It wasn't love at first sight. He didn't believe in such things. The warm pull at his gut was easily explained as teenage hormones. The rush of blood to his face whenever she came near was equally easy to rationalize. He thought about her, but not overwhelmingly. In fact, when it first began, he had a running bet with himself that this infatuation would last no longer than a month, if that.
The problem started when he was pulling apart his computer, wires laid out across the floor, and a stray image of her bouncing curls trickled from his mind into Schuldig's.
The redhead's response was as immediate as a falling anvil, and just as dangerous.
"What's that, Nagi? You have a girlfriend you forgot to mention?" the German purred, his mental appetites starved from lack of use. Always the drama queen, eager to make a mountain out of a molehill.
"No. It's nothing," Nagi said easily, and he meant it.
His teammate shifted, looking down across the splayed computer parts with disinterest, "That's a shame. You could really use one."
Nagi shot him a disproving look, "I don't believe 'getting laid' will help my disposition or change my interests, if that's what you mean."
Schuldig shrugged, satisfied with that interpretation.
"Well honestly, I'm happy for you."
"You can shut up now," Nagi said calmly. If he snapped, Schuldig would push. If he backed off, Schuldig would push. Maintaining a steady balance of emotion and control was the key.
"Hey, I'm serious," he continued emphatically. "I mean, personally, I always thought you were gay."
"I'm not gay."
"Not that there's anything wrong with being gay. It's just a lot easier chasing skirts, believe me."
"I'm not chasing skirts, either," Nagi breathed, forcing down his annoyance. It was just the sort of thing Schuldig would latch onto.
"And all of that mental self-coaching you do doesn't help much," he grinned, settling back down on the couch again to signal that he was letting Nagi off the hook. A reprieve. "But seriously, all joking aside, you should look into it. It couldn't hurt, right?"
In the silence that followed, Nagi kept his mind forcefully blank, filling his mental void with commercial jingles and programming codes, much to the telepath's irritation. But after the computer was reassembled and Schuldig had left for his nightly prowl, his mind returned to the subject.
Soft and sweet. On some level, he knew it should disgust him. Especially that stupid rabbit. He recognized a surplus of female baggage when he saw it.
So why was he considering tracking her down? Indeed, his fingers were already poised over the keyboard, ready to start the fatal process.
Tot.
There. That wasn't too difficult. It would probably bring up any number of things. The search would be fruitless. He could give up and decide it wasn't his destiny to meet with her.
…Destiny? What sort of crap was that? Even Crawford knew the future could be changed. And Nagi knew the virtual world well enough to recognize that anyone could be tracked down. A hard pit formed in his stomach. This was a bad idea.
It took all of five minutes for her life's story to fill the screen. Birthday. Height. Weight. She would be angry if she knew. Nagi paused on her picture, fingertips resting lightly on the keys. There was no way that blue hair was natural, but it suited her. Everything suited her. She was like a porcelain doll that had been dropped and refinished. All the cracks were underneath her perfect skin, marring the structure, but not the visual impact. However, one harsh move and it would all fall apart.
"She'll burn."
Nagi jumped, the plastic keyboard crumpling under a shocked burst of his ability. He hadn't noticed the warm breath ghosting across his neck. The heavy physical presence of his teammate looming over his shoulder.
"F- Farfarello! What the hell!?" he snapped, jumping to his feet. His face was flushed with embarrassment. The screen flicked off seemingly on its own.
"In the chaos we bring. She'll burn," the berserker repeated, turning his amber gaze toward Nagi as he rose to his full height. Standing so close, the madman towered over him. Nagi backpedaled, pushing Farfarello's chest with his telekinesis. The man let himself be moved backwards, but his gaze never wavered.
"You think I don't know that?" Nagi retorted, heart pounding. Silence. "I know that!"
Farfarello said nothing, leaving without another word. It left an eerie gap of space in the room where he'd been standing.
"I know that," Nagi repeated, as though he were trying to convince the empty space. But really, that wasn't the empty space he was trying to reach.
Stupid Schuldig. Stupid Tot. Stupid.
"Besides," he continued, "it's just a hormone thing. It's not a big deal. It'll pass."
A/n: Written for 100 prompts challenge over on LJ. Prompt: Puppy Love.