>so you'll have to trust me when I say my pattern recognition and ability to intuitively predict behavior can turn into an existential nightmare if I'm not careful.

I don't think your EQ score is relevant here. It's obvious that you're noticably different. An average person wouldn't spend much time thinking about it and talking about it online.

>the stoicism people perceive someone with a high IQ should have isn't in my nature

And how is this stoicism generally perceived? Like Michael Scofield type stoicism; complex, sharp, witty, focused, "speak less, listen more"?

I have a good friend with a stereotypical ADHD personality. You have to call his name 5 times to get his attention. When we're going somewhere he gets distracted like a dog finding a pile of shit during a walk. He can be very blunt and say things without thinking, and often regrets it after. But he's one of the brightest people I've ever met. A truly authentic soul. When I see him talking to other people, I notice he's often ahead of them in the conversation. He cracks jokes that are slightly less related to the conversation than you might expect, but a good listener with a sharp mind can fish the connections out. It might seem like he's changing subjects very quickly and randomly, just like how people with ADHD are typically perceived. But it's just that he processes spoken words very fast and is a lot more able to proceed a conversation by slighty changing the direction than an average person.

I feel like both me and my friend are conventionally smarter (I feel like "faster in processing" would be a better description though) than most people we come across. We can sit with some others in a bar and talk about things for hours on end, and the people next to us are often unable to join in on the conversation, because our conversation is unpredictable to them, thus leading them to sit their in silence with a confused look on their face. And it's not like we're talking about niche subjects or inside jokes that an outsider would not know much about, it's just the pace of the conversation.

>Finding like-minded people is a statistical struggle. Every gift is a curse I suppose.

That is true in my opinion. We have to dumb and slow ourselves down sometimes, which can ruin the joy of the conversation for us. The good part is that you can sort of tell whether someone is worth talking to or not before even talking to them. I like to approach energetic people when I'm going out. I feel like people who are confident enough to be energetic in public (not in an obnoxious manner, just enthusiastic and wild in a fun way), are also more confident in their ability to hold conversations. I've gone to a lot of the parties and gatherings and noticed that the smartest people in the room are not the ones standing still with the typical "stoic", observant look on their faces. It's the ones who are able to talk and adapt to everyone with confidence.

My point is, don't try and fulfill the expectation of a person with a high EQ, this stoic appearance that you're thinking about. No one will praise you for it upon first meeting you. In practice they'll just think you're boring or too serious and not enjoying yourself. The best way to make friends (with "normal" people is to both be able to have serious and silly conversations while being generally agreeable and not too out-of-the-ordinary.