[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

[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."

[probablythebutz.livejournal.com]

Larry frowned at the back of Edgey’s head. “What do you mean, ‘too strong a term!?’ ‘Great’ doesn’t even come close to how awesome she is!”

[attorneyatlol]

Hoping to diffuse the argument before it escalated, Phoenix opened the door wider and took a step back, his smile turning a bit sympathetic. “I think I know how you feel, Larry. You can tell me all about it later. Right now, I….” Reluctantly, his eyes were drawn back to Miles; it suddenly occurred to him that he didn’t know how to broach the subjects he’d intended to or if he’d even be able to do so with Larry here.

Averting his eyes, he frowned and scratched his head, continuing after a moment, “I kinda just want to know what’s going on.”

[probablythebutz.livejournal.com]

“Yeah.” Larry nodded and pushed past Edgeworth before the other man had a chance to get in. “I get’cha. At least someone knows how to appreciate romance, though!”

[samuraiprosecutor]

"'Romance' is also too strong a term," Edgeworth muttered. He followed Larry into the studio apartment, glaring at his back until they both entered the small living room, where he let his gaze wander for a moment. The place was in much the same condition as it had been for his prior visits. At least this time he'd had the sense to fold up the bed.

Edgeworth finally turned back to Wright; uncertainty was written clearly on his face, and Edgeworth frowned in return. "Fortunately, an explanation is what we're here to offer."

[probablythebutz.livejournal.com]

Heedless of the sarcasm, Larry threw himself on the couch and folded his hands behind his head, hardly batting an eye at the condition of the place. He nodded at Edgey’s words and turned to Nick with a grin. “Yeah, man, you got hit with a virus. Pretty nasty, from the sound of it.”

[attorneyatlol]

Phoenix closed the door and followed them in, glancing at each of them respectively with a boyish frown. “That’s what everyone keeps saying, but I don’t know what it means.” He pulled out one of the kitchen chairs and plopped himself down with a sigh, hunching over the table with obvious dejection. “How could a virus make me forget so many things? All these people who know me... and this place!” He gestured around the apartment. “I’ve never even seen it before!”

[samuraiprosecutor]

"You have, actually, whether you remember it or not," Edgeworth replied. He eyed the empty side of the sofa for a moment, then tilted up his chin slightly and moved to the other side of the table. Before he settled into the cheap wood seat he deigned to turn it so that he had a fairly comfortable line of sight to both of his companions, though he kept his focus on Wright.

"'This place' is yours. It's been your home for several years."

[attorneyatlol]

It took a moment to sink in, but then Phoenix gawked at him. “Several years!? You mean… You’re trying to tell me I’ve lost my memory from several years!?” Worriedly, he ran his hand through his hair, searching for some type of bump or abrasion, but found nothing. “How…?”

[samuraiprosecutor]

As he expected the explanation to be rejected either way, Edgeworth chose a straightforward approach. He leaned back in his chair and spread one hand out, palm up, across the table. "Through a virus, as we've said. The 'forum' you found online is the source; the viruses originate there, and strike random members at intervals. The effects vary greatly, but are temporary and leave no more lasting damage than whatever embarrassment or other detrimental effects might result from the affected member's actions."

[probablythebutz.livejournal.com]

From the couch, Larry grinned and gave a thumbs up. “Good thing you haven’t done anything embarrassing, yet!”

[attorneyatlol]

Phoenix frowned, his eyes downcast as he set his hand back on the table. “So… you’re saying one of the effects of this virus is memory loss? But how can an online forum cause a virus in the first place? None of this makes any sense…”

[probablythebutz.livejournal.com]

“Chill, Nick.” Larry sat forward on the couch a little, trying to offer his support in the best way he could. “It’ll be over in a few days! Then you can go back to your lawyer things and it’ll be like none of this ever happened!”

[attorneyatlol]

Brow furrowed, Phoenix cast a curious gaze in Larry’s direction. “‘Lawyer things?’”

[samuraiprosecutor]

Edgeworth threw Larry a glare. "Your activities aren't quite so easily categorized, but you are currently a defense attorney and 'lawyer things' comprise most of your professional life."

His tone evened out as he returned his focus to Wright. "Regarding your apparent amnesia, each virus carries with it whatever symptoms are required to attain the apparently intended effect. Some are physical, altering a man's body or the world around him, while others are mental, affecting memory or perception. As for how these things come about...no one actually has an explanation, save for the rare viruses which are claimed by members of the community."

[attorneyatlol]

Phoenix stared at Miles, attempting to absorb everything, yet each time he allowed a little more information to sink in, his mind inevitably kept going back to one thing.

“I’m a defense attorney…?”

[samuraiprosecutor]

"You are," Edgeworth replied. The barest hint of a smile quirked one corner of his lips, then smoothed out as quickly as it appeared.

[attorneyatlol]

Phoenix caught the slight movement. He held his gaze a moment longer, opening his mouth as if to say something, but after a glance in Larry’s direction, he shut it and quickly looked away.

[samuraiprosecutor]

A sudden trepidation overcame Edgeworth, and he mentally chastised himself for the slip. Whatever Wright was prepared to say, the conversation was likely to turn in a direction he had no desire to tread, with or without Larry's unwelcome presence.

...Perhaps not so unwelcome. Edgeworth relaxed back into his chair as Wright backed down. He glanced at Larry, for once grateful for his (occasionally obnoxious and generally extraneous) company, then let his gaze drift to the tabletop.

[probablythebutz.livejournal.com]

Larry waited for someone to say something, but when he looked up from his admiration of the model on the magazine that was setting on Nick’s coffee table, he was greeted with nothing but awkward silence and a couple sidelong glances.

Dude, what did he miss?

Clearing his throat, he sat forward and looked up in thought. “Yeah, so, anyway,” he broke in. “Since you know everything’s gonna be okay, you might as well sit back and relax a little, right? Why don’t we watch a movie or something?”

[attorneyatlol]

Phoenix wasn’t convinced that everything was going to be okay. Not at all.

He dragged his gaze back to Edgeworth, uncertain.

[samuraiprosecutor]

Edgeworth threw Larry a glare. Avoidance wouldn't benefit Wright, and ending the conversation after clarifying only a few aspects of the virus would negate their entire purpose in coming to the apartment. He hadn't left work solely to exchange a few words with Wright that could have been said as easily on the community.

He turned to Wright, intent on continuing his explanations, but his expression gave Edgeworth pause. Confusion was written plainly on his features--Wright had never been adept at concealing his emotions, but their conversation was making it clear that he'd at least improved on that ability since his time in college. There was a plea in his eyes, and Edgeworth frowned slightly in response. "Is there...anything else you wish to know?"