/I should mention, Julian's on my network too. I mean, not right now. Obviously. Guy never stops yapping./ [Because clearly Quentin has room to judge on yapping.] /He's on a different channel. And on mute. But still./
/"Ok" what? I'm letting you know because I have no clue whether or not you breaking my shit would fuck him up too. Or, I dunno, anybody else I might add./
/What do you mean "so many"? I told you one other person. At home I have like... nine-ish. Give or take. Five regularly on open comms during missions./
/Right now? You and Keller. I met him and Guthrie first, going into some spooky-ass magic library. Offered it to both. Wing-boy told me to take a hike, but Julian's a try-hard so here we are. Hasn't really been a mission that needed them until now, and there's not exactly a ton of extra minds to comb through when I wanna find someone./
/Yeah? It's a passive connection. Pings me if he's being mutilated or killed or whatever, makes it quicker to track his location if I need it. You know, precautionary bullshit. I route surface thoughts and all that malarkey through a filter that runs subconsciously, so I only get the important crap./
/Nate. Buddy. I say this with all the love in the world, truly. But are you stupid?
I just tethered an insanely powerful telepath with unstable powers to the part of my brain that controls whether or not my heart keeps beating. And then I told him how to find that tether and fuck with it. You really think having a macro that automatically pings me if you get stabbed gives me any kind of control?/
[There's a faint sense of feeling hurt or disappointed from Quentin's end. He doesn't think he did anything particularly shady or weird to deserve this? But who knows, really.]
/It's just a shorthand way for me to keep an eye on people so they don't get dead, but yeah. If you want it gone, I'll make sure it's gone. Scout's honor./
( He can feel it and it wasn't his intention to make the other telepath feel that way, but. )
I just needed to know.
( A beat, he glances down where he is. )
I don't like being lied to or left without a choice. I'm not saying you would. But I was curious what your stance on someone wanting to break away was.
/My stance is "my friend thinks my way of keeping him and all these other morons I care about from getting pulverized is actually a thinly veiled machiavellian scheme to collect a bunch of minions or whatever, and that really fucking sucks."/
I don’t think I’m really minion material in the first place. I’m a bit too difficult for that.
( Partly said as a joke, but. At that, he projects himself to Quentin telepathically. Because he can. Because it’s better to talk “in person” than through thoughts, he thinks. )
I’m sorry. I’m not… used to this. Linking up. Teamwork. Being around so many of you so much. ( Mutants, he means. Especially ones who aren’t trying to chase him down. ) I know you’re not looking to have minions. I would have felt it from you. I’m just… like I said. If I hurt you somehow, even by accident, I’d feel bad.
( It’s more him and his own hangups with others and control of his powers than Quentin. And yeah, sure. He knows Quentin has said it won’t happen. But he’s accidentally hurt people before. Even brought some back to life which he doesn’t even know about yet, but. That’s for the future. Right now, he reaches out with his pinky finger. Something he’d done with Sophie. )
You said we’re friends. That you care. I promise to look out for you, if you do the same for me.
Edited (an injection of sweet suddenly ) 2025-05-22 00:05 (UTC)
[There's a spark of irritation from Quentin's side as Nate appears
in front of him and makes all of his apologies and stuff. Nothing major or
anything—Quentin is easy to irritate. More of a "seriously?" vibe. It
doesn't get much better when Nate holds out his pinky finger.]
/Is that... Are you doing a pinky promise? Are you seven years
old?/
[That said, he does reach out and loops his finger around Nate's.
He's gonna roll his eyes about it super hard, though!]
/Literally what I've been saying this whole time, but sure./
[A beat.]
/You and Keller, by the way? Definitely bottom tier minions. Absolutely terrible choices./
( Let him stumble a little, Quentin. His hesitation with everything comes from bad experiences and feeling like he’s just better off alone per Alice Deejay. It’d be a real shame to get close to you all - to make memories and have actual people- friends who want to support him in ways he’s so briefly had and some that were nothing more than lies, only to lose it all.
But the pinky promise seals the deal and he smiles some at Quentin’s eye rolling along with his thinking he’s above a pinky promise. )
As if you’d be any better.
( He gets the feeling none of them would be.
With the pinky promise made and a slow shake of their hands, he lets go of the other’s pinky then and drifts back a little. )
That means this goes both ways you know. I know you can handle yourself power-wise. But you ever have too many balls to juggle in anything else with your life, I can take some of them. Give you a bit of a break.
/Sure, sure, a friend in need is a friend in deed and all that crap./
[Quentin squints at Nate's sudden cheery turn. Hold on, wait, no. He's still salty!]
/Hold up, let's rewind just a second./
[He folds his arms and gives Nate a Very Stern look.]
/Look. You don't like people making choices for you, right? Well, neither do I. So do me a favor and don't decide for me what's gonna hurt me. I'm a pretty tough cookie, I promise. I know what I can handle, and if I miscalculate and get fucked up that's on me. Got it?/
[He pauses, thinks, then makes an addition.]
/And for fuck's sake if you doubt my intentions or whatever then man up and go rummaging through my skull like a normal intrusive telepathic bastard with trust issues./
( Not to say he hasn't or won't do it again himself, but. He's also just saying. )
But fine. If you really want me to give your brain a wedgie, I suppose I always could. ( At that he shrugs, still drifting there, smile faint on his lips. ) I don't doubt you though. I just wasn't sure. But that's on me and my own shit.
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( A very Summers reply. c: )
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[DOUBT.]
/I should mention, Julian's on my network too. I mean, not right now. Obviously. Guy never stops yapping./ [Because clearly Quentin has room to judge on yapping.] /He's on a different channel. And on mute. But still./
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( Bro. )
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( He’s just, you know. Curious. )
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[That's an awful lot of very suspicious questions all in a row, Nate.]
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[ :( ]
/Any reason why, or is it just one of your edgy "I don't do friends" things?/
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( He's been around too many others who have been in control or wanted control over him. )
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I just tethered an insanely powerful telepath with unstable powers to the part of my brain that controls whether or not my heart keeps beating. And then I told him how to find that tether and fuck with it. You really think having a macro that automatically pings me if you get stabbed gives me any kind of control?/
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[There's a faint sense of feeling hurt or disappointed from Quentin's end. He doesn't think he did anything particularly shady or weird to deserve this? But who knows, really.]
/It's just a shorthand way for me to keep an eye on people so they don't get dead, but yeah. If you want it gone, I'll make sure it's gone. Scout's honor./
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I just needed to know.
( A beat, he glances down where he is. )
I don't like being lied to or left without a choice. I'm not saying you would. But I was curious what your stance on someone wanting to break away was.
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[Sorry, Nate, he's a bit salty.]
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( Partly said as a joke, but. At that, he projects himself to Quentin telepathically. Because he can. Because it’s better to talk “in person” than through thoughts, he thinks. )
I’m sorry. I’m not… used to this. Linking up. Teamwork. Being around so many of you so much. ( Mutants, he means. Especially ones who aren’t trying to chase him down. ) I know you’re not looking to have minions. I would have felt it from you. I’m just… like I said. If I hurt you somehow, even by accident, I’d feel bad.
( It’s more him and his own hangups with others and control of his powers than Quentin. And yeah, sure. He knows Quentin has said it won’t happen. But he’s accidentally hurt people before. Even brought some back to life which he doesn’t even know about yet, but. That’s for the future. Right now, he reaches out with his pinky finger. Something he’d done with Sophie. )
You said we’re friends. That you care. I promise to look out for you, if you do the same for me.
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[There's a spark of irritation from Quentin's side as Nate appears in front of him and makes all of his apologies and stuff. Nothing major or anything—Quentin is easy to irritate. More of a "seriously?" vibe. It doesn't get much better when Nate holds out his pinky finger.]
/Is that... Are you doing a pinky promise? Are you seven years old?/
[That said, he does reach out and loops his finger around Nate's. He's gonna roll his eyes about it super hard, though!]
/Literally what I've been saying this whole time, but sure./
[A beat.]
/You and Keller, by the way? Definitely bottom tier minions. Absolutely terrible choices./
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But the pinky promise seals the deal and he smiles some at Quentin’s eye rolling along with his thinking he’s above a pinky promise. )
As if you’d be any better.
( He gets the feeling none of them would be.
With the pinky promise made and a slow shake of their hands, he lets go of the other’s pinky then and drifts back a little. )
That means this goes both ways you know. I know you can handle yourself power-wise. But you ever have too many balls to juggle in anything else with your life, I can take some of them. Give you a bit of a break.
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[Quentin squints at Nate's sudden cheery turn. Hold on, wait, no. He's still salty!]
/Hold up, let's rewind just a second./
[He folds his arms and gives Nate a Very Stern look.]
/Look. You don't like people making choices for you, right? Well, neither do I. So do me a favor and don't decide for me what's gonna hurt me. I'm a pretty tough cookie, I promise. I know what I can handle, and if I miscalculate and get fucked up that's on me. Got it?/
[He pauses, thinks, then makes an addition.]
/And for fuck's sake if you doubt my intentions or whatever then man up and go rummaging through my skull like a normal intrusive telepathic bastard with trust issues./
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( Not to say he hasn't or won't do it again himself, but. He's also just saying. )
But fine. If you really want me to give your brain a wedgie, I suppose I always could. ( At that he shrugs, still drifting there, smile faint on his lips. ) I don't doubt you though. I just wasn't sure. But that's on me and my own shit.
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