[RL: You got some splainin' to do - Friday, September 5, 11:00AM | Phoenix; Larry; Edgeworth]

[attorneyatlol]

Phoenix paced the apartment in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that were supposedly his. While they did look like something he’d normally wear, he hadn’t recognized anything, and even more worrying, there was no sign of the sweater Dollie knitted him anywhere.

Sighing, he stopped in the hallway and fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. Miles (or ‘Edgeworth,’ as he evidently preferred being called) had said that Dollie was indisposed for some reason, but refused to give Phoenix any details beyond the fact that she was safe and well. It was frustrating, to say the least. Lunchtime was rapidly approaching and he would have been preparing to spend the next half hour with her under normal circumstances. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much he could do from here, especially given the fact that he didn’t know where ‘here’ was nor did he have any clue what could have possibly detained her. But Edgeworth had asked Phoenix to trust him and Phoenix did.

He stood in the hall for a moment, nervously chewing the inside of his cheek. More than ten years had passed since he last saw Miles; there were so many things he wanted to tell him and even more that he wanted to ask him, but waiting like this was a nerve-racking, necessary evil. He hoped his friend would arrive soon.

With another sigh, he went back to pacing.



((OOC: Backdated to the first day of the mental regression virus, around 11AM.))

Comments

[probablythebutz.livejournal.com]

Larry cocked an eyebrow. “Yeesh, lighten up, Edgey. You make it sound like he’s got rabies or something. Besides,” he added with a grin. “We let you out all the time.”

[samuraiprosecutor]

Edgeworth gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and breathed deeply for several long moments. When he opened his eyes to address Larry, his voice was still strained despite the calming measure. "I'm capable of controlling myself, which is more than can be said for Wright in his current state."

[probablythebutz.livejournal.com]

Larry took the stairs two at a time, sprinting the single flight until he made his way to the top. “What’s the big deal, though? I mean, sure, the guy’s a little excitable right now and kind of out of his mind, but that’s what love does, man!” He leaned over the railing of the walkway and pumped his fist in the air. “I say we let him fight for it!”

[samuraiprosecutor]

Edgeworth's pace up the stairs was more sedate, though not by much. He paused halfway to the second floor to fix his companion with an incredulous stare. "Larry, he is suffering the effects of a virus. Anything he believes he must 'fight' for is entirely a product of his own mind."

[probablythebutz.livejournal.com]

Larry thought about it for a moment. “I dunno, man, he sounded pretty serious. Especially about that whole necklace thing and his girl Dollie. You really think he made it all up?”

[samuraiprosecutor]

He felt only a slight pang at the name, one easily ignored. "Wright appears to be reliving his past, not fabricating it. You don't recall the girl?"

[probablythebutz.livejournal.com]

“The girl?” As far as Larry was concerned, Nick didn’t get himself out there nearly enough, and he could really only remember one time his buddy had mentioned dating anyone, but that was back in college and—“Oohh! So that’s why the name sounded so familiar. The chick he dated in college! Come to think of it, I never did get a chance to meet her…” Then again…

He frowned at Edgey as the events of the most recent trial came to mind. “You know, the details of that whole thing are still kinda fuzzy.”

[samuraiprosecutor]

"Not surprising," Edgeworth muttered as he moved a bit further up the stairs and stopped near the top step. "During college Wright dated a woman he believed to be Dahlia Hawthorne. The relationship ended when Hawthorne attempted to kill him and, when the attempt failed, framed him for murder."

He stared intently at Larry for a moment, before his gaze drifted to the door on his other side. "In his current mindset Wright remembers only the...pleasant time he spent with Iris. Informing him of anything else wouldn't benefit him in any way."

[probablythebutz.livejournal.com]

That sort of made sense. Larry did remember someone masquerading as his beautiful little Iris, which turned out to be some crazy ghost chick that was possessing poor Maya… But he’d spent most of his time after that trying to sneak a sketch of Franzy, so the whole end of the trial was lost on him and the explanation didn’t help much. In fact…

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait!” He grabbed Edgey by the shoulder in an attempt to draw his attention back. “Pleasant time!? Exactly what kinda ‘pleasant time’ did he have with my Iris!?”

[samuraiprosecutor]

Edgeworth tensed momentarily at the contact, and dragged his attention back to Larry with a full glare. "A particularly effervescent one, if his behavior on the journals is any indication."

A frown slowly turned down the corners of his lips, and the bite faded from his tone as he continued, "They were together for about six months. I gather that what came after was...difficult for him."

[probablythebutz.livejournal.com]

Larry was held onto ‘pleasant time’ like a pit bull on a pant leg; everything else was irrelevant! “So, wait. You’re saying…You’re saying that’s what she meant at the end of the trial!? That she— and Nick— and—!” It was all becoming painfully clear to him now.

He stomped his foot on the ground. “That lousy jerk!”

[samuraiprosecutor]

Edgeworth stared, one eyebrow cocked curiously, until the minor tantrum had ended.

"'Jerk?'"

[probablythebutz.livejournal.com]

Hands balled into fists, Larry cried, “He stole her from me!”

[samuraiprosecutor]

The accusation was beyond ludicrous, and only added to Edgeworth's growing frustration. Torn between the urge to roll his eyes and his desire to ignore the statement altogether in favor of continuing on to Wright's door, he finally settled on wrinkling his nose and replying snappishly, "Larry, their relationship, such as it was, ended years before you met the girl."

[probablythebutz.livejournal.com]

At that, he frowned, his bottom lip quivering just a bit. “Then why can’t she see how good we are together…!?”

[samuraiprosecutor]

"That's a question only the girl can answer." With that Edgeworth gave in to his frustration and ascended the last steps. He swept past Butz, focused on the black lacquer '2B' that adorned the nearest door.

[probablythebutz.livejournal.com]

Larry trembled for a moment longer, then sighed and followed. “We really would’ve been good together…”

[samuraiprosecutor]

Edgeworth turned to treat his companion to a skeptically raised brow. After a long, significant pause he crossed the rest of the way to the door, calling back over his shoulder, "Somehow I doubt she'll be your last opportunity."

[probablythebutz.livejournal.com]

“Yeah…” A couple seconds passed before a thought occurred to him and turned his pout one-eighty. “Oh, hey!” He stopped behind Edgey, assuming he would knock, and went on to ask, “Have I told you about Megumi?”

[samuraiprosecutor]

Edgeworth suppressed an anticipatory flinch and replied, coldly, "No."

When he reached the door he rapped his knuckle on the wood, sharply enough to sting, then shoved his hands roughly into his pockets. If Butz got it into his mind to regale Edgeworth with the many endowments of his latest pursuit, the wait would be almost as interminable as what was to follow.

[probablythebutz.livejournal.com]

Larry wasted no time in regaling away. “I met her on the community a couple months ago! She’s so modest, it’s cute, and she uses a sketch book to talk! How perfect is that, huh!? It’s like we were made for each other! Oh, and…”

[attorneyatlol]

At the sound of the knock, Phoenix froze in his tracks. Meeting up with Miles like this had never occurred to him. After never receiving a single response to any of his letters, he assumed facing him in court would be the only way to see him, the only way to help him; obviously that wasn’t the case. Miles was here now, which meant he was nothing like the papers made him out to be. Phoenix, despite the occasional doubts, had always known that.

Unfortunately, such knowledge didn’t make him any less anxious.

Taking a deep breath, he forced himself onward and opened the door just in time to hear the tail end of Larry’s latest fixation.

[probablythebutz.livejournal.com]

“—and she’s really smart, too! I think she goes to some kind of prestigious college for geniuses or something. Oh, hey.” Larry grinned at the man standing in the door. “What’s up, Nick? I was just telling Edgey about Megumi!”

[attorneyatlol]

For a moment, Phoenix’s entire, wide-eyed focus was on Edgeworth. The prosecutor looked a little different than the pictures in the newspaper—maybe a little taller, a little broader, or it could have been the suit. The one in the papers was a lot flashier and kind of gaudy, in Phoenix’s opinion. Looking at his eyes, though, and the lines and circles beneath them, it didn’t take long before the difference finally struck him.

Miles looked really old.

Not wanting to stare, he dragged his attention to Larry and smiled a bit uncertainly, having missed the majority of what was said. “Oh, uh, that’s great!”

[samuraiprosecutor]

Edgeworth gave a quiet sigh when Larry's rambling was mercifully curtailed, but his relief was cut short by their friend's appearance. Edgeworth studied his face closely, uncomfortably aware that Wright was doing the same. Physically the man was unchanged; Edgeworth seemed to have been correct in assuming that the virus' effect was entirely mental. There was an unnamable difference to his voice (some change in tonal quality, perhaps, something light and undeniably...young, for lack of a better description), but otherwise Wright was still...Wright.

The focus finally shifted back to Butz, and Edgeworth attempted to preempt his inevitable discourse.

"'Great' is too strong a term."