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#68 / Suppress

“I don't need help! I just want the pain to stop!” Nilzhan snarled at Jeten as he offered to get him something to distract him from the pain.

“Isn’t help what’s going to make the pain stop?” Meren asked.

“You know, Mare,” Jeten pointed out, “-if you were helping, we’d be almost done by now.”

“No way. Your kid is telepathically sending your boyfriend’s pain at me, your spymaster boyfriend is trying to figure out who did this to him, and it all gave me a horrible headache.” He had tied a blindfold around his eyes to drown out the baby’s telepathy. “Jet, just pull all the little electric stickers out of him, and keep your mind quiet.”

“I haven’t thought about anything since you got here.” Jeten didn’t miss the odd look Nilzhan gave him at that, but he kept his head clear and paid no mind to it.

“Exactly.”

“Stop talking,” Nilzhan hissed. “I want these things out before they make me go into labor. Ow-”

Jeten held one of the tiny pin-shaped devices with his tweezers and gave his lover a smile. He dropped it into a jar with all the others he’d managed to get out so far, and it sparked and burnt out as it connected with the others, no longer able to send out little jolts of pain into its proper target. “Stressing yourself out will make you go into labor. Relax, and keep your feet up.”

What’s wrong with him going into labor now, Jet? Meren asked him telepathically.

Someone sent that package to him, knows where he is. It’s dangerous for him to be in a vulnerable state while someone could come after him.

I see.

Nilzhan brought his legs back up on the couch, and Jeten took a moment to put a pillow under his feet and to kiss his cheek. He patted Nilzhan’s belly and said, “Stay in there, little one.” Then, he went back to plucking the small devices, letting himself be lost in the task. Nilzhan winced whenever the pins produced strong shocks, but his reaction lessened as more and more of them were removed.

Finally, the last one was pulled from his shoulder, and he sighed. Jeten smiled at him. “Want me to get you some tea to help you relax?”

“Yes.”

As Jeten went into the kitchen, Nilzhan looked over at Meren, who was sprawled out in a recliner. He hadn’t taken off his blindfold yet. “Meren, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah. Dunno what I could tell you that you don’t already know, but yeah.”

“What did Jeten mean when he said that he hasn’t thought anything since you came over?”

“It means he’s keeping his mind empty so he doesn’t bother me.”

“Elaborate.”

Meren sighed and rubbed his forehead. “It’s uh… Kind of a fucked up story. Okay. When Jeten and I were really little kids, we acted completely the same. Our parents didn’t think anything of it, because we were little, and we were always together and exposed to the same things. But when we were about to go to school… They realized I was always linked to Jet’s thoughts. I was always directing at him, and always reading him. To sum it up, we were functioning as one person in two little bodies.”

“Does that happen to Conscirean children a lot?”

“Only to hybrids, and very rarely. Because we’re not identical, they never thought it would happen to us. If you catch it when the babies haven’t finished developing their powers, the Conscirean parent can nip the developing link. By the time they realized it was happening to us, it was too late to break the link safely. With normal half-Conscirean kids, you could break the link whenever, provided the kids are both telepathic.”

“But Jeten isn’t telepathic.”

“Exactly. It isn’t supposed to happen to fraternal twins. They had no idea at the time that you can’t sever the link safely with a non-telepathic kid. Jeten… Something went wrong. Anyway, our link stayed. I can hear him if we’re within two kilometers of each other, and I can control whether or not I can talk to him.” Meren sat up and put his elbows on his knees, rested his chin on his hands. “It was really hard for me after that. I could always hear him, but he couldn’t always hear me. The silence freaked him out, and I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t behaving like me. We had trouble talking. There was… a Conscirean doctor our father took us to, who told us if Jeten trained with him, he could suppress his link.”

“And?”

“He took a whole month off from school to train with this doctor on how to be mentally silent. It worked! I couldn’t hear Jeten anymore, and suddenly, I was excelling, and when Jeten came back, he was failing. The doctor taught him how to erase his own mind. He could barely function. It was years before he could behave like a normal person. I went off to college, was top of my class, and he spent those four years learning how to actually use his mind.”

Nilzhan didn’t say anything for a moment, and then asked, “And now?”

“He told me that he practices being quiet a lot so he doesn’t have to worry about ever bothering me when I come to visit him. He went through his whole life a living corpse just so I could thrive. Our parents sacrificed him for me, just because he has no telepathy.”

“You said the baby couldn’t read him.”

“That’s what went wrong. No one telepathic in our family can hear him but me. They can’t even hear Jet through me.”

Jeten came back with a cup of tea in hand. “I heard my name! What’s up?”

“Hey, Jet, do you think when you’re with your spy boyfriend over here?”

“Nilzhan guards his mind, so I guard mine in the only way I know how.” He handed the steaming cup to Nilzhan and got behind him. Nilzhan leaned against his chest. Jeten wrapped his arms around him. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore.”

Hey, Jet?

Yeah?

I’m sorry.

For what?

For what happened when we were kids.

It wasn’t your fault. Jeten nuzzled Nilzhan and the spy turned his head to kiss him. I’m not upset about what happened.

Meren wished that he was. He sighed again, and got up, taking off the blindfold. With a little bit of effort, he nipped the link between him and the baby. Nilzhan broke the kiss with a gasp as the baby squirmed and kicked, unhappy that they’d lost the strong connection with their uncle. Now he would have to try to hear the baby in order to read their thoughts, and they would have to learn how to project.

“Did I miss one of the stickers?”

“No, no. The baby just kicked hard, that’s all. It startled me.”

“Um, Jet? I think I’ll head home now.” I’ll be past our range in five minutes. I suppressed my link with the baby. They won’t be giving me a headache anymore.

“Oh. Goodbye, Mare!” That’s good! I’ll call you later.

“Bye, Jet. Bye, Nilzhan.” Sure. And make sure you send me a message when the baby comes. I want to be the first person to visit them.

Of course! Who else would I call? Mom and Dad don’t even know they’re going to be grandparents yet, and I don’t think Nilzhan has any living family.

Description
#68 / Suppress

“I don't need help! I just want the pain to stop!” Nilzhan snarled at Jeten as he offered to get him something to distract him from the pain.

“Isn’t help what’s going to make the pain stop?” Meren asked.

“You know, Mare,” Jeten pointed out, “-if you were helping, we’d be almost done by now.”

“No way. Your kid is telepathically sending your boyfriend’s pain at me, your spymaster boyfriend is trying to figure out who did this to him, and it all gave me a horrible headache.” He had tied a blindfold around his eyes to drown out the baby’s telepathy. “Jet, just pull all the little electric stickers out of him, and keep your mind quiet.”

“I haven’t thought about anything since you got here.” Jeten didn’t miss the odd look Nilzhan gave him at that, but he kept his head clear and paid no mind to it.

“Exactly.”

“Stop talking,” Nilzhan hissed. “I want these things out before they make me go into labor. Ow-”

Jeten held one of the tiny pin-shaped devices with his tweezers and gave his lover a smile. He dropped it into a jar with all the others he’d managed to get out so far, and it sparked and burnt out as it connected with the others, no longer able to send out little jolts of pain into its proper target. “Stressing yourself out will make you go into labor. Relax, and keep your feet up.”

What’s wrong with him going into labor now, Jet? Meren asked him telepathically.

Someone sent that package to him, knows where he is. It’s dangerous for him to be in a vulnerable state while someone could come after him.

I see.

Nilzhan brought his legs back up on the couch, and Jeten took a moment to put a pillow under his feet and to kiss his cheek. He patted Nilzhan’s belly and said, “Stay in there, little one.” Then, he went back to plucking the small devices, letting himself be lost in the task. Nilzhan winced whenever the pins produced strong shocks, but his reaction lessened as more and more of them were removed.

Finally, the last one was pulled from his shoulder, and he sighed. Jeten smiled at him. “Want me to get you some tea to help you relax?”

“Yes.”

As Jeten went into the kitchen, Nilzhan looked over at Meren, who was sprawled out in a recliner. He hadn’t taken off his blindfold yet. “Meren, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah. Dunno what I could tell you that you don’t already know, but yeah.”

“What did Jeten mean when he said that he hasn’t thought anything since you came over?”

“It means he’s keeping his mind empty so he doesn’t bother me.”

“Elaborate.”

Meren sighed and rubbed his forehead. “It’s uh… Kind of a fucked up story. Okay. When Jeten and I were really little kids, we acted completely the same. Our parents didn’t think anything of it, because we were little, and we were always together and exposed to the same things. But when we were about to go to school… They realized I was always linked to Jet’s thoughts. I was always directing at him, and always reading him. To sum it up, we were functioning as one person in two little bodies.”

“Does that happen to Conscirean children a lot?”

“Only to hybrids, and very rarely. Because we’re not identical, they never thought it would happen to us. If you catch it when the babies haven’t finished developing their powers, the Conscirean parent can nip the developing link. By the time they realized it was happening to us, it was too late to break the link safely. With normal half-Conscirean kids, you could break the link whenever, provided the kids are both telepathic.”

“But Jeten isn’t telepathic.”

“Exactly. It isn’t supposed to happen to fraternal twins. They had no idea at the time that you can’t sever the link safely with a non-telepathic kid. Jeten… Something went wrong. Anyway, our link stayed. I can hear him if we’re within two kilometers of each other, and I can control whether or not I can talk to him.” Meren sat up and put his elbows on his knees, rested his chin on his hands. “It was really hard for me after that. I could always hear him, but he couldn’t always hear me. The silence freaked him out, and I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t behaving like me. We had trouble talking. There was… a Conscirean doctor our father took us to, who told us if Jeten trained with him, he could suppress his link.”

“And?”

“He took a whole month off from school to train with this doctor on how to be mentally silent. It worked! I couldn’t hear Jeten anymore, and suddenly, I was excelling, and when Jeten came back, he was failing. The doctor taught him how to erase his own mind. He could barely function. It was years before he could behave like a normal person. I went off to college, was top of my class, and he spent those four years learning how to actually use his mind.”

Nilzhan didn’t say anything for a moment, and then asked, “And now?”

“He told me that he practices being quiet a lot so he doesn’t have to worry about ever bothering me when I come to visit him. He went through his whole life a living corpse just so I could thrive. Our parents sacrificed him for me, just because he has no telepathy.”

“You said the baby couldn’t read him.”

“That’s what went wrong. No one telepathic in our family can hear him but me. They can’t even hear Jet through me.”

Jeten came back with a cup of tea in hand. “I heard my name! What’s up?”

“Hey, Jet, do you think when you’re with your spy boyfriend over here?”

“Nilzhan guards his mind, so I guard mine in the only way I know how.” He handed the steaming cup to Nilzhan and got behind him. Nilzhan leaned against his chest. Jeten wrapped his arms around him. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore.”

Hey, Jet?

Yeah?

I’m sorry.

For what?

For what happened when we were kids.

It wasn’t your fault. Jeten nuzzled Nilzhan and the spy turned his head to kiss him. I’m not upset about what happened.

Meren wished that he was. He sighed again, and got up, taking off the blindfold. With a little bit of effort, he nipped the link between him and the baby. Nilzhan broke the kiss with a gasp as the baby squirmed and kicked, unhappy that they’d lost the strong connection with their uncle. Now he would have to try to hear the baby in order to read their thoughts, and they would have to learn how to project.

“Did I miss one of the stickers?”

“No, no. The baby just kicked hard, that’s all. It startled me.”

“Um, Jet? I think I’ll head home now.” I’ll be past our range in five minutes. I suppressed my link with the baby. They won’t be giving me a headache anymore.

“Oh. Goodbye, Mare!” That’s good! I’ll call you later.

“Bye, Jet. Bye, Nilzhan.” Sure. And make sure you send me a message when the baby comes. I want to be the first person to visit them.

Of course! Who else would I call? Mom and Dad don’t even know they’re going to be grandparents yet, and I don’t think Nilzhan has any living family.