sighed. Quinn copied her, exaggerating it and including some vocal cord action. Rachel eyed her. Quinn stared straight ahead, and Rachel folded her arms and flipped her hair.
Quinn folded her arms and flipped her hair so that the blonde strands hit Rachel's face. Rachel scrunched up her nose and Quinn did the same. Rachel huffed, acting annoyed. Quinn tried to huff but it came out as more of a laugh.
"Aren't you going to be late?" Rachel asked with a straight face.
Quinn looked like she was contemplating just repeating what Rachel said, but she must've decided against it because she sat up and straddled Rachel's legs instead.
"I can't leave if you're sad." She remarked, puffing out her cheeks. She grabbed Rachel's ears and kissed her mouth.
Rachel put her hands on Quinn's thighs. She hummed when Quinn leaned back. "One more." She instructed. "And then you can go."
Quinn grinned brightly. "How about five?"
Rachel laughed. "Okay, bear. Give me five."
Quinn leaned forward and pecked Rachel's lips four times. She lingered for the fifth, allowing for their lips to glide together, and she nibbled Rachel's lower lip before pulling away. "Good?" she asked.
Rachel nodded reluctantly. She would have to wait another week for a night in with Quinn.
"Go on and learn something." She stated, bouncing her knees until Quinn stood up. "Use your words. Read some books. I'll be here."
"Love you, little bear." Quinn said sweetly as she grabbed her bag from the kitchen table. She blew Rachel a kiss. How could Rachel be mad at that? She caught it and pressed it to her lips, and then set off to find Barnaby and some missing chess pieces.
~ooooooooooo~
Rachel was nearly asleep when Quinn came home. She was in bed, under a thick layer of blankets, and she only realized somebody else was in the room because Char's tail thumped near her feet. She could barely feel it though. She'd cocooned herself to protect from the cold.
Rachel peered out from the top of her quilt and smiled to herself when she saw Quinn crouched near the wall having a whispered conversation with Cloud. She was nodding as she spoke. Cloud's tail whacked against the carpet silently.
Quinn kissed his head and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. When she emerged, she was wearing her fuzzy pajamas, and she walked quietly around the bed to climb into her side. She stayed on top of the covers and rolled over to face Rachel.
Rachel stayed completely still and listened for any movement.
Quinn leaned in closer. She felt carefully around the blankets and sighed in frustration when she didn't come across any discernible features. Like limbs. Skin. A face. Rachel contained her laugh.
Quinn was silent for another moment. Rachel could feel her eyes on her. Or what Quinn thought was her. Rachel had really gone a little overboard with all the blankets.
"Rachel." Quinn whispered.
Rachel remained perfectly still, breathing deeply. Quinn shifted even closer.
"Little bear." She said, even quieter. "Where are you?"
Rachel's chest shook with contained laughter, but it wasn't noticeable inside her cocoon. Quinn sighed again, and then whined and flopped onto her back in despair. Rachel chuckled into her quilt and Quinn immediately rolled back over. Rachel could see her teeth in the dark.
"Why are you buried under a mountain?" Quinn whispered, tugging at the sheets and comforter to determine if she could squirm her way in. Even if it seemed like she couldn't, she would find a way. Rachel knew this.
"Are your feet cold?" Rachel murmured, ignoring the question.
"You're like a groundhog." Quinn whispered. Another unidentifiable rodent for Rachel. She peeled back a few layers of blankets and sat up to wiggle herself under them. "And no. I'm wearing your socks."
Rachel hummed. Quinn shifted around for a bit, pawing at Rachel to find her face.
"Help me." Quinn pleaded after a couple minutes. "Where's your pretty little face?"
Rachel pushed the blankets down and heaved a sigh like she was being put out. Quinn was on her in half a second. She pressed kisses to Rachel's cheeks and trapped her in her limbs. Rachel chuckled and pulled the quilt back up. There was always room for two in her cocoon.
"I found her." Quinn proclaimed quietly into Rachel's shoulder. "She was hiding from me."
Rachel shook her head. "Just from the cold."
Quinn took a deep breath, and all the blankets raised up with it. Rachel wondered if people ever had respiratory problems while they slept because of the weight of blankets on their chests. She was finding inhaling a little difficult. She needed someone to poke holes in her bottle.
Quinn weaved an arm up above their heads and opened up the blankets a little bit so they could get some air.
Rachel sighed thankfully. "I don't see you enough when we're awake, baby." She whispered, running a hand under Quinn's shirt and enjoying the warmth of her skin.
Quinn nodded. "I know." She agreed sadly.
Rachel twisted a hand in Quinn's hair. "I don't like this."
"It's work and school. It'll get better." Quinn assured.
"No, I was talking about your hair." Rachel joked.
Quinn laughed and pressed forward until she could blow a raspberry into Rachel's neck. "Don't be mean to me."
"Don't leave me halfway through a chess game." Rachel countered.
"I have an idea, little bear." Quinn whispered, nose nudging Rachel's cheek.
Rachel was prepared for anything. Animals. A trip to the Great Barrier Reef. A new recipe involving marshmallows and Skittles. More bedroom games. It could really be anything. She hummed for Quinn to continue.
"Spring break's coming up. I think we should go visit your dads in Ohio." Quinn explained quietly. "We haven't seen them since last summer. And you could play with me for a whole week. No interruptions."
Rachel chuckled at Quinn's verb usage.
"That's a lot of time to be stuck with you in one bedroom." Rachel mused.
Quinn shook her hair into Rachel's face. "We just have to bribe somebody to take care of the pets."
Which was easier said than done. It couldn't be anybody who had taken care of them previously, because those people learned from those experiences. They would not be making those mistakes again. And Rachel was willing to fork over a lot of cash to anybody who took care of the dogs. But people usually refused once they met Cornelius. She'd probably look into a kennel.
"I bought you flowers on the way home." Quinn blurted into the quiet.
Rachel tapped her fingers against Quinn's chest. She was not surprised. "You're a sweetheart." She murmured.
"You deserve it." Quinn continued. "And I got the ones that look like you."
Rachel frowned. They were talking about flowers, right? Had she fallen asleep?
"It's a multi-colored assortment." Quinn said into Rachel's ear. "Very bright. I mean, sunshine bright. Vivid. Full of life. If they could sing, they'd sound like you. I put them in a vase on the table."
Rachel smiled sleepily. "Thank you, baby."
She hoped there were enough flowers left in the morning for her to get a look at them. The cats loved to drag them out and eat them. Break a few vases. Get water everywhere.
"I bought you jelly beans as well, but I ate them." Quinn added quietly.
Rachel snorted into her shoulder.
"And I took a picture of the lamb that was just born on the farm at school. I thought you'd like to see it."
Rachel would love to see it. Mostly because Quinn was delighted by it, but also because it would be absolutely adorable. "Did you learn anything while you were doing all this for me?" she asked.
Quinn squeezed her closer. "I learned that I love you more than I thought was possible. And that nothing will ever be enough, because you deserve all the flowers and jelly beans in the world. And that ewes eat the placenta so that there won't be any evidence of birthing, to protect their lambs from predators."
Well. That was a little gross.
Rachel chose to ignore the third sentence.
"I…love you too." She said, ridding her mind of the images.
"And correct presentation in a sheep birth is front legs first, with-"
"Baby." Rachel interrupted. "Big bear, honey, sweetie, sunshine. Let's sleep."
Quinn sighed and nodded. She kissed the side of Rachel's head and made sure there was enough air in their cocoon. There was not. Rachel felt like a lamb being born. Quinn made the hole bigger and pressed a cool stuffed animal to Rachel's face.