No Rest for the Weary

[augh_plywood]

Who: Miles Edgeworth, Open
When: Day 2, Late Morning/Early Afternoon
Where: Outside of a decent hotel; maybe other locations in the city, depending on how the log goes
What: After being kidnapped and swept into the most bizarre city he's seen, Edgeworth decides to do some investigating (and maybe get a bite to eat while he's out).

Comments

[dividend]

Phoenix had been trying not to think too hard about why he was in a city such as this, but was instead focused on trying to find someone that he knew as well. So far, there'd only been someone who claimed to know him -- he had no idea who this "Apollo Justice" guy was that was saying that he was supposed to be seven years older and minus a defence attorney's badge, but he was trying to avoid that particular problem at the moment. There were a lot of questions that needed answering, and considering that haphazard investigating seemed to be his speciality, he couldn't help but go right ahead and give it a go.

-- the last person that he expected to come across in a place like this, however, was his old childhood friend.

For a few seconds, he was in complete denial. There was no way that he was here. Miles Edgeworth was off overseas somewhere, again, presumably to finish whatever he'd started before Phoenix falling off Dusky Bridge into the Eagle River had interrupted him. Blinking to make sure that it wasn't some kind of mirage or

[augh_plywood]

Edgeworth jerked up when he heard his name cried out; who here would know him? Furthermore, why did that voice sound familiar? Edgeworth spun around towards the source, and his jaw dropped immediately.

"Wri-Wright?!" The umbrella slipped out of his grip, before he tightened his fist and continued, "What on earth are you doing here?!"

[dividend]

At least this reunion was more comical and slightly less awkward than all of their other ones. It ended up taking a considerable amount of self-control, which the attorney didn't have much of to begin with, to stop himself from laughing at the reaction that the prosecutor had to his sudden appearance. Undoubtedly that would just put him in a much worse mood than he already seemed to be.

"H-hey, chill out! Stop acting like I'm the last person that you want to see on this planet," he deadpanned. (The fact of the matter was that there was a large possibility that it could be close to the truth, so Phoenix thought maybe it would have been better to keep his mouth shut.) "If I knew what I was doing here, I wouldn't be wandering around like this. I haven't got a clue what's going on in this place, before you ask." To top it all off, he just shrugged his shoulders, suddenly grateful that he didn't have anything on his person worth dropping.

[augh_plywood]

Now that he was more or less composed, Edgeworth raised his head high and walked slowly towards Wright. If not for his pale complexion and the bead of sweat that clung to his brow, it would have been impossible to tell that he nearly lost his cool a moment ago.

However, despite his newfound calm, Wright's comments didn't exactly boost his morale. For a brief moment, Edgeworth had hoped that he might have known something, but it seemed he was just as ignorant as he was. Typical, he thought irritably. I shouldn't have expected things to be so convenient. He sighed, and said, "Do you at least know how you got here?"

He didn't bother to ask if he was fine; for some reason, it seemed obvious.

[arbitraries]

Beyond hadn't slept much the night before, and what little sleep he had managed to obtain wasn't particularly restful. His conscience, which he'd put so much effort into quieting over the years, awoke with a vengeance. Even his most recent failure to eliminate his existence plagued his thoughts, every fibre of his being -- if he'd managed to at least do that, just that one simple thing, just stay in the place he'd been and meet with that woman and light that one match he'd be better off; he'd be dead and alone.

For some reason, alone is exactly what he didn't want to be. He wanted to find someone who would see through him, who would call him out, murderer! liar! unnatural! and who would force him to -- what? To repent? To beg forgiveness? Was that even what he really wanted? His crimes had been capitalizing and taking advantage of natural events; his victims would have died anyway and he wasn't deluded enough to even emotionally believe that repenting would bring back the author, the teenaged girl, the woman with enough stuffed

[augh_plywood]

Ah, finally, a sign of life. Edgeworth's pace quickened as soon as he saw him, but he slowed once he got a closer look. Everything about the young man screamed melancholy; if the posture wasn't enough to tip one off, his apathetic disregard for the weather would have done the trick. He wasn't sure if this was an intentional display of misery or a simple coincidence.

Not that it was enough to make Edgeworth ignore him. While he wasn't one for small talk, this wasn't a social call. This was an investigation...of sorts. The prosecutor walked forward and, careful to keep a respectable distance from him, cleared his throat.

"Good morning," he said, with a small incline of his head.

[arbitraries]

Instantly upon being approached B halted his slow pace; he was uncomfortable enough as it was without allowing another person into his personal space. Miles Edgeworth's appearance itself wasn't familiar to Beyond, but something about his demeanor was: he was curious in a clearly professional way, as though he was used enough to asking questions to understand how to get the answers to them. Edgeworth was cautious about the way he was approaching both physically and personally, and if he were in a more appreciative state he might have admired him for it, somewhat. As it was, he filed these observations away bleakly. If Edgeworth knew the game, B knew two other sides even better as both a potential successor for his home's greatest detective and as that detective's challenging criminal

[augh_plywood]

Edgeworth ignored B's brusque demeanor; compared to some of the more histrionic witnesses he had to deal with, this boy was almost pleasant in comparison. Besides, it wasn't as if Edgeworth had any interest in wasting his time. He would just be quick and to the point, and they could both get on with ...whatever there was to do here. Mope? Contemplate existence? He had no idea.

"I just wanted to ask you some questions," he answered. "And I think it would behoove us both if you cooperated."

[libraria]

Nodoka felt quite at ease knowing that she had begun to learn her way around this place - Reduceres, her mind supplied. She could find her way to the grocers, to the pottery store and the hotel, which is what she was heading for now. But she still didn't understand how she was brought here. Was it magic gone wrong? Was it that mage that had killed Craig and Aisha? All that she could think, however, was that everything was fine; she was here to become better, stronger, so that next time she wouldn't fail. It was almost like an itch in the back of her head that she just couldn't get rid of

[augh_plywood]

The second time he heard her. Edgeworth turned around, and ...well, it soon became apparent that there were people here that were even worse off than him. While pity was a rare emotion for him, this girl was the very picture of pathetic. She certainly looked as though she had been through some sort of trouble, though he could not tell if this was from before or after her arrival here, and for some reason that small smile of hers only made her look worse.

"Yes, yes I was," he said, as he walked closer. "Have you seen any others here, Miss...?"

[libraria]

Nodoka looked down at herself and sudden realised how pathetic she looked, feeling a little bubble of shame. Brushing down the dirt from her dress, sighing quietly, she looked up with a slightly brighter smile, comforting herself more than trying to be friendly. As he moved closer all she could do was stand straighter - he was more intimidating than she had imagined.

"Ah, I see!" The girl replied quietly. "Um, a few, b-but not many." It took her a moment to realise that he was requesting her name and, flustered, she bowed quickly, her fringe covering her face. "I'm Nodoka Miyazaki! It's nice to meet you!"

[augh_plywood]

"And I'm Miles Edgeworth." He bowed slightly, or at least, bowed as well as one can with an umbrella, and continued, "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Miyazaki."

If only the circumstances were better. He paused for a moment, before it occurred to him that she was going to get soaked like this. Edgeworth held the umbrella out to her, and asked, "Are you looking for anything in particular?"