[ there's a part of him that knew this too, even without q saying it. it was a secret only for them, of their shared life with arielle, of a world so distant now but that had been theirs for years. decades. it's the reason why he'd said it at all, in his brief moment of freedom, the escape from the happy place. only quentin would know. could know. and it was beautiful that way.

he hopes it's enough, that what they shared and who they were is all quentin needs to remember. eliot isn't sure that he can be, though. ]

Okay. Then. Then if you're unsure, you can say "peaches" and I'll answer with the rest. So you'll really know. You can't complete the other half without knowing the whole thing, so.

[ he pauses to sigh. and then: ] You know, I never thought I'd be coming up with a safe word before we actually got to anything kinky, but I guess there's a first for everything.