It was exactly how Eliot remembered it. He leant down to meet Quentin, wrapping an arm around the other man to help raise him, and he assumed this meant that his apology was accepted. There was a smile lingering on his face when they parted.
"Kinda like that," he agreed. There was a smile pulling at the edges of his mouth and, just like last time, he drew Quentin back into another kiss. "Am I forgiven?"
He let Eliot suffer for half a minute and then he shook his head. "You owe me a real drink on a real date. Once, before our lives conspire to screw things up for us again." Because things always happened and they always destroyed any shred of a chance for a personal life. Even now, they were searching for the keys to turn magic back on. Their lives weren't always their own.
He pressed a hand to Eliot's chest and pushed. "So go," he said and pointed to the door. "Make reservations or something in... Are there even places to reserve in the town outside of here?" Because it wasn't like they could whisk off to the city. Not with Penny a disembodied spirit and magic missing. But it wasn't like they were in the complete middle of nowhere.
His lips twitched. Would he get to see Eliot actually drive? And whose car would he use?
"Whatever. That you can figure out. I'm going to get dressed since you're already...you." He waved a vague hand in Eliot's direction.
"If you're always going to be this demanding, I'm rethinking this."
He was joking. He pulled Quentin in for a kiss before Quentin could comment, then gave his butt a light pat to send him on his way.
"I'll ... Figure it out."
Eliot had been to the town a few times. Mostly when he and Margo wanted to get fucked up in ways not involving their fellow students, and when he wanted to flirt with boys he didn't go to school with. He never really thought he'd be going on a date anywhere there, but. He was pretty sure he remembered a place or two.
"I can't believe you're forcing me to take you on a date," he called out. "I'm getting us an Uber, how long will you be?"
"Fifteen minutes," Quentin called. Really, it wouldn't take nearly that long. There was only one outfit in his wardrobe he really considered 'date' material, even if it was a date with Eliot who he'd been with in another life for decades. Eliot had literally seen him in nothing, but this was different somehow.
Maybe Eliot was right. It was different here. They'd accepted around the time Ted was born that they were staying in Fillory. Sure, they always said that there was a chance they'd leave one day, but never in Ted's hearing and eventually it'd become just an in joke. One of the things that had stuck in his memory once that life had come back to him.
But they'd led a simple, uncomplicated life. Almost, and it felt a little treasonous to think it, a boring life. But maybe that was the hindsight of decades worth of experience because, at the end of it, he'd been content.
And now things were complicated and exciting and he was staring at his clothes and wondering if they were enough. Maybe he should have said a half hour. Except he hadn't and so he changed and threw his hair up into a ponytail and then considered the thought of cologne. But that would seem too much like trying. Not just trying, desperately trying.
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"Kinda like that," he agreed. There was a smile pulling at the edges of his mouth and, just like last time, he drew Quentin back into another kiss. "Am I forgiven?"
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He let Eliot suffer for half a minute and then he shook his head. "You owe me a real drink on a real date. Once, before our lives conspire to screw things up for us again." Because things always happened and they always destroyed any shred of a chance for a personal life. Even now, they were searching for the keys to turn magic back on. Their lives weren't always their own.
He pressed a hand to Eliot's chest and pushed. "So go," he said and pointed to the door. "Make reservations or something in... Are there even places to reserve in the town outside of here?" Because it wasn't like they could whisk off to the city. Not with Penny a disembodied spirit and magic missing. But it wasn't like they were in the complete middle of nowhere.
His lips twitched. Would he get to see Eliot actually drive? And whose car would he use?
"Whatever. That you can figure out. I'm going to get dressed since you're already...you." He waved a vague hand in Eliot's direction.
no subject
He was joking. He pulled Quentin in for a kiss before Quentin could comment, then gave his butt a light pat to send him on his way.
"I'll ... Figure it out."
Eliot had been to the town a few times. Mostly when he and Margo wanted to get fucked up in ways not involving their fellow students, and when he wanted to flirt with boys he didn't go to school with. He never really thought he'd be going on a date anywhere there, but. He was pretty sure he remembered a place or two.
"I can't believe you're forcing me to take you on a date," he called out. "I'm getting us an Uber, how long will you be?"
no subject
Maybe Eliot was right. It was different here. They'd accepted around the time Ted was born that they were staying in Fillory. Sure, they always said that there was a chance they'd leave one day, but never in Ted's hearing and eventually it'd become just an in joke. One of the things that had stuck in his memory once that life had come back to him.
But they'd led a simple, uncomplicated life. Almost, and it felt a little treasonous to think it, a boring life. But maybe that was the hindsight of decades worth of experience because, at the end of it, he'd been content.
And now things were complicated and exciting and he was staring at his clothes and wondering if they were enough. Maybe he should have said a half hour. Except he hadn't and so he changed and threw his hair up into a ponytail and then considered the thought of cologne. But that would seem too much like trying. Not just trying, desperately trying.
He took a breath and headed out to meet Eliot.