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“Okay, Dirk. Just hold still.” Quint disinfected the needle and looked up at Dirk. Dirk just looked mildly disinterested and nodded. If anything, Quint was more nervous than Dirk was about this.
They had split their group of four into groups of two, heading out in search of parts they could use to fix up the car. “J-squared”, as Jack had dubbed himself and June, were still out searching, checking in every hour or so. Dirk and Quint were checking through an apartment complex when Dirk had accidentally surprised a mother monster by stepping into her apartment (ie: her nest.) As expected, she lashed out at Dirk as if he was the landlord himself asking for early rent. They escaped the apartment empty handed, with a nasty gash on both Dirk’s forehead, and arm.
They’d wrapped his arm with some of Dirk’s shirt before they headed back to base to properly deal with the wounds. Dirk had insisted that it was fine, but Quint argued that he wasn’t going to let Dirk die of something as treatable as a cut. Dirk had relented, it was difficult for him to argue with Quint lately.
So Quint had carefully cleaned the cuts before readying the needle. He used to be squeamish before the apocalypse but now, well, he still was. Just... less so.
Starting a stitch was always the hardest, but Dirk hardly even flinched as the needle pierced his arm. With all the practice they’d had, it was always a cleaner stitch each time. Quint was confident he could make his own clothes if he needed to now.
It didn’t take long for him to finish with Dirk’s arm. He looked at the stitches and felt proud of his handiwork.
“Okay, now for your forehead.” Quint cleaned the needle again and looked up at Dirk again. “Um. I need a good angle.”
Dirk just shrugged and easily manhandled Quint until the smaller was seated on his leg, clearly pleased with the reaction that Quint gave.
“There. Now you can stitch me up and tell me what you want for Christmas.” Dirk grinned and placed a steadying hand on Quint’s hip.
“Jeez. Keep it up and I’ll make sure it scars.” Quint quipped back before starting the stitch. As flustered as he was, he made sure to be careful. Although, Dirk would probably like having a cool facial scar.
This was something they’d never discussed. There had never been a proper place or time with most of their time being spent on survival or self defense. Whenever there was time, they weren’t alone. Whenever they were alone, they were usually fighting for their lives. Quint began to worry that there would never be an opportunity and perhaps it would never lead to anything.
There was something unspoken about how they sought each other out, gave comfort to each other, and always seemed to touch each other so casually as if they had no sense of personal space when it came to the other. It just felt natural. They may have had opposite personalities but there was something under their skin that itched to reach out for one another. It was something they didn’t even notice they did half the time until Jack would give them a confused look.
With steady fingers, Quint finished up the stitch, his fingertips careful and light to the touch as he double checked his work. He was surprised when a large hand settled over his own.
“Thanks.” Dirk’s voice came out deeper than Quint remembered it being, making him shiver. Quint blinked as his face heated up, unsure of what to say or do. If this was the right time and place he needed to act on it, but no words came to mind or to his lips.
Dirk was- wait. Was he getting closer? Oh no. Quint couldn’t think! He quickly pressed his hand over Dirk’s mouth, completely frazzled.
“I-needle!” Quint held up the needle with his other hand. “Dangerous!”
Dirk looked unamused and raised a brow. He plucked the needle out of his hand and dropped it onto the first aid kit on the floor, uncaring if it made it in or not.
“There.” Dirk’s voice was muffled from behind Quint’s hand. “No more needle.”
“I didn’t clean that!” He chastised Dirk.
Dirk rolled his eyes and pulled Quint’s hand away from his mouth.
“You gotta tell me what you want, Quint. I’m getting mixed signals here.” Dirk kept one hand on Quint’s hip and the other hand loosely holding onto Quint’s wrist.
“Uh- I um-“ Quint stuttered. Words. Usually they were on his side but when it came to Dirk they seemed to elude him.
“Look, how about I just kiss you and then you can decide how you feel.” Dirk looked almost shy. Which was impossible. Dirk wasn’t the brightest but he was always confident in himself, it was something Quint both envied and admired.
Quint blinked again and managed to nod at him.
“Okay.” Dirk nodded back and let go of Quint’s wrist. He hesitated for a moment, making Quint think he wasn’t going to go through with it. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes anyways.
He nearly jumped as he felt Dirk’s lips press against his own. It was... unexpectedly warm and soft. It took him a moment to respond, just as he was leaning in, Dirk was pulling back to look at him.
“Wha-“ Quint blinked slowly as he opened his eyes again. Dirk was staring at him with a raised brow and an expectant look on his face.
“Well?” Dirk huffed, already seemingly preparing himself for rejection.
“I uh- need a second opinion.” Quint put a hand on Dirk’s chest to leverage himself as he leaned in again.
“You- you’re a brat.” Dirk grabbed his chin and leaned in to kiss him again.
From the outside of the tree base, Jack sighed and laid back against the floor boards, staring up at the sky.
“How long do we have to wait before going in? It’s getting late and I’m starving.” He whined as he glanced back at June, who was peeking into the window. She quickly pulled away and smacked his arm.
“Give then a few minutes and we’ll loudly make ourselves known so they can... break apart discretely.” She moved to sit beside him and laid back as well. “They haven’t had any time to talk about- you know.”
She gestured vaguely. Jack nodded.
“Hey, if they combine rooms we’ll have more living room space.” He excitedly threw his fists into the air. More room for game nights!
June just rolled her eyes.
“You really want to hear them making out all night?” She smirked. Jack’s eyes widened at the realization before he let out a dramatic sigh.
“Ugh. No. Gross.” He let his arms fall onto the floorboards.
“Exactly.” She glanced the window again and smiled. “So let’s just give them a little time to themselves.