Emotional Intelligence
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It didn't leave many options for the two of them, which meant Treize Khushrenada was there to take prisoners into custody and collect himself or Duo. "And you get...?" One, both, or none? Instinctively, Quatre wanted to see if he had any sense of the man's intentions but since everything at the end of the war, he had felt muted, deadened -- as if that part of him had been removed.
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Spaceheart takes a holiday and comes back with baggage
Series
- Part 1 of Emotional Intelligence
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Quatre had heard of the fanatical loyalty the OZ troops, the Treize faction had for their leader but this time he'd felt it, and more to the point had a clear reason why driven home in that feeling. Treize was easily equally if not more fanatical in his loyalty towards his men as they were to him.
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- Part 2 of Emotional Intelligence
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Shit, why did it have to be Quatre who got taken by the king-pin of the whole goddamn war? Duo knew he wasn't fully recovered when they were locked in together though he chatted and talked well enough. He had his datapad ready and they just needed to figure out how they were going to do a rescue. Quatre had to need a rescue, they'd all seen the pictures.
Series
- Part 3 of Emotional Intelligence
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"Frankly I'm surprised I'm still alive," Quatre blurted out. "Because you know that you've never really trusted anyone after..." He cut himself off, not actually sure what was going to come out of his mouth but unable to stop the instinctive look towards Treize’s childhood room.
"Hard not to think about it, isn't it? It changes the way people see me, and I've never had someone find out without finding it stuck in my back again at the first chance. It's a sharp knife to wield." The door between the two rooms, and he didn't know how the man stood it, how it worked in his head to come back to the same building. There was a sharpness to the man's eyes, an almost fierce predatory hunch to his shoulders as he watched Quatre over the edge of his coffee cup. "Poor boys, their mother was such a beautiful tragedy, she missed her first husband so much, what a true love. And Treize, you look just like Ein, so tall, same face. Except I was five the first time she kissed me like a lover, and I understood everything she was doing to me. I wasn't tall and I didn't look like my father yet."
Series
- Part 4 of Emotional Intelligence
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 24,335
- Chapters:
- 1/1
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- 25
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- 346
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"Quatre!" Duo's voice startled him, a voice coming into the suite without Noin or Treize.
He found himself grinning as he stood up and turned to see the other pilot, his heart jumping with anticipation as his empathic sense reached out automatically. "Duo, it's so good to see you!" he said, remembering to try and control his abilities. "How are you? You look well!"
His fellow Pilot was wearing the uniform he'd been issued badly, on purpose -- the collar on the jacket was open, flopped over, and his hair was still long and braided as if in defiance of any regulation that one might ask him to adhere to; he was looking like classic Duo. "I'm okay. You're looking better." He gestured to where he'd had a black eye, well healed now. "Not falling over half dead?"
Series
- Part 5 of Emotional Intelligence
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"The Alliance put down 'insurrections' throughout the colonies and Earth on a weekly basis. These insurrections were common citizens looking for an outlet for their needs. They had no interface with their government, and the military acted as a hand to reinforce the interests of the rich. From now on, we must act on behalf of the citizens. We must restructure to better support society."
There was definitely something, and Quatre could feel it going out through him, to the room at least amplified by their connection. He couldn't afford to listen to the speech itself, he had to refocus and listen to everyone. He mentally swept over the areas around there, feeling the individual stories of each person's emotional life clamouring for his attention but he slid past. Dekim Barton, his mind stood out as a pit of darkness and smug satisfaction.
He was so deeply pleased, and Quatre couldn't dwell, looking for the killer in the crowd. He heard Treize going on about the end of child soldiers, about raising the age of enlistment to 18, about proposals for what to do with those already in. To be further discussed in the meetings, and that this was to help rebuild society.
That was when Quatre felt it.
Series
- Part 6 of Emotional Intelligence
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"I think you need to leave," Treize said, opening his eye. "Now is not the time."
"I meant that he can't... He can't carry it all himself." Trowa looked startled where he was sitting beside Quatre's bed.
However it was meant, that was not how Quatre was taking it; it seemed his younger companion had a whole well of memories to fall into given even the slightest push. "I'm sorry," he said even quieter than normal. "I'm sorry Trowa, I know I wasn't good enough to stop people dying. I thought if I tried harder this time would be different."
Series
- Part 7 of Emotional Intelligence
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The vortex had him, no matter how hard Treize pulled back on him. If Treize has been a swirl of glass shards suspended in the air, ready to cut at every turn or movement, Zechs was a blast furnace of anger and fear and hatred, crystallized in when Sanc fell the first time.
He could feel it, all of it the moment when the pendulum of Zechs’ sanity was sent swinging in the death and fire, and he needed to get himself orientated because the memories were diamond-sharp and could tear him apart. Old memories could do that and like with Treize it was like being trapped in a vortex of flying glass. No, he'd thought about how this worked, he'd practiced and he could do this. As the ashes of Sanc choked the younger Zechs, he reached through that defensive barrier and took hold of him linking to the core and following the emotion in the other man.
Series
- Part 8 of Emotional Intelligence
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Heero had tried hard to clean up most of Duo's cameras, but he hadn't gotten all of them. And he hadn't swept Khushrenada's suite; Duo didn't trust the man with Quatre, for all that Quatre had a soft spot for him because the fucker had a sob story.
Well boohoo, didn't they all? Duo could probably match him trauma for trauma and he was younger than him. Competitive angst, what the hell was he even doing?
Series
- Part 9 of Emotional Intelligence
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"Here. Duo, come here." Treize kept an arm around Quatre's waist, and with one hand squeezed Quatre's ass. "We'll swap."
"Duo is that okay?" Quatre said softly, worried about if they were pushing Duo too fast. He sent that as a secret worry to Treize; he didn't want to scare Duo off, he wanted him too.
There was speculation, and Duo muttered, "We're really fucking doing this."
"We're really fucking doing this," Treize agreed, pulling away from Quatre and giving Duo space to move behind Quatre.
Series
- Part 10 of Emotional Intelligence
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In the fifth month of the unity government's planned 10, the pacifist Queen of Sanc called the war council.
It seemed that there was no stranger phrase than that which Treize could come up with, and it bothered at him during the ride from the airport to the castle; he wished he had brought Quatre and Duo with him, but Quatre was working the formal deal with L2, and he needed him not distracted during the first test and inspection of goods.
Besides, it would do Quatre no harm to spend a little bit of alone time with Duo, and Duo a lot of good. It was becoming increasingly obvious to him that there was more under the surface of 02 than his tendency to chaos suggested. Little snippets heard around the house and barracks about him helping with this and that situation; Quatre's efforts he tended to know about due to their link, but Duo's were always a little more of a surprise.
Series
- Part 11 of Emotional Intelligence
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"You and I are going to have a chat about cooperation," the man said. Strangely he made no move to restrain him which was either stupid or supremely confident.
"Are we?" Treize asked, taking the seat, resting his hands on top of his thighs. Waiting. "It looks like you're planning a torture session."
"We have been patient with you, but our patience is running out," he said. "You could have just given us what we wanted. A simple request. That's all we need from you, the plans for making the Zero module. But you have done nothing towards it at all. We told you the consequences would be dire. I get you don't give a shit about your own prisoners - OZ never has been good at that, so maybe you value your own comfort more."
The man lifted the metal baton and let electricity arc at the end, just for show.
Treize felt the muscle in his left cheek jump, reflexive fear, he knew. Just fear. He could live through fear and pain. "It's the classic prisoner's dilemma, isn't it? Did you study much game theory in your life? If I defect, who dies?"
Series
- Part 12 of Emotional Intelligence
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How to say this without sounding crazy? "One thing I perfected in captivity was the ability to connect to each of them and take their pain away. At the end, I was in a panic as it seemed the interrogators were going to kill everyone they could before running, that I wanted them to be ready and I pulled everything like that from them...including the emotions and memories. They are out of control in my head. I'm, how to put it, having their nightmares and memories as well as my own and it is not going well. Touch seems to help me stabilise."
Sally's silence in response to that was long, and it worried him. "I was going to talk to Treize about this, I should extend the offer to you as well. Sanc has some excellent mental care facilities, inpatient."
Series
- Part 13 of Emotional Intelligence
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Getting out of the palace had been good for him. Quatre and Treize were doing their thing, which mostly seemed to be laying quiet in bed, sleeping, and talking in bursts, then sleeping more. They were entertaining when they were awake, yeah, but he felt like he was in the way of something, and getting out and giving them space for a while was probably good. Maybe Quatre was cool and multiplayer, but it felt like their weirdness wasn't just Khushrenada being a creep, but something deeper. Something deeper that probably wasn't going to be discussed with him in the room.
So he treated himself to a burger and a shake after a walk deeper into the city, and a train ride down to the hospital. It was still visiting hours when he got there, and his hip was kind of only somewhat pulling when he knocked on the door to Wufei's room.
Series
- Part 14 of Emotional Intelligence
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Wufei sat purposefully drinking his tea and not making eye contact. He just wanted Sally to leave because he could feel the tightness in his chest that preceded a panic attack of sorts. He did not want to be humiliated by having someone witness such a thing.
Sally sighed, and finished her tea, starting to stand up. "I'll see you in the morning. Please make sure he takes his medications with breakfast."
Series
- Part 15 of Emotional Intelligence
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 3,071
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Kudos:
- 24
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- 334
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Duo grinned, leaning a hip against the counter. "There's so many fucking posers down there, it's awesome. There's like... this weird mix of expats, film dudes and dudettes, college kids and rich people." Experiences Duo couldn't really feel, but wanted to gawk at in awe and laugh at from the sidelines. He had a paper wristband on, probably from slipping into some club, and he lifted his eyebrows suggestively at Quatre. "It was dark, neon shit everywhere, pounding music, hot sweaty sexy people."
"And yet you came back here," Treize quipped, wheeling his way over.
"With Sangria for us," Quatre pointed out for Treize. "So you did a little clubbing? They won't get really going until now." It was true, Duo had headed back to them which was interesting, and filled him with warmth.
"Yeah, just wasn't feeling it." He passed a glass to Treize, and raised his own in half a toast. "Cheers."
Series
- Part 16 of Emotional Intelligence
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 21,666
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Kudos:
- 18
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- 309
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"Sunburns are no joke," Duo said chipperly. "And you have to stay hydrated, so another beer."
"I haven't finished the first yet," he said. "If we catch a fish, what are we meant to do with it?"
"Put it in the other cooler, and then I take it to the restaurant up by the compound, and they'll cook it for us. They're nice like that and friendly." Duo leaned to cast his line, grinning over at Wufei.
Series
- Part 17 of Emotional Intelligence
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Zechs leaned heavily on the cane as he walked, and she knew he was in discomfort. His pain haunted them both, in a way, followed them into the bedroom, ghosted along after everything he tried to do.
She added sugar to the mug and waited for him to sit down at the table with her before setting the mug down for him.
"Thank you," he said smiling, and this was her Zechs, the contrast so different at times that he did seem like another person.
Series
- Part 18 of Emotional Intelligence
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There was a brief moment then where Quatre sat up sharply, looking very dismayed. "Oh no..." and then the doorbell rang.
"It's them." Quatre looked outside as if he was seriously contemplating throwing himself into the swimming pool in the villa adjacent.
"It's them?" Treize had to rouse himself from their comfortable pile, from a lazy moment of intimacy that wasn't tied to any particular urge, so that doorbell ring had better be worth it. It had been the sort of nice and comfortable that led to other nice and comfortable things.
"Sisters."
Series
- Part 19 of Emotional Intelligence
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Quatre stood watching, sipping a fruit punch that miraculously had not been spiked by Duo, letting himself sense what was going on.
There was Treize's stepfather chatting with some business people near Dorothy. Treize had a persistent intrusive thought about pushing him down the stairs. It was something Treize didn't want to actually do, but it was intrusive, and he knew it for its pointlessness. There was the Sanc Ambassador who was chatting Dorothy up quite animatedly, all bubbly hope that he might get to sleep with her.
There was Dorothy who was having none of that, her mind sharp and analytical, registering the people she needed to speak to, noting who others were speaking to and logging it in a way that was all too familiar.
Series
- Part 20 of Emotional Intelligence
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 25,907
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Kudos:
- 16
- Hits:
- 283