Air spent two nights in the infirmary before they allowed him to go back to the lair. Quinn stayed with him, sending him healing energy and soothing him. The first night he had been in shock and slept fitfully in Quinn’s arms. The second night was better but Air was in quite a lot of pain and Quinn did his best to make it as bearable as possible alongside the painkillers.
They left the infirmary after midnight on the third night. Secondo didn’t like the general congregation knowing his business or his ghouls’, so they took Air home when they were unlikely to bump into anyone on the way. Quinn carried him as he was still pretty out of it with the pain medication the Sister had given him and he wouldn’t have been able to walk it by himself.
Earth and Quinn got him settled in his room and went to the kitchen, leaving Air’s door open so they’d hear him if he needed anything. Quinn sat down at the dining table and Earth pottered around, making them some Ghoulish tea.
“You doing okay?” the big ghoul asked.
Quinn sat back and gave a stretch, sighing.
“I think so.”
Earth looked back at him over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow.
“You sure about that, Quinn? Because you look like shit.”
Quinn snorted.
“Well, thanks, Earth. You’ve just crushed what little self confidence I had.”
“Don’t be a dick. Here.” He came over and put a plate in front of him. “You need to eat. You’re going to burn yourself out. You’re still recovering yourself and now this. Maybe we should see if Zephyr can come and sit with Air for a bit, so you can have a break.”
Quinn growled.
“No! I’m fine. He doesn’t want anyone else. I’ll stay with him and I can recover too. The quintessence can just do its thing.” Earth scowled and watched him as he took a bite of the sandwich he’d made for him. “See. I’m eating.”
“If I think it’s getting too much for you, I’m going to Secondo. You have no idea what we found when you came back from the Council cells. I thought you were dead when I saw you laying there on the chapel floor.” Quinn dropped his eyes and carried on eating. “Your ears and your eyes were bleeding, Quinn. I barely recognised you. And then there were the hours I spent stopping you from clawing your brains out through your skull. You don't know how fucking scared we all were.”
“I haven’t thanked you, have I?”
Earth chuckled.
“You don’t need to thank me. We are brothers. We’d do anything for each other.”
“So you understand why I need to help Air, then?”
“Yes. I understand, but you’re going to let me look out for you again. You came back from the brink of death a couple of weeks ago and there’s no way I’m going to let you go back there. You begged me to kill you. It was that bad.”
Quinn sighed.
“I know. I remember. And I’m sorry about that. That you had to see all of that.”
Earth gave him a glass of the tea and sat opposite him, giving him a half smile. He nodded towards Quinn’s now empty plate.
“You want something else? Primo made carrot cake. It isn’t too sweet.”
He nodded.
“Thanks. I could eat some cake.”
Earth went and got them a piece each.
“So we have a deal, then? You look after Air and we’ll look after you. And if at any time any of us think that you’re not coping, then we’ll let Secondo deal with it. Secondo dealing with it will mean he’ll put you back on bed rest and pull Zephyr and Omega in to help Air.”
“Fine,” he huffed out.
Earth smirked.
“Do you know what I’ve learned about you over the last few years, Quinn?”
“What Earth? What have you learned?”
“That you suck at looking after yourself.”
Quinn raised a brow at him.
“Are you going to look after me, Earth? Is that what you’re saying?”
Earth grinned.
“Another time, maybe.”
Quinn heard a whimper from Air’s room, and he got up from the table.
“Duty calls.”
Earth gave him a knowing smile.
“There’s no duty there, Quinn. Don’t kid yourself.”
Quinn downed the rest of his tea and crossed the hall back into Air’s room. He was still sleeping, but he was twitching and fidgeting. Quinn climbed into bed behind him and pulled him close, but the air ghoul jumped and scooted away from him.
“It’s me, Air. It’s Quinn,” he said as he lay still.
Air turned around and woke up fully.
“Sorry, Quinn. I didn’t realise it was you,” he whispered.
Quinn bit back the growl that almost escaped him at the memory of Ose’s ghouls. He didn’t want to upset Air, though.
“It’s okay, I startled you. Do you need anything?”
“I really want a burger, but I guess it’s too late for a burger, huh?”
Quinn smiled at him.
“If Air wants a burger, he can have one.”
“It’s fine. I can wait. I just want to stay here in the dark for a while longer.”
He rolled back towards Quinn and curled into him, pressing his face into his chest.
“How does your back feel now?”
“Like a bear played with me,” he huffed. “Is it bad?”
“Secondo doesn’t think it will scar, but they messed you up pretty good.”
Air laughed a humourless laugh.
“Yeah. They did.”
Quinn used his quintessence to soothe him because Air was not doing well despite his trying to act like his usual self. He knew Quinn could tell exactly how he was doing underneath the act, though. He didn’t have to put a brave face on for any of their pack, but he was doing it, anyway.
They lay there in comfortable silence for a while and eventually Air relaxed. Quinn could feel his eyelids growing heavy, but Air suddenly started again.
“Did you lock the door?” he asked.
“No. There’s no need.”
“Oh.”
Air was silent for a minute.
“Do you want me to lock the door, Air?”
“Yes. Please,” he said in a small voice.
Quinn’s anger spiked as he realised that the usually fearless ghoul suddenly needed to know if the door was locked. He mumbled a spell and the lock clicked into place before he realised what he’d done.
“Shit.”
“Did you just do what I think you did?” Air said.
Quinn could hear the amusement in his voice. The Infernal spell had just slipped out without him realising. He was tired, and it had been easier than actually getting up to lock the door.
“Yes.”
He ran a hand down his face.
“I won’t tell if you won’t.”
He smiled as he heard a bit of genuine Air shining through. The air ghoul snuggled back into him again and eventually his breathing evened out as he drifted back to sleep.
Quinn tried not to think about that night because every time he did, he felt rage bubbling up, so he tried to concentrate on giving Air comfort instead. In his mind though, he remembered making the ghouls pay for what they did to Air.
He finally let himself rest with the thought of those fucking ghouls’ pained grunts and screams echoing through his mind. The delicious feel of their anguish comforted him, and he let the memory of their misery lull him off to sleep.