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.

Comments

[bittermayfly]

[Nagi's at home, of course, his own letter from Santa nearby for Schuldig to read. Even with no speech, he can probably pick up on his teammate's body language and the like.]

[have_your_lives]

[Schuldig lets himself in without knocking - Ken will probably kill him if he finds Schuldig wandering around his house, but that really wouldn't bother the telepath much at this point - and prowls around until he spots Nagi.

If Nagi is reading body language, then Schuldig's is visibly, vastly altered from its usual. Whereas normally Schuldig's movements are self-assured in a languid way, he's twitchy now, almost shaking at times, clearly in a state of high inner turmoil. The gun's presence is hardly reassuring in light of that.]

[bittermayfly]

[Nagi's wary of what the letter means, but he hasn't found out the effects yet. Seeing Schuldig so upset makes his eyes get huge and he blinks several times. That gun's really not helpful.]

What's going on?

[have_your_lives]

[Schuldig can't hear, but he can certainly guess the nature of Nagi's inquiry. He taps his ear, again giving a fairly universal "can't hear" sign.]

[bittermayfly]

[Wait...Schuldig's deaf and there's no attempt at telekinetic conversation? Nagi quickly realizes what must have happened, though he doesn't know what Schuldig requested for this to happen. He grabs a pen and paper, deciding to write in German so they still have privacy if anyone sees this later.]

Santa's not very nice here.

[have_your_lives]

[Schuldig gives Nagi a rather flat look and plucks the pen from his fingers to write in big block letters, also in German. He also underlines it.]

UNDERSTATEMENT.

[This close, with this uncharacteristic quiet from Schuldig, Nagi may be able to hear the ticking.]

[bittermayfly]

[He'll just grab another pen for himself, glad there's plenty of paper here. Nagi sorta notices the ticking and sticks his tongue out in thought for a moment.]

You sound like a clock right now. Any ideas why?

[have_your_lives]

[This earns Nagi a bemused look, and a written reply.] What?

/assuming all normal text is written from here out

[bittermayfly]

You're ticking.

[Nagi's not sure what that means though.]

Does it have anything to do with what you asked for?

[have_your_lives]

[Schuldig is silent briefly, ticking over (accidental pun?) his list. Nagi will be able to tell the moment when he hits on the only logical answer; the color drains out of his face.]

I asked for explosives.

[bittermayfly]

[Nagi notices, of course, and his stomach twists in anticipatiion of what he'll read next. After he skims over the short sentence, he pales as well.]

And it looks like you got them inside you.

[have_your_lives]

Great. [This is a short, angry scribble. Schuldig seems to seethe for a few moments...but then seems to cool down again, and even flashes Nagi a grin.] Maybe I should head to the church now, then.

[bittermayfly]

You don't know how long you'll be there waiting for it to blow up.

[But if he goes, Nagi will wait for him. They're the only ones left, after all, and they should stick together whenever they can, even if that's to blow things up and die for a day.]

[have_your_lives]

Like I want to live like this? I might go back to normal if I die, and it looks like suicide is a built-in option.

I don't have many options anyway.

[bittermayfly]

Suicide is the only option. I could shoot you too.

[have_your_lives]

I could shoot myself. I'm not squeamish, Nagi.

But it seems like a waste of a perfectly good explosion...