Well, on the way to complete the set!weiss_tankNovember 17 2010, 03:20:23 UTC
[A compelling young man that may just be about to be run into by a very oblivious Siberian. He was walking, but he turned his head to look behind him because a drone child shouted hello]
gotta catch 'em all!clairvoyeurNovember 17 2010, 03:53:53 UTC
[A very oblivious Siberian who will be neatly sidestep by the compelling young man who saw that potential collision without even needing to read the future. Recognize the faint self-satisfaction in the young voice as Brad drifts easily past?]
...and now I have to decide which they all are. clairvoyeurNovember 17 2010, 14:00:49 UTC
[So the names a person gets called at Rosenkrüs are not that stupid. It therefore makes Brad pause not out of recognition but something something like distasteful confusion. He turns to properly face the man he's just brushed past--and the flashes start, blinding before his eyes for half a second of silence.
Then comes the critical, unamused frown Ken may recognize--it's exactly the same now as it will be in 10 years.]
[Nagi has a funny feeling about that short call...and it gets confirmed when he's outside after school. Even younger, Crawford is taller than him. No surprise there. But rather than immediately approach like he did with Schuldig, he stands back for a moment. Has this one seen enough into the future to know who he is? Does interacting with someone who can see the future change it, or what he sees? Questions questions and no answers.]
[Brad's attention settles on the other boy briefly, flickers on, and then flits back. There's no real recognition in his face--Schwarz isn't something he's particularly delved into beyond its most basic inception--but clearly a flicker of interest. Let it never be said that Rosenkrüs turns out sloppy psychics who can't recognize a potential threat.
For the moment, there's just a fairly polite nod.]
/keywords?bittermayflyNovember 17 2010, 04:11:04 UTC
[That look answers his first question pretty well. Nagi knows how different he was, and how different Schuldig was, so seeing what their leader was like a decade ago could be interesting, even if Crawford has no idea who he is. For now, he'll be polite and respectful, as he always is towards Crawford. He finally decides to move closer.]
...this is the ONLY TIME. :|clairvoyeurNovember 17 2010, 14:09:25 UTC
[The mask hasn't been completely perfected yet, but it's strong--and likely highly familiar. There's only the dullest sparkle of interest in the back of Brad's eyes as he shrugs in a sharp movement.]
[Schuldig had a bad feeling about Crawford's warning to Schwarz, especially in light of the last few days. So, in a way, it's almost expected when he sees the still-familiar form of a much younger Brad Crawford walking the streets of Mayfield; it fits with the warning and with the events of the past couple days, after all.
The fact that it still gives him a bad shock, therefore, has nothing to do with surprise, and everything to do with being forcibly thrown back - for the second time in two days - into memories he'd disowned years ago.
At least he can reasonably expect Brad not to be panicking. He's never really known the man to panic about anything, at any age.] ...hey. [His approach and even his words are guarded; he has no idea how Brad will react to him as he is now, or how much the boy's foreseen.]
[Brad doesn't so much falter as come to a slightly abrupt halt. Keane is someone interesting enough to be worth tracking into the future, after all, particularly where it concerns the partnership they're going to enter. The more mature face isn't just familiar--it's known.
Which... is a little complicated, really. Because things feel very... real here, and the future isn't quite 'real' in the way that the pavement under his feet is real. And the houses might as well be a memory, really, which means that however much this is a vision and a construct and a personal invasion of mental space--
Things get quiet again, the faintest bit of a perplexed look on his face.] I always thought you'd be taller.
[Whatever Schuldig had been expecting Brad to say - if anything - it clearly wasn't that. It surprises a low laugh out of him, despite the circumstances.] Like you'd let me have the upper hand in anything.
This future is real enough, for the moment. [He studies Brad closely. There's something nostalgic - and perhaps a little alarming - at seeing the boy openly perplexed, however slightly; over the years Crawford had begun to play his cards so close to his chest that Schuldig had very nearly forgotten the man wasn't every bit as unflappable as he acted. That reminder leaves his world just a bit less stable.] How much of this were you already expecting...?
[Brad almost smiles; and already it's the slightly cold, distancing smile that graces the lips of so many megalomaniac cases.] I suppose not, Keane.
[The slightest flicker of discomfort follows, almost instantly whitewashed away by the usual calm bravado that comes like a subdued second nature to most precognitives at this age.] It isn't quite where I thought I'd find you. But then, it's not really... real, is it. Not like you and I are.
[There are no words for what Farfarello is thinking and feeling about seeing his boss in such a state. He'd heard the call and been confused, but this...this was not what he was expecting. This was not how it was supposed to be. He just stares at Crawford with his one eye, having regained his eyepatch and his reasons for wearing it over the other. Finally, expecting a young Crawford to know the future anyway, he just speaks up.]
[Brad has to take a moment. It's a quick moment--the rather sharp snap of his attention onto the (momentarily) older man, an almost military squaring of shoulders, a rather visible unfocusing of his eyes as something in the Irishman's face and tone trigger a relatively mild bout of flashing visions bombarding his attention.
The moment passes, and a very familiar slight frown curves his lips.] I'm not. I'm simply not what you expected to see.
[He waits for Crawford to sort out his visions and connect the dots as to who he was. He's a patient man when he wants to be, and annoying Crawford at the moment won't serve any purpose.]
Oh? How's that? [He hopes for a philosophical discussion with this younger Crawford--he might have a chance at besting him.
...Is that how regular Crawford is always besting him? From remembering this very discussion? The questions of time make his head hurt a bit, so he decides to ignore that aspect of current matters. After all, he wasn't the boss; he was just the one that went at things with a knife to kill them.]
[Careful, Farfarello--you're about to enter a whole world of confusing time paradoxes.
Brad's pinning down of Farfarello's identity is rudimentary for the moment, but it serves. It also brings a layer of caution to the fore; if this is a test, it's clearly the sort which will determine his immediate future as a potential team leader. Either that or an advanced knowledge of how the future is structure; both work.]
I am exactly the age biology and chronology have combined to determine a person should be after the number of repetitions of days I've lived. By the time we're meant to encounter one another, I'll have grown older. At the present moment... [There's the slightest pause to lick his lips absently.] ...neither of us exists in a contiguous present. My current state and your permutation of the future have intersected. While the person you expected is older, I am no younger or older than I ought to be. That's all.
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Careful.
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Holy shit! CRAWFISH?! Oh hell not you too. [Sure he's shorter and younger looking...but there is still enough similarity]
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Then comes the critical, unamused frown Ken may recognize--it's exactly the same now as it will be in 10 years.]
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For the moment, there's just a fairly polite nod.]
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Are you looking for any place in particular?
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Nowhere I can't find myself.
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The fact that it still gives him a bad shock, therefore, has nothing to do with surprise, and everything to do with being forcibly thrown back - for the second time in two days - into memories he'd disowned years ago.
At least he can reasonably expect Brad not to be panicking. He's never really known the man to panic about anything, at any age.] ...hey. [His approach and even his words are guarded; he has no idea how Brad will react to him as he is now, or how much the boy's foreseen.]
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Which... is a little complicated, really. Because things feel very... real here, and the future isn't quite 'real' in the way that the pavement under his feet is real. And the houses might as well be a memory, really, which means that however much this is a vision and a construct and a personal invasion of mental space--
Things get quiet again, the faintest bit of a perplexed look on his face.] I always thought you'd be taller.
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This future is real enough, for the moment. [He studies Brad closely. There's something nostalgic - and perhaps a little alarming - at seeing the boy openly perplexed, however slightly; over the years Crawford had begun to play his cards so close to his chest that Schuldig had very nearly forgotten the man wasn't every bit as unflappable as he acted. That reminder leaves his world just a bit less stable.] How much of this were you already expecting...?
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[The slightest flicker of discomfort follows, almost instantly whitewashed away by the usual calm bravado that comes like a subdued second nature to most precognitives at this age.] It isn't quite where I thought I'd find you. But then, it's not really... real, is it. Not like you and I are.
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Saoiste. You're younger.
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The moment passes, and a very familiar slight frown curves his lips.] I'm not. I'm simply not what you expected to see.
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Oh? How's that? [He hopes for a philosophical discussion with this younger Crawford--he might have a chance at besting him.
...Is that how regular Crawford is always besting him? From remembering this very discussion? The questions of time make his head hurt a bit, so he decides to ignore that aspect of current matters. After all, he wasn't the boss; he was just the one that went at things with a knife to kill them.]
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Brad's pinning down of Farfarello's identity is rudimentary for the moment, but it serves. It also brings a layer of caution to the fore; if this is a test, it's clearly the sort which will determine his immediate future as a potential team leader. Either that or an advanced knowledge of how the future is structure; both work.]
I am exactly the age biology and chronology have combined to determine a person should be after the number of repetitions of days I've lived. By the time we're meant to encounter one another, I'll have grown older. At the present moment... [There's the slightest pause to lick his lips absently.] ...neither of us exists in a contiguous present. My current state and your permutation of the future have intersected. While the person you expected is older, I am no younger or older than I ought to be. That's all.
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