[There's a lot of things Quentin could say here. Would be believable for him to say. Typical Quentin Quire.
"Would've been better if you'd given me the space I asked for."
"Don't expect me to thank you for helping with the panic attack you gave me, jackass."
"I didn't ask for your help."
"You're a rotten therapist, Keller."
He doesn't say any of them. There isn't a single "typical Quentin" thing he could say that wouldn't set this whole mess off again. So he just... nods and replies, his voice soft and lacking in his usual acidity.]
Yeah.
[As loath as he is to admit it, Quentin doesn't... fully regret letting Keller help ground him. Sure, he would have preferred to be given space to let him work out his own shit without anyone's assistance—he's a telepath for Christ's sake, a little brain glitch would be a piece of cake even if he wasn't, you know, entirely too used to handling the fucked up mess in his head—but relying on someone else? Not awful. Kinda nice, actually. Shame it was Keller and not, uh. Um. Okay, well, he can't think of anyone he would prefer, actually. Because his preference is QQ or Bust. And honestly, Julian Keller is probably the only asshole with the right paradoxical combination of bullish empathy and altruistic ego to pull this kind of stunt. Quentin also keeps his hand where it is for now, with Julian's brain still connected, until whenever it is that he decides to move his arm. Why? Because well, if Quentin was stuck with stupid metal hands, he sure wouldn't be complaining about being able to feel actual fingers for a bit longer, and it doesn't seem like Julian's complaining either.
There's a whole second list of Things He Definitely Shouldn't Say here, including but not limited to "hell of a trust exercise there, squad captain," "you're really bad at listening," or the classic "you gonna start yelling at me about how much I suck again?" Quentin thinks them, imagines a world where he says them, and Julian is shooketh, and everyone (there's nobody around in front of this random building, and Quentin made sure they were hidden from all organic eyes ages ago) claps. And then he throws them in the garbage. Where they belong. And instead of all that he just says:]
no subject
"Would've been better if you'd given me the space I asked for."
"Don't expect me to thank you for helping with the panic attack you gave me, jackass."
"I didn't ask for your help."
"You're a rotten therapist, Keller."
He doesn't say any of them. There isn't a single "typical Quentin" thing he could say that wouldn't set this whole mess off again. So he just... nods and replies, his voice soft and lacking in his usual acidity.]
Yeah.
[As loath as he is to admit it, Quentin doesn't... fully regret letting Keller help ground him. Sure, he would have preferred to be given space to let him work out his own shit without anyone's assistance—he's a telepath for Christ's sake, a little brain glitch would be a piece of cake even if he wasn't, you know, entirely too used to handling the fucked up mess in his head—but relying on someone else? Not awful. Kinda nice, actually. Shame it was Keller and not, uh. Um. Okay, well, he can't think of anyone he would prefer, actually. Because his preference is QQ or Bust. And honestly, Julian Keller is probably the only asshole with the right paradoxical combination of bullish empathy and altruistic ego to pull this kind of stunt. Quentin also keeps his hand where it is for now, with Julian's brain still connected, until whenever it is that he decides to move his arm. Why? Because well, if Quentin was stuck with stupid metal hands, he sure wouldn't be complaining about being able to feel actual fingers for a bit longer, and it doesn't seem like Julian's complaining either.
There's a whole second list of Things He Definitely Shouldn't Say here, including but not limited to "hell of a trust exercise there, squad captain," "you're really bad at listening," or the classic "you gonna start yelling at me about how much I suck again?" Quentin thinks them, imagines a world where he says them, and Julian is shooketh, and everyone (there's nobody around in front of this random building, and Quentin made sure they were hidden from all organic eyes ages ago) claps. And then he throws them in the garbage. Where they belong. And instead of all that he just says:]
You good?