Schuldig couldn't wait to get back to the posh Tokyo penthouse. The violet liquid Masafumi had thrown on him had dried for the most part, leaving the telepath feeling dirty and sticky. Violet caked those orange tresses and stained that usually spotless dark green coat. He just knew his clothes were going to be stained and this was his favorite coat. He'd definitely have to get Masafumi back for this. Kicking off his boots, he slumped against the doorway, suddenly a little light headed.
Whoa, dizzy there…
He sighed some, peeling away his coat and treading across the hall to the bathroom, not even wanting to go see Crawford first. He needed to get himself clean. Entering the bathroom, and closing the door behind himself, he started to peel away the short-sleeved button up shirt and then those white slacks. He paused momentarily to gaze at his reflection before turning on the water and stepping into the shower.
Those hot drops washed down over Schuldig and he shivered. Hands moved up to trace through those long sticky strands, wetting them thoroughly as he leaned his head back, washing his face next. He took up the shampoo and then his body wash, lathering himself up and beginning to scrub pale skin until it was glowing rosy pink. He felt so dirty he couldn't seem to get the sticky feeling off of his body. He washed the shampoo from his long fiery mane, closing his eyes as everything started to spin. Reaching out to hold the wall for support he groaned again as he went light headed. Damn, Masafumi got me good. He stayed still, trying to clear his head, clear his mind, but nothing seemed to be working.
"Schuldig! Schuld, you've been in there for more than an hour!" Brad Crawford called out as he started to bang on the bathroom door.
It wasn't like the telepath to avoid him after a mission. The American proceeded to bang against the door again. Schuldig shook his head, coming to his senses enough to shut off the water and step out of the shower, pulling a towel loosely around his waist and then wrapping his hair up in another. He opened the bathroom door, jade eyes looking slightly dazed.
"Well?" Deep chocolate orbs met those jades sternly. "Did you take care of it?"
It was always business first with Crawford, and the German nodded solemnly. "Yes. All done." He wouldn't bother mentioning his run in with Masafumi, or bother mentioning how light headed he was feeling. He reached up, gathering his coat in his hands and pulling out the small test tubes, which held the DNA samples, Crawford had sent Schuldig to retrieve. He handed them to the oracle, and just let his coat fall in a crumple to the bathroom floor. Unusually silent, the telepath slunk passed Crawford and started toward his bedroom. The American took note of the unusual attitude and watched him walk away, slender brow raised curiously.
"Hey, Schuldig?"
"Ne?" He paused, turning halfway to glance back at him, jades looking a little blank.
"Everything alright?" Yes, there was concern in the American's voice. Despite how troublesome the German man was at times, in all their years of working together, Crawford had grown fond of the other, and at times he couldn't help but worry over the younger man.
"Yeah. 'Course."
The telepath started toward his room once more, making it a few more steps down the hallway before he stopped short, a hand at the doorknob to his bedroom.
"Yo, Crawford?" The telepath hesitated a moment before calling out to the American, who stood mere feet away watching him.
"Yes?"
"If you had a vision…where something bad happened to me, you'd tell me, right?"
Crawford blinked. Something was definitely wrong. "Of course, Schuldig."
"Mm, alright. G'night Bradley." He mumbled and pushed open the door, going in and closing it softly behind himself.
Crawford couldn't make sense of why the usually loud mouth German was surprisingly silent, or why he had dared to call him Bradley. It was a rare case indeed where Schuldig called him that over the dozens of other names he had for the Schwarz leader. He entered the bathroom, gathering up the German's clothes, those eyes narrowing when he felt how sticky the fabric was. He lifted the coat up, examining it and taking note of the dark stains on the material. Pulling it up for closer inspection, he sniffed the coat, trying to make out what the stains could be.
What did you get yourself into, Schuldig?
That night, sleep refused to come to the redhead. Pulling on some flannel pajamas, he curled up in the center of a much too large, satin covered bed, covering himself from head to toe. He couldn't help but feel cold. The German usually liked his room at a nice 69 degrees, but for some reason, tonight having it sitting at 75 was making him tremble and shiver. He sat up suddenly, body shifting from freezing cold to a fire-hot. He groaned, wrapping his arms loosely around his waist, and just leaning forward, trying to balance himself out with measured breathing. Instead of helping, the action merely made the telepath's body temperature rise and fall all the more rapidly.
Whatever Masafumi had thrown on him had left him unable to clear his head. He couldn't even seem to complete a thought without feeling either burning hot, or freezing cold. His body felt weaker, and the telepath was suddenly having a tough time remembering to breathe properly. His body temperature dipped and then seemed to return to normal, only for the telepath to suddenly feel a new pain. Every emotion, most of which he couldn't even remember ever experiencing, started to pound into him, one after another.
Another groan, as he grabbed his head, rocking back and forth in his bed. Yamate. Yamate! Tears started to roll down his cheeks and then like a waterfall in gushes the tears spilled as he choked out sobs uncontrollably. Mien Gott, what's wrong with me?
The tears ceased after what felt like an eternity of inner pain and struggle and Schuldig shivered; feeling happy, angry, sad, alone, afraid, excited. Before he could take another emotion, he screamed and pulled rapidly into the depths of his own mind, throwing up wall after wall after wall to keep his own bit of sanity sane and free of the torturous emotions that plagued him. He pulled as deep and hard into himself as he could manage and soon saw nothing but black as he lost consciousness.
Brad Crawford nearly dropped the test tubes when he heard the scream coming from Schuldig's room. Putting everything down, he stood, hurrying across the hall to the other's bedroom. He rushed in, and skidded to a stop, blinking when he found the lanky form unmoving in a tangle of satin sheets. He walked over slowly, leaning forward to pull at those sheets, fixing them and tucking the redhead in properly. He couldn't help but notice that Schuldig looked a little thinner, almost smaller. Funny, I don't recall those pajamas being that loose on him. He removed those thin silver rimmed glasses to rub at his eyes. He was probably just imagining things. Lack of sleep did that to a person after all.
He moved away from the telepath's sleeping form, glancing back once to make sure he was absolutely fine before closing the door and returning to his own room, to finish looking over the samples Schuldig had stolen for him. Sitting down at his desk, he took up the test tubes, unable to help but let his mind wonder again and again to his teammate. Was Schuldig all right?
Of course he is. He's just fine. Absolutely fine. Crawford sighed, leaning back in his chair. If he's perfectly fine, than why am I so worried?
The golden rays of late morning sun finally stretched across the length of Schuldig's room, washing down over that still covered form, causing the redhead to roll away from the sunlight with a groan, moving an arm up in half sleep, shielding his face from the reality of the real world.
"Gah. Sleep. Still." He mumbled most incoherently to himself as he rolled onto his stomach next, pressing his face into his pillows.
Another couple of minutes went by before the telepath rolled over once more, facing the sunshine this time and finally cracking those jade pools open. He moved his hands down to rub the sleep from those eyes and slowly he sat up. With a still sleepy yawn, he stretched, running a hand through his mane, not even realizing yet how much longer the hair seemed. He kicked his legs over the edge of the bed and stood, blinking, as he had to pull on those pajama pants to keep them from falling off his slender waist. He rubbed his eyes again as he slumped out of his room and down the hall to the bathroom.
He entered, letting those pants slip down so that he could relieve himself, and then he pulled them back up, mumbling in annoyance at having to actually pull on the tie at his waist. For some reason his pants were a bit too big. Flushing the toilet, he slumped in front of the bathroom sink to brush his teeth. Leaning his head forward, he cupped some water in his hands, splashing at his face to free himself of the last bits of sleep. When he straightened and caught his reflection, the telepath's eyes widened and he screamed.