TYL Event - after Nagi's return to his normal age

[have_your_lives]

[You know who has no respect for personal property? Or, apparently, bazookas? This guy. He literally tried to just grab the thing off of Lambo, because there is no possible way wrenching a bazooka out of someone's hands could end in anything other than candy and rainbows. Or whatever would be the evil equivalent as far as Schuldig is concerned - probably tears and kicked puppies.

It's been mentioned before that Schuldig has no inkling of common sense, and this should be an excellent reminder to everyone how crippling of a disability that is.

What actually happened was that the bazooka got dropped onto hard concrete and went off more or less in the telepath's face. And instead of being blown into the bloody, quarter-sized pieces he probably deserved, he got rocketed back into the past, while his twelve-year-old self has been jerked forward in time and dumped into Mayfield.

The upshot of this is that a small, skinny boy with scruffy orange hair is prowling around Mayfield. He's dressed in worn, nondescript grey clothing and looks kind of malnourished; there are many methods of discipline in Rosenkrüs, and denial of food is actually one of the pleasanter ones. Unlike others in this same situation, he seems less confused than wary and suspicious...but those who expect Schuldig's usual personality in a smaller package will be significantly surprised if they approach him. He's fairly easy to recognize with that hair, in any case.]

[OOC: I wish I had more icons for him as a kid, but this is pretty much the only one that even looks remotely close. :| You may see a lot of it.]

Comments

[withsparkles.livejournal.com]

[Have a sparkling toddler cling to your leg and babble about vulcanoes excitedly.]

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[The boy looks at him skeptically, but fortunately at this stage he hasn't developed quite as healthy a dislike for kids as he will in the future.] Who're you supposed to be?

[withsparkles.livejournal.com]

[He's not really sure about that yet.]

Boooooooom! Call it Trölladyngja! [Very excited]

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

...what are you talking about? [Even with his telepathy, he's confused. :| ]

[bittermayfly.livejournal.com]

[Oh well this is a nice change of events. Nagi doesn't completely remember yesterday, except that he was a little kid and Schuldig carried him and Ken and Miakis were absurdly nice...apparently now it's Schuldig's turn to be a kid. Nagi almost laughs when he gets closer.]

Schuldig...you're smaller than I thought.

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[The boy gives him a cool look that has no recognition in it.] I don't know who that is.

[Nagi will be able to feel his mind being scoured...literally. Schuldig was more fully trained, was able to make his telepathic intrusions smooth and almost unnoticeable. This boy has only two years of proper training behind him, and the sensation is kind of like fine-grain sandpaper being rubbed along the interior of Nagi's skull. It doesn't actually cause pain, but it's rough and obvious and the boy's own thoughts seem to keep catching and dragging, like he's only half-able to keep them from tangling with Prodigy's.]

[bittermayfly.livejournal.com]

...isn't that your name?

[He winces a little at the uncomfortable intrusion, but doesn't fight it. The smaller version of his teammate should be able to find plenty of memories of his older self and Nagi in various situations.]

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

Guilty? No. That's not a name at all. [The boy does pick up on those memories, and Nagi will be able to see the confusion on the boy's face...though it seems to be warring with a skeptical sneer. Finally, the deliberate intrusion fades away.]

...you're good. [He sounds a little huffy.] But I'm still not fooled.

[scarletheir.livejournal.com]

[Oh. This place doesn't seem economically depressed. He's seen villages in worse shape. So this kid is kind of out of place with the rest of "Mayfield".]

Excuse me. Do you live here?

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Itachi will receive a probing, calculating look in exchange for his question.] Here? No.

Because it has to be done

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

[Itty bitty Nagi was a sobering experience, so Ken was out for a walk the next day. He sees that mop of hair.]

What the hell...I didn't think that was natural...[He still dosn't really connect that this is Schu.]

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Technically, it isn't.] What's so strange about red hair? [His voice may jog Ken's memory - it's significantly higher, and lacking in the usual mockery, but it hasn't changed much otherwise.]

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

It's not that it's red it's just...mop...[Again, the image of a mop with Schu's hair]

Wait, that voice...Schuldig?

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

...why do people keep saying I'm guilty?

[clairvoyeur.livejournal.com]

[]

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[The boy stares at Crawford. This is the only person he'd have cause in Mayfield to know, but the ten years between the Brad he knows and this man have rendered him only vaguely recognizable...though, telepathically, he can confirm the identity.

That doesn't mean he believes it, of course.] ...they're getting better. [This is said rather grudgingly.]

[clairvoyeur.livejournal.com]

[]

...they never... get this good. [] They don't last... long enough.

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[The boy stares at him, eyes boring holes as he probes at Crawford's mind - not particularly well compared to his present-day skills. It's a rough and blatant intrusion compared to the silk that is Schuldig sliding into his mind. Every now and then, there's a flicker of uncertainty across that young face; Brad is one of the weaker spots Rosenkrüs could have played with, a trusted source it's hard to question.]

...no. I don't care what face you use, I'm not going to believe you. You want to see if I'll break and I won't. [This last part comes out almost violently.]

[glowing-science.livejournal.com]

[Ema passes him on the street and has to do a double-take. She's seen a lot of random kids around town (her hypothesis is that someone in town knows how to alter ages somehow--a resident, not one of the puppets 'in charge'), but this one in particular throws her for a loop. He's smaller, thinner, and smirking a lot less, but that head of hair and that face are unmistakable.

Schuldig's a preteen.

Ema approaches slowly, looking the boy over.] Schuldig?

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

...no. I'm Keane. [After all, Ema, do you think he started off with that name?]

[glowing-science.livejournal.com]

[Of course not. But she doesn't know another name to call him by (or didn't, until just now) and has no idea when he took on the new name.

She's surprised he gave it to her without hesitating or giving her a headache over it. Obviously, he has no idea who she is and has yet to develop his mean streak.]

Keane, then.

Do you have any idea where you are right now?

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Keane sighs and gives Ema the clearly routine litany.] My name is Keane. I am a telepath in training at Rosenkrüs. That is my reality and I will not get lost in any others. [He also repeats this in German; Ema won't need to know the language to recognize the tone, or the familiar words in it.] The instructors are testing me again - making up a world in my head to see if I get lost in it.

/late as hell

[victimofgod.livejournal.com]

[Farfarello is out wandering, as he spends most of his time doing. He spots the orange hair first, but...so much lower to the ground... His eye widens when he realises what he's looking at.]

Schuldig.

[And he starts mentally conjugating verbs in Gaelic mentally, trying to keep Schuldig from reading his thoughts, though under the surface they are mostly centring on "WTF".]

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[By now, the boy has already had several people mistake him for this other man or his older self or whatever Schuldig is supposed to be, and he simply sighs.] My name's Keane.

[He studies Farfarello with an air of mild interest, along with some asperity.] I don't know what you're hiding from me, but it won't work. And if it's about Schuldig, I've met other people who knew him already.

[victimofgod.livejournal.com]

Keane? [Filed away to ask adult Schuldig about.]

All right, then. [So he doesn't believe in what's happened? Farfarello isn't sure he can blame him for that. He sighs when he's called out on hiding things, and gives him a baleful look.]

You don't want to look in my head. It'll give you a headache.