Disclaimer: Schwarz, Schuldich (seeexy!), Nagi and all associated and registered trademarks are copyright Project Weiß and associated firms. Typical disclaimer.

Warning: Shounen-ai... -ish. Schu+Nagi, my first venture into that pairing. Thus, reviews are greatly appreciated.

Little Gold Boxes

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There, on the edges of the boy's lips he could see it, the faint tints of chocolate tones. Clear evidence that the young telekinetic of Schwarz had recently consumed a bit of forbidden sweet chocolate that he had left as a gift for the boy. Forbidden from his diet by Crawford, since telekinesis drew so heavily on the body and the precog felt that the boy should eat healthy at all times, so he would always be prepared. And forbidden, as viewed sometimes by Nagi himself, because not having it while growing up through the tender years in which chocolate and junkfood were a requirement for a normal teenage life, and thus not having it made him miserable, and the world was just out to make him miserable, no questions asked. Why else would he have been cursed with such a powerful gift, rejected by society, then forced to lose the one thing he had tried to hold close, a young lady with perhaps a lacking mind by an overflowing heart. He was just a walking mat for the world, meant to be tread upon and made miserable.

That, however, was very much wrong; at least in the mind of one German telepath. One who'd watched the young boy grow up since his induction into the elite team of psychics known as Schwarz, and one who'd found that, over the months and years, he couldn't just torment the boy like he tormented so many other people on the planet. No, for some reason, Schuldich, the guilty one, couldn't pick on the boy as cruelly as he did any other. Some days, it was pure sympathy, one thing that the German had been certain he could never possess, that kept him from harassing Nagi, other days it was merely that the boy's mood did not invite teasing. After all, when one who had the power to level a building with a few well placed thoughts was not in the mood to be teased, it was a good idea not to tease him, lest one find themselves slammed straight through four brick walls for their troubles. Schuldich, thankfully, had learned his lesson after merely two brick walls and one broken nose that had healed over rather nicely. But, perhaps beyond all that, it could have been that Schuldich didn't have the heart to harass the bitter teen merely because, over time, he had developed one thing for Nagi that he could never have developed. Not in his line of work, not with his kind of powers, and not with his kind of past.

And it was a feeling of deep caring, one that even Schuldich shoved away, disregarded with a guttural laugh, that had developed. As odd as that may have seemed for the telepath, it had happened. After watching the boy, broken and hurt by society, he had begun to, near unconsciously, help the boy get back on his young feet. Discover his powers, which taxed the body as harshly as his own telepath taxed the mind. He had allowed their similarities to actually get under his emotional skin, inciting a near feeling of oneness with the boy, a sort of completeness and understanding her had only when the youth was around. And something that even he could not understand.

It was laughable, really. Him, Schuldich, actually feeling something akin to love. The mind raper with emotion? Impossible! One who carried and dealt out so much guilt that he had taken the guilty name could not have or hold love, it was a paradox. An impossibility, for the one who took joy in ruining the love others held for each other. Then again, so were his chances at anything beyond one-sided emotion an impossibility. After all, who could love him? Or treat him seriously for that matter, with his sexual habits, smart ass comments, and endless teasing. There was no way for any but himself to understand where the teasing stopped and the truth began. And had there been, belief of such would have been impossible regardless; Schuldich, flirting truthfully rather than trying to get laid? Another impossibility. The German just did not have that kind of emotional capability.

Or rather, that was what the world told and thought of him, and something he had even adopted for himself. After enough times of being told he couldn't be serious, he wasn't any more. Well, not very often at least. And when he did, it was laughed off regardless, so even he began to believe those faint attempts of his own to be well concealed lies; little games he played with others, including himself, to deceive them. After so long, even he began to believe himself incapable of love.

So what was this feeling that he felt when Nagi was around? Was it truth or a lie? Deceptive games or some sort of twist by Fate to finally play Her own game with the ultimate player of these mental games? This want to make the boy smile was unfamiliar. The desire to lighten those midnight eyes that were always heavy with bitterly cold feelings so new to him. All so different, he couldn't quite understand it anymore. So he did all that he could, he actually tried to fulfill those desires and wants, hoping that, maybe, they would go away and let him go back to being the sadistic and evil mind raper. However... Each time he succeeded in winning a small smile or a gentle brightening in the boy's mind, it didn't help at all with killing those wants or desires. They actually made them worse!

Take the chocolate for example. Schuldich, being one to respect the mental privacy of no one, had sifted around the boy's mind one night, being bored and interested in what might have been something that pleased the boy. Except, instead of the hentai thoughts he had been certain that ALL teenage males had, he'd found something quite different. A deeply hidden love and want for chocolate, something that Nagi got little enough of. So, breaking absolutely every rule about his character, Schuldich had decided to NOT tease the boy about it. Rather, he went out and bought a small, golden box of the finest German (of course) chocolate and left it as a gift on Nagi's bed, no tag adorned, no note attending to it. And what had that resulted in? Nothing even close to what he was accustomed to seeing in reaction to every action he made. Schuldich had prepared for the usual, a yelling at, a few bitter comments, maybe even a telekinetic shove; those kinds of cruel responses were what he was accustomed to, always being on the receiving end of them for just being himself. However... Nagi had not thrown the chocolates away, but eaten them, as evidenced by the few marks of melted chocolate hanging about his lips. Marks that Schuldich was staring at right at that moment, as he lay sprawled out on a chair, watching the boy typing on his computer, as he always did.

Said youth had even just noticed the jade eyes turned on him, watching him for some reason he couldn't quite guess, not recognizing the new light in the German's eyes. It wasn't dark, foreboding, or evil in the slightest sense. If Nagi hadn't known better, he could have almost thought it was some sort of positive emotion or thought. But positive for others and Schuldich didn't quite mix, so that was a thought he immediately disregarded as he arched one finely toned brow at the telepath. "What is it?" he asked calmly. "You stare as though there is something on my face."

Slowly blinking his cat-like eyes, and moving in one lazy, fluid motion to his feet, the telepath used both his powers and speed to approach the boy without reaction or knowledge, his hand raising swiftly, yet using a gentle caress as he carefully brushed away each last trace of the forbidden candies. "Ja, you did, Naggles," he replied with a lopsided grin. Leaning in closer to the telekinetic, who had been startled to a pause at the action of Schuldich's hand, the telepath lowered his mouth near the boy's ear so that he could catch the next few whispered words. "A bit of chocolate from your little snack; not a good way to keep it secret, ja?"

Midnight eyes blinked, the boy startled into alertness at the words. looking up at the German, a half wary, half surprised tone to his gaze, Nagi tilted his head. "I did not," he replied, no emotion showing in his voice, as he was so often capable of. "And how did you know...?"

Unfortunately for the telekinetic, Schuldich had already straightened and headed for the room's door. Glancing back at the youth, the telepath allowed the boy to see his sly wink and grin. "You thought you could hide something like that from a telepath, Naggles? I'm surprised and hurt. Really." And with that, the German departed the room, the only sound or hint of his recent presence the soft echoing of a deep chuckle, and the slightly bewildered look of one young Naoe Nagi.


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Author Notes:

Lemme know if you liked? Hated? I really do appreciate reviews as they allow me to better my own style of writing and character portrayal. ^^