Nightshift 44: M51-M60 Hallway

[tsunagari]

Sai changed quickly. Whether he was less emotionally stable that usual or not, he was far better off than he'd been the night before. He would perform the mission required of him tonight. It was nothing that should put anyone's lives at stake, and holing himself up would only decrease his ability to perform his duties later

Comments

Inside M59

[high_prosecutor]

...well, wasn't that an interesting intercom announcement? Of course, Miles didn't believe a word of it. Truth was, he didn't know quite what to believe anymore. That was something he wasn't used to. The truth generally made itself known one way or the other eventually; it didn't change and grow murky after he thought he had the shape of it.

He mulled that over as he inspected his suit. Thankfully, there were no traces of the bloodstains that had marked it the night previous. It was as if it had never been touched, and that was a relief. Miles nodded at it once before getting changed and getting what he could together, then sat down on the edge of the bed, waiting on Phoenix.

Re: Inside M59

[pleading_ngri]

[From here.]

M59, right? Phoenix thought he remembered that correctly. He knocked on the door, calling in uncertainly. "Edgeworth?"

Come on. Tell me you didn't have to fend off your zombie roommate with your wits and a ballpoint pen. He wasn't deeply worried - even with the element of surprise, Edgeworth's roommate hadn't gotten much of a jump on him last time - but he still couldn't forget the red blot that had been spread out along one side of his neck.

Re: Inside M59

[high_prosecutor]

"Come in, Wright," he replied, still half-distracted by the awkward task of trying to put on cufflinks in a dimly-lighted room. Once they were - mostly; he'd have to check them again in the light - in place, he turned around, breathing a quiet sigh of relief.

"You didn't have any trouble on the way over, right?" Miles was sure he would have known had that been the case, but had to ask anyway. "And there's no need to worry. I wasn't made into dinner by my roommate again. Actually, they seem to have changed them up again."

Re: Inside M59

[pleading_ngri]

Fortunately, Phoenix got most of his relief and smiling stupidly out of the way when he first pushed open the door and found Miles standing a short distance away. He was facing at on oblique angle to the door, fiddling with one of his cuffs in a way that perfectly matched the tone that had colored his voice a second ago: preoccupied but apparently unconcerned. The only thing wrong was how grateful Phoenix realized he had been, in that moment, just to see something placid and perfectly normal. This place was really doing a number on him.

"No trouble. It's actually pretty quiet tonight. At least, the north halls and the rec field are." Phoenix juggled the rapier around until he had a decent grasp on the hilt, offering it back to Miles pommel-first.

Wow. Am I really that predictable? Phoenix guessed so. Maybe the shaking and the yelling at breakfast had given him away. Or maybe his small series of heart attacks last night. Either one of those was probably a safe bet. Even if the darkness more or less hid the sheepish grin that snuck

Re: Inside M59

[high_prosecutor]

"I think anything would be quiet, after the chaos of the past two nights," Miles replied, with a touch of sarcastic laughter. Even that was lighter than what it might have been otherwise. "It's an odd thing to think about, isn't it?," he asked, stepping close and taking the rapier from him.

"That is, thinking that a night when nothing immediately tries to kill you is a 'quiet night', or that a night when you're stuck in traffic on the freeway for two hours while someone's leaning on the horn behind you could be deemed a 'quiet night'. He couldn't help but laugh at the thought.

"Would that I were stuck in traffic now. Even if I am going to need to go car shopping once we get back."

Re: Inside M59

[pleading_ngri]

If he'd had his way, Phoenix knew he wouldn't have wanted to do anything but stand here half the night and talk. Well, alright, by half an hour in he probably would've been getting the same ideas into his head that he always got when it was the two of them and a closed bedroom, but the point still stood. Some immature, skittish part of him didn't want to go back out there where it was dark and malicious - not with Edgeworth, not when he was making wry observations and standing with some semblance of relaxation and still in one piece.

Car shopping. Phoenix whistled lowly at the comment, and how Edgeworth made the note as if he were observing that he needed to pick up a loaf of bread on the way home from work. "Yeah, maybe I'll splurge too. Get my bike some new rims," he replied, scanning the room and realizing exactly what it was he wasn't seeing. "Hey, didn't you say you still had my coat?"

Re: Inside M59

[high_prosecutor]

"Or you can just get a ride from me when you want one," he replied, letting the implications of that statement sink in for just a moment. If he had to admit it, he wasn't immediately inclined to leave, either. He was trying to play it off, but Edgeworth had a nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach after that intercom announcement. But there were things that needed to get done, and while it would be nice to stay inside and plan on doing them tomorrow, it wasn't as if they could just ask to run up to the second floor to grab something they'd left up there during the day.

"I didn't see it in my closet just now...hm." He walked over to the bed, then lifted the pillow. It had been bloodstained the night before, but now it was folded neatly and looked like it had just come back from the dry-cleaners'.

Re: Inside M59

[pleading_ngri]

In a way, Phoenix wanted to twist Edgeworth's response into some kind of innuendo, because at least that was easier than imagining home with the inclusion of such an approachable Edgeworth, one he could bum rides off of like a high-schooler and who was unquestionably attached to him.

What's wrong with me? That's what I want, isn't it? I want to see him every day. I don't want there to even be a question of how much we care about each other. He strolled closer, picking up his coat and shaking it out to look it over. Even after sitting under a pillow all day, it looked about as good as it usually did coming out of his closet. The cleanliness didn't escape him, either. He knew exactly where the marks had been - right breast, a bit on the right shoulder, both cuffs - but the jacket was just as clean as his paper-white shirt had been this evening.

No. Phoenix put down his bag and pulled the coat on in a few quick, shrugging motions, once he'd straightened it out fishing in his pocket for his badge and fixing it to the lapel again. He

Re: Inside M59

[high_prosecutor]

"You were looking for the bloodstains." The words came out before Miles could stop them, too honest to be kept in, even if he immediately regretted them. He shook his head, sighing before turning away just long enough to put his things down.

"It shouldn't be my place to apologize for putting you through hell last night - it should be the bastard that runs this place apologizing," he continued, stepping in close. "Still, though...I've been running the whole mess through my head all day. I can't not say something."

He gestured to that rapier - an item he didn't think he would ever need to own, much less need to use. "I couldn't protect you last night, or the night you were taken. For that, I'm sorry." With that, he pulled Phoenix close, kissing him softly. When he pulled back a moment later, it was with a bit of an awkward smile. "I think you're rubbing off on me."

Re: Inside M59

[pleading_ngri]

Even if he knew that he wasn't very discreet, Phoenix winced subtly at the observation, averting his eyes. It wasn't that he was ashamed of having looked; anyone who knew him knew that sort of thing was in his nature. It was that he'd given Edgeworth a chance to address last night again. Last night was something he still didn't know how to handle: a murder with no casualties, no weapon, no perpetrator. No evidence at all that it had happened, except for the lingering, strange tension between them

Re: Inside M59

[high_prosecutor]

"There's that, but there's also the fact that you are very slowly turning me into what some people would call a sap," he replied. "You can't say you got that from me." Miles laughed, and if he hadn't seen the bulletin board that afternoon, would have suggested putting off the upstairs trip until another night. That didn't mean the temptation wasn't still there, though

Re: Inside M59

[pleading_ngri]

Even if Phoenix had to pull a bit of a 'hey, now,' look just to salvage his dignity upon being called a sap, that was still point and match. Miles had been the kid who would raise his voice to anyone he thought was being stupid, up to and including the teacher. Phoenix . . . well, he'd been the kid who cried in public. Into his second decade

Re: Inside M59

[high_prosecutor]

"That's fair. And I was being an idiot, so thank you for not indulging me," Miles said, nodding once. "All right. Lead the way on this trick-or-treat expedition," he said, gesturing to the door.

[oh god don't kill me my brain is just not wanting to work right now.]

Re: Inside M59

[pleading_ngri]

"Hey, easy on that idiot stuff. You're going to do a number on my self-esteem." Phoenix smirked, waiting until Miles had his things together before leading them back out the door and down the hall.

[To here.]