“You're a freak. But I really can't accept these-'Were you raised in a barn? Don't be ruuuuuude, my boy. They're a gift.'Blay shook his head. 'Take them, John. You're just going to lose this argument, and it will save us from the theatrics.'Theatrics?' Qhuinn leaped up and assumed a Roman oratory pose. 'Whither thou knowest thy ass from thy elbow, young scribe?'Blay blushed. 'Come on-'Qhuinn threw himself at Blay, grasping onto the guy's shoulders and hanging his full weight off him. 'Hold me. Your insult has left me breathless. I'm agasp.'Blay grunted and scrambled to keep Qhuinn up off the floor. 'That's agape.'Agasp sounds better.'Blay was trying not to smile, trying not to be delighted, but his eyes were sparkling like sapphires and his cheeks were getting red. With a silent laugh, John sat on one of the locker room benches, shook out his pair of white socks, and pulled them on under his new old jeans. 'You sure, Qhuinn? 'Cause I have a feeling they're going to fit and you might change your mind. Qhuinn abruptly lifted himself off Blay and straightened his clothes with a sharp tug. 'And now you offend my honor.' Facing off at John, he flipped into a fencing stance. Touché.'Blay laughed. 'That's en garde, you damn fool.'Qhuinn shot a look over his shoulder. 'ça va, Brutus?'Et tu?'That would be tutu, I believe, and you can keep the cross-dressing to yourself, ya perv.'Qhuinn flashed a brilliant smile, all twelve kinds of proud for being such an ass. 'Now, put the fuckers on, John, and let's be done with this. Before we have to put Blay in an iron lung.'Try sanitarium.'No, thanks, I had a big lunch.”

“Call me," she whispered to him with a confidence that would fade as the days passed. Qhuinn smiled a little. "Take care."At the sound of the two words, Blay relaxed, his big shoulders easing up. In Qhuinn-landia, "Take care" was synonymous with "I'm never going to see, call or fuck you again.”

“One thing, though," Qhuinn murmured."What?"The voice that came out his throat was unlike anything he'd ever heard from himself before. "If any guy breaks your heart or treats you like shit, I will bust him apart with my bare hands and leave his broken, bloody body for the sun."Blay's laughter rumbled around the tiled walls. "Of course you will--""I'm dead fucking serious."Blay's blue eyes shot over his shoulder."If there are any who dare to hurt you," Qhuinn growled in the Old Language, "I shall see them staked afore me and shall leave their bodies in ruin.”

“Scrambling through the drifts, Blay rushed over and landed on his knees. Qhuinn was sprawled on the ground, his long, heavy legs stretched out, his upper body in John’s lap.The male just stared at him with those mismatched eyes, unmoving, unspeaking.“Is he paralyzed?” Blay demanded, looking over at John.“Not that I’m aware of,” Qhuinn replied dryly.I think he’s got a concussion, John signed.“I do not—”He went flying off the hood of his car and hit this tree—“I mostly missed the tree—”And I’ve had to hold him down ever since.“Which is pissing me off—”

“Blay was the closest thing to an angel Qhuinn had ever come near.”

“Qhuinn stopped breathing, focusing everything he had on the male who had been his best friend and his never-been lover… and the ever-after that was never going to happen.Even after all the things that had gone on between them, and all the fuckups on his end, which were legendary, Blay still had his back.“I love you,” Qhuinn blurted into the silence.”

“Saxton was indeed clear on things: Blay was still in love with Qhuinn— and probably always would be.“Why?” he said to his lover.“Because I want you for however long I have you.”