The mind's take on locked-in syndrome

[have_your_lives]

[It wasn't as though Schuldig expected anything good for Christmas. For one, it's Mayfield; anyone with the barest flicker of intelligence (which would be to say, Ken) could recognize the town's pattern for making life miserable. For another, even if the real Santa had come to visit the town, 'naughty' isn't even near a strong enough word for him. And, finally, he's had years of miserable Christmases, often where the holiday went completely unacknowledged because he was in places that couldn't care less about holidays; experience alone has taught him not to expect differently.

But Mayfield deserves credit where credit is due - this is, without a doubt, the most horrible Christmas in his entire life.

Even before he'd reached the end of his Christmas letter, he'd known he was in trouble. But he hadn't realized just how badly until he reached the last word, and all sound stopped.

All sound.

His ears echo with the silence; telepathically, his mind rings with the emptiness. Every connection he has to the rest of the world has been severed, so abruptly that he has no chance to adjust, no chance to anticipate or cope. It was bad enough when he was restricted to hearing with just his ears when he first arrived in Mayfield, but now he is utterly, completely alone with himself.

And when he tries to scream, he can't make a sound; not that he could hear it either way. He exchanged his voice for the telepathy that's now been ripped away from him.

He can't actually hear the bomb that's ticking away in his stomach, but in his current state, he'd actually consider death a relief. Others may be able to pick up on it, of course...

Housemates can find a shell-shocked Schuldig downstairs by his letter; otherwise, he'll probably be making his way to Nagi's house. Obviously, he's got no other way to communicate with his teammate now. Anyone trying to talk to him will have a very hard time communicating, since he can't hear you and he can't talk back, but you're welcome to try...also, he has his gun in his hand. Surprising him might not be the wisest course.]

Comments

[sting-like-a.livejournal.com]

[Hey, Schuldig, there's a dragon horse (http://imgur.com/FeeOJ.png) hanging out in front of Nagi's house, and she's not happy to see you.]

Grunk! [If he could hear her, it would be pretty obvious that she is not happy to see him... but the way she's snarling should be a helpful indicator of that, too.]

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Schuldig stops dead when he sees the creature, staring at it for a few moments. He can't hear the snarl, but he can certainly see it and put two and two together. He waves the gun at her in what is no doubt meant to be a warning, but the gesture is almost an afterthought, as though he doesn't really care one way or the other if she attacks him. Which is more or less the case.

Miakis' hearing is probably enhanced as an animal; she may be able to hear the ticking in Schuldig's stomach already.]

[sting-like-a.livejournal.com]

[Miakis takes a step back at the sight of the gun, but she still looks like she's ready to attack at a moment's notice. But dragon horses, indeed, have excellent hearing, and the ticking sound coming from his belly gives her pause.

She tilts her head at him, blinking.] Griiiink...? [Did Santa do something weird to him, too?]

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[He can sense the shift in the creature's demeanor, even if he can't hear the audible cues. Whether that decides him or Schuldig just doesn't care, he makes a vague, irritated gesture with the gun hand - it rather clearly expresses the sentiment of 'fuck this' - and moves to go past Miakis, toward the door of the house. He needs to see Nagi.]

[sting-like-a.livejournal.com]

[Miakis possesses a temperament very similar to that of a dragon horse, most especially in her desire to protect her loved ones. So when Schuldig makes for the door, she views it as a threat and follows after him, grabbing onto his shirt with her teeth. She's not letting him go anywhere near Ken, especially not today.]

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Since he can't hear her movement, the yank on his coat comes without warning, and he reacts on instinct by whirling on her with gun at the ready. He doesn't fire yet, but he may yet if she doesn't let go.]

[sting-like-a.livejournal.com]

[Miakis does let go, but only so she can try and bite his gun hand. If he doesn't dodge, it'll be enough to draw blood and cause a fair amount of pain, but that's about it. It's meant to serve as a warning: don't fuck with her humans. :| ]

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Unsurprisingly, when Miakis lunges, Schuldig fires. However, trying to fire and yank his hand away from her mouth at the same time means that, even at such close range, he misses. The gunshot will still be pretty deafening at this range, though, especially to heightened dragon horse senses.]

[sting-like-a.livejournal.com]

[Miakis lets out a shriek of pain and surprise, recoiling and stumbling backward. Her ears are ringing and the gunshot scared the shit out of her, so she won't be going after him again. D:]

[have-your-lives.livejournal.com]

[Schuldig aims at her more carefully as soon as she backs away, but he doesn't fire again; he's been conserving his ammunition fairly strictly, since his only source of income is getting money from Ema. Once he realizes the thing isn't coming after him again, he snorts with something like faint satisfaction and turns for the door again.

Fortunately, Miakis, he has no designs on Ken! And he'll be emerging with Nagi in a little while, at which point she can stalk after them if she likes.]