Flynn's Big Day (Flynn, Quinn, Thomas, James)
In all that years that Flynn had been homeless, the thing he had suffered most from was not lack of food, or shelter. It wasn't lack of a place to call his own. It was lack of Quinn. It was the lack of the one person he absolutely knew would love him until the day he died. Hell, it was the lack of someone who loved him, end of story. He had never once entertained the thought that he might one day find Quinn again, after they had gone their separate ways, kicking and screaming against the current that ripped them apart. He had forged ahead, forcing himself to believe that the past was in the past because if he had believed for one moment that he might find Quinn again, then he would have spent every waking hour, and probably ever sleeping one, thinking of nothing but the shimmering moment in time that he could see his love again. A moment that might have never come. You learned quick, out there in the world, that dreams were worth less than nothing.
That shimmering moment had come anyway, striking Flynn dumb in it's wake when he had first laid eyes on Quinn after six years of pain and loneliness. He remembered how his heart had felt, thudding against his ribcage as if to escape because there in that room it stood to be overwhelmed with happiness and relief, or dashed to smithereens in an instant. Flynn wasn't used to being vulnerable. He had been stunned to silence and Quinn had had to speak first. And then things were as they had ever been, Flynn silent and Quinn chattering and it was as if no time had passed at all and the differences in their lives up to that point meant less than dreams on the street.
Flynn had learned that home was where Quinn was. Even in the three months Quinn had been yet again taken from him, even when he hadn't known that was temporary he had known Quinn's presence meant he was home. And now Quinn was leaving their little room...the room that had been their sanctuary when all the world had sought to go mad, and he was moving a few minutes away into the strangest looking house Flynn had ever seen. It made Spectre's house seem a little less like home. A little more like exactly that. Spectre's house. Sometimes Flynn didn't understand how you were supposed to know what was right when everything was so confusing.
Flynn didn't realise Quinn noticed. Quinn knew Flynn was afraid of being on his own, and that he was taking this move harder than they both had originally assumed. Flynn had even asked if this was Quinn's revenge in a way. Once Flynn had sent him far away for his own good. Was that now what Quinn was doing? Moving away for Flynn's own good? Quinn had assured his lover that he wasn't going anywhere emotionally. Flynn seemed unconvinced. So Quinn sought to prove it to him.
When Flynn returned from his class on Friday, he hung his coat on the ornate coat rack. It hung there, dripping water onto the floor and Flynn shook more of it from his hair, splattering droplets of water all over the walls and Thomas and Spectre's son, James.
"Flynny!" James protested, lifting a chubby hand to wipe his eyes, in an attempt to rid them of the unwelcome moisture.
"Oh, James! I'm sorry!" Flynn bent down to the toddler and he frowned guiltily. "Are you alright?"
"You're gross." James informed him, as only a two-year-old could.
From the sofa, Thomas chuckled. "I didn't teach him that. I think Peter probably did." Peter did so hate to be messy... Thomas was a boy at heart. Mess was probably his first love. Mess or Transformers. It was a toss-up. "Good day?"
"Long. I'm starving." Flynn glanced towards the kitchen eagerly, but he reached out his arms to hug James anyway. Making amends was more important than sandwiches. At least at the moment.
Thomas smiled, simply because he remembered a time when Flynn didn't feel comfortable enough in the house to hang his wet coat up in the hall and then bluntly state he was hungry. Time was, he would have apologised profusely for the sad state of himself, refused to let anyone know he was hungry because it wasn't anyone else's problem, and then suggested he stay outside until he dried off because he wasn't fit to be allowed in the house. Time had changed him and Thomas was grateful. "Well hold on to that thought. There's a man in your room."
"Special delivery?" Flynn asked with raised eyebrows. "I must have been a good boy this year!" Flynn still took the time to kiss James on the head, however, because James was a good boy too and he deserved it. "Friends again?" Flynn asked, frowning cutely.
"Friends forever." James promised, brushing his small fingers across Flynn's forehead. "Forever and ever and ever. Daddy bought me a ninja turtles."
"Did he?" Flynn grinned at Thomas. "Can we play later? I want to see your new toys!"
"Okay!" James said excitedly, and then he ran off towards his room, brightened by the promise that he would get to play games with his friend soon enough.
"He adores you, you know that right?" Thomas asked gently.
"I adore him." Flynn stood, running a hand through his hair to test the dampness. He was then reassured he was fine. "James is the sweetest little boy I've ever met."
"Flynn..." Thomas stood from the sofa then, and he went to place his hands on Flynn's shoulders. "Before you go collect your special delivery, can I ask you something?"
"Anything." Flynn replied easily, and he meant it. He had no secrets anymore, and it was the best feeling in the world. Thomas had been the first one to find him. He owed Thomas everything he now had. Thomas could ask him to crawl through glass and Flynn would.
It wasn't the easiest question to ask, because Thomas wasn't sure Flynn would understand the reasoning behind his request. He forged ahead anyway. "James doesn't have a godfather, and I was wondering if you-"
Flynn blinked in surprise and he interrupted, something so out of character for him that it shocked himself as much as it shocked Thomas. "Peter!" he said quickly. Peter was Thomas' best friend. They were practically the same person. Why was Thomas asking him to do this?
"That's...complicated." Thomas bit his lip. "Because of who James' mother is."
"Oh." Flynn remembered and asked Thomas no further questions about Peter being James' godfather. "Joe or Adam?"
"They get to be James' uncles. Stuart too, even if Abby and Stuart aren't technically married. Hell, Stuart was my brother a long time ago. Peter too. Sure we were monks..." Thomas was rambling, so he cleared his throat. "Flynn, no one else knows James and loves him as much as you do. No one that's not related to him. If something were to happen to me-" He'd been thinking about it a lot lately. With the threat of Amaris and the pull, he needed to. "Spectre has James and Marie...he's going to need help. And I know you'd help anyway, but I just thought-"
"Yes." Flynn nodded and then his face split into a wide grin. "Of course, Thomas. I'm just so surprised it's me."
"You shouldn't be. You really shouldn't be. Thank you, Flynn."
"No...thank you!" Flynn couldn't quite comprehend what an honour this was. "Thomas. Thank you. But hey, no dying."
Thomas chuckled. "I assure you I will try my very hardest. Now. Go get your man."
"Ooh, my man!" Flynn had forgotten. "I will!" Flynn turned and he dashed quickly up the stairs, turning a quick left.
His door was closed and when he opened it the first thing he saw was actually his black cat, Errol. Errol's olive green eyes were fixed on him, filled with disapproval. Things were Happening and they had interrupted his Cat Nap. And then Flynn saw the huge banner stretching across his bed and he wondered how he had possibly missed it. A slow smile spread across his lips as his own grey eyes took in the crudely painted and only halfway dried banner which read 'Come to the Roof' in bendy purple letters.
Flynn grabbed an extra sweater because it was freezing outside, and he did exactly as the child-like lettering instructed him to do, climbing the stairs to the attic studio two at a time. It was unoccupied, Spectre and Timothy having finished their work for the day. Soon it would be his turn in the studio, laying down his bass tracks for the newest Spectre album. For now, Flynn was free to continue through the studio to the balcony and from there he hefted himself onto the roof.
The sky overhead was obscured by clouds coloured angry grey. They threatened to cover London in yet another deluge of freezing rain, but for now they settled for just looking threatening. And there, a splash of startling yellow against the backdrop of winter, sat Quinn in his favourite jumper, resting on what looked like his Garfield blanket. His mother had brought it to them while Quinn was sick, thinking a relic of Quinn's childhood would matter to him while he couldn't even remember his own name. But it mattered now. "Hi!" Quinn chirped cheerfully, his mood matching his outrageous sweater shade, and possibly outstripping it's brightness. "You came!"
"Aren't you freezing?" Flynn asked, in lieu of a greeting. But he still knelt down on the Garfield blanket and he leaned in to capture Quinn's lips in a kiss.
"I'm too fabulous to feel the cold." Quinn winked. "How was your day, Mal?"
"Long. I didn't have time for lunch because there was a mix-up with my timetable. Enrolling online is hard when you still have trouble understanding how to turn on a computer." Technology had advanced quickly in the six years Flynn hadn't had a chance to take part in it all. And now he was still playing catch up. "But I got it sorted."
"My poor baby." Quinn reached out for Flynn's stomach. "We can have dinner soon. It's all planned. I just wanted you to sit with me for a little while first."
"On the roof?" Flynn asked, amused. He settled down beside his love, both facing towards Regent's park. The view was amazing. The trees that lined the pathways had long shed their leaves, and gnarled, lonely branches reached skywards, obscuring the view of the city beyond. Each bare finger begging for sun and life, alone in the quest even when surrounded by branches in such similar desperation. Flynn tried not to think about how very often humans were like that. Everyone feeling alone in their search for happiness, too mixed up in their own feelings to notice that everyone around them was suffering the same thing. Flynn reached out for Quinn's hand then, not wanting to be alone in his own quest. "I liked your banner. It was very purple."
"Mara helped me." Quinn chuckled. "And the roof seems the best place, really." Walls could not contain Flynn and Quinn. And Quinn knew that Flynn was always more comfortable in open spaces. Anywhere he could see the sky. "Mal?"
"Yeah?" Flynn moved a little closer to Quinn.
Quinn didn't need preamble with Flynn. Flynn always understood exactly what he was talking about, unless he was being purposefully mysterious. It was instinct. "I'm not leaving you."
"I know." Flynn nodded.
"I love you."
"I know that too." It wasn't about that. That, Flynn never doubted. "You show me all the time."
"Damn right. And I don't intend on stopping." Quinn reached for Flynn's hair and he ran his fingers through it. "Your hair is wet!"
"I got caught in a friggin' squall!" Flynn squeaked, referring to the buckets of rain that had seemingly only dumped on him.
"A squa...nevermind. I'll be quick." Flynn shouldn't be out in the cold with wet hair. That Quinn hadn't noticed. "Mal, you are my forever. Moving out is just for a little while. We'll live together again. We have time. I think we've more than proved nothing can keep us apart. I want you to marry me, Mal."
Flynn raised his eyes to lock onto Quinn's. He wasn't speaking hypothetically here. Flynn knew the difference. And there again was his heart, thudding against his ribs, bringing back the memory of seeing him again after so long. So clear in his mind, like the peppermint taste of their first kiss. His happiness was overwhelming. So overwhelming, he simply looked politely confused instead of the extremely ecstatic he was actually feeling. "Now?"
It was such a typical Flynn response, that Quinn absolutely melted inside. His grin was so wide he was sure they could see it in the park. "Not now! Sometime! Soon or later or whenever you want. But I want to marry you. I want to stand in front of the people we love and show them what you mean to me. And I got you a ring. But it's inside because I was afraid I'd drop it off the roof."
Flynn snorted and then he leaned in to kiss Quinn deeply. "You got me a ring." He breathed against Quinn's lips. "You got me a ring and you asked me to marry you on the roof." He had been asked to be someone's husband and someone's godfather in the same day!!
"And you had wet hair." Quinn smiled up at him, snaking his arms around Flynn's waist. "And you still haven't answered, though the pouncing could be taken as a yes, Mister. If it's no, you'd better let me down easy!"
"Yes!" Flynn said that, as if he couldn't say the world quickly enough. "Always yes! Of course it's yes. I'll be your forever." And then he buried his face in Quinn's neck, his cold hair splayed out across Quinn's cheek and Quinn didn't care.
It was the simplest and happiest day of his life, and Flynn certainly felt the same.
That shimmering moment had come anyway, striking Flynn dumb in it's wake when he had first laid eyes on Quinn after six years of pain and loneliness. He remembered how his heart had felt, thudding against his ribcage as if to escape because there in that room it stood to be overwhelmed with happiness and relief, or dashed to smithereens in an instant. Flynn wasn't used to being vulnerable. He had been stunned to silence and Quinn had had to speak first. And then things were as they had ever been, Flynn silent and Quinn chattering and it was as if no time had passed at all and the differences in their lives up to that point meant less than dreams on the street.
Flynn had learned that home was where Quinn was. Even in the three months Quinn had been yet again taken from him, even when he hadn't known that was temporary he had known Quinn's presence meant he was home. And now Quinn was leaving their little room...the room that had been their sanctuary when all the world had sought to go mad, and he was moving a few minutes away into the strangest looking house Flynn had ever seen. It made Spectre's house seem a little less like home. A little more like exactly that. Spectre's house. Sometimes Flynn didn't understand how you were supposed to know what was right when everything was so confusing.
Flynn didn't realise Quinn noticed. Quinn knew Flynn was afraid of being on his own, and that he was taking this move harder than they both had originally assumed. Flynn had even asked if this was Quinn's revenge in a way. Once Flynn had sent him far away for his own good. Was that now what Quinn was doing? Moving away for Flynn's own good? Quinn had assured his lover that he wasn't going anywhere emotionally. Flynn seemed unconvinced. So Quinn sought to prove it to him.
When Flynn returned from his class on Friday, he hung his coat on the ornate coat rack. It hung there, dripping water onto the floor and Flynn shook more of it from his hair, splattering droplets of water all over the walls and Thomas and Spectre's son, James.
"Flynny!" James protested, lifting a chubby hand to wipe his eyes, in an attempt to rid them of the unwelcome moisture.
"Oh, James! I'm sorry!" Flynn bent down to the toddler and he frowned guiltily. "Are you alright?"
"You're gross." James informed him, as only a two-year-old could.
From the sofa, Thomas chuckled. "I didn't teach him that. I think Peter probably did." Peter did so hate to be messy... Thomas was a boy at heart. Mess was probably his first love. Mess or Transformers. It was a toss-up. "Good day?"
"Long. I'm starving." Flynn glanced towards the kitchen eagerly, but he reached out his arms to hug James anyway. Making amends was more important than sandwiches. At least at the moment.
Thomas smiled, simply because he remembered a time when Flynn didn't feel comfortable enough in the house to hang his wet coat up in the hall and then bluntly state he was hungry. Time was, he would have apologised profusely for the sad state of himself, refused to let anyone know he was hungry because it wasn't anyone else's problem, and then suggested he stay outside until he dried off because he wasn't fit to be allowed in the house. Time had changed him and Thomas was grateful. "Well hold on to that thought. There's a man in your room."
"Special delivery?" Flynn asked with raised eyebrows. "I must have been a good boy this year!" Flynn still took the time to kiss James on the head, however, because James was a good boy too and he deserved it. "Friends again?" Flynn asked, frowning cutely.
"Friends forever." James promised, brushing his small fingers across Flynn's forehead. "Forever and ever and ever. Daddy bought me a ninja turtles."
"Did he?" Flynn grinned at Thomas. "Can we play later? I want to see your new toys!"
"Okay!" James said excitedly, and then he ran off towards his room, brightened by the promise that he would get to play games with his friend soon enough.
"He adores you, you know that right?" Thomas asked gently.
"I adore him." Flynn stood, running a hand through his hair to test the dampness. He was then reassured he was fine. "James is the sweetest little boy I've ever met."
"Flynn..." Thomas stood from the sofa then, and he went to place his hands on Flynn's shoulders. "Before you go collect your special delivery, can I ask you something?"
"Anything." Flynn replied easily, and he meant it. He had no secrets anymore, and it was the best feeling in the world. Thomas had been the first one to find him. He owed Thomas everything he now had. Thomas could ask him to crawl through glass and Flynn would.
It wasn't the easiest question to ask, because Thomas wasn't sure Flynn would understand the reasoning behind his request. He forged ahead anyway. "James doesn't have a godfather, and I was wondering if you-"
Flynn blinked in surprise and he interrupted, something so out of character for him that it shocked himself as much as it shocked Thomas. "Peter!" he said quickly. Peter was Thomas' best friend. They were practically the same person. Why was Thomas asking him to do this?
"That's...complicated." Thomas bit his lip. "Because of who James' mother is."
"Oh." Flynn remembered and asked Thomas no further questions about Peter being James' godfather. "Joe or Adam?"
"They get to be James' uncles. Stuart too, even if Abby and Stuart aren't technically married. Hell, Stuart was my brother a long time ago. Peter too. Sure we were monks..." Thomas was rambling, so he cleared his throat. "Flynn, no one else knows James and loves him as much as you do. No one that's not related to him. If something were to happen to me-" He'd been thinking about it a lot lately. With the threat of Amaris and the pull, he needed to. "Spectre has James and Marie...he's going to need help. And I know you'd help anyway, but I just thought-"
"Yes." Flynn nodded and then his face split into a wide grin. "Of course, Thomas. I'm just so surprised it's me."
"You shouldn't be. You really shouldn't be. Thank you, Flynn."
"No...thank you!" Flynn couldn't quite comprehend what an honour this was. "Thomas. Thank you. But hey, no dying."
Thomas chuckled. "I assure you I will try my very hardest. Now. Go get your man."
"Ooh, my man!" Flynn had forgotten. "I will!" Flynn turned and he dashed quickly up the stairs, turning a quick left.
His door was closed and when he opened it the first thing he saw was actually his black cat, Errol. Errol's olive green eyes were fixed on him, filled with disapproval. Things were Happening and they had interrupted his Cat Nap. And then Flynn saw the huge banner stretching across his bed and he wondered how he had possibly missed it. A slow smile spread across his lips as his own grey eyes took in the crudely painted and only halfway dried banner which read 'Come to the Roof' in bendy purple letters.
Flynn grabbed an extra sweater because it was freezing outside, and he did exactly as the child-like lettering instructed him to do, climbing the stairs to the attic studio two at a time. It was unoccupied, Spectre and Timothy having finished their work for the day. Soon it would be his turn in the studio, laying down his bass tracks for the newest Spectre album. For now, Flynn was free to continue through the studio to the balcony and from there he hefted himself onto the roof.
The sky overhead was obscured by clouds coloured angry grey. They threatened to cover London in yet another deluge of freezing rain, but for now they settled for just looking threatening. And there, a splash of startling yellow against the backdrop of winter, sat Quinn in his favourite jumper, resting on what looked like his Garfield blanket. His mother had brought it to them while Quinn was sick, thinking a relic of Quinn's childhood would matter to him while he couldn't even remember his own name. But it mattered now. "Hi!" Quinn chirped cheerfully, his mood matching his outrageous sweater shade, and possibly outstripping it's brightness. "You came!"
"Aren't you freezing?" Flynn asked, in lieu of a greeting. But he still knelt down on the Garfield blanket and he leaned in to capture Quinn's lips in a kiss.
"I'm too fabulous to feel the cold." Quinn winked. "How was your day, Mal?"
"Long. I didn't have time for lunch because there was a mix-up with my timetable. Enrolling online is hard when you still have trouble understanding how to turn on a computer." Technology had advanced quickly in the six years Flynn hadn't had a chance to take part in it all. And now he was still playing catch up. "But I got it sorted."
"My poor baby." Quinn reached out for Flynn's stomach. "We can have dinner soon. It's all planned. I just wanted you to sit with me for a little while first."
"On the roof?" Flynn asked, amused. He settled down beside his love, both facing towards Regent's park. The view was amazing. The trees that lined the pathways had long shed their leaves, and gnarled, lonely branches reached skywards, obscuring the view of the city beyond. Each bare finger begging for sun and life, alone in the quest even when surrounded by branches in such similar desperation. Flynn tried not to think about how very often humans were like that. Everyone feeling alone in their search for happiness, too mixed up in their own feelings to notice that everyone around them was suffering the same thing. Flynn reached out for Quinn's hand then, not wanting to be alone in his own quest. "I liked your banner. It was very purple."
"Mara helped me." Quinn chuckled. "And the roof seems the best place, really." Walls could not contain Flynn and Quinn. And Quinn knew that Flynn was always more comfortable in open spaces. Anywhere he could see the sky. "Mal?"
"Yeah?" Flynn moved a little closer to Quinn.
Quinn didn't need preamble with Flynn. Flynn always understood exactly what he was talking about, unless he was being purposefully mysterious. It was instinct. "I'm not leaving you."
"I know." Flynn nodded.
"I love you."
"I know that too." It wasn't about that. That, Flynn never doubted. "You show me all the time."
"Damn right. And I don't intend on stopping." Quinn reached for Flynn's hair and he ran his fingers through it. "Your hair is wet!"
"I got caught in a friggin' squall!" Flynn squeaked, referring to the buckets of rain that had seemingly only dumped on him.
"A squa...nevermind. I'll be quick." Flynn shouldn't be out in the cold with wet hair. That Quinn hadn't noticed. "Mal, you are my forever. Moving out is just for a little while. We'll live together again. We have time. I think we've more than proved nothing can keep us apart. I want you to marry me, Mal."
Flynn raised his eyes to lock onto Quinn's. He wasn't speaking hypothetically here. Flynn knew the difference. And there again was his heart, thudding against his ribs, bringing back the memory of seeing him again after so long. So clear in his mind, like the peppermint taste of their first kiss. His happiness was overwhelming. So overwhelming, he simply looked politely confused instead of the extremely ecstatic he was actually feeling. "Now?"
It was such a typical Flynn response, that Quinn absolutely melted inside. His grin was so wide he was sure they could see it in the park. "Not now! Sometime! Soon or later or whenever you want. But I want to marry you. I want to stand in front of the people we love and show them what you mean to me. And I got you a ring. But it's inside because I was afraid I'd drop it off the roof."
Flynn snorted and then he leaned in to kiss Quinn deeply. "You got me a ring." He breathed against Quinn's lips. "You got me a ring and you asked me to marry you on the roof." He had been asked to be someone's husband and someone's godfather in the same day!!
"And you had wet hair." Quinn smiled up at him, snaking his arms around Flynn's waist. "And you still haven't answered, though the pouncing could be taken as a yes, Mister. If it's no, you'd better let me down easy!"
"Yes!" Flynn said that, as if he couldn't say the world quickly enough. "Always yes! Of course it's yes. I'll be your forever." And then he buried his face in Quinn's neck, his cold hair splayed out across Quinn's cheek and Quinn didn't care.
It was the simplest and happiest day of his life, and Flynn certainly felt the same.