Chapter Thirty-Five Destroying the Competition
With Quill and Quinn over their disagreement, the rest of the night was a lot of fun. While Rilla and Quinn battled it out playing Mario Kart, Tenn showed Bishop and Quill his gaming setup in his office. Bishop convinced him to download a game that he and Quill already played together and join them, explaining they used a private server and partnered to complete the more difficult goals, but they needed a third to tackle the so-called “impossible” quests. He agreed to try it out and bought it, downloading it onto his laptop so they could play together at each other's houses.
“Obviously, you can play the game by yourself whenever you want,” Bishop explained as the game downloaded. “But we get together Tuesday nights to do quests and raids.”
“Tuesday nights work for me.” Tenn nodded, feeling really good about being accepted into their friend group so easily, although it made sense since he got along with Quinn and Quill so well. They went back into the main area just as Quinn won the first race and they played Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine who was taking her on next. Bishop won and took the controller from his wife, who grabbed a blanket and curled up at the end to watch them play. Quill got Tenn to give him a tour of the house and discussed what he would do to improve it. When Tenn told him he was considering selling and moving to Quinn's neighbourhood, Quill grinned.
“How about this? I'll buy your house; you can rent one of mine in Quinn's neighbourhood on a month-to-month basis, and when you and Quinn are ready to move in together, we'll look at building one for the two of you.”
“You own more houses over there?” Tenn wasn’t really surprised; Quill had been expanding the real estate side of his business rapidly and was making huge strides in green, sustainable building.
“I own close to seventy-five percent of it; I've been buying up the houses in her neighbourhood for years. The plan is to build green, sustainable low- to mid-income housing. Part of the reason Quinn pays so little for rent, outside of the fact that she's my sister, is that all I pay are the property taxes. That house makes me money just sitting there.” He grinned. “I have partnerships with several eco-friendly energy companies. I use their products and advertise them; they advertise that Q Architecture uses them, and I keep track of energy in, energy out, and cost vs. savings and send them back the reports. Quinn's like a guinea pig; she lets me install all the new products in her home to test them with someone who will use them. Her glassed-in breakfast nook?
“I've seen it; what about it?” Tenn nodded, grinning. This was one of the few topics that brought Quill completely out of his shell and his excitement and passion for it was contagious, and Tenn enjoyed listening to him.
“It's a new type of glass that absorbs solar energy. If you look closely at it, you'll see a very fine mesh between the panes. It's fucking genius; she's had them installed for six months over the winter, and the amount of energy those windows produce has paid for them and their installation three times. Three times the investment in six months! I'll be using them exclusively in all my builds from now on, and they will also be installed in all my current rentals. We're getting started next week. Q Architecture will be at the forefront of green, sustainable living.” Quill's pride was evident, and Tenn clapped his hand on his shoulder.
“Hey, it's someone else's turn to have their ass kicked,” Bishop called from the basement, and they headed toward the stairs.
“That's incredible, Quill.” Tenn was always a little in awe of Quill. He had an uncanny ability to predict which direction would be most profitable in the long run and pull it off. He had taken Q and made it a very profitable and in-demand architecture firm, then branched into property development and real estate without a single hiccup. “I’ll definitely take you up on that.”
“Have a real estate agent come do an appraisal and pass it along to me,” Quill instructed as he led the way down the stairs.
“Doesn't Q do that?”
“Yeah, and we will, but you need someone independent to do it as well; we'll give you the highest value.” Quill grinned and held up his fist. They played Rock, Paper, Scissors, and Tenn won.
“Come on, Aston,” Quinn smirked from her place on the couch. “Let me kick your ass.”
“You're going down, Turner.” He took the remote from Bishop and proceeded to have his ass thoroughly kicked. Quinn threw up her hands in triumph.
“YES!” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Come on, “big” brother.” She did the bunny ears around big to tease him. “Let's get the humiliation over with.” She was definitely tipsy and having a blast beating all of them
“How is she so good?” Tenn chuckled as he watched her play.
“She's strategic,” Bishop grumbled. He was sitting next to Rilla with his arm around her shoulder, watching Quinn giggle as she slowed Quill down with multiple banana peels. “She uses every single advantage she can and gets a major lead going; then, when the blue shells hit her, she's recovered and gone before you catch up.”
“Sometimes she's having an off night or wants to be nice and let one of us win, but tonight is not that night.” Rilla groaned and got up to get more drinks.
Bishop chuckled and kissed Rilla’s hand as she walked away. “She's definitely showing off.” He murmured to Tenn. “She spent a lot of time alone growing up; she's played this game on every console Nintendo put out.”
A few hours later, it was past midnight, the food had been practically decimated, and they were all at various levels of drunkenness, with Quinn, Bishop and Rilla being the worst. Quill told Tenn in an aside that this was normal; he didn’t drink much and usually ended up looking after the other three. Tenn wasn’t much of a drinker either which made Quill happy because it meant he had someone to talk to and help out with the others. Quinn had come out on top of the tournament, winning all the races and now the games had been forgotten, and they were all lounging on the couch, the conversation slowly petering out.
“All right.” Quill stood up and grabbed his book bag. “I'm going to get ready to go to bed. You guys need to clear out of my room.” He walked off to the bathroom, and Rilla and Bishop got up, stumbling up the stairs.
“Room on the right!” Tenn called after them. “The bathroom is across the hall.” He heard them call back, “Okay!” and “Thanks!” and stood up, stretching as he went into his office and got blankets and pillows for Quill from the storage closet. He pulled out the slide, which widened the couch into a double bed, and adjusted the cushions to make them even and comfortable. Quinn helped him spread the blankets and make up the bed, finishing just as Quill came out in his pyjama pants. “Are you staying with him or coming with me?” Tenn asked Quinn while he yawned.
“She's going with you,” Quill said firmly. “She's not sleeping with me.”
“Why not?” Tenn asked. Given his firmness on it, he was suddenly afraid she practised gymnastics in her sleep or slept like a starfish.
“She gives off heat like a furnace.” Quinn shook his head as he dropped down onto the couch. “And she will snuggle in her sleep. You wake up sweating with her back pressed up against yours.”
“Uh, it's the other way around, Porcupine.” Quinn pouted, swaying a little. “You’re the cuddler.”
“Come on, Quinn; I don't mind heat or cuddling.” Tenn grinned and held out his hand. She took it and stuck her tongue out at Quill as Tenn led her to the stairs.
“No, I didn't think you would.” Quill's voice was quiet and filled with suppressed laughter. “See you two in the morning.”
“Night,” Tenn called back.
Up in his room, he directed her to the bathroom to get ready and pulled back the blankets on the bed while he changed in the bedroom. When she came out and climbed into bed, Tenn went in to do his nighttime routine, then climbed in next to her. There were a few minutes of awkwardness with them lying next to each other without touching or saying anything, and then Tenn started to laugh quietly.
“What's funny?” Quinn asked in confusion.
“This. Us laying here like two teenagers, not sure what to do.” Tenn snorted and laughed harder. “Come here, Flac?r?.” He raised his arm, and she smiled brightly and cuddled into him. He put his finger under her chin, tilted her head up, and kissed her good night. Quinn let out a soft moan and tried to take it further. He chuckled softly and pulled back, dropping soft kisses on her pouty lips for a few seconds before falling back on the pillow. “Your friends are across the hall; I'm tipsy, and you're drunk. Not tonight, Pretty Girl.”
“Mmm.” Quinn hummed as she shifted a little; her arm went around his waist, and she hugged him. Tenn looked down and saw that she was already out.
“Tomorrow night though...” Tenn smiled as he ran his fingers down her cheek. He'd have to talk to the others about date ideas and really go all out for her.