"No." Malcolm shook his head back and forth, and immediately hopped to his feet. Not to push away Nathaniel, but because he could no longer sit still. The very reminder of being frozen like that made him want to jump right out of his skin. "No, no." He moseyed around to the space between the living room furniture and kitchen island, and proceeded to pace back and forth across it while he spoke.

"No, you don't understand. This wasn't your standard, 'oh, I was paralyzed by fear' or anything like that. I mean, yes, that makes sense too! Evolutionary drives to protect ourselves, the mind-body connection, our instinctive reactions. I know all that. This was... no. This was something else. And it happened before he entered the room. It wasn't a reaction to the situation at all." He paused to take a breath. "That's what I had trouble wrapping my brain around for a while. I still don't know what caused it. But I felt... everything. Everything! Inside and out. I don't know if he knew that or if he thought I was already a goner or--" Another sharp breath.

"He definitely couldn't think at that point. It was very... predator-prey, like you said. The guy had claws, for God's sake. The whole scene was like something out of a slasher film." Malcolm punctuated that with another dry laugh. No, it wasn't funny. It definitely wasn't funny at the time. But sometimes you just have to make light of something so you don't collapse into a screaming, flailing mess.