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Published at 22nd of January 2019 08:21:50 PM


Chapter 46

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Quinn stretched in place and sat up in bed. He glanced over at the VR chamber, noting that Tal was still there. "Might as well get a workout in." He grabbed his running shoes, threw on a pair of shorts and headed out. A few miles later he stopped in his old stomping grounds to do pull-ups.

"Gotta get a hold of Crow today, before I log back in," he reminded himself.

An hour later a tired Q walked up his driveway. "I need some wheels, tomorrows priority is something drivable."

Anna was in the kitchen cleaning up her breakfast, she looked up when he came in. "Hey Q-bear!"

"Morning Nanna."

"Tal made you some breakfast, it's in the fridge." Anna sat down at the island and poured herself some coffee.

"Thanks.." Q opened up the fridge and took out a plate of egg-bake. He smiled when he looked at it, definitely extra jalapenos. "Best girlfriend ever," he muttered to himself as he slid the plate in the microwave.

"You really like jalapenos." Anna sipped her coffee. She was wearing a light blue jumpsuit with orange flowers on it.

"You look cute Nanna." Quinn removed the eggs when they dinged and started eating. "Doesn't everyone love jalapenos."

"You and my dad seem to have extra feelings for them." It didn't stop her from reaching over and eating a stray jalapenos off of his plate.

"What do you know about Crow Irl? Sorry, I mean Emily Moore." He casually slid his plate a bit further from her reach.

"Only a bit more then you," she sipped her coffee as if thinking carefully. "She's the only daughter of Mr. Obreen, uses her mothers maiden name. She's been a bit of a wild child over the years, she's my age now, so hopefully that's behind her."

"Her dad is Great Hair guy?" Quinn finished off the plate in record time and managed to snag Anna's cup while she was talking, he winked at her as he took a sip. "That's good."

"She's managed to alienate most of her family over the years, rumor says that only her dad and grandma still talk to her." Anna got up and headed toward the stairs.

"I'm going to meet her at Exodus today," he called after her as she started up.

Anna stopped midway up the stairs, "Oh? Why is that?"

"She's an important part of the plan," Quinn replied.

Quinn walked up the stairs and made his way to the bathroom. He washed his face and looked in the mirror. He had always kept his hair shaved close on the sides and back, then tied up in a top knot.

He ran his fingers through his black hair. "I wonder if I have my dads hair, maybe time for a change."

By the time he had brushed his teeth and showered, Tal was sitting at their desk doing a bit of drawing. She had her blonde hair tied up in a bun, her prosthetic was leaning against the wall.

He stared at her for a moment, she was humming while she worked.

Tal seemed to feel his presence and looked up, her face lit up in a smile. She had been smiling an awful lot in recent days.

Quinn walked in, his hands thrust casually in his pockets. "Thanks for the egg bake," he bent down and kissed her on the lips.

She smiled and grabbed his arm, extending the kiss slightly. "Your welcome hun. Nanna came in while you were showering." She reached for her prosthetic.

Quinn grinned at the nickname as he sat down. 'Yes! Another one sticks!' "You don't need to put that on because of me Tal."

Tal's pretty blue eyes turned on him and then she leaned back in her chair, a smile on her face. "Right, sorry it's a habit."

"This version of you is best, no need to hide it." Quinn picked up the notebook she had been writing in. "Hey, is this Pern?"

Tal nodded and leaned closer. "They've been able to lay track nearly the entire length of the continent. I want that track."

Quinn reached for her hand, interlacing their fingers as she spoke. Tal paused, looking down at their hands, her expression unreadable.

"How are you at cutting hair Talia?" Quinn tended to use her full name when asking for things.

A smile played on Tal's lips. "Willing to find out Little Q?"

Quinn nodded his head, "worse case scenario, I just shave it all off and start over."

Tal's thumb gently traced the top of his hand. "Very gutsy, I'm in if you are."

Quinn let her hand go as he stood up. "Gonna say hi to Ren, then I'll be ready."

Tal watched him leave, "your bathroom Quinn in ten minutes, I'll get everything ready."

Quinn bounded down the stairs two at a time and headed into Ren's room, he stopped in the doorway.

Ren was sitting on her bed across from Anna, between them were a dozen stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes. Ren had been introducing each of them to Anna.

Quinn smiled at them from the door, Ren took her stuffed animals very seriously. "All the guys are back?"

Ren had her pale blonde hair done into a french braid, she wore an over-sized 'Notre Dame' jersey that Quinn had given her. "Yep, they were in the garage! Can you imagine that?"

Quinn laughed at Ren's expression, that was the closest she ever looked to angry. "You know Ren, if everyone had your personality, the world would be a fantastic place."

Ren's face blushed slightly. "That's very sweet Quinn."

Anna was grinning, "Hey Q-bear! Say something nice about this girl too!!" She pointed to herself.

"I could say that you're the first girl to make dimples look hot, but Ren's here so I shouldn't.

Hmmm, let me think." Quinn scratched his cheek while hiding a grin.

"Oh.. I will accept that." Anna looked a little embarrassed and changed the subject, she pointed at the shelf above Ren's bed. "What about those three.?"

"That's Chubba Bubba, Potato bear and Bob." Ren smiled, "I never let anyone else touch them, they are way too precious to me."

"Oh.. such interesting names. Who gave them to you?" Anna was itching to hold Bob the buffalo. It's little horns were calling her name.

"Quinn gave me all three on the day we met, so obviously I can't part with them." Ren looked at the animals, her eyes bright with humor.

"They use to be mine, I was putting them in a box to toss them in the dumpster." Quinn leaned against the doorway, "Ren was in the hallway sitting against her door."

Ren nodded, "my music teacher was being so annoying, so I'd had enough of her and stepped out."

"She looked all alone sitting there, so I gave her those three animals." Quinn was still amazed at the importance Ren had placed on them.

"I love Quinn, he's the best." Ren muttered as she started gathering up the ones on her bed.

Quinn laughed, "no.. Ren's the best."

Ren snuck a glance at Anna, "Nanna is pretty nice too."

"Yep, Naner is awesome sauce." Quinn grinned at the smiling lawyer.

"Will you get me some stuffed animals?" Anna had serious buffalo envy. "I wouldn't say no to a buffalo!"

Q finished his sandwich and took a drink of water, "yep.. I can do that."

A few minutes later, after tidying up the kitchen, Quinn headed upstairs. Tal was sitting on his bed when he walked in.

"The doomed man enters!" Tal had a scissors in one hand, and a comb in the other.

"Doomed? Wait.. I want to rethink this!!" Quinn offered her a hand up and walked into the bathroom.

Tal had placed a chair in the middle of the floor, "you are going to have to take your shirt off Little Q."

"How come the barber never makes me take my shirt off?" Quinn shrugged out of his shirt and tossed it into his room.

Tal placed a hand on his shoulder, her slender fingers felt cool against his skin. "I don't have one of those hair aprons."

Quinn grabbed a towel from the counter and draped it around his shoulders. "Fine, that sounds reasonable. Just don't ogle me."

Tal laughed, then quickly covered her mouth. "No promises, lets get started."

Tal stepped in between his knees, placing her hands on his shoulders, "how much we talking about?"

"More like how I use to wear it." Quinn concentrated on the floor, Tal had put on a white tank top and it was very distracting.

"Oh, so lose the top knot?" Tal untied his hair, letting it fall down. "You have a nice face," she used her fingers to smooth his hair back.

"Yep, leave a few inches and then even out the sides and back."

She pulled his head gently forward and started cutting with her scissors. "So thick."

Quinn had long closed his eyes, one-there was no place to look except at Tal's chest, and two-her fingers felt really good. He felt pieces of hair occasionally fall down.

After a while she sat the scissors down and ran her fingers through the top of his hair. She held his face for a moment. "Hmm.. that looks somewhat even."

"Oh shit.." Quinn opened his eyes, he hadn't realized how much touching was involved in a haircut before. He spun around and looked in the mirror. "Oh.. hey you are pretty good!"

Tal stood behind him, her hands on his shoulders, a strange light in her eyes. "Quinn, you look like someone."

Quinn brushed off the hair from his neck, then reached for a dustpan and broom that Tal had supplied. "Don't we all?"

Tal walked to the bathroom door. "Hey Anna, could you come here for a sec?"

A moment later Anna popped in from the hall, "hey.. this a bathroom party?"

Quinn laughed from the bathroom. "The hell.. is that a thing Naner?"

"Take a quick look at Quinn, who does he look like?" Tal pulled Anna into the bathroom.

Anna stepped into the bathroom and stopped, her mouth dropped open. "No way."

Tal nodded. "You think so too?"

"Holy shit..you're the spitting image of Mr. Obreen." Anna walked out of the bathroom and used Q's desk hud to bring up Orion Media.

A moment later, she looked up at Tal, Quinn was still in the bathroom. He had shut the door and turned on the shower. "Million dollars if you can guess what Mr. Obreen's first name is."

Tal felt a chill run down her spine, she shook her head at Anna. "It's not Quinn is it?"

"There's no way right? I mean, Quinn Obreen and Quinn Riley?" Anna didn't know what to think, she quickly shut the hud off when Q opened the bathroom door.

He had his hair combed back, "you guys crushing on that dude from Orion Media?"

Tal shrugged, "he's kinda attractive I suppose."

Quinn scowled at her.. "Great hair guy is attractive?"

Tal laughed and brought her fingers up to his hair, combing it around a bit. "I like this look on you Quinn," she leaned forward and kissed him softly, not in a hurry to stop. Suddenly she remembered something and pulled back, her face turning red. She had forgotten that Anna was there.

Anna stared at the two of them, her eyes wide in surprise. "It's fine, I'm use to it already."

Quinn shrugged and reached into a drawer for a fresh shirt. "I'm going to make a few calls, so I'll need the hud."

Tal grabbed Anna's hand and dragged her from the room, "okay hun, let's chat later."

He waited until they had left the room, then he activated his hud. "Let's talk to Crow first."

Quinn watched his hud as the call connected, a moment later a dark haired woman answered. "Hi, I'm Quinn."

The woman looked a bit surprised. "I was expecting your call, I'm Emily." She stared hard at Quinn, "you use the same look in your avatar."

Quinn nodded, it tended to surprize some people. "Yep." Emily was sitting in what Quinn assumed was a bedroom. She had long black hair and brown eyes. Her eyes were made-up quite dark, but not completely goth.

"Quinn. Can I ask you something before we start?" She leaned back in her chair staring at him.

"Sure I don't mind," Quinn smiled at her, the better their relationship, the easier this whole process would be.

"What's your dad's name?" Em stared at the face on her hud, it was uncanny.

Quinn shrugged, "no idea. My mom never never mentioned him, by the time I was getting curious about it, she had already passed away."

"Sorry Quinn, I don't mean to pry." Em had lost her mom to cancer when she was four, she was only close to her Dad and Grandma.

"It's fine Em," Q reached for his notebook and opened it up.

"One sec please." Em made a few gestures with her hand and a shell program started running in her hud. "Know what this is Quinn?"

Quinn looked at the program she was sharing. "It looks like a family tree program of some sort."

Em nodded, "as you can imagine we get a lot of people claiming to be part of our family. This is a simple fix, everyone in our bloodline is entered into this, if someone matches up, it will place them right where they belong."

"That's understandable I suppose, everyone wants a piece of the pie." Quinn wasn't sure where she was heading with this, but he didn't mind chatting with her.

"It's an odd request, but I wonder if you'd let me scan you." Em's body was tense, his voice and looks were too similar, even his mannerisms.

"Um... Really?" Quinn's face broke into a grin, "you aren't trying to adopt me are you?" He held out his arm, "go ahead I don't mind."

Em activated the scan and waited, it only took a few moments. The shell program that she was running had a new name blinking on it, directly beneath hers. She stared at it in shock. "Holy shit! Wait here Quinn!" She shot up and ran from the room, Quinn could hear her yelling for her Dad.

An old woman walked into the room a moment later. She noticed that her grand daughters hud was open. She walked up to her desk, "did Emmy walk away while talking to you? I'm sorry, sometimes she...Lord in heaven, who are you?"

"I'm Quinn Riley, a friend of Emily." He smiled at the older woman, she had warm brown eyes and white hair that she wore up in a bun.

"Im Louise Obreen, nice to meet you Quinn." She was speechless for the first time in years, she saw the Tree program running, she didn't need the program to see what was plainly obvious. She had raised Quinn Obreen, she knew the instant this young man had spoke. The blinking name under Emily's only enforced her feeling. "I'm your Grandmother."




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