oo4 | phone, action | backdated (to whenever the hell Farf put Schuldig out of his misery)

[clairvoyeur]

[Displeased. Let Crawford's tone show you it.]

We haven't heard much about upcoming gubernatorial elections. I would appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

[Because American politics are clearly the real source of his displeasure. Perhaps someone should leave his study and the horrible amounts of research he's been pouring over lately

Comments

[have_your_lives]

[Schuldig is in his house. Brooding. With coffee, at least! He's scared Ema into acting like a proper housewife, or in other words obedient and terrified. Whether he'll be happy to see Crawford or not is anyone's guess.]

[clairvoyeur]

[Crawford made the effort to walk all the way over here and not bring anything even remotely resembling paper. He deserves, at a minimum, coffee. So he'll be letting himself in and acquiring himself a mug before dealing with Schuldig's brooding.]

o-orz I was kind of assuming this was after the second day of droning too >>

[have_your_lives]

[Schuldig doesn't seem to object to Crawford's taking some of his coffee, which would get a lesser man stabbed in the hand with the sharpest kitchen utensil in reach. He does watch the Oracle closely, however, and says nothing. A quiet Schuldig is generally a sign of mental unease.]

...it's WK. they can all exist on seperate timelines if they want. :|

[clairvoyeur]

[Crawford can appreciate the fact that he's not being stabbed. That pleasantry aside, he'll be picking his words delicately. Or at least as delicately as he can be without breaking the rules and turning on falsified demonstrative affection.]

You look better.

Exactly~

[have_your_lives]

Better compared to what? [Schuldig's voice has an edge to it. He knows Farfarello saw him droned, and he hates the thought of that, but the idea of Crawford seeing him droned somehow makes it worse.]

[clairvoyeur]

[Crawford had, of course, avoided any potential for seeing his oldest acquaintance and companion in that condition. The pause comes from what he did see--he's got a clear image of what Schuldig's blood looks like spattered all over Farfarello's clothes now.]

A little bird told me you were feeling under the weather.

[have_your_lives]

[Schuldig is probing Crawford's mind for memories of his droning like a sore tooth - on the one hand, he definitely doesn't want to find any, but he needs to know how bad the damage is. It is a distinct relief when he doesn't actually find any, gets a feeling for the aversion to seeing him that way.] Farfarello?

For once, it was Nagi's fault. When I say a plan is a bad idea, people should listen.

[clairvoyeur]

[For once, Crawford is faintly receptive to the poking and prodding; there's barely any resistance beyond an almost unconscious wrinkling of his nose.] It was longer this time. He didn't take kindly to it.

We're going to have to go back to the way things were, you know.

[have_your_lives]

Who would? [Schuldig makes a low, irritated sound.] They got into my head. I won't forget that.

...how so?

[clairvoyeur]

No one's asking you to.

[Crawford doesn't hesitate so much as take a moment to sip his coffee. It's good that they're all angry, of course. It's less good that he's going to have to reel them all in again.]

[have_your_lives]

[Schuldig is watching Crawford carefully, although he's already got some creeping suspicions about what the man means.] ...you're joking. Already?

[clairvoyeur]

This hasn't exactly-- [Wait for it.]

[have_your_lives]

[Schuldig waits. Impatiently.]

[clairvoyeur]

[Schuldig can wait as impatiently as he likes. It won't rush things along any faster than they were going to happen organically.

Crawford has gotten significantly better since the first attack, but it still takes a moment to weather the barrage of images and insights that drags their nails through his brain. The recovery time is shorter now and the processing is quicker. It's only a long shaky breath before he can shake his head out of the vision.]

...this hasn't exactly proved our most successful experiment. Besides, it's about to get worse.

[have_your_lives]

[Schuldig might have done some grousing, save for that last remark. However, when things get bad...it's usually best for Schwarz to stand together as a unit, anyway.] Going to share any details, Oracle?

[clairvoyeur]

It's... inconsistent. From the looks of it, the town's content to induce mass hysteria on itself. [Sifting for the important events his mind's just pulled together will require more coffee.]