have_your_lives | Back To The Future

Back To The Future

[It's been an interesting few days, hasn't it, Mayfield? Sexy nurses, vampires, zombies, werewolves, inexplicable children running around. As it happens, Schuldig was involved with both the first and the last events on that list...though the former has been almost completely forgotten in favor of the latter.

No matter what people may think - what Schuldig may want them to think, deliberately lead them to think - some things can even get to him. And today, he's lying flat on his back on a bench in the park, slowly smoking his way through an entire pack of cigarettes.

He doesn't usually smoke. It's a habit he only indulges in when something is bothering him and he needs something to do to distract his hands and his mouth and his mind. Anyone who might want to approach him about encounters with a certain redhead boy, or even about encounters with a full-grown telepath in a sexy nurse outfit - this is where you'll find him.]

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((Consider this a placeholder, if you don't mind backtagging this when I come off hiatus? We can just handwave and say it's before Ema's flu comes on.))

[Ema comes upon him entirely by accident. She stops a few yards away from him, her hands stuffed deeply into her coat pockets. To be perfectly honest, she has no idea what to say or do; she learned an awful lot from Keane without even meaning to. Surely, Schuldig isn't going to be okay with this--part of who he is is the hypocrisy of keeping himself incredibly guarded while invading everyone else's mind. Ema can't even make herself feel better by the fact that this evens the playing field between the two of them a little. He'll likely give her hell for it despite her honest intentions never to use the information against him; she's not suicidal.

Finally, she settles on opening with (what she hopes is) a neutral statement.]

I didn't know you smoked.

[Schuldig gives her a sidelong look that's dark and not at all friendly. But as he makes no other move, Ema seems to be safe for the moment.] Most of the time I don't.

[Ema takes a half-step backwards, entirely out of instinct.] Oh.

[Long pause. Ema considers simply leaving him there, but that would only postpone the inevitable.]

I... I'm not going to tell anyone what Keane told me, and I won't ask you to fill in the blanks. [Honestly, a large part of her wishes she didn't know any of it at all.]

I didn't realize it was that bad. [The statement is dense even in its simplicity. It's not an appeal for him to forgive her for hating him, nor an appeal to get him to open up, nor an attempt at pity--it's simply a statement of what is. She feels for him on some core level, not quite pity and not quite respect, but something in between. And there's still a part of her that feels deeply angry at the institution for even existing.

For now, she's avoiding bringing any of that up. It will probably go forever unvoiced; this isn't going to be the catalyst for building an actual relationship between the two of them.]

You're right. [This statement could be in reply to any of the things she said, or even some of things she isn't saying. Whether it's in response to any specific part, or all of them, is impossible to tell, and probably intentionally so.] As soon as I've gotten the ability to do so back, I'll purge it right out of your head.

[Ema frowns at how nonspecific his reply is, although that's not the primary concern.]

You can do that?

Normally, yes.

[That's... kind of frightening, actually.]

So you're just going to wipe it from my memory once you're able? How does that even work?

[She can't help herself from asking the question.]

The brain forgets things all the time, usually without any direction at all. All I have to do is tell your mind what to discard.

[Ema considers the explanation and decides that it does make sense; the human brain is designed to disregard memory data it deems unnecessary or unduly traumatic. An external force can easily replicate the process, if given access. It's not a benefit to telepathy she's ever considered before, but it does stand to reason and to science.]

What else will you be capable of doing once you're back to full power?

Hah. Hijacking your body through your brain, if I feel like it.

[jfkadfjdkslfjsdkfaklsdfds]

W-what?!

Is it that surprising? If I can get into your head, there's no reason I shouldn't be able to direct things while I'm in there. And if I can direct your mind...well, everything else follows, doesn't it?

[Again, that's an entirely reasonable explanation. Telepathy is even scarier than she would have figured when it's broken down into its ~~pseudo-~~scientific components.]

I suppose I won't get any guarantees that you'll never do that to me.

Not a one. [Schuldig smirks a bit around his cigarette.]

[Ema stares at him for several moments. She can't help but wonder what could have happened to transform Keane into Schuldig. The kid was distant and wary, yes, but not actively cruel or angry. Had it just been prolonged exposure to Rosenkrüs' methods, or had there been a specific trigger?

She quickly shakes the thought. One, she knows Schuldig's privy to the thought and is likely to take offense at her curiosity, even as it happens on almost a purely innate level. Two, she's still pretty certain she doesn't want to know. Keane's descriptions were vague; she's pretty sure the reality of it is worse.

The pout and indignant response that he likely would have gotten under any other circumstances never comes. Instead, Ema just shifts her weight uncomfortably.]

[Schuldig's voice is low, irritated, but resigned. He can tell that this is about the best he can expect out of her in the wake of what happened; no amount of threats or demands on his part could stifle her any further.] I don't want your pity, or your understanding, or a single goddamn thing from you. Go back to hating me as though nothing ever happened. That boy's got nothing to do with me.

[Really, the fact that she's pretty much stifling herself is rather telling as to the state of their relationship. He has a sort of implicit control over her that she'd never openly acknowledge, even when pressed. That much hasn't changed at all from this; if anything, this just further cements it.]

That boy was you.

[Emphasis on the past tense.]

But that doesn't change the fact that you are an ass, and an unrepentant one at that. This isn't going to result in me suddenly wanting to understand you more or bond with you somehow or bring that boy back. I'm not stupid, Schuldig, despite what you tend to believe. I know he's gone for good.

[After a moments' consideration, she pulls some money out of her purse and hands it over.] In case you need more of those. It'll save you the extra step of taking the money while I'm not looking. [And maybe it'll keep him from ganging up on her for a little longer, although she doubts it.]

He was a completely different person. Get that fact through your head before I nail it there.

[He gives the money a long sidelong look, then takes it, stuffing it into a pocket.] That's convenient. [The word he's hinting at but not saying is 'thanks'.]

[Ema visibly winces at the threat; she remembers how it felt that last time he forcefully invaded her head to cement an idea there. It is not an experience she wishes to repeat.] I get it, I get it. Not you at all.

[The response to his not-quite 'thanks' is, of course, a not-quite 'you're welcome.'] Easier for both of us if I just hand you the money. Saves you time and I know how much is missing.

I'll let you go back to smoking and all that. I'm sure I'm not someone you want hanging around.

Hm. You know, you're pretty smart for a scientist. [As far as compliments go, this may be the best Ema ever gets from him. Enjoy it!]

I'm learning. [The compliment does not go unnoticed; Ema almost smiles before she catches herself. Instead she gives him a wave and takes her leave of him. He needs his space and she has no reason to hover.]

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Back To The Future

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Okay making an exception here, this is Kind Of Really Important

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