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

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Even at the tender age of twelve, Keane's worldview has been so twisted that he can't accept the fact of someone without a cruel, dirty secret - can't accept that anyone could be as nice as they might seem. Still, Ken was right; he does seem reassured.] So now what?

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

[He's still gonna be nice to you cause he wants to. Assassin or no.]

We ride this out I guess. You probably don't wanna go back to my place, but I can drop you off at Oracles or somethin'.

[Really, he doesn't know how well Crawford would take a chibi Schuldig, but he knows at least the offer should be made. He'd do what the kid wanted in this case.]

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

Oracle's? [Keane looks confused. He predates Schwarz, and thus also predates their codenames.]

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

Huh? Oh, maybe you don't know him. [Simply talking about Crawford brings the man to his head, and then the silly image of him crossed with a crayfish 'Crawfish']

His names Crawford, er, your older self works with him.

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Now Keane looks even more stunned.] Brad? He's here?

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

Brad? Oh! Right, that is his name, isn't it. Uh. Yeah. He is. But...he's a little older then you might think right now. He's from the time period that I usually know you from.

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[The expression on Keane's face is the most openly confused and distressed that Ken will have ever seen, on Schuldig or his younger version. He doesn't seem to know how to react to the news that the one person he trusts is part of this illusion, not to mention is so much older.] They're using him against me too...?

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

[Crap, he said the wrong thing didn't he.]

No they're not. I don't know who you think set this up, but his being here is coincidental. It's ok.

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

No it's not! [Keane rakes a hand through his unruly hair.] Either they're messing with me, or he's trapped here, or I'm crazy!

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

He is trapped here, but for other reasons! And you're not crazy! [He's hoping these are the right things to say. Man, he should have kept his mouth shut.]

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

No. [His tone is one of utter negation, even as he clutches at his head.] No, I know they're messing with me. Brad wouldn't get trapped. This is one of their damn tests, I know it, but why can't I get out?! [He sounds well and truly panicked by the last sentence - but then, he knows what happens to those telepaths who fail Rosenkrüs' tests. Sometimes they make the good students watch, just to make sure they remember.]

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

Keane. KEANE! Calm down! Take a deep breath and look at me! [Well this was just going to shit]

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Keane does look at him, fingers raking through his orange hair. This might explain Schuldig's 'hairstyle' later on, because messed up as it is now, Keane looks almost exactly like what he is - a miniature version of his future self. His eyes are bright and almost feverish; they're dry, but Ken might get the feeling that a more normally adjusted boy would be crying at this point.] What? [The question is telepathic; Keane is out of sorts enough that he's losing track of which method of communication he's using.]

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

[Well, that's part of Keane's focus and that's what Ken was aiming for at this point. He'd take what he could get.]

Keane. Getting anxious about this is NOT going to help you. You have to calm down and things will seem a little less scary.

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

...I'm not scared. [No matter what his background or powers, in some ways Keane is very much a normal boy. This is said in the same indignant tone of any kid called out on his blatant fear.

On the other hand, denying his fright seems to have distracted him from freaking out any further, so in a roundabout way, Ken has accomplished his goal!]

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

I didn't say you were...[His voice gentles a little] This place would wear on anyone's nerves and you kinda got yanked here. I wouldn't blame ya if you were a bit unsettled.

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Keane looks a little uncertain; he's unused to that sort of tone after a few years at Rosenkrüs, but it reaches back to a time before that which he hasn't entirely forgotten. But Rosenkrüs has left him paranoid that it's all some sort of trick, somehow.] ...you don't act like any of the instructors at all. Or anything they'd make.

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

The only thing I can teach is soccer. [He has to laugh a little] I don't think 'ny of your instructors there can pull that off with any degree of skill.

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

You mean football? [Remember, Ken, he's European.] Probably not. I've never played it either. [Keane had a pretty atypical childhood even before Rosenkrüs; telepathy and having to figure out for himself how to manage it preoccupied most of his time. That and the occasional screaming breakdown when he couldn't manage it at all.]

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm so used to saying 'soccer' here for the Americans. Do you like it?

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[This gets a noncommittal shrug.] My parents used to watch it. And a lot of people like it...I couldn't tell how I felt, though. [To anyone who isn't a telepath, this sounds baffling. But when you're picking up on dozens of different conflicting thoughts and emotions regarding a sport - up to and including contradictory thoughts from fans of opposing teams - it's not easy for a telepath to figure out what they personally think of it, or who they're rooting for, or which of their perceptions aren't being colored or even transferred wholesale from someone else's mind.]

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

[Ken isn't a telepath, but even he knows better then to push the issue about it.]

I used to play it a lot when I was younger. I ain't gonna say 'when I was your age' 'cause that'll just make me feel like I'm a million years old.

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

How old are you?

[weiss-tank.livejournal.com]

Me? [He looks surprised for a minute and then laughs, shaking his head.]

19. I turn 20 in December. What about you?

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

Twelve.