Day 41: Breakfast

[oftemptation]

Endrance turned his head to look at the intercom, giving it a look that would wither an entire rose garden in an instant. He would never get used to ending up in his room again from somewhere else in the Institute

Comments

[high_prosecutor]

Edgeworth had half-expected Renamon to still be by his side when he woke that morning, and it was almost a relief to be back in his own bed. He breathed out a long sigh. Morning meant that she would have been attended to by the true medical staff, and those injuries treated. He made a mental note to check on her that day if he could, then sat up in bed.

He was immediately hit by a loud noise and a single, sharp bolt of pain in his head, one that almost forced him to lie back down from the shock of it all. Are you back in this place, Manfred von Karma? If not, then...who? He didn't have time to think about it long, before his nurse came in. "Good morning, Mr. Pierce. Are you feeling all right

[pleading_ngri]

This wouldn't have been better if Maya was here, Phoenix told himself, when he caught himself getting homesick in the food line yet again. Her ability to perform otherworldly feats extended to a positively supernatural ability to land herself in the worst kinds of trouble. His stomach did maneuvers he really didn't approve of when he imagined what sort of things could happen to her here, where there were people whose intentions toward him he couldn't discern, along with, possibly, one person still lurking and actively plotting his demise. It was better if she wasn't here.

Great, now I just feel selfish for missing her. Thinking about her was almost a distraction from thinking of Godot, though, which was something he didn't want to do until he was in a better mood. When he'd agreed to a chat, he hadn't thought he'd been signing on for a full night of smashing his head against a brick wall of insults and circular logic. It wouldn't have been so bad, if a stubborn optimist streak in him didn't keep insisting that there had to be a way

[high_prosecutor]

Miles let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding when he saw Phoenix. That discussion about people missing time and the like before disappearing had more of an impact than he'd first thought, and while it had been easy to push that aside in favor of tending to a severely wounded friend at the time, the morning had meant all of that worry could come crashing back in.

"Morning," he replied, nodding with a relieved smile on his face. "I was worried," he admitted. "It's not like you to miss appointments normally. I'm not trying to be overly possessive, but I had a rather tense discussion with a friend last night. She mentioned a pattern to disappearances, which I put on the board this morning."

Something else seemed off, though, about him. "What happened?", he asked, in a voice that he hoped was staying firmly in the 'concerned' area and not drifting off into the 'way too overpossessive' area.

[pleading_ngri]

Phoenix nodded, sitting and taking a long drink of this morning's grape juice. He hadn't noticed anything from Edgeworth on the board this morning - just the usual primer. He must have tucked it in there.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting," he apologized, and sat back and took a drink of that morning's grape juice - if only because it kept his hand from reaching out reassuringly to any part of Miles. He wasn't sure he had to enough pens to list all the reasons why anything even vaguely approaching a public display of affection was a bad idea here. "I just- the talk with Godot didn't go as well as I would've liked." He released a short, unamused huff along with the ensuing smirk, glancing at Edgeworth from the corner of his eye. Sarcasm and quipping at the truth were easier than coming at it head-on, in this case. "I hope you don't fly into a jealous rage at the thought of another prosecutor refusing to let me leave his bedroom," he muttered under his breath, beginning to saw his pancakes into lopsided squares.

[high_prosecutor]

"I'd added it into the primer," Edgeworth explained, with a nod. "It seemed more effective than making a separate post to discuss it. And I'm sorry if I seemed overly concerned."

He frowned just a bit at the mention of Godot. If there was anyone here who needed to take off their blinders and look at the truth of the situation, rather than wasting their time with personal vendettas, he was one of them. "In a way, I'm surprised to hear that," he said offhandedly, "but in a way, I'm not surprised at all. I think the lack of coffee is getting to him." A brief eyeroll accompanied the statement. "I take it he decided to be obstinate, rather than in any way cooperative?"

That last part got Phoenix a smirk in return. "Well, not this particular one, since I think he'd rather have a long love affair with an espresso machine than with a person."

[pleading_ngri]

Nick laughed, if a bit shortly, trying not to let that mental image stick. "I think that with him, it's still up for debate if I'm actually a person." He navigated a corner of the pancake-stack through the puddle of syrup surrounding it, a thoughtful frown creeping across his features. "I'm still not comfortable handing down any judgment on Kristoph, one way or the other, but it's starting to look suspicious that he goes around telling this story to people who are bound to have strong reactions to it. And-" He gave a frustrated noise, resting his chin on his palm, voice dropping into a quiet, uncomfortably honest pitch. "I'm not ignoring the idea. Just the thought of getting disbarred, that quickly . . . it scares me. I'd do whatever I could to keep it from happening. But I know that none of us can do a thing about it right now. At the same time, none of that is going to change Godot's opinion. The whole thing is just another reason for him to go after me

[high_prosecutor]

"I don't think that's quite the case," he began to reply, "because when I spoke with him yesterday, he seemed to be a bit ambivalent about whether or not he believed the story or not. That said, he either needs to drop the obsession with State vs. Iris, or somehow see the case through to the end in one way or another - in other words, find resolution with it - before either of us can get anywhere with changing his opinion." There was a silent 'but you can bet I'm going to keep trying' tacked on to the end of that sentence

[pleading_ngri]

"It's hard to say, since everyone who knows me and is here would have a strong reaction to hearing that." Phoenix nodded, sitting back. Kristoph was hard to get a bead on at all, but judging by behavior, he didn't seem particularly invested in making sure that Phoenix wasn't constantly bombarded by speculation. While not overtly rude or unfriendly, that sort of habit still made him suspicious. "But my gut says yes."

The change in topic came completely out of left field, and he paused, listening silently. At that last caution he suppressed the urge to roll his eyes (Edgeworth doesn't trust someone? Well I never.), reminding himself that paranoid skepticism or not, Edgeworth was the one between them with a supernatural Geiger counter for malevolence

[high_prosecutor]

"That much is true, but he seems to have a flair for picking the most dramatic times to tell them the story," Edgeworth said, finally working on his own stack of pancakes. "The fact that he didn't tell you immediately also says something. I have the feeling that if they had arrived in opposite order, Klavier might have told you straight-out, not let the word come to you via your acquaintances."

He shifted topics back again, meeting Phoenix's eyes with a nod. "All right. I just didn't want you to think I was intentionally going behind your back about them. That probably is the best way to look at the whole thing, though."

Miles couldn't not notice that moment's pause there, and the resulting freeze and apologetic look. "I agree. But..." It was probably a stupid idea, but hopefully everyone that knew the both of them was sufficiently distracted enough not to notice when he reached over and took Phoenix's hand for just a brief second before letting it go. "How are you holding up - and don't try to sugarcoat it for my sake."

[pleading_ngri]

The fact that the reassuring touch had barely lasted past the second mark didn't make much difference to Phoenix - he was still caught off-guard by the instantaneous way parts of him relaxed when he hadn't even known they were tense, the lingering warmth sunk into the back of his hand, the level concern of Edgeworth's question and everything unsaid beneath it that left him tongue-tied and twenty all over again. He grinned across the table, pleased and a little surprised, and went a few seconds before remembering himself and averting his face, clearing his throat briskly. Considering what was being asked of him made being frank and level a little easier, but still, he didn't reply until he was reasonably sure that a free-floating sparkle or heart-shaped bubble wasn't going to put an innocent bystander's eye out

[high_prosecutor]

Miles nodded at the first part. It made sense, really - if everything else here was worse during the night, it was neither unusual nor unlikely that the same principle would apply to unwanted abilities. Now that he thought about it, wasn't the voice more likely to react at night, too? It was, now that he thought hard about it, and he internally kicked himself for not having noticed the pattern sooner. You're going soft. Pay attention to the details. If you don't, your dearest sister is going to kill you with whatever implement she has available and then have your head for breakfast tomorrow.

He started to reply to the second part, about only using the magatama when it was absolutely necessary and the evidence needed, but that unexpected -- the only words he could think of to describe it were 'giggle fit' -- threw him off. What was so intensely funny about the setup of this place, and the lack of evidence for many of the questions that they had?

"...are those locks affecting the oxygen supply to your brain, Wright?"

[pleading_ngri]

Phoenix snorted at the quip - he'd admit, he had that one coming - explaining himself once he wiped his eyes and was sure that he was done. "It doesn't matter if I've got the Psyche-Locks back or not. If I'm not allowed to work like I usually do, there's no way I can solve this like I usually do." He ticked items off on his fingers, elbows braced against the table. "No client, no charges to fight, no reliable way to keep my hands on any kind of evidence, and that's not even starting on the fact that I've got not one, but two very smart prosecutors who are against me."

His expression settled into something more serious as he went on, brain already whirring two steps ahead of his mouth. "I have to work on this from a different angle. If Gavin's going to keep sending people after me-" If that really is my future- He swallowed, then made himself continue, despite the way every inch of him protested backing down from a challenge. He couldn't keep bashing away at a problem without the tools to overcome it, though. He'd just hurt himself

[high_prosecutor]

Miles nodded - now that the momentary lapse of whatever that was had passed, and Phoenix was explaining it further, the idea made more sense. He still wasn't sure what he thought of it, not immediately, and hummed into his juice glass as he mulled it over, the gears in his brain spinning into motion. When he spoke, it was in his usual tone, the one that indicated his own brain was going ahead

[pleading_ngri]

Busy man. Phoenix looked on with a noticeable lift of his eyebrows, watching Edgeworth's pen fly across the page. He wondered if he wasn't playing right into somebody's hands, going off on his own and running in parallel. Safety in numbers seemed to be a rule at Landel's, with all of its clubs and those mysterious spots of isolation that apparently preceded disappearance. Still, a lot of his current projects were dead ends, or at least so extremely long-term in scope that he couldn't focus on them alone

[high_prosecutor]

"I'm not suggesting that you isolate yourself completely," Miles said, catching that raised eyebrow. "In fact, I'd almost say talking to certain people that I know would be beneficial for you. When you can, you may want to speak with M. Javert - I've worked with him on more than one nightshift, and spoken with him outside that. He's gone through the experiments and is the one that collected the evidence, so. I suspect you would also get along with the detective himself, Naoto Shirogane. I was quite impressed by him, and I'd love to see him working for us once we're out of here." The last sentence was accompanied by a grin and a light laugh.

"As for a set of code names...it may seem almost too obvious, but occasionally the especially obvious names go unnoticed. Holmes and Watson?"

[pleading_ngri]

Another name for the list, then, and a quick strike through the previous 'detective?' followed by an attempt at the name that Edgeworth had rattled off with such enviable ease. "Japan seems like it has its fair share of competent detectives," he agreed, setting down his pen. Not that he knew much about Matsuda's work, but he'd been friendly and easygoing enough, had a good grasp of causality, and didn't seem like a pathological liar or borderline insane. That was more than Phoenix could say for some of the detectives he'd seen back at home.

"It's not that obvious. I mean, neither of us is a doctor or a detective." He finished off his juice, as he lowered the glass arching a dark eyebrow and briefly grinning around its rim. "And wasn't Holmes celibate, anyway?"